Forgotten Fates

Chapter 2

Lying In Wait

Memories are fickle, unreliable things that wither and decay until even the feelings they bring are lost. People, places and ideas are subject to rot within one's own mind as quickly as time will allow. Where once they were an answer, eventually all that remains is a hollow void. But for Merina, her memories gave only a single question: Why?

She'd spent days trying to coax out even the slightest answer to any question she could conceive, but there was only Vartek. Every memory flooded back to him, and every memory only brought with it variants of the same question. Why had he gone so far? Why couldn't she let go? Why was she spared? Why didn't he listen? Why didn't she remember?

From the moment he'd cleaved his soul and molded her into being, she'd been left with no choice but to observe, watching him as he carved a murderous path from the present to the past. Their lives together were a fractured mystery, but she understood the feelings her memories kept locked away. She understood that she loved him, despite what he'd become. So she observed. Vartek's assaults, his partnership with Toffee, Marco's corruption, Star's fury, and an endless river of suffering. She was there for all of it.

She watched as Vartek Turned an entire kingdom, mercilessly doling out her broken and burning magic. The day before the battle, in that isolated and forgotten temple, she tried one last time to steer him back to sanity and coax out what little empathy he surely had left. Why was he fighting it? Why didn't he relent? Why did he look so afraid? She swam in an ocean of thoughts, events, words and places to have but a moment with him. All she needed was to talk to him again.

His eyes… they were that same brilliant gold, and his voice was soothing to the cacophony of her racing thoughts. She nursed him back to health, knowing the consequences it would bring. She tried to bring him back. She tried. But she knew before it had happened that he was doomed to his fate, and in the final moments of that memory she looked for her answer.

"You hate me."

Merina stared, watching the memory of her husband relax, every trace of corruption melting away. Life poured into his breath and color filled his skin. Surely there wasn't harm in indulging; what more could she possibly lose by chasing a dream? So she played along and let the memory wander. "I couldn't hate you, even though I should," she answered, releasing him. Contrary to the events of that fateful day, he didn't falter and burn. He stayed true, simply because she wanted him to. "I live every day wanting, but you're gone; you took everything when you died."

He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes careful and direct. "We both hide from reality. It's a weakness that makes us strong, but vulnerable. Hope kept us alive, but it blinded us to… her." He stressed the word, like he was fighting not to name her directly. Merina shook her head, letting her frustration show with a sigh. "I didn't come here to take a stroll down memory lane. I came here for answers."

Vartek frowned, but he didn't object. "You did come here to relive what could have been. But… what can I offer you?"

"Who were we before all this?" she asked, careful not to lose control. She wanted- no, she needed him to stay. Any thought of that woman that had taken so much from her had to remain an afterthought, and she wouldn't falter here. "You shared my magic. I can feel bits of you echoing in my head… but I've forgotten so much. There isn't a part of me that makes sense without you, and I want to know why."

Vartek nodded, frozen in place. His eyebrows knit with concern, and his frills began to lift in her presence. He looked scared. "I… I am what they made me. What you made me." he sighed, "Like you, I refused to see reason. We both fell from who we were meant to be and became byproducts of our decisions."

Merina made to argue, but a flash of pain rang out in her temples. In the corners of her vision she could see the walls of the temple fighting to take back control. With effort, she fought to keep them at bay. She needed more time. "We aren't meant to be anything but dead. We made choices, we died by them, and the world should have moved on. But you didn't. You forged atrocities and crimes of nature all on the chance you could bring her back. Why?"

There was a distant rumble that shook the temple, there and gone in an instant. But Vartek didn't react. He relaxed his frills and met her gaze with the same steadfast resolve he exhibited that day. "I could ask the same of you. I'd give anything to go back and undo what I've done, but as you said, we made our choices."

"You only say that because it's what I want to hear," she grumbled, stepping away to pace about the temple's antechamber. "You're just a memory; an imprint on my magic formed from the sum of two wholes. That answer doesnt help me understand you. I'm still lost."

"Then what do you want to hear?" she heard him ask. She didn't know, and even if she did, it wouldn't have helped. Angry, she turned to face him with a steadily rampant irritation to her words. "I want to know who I am, Vartek, not just what you thought of me. I want to know about the life I gave away before-"

"Does that life matter if our choices robbed us of it?"

"It matters because I don't know how to live it without you!" Merina winced at a flash of pixels and glitching outside her field of view. A throbbing burn lit up the back of her head, but she wouldn't give in without the catharsis she came here for. "You made me to be loved by you, and I know nothing else about who I'm supposed to be! How am I supposed to fix everything and feel like I-"

Vartek was there, his clawed hand a gentle cushion to hold her furious glare. His smile, broken and burned as it was, still made her pause. His eyes were a warm glow as he offered gently, "We are bound even in death, and that bond runs deeper than all our experiences combined. Forgive me for keeping the worst part of you in my heart: the part that loved a Monster." Her breath caught in her chest, every scathing retort and furious attack melting away. The memories he brought with him were as fleeting as they were comforting. A life she couldn't remember brought out everything she wanted but couldn't have. "Everything that happened, happened. You can't run from it, and knowing why it happened won't help you."

"Then what do I do without you?" The words felt like they belonged to someone else, but she knew they would ease every pain he left behind. "I want to fix the world you broke. I want to feel like myself, whoever that may be. I want to hate you… but I can't…"

He nodded as though every intermittent thought she conveyed was as plain as english. She wanted to stay. She wanted to hide. "You want too much from the man who took everything from you." The temple shifted again, this time with a web of fracturing stone and groaning wood. Vartek kissed her hand before bringing it to his cheek and holding her gaze. "You don't need anything I can give. You're already something far greater than who I wanted you to be. Hate me if you must. Just stop hiding… and face reality."

There was a flash, and though she wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment, it was over. With a blink she was back in the woods with her hand outstretched to hold nothing but air. As she was from her first breath taken in a strange new land and time, Merina was alone.

Or so she thought.

"You okay?"

Still reeling from her vision, Merina brought her hand to her chest and clenched her fist. She was back at her isolated campsite to rest between missions. She didn't bother looking, only offering with a diluted sigh, "Yes, just… chasing a dream, I'm afraid. To what do I owe the pleasure, Star?"

The young princess was sitting cross-legged on a mossy log, her smile sunny and artificial. She'd been that way ever since she finally managed to be seen by her people. "Just dropping by to chat it up with you. I know you have another two months until your check-in, but I kinda just wanted to talk. Ya know, girl stuff."

Merina smiled, flexing her wrist to call forth a sweeping blanket of fresh moss to form a cushion. She sat facing Star, her smile just as labored as the princess'. "You don't need an excuse to see me, hun. I rather enjoy our talks, especially without a council of onlookers supervising."

"Sorry about that, again." Star rubbed the back of her neck, smiling sheepishly. "I was kinda hoping it wouldn't blow up into a big thing, but you probably know how my mom is. I think she was just worried I might try to follow you around out here to help."

"Seems her fears weren't entirely irrational, but I do understand. I know there's a process for charges like mine, and I wouldn't ask to be omitted from it."

Star shook her head. "Nahh, she'll come around, she's just used to keeping face in front of the nobles and Mewmans. Everyones got their own way of dealing with things, and hers is to stay busy and uptight."

"A far cry from spending a night a week reminiscing alone," Merina prodded, though she kept her tone playful. "I do have ears, hun. You should be out playing and making memories with your friends."

"Have you found any more Turned since last month?" Star asked, leaning forward with forced enthusiasm; anything to change the subject from the Lonesome Thursdays. It was a welcome shift, but to Merina that question was always a difficult one to answer.

"No, I'm afraid not," she sighed, "I thought I had a good lead on a cluster of them to the east of the Jagged Mountains, but it was just a pack of frozen cyclopes." For a moment she watched as Star continued to nod along with deteriorating interest. She'd never assume Star simply didn't care what the outcome may have been, but today? "Star, I may have been born six months ago, but in that time I've become very acquainted with the idea of 'beating around the bush'. What did you really come all the way out here to talk about?"

Star's posture turned rigid as her eyes darted to Merina. Oh yeah, immediately guilty. "I didnt- I mean, I obviously wanted- …Y'know, just feels like it's been a while since-"

"Sweetheart, our last meeting was a little less than a ago, and although the conditions weren't favorable…" Merina trailed off, giving her the slightest hint of a frown. "I'm glad to see you, always. But if something's wrong, you can trust me to be an open ear."

Star watched her, every scrap of ambition having since turned to dread. She knew she shouldn't have come, especially not with something like this. Merina looked exhausted enough, and to pile on even more trouble and speculation was only going to make things worse. But as she'd reminded herself dozens of times that morning, Merina was her only hope of seeing Marco again.

As if she'd shaken off days of physical and mental agony, Star let her shoulders fall. Her smile wilted, and in a low voice she gave her trust to Merina. "I saw Darc last night."

She held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the firestorm to erupt. The forest felt like a ticking time bomb with each passing second. But rather than be bombarded with fear, grief or anger, nothing of the sort came. Merina simply shifted her weight to lean forward and eyed the treeline with confusion. "I'm sorry, hun, but you must have been dreaming. His host died… and he followed."

Star opened her eyes and let a slow breath of relief pass before leaning forward to match Merina's temperament. "I know it sounds crazy, believe me. But I think he somehow made it back, or left a message to-"

"Star." Merina was staring at her now, her wary gaze having shifted toward concern. "I know how much- I understand how you feel. But as I've had to come to terms with reality, I don't want you to hide from it like so many others. Marco and Vartek died in that battle, and as a friend of mine keeps telling me: what happened, happened."

"I know they're gone," she countered, "but… what if it wasn't for good? We didn't really see what happened, right? What if they-"

"Please, Star. I can't- … I want to-" Merina clenched her fist, grinding her knuckles into the dirt. She closed her eyes, but all she could see was Vartek. "I think it would be best if you went home. Please. I have a busy day ahead of me, and I still have a lot of missing Turned to track down."

Merina kept her gaze on the moss below, her brow furrowed and her jaw clenched. Star stared at her for a moment longer, aware that she was prodding the bull. But she had to try. "If you really knew what I was feeling right now, then you'd know this is the last thing I'd wanna talk about. After what Vartek did, I know it's a dangerous idea. But I wouldn't be here unless I thought- Unless I knew that this was real."

"I understand that you might think…" Merina looked at Star, finding the young girl absolutely steadfast in the face of rejection. That gleam in her eye, it was the same resolve she'd seen in Vartek on his final day. It was terrifying, but she caught her words and buried them, letting her refusal falter. "When vartek passed, I was left without any means of perception until Luna gave me life," she explained, careful to keep her tone guarded. " ...what do you remember about that day?"

Star, sensing a hint of appraisal, was careful to not come across as ecstatic. "When I woke up everything was over. It was super quiet except for this dark ball up in the sky, blipping all over the place and spinning crazy fast. I thought it might be one of vartek's spells, but neither of them were around. Before I could do anything it just shrunk to nothing and exploded." She lowered her gaze and frowned at the dirt. "I didn't… I couldn't feel him until then. It felt like a part of me was ripped out."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that hun," Merina sighed. She leaned back to stare up at the treetops, a few brave shafts of morning sunlight breaking through the canopy. "It's probably not what you want to hear, but if Marco and Vartek got caught in a magic singularity? Odds are their death was quick and painless. I'm sorry."

Star tilted her head, sitting forward and asking, "Magic what-now?"

Deciding that topic was far safer than the previous option, Merina settled in to explain. "A Magic Singularity could happen if so much magic is drawn to one place that what we perceive as reality can't sustain its weight, collapsing into a point. It's all relatively new theories in my time, but from my studies at Castle Butterfly… we learned…" She trailed off, her eyes growing wide before she lurched forward. "M-my studies! I-I remember my studies!"

Another confused stare was her only answer, so she desperately restrained her excitement and took a shallow breath. "My memories; Vartek built them from his own and what we shared through our bond. I've forgotten so much since I was given life, but- Star I remember the Royal archives! Years of studying when I was a girl, before I met Vartek!"

Eager to keep both the excitement and the information going, Star nodded along and tried to build off of the enthusiasm. "When I talked to Darc, he made it sound like they were alive, but trapped somewhere? Like a window? I dunno, the whole thing was pretty fuzzy."

Merina nodded, holding her chin as she dug through budding recollections of her younger years. Countless hours of pouring through notes and scrolls and histories for the sake of… she didn't know. "Did it say anything else? Perhaps a message from either of them?"

Star shrugged. "No… I only saw Darc for like, two minutes. I guess I passed out near the end, but before I did, he mentioned something about 'Negative'? And a 'Nexus Point'?"

Merina frowned. So the imprint wasn't a relay, but a separate construct altogether, as she'd guessed. More importantly, if Vartek's imprint really did manage to retain his form and break through the compression… No, how could Star have suddenly gained knowledge beyond her years and generation? Something had certainly happened to point her so dramatically forward, but why now? None of it made any sense, unless the imprint had been inadvertently linked to Star through their bond? But how could it have survived the Singularity?

As she continued to mumble unintelligible thoughts to herself, Star watched Merina with concern. This wasn't the reaction she'd expected, but that didn't mean it was good. "You got something?" She asked.

Merina looked up as though she'd forgotten Star was even there, smiling absently. "Yes, yes. Sorry, just thinking." She paused, combing through what she knew and trying desperately to decide if it was worth the endeavor. "In the future, in long-buried notes, there is talk of something called the Nexus. It's scarce, and not much survived the Siege of Mushrooms two hundred years from now, but maybe they weren't just theories. If the imprint somehow managed to survive, maybe it knows something about the Nexus."

"What can you tell me about it?" Star eased, sitting up and leaning closer.

"Not much, I'm afraid," she sighed. "It's just an unverified Monster legend from a thousand years ago. What little information was left described a place that sits at the top of the universe, where magic is said to have come from. All we had were dusty, burned scrolls to reference, but what we could translate made it sound like a hub, of sorts. Something connected to everything like the roots of a tree. I don't know, I didn't spend very much time on it. Maybe Omnitraxus could point us to-"

"No!" Star recoiled to draw back her outright refusal, but from Merina's perplexed expression there wasn't any hiding it. "Sorry, but I think we'd be better off if none of this somehow makes it back to my mom. I don't think she'd be able to handle any of this, and I don't need her thinking I'm going bananas over crazy dreams and legends."

Merina nodded. "Yes, I suppose you may be right. In all reality there may not be anyone in this time who even knows what the Nexus is. Or how to find it." A songbird chirped above the canopy, drawing both their attention before Star suddenly sat forward. "What about the person who wrote the scroll? If we find where they went, or where the legend started, maybe it could point us in the right direction?"

"There wasn't any signature that I can recall, but I do know that it was written in ancient Monster." Merina shrugged, glancing to the side with uneasy pause. "They seem to have good intentions with my hearings, so… perhaps I could go to them and ask around. Maybe in your time they haven't yet lost their history."

From the slump of Star's expression, the idea of going to the Monsters for help wasn't well-received. But with no other options besides friends of the Queen? "They've been good to me, hun. If I ask nicely, I imagine they'll take me anywhere we have a lead to. In their eyes I'm one of them."

"For better or worse," came Star's speculation, but she didn't press. "Darc mentioned something else. He said something was coming, that by purifying the magic we released it. He told me it was gonna be worse than Vartek. And… if we have to go through it to get them back? We're going to need more magic than the trickle we have left."

Now it was Merina's turn to throw a skeptical grimace into the fold. "Magic's what got us into this mess, Star. Vartek's corruption, the Turned spell- everything that's happened in the last year? Magic caused that, and after Vartek destroyed what he'd corrupted, I'd say the world is better off living with what little we have. So no one can abuse it ever again."

"Okay, so if we bring them back, and something worse comes with them? If Vartek comes back corrupted because he wasn't here? What then?" Star asked without disrespect, but she was adamant. "Without magic we're running on blind hope that something doesn't try to kill us when we get there. And I dunno if you noticed, but hope is pretty useless these days. We need a fist to punch back at anything that gets in the way."

Merina shook her head with a frown. She'd seen what magic could do to people, and she wasn't keen on seeing any other version of Vartek than the one that lived in her memories. "I can't tell you what you can and can't do, but magic is dangerous, Star. You saw what it did to my husband. What he did to Marco. What he did to you. Vartek may still be corrupted, but he would be powerless against us if we don't give him his weapon of choice."

"We don't even know if he'll come back without his crazy magic. He could have a stockpile left over that escaped the purification spell, and then we're screwed."

"We don't know for sure. But without many options I'd recommend we side with the choice that doesn't feed into the worse nature of those who wield magic as-."

"There's always another way. I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but…" Star cut in almost immediately. Her eyes were cold and calculating, despite the enthusiasm she'd worn only a moment ago. "In my future, I destroy magic once and for all to save the people I care about. I didn't know what the consequences were, or what it really did to our worlds, but if bringing it back now means saving Marco? Unless we know what we're up against, I don't wanna leave his life to chance."

"Like Vartek?"

"No, Vatek wanted to bring you back from the dead. But Marco's not dead yet. He's just stuck somewhere, and I'll do anything to bring him home."

"I understand, but all of this relies on the imprint being right." Watching her, Merina could think of a billion reasons why unleashing magic could be catastrophic. What was left of it wasn't broken, nor was it corrupted. But on the unknown horizons they were currently spanning there was no telling what it might do. "And what if bringing magic back is the very thing that finishes them off? Would you still pursue it?"

"For better or worse… I trust Darc," Star forced herself to admit. "He wanted me to bring them back, and like it or not we can't do that with magic on the fritz. Now, are you gonna trust me? Or do I have to figure this out on my-"

"I'll help, but under one condition," Merina whispered. She wouldn't meet Star's gaze, but from the pained expression she was trying to hide, it was probably for the best. "If this works, I would like some time to speak to Vartek. You can have him after, and do with him what you must, but I need answers first. Answers only he can give me."

Star let the request hang in the air, but she could only nod. Whatever their plans for Vartek were, a few minutes for an aside wouldn't hurt provided he wasn't still completely evil. She wanted to go a few rounds with him regardless. "You can have all the time you need, but we gotta get to them first. So, magic. What do we have? Anything cool from the future?"

Bristling, Merina shrugged. "I don't know how to bring it back, your spellbook would likely have the best course of action, right?"

Star pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I, heh, sorta can't read it?" At Merinas pronounced confusion, she let out a sigh and prepared to give out even more of the future. But maybe it didn't count if the person receiving it was already from the future? "Glossaryck died in my old timeline when someone stole the Book of Spells. After he died, I went into the wand to try and stop the same guy from destroying all of Mewni. He was there waiting for me and helped make a new Millhorse. I was hoping to try that again before we fought Vartek, but he was with Marco when he… you know."

She expected a sort of berating that Moon had given her after the ordeal had come and gone the first time. Something about priceless knowledge and untold historic value being gone forever. And while Merina frowned she looked more confused than upset. "If Glossaryck was truly dead the book would have disappeared with him, and vice versa. If you still have it lying around somewhere, then that lends further credit to your theory that neither of them are really gone."

"You mean… all this time, I had proof just sitting under my bed?"

Merina nodded. "As for our current predicament, I'm afraid I don't have anything in regards to a 'Millhorse', none of your old accounts ever brought up how you shaped magic like you did. Though, admittedly, the glitter was a nice touch."

"Ya know, I always knew someone would appreciate it someday," Star laughed, and realized that she'd laughed more in the past day, than the last six months. And if things worked out? She'd be laughing with Marco soon enough. "Look, I'll figure out how to get magic back on track, it's kinda my deal anyways. In the meantime, find out what you can, and hopefully the 'Nexus' isn't a load of legendary garbage."

Merina nodded with a smile, one slightly less labored than before. But a silence stretched between them for far longer than necessary. With tentative care, she asked, "If this… doesn't pan out like you want. Are you going to be able to move on? Are you going to be okay, hun?"

"...No. I won't," Star answered with finality. "It's funny, knowing he's out there, knowing how much I'm missing, and how close I could have been? I can't just forget that, even if we dropped it now. A lot of people would give anything for even a minute, and I'm no different, as much as I have to pretend I am. I need to see Marco again, and I need to bring his murderer to justice."

All Merina could see were those caring and passionate topaz eyes holding her with all the love in the universe. But just behind them was a hurricane of her worst nightmares brought to an apocalypse. She spoke slowly, earning the interest of her guest. "I had a daughter, before what you saw in my memories came to be; Silva was her name. I can't remember what she looked or sounded like, what kind of girl she was, what she enjoyed… but I can feel every ounce of love I had for her. Like I still know everything, and want more than anything to be reunited with her. If we can get Vartek back… I want to see if I can find a way home, if you'd let me try."

She was met with a perplexed frown as Star held her chin in thought. "I don't know how he got here, actually. But if you think he might help, I can't stop you. My mom and the rest of Mewni would be too happy to have him in the dungeon to care about where you go."

Merina frowned. "Even though I was responsible for-"

"Shu-shoosh. Vartek did all of that, and he used you to do it. If this works out, you have every right to try and get home. You've already done so much for us, so it doesn't matter what those wig-wearing losers in Mewni think. You deserve to see Silva again."

After a moment of quiet consideration, Merina stood and dusted her heels free of lingering moss. "It's just a pipe dream, really, but some part of me feels like I owe it to who Vartek used to be to try. I know I've said it a million times, but I can't thank you enough for all your help. It gives me hope for the future of Mewni that someone like you will one day rule." She expected a warm reception to her gratitude, but Star frowned as she stood.

"Thanks for everything you've done, too. I uh… I mean it when I say I wouldn't have made it so long without my friends, and you're definitely one of them. But I'll make sure your future is better than it's supposed to be. I promise." She made a show of brandishing her wand, and Marco's scissors. With a grin, Merina flexed her wrist. With a poof of dust and dried leaves, her tent and campfire evaporated, leaving only a small circle of smoldering logs. "You know that's not how it works right?"

"Yeah, I got that. But it sounded pretty cool, right?"

Merina laughed, knocking her fist against Star's. "Absolutely, from the coolest princess I know. Coincidentally you're also the only princess I know who's alive, but I'm hoping you don't catch on to that little detail. Shall we be off?"

Star nodded, using Marcos scissors to tear open a swirling blue rift. She paused for a moment, pulling out her phone and sending a quick text. Once she was done she cut open another portal to Earth, this one humming with magenta and indigo. "I told some friends of mine you're on your way. Goodluck, and uhh… say hi to Ludo and Dennis for me, would ya? Little bird guy and weirdly taller bird guy. You'll know Ludo when you see him."

"I- who? What exactly do-?"

"Busy day ahead of us no-time-to-explain-sorry-bye!" Star yelled, pushing Merina through her portal and Star-bombing into the other. Both portals closed with a soft *bwip*, leaving the forest empty, save for the boy sitting beside the smoldering remains of the campfire. He'd watched the entire exchange with growing interest. Now that it was over, he smiled, stuffing his hands into his ruined hoodie and letting his ethereal, flowing hair fall back into place.

"Finally," he breathed, his voice a soft echo in the woods, "a little push, a few visions, and they follow like ravenous wolves. Don't keep me waiting."

AUTHORS NOTE

Hey everyone, I'm still alive, as it turns out! Covid, work, family, writing projects, and more work can't keep me down forever! I know this chapter was a long time coming, and it's a biiiit on the short side. But, rest assured I'll have another following very soon, as part of a "prologue" of sorts. Thank you for your patience, and if you haven't already, be sure to check out some of my other works while you wait, one of which being under a different pen name, "Lord RonaldWalis. See y'all soon!

~Mr. Ronald Reagan