Author's Note: Well, I don't really know what to say. It's been a while. I know I always say this. I know I always say that I'll be back or that it'll be different this time. It's not even that I don't mean those words when I say them, it's just that writing is unbelievably hard. I always want to do it, but it's rare that my mind will allow me to. As some of you may know, I've been writing an original story lately and I said that I wouldn't be writing any fanfic for the foreseeable future, but clearly, I was wrong about that too, so, in the interests of being completely honest, I just won't make any promises.
As for this story, I have high hopes. I was rewatching svtfoe and I had the urge to read some fics, but when I looked, I didn't see anything that interested me. I decided to try to write another or my own and somehow, this idea came to me. As you will soon see, this story isn't much like other fanfics of this genre. People get hurt, whether emotionally or physically, and I don't try to hide it, so beware, there will be a hefty amount of pain.
Also, I tried my best to give an honest representation of both Marco and Star. I know that this is a rather serious chapter so that may be a little difficult to see, but I'm realllllly trying to keep them realistic to the show.
Also also, I felt that I should make it clear where this story starts... I felt like the real story got worse towards the end, but I really liked the finale to the first season, where the battle at the Avarius castle took place and Toffee had presumably died. So, this chapter would take place instead of Season 2's first episode, and everything that would happen beyond that episode is not a part of my canon.
Regardless, that's enough from me. Enjoy the story!
Chapter One - A Starless Night
"You know… it's not gonna work," Marco retorted with a smug grin, his arms crossed as Star waved her wand frivolously.
"Says you," she snarked back with a grin, focusing as she pointed her wand to the ground.
"Just give up," he groaned, rolling his head back dramatically, "You have to leave soon anyway!"
She ignored him, furrowing her brows with frustration. She sighed before taking a deep breath, her eyes closed as she gave a final, last-ditch effort to cast her spell.
"Summon Cloudy," she practically screamed, her voice as enthusiastic as ever. Sparks flew from her damaged wand. She even smiled for a moment. Maybe it wasn't gone forever. Maybe the whispering spell didn't ruin everything, but seconds later, the sparks turned to flames, devoid of any color but green. It wasn't like anything she would produce. It wasn't bright or brilliant or even sparkly. It was evil, corrupted even.
"Star," Marco shouted out, coming to her defense like he always did, fanning away the flames with all he could manage. Before she could even blink, he had pulled his infamous hoodie off of his chest to conquer the danger, and after the mere second that the damage remained before meeting its end, he always knew what to say.
"It's okay, Star," he said in a caring voice, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You'll get it next time, I know it."
She smiled as much as she could manage, which wasn't much, but with everything that happened—with everything that was doomed to happen sooner than later, the smile was more than a miracle, it was impossible, and yet, as always, Marco brought it out of her.
Still, when she looked into his eyes, her smile couldn't remain. Images flashed through her mind from the night before. Marco's horrified face, Toffee's cruel smile as Marco was inches from death. It was all too much to handle, but just before she could let herself be consumed by her worries, as always, Marco pulled her out.
"Star," Marco questioned, his head tilted.
She sighed, returning the smile to her face. Every fiber of her being wanted to talk to him—to explain how lost she felt, but every time she tried, that same image of Marco pushing the compressing glass cage flashed through her mind.
"I'm alright," she said, turning away as she reached for the small bag that he had prepared for her that morning, "I just zoned out, y'know?"
"Yeah," Marco agreed with little conviction, his eyes weary even as Star turned to face him. She stared at him for a moment, hoping that he would at least try to hide the fact that he was scared, but just as she expected, he didn't falter. He was an open book.
"Well, I should probably…" she lifted her pair of dimensional scissors.
"Yeah," Marco agreed once more, showing no more confidence than he had before.
She flashed him a smile and opened her portal, stepping into her home world seconds later.
Marco's eyes lingered on the portal even as she left his vision. His worries were evident, and once she left, he felt no better. Of course, he knew that she would be back as early as a few hours later if he was lucky but before she was even gone, he missed her.
She saved his life. She sacrificed her wand—THE WAND for him. He couldn't believe it, even after a whole night of much-needed sleep, and now that she was gone, it was as if a part of himself had left with her.
It wasn't that he felt that she couldn't handle herself, it wasn't even that he felt unsafe without her, but he knew that she wasn't handling things well. The wand was everything to her, and to lose it so quickly… He couldn't imagine how she was feeling.
He left her room with his head hung low, trodding to his own, where he would simply lay in his bed, contemplating the night before.
Hours passed. Every second that went by was more torturous than the last. He felt like she would burst into his room at any second, screaming with joy, ready to start another random adventure, but as long as he waited, she never seemed to come.
He had slept in until noon, so the sunset came faster than he was expecting, and before he knew it, even the star of his own solar system left him too, giving way to a night somehow more devoid of light than any he'd witnessed. It was as if every star in the sky had run away.
It wasn't like he could blame them either, especially after all that happened. It was all his fault. He was the one who started the fight that night. He was the one who let her storm off. He was the one that was too prideful to say that he was sorry and now her life was ruined. He had known Star for months. He knew that she wasn't mad at him, but he almost wanted her to be. It wasn't like he didn't deserve it, and now that she was so calm, it made him feel even more guilty. It was as if he had robbed her of her emotions as well.
He tossed and turned in his bed knowing that he wouldn't be able to force himself to fall asleep. At the time he saw it as a blessing. He would wait until Star came home and finally give her the apology that she was owed and maybe he would feel better, but still, she wasn't there. He groaned, rubbing his face with open palms until he finally heard a sound from across the hall.
It was barely a rustle, but it was enough to bring a bright smile to his face. He rushed to his feet and ran down the hall, preparing his words as he finally came to her door, knocking gently as he waited to finally see her face again, but what he couldn't have expected was the silence that followed.
It was so quiet that it was like the silence screamed at him from behind the door. He could have been convinced that she wasn't home, but a light peered underneath her door, and as dim as it was, he knew that it had to be her.
Assuming that she simply hadn't heard his knock, he reached for her knob, twisting it carefully, even as the light under the door disappeared.
The door creaked open slowly. Not a glimmer of light remained in the room. In fact, there was no sign of Star at all. He walked into the room slowly, scanning from side to side with confusion. She had to be in there somewhere. He saw the light and… surely his eyes hadn't fooled him.
"Star," he called out, his voice echoing against the walls of her towering room.
"Star," he called out again, his voice wavering as a chill ran down his spine.
He took a deep breath, calling for her once more. Again, his voice echoed against her walls, but this time, there was something else.
His feet were still, but he heard a creak of wood. His eyes widened. He couldn't force himself to turn around, but he could feel their eyes on the back of his neck, staring daggers as he remained frozen in place. He turned around, keeping his eyes low, knowing that the sound had come from above. He tried to walk out of the room—to pretend that he hadn't heard a thing, but just as he got to the door, a beast dropped in front of him, pushing him back effortlessly.
The beast towered over him, glaring down at him with empty eyes and spiked fists balled above him. Its arms swung down with insane speed, nearly killing him in an instant, but he was able to dodge away at the last possible moment. Just as he thought he had escaped, however, he bumped into another monster behind him.
After a thousand fights against monsters, he knew well enough when he needed to dodge, and just as the beast behind him swung, he was able to scoot to the side, landing a strike of his own against the monster's side.
He smiled, thrilled that his years of karate training had paid off, but as he glanced toward the monster's face, his smile quickly faded. The beast was unphased. If anything, he only seemed to have made it angry.
He raised his fists to defend himself, but as the beast swung for him, his defenses became worthless. The monster's fist crashed straight through, hitting him in the jaw with more force than he had ever been hit with before.
He had fought monsters at Star's side more times than he could count, but he could tell there was something different about these ones. It was beyond their superior strength it was even beyond superior fighting. He tried to meet their eyes, but there was nothing behind them.
He swung for the monsters, but even as his fists struck true, he could tell it was for nothing. For every hit he landed, the monsters were able to land two of their own, with each hit being more painful than the last.
He groaned with pain, blood dripping from the sides of his mouth as his speed quickly depleted. Within seconds, his back was on the ground, but the monsters didn't let up. There was no mercy in their eyes as they pounded him into the floor of his own home. Blood spewed from his mouth, but before a drop of blood could even hit the ground, another fist would strike him.
He screamed, writhing in pain, and within seconds, his parents stood in the doorway of Star's bedroom, watching with horror.
His father gripped the baseball bat in his hand, his brow furrowed as he ran into the room with fury in his eyes. He swung the bat at the first monster he saw, but before he could even get close enough to land a hit, the beast's tail slammed into his side, launching him into a wall and knocking him unconscious in an instant.
Angie stepped back instinctively, pure fear in her eyes as one of the monsters approached her. Marco winced on the floor, but still tried to come to her defense, crawling as fast as he could. He grabbed the beast's tail, but before it even turned around, the second monster slammed its foot into his back, pinning him to the ground with a brutal screech.
"Marco," she screamed, backing into the hallway wall. The beast swung the back of its hand for her face, dropping her to the ground harshly.
"Mom," Marco screamed in return, reaching out only for the monster behind him to slam its foot into him once more.
He heard his own bones crack. He wished that he could say that he was growing numb, but the pain only seemed to grow.
The beast that had attacked his mother stomped back into the room, glaring at Marco's bloodied face.
"Where is she," he shouted in a deep voice.
"I- I don't know," Marco stammered, coughing up blood.
"Where is she, stupid human," he screamed even louder than before.
"I said I don't know," Marco yelled in return.
The beast sneered and his partner slammed his foot into his back once more. He screeched, sobbing into the ground as a foot slammed into his jaw.
"Where is-"
From across the hall, everyone in the room heard a portal rip open. Marco's eyes widened, and after a few seconds, he heard her voice.
"Marco?"
She called out for him, and only a few seconds later, he heard his bedroom door open slowly. His eyes lingered inside the doorway, where his mother sat against the wall, staring down the hall. The monsters turned to each other, but Marco watched as his mother gestured toward the girl's room, and mere seconds later, Star bursted inside, wand in hand.
"STRAWBERRY DEATH BEAM," she screamed angrily.
A flurry of pink lights flew into the room, slamming into both of the monsters and knocking them away from the beaten boy. Star sprung into the room, jumping in front of him. Her eyes lingered on his beaten body. Panic was in her eyes, but as he met her gaze, that fear was quickly replaced.
Her brows slanted inward. Her grip on her damaged wand tightened. She glared at the monsters, who still struggled to recover from her last hit.
"That- That shouldn't be possible," the larger of the two monsters remarked, "...the wand is supposed to be destroyed."
Star's rage only seemed to grow.
"Clearly not," she retorted, sneering.
The smaller of the monsters turned to his leader.
"Master," he called out, "we need to leave."
The monsters got to their feet. It was clear that the smaller of the two was afraid, but the "master" seemed like he still wanted to fight.
"I never said that I was gonna let you leave," Star spat back, the half-star at the tip of her wand glowing brightly. The smaller monster looked to the larger one for guidance. Seeing that he was distracted, Star aimed her wand.
The larger of the monster's eyes widened, and within an instant, his pupil's head was removed from his body. He glared back at Star, but as she stood with her wand aimed high, the beast knew he was beaten.
"This isn't over," he said as he pulled a pair of dimensional scissors from his pocket.
He ripped a portal open quickly, stepping through without warning, but Star's reflexes were quick. Within a moment's notice, she shot a blast of energy into the portal behind the monster, the portal closing just behind him.
Star's furious gaze lingered where the monster had been for several seconds. Her breath grew shaky as her body began to tremble. Her eyes fell to the ground behind her, where Marco lay, smiling back at her faintly.
Her face was riddled with conflict. She had spent hours on Mewni with her parents. They had even come to an agreement for her to stay there for a while, but as she stared into Marco's eyes, she couldn't force herself to leave him.
"Thank you," he muttered with what little strength he still had.
Star's heart sank. She got to the ground and sat beside him.
"I-" she struggled to find words, but Marco patiently waited.
"I won't leave you alone ever again," she finally determined, her eyes teary as she held his bloody hand in her own.
Author's Note: Please leave a comment to let me know how you felt about the chapter and as always, bookmarks and follows are greatly appreciated!
Also, follow my new Instagram account for updates on my svtfoe works.
starcovstheworld
For those who recognize the username, yes, I named my new account after the old name of my svtfoe account, but it is a different account entirely.