The girl opened her eyes.
"WOAH! It's so pretty! Where am I?" Her thoughts were muddled. She wondered what she was doing in this fabulous place. Everything was golden, and the girl found herself drawn to it. However, she didn't know which way to go - there was so much gold in every direction!
His knees had been pressed so hard into his chest they were leaving marks. Marco was distraught. He had lost his best friend in the Realm of Magic and it was all his fault. If only he'd told Star earlier that Cloudy was struggling, or he'd discouraged her from even going through the magic, then she wouldn't be missing. His chest was wracked with grief. If he never got to see her again, he would lose his mind. She was his best friend, his partner in crime, his second half. She made him happy when he was down and always knew how to help. His feelings hadn't gone away, and after Tom broke up with her, had become even stronger. And now she was gone. He didn't know if she felt the same way he did, but now he would never know. He wouldn't even get to tell her how he felt. But that wasn't what was important. He had failed Star because now she couldn't get to Mewni to help with whatever was going wrong. Thus, by extension, he had failed Mewni. And that wasn't something he could quite handle. Failing his best friend was hard enough. Failing her by failing her kingdom, her home, was far worse.
Marco was wracked with pain. He no longer knew what to do. Without a wand of his own, there was no way he could perform magic, was there? What was it Star had been told to do by Glossaryck? Dig deep? No! Dip down! Marco delved deep into his mind and heart. Gathering all the pain he had felt: his pent up emotions towards Star, his stress of losing her every time they go on adventures, his current anxiety about actually having lost her, he summoned the All-Seeing Eye. He knew it was a stretch - a magicless human calling upon a difficult spell without a wang. But he would do anything for Star. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see a giant ring of purple fire. Yes! Now just to look for Star. He focused on the image of her that was permanently burned into his mind. That picture of his beautiful best friend, with her infectious smile, and her quirky but adorable outfits. Everything about her was perfect to Marco, so that's how he envisioned it. The spell scrolled for a minute or two, but suddenly it seemed like it was zooming in on something. Its narrow focus gave Marco a headache, but when it finally stopped moving, the ache disappeared. Replacing it was a sharp pain in his heart. Because there, in the middle of the ring, was a memory-less Star.
He had tried calling her name, then shouting it, and then even tried reaching through the eye. None of it had worked, and the eye had shut after he'd tried to reach out to her. Speaking to her had worked last time, but he believed she was too far gone to be saved through the spell. He would have to go to her. The pain in his heart hadn't subsided. Recalling the feeling he had had in his gut, he believed this too was an anchor. It was a line connected to Star, and he would have to follow it to find her.
His race against his heart took him roughly ten minutes. In that time he managed to dream up several different ways his arrival could go, and like a Marco, he had imagined them all ending badly. Star couldn't forget her life, couldn't forget him. Could she? He had to hope that she would remember once he found her. The pain in his chest hadn't subsided, and he knew he was going in the right direction. His suffering would have to continue, because it paled in comparison to what it might become.
Frolicking in the shimmering expanse had quickly become boring for the blonde girl, and she had tried to find something else to do. She had quickly found herself in the middle of an arrangement of rocks forming somewhat of a circle. Just as she was climbing up on top of one of the rocks to begin jumping between them, she had spotted something moving in the distance. A small figure was making its way towards her, gradually getting larger. Ooh fun! Something to play with! The figure was almost upon the circle of rocks now, and she could see that it was some sort of creature. Some sort of creature with far too many legs! She scooched up as far as she could to the top of the rock she was sitting on. That thing gave her the creeps. Maybe if I hide up here it won't notice me.
The creature whinnied and shook its head. It trotted to the edge of the rock formation and began circling it. At least it's going the far way. It had begun its circling in a way that took it away from the girl. The creature made its way further and further around the circle. Upon reaching the far edge, it came to a halt. Weird, I wonder what i- she didn't get to finish that thought because the creature's head jerked around, its eyes meeting her own. She shrieked and attempted to run, forgetting that she was on top of a rock. Splashing face down in the glistening liquid, its sparkling didn't match the terror in her heart. She moved to stand when she felt something touch her shoulder. It was a smaller version of the multi-legged creature. Her arms windmilled as she stumbled away from this mini-creature. Looking around, she could see that there wasn't just one. She was surrounded by five or six of the little things. Once again she shrieked.
The foot came flying out of nowhere. Hearing a yell, the girl had seen movement in the corner of her eye and had shirked away from what she believed to be an attack. However, despite the fact that it was an attack, she had misjudged what its target was. The multi-legged creature was knocked onto its side, where it struggled, kicking its many legs all over the place. She screamed. TOO MANY LEGS! A cute boy in a red hoodie had been revealed to be the one who had done the kicking when he appeared from behind the falling form of the creature. He had quickly gone on to kick and punch the smaller creatures that had launched themselves at him. Once he had dispatched all of them with relative ease, he ran towards her. Grabbing her hand, he said only two words:
"Let's go!"
Marco pulled Star by the hand. She was following him blindly, letting him lead her completely. In fact, if he hadn't been holding her hand, he'd have had to check she was still there, she was putting up such little resistance. He didn't stop running until he was certain he had left the unicorns far behind. He staggered to a halt, but was almost immediately knocked over when Star ran into him. Her body pressed against his, with her still not putting up any resistance. Marco thought that seemed strange. Usually Star was so energetic; even when she had just been in a close call situation like the one they'd just escaped she would be talking her emotions out in a torrent of words. But now she was silent. Not only was she not moving on her own, she wasn't talking, and instead just started blankly at Marco. "Star! Are you alright?" Marco broke the silence. He needed to make sure she was okay. She didn't respond. Finally moving, all she did was look over her shoulder at where they'd come from. Presumably noticing that the unicorns were no longer in sight, Star turned and began wandering off. "Star! Wait! Where are you going?" Marco was worried. Star was acting strange. She turned her head back to him.
"Were you talking to me?" Star's voice was flat as she spoke up. Oh no. Marco was seriously concerned. Something had evidently happened to Star. He knew she had lost her memories, but he had hoped that upon seeing him something would spark in her mind and she would remember. But it hadn't. Marco dropped. He hadn't felt this way since he had first confessed his feelings to Star in that photo booth. Before that, he'd felt it only once, when Star left for Mewni during his party. Both times he had been crippled by the feeling that his friendship with Star was done and ruined. He curled into a ball, holding his head between his knees as he sat in the mesmerising liquid. This was the same. He had failed. Star was lost to the Realm of Magic, and Marco, her squire - no, her knight! - had failed to save her in her time of need. His body was wracked with his sobbing. No. He was wrong. This was nothing he had ever felt before. He could live with Star not seeing him as long as she knew who he was. However, he couldn't bear to imagine a life where Star didn't know him - where he didn't know Star. Tears stung his tightly shut eyes as his anguish filled the seemingly peaceful realm.
He didn't know how long he sat there. All he knew was that at some point, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Marco looked up, surprised. As he had suspected, it was the only other person here with him in the Realm of Magic. Star shushed him like a mother would a crying baby. Somehow, it comforted Marco to know she was looking after him.
"Hey." That one word, though from someone who seemingly didn't know him, sounded strangely full of emotion.
"Hey."
"I don't know what's got you so down, but I'm sure that whatever it is will sort itself out. If you want, you can talk to me. I'll listen to whatever you have to say." And so Marco told her. He told her everything that had been on his mind, beginning with who she was and ending with how they ended up here. He told her their whole story together. He told her about how he had failed her and how it wasn't the first time. He told her about his mess ups with her in the past and how all he wanted was for her to be happy. All he left out was how he felt. His true emotions, nay, feelings towards her remained his alone. It wasn't his place to tell her that, not right now.
"That's quite the story Marco Diaz. But it's not quite how I remember it."
"But that's the problem! You don't remember, and I made it worse by chasing you he-" He wasn't able to finish his thought because he was suddenly crushed by one of the most passionate hugs he had ever felt.
"Of course I remember Marco. I can't believe I would ever forget you and I'm so sorry." Star was the one crying now, her tears soaking into the fabric of Marco's hoodie. They sat like that, enjoying one another's embrace. It was warm in the arms of their best friend. Star eventually released Marco and moved back. Sitting on her knees, she studied his face. "Marco, when did you get those marks?"
"What marks?"
"Those moons. On your cheeks. They're like my hearts."
"What? I have moons on my cheeks? Oh my God! What is happening?" Marco was beginning to lose it again. So much had happened for him and Star felt her heart lurch at the thought of him going through such emotional strain just for her.
"Calm down Marco, it's okay. Maybe we're more connected than we know. Did you use any magic?"
"Yeah, I summoned the All-Seeing Eye."
"How?"
"I just dipped down. Like Glossaryck told you." Star crushed Marco in a hug again.
"I'm so proud of you."
This time it was Marco who pulled away. Leaving barely a foot between them, Marco held Star's shoulders as he stared into her eyes. They were so pretty.
That mole on his cheek was so cute. Her best friend was so much more. The two leant closer, closing the gap between them. A flash of blue light came from nowhere. The last thing Star heard before she lost consciousness were three simple words. But they carried so much impact.
Marco came to in the ruins of Butterfly Castle. He couldn't remember what had happened in the Realm of Magic, but he guessed it must have been good, because here they were in Mewni, just where they wanted to be.