Notes: This went up same day as Chapter 5. I have a bad habit where if I'm depressed about a chapter being terrible I'll make another one same day, it's good for you but it dramatically increases odds of burning myself out from writing XD Oh well, it's here now. I had a much better time writing this one, I wanted to be more animated, more descriptive - all around a better chapter. I'd say this pretty good.
No Reviews Submitted On Chap 5 Before This One Went Live. So I'll Include Any/All For Chap 7.
"Hello, Queen Moon."
The woman that stood in front of him invoked an aura that radiated power, something about her was like that of Ophelia's aura. I wouldn't say she has that 'God-complex' which 'Phelia has, but instead one of absolute authority and most likely the reason as to why Ophelia developed a superiority-complex, as a result of an inferiority-complex to Moon.
The metaphorical beast of a woman wore a simple dress, a light blue covered her lower half and torso, with darker blue 'wings' spanning from the shoulders. Her hair was encompassed in a ring of pearls, the centre being held up by a pink and yellow diamond that glistened beautifully against the picturesque hallway, illuminated by the moon's soft glow.
"I seem to be noticing that whilst you're a Chosen. You've shown no direct interest in Princess Ophelia, instead you decided to leave the ball completely."
Her gaze was strong, it burned deep into his eyes and he couldn't find the words to respond. Being face to face with her was so much more different than what he had seen of her before. "I… uh – I needed to get some fresh air, if you don't mind my saying that ball room was quite 'stuffy'." The Queen let out a small chuckle at this.
"Yes, that room is a bit old for me too. But I'm afraid I'm unsatisfied, why did you leave her without speaking more than a sentence to her?" She had him on the ropes, what are you meant to say when someone asks you why you didn't speak to their daughter? Especially when it's the Queen of the kingdom you live in. "To be honest, you requested that your assistant cover for you while you get some 'fresh air', yet you told my daughter you needed to 'freshen up'. The act of 'freshening up' implies that you'd be using toiletries. Not going outside to get air, and speaking of. The guards never saw you leave."
He gulped, Marco had really dug himself deep in this one. In his rush to speak with Star he completely messed up his alibi. "I – uh - "
"Now, this is completely hypothetical of course, but would it be that you've some other matter to attend to in the castle?" She had him, cornered. Like a rabbit in headlights he just stopped, time stood still for him. "Shall we continue this chat in your room?" He couldn't even respond so he just stood there watching while she moved past him and opened his room. Her hand beckoned for him to follow which he mindlessly did.
She pointed for him to sit on his bed, he obeyed. "So, tell me. How did you two meet?" Marco looked at her with a blank expression, hoping for some clearance as his mind wasn't fully caught up with what happened so far. "I mean you and Star." 'She knows? She knows… Wait, how? When?'
"I heard her crying when I was walking around the castle… I wanted to see what was going on."
"She was crying? That doesn't sound like her." Moon's behaviour seemed strange to Marco, how could she act like she knows nothing when she must've shared a large portion of what had caused his new friend so much pain.
"How?" Moon looked at him with a puzzled face, "How could you not know what she's been through when you're her mother?"
"What she's been through? I knew she and Ophelia had a private war going on, but I didn't think it'd push her to levels of that magnitude."
"You know what I'm on about!" His voice became louder at this, more spiteful, the Queen wasn't sure what had pissed Marco off so bad as to why he'd raise his voice like this. He knew that she was the Queen, he wasn't a silly boy. No way would he carelessly shout without reason.
"I assure you my boy, I know not what you speak of. Is there something I should know about my daughter?"
"You honestly don't know about the ab- … self-harm? And the fact that she almost died tonight?" He could've spilt out that River had been abusing Star, but getting help to Star was one thing, convincing a married woman that her spouse was abusing their daughter, that was an entirely different ball game. One that Marco didn't have the resources or the proof to tackle right now.
Moon took a deep breath inward, before closing her eyes for a second and exhaling. "Self-harm?" The mother kept her composure, but it was slightly evident to an unbiased eye that she was feeling shame and pain at this. Marco, however, was not an unbiased eye – he saw this as a lie.
"You cannot honestly tell me you care for her after what you did to her. You locked her in a castle, in a room away from anyone ever knowing she existed. What parent would do that!"
The Butterfly looked down in her lap for a moment, it was her turn to figure out the best way to answer. "It was for her own good. She shared too many parallels with the Queen of Darkness. Letting her become public knowledge would put immense strain on the tensions between the monarchy and citizens. They wouldn't accept a Queen that could become one of the worst this country ever saw."
"So, you locked her away? Pretend she never existed?" The Queen was disgraced with herself.
She took a moment before responding, "Alright… I'll permit you to see her, speak with her on your own free accord. But it'd be a shame if you were to be removed on the first day, it'd make your friendship rather pointless and perhaps send her into further depression… Give me time to think about a solution, however, I need to warn you that if Ophelia chooses you. You don't have any right to refuse, you will become her husband."
Marco could accept that, he wanted more time to be with Star, even if it meant just a few more days. Even if it meant sacrificing the rest of his life, he'd do it for her because she was worth it.
The two finished their conversation then, the Queen left the room, leaving Marco to compute everything. This had all taken course over Day 1. 12 More.
Next Day – Marco's Room
Marco awoke at about 6:30AM, breakfast didn't start until 8 and so he had some time to kill. His internal clock was so used to waking up and this time for work that he was unable to fall into a slumber again. Instead he opted to go visit the outdoors of the castle, being the greatest structure in the history of Mewni meant that it held a pretty substantial area that held a forest.
He'd always visit a forest back home, when the fish factory didn't have any food or if he had a day off, he'd usually spend it going outside to the forest. Studying wildlife and catching any fish/meat he could find. Usually fish were much easier to catch with the equipment he had. The Diaz didn't have many friends, most kids started working in a factory when they were about nine, including Marco. Meaning that none of them made friends, they had existed for making money.
The guards allowed him to pass without query, once outside he noticed that the garden was beautiful – he came to the castle through the front way. There was a small fountain covered in green, a statue laid in the centre as a pivotal piece to the identity. Whereas, on the back end of the castle, the entire thing was essentially green. Beautiful flower beds decorated the area – bringing life into the otherwise empty atmosphere. When he was about halfway through the garden he spun around after hearing a tapping noise gradually get closer: It was Ophelia.
'Oh crap… Here we go again.' He still didn't know a lot about Ophelia, but based on what he gathered from his and Star's conversations she was a mega-bitch, maybe even more so than Linzie Goldmin who caught Marco fishing just inside the boundary of her land, seized all the fish he caught that day. 5 whole fish, none of which were caught on her property.
Ophelia had eventually caught up to him and the two stood in shade behind a lush green hedge. "Hello, Marco." He didn't remember ever giving his name to her, possibly Alfonzo gave it away. Her voice was different from last time, instead of being sweet and innocent it felt seductive. As if she had dropped her fake act and became more direct with her approach of what she wanted. "I want to know about you, who are you Marco Diaz? Why do you feel the need to ignore me? What is it about me that you can't stand?" Her fingertips were now crawling up his shirt, head leaned in towards his neck.
It was strange, a boy his age would usually lose control if a girl did this to him, but instead he felt surprisingly calm. He was sure that if Star did the same thing he wouldn't be able to keep any sense to his thoughts, but not for her. Instead he decided to play his own little game.
"Isn't it a bit early for a princess like you to be up?"
"Oh, I'm so glad you're thinking of my well-being darling, but I always get up at this time," now her head was a little lower than his eyes, her eyes were gazing lustfully into his. "But a princess has duties, dawn til dusk." She put a lot of emphasis on the 'dawn' in that phrase, Marco didn't even want to begin to imagine what a 'dawn' duty would involve.
She was good, Marco had started to lose his shield. He knew her game now, break you down until you can't defend yourself and then attack; it was working. His heart began to race a little more now, her leg bending upwards into his 'area', he couldn't make eye contact and had to look away in shame. The hedge they were behind covered them from sight of the castle windows and exit.
Thankfully, Marco was saved by a call from a servant, "Princess! Your bath has been drawn." Her face was visibly agonised by this calling, a small *tut* escaped her lips. Before leaving she turned to Marco with one last attack.
"I'll be thinking of you."
The boy snapped out of it by now, he began to control his breathing once she was out of sight. He sat down, head leaning in to the hedge. "That girl will be the death of me." He muttered to himself before picking his body up and leaving for the wilderness again.
Forest – 10 Minutes Later
He climbed over the branch after branch, the smell was fantastic. Where high-class folks may throw up at even the mention of mud, Marco was relishing the moment – it was the first thing he found that remained consistent of his old life, the patterns the trees made as they flew through the years remained the same, the asymmetrical, different coloured flowers piling on top of one another. Creating an unsynchronised symphony as the wildlife danced around them to the beat of life.
He found a quiet spot underneath a tree, it was in the shade, however, there wasn't much need of it considering that the sun was barely even out yet. He had a wide view of a pond that felt peaceful for him. It felt like a private spot for him, somewhere that he found within the castle that reminded him of a quieter life.
During his 30-minute stay there he managed to get a glimpse of a deer drinking from the pond, it had white spots that were more abundant at the back and faded as they came to the front of the creature. He also saw a few fish jump out of the pond, some catching flies that hovered above, others that went back without food.
When Marco was inspecting his room, he came across a watch in one of the draws, who knows who's it was, or why it was there. Maybe it was given to all the Chosen in case they didn't have a watch. But he took it, knowing that he'd get more use out of it, it read that the time was 7:45 and Marco knew that it'd take him a solid 10 minutes at normal speed to get back. Leaving him the perfect time to make it to breakfast.
But he forgot to account for the mess that the grass made on his clothes, Oh shit. Guess I'll run. And so, he flew through the trees, using his martial artist body to get over logs with ease and almost phase through the dangling vines.
He managed to make it back in only 4 minutes, but that left him out of breath and only 11 minutes to run to his room, change clothes and make it down to the hall. So, he sprinted passed the guards, yelling a "Sorry!" As he almost slipped when turning a corner for the hallway, the marble flooring didn't make it any easier, or quieter.
He made it to his room in record speed, 8 minutes to get ready. With lightning-fast actions he dismantled his clothing, tore open his wardrobe to reveal a very nice selection of outfits to wear, trouble was. They'd all take too long to get on, so he made a choice for the simplest one and dived across his bed, pulling the bell which sounded for Emilia to come. It was impressive, her response time was a minute. Guess their office is on this floor.
"Yes S— ah!" Emilia let out a yelp as she was practically dragged into the room.
"Emi, I need help putting this on!" He said as he showed her the outfit, she stared blankly for a second before comprehending it all.
"Er… Yeah! Okay, let's go." For once Marco held more enthusiasm and energy than she did, Marco wet his hair and combed it over while Emilia prepared the suit, unbuttoning all that had to be. Once Marco came out of the bathroom, he was in his boxers – forgetting that Emilia was a woman too he didn't realise until she started to blush and stutter for him to do something, to which he replied.
"Pass me the clothes then." She hurriedly passed him the clothes to which he put on some blue bottoms first, then a white shirt, followed by a blue suit coat. He buttoned himself up, glancing at the watch. 7:57 AM
He could make it! "Thanks a million Emilia!" Marco shouted back before bolting out the door and down to the ground floor, leaving Emi in complete utter silence with a massive blush on, she simply started to laugh after a moment.
"That kid'll be the death of me."
Dining Hall
It felt a lot livelier than yesterday when everyone arrived, there was a lot more socialising between the guests. It seemed like after a good sleep everyone felt more rejuvenated, the high-class society encourage competition, but to also be sportsmanlike. Once Marco entered he couldn't help but feel hungry as the smell of bacon, egg, toast & more fled into his nose. He casually moved over to Alfonzo who was already seated, he sat down next to him. They spoke about their mornings and how hectic Marco's was, he left out the part of Ophelia – speaking of which, every time the Diaz would look to the front, there she'd be. Always smiling suggestively at him, only making him more uncomfortable.
The servants brought food out to all who were present, a very healthy meal indeed, one of which would've sent Marco over the moon to receive back home. His body still hadn't adjusted to the copious amount of food he had ingested yesterday, so he took it easy but was sure to eat enough that'd show gratefulness.
After everyone was done, Queen Moon tapped her glass with a spoon to call the attention of all present.
"After much debate, we have come to a new census on the way the Choosing will be carried out this year. A contestant will not be dropped after tonight, or any other night. Except for the last night where the winner will be announced, this is to ensure that all contenders get the same amount of time to show off their ability to our daughter." A few murmurs started between a group of three at the furthest possible place from the monarchs, Alfonzo and Matthew were looking at each other – both were quite smart and were presumably trying to figure out why it had changed. Marco, on the other hand, was smiling at Moon – nobody else noticed but her, to which she replied in her own gentle smile.
She had bought Marco the full 13 days, that could work. But considering all that happened over day 1, what would happen over the next 12?
Notes: What'd you think? That felt much better, I wanted Moon to not be completely evil, and not aware of River's abuse. I had to go through a bit of thought for that because I wasn't sure where I wanted Moon to be. I think she'll fit in given more time but right now it's like a sore thumb.
Anyway! I enjoyed writing that scene with Ophelia + Marco, and the scene with Marco running for the castle to get his clothes.
Finally, please do Review, gives me motivation! And you can also leave constructive criticism or any suggestions for the story, always nice to see fan interactivity!
Peace~