Vestiges

Back in the saddle. I worked most of the night since posting chapter one to cook this for you. Here's chapter two.

2.

Lavabo took out the marker from its case and marked an 'X' on the current date. 'Three weeks,' he thought to himself as he gazed at the calendar, 'since he's been here. I should probably end his tenure.' Hearing a battle cry and the sound of the death-throes of yet another laundry-related monster, he grinned to himself.

"Then again, the boy's a great help."

There was no doubt about it. Ever since Marco had passed by the basement laundry room and offered his services, Lavabo had finally allowed the rigid tenseness in his body to relax. He had worried for the boy's safety at first but that was no longer the case. Nowadays, the knight wasn't surprised to be able to find the time for leisurely tea-breaks and to even invite a few of his friends down for a card game or two. In fact, all the huge stray piles of forgotten clothes that accumulated over the years were reduced to small deposits; it helped that there were now two people to fight the laundry monsters and to do the laundry itself, alternating in turns.

And yet, why was he worried?

"That's the fifth lint-catcher monster in the past three days," Marco observed, "and they just keep getting stronger when we wash the clothes from the old piles instead of the ones that come down the chute every now and again." He walked over to Lavabo and gave the man his weapons back, going into detail how close the fight was. "They're even starting to use the clothing to protect themselves because they seem to know that I don't want to damage the clothes in the first place."

"My boy, I do not understand why you insist on washing the older piles. Many of the owners have passed on or are no longer living in the castle. It's only because of respect for my father's creed why I have not burnt them." Lavabo poured some tea from a thermos into a cup and tried to offer it to the boy, who declined. Shaking his head and taking the tea for himself, Lavabo went on. "Your daily battles because of the older clothing, while courageous, are unnecessary."

"They're sentient, Sir Lavabo. If they're capable of intelligence, then they have to be snuffed out before they become even more dangerous." Marco's tone became clearly darker at the drop of the word, and Lavabo could only stare at him with apprehension. He himself hadn't thought that he was killing them; the word he would have used instead would be 'vanquish'. More 'knightly' in speech, if there was such a word, not to mention being a greater ease on his conscience.

"Errm… fine," the knight mumbled. "That they are. Other squires, all but you and I in my own beginning, have died when they fought the beasts formed from the laundry on their own. I respect your mettle, but nowadays, you seem to fight with a different fervor. You fight not to preserve your life and certainly not to preserve mine. Furthermore, you do not seem to fight because you believe in the creed of my forefathers. At first, I could claim that you were merely here to pass the time but now, it's as if you're only here because you enjoy fighting the laundry monsters… and relishing their demise."

Marco barely had a rise to the knight's insinuation. "First off, I'll admit that you're kinda right. I'm just here to pass the time. And as for 'killing them', haven't you been doing it for years?"

The knight nodded. It was a point well taken, although it did not pass his notice that the boy did not answer if he actually enjoyed dispatching the leviathans. Lavabo wondered if the lad had intentionally dodged the accusation, and decided that he had to make his choice. Now.

"My dear boy, regardless, I would love to take you under my wing as a squire. But aren't you already one for the princess? Without a doubt, it's a high honor. Why putter along and spend your time here when you should be at her side?"

Marco shook his head in the negative. "Nah. She's usually with someone else. Between you and me, it's the kind of relationship that requires privacy."

"Dating? Courtship?"

"Yeah."

The knight was quiet for a while, pondering how to let the boy go without making it obvious that he was trying to oust him from this potentially mental-breaking environment. "I see. But you should remain on call, in case she needs you."

"Her boyfriend is super powerful. He's a Lucitor, you know, a demon spawn. Besides, Star's a magical princess, Lavabo. She even has her wand. I doubt she'll need me for anything."

"I see. So that's the issue. You feel unimportant?"

"No-"

"It does not matter!" Lavabo was adamant. "You should always be in proximity to her, and not to distance yourself for any reason! At the very least, secure some permission from her to be here. Should anything happen, I'll be the one in trouble if tragedy befalls you."

Marco was no fool. He could tell what Lavabo was thinking and frowned deeply. It was unfortunate; he could feel himself being strengthened from his time spent doing the laundry. While a rather menial labor, it was physically and mentally taxing and like a rubber-band, Marco had adapted and trained in tandem, becoming all the stronger for it. His skinny arms were already hardening, and his body besides was beginning to tone. It wasn't quite there yet, but he had a 'Before' picture in his room and could tell that helping the knight was easily the best workout he'd ever had, if nothing else.

It was a loss, but it was one he could accept. "Fine. Thanks for allowing me to help out."

"No, Marco. I'm grateful." Lavabo reached across and shook the boy's hand, one the teen reciprocated vigorously. "You and I have done far more in three weeks than I've been able to accomplish in years. Hopefully, you'll still be on call if the princess excuses you to assist me."

"Okay." Marco stood up and bowed at the head in respect for the knight. "Take care."

Marco walked absentmindedly from the reaches of the basement area, not really having a destination in mind. With Star being spirited away by Tom most of the time and everyone who Marco had relations with had closer bonds with Star, he had little reason to even seek them out. It wasn't out of disgust or scorn, but the only reason he even associated with them was that he happened to accompany Star in the first place. River might be the only exception, seeing as they got along quite well without Star being present. The same would for Kelly as well; they'd gotten closer (as friends) recently.

"Destroy… The Wellspring…"

There it was again. That blasted voice kept him on his toes. At least a dozen times for the week, it repeated the same thing in the same damned monotone. It'd worried him at first, but Star had informed him not to fret about it.

"Oh sure," he grumbled, "don't worry about any voices in your head. I bet that if Tom had told her that he had voices in his head, she would've been trying to sort out the problem with him."

In point of fact, Marco had sought help from other people; Queen Moon, Hekapoo, Omnitraxus, even Rhombulus and River himself, although the latter two had no idea on how to assist him. In all honesty, neither did the others and in varying degrees of worry, told him that it was a first and that they could make neither heads or tails of what the voice meant. Soon afterward, the voice had become diminished, and he'd been happy to notify them that it was gone. Now, he was too ashamed now that it'd returned. He could always go back to them but now he was sure that they'd only lock him up in an asylum. He could chalk it up as a magical side effect of the party that Star threw for the denizens of Mewni, both Mewmans and monsters alike, or something else. Nevertheless, he hoped that his problem would just go away on its own.

"A… problem…?"

Marco stopped walking. "Huh?" Did the voice just make an answer based on his thoughts? If so, then the matter was more serious than he had initially feared. He stood still for a long moment but after hearing nothing, continued walking. "Just what I needed. A conscious voice in my head that basically classifies me as crazy, Lavabo probably thinks I'm becoming psychopathic and I can't even- Oof!"

"HEY!" There was a mini-collision, and upon the first sound of metal hitting the ground, both parties scooted backward from each other to avoid being hurt as shields, spears, and swords fell in a loud clatter. "Geez! It's you? Watch where you're going!"

Marco slowly looked up from the pile, having narrowly dodged a sword from slicing into his foot when it fell. The voice was eerily familiar, for all the wrong reasons. It was the voice that told him who it was, and as he saw the attire, he became even more despondent. By the time he saw her face, his mood had gone completely sour. Sure enough, it was one of the first people on Mewni to make Marco miserable since his return. "Higgs. Sorry, okay? It won't happen again." He started to help her pick up the weapons, but she chewed him out for his poor efforts as he stacked them incorrectly in her arms.

"Ugh! I'll do it! Why don't you go be useless somewhere else?" The words cut him to some extent, and her saying additional curses under her breath only worsened the wound.

"What's your problem with me, Higgs? Is it your time of the month or something?" He was about to storm off, but her words held him in place.

"On no. It's just the usual. You know, making myself useful in my position that I worked for, instead of getting it as a favor." She unknowingly hit all of his buttons and Marco doubted that she would've cared if she had known. "Instead, I just had to bump into the one guy who's here just because of the princess's graces."

"I've done plenty. I've done more than you! I've fought Ludo and Toffee, while you were probably hiding with every other knight that I didn't see around. Even the Jester, Mime and Songwriter had more guts than the lot of you. They were braver than the Knights of Coward-lot." She didn't have much of an answer to this, much less the reference, and stammered a bit while kneeling to gather the weapons on her own.

"You got lucky that you didn't have to do anything about commands; I had to listen to my knight's orders. I was helping him protect the corn from monsters. The people of Mewni didn't starve to death before they were liberated. You think that everything else just goes on standby when one thing goes wrong?"

"You-" It occurred to Marco that she was actually jealous of him. Despite his considered low-key status as of now, he'd failed to take into account of others. He recalled the state of the commoners; they were meager, worn and somnolent. He got the same impression when he took in Higgs form, noting her thin wrists, her muscles which were a visible cry for a protein diet and her threadbare clothing. She was probably from common stock.

It was so easy, Marco realized, to forget about the common-folk of Mewni. To forget about the monsters of the yonder woods. To forget about the rife between the species and social classes when eating from the King's table.

He didn't feel much pity for them. Instead, he started to feel a measure of anger, of hate… for the Butterfly family. Such a feeling was foreign to him, but it felt justified. At this moment with a clear mind, he began to help Higgs by picking up all of the large shields under his left armpit and the spears under his right. "Whatever. Where were you going with these?"

"What are you doing?" Higgs asked, befuddled. "I can do this myself-"

"I'm helping you carry these things."

"Go to hell." Deciding that she'd just return for the items she didn't have in her arms, Higgs walked away as disgruntled as a bull. Her mood worsened when she noticed that he was following her. "Can't take a hint? I don't want your help."

"I don't wanna help you either, so at least we can agree on something. Now lead the way."


Marco stepped into the room, taking care to step around the clutter of weapons, assorted clothing, raw materials and other miscellaneous items. "Geez, I never thought I'd run into another girl as messy as Star."

"It's organized." She pointed at each thing and item in turn, identifying them easily. "Just make sure you don't sit in that corner over there, or you won't be able to sit right for a week."

"Hmph." He rested the food thermos on the table (after clearing a small spot on it) and went over to the squire. "So what's new today?"

"Sharpening swords and weaving chainmail," she responded in humdrum, knowing that it was the usual tasks she had, "I'm leaving the shields to be polished later when I'm sleeping. It's the safest thing to do while I'm unconscious." In a rejoin, Marco shook his head and took up the nearest shield, a dry cloth and the bottle of wax-… the very same bottle of wax he'd failed to purchase for Star at the special sale at Quest Buy.

"I'll polish the shields," he mumbled as he began to do the deed. "Just make sure you get some real sleep tonight. And don't forget the food on the table. The thermos doesn't keep it warm forever, you know."

"Whatever, dummy." The insult didn't carry as much bite as one would think it would, and by now, Marco believed that Higgs called him that in an endearing matter, bizarre as it may seem. In that same vein, he was sure that the squire was warming up to his presence, as he did with her. Higgs wasn't all that 'bad' a character as he'd observed over time this week whenever they associated. Truth be told, it was rather easy to develop sociopathic issues like hers when things weren't going the way one would want; better sleep and better food daily (courtesy of his un-obligatory help), did wonders for her countenance and even Marco could admit that she cleaned up well. That is, not unattractive and actually above decent.

As it was with Lavabo, he aided another simple person, and felt all the better for it, although his anger at the Butterfly family only increased because of it. They lorded over the masses with their magic and veto authority to keep themselves well off while the lot went deprave. Even he had to wonder if Star was unaware of her citizens' situation, but he knew that she'd walked amongst them. She'd done it before, and it wasn't something she practiced. It went to show that she obviously didn't like spending time in her dimension outside of her castle. Somewhat hypocritical of her, as the princess had told him she was trying to live up to her duties and obligations. But what could Marco do?

"Destroy… The Wellspring..."

There it was again. The voice… was it actually speaking the answers to his thoughts? Well, he would readily agree, if the so-called destruction had no fallout, made things a bit more 'equal' served to make everyone, in general, better off. But he had no idea of performing such an act in the first place, nor did he know where this 'Wellspring' was, or that if it even existed. Hell, that was if the 'voice' was existent in the first place and spoke with truthful conviction.

"Hey, Higgs." At the call, the squire looked up from her sword sharpening to regard the Diaz.

"What?"

"Do you know of something called the 'Wellspring'?"

"Never heard of it," she said bluntly, "and why do you wanna know?"

"It just came to me. Never mind." Post-dialogue, they went back to working in a rhythmic silence, intercrossed by the shear of the blades being sharpened and the buffering of the shields. They hardly even recognized it themselves, but interjecting one another kept them in pace and in doing so, got more work done. It was identical to lumberjack double-sawing, and they kept up for an hour. Even so, Marco could feel some of his energy waning and was seriously reconsidering whether the title of being a squire was even beneficial in the first place, given the nature of the responsibilities that came with the office.

"You know?" Marco started, "I've been meaning to ask. Why did you become a squire?"

"To become a knight."

"And why did you want to become a knight-"

"The only occupation nowadays that would put food in my belly." Her answers were short and sharp as if she was speaking about a topic she disliked. "Why did you become a squire?"

"To become a knight."

"And why did you want to become a knight?"

"Life back home in my dimension was boring."

"Un-freaking-believable." The girl rolled her eyes at the inane response whilst laughing good-naturedly, pondering whether or not the boy was serious. "The mental asylum must be losing its edge. They're not keeping all the crazy people locked up."

"Ha-ha," Marco laughed sarcastically as he went back to polishing the shields. They didn't remain silent very long before Higgs broke the monotony.

"Marco? Why are you helping me?"

"Got nothing else to do. Plus, I kinda felt sorry for you." He could easily tell that she was displeased with his response but he didn't try to appease her. The truth was like that; he knew a thing or two about honesty, and it was better said than bottled up. "It's also because I guess I hate how this society works and… what you said back at Quest Buy during the sale was kinda true."

Higgs had no idea how to react; anger at being pitied, intrigue with his view on Mewman politics or to make a tease along the lines of 'hurting his feelings'. She settled on remaining silent.

"You were working hard, and you still do. I mean, doing harder jobs while you're awake and doing the rest while you're asleep? Being a squire is basically being a servant for a knight, and having to work your fingers to the bone while they receive credits and honors to their name. I was just a squire for the joke of it. So I guess I'm trying to make up for that by making myself useful."

Higgs scratched her cheek in thought, leaving metal filings there on accident. "Why do I get the feeling that if it was Baby Man or Old Guy you ran into… that you wouldn't have helped them? That you were only willing to help me?"

"Those are your feelings." The boy said in deadpan. However, the girl supposed that she figured out the answer, and smirked like the cat that ate the canary.

"It's because you like me, don't you?"

"I guess that beneath all that bitchiness that you use to repel people, you're…" he made the so-so sign with his hand, "alright. Kind of."

"Meh." She dropped what she was doing and cleaned her hands with a washcloth. She was about to head over to the thermos to get a bite to eat but was interrupted by the opening of the door to the small room. A giant of a woman, a knight no less, walked inside in a braggart gait.

"Higgs!" she yelled boisterously, although the girl was no more than a few meters away from her. "I've come for my shield! I hope I'll be able to see my face in it…" the woman's voice trailed off as she noticed Marco polishing her shield in his lap. "… This… time…"

Marco raised an eyebrow at the bear-like woman. "Is something wrong?"

"You're Marco, right? The princess's…" The woman made no attempt to hide her laughter. "'Squire'! What are you doing with my shield?"

"I'm helping Higgs polish it. I'll make sure you can 'see your face in it'," the boy stated calmly, already wondering if the woman was trying to make a point.

"…" The woman's mirth ceased altogether. "That's going to be a problem. You and I, Marco… we're going to see Sir Stabby about this. It's a violation."

"A violation of what?"

"The boy violated the terms, Sir Stabby!"

"This has to be an exception, Lady Whosits!" the man thundered. "The terms revolve around Marco Diaz himself! If he chose to help her and it works to your benefit, then there is no need for this quarrel!"

"I demand an additional month of labor! She was supposed to fulfill her tasks on her own!" At Lady Whosits exacting an additional term, Marco clearly heard Higgs gasp. He was growing increasingly frustrated and had to yell to make himself heard to the two knights embroiled in their shouting match.

"What's this ABOUT?!"

Sir Stabby was the first to gaze over at Marco and shook his head. "This, my boy, is about a bet. You see, Marco, it is no secret to us that our squires feel overwhelmed by their duties. Often, we make bets, and the loser offers their squire for a tenure to the knight who won. It doesn't matter what the knight does, as both knights had originally made their terms and accepted them. We're bound by our honor to respect those terms."

Marco nodded, although information was lacking. "Fine. But what was the bet? What kind of term did I violate?"

"I was getting to that. You see, Higgs…" he pointed at his squire who was clearly trembling with trepidation, "proposed a bet that would offer her a chance at respite. Lady Whosits' squire, Baby Man-"

"My own son," the woman offered as a reminder.

"Yes… your son," Sir Stabby added as he thought of the youth. "Agreed to the bet as well."

Marco's face lowered into a frown, already having a foreboding feeling of where this was taking him. "Higgs asked you to propose a bet?" He turned to the girl, who was already looking ashamed. "What was it about?"

"Don't tell him, Sir Stabby!" Higgs cried. "I'll just do the additional month by myself-!"

"Higgs!" her senior reprimanded severely, "remember your place, and accept your position with conviction!" He turned once more to Marco and told the lad of the facts. "Higgs learned that you were assisting Lavabo. Simply put, she told me to propose a bet that you could not possibly survive longer than a day, three at the most."

Marco's jaw fell. "She said… what?" he said weakly.

"Made me happy, boy!" Lady Whosits exclaimed. "I mean I thought I was backing the wrong Warnicorn horse if you know what I mean. A risky gamble but instead of getting yo'self killed, you lasted for three damn weeks! Lavabo even told me that you were fighting some of those monsters on your own!" It sounded more like a self-gratification rather than general gratitude for the boy's apparent 'win', yet he had no focus on this.

His mind traveled back by a week and thought of how Higgs had seemed even more bitter than she had been during the sale at Quest Buy, and why she was carrying an exorbitant amount of weapons to be processed and cleaned when he'd bumped into her by accident. Nor did she have her usual workload, but it was doubled, and she was angered that not only did Marco had life easier than her as a squire, but his performance, unknowingly, cost her the bet. And by actually helping her to do the work that only the original losing squire was supposed to do, it had essentially doubled her working term. That is, if Lady Whosits had her way. After all, it would mean that her squire, her own son, would get to take it easy for another month.

Marco's eyes became shadowed by his hair when he held his head down. It did not matter if Higgs had gotten to know him and became all the better for it. It did not matter if he had begun to rethink if she was a 'good' person after all. He could only think of how she just accepted his un-begrudging help and did not even bring to mention why she had so much of a workload in the first place! He would have understood. Wouldn't he?

"Marco! I'm sorry!" Higgs entreated, a notable sound of sorrow etched into her voice. "I'm sorry! But this was before-… this was before I got to know you!" Tears were already welling up, and it was only out of respect for her office why she didn't allow them to breach their dam. "I thought that if I told you, that we wouldn't be friends anymore-"

Marco turned away from her so savagely that he nearly heard whiplash in his ears. "Lady Whosits, Sir Stabby. Is there a way to reverse my violation of the bet when it concerns how long she should work?"

"We could deliberate how long you were helping her and then tack on the subtracted time, but a case like that usually ends up being argued for months, not to mention souring our relationships." Sir Stabby murmured. "The only other way to ascertain a resolution is for the knights, or the person committing the violation," he mentioned pointedly, "to duel the offended party until either one surrenders. The outcome of the duel decides if the offending party gets to lift the punishment or share in it. And as it so happens… I dislike fighting Lady Whosits."

"It's not my fight either," Marco said grimly. Without sparing anyone else a glance, he walked out of the room furious at both himself, Higgs and all the blasted rules and laws and creeds and knights who used their squires as collateral and-

"Destroy… The Wellspring…"

If it would change this pitiful way of things, then Marco was more than willing to accept.

"Where... and how?" he asked darkly.

"…Listen…"


Behind closed doors again, Higgs looked at the calendar. She'd been working by herself for three weeks with the increased load, and Marco, still with his awkward reasoning, had lent her his aid in all that he could during her final one. Marking off the day, she lifted the calendar to see that an entirely new month awaited her for her duties, that which was still doubled for another lunar cycle. She found that did not care. Instead, she only felt remorse for her acts and could only regret how she'd had Marco pegged wrong; in fact, the squire was cogitating when and where she'd gone wrong. Accepting his assistance? Making the wager on his demise? Taking out her annoyance and anger on him at Quest Buy?

She contained herself and held it in.

Going back over to the thermos, she opened it to find the food inside, noticing that it was of a quality deserving of the King's table, although most of it was apparently homemade, as if by Marco himself. It had lost a little of its core heat, but it was still warm. After a small prayer of blessing, she started to eat around the guilt-formed lump in her throat, and there was no one around to judge her as a tear rolled down her cheek and dripped into her food.


Hold your fire! (Puts up hands) Let me say that I still don't know anything about the pairing for this fic. To be honest, I know that Higgs is an imperfect character, and I enjoy working and fleshing out characters like hers because they are able to avoid retconning. You can imagine gaggles of plots with them, and it's safe. Furthermore, I guess I'm alright with her, and she's a bit misunderstood. Mostly jealous, yes, but also misunderstood. I don't know if I might eventually try to pair her with Marco (not completely against it) but hey, who knows who the 'lucky girl' could be? Starco, Kellco, Miggs, Markapoo, Mackie, Jarco... and it goes on... and on. Someone might even start something with Starfan13. Who knows?

Damn, that sounds so sexist of me. My apologies.

Besides that, I think I did pretty good with this. Just like chapter one, I churned this out in one night, but I'll soon have to start rotating with my other fics. That's how the cookie crumbles.

By the way, Lady Whosits is that giantess of a knight that tackled Marco the first time, and was also in the episode 'Trial by Squire'. Her squire isn't stated in canon that he's her son, but I thought they looked similar.

That's it.

Valete omnes,

MRAY 4TW.