A/N: Hi, guys! It's your least favourite writer here to present you with the latest chapter of his overrated story!
Now, before I put you through the ordeal of having to read it, I'd like to say that -as some of you have probably noticed- Zora is heavily Japanese/Anime inspired in both theme and visual design. Her picture, which I drew myself and have posted on my DeviantART, Tumblr and am using it as my fanfiction profile, should make this very obvious since she is wearing a flower-pattern Kimono. I wanted to point this out so that you won't get confused by some of her non-western habits, which you'll read below.
That being said, enjoy the Chapter!
Replies to the latest reviews:
Epitaxus: Impressive, you noticed my word choice ;)
Rock Raider: Yep. It does mean something along the lines of 'Daybreak' or 'Dawn'. You can probably guess why I chose this name. If not, you'll find out eventually. And, unfortunately, I can't answer any questions about Zora's future without spoiling everything, so you'll have to wait and see. And yes, it is the woman from 'My Star' but nobody knows WHO she is (except for me, that is).
NHarem Foreva: Too bad, 'cause I'm doin' it!
RobLebron: Same as with Rock Raider's question, I literally can't say anything about Zora without giving it away! Sry! Other than that, Ludo will make an appearance at the end of this Chapter!
The Batboy: Yep. It'll be a special Chapter I'll do eventually, which won't have any influence on the actual story, kinda like a filler.
kylegriggs13: Um, k...?
DonDonatek: It's a Japanese Festival Cat mask. I drew Zora, so you can see what she and the mask look like :). And I'll take you up on that beer thing :P. Also, thanks for the praise, it's always nice to hear people loving my fanfiction story :D!
Captin Jar: No, she is going to have her head decimated with a Sledgehammer.
Disclaimer: All characters from Star vs. The Forces of Evil belong to the creators of the show. The plot of this story and any original characters that may appear in it, however, do belong to me and I would kindly ask you to inform me should you want to use anything from this story in your own fanfic.
Beta read by ElleFreak.
Story cover by Luzz015. Be sure to check her out on DeviantArt!
Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Staring it up!
Chapter 6
The Girl with the Mask
Part 1
Earth, Echo Creek
Star Butterfly, energetic magic wielder, heir to the Thone of Mewni, and the current owner of the Butterflies' Royal Magic Wand, awoke to a welcoming and heartwarming sight. Zora, the child she and Marco had found alone and unconscious in the dark forests on the northern borders of Mewni, was snuggled up to her and sleeping soundly, her breaths coming in even intervals and her face beaming with a calm and content bliss.
Somehow, it made Star glad that the girl had accepted her offer to share a bed with her.
Her own little snuggle buddy!
Star looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was almost 7AM, meaning that Marco would be coming by any second to wake her so the two could eat breakfast and catch the School Bus.
This time, however, the mischevious princess had other plans...
Right on queue, Marco's alarm clock rang and the boy sprang upright in his bed, yawned lazily, and reached for the alarm, turning it off and hitting the reset button. He moved the covers away from his body and got up from the bed and headed to his and Star's shared bathroom. As usual, there was a surprising lack of magical princess in it, although the traces of her using the room were abundant; Around 99% of the bathroom shelves abundant!
Shaking his head in playful annoyance, the Earth boy made his way down the hallway and to Star's room. He was about to knock but a sudden thought delayed any further actions; There was someone else in there sleeping with Star. Boy, did that sound easily misinterpretable!
Slowly and carefully did the boy open the door of the said room, then peeked inside. As he was about to call out his bestie's name, a finger atop of his lips made him reconsider. To his surprise, Star was upright and standing before him, making 'shh' noises and pointing at her large bed where Zora now laid, hugging a Lazer Puppy that Star had snuck in place of herself.
Marco understood the message and made way for Star to exit the room, then closed the door.
The moment he turned around, an ever-more-familiar sensation touched his lips and swiftly disappeared. He smiled at the princess and returned the good morning kiss, then mimicked her smile, albeit with a bit of a smug grin.
Wordlessly, still in their pyjamas, the two made their way downstairs, where they knew a warm meal awaited them, along with an even warmer smile from Angie Diaz.
"Morning, mom!" Marco said upon entering the kitchen, waving his hand briskly at his mother.
"Good morning, mrs. Diaz!" Star added, lively as ever, her spirits at an even higher level than usual. They both sat down at the table. Rafael Diaz was still absent but would be returning from his trip the following night.
"Good morning, you two," Angie greeted her two favourite children, placing two plates of freshly made toast with a cliché piece of butter atop of then on the table followed by two glasses of milk to keep their bones strong and durable, lest they sustain injuries during their daily adventures and misadventures.
Marco took a deep whiff of the roasted bread and sighed, earning a raised eyebrow from the mewman princess. "Ahh, nothing beast the smell of freshly made toast in the morning. You're the best, mom!"
"Thank you, Marco," Angie responded with a smile. "So, you both sleep alright?"
"Yeah, I slept fine," Marco casually responded as he chewed on his food.
"And what about you, Star?"
"Actually, I haven't gotten such a good night's rest in a long time!" said the princess, her face beaming. "I guess having a snuggle-buddy helps you relax."
"Snuggle-buddy?" Snickered Marco. Angie, too, looked at her with a half perplexed, half amused expression.
"Yep!" Star exclaimed, then continued in a subtle voice, "Zora looked like she was having a nightmare, so I pulled her closer to myself in hopes of calming her down and, well... She kinda just snuggled up to me, and I didn't have anything against it, so we basically ended up cuddling the entire night." The princess smiled warmly.
"If I were you, I'd be careful with my wording, Star," Angie said and leant against the kitchen counter, smirking mischievously at her son. "You know how jealous Marco gets when it comes to these kinds of things."
"Hardy har har," Marco retorted in a more-than-obviously sarcastic tone and took another bite out of his toast. The two women, or woman and mewoman, dumb as it sounds, laughed at his reaction.
"Is she still asleep?" Angie inquired, looking at Star. The princess nodded.
"Yeah. I didn't wanna wake her up. She needs the rest after everything she's been through..."
"Speaking of which," Angie began, "Have you two told Star's parents yet? I'm sure they'd want to-"
"It was my mom that sent us to Mewni, and Marco already told her about everything we saw," Star explained. "We still have to ask her if she remembers seeing anything else, but I wanna wait for her to rest up and fully recover before we start bombarding her with questions."
"Most of which she probably won't wanna answer," Marco added, fully aware of the trauma the girl must be going through. If it were him, he'd probably break down much harder than Zora had. While he felt pity for her, he couldn't help but admire how strong she was, having managed to not only escape the town as its sole survivor but also get a night's worth of sleep. Well, the latter was probably due to Star, now that he considered it. The princess did possess a remarkable ability; Being able to make people smile even in the grimmest of times. Luckily, she'd used that skill yesterday and it seemed to be paying off. For the moment, at least.
Marco's mother nodded in understanding and looked at the clock, widening her eyes. "Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" The two teenagers stared curiously at the woman as she ran up the flight of stairs and came down moments wearing a plain white T-Shirt with a group of animals surrounded by a red circle printed on it, the words 'Stop the path or face the wrath!' written underneath. She was also wearing what looked like a fake pair of deer antlers on her head.
Marco and Star exchanged a curious glance, and the former asked, "Um, mom, what exactly is it that you are doing?"
As she headed for the door, Angie spoke, "The mayor wants to shut down Echo Creek's animal preserve to make room to continue construction of some new road. But we won't stand for it!"
"We?"
"Yes, we; The Echo Creek Society for Animal Habitat Preservation! I'm going to the preserve with the rest of the members and we'll stop them for bulldozing it down!"
Star looked at Marco curiously and asked. "Um, Marco, what's an Animal Preserve?"
"It's a place where animals can live in peace without being worried about hunters," Marco explained.
"Why is that a thing? What's the point of having animals if you can't hunt them?" Star argued, showing traces of her father's persona being well and alive in her own mind, the King of Mewni being a well-versed and proficient hunter. Much to Moon's distaste, their daughter always was more from his side of the family...
"I'll respect your opinion, Star," Angie said. "But on Earth, we respect the lives of all animals, or most of us do, so this is a big deal for us," finishing her sentence, Angie opened the door, but, as she was about to step outside, hesitated and turned to face Star and Marco. "I'll be gone most of the day, so I won't be able to keep an eye on the girl. "
"That's ok." Star smiled. "I'll just stay home and keep her company."
"Star!" Marco exclaimed, seeming displeased with the girl's statement, as his frown and crossed arms indicated. "That would mean skipping school, which is not ok!"
"Relax, Marco," The princess casually shrugged it off and waved her wand through the air, summoning her cell phone. The princess opened it and sent a quick text to someone. A response came mere moments later, and she smiled after reading it. "There, all taken care of! They'll never know I'm gone!"
Marco raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"
"You'll see," Star responded, a mischevious smirk on her face. Marco sighed.
As Marco was prepared to protest anew, it dawned on him; With Star staying home for the day he'd have an opportunity to start practising magic with the help of the appendix Comet gave him before she departed from Earth. He wanted to do it discretely, remembering Comet's words about magic users tending to be rather sensitive towards the subject of non-magic users practising spells. "Alright," he grumbled, "I guess someone does have to stay home and keep an eye on her..."
"Good, now that that's settled, I'll see you kids tonight," said Angie. "Since I didn't have much time to prepare anything for today, I left some money on the fridge so you can order a pizza or something like that for dinner. Well, bye, kids! Wish me luck!"
"Good luck, mom."
"Good luck, Mrs. Diaz."
The two teenagers spoke simultaneously, waving the woman off. When Angie was out of the house, the door behind her closed shut. Marco stood up from the table. He turned to Star. "I've gotta get dressed; Can't exactly go to school in my PJs," he chuckled. Star, too, let out a giggle as she watched her boyfriend head up the stairs, most likely to the bathroom. He never, never skipped freshening himself up and brushing his teeth before continuing with the day's tasks. Normally, Star would join him and they'd brush their teeth in unison, then he would complain about how much shelf-space her belonging take up, stating that she'd 'conquered' the bathroom. In her defence, she was kind enough to leave an entire shelf free for him to use. Although, she did occasionally store some of her stuff on it as well. Hey, it's not easy looking cute on a daily basis without putting effort into it, and that effort happened to involve a boatload of earthly make-you-look-better doohickies!
The princess, having finished her toast, drank the glass of milk and even gulped down Marco's glass, the boy having either forgotten to drink it or wasn't up for it; Hey, more delicious milk for her! She stood up from the table and placed the dirty dishes into the sink for Marco to wash them later and followed the boy upstairs.
Upon arriving at the top of the stairs, she spotted a familiar figure standing in front of the open door of her room, dressed in her flower-patterned dress and tiredly rubbing one eye and adjusting the other to the sunlight that shone through the window at the end of the hallway. Zora yawned loudly and mustered up a thin, shy smiled upon seeing Star. The princess couldn't resist the urge to return the grin and walked over to the girl, then knelt down so she was eye-level with her.
The moment of bliss ended swiftly as the smaller girl's grin vanished, replaced by a saddened look.
She's still hurt, thought Star, frowning. The princess opened her arms, inviting the girl to a tender embrace. Zora accepted the offer and hugged Star tightly. "Are you ok?" Star asked caringly. It was obvious that the girl would need time to fully recover from the nightmare she'd been through. Star couldn't expect her to be cheerful just yet.
"I dunno..." the girl sighed, breaking the hug and looking at the floor. "Better, maybe..."
"That's good. Just take all the time you need and try not to think about the last few days." Star put on a smile, not wanting the gloom to settle in this early in the morning, and said, "Was my bed comfortable enough?"
"Mmm-hmm!" Zora beamed, her frown vanishing once more as a light blush settled on her face. Her next words came out very humbly, "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you."
"Meh, don't worry about it. It was nice," Star stated, and shrugged. "Anyway, I'll be staying with you today and making sure you're alright. Thankfully Mr. Stickler-"
"I heard that!" sounded Marco's voice from the bathroom; Star rolled her eyes in return and looked back at Zora, who was staring at her curiously. "As I was saying," the princess picked up from before the interruption, "Marco allowed me to stay home with you for the day, since Mrs. Diaz is busy with something else. So, I guess you're stuck with me for the day!" Star said the last bit jokingly, causing Zora to let out a small giggle.
The girl's stomach had a similar idea, only it didn't exactly giggle. Zora blushed and held a hand to her stomach, resulting in a sly smile from Star, who asked, "Hungry?" Zora nodded. "Alright," the princess stood up and turned around, now facing the stairs, "Just follow me to the kitchen and I'll make you something to eat!" Star said confidently. Hey, she was a strong, independent warrior princess, how hard could it be to prepare one measly breakfast, right?
Time skip
After putting out the fire in the kitchen and forbidding Star to touch the stove until under strict supervision, Marco ran upstairs and grabbed Comet's -now his- appendix and put it into his backpack, then raced outside to catch the bus. Once he was on the vehicle and it drove off, he noticed something or rather someone odd sitting in Star's seat. He sighed and slapped his forehead, then took his seat next to the girl wearing a makeshift Star Butterfly outfit.
"Hi, Marco!" Starfan13 greeted him, practically shivering from the excitement of getting to substitute her idol and hero, Princess Star Butterfly, in school for the rest of the day.
"Hi, um, Starfan13," Marco awkwardly greeted back, unsure whether this was even her legal name. Seriously, what kind of parent would give their child the name 'Starfan13'? And why?
Instead of breaking his head over such trivial nonsense, Marco decided to get some confirmation from the (creepy) girl. "So, I take it you're the one Star called earlier today?" he inquired and received around 10 excited nods in return.
"Yep! Can you believe it!?" Starfan13 said, quite loudly. "Star asked me to replace her for the day!" she squealed.
Marco sighed and gave her a stern look. "Just... Try not to draw too much attention and- Wait a minute," he cut himself short and pointed a finger at her and raised an eyebrow, then asked, "If you're subbing in for Star, who's subbing in for you?"
"Oh, pfff, that!" she brushed the air in front of her in a jolly fashion, then said, "The school guidance counsellor says I'm special, so I have lots of privileges and don't have to worry about attendance. Isn't it awesome!?"
Marco sunk into his seat and smiled awkwardly. "Yep, I can definitely see why she thinks you're special, hehe..." he said.
The rest of the drive went by in silence and the bus stopped before the school. Marco walked to class with Starfan13, with the mindset to get things over with and, as soon as school ended, delve into the world of the Arcane for the first time in his life.
Meanwhile
To Star's surprise -and relief- Zora knew how to prepare her own meals, despite being unfamiliar with the contents of the refrigerator and shelves. She even knew how to use the stove Star had fixed with a bit of magical know-how! When asked about it, Zora shrugged and said that it wasn't very difficult to figure out how to work the appliance. Star wondered what other skills the girl had obtained during her years of servitude.
Presently, the girl was finishing her bowl of white rice with some odd sauce consisting of numerous spices she'd retrieved from the upper and lower shelves of the kitchen. Zora's sitting position was an oddity to Star; She was kneeling on the chair, folding her legs underneath her thighs, and resting her buttocks on her heels. Before Marco left, he'd had said that it was called 'Seiza' on Earth, whatever that meant.
Regardless, she finished her breakfast and murmured something under her breath, then closed her eyes and stood up with a slight nod of her head, then hopped off the chair and landed on the floor with a light 'thud'.
Zora let out a tiny burp and blushed. "Excuse me..."
Star, now dressed in her standard sea-green dress with a pink squid on the front, purple crocodile boots and a devil hairband on her head, chuckled and looked at the clock, then az Zora, and spoke, "Well, we've got the entire day to ourselves, so, if you're feeling up for it, I could tell you some things you need to know about Earth."
"Earth?" Zora arched an eyebrow at the somewhat familiar word. She'd heard it once, or maybe twice, and she knew it was another dimension, but that's about where her knowledge of the term ended. Curiously, she asked, "What's Earth? Is it the dimension we're in?"
"Yep!"
"Oh..." Zora muttered, unsure what to make of the whole situation. She'd heard of other dimensions existing outside of her own but never had the chance to visit any of them. Her own dimension was pretty cruel and the people there were mean -or at least the town she'd lived in was- which made her wonder, "Is Earth a nice dimension?"
A huge, excited grin appeared on Star's face as a sudden idea popped up in her head. "Well..." the princess began, reaching into her pocket, "You see-" Star took out her pair od dimensional scissors and opened a portal to her room. She walked through, beckoning Zora to follow her; Hey, why walk all the way up the staircase when you can take a shortcut, right?
Curiously, the girl obeyed. Once both were safely through the rift, Star closed the portal and walked over to her closet. She opened the door and went inside, then came back out moments later holding a huge book, the words 'Star's Photo Album' written on it in large, bold letters decorated with hearts. Star walked over to her bed and hopped onto it, bouncing a couple of times on the mattress, then placed the book on it. Zora climbed onto the bed and joined the young princess, keeping a respectful distance. Star smiled at her and tapped a spot on the bed next to her. Reluctantly, and understanding the message, Zora crawled over to the teen and made herself comfortable.
Zora looked at Star curiously. The princess smiled, opened the photo album, and sang, "I think Earth is a pretty gre-at place."
The first picture in the album was of her first day on Earth, taken shortly after her parents had dropped her off. Moon and River were eying their daughter angrily while she kept casting random spells near the school grounds. Zora's eyes widened as she recognised the royal trio; The ruling family of the Kingdom of Mewni! No wonder the blonde girl had seemed so familiar!
"You're the Star Butterfly!" Zora exclaimed in sheer bewonderment, and Star smiled. The princess turned the page of her photo album, revealing dozens of pictures and photos on it.
"That's saying something, 'cause I've been through outer space." As she sang, her hand wandered over to a picture of herself riding on Princess Pony Head as she and the bodyless Unicorn, surrounded by a pink oxygen bubble, flew past a space-shuttle. Though the windows on the aircraft, an astronaut was staring at the two in disbelief, confused beyond all belief, no doubt.
"I think it suits me, it's just my style. I think I'm gonna stay a little while." She pointed at another picture. This one depicted herself being pushed on a swing by Marco and using her wand to gain even more altitude. The picture that followed showed Marco lying on the ground after having been hit by the force of the swing while Star kept enjoying herself.
Star motioned for Zora to continue flipping the pages. The girl did as she was instructed and saw numerous pictures of Star together with different people on each one. Young, old, boy, girl; It didn't seem to matter to the princess, for she was smiling in each and every picture, as was the person she took the picture with. "I think that strangers are just friends you haven't met."
Star flipped over to the next page that had a picture of herself and Marco smiling at the camera whilst beating up Ludo and his minions. Zora stared at it with wide eyes. "I'm blasting monsters and I never break a sweat.
Finally, they reached the final page of the photo album. On it was nothing less than a huge front-shot of the Diaz' house with every one of Star's friends surrounding her and Marco, who were in the centre, and smiling cheerfully at the camera. As Star slowly closed the photo album, she sang the last verse of her song with tender care, "I'm glad to call this place my home!"
"Wow..." Zora sharply inhaled. Her mind was having trouble processing this new information. Not only did this dimension seem to be much nicer than the one she'd 'grown up' in, but she was also now living in the same room with a princess who was actually kind-hearted and nice? This had to be a dream, right?
"Is something wrong?" asked Star worriedly after seeing Zora space out for over two full minutes.
The small girl looked at the princess and smiled sweetly. "No, I, just- This just doesn't seem real and-"
"Well, it is real!" Star said confidently and smiled.
Zora stared at her own lap with a coy smirk crossing her face. Maybe things are finally looking up for me?
She looked up at Star, locking her gaze with the princess', and said, "Can you tell me more about yourself and about Earth?"
"Gladly!" Star exclaimed and got herself lost in an energetic rant, with Zora carefully listening to every word.
To be continued...
Chapter End Notes:
Alright, this turned out way lighter than I'd wanted it to. And a musical number, really, Brain, really... *sigh* And I ask myself why I'm still single...
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! As always, remember to leave a favourite and a review if you deemed my story worthy enough, and I'll see you guys next time!
Expected update: In 2 weeks!
Next time: As Marco practices his magic and discovers something unique about himself, Star and Zora are faced with a dire situation.
