Marco's eyes shot open as he bolted upright. He was sitting by an open fire in a set of ruins. It was the fifth time he'd woken up like that. He patted at his chest, half expecting to find something out of place. But there was nothing wrong. He sighed as he stood. He'd been here a week. 7 long days of keeping his head down. 7 long nights of restless sleep. The fire pit was the only solace he had this past week. The burning bonfire was the only thing he had here.

Marco sighed and stood up, eyes still looked on the flame. "Alright… Let's try this again." As Marco walked, he left the fire burning. He never lit the fire. He never snuffed the fire. It simply burned.

Marco marched back off toward a looming castle. Over these days, he had gathered bits of armor, a shield, and a longsword, which hung on his back. He took a deep breath and began to quicken his approach.

Only to be met with an arrow embedding in his neck.

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Marco woke with a start and looked over to the fire. Six. Six times he woke by this fire. He rubbed his neck and decided to wait the night before going again. He leaned back and braced himself up by his hands. As he stared into the flames, he thought back to the day he arrived in this reality. There was no one around except for shuffling creatures. They kind of reminded him of zombies from an RPG. They were easy enough to knock down and get passed. Marco wasn't sure what this world was like until he first approached a bonfire.

The fire was like a beacon against the twisted world around him. It was then he could see the world for what it was away from the flame. This was a world of death. The dead walked around and monsters stalked the surface and skies intent on death. To be fair, though, he only learned about those creatures when he suddenly woke up at the fire. Looking back into his memories, he saw himself die at the hands of a massive dragon, crushed under the giant claws of the reptilian beast. As his body crumpled, he woke up back at the fire unscathed. When it first happened, he tried to play it off as a weird dream. But he also felt hollow inside. Every time he died here, he lost a little bit of himself.

As the sun rose again in the sky, Marco stood up from the fire and gathered himself and headed back out to the castle again. Sneaking around the sight of whatever shot him before, he was able to recollect what he lost of himself. He stayed low, watching the castle. Until last night, he had expected the fortress to be empty. Now he had to be more careful.

He was able to sneak his way to the door. He knew going through the door directly would only get him killed again. Thankfully, he picked up a few tricks in his adventures. While he was hunting down Hekapoo, he learned ways to create natural bombs of sorts. They were nowhere near as powerful as the Earth counterparts, being less powerful than a common grenade, but it would help him here. He mixed some powers he'd picked up the passed couple of days and used a special swamp slime to hold the mixture together. Thankfully, since this would only work with Mewni-like materials, the world around him seemed to follow a similar compound structure to Mewni.

Marco used his finger to draw with the mixture to the door in a pattern similar to a crude door. Once he was done, he sprinkled the rest of the mixture on the ground, out of the way, and moved back around the side. He struck a small flint and created a match, which he threw onto the door. The mixture started to glow and burst, breaking the door's section away from the larger structure. Marco was right to stay out of the way, as a small group of the undead soldiers he'd seen throughout the week. Marco used another match to light the mixture on the ground at their feet. The undead soldiers, having weaker bodies than living creatures, lost the use of their legs as they flew off their bodies. Marco charged passed the immobilized hoard and into the castle. He made his way through the castle and toward the throne room.

Once there, he saw a long dead man sitting on the castle's throne. His clothing falling apart and his skin long made ashen and twisted. A crown sat atop the dead man's head. Marco had seen this set up too many times and drew his sword and shield from his back. He approached slowly toward the dead king.

The undead monarch started to lift himself off the regal chair and started to draw a giant two-handed sword. The dead king began to march forward, sword readied to kill the young intruder. And then he heard it.

*Ba bum*

The familiar heartbeat. The same beating from his own reality. He hadn't heard it this whole time. A whole week and that beating was nowhere to be found. It told Marco he was in the right place.

*BA BUM BA BUM BA BUM*

It picked up fast. Marco peered over his shield to see a twinkling light coming from the walking corpse. A small purple gem was embedded into the walking dead man's shoulder. It attempted to raise its arm to attack, which made Marco drop into a combat stance he'd been taught by the Mewman knights; shield forward, sword close to the side and pointed toward his enemy. The undead's arm started to stall. After a while the heartbeat and flashing light picked up and started to get to Marco. Marco tried not to look away from his opponent.

What he saw was breathtaking. The dead monarch's body started to glow a feint purple. His skin seemed to come back to life. The skeletal structure began to fill out. The dead king stood before Marco reborn. His dark hair revitalized, reaching down to his shoulders. His eyes were a bright, emerald green. His clothing reformed into their old form: regal attire in a deep purple with a red feathered cape. The crown atop his head looked remarkably similar to the kind worn by Queen Moon. The man had a form that exuded power and influence. The blood red, heart-shaped marks on his cheeks made it all flow together.

Marco was stunned, "No way."

The reborn king swung his sword over his head and embedded the blade into the castle floor and turned back to his throne. Taking his seat again, he placed one leg atop the other at rest. "Approach young one."

Marco found himself placing his weapons away and moving on instinct. As he approached the king, he realized his situation and started to bow like he would if he needed to meet with Queen Moon when she's working.

"Don't bother." The king waved the action away, "We both know I'm not your king."

Marco froze a moment. He shook himself back to reality, "Just to be sure, you are King Nova, right?"

"King Nova Butterfly, yes. But not your Nova Butterfly." He closed his eyes in thought, "This is my world and you do not belong. But I also have memories not my own that make you feel familiar to me. No doubt a side effect of the stone lodged in my shoulder."

"Right… Well, I'm actually here for that gem."

"Is that so?" Nova reopened his eyes and stared down to Marco. "I feel no reason to stop you. But the stone isn't about to just slide out from muscles and flesh. I also have no doubt my current sentience will be lost by giving you the stone."

Marco quietly groaned to himself, "I take it I'll have to fight you to take it."

"No. I'll give you the stone. But I cannot speak for what I may do after the stone is taken. However, before this, we must deal with two orders of business. The first, is something the foreign memories compel me to bring up. The death of the one from which these memories originate."

"Yeah… I've been meaning to ask about that. You… or, I guess, the other King Nova, died and ended up being forgotten. What happened?"

"The memories I have don't speak of forced forgetfulness, but his death is concrete. A betrayal at the hands of his own wife." Nova shook, overcome by emotions not his own.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The memories end with feelings of regret, anger, and sorrow. He loved her, or what she showed him. He was angry. But he was heartbroken. His soul was shattered. But there was something else. A latent spell. A way to save himself and his kingdom from his betrayer. But he was unable to cast it. He couldn't bring himself to."

"Okay…" Marco had set his sword and shield to the side to ease the weight on his shoulders. "But, why bring this up?"

Nova took in a breath, "The memories speak saying that he wishes to make up for this mistake. And it hopes to achieve this through you."

Marco nodded, "Alright. How do I do that?"

"A spell. One unlike all others."

"Um… I don't see how I'm going to do that. I'm just human. I don't have magic."

"Wrong young one." Nova raised his hand and pointed toward Marco's heart. "Within all living things is a pulse of magical energy. A sort of magic heartbeat."

*Ba bum*

"You hear it, don't you?"

*Ba bum*

"That is the beat of the Nova of your world. Follow it, and you'll find your spell."

"Wait, what do you mean? Don't you know the spell? Why not just tell me?"

"I don't know the spell. It was sealed away as he died. His memories were deliberately clouded of this spell."

"Okay. But that doesn't mean I can use it."

"Likely not without a catalyst. A wand would help you… But to use the wand, you must have an innate magical power. That is the only way to utilize the magical energy of your reality. Your magical pulse is weak. Weaker than many, but it remains present."

Marco nodded and took in everything for a moment before looking back to Nova, "And the second thing?"

"My personal request. Allow me to rest before you go. I give you the gemstone. But I ask that you take it before I revert."

"What?"

Nova stood and held his arms outward, "Whether you take the gem from my shoulder at my hand or yours, I ask that you burn my body and ensure that I will not have to raise my blade again. Kill me so that I may finally die for good."

Marco was stunned. It was a crazy request. But he could understand it. He'd seen the mindless hoard and how they would never truly stay down. Restless and without humanity. He took a deep breath before speaking, "Okay."

"If I may ask to be a bit selfish, I wish for you to take my life before you take the gem. I wish to die in my own mind rather than becoming a shambling corpse again. Burn me to ashes as I stand."

"What?!" Marco couldn't help the outburst. But, being well read thanks to his schooling on Earth and picking up a few books at the squires' library, he could understand the sentiment. Mewman warriors were a prideful bunch. After a while, Marco hung his head a bit and nodded. "Alright…" Marco pulled a few bags of powders out of his pockets and mixing them in his hands. He tossed the mixture onto Nova and pulled out a flint. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am certain, young one." Nova closed his eyes and raised his head upward, "Let it be done."

Marco looked away as he struck the stone against another and sparked the powder. The mixture burst into fire around Nova. There was no shouting. No screams. There was only a sigh of relief from the burning king. It was time to rest in peace. The gem began to glow again, and the fire became a brilliant purple. It took only a few minutes to burn away what was. The gemstone fell onto a pile of ash, which fell away beneath it.

Marco picked up the gem and watched as it flashed in pattern with the heartbeat he kept hearing. With gem in hand, he resigned himself to another week of walking back to the portal. His planning was interrupted when the gem's glow began to intensify, becoming blinding. When the glow died down, Marco was face to face with a portal, similar to the one that brought him to this world. He wasn't sure what to make of the portal, but Star's influence was all too powerful in his mind. He stepped through the portal, if only out of curiosity.

On the other side of the portal, Marco was face to face with the familiar sight of the crown in Butterfly Castle. It felt like home, so he was able to infer he was back in his own reality. He looked back over to the crown and saw the shaped gem within beginning to glow faintly.

*Ba bum*

It was a faint heartbeat. As it began to pick up, he noticed it started to match his own. A heartbeat that felt like a calming force. A friendly presence. And yet, within, there was a sorrow. A regret. As its glow became brighter, Marco could sense what was within.

Inside the gem was a spell, one that Nova truly regretted bringing into this world. Within the gem, was a spell that could be used in cruelty. Within was a spell capable of snuffing out the well of magic within. To force the death of the magic of another. The light went out and the gem within the crown was gone, the spell unsealed, and the young squire now all too knowledgeable of its form.

Before Marco could really take in what he had learned, he suddenly found himself in the courtyard of the castle. He looked around to find Janna, Pony Head, and Rombulus sealed inside magic bubbles. Star, Kelly, Moon, Hekapoo, and Tom were scattered around in various states of exhaustion. Floating above them all was a man dressed in a long robe with greying hair, various gemstones floating around him.

Marco blinked in confusion, "What?"

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King: Things are kicking off now~! But I wonder, how did they get to the courtyard? Hope you enjoyed the chapter.