Vestiges

I have a lot to cover. I'm doing a bit of a skip. It's been a month since Marco woke up with the brand.

6.

"Moon, something has to be done!"

The Queen of Mewni clasped her hands in a bid to control her own conflicting inner emotions as she regarded all the other members of the Magic High Commission. "And what do you mean by 'something', Omnitraxus?"

The deity of Space and Time folded his massive arms. "Solitary."

"Confinement?" Hekapoo guessed to finish her fellow divinity's proposal. "We're going to throw him in a prison cell? Don't you think that's kinda excessive?"

"To be honest, at this point, I don't care where he's placed. He should be quarantined and set to stay by himself. It's been nearly two months since he brought up that voice in his head, and now he's getting worse. It's either that, or we send him on a one-way trip back to Earth Dimension. At least he'll be out of our lives and stop inciting trouble."

"If he's here, we can keep an eye on him…" Hekapoo suggested casually. The measures already sounded rather harsh and far be it from her to allow them to 'punish' someone she doted on. "Maybe even solitary confinement is a bit of stretch-"

"You've gone soft, Hekapoo." Omnitraxus gave his say as easily as if he was talking about the weather. "Ever since you snatched him up to make him earn his scissors from you, you've been partial to him."

"No, I haven't." She very nearly ousted herself when making her defense. "C'mon! This is Marco we're talking about! He wouldn't harm a fly-"

"He's evil!" Rhombulus interrupted. "I can sense it!" His own snake-arms interjected with the fact that he'd already mistakenly believed many innocents were evil, giving Hekapoo a bolster in her quarrel.

"Thanks. Rhombulus, you should listen to your arms. They've got good judgment, and I can't believe they're the only ones! This is Marco. We all know him. The princess boarded with him for nearly a year. She's his best friend. Hell, some people call him the 'safe kid'! He's the kind of guy who looks out for everybody! He's probably even afraid to step on ants, for Pete's sakes!"

Omnitraxus frowned deeply. "I see… so you really have gotten attached."

"No…" Hekapoo lied easily, "but I'm arguing facts here. You're the one who keeps acting up about locking up Marco here, or imprisoning him there." Hekapoo rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it's starting to make me think that there are two Rhombulus's in this room, and that's already two more than what I can already handle."

"Hey!"

"Alright, enough!" Moon raised her voice to settle them. "I admit that Marco's behavior is rather unsettling…"

"That's an understatement." Prime grumbled heatedly. "First, he mentions that there's a voice in his head that's telling him to destroy the Wellspring. We all knew that something was amiss, but we decided to forget about it when he said that the voice went away on it own. And now? He's going around preachin' that we need to stop using magic. Is he out of his mind?"

"The voice went away," Hekapoo reminded. "Maybe it was just a temporary side effect of a spell or something. Maybe this is just a phase too."

"Or the voice took over his mind!" Rhombulus yelled. "He's evil! Or he's at least becoming evil. The voice was talking about something that only we should know, not even Moon! It's where Glossaryck made us! It's where we were born! If he wants to destroy that-"

"He's basically asking us to stop the lifeblood in our veins," Omnitraxus said quietly. "The essence of the Wellspring is what's giving us our very existence. If he wants to destroy that, then I'll have to wholeheartedly agree with Rhombulus. He's either becoming evil or at the very least, not to be trusted."

Post this utterance, there was a long silence. Each occupant of the room was locked in their own thoughts on the subject. Even more than Moon, Hekapoo was still trying to weigh her feelings for the teen, versus her wishes to perform her responsibilities. She was certain that she was still devoted to them, yet she found it in her to try to better Marco's image in the eyes of the Council.

"He's not talking about the Wellspring anymore. He's only carrying on like one of those apocalyptic-preachers that 'if we continue to use magic, we're only endangering the dimensions'. It's not the first time that people with addled minds have talked about something like that." The volcanic demigoddess sighed deeply, trying to gather herself. "But I get this, okay? Marco's been acting strangely. But what we're not thinking about is 'how', and 'why'. There are still a lot of questions we have that are still unanswered, and until they are, we should try to give Marco the benefit of the doubt."

The Queen shook her head. "Hekapoo, I would agree with you, but these circumstances are different. Take Ludo, for instance. I gave him that benefit, and we lost far too much." Moon gazed aside to see the empty chair next to Rhombulus who was mumbling 'Lekmet' to himself sadly. "If there is something amiss, we should take measures to counter it and to suppress any danger it presents."

"Oh? So let's lock him up, then," Hekapoo commented strangely. "It's not like he could possibly be some sort of relative to you, am I right? He's got the birthmarks that princesses exhibit a few years after they're born. Maybe he's a stunted experiment of the royal family that no one told us about… just like when Star lost the book of spells AND the most powerful being in the universe in one night. No one told us anything," Hekapoo said critically, hinting at the fact that the royal family was too discrete about important matters. "Hell, what if this is all because of some strange magic spell that they've used on him?"

"That's a rather dark allegation Hekapoo," Omnitraxus chastised, "although I agree with the last. Perhaps he really IS under the effects of a spell." He looked pointedly at Moon as if in accusation, but the woman shook her head.

"It wasn't me. The only other people within miles of Marco who'd be able to perform magic would be Star… and…"

"Eclipsa…" Omnitraxus breathed. "I knew that we gave her too much leeway! She should be chained at least twice as much-"

"I'll just crystallize her and save us the effort!" Rhombulus interjected. "And maybe Marco too… as a precaution." He said the last like an afterthought softly. "Just a precaution."

"We're not crystallizing anyone!" Moon shouted. "Not Marco and not Eclipsa! We've overcome a hurdle-… that of being unprejudiced to her and to judge her in a fair trial when the chance arises."

"And what's that waiting for?" Omnitraxus asked in ridicule. "Is the trial waiting for us to admit to Star that we don't have any evidence to prove that Eclipsa's evil? That all we have is hearsay? Not one of us was present during her rule, so we can't even provide testimony. All we can do is make assumptions. Now here we are…" Omnitraxus held out his arms in a plea. "We are faced with the dilemma of a boy who's trying to cease the usage of magic and to pervert our very way of life. And we're not able to act on it because we have no proof! This is all circumstantial evidence at best, Moon!"

"You got that right," Hekapoo said under her breath before regarding the Queen. "What about Star? Did she say anything about Marco?"

"She did," Moon affirmed, "although it was done to share her concerns that are similar to ours. She's of the belief that he's indeed changed. She has her rather petty reasons. 'Marco won't do this, Marco doesn't want that', type of scenario. Her most concerning issue was the fight that Marco and Tom had a month ago."

"Oh, that? I heard it was just a little scuffle." Hekapoo's visible eye half-lidded in loss of interest. "What, were they fighting over Star or something?"

"Something to that effect, yes," the woman agreed. "It probably had something to do with Star's birthday party, or so Star's friend, 'Kelly', told me when I tried to dig around a bit. The confrontation is starting to sour the general morale in the castle and naturally, everyone's afraid to pick sides given the fact that no one really knows who was in the wrong, and incurring the risk of offending one for the other."

"More proof that Marco's changing for the worst. Oh joy," Omnitraxus said sarcastically. "So what happens next?"

Moon thought on this for a bit, trying to determine the best course of action. "I suppose we should all have words with Marco. I'd like to hear what he has to say." The queen hemmed a bit. "Right now, actually."

Hekapoo shook her head. "I guess I could pulled him here anytime he tried to create a portal. The thing is… I haven't sensed him use it for the longest while."

"So are you saying you can't find him?" Omnitraxus asked.

"Nope. I didn't say that. I'm just thinking that he's practicing what he preaches."

"Even though it's wrong!" Rhombulus cried.

"I didn't say he was right." Hekapoo took out her own pair of dimensional scissors to open a portal which she then stuck her hand through.


Marco did not count his efforts. Not anymore.

The Diaz's body dipped and rose repeatedly in quick succession as he continued his push-ups. He continued them in fervor, knowing that he had good motivation.

He was weak.

He knew what it was like to be strong-… he'd been at his peak when he'd bested Hekapoo's challenges. From the very second he'd returned to Earth, he had felt his muscle-mass become degraded in such drastic manner that he'd become despondent for days, though not as bad as when he 'lost' the fight to Tom.

It was a trifling confrontation, mostly dealt in grapples and holds as they argued their points. Marco had the better argument; the problem was, it was hardly any good disputing it whilst he was neck-locked by the Lucitor.

He never had any ill-beliefs that he could beat the demon spawn. That much was true.

He was unsure now as to who was in the wrong, but he was sure that Tom was acting bigoted. He'd only respectfully declined the sandwich (of the very same kind as his, Marco noted), that Star was offering him. He was merely trying to show Star how much she'd embarrassed him, how she'd declined the hard-earned fruit of his endeavors. It only made him that much more reject what she tried to give him, knowing that she probably just magic-blasted whatever sandwich monster she found into unconsciousness within a second, only to teleport out with the sandwich moments later. She probably didn't even look as if she'd expended a little more effort in keeping it together like he had; it'd most likely fallen apart a little and she'd tried to reassemble the problematic areas by hand.

He had to admit, he felt rather smug in repeating the exact same phrase she'd told him.

"It would make me happy to see it make you happy."

Of course Tom, who was with her at the time, didn't like that at all.

"Just take the sandwich, Marco! Damn! She went through a lot of trouble to get this for you!"

"Really? How much trouble, Tom? Was she nearly crushed trying to get it? Maybe having to jump off a cliff just to save herself? Oh, wait… she can fly now. And she has magic. Gravity makes exceptions for Butterflies. Didn't you know?"

Looking back, Marco couldn't believe that he'd said that. Star seemingly tried to apologize, but Tom stopped her.

"You don't have to say that you're sorry, Star." He looked at Marco with disdain. "And I can't believe that I was going to do the same thing. Why she'd try to plan a 'Friendship Thursday' with you today, I'll never understand. You wanted her to take your sandwich, and yet you don't want to take hers? You're a damn hypocrite."

"That's not the point. It just irks me to know that I went through a lot of trouble to try and give Star gifts that no one else could. She can already make and do nearly everything! I risked my life to get the sandwich. Sixteen years of my life went into earning those scissors. So… she politely 'declined'. That hurt me. I wasn't trying to upstage anyone else, or even whatever you tried to give her. I was willing to sacrifice everything just to make her happy! She might as well have thrown them back in my face."

Star's face became crestfallen. She'd most likely seen the logic behind his reasoning and felt ashamed.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me, Tom… I have a long list of things that she-" Marco pointed at Star, "wants me to get."

"Um… Marco?" Star spoke nearly inaudibly. "I canceled that order so that we could hang out today. Don't you want to? It'll be just like we used to…"

Marco had to admit it to himself. He wanted to take her up on her offer; it was tempting. It would've made more sense than to further the sandwich fiasco, and he did miss those times. They were already nostalgic.

But Tom butted in before Marco could answer.

"You don't have to bother yourself with him, Star. He doesn't care." The Lucitor's frown became filled with even more contempt as he glared at Marco. "Some 'friend' you are, and that's coming from a demon like me."

Marco, suffice to say, went for the throat.

The Diaz had to admit it to himself. It did feel out of his character to speak, behave and retaliate like that, although he was beginning to think it was because he'd resented Tom for the longest while. Sure, they'd become friends, but there were new sides of the Lucitor coming out… or were there new sides to Marco?

He didn't know.

Marco finally finished his push-ups, or rather, quit doing them. It was almost becoming boring; he figured that he'd gone well into the hundreds, and he wasn't feeling the least bit tired. He decided that he needed weights in order to move on. Looking down at his arms, feeling the slight soreness that lingered in them since he'd begun his physical regimen. He'd improved somewhat quickly; his muscles were already fairly developed since his time spent in the Castle's Laundry room, but now they were nearly as hard as wood, built leanly instead of bulky. He briefly pondered where his core strength was coming from; Appendaxuz had mentioned something about 'Alpha' and 'mold', instilling the belief that Marco was developing a near-superhuman strength.

If 'might made right', then he'd better damn well get stronger, didn't he?

This, however, wasn't taken as good news. While he was grateful, he knew that this 'blessing' was given to him for a reason. He most likely needed this strength to achieve his default objective, that is, to destroy the Wellspring. All of his speeches and entreating were getting him nowhere, and earned him nothing but scorn and ridicule from those who actually paid attention to him. There were a few exceptions, of course, but he'd never dreamed that Star wouldn't be a part of it. Then again, it wasn't much of a surprise.

"They… hate… you…" A voice whispered into his psyche, unbeknownst to Marco himself.

"Do they… hate me? No… that can't be right…" Yea, in all these things, was there another reason to get stronger? Was he only strengthening himself not just for his herculean task, but also for conflict? Would he have to fight them?

"…Yes…"

"I suppose I will. I mean… what if Appendaxuz is right? What if Star… and Moon… maybe even River… what if everyone tries to stop me? Won't I have to fight them in order to destroy the Wellspring…?" His own questionings were becoming less and less unsure, and his own certainty rose. Even more so, he was already starting to see himself doing so. Not killing them… well, if any of them tried to kill him, he wasn't sure of what could happen. Tom was a hair-trigger at this point. Pony Head had never really warmed up to him, substituting his real name for an insult. Could he really trust anyone? More than just a few villains that worked with Ludo, even Ludo himself, had their moments when they had a change of heart and became all the better out of it.

Didn't that also mean that the 'good' people he knew were liable to do evil…? What if the usage of magic or the wish of being able to perform magic was what corrupted people…?!

Marco was beginning to confuse himself again.

"Destroy… the Wellspring…" Appendaxuz spoke clearly to him. The teen scratched his head when he heard this, wondering if the being was only capable of sending messages such as this when his mind was hectic. Marco was, even now, trying to collect both of his intelligences (that of teenage and adult), and unite them both. He knew what he'd been capable of, and he wanted it back. His traits. His skills. Nearly always, he had at least two responses for every new conundrum, that of both of his minds trying to solve it. His progress was slow in doing this, but he knew that they were coming back. His reflexes were returning. His higher-level mental faculties were nearly that of his adult's. The one-handed sword that Higgs had given him felt right at home in his hands, similar to his first one from Hekapoo's dimension.

He was improving himself on all levels, he presumed, and re-combining both the young and the older aspects of himself. Perhaps he'd been trying to do this for the longest while, preparing for conflict. Nonetheless, he wanted his inner entity's guidance. Thinking back to his disquisition with the blue man, he wondered if was really his own mind 'holding him back' from doing so.

"Hmm… so he can only speak to me clearly when I'm in a deep sleep? When I'm at my calmest? And what about when he told me to meditate?" He thought of meditating to clear his mind in an experiment to see if he could freely converse with him once more, but before he could begin, a fiery portal erupted beside him. He was already ducking away from the arm that emerged from it in an effort to snatch him, startled into thinking it was Tom although he soon realized that it wasn't the case. It wasn't the Lucitor's style, anyway, not to mention the fact that he'd recognize the white, spiked arm anywhere. "…Hekapoo. What does she want?" he grumbled heatedly to himself.

The demigoddess must've realized that he'd evaded her grasp because he saw her arm, as she then stuck her upper torso through the portal. "Yo, Marco!"

"I'm getting tired of you grabbing me like that, Hekapoo," Marco chided. "Can't you just introduce your appearance and say what you want like everyone else?"

"Um…" Hekapoo shrugged. "Okay. Marco, It's Hekapoo. Come through this portal... right now."

Marco turned away from her. "No."

"What…?" Hekapoo groaned in frustration. "You're not still hot under the collar because I laughed at you… are you?"

"It's the main reason," Marco said lowly as he looked at her over his shoulder. "You laughed in my face."

"It's because it's preposterous! 'Don't create any more dimensional scissors, Hekapoo. Doom and apocalypse.'" The demigoddess chuckled a bit to herself. "You have to admit that it's impossible to believe."

"That's two-faced. Magic defies the impossible every few seconds!" Marco defended. "Besides, even if I wanted to, why the hell would you call for me? I thought we were done working together."

"I know that I said some things out of anger…" Hekapoo said quietly as she looked at the defiant teen. "And we both know that they were justified. But the least you can do is help me… to help you."

Marco turned to face her as she stepped out of the portal into his room. "Excuse me? Help you… to help me?"

"That's right," she agreed as she approached him, "the Commission wants you to explain yourself right now. I've been sticking my neck out for you, and all that's coming out of it is that everyone thinks you're either crazy or evil. They want you locked up, especially Omnitraxus. Rhombulus, on the other hand, wants you crystallized."

Marco sighed. "Omnitraxus and Rhombulus again, huh? I'm not evil. Besides, I passed all of your absurd tests to see if I'm evil or not. Peeking at my eyes and checking me for 'evil' fleas. And here I was; I thought I'd already heard of everything."

"That's hardly worth anything right now," Hekapoo insisted as she started to tug on his arm to pull him back to the portal. She found it difficult-… in fact, he hardly budged as he stood his ground. "Come on, Marco! Don't be difficult!"

"So you've been defending me?"

Hekapoo hesitated, wondering what it would mean if she admitted the truth; after a moment, she did. "Yeah. Now get going." Marco moved slowly with her to the portal, his mind racing. He was already considering all those who seemed to be adverse to him as well those who apparently siding with him as well. He thought back to the chessboard that Appendaxuz had shown him, thinking of the possibilities. Many people were against what he was saying, though he still had but few friends who either did not care for what he said or believed him. In blunt terms, he was playing a risky game without all of his pieces, whilst the other side was numerous. With this matter looming in his mind, he realized that it was important to know who were his allies… and it was even more important to know who his enemies were.

As he reached the portal, he motioned for her to lead before him. "Ladies first." She looked at him in surprise, although she repaid his remark with a wink.

"I'm an independent. I walk over guys like you to get to the top."

"How wonderful," he said sarcastically mostly to himself, "I've always enjoyed being a mat. You think I'm doing this because I like you?"

"There must be a reason why you chased after me for sixteen years, Marco."

"You wanted me to!" The teen defended. "And besides, I did that to earn the scissors!"

"…" Hekapoo looked at him strangely, as if trying to gauge him. Thinking very carefully, she made her riposte. "Then why were you so hesitant to leave? Marco, I've been alive for a long time." He got the hint that she was a socialism expert from experience, but he chose to ignore it.

"Just go through the damn portal. I was only trying to be polite and you decided to get smart." With a shrug, she stepped through the portal, followed closely by the earthling. On the other side, he entered a meeting hall that was occupied by the members of the Magic High Commision, including Queen Moon herself. "Oh… hello, everyone. How are you?"

"Let's not waste any time," the Queen stated, "I take it that you know why you're here?"

"I do, but I'd really like to know why I need to be here in the first place. Are you all going to stop using magic-"

"Of course we're not!" Rhombulus exclaimed.

"Figures." Marco watched as Hekapoo took a seat and wondered if he should do the same in the sole empty chair. He decided to remain standing, lest he violated some sort of seating taboo. Nonetheless, he went on the offensive in the argument immediately, settling that it'd be the best way to defend himself. "I know how…" he chose his next word carefully, "precarious things were when Toffee caused the magical fritz. He even drained all of you of your magic and almost took your lives. He did all of that while he was in the very frail body of Ludo. I suppose it only goes to show how dependent you all are on magic, am I right?"

"Point," Moon conceded, "and it could easily be said that you're trying to achieve the same thing as he was but on a much larger scale. In that same vein, I'd caution that we're not the ones being arbitrated at this time, Marco. It's you."

Diaz nodded simply. "Of course. You all know of Appendaxuz? I told you all about him almost a month ago. It was kinda like a vision, and he warned me that I should 'destroy the Wellspring'."

"What did he look like?" Omnitraxus demanded.

"He looked exactly like Glossaryck," Marco deadpanned in reminder. "But he had a green crystal in his forehead."

"It would explain the color of the symbols on your cheeks," Moon hazarded to guess. "But do you know when and why he showed up?"

"I first heard his voice after…" Marco hesitated. He was urged on all sides to continue and soon succumbed to the pressure. "I heard his voice after I admitted my feelings to Star, your daughter." Marco did a slight bow. "Ma'am."

Moon frowned. "Hmm… very well. But how did you come to hear him? Why only you?"

This part was easier to admit, although it was still difficult. "He said it was because I read the page of the book where he was imprisoned in... the Book of Spells."

"Which page? Which chapter?" Omnitraxus pressed.

"It was Eclipsa's chapter, wasn't it?!" Rhombulus demanded. "It's all coming back to Elipsa! Wasn't it hers?"

This time, Marco's hesitance only increased. His perception of the past Queen had changed, more or less, in the few times he'd interacted with her through Star or by bare coincidence. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was because she dabbled in magic with dire side-effects and eloped with a monster, both things which were heavily frowned upon. She seemed… innocent. He didn't wish to implicate her in his business; it'd only worsen her image, as well as his own. Furthermore, Star had taken a liking to her, and she wouldn't be pleased if Marco pointed any fingers at Eclipsa, regardless of whether he had to tell the truth or not.

'You know what, Star? You didn't want to listen to my warnings to stop abusing magic. I don't care if you want to get pissed at me. Besides…" He looked at Omnitraxus and Moon. 'It'd only be worse later if they found out I lied.' "It was Eclipsa's chapter."

Eclipsa just knew it was going to be one of her off-days when one of the members of the Magic High Commission came to fetch her from her room in the locked tower. Her hands were still bound in heavy fist-manacles that covered them straight down to her fingers, and her feet were in chains together. The Magic High Commission was composed of reputedly the strongest beings in all of the dimensions-… why would she think that running away from them would work? She had no intention of fleeing or using any sort of magic. It was nothing new, although the scenario was.

Perhaps she was going on trial today?

'Hmm… No. Everyone's a judge here.' She noted the hard glares of distrust and kept her cool, not feeling the least bit intimidated. 'No jury… no witnesses. But what's Marco doing here?' She looked at him intently, yet he failed to look her in the eyes, settling to avert his gaze elsewhere. 'How odd. I wonder if he's starting to believe whatever they've been telling him…'

"Eclipsa," Moon's accosting was already sounding dire. "Did you know of any sort of creature called… 'Appendaxuz'?"

This came entirely out of left field. This was one of the last topics she'd expected to be confronted on and stammered a bit. "Oh… Err-"

"Prompt and truthful answers are advised," Moon warned severely, "as this matter is rather imperative."

"Yes I do, Moon," Eclipsa said at last. "Glossaryck had relations with him, that I'm sure of. Where he stood, however, I'm not sure. Why do you ask?" Before anyone else could answer, Omnitraxus urged her to continue her exposition. It was a precaution; he wasn't sure if Eclipsa would change her responses and lie to suit Marco if she knew that the matter revolved around him. "Well, Glossaryck, for one, always said that he was 'evil'-"

"And that's all we needed to hear!" Rhombulus interrupted in an outburst. "Hekapoo can take you back to your tower. Now then…" He got up and was about to go over to a shocked Marco to detain him, but Moon cautioned him to stop.

"No…" She turned to Eclipsa. "Please continue."

The former queen stared at Marco's expression and Rhombulus's behavior and put two-and-two together. She didn't change her stance on the situation, however; the truth would be enough. "I've always felt that 'good' and 'evil' were labels that varied with different situations and perspectives in the same way that a war would determine who was stronger, rather than right? In that same subject, I can't necessarily accept everything that Glossaryck said as the truth. In each instance when he taught a princess how to use magic, his methods would change."

Moon nodded. "With me, he was informative. He was vague with Star, however."

"As for me, though, he was a bit of a whimsical liar. Anything that popped into his head would already be on his lips. It took me a long time to determine whether it was the truth or not, but that was a while after I'd met Appendaxuz. He seemed like a literal fellow, and he antagonized Glossarcyk quite a bit. In turn, they had a falling-out and in the end, Appendaxuz ended up being sealed in the book. Glossaryck reasoned that he should be in my chapter, as I had been in the practice of using spells to keep it secure. It was almost as if I had locked someone inside my diary…" Eclipsa laughed amiably to herself, before suddenly thinking of something averse. "Is he back as well, like Glossaryck? I'd imagine that if they both lost the crystals on their foreheads, no one would be able to tell them apart-"

"I think we've heard enough of that," Omnitraxus stated, as she'd affirmed only Marco's descriptions and reasoning why Appendaxuz was in his mind. "But did he have any goals? How did he feel about magic?"

"He absolutely hated it, and he abhorred seeing me use it." Eclipsa said simply. "So it's fairly obvious why Glossaryck didn't see eye to eye. He even went on to tell me to destroy 'The Wellspring', whatever that was." It was here that Eclipsa's usually relaxed demeanor dropped a bit. "It was shortly after that when he and Glossaryck duked it out. I never did see him again after that; I've already said why." She wondered if she had said something damning for anyone, especially for Marco. It was why he was even there, wasn't it? Because this concerned him.

"I suppose that's all?" Moon asked.

"That is all."

"Very well." Moon turned to Hekapoo; before she could re-task her, the demigoddess was already setting about to do just that-… to transfer the fallen Queen back to her tower.

"This is a waste of time," Marco remarked impatiently. "She barely told you anything that I didn't already tell you!"

"That doesn't mean that believed you." Rhombulus agreed with the deity of Space and Time and went on to admit that he didn't believe either of them.

"We're not in cahoots, Rhombulus!" Marco felt the last shreds of his patience wane away. "Everything I've said must've gone through everyone's ears and out through the other! I'm sick of it! You think that I don't know what I'm talking about, and I know I do. And just now, I've found out that it's actually more urgent. If he warned Eclipsa so far back in the past, doesn't that mean that it's even more crucial now since magic has been used habitually until now?"

"You acting like a brat in a tantrum isn't helping your case, Marco," the Queen replied calmly.

"So I'm right. You're not listening to me because I'm only fifteen. Besides you, Queen Moon," he pointed at her, then all the others in turn, "everyone else here must be hundreds, if not thousands of years old just by Earth's time standards." He could feel the ridicule roll off of Omnitraxus especially and could sense that he held him in contempt.

"If we're in disagreement and as is to be expected, one of us is wrong," Moon insisted with the wisdom of her years. "And it's usually because of ignorance, Marco."

"So you admit that you're ignorant?"

"It's a possibility," she admitted carelessly. "But consider whether or not your own objective is correct. Is Appendaxuz really who he says he is? Is he truthful? Does he have good intentions? We can't even verify his existence, that is, Omnitraxus can't; not in this timeline, realities, nothing. That's a liability."

"It only goes to show that he's on the same level as Glossarck!" Marco protested. "And wasn't Glossaryck the one who created the members of the Magic High Commission?"

Omnitraxus considered himself a master of Space and Time and hated having his post belittled because of technicalities. "Is that so? Is that why he lost to Glossaryck and got sealed?" he said sharply, leaving no room for a retort. "The matter is farcical, and we have no way to tell if this 'Appendaxuz' should be accredited. Glossaryck didn't, and we've inherited his standards and beliefs that magic should be utilized."

Marco took a deep breath, trying to remind himself to stay on topic. "So no one believes me? No one?"

"I'd say that I disagree with you," Hekapoo commented. "After all, we're the Magic High Commision. It's what we stand for."

"That doesn't mean that you have to veto whether or not other people choose to believe me!" Marco dissented. "I know that you've been starting rumors to everyone that 'Marco's going through a phase', or 'Marco's afflicted by a spell', or my personal favorite-… 'Marco is bat-shit crazy'!" He looked around at them, not caring if he was disrespecting them or not; he was only repeating what he'd heard. "I didn't want to destroy the Wellspring when I heard what it really was. I know that magic's important to some people… hell, maybe even everyone!"

"Then why are you acting like such a drama-queen?" Hekapoo asked boredly. "Doesn't that mean that you agree with us? It means that this whole fiasco was unnecessary."

I know that it's important!" Marco shouted in general as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I wanted to at least raise awareness! To warn people to stop abusing it! Even if it meant they could use it to portal every once in a while or to stop flare-ups of violence!" He turned to Hekapoo suddenly, who flinched when she noticed that the crescents on his cheeks were starting to glow in tandem with his anger. "Hekapoo, you hated the fact that I was abusing your scissors the first time we met! Isn't that the same as now? This is just pure hypocrisy."

"You were opening a bunch of portals from your bed. It's like you forgot that you had legs," she defended. "This is different."

"No, it's not! Furthermore, Star's using her wand every two seconds just as she pleases! I don't see anyone griping about it!"

"Don't drag my daughter into this, Diaz." Moon warned, her brows knitting together in a harsh frown. "It's her birthright, and she's entitled to it."

"And I'm entitled to MY opinion, and my beliefs." Marco's voice grew quiet, now fully realizing the stakes as the wheels of development were set in motion. "I wanted to believe that everyone would heed what I had to say. I'm not trying to create a rift. The stability of the dimensions relies on the magic to avoid being destroyed, not because someone says so, or wants it to be like that. Instead, you all want to keep using it. Appendaxuz warned that this would happen! If that's the case, then I really only have one option! I'll destroy the Wellspring, and remove the siphon…!"

"The Wellspring distributes the magic throughout the dimensions and powers EVERYTHING!" Omnitraxus roared as he got up from his gigantic seat. "It's our lifeblood and everything we stand for! Everything and EVERYONE COULD DIE, least of all, us! Even if we are the only ones who perish, who'd remain to keep the ORDER?!"

"It's just a tool for you to keep authority over everyone else," Marco replied quietly, undaunted by the leviathan that stood before him. "That's the least of my concerns. Besides…" Marco looked around at them all in turn. He wasn't sure where they all stood, but he knew where he did. "What's a handful of lives when a vast majority wouldn't be endangered anymore?"

There was a collective gasp around the room, yet he didn't recoil. "What're you saying, Marco?" Hekapoo asked solemnly. "That we don't matter? That I don't matter?"

"None of us know if you'll be saved from the fallout when I destroy the Wellspring," Marco replied. He wasn't about to let himself be swayed. "I don't know if even I'll survive, and I don't care. Someone will have to destroy the Wellspring, and I WILL."

"Then this is the equivalent of a declaration of war?" Rhombulus asked mostly to himself, yet Marco made his rejoinder.

"It's not an equivalent. It is a declaration of war. We're not siding with one another. We're siding against one another." In all honesty, Marco felt that deep down, deep down, he was appalled at what he was saying. He decided that it was only his hesitance, and he quashed it. Omnitraxus's eyes narrowed nearly to slits as he glared at Marco; recognizing the look that his fellow divinity usually had before he banished immorals in the far reaches of space, Rhombulus got up and tried to pull Marco away.

"Um… Marco. You'd better go before he-"

"I don't CARE! Get your hands off me!" The teen's anger spiked again to unprecedented levels; if they hadn't already noticed that his crescents became luminous with his emotions earlier, they did now. "Take your hands OFF me, Rhombulus!" He tried to ease out of his grasp, but to no avail.

"Take it easy, Marco, you're making Omnitraxus angry-"

"I said to take your FUCKING snake-hands OFF OF ME!" the teen bellowed at the top of his lungs. Marco found his bearings and ripped himself out of Rhombulus's grasp with excessive force, sending his oppressor tumbling away when he lost his balance. Shocked at the boy's outburst, they all gaped at his change in character. "Just stay away from me." His eyes were stark with fury as he glared at them all with darkened eyes. "I'm not staying one more second in this castle! I'll head out on my own!"

Queen Moon tried to regain her composure but found that she could not completely. "I believe that would be for the best. Hekapoo… give him a portal back to Earth."

"Wait…" Marco recoiled in shock. "I meant outside the castle. Not… Earth…" Marco whispered weakly as the demigoddess approached him to create the portal. His mind slowed as he, too late, thought of the consequences that'd finally caught up with him. He was being sent home in disgrace. He thought of how his return to Mewni-… even back to the time when Toffee threatened to destroy the Mewman standards and society…-had essentially screwed over his life. There were a few he thought to be redeemable in his eyes… Higgs mostly, Kelly, even Hekapoo herself to some extent. Buff Frog had also believed that he was in the right. They all paled to the staggering amount of cons that was everyone and everything else. Bias and stigmatism for his status, being hung-over for Star and ridiculed for his undertaking and preachings.

Appendaxuz was right from the very beginning. It'd been only a matter of time.

"Earth?" Marco asked as if to himself as he watched Hekapoo open up a portal with her scissors, knowing that he'd be stranded there. He did not even have his own dimensional scissors with him, and his mission would be forfeit without them. Yet… he did not care. "Home?" he spat venomously as he thought of how his departure would take place without any sort of ceremony, no goodbyes; was this actually what he wanted? "Home? To leave all of you to your pompous authority? Gladly."

Without even a backward glance, he stepped through the portal and emerged on the other side. Hekapoo's head poked out after him, only to see him standing in the center of the hollow space in the house where his room used to be. "Marco? Are you alright?"

Marco did not turn to regard her. She came to accept that things and people had changed; he was yet only one of those that did. It depressed her all of a sudden and could only ponder when and where things had gone south. She didn't know, but she knew that the meeting they'd just had was the largest catalyst. "I know that you've said some things out of anger," she said quietly, reminiscent of their conversation earlier in his room on Mewni.

"But we both know that they were justified." He finished in the same tone. He turned to her slowly; the Vulcan scissor-maker noticed that the crescents on his cheeks were no longer glowing. He'd calmed down, yet the archaic white lines in them had turned black somewhere along the course of events. Even more scandalous was that his chocolate-brown eyes had also visibly changed-… the irides had become a poisonous-looking shade of green, and never before had she felt so unsettled.

"Goodbye, Marco." With that said, she withdrew back into the portal and closed it, leaving him alone. He gazed about the room, observing how empty it was. His bedroom had been removed from Earth and transferred to the castle. It symbolized him, in a sense, he realized. He'd compromised and left behind all he had to return to Mewni. Now, he'd been sacked and sent back to earth without anything for his own. He'd compromised himself twice and now, he had nothing.

Not even his scissors; they'd been the equivalent of a limb to him and worth years of his life. They were left behind on Mewni, back in his room. His task would suffer a hefty setback without them, but he knew that no matter what, he'd accomplish it nonetheless.

He didn't have any foolish ideals. He wasn't of the impression that he had hit rock-bottom and could 'only go up from there'. He didn't believe that he now had everything to gain. He had nothing. Nothing to hope to gain. Nothing more to lose. Nothing.

A sole tear formed in Marco's eyes, but he swiped at it angrily, furious at his slip of momentary weakness. His nerves steeled and his expression hardened as Appendaxuz whispered to him about the true nature of his reality.

He had absolutely nothing to hold him back anymore.


-Well… that just happened. About time I settled into the swing of things. It's the events of that will follow this that inspired me to first put 'Evil Marco' as a tag. I guess I'll be able to change it back soon.

-So… 7K. It feels kinda bulky, but it went by so fast. A pity about some of the dialogue content though, but that's sure to happen when a group of people are talking. If I had abused the usage of supporting content, it would've made it dull.

-I reckon that this is now officially an AU fic. The rating is now 'M', and people will not simply fall off cliffs or die off-screen, like Disney's usual shtick. Hint-hint.

I reckon that's it. See y'all next week. Hopefully. Net Neutrality went down the toilet yesterday, so I don't know what the hell could and will happen.

Valete omnes,

MRAY 4TW.