Vestiges
15.
"Star? Star?!" Moon halted her ministrations to snap her fingers in front of Star's face, trying to rouse her daughter who was nodding off even while having her dress fitted on her. "Honestly Star, you're the only person I know who could possibly fall asleep while standing up. Did you even get an hour's worth of sleep last night?"
Star moaned in her usual fashion when something got her nerves. "I got some sleep," she replied using extreme emphasis on 'some', indicating that even an hour's sleep was probably a stretch. She'd gone to bed later than the usual, that was true, but she lacked the capacity to fall asleep; her mind was a storm in a teacup as pertaining to her thoughts and concerns about her (former?) best friend. Even now, he was still on her mind, and Moon could easily tell what was bothering her heiress.
"You were losing sleep over Marco, weren't you? We've already discussed this. As much as it pains you and your father and I, Marco has to be dealt with."
Once she started, Star knew that her mother would begin a tirade. Words began to blur into sentences, and sentences into long-winded topics. All of a sudden, a new thought came to the princess, and she motioned to her mother to hear her out. "If you've got a dog… and you've never looked after it properly… then it gets into trouble…"
Moon was silent, already seeing where this line was going.
"When the dog gets into trouble, does it deserve to be punished? Or you?"
"I doubt he'd go this far for something so petty. But that question sounds rather pointed, Star. Are you accusing me of making Marco become the way he is now?" Moon asked harshly.
"No. I mean all of us. Especially… me, I guess," Star said as best she could, though she nearly felt like crying on the inside. "I mean, yeah, Marco's had his moments when he's done the wrong things for the right reason, maybe this Wellspring deal is one of them, but I can't honestly say that I don't feel kinda responsible. Like the first time when you and dad just dropped me off on Earth right into his normal life. Or all the crazy junk I put him through. Or when he came back to Mewni because he was worried about me trying to fight Toffee. Or when Dad gave him his meat blanket. Or-…"
"Or," the Queen interrupted, finally finishing her task of helping Star into her dress. "It could be that Marco is a closet anarchist. What did you tell me once? That he was a 'misunderstood bad boy'? We don't know if he's always been like this."
"What if we were the ones who made him turn out like this?" Moon didn't answer right away; she stepped aside out of the way between Star and the mirror, allowing her daughter to see herself in her royal attire.
"Do you see her, Star?" Moon asked gently whilst pointing at her daughter's reflection. "She's trying to take responsibility for everyone's actions, and trying to shoulder everyone's guilt. You may have the authority to order people to your whims, but they are still the ones who make the final decisions to do what they see fit. They are responsible for their deeds, as you are responsible for your own. Marco's made his decisions, and now, you'll have to make yours."
"You've already decided what you want to happen!" the princess exclaimed angrily. "You and the rest of the commission! You've already sent out squads to hunt down Marco, and that's if the commission doesn't get to him first!"
"He's declared war on the Magic High Commission, Star. He was actually fortunate to have been exiled back to his own home. But now he's proven himself to be a credible threat by committing murder. But tell you what…" Moon tried to think of a way to help her daughter grow into her role as queen, while still accomplishing what needed to be done. "You can choose what is to be done. You'll decide whether or not Marco is pursued, captured, incapacitated or even tried. Once you've made your decision, I'll use my standing in the commission to ensure it's carried out. Sounds agreeable?"
The princess's stare slowly went from her reflection to her mother, then back again. Eying that the robes bore a striking resemblance to the clothes that Moon wore, she realized that this was yet another test.
Between the fact that Marco was a murdering insurgent, and the undeniable reality that he was her best friend (who she might still have feelings for), she found it hard to decide one way or the other.
"Can… Can I have some time to make up my mind?"
"… Fine. But I should have you know that Marco isn't your only friend? What were you to do if he should commit harm to the others?"
Star didn't know. But as she looked down at the Butterfly wand on the table next to her, knowing of the incredible power she wielded when using it, she was afraid that she'd be forced to find out. A small beam of light glinted off of the star that rested in its center.
She was very afraid.
vVv
One of the lead knights nodded in satisfaction as he watched all the subordinates march in orderly files, approaching their places and snapping to attention. "Good, good," Sir Stabby muttered as he surveyed everything. They were all in positions along the borders of the large hall, all according to rehearsal. The only place where they weren't any knights was at the very front of the room on the podium where all the squires were, along with the King and Queen, along with Rhombulous close by who was on magical security detail. As per the rest of the room, it could have been likened to a worship area, like a church, with most of the benches labeled the seating for the different families of the squires who they'd come to support.
It felt like a graduation ceremony-… it was just that, but altogether more serious and with supplementary security.
As Sir Stabby noted these things, he saw that there was one knight who seemed out of place to him. Not weird, per se, but literally out of place, as he looking about as if he was searching for his spot. Observing the star-shaped emblem over his heart, Sir Stabby felt his anger starting to boil. "That clueless bastard!" he fumed to himself before trying to get the hapless knight's attention. "Oi! Emanedoc!" he hissed. "Emanedoc!"
The knight didn't answer or even look around properly to acknowledge that he'd been called. He did glance around a bit, however, as people usually did to see who was being called by a certain name. This was a bit confusing to the lead knight, but he motioned to Emanedoc to go stand at his place by the front-most congregational bench that was to be seated by the princess and her friends. Emanedoc was a bit dim to understand right away, but he soon realized what he had to do, and did it.
"Damn that Emanedoc!" Sir Stabby cursed to himself. "If he hadn't missed the rehearsal, then this wouldn't have happened A knight not knowing his place…?! How shameful!"
Meanwhile, Emanedoc wasn't having that much better of a chastisement from someone else, however, the actuality was that he was being chided by a voice in his head. "Marco, you very nearly botched things. What if you hadn't looked around when you did, you would have been approached and accosted by that knight. Then this attempt to get into Sienna's good graces would've been for naught."
"Well, it worked out," Marco whispered. "But what kind of a name is 'Emanedoc'?"
Appendaxuz resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It sounds rather backwards, but for today, it will be your name. The poor fool you debilitated and stole the armor from must be the bearer of the name, and that's that."
"True… but Emanedoc?" Marco grumbled.
"Um… dude?" A voice asked from beside Marco. It sounded all too familiar, and it was with dread that Marco looked down at the person who sat in the pew he was standing against, only to realize that it was Janna.
From behind his helmet, his eyes widened in apprehension as he peered at the girl who was staring at him strangely. Was he already caught? 'Oh shit-'
"Why the heck are you mumbling to yourself about your name as if you don't like it?" she asked in her usual lackadaisical tone.
To her, he dared not speak, not even breathe; wasn't he already discovered? For a whole tense minute, the insurgent stood stock still, afraid that he was already made and about to be confronted by the dozens of knights in the hall. Before he recovered enough to even think about making a run for it or doing something of the like, the girl waved him off. "You know what? Forget it, I've lost interest."
'…Huh?' Marco suddenly became confused and it was in this that he exhaled all the stale air in his lungs with a sigh. 'I thought she found out it was me…'
"Given your bad habit to speak to me audibly instead of in the privacy of your mind, you very nearly got caught, Diaz!" Appendaxuz chastised his vessel almost severely enough for it to physically hurt, especially since Marco knew he was right. "Speak in your mind, boy!"
Through the slits of his helmet, Marco gazed at Janna who sat on the bench right next to him. 'Right, right, it won't happen again. That was close.'
"Knowing you, it WILL happen again. Hopefully, it'll be in a situation more allowable than this. Speaking of which, she probably didn't recognize your voice because you spoke lowly and it was somewhat altered by the hollowness of the helmet you're wearing." In more appreciation, Marco fidgeted in the armor uncomfortable armor that he was starting to dislike and realized that at the very least, the helmet had prevented him from ending up in a horrible fix.
'True, true.' As best as he could to avoid the helmet from creating any possible sound of rubbing noise, he turned his head to survey those who sat on the bench. It was a long pew, that was true, and it was more than enough to seat all of them.
All of his former friends, that is.
The fact that Janna was there should've been enough, but he was too damn curious. Seeing Tom, Kelly and Pony Head didn't help matters, either. Just the knowledge of them being right there next to him was enough to set him off-… all of them who'd sided with Star once she spewed her lies… not one of them who would even hear him out.
Well, they've made it clear who they were friends with, no? Not the guy who was basically her tagalong for everything. Why should he call them his friends?
And what should he call Star? The thought of her was going to make him go ballistic. Sure, he knew that he was easily triggered into anger whenever she was even faintly involved in his life nowadays, and he hoped that he wouldn't see her, despite the fact that Appendaxuz had claimed to have removed his capacity for anger.
He didn't know that Appendaxuz had only removed his conscience, that is.
Right. Nothing would go wrong. He was in disguise, he was at the front, he'd get to see Sienna in her own personal shining moment. Nothing would go wrong, not if he could help it. Even if it were Star right there, he'd keep it together, at least for her sake.
"Hey, guys!" A bright voice announced from behind him, rapidly approaching the bench he was standing at his post next to. "Sorry I'm late!"
"Oh, hey Star." They more or less greeted as the princess got to her bench. Not even a foot's distance away from the 'knight' that stood edgily next to the bench, Star passed Marco and took a seat beside the Lucitor, planting a peck of a kiss on his cheek when she did. "You sure took your time getting here, huh?"
"Mom was helping me into my dress. Trust me, when I'm queen, I'm gonna put a stop to clothes like that. Two people is one-too-many people when it comes to putting on dresses, believe me. And then I got mixed up trying to find this hall, and…"
As Star continued to give what sounded like pathetic excuses, Marco suffered himself to try not to leap over to her and snap her neck. Oh, right. That was the only good that he had… being her glorified assistant and secretary. He was the one who made sure that she kept to her commitments, made sure that she didn't oversleep and other miscellaneous day-planning things of the sort.
Some 'squire' he was.
Almost as if conscious of his thoughts, Star began to muse as she looked up at the podium where the squires sat facing them, with the King and Queen seated off to the side. It would appear that when their name was called, the squire would get out of their seat and approach the royal couple, whereupon they would be knighted. "You know, if Marco was still here, I'd bet that he would've been knighted today."
"Yeah, well," Tom shrugged, "he's not here, and he won't be knighted. Especially given what he's been doing recently. I don't think that prick deserves it at all."
"Don't be like that, Tom," Janna chided. "You know what she meant. You should've seen him last summer-… must be an entire year ago-… the guy came back from Mewni in a cape, really thinking he was knight status because of what he did."
"Oh… that cape…" Star became noticeably crestfallen, knowing that the cape was literally the King's 'meat-blanket'. "Things didn't go well when he came back."
"The guy literally dropped back into our lives because he missed adventuring," Tom argued. Star was inclined to disagree because of Marco's confession to her in the bathroom but didn't get a chance to say it. Instead, she sensed something new.
"What the heck? Why does it feel chilly all of a sudden?"
"Chilly?" Kelly spoke for the first time, parroting Star. Noticing the drop in temperature, she could nearly swear that it was almost cold enough for her to see her breath. "You're right. But isn't it summer right now?"
"I feel it too… No…" Janna pondered for a moment, trying to figure out the phenomenon. "I've felt this before."
"Of course we all have. In wintertime."
"Naw. I've felt this last month," Janna replied, startling those who could hear her. She started looking around as if trying to spot someone, but couldn't find the person of interest. "When me and Jackie-"
"Speaking of Jackie, where is she?" Star interrupted. "I thought for sure that I invited you all to come."
"She's not feeling well," Janna answered with an air of annoyance. "As I was saying, Jackie and I felt this last month. From Marco. It's like his raw emotions or something. You kinda feel this aura from him when he's uber angry."
"So… freakish temperature drops aside," Kelly remarked in skepticism, "That's why you're looking around? To see if you could spot Marco in here? Why would he even be here? Why would he even get angry right now?"
"I dunno. Maybe he's pissed that he's not up there with the other squires?" 'Or what if he's hearing what we're saying right now?'
This discussion began to ramble a bit, as Marco began to try to will himself to feel less anger, knowing that they were already suspicious of his presence in the hall, much less right in their proximity. On cue, Appendaxuz dampened the emotion, as he ceased to expel his aura. From behind his helmet, his glowing crescents on his cheeks faded back into normalcy, and all was right again. He resumed watching the ceremony with more attention, regarding the squires approaching the King and Queen who would knight them in intervals whenever their name was called. He did this in trying to take his mind off the fact that his former peers were discussing him. That was soon discovered impossible, due to the fact that they were now conversing how he had even returned to Mewni.
"I told you before, Star," Pony Head commented carelessly. "One does not simply walk from Earth to get to Mewni."
"So how'd he even get back?" Kelly wondered out loud, "I thought his room was locked up magically and everything that he owned was in there, including his dimensional scissors."
"Oh…" Star most decidedly had a guilty look on her face, and Tom noticed. "Oh no, Star. I know that you used to hide out from your parents in there! What did you do?"
"I… errm… lost the key to it. I think someone stole it. But don't tell my mom; she doesn't know. She and the rest of the Magic High Commission would freak if they found out that it's probably my fault he's back. Someone probably got in, and used his scissors to get to him."
"You think someone stole the key to get his scissors? Well, could be, or someone else already had dimensional scissors and brought him here," Kelly put in her two cents.
"Nah. It doesn't matter which," Janna said coolly. "I think I know the person either way."
Marco stiffened. 'Oh, no-… Sienna's gonna get found out!' Without even realizing it, he very nearly let go of the spear that he carried (as part of his disguise) to reach for the hunting sword which hung from his belt, but stayed his hand when he heard what Janna said next.
"But I can't quite remember her name…" Janna mumbled, sneaking her hand underneath her hat to scratch her head. "She showed up at Star's B-day party looking for Marco last year, and she came to his house last month too. Damn, what's her name again? It's on the tip of my tongue. It was 'H'-something. Hmm…"
"Don't you just hate when that happens?" Pony Head said while clicking her tongue. "Try to remember, gurl! At least we'll find out who his accomplice is or something." Hoping against hope, Marco tried to think of a way to stop this from going any further but found none. Luckily, Appendaxuz was able to, and the entity told him what to do.
"Milady?" Marco said as deeply as he could, hoping that the lower tone of his voice along with the helmet would disguise it. "The King and Queen are looking this way. You're interrupting the ceremony."
"Huh?" Everyone turned their heads away from each other to regard the King and Queen, who was indeed staring at them in such a way that would let them know that they were committing a social misstep. "Oh, right. It can wait 'till afterwards." Star cautioned. With a silent sigh of relief, Marco allowed himself to calm down, not even noticing that Janna was now staring at him with a bit of suspicion. It was just as well, however, as Marco realized that a particular factor about the formal procedure; every squire approached the royal couple after their name was called out loud by the herald.
"I suppose that did very little to help things," Appendaxuz observed out loud, "Since her name will be called and it'll remind your former friend, that is, if she doesn't remember the name first. At least for now, Higgs is out of sight, probably seated behind someone taller than her in alphabetical order, so she cannot be pointed out by Janna. I suggest you do something quickly… they're calling the knights by last names, and the knight calling the names is currently on the surnames beginning with 'F'."
Marco was silent. Both externally and internally. He knew what he had to do. He just wasn't sure if he could actually do anything that wouldn't damn Sienna or himself-… after-all, doing anything to Janna would be seen by probably more than a hundred pairs of eyes, and that would include his former friends, the royal couple and Rhombulous. But yet still, it wouldn't matter. What if Janna didn't notice her after all, hmm? What about later? What would stop Janna from recalling her name later, or even bumping into Sienna somewhere in the castle?
Unknown to him, this was the same predicament that Sienna had gone through the evening before, and he was coming to the same decision.
Janna had to go. Permanently.
This, strangely, bothered him very little. For a lengthening amount of time, he'd become so estranged from the people he used to rub shoulders with regularly, so much so that he'd become devoted to the girl who had still remembered him. The one who still had faith in him. The one who still had deep consideration for him. The one who toiled for eighteen years just to see him again.
This was going to hell. Should he just portal out, and snatch Higgs with him? Or make a huge distraction so that the ceremony would be ruined and then warn her later that she would've been discovered by a former friend? What to do?
Marco, for a second, felt the urge to turn his helmeted head to gaze behind him. Seated in all the benches were reserved seating for all the families and friends of the squires getting honored. All of the pews had at least one supporter, be it a relative or associate or acquaintance. But there was one bench that Marco had walked past when he had first entered the hall, all the way to the back with the 'Higgs' name title.
The bench was completely empty.
"…I want you to come. Supporting me and all that junk."
"Isn't something like that exclusive? And extremely guarded?" He knew it was dangerous, but he still made up his mind to come anyway. "Alright, I'll come support you… although this is a terrible risk."
"…Thanks, Marco. I'm grateful."
All of a sudden, that small request now had so much more meaning behind it, even more than he'd thought possible. From behind metallic plating, a lone tear fell from his eye as he watched the ceremony like a slow-motion wreck. More than anything he wanted, he wished to escape with the squire before they were accosted, but more than anything she wanted, she wished to have some support from a friend as she finally got acknowledged for her efforts in getting to this point.
To intervene would mean that they would both be discovered, and engaged in a fight. To not intervene would mean that she would be discovered by Janna and caught. To teleport to Higgs and then warping out would reveal their guilt.
The time was little, slipping from him. As it did, Marco felt more and more conflicted and confused as to what he should do. The spear in his hand that he held as he stood at attention was beginning to get crushed to splinters in his grip as the Diaz's inner storm continued. The sound of this was overheard by Janna, and she looked up at the armored 'knight' next to her in deepening suspicion.
Then, suddenly, it was too late to act, even if he wanted to.
"Higgs…! Come forth and kneel before the throne!" The herald called. Out of the small crowd on the podium, a ginger-redhead girl stood up out of the crowd. Stepping out from between the rows, the lithe squire began to march towards the king and queen. As was decorum for a ceremony such as this, one was expected to be stoic, but Marco could easily see a ghost of a smile on her face. He could well imagine that she was guessing that he was in the room somewhere, watching as she was about to get accredited. However, as she was approaching the throne(s) where the Queen and the King sat, Janna needed no further hints as to the name and description of the person that was lacking in her memory and gaped when she saw her.
Noticing this, Marco could do nothing. Yet still, he could only listen as Janna began to furiously whisper to the rest of the others as to the girl's relationship with him, and hear their mixed reactions. That was it. He'd done nothing, and everything was about to happen.
He felt strangely satisfied; what would happen after the ceremony was of little significance anyway. After all, they would soon leave Mewni anyway, weren't they?
Sienna, mercifully ignorant that she was no longer thought innocent about her connection to him, finally made it to her place and knelt before the throne, her hands fists-down and her head bowed. Seeing this, the herald went back to the scrolls and read from the one that was specific to the squire. "Be it known to all that Queen Moon is minded to raise Higgs by virtue of her honor, loyalty, valor and skill at arms, to the high rank of knighthood. By becoming a page, she had sworn to do all that her master, Sir Stabby, requested, no matter how menial. By becoming a squire, she had sworn to be all that they would need to be, a growing individual of great service to Mewni. Today, they will swear heart fealty to Queen Moon and King River, and acknowledge them as her true and lawful liege, to defend and obey until the Queen and King depart the throne, or until death takes her."
There was a brief pause here. It was as if it was meant to give every squire a last chance to hesitate to think whether or not being knighted was something they wanted. It was not unheard of to refuse; after all, Old Guy had refused his many times for reasons known only to him. To simply obey the rulers were one thing. To basically accept that they were the rulers of everything, including even your passing thoughts was another.
Strangely enough, to Marco at least, he believed that he could see that she was actually thinking about it. He personally didn't care whether she was knighted or not, as she already made it clear to him where her loyalties lied.
Then why did he feel so apprehensive?
After the moment had passed, Queen Moon got out of her chair, and turned adjacent to pick up a royal sword that lied on a velvet-lined cushion atop a pedestal, and approached the squire kneeling before her. The ceremony, in this fashion, was becoming monotonous as the ritual had followed this pattern for each squire until now, but the Queen herself was beginning to have a sense of foreboding. She paused a moment when she got to the girl who was kneeling before her. Something felt out of the ordinary with her, though nothing seemed that way on the surface.
She was a veteran queen, being one ever since she was young when her mother had passed on. She'd gotten through many conflicts and tribulations solely on instincts. Those were what they were all based on. But Moon couldn't break the decorum; she was totally unlike her daughter in this regard, and against her better nature, continued. Angling the sword as she was about to knight the girl, she then spoke her oration.
"Do you, Higgs, solemnly swear and pledge to uphold the honor of knighthood?"
Still, with her head down, Higgs answered as would anyone else in her position. "I do so solemnly swear and pledge to uphold the honor of knighthood."
Right… There was nothing wrong. With the smallest of nods, the Queen continued. "Do you, Higgs, solemnly swear and pledge your sword, mind and heart to me, your Queen and to the King, to defend and obey until we depart the throne, or until death takes you?"
"…" It was silent for a few seconds, as per procedure. From where he stood, Marco thought he could see Sienna's hand slightly twitch as if she'd crossed her fingers. No one else would be able to notice this given how low her hand was to the ground, not unless they were looking out for this in particular but Marco did as he knew that it was her relentless habit whenever she lied. But to his surprise, her hand relaxed as if she'd uncrossed them.
She wasn't about to lie.
Even more baffling and to everyone present, the girl lifted her head and got to her feet, stood tall and looked Queen Moon in the face, utterly breaking the ritual with utter sacrilege.
"No."
Welp, I guess you know that everything's going to shit next time-... it's quite a way to tell the Queen to 'fuck off'. Thought of starting the conflict with this chapter, but it deserved its own chappie. I'm not a penner of long epic fights like Emanedoc… whoops, I mean Code Name (LOL, no insults meant with what was said in the chapter), but I'll give it my best. I already have some ideas for it. Ass will be sufficiently kicked and blood will be spilled.
See you then.
