Marco Diaz: the Sword of Mewni
Chapter 3
Marco Diaz woke up with a sudden tinge of pain on his chest he groaned softly as he felt like blankets were crumpled on top of him, slowly opening up his eyes to stare at a reed-built ceiling, most of his body wasn't even covered in the blanket, allowing the cold to air to hit his bandaged-chest, his first reaction was surprise, wondering why he was even laying on this mat inside this shoddily built hut with his body being tended.
Marco Diaz attempted to at least stood up, in which he did, groggily getting himself up to notice that the little hut he was resting had a large open window, a well-timed explanation for the cold air that Marco was experiencing, the door to the hut opened, the figure entered with something on its hands.
"Do not move...Human..." Marco heard as he turned his head, it was a hunched and heavily clothed creature, he was holding a tray of several things, one was akin to a bowl of stew, except for the fact that it was colored smog green and bubbled like hot tar, also on the tray was utensils.
"Wait...You're the one that gave me that sword! For free too!" Marco remarked, the Hooded and face-shadowed Hermit only nodded in agreement, even pointing behind Marco, prompting the human boy to look behind, noticing that his basic grey shirt and hoodie was hung upon the sword, as it leaned to the hut wall.
"How...Who...Why..." A eruption of questions began to pop in Marco's mind, he struggled to keep his steady as the Hermit set the tray on Marco's tray.
"I'll explain everything Human..." He said with a soothing and calming tone, the slow and careful words of the Hermit was enough for Marco to finally stop struggling, with a quick look of the stew, he was already desiring not to taste it, reluctantly he did so, he had very little to eat besides a gallon of juice and a small slice of whatever the servants served at the dinner party.
"The ones who attacked your friends are the Iron Inquisition, a cruel army that wants to take over this world due to their hatred of magic to get rid all of it, and to get rid of all the magic users..." The Hermit explained as Marco did a spit-take, not even actually tasting the stew.
"Wait! does that mean Star is..." He paused for a moment as it looked like he was going to cry, The Hermit quickly answered the worrying boy's question with a shake of a head and some profound vocabulary.
"The Iron Inquisition need the Princess of Mewni, I'm not sure why but they do..." Marco calmed down once again, he was about to eat a spoonful of stew, that was until he asked the Hermit a question.
"How did I end up here?" Marco questioned the Hermit, wanting to know exactly how he got to the Dining Hall of Mewni to some swampy shack in the middle of a forest.
"The sword I gave to you, in fact, all of the weapons I forged...Are hated by the Iron Inquisition, for they are manifestations by what the Iron Inquisition hates above all else..." He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Metal and Magic bonding together to form something great, the Inquisition hate magic, but they absolutely loathe the concept of Metal and Magic working together, the weapons I forged, are enchanted." Marco made a sharp glance at the Sheathed Sword
"Their power is determined by how much power is inside the person, when you unsheathed it, the power was so great that you yourself, the wielder was knocked out from such an influx of energy."
"Once the coast was clear...I carried you here, deep in the forest where the Inquisition will dare not to search, for the first phase of their plan is to occupy or exterminate the many towns."
"Wait...So what happened to that Mace guy?" Marco asked, the Hooded Hermit sat cross-legged beside the tended Marco.
"He must've likely reported back to his Master, King Mjollnor, the King of the Iron Inquisition with the Princess along with." Marco looked a little down for a moment, the sight of the boy being disappointed within one's self was a little heart-wrenching for the Hermit, so he did something that caught Marco's attention.
"The reason why I let you have the Sword Human is because of this..." The Hunched Hermit pulled out a little note, Marco eyed the somewhat worn parchment before he was handed it by the Hunched Hermit.
"The Legend of the Iron Inquisition always end with this sermon...This lasting message..." Marco looked over the writing of the parchment, at the end of the parchment it simply said this.
When the Inquisition finally erodes from the air and clash against the magic that they so detest, no one will stop them, all except one...
There was only one that stood against the Sea of Iron, he wasn't Mewman, or monster, he didn't detest or glorify magic but his heroism is the reason why he was willing to fight against the Legion of Metal
His sword was a living testament of unity, A Sword of metal only crafted and tempered with the might of the smithing hammer, enchanted by the many boons of a thousand sages and magicians.
With a powerful weapon along with a soul of the Bravest, the Hero from neither side will defend the innocent from the savage Cleansing of the Inquisition of Iron.
Marco Diaz read the parchment word for word, he felt, disturbed, it was uncanny to the Human Boy to the say least, he wasn't from Mewni, he was from earth so he fit the part of where the hero was neither Mewman or monster, it disturbed even more and instead of finding answers, only seemed to have more questions on his mind.
"You don't have the magical stench on you...But you're not like a monster...So you are a human..." Marco's eyes slightly widen from the fact that the Hermit was constantly saying his correct racial term.
"Wait! How do you know all of this and yet you know that I'm a human!?" Marco accused with a threatened face, pointing a finger at the Hermit, the Hermit only tilted its head slightly before he took a deep breath, he finally stood up after slouching for such a long time to keep the act up, as he stood up, his various rags were dropped to the ground, revealing the Hermit's true appearance as he tore away the hood he was wearing.
Marco gasped at the formerly-hunched hermit, he was like Moloch, tall, made of metal, sharp and terror-inducing, his armor was painted with streaks of red and black, his armor clean, sturdy, smooth and strong, his figure looked like a massive stone statue, the only difference is that instead of being made of cement, cobble or craggy rock, it was molded and carved out of iron and steel, beaded with blue glowing eyes at his eyes of his dragon helm.
On the Knights back was a twelve-foot long bastard sword, thick bladed, long and wide, almost comically large, being a sword from what you'll see from power fantasies or over-exaggerated role-playing games.
"I am...One of King Mjollnor creations, one of his legendary six commanders, I am Gladius, the lord of the sword, the honorable knight of the Inquisition." He said, referring to his title with a mocking tone.
"I used to be one of his mindless followers, hating and purging magic wherever I go, that was until I took a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage to your world...This is how I know of your kind...Human." Gladius explained with a deep and strong voice, his gutturals and growls greatly contrasting his fake old-man voice that he used previously, Marco was silent as he was listening to Gladius intently.
"There...I saw how your world made peace between, Magic and Metal...I saw how the magical fire can be contained through long metal spires and used to illuminate throughout your towns and villages, I saw how the water, appearing through your huts and houses with the twists of nozzles and coils, I saw how the earth was excavated through the use of light-magic empowering metal beasts...What I saw from your world...Was...Harmony."
Gladius continued as if he was experiencing a Epiphany, Marco slowly got up from where he was laying, with a weakened gait, the Human Hero quickly put back on his grey t-shirt and red hoodie, covering his bandaged injuries so he wouldn't think about it to much.
"I wanted to redeem myself over my formerly long-standing ignorant hatred of magic...And I feel like, this...is the best way to do this." Gladius said as he brandished his claymore, bearing the same blade and crossguard design of Marco's own sword.
"Every story needs a hero...Thats why they wrote you, and I will tag along with you." Gladius said as Marco grabbed the sword last, slugging it over his back as he turned around to see the Sword Inquisitor kneeling towards Marco, Gladius got a good look on Marco's face as he did this, seeing the boys doubt within his sullen and somber eyes.
"I'm no hero...I can never be that...I'm just some idiot teenage boy who does karate...You should've gave the sword to Star, she's been fighting bad guys ever since she was little heck, how about you be the chosen one? You actually seem to know what you're doing...I'm just the best friend..." Marco said depreciating himself with each and every word, he sighed deeply as Gladius stoop up from kneeling.
"I can't be the one who saves Mewni, for I am a monster, both inside and out, you are neither Magical or metallic, use the sword Human...Show Mewni that you are the hero that this world needs..." Gladius said as Marco unsheathed his sword, the blade hummed with power as the blade seemed to shun and shine no matter how it was moved, once again, the Human boy saw a reflection on the blade of the magically-metal weapon.
It was not the reflection of himself, it was the reflection of his now-captured and endangered friend, Star Butterfly, his best friend, the one who helped him get the girl of his dreams, the one who helped him conquer some of his deep personal fears, the one who understood him.
And she was going to suffer a horrible fate if he does nothing but wallow in his self-doubt.