AUTHORS NOTE
Ronald Reagan:
Hey all, thanks for your patience as this chapter was put together. Work and some personal pleasure got kinda distracting towards the middle there, so I hope it wasn't too long of a wait! For music this chapter, we credit the following:
Whitney Houston : I wanna Dance With Somebody
Laura Branigan : Self Control (IT/Youtube/Music)
Journey : Whos Cryin' Now
And finally, towards the end of this chapter there will be some themes that some viewers may not find appropriate. Reader discretion is advised, so when you start to see the cues, feel free to stop there, or continue and enjoy! That being said, thanks again for your patience, and I hope you all enjoy!
The Once And Future Queen
Chapter 12
Our Inner Demons
"You know… I have been Queen for quite some time. Second only to Queen Festivia, in fact, who accepted the throne at birth," Moon mused as she stood behind her elder oak desk. She was gazing out the tall,, mullioned window over the tournament grounds as subjects and nobles alike shared in the festivities that always followed a tournament's closing ceremony. Drinking of the competition ale, corn-toss, carnival games, the lot of it meant to keep the fun going until the end of the week.
Frowning as her thoughts snapped back to the two teenage girls behind her, she turned away from the heartfelt sight and leveled her icy gaze on them. Both seemed to go rigid and after a moment of pause, she continued. "The circumstances of my rise to the throne may have been grim, however if nothing else, all my time as sovereign has taught me a great many things. I've learned much, and endured much. I've made sacrifices and changes with the times as I should be expected. So what I simply cannot understand, despite my many years as Queen, is how the two of you can so carelessly forget your duties to the kingdom, and to your families."
Star chanced a timid glance up at Moon, making to speak just as the queen slowly turned her scorching glare on her only daughter; a look that threatened more than simply a grounding this time. "You both had one. Job. To merely sit back and enjoy the show as countless mewmans and humans alike were coming together over our nation's most prestigious pastime," she continued, pinching her eyebrow at the thought of cleaning up this whole mess, "And yet, you saw fit to give them not a show of Mewni's strength and honor; but instead, two princesses having it out over a trusted companion to our kingdom."
"She's the one who-!" Both princesses tried to argue, but Moon wasn't in the mood to hear it. She splayed her left hand open to produce a small orb of orange light before crushing it between her fingers, stealing both Penelope and Star's voices instantly. The girls continued trying to argue their point for a few more seconds before realizing they couldn't speak and quickly took to silently glaring at each other as Moon sighed. "This was an important night for us, for all of Mewni," she reminded them, producing another ball of orange light. "The people needed to know that they are in safe hands, that they can trust us to lead them to prosperity and hope. Instead, they were shown that their future leaders are bickering over something as petty as a boy. Resorting to obscene, unladylike language, and slapping each other in front of the entire kingdom."
Moon crushed the glimmering ball in her hand to give them back their voices before immediately regretting it. "I wasn't doing anything wrong, Mom!" Star began sooner than Penelope could inhale. "Marco's just a friend of mine and-" More silence as the Queen let out another defeated sigh, letting another crushed orb dissipate in her palm.
"I do not believe that for a moment, Star," came her dry response as Penelope took to glaring even harder at her daughter, "nor do I care about the finer details of the situation. Whoever started this, what has been going on, and what you will do to fix it doesn't change the fact that the two of you have been acting like… Well, children!"
As the princesses exchanged a quick glance of hateful spite, Moon sat behind her desk, admiring the carvings and finer signs of wear before folding her hands in her lap cordially. "You are both royalty, and one of you will be running the kingdom when I can no longer carry on. And as such, neither of you are afforded the privilege of behaving in a manner such as this. So I want you both to sort out your differences here and now so we can begin cleaning up this mess, or neither of you will be leaving."
Another crushed orb, and this time Penelope was the first to speak, declaring vividly, "No way! I'm not 'sorting things out' with her! I did nothing wrong up until tonight and Star gets equal punishment despite waltzing in and ruining everything? I'm in a relationship with Marco, and your daughter had no right to-"
"Are you serious?!" Star roared, standing so fast that her seat was sent crashing into the wall, "You don't really care about him! You don't know how he feels, how he's grown, what he's afraid of. Hell, you didn't even help him deal with taking a life! You only really want him as a flashy piece of arm candy to show off, and frankly you don't even deserve-"
"ENOUGH!"
Moon's open hands slammed into her desk, shattering both her composure and the argument in an instant. She didn't bother breaking an orb of silent voices this time; she didn't need to. Star and Penny alike were frozen in place as Moon's rare display of rage fell back to its simmering anger of before ultimately, the queen folded her hands impatiently on the desk with a glare. "As I have had to remind you; you are both. Nobles. Royalty. The future heads of state of our society, and ladies under the crown, so it is high time you started acting like it. This trivial nonsense is both beneath you, and far from acceptable for the public eye to see."
Star was the first to react, offering a short nod of understanding as though she hadn't heard this rhetoric a thousand times, but Penelope kept her eyes locked with Moon in an inscrutable poker face. "I would be more than happy to end this entire ordeal by locking the two of you in separate cells until you learn to behave, but frankly, all that would amount to would be a postponement of the issue," Moon conceded with a shake of her head. Corn, she was tired of this same conversation, day in and day out with no end in sight. "No, I'm going to try a very simple solution, and hope to our ancestors that you can, just this once, meet my expectations."
Silent stares from the princesses, so Moon cleared her throat before sitting forward with her hands folded, her expression blank. "Apologize, agree to mutual, platonic friendship with Marco, and maintain said platonic friendship, and you will be permitted to see him again."
More silence as the color drained from Star's face. Penelope, however, subscribed to no such reaction, stating simply without an ounce of repentance, "I have nothing to apologize for, and I will not end my relationship with Marco because of what this harlot did. That is my answer."
The two stared at one another for a long moment of continued, silent repose before Moon finally let out one last sigh, her shoulders slumping. Star had chosen to not say a word, but she felt every bit as helpless as Moon when Penelope turned her cold stare in her direction. "You, are no princess of Mewni, and the world would be better off if you-"
The sound of something shattering stole Penelope's voice as Moon stood from behind her desk, making her way around it to approach the two. "Very well, then as neither of you are willing to concede to the other's grievances, and refuse to take any measures towards mutual understanding. You leave me no choice." She held both palms face up in front of her before both sets of the princesses' scissors were summoned in blue tufts of fire, letting the cold, magic steel fall to rest in her waiting hands. "It is by royal decree that henceforth, until I determine your behaviors and actions begin to conform to an acceptable standard befitting your high stations; neither of you are permitted to see Marco, let alone leave the castle proper unsupervised."
"But we still-"
"How is that even-"
Both began to argue against the terms of their punishment, but both found themselves floundering as Moon's frown deepened, the slight crease in her face enough to shut them up. "The two of you are confined to your chambers and are allowed no outside visitors, save for the castle staff. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear." Her words were spoken with cold finality, carrying a deadly weight that brooked no argument. Reluctantly, and between an equal set of accusatory glares, the two princesses muttered their agreement through bitter hostility. Not wanting to give them another moment to remind her why she was even here, Moon gestured toward the door, her eyes never leaving Star.
"Penelope, you are dismissed to your family's quarters."
Moon didn't bother looking, but as Penelope made to leave, shooting a wrinkled face at the both of them, the queen continued with a far more threatening tone. "And believe me, I do intend to have a very thorough and extensive conversation with your parents about tonight. Right after I deal with 'my daughter'." But her words fell onto deaf ears for the Spiderbite princess, who was more than confident that she had nothing to worry about, and that she would see an end to this before the end of the week simply strode from the room in silence.
Now alone, Star found the immense pressure of Moon's impregnable stare growing by the second with no signs of dissipating. But what was one more scolding, one more grounding, one more long conversation about what was right. Star had been through this before, so she knew all she had to do in order to get through it was to pretend to- "Why?" Moon asked, derailing her train of thought, "Why do you have to make things so difficult for me, Star?"
The young princess blinked hard, focusing for long enough to realize that as soon as Penelope had left, Moon's expression had shifted from cold indifference, to a chilling grimace. "What?" Was all she could ask, tilting her head as though it would enable her to understand better. It was no small notion that Star was… well, a bit of a handful. But here? She knew she was innocent.
"Endlessly I try in vain to give you the freedom I know you desire, but endlessly you find new and inventive ways of proving that course of action a mistake," Moon noted without giving Star so much as a glance. "All I asked of you in the beginning, when we first came here, was to not cause trouble."
"Wha-! You're on her side? Seriously?" Star asked incredulously, "The worst thing I did was take him with me to Mejoga, and anything else, I did with his express-"
"Star, I am on no one's 'side', and this isn't about Marco," came the steady calm of Moon's voice, her eyes drifting to her daughter as she moved to sit back down at her desk. "This is about Mewni, your actions as of late, and the consequences they carry."
Star was silent for a moment as she weighed the implications of those words. She was no stranger to the 'consequences' her mother was most fond of, but something about her dejected tone gave her pause. "What do you mean?"
There came a long pause from the reigning queen, Moon trying her best to handle the already unsteady situation as delicately as possible. But if there was ever a time to bring her daughter up to speed before she caused irreversible damage, now was it. Leaning back in her chair, she let out an exhausted sigh before speaking. "Your father and I recently had a meeting, of sorts, with the political leaders of this area. Governors and senators and generals, all eager to discuss our placement in their country, the existence of magic, and how we could both benefit from our…'relocation'."
Star was giving her a blank look, much the same as before to remind Moon that she needed to explain what that meant or why it would matter now. They were here, after all, and there wasn't any talk of leaving just yet. But Star finally nodded, asking, "So the guys in charge of Earth want something from us, like rent or whatever? What does that have to do with today?" Before she had even finished the question, Star's eyes widened at a sudden thought before quickly demanding, "Are they telling us to leave?"
"No, quite the opposite actually," Moon was quick to answer before addressing Star directly, the severity of her gaze returning in full. "As of now, we've set up an agreement with Earth's government for a long-term stay, in exchange for capital and goods. The Tournament was intended to help soften the blow of the news on the people, but… well you and Penelope saw fit to step in the way of that. So you need to sort out this business of yours with her and Marco now, because I expect us to be here for a very long time, and the people don't need any further reason to question our decisions. Do you understand?"
"How are- why- …" Star floundered for a response, but ultimately she closed her mouth and thought for a moment. The first thing that came to mind was something she had been told earlier that day, by Tom of all people. 'They're dead, Star. The resistance that chose to stay on Mewni has been wiped out. ...they only found corpses.'
Those words stung every bit as much now as they had when she first heard them. And now it made sense why Moon had made the decision to arrange an extended stay… She'd known for some time now that there was no one left back home to fight, and no more reason to return. Star set her jaw, partly to keep herself from succumbing to the wave of emotions that sentiment brought with it, and asked softly, "we're not ever going home. Are we?"
Moon supplied a long, tentative silence as she weighed her various answers to that question, and as the seconds droned by, Star found that little by little, she already had her answer. Finally, Moon let out another sigh, her demeanor shifting from annoyed defeat, to grim acceptance. "...I am afraid… I do not know, sweetheart."
Where Moon expected a tantrum, or at the very least a hostile denial to the very idea of not going back, she found Star nodding curtly. The young girl didn't have much to say for or against the news she had been given, simply offering, "I understand… that that's just how it is." But inside, Star was anything but calm. Tom's report, the cagey nature of his conversation with his father, and now Moon's admittance that she had been planning an extended stay for a while now all seemed to fit together, and it hit her like a truck.
"You understand now, why I need you to settle your differences with Penelope, and fix your situation with Marco, right?" Moon asked carefully, "I know it is not what you want to hear, but I chose him to be your guide for no other reason than his gleaming recommendation from Reynard. Not because I expected you to become so smitten with him. And now, I have no other choice but to ask both you and Penelope, to let him go."
Star said nothing to that, giving no sign of argument in a continued train of silence her mother mistook for acceptance. How was she supposed to know, back then, that she would ever develop feelings as strong as these for Marco, much less that the two would partake in the most intimate acts of her life? He had given so much to her, and for her… And now Moon expected her to return to the way things were on day one, a mundane status quo of meager friendship? How could she ever go back to that after having been given such a taste of everything she secretly wanted?
"Star," Moon repeated with a notably dry tone, "I am only permitting him to continue to be your guide and friend because I trust that you will do what is best for the kingdom, and mend the damage you and Penelope have caused today. Can you please do that for me?"
"I- ...I don't-" Star struggled to form her swirling thoughts into words, but her chest had since tightened to a vice. "Would you give up dad if all you got back was a few smiles, and a pat on the back?" she managed to mutter, narrowing her eyes at the floor. Moon didn't react, or at least not in any way Star anticipated after her barbed jab.
"I would, because I know that when the people learned of our situation, those smiles would mean more to them than my own happiness. That is what being a leader entails, and I hope you can learn to understand that… As I have."
Star continued to glare at the floor before abruptly standing, refusing to meet her mother's gaze. "I guess I'm just not as good a leader as you are then, because I wouldn't compromise. I'd make everyone happy," she spat, eyes trained anywhere but to her mother, "I'd like to be excused, and...I can only promise to seriously consider it."
Moon stared at her for a moment, her daughter refusing to do the same. Star was beyond furious at having to decide between her affection for Marco, and the hypothetical happiness of the people. The citizens they had left would still whisper scandalous things for months, and the nobles would still chastise Moon regardless of what she agreed to do, there was no changing that. Making the people happy by forcing misery on herself was ludicrous, and if that's what it took to be a 'good leader', then she wanted no part of it.
What shook her from her internal grumblings, however, was a set or warm arms wrapped around her shoulders as Moon pulled her into a careful embrace, one that still lacked any real support. "It is not a life I would wish upon those I cared for, but it is our duty. Please take my request seriously, but more importantly, never forget that I only want what's best for you," Moon whispered, dissolving any remnant of hope Star had to end tonight on a good note. "You are excused, my love."
O - O - O - O - O - O - O
That sharp, stinging slap. The anger and spite put behind it, and the silence from the world that followed as that 'princess' proceeded to berate her with the truth. As Star walked down the stony hallway back to her room, finding it exactly as she left it that morning, she had nothing more important to think about than the last few hours. Penelope marching right up to her, the look of horror on Marco's face, the ringing in her ears as she listened to the verbal onslaught, and finally, the ultimatum.
Penelope had all but demanded that Marco disavow his position as Star's guide mere seconds after slapping her, but there was at least a silver lining: he never answered. Clearly, he had feelings for both Star and Penelope, not that it mattered now, and couldn't give her a definitive answer. Granted, that idea alone was enough to give her hope that things could at the very least return to normal, but it also shepherded a new problem into the fray.
'Hey, if Marco quits being your guide, that means more time for us, right?" Tom had asked after Penelope stormed off, doing his best to keep a level head and to help Star keep her emotions in check. It would have been easy to blast both him and Penelope out of the stands, but enough damage had been done for the day, and his proposition took her full and undivided attention. He didn't offer condolences, didn't try to defend her, he didn't even rebuke what Penelope had claimed. His first reaction was to take advantage of the situation, and it made her sick.
She didn't want to give more of her time to him, even if he was being nicer than normal. Try as she might, she still didn't trust him or his honeyed words. She wanted Marco. Plain and simple. And as the recollections of her capture at the hands of Moon, and the subsequent reprimanding played over again in her head, she found one thought in particular continuing to dominate her attention. It wasn't the slap, the ultimatum, or Tom. It was when she would see Marco again.
Star flopped down onto her bed, staring at the ceiling as both steamy and sultry thoughts plagued her mind. 'Corn, that armor looked about ready to fall off of him when he finished wiping the floor with Merrimack,' came the droning hum inside her head, her lips curling into a crooked smile, 'Ohhhh my god, to see him in action, and tear that shirt off so I can see every muscle ripple like-' "No no," she stopped herself, sitting upright to wipe away the trickle of drool that had threatened to spill, "safe thoughts, girl. Think abooouuuut…."
'Lord of Mewni, when he teamed up with Rey and took down dad…" that same lopsided smile cracked through her composure as the sight of him devastating the competition played over and over again for her own amusement. "I wish it was Thursday…" she mumbled to no-one. But that sentiment carried the all-too-familiar stink of failure, knowing full well that any hopes of him reciprocating now were well and dead. There was simply no way he would allow anything like that after today.
'Buuuuut, who says anyone has to know? What if he's just as hungry as you are?' that traitorous voice chided, offering no help in her situation. But Star was past it now, reminding herself that all eyes would be on her, and she was due to return to that glum river of friendship, rather than her much more desired, Tunnel-O-Love.
*Knock Knock*
"Princess Star, are you decent? I should like to speak with you for a moment," sounded a comforting voice from the other side of the door. Grumbling about her mother's mandate of no visitors, Star slouched upright and marched over to the door, pulling it open violently to find none other than, "Manfred? What are you doing here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him, "Aren't you supposed to be recovering?"
He smiled, which for him wasn't very encouraging. "As luck would have it, I've been both healed and ordered to serve you exclusively for the foreseeable future," he offered with a slight twitch in his right eye, "My cup. Runneth. Over. May I enter?"
Shrugging off his odd behavior and the sour taste of having to deal with him so late, Star opened the door wider and retreated back into her room to plop down on her favorite bean bag chair. "Whatchya want? I'm suuuper busy being grounded for the next lifetime."
"Ah, yes...I erm...noticed," he offered before coughing into his hand, sitting down politely in a slightly-too-small chair across from her, "I heard about what happened after I was whisked away to have the arrow dislodged. Nasty bit of business you've found yourself in, I hear."
Star nodded, rolling her eyes at his pathetic display of either sympathy, or gloating. Perhaps it was some amalgam of the two crafted specifically for her. "Ya noticed that did ya? Well, I saw him first, and now neither of us get him unless we agree to 'mutual platonic friendship'." Star finished the sentence in a mocking imitation of her mothers voice before huffing in muted anger, "Go me…" Manfred nodded at that, finding little to argue with in her assessment.
"Wanna know what the worst part is?" she added after an uncomfortable silence. Now she had his full attention, the ugly little man in a white ruff sitting patiently to listen as she folded her arms in dismay. "I really don't even care," was all she mumbled.
His eyes floated around the room before he finally managed to ask, "Care about what, Your Highness?"
"About having to be his friend. At least I'll still have him, even if I can't have him," she explained, Manfred finding little else to do but nod further, "It hurts, yeah, having to accept that I can't just be happy with him because Penelope, my mom, the people, or Tom don't want that. Everyone wants something from me, from leadership, to attention, to strength, even just shutting up and smiling!" she mocked with chagrin. More nods from Manfred as she made her list, but he stayed quiet and listened intently as she continued. "Everyone has an idea of what I should be doing, but none of them care if I'm miserable. So now I have to just play the roles they gave me and play nice, or I can't have Marco. And honestly? I don't even care anymore. I'm playing along, I give up, and I'll do what people want so long as I still get to spend time with him, and have him by my side."
Her room was filled with a cacophony of silence that filled her ears with a declining roar of nothing as Manfred continued to sit politely in his rigid acceptance of what she was going on about. Until ultimately, he stood up, extending a hand for her to do the same. When she met him with a glare, he sighed, pulling his hand back before offering quietly, "I know you and I have never seen eye to eye, you finding new and inventive ways to torment me and make my existence an unending series of fresh torments…but-"
"Heh, yeah that was goood," she chuckled before noticing Manfreds deadpan expression, coughing into her hand and gesturing for him to continue. "Sorry, go on?"
"BUT, and I can't believe I'm saying this… You don't deserve to sit here, forced to obey rules you didn't set, while also being told that you must make sacrifices in your position of power," he offered, extending his hand once again to help her stand. This time, she took it, looking at him with intrigue as he continued. "Everyone in Mewni is going through pain and loss these days, and they need someone to carry them forward. For me, it is my unwavering duty to the Crown, but for you…" Manfred paused as if considering something before nodding to himself and taking a deep breath.
"Princess Star, I have known you since you were a precious toddler who even then strove to make my life as difficult as possible. You have flouted castle rules for years and routinely display a lack of comportment that shocks me. However, I have also come to realize that you are not exempt from pain and loss, nor are you any more immune to it simply because you have a duty to your people. You need this," he finished with a gentle smile. One that was slightly less repulsive than any other.
"Thanks, Manfred. ...uhhh, need what? Exactly?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head. If he was implying she needed to be locked in her room for the next month to be happy, well he would just have to cope with being wrong.
But as it turned out, that wasn't the implication at all. "My apologies, I forgot. You need this," he repeated with a slight tug at his sleeve, producing a small, rusty pair of dimensional scissors. As they flashed in his grasp, Star's eyes widened, and she found herself at a loss of words he was happy to fill.
"As I said, you've been… well- a thorn, in my side for quite some time, but frankly, I disagree with Her Majesty. You need to be locked in your room slightly less than you needed that slap from dear Penelope, and I know that while we may be at each other's throats any other day of the week, consider this a token of my pity."
Star's eyes darted from the scissors, to Manfred, and back again several times before she surprised him with a bone-crushing hug around his rotund belly. "Thank you so much, Manfred!" she shouted, her smile bright enough to light matches, "ooh my god I can't thank you enough for this!" And while he was quick to shush her back into secrecy, his nonchalant smile remained as proud as ever. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my own motives for doing this, young miss," he offered with a scoff. And at Star's arched eyebrow, he divulged further by noting, "You may be happy to leave, but I'm far from heartbroken to have you gone for the night. Twelve hours at least to myself, not a princess or noble in sight, I do intend to make full use of my newly scheduled day off, I assure you."
He handed her the lackluster pair of scissors, the young princess all but beside herself to have them. Her beaming smile cradled two watery eyes before she rushed him with one more hug, offering snidely, "Same goes for you, Nanny Manny."
Another eye twitch from her 'caretaker', and she had released him, grabbing her wand, her discarded purse, and- she stopped. Manfred leaned over to see what had gripped her attention and was somewhat surprised to see that it was her trademark horns, the small token of Prince Tom's affection having been left behind earlier that day in place of her tiara. Star took the bejeweled headwear from her head and picked up the horns, weighing it against the crown for a moment.
She wore them every day without fail so long as it was allowed, and yet? She didn't feel the slightest bit out of place without them. Where her head once would feel vacant in the absence of the little red headband, she didn't mind going without it, going so far as to say she even preferred going without them. So without much bravado or care, she set them and the tiara alike back down on her nightstand before turning back to Manfred.
With one fluid slice through the air, the edges of the scissors latched onto the fabric of the multiverse, tearing open a portal of magenta and lavender as Star deposited the scissors in her purse. "Thanks again, Manfred, I really owe you," she offered quietly before stepping through the portal, and disappearing into the night. Manfred, wasting no time, laid some pillows across her bed, draped them in a hastily-laid blanket, turned out the light, and left a 'Don't Bother Me' card on the door, his job all but complete for the next evening. "And you as well, Princess," he offered to no-one, happily limping his way back to his own quarters for a much-deserved night of rest and relaxation.
O - O - O - O - O - O - O
That loud, unforgiving slap. The malice and rage put behind it, and the stunned silence from the stands that followed as his girlfriend proceeded to berate Star with the truth. As Marco sat in his room, finding it a little jumbled, and not the way he had left it that morning, he had nothing more important to think about than the last few hours of his day. Penelope marching right up to Star, the look of surprise and fear on her face, the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears as he listened to her verbal onslaught, and finally, the ultimatum. Penelope had been clear: cut Star out of your life, or it's over. And while he had abstained from giving a definitive answer- or really, any answer, Marco already knew what he would ultimately choose.
Neither. There was no 'her or me' in his way of thinking, if Penelope wanted to put him on the spot, and if his morals all but demanded he not play with both their hearts by seeing Star, he had but one, simple option. Choose neither as a romantic partner, and just be glad that he could have them as friends. If both girls were so dead set on killing each other over him he had no choice but to end his romantic escapades with the both of them fairly.
'But would that make you happy?' came an intrusive thought to his ironclad determination, shattering his bravado immediately, 'Can you really just say no to both of them, and pretend that everything is fine?' He slumped back into his bed and covered his eyes, welcoming the calming blackness in lieu of the oppressive moonlight. "I can, actually," he answered to his empty room, "it's what's best for both of them. Penny won't ever like Star so long as she sees her as a threat, and Star won't be happy unless we can spend time together without all of the crap people give her for it. If it fixes things, then I can deal with it."
These conclusions came of course after a seething conversation with the both of his parents, his mother especially. Evidently she had seen enough to decide without question that Marco needed to either break things off with Penny, or end his budding romance with Star. "I raised you better than this, to watch as they go crazy because you can't decide what you really want? Because you can't make a clear decision about your future?" she argued, raising her voice for the first time in a long time, "Penelope deserves more than this, and so does Star. You cannot have your cake and eat it too, so until you make a decision, you're grounded. And if I hear so much as a whisper that you've been- been…" Raphael had to step in, his rarely-showcased disappointment all too apparent.
"Your mother is right. A real man doesn't give a woman half of his heart because someone else has the other. No more- comooo ...engaño, and you will stay here until you can decide what is best for your heart, mijo."
He lifted his arm from his eyes and glared at the window, not out of anger at their words, but because they were absolutely right. The things he'd done with Star behind Penny's back, he didn't deserve either of their friendship, in all honesty. So he was ending it all now, no more dates, no more thursdays, and no more lying. For all of their sake.
But no sooner than had that thought escaped his mind, the telltale sound of a portal tearing open to his right echoed throughout the room, Marco immediately sitting upright to gawk at the continuously stunning display. Swirling pinks and purples collided inside a white-hot rim, a calming thrum reverberating softly in his ears as he waited. His first reaction was that it might be Star, or even Penny, but that option was rightfully ruled out in light of… earlier events.
No. likely, it was a castle servant come to notify him that he was no longer allowed in the presence of either princess, having sullied their names and ruined the good nature of his job as guide. Perhaps even a castle guard would step through to collect him, his obvious crimes against the crown having been- "Marco?" a soft voice asked.
Ripped from his 'Marco moment', Marco shook his head clear of the intrusive thoughts and blinked hard, finding Star standing politely just past the border of the portal. It closed behind her, the thrum ending abruptly to give way to a blissful silence before he asked in a whisper, "Star? What-...what are you doing here?" She gave him a cracked smile and shrugged, though she didn't move from her spot in the center of the room. "I kindaaaa snuck out? I'm grounded until I can make up with Penelope, but…"
"But you wanted to talk?" he asked tentatively, standing up and offering her a seat. She refused, opting to stand in place before she shook her head, pressing her lips together in an uncomfortable smile. "Not really, I know that if we talk, it's not gonna be fun," she answered with another shrug. "I kinda just, wanna hang out. Nothing weird, I promise, no lines crossed, but I-" he stopped her, holding up both hands honestly and moving to sit back down on his bed. "It's okay, Star. No matter what, I wanna be friends, so let's just… pretend nothing happened. Let's just hang out like we're just friends again, alright?" he asked, earning a quick nod from Star, "Good. So take a seat, before you wake my parents up."
She finally managed a simple smile, moving to sit beside him on the bed, albeit at a distance. "Congratulations on winning the Tournament by the way," she offered after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "I knew you'd blow the competition away. Though, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say-"
"No worries, things happened and we had to head home," he interrupted, saving her for having to recount the innumerable issues plaguing them right now, "I couldn't have done it without Rey, and he's more than stoked for getting second place, actually."
Star's smile grew a little at that, but it was nowhere near the level it usually sat. "That's good, he really earned it after all of his training, not to mention how much it means to him to have placed. And I know he's super duper proud of you for taking first. We all are."
Another long drone of silence filled the room, the two teens alike struggling to find a common topic to discuss that didn't involve their precarious positions with one another. To describe it in one word, it was uncomfortable, and both of them knew the other felt it as well. But Marco was first to break the silence, offering simply, "We can't keep doing this… you know that, right?"
He chanced a glance in her direction, finding her staring at the floor with not an ounce of her prior enthusiasm. She didn't want to hear that, didn't want to accept it, and yet, "I know," she mumbled, her shoulders slouching, "I just wish things could've been different. I wish I could have had a real chance, y'know?"
Feeling much the same way, Marco could only nod, matching her posture with a slouch of his own. "I know. I…uh… I have to break things off with Penny," he noted before hurrying to continue as Star stiffened noticeably, "but you and I...We can't just- you know. The best thing I can do for all of us, is just be your friend, and pretend like none of this happened." Now it was Star's turn to nod, though it wasn't out of glum acceptance. Somehow, Moon was getting what she wanted, and she wanted no part of that, no matter the cost.
"But it did happen," she said without thinking, Marco turning to glance at her, "And… even though people want me to smile and move on, I'm not going to forget. Even if you do."
She met his gaze with one of challenging disposition, only to be met with a frown that threatened to crumble her point of view entirely. "Moving forward and forgetting are two different things," he noted dryly, "I can't forget what we did, and neither will anyone else. Just saying that right now, I just want my friends to be happy, and for things to go back to normal."
"Maybe I don't want normal, Diaz. Maybe I want to say 'screw it' to everything and just live my own life," she argued, though her words were bereft of any anger for him, "I just… I…" Marco waited as she struggled to put her thoughts into words. Those thoughts amounting to unbelievable frustration, and a cold dose of reality in return. "I wanna get a drink. You want a drink, Marco?"
His eyes darted back and forth before he managed to ask, "like, a drink drink? I don't need to remind you how my last one went, do I?" That got a smile out of her as she stood, digging through her purse for her wand as he cocked an eyebrow.
"Not the kind you chug at a party, Diaz, I mean like just a fun drink and a good time," she countered as she produced her wand, its golden emblem shimmering in the moonlight, "Nothing weird, no ulterior motives, just you and me hanging out for a night, and not on a Thursday. You in?"
A quick thought about the implications followed suit, running circles in Marcos mind as he stared at her weighing his options. This was more than likely the last thing he should be doing right now, especially since the last time the two went out for a 'fun drink', things ended far from how they expected. Neither of them needed that, it was a recipe for disaster, he had waaay too much to worry about right now, and yet? "Sure, I could uh… I could honestly use one too," he answered with a bashful smile, finding little to reason against it.
Star grinned again, the light of her smile rivaling even the moon before she whispered softly to her wand, "Radiant Shadow Transform." From it's bulb came a blinding white light that overtook the room, bathing Marco in heat and stealing all of his senses. 'Ahh, just like old times.'
When he opened his eyes again, gone were his worn and dirty clothes from the tournament, now replaced with a new, brighter pair of jeans and a button up pink shirt, rolled up to his elbows, tucked in and loosened around the neck. A black vest enveloped his torso, hanging above a brown leather belt that matched his new shoes nicely, and for whatever reason, a simple leather bracelet clung to his wrist.
Star, on the other hand, was dressed in a loose-fitting black tee that hung over one shoulder and halfway to her knees over a pair of matching pink pants. Her hands gripped the wand through black fingerless gloves, she now wore a loose belt over her shirt, and finally, her shortened hair was bumped in full with what Marco could only assess was- "Is that a perm?" He asked incredulously.
Star flashed him a wicked grin before twirling her wand and stuffing it back into her purse. "Yup. You'll understand when we get there, but this is kinda the big thing where we're going. I dunno why, but uh, it just is." She took to rummaging around for Manfreds scissors as Marco reviewed both his and her attire in full. If anything could be said about it, it looked like they just walked out his parents high school yearbook and dove headfirst into Tot Hopic. But not given a moment to ask questions, or even beg to change, Star cut open another portal, this one a churning tesseract of edges and shapes to a cyan light.
"C'mon, Diaz! If we hurry, we can get a good spot in the-" her words were drowned out as she pushed him through the portal, lost to the reverberating thrum and refracting *whoosh*. Not bothering to wonder what she had said, Marco let his senses leave him for a moment as the now all-too-familiar method of travel both blinded and suspended him in brilliant light. It always felt like a split-second of floating in space, no sound or touch to quell his anxious mind, but as always, it was over just as soon as it started.
O - O - O - O - O - O - O
*CLICK* The jingling of keys echoed throughout the hallways of Echo Creek Academy as one after another, the doors to the classrooms were locked for the night. Robert Liney, the seasoned janitor for the school, was making his rounds, closing up rooms and checking items off his list as he listened to soft covers of songs he used to listen to when he was in high school.
It wasn't a glamorous way to make a living he'd found for himself, nor was it one that warranted respect or even noticeable pay for that matter, but he found it peaceful. It was 'Honest, steady work'. He would remind himself often that it afforded a comfortable enough lifestyle now that he'd put almost twenty years in. And he was proud that even in the middle of the summer, when teachers either took months of leave or found part time work where they could, he felt secure with the fact that he had a steady paycheck throughout the year.
There were always things going on here, from summer practice for their less-than-prestigious sports teams, to clubs the students requested to meet for on the off-months. And it wasn't just students, there were meetings for the faculty, school board reviews, logistics presentations, curriculum building, hell, even town hall meetings could be held during the 'Summer Vacation'..
So now, on the last day of the week the school held these off-hours events, he found it peaceful and quiet to get to work, locking things down until next week. And with a smile, Robert opened the door to his janitor closet, content to do what he'd been given in his lot in life. Or he was, until his face wrinkled in disgust at the smell that poured from the room. Dank, dark, musty and mildewed, it reeked of death inside the small closet he called his office, but hey, 'them's the digs.'
He clicked on the light, content to find nothing out of place but an old mop bucket full of water, probably left behind from a few days ago. That, and of course, the usual moldy cleaning supplies that lined his shelves, awaiting the next few hours of use where they'd be needed. It was a little ironic, he mused, noting that his room was the dirtiest in the school, but that was a passing thought before a long night of work. A long night drawing close to a long semester, an idea that filled him with fear, but that too was a passing thought.
Collecting his supplies and placing them on a cart he secured his molded mop bucket to the rear before setting out. 'Gotta clean up them water fountains first. But, at least I get to mop up a little bit, hit the jams for a while', he mused, a contented spark filling his chest as he came upon item number one on his list.
Wiping the scum from the water fountain, scrubbing traces of rust away, wondering where the bite marks came from? He stopped, examining them closely, wondering who in their right head would try chompin' on the fountain before shrugging it off as a new challenge the kids were probably doing.
It wasn't to say he didn't like the students, moreso that he just despised the messes they would make on a daily basis. They always found new and creative ways to make his job more difficult, case in point as he left the fountain be, moving to begin wiping days of grass stains from outside the locker rooms, scrubbing weeks of oil from the doors windows… greasy brats never really bothered washing their hands. And when they did? Always a mess to be cleaned in the bathrooms, easily one of the worst parts of his job. But the best part came when he took out his mop and unlatched his bucket, beginning the next task.
It was a little pointless, mopping the hallways of the school that had no ceiling, but the floors had been recently waxed, and definitely needed a good cleaning. That, and of course the job paid no matter what he was cleaning, so long as the school was clean by the end of the day. Circular motions, sweeps in time with his steady, calming music, back and forth, rinse, repeat. It was soothing, in a way. And always so satisfying to see the job well done left in his wake. Was it so wrong to love the job, even a gross one, and hate the reason you do it?
*GRIIIIIIIIIIIIND*
*SMACK*
Robert pulled his headphones off and craned his neck, unsure if what he'd just heard was an odd cover of his favorite song, or something in the school with him. Narrowing his eyes down the hall, he listened carefully, waiting to hear something, anything out of place. Namely, something making a mess of his school.
*GRIIIIIIIIIIIIND*
"Nice one! Helluva grind, man!" he heard from down the hall. Quickly, Robert set down his mop and made his way further, towards the front of the school to confront the unwanted interruption and potential trespassing. He ground his teeth at the idea, but he groaned in anger because he already knew he was right. Always the same problem, without fail.
There, at the front steps of the school, he saw two of them kids, skateboarding back and forth up the handicapped ramp and then grinding down the rails, slamming their boards into the pavement. His eyes flared in anger as he reached for his flashlight, clicking it on to illuminate the scene fully, resting his beam on a young man at the bottom of the steps, skateboard under his heels and ready to go.
"The hell are you two kids doin' here?" he demanded, stepping closer "You know this here's private property, so get lost or it's the cops you're gonna have to explain to!"
He heard movement to his right and directed his flashlight towards it, and the anger dropped from his face, replaced by quiet disgust as his eyes adjusted to find her standing there. Some things never change, no how many times you yell at them.
"Come on, Bob, you really gonna ask us to leave?" Jackie asked with a coy grin, leaning on her upright board, "We're students here, not criminals or whatever, can't you just let it slide?" But Robert didn't give an inch to her mile, folding his arms and shutting off his light.
"No. Ya here after hours, so that makes you two criminals," he barked, taking a step closer, hoping his imposing stature would be enough to scare the delinquents away, "Beat it, or else. I'm not askin' again."
The guy at the bottom of the stairs swore under his breath and made to protest, just as Robert was expecting. But what he didn't expect was for the blonde girl to wave him off, setting down her board and tossing Robert a polite smile. "No prob', Bob, we're going. But uhhh… be safe tonight, yeah? I'd hate for this school to lose a janitor..." She had one of those knowing smirks, like she was making fun of him for something he couldn't see. "The heck is that s'posed to mean, kid?" he asked, but he wasn't given an answer.
Jackie simply pushed off with a kick, ollied up to the rail and gripped the edge of her board, sliding down the piping with a cacophony of screeching metal before landing with a thud. She tossed him one last wave, that smile not fading before the two of them disappeared into the darkness.
Robert scratched his balding head as they left, wondering what that was all about, and wondering why he had such an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. But it wasn't like it mattered now. "Stupid kids," he grumbled under his breath, leaving the steps and returning to his mopping, donning his headphones to resume his music in his much desired peace and quiet.
A couple of hours of mopping passed after the uneasy encounter, so in little time at all he was back to his groove, swiping the dirty mop against the tile, rinse, stop here and there to wipe lockers, doors and windows, then back to the beat. His mind would wander here and there, back to the encounter, his schedule for next week, but first and foremost? The most daunting task of the night: cleaning the cafeteria.
The one room in the entire school that served as the defacto stomping grounds for the brats, slinging food, spilling drinks, getting their grubby little hands on everything, it was due to be a summer-long task from the start, and he hadn't made much progress on it over the last few weeks. Not that it mattered. The year would end, he'd be stuck cleaning the dump, and then next year it would be wash, rinse, and repeat, his personal mantra here. But on the brighter side, atleast-
*BEEP BEEP*
Silence returned to his ears as his music shut off, his relaxing self-serenades grinding to a halt as he ceased his duties to inspect his Digital Walkman. "Wha- goddamnit, come on…" he grumbled, pulling his headphones out and stuffing the device back into his pocket, "thought I just charged this damn thing, the hell gives? Stupid battery always dyin' on me."
He glanced up the hall, noticing the T-junction at the end. Right around the corner, and down one more hallway was the closet, and he would be done, so long as he got that at least. He really could call it a day now, if he felt so inclined, but there wasn't much point. With so little left, he could stand to make the money. So with some underbreath grumbling, Robert continued to mop.
That was until a tempoed sound caught his ear, his mopping stopping as he craned his neck once more to catch the noise. It was like a Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Most likely a faucet left running from the day's meetings, and due to leave an obnoxious, wet mess in the restroom if left unattended. "Uggghhhhh, fuckin' faculty, always the same damn thing. Idiots love leaving the damn sink running," Robert growled to no-one. But, regardless of the why or who, he still had a job to do, and headed to the restroom.
But when he clicked on the light, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness of the bleached tiles, he found that every sink was off, every bowl dry as a desert. "Where the hell is-" Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Robert closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, clicked off the light to the bathroom and headed back into the hallway, following the drip of water that echoed down the walkway. A moment of searching, unfortunately, yielded the source of the noise and threatened to put him over the boiling point.
There, just a little ways from his cart, was a locker, a puddle of water slowly expanding out from the bottom, and that telltale drip breaking the surface tension in one-second intervals. Fuming, Robert reached down and wiped a bit up, bringing it to his nose and smelling, thankful to find that at least it wasn't sewage water he had to clean. But, oddly enough, it smelled stale, and briny, like "Salt water?" he asked, narrowing his eyes before producing his skeleton key.
Unsure of what he might find in the locker, he regretfully inserted the key and turned the lock before swinging the door open. Out like a wave came a rush of water, a couple gallons of it spilling onto the floor at his feet to reveal the trinket left behind in the outlandish 'prank': A skateboard, of all things. It had a teal, aquamarine color with two blue stripes on one side, a pink heart on the bottom, and all at once it hit him.
"That...little-...shit…" Robert fumed, pulling the board from the locker and making his way back to his cart. He threw the board away and quickly grabbed his mop, moving back for the saltwater and making quick work of cleaning up the mess. He plopped the mop into the locker to soak up the inside liquid, and once he was satisfied, moved to the puddle below. But one swipe across the surface with the mildewed mop revealed a stunning revelation he hadn't even realized was there.
There, in the water's reflection he saw himself, but something seemed…off? Leaning closer, he peered more directly at the image in the puddle and saw that instead of the tight frown he found adorning his weathered face, this one was glaring back at him, its face twisted in silent rage. "The fuck is hap-" he began, but jolted back across the hallway and into lockers, when the image leaned out of the water, ripping its flesh from its skull to reveal a bloodied, tangled mess of hair and bones, it's eyes dropping down from the sockets as the malice in its expression seemed to grow stronger. The saltwater grew red with fresh, hot blood as the hallway reeked of decayed meat and copper, the corpse desperately trying to claw its way from the puddle.
Robert was paralyzed with fear, watching as peeled fingertips dragged against the tile, the last bits of flesh falling from his reflections face. His lungs seized, not a sound leaving his mouth as he shut his eyes hard, crumbling into himself to hide, but as soon as his vision was obstructed, the sounds all died. The hissing, the drips, the stench, the scraping, all of it gone. When he opened his eyes again, he was stricken to find that nothing was left, no water or corpse to be seen, and a glance at his carts 'can revealed that even the board had since taken flight.
He glanced up, finding the ever-inviting stars still at their post, same as him, before he looked back down, finally letting himself exhale a stiff, shaky breath. "What the hell...is going on…." He wiped his brow, finding it dripping with salty sweat as he slowly stood up, struggling to lean on the lockers for inhaled the cool, night air before letting it out again, this time standing straighter and eying his cart. "Alright...calm down, Robbie," he breathed, shaking his head of the nightmarish visions, "you're working yourself too hard for this job. Just finish up whatcha got left, grab your keys, go home and have yourself a brewskie. Maybe just sleep it all off…"
He doubled a glance down either hallway, satisfied to find nothing out of the ordinary, and made for his cart once more. He was almost done, having been thoroughly exhausted from both the debilitating experience and a long evening of work. All he had to do now was mop one last corridor and he was free. Although his mind played a different word for itself on repeat, either as his goal or a reaffirmation that he was: safe.
But just as he reached the cart, a noise jolted him like a static shock, forcing him to whirl about and dart his eyes every which way to find the source. The echoing of laughter, a group of kids, he was sure he heard it. Down the hallway he was due to clean, likely just around the corner, he was sure it was there.
Now most people would have checked out for the day, left the cart, and come back in the morning. But as he considered the option, he knew that wasn't the right thing to do. How could he explain to his boss that his things were left out and the floors were left dirty simply because he 'got scared of the dark'? No, he had to investigate, and as he left his cart, his steps behind him as he made them, one thought plagued his mind.
"I swear to God. If it's those damn kids...fuckin with me…" he growled to hopefully no-one; he didn't finish the thought. He didn't need to. There would be hell to pay when he found the culprits, and with each step he found himself more and more reassured that he knew who was behind this.
But when he rounded the corner of the hallway, he found nothing there, just an empty, dark corridor lit only by the scattered security lights. Robert frowned, finding nothing out of place save for his own wavering sanity, before he heard it again, this time behind him. A distinct, female giggle echoing between the isolated classrooms.
He turned, craning his neck as he did so and only caught what happened next with the corner of his vision. Every locker between him and his cart suddenly slammed open, the metal doors clanging all at once to create an ear shattering *BANG* that sent neurons screaming to every corner of his mind.
"WHAT THE FU-" he screamed, purely out of reflex as he took an instinctual step back. But something was blocking his path, something large, and covered in fur. He whirled back around, choking through several swears and a scream that couldn't be released as he laid eyes on the object of his obstruction. The school mascot.
Or rather, the large spirit costume of an opossum, it's face twisted into that unusual smile, and it's eyes unnaturally beady red. Robert took a step back towards probable danger if only to distance himself from the suit, his mind racing to several explanations before landing on 'RUN'!
The costume reached out a hand and took a step after him, it's movements jagged and sporadic, but before either of the two could contact or make an escape, it stopped. Robert didn't even have time to inhale a shallow breath when the head of the costume snapped violently to the left, an audible *crack* sending ripples up his spine.
The extended hand, reaching for Robert, reaching for its victim went limp before falling to its side, the opossum's head crooked at a broken angle, its eyes still beady red. And then without warning, the entire suit crumpled, the head rolling to the side to reveal nothing within as the fabric dispersed, flush with the ground. At that, Robert was safely well and out of rational thought, his fight or flight instincts taking control of his motor function to propel him frantically down the hall towards the exit, his screams filling the hall.
But just as his screams filled said hall, his movements jerky and tight, the lockers that had since been opened began to floor with water. It covered the floor, the scent of beach wrack and rot filling his nostrils as he ran, and within seconds it was up to his ankles, then his knees, then his waist. He was sloshing through as fast as he could, but it made no difference, just as it made no difference that his screams turned into struggled grunts of terror.
Something splashed behind him, near his cart, and despite his mental opposition, he turned back to find his mop missing, and his cart lazily bobbing in place as trash rose to the surface.
He didn't want to see it, he didn't even want to look back, but he found an answer to what had made the splash quickly, seeing his mop cutting through the water like a snake. The frills of the fabric used as fins to draw ever closer to him as he struggled. And by God he struggled, all in vain of course, as the mop was on him in a matter of seconds, the handle tripping his legs and forcing him into the salty water below.
Plunged into the reeking water, he twisted as he struggled to escape, hands thrashing as he struggled to right himself and get his feet under him. Disoriented, he had no chance to defend himself as the mop wrapped its frill around his throat, constricting immediately to cut off his airflow. He paused his struggle to broach the surface, reaching to pull the tangled strands of mop away from his neck, but it was no good, the mop had an iron grip. His fingernails scraped against the strands of mildewed cotton as he gagged panicked bubbles of precious air into the dark water around him before the mop forced his head above the water. A hollow bit of mercy, as his airflow was a mere pinhole he could hardly wheeze through.
He struggled in vain, kicking his legs below the surface and clawing at the frills, but it was no good. He would die or wake up from the nightmare, though he had no idea which would come first before he- *splash*
*splash*
*splash*
*splash*
He realized as he struggled that the water had since stopped flowing from the lockers, and aside from his movements, it was still. Save for a rythmatic splashing from where he came from, like steps through a puddle that drew closer by the second. He didn't have to wait long to see, choking in what little air he could as he looked towards his kicking legs, finally seeing the object of all of his horrors. A girl.
"Haha, ohhh, Bob. I thought I told you to be safe tonight, dude," she called out to him, her footsteps shallow as she drew closer. She was walking...on the surface of the water, at least three feet above the ground with that same damned coy smile on her face. And as he continued to fight for whatever shallow breaths he was given, gargling something intelligible, she inhaled deeply behind closed eyes.
When she opened them, they were no longer that sharp green they had been, but were now a stark topaz, practically glowing against the dark of the night above. "Can you smell it?" She asked softly, crouching down above him as she looked around, completely dry above the water. "That stench? That delicious, divine...fear?"
The mop tightened around Robert's throat, and his blood ran cold as he thrashed below the water's surface. Jackie only giggled before she took in another deep breath, her smile cracking wider against her cheeks. "Ahhh, yeeeessssss, yooouuur feeeaaar…" she whispered, her voice three octaves deeper and a coarse, hollow, raspy rumble, "yours is a fear….I would considerrrr… An appetizer…."
Robert's vision was beginning to pepper with stars, but like a beacon of despair that girl continued to speak, her voice clearly audible through the water. She closed her eyes, smoothing herself over as if to control a nervous tick before opening them again, now only a flash of yellow visible. "This… puppet, she is restricted and not without drawbacks, but her knowledge of this world does carry certain...benefits. For example, these halls with which she is so familiar… practically oozing with fear and despair from years of these brats' misery….." Her voice was doubled, both feminine and deep at the same time, but Robert didn't notice. He was too busy suffocating.
Black spots of static were taking hold of his sight as he kicked, desperate to roll, to run, to breath, but it was no use. Jackie simply smiled and stood, eying him with a hungry intent. "Yes, I will indeed make myself at home...but you?" He paused as she flashed a wicked grin, her teeth stained yellow and pointed like daggers. "Mmmmm… Do continue to struggle….Robert. You're only making me hunger for more."
Robert felt the mop tighten further, it's pull beginning to drag him below the surface as he used his hands not to grasp at its frills, but to brace against the tile, to reach for anything he could grab. And through the surface of the water, through a failing vision and a fleeting consciousness, that was when he saw it.
A dark shadow overtook the girl, one he was sure was no figment of his fleeting consciousness. At its top was a bleached, yellowing skull of a deer with canine-like teeth, two slender black arms peeling from the sides to reach down, down towards the helpless janitor. Robert writhed and thrashed against the water, but it was useless as the arms split into long, dagger-like fingers reaching for his chest.
The index extended the longest, and like a needle through cloth it sunk into his chest, spewing a cloud of murky brown into the water as the being breathed the rotten air with apparent pleasure.
The heat of the puncture, burning like hot iron into his skin, met the cold of the water as it sunk deeper into his ribs, and his lungs seized, his blood long since turned to ice. The last thing Robert saw, his mouth open to voice a scream that would never come, was an unhinged jaw leaning down and covering his face, and then there was darkness. Quiet, dry, safe, darkness, in an empty hallway with nothing but a mop resting on the floor.
O - O - O - O - O - O - O
When he stumbled through the other side of the portal, gone was the conditioned air of his home, now replaced with a dry, dusty wind that swept around him. Quickly, Marco opened his eyes to look around, but in all honesty there wasn't much to see. It resembled The Badlands of South Dakota at night, the layered rock formations dotting the landscape hazardously, and the only difference from Earth being the new, red, ringed planet hovering in the sky.
"Pretty cool place, huh?" Star asked, stepping out after him and helping him to his feet. As he dusted himself off, profusely, she added with a gesture around them, "Welcome to the Killing Mountains! Population zero, wildlife zero, and good times, one hundred percent!" She grinned madly at him, but his deadpan expression yielded no reaction before she coughed into her glove. "Aherm, also there's a really cool club out here, just saying."
"Maaaybeeee, open with that next time?" he offered, following her as she began walking higher up the mountain, but even as he said it with a smile, she scoffed at the idea and brushed it off just as quick. "How can I blow your mind if I keep your expectations high?" she countered with a smirk, "Gotta set those standards nice and low so when you see what I have in store, you're completely blown away."
While horrified at the prospect that Star put any thought into her words or introductions, Marco chose to keep his opinions to himself, and kept walking. It was weird that they were actually doing this so openly, given their current… situations, and the implications around them, but so long as Star was acting friendly and cheerful, he was more than satisfied.
The air was somewhat thin up there, and despite being nighttime in the desert, it was still uncomfortably hot. He could only imagine what it would feel like during the day, likely rivaling even the hottest summer days in Echo Creek. "So is this place like the Bounce Lounge? And follow up question, why are we going to a desert club with these weird clothes on?"
"Oh Marco, Marco Marco Marco...," she chuckled back, the two now steps away from what he could tell was the peak of the mountain, "This place, is nothing like the Bounce Lounge. And I told you, we wanna fit in because this is just what people wear out here."
Marco made to offer a candid remark about her vagueness, but as they topped the mountain he was both too stunned to speak, and too surprised that her description actually made sense. This place was nothing like the Bounce Lounge.
Down the face of the mountain and nestled in the crook of several others was a sphere, one made of some kind of dark, vesicular rock easily a few hundred yards across. It appeared to be held in place by several large, metal supports around it's base, but it's most striking feature was easily the prismatic scoring on the outside that let slip thin shafts of multicolored, pulsating light. Nearest the bottom of the side facing them, Marco was quick to notice a simple carpeted entrance guarded by blue figures, classic velvet rope lining the edges, but other than that, it looked pretty normal by Star's standards.
"Shalllll we?" she asked him, nodding her head towards the looming structure, "or do you wanna go back home and enjoy being grounded and miserable?" Her little jab wasn't edged with spite by any means, but the implication that she knew he was just as miserable stung enough to light a spark of adventure in his chest. So without further barbing, he nodded, following her as she made her way down the mountainside.
"How'd you find this place, by the way?" he asked, noting the way she carefully stepped down the not-so-beaten path, like she was retracing them, "I wanna guess Ponyhead, but honestly this place seems too much for even her."
Star giggled at the implication that anything could be too vibrant and booming for Ponyhead, but nonetheless shook her head, the two rounding a jagged boulder marking their hidden pathway. "Nah, I actually know the guy that owns this place," she offered, still keeping in line with her budding vagueness, "We don't really know each other all that much, but I learned about it when I was reading up on him. This place is like, a couple hundred years old by now, but he decided about, I dunno, forty years ago, that he kinda liked the theme you and I are wearing."
"So he's probably a Madonna kinda guy, huh?" Marco asked, earning a blank look from his permed-out counterpart, "Orrrr, maybe he just likes the music? I know my parents still do, at least." More blank looks from Star, so he decided it best to just go with it. Not like they had the time to rerun an entire decade of rockstars and cold wars, anyway.
But after a moment of more walking, Star suddenly slowed her stride to match his, pushing some of her bedraggled hair out of the way to properly meet his eyes. "I really appreciate you coming with me, even as friends," she offered quietly, the encroaching thrum of silenced music reverberating from the sphere, "I know I messed things up, and I went too far, but uhm...I'd like to take you up on that offer of trying to forget anything happened, at least for tonight?"
Marco was quiet for a moment, something that exponentially heightened her worry, but finally his lips curled into a genuine smile as he answered, "You didn't mess things up, Star. I let things get out of control, and I need to fix things so neither of you are stuck with my consequences. Alright?" She nodded slowly, not entirely believing that, but he met it with enthusiasm regardless. "Then let's start day two of our friendship with a bang, and forget about all our problems for tonight, yeah?" At that, she returned his graceful smile before reaching out her hand, which he was happy to shake.
"My name's Star Butterfly, nice to meet you, ladies man," she giggled, enjoying the sight of his reddening cheeks. But he was just as quick to return the favor, offering with a grin, "Name's Marco Diaz, nice to meet you too, 'Princess'."
The two cascaded into a short fit of laughter at each other's expense, but shared a genuine sense of relief that even though things were weird, and different, they could still just be themselves without a care. As they stepped up to the carpeted entrance, closely watched by two, hulking blue men in suites with jagged horns protruding from their temples, they stopped, waiting for a prompt to enter. "You two on the list?" one of them grumbled, his voice as deep as a bass guitar.
Marco made to flounder for an excuse, but Star had it covered, quickly closing the distance between herself and the guard before producing a small, cyan crystal the side of a quarter. "I know the guy upstairs, so how's about we skip the list, and you guys give us a couple of drink passes for wasting our time?"
Marco stiffened, both at her incredulous demands to be treated like, well, royalty, and because it somewhat reminded him of how Penelope would treat those who served her. But his assessment was quickly quenched when the largest of the blue guards broke out into a grin, pulling the velvet trope aside for their entry. "Easy there, Princess. Just messin with you some, you know drinks are free to any friends of DJ Krystyl," he chuckled, his laughter a deep rumble Marco could feel as well as hear, "Enjoy your night, you two, and don't be such a stranger. You know the boss is busy but we always got time to hear about things back in Men-wi."
"It's uhh, Mewni, actually, but no probs, guys! Tell 'Krystyl' I said hi!" she answered, practically dragging Marco forward towards the rock face. When they were out of earshot, however, she whispered back to him, "I have no idea who 'Krystyl' is, so don't bother asking."
"Noted? I think?" he whispered, looking up at the looming, and very solid rock face she was walking towards, "Can I bother asking where the door is? Because I don't see us...climbing this thing- what are you-?!" without warning, she lunged forward, rushing headlong into the rock before disappearing from view, Marco closing his eyes as the surface of the sphere surged closer. But as the seconds passed, nothing.
'Weird, I didn't feel-'
"Open your eyes, Diaz, you're missing everything!" Star called, her grip on his hand continuously dragging him further into the unknown.
Music baby!
~Whitney Houston : I wanna dance with somebody~
Good lord the noise that slammed into his eardrums nearly stopped his heart. One, because it was so loud he forgot even his own name for a moment, his brain shutting down all non essential functions to process it, and two, because he actually recognized the song. Finally, he managed to peel his eyes open, only to immediately close them in light of the blinding...light? He chanced another careful squint, this time steadily acclimating to the fury of light working in tandem with the booming music, and like clockwork, Star watched as his mouth dropped.
'Ba-looown, awaaaaay.'
The sphere, a monument at least two hundred yards wide and about as discrete as a circus, was actually not a big dumb rock Star had dragged him out here to gawk at, but an impossibly huge Geode. Completely hollow, the inside surface of the sphere was nothing but a three hundred and sixty degree carved quartz field, with shimmering obelisks scattered about. Marco was in awe, his eyes darting first to the most prominent feature: another sphere, this one polished metal, floating in the center of the geode and flashing an endless array of colors.
In random intervals, it would flash white and shoot a beam of energy to any of the crystal towers, but nonetheless it continued to rotate, reflecting all manner of sights on it's silvery face. The next and albeit somewhat alarming thing Marco noticed, was that there was no accommodation for the spherical shape of the club, the edges of their entrypoint immediately sloping upward and around until they hit the ceiling. But before he could even ask about it, Star grabbed his cheeks and angled his head straight up to gawk helplessly at her silent answer.
All along every surface of the geodes interior were people, all glued to the floor as normally as they were, tossing gravity and, honestly, physics to the wind. "Yeah don't think about it too hard," Star was quick to offer, pulling him deeper into the geode as he found that the floor was always magically flat beneath them, "the big ball in the center makes its own gravity, so you can walk anywhere and still be at the 'bottom'."
"That's…. Discomforting," was all Marco could offer in response to her explanation. Given no time to process, Star dragged him up along a path marked with glowing amethyst towards a more crowded area, and true to her word his feet were always planted on flat crystal floors. Looking up, he noticed several other entry points scattered about the geode and realized that there had to be others, possibly in different dimensions that- "Wanna drink?" Star suddenly asked, stopping just past a smatter of alien 'people'. Marco followed her gesture to a large, carved out tower of quartz and found that a luxurious bar was the object of so many people's attention.
"Uhhh, I umm…" Marco glanced at Star, then back towards the bar, the crowd of people swaying like waves in an ocean. For whatever reason, he was starting to feel dizzy, the lights flashing and the pounding of the music overtaking all input he could process. His breaths were getting deeper, and it felt like it was getting hotter with each passing second, his nerves winding tight as he looked around the room. But like a beacon of structure to his senses, Star grabbed his shoulder, pulling his attention to her and her alone. "Hey, look at me," she prompted, drawing his eyes to hers.
"Just breathe, okay? You look like you're about to throw up, so how's about we sit down for a sec?" She watched as his chest began to heave more rhythmically, his swaying becoming less apparent by the second. After a moment of reacclimation, he nodded, letting her lead him to a small table made from a slice of a much smaller geode, the chairs seemingly grown from chunks of quartz. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd get overloaded like that," she offered, helping him sit down, "this place is definitely pretty wild, but you'll get used to it pretty quick. Just hang out here for a sec and I'll get us some drinks alright?"
Another nod and she was gone, disappearing into the rush of the bar like a drop in a river. Marco sat there, letting his nerves return to normal as he struggled to process the mix of vertigo and anxiety that had tightened his chest. He wasn't bad with crowds, afraid of heights, or unaccustomed to the weird and wild world of Star, but this place had still rocked him with a sensory overload like he'd never seen.
A touch of shame came with the idea of cowering at a nightclub when he had just experienced a fist-for-face tournament for two straight days, but he reminded himself that these two were not one and the same. He steadily ran the paces of his breathing exercises, a few of which he had practiced with Star, and by the second, he felt that heat and dizziness leave, replaced by his returning sense of wonder, rather than anxiety.
Finally, Star returned, setting down two hollowed-out geode cups, the stone polished away to leave it crystal clear, and a frothy, green liquid foaming inside. "How are you feeling?" She asked, sitting down across from him and taking a sip of her drink. Marco looked down at his own, and after a moment of quiet deliberation, took a swig as well, finding it tasting similar to guava and green apple. With a kick.
"Better, thanks. I think I uh...got a little overwhelmed with everything here, you know?" He asked softly, giving her a reassuring smile that she was quick to return.
"Yeah, my first time here was pretty crazy too, but like I said, ya get used to it." She took another big swing of her drink and glanced around the hollow sphere, enjoying the sights as a new song began to play. "Soooo, crazy tournament huh? You got any big plans for your prizes?"
Marco choked on his drink, now rudely reminded that he had more money than he knew what to do with just lying around at the M.R.C.. College was a big one, maybe something nice for his parents? "Wait, did you say prizes? Like, plural?" Marco couldn't help but ask after a moment of thought, "I thought the big chest of money was plenty 'prize' enough."
Now grinning, Star had to scoff at the idea that the Royal Butterfly Tournament would offer a meager cash prize as its only reward. "Pfffha! Are you kidding me? Marco, there's like four other prizes!" She exclaimed with a shake of her head, "puh-lease, 'durr I'm Marco and I think a couple of coins is all I get for being duh strongest in the kingdom', you know how crazy that sounds?"
"Wha-! A few coins? Star there's at least a few million dollars in that chest! How can there be more than that?" He asked incredulously, watching as she finished the last of her foaming green beverage.
Setting it down with a satisfied sigh, she again shook her head, giving him a disappointed look. "Poor, naive, stupid Marco, never change. Sure, a couple prizes are kinda worthless now that we're stuck here, but I mean, two of them are super good!"
"Like?"
Star leaned forward, her self-satisfied smirk blooming in the flashing light. "For one, you get your pick of one of the royal warnicorns," she noted, more than pleased as Marco's expression conveyed a piqued interest, "annnnd, you get like, unlimited corn shakes from the Shake shack for the next year!"
Marco was giving her a deadpanned look that she didn't quite understand until it curled into a challenging smile. "So, a horse, and a coupon for corn shakes to last a year," he listed, watching as she followed intently, "is equal to you, to a few million dollars in gold. Is that right?"
"Yup!" Came her ecstatic answer, zero hesitation edging her words, "I mean, the other prizes are a plot of land and like, a dozen Beetle Bulls, but you don't know corn about raising them, and we don't have the land to give you...soooo, yup! Worthless by comparison!"
Marco shook his head with a grin after finishing his own drink, offering softly, "you and I need to have a serious chat about economics when we get back home. But for now, you think we're good to have another one of these?" He gestured to his empty cup, and Star's eyes lit up devilishly.
"I dunooo, Diaz. You think you can handle the next step up? It's pretty crazy." Where she expected him to call her bluff and charge into the next round, however, Marco seemed to seriously consider it before eying the bar once more. "Unless, you wanna stop? We could uh… we could go home if you want too."
Something about the plain-laid unease in her voice, however, seemed to shake him from his momentary stupor, recognizing that this could very well be something she seriously needed. A night to cut loose and forget, after all of the stress of the last two days? He knew he needed it, even if the circumstances didn't warrant a binge night out. Maybe it was the warmth developing in his gut after a meager one drink, but Marco found the courage to smile and slam both hands on the table as he stood. "Next rounds on me, Butterbutt. Just try and keep up," he challenged, leaving her at the table without a response as he strode to the bar.
That confidence and bravado was immediately undermined by that lingering vertigo, the walls of the geode rising to meet him with each step as Star slowly but surely rose up the floors behind him. 'How does any of this even work? What was the name… Krysmas?' he mulled as he weaved through a wild assortment of clubbers.
There was a four legged beast with deep brown dreadlocks obscuring its body from view, several humanoids with aquatic, mermaid-like features, though they kept to themselves. There were beings that closely resembled walking pillbugs, a few more humanoids with horns and pastel skin that reminded him of Tom, and the weirdest, most out-of-place thing of all, "people?" Marco asked it aloud as he reached the bar, sizing up the sequin-suited man behind the counter.
"Person, but sure, kid. You buyin' something or what?" he asked behind a self polishing crystal pint glass, "Got a line going here, and I wouldn't wanna be yous when them woolettes show up. Whatcha want?" Marco looked back at Star, who was slightly slanted up the embankment and giving him a thumbs up. When he turned back to the bartender, he offered in a voice one octave lower than normal, "We just had the green stuff, what else ya got? On..Krystines? Kristmas…." He thought for a moment on what Star said,, reminded by every aspect of the club thus far.. "Oh! We're on Krystyls tab tonight."
The man arched an eyebrow before setting down the glass and rag. He carefully raised a hand to his left ear, whispered something Marco couldn't hear above the booming music, before nodding to no one and reaching under the counter. Marco began to fear the worst, but when two, wide rimmed bowls of polished topaz were presented, the man laughed his reaction off with a grin. "Yous a jumpy little squirt aint ya? But, boss says it's whatever, so go nuts kid."
Marco made to ask any of several questions about the geode club, but the man silenced any further conversation by flexing his back, two more arms tearing from over his shoulders to reach for needed ingredients. "Aye, eyes down here, squirt. You wanna Luscious Moxy? Decadent Dancer? Oorrrr, ya feeling Divebomb Hammer?"
Several seconds of reactionary impulses went by before Marco even began to consider his choices. And after some safe kid deliberation, he decided on the first, given the name of the other and took to watching the guy work. While two hands held, dressed, and shook his stone mixer, his upper two went to work grabbing, preparing, pouring, and tossing ingredients in an order that seemed entirely random. One red vine of grapes, some sparkling blue water, a few orange leaves, a slice of...something squeaking, some pink liquid, and finally, two little umbrellas before the man slid the two cups to Marco, only seven seconds having passed. "Two Luscious Moxies for the little squirt up front," he offered nonchalantly before turning his attention to the next customer, "Alright one of you wise guys ordered the Cats Tail and I ain't mixin until he fesses up! I got a warming Krunt-cake right here who wants it!"
Marco trudged back to the table speechless as the crowd behind him exploded into restlessness in time with the music, and sat back down across from Star.
"Soooo, how was Marshal?" she asked in a coo he could barely hear before taking her drink from his frozen hand, "Guys a bit of a jerk, but he knows how to make a drink." She took a sip, finding it absolutely perfect, but Marco stared at it for a moment, both wondering how the solid parts weren't there, and how it was now a deep violet. Finally, he managed to ask, "So his name is Marshal?" with a slight squeak to his voice, settling his nerves one at a time, "Coooool. I uh… he seems fun."
Finally, he managed a sip of his own drink, and found that Star's mesmerized expression of satisfaction entirely undersold it. The 'Luscious Moxy', or whatever it was, tasted like strawberry cream soda with a hint of orange and vanilla, with an even bigger kick. His belly warmed further with each swig, and before he even knew what had happened, his glass was empty and his head was fuzzy.
"Okay so, I'm definitely gonna need a portal to this guy's bar like, one a week," Marco noted as Star's own excitement seemed to edge him on, "I didn't even know stuff could taste this good! How are you not here like, all the time?"
Star shrugged, though after a moment she shot him a crooked grin, transfixed on his undulating hair and captivating enthusiasm. There was a slight chance that their drinks were a bit stronger than anticipated, but not one to shy away from a good time, Star answered slyly, "how do you know I'm not? Maybe I just want to take a break from my shackles once in a while, Diaz."
"Ohhh, I'm so sure. Being a princess must be sooo hard for you, lemme just shed some tears for poor princess Star," Marco chuckled back before his eyes shot open, the two of them looking down at their empty cups. That warmth in his gut was getting hotter by the second, and he felt like he could wrestle a bull. "One, I did not mean that, and two, the hell's in this stuff? Why do I feel so… bold all of the sudden?"
A moment passed as Star ran through the list in her head before answering boldly, "Aha! You got the Moxie didn't you?!"
Marco nodded, though he didn't look any more informed than a moment before. Star nodded with a confident smirk that he was itching to… kiss? Weird. "Yeah, this stuff is delicious, but the drinks are designed to mess with your head a little. You wanna loosen up? Ocean Unwind. You wanna talk business? Brokers Stout. Annnd, you wanna feel a little bolder…?"
"Luscious Moxy…," Marco breathed, though he didn't feel all that surprised, and those odd thoughts about how cute Star looked in her getup made all the more sense. "Well, so what if I ordered something that sounded cool? You don't like it you can kiss my ass," came a snappy, if a little sarcastic response that Star couldn't help but giggle at, likely thanks to the Happy Tree Frog she ordered first. Though he didn't find it quite as funny.
"Sorry sorry, but it's just so cute seeing you all 'super bold', you've got some stones on you, big man," she laughed before pressing her lips together in an uncomfortable grimace at her own words. That, Marco did find a little funny, and gestured toward the bar with one of her trademark self-satisfied smirks. "Well how's about we have one more? I hear this place has a drink for dancing, and maybe I wanna see if all your energy can outpace that mouth of yours."
Now it was his turn to stiffen awkwardly at his unintended outburst, but Star shrugged it off with a challenging smile. Maybe that Moxy was a bit too strong, because she leaned close enough for him to smell the vanilla in her breath before whispering in his ear, "let's see if the big bad warrior prince can keep up first, huh macho man?"
Marco's cheeks flooded red, but not one to be outdone by her emboldened words, he stood without a second thought and marched towards the bar, half intent on making his drink a double for good measure.
As Star watched him go, perhaps gawking at his stride a little too much, she shook her head and glared at her empty cup like it too had just slapped her. 'Cooooool those jets girl, you're here as friends, don't scare him off with all that crazy talk,' she mused, but her emboldened emotions came in crashing waves of warmth that spread throughout her body. Maybe it wasn't the best thing for their relationship right now, given all that was going on, but honestly? She was feeling pretty damn good
So he accidentally bought one of the absolute, worst possible drinks for their friendly outing, she could handle herself… right?
But as Marco waited not-so-patiently in line for another round, his thoughts were anything but handled. 'What the hell was all that about?' He internally seethed, 'what happened to just friends with both of them? You're supposed to be taking it easy not egging her on!' But at the same time, how in corn's name was he supposed to know that he had picked the absolute, worst possible drink? Or even that they messed with your head? No, he had to take it easy with the drinks, reel himself and Star in, and try to keep himself from ruining their relationship any further.
And like clockwork, that warmth began to rise once more, filling his head with unspeakable acts of both the past and future of their relationship, twisting his own thoughts against him. 'Or maybe, we try to keep having fun- as friends of course- and we just enjoy ourselves? We've earned it after all the shit we've been through...right?'
Marco slammed the swirling red pint glasses down on the table and for a moment was worried they might have broken. But as Star took hers, visibly forcing herself to smile politely, Marco sat down, taking his own glass and returning the expression. And while the two of them were internally screaming about how easy it would be to flip the table and fight each other to the death, they each took a sip.
"It uhh, kinda tastes like a Bloody Mary, with a hint of battery acid," Marco noted, downing another sip so as not to be outdone.
Star wiped a smudge of red from her lips and nodded, answering, "I dunno, it's like a Pepper Beetle mixed with pop rocks and...tomato soup? I kinda like it."
The two sat for a moment, each trying to one up the other in how fast they could finish it before Star slapped her empty cup to the side, exclaiming "done! Suck it Karate boy! You got nuthin' on 'the big bad Butterfly'!"
"Yeah yeah whatever," he spat, pushing his empty glass to the side, "gloat all you want, but we both know who the dancer is here. Need I remind you of our little ballroom adventure?" Star gave him an overexpressed shrug, shaking her head at the idea that she was anything but the best partner he'd ever danced with.
"What would you remind me of, Diaz? You were too busy drooling over my pretty eyes to focus on anything," she purred, leaning closer as her head practically screamed 'chill out chill out chill out chill out!'. "Sure I might have stepped on your toes a couple of times, but I know you were just loving all the magic of the moment. Figuratively and literally."
Where she expected him to concede her point, however, he doubled down on his efforts of proving her wrong and stood so fast the table jumped. "How about we have a little contest then? Best dancer gets to pick the next drink," he challenged, his mind racing in range of 'not a good idea!' to 'why are you enabling her?! Just order a normal fucking drink!'
"You're on, Diaz," she answered with a quick jump from the chair to the tabletop, not caring about the scene they were making, "but when I win, the drink I pick's gonna leave you begging to come here every weekend for the rest of your life!"
Hoo corn, where any of this was coming from, she couldn't say, but as she led him towards the opposite end of the geode, Star found herself caring less and less. About Tom, about Penny, about anything. She was out here to feel good and forget, and by Glossaryck she was getting her wish. Of course, that nagging feeling that this still needed to remain 'platonic' remained, reminding her that no matter what, they were just friends. But so long as Marco was as happy as he looked, how much trouble could they really get into?
As she rounded that last amethyst marker to the dance floor, Marco found his jaw reaching for the floor yet again. Where he expected a flat dance floor with the aforementioned crystals, he was delightfully stunned to find nothing of the sort. Literally. There was no dance floor, because it was actually a series of floating ruby and sapphire platforms circling each other lazily at all angles. Dancing couples, raging groups, clubbers of all shapes and sizes danced on rotating rock faces as though gravity simply had no meaning, flipping head over heels without a care.
"How uh, how do we get up there?" He asked, finding that warmth in his gut waning in lieu of a simple, contented joy. Likely thanks to the Happy Tree Frog. Star answered with a knowing smile, her own cheeks losing their flush as her stomach cooled its uncontrollable urges. She wanted this moment to last; to enjoy his wonder for just a bit longer, so she didn't say anything, instead waiting for the telltale 'ding'.
"Why are you staring at me like-"
*DING*
Marco was ripped from his worldly roots, pulled straight into the air on a surprise gust of wind that planted him neatly on a thankfully deserted ruby. A quick inspection of his body proved that he was still fine- even if his heart was beating thirty beats faster -and another glance revealed a grinning Star standing several crystals away on her own personal sapphire. "BAH-LOOOOWN! UH-WAAAAY!" she called out, earning her fair share of eyerolls for the year.
Marco made to run a quick check of how to drive the stupid rock, knowing full well that Star was playing in home territory now, when all music stopped, the lights all dying in quick succession. Plunged into darkness, he wasn't left blind for long as the silver sphere in the center of the geode lit up bright cyan, bathing everything but the shell of the club in brilliant light.
"wwwwwwWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAATSSSS GOING OOOOONNNNNN EVERYOOOOONNNNNEEEEE!" Boomed a voice from everywhere, making Marco plug his ears as quickly as possible. And though it helped some, the deep, manly voice reverberating in his skull listened as the geode roared with cheers at his arrival.
"THAT'S RIGHT! DJ KRYSTYL IS IN THE HOOOOUUUUUSEEEEEE!" it roared again, the sphere blinking once to reveal a scaly man with… a crystal for a head? 'Ohh, crystal….DJ Krystyl, nice,' he rationalized as the man on the sphere flexed his snake-like arms for good measure.
"I HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAVING AS MUCH FUN AS I AM! BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT! TO! GET! WIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLDDDDDD!" The voice boomed throughout the geode once more, well met by another roar of applause and cheering before it continued, "IT'S TIME TO TURN UP THE LIGHT, AND SAY GOODNIGHT! IM GONNA CRANK THE BEAT, SO START MOVING YOUR FEET! LET'S! GET! CRAAAZYYYYYYY!"
And with that wild interjection over, the sphere returned to normal, resuming its pulsating glow as the music kicked on, the rest of the club ramping up into another blast of music. Energy pulses, the stomping of countless feet, the roar of sound that overtook his ears, Marco was safely well and out of his element, but Star was one shining beacon that wouldn't be ignored.
"Come one, Diaz! Let's see what you got!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the music if only to reach him, and him alone. He turned to look in her direction to give her the attention she so richly deserved, and in doing so found that his feet hadn't moved. Rather, the crystal he called his perch had rotated at his will, until he was facing her directly.
He shot her a lopsided, confused grin and shrugged, hoping to wing it as he went, and without further provocation, decided to experiment. The first move that came to mind? A shuffle, his feet jarringly jerking forward as he stayed in place, a simulated walk as his crystal began to hover towards his distanced partner.
It was weird, how even a simple move could feel so effortless, but it was. He wasn't even losing breath over it as Star grinned, watching him carefully as she decided to join in. She jumped to his crystal in one bound as he drew closer and began to shuffle along as well, their feet filling in the gaps left by the other as she walked backwards, and he walked forward.
It wasn't glamorous or showy, but it was enough, the two grabbing each other's hands and swinging their shoulders in time with the beat. Their crystal was spinning now, lazily turning to exhibit the entirety of the interior of the club, but Marco was transfixed on the wave of laughter coming from the girl before him. "Not bad for a bit of fun, but what else ya got?" she giggled, letting him go and kicking off, somersaulting back onto a floating ruby.
Marco was amazed, but Star was quick to shake it off. "Just a little trick of the gravity in here, hahaha, go ahead and try it!"
He looked down at his feet, and then back up to Star, the girl giving him a quick nod to trust her. So he did, kicking off as well and arching his back, letting himself float upwards before cascading back down, straight to the floor. "OOF!" he grunted as he hit the polished stone, Star already moving to help. But he held out a hand, eager to try again.
Marco slowly picked himself up, and as the music began to rise, his eyes darting to several crystals, he kicked off again, following the path in his mind. Up he rose, and with the first crystal he rolled with his hands before kicking off again, twisting his body gracefully. Another crystal grew in his sight, and once again he kicked off, arching his back and somersaulting in slow motion as he fell in reverse. One more gem, this one smaller, and he pushed off one last time, this move using his history with martial arts to roll his body and twist majestically, using his momentum to fling himself towards his destination.
An easy landing into a slide on the polished crystal, he was on his knees before Star, not even aware he had been hysterically laughing. "That was… That's…" he struggled to form the words as he gathered his thoughts, but Star didn't need them anyway. She simply grabbed his outstretched hands and jumped, pulling him off the floor closer to her chest as they soared. But it was short lived as she flung him off, landing him on a sapphire as she careened towards a ruby, both of them spinning gracefully to a stop on their respective stones.
Star flashed him only a grin as a warning, and took off again, this time straight for him as he hurriedly did the same, jumping with all he had. And midair, the two met, colliding with form and care as they spun, their legs outstretched but their arms around each other. Their bodies rolled together, a passing amethyst catching them slowly before Star pulled him closer, moving to circle him as they danced.
Marco could only watch as she curled around him, pulling and pushing his body as they moved, but most surprisingly? They moved as one, his mind racing to match her cues and steps effortlessly. Where she led, he followed, and vice versa as their amethyst rolled to present the atmosphere around them like a starry night. Star pulled his arm up and stepped under, meeting him at the front before Marco twirled her hand, reeling her out and pulling her back in to meet his chest.
And only then did the two begin to realize the toll their moves were taking, all the skill in the world not enough to compensate for how quickly they stepped and how numerous their steps were. But Star, Marco noticed, had More than enough stamina to spare, slowly edging towards outmaneuvering him, her nimble form quite literally dancing circles around him as he could only accent her movements. She was stunning, graceful, and the only thing he found himself being focused on, her smile captivating and her motions transfixing.
Neither said a word as the song began to die down, and as Star sidestepped to lead, she noticed how careful and considerate Marcos' return was, every step coordinated and every motion accounted for. At first, he tried to mirror her, to meet her challenge with counterpoise, but now? He was watching her carefully, his attention hers alone, and his body gracefully flowing with hers to the music. They were as one as they'd ever been, and… was the song ending?
Panic began to overtake her as she realized their moment was ending, her monopoly on his gaze, so she slowed her motions to move close, her body pressing to his as she struggled to captivate the moment as her own. She wanted more of him, more time to keep him, but it was dwindling as they circled, their eyes locked together in equilibrium. Her history with him was fading as the next day approached as fast as the end of their dance did, and she needed to keep him close. She was terrified he would fade as the music was, and she needed to- "Star?" Marco asked, smiling down at her.
"...Y-yeah?" she asked back, blushing as they danced, recoiling into a spin before colliding with his chest again. But Marco only met her temporary confusion was a laugh, leaning closer and hugging her as the last chords began to play. "You're an amazing dancer, drink or not. I think it's safe to say you won."
Star blinked, rewinding her thoughts and replaying the last minute, just as the song ended, the music's finale leaving her cold even under his embrace. She looked around, stunned to find a crowd had gathered, a rush of cheers echoing all around her. Turning back to her partner, she took a step back, forcing up a smile and letting the burn in her gut take the reins as she struggled to keep her calm. "Yeah, I've had some practice," she laughed, "You think I took the trophy on it then, huh?"
But as their dazzling amethyst platform slowly began its spiral towards the lower end of the dance floor, Marco finally allowed the recoil of his charged muscles to ease their tension, taking a step back to admire the girl before him. The flash of an aquamarine light mixed with the display of the orbs released to the nearest tower lit up her face, and the smile between her cheeks warmed his heart.
It was safe to say that the last few minutes of his life were a blur of steps and pacing, but the only thing that had been on his mind was the girl he had been dancing with. The way she moved, the way she looked, she was everything that existed for the short time they had danced. There was nothing else around them, just her, and he found nothing but peace in that.
"Hello? Earth to Marco, you just gonna stand there all night?" She called to him, moving in close and knocking on his forehead to get his attention, "Or are you ready to finally cave in and admit glorious defeat?" She tapped her boot to the crystals face, signaling their dance was over, and waited for his response as their ride gracefully returned them to the geode face.
Marco, however, wasn't sure how to form the words to respond, his mind still racing in light of her thrilling display of showmanship. Shaking his head into a smile, Marco nodded and extended a hand her way. "Congrats Star, that was… honestly the most fun I've had in awhile."
Star met his grin with a lopsided one of her own, pushing her frazzled hair back into place before taking his hand to shake. It was warm. A little calloused, but it made her palm tingle, his own heartbeat pulsing in rhythm with hers. "Ditto, Marco," she beamed back, "I think our ballroom dance was juuust a little better though. And not just 'cuz it was magic."
As their amethyst coasted to a stop, its bottom edge bonding with the geode face perfectly, Marco stepped off and helped Star down, their hands still intertwined. It wasn't until they had reached an empty table that they awkwardly let each other go, the effects of their go-getter drinks starting to subside, if only for a moment. Left with a now empty feeling in his gut, Marco stammered to make conversation, but nothing seemed to fit. "So yeah...I uh...we- ...thanks for the dance Star," he offered, fixing his hair, "you definitely won, so I guess: what drink are you picking?"
Star was caught off guard, smiling aimlessly at his awkward commendations when she frowned, realizing he was asking a question. 'Get your head on straight, girl, it was just a dance! A normal, friendly...enchanting… Uhhhhh…' she shook her head to dispel the intrusive thoughts, finding herself more than a little lost without her liquid courage to keep her going. "Sorry, must still be a little dizzy, haha! What was that?"
"I uh, asked you what drink you wanted?" He asked again with a tilt of his head, "you won, so you get to pick, Butterbutt."
"Oh! Rightrightright, ummmm," Star tried hard to think on the few drinks she could remember, but none of them were enticing enough to draw her thoughts away from the last five minutes of their evening. Full honesty? She really just needed a moment to gather herself, so in a panicked yap, she blurted, "just ask Marshal for a good one, and make sure he knows you lost a bet!"
Marco met her excitable grin with narrowed eyes, but ultimately wavered into a nod as he stood to adhere to her request. He left without a fight, and as soon as he disappeared she let her head lull forward to rest her chin on the table's edge. "Why do you have to be so amazing," she grumbled, glaring back at the dance floor like it had personally offended her.
The feelings making her chest tight weren't new by any stretch of the imagination, but after both his and Moon's verdict, they carried a new weight she couldn't shake. 'If I just had a chance…,' came more of the same whispers in her head, but this time she didn't fight back. She thought about Penelope and Jackie, of Tom and Moon, and while she knew the line she had drawn in the sand was fading quickly in both directions, the thoughts stayed. She was committed to Tom, more or less, and Marco still had yet to tell her his decision on Penelope's mandate: quit being Star's or else. 'I mean, he might as well have said he was keeping his job, but… what if he wants to stop anyway?'
The very idea that Marco would quit being her guide filled her with dread, but despite his promise to do what was best for everyone, she also knew deep down that that included her. And all she really wanted was to be able to spend time with him. Even… if that came at a price.
"No more thursdays, no more lying," he told her, the conviction of his voice steady as a mountain, and she knew she agreed. She had Tom, and sure he was acting a little weird, but he was trying. She could make up with Penelope, adhere to Moons wishes, and…
She groaned into the table. "You'd be miserable," came her wavering grumble. Tom was clingy, questionable, and brutish. Penelope was a lot of things Star didn't want to think about, and Moon was more interested in pleasing the people than her own daughter. Hell, the only person who genuinely cared about Star's happiness, and sought to support her without question, was Marco. The one person she was so tantalizingly close to, yet so impossibly restricted from.
"If I just had a chance," she repeated, pulling herself together, desperately hoping she could succeed in tonight's mission to forget, "I would make you as happy as you always make me."
O - O - O - O - O - O - O
Marco rubbed the back of his neck, idly sitting at the bar waiting for whatever Marshal would concoct, and more than happy to have a few quiet-ish moments to himself. He'd be lying to say the dance wasn't genuinely fun, but now that he could think straight at a minimum distance of ten yards from Star, he found his excitement practically melting.
The drinks actively fighting for control in his gut had since quieted some, but he could still feel that familiar tug to do something daring and aerobic. And while the blasting music was doing little to ease his tension, a deep breath and a roll of his shoulders helped enough to root himself as he continued to wait.
He glanced back at Star, finding her resting her chin on the table in glum repose, and he couldn't help but feel for her. The last few weeks alone had been a lot, from Tom, to Penny, to Moon, she had more than her fair share of stress to mitigate, something they had in common, and even from here her natural glow had faded back to grey after their dance.
'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…,' his mind groaned, recounting that her mood clearly hadn't improved, which if he was being honest neither had his. 'Or, maybe, you just need to have a little more-'
"No, shut up," Marco found himself saying aloud, shaking his head for even a touch of clarity. "We need to talk. And fix things before we lose both of them." Star might have been set on now ignoring the wishes of others for the sake of her own happiness, but he knew that was a fever dream. Sacrifices have to be made, and if it meant keeping all of his new friends, he would have to settle for a clean slate with the both of them.
Lights flashed indigo over the bar crystal, seemingly charging the light of the counter as Marco took another deep breath to keep himself focused, another wave of moxy heating his gut. "Last drink, and then we go home. Nothing weird, no awkward silence, just a real, long conversation about how to move forward."
"Seems like you're talking plenty to yourself there, kid," Marshal interrupted, rapping two sets of fingers against the quartz counter, "you need a minute to settle an argument or are ya ready to order?"
Frowning, Marco rolled his eyes and shook some of the dizziness from between his ears before answering, "I'm good. But I lost a bet, so drinks are your call this round." He spoke in a dejected sigh, eager to get the rest of the evening over with despite the dance they had just shared.
Marshal thankfully seemed to pick up on the mood and nodded to himself, resting his hands on the counter and leaning closer. "You look like you could use a little pick-me-up," he offered with a knowing smirk, "something to liven up your little uh...party of two, yeah?"
Marco narrowed his eyes, but he was thoroughly invested nonetheless, leaning closer himself and gesturing for Marshal to explain. But a mock 'my lips are sealed' motion from the bartender extended no further information. "It's tonight's special, one of our V.I.P. drinks, but just cuz I like ya guys, and because you put on a good show? Tonight you get it on the house."
"And what uh… what is it, exactly?" Marco asked. Marshal didn't answer, instead getting right to work without another word.
A metal flagon in one hand poured a white, viscous liquid into the shaker, as his two upper hands grabbed a glowing ruby and a dark amethyst, smashing them together and mixing in the glimmering powder. "This ones got some kick," Marshal noted, squeezing the juice of a reflective green fruit, and shaving the zest from some sort of opaque blue...thing.
Marco watched with vested interest as more and more ingredients were shaved, cut, smashed, burned, and atomized before his eyes in a blur. All four arms were put to work, a near continuous blending of the shaker keeping the 'special for tonight' in a constant state of movement as Marco tried helplessly to keep up. Even other patrons had stopped to take a gander at the display, as Marshal began to work up a sweat putting everything together with lightning speed and unbreakable focus.
And before he even realized he was done, Marco was surprised when Marshal pushed forward a meager two shot glasses of white liquid. He cocked an eyebrow at the bartender, his fascination giving way to disappointment. "All of that, for these?" He asked, but Marshal took no offense. "Nonsense, squirt. What you're looking at is the very best this joint has to offer, guaranteed to put you in a state of euphoric delectation and delight, or your money back."
Marco eyed the two white glasses, noting the glimmering particles of every color gleaming as they drifted about. "And since I didn't pay for it?"
"Then this little Opal Overdrive is gonna give the two a-yous the night of your lives," Marshal was quick to answer, coaxing the glasses gently closer, "you want em or not kid I got a bar to run."
"Uh- sure sure," Marco stammered, pulling the shots closer before shooting Marshal a curious look, "what do they do?"
Marshal facepalmed with both right hands and shook his head before gesturing back to the glasses. "If yous was paying attention, you'd heard what I said. Best night of your lives, euphoric? Any of that ringing a bell?" Marco glanced back at the milky substances, the opal name becoming apparent. Marshal just sighed and made to move to his next customer. "Take em or leave em, up to you. But you two look like you could use a good time. Like you squirts been through hell or sumthin. Don't ever say I didn't do ya no favors."
And with that, Marshal left Marco alone with both drinks, the air of the club quickly resuming its pounding rhythm once again. 'Opal….Overdrive… that sounds like a recipe for disaster,' he reasoned, picking up one glass and swirling it gently, 'last thing we need is more of...that. I think we should just call it a-" the fire in his gut suddenly roared to life, emptying his mind of all repressive thought. "Best night of our lives though… maybe we could- no no, we need to talk, not party our-"
Marco took a deep breath, finding it hard to wrestle with the growing heat until finally, he gave in, deciding to compromise with his newfound dauntlessness. He would let Star decide. This was, after all, her idea, and a bet was unfortunately a bet, right? He rationalized that as he picked up both drinks and returned to Star, finding her shooting him a lopsided grin.
Apparently she wasn't fairing much better.
"Heyyy, did Marshall give us something good?" She asked, only to be met with an awkward smile as well.
"I uh...think so? He called this stuff Opal Overload? Overdrive?" Marco answered, setting the glasses between them, "said it would 'give us the night of our lives', or whatever. But before we try them… do you think-"
"Can we talk for a sec, Marco?" Star interrupted, now feeling that fire in her gut rise with each second she was close enough to touch her counterpart, "I wanna get something off my chest if that's alright with you."
Marco felt the warmth wither to a frosty ember as he sat down, eyes wide as he muttered, "uh, yeah...sure? What's up?"
She took a deep breath as she pulled her shot glass to her side of the table, leaning forward to meet his eyes in an apparent struggle to keep her cool. "Thank you, Marco. Not just for tonight, but for everything you do for me," she offered, a smile of forced calm between her cheeks, "I uhm… I know things got a little weird back there, but I'm actually feeling a little better just being away from everything. With you…"
Marcos cheeks flushed as a wash of pink light swept over them, the intruding blast of the music beginning to fade as Star continued, her expression fracturing ever so slightly. "You really are my best bestie, Marco, and friends or not, I want you to be as happy as I am, every time I'm with you. And no matter what my mom, Penelope, Tom, or anyone says, I just...want to be a part of that happiness."
His chest tight at her admission, Marco uttered only, "Star…" before she continued, holding up a hand so she could finish. "I'm gonna make some changes in my life too, to focus more on making the right choices, and to stop letting everyone else tell me what I need to do to be happy. If this is our first night starting over as friends, I'll support you no matter what. And I'll follow your lead to be better than we've been without hesitation."
It wasn't until she finished speaking that she realized she was leaning over the table, her insides returning to normal from the chaotic boil they had been sitting at. "Sorry, sorry, went a little overboard," she sputtered as she quickly sat back down, "but I mean it. Whatever you want, Marco, I'm here for you. Even if what you want isn't me any-"
"Star," he interrupted, a gentle, if a little bit forced smile on his face, "I think us just being friends is for the best. Penelope too." Jesus, his gut was burning with all manor of obscenities, but he pushed forward calmly, keeping his inhibitions in check.
"I know this sucks, believe me. But I want you to know that even as friends, I want to keep being your guide, no matter what," he affirmed for her without question, making her heart skip a beat as her cheeks flushed to match his, "If I can somehow find a way to make everything right with everyone, and be happy with it? Well, the only thing that can make that happen is being by your side. No more games, no more secrets, but I'll be right here supporting you until… you don't need me anymore."
Star was silent at that prospect, the idea that one day she wouldn't need Marco too unquestionable to even think about. But with it came a reminder, no longer one of grim circumstance that they were here indefinitely, but of newfound hope that she would never be too far away from her guide. Choosing to leave that information out of it for now, Star nodded, her smile coaxed forward by the warmth inside her. "I'd uh….I'd like that, Diaz."
"And maybe… ya know, in the future…," Marco trailed off, pushing his hair into place as he struggled to keep her nerves and emotions in check. He was on fire now, fighting the urge to blurt out everything on his mind, but he held fast to offer simply, "maybe in the future… we can try again? When we aren't hurting people, and when we're allowed to make our own choices?"
For a fleeting moment, Star's eyes lit up as a red spotlight passed overhead, giving way to a wave of greens, but just as soon as Marco had thought he saw it, she donned a dejected, forced smile. "Don't worry about it, Marco. There's a lot going on right now, and who even knows where we'll be in the future. So… just focus on you, and I'll uhh...focus on me. You know?"
Marco, for what it was worth, tried to understand the sentiment, and ultimately nodded, looking down at his shot glass as the pumping of the music began to return. "Yeah…," he muttered, looking down at his glass, "one more for the road?" Honestly he just felt stupid for having even proposed the idea of there being a future chance for them to be a 'thing', and as he sat there, Star took his silence as further acceptance, grabbing her own glass and raising it.
"To best besties?"
A long pause followed as Marco glanced down at his drink, then back to her deceptively hopeful blue eyes before he finally cracked a half-hearted smile, picking up his glass as well. "To best besties," he returned, clinking his glass against hers. Mirroring one another, the two both fired back their round of shots respectively, before immediately taking to gagging as they choked it down, the kick their drinks supplied more than enough to make an elephant drunk.
"Guh! What the hell is this?" Star asked incredulously, eyeballing her now empty cup, "It tastes like a corn shake someone left in the sun, with a little bit of warnicorn stable and swamp water mixed in!" Despite her choice description, however, she noted that the burning drink actually soothed the roaring fire in her gut, her mind becoming sharper and clearer as the effects of her Luscious Moxy were erased.
"Ugh! Consider yourself lucky! Mine tastes like sour milk with spicy taco sauce and," he shivered at the very idea, "Suggaritos….ughhh." although, much the same as Star, he found the shot had done far more for his nerves and stomach than it had done for his taste buds, leaving him calmer, and far more cognizant.
The two took a moment of silent review over their separate tastes and waited for whatever horrifying effect the drink had to come about. But nothing happened, leaving them sitting idly as they traded an unsure, cautious glance with one another, Marco being the first to break the silence. "Are we...safe? We're still alive?"
"Well that was anticlimactic," Star noted, sitting back in her chair once it became clear that nothing had really changed. Perhaps it wasn't like any of the other drinks, and Marshall was just messing with them. "I dunno about you, Diaz, but I think I could honestly...handle… anooootheeerr... Driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnkkk…."
As the ivory skin on Star's face began to droop, her pupils dilated until her eyes were almost black, her words trailing off. She looked like she was mesmerized by every detail of the world around her, and to that effect, Marco found it hilarious. He broke out into a fit of giggles at her ridiculous reaction, both of her cheek marks moving up and over her face to begin dancing atop her frizzy hair. "Yoooouuuu look soooo duuuummmmbbbb," He managed to say through his giggles, but his words came out in slow motion and two pitches two high as he watched Star's skin begin to change shades to match the lights.
He didn't find any of this the least bit alarming and frankly, he wanted to see more of it. Star, on the other hand, was far too engrossed with Marcos' wildly flapping collar and traveling mole to notice any difference, much less what he had said. All she could do was fall into a matching fit of giggles and try desperately to peel her hands from the crystal table they had become bonded with. "Marcocanyoufeelhowsoftthistableis?!" she sluggishly commented, letting the table consume her fingertips as Marco immediately pressed his face against the cold Quartz.
"OhhhmygodStarit'sSOOOOOOOOsmooooooothhh! Howwwwwwww did they do that?" he mumbled into the polished stone, watching as the table began to grow new stems of crystal wherever Star's hands roamed. "How are YOU doing that?!"
"Doin' wuuuuh?" Star must not have heard, because as she lazily dragged her hands across the table, sprouting new crystals of every color, she looked up at him curiously. What she found was that Marco had donned a brown perm to match hers,and a mustache made entirely out of sugar. Without warning she slammed both hands against the table, rippling it's once steady surface as she lunged for him, desperate to eat every sugary grain of his mustache herself.
"Star! You just broke all of your crystals! How are you supposed-," Marco began as Star fiendishly tried to attack his face, but stopped cold when he noticed that both of her cheek-marks had returned, only to be replaced with Dia de los muertos sugar skulls! "Where di'you get those?!" he cried out, grabbing her wrist and using her reckless charge to pull her over and around the table, "How come you didn't even offer to share with me?!"
"Ditto, Diaz! You have a sugar-stache and you didn't even offer me-" Her words died quickly in her throat when Marco uselessly tried to eat the skull from her cheek, pressing his face against hers without question. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, or risk losing her chance to rob him of his hoarded goodie, Star took to doing the same, relentlessly pecking at his face to dislodge the 'stache. "Gimmie! You can't just hog it all to yourself!" she yelled, the two taking to wrestling as every movement of their arms only served to send shockwaves of rippling color in every direction.
Marco, putting his training to use, tried to subvert her rapid advancement and go for the cheek, but found that Star's blue skin would yield nothing sweet, no matter how relentlessly he rubbed her face. Star, meanwhile, watched as Marco floundered after her face like a fish, before she took to pinching one of his noses, desperate to catch the ever-elusive mustache. She almost had it too, damnit, but just when the floor seemed to be settling down from its waves, Marco grabbed her shoulders and held her still, his three eyes meeting her single one for a brief moment of clarity.
"Star, I think we might- hahahaha! Oh man, we might've made a mistake," he giggled, his lidded eyes hungrily drinking in every color and facet of the club.
Looking down at her hands, all four of them, Star nodded as they each moved on their own to leave a trail of multicolored light in their wake. "You don't think… nahhh no way dood! What could we have done wrong?" she giggled, delighted with the way his hands tickled when they sunk through her shoulders like a ghost.
But her laughter subsided as he got deadly-serious; serious enough to stop shaking his maracas and meet her eyes. "Star…," he breathed deeply, "We didn't DRINK THESE BEFORE WE WENT DANCING!" he suddenly cried out, his voice wavering in pitch as his mouth dropped to the floor.
*GAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSP*
"MARCO! OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT!?" she screamed before pulling both him and herself to their feet, finding both of the two Marcos in front of her equally surprised by the sudden movement, "come on! I wanna see the mirror place!" And with that, she practically dragged him towards another pathway, this one far more unkempt and unlit than the others.
Marco was more than content to let himself be dragged off by the iron grip of the scaled princess, her ever-shifting tail whipping wherever she stepped. But with the overwhelming sense of wonder and giddiness that came with his new and colorful journey, there came a wash of something else, something far more familiar. His hand was nearly crushed under the weight of the dark haired girl pulling him along, but even under its immense pressure, it felt warm and inviting.
He passed a dozen crystal markers along the trail, each flashing with color and begging to captivate his attention as they zoomed by, but all he could focus on was the hand that bound him, and inevitably, the girl it was bound to. He watched carelessly as their intertwined hands slowly melded to form one, and their symmetry and uniform came with all the pleasures one could imagine. He could feel her excitement through their shared palm, and even as the floor rushed underneath him, it felt as soft as velvet against his skin.
When he finally managed to get his bearings, tearing his palm from hers, literally, she stopped to look down at him with a fanged grin on her face, the sides of her cheeks breaking off into glimmering dust with a smile. He asked simply, "where are you taking me?" as he stood idly, the pink of his shirt forming blobs of salmon that broke off to float in any direction.
"The mirror place?" Star answered, watching his animated shirt, before drifting her eyes up to his, struggling to meet them under his helmet, "you can see everything in there, and I do mean everything."
"Why do you wanna go there? I can see everything right now," came his stunted response, the shined armor that had grown over his clothes beginning to rust and melt away, "Unless you wanna… see something in particular?"
As Marco struggled to get his jell-o legs under him, Star's cheeks ignited with a pink hue that rivaled the hearts dancing in her hair, and he knew he had her. But with that sudden blush, her hair lit up like polished gold, ruffling as she stammered to form an answer. "Well-I-I uhhh- well I wanna-..." Marco grinned, his blindfold flapping in the wind as he stared at her, waiting for an excuse until she ultimately relented. "Okay, ya got me," she mumbled, her words sluggish yet calm, "I wanna see what you really think."
Not waiting for his assessment, Star resumed her stride towards a darkened part of the geode, a noticeable decline in patrons forcing Marco to consider if there was something dangerous over there. But whether it was the way her body swayed as she moved further away from him that enticed him to follow, or the weight of her vague prospect, he followed nonetheless.
The music, the lights, the pounding that reverberated in the club, all of it was slowly dying, but Marco moved his attention to his own arms, watching at the pulsing, drowned bass would send shockwaves up his skin in psychedelic waves. Every color imaginable was swimming across his arm, but when he looked up, he dove back to avoid being bodied by the deep violet-scaled dragon that passed by, narrowly missing him.
"Watch where you're-! Wait, I knoooowwwww you, right?" he noted as it stomped past, the beast only turning to glance at him with its pale lavender eyes. It didn't respond, curling its tail to push him along the trail halfheartedly, and with a blink of his eyes, Marco was astounded to see it was gone. But when he turned back to Star, she was gone, replaced only with a black expanse of dark crystals, like polished obsidian stretching into the void.
He wasn't shocked by the sudden quiet that he was drowning in, nor was he surprised when all of the music in the club suddenly died to his deafened ears. He was instead shocked by the sudden dissipation of all color from his vision, everything from his clothes to his skin suddenly washed in a moodless grey.
"Let's go slooowpoke! You can't see anything from way-" Stars voice called to him from the darkness, the only sound that shattered the silence, until it faded back into obscurity. It sounded ethereal, yet also reflected, like an echo compressed into one voice. Regardless, in his inebriated state, Marco found no reason to stay put, and stepped past the foremost darkened crystal, further into the void.
The white noise that filled his ears the moment he stepped by the dormant sentry was akin to the sensation of being underwater, even his body shedding some of its weight as his joints popped from the reduced stress. "Hahah, it's like I'm swimmin'," he chuckled to himself just before a flash of gold drew his attention to his right, and a voice sounded from all directions.
"Come onnnn Marrcccoooo, huryyy up!" Star cried from everywhere and nowhere, drawing his attention deeper into the black abyss. Her voice lingered for a moment longer before it vanished, but as Marco whipped around in search of her, he caught another glimpse of golden and ivory before it too escaped into the dark. "Star, why'd you go all...indivisible?" he asked, stepping further, dodging the towering obsidian monoliths as he walked.
"Find me if ya caaaan, but I bethcya you wooon't!" came her response, and this time, Marco had her pinned. She was to his left, standing planly in view, her skin and hair illuminated like a beacon amongst the towering crystals. "Ha, I foouuund yoouuu," he laughed, making to jog over to her, before his face immediately collided with the polished surface of a dorman crystal with a thud. It echoed for a moment as he lay on the ground, his mind playing through several nonsensical theories before landing on, "It's a mirror maze, isn't it?"
"Yup! You can see everything in here!" Star answered from right above him, bowing over him with a grin. Her form was the only thing he could see, as bright and clear as daylight against the starkly contrasting background, "but the maze is only half the fun, Marcus! Come on, I'll show yoouuu." she still slurred when she talked, same as him, but right as Marco took her hand to get back to his feet, reality hit him like a bus.
Every color imaginable, and all the sound of the world slammed into him at once, sending him back to his feet. It didn't hurt, the star-stricken teen finding every sensation once again immeasurably pleasing, but the sudden, jarring wash of sensory overload took a moment to get used to, Star watching the floating green jellyfish pass by as he got his bearings.
~Laura Branigan : Self Control~
(youtube/youtube music/iTunes)
As the music of the club returned, Marco once again allowed himself to be pulled back up, slowly opening his eyes to find Star grinning ear to ear. Except now, she was the only normal thing to fill his field of view, the world around her still mesmerizing and shifting like a kaleidoscope. "It was so dark, but you turned the lights on. How'd you do that?" he asked, lifting his forearm to find, and subsequently shoo a small flock of golden dragonflies from their new perch. Star giggled as she watched him with new interest, like seeing him completely unphased by the drink was now stranger and more captivating than anything their altered world could produce.
"Solo-runs are hard, macho-man, so you need a partner if you wanna cheat," she answered gleefully, clapping without a care as the dragonflies buzzed around her and randomly popped like bubbles. But Marco had a snap-shot of clarity, the words 'cheat' and 'partner' taking a hold of his jarred train of thought. He made to ask what she was talking about, but Star once more took his hand to lead him deeper into the maze, the corridors and crystals now lit up like mineral rainbows. "Come one, the fun parts in here, goofball."
She pulled him down a narrow path, then left, then right. She led him around a corner, past an intersection; his head was telling him she was just going in random directions, but Star knew better. She had one goal in mind inside the Refraction Maze. Marco, naturally given his state of mind, simply opted to let himself be led about as he directed his attention skyward, watching the sugar skulls and dahlia petals dance in the wind above their heads.
Of course, his attention was pulled to one thing in particular: the silver sphere that charged the entire geode with magic. It was entirely reflective, its surface impossibly smooth, and thus allowed for a near-perfect view of the maze from above. And with that view completely unobstructed? He finally saw what Star was heading for, every turn and roundabout leading only closer to her destination: a massive, empty space smack dab in the middle of it all.
No sooner had he discovered her true intentions did they arrive, Star stopping suddenly at the entrance to the large clearing and turning back to give him a lopsided, giddy grin. "This place is pretty messed up, like us! So when we go in, just be yourself, 'kay?"
Marco met her enthusiastic ambiguity with an eager nodd, the sloshing inside his head matched by the sloshed grin he was returning. Star beamed him a smile, and then without hesitation, pushed him into the clearing, quick to follow with a quiet *thruuuuum*.
Whatever he had been expecting, be it a fun house or a ridiculous amalgam of every odd thing he had seen thus far, none of it came close to what he was met with: absolute clarity. Marco blinked hard, and rubbed his eyes as he looked around, drinking in the sight. There was a wide ring of crystals with two entrances on either end, and every towering monolith was apparently made of a different kind of mineral, ranging in all colors of the rainbow to face toward one crystal in the center: another impossibly dark obsidian monolith that demanded subjugation from all the others.
"Where...where am I?" He asked softly, answered quickly by a confused, "Huh?" from behind. Turning around, he found Star sanding just as lost as he was, the two of them looking around and drinking in their surroundings. It was ultimately Star who came two first, turning an odd glance toward the monolith and asking, "Marco? Are you alright?"
He turned towards her to answer but immediately lost his breath, finding her staring away from him, at another Marco standing inside the monolith, this one breathing heavy, Silverlight in hand, and splattered with blood from head to toe. As if to answer her question, the copy exhaled sharply with a grunt, holding his side in pain as he sighed through grit teeth, "I didn't mean to kill him...I'm a monster… a murderer… I'm not a warrior like Reynard, or even you. I'm just some kid who got lucky, and ended up killing someone who could have had a life worth living. I don't deserve to live, aftering robbing someone of their chance to do the same."
Marco could do nothing but stand idly by and watch as Star approached the monolith, smiling gently at the copy and pressing an open palm to the cold stone. With a soothing voice, she replied, "no, you saved Reynard, you've saved me, and you did what you had to do. I would never see you as anything less than a true warrior, and good man. You're kind, gentle, caring, and you'd never hurt anyone if you didn't have to. You're not a monster, Marco Diaz, you're a hero when you have to be, and my best friend."
Speechless at the jarring display, Marco watched in awe as the bloodied and battered copy of himself drew a deep breath, nodded to her words, and faded back into the blackness of the crystal. Turning back to face him, Star blinked hard and focused her eyes on him, shaking the lingering fog of the Opal Overdrive from her mind before asking, "How did you get cleaned up so fast? Where did you-" Marco didn't hear the rest. He rushed forward to hug her, wrapping her arms over her shoulders to embrace her and everything she'd just said.
Her words softened a hole in his chest he had half-forgotten was there, and all he wanted to do was thank her for the countless times she had reminded him that he was still redeemable. That he wasn't anything less than the man he had proven himself to be. But as he held her, his gratitude for her friendship immeasurable, he felt her push him back, her eyes open wide and filled with concern as she stared. "Star? What's wrong? Are you-," he began, but her slow step back silenced any further prodding.
"Stay away from me Marco! I shouldn't be around you!" she cried out, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "I ruined your relationship, your reputation, your life!? I'm a horrible person for what I've done to you, but I can't help myself! I want you so bad it hurts, but every step closer to you is a step closer to losing you to her!"
Her eyes now filled with tears, Star took another step back towards the darkness that surrounded them, her body rigid and cautious as Marco watched her carefully. She expected him to lash out, to remind her that she was right, and that she had no reason being anywhere near him after the things she had done to him. But instead? Marco knelt down, looking up at her carefully as he spoke with a voice as calm as the morning wind.
"You are nothing less than the best thing that has ever happened to me, Star Butterfly," he offered, watching as her eyes widened, and her frantic breathing slowed, "It takes two to make the mistakes we've made, and I've done my fair share of wrong in our friendship. But above all else, above the lies and above the cheating, you're my best friend, Star. We've slipped, and we've fallen a few times, yeah, but I would rather lose everything, and everyone, before I lose you."
Gradually, like a pond calming after a stray pebble broke its surface, Star's breathing returned to normal, and her posture relaxed as she slowly managed to form a smile. Her eyes softened as she met Marco's, and with a gentle nod, she slowly faded into the darkness as the light around him returned to normal. But before he could even assess what had happened, or what had compelled him to say what he felt was the truth, Star collided with him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you…" was all she managed to whisper, burying her face into his shoulder as a wetness permeated the sleeve of his shirt. Shocked from the apparent vision, and the reaction of the girl clinging to him for dear life, Marco found little else to do but wrap his arms around her, thankful to have his best friend back. But after a moment of quiet acceptance, he had to ask, "Star, what exactly is this place?"
She was silent for a moment, producing a deep, gross sniff against his shirt before she stepped back, wiping her eyes and nose before nodding to herself. "It's uhh, the Refraction Maze," she mumbled, spitting out the name like it was a curse, "People come here to enjoy a mirror maze, but they come to the middle if they wanna… you know."
"I don't know, actually. How did we even get here?" he returned, keeping his voice calm as he looked around, finding the club as normal as ever. Star, for her worth, nodded again and glared at the ground angrily, shame written across her face. "I must have dragged you here while we were all...messed up. The center of this maze was supposed to be like a funhouse mirror to show you weird sides of yourself from your own point of view, but people started avoiding the maze altogether when they found out they didn't like seeing the other sides of themselves."
Marco didn't answer right away, turning to face the dormant monolith in the center before turning to face the closest exit, finding a glowing wall of crystals having grown to block their path. The slight weightlessness hadn't yet subsided, so he thought about the possibility of jumping free of the maze, but given how unpredictable the gravity in the geode could be, and the arcing energy radiating from the sphere, he decided it best not to try. "You think you could call your buddy? Tell him to let us out then? Because I don't think I wanna see any other sides of myself, or of you for that matter."
"See, funny story about that…" she laughed with discomfort, a shameful, forced smile on her face, "the reason our drinks arent working, is because the center of the maze is kiiiiinda sort of a pocket dimension? Soooo, we might kiiiiinda sorta be stuck here?" Marco's grimace was as cold as ice, but he didn't let himself get upset, instead opting to ask simply, "How do we get out of here then?"
"Seeeeeee, fu-huh-hunny story about that… we have to uhm… learn to accept ourselves to get out," Star squeaked, pressing her lips together uneasily.
"Why would they even make this?" Marco asked incredulously, glaring at the dark obelisk, "I don't wanna deal with any of that! We came here to just cool off, and try to set things right, and now we have to 'face the judgement rock or die trying?! What the hell?!"
Star pursed her lips, withering into herself as she knew well enough that it was more or less her fault they were here, and not wanting to make that fact known, decided to say nothing. Marco caught onto her pretty quick, however, and smoothed himself over with a sigh, turning back to face her. "I'm sorry."
After a brief pause, Star managed to ask just above a whisper, "Sorry for what? You've kinda just been along for the-"
"I'm a bad person, Star. None of this would have happened if I had just set real boundaries, and stuck to them," he interrupted, dropping to his knees and holding his head in his hands, "I don't deserve to be in a relationship with anyone. I just end up using people and betraying their trust the moment I get the chance, and I ruined everything for you. Your own people are mocking you, your own family called you a 'dissapointment', all because I was too stupid to just do the right thing, and too much of a scumbag to-"
At his words, Star found herself accepting his outlook less and less until she couldn't bear it anymore, cutting him off with a quiet, "You're wrong, Marco." He looked up at her, tears forming in his eyes as he begged, "You're better off without me, Star. All I've done is hurt you and everyone I care about… I don't deserve Penelope, and I don't deserve-"
"SHUT UP, DIAZ!" Star shouted, silencing him with a glare, the malice in her voice rivaling the darkness that surrounded them, "You and I have both made bad choices, but only because I don't know how to stay away from you, or how to respect what… what isn't mine. You deserve to be happy with whoever you want to be with, and you're a good enough person to accept that maybe for now, that means being with nobody. You're my best friend Marco, and fuck what everyone else might say."
She extended a hand down for him to take, and offered a small smile as he slowly took it. "We can be better, I know we can. And I know that you've only ever done wrong because… because I pushed you to it. We're not bad people because of the choices we've made, we're better people than we've been because we want to fix our mistakes. To be better than who we were yesterday."
Marco struggled to his feet, taking Star's hands in his and meeting her eyes with grim determination, the hope all but gone from his expression, save for one question: "Do you want me to stay?"
Without warning, she pulled him into a tight hug, ignoring the darkness around her as she whispered back, "I could lose everything that makes me who I am, and still be happy so long as I have my best friend by my side."
The silence that followed was hollow, but filled with unspoken gratitude as Marco relented into a smile, nodding to himself before he slowly faded into the void, leaving Star alone as the clearing returned to the light. "You really mean that?" Marco asked, watching her as she faced the monolith, nodding to herself.
She didn't answer out loud, but he found her quiet assent reassuring all the same, and found that the worrisome pit in his stomach he didn't even know was there, was slowly being filled. He took a step closer, watching her carefully and recognizing what was probably coming, waiting for the inevitable. Star, after a short moment of pause, turned around to look at him with what he recognized as apathy, her eyes glum and her mouth turned into a frown. He hadn't even noticed the change, but the darkness surrounding her reflected her own expression beautifully as she shook her head in disdain. "I won't ever be a good Queen, for a kingdom that doesn't even exist anymore."
Marco recognized what was happening after having watched Star go through the same thing and asked carefully, "Is that something you worry about? Whether or not you'll make a good ruler for Mewni?"
Star shook her head, glaring at the ground without a word before she suddenly turned her attention back to him, her eyes creased with anger. "I'm allowed to be who I want to be! I can make my own choices and mess things up on my own, and I'll learn from my mistakes!" She yelled at him, and as Marco listed intently to her blind rage, letting her vent her anger at him relentlessly, she only dove deeper down the rabbit hole. "I'm allowed to act how I want! And I'll kick you right back to Earth before I let you tell me who I am like some stupid noble! I don't care about being 'proper', and I don't care what other people might say about me, I'm a princess of nothing. My family's right… I am a disappointment."
Marco slowly approached her, his stride steady as her eyes gradually shifted from anger back down to sorrow, a hollow expression growing on her face. "Star, you know better than to think like that, and I know you don't really believe it," he noted, stopping a pace away from her, "the only person who's opinion about you matters, is your own, and for what mine might be worth? I think you'd make a great queen of a kingdom that will love you."
She rushed towards him to meet him with enough speed to make him flinch, but her eyes were pleading, empty as if she was begging him for her life. "Marco… please, I don't want to be queen of a kingdom that hates me; a kingdom that's gone…"
The once royal blue hue of her dress was fading, darkening to match the area around them as her eyes grew wet with hot tears. But Marco listened as she choked out a quiet, "I just want things...to stay how they are...with you," she sobbed, lurching forward and clinging to his vest, "I don't want things to change like they did before… *sniff* I just wanna stay who I am...when I'm with you…"
Marco looked around at the darkness around him, wondering where the real Star was waiting, watching, but regardless he stepped closer to the copy. He took hold of her shoulders and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and hoping he didn't look as ridiculous as he felt. Maybe the real Star would appreciate the gesture.
"As long as you're here, I'll be right by your side, if you want me…" Marco offered, pulling back some as Star looked up at him, her puffy eyes wide, "I already told you, I'll be your guide for as long as you need me. And hey, even when you're Queen, you might need someone to show you-"
Star silenced him by pressing her lips to his cheek, kissing it gently before resuming their hug and giving him a hopeful smile. "I'd like that Diaz," she repeated, "maybe you can be my advisor, and my club buddy on the weekends."
With a smile, Marco nodded at the proposition as he waited for her to fade into obscurity, happy with their deal. But as the two held each other and the seconds ticked by, nothing changed. The darkness faded to grey, but Star was still in his arms when the realization blindsided him.
'This is… the real Star?' He wondered, looking down at her after a slow moment, finding her already staring, her smile remaining. "Hey, uh… Marco," she offered awkwardly, letting him go with slight difficulty before stepping back a few steps, "thanks again, for tonight, and for being the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Ditto. I don't know where I'd be right now if we hadn't met," Marco laughed, "but it would probably be working at Pannucci's."
"If you hadn't have met Reynard," Star corrected, giggling along with him, though their surroundings remained bleak, "uhh, how do we-" *CLANG*
Both teens looked down at their feet to find two sets of chains securing their ankles in place, the iron shackles leading off into the distance. "Uhh, what the heck is this now?" Marco asked, gesturing to his legs. Star shrugged, kicking a few times to test the mettle of the...well, metal. Unfortunately, they held true as the metallic bindings echoed throughout the space, Star looking back at Marco before reaching out to him.
It didn't take any further prompt for Marco to do the same, the two desperately trying to reach each other, be it for comfort or some vain hope that it would release them. But it was no use.
"I can't reach," Star grumbled, dropping her arms and stepping back to let the chain fall loudly to the crystal floor, "you think this is another test? Are we supposed to… do something?" She looked from her polished chains to Marco's, finding his far worse for wear, with what looked like dried blood caking the shackle.
"Star…" Marco breathed, or rather, tried to breathe, his voice raspy despite his overall unharmed appearance, "keyyyyy." He dropped to one knee with considerable difficulty, gesturing to his ankle and then pointing at hers, his breathing getting worse by the second. Star took the hint and inspected her own shackle more closely, before she too noticed an alarming change.
Her shoulders suddenly felt as though she was carrying a warnicorn, the weight pressing down on her almost too much to bear, while her chest grew tighter by the second. She struggled to get even a small gasp of air into her lungs, only for it to be immediately pressed back out as one word flashed through her mind.
Suffocating.
Frantically, she searched around her for some method of release, any sort of key that would undo her shackles and hopefully release the burden on her chest. But there was nothing. She checked her person, inside her shoes, her hair even yielded no such prize, just as Marco dropped to his other knee.
"Where...is it?" She managed to growl, struggling under the weight, beads of silvery sweat forming above her brow. Marco didn't answer, too busy himself searching for what they needed to escape.
Corn, he was gasping at this point, and while Star couldn't tell anymore, so was she. The weight was unbearable now, forcing her lower as she racked her brain, desperate to find the answer, the release to this stupid game; she wanted nothing more than-
"Free...dom…," she managed to choke out, the word stretched too thin to hear. All she wanted was freedom, even amidst her asphyxiated delirium, from everything weighing her down, keeping her in line, and making her a prisoner of her own life. She looked to Marco, a creature of unexplainable desire, yet so tantalizingly out of reach.
But he was suffocating just as she was, chained to one spot and forced to endure the gravity of the world no matter how he struggled. As Star's vision began to darken, she wondered if this was a punishment worthy of their misdeeds together, a horrifying method to atone for the deception, the lies, and the pain inflicted. They were both stuck, and maybe it was their own fault. Right?
As stars filled her vision, the crowned princess had but one thought, one dying breath under the weight of the world: "If I just...had...a chance…."
*PING*
A sudden release, a loud metallic clang, and Star felt so light she could swear she was floating. Air filled her lungs in a desperate gasp, cold and refreshing, nourishing her withered lungs before she made a dive for Marco, his own chain lying broken on the ground.
"Marcoareyouokay?!" She shrieked all at once, torn between a desire to cradle his head in her hands, and to give him room to breathe, "BLINK TWICE IF YOU NEED MOUTH TO-"
"I'm go-*cough cough*- I'm good, Star. But nice try," he wheezed, struggling to right himself. His entire body felt like Jell-o as he tested his reflexes, his chest rising and falling with each desperate breath. "What… the hell?" Was his first and final thought on the matter, Star immediately recognizing where the blame stood.
"I'm so sorry, I had no idea this place would do anything like this I was just all messed up and we ended up here and this place messes with your head and please trust me we weren't in any real danger it's all just visions and you were so sweet back there and I don't know where any of those visions came from I kinda just let the bad thoughts out and they took form but I don't even know about-"
"Star."
Marco met her eyes, his expression careful, but firm enough to match his tone. She closed her mouth and waited, watching him as he righted himself. His movements were still jerky and overcompensated, but after a moment he stood, leveling his gaze with hers. "It's alright, I promise. We're fine now, nobody's hurt, so how about we just head home?"
Home. Star started to argue, to take the blame or to reassess his current state, but she fell short as that single word drew her back to the visions. Was she...not, home right now? "With you?" She asked softly.
"Yes, with me? Who else, butterbutt?" Marco asked, eager to cheer her up some, especially after every side of each other they had just witnessed, "do you, not want to?"
She looked away, turning her gaze to the sphere that hung both above and below before. She could see everything on their side of the geode reflected in its mirrored surface, and yet? All she really saw was two dumb kids in the middle of a maze, holding hands?
She tore her eyes from the ceiling and looked down at her right arm, finding it intertwined with Marcos. She traced a line from his hand to his shoulder, then up to his eyes to find them steadily locked with hers as he asked, "Star, are you sure you're okay?"
In all honesty she didn't look okay, but after a moment she simply retracted her hand and nodded, her lips pursed and her body rigid. "I'm good, I'm good, just. Uhhhm…" her eyes darted around the geode, from crystal wall to crystal wall, even the dark obelisk occupying her line of sight.
"You're stalling to find an excuse to stay a little longer," Marco noted with a dry tone, "and you don't wanna say it because you think I'm terrified of this place now."
"Wha- no? I was just- we can- no?" Star floundered, but Marco had her bit, even if only partially. She exhaled, a blush rising to fill her cheeks as she pushed her short, frazzled hair back into place. "Can I be honest?"
Marco pursed his lips for a moment in thought before shrugging to himself, moving towards the further exit of the clearing. "I feel like we might have had our fill of honesty for tonight, especially after taking a peak in each other's heads," he mused, stopping just before the door and gesturing for Star to follow him out, "but yes. And even under my own free will, I'm always here to listen."
Star forced down a brimming smile before making her way over to him, finding their exit now clear and the rest of the maze illuminated with a million colors, except for the obelisk of course. "You're right. I'm not ready to go back just yet," she murmured, that very same blush threatening her composure yet again. "Do you think we can stay just a tiny bit longer? I really wanna remember being this free, with you."
For some reason, that thought resonated with him, and he found no judgement for her desire to tread water here just a little longer in lieu of everything going on back home. 'I guess we both just need a little more air,' he realized before shooting her a grin as they made their way through the exit. "Do you wanna get a drink? A normal one?"
Star returned the smile and nodded, but before she could answer, she felt every nerve in her body melt like warm syrup as they re-entered the maze, her mind dialing down to one simple thought: Party. "Ohhh nooo...Mango...the driiiihihihiahahahahah!" She couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles before her attention was rooted entirely on the moving dot below Marco's right eye.
Although her words slurred into pudding, Marco felt it too, like his entire existence was just a long line of uninterrupted pleasure, and every new moment was the best of his life. He looked to Star, finding a plastered grin on her face between two spinning hearts, and a swarm of butterflies. Her smile was dead set on him as one question rolled off of his tongue: "you wanna dance again?" Bingo, 'the drinks are back' was the last fully-formed thought in his head before everything went to rainbows and shooting stars.
"Oooohhhh my god yes! I thought you'd never ask me to be your prom queen!" Star squealed, grabbing his wrist and yanking him down several corridors of the maze at breakneck speeds. How she was so fast, or how she knew where prom was, Marco had no idea. Hell, he was just happy to have a dance partner that wasn't a flailing mass of dragonflies and nachos.
At breakneck speeds she pulled him along, more winding corridors whizzing by as he found that the body of the maze wasn't actually that difficult to navigate. Whatever semblance of reason he had left dictated that the maze wasn't meant to be the challenge, but rather, the prism in the center was. 'Next time, I should bring Penny, I wonder what we'd see then,' he thought gleefully, ignorant to what he knew would potentially be a kerosene fire.
"Mewni to prom king! We're free of the asteroid field!" Star giggled at Marco's captivated expression, pulling him to his feet in a huff just outside the Maze's exit. She mocked a microphones feedback through her hand-walkie before recounting, "This is Butter Princess to Prom King, are we still agooooooo?"
Marco struggled to focus his vision on her through the swimming sea of stars and milky nebula that formed around the club before answering in the same manner, "that's affirmative, Prom Queen, Red Belt to Butter Princess we are a goOOOOOOO!"
The two immediately took off into a foot race past the sprouting tufts of seaweed flashing blue and green towards the dance floor. But what came as an immediate surprise was that the slight weightlessness of the maze hadn't yet left them. With every pumped step, Marco had to focus to keep from launching from the ground as he ran.
This focus was, of course, naturally broken as every step he took, the floor seemed to sink and retract like a trampoline, ripples of color shooting out everywhere he stepped. Not one to be outdone, Star took notice of his fascination and promptly slammed both heels hard into the ground, forcing it to bend even lower under her weight. And like clockwork, it retracted to propel her ten feet into the air with each new stride, her hysterical laughter echoing over the booming music.
He watched her as she flipped head over heels through the air, a trail of stardust left in her wake, and rather than succumb to a more cautious urge to dial it back? He felt all the more inclined to join her. So he did.
Star hit the rock running and rolled from her somersault into her earlier bouncing jaunt, her grin a beaming smile she couldn't suppress. And why would she bother to, her body overflowing with pleasure and her mind set to ease as she looked to Marco for his reaction. But to her stunning surprise, she found him putting his years of training to work, vaulting over stones and flipping just as easily as she did.
He looked so thrilled, even among the swarm of dragonflies that followed him wherever he went, and as she watched him run, only one fragment of memory could break the fog of her mind. 'I'd rather lose everything, before I lose you', she remembered him saying. And despite her current state, both running and inebriated into pleasure, that memory filled her with a warmth she couldn't describe. Not to say the feelings were new, to any degree, but her drink wasn't helping.
"Marcussssss!" She called, out of breath and through giggles of her own, "can you do thiiiiis!?"
As effortlessly as breathing, she slammed both heels into the ground and vaulted into the air towards rapidly approaching floating gems, the fading ground beneath her seemingly warping with every color to aid her. Marco watched, captivated as she flew to a lazily hovering quartz, tapping it twice with her foot before jumping to the next, and another, and another, until she had amassed an army of crystals that followed her in formation.
Not waiting for a go ahead, she flew her army around him, the crystals reflecting every sight in every color as her hair shined golden. Marco stopped his run, watching her as her beaming smile overpowered her aqua eyes, leaving a trail of shimmering stars in her wake, and little by little that familiar warmth built in his chest. Not like the Luscious Moxie, but tighter.
He exhaled softly. 'The drink, heh...it's messin' with meee', his jovial thoughts flowed, but while Star's giggles echoed around him as she flew circles in formation, he found that thought less and less...truthful. She was like a comet, ready to burst with joy as the world moved around her, and it hit Marco like a dagger. 'No… it's like I'm looking at you for the first time…'
He stood, Star-struck and giddy on his high as one memory broke through. 'I could lose everything that makes me who I am… and I'd still be happy as long as I have my best friend by my side.'
The heat in his chest only grew as he replayed the moment in his stupor, his chest as tight as a vice and his mouth growing dry. He felt a thin smile begin to creep across his lips, when suddenly, a soft hand grabbed his, directing his attention to Star. She had since dismounted her ride, leaving their private batch of crystals floating overhead as she met his eyes. Her smile sat between two blushing cheeks, and just when Marco made to ask why her cheeks were burning, she made her move.
"Wait what are you-" was all he managed to ask. With one swift motion, she pivoted her weight and yanked on his arm hard enough to take him off of his feet. Granted, gravity was on her side, but with a grunt. She threw him directly into the air towards a hovering ruby. Marco flinched, waiting for an impact that never came as he felt his body's balance shift uncomfortably. When he finally opened his eyes, he found streams of glimmering stardust flowing around him in currents, and his body standing parallel to the ground.
Looking down, or rather, sideways, he found his feet rooted into the ruby to keep him perfectly level, and then he looked back down to her. She was smiling, the ground beneath her feet pulsating yellow and pink like ripples over a lake, yet his eyes stayed locked with hers above a slowly forming grin of his own.
~ Who's Crying Now : Journey ~
As the music grew from a rhythmic thrum in the background to a more steady harmony, Star pushed aside some of the petals in her way to clearly see the gap between the two. And with little effort, jumped straight into the air, her weightlessness giving way to conflicting gravitational pulls.
Marco saw what she was after almost immediately, and held both hands above his head, watching as Star soared up, or straight forward from his point of view. She wasted no time in latching onto his hands, but while he expected her to hang, or even just float above him, she kept on surprising him. "Get ready for the fun!" She giggled, continuing her ascent, vaulting over his shoulders and pulling him after her, throwing him off of his feet and to the next awaiting crystal.
"It's been a mystery
But still they try to see
Why something good can hurt so bad…"
As the hypnotic music reverberated throughout the geode, Marco found his attention solely on the girl that had thrown him. He stumbled to the next crystal, this one leaving him seemingly upside down as he watched her guide her crystal towards him. 'Ohoo, you wanna play tag?' Came the loopy voice in his head, answered immediately by the girl giving chase, Marco turning his stone to evade her at all costs.
"Caught on a one-way street,
The taste of bittersweet,
Love will survive somehow, somewhere…"
"Imma get ya, dragon boy!" Star called, watching as Marcos swarm of dragonflies guided him to safety, her own legion of butterflies doing little more than block her vision, "you can't run foreverrrrr!" Her giggling peaked when she saw him turn hard, and out of view, but it subsided when her vision cleared, and he was nowhere to be found.
"Wha- where did youuuu-"
"Gotta be faster than that!" Marco called from somewhere above her, his voice barely a whisper in comparison to the music. Star followed the subtle sound to find him having ditched his ride in lieu of a better one: the silver sphere at the geode's center. "Ohohoho, now it's a party!" Star slurred to herself, breaking into a fit of uncontrollable laughter before tapping her crystal three times.
On command, the amethyst released its hold on her, letting the mesmerized girl fall straight up to the sphere, landing into a roll before taking off into a run after the boy she needed to catch. "I'm gonna have you all to- -myself!" Star yelled through her laughter, but he didn't seem to hear, not that it bothered her. Her attention quickly moved to the way the reflective sphere seemed to bend and curve where she stepped, its polished surface sending ripples of static where her feet landed.
"One love, feeds the fire...
One heart, burns desire...
I wonder whooo's crying noooow?"
"You gotta catch me if you wanna dance!" Marco called out to her, and like clockwork the girl only doubled down her efforts to catch him, breaking into a sprint to close the gap. He watched over his shoulder, ready to taunt again, but a thunderous hiss and boom flashed beside him, one of the spheres arcs of energy shooting to a waiting crystal node.
He dodged to the side, faltered close to another flashing arc, and dipped right, but it was lost time with each step he took. In what seemed like seconds, the girl giving chase had caught up to him and eagerly took hold of his hands, never wanting to let go.
"Two hearts, born to run...
Who'll be the lonely one?
I wonder, who's crying nooow?"
For a moment, the two danced, hand in hand and lost to their mindless serenity as arc after arc of electricity flashed and boomed around them. Where Marco led, Star followed in a delicate balance, their steps carefully avoiding the flashes as the geodes surface moved above them like a shimmering night sky. Where Star would take control, Marco would eagerly comply with her every movement, trailing behind her as the sphere shifted colors, every step a ripple of static as their hands never parted.
Marco led her into a whirl, pulling her close before reeling her back out, their outstretched hands narrowly missing another flashing arc. Star pulled him closer, leaving a trail of butterflies in her wake as her smile shined brighter than the sphere itself, their laughter holding true as she let him into a whirl of her own.
When she reeled Marco back in, however, she was quick to take off running, dragging him behind through columns of arcing energy. Marco looked up, finding the waiting crystal nodes blinking when the electricity zapped skyward, and just above them was the floating dance floor. One chance glance to Star was enough to prove that she was thinking the same, and with one push-off from the silvery surface, the two were launched towards their favorite dance floor, the sphere flashing blood red.
"So many stormy nights
So many wrong or rights
Neither could change their headstrong waays…"
The world swam beneath him as Marco rolled head over heels though the air with little momentum. When the two touched down on separate crystals, only then did he realize he was no longer holding her hand. With a lopsided grin, he gave chase after her, her laughter echoing about the crystals like reflected light.
"And in a lover's rage
They turn another page
The fighting is worth the love theeey saaaaave"
He was doing his best to keep up with her, but she was just too fast, clearly using the home field to her advantage. He lept from one ruby to a sapphire, and then to an amethyst, shards of fractured light hovering in the air like falling snow, but still she eluded him. Currents of energy zapped around the geode, and while he wasn't entirely sure if it was his mesmerized senses fooling him, or reality, it was enough to distract him. Star was gone, and panic struck his inebriated mind like a tidal wave.
"One looove feeds the fire
One heeeaaart burns desire
I wonder who's crying noooow"
"Star?" he called out, skidding to a stop on a lazily rotating chunk of quartz. He was beginning to feel hot, either from the running, or the thought of what he would do when he found her, but regardless, he was answered in kind almost immediately. Two arms, strong yet slender, poked out from under his and wrapped around his chest, pulling him into a warm and inviting body.
Star was almost immediately taken by the smell of his cologne, or was it even cologne at all? She hadn't seen him put any on, so maybe the gummi bears bouncing around the club gave it to him. And by corn, he was warm, his body radiated heat like a bonfire set ablaze on a winter evening, and only then did she realize how cold she was in his absence. "I'm sorry for running…" she offered coyly, daring him to criticize.
"Two hearts born to run
Who'll be the lonely one
I wonder who's crying now"
There came no warning when he grabbed her arm and turned, facing her as she spun into a dip. Now she leaned into his arm, precarious and at his hold as he met her eyes with a grin, two booming streaks of lightning flashing overhead. The Boom was louder than the music, meant to simulate a beat that wasn't there, but Star didn't even hear it. Her eyes were wide as they met his, and all around her, she could see stars.
"The best things in life, are always worth catching," Marco answered softly, his eyes as wide as hers, "I might not know where we're going, but I'll always follow you, Star." And to her surprise, he leaned closer, and kissed her, the geode erupting with energy as Star was more than happy to let it happen. She relished in the warmth he radiated, letting it wash over her, the stars in her vision as beautiful as the night sky on Mewni. The one she'd grown to miss so dearly.
"Only so many tears you can cry, 'till the heartache is over..
And now you can say your loooove, will never diiiiiieee…"
After a moment of tender embrace, Marco pulled her back up into another twirl before she pressed against his chest, taking his hands in her own. He expected some coy, suave response from her, but…nothing. Her face was crimson, and she struggled to keep her eyes forward as they danced, the world around them little more than a blur. The crystal flowers that grew where they stepped soon took over the floating Quartz, and when it was full, they simply jumped to the next one, and so on, neither of them speaking for fear of spoiling the moment.
"One looove feeds the fiiiire
One heart buuuurns desire
Woonder whoooo's crying noooow"
He was so soft, every inch of his skin the most pleasing surface her wandering fingers had ever touched, and he smelled sweeter than any flower growing in the royal garden. Some part of her rationale figured the drink was giving her senses a run for their money, but she didn't find it alarming. Rather, it made the dance that much more enticing, every aspect of him compounding her idea that she wanted him all to herself. She was his best friend, she'd saved his life a couple of times, why didn't she deserve him? But one look up, into his eyes, melted the intrusive, selfish thoughts in an instant as his face lit up scarlet.
Christ, she was breathtaking to look at, her aqua eyes wide, reflecting every scenic display around them as her face lit up with flashes of discharged energy. But as captivating as she was, one thought broke loose in his mind as they danced. 'What...am I doing? I thought- we were supposed to be-' He was almost cognizant, just on the precipice of controlled thought, when those two pools of sapphire drew closer, and Star returned the favor, kissing him softly, slowly, sensually. The drink washed his thoughts away, and he met this kiss with equal parts passion, and desire.
"Two hearts born to ruuun
Who will be the looonely oooone
Woonder whoo's crying noooow…"
They didn't know which way was up or down, what day it was, where they even were, the world around them just faded into nothing as all of the visions and inebriations all melted away. There was only darkness, and each other as their embrace deepened into 'un baiser amoureux.' It felt it lasted forever, their bodies exchanging warmth as their hearts began to beat as one, until ultimately, Star pulled back. Her face was pale with shock, all except for a light blush in her cheeks beneath too guilt-laden eyes. "I-...I'm so sorry...I don't know what-"
She tried to explain, but she was given no chance as Marco took hold of her hand, and pulled her back into another kiss, this one just as intense as the last. She tasted like honey and lavender, with a slight hint of something tangy he couldn't identify, but his thoughts quickly left that realization behind, his sensations nearly at their breaking point even without the drinks help. When he finally pulled back and Star met him with surprise, he only smiled, moving to hold her face close to his. "Star…"
"I...like this," came a whisper from each of them, their words spoken as one, and as soft as a cloud.
Her face jolted in a moment of quiet surprise, but soon, it glowed scarlet as she moved even closer, resting her cheek against his chest. "I just... wish it never had to end," she answered quietly, the music a mere echo to them now, "I… I need you, Marco."
He was silent, and although she could hear his breathing slow, Star feared she might have gone too far, drink or not. She chanced a glance up at him, only to find the man in question looking off elsewhere, their world slowly returning to normal. The music came back in full force, but despite it, before she could backpedal, she still heard him as clear as day. "I need you too, Star. I…want you," he murmured as though the sentiment would get him killed. He looked like it was killing him already. "And no, I'm not… I'm not scared, like before. I want this… I want you. With everything I've got, and I know I shouldn't-"
Star pressed a finger to his lips and took a step back, her expression neutral, not an ounce of hope, fear, coy, love, or frustration to be seen. "Just… a chance?" she asked of him, her hand slipping into her purse to produce Manfred's scissors, "All I want is… one chance. Maybe not today, maybe not for years to come. But… I'll only ever want one chance, one leap of faith with all I've ever want-"
Marco kissed her, gingerly and slowly enough for her to acclimate her heightened senses to every sensation of sensual seduction she could feel. Her mind was racing with possibilities; the tantalizing images, each one more blissful than the next floating in her mind as her existence shrank to only the two of them. When had he closed the gap, when had he taken her scissors, when had they gotten back to his room? She couldn't say, but here they were, his body pressed to hers, and a swarm of butterflies in her stomach as the world itself seemed to unwind before her eyes.
Sliding a hand up into her hair, Marco pulled her close, revelling in the warmth of their closeness. The drinks seemed to be fading slightly, the overwhelming physical sensations that had danced over every inch of his skin replaced with a more full-bodied thrum of pleasure at the prolonged contact. "I, *pant* want, *pant* that too," he managed to breathe to her between frenzied kisses that were stoking the already roaring fire inside of his body.
Without missing a beat, Star redoubled her passionate kissing, her hands snaking in to unbutton his vest and shirt, though in their frenzied, writhing make out session, she struggled to push the small buttons back through their holes. Finally, after several clumsy moments that forced her lips to part from his, she'd had enough and simply tore both open from collar to belt, grinning when Marco made no protest and simply shrugged out of it before smashing his body back into hers to kiss her fiercely once more.
Through the haze, he felt every curve of Star's body as he ran his hands down her back. The taut muscles of her shoulders, deceiving in their incredible strength, the outline of her small, delicate wings through the thin black t-shirt she was wearing, and finally the gentle swell of her firm butt. Grabbing it with both hands, he relished the sharp intake of breath that it elicited from her and instinctively guided the two of them towards his bed.
Not to be outdone, Star reached down and fumbled with his belt, her skin on fire as she paused to let him pull her shirt off. When the black cloth had cleared her vision and she'd swept the loose strands of blonde hair from in front of her eyes, she raised her head slightly and met his hooded gaze. Her best friend, her closest confidant, and the man she desperately wanted to be hers and hers alone was standing there, desire and affection mingling in equal measure on his face. It was almost too much, and she immediately felt that familiar, desperate pressure to express her feelings that she'd felt the night of their trip to the bounce lounge and their Friendship Thursday.
"I love you," she heard herself say, the unmistakable truth of those words mingling with the need she felt for him as her hands froze midway back to his partially undone belt. 'Oh Corn… Can't believe I said that out loud… Stupid, stupid, Star!' her mind roared, shockingly clear though the cloud still fogging her mind. 'What if he doesn't feel the same? Or you scare him off before we even get a chance? What if-' But she never managed to finish the thought as Marco leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers, his arms pulling her body against his as the blissful warmth of his bare skin against her own wiped her mind of doubts.
"I love you too, Star," he whispered back once they'd both pulled away for air. "I want this as much as you do…"
It was all she needed to hear. Instantly, she dived back in, her nimble tongue joining his as her fingers finished their clumsy work of getting his belt undone, the soft *fwip* of sounding as she pushed his jeans and boxers off in a single movement. To her pleasure, she noticed Marco did not shy from helping her slip out of her own clothing as they fumbled and half tripped their way to the bed, never once breaking contact with each other.
Falling into bed, both teens writhed together as their hands roamed one another's bodies. Marco felt like electricity was trailing from Star's fingers as she ran them down his chest and stomach to close around his hardness. "Star…" he panted, arching his back as her hand found its exquisite rhythm.
"I want all of you tonight," she whispered back, kissing him back and moaning quietly as his own hands reached between her legs to cup her hot core.
"Wha-" he began to ask, but paused as she got to her knees on the bed and threw her leg over his hip, her hand positioning his hardness against her entrance. Looking up into her eyes, he felt his pulse race as he read the need there. It was almost scorching, and he knew immediately that he was ready to take this last intimate step with her.
Slowly, he watched as she sank down onto him and he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out in pleasure. The feeling of warm tightness that was surrounding his shaft was beyond ecstasy, beyond anything he'd felt with Penelope. And finally, when she had taken all of him, she lay forward, draped over his bare chest and kissed him fiercely just as her hips began to rise back up. "You feel sooo good," she moaned, her fingers digging into his shoulders gently as she began to find her rhythm.
"So do you," he hissed back, reaching to take her hips in his hands and help her body rise and fall on his manhood.
Panting and moaning, both teens continued their lovemaking, reveling in their mutual pleasure. The feeling of her lithe body as it rose and fell on his length, the blurred warmth of her skin against his, and the soft mewling whimpers as he filled her over and over again were driving him wild. It filled him with a boldness he didn't know he had, and after several blissful minutes, he pulled her against his chest and rolled the two of them over so he was on top now.
"You're so beautiful," he said, after bending down and kissing her once more. She didn't say anything, instead merely blushing and reaching up to stroke his bare chest. Not waiting any longer, he began to thrust in and out, slowly at first, but picking up speed as he got used to the new position.
"Harder," panted Star, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him into her as deep as she could. She knew she wasn't going to last much longer, the pleasure was just too much. What had begun as tight ball of ecstasy in her sex had bloomed into a blissful bonfire in her belly and she knew what was coming next.
For Marco, it was a similar story and he felt a familiar tightness as he slid in and out of her. The feel of her silky smooth alabaster body under him was driving him crazy, and the warm, wet tightness of her center was threatening to pull him under the surface of his ability to hold out. Knowing his time was short, he redoubled his efforts, pinning her hips down and pushing as deeply as he could as his oncoming climax roared closer.
"I'm-I'm" moaned Star, the last remnants of self control breaking as her orgasm exploded like a bomb.
"S-S-St-a-ar," was all Marco managed to say as he felt himself fall over the edge of his own climax. Arching his back, he drove into her one final time, his hardness throbbing as he came. A hand reached up, snaking around his neck and pulling him down to lay on top of her, and he buried his face against his princess' neck, kissing and nibbling as their mutual consummation reverberated through their bodies. They remained there for several minutes, each breathing hard as they enjoyed the afterglow of their lovemaking. Marco found himself at ease, the haze in head head slowly subsiding as he enjoyed Star's closeness.
"Hi."
Raising his head up, he saw her grinning at him and returned the smile as she reached up and ran a hand through his soft brown hair. "Hey," he murmured back before slipping off to the side and pulling the bunched up blanket over the two of them. Wrapping an arm around her, he cuddled close and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of her body against him under the soft blanket. Soon, he found himself fighting sleep as her rhythmic breathing and the gentle *whoosh* of the central air combined to lull him into dreamland.
"Star, about tonight," he said quietly, giving her a little squeeze to see if she was still awake.
"Tonight was perfect, Marco," she said through a stifled yawn, "whatever we need to talk about, can we please just have tonight? Please?" His only answer was to snuggle closer, and from the happy sigh he heard her let out before closing his eyes for the last time that night, he knew she was right.
AUTHORS NOTE
Heloooo! If you've made it this far, congratulations! You get to read the first inaugural Review Roundup!
BookOfEli:
RR: ahhh, at this point not much use in keeping you in the dark, as this chapter lays things out kind of conspicuously. But...I do have to say, quoting Marco here: "it takes two to make the mistakes we've made." He's not so innocent either, and I'd say Penelope has handled things less than gracefully. In all, I think all of our main characters need to do some fixing up, ya know?
LC: You know in the past months when we were getting closer to this moment, RR and I had a few conversations to discuss what you might think of this latest development. Everyone involved here has been misbehaving, and I think it's time for everyone to take a good look at their actions in the next chapter as the fallout from tonight really hits home.
LordOfTheStorm:
RR: Aaallllright, big review first! Yeah, the big bad wolf finally steps out of the forest, and his teeth are sharp as hell! As for the love triangle, we'll I hope this chapter leaves you with some developments! The hours corn and I have spent back and forthing the romantic drama in this story has led to many of them!
Oooo, and Tom. This dude, lemme tell ya. The stained glass window that is the man himself has also been the subject of many a conversation. Hes checkered, to say the least, but I think you have quite a bit to look forward to in the coming Season 1 finale! Jackie on the other hand, oooo a dark, dirty window if you've ever seen one, I think you're gonna love where she's going with our dear friendly entity!
Eclipse...is a bit of mystery, I think we can all agree. For now, you may just have to "wait and see" what she's up to, and how she fits into all this! Ultimately, I will say, unless Corn says no: You can't change fate, and the Moon bows to no one. Hope that was cryptic enough!
LC: Hahaha, glad you loved the chapter! It was truly a labor of love for me because it had so much fun setting up that tournament and intermingling it with their personal drama. I love getting to flex that creative muscle no matter which story I'm working on, and that chapter was a romp from start to finish to create.
And Ronald is right. We've had multiple discussions on how we want to handle Starco in this story, how we didn't want Marco and Star to be perfect people, and generally how to tell a much more human story of how these two dorks are exploring the genesis of their relationship and dynamic. It's been an amazing ride so far, and I can't wait to see how you all react to what's coming next!
I'm also really excited for the Jackie stuff that's to come. It's given us an opportunity to do some horror writing in a fandom that doesn't incorporate a lot of those elements. I personally loved the "Hungry Larry" episode of SvtFoe, and getting some genuinely goosebump inducing scenes in this story, has been a point of pride for me! As to Eclipsa, well Mum's the word for now as we have some big plans for her, but alas, now is not the time to discuss them.
RJV:
RR:Well, for that, you're gonna have to stick around and find out! But true to form, I don't think things will be too bad for too long, Star has a funny way of winning people over, and Penelope has a funny way of surprising people!
LC: Star and Penelope's dynamic is definitely strained past the breaking point, but as Ronald has said, only time will tell if they ever mend the rift both of their interests in Marco created.
Guest:
RR: see, this enthusiasm was akin to mine as I read the chapter for the first time (or rather, in bits in pieces as it was being made). You'll see more of Parcival in the future, not to worry! As for Tom, I think in ch.12 pt. 2, you'll see him surprise you even more! Higgs is easily my favorite character, so yeah I was just as thrilled to finally get her in on some action! Now for the interesting bit of meat from these two chapters, oh yes, Jackie is back and better than ever, and our demonic friend is not even close to done with your favorite characters. So keep a weather eye on the horizon! And thanks again, for your unwavering patience with uploads!
LC: What he said!
AmazingStoryTime:
RR: me too, I like to think that past his fun-loving bravado, he can be collected, nurturing, courageous, and determined to make things happen as the situation calls.
LC: I agree. Too often people forget that River is more than just a loveable clown. He's a good father, a competent monarch, and a peerless hunter. Sure he's excitable like Star, but he's still a stand up guy who deserves some credit for being a good dad!
ViceVersa96:
RR: Ayyye lmao what up vice, and sorry to keep the wait long for another chapter lol. But I'm thrilled you enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy the next! Many things are at play, and many things will be changing as there are 1.5 chapters left until the end of Once and Future Queen Season one!
LC: Keeping you all on your toes is half the fun here! Twists, turns, surprises! It's all part of trying to craft a good story for you all to enjoy! I'm beyond excited to work with Ronald in bringing you guys to a thrilling first season conclusion!
TheManOfMystery5:
RR: Lol as far as speech patterns go, right on the money. Perhaps just a smudge more aged up, a little deeper and maaaaybe more enthusiastic about literally everything lmao. But a beast in the bedroom nonetheless!
LC: Hahaha, no comment.
Starco4Everr:
RR: lol you may be finding out sooner than you think, if this chapter isn't enough of a step forward. I just hope that you like how it goes, so long as the journey is enjoyable!
LC: Let's just say the table's set, the dinner served, but there's still a lot of guests who've yet to take a bite of what could be a very dramatic and dangerous meal.
Mr. Spinner:
RR: WELL? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! Lol I hope this counts as busting a move for ya, big dawg! Yeah from Toffee's big reveal to the final climactic showdown, I think corn more than delivered. Romantic tension at an all time high, a sneaky little someone gumming the gears? And Jackie's glorious return to the limelight? I'm thrilled you're enjoying the story thus far, and I hope this chapter and many more to come keep you coming back for more!
LC: As always it was great reading your thoughts. I know we don't update as often as some writers do, but I like to think the super high quality of what we're putting out more than makes up for it. At the end of the day, I want to put something out that makes me proud to read it just as much as I hope it entertains you all.
LC:There was a ton going on this chapter, so it was quite the high wire act to juggle a few different plot lines melding into one big spectacle. You have to keep the action lively and entertaining, the drama crisp and fresh without crossing over in the melancholic, but overall, I'm pleased as punch to see how positively this chapter was received! The next chapter is setting up to be as dramatic as this one, so strap in!
RR:Finally, thanks to all of you for the continued support and enthusiasm you have with this story. Corn and I really spend a lot of time planning and drafting to make things work, reviewing, re-reviewing, outlining, a lot goes into this stuff and even then, sometimes we never really get to that, 100% perfect assessment at the end. But suffice to say, we put our best into this, and every day we work towards creating something even better for you to enjoy.
And now, with the holidays in full swing, and the year drawing to a close, the two of us wish you all a good year, and again, thank you for being with us, and sharing our excitement for the story. It's really all for you guys, and every time we see someone as thrilled as us, it just pushes us to do more, be better, and aim higher!
So leave a review, fave, follow, you name it! Questions, notes, gripes, we're here for all of it, and if you want some more… personal attention, feel free to PM us, as Fanfiction now has notifications fixed (for now?). That being said, for the hundredth time thank you all, and I'll see you guys in...
PAAAAART TWWOOOO!
~Mr. Ronald Reagan
~Lord Cornwalis
