Vestiges
I'm back. I have my coffee to burn the midnight candle, I have my Advil (Carpal Tunnel is NO fun), and I have my sanity. Mostly.
5.
Star hung her head. "Maybe I should've taken his gift. Even when he listened to me and decided to keep it after all, he didn't even get to try the sandwich."
"Well, it's kinda his loss, Star," Tom tried to console as he rested his hand on her shoulder. "Besides, you heard him. He accepted the fact that you were giving him the sandwich because you wanted him to be happy. It's kinda his own fault for not keeping a good grip on it." Smiling affably, the Lucitor started to escort her to the dining room where her mother and father were having breakfast. "If it's not too much trouble, I can just get one of those sandwiches and you can give it to him. He'll be sure to take it from you, and everything will be settled."
"I dunno…" Star bit on a knuckle in a small degree of trepidation. "It'd be nice, but Marco's one of those people who's all about 'principle', like my own mom. I should just get the sandwich for him by myself, just like how he did it for me."
"Do you even hear yourself? It was your birthday, and the sandwich was going to be yours," Tom argued. "You did what you wanted with it, and you did the nicest thing anyone could do with a gift. You gave it away."
Star paused to think about this a little. "Now that I think about it, it actually sounds kinda rude. If I gave Marco a gift, I guess I'd be embarrassed if he just gave it back to me. I doubt he'd give it back, but…" the princess hesitated, trying to consider Marco's recent change in character. "Then again, maybe he would've given it back. He's starting to change… or I don't know him that well anymore. We don't even hang out as much as we used to. And then there's that voice 'phase' he went through a few weeks ago. And he keeps disappearing all the time-"
"Uh-huh," Tom rolled all three of his eyes in contempt, "what a great squire, am I right?" Star came to a complete stop in the hallway, also making her companion come to a halt as well.
"Tom… you've changed too."
The demon spawn did a double-take. "Excuse me?"
"Ever since I told you what Marco said to me in the bathroom, you've been acting kinda possessive of me, just like when we first dated. Even last night, you kept putting down Marco's attempts to give me the sandwich. You told me yourself that you'd try to improve yourself and you wouldn't be like this anymore-"
"First off, I was talking about 'rage'." Tom corrected. "Second, can you blame me? I mean, Marco and I are cool now, and then he suddenly starts 'admitting' his feelings to you. I wasn't being possessive. I was just…"
"Being insecure," Star finished quietly. "Tom, you don't need to worry about me. We're together now. I just want to be able to hang out with both of my best boys and see them get along." Tom was about to protest but upon seeing her too-cute pout, faltered in his reply.
"I… hmph… Fine. Maybe I'll even apologize for last night. But I'm not going to drag him along with us when we're together, though, 'cause I saw how he stared at us on the underworld beach; he probably felt like an awkward third wheel or something. Not to mention, it's almost like he was making me feel guilty or something." Sighing deeply whilst making an allowance for possible pitfalls, Tom made his decision. "What if you just hung out with him alone for the day if this is that important to you? I'll just take the time to catch up on some things at home. You two do whatever it is you do and then you can smooth things over?"
Her immediate response was to press her lips against his cheek in glee before lapsing into her potent Butterfly-state. "Yeah! That gives me an idea! Thanks, Tom. You're the best!"
"Don't you forget it!" he beamed as he watched her create a portal and warped through. As soon as she was gone, however, his flash-in-the-pan smile fell into a deep frown. All too fresh in his mind was the night he'd been cheated out his dance with Star at the Blood Moon Ball; such a phenomenon carried an appalling amount of weight and he was fortunate that his girlfriend didn't have it in concern. She wasn't much of a stickler for 'destiny' and the like, but he did. Although Star was officially his girlfriend (both emotionally and in political ties), he still found a rival in Marco and he couldn't help himself from feeling even the tiniest bit of anxiety when he and Star were together.
From the sound of his admission, from Star's testimony at least, Marco sounded like he was happy for them both, as in the way a good loser would take his shortfall in stride. Furthermore, he appeared as if he was moving on. Perhaps, Tom believed, he was over-thinking things. If Marco really was disappearing every now and again, something new was occupying his time nowadays, be it another person he now shared romanticism with, or a pastime of the sort.
"Yeah… Marco's over Star," Tom muttered. "And he's happy for us… that's what he said, right? I've probably nothing to worry about…"
He started off again, walking towards the dining room. Only now, he was companionless and his mood neglected to rise. Yet still, in all these things, Tom couldn't help but ponder whether he and Star would truly be together in every degree.
If only Marco had never returned to Mewni…
"Agh!" Without delay, blood began to well up from the slit in her index finger. It wasn't deep to hurt her for very long, but what annoyed (and was started to pain her) was the fact that it the third cut she'd incurred in the past hour. Sticking the hurt digit in her mouth to suck on it, there was the distinct taste of iron in her mouth, making her grimace. Her petty injuries weren't the problem. The real issue was that she'd gotten the cuts because of her mental agitations.
With a grunt of exasperation, Higgs tossed the grindstone and the sword she was sharpening aside into the corner carelessly, never-minding where they fell. "Pathetic!" she yelled to herself, allowing for the small room to echo its agreement with her. It was supposed to be easy-… stop by on Stump Day, offer her apology and a small token of contrition to show that she wished to repair whatever bonds they'd had. Ever since she noticed that the holiday was approaching on the calendar, she'd gotten it in her head that the camaraderie that usually accompanied it would be perfect to make her admission of guilt.
In the week leading up to the holiday, whenever she'd had time, Higgs rummaged through storage areas, sifted through dank spaces and dark rooms and came upon what she'd thought would be an ideal offering to follow the repentance-… a sword, although an ordinary one. Improving her own pacing, she then made the time to clean the hunting sword she'd found in a forgotten chest, sharpened it to razor-quality and formatted a cast-off scabbard for it. Even hearing about the hubbub he'd caused when pressuring the knights for a weapon yesterday morning, she was sure that her apology would work, especially given the fact that he was yearning for something she could offer.
Unexpectedly, the easy part was readying both the sword and herself to make the admission. The hard part was actually getting a hold of Marco to express it in the first place.
The opportunity that Stump Day provided had come and gone; no longer could she use the topic to soften whatever grudges he might've been harboring against her. The holiday that was usually centric on the settling of past afflictions and friendship was ideal for what she had in mind, but the opportunity had fled. Here she was, stewing in her own distractions and uncertainty. It was costing her, both in focus and bodily health. It was then that she realized that she had a choice: continue to sit and try to forget about it, perhaps even accidentally slit an important vein the next time she lost concentration, or get up and undertake what she'd intended from the start.
A smile, albeit a small one, crept on her face when she made her decision by picking up the hunting sword from off of a nearby table. It wasn't a choice, but rather a reflexive action. Of course she felt the need to apologize. She wasn't an idealistic person with stars in her eyes and neither was Marco; that much was certain. Notwithstanding, she still had a conscience. Even if Marco didn't accept her apology, (done mostly to ease said conscience), she would acknowledge it and move on. They'd simply go their separate ways.
Despite this… if Higgs had to be honest with herself… she'd much prefer the alternative.
…
"You've been asking all around you say? Well, it is no wonder. Only a few would know where his room is, and I am a part of that small number, as I personally deliver everyone's laundry. Why did you not come to me first?"
"It didn't occur to me at first," Higgs admitted, "and I wasn't exactly bumping into you to just ask you. You're kinda… out of the way. Know what I mean?"
"I do. But as it is that you've come all the way here, it means that you're more than willing to expend the effort to find Marco," the knight observed, looking over the squire as if trying to gauge her. "May I ask why, Higgs?"
The very way he said her name told the squire that he knew. "I… I just wanted…" Feeling a wash of shame wash over, she dropped her head. "I just wanted a break…"
"From what I could tell from Lady Whosit's bantering with Sir Stabby when they were in my company last night for the Stump Day festivities, you did not get it…?" Sir Lavabo, if nothing else, was extremely passive-aggressive when he wanted to be. He drew out her answers by creating awkward blanks in his monologue, unnerving her to the point that she unconsciously wanted to spill all that she needed to say.
"It's not about that anymore. I just want to apologize to him! I should've never betted on his life as if it wasn't even worth two-bits! Will you tell me where to find him, or won't you…?!"
Sir Lavabo hemmed and hawed at her response, trying to decide if he should inform her of Marco's whereabouts or not. She seemed repentant; it could've been an elaborate act, but it'd be far from the girl's character to even behave like this only to accomplish something else. "I see. If that is the case, I shall tell you. His bedroom is in the Hall of Portraits."
"What?" Higgs eyebrow nearly lifted off of her face in surprise. "The Hall of Portraits? There aren't any rooms on that wing, only corridors! Does he sleep in the hall itself, in the open? Or is the whole Hall now his bedroom-?"
"No, he does not. He informed me that the princess made a room for him there; should be easy to find since his room is the only one there, no? If that'll be all, you should be on your way." With that said, closed his door, essentially signifying that their disquisition had come to an end. She took it in stride; straightaway, she started to go back up the stairs to ascend from the basement. Without even realizing it, her pace had quickened, becoming faster until it was above brisk.
It was absentminded, almost as if she wanted to speed up without even urging herself. In fact, almost arriving at the Hall, she finally took notice and wondered if she was unconsciously afraid that she'd miss finding Marco if he had to depart for his own responsibilities. She was nearly jogging at this point and willed herself to slow down. Yes… more mature, more reserved. Normalcy.
Finally entering the Hall of Portraits, she began to wander the corridor in search of any sort of room leading from it. She didn't have to seek for long, as she soon found a seemingly normal door to the left side of the main corridor. Seeing it there only raised her skepticism. It wasn't as if the door was leading away to the innermost side of the castle. Rather, it was in the wall to the outside, far above ground level. In other words, (using simple logic) the door was probably a fake-door that went nowhere. To be fair, however, the squire tried the knob, only to find it locked.
"This has to be a joke," she mumbled before starting to knock on the door. "Marco? You out there…?! Errm… I mean in there? Marco?" Knocking in between her calls, she kept at it for a minute before she resigned to herself that he wasn't in the room, although she couldn't help but think that the door itself was a farce. Deciding to just check to verify if the room actually existed, she peeked through the keyhole. "Huh. There is a room in there. How does that work?"
From her poor vantage angle, she couldn't see very well around the room; she couldn't confirm if Marco was actually in the room or not. However, just before she could pull away, a dark green light began to flash in the room, before becoming brighter, almost to the point where she needed to squint.
"What the hell?"
Hardly a second later, the green luminescence dimmed away, and a long scream followed in its wake.
"AAGGGHHHHH!"
Marco?!
More screams only answered her unvoiced realization and continued to peal out to her. They served to increase her anxiety, driving her insane with worry. "Marco?!" She stood straighter and started to pound at the door. "What's going on in there?!"
"Convey myself to the FORGE!" Marco screamed inside the room. "Become like NEW!"
"Marco?! MARCO?! MARCO?!" Each time, her yells went unanswered, making the squire curse to herself. Gathering fervor, she backed up a step and thrust-kicked the door next to the knob. The door and its frame were sturdy, but she repeated the action again… and… again… and again.
His screams grew louder.
"Damn it!" Higgs swore before gathering momentum and stomped at it with her heel for the last time, smashing it open. She nearly fell when the door gave away with her, but she gathered her bearings quickly and rushed into the room. All would've seemed normal, had it not been for the teen on his bed, squirming as if he was being attacked.
"Covey myself to the FORGE!" Marco continued to scream as he clutched at his cheeks. "Become like NEW!"
"…What…?" Higgs nearly scratched her head in confusion; she'd been certain that he was being assaulted, only to witness his strange carrying-on in his own bed. A nightmare, perhaps? Regardless of her sharp drop in concern, she reached across and grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to shake him awake. "Hey! Marco! Wake up!"
The boy only continued to yell his anguish as he seemingly tried to dig his fingers into his face to rip at his cheeks. She could see (even through his hands), that there was a bright light beneath them and tried to pull his hands away from his face before he did irreparable damage. She found that she could not-… was he always that strong?
Left with no other options, she yanked him up off of his bed, standing him upright so that his new position would wake him. It began to tell; soon, his screaming died down as he begun to awaken. "…To the forge," he mumbled strangely as his eyes opened slowly, "Become like new…" Becoming impatient, Higgs shook him awake for the last time.
"WAKE… UP!"
"Huh… Wha-?" His lids fully opened, only for him to stare into worried emerald eyes. His face momentarily reddened from the closeness of their contact before he backpedaled away from her. "Hmm? Higgs? What're you doing in my room?" She was about to answer but gasped instead when his hands fell away from his cheeks. "What?"
"Must be in green marker or something," Higgs muttered under her breath. She licked a thumb and dabbed at his cheek, then the other, trying to rub them as if to erase something. It only served to annoy the Diaz and heighten his confusion, even more so when her own expression mirrored the exact same. "They're real…" she whispered in awe. "Are you royalty?"
"What're you talking about?" He hadn't forgotten his grievances against her and her actions, much less the fact that her very presence in her room was unwanted. Looking past her, he saw that his door was kicked in. "Did you break into my room?! Is this a joke?!" he fumed. "What the hell, Higgs!"
"Look, I was just-"
"Just what?"
"I uh, came to give you this sword, and err… say sorry…." she sputtered, getting muddled in her priorities, "and you were screaming and…"
"AND WHAT?"
She was getting nowhere. Looking around the room, she spied a dresser with an upper-torso mirror. She turned and steered him towards it so that he could see his reflection. "Look at your cheeks! You've got marks on 'em, like the queens and princesses! How about you explain that, huh?!"
Seeing it for himself, Marco nearly recoiled from his own reflection. "Wha-…?" He touched one, then the other. He scratched, rubbed and nearly scraped at his flesh with his nails had he not been cautioned to stop by the girl. "What happened? And why are you even here in the first place? And… these crescents on my cheeks… and my door is broken… and…"
Higgs shook her head while grunting. "Stop! You're going to drive me out of my mind if you keep that up…" Exhaling deeply, she decided to begin at the very outset. "I came here to apologize." Suddenly feeling a pang of nervousness, she took his hand in hers, grasping it tightly. "I'm sorry, Marco. I know that… I know that I shouldn't have gambled on your life… and I'm not just saying that because I lost the bet." She grinned at this, but her shot at humor was lost on him. Her smile fell into a more solemn expression while she continued. "It was inconsiderate of me, and I'm sorry. Really."
He made no response. He waited as if indicating for her to continue.
"I was going to come by yesterday on Stump Day… you know, camaraderie and all that junk. I was even going to give you a peace offering. It took me some time to sort out…" She reached for the sword that hung from her hip, unhooked it from her belt and handed it to him. "A squire needs a weapon, I guess…" she said lamely. "The timing was good. I heard about how you wanted a weapon from the knights but they didn't want to give you one...?"
"That's true." Marco grasped the thick hilt of the one-handed sword and pulled it out of its scabbard. It was a short-sword, typically used in hunting although it sported a circular hilt as if it was also meant for battle. The boy guessed the blade to be around twenty-inches long and sharpened to the point that it could only be described as evil. At the risk of losing influence, he thanked her profusely. "Thanks, Higgs. Feels like…" He swung it around in a show of dexterity, reminiscent of the one-handed sword he wielded in Hekapoo's dimension. "Feels kinda light, and heavy at the same time. I like it."
She raised an eyebrow as if that wasn't what she sought to hear. Taking a hint, he did just that.
"And your apology is accepted. Next time, you should bet that I'll win. Especially now that I've gotten this sword, am I right?"
Higgs smiled good-naturedly at his jest; it was likely done to ensure that she knew that she'd been entirely forgiven. The sword, surely it wasn't the greatest one she had ever seen, though it was good to know that he appreciated both it and her confession. "Of course." Her smile fell a little before she moved forward in her regale. "When I came here, you were screaming. I thought that you were being attacked or something." Higgs neglected to mention that she'd been peering through the keyhole, nor did she speak of the green light she had seen; it was debatable at this time, and she wasn't entirely sure that she'd seen it in the first place. "The door was locked, so I kicked it down. But there wasn't anyone in there. Just a guy freaking out in his bed."
He took the jab at his respect easily. He was listening to what she said, but he could still clearly hear everything she didn't say. She'd been concerned for him. True, it cost him his door, yet he felt that he'd gained something far more. People who legitimately cared enough to fret for his wellbeing seemed to be rather few nowadays, making him prize the minority that did. Unexpectedly, he never would've speculated that Higgs would be a part of that tiny statistic. It'd been a short space of time and a small amount of interaction to change their outlooks of each other. Marco never even hazarded a guess that it'd be this much.
"Gee, thanks for that," he mumbled sarcastically. "So after you found me freaking out, you tried to wake me up?"
"Yeah, that's right," she affirmed. "Your hands were covering your cheeks and when you pulled them away, I saw these…" she pointed at his cheeks, "crescent symbols. So you're royalty after all, huh? Maybe you'll end up being king?" She ribbed him playfully. "Just make sure that you remember the little guys. And by 'little guys', I mean me."
"You know that it's the Queens who rule the kingdom," Marco said quietly. He turned away from her to look at his reflection again, noting the archaic white lines that ran throughout the green crescents on his cheeks. They looked… cool, he'd admit that. But what did this all mean? "Higgs? What else happened? Did you see anything else? Maybe-" he turned back to her only to find that she was helping herself to the cake that Kelly had given him the night before. "Really? That's been sitting on the table since last night."
She continued eating. Obviously, she cared little for its age and its exposure. Probably because she doesn't have desserts often, Marco presumed. She did make a pause to ask him if he was fine with her having it. After nodding to her, Higgs resumed, watching as Marco began to gaze at himself in the mirror. He checked his eyes, peered here and pinched there. He even went as far as to pose in a flex, only to embarrass himself when Higgs cleared her throat to get his attention, signifying that he should've recalled the fact that he wasn't alone.
"Um… Marco? I'm still here. Just so you know."
Marco didn't answer at first. To him, nothing made sense and logic did not follow. Why did he have these crescents on his cheeks? He remembered having them when he used Star's wand to cast the All-Seeing Eye spell, but they disappeared as soon as the incantation was over. Was this a remnant of that time resurfacing? Contracting his muscles once again, he realized that something had changed-… and it wasn't just the appearance of the symbols. In all things before, he'd felt human. Not in the existential sense, but corporeal. He'd been bound by limitations before. He was still the same, his senses, physical strength, and judgment… they hadn't changed. Yet, his core limitations felt as if they've been removed from him in the way that chaff was plucked from grain.
If he could train himself to reinforce himself against a force or weight, he'd eventually be able to. If he could focus his mental acuity by learning in excess, he saw no reason why he could not surpass that of the acclaimed geniuses he looked up to. But why did he feel as if his limits for adaptation did not exist anymore? To feel as if he had a nigh-unlimited potential?
Higgs broke into his thoughts. "This is getting super weird. First, this green light was flashing in your room, then you started carrying on like you were getting stabbed or something and after that, you kept bawling this one line over and over. Now, you're staring off into space. Maybe you should get yourself checked out… or get a head examination," Higgs mumbled the last under her breath.
A green light? He ignored that in favor of the bit that sounded more informative. "I was saying something? What did I say?"
"You weren't saying it. You were screaming it. Kinda girly, if you ask me-"
"What did I say?" Marco interrupted.
"Oh… um." She racked her short-term memory for the answer. "I think it was 'Convey me to the forge'? 'Become like new'? Yeah, that's it. 'Convey myself to the forge, become like new.' That's what you were going on about."
This perplexed him. There was something akin to a fishhook in his mind, yanking away as he tried to call to mind what was so important about the phrase. It felt so familiar, and yet foreign at the same time. With a shrug of resignation, he decided that he'd just address someone about it, someone who was more learned about these things. He was already thinking of the Magic High Commission, only to for it to cause him to frown. They weren't any help at all concerning his 'voice' issue. Why would that change now?
It was times like this when he actually missed Glossaryck.
Marco sighed deeply. First things first, he decided. He was about to prep himself for the day, only to step onto something hard and unforgiving. "Ow! What the-!" Removing his foot from the object in a flinch and looking down, he noticed some sort of statuette on the ground and picked it up. "What is… this?" His complexion began to pale as he took note of how much it looked like him; red hoodie, jeans, his expression. However, what threw him for a loop was the fact that it had crescents on its cheeks as well.
In an instant, extremely vague memories of his dream the night before began to clear, realizations began to click and things, (though odd given the fact that the figurine came from his own mind), started to make sense. "I… remember."
"Destroy… The Wellspring." The familiar voice spoke from the reaches of his mind, only serving to clarify things.
"I remember," Marco repeated. "I know what I have to do." With steadily rising conviction, he said it with more force of will. "I know what I have to do…"
"Do what?" Higgs asked, oblivious to inner workings and thoughts. "Are you sure that you're okay?"
Marco considered himself, then the task that had been set before him. He was still unsure as to whether he'd destroy the Wellspring or not, but if one thing was certain, he'd have to find some way to abolish magic or to at least significantly curb its usage. Quite daunting either way-… he'd have to change this dimension's very way of life and the ripples of consequences would be sure to follow through to every other dimension, including his own. But it was vital! Someone had to stop the usage of magic! By all means necessary...
That noted, he'd hadn't even begun to bear in mind about the people whose life centered on it. The Queen, the members of the Magic High Commission, those who depended on magic to make a living... and Star Butterfly…
Marco sought for the answer. Was he really alright?
"You know what, Higgs?" he said at last. "I think I'm just fine."
Done.
So is the coffee… and the Advil…
-Well, I've taken all things into consideration. There was especially the matter in which a Guest (you know yourself) was a bit concerned about Tom's behavior. I decided to just drop in the first 1k to show that he's actually drifting back into his 'possessive' ways (as Star mentioned during his first return in canon) because he's insecure about Star remaining his girlfriend. I revealed today that Star had told him what Marco had confessed to her, so naturally, he's concerned.
Who wouldn't?
I even went so far as to make Tom the one who's actually concerned about the Blood Moon sacrament. I reckon it's a decent variation in perspective. Let someone else think about it for a change!
-This was a bit of a transitional chapter. It hardly helped to advance the plot, though it was worthwhile to see some character development, especially some that was Higgs-centric.
-Marco, Marco, Marco. At the risk of incorporating ideas from another fic of mine, I salvaged another initiative to make him stronger. I removed his limitations. To get stronger, faster, smarter, quicker and versatile without any human limitations-… before he can attain that, however, he has to train to get to that point. So if I can make it clear, can he bench a lot of pounds?
Yes. If he continues to train until he gets there, step by step, he definitely can. Still, time is an issue where that is concerned, not to mention the fact that his body needs to adapt over the course of time to get there. I need him to be able to get stronger if he's going to affront those who are magic proficient… and to be able to present a threat.
YEAH! (Laughs maniacally)
Next chapter, things start to get real. It should be out within the week.
Valete omnes,
MRAY 4TW.
