Notes: Heyo I'm back! Took a little while, and I tried to finish this chapter yesterday but it got to 5am and I thought... Oh dear, I can't do this xD So it came out today, hope you enjoy 3
InfiniteClockWise: I hope they use protection too, I don't know if I can make it as 'epic' as the Brave one but I'll try my best :) It's hard to write slow motion :P - And yeah, I stuck with the kinky one, and I'm not too sure if I want Ophelia to have a redemption. We'll have to see what happens :3
Keyblade: Haha, I really enjoyed reading your reactions to most of the chapters :) And yup, maybe Markus might make a mega comeback (I really liked the alliteration so I put 'mega' at the end :P I'm childish)
Guest W/TheBigReview - Yeah it might not be 'M', but I'm a noob writer and wanted to be safe :P Yup, Starco isn't ready yet, and it is stupid that she would trust Marco so much, but I don't think that it's just Marco she trusts. A part of her wants to stay in the castle and bring down the monarchy, perhaps Marco is an enabling-device she can use for that goal? Hormones are not love, I agree completely, she is a 16 year old girl though xD I think we all were run by emotions at some point or another - the girls has been denied any kind of relationship with a male of her own age forever, I thought she wouldn't want to lose that. Finally, going backwards, I know Starco isn't ready - but the problem is, this entire story revolves around 2 weeks. You can't write love in 2 weeks so I had to cut corners in some places, yup, I might have a sequel where they escape and come back to finish it off with Ophelia/Daddy dearest, who knows. But for them to trust each other to do that I need a really trusting relationship :)
Anywhoo, that's all from me! :) Enjoy~
Star's Room
The girl was mulling over what Glossaryck said to her earlier, had she made the right choice? She liked Marco… But, she trusted Glossaryck. The girl didn't want to leave either party hanging, she wanted to take back the throne for herself and her mother, rid themselves of the king and Ophelia for good; but were those really her desires? Was she just whisked up in a whirlpool of-
A faint knock followed by the sound of an old door creaking its way open notified Star of an intruder. A light blue dress covered most of the door way, trimmed with a darker shade and light pearls dotted throughout: It was her mother. "Oh… Hi mom." She said solemnly as the Butterfly proceeded to relax on her bed with a book in hand.
"Hello sweetie." The mother cooed softly, the Queen stepped forward to sit down on the edge of the bed, "Has Glossaryck come to talk to you yet?" This captured Star's attention. How did she know Glossy came earlier?
"What do you mean?" The Princess asked questioningly, "How did you know he was here?" She put the book face down on her chest now, the girl wore he famous light green dress with a pink octopus scrawled on it.
The mother chuckled and looked at her daughter, "Who do you think was willing to help him get you out? None of the maids would do that." A look of realisation dawned on Star, Glossaryck was a librarian, sure he knew a few tricks in the castle but he couldn't single-handedly get Star out unnoticed. "It was my plan to get you out, it's no longer safe here… Your father, well, he's not happy – fist of all," The older man scratched her neck and had a thoughtful look on her face, "and secondly, 'Phe has been experimenting for a while, and I think she's finally found out that she could have you killed if she so desired… I didn't notice earlier, however, with everything that's gone on recently—" The mother had her eyes locked on Star's, the book fell off Star's chest and closed shut. The ghost of Glossaryck flashed through Star's eyes when she looked at her mother, both of them wanted her gone for her own safety. She didn't want to leave though.
"Mom I don't want to leave, I want to stay and fight! If I run away then I'm still trapped, I'd always be on the run, living a lie! I don't want that kind of life—"
"But it'd be a life." Her mother intervened, "You'd be alive and that's all that matters." It always ended up like this, any hopes of a civil conversation were flattened the moment either of them opened their mouths, a ticking bomb waiting to go off in every conversation. In Star's stupid, hormonal mind – it took her a while to piece it together properly, but finally she understood the reason why her mother and her had these kinds of discussions. Why she couldn't seem to move anywhere without sneaking around or having a massive fight.
All I have to do is get rid of Ophelia.
Was the whimsical, not entirely correct but not wrong answer she came up with, a life in captivity isn't a life - it's a prolonged death and Star didn't like it one bit. "Mom, I know you're trying to look out for me," the Princess wore a sweet, innocent smile but an underlying bloodlust protruded through every pore. "But I'm staying here, and I'm going to win. I see where you and Glossy are coming from, however, this is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Marco is my once-in-a-lifetime chance to end this, I don't think I'll ever see outsiders again for the rest of my pathetic life if I let the Choosing slip away."
The girl might've been suicidal, perhaps a little maddened, nonetheless she had made up her mind.
Archery Competition
"Marco Diaz!" The announcer called, Well here goes nothing. The teen thought to himself as he grabbed a hold of the bow and progressed to the centre point. The whispers began as he moved, 'Haha, a worker-class, I'll bet he misses by 50 yards.' 'Look at the peasant trying to fit in.' 'He's going to suck.' The boy didn't need to respond. The boy felt strangely calm, as if his body had fell into an autopilot. All his muscles felt surprisingly responsive.
All I have to do is crush them.
He couldn't see anything other than his destination, all faces blurred into a mass of grey. The Diaz grasped his bow tightly and plucked a feathered arrow from the quiver. Banishing any thoughts of doubt from his head, the man spread his feet apart – strong like a mountain, twisted his torso, lined the bow up and pulled the arrow to fit snuggly in the string.
'Perfect form.' Matt thought to himself, he was standing by the punch. He himself had fulfilled 1/5th of his deal to Ophelia. 1 Bullseye down, 4 more to go. They had each person fire 1 shot and then move onto the next contender, going around in a loop with each iteration gradually getting a target further away. He was currently in 1st.
Marco banished thoughts of failure from his psyche, leaving only a calm, dangerous, rampaging sea in their demise. I can pull it further. He said to himself, the string beginning to leave a slight whine in the extension. That'll do. The 'pleb' waited a moment, his karate lessons had taught him the importance of waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Once the wind had stopped its fluttering, he took a deep breath in, and out, he released the arrow emotionlessly. Somehow, when it was released, he could've sworn that he saw the string collapse in on itself, a harsh whip produced as the arrow launched itself – tearing through the opposing air and leaving a high-pitched whistle before embedding itself 3cm from a bullseye.
Any whispers of the boy immediately ceased, leaving a stunned crowd before the boy snapped out of his daze in amazement of what he just did. Turning around to face people he just chuckled slightly "Beginner's luck I guess." What the hell was that? He thought to himself making his way over to Alfonzo who was up next.
"Al-Alfonzo Dolittle!" The announcer called, it took him a moment, he was slightly stunned by the performance, meanwhile, Emilia was proudly smiling to herself and her co-workers.
"That's my boy!" She happily clapped. Phil, her annoying man-friend elbowed her in the side. "I mean, very good shot sir!" The servant corrected, putting a finger on her lips and wearing a professional façade.
"Wow that was amazing!" The Dolittle said to Marco as he passed the teen.
"Oh no, it really was beginner's luck." He responded sheepishly, "Now go show them a bullseye."
"Aye aye captain." Al wore a determined face and moved up to the stage.
King River was focused on Marco still, the strange worker-class who made it in with Alfonzo Dolittle… What a unique pair of people. His hunter's intuition was telling him that there was going to be trouble brewing with those two around, but his egotistical king side was demanding that he accepts their challenge and crush them publicly.
Alfonzo arrived on the scene, but no one was whispering – after experiencing what they just saw, it was hard for any of them to talk negatively about the 'wild cards'. All of them were holding their breaths at what could transpire in just a few moments, their worries were proven to be truthful. The boy, likewise to the Diaz, had a perfect shot: A bullseye. Upon entering the straw target, a few flakes of dust exploded from the surface demonstrating just how devastating his shot was. This put Al and Matt joint 1st and Marco at 3rd.
"Hey Marco!" Matt called as he approached the other teen with a glass of punch in-tow, "That was a good shot earlier, your form was perfect!" He cried, the Diaz shrugged and stuck with his excuse that the shot was purely luck. That was when Alfonzo came down to greet the other two, "you too Al! That was a great shot."
The rest of the event passed by rather quickly, on the second try though, Marco couldn't seem to find the same kind of focus he had earlier. His body wouldn't move the way it did and he couldn't aim nearly as well as before, luckily, his amazing first shot did him a favour and still placed him in the top 8 at the end. Alfonzo and Matt had battled for the title the entire time, it was mostly punch for punch until the last round where the pressure and inexperience had caught up with Al and the boy had slipped with the arrow before it was fully lined up and ended up missing the bullseye by ~10cm. It was mostly a friendly rivalry between the two, Matthew had finished his quest to score 5 bullseyes. 'That's a win for me.' He thought to himself, glancing at Ophelia after scoring the 5th one who simply looked at him with an unimpressed face before returning to the Chosen. Truth be told, she had only done that to get on his nerves; it worked like a charm.
The trio of teens met up afterwards to congratulate one another on their performances, "That was some amazing shooting Al." Matt said while instigating a high-five. The announcer called shortly after.
"Attention everyone!" He had a high-pitched voice that was somewhat nasally, blonde, short hair which radiated formality and bubbly-ness "We will now proceed with the feast, the time is currently 1600 hours and the fireworks will commence at 1900 hours. Please enjoy the food, the royalty will be dining among you today so make a good impression." With all said and done he left the stage, most of the others began to talk between themselves, but Marco kept an eye on the announcer a little longer. Once off the stage he walked between two lovely lady servants and grabbed on their waists, walking back towards the castle… Who the hell isn't corrupt here… The boy thought.
Shortly after, Emilia tapped Marco on the shoulder as he was sat down with his friends. "Excuse me, can I steal Mr Diaz from you guys for a second?" The other two paused for a moment before nodding their heads, both mouths filled with an assortment of meat. It sure was hunger-inducing: Archery.
"What is it Em?" Marco asked when they were out of ear-range.
The girl brought Marco into a close whisper, "I've heard rumours Marco. That Kelly girl? The one who's mysteriously showed up mid-choosing, she isn't just a servant… Some are claiming that she's an assassin – I'm not sure how true they are, but regardless, be careful. To think they'd hire a professional silent-killer…" The Diaz was shocked, he couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't change what he had to do at the end of the day, he should've suspected that Ophelia would hire some sort of backup, she never seemed like one to play fair.
"As if we didn't have enough to deal with, a deranged Princess, a monstrous King and now a literal assassin." He couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the predicament, what's next? A Widow? Wouldn't that be something, a demon of hell… "Yeah okay, I'll inform the other guys about her. See you in a bit Em."
"Aye boss!" She cheered, the teen sighed in the title she gave him, he joined the others back at the table and told them about the new info regarding Kelly – if that was her real name.
"An assassin?!" Matthew cried louder than he should've, to which the other two aggressively shushed him.
"But it's still just a theory, right?" Alfonzo asked.
Marco nodded, "yeah, but just in case I wanted to let you guys know about it."
The rest of their meal went without a hitch, afterwards, Matt left to go talk to Ophelia. He told the other two that he was going to see if he can question her about the assassin but in reality, he was going to be a lot more forceful with his questioning than the other two imagined. Meanwhile, Marco noticed that Queen Moon had arrived back, the sun was lowering and it was almost time for a massive bonfire to be alight. The Dolittle wanted to mingle more with the other chosen, any allies are good allies.
A short while later, whilst Marco was sipping on fruit juice, an ominous aura alerted him and he spun around to greet a young greenette. "You." He choked out.
"Aye, little old me." The lass greeted with a small grin, "I hear you've been busy lately." The girl was fumbling around with something behind her back but Marco couldn't quite pick up on it due to the lighting.
"I've uh… Been doing stuff…" He said, blinking a few times – still in shock that he might be talking to an assassin.
"You're nervous." The girl observed, Marco gulped which only made the charming girl giggle. "Don't worry I'm not here to kill you… Yet." This put the Diaz into a slightly suffocating state, "haha don't be so uptight, I'm just messing with ya."
"oh…" He responded. Simultaneously, the announcer spoke back up – he had a small hint of red lipstick covering his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" He cried, "It's now time for the fireworks!" A flurry of cheers came from everyone, including Ophelia and the King who were more than amped up to see some fire, "We'll start things off with a bang with the massive bonfire! My leadership, if you would." The King moved forward to grab a flaming arrow which he'd use to light the immense statue of wooden mishaps covered in oil.
"Ooo it's about to start." Kelly noted before turning to Marco face-to-face. "One more thing Marco," she brought the thing she was shuffling behind her back: A pack of cards, "do you know what one of the most basic trades in magic is? It's misdirection." She said as the girl finished shuffling and held her right hand up to Marco which held the deck of cards, "it's the ability to draw someone's attention to one place, while you prepare something in another place… Useful, but not entirely by itself. You see, if you really want to get the most out of it, you need extra skills, for example, sleight of hand." The girl finished as she shook the deck of cards held up to Marco and made an ace mysteriously appear at the front of the deck.
"Why are you telling me this?" He sounded perplexed as to why the assassin (which was now pretty much confirmed) would teach him this.
"Because my dear sir, you're looking over here… And not looking over there." The boy followed Kell's now extended arm to see an Ophelia with a wicked smile painted on her, and then the King who also had a devious smile on his face – the arrow had been pulled back now. What are they… "What are they looking at?" The girl intervened his thoughts, "You see, that's not just a bonfire over there." Still curious as to what she meant the guy looked for another answer, "It's a grave." What does she mea—The boy looked further into the bonfire, that was when he noticed something barbaric. Savage, absolute evil. Everything on there. It was all books and shelves from the library. "Seeing it now? Good luck saving him." No.
The Diaz attempted to run, he dropped the punch and made a B-line for the tower of knowledge. The other Chosen spotted him running like a madman, "Marco what are you—" Al cried as the pursuing teen chased past him.
"Stop!" Marco cried to the king, God dammit these stupid clothes won't let me run, MOVE LEGS! The boy tried with every ounce of being to make it, but it was at least 200 metres away and the arrow had just been released. A harsh whiz ruptured past Marco's ear and caused him to fall down with a thud, by the time he lifted his face out the dirt the arrow made contact; a gigantic boom echoed through the fields as the Diaz had been thrown back a few metres. "NOOOOOO!" He screamed but the noise had been cancelled by the explosion, all that was left was a flaming mountain of wood. Marco had fallen to his knees and despair reverberated around his insides, he hadn't known Glossaryck for long – but he was a nice old man. He didn't do anything wrong, he served the castle for decades and this was his payment?
5 Minutes Earlier – Glossaryck
The old man awoke choking, he couldn't move his lungs too much from the pile of books toppled on his chest. Oh fuck. This isn't good. He noted, trying to collect anything he could. The man could just about see through a small gap and see the feast on-going about 300 metres away. He released what was going on now, how he was about to be silenced permanently for what he knew, this was a risk he had to take for Star… The man only wished that Star had taken him up on the offer, but he knew she loved him. Of course he knew and no matter what, he loved her – like a daughter he never had. "This. Sucks." He cried out once more, his beard had been caught underneath a table and pulled some hairs out Ouch, can't even die in peace huh. Dick move there king…
He knew that his time was coming to an end shortly, he saw the fiery arrow being passed onto the King in preparation for the shot, could he leave a message for Star? No. Anything would just get swallowed up in flames, he hadn't the breath to shout something out.
"stop." Was a faint sound he heard, it was a ways away – one final attempt he moved his head and saw a boy sprinting with all he had for the monument. Marco? Heh, what a kid, trying to save an old-geezer like me… Maybe he isn't so—A sudden whoosh encumbered the pillar, the old guy had the wind knocked out of him, that's where he began to feel the heat rising. He was pretty the explosion caught something to fall on his leg. This is it then… Eh, this world is a shitshow in the end… I hope I meet you again someday Star Butterfly, and perhaps you too Marco Diaz. Just don't come see me too soon, I'd hate you guys for that.
With those final words uttered to himself, he allowed the flames to pass over the wood and onto his clothes, leaving the world with small regrets but many more fond memories.
End Notes: And with that, we have our first death. Rest in peace Glossaryck, we're entering the end game now.
Did you enjoy? Did you hate? Tell me in the reviews! Anything is accepted, feel free to voice all your opinions and I'll respond in the next chapter :D
See ya~