She couldn't understand them, the words.
From what she could hear, Marco's tongue seemed to twist his speech into incomprehensible gibberish she couldn't decipher, but whatever they had meant, whatever he'd said, the world around them seemed all too eager to respond. It pulsed, beat, thrummed in kind, and through his call, those same strange glyphs, winding and turning like gears as circles of bright, white magic screamed overhead, beckoning her eyes up to meet them.
The same symbols, the same...feeling. That...foreboding magic she didn't know, she didn't understand, glittered across a pale sky.
There was a shout, Mina's voice, that forced her eyes back to the sight at hand, and more than that, to the fact that Marco had since stopped singing...but the runes above did not disperse. Instead, it appeared beneath Marco as Mina, her hulking, if distorted form, all at once seeming to close the distance, reached the teen in a single breath that Star could only hold.
'No...no, no, NO - ' Closing her eyes, she was braced for it...death. Surely that was the only reasonable outcome to all of this, this ridiculous situation that only proposed that as the solution...yet when again she opened her eyes, she found her gaze trained on the glittering, white waters where her eyes wavered for a breath before letting loose a single breath that had been drawn. 'She wasn't dead', was her first thought as she blinked, then blinked again, swallowing as a piercing scream tore the air, and thrust of wind came soon after.
"W-what? What happened - " She whispered softly as she chanced it, the effort to look up to where the sound had surely come, and from what her eyes met, she couldn't fathom.
All her life, she'd seen fantastical things.
Floating pony heads, scissors that could tear holes in dimensions, ghosts of the past...and everything in-between. Frankly, it took a lot to really shake her, seeing as it came as a part of the deal with being a magic user, and more than that? A bearer of the wand.
Well...former bearer of the wand, as it seemed.
With that said, she'd seen, heard, felt, crazy things since the day she'd opened her eyes on Mewni, and from then on, the whimsy of magic, of unknown things, wasn't lost on her, but it was her normal, her sanctity in a world of normalcy. When everything seemed out of control, unknown, and strange, there was one thing she could say she understood...and that was magic, or, she'd like to think so. Yet...as her eyes found their way to the sound, the piercing shriek drowned by song, she couldn't help but wonder if, as she looked up, her mind was sure whether it could grasp the tongues of spinning blades that lashed and slashed at Mina as she scrambled to set a greater distance between she and Marco. But before her, beyond the spiral of blades that danced perilously around the boy...there was a great shield, spun with silver and light, rested carefully before him as Mina pulled away. Behind it, the surface was...cast and translucent, much like solid...magic, but not before materializing to become like metal, stout and immovable as the older girl tried to get her bearings...but she wouldn't have long to do so, blades of light and brutality quick on her tail as they swept to meet where she had been.
They stabbed wildly, but precisely, at her every move, Marco haven't moved little except for the strange levitation of his form over the body of the waters of the realm, like a cast doll that granted orders to brutal puppets that served as his sword and shield. Yet, all the same, his voice rang out, beautiful, haunting tones of unknown words that seemed to grow and wane with intensity as Mina dodged and weaved through the onslaught of force.
'Is this...magic? I've never seen anything like this before...' She couldn't help but think as she watched them dance, blurs of light amongst the pale. This wasn't a magic she knew, one she understood...yet despite this, despite her lack of understanding...there was something there. An unsettled, strange fear that bubbled deep within her as glyphs of this unknown arcane presence churned overhead. She wasn't really sure how she knew this, how she'd...felt it, but she did.
An air of, dare she say it, unnaturalness that made it hard for her to feel...safe.
Was it this magic? This...presence?
She didn't know, and in lieu of that...she wasn't sure she liked that she didn't.
"Glossaryck! What...what is this? What did you guys do?" She felt herself question uncertainly, her blue eyes wrought with lingering questions she couldn't ask, couldn't think to ask, but she didn't know if she needed to. There was almost a knowing there, a mutual understanding between the two of them that knew that wasn't a question he could answer...at least not yet, not...here.
"Ah...well, let's just say...we've found a way to keep magic with us, that we won't have to worry about losing it...ever...again." He ended, his tone ominous as he turned away, Eclipsa and Moon eying the young princess silently before turning to each other, but with no words between the two of them, they allowed themselves to be drawn back to the battle at hand. Tom, however, had managed to get behind Star at some point, the young girl hardly noticing him do so as he wrapped a gentle hand over her shoulder as the two of them waited for it to be over, for the song to end.
But it didn't seem over yet.
Mina, despite her steadily waning strength, managed it, to make attempts to slash at the shield that kept Marco carefully tucked behind it as his song intensified, its discordant melodies rising and falling in tempo and pitch with the waves of her attacks and his counters in kind. However, that wasn't enough, it seemed, the bestial girl growing ever more frustrated as her fatigue seemed to take hold.
"What is this? WHAT IS THIS? This...this magic...it isn't - " Before she could get the chance to finish, a spasm rippling through her and tearing at her form as her original body phased through, throwing her to still waters of white and glittering magic, the girl screaming in what felt like agony as she struggled to maintain herself. An agonizing second passed, though, and the blades didn't seem to ease, spinning lethally to follow suit, even in her downed state, a move that made Star's heart skip, thrumming wildly as what looked like was about to happen went underway.
Was Mina going to...die?
That...wasn't what she wanted. That wasn't what any of them wanted...right?
Tom must have noticed it, the way her body tensed, her voice leaving her as the blades collapsing down with unyielding speed...as if...they didn't even notice that she wasn't fighting anymore. The prince seemed just as horrified by the notion, the very idea that...Marco might -
But just when it looked as though they would have, Mina managed to scramble back up, forcing herself to shift again as she took flight once more, more frantic as she must have known her time was running thin.
And that her death was swiftly coming if they didn't find a way to stop this.
"Mom, g-guys! We don't...we're not going to let her die, r-right? Please tell me that's not what we're going to let happen." She felt herself almost...beg, running from Tom's side to face them head on, a look of horror set upon her face as a realization fell on her. Not one of them fought the idea, the notion that...that was going to happen. That...that was exactly what they intended to be the case, and that was enough.
Enough for her to step back, barely able to speak for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts, but not before Eclipsa, a grim expression set deep within her features, could turn to speak, voice low, a reckoning tone.
"I know...I know it might be hard for you to understand, but...Star, we don't have the power, the magic, to stop him, dearest. And...even if we did, there wouldn't be much that we could do. Not...anymore..." Trailing off, she gave her a gentle look, before casting her dark eyes to Marco, his bellowing form a haunting visage against the strange stillness around them, a sort of resignation heavy on her features.
A resignation...but for what?
What did they mean?
What...was happening to Marco?
What...had they done?
What had he become?
Turning to meet where here gaze had fallen, she couldn't deny it, again, a...chill, stiff and unyielding, tore through her as she stared at who should have been her best friend, yet all the same, she didn't know if she could say that, at least, not like this...not when he...looked like this. There was something so...unfamiliar about him, an unmoved force, something that felt...inhuman.
Otherworldly, even.
Then it dawned on her, a creeping horror that made her double back with fear, one that made her eject it just as quickly from her thoughts, though it lingered, hanging heavily on her mind as she kept her eyes trained firmly on his backside.
What...if he wasn't human anymore? Or Mewman...or anything that she knew?
What if he'd...become something else?
Then another thought, a thought even scarier than that.
Would he...stay like this?
Was...Marco...gone? Replaced by this unfeeling, unmoving...thing?
Had she...been complicit in his death? Was this her fault? Did she do this -
Again, Mina screamed, one of the blades grazing her side as she began to struggle to keep pace, rushing, red blood dripping into the pure white below, painting the pools pink where the blade had licked her, and she clamped her hand over the cut. The mark, the wound, was clear, flawless as it bled true, streams of the vital liquid pouring through desperate fingers. Looking to her, Star could see it, feel it, for the first time on the other girl's face: fear.
Rushing and true just like the blood that seeped through her hands.
It ripped through her visage of anger, and beneath it? Was the face of a girl, her persona fading as her struggle to live manifested, but just as quickly, she responded in kind, rushing to her feet as several more, just as they had before, rushed to finish the job, scraping past her skirt and digging into the pools where she had just been. The girl weaved once more, taking each and every chance that she got to pull a bit more distance between her...and the mouths of brutal end that trailed solemnly behind her. Star felt herself waver, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of what would be her inevitable end, despite the pressing thrum of her heart in her chest.
She was going to die.
Mina...Mina couldn't keep this up forever, she could see it, the waning magic growing dull as her visage became more and more faint as each moment passed...yet Marco did not.
All the while, his song continued, voice unwavering, uneven, discordant...unlike anything that she had ever heard. He wasn't tired, he didn't even seem to know what was happening, really. The boy just seemed to...react.
As if nothing else mattered but to put an end to it, the threat.
Even if it meant...killing her. The thought felt unfathomable, but...it was happening, wasn't it? Right before her eyes? But, in the midst of her thoughts, she felt the air grow...warmer, somehow...tense with an energy she couldn't place as the sky began to brighten.
Looking up, the ring above glowed, tensing and contracting with pulsing arcane as Marco's song increased in volume, in tempo...and with it, so did the ferocity of his efforts, and Mina, desperate, tried to keep up, stumbling a bit more with this added pressure.
Tom seemed aware of this, too, giving Star a quieted, but no less unsettled, look.
The adults around her remained silent all the same.
- (Same place, same time) -
Mina huffed tiredly as her magic began to fade...for good this time, her wild, white eyes low with fatigue as her energy began to falter.
'N-no...no, no, no! Not yet! If I stop, I'll - ' Again, another blade struck her, just through her leg, sending shocks of pain and raw, white anger through her body as it rested there, unbothered by her furious efforts to remove it on her flight. It's long hilt glittered teasingly, knowingly, at her frustration, seeming to mock her as she tried to keep pace with the others just a hairs length away. They were relentless, driven by that boy's voice, she understood, but how, she didn't know.
This...this wasn't a magic she knew, a magic she understood. What were these...blades? That shield? Why...was her magic...fading? Why couldn't she remove this blade? What happened to the Queen? What was happening?
So many questions, burning questions as she fought to keep ahead of the onslaught...though she knew she wouldn't be able to for much longer now...not when her chest heaved with strain and focus, not when she could feel herself slowing down...not when death was, literally, right at her heels. She had no doubt that the boy would hesitate little to finish what he'd started, the girl looking down to her side to see speckles of blood dripping into the strange, white fluid below, leaving a grim, wild trail where she'd flown. It didn't seem to show signs of stopping, and it probably wouldn't; she quickly understood that something about these blades, this...magic...made you bleed. More than you usually would, more than you should...she could almost feel it...drawing the red fluid from her veins.
But that didn't matter. Not when she was still in harm's way.
But...what could she do?
These blades wouldn't give her a moment, even a breath, to think, so stopping wasn't a possibility. That shield, its glorious surface gleaming brilliantly, even as she soared low over the waters of the realm, as if beckoning her to try again, to make another attempt where her first had failed.
No point there, either.
And running wasn't even worth the effort. There was no telling how far his reach was, how long he could keep up using this...trick. And if her magic ran out before she could get to the portal, well...she was finished either way.
So where did that leave her?
To bide her time? To just wait until her energy eventually ran out, only to -
'No, there has to be a way to stop this! There...there has to be - ' Just then, looking further on, she spotted them, looking back at her as she rounded along the sides where Marco's shield held a gap, just behind the boy's back as his song carried on. There was Star, Tom, Moon...Eclipsa.
The monster lover.
And her spawn, the freak...the abomination, resting there in her arms as they stood there, mocking her.
Laughing at her as she failed.
The thought made her...angry. So...angry.
This was all their fault, all of their faults. This pain, this...humiliation...Mina rushed to dodge blade another as she stared at them, blank, white eyes furrowing with rage as the thought filled her mind.
They'd done something...done something to stop her mission, to make her fail, to hurt her. They did something, that boy was...something else, a trick, a thing they made, wasn't he?
Frowning, she mused on it a bit.
What would Queen Solaria think? Seeing her in such a state, and by these...low lives? These...monster lovers? What would she think knowing that she'd allowed herself to be tricked by them like this?
What would she think knowing that she'd...failed?
But...but it wasn't her fault. She tried, Mina tried everything that she could! She really did, but -
"AGHHHH!" She screamed, tensing as a blade went through her arm, piercing the flesh explosions of pain rippled through her. It didn't stop even as she tried to yank it out, but alas, it wouldn't give, and only pain magnified, throwing her off course just a bit, but she fought to stay in the air...if just a bit longer.
She knew this was it for her. She knew that well. That this was...her last chance.
Wasn't it?
She didn't get all of the monsters, sure, but...she could finish this. She could put an end to all of them before the dark came to greet her for good, couldn't she?
'Her damaged arm twitched excitedly at the thought.
'Yes, yes! Just this one thing, if I could...if I could just...get closer, then I can...I can do this, for you! Solaria!' She thought with elation, with resolve, as she pushed forward as hard as she could, throwing everything she had at the task, and it was only a moment later that she could see it, the fear that had once reflected her own...reflected, now, on their faces. Those stupid, monster loving faces as she drew nearer, still, her own end near.
That's right, the girl thought as a wily grin tore across her face.
This would be their end, too.
- (Same time, same place) -
Mina was coming right at them.
Her eyes could hardly believe it, just how fast she was moving despite knowing that her magic was running low. Star could stop to wonder where this burst of energy had come from, whether it was because of...Eclipsa and Meteora, the two standing beside her as they faced the same monster in their midst. It was true, she knew, that they wouldn't be able to fight her if she made it to them.
What exactly were they to do, really?
Mina was just a few meters away, her laughing echoing in her mind.
There was no way that they would have been able to dodge her attack either, it seemed. So, of course, none of them moved, none of them ran.
Where would they go? Before her, Tom stood at her side, linking his hand in hers as she looked up to nod at him, as if the two of them could at least...accept what was sure to happen.
Mina screamed, words of anger and elation as she prepared an attack, claws extended.
They'd tried, right? They'd tried to do the right thing, hadn't they? Though, she couldn't help but think...what if it had been a mistake to drag them all here? To do the whispering spell? To do...any of this? But then, what would they have done against Mina and her army? Really, it looked like they were due to lose either way, so what did it matter?
They couldn't stop what was going to happen. So it was better if they...if they just...let go.
...
...
...
And just as quickly as she'd closed her eyes once more, just as she'd felt as though she'd drawn her last breath, the sky above tore, rending with brilliant light as the circle where glyphs and runes danced with listless abandon, tensed once, twice, before rotating about themselves, spinning just as fervently as the blades Marco commanded had. It was then on that things seemed to progress in slow motion, Mina's hulking, approaching form drawn slowly in time as the ring above burned brighter than even the sun, searing upon all of them white light that didn't wane for a full breath.
What was this?
What...was happening?
It took this, the brightness, the burning, the heat, the energy, to draw away Mina's gaze from them, the girl looking up, up, up, to the grey sky that pulsed and danced in time with Marco's voice, not that it drew her attention for long, the girl set about her ways as she turned back to them. Then it was faster, each beat, each radiant thrum of light against a backlit sky coming one after the other, again, and again, and again, until -
"I've got you now! Prepare to - "
She wouldn't get to finish.
Not when a massive, armored hand fell upon her body, crushing her into its waiting fist just as she'd reached the border of the edge of the shield, the blinding shockwave falling over them as the hand fell knuckle-first into the white pools of the realm before them. The ground trembled violently from just this force alone; each one of them, save for Glossaryck, of course, wavering as they struggled to find their balance once more, but that was nothing in comparison to the sight of it. Dark fingers, laced with steady brutality as its armor, glittering silver to match the shield, held themselves in the water, a stillness collapsing over them as they waited for it to move again.
Star...Star couldn't think, couldn't act as her mind tried to understand what was happening. Looking up, up, up, just as Mina had done just moments, mere seconds before, there was a hole, a great tear in the skies above, beating, beating, like a heart would as silence fell.
'A...giant hand? Armor? Marco...brought that here?' She wondered, pure curiosity curbing the growing horror that built in her chest at the sight of it, of...collecting blood that ran dizzyingly into the water at her knees. She didn't have the mind to step back, in far too much shock to do so as, finally, the hand began to move, peeling itself from the ground and into the air, though not without taking something with it.
That is...not without taking Mina with it.
But...Star wasn't sure what to call what she saw, whether her mind could really grasp what she looked like.
All she could see was red...bleeding, dripping gore as the girl's knotted pigtails, soaked through with violence, dangled sullenly from her head...where the remains of her scalp had been, and her face, smooshed and distorted, rested, slid off at an angle that just looked...wrong. Maybe her hair had gotten snagged on impact, that maybe the force was enough to smash her face in.
Star didn't know, too sick to speculate about the nature and cause of her injuries.
In fact, there didn't seem to be much of her face left as she sputtered and coughed violently, and it had only just dawned on Star that all of that time, however long it might have been, the former had been held underwater just as long, where she'd been forced to hold her breath when no end in sight was known. Despite this, she was still alive...somewhat, struggling quietly against the grip of the fist, thought really...it seemed more like all the fight had been ripped from her in one...fell...swoop.
Just like that.
Star flinched as the hand, as soon as she was in front of Marco again, dropped her from a high height, allowing her mangled body to fall into the water with little in the way of care or thought to the dull thud it would make, undoubtedly painful, she knew. Tom didn't spare her the silence of disgust as his grimace and look of utter horror was enough to illustrate his thoughts, not that she needed that to know what they were all thinking.
What they all thought as they watched more of the blades round about her.
What they all felt as they watched them fill her body, one by one, some pulling out only to go in again in the same spot.
What they all heard as she screamed, cried...begged...for it to be over.
What they all smelled as the water below her ran red.
Over, and over, and over, and over. Again, and again, and again, and again.
Marco didn't stop.
Not even when she stopped screaming.
Not even when she stopped whimpering.
Not even...when she stopped struggling.
Over, and over, and over, and over. Again, and again, and again, and again.
Star couldn't breathe.
What...was was this?
Stab
What was he doing? Why wouldn't he stop? Why weren't Mom and the others saying anything?
Stab
What happened to Marco?
Stab
This...this wasn't him. This...this couldn't be the one that she knew. Marco would never kill someone, Marco would...would never do this. She couldn't do this, she couldn't even begin to...to...
"M-Mom? Why...why won't he stop? Why won't Marco stop this?" She whispered, feeling her face grow wet as she realized that the song was done, replaced only by Marco's voice.
His low droning singing, like static on the ears as the tone left running hands, twisted, gutting fingers in her ears where it resonated darkly with her...with each of them. Moon turned back to face her daughter, her child, but could give no answer.
In truth, Star wasn't really sure what she expected the woman to say, what she expected her explanation to be. What could they say to her? How could they justify what they'd done?
"Sweetie, I...everything is going to be - " Star didn't even give her the chance to finish, eyes rushing, cold, against Moon's own.
"Don't. D-don't say that if you know it isn't. If you know that...Marco isn't going to be. Don't...don't lie to me, Mom." She hissed quietly, but there was little in the way of force behind it...painting it was more of a desperate plea than anything else.
She didn't have the energy to try and force this. She didn't have the will to push anymore. Star...Star didn't know what to think.
Not...at...all.
She'd only just noticed that the blades had stopped, the end of the sound of them piercing her flesh still fresh in her mind. But more than that? The image of it, the sight of her lying there, still, a heap of swords and flesh as it seemed as though it was over. Moon and Eclipsa both looked to each, just as they had before, then stepped over to Glossaryck, the old creature watching with an unreadable expression that remains of what was left of Mina.
Star couldn't tell whether his silence was from introspection, exhaustion...or something else entirely, but really, how could she tell? There was a blankness to it, the way he just...stared at her corpse.
It was...unnerving. Almost as unnerving as Marco's found silence, though the boy still hovered there, a suspended animus of magic as the hand did as well, though in that moment, it shifted, appearing to rest as the ring above gave a dull glow. 'It...wasn't gone yet?', she couldn't help but wonder as she looked to Mina again...and the damage it had done. Though the blades had dispersed, and the shield had dissolved in that moment as well, each dissolving into glitters of silver dust.
So why hadn't...Marco come back?
Why was this...thing still here?
But Star wouldn't have the chance to really dwell on that, not for long, anyway. From beneath their feet, the group saw the ground glow white once more, a circle matching the one in the sky appearing right below them, and what had seemed to be a moment of peace, of tranquil rest, was gone in an instant.
She hardly had a moment to see that was happening beneath them when she heard it, a horrid scream that felt as though it had torn through her echoed in the realm, a violent sound, overlapped, an ungodly pitch that scrapped at her inner ear coming from the one person she didn't want to.
Marco.
As if responding to his cry, the water beneath them began to shift, spiking up in rippling masses, the ground glowing brighter in kind, all the while, the boy began to thrash, tossing himself violently though he remained suspended there, as if held by an invisible hand that wouldn't allow him to rest. It was as if he'd been set on fire, each spasm, each seize, more violent and unfocused than the last.
"What's going on? What's happening to him? Glossaryck? Glossaryck?!" She tried to shout over the noise, but it was hard enough hearing her own voice, let alone when the boy wouldn't stop, the air becoming tense as the ground beneath their feet began to do...something else. The girl couldn't describe it, the feeling of electricity in the air as something emerged from the water. Despite herself, she found herself entranced as a book tore through the surface, its placid, white cover, bound in a marble-like surface, raised from the ground. Glossaryck floated over to it as it dripped clean, making haste to open it as Marco's condition, his discomfort, only magnified with each moment that passed.
He was in pain.
Her best friend...was in pain...and she couldn't do...anything.
Not...a...thing.
She hated this, the feeling of being...useless...unable to help, unable to make this better. There she was, just standing there, motionless, watching idly as something she didn't understand happened to him, as they stood around, watching Mina...die.
And that's when she saw it, saw her...move.
As if her spoken name erected something from her, the girl twitched, taking in quick, uneven breath once she'd managed to pull her head from the water, rivulets of pink fluid dripping from her sodden hair and face, but where her massive, magic form had once been, there remained just a young girl. A thin, frail body that coughed and sputtered with effort, with...fatigue, disfigured beyond recognition.
How?
Surely that couldn't be possible, right? She was...gone. Marco...made sure of that, didn't he? She looked down to see it, the tinge of pink as the water mixed with Mina's blood, seeping around Star's legs like virulent snakes. Distantly, she wondered if the water would stay this color, if there would always be a reminder of what happened here.
She hoped not.
Even in her mulling thoughts, Eclipsa seemed to match her confusion, stepping forward to train her eyes on the girl as well.
"How is she...I thought surely she would have - " She wouldn't get to finished, taken by Mina's words as, even stranger, she tried to crawl, pulling herself desperately forward, a trembling voice calling out over the echoing cry of her assailant.
"Y-you...you all...will...p-pay. All...a-all of you...monster...lovers..." She spat with far more force and vitriol than Star thought that she could manage, and even more incredibly, they all watched as she pulled herself to a stand, shaking at the strain of her own weight with each step forward that she took. Of course, anyone could see that she was already defeated, that she had been reduced to a young girl once more, that she was no longer any threat to them at all. It was sad, seeing her stumble around, weak...disoriented...it took everything in Star not to run out there, to try to get her to ease herself as the battle...was finished.
At least...that's what they all thought.
That resting hand almost appeared to twitch to life at her words, her movements...her desperate vitality. When, in just a second's, a breath's, time she realized what was about to happen, Star felt herself call out, a strained, broken cry, but deep down...she knew it was already done.
It was already over.
Raising itself over her, Mina almost didn't seem to understand what was happening, the portion of her face still intact, where her remaining eye rested, looking up just a moment as she halted her march. There was a sort of childish confusion to it, the bewildered expression that painted over her features as it came down upon her the first time. It was almost...strange, the crunching, the snapping, the squelching, over the sound of splashing water, over the sound of the hand coming down again...and again...and again.
Again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
It didn't stop, even as her body remained crushed beneath it.
It didn't stop even as all that remained of her were pieces, mush, ground fine and haphazardly left in the once still waters below, those now a rushing, terrible crimson she couldn't unsee. There was a stench, clearly blood, as it went on, and on, and on, filling her nose as they all watched with horror, terror, at the sight of it.
But he didn't stop.
Marco...wouldn't stop.
Couldn't he see she was already dead? WHY WOULD HE JUST STOP IT ALREADY?
"Marco...MARCO! Stop it! Stop!" She didn't think, only moving as her instincts told her to as she rushed over to him. Maybe this was stupid, no, surely this was one of the most foolish things she'd ever done, running over to someone...something...she didn't understand, one that had actively killed someone else, but...she couldn't take another moment of this, not another second just sitting by whilst he did this. She knew that she might end up getting hurt, she understood that this was...stupid, but there was nothing left of her, left of Mina, so couldn't he see that? The youth, despite her mother's, Toms, and Eclipsa's haste to stop her, avoided their grasps to reach him, yet even her calling out to him, he didn't even seem to notice that she was at his side.
She'd never seen him look so...scared. There was no denying it, the way he clawed at the air as if trying to scramble to the surface of water, as if he were...drowning, all the while crying out, desperate to find relief where there wasn't any, his song wavering between screaming and crying that she couldn't unhear.
What was he thinking right now? Did he...know she was there? Could he hear her, and he just couldn't...respond? He needed...he needed her. Someone that could help him, the best way that she could, at least; she didn't even realize that she'd begun to reach out, her trembling hand mere inches away before she heard her Mother's voice again, this time as a command, an order, a tone she didn't take often with the girl. Looking back, she could see her face, strained with worry, but firm all the same, stiff against the growing volume cries.
"Star, stop, do not touch him! You cannot disturb him yet, he's still - " Suddenly, the hand stopped moving, running cold as Glossaryck's words rang through.
"Listen to your mother, Star. In this state, we cannot predict how he will take being...bothered. I would suggest...you move back. Now." Star met him again, or rather, the book, its glistening pages ruffling with each turn it made, matching glyphs to the one's above their head phasing in and out of view above the book as the blue creature turned to face her, his face focused...tired. There seemed to be a sort of effort needed on his part to even be in its presence, but he could manage it, it seemed, though his tone didn't offer that same friendly cadence it usually did. There was...something there, an apprehension she didn't miss.
Then it hit her.
Did they...did any of them...even know what they were doing?
How could she begin to trust the words of those who didn't even have the capacity to stop him when they knew that this...this would be the result?
Why...would she listen to anything they had to say when this...was their fault...and hers, all the same?
"Why? So you guys can do something else to him? I can get through to him, I can...I have to at least try! I know he's in there, I know it." Turning away from them, even as she could hear each of them coming towards her, she didn't find herself hesitating when she reached up, up, where his thrashing legs hung suspended over her head.
She struggled to really get one of his ankles in her grasp, but she managed to, grabbing his left leg as tightly as she could, even as behind her, the adults yelled, their words meshing into a single wall of noise that she was determined to ignore.
Marco was in there. This...thing wasn't him, and if they weren't going to do anything about it, then she would -
"STAR!" She could hear Eclipsa call out to her again, her very voice carrying a tone she seldom heard from the woman, a panic that was usually superseded by immutable calm, but it pierced through her, almost giving her cause to look back to see what was wrong, but she didn't need to.
It didn't take but a moment for her to realize it, to know that he was looking down at her, blazing white eyes strangely empty despite the distress that was clear on his face. But there wasn't a recognition, a realization that it was her that he was looking at.
It was almost as if he'd been looking through her.
It was haunting.
"M-Marco? Marco, it's me, Star...don't you recognize me?" Staring up at him, she couldn't tell if could hear her, either, not through the vacancy behind his expression. A vacancy that remained as she felt something whir past her, glints of silver tearing past her eyes.
A whirlwind that tussled her hair just a swiftly as it had with Mina.
A familiar sense of dread filled her as she opened her mouth to speak again.
But she would never get the chance to as she lost her footing, a force blowing her back.
"STAR!" Came her mother's cry, appearing almost too far away, too distant, for the girl to guess that she was just behind her, Moon, Eclipsa, and Tom rushing to her aid as she was blown back, landing with a crude splash into the water away from where Marco hovered above them...ominously. She felt herself being lifted into someone's arms, resting within them whilst her mind tried to understand what had happened.
"M-Mom? Mom, what...what happened? I - " Her eyes widened as she looked down at herself. She'd been fine just...just moments ago, hadn't she? She was standing right next to Marco, right? So...so why was there a blade sticking out of her? Why...did Marco...do this?
And why...did it hurt so badly?
Star felt herself loose a horrible scream as she thrashed against it, trying desperately to find any relief from the agony radiating from her side with the tongue of the blade had managed to find a home in. Steady streams of blood was quickly soaking into her clothes, and just as quickly, Star could feel herself growing...faint.
Quickly, too.
Almost too quickly.
Eclipsa and Moon wasted no time trying to stop the bleeding, Eclipsa placing Meteora down, a bit further away to keep her from the mess, as she rushed to Star's side. Tom hardly had time to process what had happened, the attack happening so swiftly, so seamlessly, that none of this felt...real.
None of this...could be real. Marco would never...never do something like this. Marco didn't get hurt. Marco wasn't this...thing. He didn't...kill Mina. Star wasn't hurt.
No.
No, he refused to believe any of this.
Yet there it was. Everything that his mind refused to give credence to, right there in front of him, mocking his fear, his apprehension...his terror.
And yet he could do...nothing. Not a thing without his powers, his strength, his resolve, whatever remained of it, that is. He watched as the two women tried to stop it, the rushing red that began to collect around them as Star grew...faint, and Glossaryck, his attention turned fully to Marco, seemed all too absorbed with the book, still, even as things were quickly falling apart.
But that wasn't even the worst of it, it seemed. It was odd, Tom thought, looking to someone that he thought of as a friend and seeing nothing there that resembled that person. Even stranger, the teen thought, in a still panic, that those blades had made their return, Marco's droning, terrible song, if a bit more distorted, returning once more as his voice echoed hollowly around them as they were given life once more. It didn't take much for him to figure out that Marco...wasn't done, that he intended to finish them just as he'd...finished Mina, right?
Why else would he be turning to face them, vacant face still, unmoved, as his song reached higher tones, an apex as more of his coursing blades apparated around him, twisting and coiling like vile snakes as they began to pulse with intent.
It occurred to him just a second later that he was going to kill them.
Marco was...going to kill them, or, rather, this thing that looked like Marco would.
There was nothing to suggest that this was Marco.
Nothing.
So would it feel as bad knowing that at least his friend was gone before he did them in? The thought should have been a comfort, but...he couldn't help it, the worsening pit in his gut as he realized that whatever they did, that their guardians had done, caused...this. That maybe Marco had died after all, and all that they'd done was put a monster in his place. That...wasn't comforting, it wasn't relieving...it wasn't...anything.
He just felt...scared.
Terrified at the thought of it, of...dying.
But what could he do?
Nothing. That was what he could do.
Precisely...nothing.
Looking to Star, he found himself drawn to her side as well, reaching down once he'd made it beside her and taking her hand into his own. Cracking open her weary eyes, she shared a tired look with him that he couldn't read, but he could guess what she'd say if she could.
"I love you, too..." He whispered, smiling softly before closing his eyes, Marco's voice thunderous, deafening as the blades twirled faster and faster, drawing the white ocean up with a stirring violence that they couldn't fight against.
Even Eclipsa, in her haste, recognized, their approach to the end as she rushed up, cradling Meteora softly as the child cooed, unaware of what was happening.
Unaware that death was just a mere...moment's...away -
"YACOA!" Glossaryck shouted over the noise, over the song, and just as quickly, the world around them seemed to have been given pause as all at once, it stopped.
Everything...stopped.
Marco's voice was cut abruptly as he froze, pale, silver eyes locked in place before they began to flutter close, and in that same moment, he began to lower, body resting gently in the white pool beneath him, the world going eerily silent.
The blades, once a storm of movement and lethality, all froze, trembling before they all began to fade, dispersing into the buds of white light that drifted before they disappeared...one by one.
"W-what...what's going on? Glossaryck? What did you - " Moon wouldn't get to finish as the small creature let out a bit of a humorless chuckle, back turned towards them as the page of the book came to a stop as well, still as the blue man allowed his eyes to fall over the text for a moment longer before closing it with a resounding snap. Turning to face them, he seemed to smile, though it felt...worn, his best attempt at feigned good humor taxing upon his features.
But even Tom could see it, the exhaustion written in the lines of his face as he kept the large book firmly between his hands as it hovered like a ghost behind him, its very presence unnerving at its flower-bound covered rested silently in their midst.
"I made it stop...that is what we wanted, yes?" He started slowly, quietly, as his eyes drifted slowly to Star, the blade that had once rested in her side fading to match the absence of the others of its kind. At once, Tom felt relief wash over him at its disappearance, though it didn't give an end to the worry that remained pervasive at the sight of the still rushing blood that came from her vacant wound. However, with it gone, they could at least place more pressure on it, and that was just what they did, the three wincing in kind as Star, still conscious, shifted against the touch, sucking in a breath as they tried to hold it steady.
"Sorry, sweetie. We just need to make sure we can at least try to stop the bleeding, so just bear with us, I know it hurts, but just...hold on..." Her mother assured her softly, and Star listened as well as she could, grasping each and every word as her hazy mind tried its best to piece together what was happening.
It was all too much. Too much was happening too...quickly. First, she was right next to Marco, trying her best to just...reach him. Then she...she got hurt...when...Marco hit her.
No.
No, her mind refused to believe something like that.
Marco didn't hit her, that...that thing did, right? He would never do something like that, not if he knew what he was doing, she knew that. Then...things get...fuzzy after she'd been hit, she knew, since she could only barely make out what was going on, but...she can recall there being shouting, wind...singing.
Mina was gone, so why had he been...singing again?
There was only them left, wasn't there?
He wouldn't have tried to...no. No, he wouldn't have a reason to, would he? To try to...kill them?
Smiling weakly at the thought, her mind wouldn't allow her to even fathom it. Sure, he'd hit her accidentally, she was in the way, she should have listened to Glossaryck and the others, that much she could believe. But to suggest that he'd...kill them? To use whatever power he has to...end it?
End...them?
'N-no...no, he wouldn't do something like that. That's...crazy...yeah. Crazy...' She thought calmly, taking a shaky breath as the pain began to dullen, though not by much.
He...he would never hurt them. Marco was still Marco, under whatever that...monster was.
He was still Marco.
Beside her, Tom gripped her hand firmly, smiling back at her though his expression still looked...grim. It had only occurred to her that all of this had happened in such a short span a time. What...twenty minutes, the girl thought as she shut her eyes in a bid to sort it all out. Between the Whispering spell, and Mina, and...Marco...she'd almost forgotten that not much time had passed, well...at all.
But it was over now...right?
Cracking open her eyes once more, she eyed the spot where Marco had landed, the youth stirring a bit in the murky, white water before she could hear it.
His voice.
A bite of fear gripped her, strangely, too, since she wasn't...scared. Why would she be scared since she knew it would be him? She could never be afraid of Marco, though, stranger, still, she could feel her mother, Marco, and Eclipsa all become just as tense as they turned their heads to match her line of sight, each rearing at the movements of the boy before them. Even Glossaryck seemed...tense, despite the fact that it was him that called out that word...the command, it felt like.
She wasn't sure why, but that was what it felt like.
An order.
But that was something she could think about later.
It was in that same moment, in that same, quiet, breathless moment, that they all jumped, startled by his quick movements as Marco raised his head from the water, sputtering and coughing harshly as he tried to clear his throat of the white fluid. It took only a second, that first breath, for her to realize that he was...back. There wasn't a doubt in her mind, not a second of consideration, before she tried to move again, attempting to force her body into motion, despite knowing of the nature of her...injury.
But she tried anyway.
She just needed to hold him, to touch him, to...make sure that it was really...him.
...though, she wouldn't get terribly far. From her injuries, to the steadfast determent from the others, she wouldn't be able to move very far.
If at all.
"Star, don't...not yet. You are in no condition to be active yet, alright? Don't worry, Glossaryck is checking on him now, so rest, okay? Just..." Sighing, Moon stroked her head, giving her a soft look before turning back, meeting where Glossaryck had moved beside Marco, urging the boy to remain calm despite the mess and chaos that had just occurred. She couldn't really blame him for freaking out right after something like that, she probably would be, too, if she weren't stunned...shocked herself as the pain from her injury dullened a bit, but not by much. In her mind, she was trying to come to terms with it, to understand that she had been hurt in the first place, though she was staunch in her reminders to herself that he hadn't meant it, that...it wasn't him that did it.
So why then was she...nervous? She should have been elated to have him back, to see that he was really there after all, but...all she could feel was wariness as she watched him try to come to a stand, and that, whilst his face was the same, good-natured one that it had always been, she couldn't quite shake it.
The memory of his blank, empty expression, the things he'd done while he looked like that...and the subtle fear that he would become that again.
Wait, no! That was over, he was back! She was worrying over nothing, for nothing!
Everything was going to be okay now, everything was fine!
Everything was fine.
"What happened?! Did we win?! Where's Mina?! Are we - " Marco froze for a moment, pale, white eyes slow to crawl over himself as he came to the slow realization that yes.
He was nude.
"AND WHY AM I NAKED?! DID YOU GUYS SEE ME...NEVERMIND, DON'T ANSWER THAT!" He rushed to lay further in the water, as if to cover more of himself, his brown cheeks darkening with a sudden blush as the very thought of it seemed to mortify him. Admittedly, he didn't really have too much to worry about.
With everything that was going on at the time, it wasn't as if they had been able to really consider the fact that he was in the nude the whole time, so they weren't really staring at him or anything. If anything, him being naked was the least weird thing that they'd seen in the last ten minutes, she thought with a small laugh that captured Marco's attention. He had her in his sights for only a second before his face went from a furious blush, to a horrified pale, and she could probably guess why, the girl tearing her eyes from him to chance a glance at the still-fresh wound that rested where the blade once had. Honestly, she thought, it didn't look too bad, though, she's probably just biased to the drying blood...and the lightheadedness.
She wasn't exactly in a position to really be a good judge of what was good or bad right now.
"S-STAR?! What happened to you?! Did Mina do this?!" He asked, seemingly forgetting about his own nudity to rush to her side, not noticing the odd, fearful glances he'd received from Moon and Eclipsa, each doing a rather terrible job of hiding their apprehension, even when the teen sat right beside them. Thankfully, he didn't really notice as he was too preoccupied with freaking out over Star to really pay credence to their estranged expressions. Behind him, Glossaryck called his attention, clearing his throat as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
With a deep breath, the magical creature began to speak, and Star couldn't help but notice that he sounded far more...tired than usual.
"We can explain all of this in due time, but for now...let's just focus on trying to get us home."