Fleeting Moments

by Ronald reagan

When Marco Diaz is at his lowest, a new, bright face adds a splash of color to his otherwise dull and dark world. But with this new friend comes a dangerous enemy, and a terrifying quest across dimensions to find their way back home. Will they find peace with each other, or will their pasts drive them further apart. Star and Marco Neverzone AU Fanfic

7. Great Escape

Fleeting Moments

Ch. 7

Great Escape

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"I can't help it, dammit! This guy's suit is squeezing my boo-"

"Shhh! STAR, remember, you're supposed to be a guy," Marco hissed, though in his alarmed reaction he didn't move an inch, the two of them maintaining a mock post just outside the harbor, "so stop complaining about the armor, and keep your voice down!"

From under her two-sizes-too-big helmet, Star bit the inside of her cheek, furious to have to stand so still and so discreet despite how uncomfortable she was. Even with her hair tied into a tight bun and draped down her back as out of sight as possible, it still felt as though her head was both in a vice, and ready to lose its cap. In much the same fashion, her uniform was tight in all the wrong places, squeezing her chest and rear, and too loose in others, hanging limply at her arms and around her shoes.

MARCO, on the other hand, looked as comfortable as a mosquito at a blood bank, whatever that was. His armor fit him perfectly, and if she was being honest, made him look rather dashing. Despite the fact that she could only see his chin and mouth, she could still see his stoic grimace underneath the helmet, and for what it was worth, it took her mind off of her discomfort. At least, for a moment.

"Alright, coast is clear, " Marco whispered, peeling himself from the wall and taking to a slow, controlled gait as Star struggled to walk beside him. It wasn't that it was impossible, or even difficult to match his stride, but her discomfort with every facet of her clothes was dominating her attention. She didn't even hear Marco talk until she sensed the question in his words, asking quietly, "waywut?"

He struggled to fight the urge to facepalm, and instead stressed his words more carefully, not wanting to draw attention to himself. They were walking through the busy market again, and they couldn't afford to look suspicious, so he whispered again, his voice a halcyon breeze. "I know it sucks, but just suffer through for a bit longer, okay?"

"Easy for you to say, you're not wearing girls clothes and masquerading as a-" Marco elbowed her in the side in a fashion meant to look accidental, and before she could slug him back, she noticed why. Two soldiers were walking past them, and they were staring with deadly calculation.

But that calculation was quickly mitigated as Marco gave them a forward nod, his grimace withstanding the motion. Star watched carefully for any sign of further suspicion, but like clockwork they nodded back, and turned towards their intended direction without provocation. She exhaled before she even realized she was holding her breath, and was surprised to hear Marco do the same.

In truth, he was every bit as relieved as she was. The idea that such a hair brained scheme as playing dress-up on a secret mission was actually working, was more than its fair share of crazy.

When he had first pitched the idea to Star in that back alley in the docks, she had looked at him like he was crazy. "Like hell I'm dressing up in that assholes clothes!" She roared, calling the very idea ludicrous and undignified. And yet, here she was, the perfect example of why cross-dressing only works in Dinsey movies.

Now as they walked through the market, slowly approaching the northern sector of the city, Marco began to understand the dynamic between 'soldier', and civilian. Where he stepped, the citizens moved to avoid him. Where Star stumbled, crowds parted and people shoved each other to make way. He'd be lying to say it didn't feel just the tiniest bit gratifying, people both giving him space and avoiding personal contact, but he knew that was a personal preference.

From what he could see of Star's hidden face, she looked positively miserable in those clothes, both due to the size, and the stigma the town was giving her for them. So to help take her mind off it, he nudged her arm and whispered, "We're almost there alright? Just keep walking straight and-"

"I know how to walk Marco!" She screamed in a whisper, barely audible to even him, "just point the way so we can get this garbage over with!"

He couldn't help but smile, mocking her stiff walk and hobbling his arms as she did. When she glared at him for his dark sense of humor at her expense, he only smiled wider, whispering, "sorry, sorry. It's just, you're walking like ya got a stick up your ass, you know?"

A sudden, jarring slug to his arm drew the eyes of every civilian within twenty feet, as Star glared daggers up at him through her helmet. "What the hell did you just-" she started to rant, but Marco abruptly pulled her back into their usual alley routine, hiding from the prying, curious eyes around them.

"Star," Marco breathed, lifting up the visor of his helmet to meet her eyes, despite not being able to see them. His expression was calm, if a little annoyed, and even if only slightly, it did help Star gather herself enough to listen. "Calm. Down. It's just playing dress-up until we get into the battery. I know it sucks, but, I don't wanna go alone and I know you don't either. So...just be cool, and breathe okay?"

Despite not really being able to see her eyes, he could tell she was glaring at him. Whatever discomfort she was expressing, however, quickly melted as she found herself slowly enraptured by his cacao brown eyes. Reluctantly, she nodded, muttering under her breath, "you so-ho-ho owe me for this."

"Remember when you were rambling and nervous that first night on Earth?" Marco asked, pulling his visor back down and checking to see if the coast was clear, "I kinda miss that. You think you could be quiet, friendly Star again?"

"Dunno, can you be broody, shirtless Marco in the river again?" She answered without thinking, immediately diving headfirst into a blush and covering her mouth. Thankfully, Marco didn't seem to hear, shaking his head silently before slowly exiting the alley, continuing their slow, methodical walk towards the North End, and the battery.

Of course, he did hear that not so polite sentiment just as her voice was being drowned out, but given how much Star was dealing with as it was, he decided to leave it be. Besides, they had made it to their objective, and it was time to cover their bases.

Even in a different dimension, Star noted the architectural design of the battery resembled nothing close to Mewman design, it had a plethora of columns and imposing marble, with a mix of steel supports where the stonework wouldn't suffice. Marco, to his credit, both thought the building bore distinct resemblance to the national treasury back home, but also wondered for what reason the steel supports that ran in tandem with the columns were for, if not ornamental.

But that could wait for another vacation. For now, he leaned closer to Star's struggling form and whispered, "Do you remember our alibi? Last chance to go over it." And as he gave Star a sideways glance through his helmet. He noted a sudden burst of confidence in her demeanor, her stride shifting to a more uniform step.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she answered softly, her eyes trained forward as they approached their quarry. "We got ambushed by the rebels a few hours south, in the Southern Territories. We lost most of our regiment, and our boss guy sent us to ask for supplies and troops. Hence, why we need to talk to the courier."

"Fucking, perfect," Marco breathed, a considerable weight taken off of his shoulders at Star's surprising consistency with the plan, "just keep your cool, and we totally have this." And in truth, he whole-heartedly believed that.

The sun was just barely over head, a little past noon as best Marco could figure, as they approached the main entrance to the battery. Why it was called the battery, when it had no significant offensive weapons, was anyone's guess, but all the same, the entrance stood as imposing as anything else they'd seen thus far. Between the center columns was hidden a door; made of dark oak at least a foot thick, and banded with heavy strands of iron bolted in place. And stationed between the open doors, were two soldiers, halberds standing ready.

When the two approached them, the soldiers quickly crossed their halberds, the apparent senior member inclined his head skeptically at Star. "Why are you two not at your posts? And what happened to your uniforms?" He asked, his voice young, but stern and commanding all the same.

Marco took to answering the question himself, gesturing to the dents on his abdomen and helmet. "We're not actually stationed in Primrose. We're from a separate, southern detachment," he explained with feigned impatience, before his voice took on a sudden sense of pride, "we were sent here to deliver an urgent message from our superior."

Finally, after a moment of silent deliberation, the soldiers relaxed, the one closest to Star taking out a sheet of parchment and scribbling down entry notes. But the other, the one talking to Marco, folded his arms with his halberd leaning on his side. "Not as urgent as looking presentable, huh? The hell happened to you guys?"

Sensing they had to wait for the quiet one to finish his notes, Star took to answering, using a deep, mock male voice. "Bandits," she answered gravely, shaking her head in disgust, "We were ambushed in the woods, and we lost over half of our unit before we managed to drive them off."

Marco noticed an immediate, hateful change in the demeanor of the two soldiers, the one clearly in charge taking to spitting on the ground. "Sounds more like those pigs in the rebellion, if you ask me," he muttered, his face giving off the impression of a hidden glare, "hope you took just as many as they did, brothers."

This was taking too long, Marco internally seethed. How many notes the other guy was scribbling down, or what purpose they would serve later was anyone's guess, but they couldn't risk standing around for so long, even with a good alibi. But, as always, Star took the reins of the conversation and steered it in a matter she deemed necessary. Slapping the handle of her left hammer with pride, she flashed a wicked smile and answered, "yeah, we did. Must've taken out at least twenty of em. They never stood a chance."

Marco wanted so badly to facepalm, or at the very least smack her helmet off of her head, but thankfully, the soldier actually laughed at the report! "Ha! That's what I'm talking about, those scumbags can never get it bad enough!" he shouted, laughing through his words with sadistic joy.

Finally, the second soldier rolled up his parchment and tucked it back into his armor, resuming his position of guarding the entrance. "Alright, your entry has been logged. You may enter," he muttered, a slight tinge of boredom in his voice. Marco breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for Star to follow, the two of them bypassing the guards with a polite nod.

"Oh, hey!" One of the soldiers called after them, when they had only made it about five steps into the building. Marco froze up, and Star followed suit before the two of them slowly turned around, finding the quiet soldier approaching. When he was within arms reach, and Marco was sure they were screwed, he glanced between them before whispering a warning. "By the way, inform your commanding officer to be on the lookout."

Star and Marco exchanged an uneasy glance, Marco asking politely, "on the lookout for what?" All pretenses aside, he was actually interested in hearing about potential enemy movements, or any information for that matter. But the soldier came not with formalities or orders, but a warning. "One of the top brass says that there's a creature out in the Southern woods, and it's been classified as highly dangerous."

As if a cold wind had blown through the room, Marco could practically feel Star tense up beside him, the incognito blonde clenching her fists in barely restrained anger. "What kind of creature?" She growled, her voice taking a deep tone all on its own. There was every possibility the creature that the soldier knew about, was one she had become closely familiar with. But she had to be sure.

"A woman, or so she looks" the soldier replied bluntly, as if he didn't even believe it himself, "strong enough to take out an entire unit, and capable of transforming into a winged beast with six arms."

Marco tensed, realizing the fantastical creature he was talking about, was the girl standing beside him, anything but harmless. He wanted to brush it off, but rather than waste the opportunity for good intel, he kept his tongue and listened.

Star, on the other hand, realized one of two things immediately. That the man, who's name she didn't even want to think about, who had done unspeakable things, was more than likely in kahoots with the soldiers. For them to know about her transformation, and her state prior to it, only the magician she had the displeasure of fighting could have told them. Which brought her to the next issue: the army was looking for her.

"I don't buy it," she suddenly chuckled, sure to keep her voice deep, "sounds like a load of corn ass to me, but I'll be sure to relay the order."

The tone in which she said it caught Marco's attention especially, her voice icy, and void of any real emotion. The soldier seemed to have taken it as just common obedience to his request, and politely nodded before returning to his post. But Marco didn't move. Star was scowling under her helmet, and her body language was oozing with tension.

"Are you good?" He asked quietly, the two of them turning to make their way further into the installation, "what was that about?" But Star answered by merely clenching her fists to keep from grabbing her hammers. "It's not important. Let's just...get this over with," she growled under her breath, "being here makes my skin crawl."

Slowly, Marco nodded with grim acceptance to her determined scowl, finding little reason to argue. But in the safety of his thought, he knew well and fully that the two of them were due for a talk when they got back. Whatever it was that happened that night, whatever damage it had done to her, it couldn't wait much longer.

But without much time to consider either of their immediate futures, they found themselves in a bit of a spot. Neither knew where the courier was located in the battery, so Marco, quick to think on his feet as he flashed Star a cunning grin, asked softly, "you wanna see me kiss some ass?" Hoping it would lighten her mood, he even blew a kiss and held his rear, to which she thankfully smiled.

"Maybe… What uh… what do you have in mind?" She asked back, folding her arms and shooting him an invested smirk. Marco only gave her a wink before turning on his heels, and approaching the most well dressed man in the lobby. A gentleman in a shimmering suit of silver armor, draped with tassels and medals and stripes galore, was talking to a subordinate as Marco slowly approached.

"Commander," he offered, dropping to a knee and holding a clenched fist to his chest, "If I may trouble your exaltedness for but a moment?"

Star said nothing, hoping to watch and enjoy the show at Marco's expense as the commander turned around, glaring at the kneeling man before him. After giving his uniform the once-over, the snidely little man spat, "your uniform. Is detestable. Say what you must and be on your way!"

Rising, Marco nodded and tried his best to look rueful and weak, asking quietly, "my commander, sir, could you assist this lowly rank in finding the Couriers office? I regretfully have to deliver a message from the Southern Territories, and I'm afraid I don't know who to give it to."

A few seconds of careful, tactical consideration on the officers part rolled by before he shook his head in disgust. "As heavily as I'd like to reprimand you for your uniform, I suppose it cannot be helped from you Southern ranks, what with your location down in the sticks," he spat, turning just enough to jutt a hand down an out-of-view corridor of polished marble. "You'll find the couriers office on the first level, near the rear of the installation."

Marco forced a grateful smile, his eyes widening with mock delight. "Oh! Thank you sir! We'll be sure to-" he began, but one held palm from the commander was all it took to shut him up. "On. Your. Way, soldiers," the commander ordered, Marco deciding it was best to do as he was told. Carefully, he held his fist to his chest and bowed, the commander returning with little more than a nod before the young man moved to leave.

When he met back up with Star, however, her reception to him was far better than the commanders. Underneath her helmet she wore a plastered, lopsided grin that screamed, 'I'm trying so hard not to laugh right now.' With a choked breath, and more than a few little snorts, she finally managed to ask, "what was that weird salute thing?"

Marco was more than happy to see her in a better mood after her unfortunate exchange with the guards, and answered cordially. "Back home, it's a thing knights do in movies and on shows. Figured it looked cool enough," he admitted before inclined his head in her direction, "did you enjoy my show?"

As they made their way down the smaller, less grand corridor, Star had to confide in him, "I honestly kinda did. I was usually on the receiving end of shows like that though, what with diplomats, accords, and the occasional courter."

Marco couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, despite the fact that she couldn't see it. "Courters? For you? You must be joking," he chuckled, but a quick slug to the chest told him plenty that she was in fact, very serious.

"Y'know, I have dated before, dork," she grumbled, her immaculate mood all but deflated, "If nothing else, my family has a lot of money, so yeah. Courters, jackass."

Despite the barbed tone of her words, she was surprised to hear Marco chuckle at the prospect before quickly holding up his hands in defense. "Sorry, sorry, haha it's not that I don't believe you, but for me, the idea of courting someone is just so….weird."

"What, you never dated someone before?" She asked, the two turning down a hall, "or have you always been broody, single, and stuck with me?"

Where she expected another chuckle, this time Marco didn't react at all. Like he was both taken back by the question, and carefully considering how he would answer it. Star waited patiently, to her credit, because as the seconds ticked by, her interest was growing all the same. But when he answered, she kinda wished she hadn't asked.

"I dated a girl before, yeah. Jackie Lynn Thomas, but a year ago, I was going through some...stuff, so we called it off, and I haven't seen her since. But that doesn't mean dating and courting are anything alike," he noted with a curiously optimistic, informative tone, "I'm not royalty, so if I wanna date, or court someone, it's just hanging out with them, or eating with them, maybe playing some video games when I'm not working, and maybe, down the road, sleeping with them. It's very complicated Earth stuff, I assure you."

"Psh, must not be that complicated," Star scoffed, rounding another corner towards the rear of the building. "I mean you and I have slept together every night since we got here, so I doubt it's that important."

Silence.

She turned to look at him to ask what gives with the stoic act, but found him giving her his best, 'are you serious' face from under his mask. To her credit, it didn't take very long to shift her view to understand what he was asking, and to reevaluate what he had implied. Immediately, her face lit up scarlet beneath her helmet and she began furiously stumbling for an explanation or excuse.

But thank the gods, Marco was quick to come to the rescue in a less than helpful way. He held a finger to his lips, imitated locking his mouth, and mimed tossing the key away as they stopped just outside the door. Or rather, a set of double, wooden, banded iron doors etched with silver inlays of the title, 'Grand Courier to The Crown."

"I guess this is it, then," Marco breathed, immediately breaking his mocked vow of silence. Star looked his way as he asked, "are you ready? You know there's no going back now." Her answer came in the form of a curt nod, one he was quick to return before the two of them opened their own door, and stepped inside.

Closing the doors behind them, they were immediately stopped by the sight of a room unlike anything they had seen in this dimension thus far. The room itself was approximately the same size as a small gymnasium, and filled almost exclusively with shelves, like a royal library. And every shelf was a crisscross of cubicles and slots, all filled to the brim with scrolls, letters, documents, requests, orders, even packages.

But the thing that made it stand out wasn't the swarm of correspondence that filled the room to the brim, but rather, it was that half of said correspondence was currently fluttering through the air. It was a buzz of documents and scrolls in a whirlwind of paper, folders flying from shelves and letters landing in to fill the spaces. And at the center of it all, was a single old man at a round desk, his hands outstretched.

Star, when she finally managed to pry her eyes from the spectacle in the air, noticed the old man was staring at the space above him, his eyes ghostly white to match his frenzied, windblown hair. His outstretched hands wavered and moved with careful control, likely directing the course the parcels and papers took, until finally his soft, soothing voice sounded over the rustling.

"Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?" He asked, though his tone expressed an air of distaste for their presence, "or do you intend to waste both of our time for the remainder of the day?"

Star, for a moment given her most recent conversation, forgot she was due to be disguised as a man, and coughed into her hand before answering, "Y-yes, w-we have to report on our southern unit? And uh...make an official request...to the crown?"

Marco struggled not to facepalm, but the room continued to turn as though Star hadn't even spoken at all. The old man in the center stayed quiet for a moment, his expression notably blank, before he let a tired breath hiss through his teeth. "I've received no such notaries that a unit was acting in the Southern Territories," he grumbled in annoyance, stealing a quick look at the two before adding, "and I don't forget such details easily."

Marco swallowed, recognizing the silent pass of the reins from Star to himself. But he didn't falter as the man in the center of the room continued his maelstrom of paperwork. Instead, he doubled down and approached the desk. "We are from the Southern Territories, but uh…" he glanced at Star for a moment before exhaling sharply. "We got a little lost...in the darkness"

Like a shot had rang out through the room, every single scroll, every paper, every package, they froze in place, and the room took on a deadly silence. The old man didn't move a muscle, his hands outstretched towards the levitating boxes as Star and Marco held their breath. Marco especially felt as though he might have just gotten them both killed, Star already planning an escape route, when the old man lowered his arms and began to approach.

To both of their immediate relief, the man smiled, his eyes returning to normal as the cloud of work above him began to organize itself into slots and shelves. "That is quite a shame, gentlemen," he offered, much to Star's secret annoyance, "you should always travel in the light, to find your way."

"Ohhh thank corn," Star breathed, though she kept her deeper voice act up, "Do you have the-" Marco nudged her to keep her quiet, shooting the man a wary glance. He wasn't sure if he fully trusted him yet, or even if they could be trusted in turn, so he decided to play it safe. "Do you know Duwen?" Was all he asked.

And much to his relief, the old man responded in kind, his posture shifting to one of blissful remembrance. "Of course I do, she's one of the most ill tempered old bats I have ever met," he breathed, Marco narrowing his eyes, "But by God, that woman is the best damn leader I've ever followed. My name is Helwen, and she is my wife."

Marco finally let himself relax, despite the fact that that bit of information would have been helpful to know before they left. But, given that so far his most common interactions with the bandit leaders had shown their relation, he wasn't as surprised as he should have been.

"I'm frankly surprised you two showed up dressed as those good for nothing reprobates," Helwen continued gesturing for the two to sit in front of his desk, much like Duwen had, "You men have gumption to hide among the wolves like that."

In a sudden, flourishing motion, Star made a show of pulling up her visor, revealing her face, and covertly annoyed expression. "Yeah, we do," she growled, but there was added intent that Helwen could read wasn't meant for him. Poor girl had probably been in that armor all morning, and from the look of it, it hadn't been comfortable.

"My apologies, young miss. It would appear that your disguise was good enough to fool even me, well done," he noted, Star lowering her visor once more to resume the torture. Marco on the other hand leaned forward, careful to keep his voice low. "Do you uh...have a package for us? Or a message?" He asked, and to his further relief Helwen nodded.

"As it just so happens, I do," he answered with a smile. Helwen flipped his hand to the air, and a subtle gust of wind carried a scroll from a far off shelf directly to the desk. "I have a shippers manifest listed from the Grand Monastery in the east, for a delivery to be made to the Crown's castle in the north."

Not wanting to waste time, Marco quickly unrolled the scroll, finding a map that he could barely recognize marked with trade routes. It listed a mountaintop location far beyond the valley to the east, and traced a line further north to a great plateau. "This is...this is great," Marco noted, unable to take his eyes off the invaluable information, "thank you, Helwen. We uhhh...don't really have anything for you, but-"

"Nonsense. Whatever helps in spurring the rebellion to rid the land of its shackles, I am happy to give."

Star, for what it was worth, found some semblance of comfort in that, even if it was miniscule. Twice now her trust in others in that dimension had been tested, and broken. So while she may not have trusted him in a situation of dire importance, she at the very least trusted that he had good intentions. "Thank you, Helwen," she muttered, not using her deeper voice this time, "we...appreciate your courage, and what you're doing for us."

"It is my pleasure," the old man answered with a wave of his hand, thankfully without sending papers careening, "I'm equally grateful to the lengths at which you both have gone thus far. But...I'm afraid this meeting comes with grave tidings all the same."

Marco and Star exchanged a quick, unsteady glance, one that Hewlen recognized as some form of confusion from underneath their helmets, and decided to elaborate further for their sake. "The package you're after? Its importance is justified, as are the means at which you're going to intercept it, but, it is far more dangerous than anything we could have ever imagined."

"What do you mean?" Star asked, cocking a hidden eyebrow and leaning closer, "isn't it some kind of religious thing?"

Marco felt the air in the room darken at this sudden turn of conversation, and decided to cut straight to the point. With more than a tinge of skepticism in his voice, he asked, "what are a bunch of monks in a monastery doing with a dangerous artifact? Alwen mentioned it might be some kind of weapon, but, it can't be that bad right?"

As the air in the room had shifted before, it would shift again in a worsening spiral as Helwen shook his head, silently debating what 'too much said' entailed. But ultimately, he decided that these two were trustworthy enough and deserved intel likely meant exclusively for Duwen. "The scholars in that monastery have kept it safe for eons, keeping it from view, buried deep in their mountain," he began gravely, leaning forward, "the artifact you're intercepting, it's a cleaver. And the sacred texts were- allegedly -all true."

Marco and Star alike donned a confused, nervous expression, both exchanging a short glance before Marco leaned closer, now thoroughly invested. "Does it like, make someone stronger? Can you use magic with it like-" he began, but Star kicked him from under the table. Silence was golden, apparently.

"Is it even actually a weapon?" She asked, ignoring Marcos glare. In much the same way, Helwen ignored their little display and shook his head, but ultimately differed to a shrug. "In a way, yes? It's an ordinary cleaver all the same, but… it has power unlike anything else in the world. It can open portals to strange new worlds, and even bring things back from these places."

Both Marco and Star froze. Neither of them said a word as Helwen looked at them expectantly, and underneath their helmets, both sets of eyes were as wide as dinner plates. It became quickly apparent that in that room, for that moment, silence was dominant, and the future had just become a wild factor for them both. "That's…." Marco's words died in his throat, completely unable to form a coherent thought.

"I share the both of your horrors," Helwen finally took to noting, given the continued silence, "and I hope the gravity of this mission is not lost on-"

"We need to leave. Now," Marco muttered, mostly to Star, to which he was given a resounding nod from the blonde in question. And though neither of them would admit it, they were both reeling from the idea that this might actually be the real deal. Their prayers might have actually been answered, so If nothing else, they needed that cleaver now.

To his sudden outburst, Helwen gave Marco a confused look, but nonetheless agreed, answering, "yes, I suppose we have sat long enough." He stood carefully as Marco tucked the scroll into his uniform, and began to resume his position at the center of the room. "Do tell Duwen to send more of her blanaba bread through the mail, would you?" He asked, mostly to Star, "I always get it, and I'll be sure to send her something nice in return."

"Uhh...y-yeah, sure thing," Star replied with half-hearted enthusiasm, already moving to follow Marco towards the door, "good luck on your end, Helwen. And thanks again."

"You as well, young lady. You as well."

After their sudden and jarring exit from the room, Star practically dragged Marco down the hallway to an obscure little nook, the two of them pressed out of view to discuss what they had just heard. "Did you hear what he just said?!" Star whispered, startling Marco with her enthusiasm, "Marco! This might be our ticket home! They have a dimensional cleaver!"

"I know, Star!" He fired back, his voice significantly lower as he gestured for her to match it, "but let's not get our hopes up, we have to get it first, and even then it might just be some religious nuts getting high in the mountain and spouting nonsense, you know?"

"I know, I know, but Marco! This could be our chance! If we can get it and sneak home, I can go to Mewni and have my mom deal with Hekapoo." Star was grinning but Marco seemed vividly confused by that statement.

"Are you sure your mom would help us?" He asked, giving her a worried look, as though he was walking on eggshells, "she did kinda throw you to Earth, so like, how is this place any different for her?"

Star's crazed grin fell into a frown, her annoyance made clear. But whether it was at Marco, the question, or the subject matter of her mother, was anyone's guess. "There's kind of a big difference between Earth, and a place where everything is trying to kill me, especially when I don't have my wand," she growled, "my mom would kill Hekapoo for taking the wand away like that, and assaulting a bystander like you."

"Hey, it was an even exchange," Marco was quick to rebuke, but Star shook her head just as fast. "No, no it wasn't. You got creamed, and when we get home I'll make it up to you. But Marco! We have a way home!"

Finally, as though her enthusiasm had gotten through his thick skull, Marco cracked a smile to match hers. It was warm, seeing his lifted expression, and Star almost found it intoxicating. "Alright, then. Step 'whatever' of this plan is to get back to the bandits. We tell them everything, and we help them get their artifact provided they let us use it once to go home, or Mewni, or wherever that isn't here."

"You sure we can trust them with this?" Star asked, peeking around the corner to make sure the coast was still clear. Marco found himself shrugging, unsure of the answer himself. Frankly, no, they could not be trusted, not with something this important to both the world, and their own personal goals. But on the other hand, their chances of robbing the Crown or whomever of their precious artifact were significantly slimmer if they weren't bringing backup. So, after some deliberation, Marco answered "No. But we're going to need their help anyways"

Star found that prospect as truthful as it was agreeable, and nodded before ushering Marco back into the hallway. As they began the slow, uncomfortable walk back to the front gate, she found herself thinking out loud, "Whatever it takes, I just wanna get out of this place."

Marco couldn't help but chuckle as they entered the lobby, whispering, "I know how you feel. Can't wait to get back to-" he stopped, finding a troublesome obstacle in their way. A huge crowd of soldiers had gathered in the central area of the lobby, and for the moment, their exit was blocked. The purpose for said gathering of soldiers, was unclear, but given how they were all surrounding one area, their backs turned, Marco figured something, or someone, important had arrived.

"We may have to find another exit," he whispered to Star, nudging her arm to turn their path down another hallway, "what do you think? We could probably climb out a window if we…" his words trailed off as he chanced a glance in her direction. She had slowed down considerably, and her attention wasn't on anything he had just said. She stood cold still, and her scowl was oozing with malice as Marco followed her hidden glare.

The center of the mass of bodies, the object of everyone's apparent attention, stood mister local celebrity himself: one of those weirdo, four-armed villagers they had met. Of course, Marco was quick to note that the attire of this villager in particular was far beyond anything he had seen. The man's armor was immaculate and matched the commanding officers from earlier, only this guy seemed to have some affiliation for bones. A string of them hung loosely around his neck, but no one seemed to really care.

He must have been one of the big brass the guard had mentioned earlier, which Marco couldn't help but wonder how one of those villagers had gotten such a prestigious position. Perhaps he was a victim of circumstance and found himself enlisted in the army ranks, and as Marco made to ask if maybe Star knew anything about it, he finally realized she was gone.

He did a double take, looking around frantically. She had just been walking beside him how could she have just- "I told you to SHUT UP AND DIE!" A woman yelled, and Marco nearly fainted.

It was Star. And she was currently charging the four-armed guy at full force, hammers drawn, and helmet thrown to the side. As it clanged noisily to the ground, no one even noticed. Every set of eyes was on the woman in men's armor, who had every intention and expression of killing the man in charge.

Meanwhile, Marco was the only person in the room not rushing to either get out of the way, or defend the man with four arms. In truth, he was actually debating the pros and cons of giving himself up and stopping her, something he was sure he would feel guilty about later. But he never got the chance to act on his decision. In the few seconds since she had charged, Star had dispatched twelve men without slowing down, and was closing on her big thirteen.

The man in question stared at her, but there wasn't an ounce of fear or anger in his eyes. Rather, it was a gaze of unearthly fixation, like he was trying to remember her and sniff out her weaknesses at the same time. But like Marco, he wouldn't be given the chance to act on his findings. With a mighty yell that shook the hall, Star brought both of her hammers down hard on Zaleeth, the wizard from the woods.

The impact was like something out of a movie, and though before the hammers fell Marco had been holding his breath, the shockwave that followed nearly knocked the wind out of him. He had hoped to wait for the initial chaos of a loose cannon Star to erupt, allowing for a daring escape, but the blast that ensued from her strike knocked him clear off of his feet, along with everyone else in the room.

Everyone, except for Zaleeth. The concussive force of Star's strike shattered every window in the lobby of the Battery, and sent a web of cracks shooting through the marble like veins. Electricity arced from the point of impact and carved ruts into the polished stone, but Zaleeth stood unfazed. Each of his four arms were outstretched with his hands splayed open, cradling the four corners of a prismatic field of energy, its shape changing like a tesseract to hold back the force it had been dealt.

"I thought I smelled a rat," Zaleeth chuckled, dismissing his shield as Star landed just before him, "Or at the very least, an insect." Without warning, he sent forward two open palms into Star's gut, the impact dealing a shockwave rivaling the one he had just deflected. She was sent hurtling across the lobby with a skull-shaking *BOOM* before she collided with a column, her body cracking the stone with its impact. Marco rushed to her side as she fell, but she was unresponsive, her eyes dazed and far away.

"It would appear that you just couldn't stay away, girl," he chided, now approaching the two with delighted interest, "A fortunate twist of fate, actually. Your magic will keep me fed for centuries, just as I was beginning to run dry."

"C'mon c'mon!" Marco seethed, desperately trying to shake Star awake, but it was no use, her head lulled to the side as she mumbled something about corn. Zaleeth kept up his advance at a healthy stroll past disoriented and confused troops as Marco weighed his options, and ultimately came to a final conclusion. With a grunt, remembering just how heavy Star was, he threw her over his shoulder and trucked it, making a dash for the front door with every ounce of strength he had.

"Hahahahaa, running will do you no good boy!" Zaleeth called after him, a heavy grin plastered across his face, "I will not make the mistake of letting you slip through-"

"FUCK YOURSELF!" Marco screamed, grabbing the nearest oil lamp from the wall and chucking it at the double doored entry. When the glass hit the marble, the oil spread quickly to ignite into a fireball that Marco barely had time to burst through. Flames overtook the lobby, several soldiers far less fortunate than the boy were burning, and for the second time that girl was leaving. But Zaleeth only answered with a discontented sigh.

"Very well, then," was all he grumbled, more than a little peeved to see the game end so soon. He inhaled sharply from the nose, clasping his hands together before him as the room seemed to dim, before opening his hands like massive bellows. In no time at all, the flames, oil, smoke, everything from Marco's escape were all sucked to a ball between Zaleeths palms, and only then did he allow a smile.

"Let's make this fun," he whispered, before slamming his hands together and forcing the churning orange and black ball forward. Like a bullet it screamed across the lobby and when it struck the doors, it blasted them apart with all the force of a bundle of T.N.T., sending stone, men, and other debris clattering down the now empty street. But the children were nowhere in sight.

No, Marco was already tearing his soles in a mad sprint several blocks away. Weaving through pedestrians and various customers of the markets, his first thought was to ditch the armor and get back into something more breathable and less recognizable. But before he could do that, he needed to get out of sight, and out of danger, if that were even possible.

He pushed a man aside, desperate to evade the forces churning through the masses behind him, but the question most prominent on his mind, was 'who the hell was that?'

Another woman pushed to the side, dropping a basket of beads and jewelry, but he never slowed down. And it was after rounding a corner towards a slightly less populated street that he felt Star finally stir from her jarred daze, the blonde struggling to look around. "Whahappenned?" Was all she mumbled, pushing up to get a better view of the passing street in the afternoon sun.

"Who was that guy?!" Marco almost screamed at her from over his shoulder, his feet pounding against the street. Star shook off the last fading thrums of her dazed state, before locking eyes with a squad of troops massing just up the street where they had turned. Immediately she began to slap against Marco's back, screaming just as loud, "I'll tell you later! Just keep running!"

"I AM running?!" Marco yelled back just as the cities alarm bells began to chime, like a sequence of church bells that wouldn't stop. "Why did you attack that guy?! You just fucked this whole thing up for-"

"Marco!" Star interrupted before dragging his top half into an alley he had almost missed, the two tumbling head over heels into a pile of trash and discarded building supplies. But there was no time to rest. Star quickly pulled Marco deeper into the pile of refuse just as a few soldiers ran by, one of them stopping for only a moment to look before nodding off and regrouping.

The two waited there for a minute, listening with bated breath. As the troop's footsteps quickly began to fade, Marco rose from the litter and pulled Star to her feet, making sure they were both unharmed and steady. After a quick inspection, he drew breath to really lay into Star for her recklessness when she winced, pressing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry! I saw him and I-I-I just lost control," she explained, her face twisted in shame.

Marco, of course, noticed her withering expression immediately, but felt that in light of what he had just witnessed, he needed a bit more to go on than that. Another squad of soldiers charged past the end of the alley, but none stayed long enough to notice, so in a lower, calmer voice Marco asked, "Who is that guy? Is he…" he lowered himself into a squat to look up at her, "is he from the village?"

If her unease on the topic wasn't apparent before, given her outburst in the Battery, the man's strange reaction to her, and her secrecy of that night, it was now. Marco took quick notice of the way she glared past him at the ground, and the way she looked about ready to have a breakdown, and quickly he waved it off. She was nearly hyperventilating at this point, so he pulled her chin to meet his eyes; a necessary, if unwarranted contact. "Hey, look at me," he offered gently, which seemed to grasp her attention, "it doesn't matter. We can talk about that night later, but for now, we gotta get out of this shit show and back to Alwen. Can you walk?"

Her eyes darted around for a moment, weighing the gravity of his words before ultimately, she nodded. "Good, then let's get this gravy train rolling, yeah?" Another nod, and she seemed to be snapping out it, much to his relief. Marco moved to take a look around the corner at the opposite end of the alley, and deeming the coast to be clear of soldiers, he shot her a nod back. The two made a mad dash out of the alley and towards the docks, weaving through pedestrians with very little regard for conspicuousness.

No sooner than they had ditched the alley, however, an explosion ripped the two buildings to little more than stones and burnt wood with a deafening boom. As the debris fell and the smoke began to clear, Zaleeth merely stepped over the rubble, inhaling deeply with lidded, unfocused eyes. "I can smell her magic...its… purity," he whispered before promptly turning to the closest soldiers. "FIND THEM NOW!" he roared, "Do what you must with the boy, but bring the girl to me, unharmed!"

A handful of the soldiers traded confused, worried glances but nonetheless did as they were told, trudging off to give the orders and search the city. But Zaleeth, he stayed behind, opting to look over the now since cleared landscape with vexed interest. "Oh the consequences of this will be dire, but with a prize such as you, my dear, no price is too high."

Without warning, Zaleeth grabbed the only remaining soldier with all four of his arms, two restraining the man's hands and the other two pressed firmly against the soldiers temples. Oh how the man began his poor, vain screams, but Zaleeth had grown to enjoy them, and ignore them. "Prevenk dunost zak promethas," he whispered, and just as quickly as they had begun, the man's screams stopped forever.

A few minutes later, both Star and Marco had quickly, privately changed back into their clothes, having retrieved their spare belongings, and were running from shadowed crevice to alleyway, desperate not to be seen. But the running was beginning to take its toll on them, and as Marcos lungs and ribs were burning, he managed to choke out, "We gotta make...a run for it. We get...to the gate, we get… our horses, and we ride until… we drop."

Star's run, on the other hand, was a little more wobbled and haphazard, something Marco had noticed soon after they began. She must have still been recovering from the hit she took, as he still was from Hekapoo, so he slowed his pace slightly to make it a little easier for her to keep up. "Whatever...gets us out of here… faster!" She called back, though he could tell she was just as exhausted as him

Marco nodded at her strength to keep moving and found that if she was still raring, then he would match it in kind. "The fastest route… is through the market...so you're gonna have to book it!" She was quick to agree, and with little provocation followed Marco in a quick pivot towards the busiest part of the city they had seen thus far. Crowds of people were still in the market with the gates to the city looming in the distance, and while Marco worried if they might be shut in at any moment, their chances were already looking better.

They were shoving past bystanders and shoppers alike, however, when a cry rang out over the encroaching chaos, a soldier from the sound of it. "Stop at once! You can't escape!" He called after them, but Marco had to disagree, given that escape was literally within sight. So he ignored the calls for as long as he could, before a sudden hand ripped him back, narrowly avoiding the swing of a sword meant for his head.

The steel blade whizzed through the now empty air as Star gripped Marcos collar, but they weren't out of the woods yet. The soldier who had done the swinging was unlike any they had seen, his eyes empty sockets and black smoke churning from his mouth as he stumbled closer in sporadic, jerky movements.

"Killlll….meeeeee," was all he said before Star sized her moment and swung her hammer, sending the puppet flying with a boom.

But given no time to recover, the soldier jerked himself back upright before Marco had even returned to his feet, and two more, equally grotesque men were rapidly approaching. "Move!" Marco yelled, not bothering to waste a second analyzing the men as he pushed Star forward into a run.

"Fooouunnndd…..theeeeemmmmm."

Ignoring the ominous, hissing words of the men around them Marco forced himself to keep moving, but they couldn't outrun everyone. Two soldiers stepped to blow their bath, and while both were easily dispatched by a swinging kick and a blow from Star's hammer, more would still come, and there was no telling when the gate would close. Pedestrians everywhere in the market were screaming and panicking now, and shoving past them wasn't as viable an option as it had been.

And to make matters worse, they weren't alone.

"YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME, GIRL! THIS CITY, THESE PEOPLE, THIS LAND? IT IS ALLLL MIIINE!" Zaleeth roared from far behind them. He watched as the two brats ran, but his anger would fuel far more than a trivial chase. He spread two of his hands with noticeable effort, and everyone who stood between him and his prize was swept to the side by an invisible force. Then, slamming down his two free hands, he shouted, "Nektor luzath ren wantu ravolpa!"

Immediately after he finished his spell, the ground, every inch between him and those two brats began to shake, before a hairline crack formed, chasing them. It held for a few more seconds before the shaking proved too much, and the entire street split open to reveal a bottomless chasm fast approaching Star and Marco. The former of which felt the shaking and saw the approaching ravine, and without warning shoved Marco to the side, scurrying to jump after him.

But with the ground splitting faster than she could jump, it gave way beneath her, prepared to swallow her to its inky blackness. Or it would have, had Marco not grabbed her and pulled her up, the two wasting no time for exchanges as Star yelled, "keep running!" Like he needed to be told that.

"Back towards the harbor!" Marco cried out as another shake rattled the city, the two expecting another cavern to open beneath them, "it'll be harder for him to use magic when he doesn't have a clear line of sight!"

Star weighed her options, the two of them being either to head back to the relative safety of the harbor, or keep running and face… "Yep, harbor it is!" She replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, Zaleeth stood at the base of his two ravines, surprised to find that even his strength was being tested, and all they were doing was running! It was detestable! Obviously, he could have captured them both if he were so inclined, but he had orders to not kill subjects of the crown without reason, and despite the several citizens that had fallen into the pit… no, surely it wouldn't matter. Once he had her.

One of the soldiers by his side gave the four armed wizard a curious, if a little terrified glance, as if to ask if all of this was really necessary. How little he knew. "The lives of those subjects are but trivial sacrifices, so long as I have the girl!" He snapped, flexing his hands to keep from using more than his words, "Do whatever it takes to keep them in this city, or it's your life."

Sure that anything that came out of Zaleeth's mouth was more than a hollow threat, the soldier simply nodded vigorously before turning to a passing garrison. "Seal the city!" He called out, hands cupped and eyes wide, "activate the Barrier!"

"You think we lost him?" Star asked, scrambling down yet another alley before exiting into a street of already screaming people. "Why would you ask me something like that?" Was all he grumbled back, the two desperately trying to hide amongst the churning masses. Star gave him a shrug and made to answer just as a small group of soldiers began to make their way towards them through the crowd, their faces twisted in anger.

"And I guess...here we go again," Marco sighed. His legs were on fire, and the wounds he had sustained against Hekapoo were still fresh enough to ache. So in all, he didn't know how much more of this he could manage. He wasn't used to this, the running and the fighting at the same time, hell, his job was cleaning a gym, what did he even know about escaping this kind of situation.

But just as he was out of his element and put through the ringer, Star was equally off-put to the prospect of continued combat. Her mother would never have allowed this kind of conduct, much less her barbaric methods to subdue the enemy without magic. And yet, like Marco, though neither would even admit it to themselves, this just felt right. Fighting back against forces that stood for absolute control and subjugation. So in light of the encroaching enemy, they readied themselves for yet another fight for their escape.

But that fight would never come. As both Star and Marco braced themselves against the approaching troops, the entire city began to shake violently, and the sound of screeching metal filled everyone's ears like the roar of a dragon. Everyone present in the market turned to look at the source of the noise, and before either of the two could ask what it was, they got their answer.

The massive, towering structure in the center of the city, a spiral of metal bands framing glass like a stalagmite, began to spin. Or rather, the metal helix began to spin, and the glass it shielded began to glow a brilliant aquamarine as the noise grew, and the shaking worsened. It was a reverberating thrum that finally overtook the screeching, and it steadily grew faster as the noise faded, the helix spinning at impossible speeds around the glass.

Both Star and Marco were dumbfounded, too awestruck to say anything when suddenly, the tip of the tower glowed white-hot, and fired a solid beam of cyan light toward the heavens. But it didn't get far, the beam apparently hitting some invisible force and splitting apart like the arms of an umbrella into twelve separate, smaller streaks of light. They all arced over the city outward from the center until they hit the ground just outside the city walls, a deafening boom rattling windows and unsettling dust.

But just as it seemed to be dying down, the beams all began to glow brighter until like frost on the edges of a window, a thin membrane of blue light crept to fill the space between the lights. The massive act was too fast for any reaction, but before Star and Marco could even discuss what was happening, the creeping barriers all met, forming a dome of pulsating light that surrounded the city, and shielded everything but the sunlight.

"Are you fucking serious?" Marco muttered under his breath after a long moment of dumbfounded shock, "what the hell is this?" The answer came not from Star, but a woman to his left, her withered face falling to sullen dismay.

"It's the Barrier," she answered softly to them both, "nothing comes in, nothing goes out. We're stuck here until they shut it down." Marco took a moment to absorb that grim prospect, weighing just how absolute their entrapment was, when Star grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the side, the two leaving the woman to her business. The other marketgoers had taken to continue shuffling as though nothing had changed, even the soldiers seemingly standing down to look elsewhere as she whispered, "Marco, we can't just stay here."

"Yeah no shit," he quickly grumbled back, looking over his shoulder as the squad of troops was drawing closer, "we could probably go to the ocean, maybe swim under the-"

"Marco," Star interrupted, keeping his gaze on her despite the surrounding issues, "logically, without my wand there's only one way I can think of to get out of here, so I need you to trust me." She had a deadly serious look in her eyes all of the sudden, and as he struggled to ignore the pain in his legs and chest, Marco's eyes widened.

"No."

"No what?"

"No," he repeated, narrowing his eyes at her with newfound scrutiny, "you're not doing that weird butterfly thing again. I need you awake, and you got weird as hell when you-" Star grabbed his shoulders and inclined her head toward the soldiers, their small band pushing through people, and drawing closer by the second. "It's either Mewberty Star, or you get to die with a clear conscience!"

For a moment, Marco was silent, apparently weighing his options carefully as he glanced at the barrier around the city. "Marco!" Star repeated, glaring at him for even having to think on such a decision.

"Okay! Fine, just...try to stay in control or whatever this time, alright? And don't get all weird on me." He met her grim expression with one of worried appraisal, but Star wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. She rolled her eyes at such a stupid question and took a step back. "I only promise to try," she grumbled, letting Marco bear witness to her startling transformation.

His assessment, however, was that he could spend the rest of his life in peace if he never saw it again. He knew what she would look like after, and there wasn't much that would surprise him in this dimension, save for more magic, but Star was one of those things. He watched as she brought her hands together, but was completely unprepared for the four more that had appeared when she pulled them apart.

He watched as her back arched, and two, translucent purple wings tore through the back of her leather armor, flapping as though they had missed the feeling of the warm sun. But what came as the largest shock was her skin. After what he had seem thus far, he had hoped it would just fade to purple, but instead what he witnessed was her skin dry before his eyes, crack, and shatter to reveal a purple epidermis that glimmered with a healthy sheen.

When the creature he knew as Star opened its eyelids, gone were the shimmering sapphire irises he had grown used to, now merely heart-shaped, white hot, empty eyes. In all, the transformation was horrifying, and he almost wished she had just formed a cocoon to save him from the sight of it, but that conversation would be shelved for later. The creature before him had an eye for him, and he needed to get things moving.

"Are you...you?" He asked slowly, carefully assessing her condition. Star, after a moment of hungry staring, tilted her head questionably, as if she had missed the words he just said. "Guess, uhhh… guess not then."

He made to ask if she remembered where she was, what she planned on doing, or if she was even capable of thinking, but their time had officially run out.

Zaleeth, despite having lost them shortly after his ravine spell, could smell the change in the air as plainly as smoke in his nostrils. He had just closed the ravines after a scornful failure when it hit him all at once. That ancient, pure, powerful magic that still resided in the city was close, and after the barrier was activated, it only increased the longer he waited.

He followed the smell, the feeling in the air, it called to him in her voice, and he knew there was nothing else in the world that would satiate his burning desire. Her magic- no, her body, her soul, her energy, her spirit, he wanted it all. Every ounce, every taste, every drop of blood, he wanted to use her, break her, recreate her, but first, he needed to find her. And now, she called to him in a sweet siren song he knew was meant for him alone. So he followed it.

And what he found was more than he could have ever hoped for. There she was with that mindless monkey of a boy, in all her stunning grace and powerful magic, she was there for the taking. That chattering boy looked nervous, he looked scared, and rightfully so! He had no business in the presence of gods, and the sooner Zaleeth had the girl, the sooner he would make that dream a reality.

"I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR MEEE!?" Zaleeth roared, and as intended, both of them looked his way with a mix of shock and rage. He spread all four arms, his talismans and charms rippling as the crowds were all pushed to the side by an invisible force. In each of his hands grew a ball of cackling red energy, before he called out once more, "YOUR BODY WILL BE MINE! YOU WILL FUEL MY MAGIC, FOR CENTURIES!"

He threw two of the orbs and dropped down on fours, digging his hands into the street and pumping with his legs as his two remaining orbs were held high. He charged for them as the orbs sailed, and a crazed, wild grin spread across his face as his quarry was finally in sight.

But she was every bit the god he was. Star flexed her back, her face expressionless as her wings shimmered to deflect the orbs into the street behind her. The ensuing explosions ripped through the concrete, sending smoke and debris and flames back for forty yards, but she hadn't moved an inch. She just turned away from Zaleeth as if he was little more than an inconvenience, and continued to eye Marco.

Even as the dark magician charged, Marco found himself stuck between the lesser of two evils, the other being the girl he now found as his only chance of escape. He turned to her with wide eyes, frantically grabbing her shoulders in an attempt to secure her attention. "If you're in there, we need to get out of this bubble, now!" He yelled at her, but she was unresponsive as ever to both his demand and the charging beast of a warrior approaching.

She stared at him as the fires raged behind her, deaf to his words but fully captivated by his eyes. Those brown eyes, they darted toward Zaleeth, and then to Star again, before they softened, just for her. "Star, I need you," Marco sighed, just for her, "I need you to save us, so we can keep fighting together, okay? Can you help me? Like you did that night?"

It was a gamble, playing her emotions like that, if she could even hear him, but miraculously she grinned. It wasn't a hungry, lustful, or even loving grin, but a smile of peaceful delight in being wanted. Something the foggy part of her mind told her she absolutely craved: someone to need her. Star glanced at Zaleeth, then back to a terrified Marco, before nodding.

He hadn't even managed to say a word before she wrapped four of her arms around him and hugged him against her body. Her strength in this form was unnatural, but he persevered the crushing weight as she turned to face Zaleeth with a coy smirk.

Zaleeth's eyes widened as he deepened his sprint, digging his two free hands into the stone and carving steps into the street.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zaleeth bellowed, but Star paid him no heed. She spread her wings, pulled her companion even closer, and flapped hard enough to rocket herself into the air with a *BOOM*. For Marco, it was immediately, unyielding sensory deprivation. The flapping was so loud it rattled his eyes inside of his skull, and the wind blew so hard and cold he felt new terror that his skin would peel from his bones.

But for those who could see and hear, they weren't safe yet from the dangerous foe who now burned with rage. Zaleeth watched her boom from the ground, shooting cracks into the pavement, but her flight was little more troublesome to him than a caged bird to a cat. He forced his boots into the stone below and kicked off with enough force to jettison himself into the air after her, and when she was within sight, he brought both orbs together at his chest.

"YOU! WILL! BE! MIIIINNNEEE!" He roared with unrivaled fury and desire, "Frevuta pors breztra levali enduba!"

From the center of his chest, two bones broke off and were pulled into the orb, turning them from a vibrant red, to the deepest of blacks. Both orbs slowly merged into one, the energy with them spinning as furious as their master until they finally reached a terminal point, and the energy was released all at once from Zaleeths palms.

Star, however aware of the world around her as she was, kept flapping towards the barrier with all of her strength, her companion trying desperately to keep his grip tight. But she suddenly felt it, that approaching wave of heat and revolting desire, and shot down at the last possible moment to avoid what had been fired. A wave of energy so dark, it stole sunlight from the air around her, whizzed above overhead and slammed into the barrier before her.

But to her ignorant surprise, the barrier held firm, and the explosion that followed nearly ripped Marco from her grasp as the heat of the sun itself burned the air around her. The shockwave rippled the entire city, shattering windows and tearing the sails off of ships, and as the smoke cleared, Star shook off the dead, purple skin to reveal a fresh purple sheen, having protected her prize well, and shot off in a burst of speed toward the barrier.

Zaleeth could only watch in abhorrent surprise as the girl he so richly desired both evaded and overcame his spell. It wasn't as if it was his most powerful spell, but what angered him, burned his soul against his mind, was that he couldn't use the spell that was. Despite all the power he could wield, he still had orders, orders to be followed if he was to receive his rewards. So with his most powerful, usable spell exhausted, he had no choice but to head back down to the city, and answer for his egregious attempt to capture his prize.

But before he could turn away, he noticed the girl hadn't slowed at all, rather, she was speeding up. Star was fast approaching the barrier, and to his horror, she had since armed herself with those brutish hammers, her four other arms clutching the…"The boy," Zaleeth hissed, "You will watch him die, slowly, before I ravage you and your magic."

Star, now far away from that man, didn't care for idle threats or wasted magical attacks, not that she had the mind to notice them. She had her prize, and he had asked her to save him, so that was all she had on her mind, among other things. But that could wait. For now, she had a wall to break down.

With Marco clutched close to her body, and the bad man far behind her, Star gripped her hammers with fierce intensity before filling them with magic. The steel hooks and bells began to glow purple from the handle to the top, cackling with latent magic as Star watched the final yards zip by her, and when she hit the wall, she brought both hammers down hard, willing every ounce of her strength forward.

Zaleeth, the soldiers, the citizens, they all watched with mixed interest and emotions, but all shielded their eyes and ears to the reverberating thrum and the brilliant flash. A wave of rippling heat and thrown dust washed over the city as the *BOOM!* stole senses, and the wind threw anything that wasn't nailed down.

As their senses returned and their wits were once again about them, the citizens all watched as the light faded to reveal a hole, shatter-punched clean through the shimmering barrier. The butterfly- the girl, she was on the other side before the barrier began to repair itself, glowing brighter as it filled the hole with a *pop*, but what had been seen couldn't be fixed so easily. The people had witnessed the impossible, and the soldiers commanders, they knew it.

Zaleeth, after a short moment of silent shock and deliberation, ultimately scowled in hidden raged before allowing himself to float down to the street below, his armor cracked from the strain, his boots and shinguards all but destroyed. When he reached the ground, a vanguard of men was already waiting, ready for orders and direction, but he was in no mood. "Lower the barrier," was all he growled, his eyes still burning holes of their own through the barrier.

The soldiers exchanged nervous, uneasy looks before the one in charge stepped forward, offering a meager salute to the wizard in charge. "M-my lord...we...w-we can't l-lower it so soon...it would put too much strain on the tower, and the c-city could be destro-" Zaleeth seized the man's throat with two arms and slammed him into the ground.

"I DO NOT CARE FOR THE CITY! LOWER, THE BARRIER!" He snapped, a ripple of unseen magic pounding against every present man's chest. But the man he held, through choked breaths struggled back against him. "But...innocent-*gak!* ...bystanders…."

*Snap!*

Zaleeth would handle no such insubordination, no matter the consequences, and disposed of the soldier quickly, mercilessly. He drank in the essence of his life force, finding it little more than a drop to his reservoir, but a drop all the same. With grim acceptance that the soldier had a point he couldn't ignore, or rather that it was a point he had no choice but to concede, Zaleeth turned to the barrier, ignoring the horrified men behind him.

"You will be mine, Butterfly," he seethed, the air around him growing hot and the thrum of the ground matching his beating heart, "I will burn that boy's screams into your mind before I take you. And mark my words...I will take all of you." And with that, he turned to leave, simply waving a hand for his men to move out and rescue the city from the damage that had been done.

Meanwhile, high above the forests to the south of the city, Marco was struggling to keep his eyes shut and himself from going deaf. The noise was unbearable, easily the loudest thing he had ever heard in his life between the buzzing and The wind passing his ears. And that wind, it felt like a million daggers piercing his skin, which, given the intense head and the boom, he was sure he was severely burned.

Marco fancied himself as resilient, strong even, but with his injuries, his exhaustion, and now the burns and wind? "STAR!" he screamed above the wind, desperate to slow down or to be put down, "DO YOU THINK YOU COULD SET ME DOOOOoooooooooown!" She dropped so fast, he could swear he felt his stomach pressing his heart into his throat. The wind, the buzzing, he could feel himself falling like a rock towards what he could imagine was the forest.

Star scanned the area as she shot toward the ground, finding a small spit of road that looked abandoned enough to land on without issue and headed for that. When she was close enough, she righted her body and maintained a light flap, careful not to shock Marco with too fast a change of speed, and hovered just above the ground. Gently, she deposited Marco on his own feet, the body both disoriented and wobbly at first, before he threatened to puke.

*hurk* "hoo... hokay," he breathed through labored heaves of his aching chest. To say that he wanted to get drunk, and quickly forget everything about the day thus far, was an understatement. "Please never do that again."

Star stared at him and tilted her head silently, as if she was trying to comprehend the idea that what she had done for him wasn't good, that she wasn't needed. Marco, to his credit, immediately took notice of her internal dilemma and held up his hands to clarify, "sorry, I appreciate you saving my ass back there. Just, I really don't like heights, or flying a hundred miles an hour."

At that, she seemed to understand that he had in fact needed her, and was attempting to express something related to gratitude, so she grinned and nodded, her blank, white eyes never leaving his. Now out of danger, Marco found himself wondering just how cognizant she was, and asked softly, "is it like, really you in there, Star? Can you talk?"

Her smile faltered.

"Maaaaaaarrrrrrcooooooooooo."

He pressed his lips together and nodded, succinctly creeped out, and hopeful that she could say more than his name, or at least his name in a voice that didn't sound like a reverberating thrum. "Okay then, uhh… can you change back? I kinda have to talk to Star."

A few seconds of awkward quiet rolled by before the creature known as Star shook its head. She stared at him, holding his gaze before her eyes darted down to his lips for a split-second, and she grinned at the prospective opportunity. Marco, however, did not share the same ideals, and quickly folded his arms, glaring at her. "No, nonono, no. You're not doing that again," he all but ordered, "go kiss a tree. Or find some random dude on the trail."

Her smile wilted before she crossed two sets of arms and rested the third on her hips, shaking her head ruefully as her wings buzzed. She pointed at Marco directly, emphasizing him, followed immediately by pointing the same finger at her lips.

"You can't be serious," he groaned, narrowing his eyes at hers, but all she did was stare back at him, blank and all. The two glared at each other for a moment in a silent arms race of grump, before Marco ultimately sighed, and gave in.

"Fine. Just...never speak of this to Star. Ever," he barked, marching right up to the creature and planting a quick peck on her cheek. Fast, formal, friendly, and over before either of them even had time to consider it had happened. He backed up and folded his arms, staring at her before deciding that glaring at the dirt beneath him was a much better idea.

A minute rolled by of more silence than Marco had ever imagined Star could be capable of, before he finally chanced to look up at her. That thing was staring at him, expressionless as ever with her wings buzzing lightly. "What? Was that not good enough for you or something?" He asked incredulously, his cheeks turning scarlet as the seconds ticked by.

She finally blinked, hard, as if it took her this long to understand what he had asked before she shook her head. Marco stuttered for any of several responses to the act, but she silenced him by motioning him closer, smiling with that hungry, needing smile. Marco's cheeks were blazing, his eyes bugging out of his head in a frightening glare, but Star hovered in place undeterred.

"I am so-ho-ho, kicking your ass after this is all over," he spat, scowling his heart away as he approached, Star wearing a beaming smile through blank eyes. When he was within arms reach, Star placed two hands on his shoulders, two on his hips, and two wrapped around his back, careful to keep him from getting away this time. And she fully intended to take what she couldn't last time.

Marco glanced down at the base of her six arms, then back up at her face, finding a closer look far less unappealing than he imagined. Around her white-hot, heart shaped eyes were lashes that fanned luxuriously, all capped with tiny hearts to match her cheeks. Her hair, now a ghostly lavender, still smelled like river water, but given that it was one of the few things that remained from the Star he knew, it was her most comforting feature. She was warm, her breath against his neck was warm, and even her once blank expression, it too was warm.

When it became apparent that she was waiting for him, slowly, Marco leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, the faintest of contented sighs leaving her nostrils. She tasted...like blueberries, if that was a thing, and although she neither demanded nor initiated any kind of...un baiser amoureux, Marco still felt that same warmth pass from her, to him. She felt comforting, like the tough shell he wore every day was not melting away, but growing stronger through her protection. She felt safe, and steady, like an anchor in his otherwise bat shit crazy life.

Star pulled him closer, she held him tight, she even rubbed the muscles on his shoulders that made her wings weak, and yet? She didn't feel anything. There was no love, no hunger, no need from him, it was purely platonic, and that infuriated her to no end. It was empty, devoid of all passion, that burning desire to crave and need that she so desperately desired. He was just as blank as she had been forced to be, while on Mewni, and it was a pain she had felt before.

When one goes through Mewberty, and they are left alone, they are given no outlet, no one to expel their desire to, the side effects can be dramatic. Queen Moon, Star's mother, had her locked away the moment she began to show signs, and she was forced to spend the entirety of Mewberty without anyone with whom to...conjugate. In turn, Star was effected not directly, but through her butterfly transformation, a staple of the Butterfly matriarch line. She could only transform into this hungry, craving creature, desperate to finish its process, but unable to. And now, that desperation was higher than it had ever been, her desire, craving, and lust insatiable.

After a long moment, both parties experiencing varying forms of discomfort, the two finally parted, Star releasing the hold she had on Marco with visible regret. "There you go, can I have Star back now?" Marco was quick to ask, though his mood was far less offensive than it had been.

He was met with a sadistic grin, the lavender creature eying him with discomforting interest as she fluttered back like a hummingbird. "Naughty...boy," she breathed, her voice now far sweeter than it had been before. Maybe she had been releasing pheromones, or maybe he actually found her voice attracting. He didn't know which option scared him more. Thankfully, she shifted back to normal far easier than before, her body blurring before a cocoon of purple hearts burst around her with a quiet *poof*.

What was left was thankfully, Star. But unfortunately, her terrified stance and eyes reminded Marco that she had no memory of what had just transpired since she had transformed. "Did...did we make it? Are we safe?" She asked desperately, drinking in her surroundings and placement, "wait… did we just ki-"

"Yes! We made it we're safe hahahahaha," Marco laughed, either nervously or due to the waning adrenaline. When Star shot him a confused look, he coughed into his hand and looked around, caught. "I mean uh… we're safe, thanks to you."

"Well then it looks like we-"

"Annnnd we almost died, thanks to you," Marco continued, his tone displaying a clear annoyance with her as Star quickly adopted the same mannerism. "I uh...I know I know," she offered uneasily, her memories flooding back in full force, both from today and the days prior, "I'm so sorry…"

She looked disturbed by something, her gaze glued to the road as she seemed to shrink into herself, but Marco had already made up his mind to deal with the issue here and now. "Star…" he stepped closer to her, and this time after her transformation she didn't back away, "who was that guy?"

She kept her eyes down and didn't say a word, shifting her weight from foot to foot as Marco waited patiently for an answer. But after a moment, when it was clear she wouldn't, he sighed and stepped closer again, now with arms reach. "We trust each other, right?" He asked softly, using that careful, nurturing voice she felt was used almost exclusively for her, for whatever reason. "You almost got us killed, so I think I deserve an explanation."

"I don't wanna talk about it right now. Okay? So can we just-" she was trying to get defensive, a tactic he had seen many people use before as she still avoided eye contact, but Marco was having none of it. "No," he barked, folding his arms, still keeping that trademark voice, with a scowl now, "you knew him, and I have a pretty good idea that he was in that village. The next time I saw you, you were that- that butterfly thing, and half crazy with fear. So I wanna know: what. Did. He. Do."

Finally, she looked back up to meet his eyes and found his expression having shifted to match his softer tone. The isolation and fear she felt immediately began to wither, but with the incident still so fresh on her mind, opening was harder than it seemed. "I...he-...you were…" she stammered, struggling to both shake off her restrictive shackles and to form her thoughts into words, "It was all a lie."

"What do you mean 'a lie'? Like a trap or something?" He asked, keeping that careful tone, "I mean you're here now but, what happened?"

"No, like… none of it was even real, Marco!" She yelled, though it was with immediate regret. He winced at her broken expression, and while he believed she had every right to be at least somewhat hysterical, it was still a shock. "The buildings, the people, makeeth! It was all just- just a mirage!"

Marco cocked his head to side and did his best to maintain the calm he was trying so desperately to give her. "You mean we were both just imagining it?"

"No...like," again she faltered, but this time she inhaled sharply, holding it for a moment before slowly releasing her captivated breath. "I mean, you saw what he could do, right?" She asked carefully, earning a nod from him, "well, that guy, he used magic to make us hallucinate the entire thing. He wanted me, Marco. He wanted to…kill me."

For a moment, he didn't say anything, he just stood there before her in deep contemplation as she began to fear she might have lost him. But eventually he slowly nodded, asking, "Did… he hurt you?" There was a dangerous edge in his voice, as if Marco was even capable of doing anything to the man in question, but the sentiment wasn't lost on Star.

"No...I don't think so. He made me see a fake copy of you, after you left," she answered somewhat bitterly, in a manner that Marco couldn't tell who it was she was annoyed with, "I thought I was at a feast, with food and drinks and people… but I was just alone, sitting in a chair, eating a dead rabbit. If I hadn't come to my senses, Marco… I don't know what he would have done to me. I was so...helpless, and he could have done anything to m-"

His arms were around her before she could finish, and corn, he was warm. It could have been due to the overwhelming heat of the blast in the city, but Star didn't care. It was a shock all the same that Marco, the Marco, stone cold, short tempered, quick to agitate, Marco, was hugging her. And it was only after a solid minute of stunned silence, that he spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Star," he mumbled, not am ounce of emotion in his voice, "I should have never left you- I should have been with you."

Star stared at the forest over his shoulder for a moment before matching his hug, realizing they had only hugged once since the bridge. "I already said it was okay, Marco," she softly answered, letting the warmth his body provided lull her into a state of serenity, "I should have listened to you, and maybe I wouldn't've been in that situation. ...but, you know what?"

"What?"

Star gave him a squeeze, one he was happy to reciprocate, especially now that she couldn't literally crush him to death in her six arms. "I have you now, and we have each other's backs. So long as those two things stay true, we have nothing to worry about, right?"

Marco, for his size and his general demeanor, surprised her by stepping back from the impromptu hug and giving her a caring, warm smile. "Right. You might've caused some of...all of that crazy nonsense just now, but, you did get us out of there," he noted, resting his hands on his hips, "somehow, someway, we'll get him back. Maybe after you get your wand, because now, we have this."

He held up the scroll given to him by Helwen, and even if it's edges were a little charred, it was still every bit as valuable. Star could only give him a short nod before breaking out into a smile, both the prospect of vaporizing Zaleeth and returning home brightening her mood. "Should we go find Alwen then?" She asked, inching her head up the road.

Marco nodded and gestured for her to lead the way toward the next step of his genuine, 'get-back-home-alive' plan. Likely, Alwen was getting stone drunk in a bar somewhere, 'among other pleasantries', but regardless they needed him and his small army if they had any hopes of getting the cleaver, and getting home.

"Good plan, but let's try not to tell him about any of the...crazier shit, yeah?" Marco asked, following Star down the dirt road and towards the Southern Territories.

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AUTHORS NOTE

WOW, yall really seem to like this story. Thankfully, I really enjoy writing it, and while I understand that usually I have something to say here at the end for those of you looking for the light on your own bridge, I felt I would extend a quick thank you to everyone reading, following, reviewing, messaging, everything. This story is especially personal to me, and I could not be happier knowing that it's doing so well. So thank you all, it means more than I could ever express through words, the dedication you all show. Thank you for reading, and to my brother, I know this isn't anything valuable or impactful, but I still do it for you, and I hope you like it.

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"We all look for an escape. From life, from family, from pain, from ourselves, but escape isn't a first response. It's a last resort. We hide in books, we drown in media, we seek out comfort and care in any form, all in the hopes of escaping what we're running from. And while escape might be a viable option for a while, you have to think about what you leave behind, the people you leave behind, and you have to think about what your actions do to those around you. Escape can be good, but first, you should fight."

~Mr. Ronald Reagan

~H