Chapter 2: Daydreams and Nightmares

Star was in complete bliss. Laying under the summer sun she closed her eyes, listening to chirping birds and feeling the soft breeze. It was the summer she always thought she would have on earth, one that wasn't intruded by Toffee, in which she got to spend it all with her best friend.

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt a pair of lips on her cheek. Turning, she saw Marco with a semi-bashful expression.

"Sorry- you just looked so adorable."

A red tint came over her face. That's right- in which she got to spend the whole summer with her boyfriend. Happily she snuggled up against him, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders and entwine her hand with his, leaning back and letting the afternoon slip away. Between the warmth and the comfort, Star felt herself beginning to drift off.

"Marco?" She asked, yawning.

"Yeah?"

Star looked up at him childishly. "Can we stay like this forever?"

Marco chuckled. "Well, that depends."

Star rolled over lazily. "Depends on what?"

"It depends… on if you leave me again."

Star blinked and sat up. All playfulness was gone and he watched her with a straight face. "What are you-" Memories flashed through her mind and she frowned. "If you're talking about when I had to go back to Mewni-"

"That's not it." Marco continued. "I'm talking about the Magic Realm."

The world around Star came to an abrupt halt. The birds stopped singing and the wind stopped blowing. Her blood turned to ice, and the sun did nothing to relieve it. "Oh, no… Marco, I…" Star swallowed and her voice faltered. "I didn't want to leave you. I tried to save you-"

"But you didn't." Marco didn't sound angry. Star almost wished he did. "I relied on you, Star. We promised to have each other's backs."

"Marco-"

"But I guess you never really meant that."

"No- Marco, please-"

Marco looked down at their clasped hands. "Goodbye, Star."

He let go, and Star watched as Marco vaporized in front of her.

0o0o0o0

"Star!"

Star gave a loud snore. Tom shook her again, this time more roughly. "Star! Come on, Star, wake up!"

"Heh… huh… hmm…" Star opened one droopy eye at a time and considered Tom. "Tom? What are you doing…" Suddenly Star shot up with a gasp. "Marco!"

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy." Tom carefully lowered Star, who fought against him only minimally. "Breathe with me, Star, okay? Breathe in- breathe out."

Obediently Star inhaled and exhaled, her pounding heart gradually falling at a steadier rate. It was clear by their surroundings they were in the Forest of Certain Death. Eclipsa was sitting against a tree with Moon wrapping her arm in a sling.

"Star," Moon said, a sad smile forming. "How are you feeling?"

Truthfully, Star wasn't sure how she felt. After all the different emotional rollercoasters she went on in just the last three days, she was getting sick of having any emotions at all. "I'm fine," she decided. Dusting her skirt, Star got to her feet. "So. What's the plan?"

Everyone avoided Star's gaze at the question, and she couldn't suppress a familiar bout of annoyance. "You guys are thinking of a plan, right?"

"Well- you see, it's a bit complicated," Moon began, but before she could go on Glossaryck and Meteora showed themselves from the bushes.

"Star, you're awake," Glossaryck welcomed. Meteora chirped and climbed up her mama's shoulders, dropping an offering in her lap- an old, dead sparrow.

"My little huntress!" Eclipsa said proudly.

Star grimaced at the display before turning to Glossaryck. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm awake. Can we please start talking about what we're going to do next?"

"Well. The way I see it, there's a magical super-warrior uprooting Mewni's entire kingdom." Glossaryck put in unhelpfully.

"Yeah- I got that," Star snapped. "I'm talking about Marco. How are we gonna get him back?"

Silence met her, and Star clenched her fists at her sides. "A little input would be nice."

"It's just that-" Moon sighed heavily, apparently accepting the fact there was no way around the conversation. "In difficult situations like these, a Queen must realize what issues take greater priority."

Star's hands glowed dangerously. "Am I at a Princessing lesson or are we gonna get my boyfriend back?"

"Star." Star glared at Tom, hating the sympathy in his eyes. "I'm actually with your mom on this one. Hear me out," he added before Star could interrupt. "If you think about it… Marco's in the safest place he can be. Anyone who stays in the Magic Realm for too long forgets who they are." He hesitated, then, "Not to mention he has the royal wand, so…"

Fiercely Star grinded her teeth. "If you think… I'm going to come crawling back to you just because Marco's gone…"

Alarm flashed in Tom's eyes. "What! How could you even-" He grunted in disbelief. "That isn't fair, Star!"

Enraged, Star yelled, "What isn't fair is that my boyfriend is trapped in another dimension and he doesn't remember who he is!"

Tom's body lit up in flames. "You think I wanted this to happen?"

"Oh, dear." Eclipsa mumbled worriedly. Glancing sideways at her, Moon decided to intervene.

"Alright, that's enough," She commanded firmly. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Star- listen to me." Star glowered at Moon and she went on. "Our top priority should be getting the Mewmans and monsters to safety. Mina's barbaric, but she won't pass on the opportunity to show off her victory. I'd say we have until she finds Globgor to get everyone out of here."

Star growled. "I can't believe you want to abandon Marco. After everything he's done for Mewni!"

Moon's voice sharpened. "Marco attacked you. You could have been killed!"

"He didn't do it, mom! It was the dark magic controlling him!"

Eclipsa quickly chimed in before the arguing could go on. "Yes… any thoughts on how he got that way?"

"He was stabbed by that corrupted Millhorse."

The royals swiveled to look at Tom, and wearily he explained. "It happened… when he was trying to break my memory curse." He took a deep breath and sighed. "It didn't take long for the magic to set in."

For the first time, Star realized just how battered Tom was. His hair and eyeliner were a mess, and his clothes were torn in some places. Bruises littered parts of the skin that was exposed, and he had a bad scrape where his shirt had been ripped. Wrath diminishing, Star raised an uncertain hand to Tom, then whisked it away.

"Marco's my best friend too, Star." Tom sent her an imploring look. "I want to save him just as much as you do. But I also want to do the right thing, and at least for now… I think that's to help get everyone to safety."

Guilt pricked at Star's insides and she stared at her feet. Moon took the opportunity to clear her throat.

"Now that we've got all that behind us- we should focus on coming up with a plan to stop Mina."

Moon, Eclipsa, and Glossaryck engaged in an action-oriented conversation. Star shivered in the cold and hugged her arms. Solemnly Tom watched her.

"I'm going after Marco." Star said in a low voice.

Tom opened his mouth, but Star interrupted. "You said he's your best friend, so why not prove it?"

"Star-"

"I know you don't think it's the best thing to do right now, but Marco needs us-"

"Star." Tom grabbed her shoulders bracingly. "Are you gonna keep talking, or are we gonna get our friend back?"

For the first time that night, Star smiled. However it disappeared when something else occurred to her. "How do we know if he's in the Magic Realm? Firstborn could have sent him back to Mewni by now."

"I don't know… I mean, did you see what he did with the wand?" Tom imitated an exploding noise. "Something tells me Firstborn wouldn't have wanted to unleash all… that here."

Star sighed. "I guess right now, she's the only lead we've got. Come on."

Together they headed for the trees, unaware that Glossaryck was smiling after them.

0o0o0o0

Golden flecks of magic splattered Marco's shoes as he ran. Where he was running he didn't know, but he couldn't stay, not after what happened. He heard Star beg for him to wait, but it only made Marco go faster.

Don't follow me, Star!

In the short time since he'd been stabbed, Marco had nearly gotten two of his friends killed. The worst he remembered doing was burning Eclipsa's forearm, but what about before that? He didn't have a clue what else he could have done, and that terrified him.

"Marco!"

Star called his name, and it was enough to unravel every brave face he tried putting on. Seeing the look on Star's face had torn him apart. Knowing he was the cause of it made everything all the worse.

Already he felt himself slipping. Panic seized him as he lost feeling in his limbs, and then his mind. Marco fell on his knees, elbows deep in magic, and came face to face with his reflection. But… but that didn't look like him. This person's hair and clothes were a mess, and their eyes were blank and lifeless.

Marco blinked and shook his head. How was he supposed to know what he looked like? An uncomfortable twinge in his gut made him raise his shirt, revealing the reflection of his stomach. He shivered at the gaping wound and covered it back up.

"You've been tainted by dark magic."

A white unicorn with plum hair appeared behind Marco's reflection and he twisted around. She continued bitterly, "Just like this whole realm has been."

Marco clenched his jaw and shot a beam from the wand, but the unicorn evaded him like she had expected that. "You don't belong here, but you can't go back to Mewni like this."

What was a 'Mewni'? Marco's ferocity grew and he summoned another ray, but this time the unicorn didn't dodge. Instead she tucked her chin in and blocked his attack with her horn, and before he had the chance to shoot again she restrained Marco with an invisible force and suspended him in the air.

"Hold still," The unicorn told him, her horn glowing and moving closer, and Marco was hit with a sudden flashback- the Dark unicorn, skewering him through, completely impaling him from one end to the other. Fear struck his heart and Marco struggled.

The unicorn grunted and she fought against his plight. "I said don't move!" She snapped, and real, tangible ropes materialized and strapped Marco down, only heightening his terror as the horn drew nearer and nearer.

"Star!" Marco wailed, though he had no idea what that meant or if Star was even a person. Whatever compelled him to say it worked, as the unicorn released him when something big struck her aside.

"Oops! Don't mind me, little horsey!" Said a voice that was both high-pitched and booming, and the owner of it towered over the prone unicorn. "I've just got a few questions to ask ya… well! What do we have here?"

The large humanoid thing peered down at Marco, her purple pigtails blowing in a wind that didn't exist. The longer she stared at him the more she started to grin, exposing a set of razor sharp teeth, and she reared her head back in joyous laughter.

"Ha! Looks like the Princess's bodyguard has lost his mind to the magic!" The warrior flew circles around Marco making him spin and fall over. She regarded him closely, giggling, before humming with great interest. "What's this, now? The royal wand? How'd you manage to get your grubby hands on that?"

The humanoid suddenly grunted and toppled over. The white unicorn stood firm, horn alight, and growling the humanoid swiped a fist at her, throwing her back. Weakly, the unicorn struggled to raise her head and looked desperately at Marco.

"You must go back," She urged, and Marco felt her magic lift him in the air again. "Star needs you-"

"Ah-ah-ah!" The purple haired warrior intercepted them with a mighty red sword. "Can't have you restoring his memories now, not when he can do so much for me!"

The sword pierced the unicorn's side, and her mouth flew open in a silent scream. Her body started to shed away like paper, reducing her to nothing but a solid, golden horn, which fell under the magic stream with a plop. Marco fell with it, stunned. He stared with round eyes at the humanoid warrior, who towered over him with a suddenly grim expression.

"Come on, soldier," she ordered, and like second nature Marco obeyed. "We've got a bloodline to destroy."

A/N: And you thought the last chapter was a diabolical cliffhanger.

More to come. Ideas and reviews are greatly appreciated!