Hey. It's me. I've been gone for a long time, and I'm not really sure if any of you will pick the story back up… Heck I don't even know if I'll be picking the story up, this thing has nagged me for so long, and I really love the story. I adore what I've written and am proud of it. I really want to see it finished; I could sit here and type all the excuses I have for why I haven't worked on it these past… months... Wow it has been a while: But that's not what you're here for. I have been a terrible author, and I'm still learning; this is my first story that has gone anywhere, it's over 50k words right now! I have another announcement to make in the epilogue but right now: I present, Chapter 19.

Reviews:

To everyone, Celestialfyxen, thedarkone2002, ravangel As I said, I've been a terrible author, thanks for sticking with me and reading though 3

SixStringBass Your review helped me a lot, I'm not a good author in terms of technicality either, I've never made a story this large before so it really means a lot when I get criticism like yours, thank you so much - I'll try my best to be a better author in terms of characters and story!

Guest (Sorry I don't know how to specify you, chapter 18, Aug. 13th 2018) Yes! The romance isn't great, there's really no way for me to write a successful romantic connection between 2 people in the space of 2 weeks (in-world) and keep the action/drama pumping for other stuff. There's simply not enough time to dedicate to the two of them, I have to keep it moving. So I guess I'm using that psychological study that stated when two people are in life or death situations they tend to develop more romantic feelings for one another out of fear of loneliness when they die. Maybe Marco doesn't want to admit it yet but he's scared of dying.

InfiniteClockWise I do indeed like the 'kinky one' better myself, who knows, maybe Ophelia will get a redemption arc, or not... Hmmm? :)

Star's Room – Morning After

A darkness enveloped the girl's vicinity.

A coldness enveloped the girl's heart.

And a longing pain encumbered her will to move.

The girl found it hard to get angry with the king or Ophelia, she found it difficult to even piece thoughts together; not fair… why him, he was just the librarian… he was… my only friend… She had spent the night bawling her eyes out, red patches smudged themselves on her visage.

Outside Star's Room – Post-Bonfire, Night

Marco had informed Matthew and Alfonzo about the death of the old man; at first, they were taken aback by what they witnessed. The thought of someone burning alive in that thing petrified Al. Matthew had accompanied Marco to Star's room, trying to brainstorm how they'd break the news to her. Marco had seen Ophelia and Matt whispering before the arrow competition and wondered if there was something more to it, but disregarded it at the current time. He had more pressing concerns, "Matt I think you should let me handle this one alone." Matthew looked up for a moment at Marco but then agreed, he left, in search of answers from one of the culprits.

*Sigh* how am I even meant to break this kind of thing to her? The boy was stood outside the mahogany door now, his hand trembling as he reached to knock. *Knock knock* A bouncy Star tore the door open, "MARCO!" She screamed, embracing him into a hug "I saw the bonfire! It was super exciting! Like BOOM and POW!" Her room was poised as to not see the side where the archery competition happened, hence she couldn't have seen Marco running for the bonfire.

"Yeah…"

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Listen, Star… I have to talk to you about something, and it's… not pleasant." He guided her to the bed and sat her down.

"What is it?" She asked, still joyful but somewhat worried.

"The Princess and the King got to Glossaryck… We-… I wasn't able to save him… And under the guise of the bonfire, they… They had him" he choked; a lump stopped any proceeding words from emitting. He could feel an anvil crushing his chest. Star wasn't an idiot, she feared she knew what Marco was trying to tell her and began to tear up.

"No… No Marco, there's no way they'd actually… Do it. Right? You're joking, you can't be serious" her breathing began to hasten.

"Star… They killed Glossaryck." He managed, seeing her face contort into a nightmare of pain, guilt, sadness and disbelief. He wanted to avoid telling her exactly how he died, fearing it was simply too brutal for her to know. Maybe some other time.

"no." She pleaded, tears rolling swiftly down her cheeks "they didn't… No."

"I'm sorry." It was then when Marco took her into an embrace. Upon feeling her limp body shudder in his arms, he also started to tear, he brought his hand to the girl's head and began to stroke her hair softly, "he loved you Star." More wheezing came from the little Butterfly. This continued for some time, Marco occasionally caressed her head. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"yeah… okay…" she cooed and began to fall sideways onto her bed. Marco tucked her in and left a kiss on her forehead before checking once more she was okay and began to leave. He needed to get back at them for what they did.

Nothing happened for a while. 4 days were left now, Star remained cooped up in her room, Marco had tried to interact with her but she seemed: Weak. Queen Moon had also tried to talk to her but got cut off before any real development happened by River who demanded the Queen remain by his side for the time being; it seems a certain assassin had tipped him off that the Queen had been talking to Star.

Matthew talked to Ophelia about the plot but she pleaded innocent, arguing that she had no knowledge of the murder and that she wants to see proof of her involvement. Marco was out of moves, he lost contact with Star, Ophelia, Matthew – who has now been commanded to stay away from Marco. Thankfully, he still had Alfonzo and Emilia, both of which were hungry to get revenge for Glossaryck, Alfonzo wanted to avenge the unjust murder of him, while Emilia wanted to bring down the monarchy because Glossaryck was always kind to the servants and even bailed them out of trouble sometimes if they had messed up. His death meant more than it appeared.

Day 10 – Breakfast

Marco & Al were keeping a low profile, spooning the remainder of cereal into their mouths. A faint smell of ash could still be made out around the castle, it dug itself into every crevice; a constant reminder of the failure Marco had to endure. Al wore a simple green shirt with black suit pants and a belt, Marco wore a simple white buttoned-shirt and black suit pants. If only I figured it out earlier, I could've stopped River. Pulled Glossaryck out, done something.

"Marco, what's the plan now? Are we still doing this? Can we still do this?" Marco looked up and thought for a minute.

"I-I don't know. What can we do Al? We played our hand and lost. There's only a few days left, Ophelia and River have complete domination right now."

"Do you still have the recording of the confession?" A few candidates began to leave, a few had formed friendship groups during the tournament or at least it seemed they had, most were in the illusion that they were cunning and pretending to be friends in order to find out weaknesses and destroy others. Of course, that kind of strategy doesn't work if everyone is attempting the same thing.

"Yes, but it's no good if we don't have the support of the town, one recording isn't enough to overthrow the king – we need force. People who are willing, right now there's now way for us to even sneak out-… Wait." A plan hatched in Marco's head, he knew how he'd be able to get the support of the town, but it'd require a sacrificial lamb. "Hey Al."

"Hm?" The two leaned in.

"I don't need to sneak out… I can just be thrown out." It took a moment but Al finally realised what Marco sought.

"No, that's potentially suicide – you'd be taking a massive gamble if you decided to go through with something like that. What if they don't listen to you? Then what?" Diaz knew the consequences of what he was about to do, if it went wrong, he could be sentenced to death, but at this point – he had to try.

"Alfonzo, listen to me. You have to get Star ready for the night of the Choosing; there's a possibility I won't make it with the town so don't arouse too much suspicion, but I'll aim to be ready for the ball, when security is at its lightest. They'll be so many guests they won't be able to do anything bold like have massive squads on each entrance, for a kingdom as 'great' as Mewni they can't afford to look weak and be scared of a boy." The main door creaked and Emilia slipped in, Perfect timing Marco thought. "Hey Em!" He whisper-shouted at her, she casually strolled over.

"What's going on boss?" To which he just gazed at her annoyed, "Right… Captain!"

*Sigh* "Forget it. Anyway, I need to ask you for a favour."

"What is it?" The servant asked, rolling up her sleeves, "Need me to beat someone up for ya?" The boy ignored her jokes and rolled along.

"I need you to get the gates open for me on the night of the ball."

"It'll be difficult, may I ask why?"

"Glossaryck will have a sleeping potion in one of his books, just slip it into the guard's drinks or something, and, for the 'why'… Well, you'll find out real soon." He stated as the boy rose and began to walk over to one of the more pompous boys who was surrounded in a couple of his gang. "Hey fuckface!" Marco shouted; the kid's head reared around.

"You talking to me plebeian?" The noble said as he rose, a panic-struck Emilia started to move to grab Marco and make him apologise but Al stopped her, whispering that it was fine… Or… Should be.

"Oh what? You're deaf as well as a dick?!" The boy responded.

"You really gonna start this common-boy?" The noble rose and stomped over to Marco, he was slightly taller, a cm or two. He had curly blonde hair and wore a red leather jacket – they weren't always in formal attire for the duration of the trip. Marco didn't wait to respond he began to throw punches, all of them connected and sent the noble crumbling down with a bloody nose. "You'll pay for that you barbarian!" He screeched as he jumped up and returned a few blows, most of which missed but a few hits got in on the Diaz's body.

"Emilia," Al whispered, "shout for the guards."

She was still a little taken aback by what began to happen but played along "GUARDS! GUARDS!" She screamed, a bolt of troops made their way in through the gigantic doors, clanking metal armour as they approached the teen in full-force.

"OI YOU! STOP!" They cried, and began to pry young Marco off of the other noble.

"He just started attacking me!" The noble pleaded, slightly hard to understand due to his inflamed lips.

"Let go of me!" Marco cried and begin to throw himself around, making as much of a scene as possible. That was when Matthew and Ophelia jumped in who were in the gardens but heard screaming from the dining room.

"Marco what'd you do?!" Matthew screamed. The howl of King River was next to approach, this was good for the bastard-king, he had been waiting for a chance to get rid of Marco. With the Chosen being seen as practically nobles during the Choosing it had been difficult to remove Marco without arousing any suspicion but if he used this then he could throw Marco out and free himself of that little prick.

"BOY! CEASE!" He commanded. At this, everything fell quiet – the only remaining noises came from a whimpering noble who was clutching his nose, it seemed slightly bent out of shape. This is where the real trouble began for Marco, he had to be careful with how he handled the King. One wrong word and his life would be over.

"Yes, your majesty?" He answered calmly.

"What is going on here?!" The King interrogated Emilia and the guards.

"Sir!" The guards were first to answer, "From what we've seen it seems that Diaz had began to attack Sir Porfey."

"Is this true, boys?" He addressed Marco and Desmon (the noble). Both nodded in agreement. The king was a little stunned at how Marco had easily given himself up, something about it didn't sit right with him but right now he could only see the finish goal in sight; he was so close to getting rid of Marco that it blinded him. "Diaz you agree you attacked Porfey unfairly, unjustly and in bad taste?"

"I do, your majesty." The King thought for a minute before stating his result.

"Marco Diaz, henceforth you are excluded from the Choosing and banished from the Castle, never to return here or next time I will have you executed." The boy tried his best to look in pain, as if leaving this hellhole was ever going to actually make him upset, he was a little sad that he didn't get to say goodbye to Star. However, he hoped that he could return in a short while, with an army at his side. Marco had the recording always on him, refusing to leave it unguarded while Kelly, 'phelia and everyone else untrustworthy was lurking about the castle.

Castle Entrance

Marco had been picked up by the guards and thrown out, they pointed spears at him and insisted that he leave the premise immediately. He obliged and began to make his way toward town, in pursuit of the villagers.

Library

Emilia made her way into the library; she took a minute as the woman passed Glossaryck's old desk. She slid her hands down the wood and said a prayer for the old man, he was quite the metaphorical father-figure to a lot of servants, it was sad that she'd never hear his stupid dry-humour again. After the pause she began to rummage through shelves in attempts to find the right botanical book for her potion. At last she had stumbled across it, flipping through the pages she found a sweet little concoction. A few leaves that were easily procured, some old bread, a few sprinkles of sugar and other spices. All things considered, a very easily made drink.

Star's Room

A knock at the door signalled her wake. Her hair was a mess, it was frazzled and, in her eyes, she had dark bags underneath them too. Her lips were chapped and the food Marco had been leaving her was barely touched, thankfully the water had been though – so at the very least she was surviving. After a short cough, the Butterfly greeted the intruder, "Hello?"

"Star, it's me." Al whisper-shouted.

"Al?" She asked, looking up, finding it a little hard to focus on his image.

"Listen, Marco wanted me to tell you something, it's very important." She blinked a few times to try and wrap her head around what she'd just been told.

"Yeah sure what is it?" She croaked.

"He's been banished from the cast—"
"WHAT?!" She shouted back instantly.

"No, wait! It's part of his plan. He's trying to raise an army to come and invade the castle, take down the princess and king."

"That's reckless, that's on the verge on insanity! How does he plan to do it?"

"I don't know. But, he said that you need to be ready for the night of the Choosing ball. Listen, I've got other stuff to prepare for, but I'm just informing you that you need to be ready on that night or all of this will go to waste!" Al begged, afterwards, he left, leaving Star alone on her bed to fall back into her thoughts.

Marco is gone… He's… Gone to get an army? That makes no sense, it's dangerous, I don't want him to go… She teared up a bit what if he dies… What if… I don't want him to go too… It was an emotional time for her, she couldn't stop the tears from falling and anything would set them off. Part of her knew she had to be strong, had to stand up because it's what Glossaryck would've wanted. It's just… So hard…

Town

Huh. I made it, now where do I start? Marco thought as he proceeded down the cobbled streets, a slightly voice behind him triggered alertness. "Hey, how are ya?" The stranger greeted, Marco whipped around "Name's Tom, nice to meet ya!"

Notes:

So that's 19. Little shorter, I'm still getting into the swing of things, is there somethings that make no sense? Probably, I didn't proof read it because I'm lazy xD Hope it was still understood though, I think I usually try to dictate too much what is going on in world, as if I'm directing the story rather than just telling you it. Which is somewhat different because it takes your imagination from the equation, should I start to leave it more up to you? Let me know.

THE BIG NEWS: If anyone wants to take this story and add to it in their own way, let me know. I'll elaborate, I'm not leaving the story! I'm not leaving it for adoption or whatever, I'm not discontinuing it - I love this story and I really want to see it through, but I know that it's difficult to have to wait for new chapters to a story you adore. Therefore, if anyone is interested in continuing their own version of the story, on their own channel where they control it; just let me know. I doubt anyone will, but the offer from me is there, I'm opening this up to you guys too, just let me know first in a PM and I'll give the blessing on this story :)

So with the big stuff out the way, how's your lives going? Mine's decent, I've gone into full revision mode now, my final exams for College are in late May-Mid June. So it's gonna be rough for me, I've got 2 weeks off now, with 1 week left, I go back 22nd April.

Did you enjoy? Do you got any constructive criticism? Let me know all in the reviews, it cheers me up when I know people are reading!

See ya around~
vK