Author's Notes:
Alright, so here we are, another chapter already! This one's shorter, but it is necessary to set up the climax that's coming next chapter. Still, a lot happens here, so I would seriously recommend NOT skipping the chapter. *COUGH COUGH* STARCO.
This chapter has a bit of everything, bringing a bunch of the story's plot points together to set up the next chapter, so, please, enjoy.
See you at the bottom!
…
Chapter Eight: A Light in the Darkness
The frigid air in the Monster kingdom nipped at Voracius's scales as he stood behind his former master. Toffee still grasped at his fresh wounds, even after a day of rest. With every second that passed, Toffee's wounds remaining unhealed, Voracius grew more and more wary, questioning whether the monster he used to know, the man that used to be so strong, was truly growing weak.
Still, as Toffee stood ahead of him, a massive crowd of eager monsters was at his grasp. It was undeniable that his true strength remained.
"The time has come," Toffee shouted proudly, pumping his fist in the air in spite of his inconceivable pain, "We will have our restitution! The Butterfly Kingdom will FALL!"
Monsters of all varieties roared with approval—the fathers, mothers, and their children screamed with satisfaction. Toffee may have been hurt, but his greatest strength persisted. The people would follow him to their death, and they would do so willingly.
Voracius could only ever wish to have such immaculate control of an army of such strength. At his best, he had only managed to bring a small troop together, and even then he didn't have such complete control over them.
Toffee was more than a monster, he was a genius, but he didn't understand what Voracius did. To truly win this generational war, simply removing the Mewmans wouldn't be enough. They needed to be torn, limb from limb, and even then, their transgressions would still not be reconciled.
He sneered, his arms crossed as the crowd cheered, but as Toffee glanced back at him, he merely nodded. The time wasn't right. There was still a war to win.
Toffee smiled, his attention returning to the legion of soldiers ahead of him. Again, he pumped his fist into the air, pointing toward the looming heights of the Butterfly Castle.
"NOW," he practically screamed, "ONWARD! TO THE BUTTERFLY CASTLE!"
…
Even as hours passed, water droplets still fell from the dank dungeon ceiling, creating a rhythmic tune, almost enough to numb the mind. Still, neither Marco nor Star felt remotely at ease. Star's tears had come and gone, but she hadn't spoken so much as a word since she had buried herself in Marco's hoodie hours ago.
Since then, she had moved to a corner of the cell, her reddened eyes blankly fixated ahead. Marco watched from the opposite side of the cell, desperately wishing that he could do something—anything to aid her sorrows.
He sighed, his face falling. He rubbed the back of his neck with frustration, the droplets slowly burning into his mind. He got to his feet and walked to the front of the cell, gripping the bars as he pressed his head against them.
Star's eyes slowly drifted to him, and with a sniffle, he managed to get to her feet, trudging toward him and leaning against the bars with him.
He turned to her with hopeless eyes, and as she looked back at him, he felt no better. Again, Marco sighed, his face falling.
"There's nothing you could've done. You know that right," he asked, reaching out and holding her hand in his own.
She trembled as the screams of the children returned to her tired mind. She stared at her own trembling hand and shook her head, unable to manage a word.
Marco released Star's hand and lifted her chin, her eyes meeting his own slowly.
"That knight-" Marco stammered, "He was never gonna let her go. He only gave you one option. Nothing you could've done would have stopped him."
Star's face fell as she ruminated in the silence.
"We never should have gone to Buff Frog," she remarked, her voice no more than a coarse whisper.
"Star-" Marco pleaded, only to be interrupted.
"You heard the same thing I did. He's dead, and it's my fault."
"No, you-"
"I should have just stayed in my bedroom like I was told and maybe-"
"Star, you-"
"Maybe Buff Frog would be alive. Maybe we could've-"
"Star," Marco shouted, his voice echoing through the dungeon.
The princess's eyes widened, her voice dying in her throat. Marco held her hands in his own, gripping them tightly. She glanced down, staring at her hands with confusion. She met Marco's eyes searching for an answer, but for the life of her, she couldn't understand.
"Star," Marco repeated in a calmer tone, "Please. Stop."
She tilted her head, perplexed. Marco sighed, his face falling.
"I-" Marco struggled, "I couldn't listen to you talk about yourself like that…"
"But, Marco-"
"No," he asserted, his hands shaking as he held hers, "You're the most amazing person I've ever known."
"Marco, I-"
"No," he asserted once more, his grip tightening around the girl's hands, "You're strong. You're brave. You make things I never would have thought were possible look easy!"
"But-" she continued to object, sorrow in her eyes.
"NO," he shouted one final time, squeezing her hands with all the force that he could muster, his volume only growing, "You didn't kill Buff Frog or his child, the knight did that."
"I-" Star shouted, meeting Marco's eyes, tears running down her cheeks.
She sobbed, "I-I just wanted to-to save her."
She collapsed, falling into her best friend as she wept uncontrollably, imagining what she had only heard before—the slash of the knife, the screams of the children, and finally, the thud of another body hitting the ground.
Oceans of tears flew from her eyes as Marco struggled to hold her up. He wrapped his arms around her, but as her knees weakened, he lost his grip. She slipped from his hands and sunk to the ground, pulling her knees to her face as she sobbed.
Marco's hands trembled as he stared at her, unsure of how he could help. His face fell. He internally accepted his defeat as he slowly descended to her level, sitting across from her even when she turned away.
His eyes lingered on the ground as minutes passed. From time to time, he glanced up at her, but each time, he was met with the same image, the most beautiful, kind, caring girl in the world, crying because she wasn't good enough.
His brows sunk and pulled together. He watched her with lidded eyes, desperate to help—desperate to make her know how amazing she was. Memories flashed through his mind, reminding him of how happy she used to be.
Her smile was impossibly radiant. It was as if simply by being near her, it was impossible to be anything but cheerful.
Her naive, boundless optimism, which seemed like a relic of ancient times, would make it impossible to see what was right in front of him. Whether she had destroyed something beyond repair or even just made a simple misstep, she always managed to make out some old silver lining.
Only a week had passed since Voracius's first attack, but it felt like he hadn't seen her happy in a lifetime. Of course, she still grinned every once and a while, but even her smiles seemed hollow now. And as he stared at her, tears streaming down her face, her cheeks buried into her knees, he couldn't help but feel helpless.
He sighed, his face falling. A full minute passed before, and finally, he got an idea.
As hard as it was, Marco managed to gather the courage to brave the sight ahead of him. His gaze rested on her helpless expression until, slowly, she lifted her head, her irritated eyes meeting his own.
He froze for a moment, her sadness holding him in place until his passion thawed him from her prison.
He smiled. It was small. His face would have been blank if he had managed any smaller of a smirk, but as he stared into her eyes, he knew that she knew the difference. With a deep sigh, he gathered his thoughts.
"Do you remember the day you came to Earth?"
Star tilted her head, wiping away her tears with a sniffle. Although visibly perplexed, she nodded.
"Yeah, it was pretty bad," Marco remarked with a chuckle. Marco smiled, even as Star's sullen eyes pierced into his own. Still, his memories of that fateful day gave him the strength he needed.
"I mean, so much went wrong…"
"You almost killed a few kids…"
"You nearly destroyed my house…"
"You even almost got me killed… twice…"
He watched as Star sunk, hiding her face in her knees with only her eyes poking out. Still, Marco put on his smile.
"You scared me, Star," he admitted with eyes of sincerity, "...but I needed to be scared."
"I was miserable before you came into my life, and now…"
He watched as Star's eyes widened and he knew that she expected the worst. Still, he kept his facade up.
"You're my favorite person," Marco admitted sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck as he struggled to meet Star's eyes.
"I just-" Marco stammered as Star squinted at him with confusion.
He sighed.
"I can't lose you. I just-" he stuttered, his smile fading.
"I just can't," he stated flatly.
Star stared at him for what felt like an eternity until, finally, her eyes widened. The epiphany of what Marco had truly meant had caught her so off guard that it felt like her heart had stopped beating, only now it was beating much more quickly than before.
Without a word, she lunged forward, tackling Marco to the ground with a tight embrace. She squeezed him as hard as she could until she heard a loud crack.
In an instant, she peeled away, meeting Marco's wide eyes.
He chuckled, "I think you popped my back…"
He chuckled once more, then again, and again, watching as Star did the same. Her familiar, gleaming smile resurfaced as their giggles quickly turned into hearty laughs, echoing through the dungeon without care.
Slowly, their laughs faded, but her smile remained, even if it was barely a smirk. Her eyes lingered on the ground for several seconds before, slowly, her deep blue eyes drifted to his.
She smiled, reaching out and holding his hand in her own. She ran her fingers through her hair nervously, brushing her hand over the bandana that Marco had given her.
"I can't lose you either," she remarked with cheeks even more red than when her hearts were at their most vibrant. Marco couldn't help but smile, squeezing Star's hand as he stared into her beautiful eyes.
"Then-" he began, being interrupted by the familiar sound of dimensional scissors, ripping a portal only inches away.
The teens got to their feet quickly, backing away from the cell door with wary eyes.
The portal lingered for several cruelly silent minutes, not a soul stepping through.
Marco's body trembled. His legs felt weak. He turned to Star and saw that she was much the same. He turned his head back to the cell door, furrowing his brow as he prepared himself for a fight.
Still, not a sound came from the portal, save for the usual whirring. His brow began to sweat, but just as the stress was becoming too much, a familiar figure stepped through.
"Oof."
King River landed face first as he tripped through the portal, dropping a pile of the teens' belongings on the ground ahead of him.
Star's eyes widened.
"Dad," she questioned with desperation.
River chuckled, struggling to get back to his feet. He turned to the cell and smiled, his eyes fixated between the two teens.
Following his eyes, Star realized that she hadn't let go of Marco's hand. She blushed, releasing it in an instant.
"Took you long enough," River remarked with an ever-growing smile, "He was being painfully obvious."
Star's blush deepened to the point that she couldn't bear to face either man.
"It wasn't that obvious," she muttered, her father merely smiling in response.
As her blush faded, she was reminded of the pile that her father had been carrying. Seeing her eyes fall on her wand, her father chuckled.
"I thought you'd be missing that," he joked, "You really should do a better job at keeping track of it…"
He knelt down and picked it up, tossing it through the cell bars into her waiting arms. She smiled as she held it close. Even if its light had vanished, it gave her more comfort than she could put into words.
River nodded, kneeling down once more with a grunt.
"My knees truly aren't what they used to be," he said as he retrieved the sword that he had given Marco only days ago.
He stared at it for a moment, brushing his fingers over the Johansen seal before once more turning to the cell, this time with a far more solemn expression.
Marco met the King's eyes as he opened his mouth. He could see the man's concern on his face. Before the King could speak a word, Marco nodded.
"I know," he stated flatly, "I remember what you told me."
The King smirked once more, stepping forward slowly and holding out the sword for Marco to grab. Reaching forward, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt, pulling the sword away carefully.
"I see you've had to put it to use," River remarked, "I'm sure you've noticed that it isn't just any sword then?"
Marco nodded, his eyes fixated on his blade.
"I don't completely understand it yet," he admitted with a sigh.
The King nodded with a small chuckle.
"You will," the King remarked softly, "The sword is an extension of yourself."
Marco's eyes widened, lingering once more on the blade. He smiled, his eyes returning to the King as Star came to his side.
"I-" the King stammered.
Slowly, his eyes fell on the pair of dimensional scissors in his hands. Wordlessly, he reached through the cell bars, setting them down in his daughter's open hand. She met his eyes with confusion, but still, he struggled to explain himself.
"Your mother will never agree with this," he said, "...but she doesn't have to know."
Star turned to Marco. She didn't say a thing, but her eyes told a thousand words.
"You are this Kingdom's greatest warrior," he remarked.
Star's eyes lingered on the scissors for several moments before she finally addressed her father once more.
"Come with us," she said, "We can fight together."
River chuckled, kneeling down and lifting the teens' remaining belongings one by one through the cell's bars.
"My place is here, Star," he told her, his voice coarse.
Marco took back his blade's sheath, fastened it around his waist, and planted his sword inside.
Star sighed, nodding after several seconds. She turned to Marco and nodded once more, cutting open a portal slowly. She once more turned to her father, a small smile gracing her lips as Marco stepped through the portal.
"Thank you," she said, stepping through the portal as her father smiled back at her.
…
Author's Notes:
Heyyy! Another chapter down! I know that this one was a short one, but I promise, I couldn't jam everything in this chapter into the same one as the climax. There was more buildup that needed to happen, but now I can finally begin writing the early finale. And to clarify, that doesn't mean that the next chapter is the end of the story or even the overall climax of the story. It is only the climax of this first arc.
I haven't completely decided how this story will end, and there are about a billion different storylines I have going right now, which I don't plan on leaving untold. So, trust me. There is much of this story to write and much of this story to read.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you are as excited for the next as I am! As always, your interactions are greatly appreciated! I enjoyed reading the comments and interacting with you guys while I moved through the process of writing this chapter. So, please, keep it up, guys. It really helps me keep writing!
Either way, thank you for reading, and have a good day!
Comments:
-(FFN) Rockwriter60: Okay man, there better be a good reason for UNALIVING AN INNOCENT TADPOLE! (Still loving the story Btw)
I swear, I have a reason. All will make sense soon!
-(Ao3) vampwatson: i am in love with this fic omg ? it's so amazing & im very excited for the next chapter
Thanks! I've worked really hard to make this story as great as I could!
~lucash21
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