This chapters considerably shorter than the rest but with the small following it seems to have it was hard to work up the energy to write more. Thank you a ton to the continuous readers and followers and please continue to comment and favorite as it's what keeps me writing. This chapter was more focused on exposing more back story on Star and Marco while also introducing a new character. I also wanted to talk a bit more about Marco measuring up against Stars taste in men because let's face it guys, she has a taste and it's the dangerous type who are also cool and understanding.
"A game plan?" Cole blinked in surprise, digging into his ear as if to make sure he was hearing correctly, however Marco's determined nod answered the question for him.
"Yeah, you know, like a strategy? We need to have a good plan for when we shape the future right?" Both Star and Cole looked at the boy before returning to their respective tasks, Star was reading through her spell book and Cole was aging a flower.
After Ludos attack Marco and Star had realized that it didn't really matter where they went after leaving Mewni as the bird and his monsters would be able to track them via the wand anyway. With that in mind they had decided the best course of action was to simply return to Earth and go from there. They had left on bad terms with the Diaz family and had been nervous up their arrival, however when they entered the house they found that there was no one around.
"Don't worry," Cole had said, walking by the pair and propping himself up on the couch. "I figured your parents would overreact and there'd be a whole thing and that seemed really time consuming so I came over here this morning and sent them on a vacation."
Usually Marco would be on the verge of a panic attack at the mention of his parents being sent away by a stranger, however this time it was more of a blessing. The boy had taken their bags upstairs and unpacked in their respective rooms before returning to the living room where Star and Cole had begun casual tasks as if they had been living together their entire lives.
"A strategy huh? Oh man do we even need one? I mean that sounds so boring, how about we just play it by ear, sound good?" Star nodded in agreement without looking up from her tome and Cole flashed the boy a thumbs up.
"No we can't just 'play it by ear' I mean come on guys, we're shaping the future of everything how can you guys even be so calm?" Marco was getting worked up which finally got Stars attention, the bubbly girl hopped from her position and threw herself into him with a bone crushing hug.
"Relax Marco, it's not like we can do anything until something actually happens right?" her counterpart however didn't seem to share in her optimism and instead shrugged her off.
"Yeah I mean Marco we don't even know what it is that you two do that shapes the future, for all we know you two growing old and dying together could be what does it, stop treating this like war prep." Cole had dug out a soda from under the couch and cracked it open, the contents sprayed on his suit and with a snap of his fingers returned to the can as if nothing had happened.
"Am I the only one here that cares about, you know, shaping the future?" Once more Star and Cole shared an almost worried look before returning their attention to the now shouting boy. Star's eyes took on a softer edge and Marco felt almost sickened for the near pity he saw there.
"You know what whatever, screw it, clearly I'm the crazy one here for caring, sorry!" With a primal scream of rage he knocked a lamp off of a nearby table before he stormed upstairs, slamming the door to his room and sending the house into an awkward silence.
The time walker however seemed uninterested in the tantrum of the boy and seemed incredibly content to simply age and and then reverse the process over and over again. Star came to sit heavily next to him, observing the strange phenomenon that the man seemed to be doing so mindlessly. Every time the flower would begin to wilt and die a wrist flick would bring it back from the brink, straightening its stem and giving it new life.
"He always like that?" For a moment the girl didn't answer, she mulled the question over before answering.
"It's complicated, when we first met he was, like a lot, he would get really frustrated when I never took any of the fights or life or death situations seriously, I dunno it just makes him angry when he's the only one who's serious I guess." Cole nodded and finally allowed the flower to tip over and die.
"Sometimes," she started, looking off towards the ceiling and what would be Marcos floor. "Sometimes I think he's like that cuz life's just too much ya know? Like it's just way too much to deal with and he's just gotta let it out and the only way he knows how is to yell or hit something."
There was something distraught in her voice, as if the fact depressed her to no end. And maybe it did, for a dimensional princess who used adventure to fill the gnawing void in her heart caused by the overwhelming future there wasn't time to be spent brooding. However Marco was different, he was just a normal boy, and with the introduction of Star his world, his universe became so much grander and scarier. His way of dealing with it was by taking everything as seriously as possible, but to the girl, who had already seen so much of it, being serious was akin to being dead.
It wasn't the first time she had thought about their severe differences. Back when they had only been two best friends hanging out every day it had become quickly apparent that Marco wasn't a huge risk taker, or rather, he hated the idea of them. In his mind, if they could plan and avoid any problems, then they should take the time too, which came into play later when they created the Interdimensional Adventure Guide. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Star knew that worrying was the last thing that should be done. The universe and dimensional planes were chaotic, unfathomable places, the best thing to do was to take it head on and see what happened.
More than one argument had sprung up as a result of that thinking,
His straight laced, stick to the plan lifestyle was one of the very few deterrents that he had in Stars eyes and she was sure that if he abandoned those ways he would feel a freedom and openness that he had never known. Instead though, he clung to them, his fear and unease and the angst that came with his age formed a cocktail of anxiety that to Star was an adventure in itself, and not always a pleasant one. In fact, she would admit only to herself, it had been one of the major reasons that she had refused to look at Marco in a romantic fashion.
In a way they were just too different.
If Star were to compare Marco to all other romantic partners than she would easily be able to point out the core difference between them and him. Marco was safe, and the others were not and that was all there was to it. Stars exes were wild, they were demons, gods, beings of power, warriors, they were adventurous and yearned for the unknown, for change, that was what had attracted her to them in the first place. However, their flaw always ended up being the same thing, possessiveness, she was an object to all of them, a prize that they had won and had every right to do with as they saw fit.
But Marco, her sweet, loving Marco, didn't see her as that, not even as a potential romantic interest at first. Instead he saw her as a companion, a human being who needed to be treated with tender care and affection because one day, she would have to turn her back on all that and become a cold and distant queen. She would be forced to abandon herself, her individuality in order to become the strong leader her kingdom needed. And Marco knew that, and so rather than lead her around on insane romps through dimensions like she did with him, he did all that he could to bring structure to her life, to introduce her to the wonders of normalcy.
Through this, he thought, once she became queen, everything new she did would seem like a new adventure. It was a nice idea, and in some sense it did work, and while he introduced peace and tranquility to her, the princess showed him the wonders of adventure, risk, and the thrill of doing more in a day then most people would do in their entire lives.
One adventure, however, had showed the boy just how much life Star had lived.
It had been a particularly grueling week, test after test, so much work in fact that even Marco was exhausted. The pairs minds were shot and even laying down to watch television was far too much work. To add to that was the emotional exhaustion of only a month ago starting their romantic relationship. It was slow going and unclear whether things were even changing between the two.
And Marco saw this and chose to act quickly.
"Hey Star, how about to celebrate test week ending we go to some awesome dimension and do a quest or something?" she had perked up immediately at that and grabbed her scissors, her overworked mind and body always energized by the prospect of adventure.
"Oh Marco that's a great idea, I've got the perfect dimension too!" she snagged him by the arm and hurled them through into the void.
The boy skidded through, scraping himself against grass and rock and coming to a halt at the edge of a cliff. After brushing himself off and surveying the land he felt the wind in his lungs leave him. They were overlook a vast plain of green, dotted with infinitely changing flowers and grazing animals. The field seemed to stretch on forever and to either of his side stretched a mountain range that encircled it.
Beautiful didn't even begin to describe it.
"Isn't it amazing Marco? This is a dimension where everyone lives in the mountain range and the field below provides everything they need. I thought you'd like it since your karate is all about peace and tranquility and being at one with nature and-" he cut her off with a kiss, it was brief and nervous but it was there and it made the smile on her face grow to near splitting proportions.
Giggling she cuddled up under his arm and giving a swift tug the two descended towards a nearby village. The houses seemed more modern than the ones on Mewni and if Marco hadn't known where they were he would have sworn they had entered a retro suburbia. Also like Mewni were the places inhabitants, who appeared very much human aside from one characteristic. Their skin was cold and grey, each person's varied in design and markings, after bumping into one Marco also realized that they were as hard as stone.
"Star Butterfly as I live and breathe," Star squealed at the voice and broke from Marco, running towards a boy who seemed very similar to them in age.
His skin was by far the lightest of the villagers and closest to normal human. Golden eyes matched his perfect smile, completing the otherworldly look that he gave. Every part of his body seemed strong and refined and were adorned with various items needed for travel. Despite his load he still managed to entrap the blonde girl in a tight hug, they fit together familiarly, as if they had embraced many times before.
Marco felt the tiniest bit of red enter his vision.
"And who's this, a friend of yours?" the stranger shook his hand roughly and the earth boy could tell that he was being appraised by the shake.
"Yup, this is Marco, my best bestie ever and also my boyfriend!" she giggled as the words left her mouth and flung herself onto his back, choking him in the process.
There was no scoff as the boy had expected, instead the taller man simply scratched his chin in thought. Marco clenched his fists, waiting for the inevitable teasing that he always seemed to receive when his relationship to the girl was made clear. Instead however, he simply turned around and began to walk.
"Well," he called over his shoulder as he descended towards the field. "If you're looking for adventure, which I know you are, you better catch up!"
Star clapped excitedly and skipped after him, using her wand to propel herself into the air and land easily among the flat surfaces. Marco followed her the best he could, jumping from rock to rock and catching his balance any time he swayed. Several feet before they caught up Marco snagged the girl by her collar and pulled her to him, much to her surprise and embarrassment.
"Star, who is this guy? How do you even know him?" He questioned her anxiously, eyes looking anywhere but at her.
"Oh right I didn't introduce you too, he's Derrick, just an ex of mine, we used to adventure a lot!" Marco's face paled and he allowed the girl to slip from her grasp and skip off, breathing life into passing rocks and shooting down flying beasts without looking
Derrick had apparently already been planning on heading down to the field, which turned out to be named the Field of Eternal Suffering, in order to resupply some pelts that he sold from town to town. For the most part of their journey to the plane he kept the blonde girl occupied with stories of his quests and battles which she ogled over. Every now and then he would even flex a scar which she would trace with no small amount of glee.
Marco had considered a variety of things as he watched them, he considered simply walking away and seeing if they noticed, he considered kissing Star in front of the other boy as a claim, he even considered challenging him to a fight. However as he played out each scenario in his head they all met with the same fate, he was humiliated and Star was irate. With that in mind he contented himself to silence, keeping to himself and loudly kicking rocks.
One rock was a little too big.
He felt in the instant he kicked it and as he watched it tumble and gather speed as well as other rocks all he could do was yell to the girl who was currently in its destructive path. Star turned too late however and just as she was about to be crushed Derrick stepped in it's way, the boulders bounced or shattered harmlessly against his body. Marco bolted down to them, face pale as he inspected her.
"S-Star are you alright!" she giggled and brushed him off, replying that she was fine thanks to Derrick, the two shared an almost secretive smile and the tiniest part of Marcos brain wished that the rock had crushed the two of them.
They made camp at the base of the field as night fell, Derrick said that he would take care of food, shelter and warmth, Marco and Star were his guest and should take the time to rest and decompress. Star had waved as he left and Marco had bitingly wished him good luck before wandering towards the line where stone gave way to warm brown earth.
"Alright Diaz what is it, what's going on, you've been cranky all day is your blood sugar low again?" He flushed with embarrassment at the voice and shook his head, pulling his sweatshirt tight around his head before turning to stare at her.
"You know I think I finally get it," Star cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "I think I finally get why you're dating me."
"Cuz I love you?" her face flushed the usual light red that it always did when she made such a confession, Marco however ignored it.
"No, it's cuz I'm the safe kid. I get it now, all these crazy, amazing, powerful adventure type guys they must have worn you out right? So you decided, 'hey while I'm on earth I might as well date someone opposite, see how it feels' and so you just went and-" However he never got to finish as he suddenly hit the ground with a heavy thud, it took a moment for him to realize that Derrick was standing over him, fuming with rage while Star was behind him quietly sobbing.
"Who talks to their lady like that jerk!" the taller boy turned on heel and gently escorted the girl back towards camp, sending a warning glare to Marco over his shoulder.
The beaten boy punched the ground in frustration, wiping away the blood that had trickled from his nose.
He lay there well into the night and kept his mind preoccupied with observing the stars. They were so different from the ones on Earth, some of them even glowed various colors. The moon as well was strange, it seemed to go through a full lunar cycle in just under an hour before restarting. Soon though he was forced to confront his problem as once again Derrick made his presence known. This time he stayed violence in favor of a loud grunt as he lay beside the smaller boy.
They looked at the night sky in silence for only a moment.
"You know none of what you said to her is true." He wasn't asking a question as much as he was reminding Marco of the obvious.
"Yeah I know, sometimes though that's how it feels ya know? I mean look at you dude, you're this incredible awesome looking adventurer who has tons of stories. And I'm just some guy from the lamest dimension ever whose coolest story was finishing a nacho challenge at a restaurant." Marco covered his face in frustration, he didn't want to cry in front of an ex of Stars regardless of the circumstances, but it was starting to look like he wouldn't be able to keep his personal promise.
"What are nachos?"
"Nevermind."
They returned to silence and Marco felt like crawling into the field and facing whatever horrors lay within was better than the awkward silence the two had fallen into. Finally though, Derrick sat up and began rummaging around under his shirt. With a fierce tug he ripped what appeared to be a pendant from his chest and held it in front of the boy. The gold piece glittered in the moonlight and unlatched with a click.
Inside was a picture of Derrick embracing a smaller and slightly younger boy. The two were smiling at whoever had taken the picture. Derrick lowered it until it sat lightly in Marcos hands. The boy held it at arm's length, not quite understanding the point of the gesture as the boy stood up and brushed himself off.
"Um, so who's-"
"You're jealous right?" Marco instantly bit down on his lower lip and looked in the opposite direction, he didn't want to admit anything to the stone boy but he knew that his silence spoke volumes. "Well, then with this you shouldn't be right?"
"With this?" Now the boys attention was grabbed, his interest piqued at the cryptic words and the surprising embarrassed blush on Derricks face. "With this what? This picture of your brother?"
"That's my boyfriend," Marco froze, blinking as if trying to take in the information.
"Y-You're boyfriend, so then," he trailed off as the implications of what he was being told finally set in.
"That's the reason it didn't work between me and Star man, it was nothing against her, I'm just wired this way you know?" Marco nodded slowly, he felt a blush creep up his cheeks at his loss of words. "But you know what in a way I'm glad things worked out like this."
Marco looked up questioningly, Derrick shot him a warm smile as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Yeah, like, I'm glad that me and Star went our separate ways cuz she met you ya know? I mean this whole trip she's been skipping next to me telling me how awesome and perfect for each other you are. She never talked like that about anyone else she dated, not even Tom." Marco shoved away the mention of the demonic ex and the fact that he seemed to be the golden standard and instead smiled and gracefully accepted the compliment.
"Oh man, I really messed up huh?" Derrick nodded and with a good natured smile picked Marco up by his underarms and carried him towards the campsite, towards Star.
"You sure did dude, but now's your chance to make it up to her." With a thump Marco landed on the log next to Star, the two exchanged surprised glances and then looked away, Marco in shame and Star in anger.
Derrick slipped away, using collecting more firewood as an excuse to give the two time to make amends. Star kept her gaze in the opposite direction of Marco, staring intently at the mountain range as if trying to find something. Marco smiled and took a breath to calm himself, there was no point getting worked up, that was what had caused the situation in the first place.
"Derricks a really great guy huh? I'd like to meet his boyfriend too, see what he's like." Star spun around at this, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Woah he told you that? It took him like, a year before he finally opened up to me like that what the heck Marco!" The boy simply smiled, glad to have her attention back on him.
"Brothers in arms I guess," Star however seemed unimpressed and though she didn't turn away she still looked less than thrilled.
"I screwed up Star," he began, eyes focused on the intensity of the high burning fire. "I got so obsessed with jealousy, with comparing myself to him, that I forgot to just enjoy being with you."
He looked at her now, her eyes were honed in on his, waiting, hoping that he would find the perfect words to quell her sadness and rage. Taking a chance he scooted towards her and gently intertwined their fingers. She didn't pull away but her face remained impassive.
"Most of all though Star, I forgot that even though you have such a cool ex like that, in the end you ended up with me. You chose to be with me, to be in love with me and not anybody else. And if I have that, if I have you, then it doesn't matter how many awesome guys we meet, cuz I'll know I'm way cooler, at least in your eyes." Finally she cracked a smile, and with a light giggle she leaned her head against his shoulder.
And with a kiss on her forehead and a glow of her heart's all was forgiven.
"Star, hey, hey Star!" And with a snap of his fingers Cole brought her from her musings over the past and returned her to the Diaz's living room. "Jeez what was that, you just suddenly spaced and went slack jawed does that happen often."
"All. The. Time." She replied smiling, Cole sighed and stretched out his arm which instantly disappeared into a strange blue portal. When it returned there was a wad of folded up bills kept together with an elastic band. "Um, what is that?"
"This is about," he flipped through the bills with one sweep, the smacking of the paper like a sweet tune to him. "Two thousand six hundred dollars in Earth currency, take it, take Marco and go enjoy yourselves.
"Ooo, money," Star drooled slightly at the sight and began to reach forward however stopped just short of and frowned, retracting her hand. "Wait a sec, where did you get this, did you steal it?"
"What? No of course not I just reached forward in time to a moment where I would have this exact amount of money and then took it from that moment and brought it here." He said it as if were the most logical task a person could do.
"Okay sweet!" Star had decided that when it came to explanations of temporal anomalies, it was best to let Marco hear them and then have him explain it to her later on. She hopped from the couch to the stairs and then bolted up to Marcos room, leaving Cole to resume his flower play.
"Marco!" The girl sang as she kicked in his door. "Guess what, Cole just gave me a bunch of money and told me that we can go all out and do whatever we want isn't that awesome!"
Marco however didn't respond, the boy was lying face down on his bed, unmoving. If Star hadn't known of his habit of going totally still whenever he was stressed or upset she might have thought he was dead. The girl sighed and walked over to him, crawling up the bed she lay curled up next to him, waiting for him to look up.
A single brown eye moved from its face down position to look at her. It was bleary and bloodshot and Star wondered if maybe he had begun crying out frustration like he pretended not to do. She said nothing though and instead smiled, patiently waiting for him to regain enough semblance of self to talk to her.
"Go all out on what?" She grinned and pulled him into a tight squeeze, ignoring his sudden outcries. That was one of the things she loved about him, how quickly he perked up and how easily he was infected by her mood.
"Anything we want Marco, we can go and buy all the nachos you want." He laughed into her chest and wrapped his own arms around her, pulling her tightly to him.
"We can get some new clothes too, if you want." She squealed at the idea and rained kisses on his forehead and hair as his breathing slowed and he finally relaxed.
"Thanks Star," his voice wasn't more than a whisper but she still heard it, in his own way, he was also apologizing for his breakdown earlier.
"Everytime Marco," it was a phrase that the two had concocted before they were even dating, it was a secret phrase, a term of endearment and a pleasant memory of what was.
"I love you Star," he peeked out from his spot and lightly kissed her lips, she smiled and returned it.
"I love you too, Marco."