Notes: Hey, I'm back! Next day delivery, woohooo! It feels good to be writing again, makes me happy when I finish a chapter.
Reviews:
Bedrock Armor - Thanks, I did deal with a lot of writer's block. But, I know where I want the story to end, it's about getting there that is the problem for me, and making enough events per chapter as to not get boring. I also appreciate the offer a lot, I'll definitely ask if I need some help with ideas! :D To be honest for me, I'm making most of this up as I got along XD I know it sounds terrible, as I said, first real story, I'm a terrible writer and I do have ideas for twists, turns, who characters are, the way they speak, how they act to each other, if their traitorous or not, but I don't ever write them down. Because, I think this is a really simple story, there's not a lot I need to keep track of, but yeah, I do sometimes lose track of what I've actually said already. Funny story, I was writing this and thought "WAIT, Did I already say Kelly was an assassin? OH shit..." So I had to look up the previous chapter and Ctrl+F 'Assassin' through chapters xD
SugarQueen97 - I agree, it would be certainly tragic if Marco didn't return to Star. I'm afraid it would tear the little Butterfly in two ;-;
Slimster22 - I understand the concern, and thanks for also understanding that I only had 4 days to play with, not a whole lot for making an 'army' of sorts, but I think I've done a decent job and subverting the expectation of an 'army'. I'd like to also think it's not much of a stretch to assume there'd be a rebellion of sorts against a tyrannical ruler such as King River. People hate the guy xD ... To do with 'phe, I'm not going to say I won't give her a redemption arc, because I could go either way - but I like to think that Matthew strongly believes he can save her, whether she's manipulating him or he's just idealistic is a grey zone even for me. I'm pretty sure I said it before but, I'm experiencing this story with you all! I don't know fully what's going to happen between points A & B :)
Without further adieu, Enjoy~
"You what?" Marco exclaimed, stunned at Kelly's request.
"Like I said, I'm going to need your help to off 'phe."
"Aren't you two friends?"
"Friends?!" Kelly exclaimed with wide eyes. "That bitch has my family captive."
Hm. Well, a surprise to be sure.
"Okay," she continued, "you don't have any reason to trust me, I get it – I wouldn't trust me either," A deadpanned Marco stared at her, "yes that isn't helping my case but the point is, she's kind of screwed me: Royally. Now I want to get back at her."
Marco rubbed his chin, "And how exactly has she screwed you over?"
"She was supposed to release my family and release me of my duties after Glossaryck, but she's held them against me to continue work for her. I've had enough of listening to her." The girl clearly seemed upset by the Princess' actions.
Marco paused to think of his options, "You're right Kelly. I can't trust you, you killed the only father Star ever had – that's not something that can be whisked away by an apology; speaking of which you haven't said sorry to her yet, right?—"
"You really think an apology will wipe over what I've done?" She cut in.
"God no! But it's a start." The two were heaving quite heavily, to people passing by it seemed like an argument between two lovers, that was until you picked up the words in the conversation. Funnily enough 'murder' isn't exactly a lover's quarrel topic. "I'm sorry Kelly, but I cannot trust you." Her face sunk deeply at this: Deflated. "Don't worry about Ophelia for much longer, I'm sure someone as much of an opportunist as you are will figure out when to escape."
That was when the blonde-haired woman came out, after looking around she finally spotted Marco in the alley, "M, we need you in here!"
"I'm sorry," he repeated one final time before shouting back "Yea okay I'm coming!"
'Fine, if he won't help me, I'll do it myself.'
Old Crumbs Tavern – Backroom
"We've hit a snag M." Susan, the blond-haired woman, said as Marco entered the room. The majority of the council had their hands sprawled across papers, researching into entry-points and designs for the castle.
"Why what's wrong?" The aforementioned boy asked while making his way to the counter.
"See kid," the ginger man – Dashon – spoke, "our hopes to get more people on-board haven't worked out as smoothly as we thought." Visibly confusion could be seen on the boy's face.
"I thought you said people were willing to help?"
"They were, until our previous leader died for what the town assumes is defying the King…"
"H-how many people do we have now?" He dared ask, hoping for at least 40.
"4." Tom responded.
"f-fo-four?!" Marco repeated, choking on his words.
"Mhm."
"F-O-U-R?" He spelt it out.
"Yup." The teen did feel a little faint in hearing the news, how could they possibly raid a castle, with 19 people? It's beyond insanity, even if security is light, they'll still be around 30 guards across the whole castle.
"We might have to give it up guys." Tom observed; he was currently sitting against the wall with his arms crossed.
"We can't." Marco stated, still a little wobbly in his knees, "This will be the only time that we can attack, after that day, the security will be back to maximum for a long, long time…" Star too… I can't leave her there alone. How? How can I fix this, come on come on think think!
"Everyone here is willing to give up their lives for the cause, but we want to be sure, is this Princess worth it?" The other ginger sibling, Tess said.
The sudden question disrupted Marco's thoughts, "Yeah. Yes, she is: I can promise you she'd be fair, just and kind to her people. She's nothing like her father."
… "okay." Tess added, "I'm in. Suicidal? Probably. Insane? Absolutely, but I suppose in the end, all the best people are a lil bit insane ay?"
"To hell with it." Tom chimed in, "I'm in." This snowball of agreement rolled into a gigantic flurry of agreements between members, it made Marco's heart feel a little warm to know this many people believed in Star. Even if it's purely out of hatred for the current King.
"You might die." Marco affirmed with them, "this will cost dearly…" His voice fell a little faint knowing that he could've just been the key which opens their coffins. However, they all just kept smiling at him, ready to give it their all. 19 people…
The Next Day – Angie Diaz
A sudden knock on her room door alerted the mother to a guest. "Just one moment please." Her nasally voice cried out as she rushed for the door and opened it to greet a couple of soldiers, they both wore silver armour with gold laced pieces working their way up their arms and across their helmets. One of the men had scruffy black hair underneath his helmet, around 6 foot 2. While the other was about 6 foot and had what looked like no hair but it could've just been too short to see while he wore his helmet. "What's up?" Her bubbly personality evident in her words.
"Miss, I'm sorry but your son," a look of dread lashed across Angie's face, she immediately began to fear the worse of what could've happened to her baby boy "has left the Choosing." The soldier finished, the million mile per hour thoughts cease to leave her much less concerned.
"Oh? Is that it… Well that's too bad, when can I expect him home by?"
The two soldiers looked at each other before responding, "Well miss… He wasn't taken out of the Choosing for the usual reason; he attacked a fellow candidate and was thrown out of the castle; he should still be in the capital. But, it's really anyone's guess as to when he'll be back…" The soldier's voice dropped off toward the end, noticing that Angie's face had become quite livid at the crown for just tossing her boy out without means to return, and also a hint of curiosity pecked her mind for why her son would do something as terrible as attacking another candidate. He must've deserved it? Right?
Next, it was the black-haired soldier's turn to speak, "Furthermore, we're here to escort you back to your home, your son isn't in the choosing anymore so we're afraid we'll have to remove you from these lodgings."
"Well that's too bad." She added, "Allow me to grab my things then we can go." Oh Marco my boy, what have you done?
Star's Room – Midday
The trademark knock at the door had Star perked up, she was currently sitting at her desk reading a new book she found 'The Blood Painted Sky' It was about a guy who tried to save a girl that he used to know after she was abducted from her home, after a long painful search which lasted multiple years he finally found her at this demon Lord's ball and they ended up dancing together under a wonder-of-the-world known as the 'Blood Moon' and they were bound together afterward. That was as far as she got in the book before being disturbed.
Star opened the door, only to reveal a chestnut coloured attendant on the other side. "Oh Emilia?" Star asked as she opened the door more fully to see that she came with food on a tray.
"Hey Star, wanna grab a bite to eat?" She asked, raising the tray which held pudding… And it was a lot of pudding, enough for maybe 6 people. The Butterfly began to drool just seeing the copious amount of sugar.
"Where'd you find all that pudding?" She gulped.
"A magician never reveals her secrets," Emilia responded as she laid the tray on a bed-side table, "but, it had something to do with a key I found in the Chef's pockets." Emilia winked, this caused Star to let out an adorable giggle. "Shall we dig in?" Em asked as she plopped herself down on Star's bed, to which Star happily dove next to her, "WE SHALL!" She claimed as the two began their feast.
A few minutes passed by, Emilia had eaten about half of her cup while Star was already on her second, "Say, Star – I've been wondering something" Emilia began,
Star – who was currently half a spoon of pudding in her mouth replied "Ahuh?"
"Are you not scared of this… Of dying?"
"Well… Duh, of course I am."
"How can you charge ahead then? I've been scared since Glossaryck's passing, he was important and a key figure but they… They got rid of him so easily…" Emilia's usually cheery attitude had been replaced by something much darker, her smile had inverted.
"My whole life I've been bullied, told I wasn't good enough, but here I am – on the verge of change, Glossaryck believed in me, so much so he gave his life for me. I can't let it go to waste, yeah sure I'm sad. I'll be doing something completely boring and he'll just pop into my head, and BAM I'm sad. Unfortunately, he raised me to be better than that, to be strong. When this is all over Emilia, let's get some ice cream! Soooo much ice cream that we explode!" This brought a small smile to Emilia's face.
"Yeah… I think I'd love that." Em smiled sincerely at the young Princess' offer.
The two spent the next ten minutes gossiping about random things before they finished their dessert and Emilia decided it to be best if she gets back to work. "Well, I'll get going then Boss! Thanks for the talk."
"Roger that." Star replied as she saluted. "One final thing. Do you think Marco likes me?" It took Emilia a little by surprise.
"You haven't heard him talk about you the way he does when you're not around, he doesn't like you Star: He loves you, heck he's fighting a country for you right now." With those final words, Emilia slipped out the room – leaving Star to sit on her back and smile to herself 'Yeah… He is…' After a small pause she returned to her book, "The two lost themselves, intertwining with incredible beauty among the crimson that covers them…"
Recreational Room
Alfonzo entered the room silently, he spotted Matthew sitting by the window talking to another Chosen group about random crap. Al needed to inform Matt of the plan Marco had, he currently wasn't informed about what is going on. "Psst!" He not-very-subtly shouted for Matthew who looked up a little blank at the ridiculous effort Al put into that. "Matthew can we talk?" Matt excused himself from the group to speak.
"Hey Alfonzo, do you have any idea what Marco planned? I mean the guy just starting pounding into Desmon."
"Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it? He just got fucking kicked out of the competition, what's not to worry about Al?!" He whispered back, a little sarcastically might I add.
"It's fine, on the night of the ball, Marco plans to siege the castle and overthrow the king."
"And… the only way he could do it is if he got kicked out…" Matt pieced the puzzle together himself, realising that Marco wasn't intending to stay out of the competition. "Can I ask, what's the plan for 'Phe?"
Al was a little stunned by Matt's apparent care for Ophelia but responded, not really taking much care into it, "I imagine we'll try to throw her into the dungeon, arrest her. If it comes down to it though, I suppose nobody would be opposed to killing—"
"No." Matt stated firmly, "Ophelia is just a damaged young girl, she's no threat really. I know I can help her if I just have more time, she can be helped."
"Matt, she has killed multiple people, threatened many more – what part of that isn't a threat?" Al pleaded for sense.
"Fair point, but I will not let you harm her. I can talk to her; we can talk this out diplomatically it doesn't have to end—"
"Matthew! Wake up and smell the air, it's too late for that now! You will not talk to her about this plan, if she gets wind of what Marco's up too it's all for nothing, Glossaryck's sacrifice is for nothing if you let her win." Matthew couldn't really think of a comeback, what Al was saying is correct.
"I need to speak with her." Matthew began to leave for where he could find Ophelia at this time.
"No Matt! You can't." Al said as he grabbed a hold of Matt's arm and attempted to stop him, emphasise on attempted.
"Let me go Dolittle." Matthew commanded as he pushed Al away and broke out to into a jog for 'phelia. 'Shit' Thought Al.
Gardens
'phe was currently sitting near the pond where her and Matt spent their first kiss together – in the bushes… It still made her feel something deep in her core whenever she thought about it, it was like nothing she felt before when making out with a man. Think of the devil , Matthew was walking over to her, it was evident enough that he had intended to speak about something privately so she stood up to greet him a little further away from the pond. "Hello handsome."
"Phelia. Please make up with Star and Marco… I would feel a lot better if you did that." A perplexed look plagued the Princess' face.
"Apologise?" She laughed, "Why on Mewni would I do that?"
"You've won, okay… Marco's gone, Star's left alone, Glossaryck's dead – there's nothing left for you to do."
"My dear, that's where your wrong. I'm only getting started with my… Conquest." A freakish smile struck her face, putting her into a borderline insanity level of crazy.
Matt was about to debate with her on the subject, but he noticed a little rustle behind her before a figure darted out and sprinted at her holding something which looked like a shiny dagger… DAGGER?! " 'PHE!" He shouted as the man pushed her out of the way, her eyes rolled to see what he was talking about and noticed the assailant too. Matt managed to stop the dagger before it reached Ophelia but it took the cost of his hand, "ARGHH!" He screamed, but was strong enough to grab a hold of the assassin with his spare hand, that was when the guards eventually made their way over. "GET DOWN!" They shouted as the lances aimed toward the intruder. Said intruder looked like they were preparing for a fight but in a sudden action, Matthew dived on them and dragged them to the ground so that Ophelia could get back up and take a look at who the perpetrator was… Surprise surprise: Kelly. The little vixen herself.
"You." The Princess spat. Kelly knew what this meant, she had failed in her mission and so her family was most likely going to be executed… A wave of despair flooded over her.
"What are you gonna do now, Princess? Kill my family?"
"You stupid whore, I never had your family – you're just too much of an idiot to recognise that incy wincy little bitsy of a fact! You're as much of an idiot as you appear to be… But regardless, even though you did just try an attack on my life I respect the hell out of your balls for that shit. Guards," Ophelia quipped, "Drag her to the dungeons. And also, get this man to the infirmary." She added, leading her hand to Matt's shaking hand, blood pooled its way out of the wound, leaving a small puddle on the floor.
The remainder of the day completed uneventfully.
Marco and co spent the next day preparing, grabbing any weapons they'd need. Most were rusted but they were better than nothing, armour wasn't really going to work for a part-stealth mission. They left most of the heavy armour out, only buying some gambison and light leather armour.
Star spent the same day finishing her book.
Angie spent the day returning to her old, broken home, still very much concerned for Marco. But he was a big boy now, he knew how to take care of himself. He was nearly 17.
Emilia thought about how she might not live a little longer and then made plans to go see a play with Phil in a week's time, assuming she lives that long. Needless to say, everyone in the room was shocked when she asked him out.
Alas, there were only 2 days left until the day of the ball.
End Notes: 2 days left.
That's definitely coming along. I know some of you are thinking "Wow, this is going by quick. Seems a little rushed." For that I'd like to say, there's no really a lot left to sort out. Sure, a bit of drama with Ophelia & Kelly perhaps. Angie is in a good place right now, got her out of the hotel thing she stayed in, back home, she's worried; that's a good ending for her right now, unless I decide to do a chapter focused on her or something. Marco has his 'army' of 19 people xD which is probably what you could muster up, people are scared, people have families, they don't want to die. Alfonzo has done his part of instigating more drama between Matt and Ophelia, he's being supportive as he should be. Linking on, Matt & Ophelia are having their whole debacle right now. So really, there's only Marco & Ophelia's side stories to finish before we converge at the ball.
What did you think of this chapter? Few grammatical errors? Probably. Spelling errors? Absolutely. Am I lazy? Of course.
Let me know in the reviews! I thank you all for reading! :D
Til next time,
vK