Vestiges

Well, I'm back. Enjoy the chapter. Oh… the 7k word count from last time… Consider that a record for this fic, and I don't intend to break it again anytime soon.

7.

"Things and times change, Star, and people do as well. It's best for you to move on."

"But Mom-"

"You have the rest of your life ahead of you. I don't mean to sound callous, but it's for the best that everyone went their separate ways. It is rather regrettable but Marco has his own life to live, and you have yours."

"He's my best friend, Mom!" she protested in fervor, "And I'm not going to just forget about him!" Moon acknowledged this in her daughter, moving on to choose her next words carefully.

"I'm not asking you to forget about him. I'm asking you to move on."

"Is this about what happened yesterday? Did you just send him away? You haven't even told me why he left!" She couldn't even come to believe that Marco had already departed from the castle. To be sure, it wouldn't have happened anything like his first exit, but the last thing she wanted was to burn her bridges. "I'm not going to allow our last words to just be an argument about using magic. It's all just some gigantic misunderstanding! There was this voice thing here, and a sandwich thing there, and it was all just super hectic for a while. If we just talked it out, you'd see how everything would be just laughable in hindsight-"

"Star. Let… it… go." The Queen was nearing the limits of her patience, and her daughter had been dragging out her protests for several hours. Star, from ever since, had taken more after her father. A little ignorant of how things worked, more than just a bit brash and very stubborn. She could very well keep up her complaints for the next year if she felt like it.

Apparently, she felt like it.

"If you must know, the rest of us hold varying degrees of resentment for Marco for what he's said and done, particularly during the meeting we had yesterday. The feelings he has for us is the exact same." The Queen's eyes narrowed. "He's no longer a 'friend', Star. He's not even in a position of neutrality. He's personally declared himself an enemy, Star, and he's made it clear that he not only wants nothing to do with us but he outright hates us because of our practices, and our beliefs. The very least we could and should do is to send him back to his home. He was unhappy here, and I thought it'd be best to re-induct him back into his own culture. That is, one that doesn't revolve around magic."

"Well… I guess the last part's true," Star admitted unwillingly as she picked at a loose thread in her dress, "but… he's my best friend. I admit that it sounds serious, but you just sent him away because we were having a disagreement? When we disagreed on Earth, we resolved them on our own without anyone trying to make decisions for us! It's just like banishment! And… I didn't even to say goodbye…"

"I don't believe he had any interest in saying any parting words, Star. All he had to say were rebukes. I've tried to be understanding for his cause, as he did for us. But the more zealous of us recognize him as a threat, and he does present one as long as he's here. The last thing I'd want is for such a person to be in close proximity to my own daughter and her birthright. In his own mind and opinion, he now believes that magic is despicable, and how to do you think he feels about you and the Butterfly Wand? Hmm?"

The Butterfly looked down at her wand with a frown, staring at the star that rested at its center. The months had dragged on by since then, though they did little for her tolerance. Sure, she and Marco had known each other for more than a year, and she'd lived her own life for far longer without him in it. She'd become a part of his life, as much he'd become a part of hers. She could try to move on with her life without him and she had. What she could not, however, was to simply forget all of their shared memories together. To discard them as if they held no meaning, no significance.

Her abhorrence of this fact was further increased by the goings-on in the castle. Everything was too… normal.She could accept that life went on, regardless of whether Marco was there or not. His lack of a presence did not warrant a stoppage of everyone's schedule, responsibilities, and concurrency. It was almost to the point that anyone could believe that he had never existed as even the mere mentioning of his name was taboo. Of course, there were a few people who protested his exodus as much as Star did: Kelly and Buff Frog to name a few. Hekapoo was marginally unexpected and Higgs was even more so, not to mention the most fervid. If someone who'd more than merely disliked Marco in the past had badly wanted Marco to stay, then what could have been a good enough reason for Marco to leave?

Star didn't know.

She walked around her room, absentmindedly feeling this and that. She was still locked in the nostalgia in her earlier memories of the Diaz, trying to use them to gloss over the unpleasant latter ones. There had been sweet memories and bitter ones, not to mention those in between. But there were no recollections that were as detested as those when he wasn't around.

Perhaps Tom was right. Had she'd been really been that hung over Marco's leaving? It was not by self-punishment, but rather by being contrite. Nonetheless, there was nothing wrong in yearning for a friend. Her best friend.

Absence truly made the heart grow fonder.

How long had it been?


How long had it been?

Absence truly made the heart grow detached.

The school bell rang, signifying the end of the school day. It was akin to a racer's shot, as many of the students cleared the room as quickly as they could, some tripping over others while a few made a mad dash right through desks and chairs. By the time Ms. Skullnick was about to make her announcement for homework, only Marco and Jackie remained.

"Oh geez. I've got to start giving out homework earlier on Fridays." It was typical behavior for the class to leave as quickly as possible to avoid hearing about possible assignments in the same way that it was normal for the Diaz to remain behind.

He had his reasons.

"I'll listen for the homework assignment. I need the extra credit, don't I?"

"You've caught up, Marco." The troll of a woman said matter-of-factly as she waved at the open door. "You're on the same grade level as the rest of the class since last week's test. If you wanna run like the rest of those hooligans, then be my guest. I'll just double the homework come Monday, like the usual."

"I'll take the homework now then," Marco remarked as he approached her table. "Better now than later, right?"

"…" Ms. Skullnick raised an eyebrow whilst regarding at the Diaz. "If I may, you used to be a model student. Then that Star girl came along…" Seeing movement behind Marco, she spied Jackie giving her the cut-off sign, hinting to her that the subject of Star was touchy around the teen. Ms. Skullnick shook her head at the cue and turned back to Marco, whose expression had darkened, although only a little. "When Star came along, it was weird shenanigans every day. Then you gallivanted off to who-knows-where for half of the school year, only to come back in January as if nothing had happened. You've gotten so weird that you've done a complete 360' to becoming normal."

"'Normal'? Thanks for the compliment." Marco looked at the woman who, even whilst sitting, was nearly as tall as he was. "I suppose that you being a troll has become the norm." The insult was superbly honey-coated in a light tone, although the woman could tell because Marco didn't have the countenance for it.

"That's a backhanded insult, Diaz."

"And I don't have any time to waste." He looked down at her open planner and saw the arrangements for the weekend homework and memorized it. Stepping back, he gave her a nod. "Enjoy the rest of your weekend ma'am." With that said, he exited the room, slamming the door as he left. The glass in the upper-half smashed far too easily, and the cheap lever doorknob came off in his hands on the other side. Ms. Skullnick didn't even flinch as she watched the bits and shards of glass tinkle to the floor before she turned to Jackie.

"That's the third damn door this month, and it's only the fifteenth."

"He must be in a good mood," Jackie said quietly. "The last time someone mentioned Star to him, it took half-a-dozen football jocks to hold him back from attacking Starfan13 just last week. It's almost like a trigger topic for him."

"Jackie-Lynn Thomas, do you not know what I am?" the teacher asked in a casual boast as she gestured to herself, indicating her advanced physiology by being a troll.

"…Lucky?" Jackie deadpanned. The teacher only sighed in response before she started to gather her things.

"The boy's changed. All we can really do at this point is keep sending the bills to his parents whenever he breaks something or other. In the meantime, haven't any of you tried to talk to him? Peer to peer? Someone had better get to the root of his issues before he ends up doing something he'll regret."

"We've… made attempts, I guess," Jackie admitted demurely, "but he's not talking to anyone. It's almost as if he thinks we're all dead to him. Ever since he came back from Mewni, he's been like this. I don't know if he's the one that changed, or they're the ones that changed him. He has these new marks on his cheeks, these green crescents, and his eyes changed too."

"From brown to green? I've been wondering about that me'self."

Jackie didn't continue the line. She wasn't thinking of a petty change as in the case of his eye color, but rather something more existential. If the eyes really were the 'windows to the soul', then Marco had a dark one. They reflected little emotion excepting the occasional outburst or tantrum for anything magic-related, even trivial things such as conversational topics. He was nearly at the self-ostracization level as when he was last summer when he returned from Mewni. Jackie held no delusions that there wasn't some sort of bad influence from that dimension, she couldn't help but ponder on what it was and why it came to be.

"I tell you, this has to be the most problematic class I've ever taught."

Jackie didn't reply to the woman as she made her way out through the broken door. She had her rising fears and foolishly cultivated hopes of a resolution, but she was nonetheless determined at getting to the truth and the root of the issue.

One way or another.

"You need to better control your emotions."

'That's my problem. But don't worry, I work on it. I've been meditating more, haven't I? What's the good it's done for me? Theta, right? It basically means that I've gotten better at keeping my shit together.'

"Judging from the door, it obviously needs more work. I recommend taking a break from working on Alpha to work on Theta. While strength is necessary, it lacks any real impact when you lose control of yourself at the drop of a hat," Appendaxuz said wisely. "Not to mention, other areas need to be buffered. You wouldn't want to be like the woman-knight. What was her name? Lady Whosits? Do you want to be purely dumb muscle?"

Marco looked down at his exposed arms. They were impressive at this point; due to his wiry frame, his muscles had built in a lean fashion without too many bulges in the sleeves of his green t-shirt. He'd defaulted to this clothing option due to the rising heat of the June weather, and was far more comfortable whenever he trained. If there was any other benefit to this, it served as a repellant to any physical bully at school, in case his reputation wasn't enough to deter them.

The shirt also reminded him of how long it'd been.

Appendaxuz, ever the empath to the boy's inner feelings, tried to console him. "You've come a long way. You've become faster, stronger, smarter and you no longer lack conviction. There is yet room for improvement, but for today, you should get some rest. Proper respite is also crucial in furthering yourself, and meditation is a good way in doing so. You would sufficiently kill two birds with one stone, no? In the meantime, I shall try to forge on your Delta to improve your resistance and longevity."

"It's not just that. I'm grateful for giving me the incentives to improve and all. I just can't stand to know that they're all up in Mewni abusing magic and making things worse while I'm going to ROT down here!" Marco yelled at the top of his lungs in anger, drawing the attention of the passers-by in the street. He ignored them all, not heeding whether they thought he was getting barmy or not.

"Keep this conversation in your mind, Marco. You didn't spend all of this time learning to elevate your mind to the degree of communicating with me at leisure only to make yourself look foolish," the entity deep in his mind chastised. "But you need not fret. We WILL get back to Mewni, and the Wellspring will be toppled. While having your dimensional scissors would be a boon at this point, it'd only cause the enemy to overestimate you and squash your attempts with all of their efforts. Like this, you are underestimated because they believe that you've been dealt with. The chance to create a portal will come. Someone will make a slip, and you'll be there to capitalize on it."

"Yes. I will."

"Are you prepared to shed blood?"

"… I am…"

Deep in the boy's psyche, Appendaxuz grinned widely. It'd been a full six months since his influence had begun to take its toll on the boy's character. As suspected, he was fully prepared to hurt, to injure, even kill, if it meant that it would help to further his goals. Marco had actually lasted a lot longer than his other pawns, but being away from the inductions and persuasions from those one Mewni had been a large benefit, despite the few glaring cons. He'd much rather prefer to have a serious and developed pawn and have his plans set back even by years, rather than to have a semi-decent one and have his plans botched permanently. Marco was his very last and remaining chance to destroy the Wellspring. It'd been an eternity since he first formed this campaign, and he'd see it through.

Marco would be sure to agree. Not only because of his presence in the boy's consciousness but because of the boy's fervor and passion.

"Oh no."

Appendaxuz's head rose up to regard this. "What's the problem?"

"It's a mugger," Marco moaned under his breath, mostly out of annoyance rather than fear. He looked over the scruffy-looking man, observing the fact that he was a full head taller than him and armed with a switchblade. Noticing that the man's clothing was an obvious indication of his poverty-stricken state, Marco decided to let him off with a warning. "Hey… um… buddy, step aside. You don't wanna try to rob me-"

"Gimme everything you have before I cut your throat," the mugger menaced as he brandished the knife. Marco felt his blood start to boil, but nonetheless took out a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket and dropped it into the man's outstretched free hand. "Where's the rest of it?! And your phone!"

"Don't push your luck," Marco growled before he sidestepped the man to walk past him. As soon as he did, he felt the burn of the knife cut into his arm. With red already running down his limb, Marco lost himself. On reflex, Marco was already ducking the gloating man's next slash and smashed his fist into the man's gut as he did, knocking the wind out of him.

The mugger was already on the ropes, heaving for breath but Marco didn't belay; he continued his reaction by grabbing the back of the man's head and bringing it down into a rising knee, breaking his nose. Ignoring the blood spatter on his pants, Marco held up the man by his collar and began to hail his right fist into the man's jaw, breaking it as if it were glass and kept going.

"You… Son…! Of…! A…! Bitch! Robber, huh?!" Marco punctuated each word with a punch to the man's face, already mashing it nearly to the appearance and texture of poorly chopped meat. The man's blood was already coating Marco's fist as much as his own face; the mugger had already passed out from the pain, but Marco hardly even cared in his frenzied state. Deep inside, Appendaxuz continued his experimentations to toy with how far he could inveigle the boy's anger, and he wasn't disappointed as he discerned that Marco was even now smashing the man's head against the brick side wall of the alley. Repeatedly.

In fact, Marco went on to beat the man half to death, injuring here and breaking a bone there. By the time all was said and done, the man lied in a stew of his own bodily fluids he'd lost control of, not to mention his spilled blood. Marco shook his head before pulling out his last bill and dropped the dollar on the man's bloodied body. "That's all I had. Twenty-one dollars. Hope it was worth it."

The unconscious man said nothing. Yet, he was answered.

"Was it worth it, Marco?"

Marco looked behind him wildly to see Jackie, who was horrified. He easily guessed that she'd seen him in the act, although for the last few moments. He turned his back on her; she wasn't any lord of his and she wasn't obligated to get an answer only to assuage her curiosities and denials. If he wanted to say anything about it, he'd merely bullshit her with a 'self-defense' reason since the man drew first blood, but it was obvious that she wouldn't accept anything of the sort. He did the only thing he could.

He walked away, with nary a backward glance.

She, on the other hand, had chanced on this route to get to Marco's house, only to find the Diaz bloodying himself in the one-sided fight. It was nothing short of nightmarish and madly out of character for him, and yet there he was.

She'd meant to ask questions… what, where, how and why. She'd come to try to find him to garner the truth behind his change in personality and aspirations, and yet all of those questions seemingly melted away as she watched him walk away. Who was this person?

"You're not Marco."

He didn't answer.


(Reads over chapter.) Mm-hmm… seems about right. It only went to show how the two sides felt about each other and stood, with some very tiny Jackie interaction with our protagonist.

Sorry about the tardy update, people. T'was the week before Christmas, and all through the house…

Paint. Paint everywhere. (Looks down at paint-riddled body.) EVERYWHERE!

The chapter was small. Oh well. Not much I could add to it in this chapter, but next chapter I should start fleshing out Hekapoo and Higgs some more.

Happy Holidays. Merry ChrisKwanzHanuka when it comes. I should be able to make another update by New Years.

M. Ray 4 The Win.