Elegy of Souls and Stars

by bubbajack

The souls of two bound by a curse are an eternal tale. one of waiting and one of seeking. Come along and see the tale of a knikght errant seeking his ever missing Star. One-shot, Marco X Harem. No lemon or limes only VIOLENCE!

Elegy of Souls and Stars: End of an Endless Journey

By: Bubbajack

Editors/Co-Authors: Icysnowsage, First Hassan/Darklord331, Antagonist, Loamy Coffee

Special Consultant: Heliosion, Reiter

Special thanks go out to my Super Donors: Alexander Murry, Bobby Glass, JackHanmer, Jareth Norris, Martin T. Aranda, NeroSolas, Selmephren, and Lucas White my sole Supreme Tier donor. My Heartfelt thanks go out to all my other Patrons as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil, Gravity Falls, or the Dark Souls Franchises. They belong to Daron Nefcy, Alex Hirsh, and Hidetaka Miyazaki/From Software respectively.

(...)

Marco was walking through the woods, sun shining down through the boughs and leaves and twigs crunching underfoot, with hands in his pockets with his knightly cloak, a parting gift from King River, ever fastened around his neck. 'I wonder how Star's doing? I hope she's alright. Should I call? Would that be too forward?' Marco shook his head and smiled. 'I've only been back a couple of days but I'm already worrying about her. Relax Diaz, I'm sure Star is fine without you fretting over her constantly,' admonishing himself.

So Marco continued to walk through the woods. The whole reason he was out here was to try and take his mind off of Mewni… and off of Star. He was dating the Jackie Lynn Thomas! The girl he'd had a crush on since kindergarten! He should be over the moon, ecstatic even, and yet… and yet there was a hollow little void in his heart…

A void that was only ever filled when he was in the company of a certain blonde princess.

Marco raked at his scalp in frustration. "Gah! This is so stupid! I am with Jackie… but all I can think of is Star... " Marco covered his face with both hands. "I'm a terrible boyfriend aren't I?!"

"Giv- Give me, Snuggly! Giv- Give me Soft!" a voice cawed from seemingly all around him.

Marco looked around frantically, not seeing anyone around him nor expecting to meet anyone out here in the woods. "Hello?" he called out hesitantly, wishing he had brought some kind of weapon along with him.

"Give me Snuggly, give... give me soft!" the voice called again, this time Marco could pinpoint the source coming from above. Looking up, the latino boy found a crow peeking at him from high up in the treeline, its head just barely visible due to the light peeking through the trees. This did not hide how such a bird should not look normal sized at the very top of the treeline, hinting at how large the bird really was.

Marco relaxed and waved a finger at the little bird. "Well, hey there little guy. You scared me, you know? You're a smart little birdy, aren't you? Speaking English like that."

"Snuggly soft?" the bird said, cocking its head at him quizzically.

"No, you can't have my hoodie… or my cape," Marco kindly told the bird. "Bye little buddy."

Now it could've been that Marco was a bit too used to Star's magical antics, or maybe he'd been to one too many dimensions, or perhaps he was too used to seeing talking monsters but if he were still a rational thinking human being, he might've given a talking crow a second thought.

He might've thought to run and hide.

Thus all he heard was the flap of wings and the rush of air before he was clasped in a pair of giant talons.

"What the hell?!" Marco swore as he was lifted into the air by a species of Corvus fifteen times the size of a man. "Oh geez, is this that bird from the football game?!" Marco felt his most prized possession fall from his pants pocket as the bird soared higher into the air. "My dimensional scissors!"

"CAAW!" Marco's cry was lost by the cawing of a crow.

(...)

Marco had fallen asleep at some point during the flight, and was abruptly awoken when he was dropped on the ground with astonishing care. Sitting up and shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Marco looked around. He found himself in a derelict courtyard consisting of rough gray cobblestone, broken stone bricks and wild flowers lined the path. Ahead of him was a castle-like structure with cracked and broken spires looming above him forebodingly their broken steeple tops like the boney fingers of some giant reaching out to grasp an overcast sky as wild ivy and moss laid siege to the outer walls of the castle.

Just ahead of him was a massive wooden door inlaid with finery and decor Marco could not place. Just beyond the door and the stone walls beside a loud stomping could be heard. "Oh well, that can't be good," Marco said to himself as he stopped in front of what looked like an unlit bonfire. A twisted and spiraled sword stood erect in the ashes, and as Marco reached out to take the sword so as to have some kind of defensive weapon, the flames sprung to life around the fire, giving off a warm, comforting and welcoming glow. The golden flames of the fire reminded the boy of a certain princess' golden mane of hair. Energy from the magic flame flowed into Marco and any exhaustion or fear he felt was relieved by the sweet comfort of this bonfire.

The thunderous stomp of whatever lay beyond the door brought Marco out of his wistful reverie. Shaking his head like a wet dog, Marco chided himself as he cast his eyes around for possible armaments. "Now is not the time to be thinking about Star, Diaz. You gotta think about getting your ass out of here… wherever here is first. Now, to arm myself and search for anything else I can use to protect myself."

Then he noticed in the far corner of the courtyard was a corpse near a collapsed wall. Marco hesitantly approached. As he neared, he saw it was a knight in tarnished armor and leather, his sword broken to the point of being hardly a dagger, a heater shield laying limply in his other hand. The open faced helmet the man wore clearly showed the man's desiccated face with a look of horror and pain forever marked upon his visage. Marco stopped in front of the dead man, conflicted. On one hand, he didn't want to disrespect the dead, on the other hand he had to scavenge what he could to get back home.

The sound of heavy stomping footfalls continued to come from the other side of the massive wooden doors. That helped Marco make up his mind. He looked at the dead knight sadly. "Sorry Sir Knight, but I need this more than you do now."

Stripping the knight of his armaments and putting them on over his clothes, doing his best to ignore the rank smell. Armed with little more than pillaged armor and a broken sword, he approached the massive wooden doors and pushing with all of his might he forced them open with a massive creek as he did so.

The moment he did, he wished he hadn't as standing just across the small enclosed courtyard was a simply massive demon. Standing at almost two stories tall, green-skinned with a thick rubbery hide that was accented by its bloated physique. Like a reptile, it had three pronged clawed feet upon which it somehow stayed upright, a mean scowl adorned its face, fangs jutted out of its mouth like a vampire of legend and its crimson beady eyes peered at Marco with the demon's brow set into a perpetual scowl due to the set of deer horn that jutted from the sides of its brow. Its hands held a massive club that looked to consist of the trunk of an ancient tree.

Not looking for a fight, and also not wanting to be racist due to Tom Lucitor of all people being his best friend, Marco tried talking to the demon first, "Umm hello there, I don't suppose you know the way out of here, do you?"

"GRAAAGH!" The demon roared out in challenge before he stomped his way towards Marco, his club raised up high. Only hatred, destruction, and rage could be seen from the demon's actions.

Marco hadn't practiced Tang Soo Do for years, earning his red belt for nothing. He rolled out of the way of such an obviously telegraphed strike and retorted with, "A simple 'no' would've sufficed!"

The hulking beast, and Marco felt he could call it that as it didn't seem to be that intelligent, swung its weapon at him again, and again Marco dodged away, but this time, the air behind the blow threw him off his feet and onto his back. Getting to his feet, Marco held his pilfered shield in front of him thinking, 'I need to get out of here, that broken sword isn't going to do anything.'

Spying an open door on his left, Marco made a run for it, doubling his speed when he heard the stomps of the demon behind him. Throwing himself through the doorway, he heard the demon's greatclub slam the ground right behind him and after that, the sound of iron grinding against stone seconds before a mighty clang rang out, then… silence.

For all of a few seconds as the wall began to shake as Marco heard the wails of anger coming from across the shaking wall behind him. No doubt the demon did not like his prey escaping.

Looking back from his prone position on the floor, Marco found that the demon's blow had knocked an old iron portcullis loose, keeping the demon out, but locking him in as well. The door shaking accentuated the fact that Marco needed to get away fast.

'Well, I'm not going back that way.' Marco thought to himself. He then spoke to himself with a tone of urgency mixing in, "Better see what I can find around here."

Marco soon found another bonfire and as he approached, he held his hand out, causing the flame to ignite. Marco knelt next to the flames for a moment, pondering just where he was and how he was going to get out of this jam he was in. 'No dimensional scissors no Star, no way to call for help as of yet. Gonna have to rough it out for now, but so far, the Neverzone was tougher than this."

So Marco made his way deeper into this mysterious complex. He soon came to realize that all the denizens of this place wanted to kill him when one attacked him on sight. Eyes sunken to black holes, the hollowed and desiccated corpse-like being swung its rusted sword ravenously at him. He managed to block its frenzied strikes on his shield before stabbing the madman in the throat with his broken blade. They fell like a marionette with its strings cut and Marco stumbled back into a wall. Fear and anguish mixed in Marco's tone as he tried to justify his first act of murder, "I had to do it, I had to do it." Marco chanted like a mantra, "He was trying to kill me," Marco grimaced. "Yeah this is just like the neverzone only worse since I'm not buff and don't have my trusty sword and pet dragon cycle to get the hell out of here."

He continued down the hall grimacing at having to put down more madmen. He noticed small white sprites go from those he felled to him, but paid it no mind, he had more important things to worry about, like not dying. Before coming to a room with a set of stairs. Seeing nothing but darkness above, Marco held his shield close and warily made his way up the stairs not noticing the mechanism that would bring forth his demise. He was more than halfway up when he heard it…

The sound of stone grinding on stone.

There was no way he could've gotten out of the way on time. He was crushed under the weight of a giant boulder with his armor pressing and cutting into his flesh, his bones breaking under the mighty weight, his internal organs ruptured, blood spewed from every orifice and as he laid there dying, the one thing Marco thought of was Star Butterfly.

'Star… I never got… to see you again… or tell you how I…'

Marco's body, armor and all, collapsed into ash, under the light of a crimson blood moon. This would be the first of many, many deaths… and the start of a legend that would transcend the ages…

But time as always is distorted in the land of Lordran. And one man's legend could be nothing more than just another's fickle dream. Or even a nightmare.

(...)

An abrupt and rapid knocking came at the Ordania residence at around eight o' clock, the next morning. Janna stumbled down the stairs rubbing the sleep from her eyes and grumbling, "I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses before I curse your junk off, damnit."

Getting to the front door, she threw it open and prepared to curse out whoever was standing there until she found out who it was. Angie and Rafael Diaz were standing there holding hands and looking worried as Rafael had his hand up to knock on the door again. Janna was immediately on edge since Marco's parents have never shown up at her house unless Marco was with them. "Mr. and Mrs. D, what's wrong?"

"Janna dear, have you seen or heard from Marco at all since yesterday afternoon?" Angie asked worriedly.

Janna shook her head. "No, I thought he'd be hanging out with Jackie or Alfonzo and Ferguson."

Rafael nodded, "We assumed so as well but… he's sent us no call or text saying such, and you know Marco, he always worries so much about things like this."

Janna nodded. She knew Marco alright. He'd loosened up quite a bit since Star all but dragged him out of his shell, and she had to admit, it took balls, big brass ones to actually go off and fight in a war that you had nothing to do with all for a girl. 'But does he sweep her off her feet? No, of course he doesn't. Dense idiot.' Janna thought, shaking her head. 'And now this happens.' Silently motioning for the Diaz' to enter, "So was I your first stop or?"

"You're our first stop. Since you always seem to know what's going on with Marco. You are his best friend after all," Angie said, giving the girl a warm loving smile.

"I don't know about that," Janna denied doubtfully. "Him and Star are pretty close… very close if you know what I mean?" Wiggling her eyebrows at Marco's parents suggestively.

"Janna, you do love to tease… but you really haven't seen or even received a text from Mijo?" Rafael asked worriedly as the girl busied herself with making coffee for her guests.

Janna shook her head, "I haven't. I'll send out some feelers to see if he's off somewhere making out with Jackie or something… or maybe…" Janna trailed off grinning.

"Maybe?" Angie said.

"Your boy finally got a clue about how he felt about a certain blonde princess and decided to go tell her," Janna finished hopefully, doing her best, in her own way, to allay the Diaz' fears.

Angie smiled as best she could. "We can only hope, Janna dear. Thank you," she said, taking the cup of coffee from the girl. Two creams, one sugar just how she liked it.

"Gracias," Rafael said, sipping his own cup of black coffee.

"Janna dear, who was at the… Oh Angie, Rafael! What brings you by so early?" Tala, Janna's mother dressed in a simple green blouse with fuzzy slippers on, asked as she walked in from the master bedroom.

"Marco is missing. We were hoping Janna might know where he is," Rafael quickly explained.

Her father, John dressed in a casual brown polo shirt, khaki pants, and brown sperrys looked at his daughter after coming in after his wife. He knew she enjoyed the occasional prank on Marco but didn't think she'd go so far as kidnapping. He fixed her with a sharp look just in case. "Any ideas, sweetheart?"

"No dad, I haven't kidnapped Marco. I could if I wanted to, with all the info I have on him, but I haven't," Janna said using the annoyed voice only a teenager could use with their parents.

"Good girl," John said, smiling at his daughter.

Janna just rolled her eyes and turned away so her parents couldn't see she was affected by the praise and made herself busy making more cups of coffee listening as she did so.

"So have you checked with the other parents yet?"

"No. Janna, dear that she is, was about to send out a text to Marco's other friends to see if he's with any of them," Angie replied with worry still flecked in her tone.

"That's my girl, always looking out for her godbrother," John said with a hint of pride coloring his tone.

"Godbrother?" Janna questioned in astonishment at this news.

John chuckled. "Dear, don't you remember? Rafael and I are college friends, and if heaven forbid something should happen to Rafael and Angie or vice versa, you were to go live with them, or him with us. I explained this to you years ago so I'm not surprised you forgot, but it was about then you started stalking poor Marco learning everything you could about him."

"I don't stalk him, I just pick on him for fun," Janna protested, sipping at her coffee.

Tala giggled as she sipped at her cream filled coffee. "Now perhaps, but back then, the reason you wanted to know so much is because if he ever had to come stay with us, you wanted him to be as comfortable as possible. It was so sweet."

"Really," Janna asked, rubbing her arm, "I said all that?"

John nodded. "You did, and even though you act like a fly in the ointment to poor Marco half the time, and do strange occult rituals in your room… thank you so much mother for leaving Janna your old things," John said under his breath.

"Hey, Grangran was cool," Janna said in defense of her deceased grandmother.

"She was a conwoman who used fake occult rituals to con people out of their money darling, but I digress. The point is, Janna that now, it seems Marco needs to be found. So, what are you going to do?" John asked his daughter, looking at her over the rim of his coffee cup as he took a sip.

"Find him, that's what," Janna retorted, reaching into her pajama pocket and pulling out her phone before sending out a text to everyone on her friends list.

"Safe Kid is missing. Anyone seen him? Respond ASAP."

"There, I basically just put an APB out on his butt," Janna said with a smirk.

Janna's phone started dinging and vibrating.

"Marco's missing?" Ferguson asked.

"He's not with me," Alfonzo replied.

"Me either… guys, where is my boyfriend?" Jackie asked worriedly.

Janna frowned. "No one in the group has seen him."

Angie and Rafael grimaced and shared a worried glance.

John made a phone call. "Yes Wendy, push all my appointments back. I know that important clients are supposed to come in today but a family emergency has come up. Janna? My little princess is fine but Marco has gone missing."

"Dad! Don't. Call me. Princess," Janna complained.

"Yes, the adorable karate boy who kicked Johnson in the balls that one time when he saw him trying to cop a feel and yelling stranger danger… you will? Well, thank you," Hanging up his cell phone, John said "Wendy is coming in to help as soon as she clears my schedule for the day."

"Wendy, the hot redhead intern from Oregon? The one who may or may not be sweet on Marco?" Janna said with a smirk.

John smiled while chuckling a little at his daughter's insinuation. "Yes, that's her."

"Isn't she from some weird town in Oregon that she never talks about? Gravity Falls or something?" Janna asked.

"Yes, and don't bring up the occult around her, Janna, it makes her uncomfortable, especially the topic of demons," John warned his daughter.

Janna raised her hands up defensively. "Hey! I like to tease people, dad, not send them into catatonic comas… just don't call me princess around her or the gloves come off."

"Fine, I'll do my best to hold back my fatherly affections around any company… so I suppose that means breaking out your baby book is out of the question, then?" John inquired politely, smirking as he raised his coffee cup to his lips.

"Dad!" Janna said, flushing, clearly getting her teasing nature from him.

Tala turned to the Diaz family. "I know it doesn't look like it, but we're all taking this very seriously. Aren't we dear?" Tala said, giving her husband a sharp look.

"Of course we are," John said with a nod as all humor left his face. "My godson is missing."

Tala continued. "Have you two eaten recently?"

Angie shook her head. "No, we've been too worried about Mijo."

"Well then," Tala said while grabbing pans from the cabinet and eggs from the fridge. "Now is as good a time as any to eat something."

"Oh Tala, let me help," Angie offered, only to be motioned to sit by the woman of the house.

"Nonsense, you've had a stressful night. So sit down, relax and wait for breakfast to be ready," Tala said gently.

It was about twenty minutes later with the scent of scrambled eggs filling the kitchen that what sounded like a gunshot went off right outside the Ordonia residence.

"What was that, a gun?" asked Angie, who had flinched at the noise.

John shook his head, putting down the paper he'd been reading, a grin showing on his face. "No, that would be Mater."

Janna raised an eyebrow. "Mater?"

"Wendy's truck," John replied as he got up and moved to the front door to greet his young secretary. He opened his front door to see a young woman of eighteen years trying to get a rust covered truck door to shut to no avail. She was wearing a dark green pantsuit with her red hair tied up in a messy bun, a blue and white baseball cap with a pine tree embossed on the front and slip-ons on her feet.

"Close, you stupid piece of junk!" Wendy yelled at the door as it creaked back open, her freckled face twisted into a scowl and her green eyes wroth with fury.

"I keep telling you to scrap that thing, Wendy."

"I'm saving up for a Honda Civic, boss. I swear," Wendy said, giving the door a sharp kick and finally forcing the door closed. Huffing, she turned to her boss. "So, what's going on boss man? You said on the phone my cute little Zorro was missing, yeah?"

"Indeed he is, come inside and we'll explain. Also you're just in time for breakfast."

Wendy pumped her fist. "Score!" Her stomach grumbled happily. Wendy frowned down at her protesting stomach. "Quiet you."

"Have you been skipping meals again, Wendy?" John asked as he ushered her into his house.

The redhead scowled. "Stupid landlord keeps upping my rent because I don't want to pay him the way his other female tenants do," Wendy finished in a tone of disgust.

"Birnbaum?" John asked quietly as they walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Who else?" Wendy replied flatly before plastering a smile on her face before she entered the kitchen. "Sup, Ordonia crew?"

"Hello, Wendy dear," Tala greeted with a smile, having set an extra plate on the counter for her. "I hope John hasn't been working you too hard at the law firm?"

Wendy scoffed. "Ha, that's funny! I used to cut down pine trees for fun! This gophering is almost boring by comparison, and I'm getting paid for it."

John cleared his throat and motioned to Angie and Rafael. "Wendy, I'd like to introduce you to Rafael and Angelia Diaz, they're Marco's parents. I once brought him in on Take Your Son to Work day."

"So these are Little Zorro's parents? Very nice to meet you both, I'm Wendy Corduroy," She flushed a little as she offered them her hand.

"And you as well, but I must ask, Little Zorro?" Angie inquired as Rafael shook Wendy's hand.

Wendy laughed. "Oh yeah man, it was great. So I'm making copies of some legal junk on the copier right, and the stupid thing gets jammed. So naturally, I'm bent over trying to fix it right and then this greasy old guy walks in, Johnson sees me bent over and tries to grab my ass."

"Some people," Janna said as Angie tittered in disgust.

"Yeah, but he didn't get to do anything 'cause next thing he's howling holding his jewels and Marco is yelling something about stranger danger but he wasn't done, Marco I mean."

"Oh dear, what did my Mijo do?"

Wendy grinned sadistically. "Carved a Z onto the dude's ass with a boxcutter."

Angie turned to her husband, arms folded and eyes narrowed. "I told you we let him watch Zorro too young."

"I was six when I watched Zorro the first time, dear," Rafael said.

Janna, though, burst out laughing. "He did not! Marco 'Safe-Kid' Diaz did not do that to a perv."

"He did," Wendy affirmed. "It was the coolest, sweetest thing ever, man."

Janna grinned back. "How come he didn't get sued?"

Wendy gave Janna a look. "A senior partner suing a then thirteen year old boy for assault on his ass when he was attempting sexual harassment at work? You're kidding, right?"

Janna nodded. "Point. Better to have your ass and balls wounded than risk your entire career."

John cleared his throat. "Marco is why we are all here. He's missing and we need to find him. I will go down with Rafael to the police station to file a missing persons report. Janna, keep in touch with all the rest of your friends and try to think of any place Marco might go."

Janna knew better than to argue with her father when he took charge like this. "Yes, dad. If the others show up, is it okay if we go looking for him ourselves?"

"So long as you stay in groups of two and you each have phones," John replied after a moment. "Wendy, Tala, we leave Angie in your care."

As the men left, Janna sent out another text.

"Form ranks at my house. #Searchparty-for-SafeKid"

Sending out the tweet which for her took the form of a cawing of a crow, Janna waited for a reply.

It didn't take her long to get one.

"On my way," Jackie replied.

"Be there in five," Alfonzo replied, before adding, "Bringing Furg."

That Janna expected but then, her phone kept blowing up.

"This is Dave, head of the Swim Team, me and the boys'll be over in thirty. No way we can let Diaz go missing. He's the whole reason we had Star Butterfly after all… and did he really go fight in another dimension? Searchparty-for-SafeKid."

"Like that's what I heard. This is Chad the Football Captain, by the way. That game she rigged for us was so badass! Star would hammer us into the ground if we let something happen to Diaz… Plus, I heard he killed a dragon when he was over there," #Searchparty-for-SafeKid

"I heard the same thing! Think the dragon survived somehow and is back for revenge?" #Searchparty-for-SafeKid The person said before adding, "Oh and this is Sabrina Backintosh, by the way. Us Cheerleaders like, totes owe Marco for all the times he's bandaged us up during practice."

"Ugh, isn't that mostly you, Sabrina? And if this dragon thing is true and it got Safekid Diaz, shouldn't we all be happy it's not trying to eat us?"

"Is this Brittney?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Fuck 0ff B1ch, n0 1 likes U."

"Like who said that?."

"They're not wrong though if you're not here to help find Mango you should just leave man. This is like, Oskar by the way." #Searchparty-for-SafeKid

"LIKE OMG, GUYS IS STARCO A THING NOW?! IS IT?! I NEED TO KNOW!?

Calm down, Starfan13."

"Ok," Starfan replied. Before adding #Searchparty-for-SafeKid #Starco4evr

"For SafeKid!" Chad typed out.

"For Safekid

For Safekid!

For Safekid!

Janna smiled as she saw the chant all but take up her screen. "We're gonna find you Marco, count on it," She hummed to herself. "Now if only I had some way to get in contact with Star... "

"Oh yes, I'm sure Estrella would love to help search if she knew Mijo went missing…" Angie said before frowning and adding, "But at the same time, she's going through so much at home that I'd hate to bother her."

"Who's Star?" Wendy asked.

Angie clapped her hands and smiled a little. "Oh Star is a darling girl who is a princess from another dimension. She has access to genuine magic."

Wendy looked at Angie for several seconds, unblinking. "You're… not pullin' my leg are you?"

Angie shook her head. "No. She really could do magic."

"Cool, where is she now?" Wendy asked.

"She had to go back home due to a war, and Marco went after her. He helped end it and came back home just a week ago, got a cape and everything. He was so proud of that cape," Angie said worriedly.

"Wow, he went to war for a girl," Wendy said, impressed. "I think I'm falling for him all over again," She said under her breath, before she said, "If weird stuff like this could be involved, I know someone who might be able to help." She dialed a number on her cell phone. "Hey Dip, yeah Cali is great but I've run into something strange… Yes, Bill kind of strange. Do you think Paz, Mabes, and you could come down and check it out? What kinda weird are we talking about?" Wendy looked to Angie for permission, who nodded. "A kid possibly getting kidnapped into another dimension kinda weird. Two days? Well it might be a false alarm but it'll be cool seeing you all the same, Dip. Yeah seeya then."

Angie asked once the call was finished, "Who did you just call, Wendy dear?"

"Just the Modern day Ghostbusters… not the shitty female movie ones either, but legit ones."

Janna snapped her fingers as an idea came to her "Ghostbusters… that's it! I think I do have a way of contacting Star!"

(...)

Janna all but kicked in the door to her room and started rapidly going through the tomes her grangran left her. She needed to summon Star's wannabe bad former BF Tom Lucitor. Flipping open the books to the right page, she began drawing chalk circles on her hardwood floor and lighting candles. Once everything was in place, she began chanting

"I summon thee by thine true name to appear before me now in a circle of flame, Tom Lucitor!"

Nothing happened, so Janna chanted again.

The same result.

A third time… then a fourth…

On the fifth chant, a pillar of fire erupted in the circle she'd set up, and when it cleared an irate three-eyed horned demon boy stood in the center lavender skin steaming and a bath towel around his waist. "Will you cut. That. Out?! Do you have... any idea how much that stings?!" Tom's voice was warped and demonic and everytime it rose in pitch the candles around him would flare.

Janna stared at the new occupant in her room, unimpressed. "Tom Lucitor, I presume?"

"Yes, now why do you keep, ineffectively, I might add, trying to summon me when I'm taking a shower?"

"I don't have time for pleasantries so I'm going to get to the point. I need you to get in contact with Star for me," Janna stated without preamble.

"Star? Tom blinked before narrowing all three of his eyes in suspicion. "How do you know Starship?"

"Gak," Janna made a gagging motion, "Cute nickname, now clean out your ears and listen. Marco is missing."

"What," Tom's tone was deadpan flat. "What happened to Marco? Was it some of Toffee's goons or…"

Janna cut him off by slashing her arm through the air silencing him. "We don't know! All we know is that… that we don't know where he is. And that… That's not Marco Diaz. He's not the kind of kid to worry his parents sick."

Tom nodded. Marco was his gaming buddy in the Underworld and always stepped out for a bit to let his folks know if he was staying out past ten at night to hang with him. Hell, it made him want to try harder to please his own parents… as hard as that was with his father.

'Like, oh no! Markie poo is missing!' a pitched feminine voice said in the back of his mind.

'Quiet, Tammy,' Tom said. He, so didn't need to deal with her right now.

"Make. Me," the perky feminine voice challenged, a hard edge to it.

"Don't make me come in there," Tom muttered.

"Dude, you okay you're muttering to yourself." Janna mentioned.

Tom cleared his throat awkwardly. "No I'm… I'm fine. So Marco's missing and I need to get Star. Does that about cover it?"

"And be quick about it!" Janna said. "We don't know where he's gone or if he's in another dimension or what."

"I'm going, I'm going, don't worry… uh…"

"I'm not giving you my name, that's a dangerous thing to do with a demon."

"Okay, first off, half demon. Second off, hurtful. I'm not gonna take your soul or anything since this is about Marco."

The girl stared at Tom for a moment before she sighed out, "Janna, my name's Janna. And right now, until Star gives the all clear, that's all you're getting."

Tom smiled a little. There was something about this girl he liked. "Well don't worry Janna, we'll find Marco. We'll rouse the knights of two whole kingdoms to help search if we have to do it."

For the first time since they met, Janna spared him a smile, small though it was. "Thanks Tom. Marco's my Godbrother so it's kinda my job to both see that he's safe and tease him mercilessly you know."

"Oh, I like her," Tammy said giggling in the back of Tom's mind. 'I hope she doesn't tease poor Markie too much though, or it'll be no fun when I start doing it.'

'You're never going to get the chance because you're staying right where you are,' Tom thought as he said to Janna, "I'll be back, probably with a frantic princess in tow."

Tom disappeared in a flash of flame and it was only then that Janna noticed the person standing in her doorway.

"Janna?" Wendy asked ashen-faced.

"Yeah?"

"Was… was that a demon? Did you just summon a demon?" Wendy asked.

Janna nodded. "I did but he isn't a full demon. He's half, and his name is Tom. He's from another dimension too and he's one of Marco's closest friends. Prince of his dimension's Underworld too from what I hear."

Wendy walked into the room and sat on the bed without waiting for an invitation. "I...I see. So he's not evil then?"

"A bit of a dick from what I've heard… has a temper and can be very possessive. Think asshole boyfriend from what I've heard from Star," Janna explained when Wendy gave her an inquisitive look.

Wendy gave a hollow laugh. "Oh, is that all? Phew, thought we were dealing with another Bill for a minute there."

"Whose Bill?" Janna asked, leaning casually against the wall. "I've heard you mention him twice now. First was on the phone to that friend Dip of yours."

Wendy seemed to stare through Janna for a time before she spoke. "Bill Cipher… was a demon. A despicable manipulator, a liar, a, a…

"A demon," Janna said, "They lie, cheat, manipulate, prey on fears, twist their words, and bring men into perdition willingly."

Wendy nodded. "He was all that and more, and when he finally manifested…"

Janna cut her off, her eyes widening in shock. "Manifested… as in physically? That's not possible outside of cambions like Tom… isn't it?"

Wendy shook her head and shrugged. "Well he found a way I guess, but for the three days he manifested an event we called Weirdmageddon, it was hell on Earth."

"Three days… God… how are we not all dead?" Janna said in a low whisper.

Again, Wendy shrugged. "I don't really know. Something about special magnetic fields around our town that prevented Bill from leaving."

Janna sighed silently, thankful for that. "That makes sense, demons and spirits are sometimes drawn to powerful magnetic fields from what I've researched. That's why Lodestones have been thought to repel evil spirits for centuries."

Wendy smiled. "Dip would love to talk with you about stuff like this. Though he likes anything weird and strange, not just the occult."

Janna grinned. "Sounds like my kinda people."

"Yeah, you two'd get along like a house on fire."

Janna gave the older woman a sly smile. "But you're kinda people is Marco himself, huh?"

Wendy flushed and looked away. "We were having a bonding moment, and you had to go and ruin it."

Janna shrugged. "It's what I do… You know he's like fourteen almost fifteen, right? And the State of California has this thing called statutory rape."

"I know…" Wendy replied.

"That said, if you were to go to another dimension that just doesn't give a damn... " Janna shrugged. "Well then, who am I to judge?"

"You're a weird girl Janna, cool but weird. Just like Dipper."

Janna grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "His first name is Dipper?"

Wendy laughed and shook her head. "No, his nickname is Dipper, his name is Mason."

"Why? Janna asked, raising an eyebrow.

Wendy stood up and made her way out, stopping with her hand on the doorframe to ask, "Why don't you ask him yourself when he shows up?"

After Wendy had left Janna said to herself. "Maybe I will."

(...)

Tom arrived back in his room in the Underworld. He wanted to go get Star immediately but he had something to take care of first. He stepped up to a full length mirror that dominated a corner of his room and growled at his reflection. "Alright, get out here you!"

Tom's reflection rippled for a moment before it came back into focus, only it wasn't his reflection that was staring back at him. Instead, a mirror image of himself as a woman the same age greeted him. She had the same lavender skin, same three eyes, long crimson hair that went down to her shoulders with her arms currently folded over her bust. "Could you like, put a shirt on Tommy?" She then got a grossed out look on her face. "Please tell me you're not about to choke your little horn in front of this thing? I mean, there's vanity but that would be going too far, man."

"Tammy, shut up!" Tom growled his hands sizzling with flame, causing the girl to pout and look away. "Look, I know you're worried about Marco, I am too."

"Pff, you miss your videogame buddy. I miss the hottie hunk who had enough balls to stand up to you and your bullshit and he won a fight with you by talking!" Tammy countered.

Tom sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Sometimes I hate being a half-incubus."

"You and me both, and what do you have to complain about? You're the one in control of the body. You're the one who gets to date and have friends and be friends with Marco… who's missing while we're arguing BTW,"

"I hate it when you speak text like that," Tom sighed.

"Sorry, not sorry," Tammy said with a chipper smile on her face.

Running his hand down his face again, Tom tried to placate his succubus personality. "We're gonna find Marco, Tammy."

"You said that already Tommy, but we're still here arguing… also when are you gonna give Starship… ugh gag me with a spoon… the 411 about me?"

"I was thinking the twelfth of never?" Tom replied.

"Oh yeah, like don't tell her anything about your succubus split personality/sister you share a body with… jerk! Or that the fact that we share a body is like 90% of our anger issues? Yeah, just don't bring it up at all, I'm sure that'll go over well."

"Well there's also Dad," Tom nodded.

"Fuck Dad!" Tammy growled her eyes turning crimson, "And fuck my life for having to be stuck in here while you get to have all the fun just because he wanted only a male heir."

Tom hung his head. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Right now, we should focus on finding Markie… I hope he's okay," Tammy fretted, taking her tail in hand and ringing it worriedly.

"Marco is a tough son of a…"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Thomas Draconus Lucitor!" Tammy said, pointing a finger at him sharply. "From what we know of her, Marco's mother is a saint!"

Tom gulped and nodded. Tammy could make his life hell in her own special way if she wanted to. "Right."

"Now, get dressed and go tell Starship that Markie is missing, and Tom…?" She called, stopping him in front of the mirror before he walked away.

"Yeah?"

"Find him, please?" Tammy asked, in a small desperate voice.

"I will," Tom nodded, looking unusually serious for once. "Count on it."

(...)

Tom tried to portal directly into Butterfly Castle, but much to his surprise, he found himself right outside the castle gates surrounded by armed knights. He waved awkwardly. "Umm, hi everyone."

The Captain of the Guard Lady Whosits, sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Stand down everyone, it's just Prince Lucitor."

The imposing woman approached him, sheathing her sword as she did so. "Prince Lucitor I'm sorry for the… rude welcome but after Toffee's attack, the Queen saw fit to acquire a Tramorfidian Crystal to prevent portal travel onto the castle grounds."

Tom nodded. "I understand completely. I've come to speak to the princess about a very urgent matter."

Whosits quirked an eyebrow and grinned. "Oh, is that what they're calling dates these days? Urgent matters?"

"No, I'm not here to ask her out on a date," Tom denied earnestly, "It's about our friend from Earth, you know the one who saved all of you and kicked off your rebellion against Toffee?"

Whosits frowned a bit. "Marco Diaz," She nodded. "Yes, I know of him, a brave strong lad. Bloodied Toffee with his own fist from what I heard. Put his fist right through his heart when he thought Princess Star had died."

'Huh didn't know that… I probably would've done the same in his place though.' Tom thought before he told the Knight Captain. "He's gone missing, I was… contacted by one of his friends and asked to get her to help search for him."

"Oh dear... this is going to cause a fuss amongst the peasantry." Whosits said.

Tom blinked. "Why?"

The common folk have taken Marco Diaz as an idol of sorts. A normal boy from a no-name dimension plays a key role in usurping a dictator, even bloodieing him with his bare hands on top of being the Princess' best friend and some whisper of them being even more? He's like a walking fairytale of the commoner courting the princess."

"Woah…"

Whosits nodded. "Indeed. I hope the rumors aren't just rumors myself." Seeing the princeling's look Whosit admitted, "I wasn't always a Knight-Captain, boy. I started out as a farmgirl who wanted something more. I begged for days before a Knight took me on.I trained through sweat and blood to become a knight. Then, when Toffee… when Queen Comet passed, I did whatever I could for Queen Moon," Whosits sighed. "She was so young then, only a couple years younger than myself and expected to run a whole kingdom? So of course, I offered what little I could. Whether it be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or whatever little council I could. Then one day, I found I was trusted by the Queen of Mewni and she trusted me enough to be the Captain of her Knights… but that's all I'll ever be. I'll never be a Noble or have a tract of land to call my own… but if that boy, Marco Diaz truly is more than just friends with the Princess..."

"He could be a true fairytale prince… and change everything." Tom realized. "If Marco were to become the heir apparent to the King, he'd go from a commoner to a Duke, to a King and that…"

"That would change everything." Whosits affirmed. "Even the commoners would know that anything, truly anything is possible for them." The older woman glanced at the demon prince out of the corner of her eye as they walked, "Does the notion… disturb you, Prince Lucitor?"

Tom thought about it and shook his head. "No, not one bit. When Star and I got together all we did was fight."

"Believe me I know, on one occasion I was ordered by King River to, I believe, "shoot first and ask questions later" after a particularly disastrous date. To the Bounce Lounge, I think it was… after you sucked out someone's soul for looking at the Princess funny and making her cry."

"Ohh, that one…" Tom rubbed his head. "That one was bad."

"Indeed, it was… try to get along with her so I don't receive such orders this time, young princeling." Whosits asked as she led him towards the dining hall where she knew the royal family was having breakfast.

Pushing the door open, Whosits announced, "Prince Thomas Draconus Lucitor, Prince of the Underworld."

"Phom?" Star called out, her mouth full of corn cakes and syrup.

"Thomas, to what do we owe the pleasure so early in the morning? Chew your food, Star dear." Moon chided as she cut her food and ate daintily.

"Umm, I'm sorry to disturb you at breakfast, your Highness'."

"Pull up a chair and sit down, Lucitor." River said his plate was stacked with more pig-goat bacon than could be healthy while sending the boy a warning glare.

Tom quickly pulled up a chair and sat down and the Butterfly Family manservant Manfred approached. "Will Prince Lucitor be dining with the family this morning?"

Tom shook his head. "No, no I had a cornshake before I left."

"That is hardly a proper breakfast Thomas, you really should eat something." Moon chided.

"Mpfh!" Star complained. Before she took a deep gulp and swallowed her massive portion of food. "Mom, stop bugging Tom. She then looked to her unexpected guest. "Tom, what'er you doing here? Not that it's not great to see you and all but…"

Tom took a breath.

"Tell her already! Tell her already! Tell her already!" Tammy screamed in his head.

Tom ignored his Succubus half. "Star, early this morning I received some bad news."

Star sat bolt upright upon hearing that. Fixing her sky-blue eyes on Tom she asked in a scared voice. "It… it's about Marco, isn't it?"

'She knew already!' Both Tom and Tammy thought at the same time.

"Tell me Tom, has something happened to Marco?" Star asked, with tears gathering in her eyes threatening to fall.

"Well I…" Tom was thrown off balance by Star having some odd premonition about Marco.

"Thomas?" Moon asked, looking at him with worry, showing clearly in her eyes at the thought of something happening to Marco.

"Well you see…"

"Out with it, boy!" River roared, his Johansen blood refusing to wait any longer.

"He's gone missing!" Tom yelled.

Star looked down, her bangs covering her eyes and her hands clasped in front of her heart. "Missing, not dead. You're sure about this?"

Tom nodded confusedly. "Yeah, why? Starship, why would you ask something like that?"

Star looked to her mother as if begging her to explain. Moon closed her eyes and did so. "Star had a horrible nightmare last night which consisted of Marco dying numerous times in various gruesome ways."

Tom finally gave Star a long look and noticed the dark circles under her eyes, that she looked a bit paler than usual and her blonde mane was a mite more unruly than she'd usually keep it. Finally he said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Starship."

"Thanks Tom… how'd you find out about this anyway?"

Tom scowled a bit. "One of Marco's friends… Janna summoned me."

"Janna did?" Star, despite looking tired, perked up looking surprised. "Wow, I knew she was into occult stuff but being able to summon you… wow."

"It hurt like a bitch," Tom complained.

"Thomas Lucitor!" Moon said, scandalized.

"Sorry Queen Moon, but imagine if you can, being shredded to pieces and then having those pieces sucked through a very narrow straw… that's how the summoning felt for me."

"Oh dear… well I'm sorry you had to go through that but still, language young man," the queen reprimanded.

Tom nodded respectively. "Of course your highness, pardon my rudeness."

"So Marco boy is missing," River stroked his beard in thought. "Could it be an unknown minion of Toffee's? Marco was instrumental, in his own way, in bringing him down."

"I sincerely hope not," Moon said, her lips pursed.

Star's new wand pulsed with golden light and she spoke in a dangerous tone, her cheek marks aglow. "For their sake, whomever they are, not a single hair had better be harmed on my Marco's head!"

'She has no idea she just called Marco hers. Starship has got it bad,' Tom realized.

"Yeah, who does that blonde bimbo think she is? Calling Markie hers? She let him go back to Earth, She let him get put into dangerous situations like, all the time and…"

'And she's the one he's soul bonded to if you'll recall,' Tom reminded his other half, cutting her off mid-tirade.

"Aw, is lil Tommy still mad about that?" Tammy mocked, "Well, too damn bad!"

'You know that means Marco won't pick you either right?' Tom told his eviller twin sister.

"Tommy, Tommy, Tommy," Tom could practically envision the she-devils head shaking as she continued, "See little brother, that's always been the pitfall about being born… male. You've only ever thought with your dick. I, on the other hand, use my brain! I may not get to be the 'legal wife' but that doesn't mean I can't get to be the... mistress."

'Yet you just had a problem with Star calling Marco hers,' Tom noted drolly.

"Well yeah, they aren't together yet. That means I still have a chance to become the legal wife… if I can ever get the fuck outta here that is!" Tammy yelled at him.

'Not gonna happen,' Tom said flatly before a hand was abruptly waved in front of his face.

Snapping out of his internal argument with his body sharing sister, Tom looked around to see Star and King and Queen Moon staring at him in concern. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Tom," Star said worriedly, "Is everything okay, you kinda zoned out for a bit there."

Tom gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh yeah Starship I'm fine, it's just an… aftereffect of the weird summoning ritual that Janna girl used. Don't worry about it."

Star nodded. "Oh well if that's all, then let's proceed with the plan."

Tom blinked. What the hell did I miss? "What plan?"

"You were out of it for quite a bit weren't you, dear?" Moon said sympathetically, "River is going to round up as many warnicorn knights as he can and he and Star are going to aid in the search for Marco while you hopefully do the same in the Underworld."

"I can call up some local spirits to help ghosts of animals and such," Tom assured his fellow royals.

Star nodded a fire burning in her eyes. "We… well I at least am not coming home till I find him," the princess looked to her mother with guilt ridden eyes. "Sorry mom, I know I said I'd take being a princess more seriously and I really did mean it but..."

Moon silenced her daughter with a raise of her hand. "Star, Marco is… well he reminds me of your father when he and I were young if I'm being honest," Moon said with a smile on her face.

"Too right he does!" River said before adding thoughtfully, "Though to be honest, he reminds me more of you, Moonpie. Always calculating, always cautious that boy, but not afraid to take a big dangerous risk if it means protecting the people he cares about."

Moon smiled. "Yes, now that you mention it, I see it too. Star is you, and Marco is me I suppose, but the point I'm trying to make is, that the time to become a queen will come Star but for you, thankfully, that time is not now." Moon smiled at her hot-tempered impulsive daughter who took after her father a tad too much, "Now, go find your boyfriend sweetheart."

"M-Mom! Marco isn't my boyfriend…" Star stammered out, a blush coating her entire face the same pink as her cheek marks. "He…" She looked down sadly and spoke in a quiet tone, "He doesn't like me like that. He's dating a girl back home. He loves Jackie, not me, Jackie!"

Moon quirked an eyebrow and said, "Dating a girl back home but doesn't hesitate to throw himself into a war that doesn't involve him all because you are in danger? Hmm, what is that phrase River? The one Marco taught you?"

"Cowabunga dude!" River said, throwing up a pair of devil horns with his left hand.

Moon pressed her fingers to her temples. 'It's too early for this.' "No not that one, the other one dear."

"Oh right, we save that one for the bedroom," the King said under his breath before clearing his throat and saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words and actions speak louder than words. And pumpkin, his actions speak volumes." River told his rambunctious daughter.

Star cast her eyes into her lap, both hands gripping the haft of her wand tightly, as a secret smile graced her lips. "You really think so, Papa?"

River nodded. "I do."

Star looked up, a stubborn grimace on her face and a determined fire lit in her blue eyes.

'Oh, I know that look.' Tom said to himself, 'Starship had that look on her face when she broke up with me the first time.'

"Yeah she did. That's her 'determined no bullshit' look," Tammy commented.

"Knight-Captain Whosits!" Star called, with the authority of a queen in the making.

Lady Whosits neared the table and snapped to attention, "Yes, Princess Star!"

"I want you to gather up ten, no twenty knights and their squires! I want them mounted on warnicorns and ready to head out within an hour!"

Whosits saluted, "It will be done Princess! Will there be anything else?"

Star shook her head. "No, thank you."

The Knight-Captain marched out of the room to see to her task.

Star turned to Tom. "Could you come with me for a bit Tom, I need to collect some things from my room."

Tom nodded. "Sure, Starship."

(...)

When Tom entered Star room he stopped and blinked for a second, because Star's room was actually clean. No clothes were strewn about the place, her bed was made and the place was clean and tidy. Tom saw fit to crack a joke.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Star Butterfly?"

"Hmm?" Star looked at him in confusion. "Whatchu talkin' bout, Tommy?"

"Your room is… clean."

"Oh that… I picked up some habits from Marco, I guess," Star replied as if it were no big deal before she went over to her nightstand and brought out a large book whose hardcover was the same light green as her favorite octopus dress.

Star opened the book to the middle and then picked up what looked to be a charcoal pencil before she began to draw.

'Starship can draw?' Tom thought to himself surprised he made his way over and asked politely, "Can I look?"

Star finished her drawing and handed the book over, the blonde princess replying, "Go ahead, it's just… just my dream journal."

"Dream Journal?"

Star nodded. "Shortly after I first came to Earth, I started casting spells in my sleep. Marco having an A in college level psychology helped me figure out that I had some serious issues with my mom and instead of dealing with it like a normal person, it was coming through in my subconscious. So he got me this dream journal and taught me how to draw. So that when I wake up from a bad dream, I can get it out instead of repressing my feelings which is bad."

Tom flipped through the journal, the drawings were crude at first, just stick figures mostly of Moon berating Star for setting the castle on fire, Star summoning a rain cloud over a distressed Marco, and the two of them protecting Ponyhead from danger.

However, as he continued to flip through, the drawings became more intricate. When he flipped to the image of her and Marco dancing at the Blood Moon Ball, Tom's breath caught. For it was as if the image was caught in time on black and white. Star had the dreamiest look on her face as she held hands with Marco in his suit and mask with his sombrero on his head and drawn around the picture were several little hearts.

"That's… that's one of my favorites," Star admitted shyly.

"You looked so happy… sorry for ruining your dance," Tom apologized.

Star shook her head. "It's fine… I finished ruining the night by telling Marco off after we got home… said I didn't need a hero… but every time, a hero was exactly what I needed, he was there." Hearing a sniffle, Tom looked over to see tears collecting in Star's eyes. "I don't get it! How could he choose Jackie, Tom?! I mean, didn't we have fun together?! Weren't we best friends?!"

Tom set the dream journal aside and gave Star a comforting, platonic hug. As he knew for certain how Star felt about the missing boy from Earth. "Star, we're going to find him… also forgive me if this is outta line but… if you love him so much, fight for him damn it!"

Star pulled back in surprise at Tom's mild outburst. "Tom?"

"You like Marco, right?... Right?" Tom said.

Star nodded and wiped away her tears on her arm. "Yeah."

"Well then do what you always do, Starship… what you want and to hell with what everyone else thinks."

Star digested Tom's words and as she did a fire lit in her eyes. "You know what? You're right Tom… I'm Star 'Rebel Princess' Butterfly! I do what I want and what I want is Marco! If I have to steal him from Jackie, I will! And if she and I can come to some sort of compromise… well even better!" Star finished with her trademark grin now in place. She gave the demon prince a look as if she were seeing him for the first time, "I never expected this from you of all people Tom, no offense."

"None taken, Star…" Tom rubbed the back of his head thinking about something. "Can I be honest with you about something, Star? Since this feels like a sharing moment and all?"

Star nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off Tom. "Go ahead, Tom."

Tom stood up and walked to the center of Star's room far away from anything flammable. With his hands clasped behind his back, Tom closed his eyes and spoke to Tammy very quickly. 'Tammy, I'm going to talk to Star about you.'

"What the… really?!" Tammy squealed in joy.

'Yes really. Now listen, to make sure she believes me I'm going to let you take control for five minutes! Five minutes, you understand?!"

"Yeah yeah, I got it… and Tommy? Thanks."

'Thank me by upholding our deal,' Tom thought before he opened his eyes and addressed Star. "Okay I think I'm ready. Sorry, I needed a moment to collect my thoughts."

Star nodded understandingly, "It's fine go ahead whenever you're ready."

Tom proceeded without any preamble. "As you know Star, I'm half-demon, what you may not know is that I'm half incubus."

Star shook her head, "No, that's news to me… what's that mean?"

"An incubus is the male equivalent of a succubus, a sex demon and they can switch between the genders freely… usually."

Star flushed a bit upon hearing that. "Oh… but since you're half demon, you can't?"

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "It's more complicated than that…"

"Tell her the whole truth Tommy," Tammy urged.

Tom sighed. "When I was born, my father did a demon ritual on me that prevented me from shapeshifting into my female form… he wanted a male heir for obvious reasons."

Star gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "That's… that's awful! That's like… repressing half of yourself!"

"Kinda sorta yeah," Tom nodded. "Anyway my succubus half eventually emerged as her own person in my head," The demon prince tapped his head. "Her name is Tammy."

"So you have split personality disorder or…?" Star questioned.

Tom shook his head. "No no no! Tammy is literally her own person, I think it's better if I just show you." Tom held his arms up at his sides. 'Remember our deal Tammy,' he thought before he spoke in demonic and his form was consumed in a flash of fire.

When it cleared, a feminine version of Tom was standing there, wearing a little black dress with a plunging neckline and slit up the side that showed off her leg, and thigh high stilettos, her slightly frizzy red hair was done up in two twintails on the side of her head and she was favoring with a devious smirk as her forked tail swished back and forth. She took a deep breath causing her bust to move up and down before she said, in a faux-peppy tone. "Well Blondie, it's about time we talked."

Star immediately scowled, sensing hostility from this she-devil. "Did you just call me Blondie, you red-haired slut?" Star had dealt with Britney and she could deal with this girl.

Tammy covered her mouth and giggled impishly. "Oh, looks like you know how to use that tongue for more than just cleaning Tommy's tonsils after all, surprise, surprise."

"If you've got a point to make, I suggest you make it," Star said, her cheek marks taking the form of storm clouds showing her growing anger at this girl.

"Marco, you don't deserve him," Tammy said without preamble.

Star scoffed and folded her arms. "And you, a girl who didn't even exist until a few seconds ago, does?"

"Yess!" Tammy hissed her tone tinged with a demonic growl, "Because I know what it feels like to be ignored, to be thought of as less than you are, to be a nobody! He felt that too… I can feel it. "

Star felt her anger towards this girl disappearing. "Tammy, you didn't deserve what your father did to you."

"Oh ,what would you know about it?!" Tammy snapped at her. "Your parents may've been a bit hard on you Butterfly, but they loved you, they supported you! They didn't hide you away and pretend like you never existed in the first place!"

Star wrapped the girl in a hug and let her cry into her shoulder. 'Was she wearing mascara at the start?' Star wondered to herself as a black smudge stained her dress.

Once Tammy finished crying she pulled back, "I'm sorry for being such a bitch, I've just always been a bit jealous of Tommy and you… especially you." Tammy admitted.

Star gave the other girl a comforting smile. "I get it. You don't need to say anything else about this… so wanna chat for a bit?"

Tammy shrugged. "Sure. The demonette flopped on Star's bed and picked up Star's dream journal and proceeded to flip through it from where Tom had left off. Pictures of Marco dominated the pages. Him as a super buff warrior with chiseled abs made her stop on one page and almost drool.

"Found the abs picture, I see," Star said, laying down next to Tammy.

"Like, is this a fantasy of yours or…?"

"Marco quested in Hekapoo's dimension for sixteen years to get his own pair of dimensional scissors. He looks like that over there," Star said, nodding towards the picture of the muscled scarred adventurer.

"Nice!" Tammy said appreciatively.

"I know, right?" Star said.

"Those abs!" Both girls sighed at the same time before looking at each other and breaking out into giggles.

Tammy turned herself on her side and propped herself up on one elbow before she said, "Sorry for coming off as a bitch… It's just Markie missing has me stressed and when I'm stressed, I get bitchy."

"Oh my corn! What an adorable little nickname you have for Marco!" Star squealed, "When did you start liking him?"

"Around the time he challenged Tommy to a ping-pong game where the loser died."

Star's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Marco did what?!"

"Well, Tommy had already kidnapped him and was going to kill him either way, but Markie challenged him to a game where if he won he'd let him go."

"And Marco chose ping-pong… and won?" Star knew Tom had a wicked serve.

Tammy shook her head, a fanged smirk adorning her lips. "No, he lost every serve but Markie talked him down. How he couldn't have you just cause he wanted you, how you were your own person… and I couldn't help but feel like he was talking to me too! I'm a person too, damn it!"

Star nodded. "Damn right ,you are!... when was this anyway?"

"When you went through that brief emo phase. Blue hair, half shaved head, heavy dark makeup, the works…" Tammy told her.

Star rubbed her head sheepishly, "Oh that day, yeah I was having a moment."

Tammy nodded. "I'm serious, though. Star, I do like Marco. Even if your two souls are bound."

"Our souls are what now?"

Tammy rolled all three of her eyes. "Gurl, have you still not figured out what the Blood Moon Ball was all about?" When Star shook her head the succubus explained impishly, "Tommy was hoping to dance with you under the blood moon and bind your soul to his… but the Blood Moon didn't pick you and him but…"

"It picked me and Marco…" Star said in hushed realization. "Is that why I had that nightmare last night? Is Marco in danger?" she fretted before scowling and adding, "Also, what the fuck Tom?"

Tammy patted Star's hand. "Don't be too hard on Tommy, Star. He is a boy after all. They are all the lesser of most species. Only thinking with their dicks at this age."

"Marco isn't like that," Star defended.

Tammy nodded in full agreement. "No, he most certainly isn't. There are exceptions to every rule. But as I was saying, you and Marco may be destined for one another but…" Tammy smiled lasciviously, and spoke coyly. "Well royalty often have mistresses, don't they?"

Star flushed and said, "Gurl, you're as bad as Ponyhead."

"Pff," Tammy scoffed, "The talking head wishes she had a body like mine." Tammy waved a hand down her sinful form.

"Don't we all?" Star pouted.

Tammy wagged a finger in front of Star's face. "Now, now, you've nothing to be jealous of Star. When you have a chest like mine, after a few centuries things start to sag without the aid of magic. Meanwhile, you'll always be nice and perky," Tammy reached over and gave Star's butt a squeeze, making Star squawk and jump back, "And you've got a fine plump rear, I see."

"Tammy!" Star flushed. Star got up and looked at her side profile in her full length pixie mirror. "You really think so? I suppose I do have a bit of a butt even if I'm a bit small up top."

The demoness just smiled. "Yes, see what I mean now. You're really pretty, so don't fret too much."

Star turned and offered the demoness a sincere smile. "Thanks, Tammy."

"Anytime," Tammy said, going back to perusing the Dream Journal. Then she came upon a grisly scene. Marco in knightly armor getting crushed by a rather large boulder. The next page was filled with several scenes of him dying to a large guardian demon before he finally impaled it in the head with his sword and being carried off by a giant crow…

"Are these the images you dreamed about last night?" Tammy asked.

Star nodded. "Yeah he died like, half a dozen times in my dreams… It was awful."

"Time's up,Tammy," Tom told his other half.

'Give me a minute here Tommy, I'm onto something here,' Tammy complained.

"I gave you a whole half hour and you totally threw me under the bus twice with Starship, thanks for that,' Tom said.

"I've had to watch you go to the bathroom, bathe, and have alone time for the past fifteen years! You can give me five more minutes."

Star gave Tammy a creeped out look. "Do I even want to know?"

"Tommy wants to come back out," Tammy complained.

"You just had to say that out loud, didn't you?" Tom groaned in embarrassment.

Star gave Tammy the patented Johansen battle glare or as people on earth would call it, the stink eye and said, "You can tell him he can wait, and he's gonna get an earful from me when he does get back out here."

"He knows Star," Tammy smirked. "He knows."

"In fact, he should consider himself very lucky. I'm not considering telling Papa about these schemes he's played."

"Oh sweet Darkness, no!" Tom said, nearly hyperventilating at the thought.

"As he's very fond of Marco," Star continued, "And if he even caught a whiff of what Tom had already done… well he'd probably be twisted into a pretzel."

"What's a pretzel?" Tammy asked.

"Oh, they're these delicious little earth twisted bread treats that are served hot, covered in salt and come with cheese or mustard to dip them in, they're great!" Star said with a grin on her face. "Then there is Marco's Super Special Nachos… Corn, how I've missed them!" Star said with a sigh. "Almost as much as Marco himself… I hope he's okay."

"I think the Blood Moon Curse has been warning you about him via your dreams." Tammy said holding up the current drawn on a page of morbid scenery to further ward off Star's emotional whiplash.

Star gave her head a little shake and blinked. "What but… But if that's the case, Tammy then Marco's dying... constantly."

The demoness nodded gravely, "Yes, and that's what worries me. Not only that he's dying but that something keeps resurrecting him."

Star cocked her head to the side. "How is that bad exactly?"

Tammy ran a hand down her face. "Think about it, Star! Pain exists to tell us we're doing something wrong! Something truly dangerous! But if you can come back from even death then there is no limit to the amount of stupid things one would try to do. Pain would become an inconvenience, Death, like taking a short nap. Marco has always been a cautious thinker. Forgive me, but he's balanced out your more chaotic tendencies."

"No no, you're not wrong, go on."

"But should he constantly die and come back, he would become reckless, risking his life with little hesitation."

"Ah well. that won't do! I'm the crazy, reckless, and impulsive one in this relationship." Star complained trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Star's smile practically melted from her face and turned into a small worried frown, "Do you think he'll be okay, Tammy?"

"I sincerely hope so Star, I really do." Tammy said with a sigh before she looked at the digital clock Star had taken back from Earth and powered with magic. It read 8:50am. Standing up and stretching her arms above her head with her fingers interlaced, Tammy said, "At any rate, I should probably switch back with Tommy by now. The hour is almost up and your folks would ask some weird questions if I came downstairs with you, girl."

The Mewman princess frowned. "Do you have to go? Would it be so bad if you met my mom and dad?"

"For me? Darkness, no. But if your folks read my dad the riot act for what he did to Tom… well it won't be pretty, let's just leave it at that." Tammy said with a grimace.

"Is there nothing I can do to help you?" Star asked. She may've only known Tammy for under an hour, but she kinda clicked with the demon chick. Her personality was peppy but playful like a mix of Janna and Ponyhead without Ponyhead's utter self centeredness or Janna's constant need to humiliate Marco at every available opportunity.

"Yeah, like, you can help me by finding Marco, Star. That, and remember what I said about becoming the mistress, yeah?" Tammy said, giving her a saucy wink before she was consumed by flame.

Moment's later, Tom reappeared in his casual attire in her place looking nervous. "H-Hey Starship. Hehehehe. So about all that stuff Tammy told you…"

"Thomas Draconus Lucitor!" Star said angrily, marching right up into Tom's face with every word that came out of her mouth. "How dare you try to magically trick me into falling in love with you."

"Ow!" Tom said, rubbing his shoulder where Star had punched him.

Star wound her fist back again. "And then, to threaten sweet innocent Marco when your own plan backfires."

"Again, ow!" Tom said, rubbing his now twice wounded shoulder. "Well at least she didn't bring up the naysaya."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that…" Star hit him a third time, "That's for the talking pimple!"

"But… but that got him a date to the movies with Jackie!" Tom protested.

Star narrowed her eyes at him and seethed. "Exactly!"

"Star, Tom, the knights have been rounded up and are ready to go!" River called.

Star pulled her door open and said, "We'll be right down, Papa!" Star suddenly turned and gave Tom a brief platonic hug.

"What was that for?" Tom asked, confused.

"For looking past your anger and becoming Marco's friend, and being mine," Star replied as she tucked her dream journal and a case of charcoal pens under her arm. "Now, are you ready to go find our Mackie Hand loving, Love Sentence addicted shared best bestie?"

Tom pumped his fist. Let's do this!"

(...)

The sound of tearing cloth got the attention of almost all the student body of Echo Creek that had assembled on Janna Ordonia's lawn who were preparing to split off into pairs to search for the missing Marco Diaz. Out of a glowing blue portal, stepping two by two were fully armored knights mounted on tough looking unicorns, each was followed by a page in waiting. When the procession had passed, Star Butterfly herself stepped out followed by a short blonde man with a thick beard who could only be her father and a boy with red hair, lavender skin, a pair of horns and three eyes dressed as a punk rocker.

She looked at the assembled students and asked, "Who is in charge here?"

"Make a hole, ya bunch of mooks!" a familiar voice called. Moments later, Janna appeared. She looked over at the small army of knights and whistled before saying, "Well, I see you got my message Star, but I didn't think you'd bring a literal cavalry with you."

"Janna Banana!" Star wrapped the occult girl in a near bone crushing hug for all of five seconds before letting her go and asking worriedly, "No word on Marco?"

"Nada girl."

"Hi Star!" Starfan14 yelled out.

"Hi Starfan14! Hi everyone, here to help look for Marco too!"

Yells of 'yes' and 'heck yeah' followed and it made Star smile knowing that Marco had such an effect on people. "Good! Good! Now, I kinda sorta have a plan if you wanna hear it?" Star looked at Janna not wanting to step on her toes.

"Go for it," Janna said, seceding the floor to Star.

Clearing her throat, Star began, "The knights I brought with me will each go off with a group and with your knowledge of the area will assist as they can to comb Echo Creek for Marco. Each knight will be responsible for lets say…" Star did a quick headcount. "Ten people with their squires assisting. Can you handle that, Knight-Captain Whosits?"

"Easily, Princess," Lady Whosits replied, "With the students' knowledge of the area, we'll be able to cover more ground faster."

Star clapped her hands. "Great! Tom will be assisting in his own way as well right, Tom?"

The demon prince cleared his throat and then spoke in the infernal tongue causing several dozen spectral birds and small mammals to appear resting on the nearby cars and roofs. "These little guys will not only give us a bird's eye view, but go into places none of us can fit into."

"Okay, so everybody pair off into groups of ten, pick a knight and then pick a direction… just make sure you are not going the same way. I want as much area covered in eight hours as possible! Report back if you find anything."

"And like, what are you going to be doing while we're all searching for the Safe Kid, Star Butterface?" Brittany asked as she filed her obviously fake nails.

Star scowled and marched right up to Britany before she lifted the girl up and over her head with strength that betrayed her thin frame and glared into her eyes as she said. "He has a name and it's Marco not 'Safe Kid' Bitch-ney, say it with me so you can get it right. Secondly, what I'm going to be doing is both coordinating the search from here while also consoling Marco's parents who are like a second family to me. Finally, if I ever hear you call Marco Safe Kid again, you're gonna find out just how painful it is to get kicked in the teeth with hydra skin boots, got it?!"

Britanty silently fearfully nodded, prompting Star to drop her forcefully to her feet and give her a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes.

"Super!" the blonde bombshell said in faux-cheer before she walked past the shaken cheerleader and towards the house.

It took a moment, but then all the students started cheering at what Star just did. Someone came up alongside her and whispered into her ear, "A bit over the top wouldn't you say, dear?"

"M-Mom!" Star said, looking to her side to see her mother standing next to her. "I-uh I can explain?"

"Explain what? That girl is a heartless tart and deserved that. Next time, do kick her in the teeth if she runs her mouth," Moon said stiffly. "Butterface indeed."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my mother?" Star questioned in awe. "Actually, what are you even doing here?"

"Why, assisting in the search of course. What, did you think I'd not help find the boy you clearly smitten with and whom all of Mewni, myself included owes a great debt? We also owe his family a great deal for being gracious enough to take you in, in the first place. To not help them in their time of need after all their family has done for us would be the gravest insult."

"Mom!" Star complained again, "I already told you, Marco is with Jackie…" She gave her mother a small smile. "But you're right, I like him."

"Thought so," Moon said, tapping her brow. "A woman, a mother especially, knows these things Star," Moon said before she politely knocked on the door.

Much to Star's surprise it was a tall redhead who answered. "You must be Star and you must be her mother I'm guessing?"

"Yeah that's me, um, who are you?" Star asked only to receive a glare from her mother.

The redhead extended her hand to shake. "Wendy Corduroy, I work for Janna's dad."

"Moon Butterfly, how do you do?" Moon said, taking her hand and giving it a light shake.

"Don'cha mean Queen Moon Butterfly?" Wendy said, giving the older woman a sly smile as she stepped aside to let the two enter.

"Not today, Miss Corduroy. Today, I am just here as a supporting parent," Moon said as she walked past the younger woman.

Making her way into the kitchen, Star found herself wrapped in a warm embrace by Angie. "I knew you would show up sooner rather than later, little Estrella."

"Hi Angie," Star said, returning the hug before embracing the waiting Rafael, "Don't worry," she said as she pulled away, "We'll find Marco."

"Too right we shall!" River boomed, coming in behind his wife. "Ralph old boy! Wish we were meeting again under better circumstances," River said, slapping Rafael on the back in greeting.

Despite the situation, Rafael managed a smile. "Hello River, how are you?"

"As well as can be expected, the castle is a mess, the kingdom needs repairing after Toffee's uprising and all that. But that's not important right now, what's important is finding your boy, the future king of Mewni!"

"Papa!" Star yelled in embarrassment, her face flushed as she looked away, only to see Jackie of all people standing in the doorway of the kitchen awkwardly. "Oh uh, hey Jackie… how long were you uh… standing there?"

"Long enough. C'mon, let's go have a chat, Star." Jackie said, taking Star by the hand and leading upstairs to Janna's room.

(...)

Star looked around Janna's room so she wouldn't have to face the surfer girl immediately. Though she'd confidently stated she'd be willing to steal him from Jackie if she had to if needed to Tom, when it came right down to it, Star didn't want to hurt her friends. So she found herself drinking in the layout of Janna's room. It had wooden flooring, a small bed pushed up against the far wall and a dresser pressed up against the wall facing the door. She had several old books held up by book ends on top of the dresser and posters of rock bands on her walls. Disturbed, Metallica, and Megadeth were the primary ones but no Love Sentence to be seen. A chalk diagram of some sorts was etched into the floor and the room smelled of recently burnt out candles.

"I think this is the first time I've been in Janna's room, much less her house," Star said mostly to herself.

"Star," Jackie said from behind her, "We never did get a chance to talk about your confession before you up and vanished."

"Eheheheheh! Oh… right… that," Star rubbed her head as she turned around to face the surfer girl.

She expected her to be irate and ready to lash out at her but she didn't. Instead, she was just looking at Star sadly. "How long have you felt like this, Star?"

Star looked at her feet, "Does it matter? Even if I want him, and I will fully admit I do want him, he's with you ,Jackie and you're my friend and it wouldn't be right of me to tear you two apart like that."

In response, Jackie walked over and sat on Janna's bed before patting it, motioning for Star to sit next to her which the princess did after some initial reluctance.

Jackie then spoke. "Star, how long have you had feelings for Marco? Was it after we got together or before?"

"Before," Star admitted after a moment of silence. "The moment I realized he was more than a friend to me was when Toffee, the big bad guy who caused all this mess recently, forced me to destroy my wand in the first place by taking Marco hostage and threatening to squash him flat if I refused. I did it without even needing to think about it Jackie. A world without Marco in it was scarier than a world without magic, than losing my family's most treasured artifact."

"So that's how it got broken in the front. Always did wonder about that," Jackie said before she asked. "If you felt that way about him since then, why didn't you say anything? Why did you push him towards asking me out if you liked him the whole time?"

"Well, because he liked you he had an obvious crush on you so… I didn't see the point. I thought... " Star shrugged. "I thought if I helped him get together with you, that this crush, that these feelings would go away."

Jackie shook her head. "But they didn't, did they? They got worse over time seeing the two of us together. You got jealous. That's why your portal almost ate you, right?"

"Wow, you're like, super observant, you know that?" Star complimented.

"I was further away than Marco was and girl, you don't stay Janna Orodina's BFF for years and not become observant. If you don't, she'll steal your keys and your lunch money."

Star laughed a bit at that. "True, true… so, where does that leave us? Cause it looks like we're two friends who like the same guy."

"Yep, sure seems like that," Jackie agreed. "But that's not really important right now. What is important is finding Marco. So for now, let's stow all the teenage melodrama and focus on that, because if we don't it'll be a total wipeout."

"Total wipeout?" Star questioned.

Jackie shook her head and had to remind herself that despite Star's looks she was not a California native. "Sorry, bit of surfer lingo there. In other words, we'll fail hard at what we're trying to do if we don't stay focused. Once Marco comes back then we can focus on riding out this whole relationship barrel."

"Okay," Star nodded, "Cool."

"Right," Jack slapped her fist into her waiting palm. "Now whaddya say we get out there and find Marco?"

"Yeah!" Star cheered. "Let's do this!"

"Never lose that exuberance, Star." Jackie said, smiling as she got up and headed towards the door.

(...)

The search was long and hard. Teens scoured every place Marco might've gone and several he wouldn't have. They checked movie theaters, arcades, down the beaches and under the pier. Some even searched the school just to be safe, including under the bleachers and in all the lockers in case someone was trying to pull a malicious prank, as the ghosts of avians and vermin took to the skies and small holes to look in other places. Yet no sign of Marco Ubaldo Diaz was anywhere to be found.

As the sun began to set on the first day, Star grit her teeth in frustration as she sat huddled on the Diaz' couch. "Grr, where is he? Where. Is. Marco?!"

"Calm down, Star," Moon told her daughter. "Getting angry won't make the current situation any better."

The blonde huffed and then like Marco had taught her she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Finding her center, he called it. Meditation, that helped one control their emotions. She didn't believe in it one hundred percent but the breathing did calm her down so there must be something to it.

"Okay," Star said to herself as she opened her eyes. If I were Marco, where would I be? Woolandia? Maybe. Marco does like karate."

River grumbled. "You think he's gone off adventuring by himself?"

"Or been kidnapped," Star countered,"Toffee was legendary, right Mom?"

Queen Moon repressed a shudder at her ancient foe's name and nodded. "Indeed he was. Some even called him the Immortal One. Why do you ask, dear?"

"Well from what I heard before I got back, Marco put his fist through Toffee's chest. Right through his heart right?" Star waited for her mother to answer.

"He did… he thought… we all thought we'd lost you. I'd never seen poor Marco look so broken and I imagine the same look was on my own face at the time as well." Moon admitted.

"And he punched through Toffee. I imagine that got the interest of some people. Sure, he regenerated but against anyone else…"

"That's a death sentence," Moon said, nodding, "I see what you mean. A boy that strong that young. Could be seen as useful to certain parties."

Angie had come out of the kitchen bearing a tea tray. "So it's possible someone has kidnapped Mijo then? Is there any magical way we can track his location?"

"If, if," Moon stressed. "Someone outside this dimension has kidnaped him he would be very hard to locate. The multiverse is a very big place after all."

Angie looked down, disheartened. "I see."

"I said very hard, not impossible," Moon placated. "We will find Marco Angie, or my name and title isn't Queen Moon Butterfly the Undaunted… and unfortunately for me, that is my title."

Star gave her mother a look in askance as she blew on her cup of tea. "Do you not like your title for some reason, mom?"

Moon gave a hollow laugh. "Of course not, and for obvious reasons, Star. I am called Moon the Undaunted for defeating Toffee the first time around in the wake of my mother's death as you know… only, that's not what happened at all. I merely severed a finger. And it was my inability to finish the job that I started over twenty years ago, that led to Mewni's current state. No, the honor of Toffee's ultimate demise belongs to you, dear. In fact, I dare say if anyone deserves to be called Undaunted it is you, not I."

"Awe mom," Star said, embarrassed looking away before taking a sip of her tea. "Ah chamomile, you are my second favorite tea, right behind Honeydew boba tea." Star stared into her slightly steaming cup and thought, 'Wherever you are, I hope you're safe right now, Marco.' Star thought before she finished off her tea and stretching said, "Well I'm off to bed. I plan to be up early tomorrow to go searching."

Everyone bid Star goodnight as she padded upstairs.

(...)

Star meant to go straight to her room, yet she found herself standing outside of Marco's bedroom door. 'I should just go to bed.' Star told herself as she reached for the handle and let herself inside. The laser puppies looked up from Marco's bed at her entrance, whining piteously.

"I know guys, I miss him too." Star said gently. Star looked around the room and took in the essence of Marco as she called it. Mackie Hand and Love Sentence posters lined the walls; the Laser Puppies dominated his bed, and one of his hoodies was laying on his computer chair with his desktop sitting there ideally. Star picked it up and cuddled it. She took a long deep sniff. It smelt of aftershave, cologne, and an earthy sandy windblown scent Star could only call Marco. It brought back thoughts of all the adventures she and Marco had gone on the fights they'd had each other's backs in… "The scent of a memory, Sir Lavabo, called it." Star muttered to herself happily as she took another long sniff from the hoodie before sighing in contentment.

Casting her gaze around her crush's desk, she saw his I-Pod lying abandoned. Curiosity overcoming her, Star turned it on and scrolled through his playlists. She was surprised to find one with her name on it. Now intrigued, Star opened it and scrolled through the list; she didn't even recognize half the songs on it. Returning to the top, she played the first and most recent song.

[Ain't no Sunshine by Bill Withers]

The deep voice of the singer backed by mournful guitar strums gripped Star's heart in a vice. Star found tears gathering in her eyes unbidden. "Is this how I made you feel when I left so suddenly after confessing, Marco?" Star asked herself as her tears rolled down her cheeks, "Corn, I'm so sorry!"

"Estrella."

Star spun on her heel to find Angie standing in the doorway. "I um, Angie! I'm sorry! I shouldn't even be in here! I-I'll leave right away!"

Star proceeded to do just that, only to stop when Angie smiled and raised her hand. "Don't worry my dear. I know you and my Mijo share a special bond. You love him, no?"

Star nodded timidly. "I do. We've been through so much together Angie, but… he's with Jackie."

Angie gave her daughter in all but blood, a small smile as she opened her arms for an embrace which Star happily gave. "Don't worry my little Estrella, these things… matters of the heart, they have a way of working themselves out. He was a mess when you were gone for a week, you know? He insisted we leave the party decorations up hoping you would come back and it would be like nothing had changed and he listened to that song on repeat in his room."

"Oh Marco." Star sighed sadly while encapsulated in Angie's hug.

Angie nodded. "Yes, that was a dark week for us all, Rafael and I were worried about you as well, and about Marco. Even Jackie couldn't get Mijo to leave his room at that time. Then he finally decided to go after you… and you would know the rest better than I."

Star pulled back from the hug but didn't let go. "He was amazing, Angie," Star praised, "He rescued my Papa from the dungeon using butter of all things, then… when he thought I'd died…" Star said that part quietly before raising her voice again, "He put his whole fist through Toffee's heart. Just how strong is he anyway?"

"I've no idea," Angie replied, honestly surprised by her son's display of strength, "But if he could punch through someone's chest, stronger than any of us realize."

[Fur Elise- Beethoven]

Suddenly, soft piano notes filled the air coming from Marco's I-Pod. Star turned to listen, enraptured by it. "What is that?"

"Für Elise by Beethoven," Angie said with a smile. "It was written for royalty a long time ago. I made Marco take piano lessons at age six. He hated it at first but he came to love it."

Star flushed when she said this song was written for royals. "Can Marco play it?"

Angie nodded. "He can. I'm certain he can play almost any song on his I-Pod," Piano strokes heralded the start of another song and Angie grinned. "Sir Elton John! I didn't know Marco had such varied tastes!"

[I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blue- Sir Elton John]

Star listened to the song that seemed to speak to how her soul felt since she heard Marco was missing. She flushed when he sang the part about 'Rolling like thunder under the covers' but then thought to herself. 'Well, it's not like I haven't thought about me and Marco doing that.'

Going over and stopping the machine before it played another song, Star asked, "Is it okay if I keep this with me for now, Angie?"

Angie nodded. "Of course, dear."

Star gave Angie a brief hug in thanks before she went back to her room flopping down on her bed. She looked over to her nightstand where her Dream Journal and case of charcoal pencils sat. Then she glanced out her window to see the full moon's brilliant radiance cascading in through her window. "Goodnight, my beloved Marco."

Star closed her eyes, never seeing the moon turn a vicious bloody red...

(...)

Time, as it was wont to do, marched ever forward. Days quickly turned into a week, afterwhich Moon had to sadly excuse herself back to Mewni to oversee the reconstruction of the kingdom. None were angry at her leaving; they understood she was a queen with obligations and wished her well when her time came to leave.

Star's sleep became ever more fitful as time passed. For each night, she watched Marco, her 'Red Knight' as she'd dubbed him in her mind, trek through trial and tribulation, die over and over only to reform at the nearest bonfire, dust himself off and go right back at it. The words of Oscar of Astora ringing in his head. 'Thou who art Undead art Chosen. Maketh pilgrimage to the Land of Lords, and Ringeth the Bell of Awakening, then the fate of all Undead thou shalt know."

Her dream journal was filled with pictures of his exploits. From traversing across a scorched bridge and befriending its draconic guardian to becoming battle buddies with a knight by the name of Solare who praised the sun, to fighting Gargoyles by his side with bolts of lightning flying from both of their hands. The beasts fell to their onslaught, and Marco rang the Bell of Awakening, only to find that there was another.

So he waded through treacherous blighted swamps, endured having his armor pierced by poisoned blow darts and his body crushed by a behemoth undead that crushed him with giant pieces of wood. Yet there down in the depths of muck and despair he found fire and death.

A topless woman with long black hair covering her breasts, her lower half that of a spider assaulted Marco relentlessly. Star was forced to watch Marco die half a dozen times at least before she was finally put down, his body burnt, slashed to pieces or submerged in lava. Yet, defeat her he did and rang the last bell.

Next she saw him in her dreams, he had just been gored on a swinging pendulum and sent flying to his death feet below. She watched as he dodged boulders, dart traps, and snake people as he fought his way through a veritable deathtrap of a castle. She woke up just as he was about to face a giant golem made of iron.

"Damn it!" Star cursed. "Good luck, Marco." Star said as she got up out of bed and rushed to chronicle her beloved's adventure up to this point in her dream journal. She was now in the middle of her second one, having been dreaming of Marco's adventures so frequently that she drew in it every morning now. 'Gonna need to get some more charcoal soon.' Star thought to herself as she took the small nub that she had remaining and began sketching out Marco's approach to the Iron Golem.

Once she was finished, Star got herself ready for the day. Taking a quick shower and careful not to mess with any of Marco's things he had set up via size near the sink, Star used Radiant Shadow Transform to do her hair up into a pair of twintails today and put on a red dress with a pink heart in the middle. 'Red is totes me and Marco's color.' Star thought to herself as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Reaching a hand into her starfish shaped handbag, she pulled out the picture she got from father time labeled 'Beach Day'. Much to her surprise, it had changed. Marco was still in it with her but he looked different. He was taller looking now, his hair longer and he had a black mark in the middle of his now ripped chest, ringed by white, but it was his eyes that drew her in, he looked older, more mature… haunted. It was worse than the time she found him in the neverzone.

"He's even more muscular in this picture than he was in the neverzone… and more troubled too. Corn and Cosmos, Marco what's happening with you?" Star fretted.

"What're you looking at?"

"Gah!" Star jumped a full foot in the air and whirled around to see Janna standing just behind her, looking curious. "Janna Banna, don't do that!"

Janna shrugged dismissively. "Sorry, but I wondered what was taking you so long today. You're usually at my house at the crack of dawn, ready and raring to go."

What time is it?"

"Like eight-thirty?" Janna replied.

The princess sighed. "Stupid dreams,"

Janna quirked an eyebrow and grinned, "Wow, I know you miss Marco, Star but I didn't think you'd be having those kinds of dreams about him. Well, at least now I know why you were late. Needed to have some girl time in the shower, huh?"

Wha-?" It took Star a moment to catch onto what Janna was insinuating and once she did she blushed redder than Marco's hoodie. "J-J-Janna! I did not have a wet dream about Marco this morning!"

"Not this morning?" The occult lover replied, catching Star's slip of the tongue. "But you have had those types of dreams with him?"

"I…" Star began, "I don't have to answer that." Star stated imperiously in her best 'I'm a royal princess' voice.

"Yet your silence says it all." Janna rebuffed, crossing her arms with a satisfied smirk. "What was that picture you were looking at, anyway?" She asked, changing the subject.

Star sighed and handed it over explaining, "I got it from Father Time, it's something that hasn't happened yet but will, meaning we will find Marco."

Janna looked at the picture and grimaced a bit. "Marco looks like a war veteran in this picture. and what's with that circle under his pecs? Is it a tat?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. The picture has changed. I just looked at it, this morning."

"Quite the paradox… in a lot of ways," Janna hummed, handing the picture back before saying, "C'mon, that Wendy chick's friends are supposed to arrive today. Something about being waylaid by a Gnome Civil War or something."

"Sounds intense." Star said as she made her way outside.

"Yep, according to Wendy, some of them were going around stealing people's underwear or something and that went against the edicts of their new Queen… that's a badger… who ate the previous queen... " Janna shrugged at Star's incredulous look, "Yeah, I don't know either. But the point is they should be here in like, twenty."

"Oh cool." Star said despite the circumstances she was always happy to meet new people. A stranger was just a friend you haven't met yet. That was a phrase Marco told her that he said applied to her and she wholeheartedly believed it.

The two girls made their way down to Janna's house where Wendy was sitting in a lawn chair wearing muddy boots, jeans, a t-shirt and a green plaid shirt open over it. Her hair was out of its bun and cascading down her back and she was wearing her ball cap on backwards.

"Sup, you two?" She called as she saw them approach.

"Just a heads up, Red has a thing for Marco too." Janna whispered to Star while they were still too far away for her to hear.

Star cocked her head to the side upon hearing that, "Huh, Marco's a chick magnet huh."

Janna snorted. "The funny part is, that he doesn't even know it."

"Who doesn't know what?" Wendy asked, catching Janna's statement.

"Marco has no idea that you and I both like him along with Jackie." Star bluntly stated, causing Janna to facepalm and grin at the same time.

"Damn it Star, you don't just blab stuff like that." Janna said with a chuckle.

Wendy fixed Janna with a glare. "Dude, you blabbed? Not cool, man."

Janna rolled her eyes. "If there's going to be a competition for my bro, all the contestants should know about each other, don'cha think?"

"What competition? Star asked, confused.

Janna turned to Star. "For Marco, of course. You all like him but someone has to have him, right?"

Star cocked her head to the side, "Why do we need to fight over him at all? Can't we just share him?"

"Umm Star, you're talking about polagamy. That's illegal in the United States and a majority of other countries." Janna explained.

"Okaaay~ But I don't think it's illegal on Mewni… at least not as far as I know?" Star replied honestly. Before she yelled across the yard to her father, "PAPA!?"

"YES PUMPKIN, WHAT IS IT?!"

IS IT ILLEGAL ON MEWNI FOR SOMEONE TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE WIFE OR HUSBAND?!" Star shouted across the yard.

"NO, NOT AS FAR AS I KNOW, WHY DO YOU ASK?!" River shouted back.

"THANKS PAPA!" Star turned back to the other girls who looked at her like she was insane in Wendy's case and Janna couldn't stop laughing. "Well, that clears that up."

Wendy just shook her head, "You're… you're something else, Star."

"Thanks," Star said brightly before hearing the roar of an engine. "What's that?"

Wendy stood up and grinned. "They're here."

Moments later, an RV came into view. It was big, sleek, and black, and it looked like it was built like a tank on tires. The front door slid open once the thing came to a stop, releasing its passengers.

The first person off was a teen around Star and Janna's age. He had messy brown hair that was covered by a mushka cap, a black shirt under a camo vest and blue jeans with grass stains on his knees and hiking boots on his feet.

Coming out right after him was who could've been his twin. She had long brown hair, a pink shirt with a cat face on it with a yellow yarn sweater tied around her waist, offsetting her charcoal washed jeans and green tennis shoes.

"Mystery Twins!" Wendy said, opening her arms for a hug as the two teens bolted towards her.

"Wendy! The two called rushing into her embrace and giving her the biggest hug they could.

Once the embrace finally ended, Wendy laughed. "Wow, you both shot up like weeds!"

"Bro-bro more than me," the girl said, with a chuckle.

"Well, you grew in other places, I see." Wendy joked.

"Wendy!" The girl flushed.

The redhead looked over the male. "Look at you, Mace. All grown up now."

"Quit it, Wendy," The boy said with a chuckle. "I'm only fifteen."

The older woman nodded. "Almost sixteen."

The teen nodded almost uncomfortably, "Yeah, getting there."

It was at that moment Janna cleared her throat. "So uh, who're you?"

"Oh, sorry about that, Janna, they practically park on your lawn and I haven't made introductions yet." Wendy laughed. "This is Mason 'Dipper' Pines, and this is his twin sister, Mabel Pines. Mabel, Dipper, these are Janna Orodina and Star Butterfly.

Mabel grinned like crazy. "The real magical princess, right?"

Star smiled. "Yeah, that's me."

"Can you like, show us some magic? It's not that I doubt your claims," Mason said politely, "It's just that we've seen some weird stuff, but magic isn't one of them."

"Sure thing. Levitato." A green beam shot out of her wand and engulfed the two teens after which she raised them a good fifty feet off the ground.

"Bro-bro, check it out ! We're flying!" Mabel cried out estatically.

"No, not flying, but floating Mabel. Star's spell seems to negate gravity around whatever it hits. Fascinating."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Can you stop being analytical for like five seconds and just admit that this is cool?"

Dipper grinned as he took in the bird's eye view. "Yes, this is very cool."

"How's the view up there?" Star called from the ground.

"So friggin' cool!" Mabel called back.

Suddenly they were joined by Star, Wendy, Janna, Soos, and both of their Great Uncles as Star levitated everyone nearby up into the air. Star seeing the extra people said, "Oh, hello there."

"Like sup, dawg? I'm Soos." Soos said he was out of his Mr. Mystery attire opting instead for his olive green Mystershack shirt and shorts complete with cap.

Two older, near identical-looking men were floating next to each other. They were both older, burly men with thick square-framed glasses on their noses, but one was wearing a brown duster under dark clothing, while the other was wearing a dress shirt with black pants held up by suspenders and nice shoes.

Additionally, the one with the coat had an extra finger on each hand.

"Star, Janna, these are our Great Uncles Stanford and Stanley." Dipper introduced.

"Hiya!" Star said, waving happily.

"Sup?" Janna greeted casually.

Stan grinned before looking at Mabel. "She reminds me of you, princess."

That made Dipper pale… "Oh God! There's two of Mabel now!"

"You take that back, bro-bro!" Mabel said good naturedly as she swam through the air to get to her brother and began tickling him when she got in range. "Admit defeat and say you love me!"

"Never! Stop it Mabel!" Dipper laughed.

"Not until you admit you love your big sister!" Mabel tickle tortured.

Dipper grabbed her wrists and said, "We're the same age! Our birthday was on the same day."

"But I'm two minutes older." Mabel said in a tone of smug superiority. Before the tickle assault recommenced with renewed ferocity, "Now submit to my will!"

Janna chuckled. "Wow, your Mom must've been thrilled to get the two of you outta her, huh?"

"Eighteen hours of labor as she constantly reminds us when we get on her nerves." Mabel admitted.

"Mabel!" Dipper said between gasps of laughter, "Don't go telling her that."

Mable shrugged. "But it's true, isn't it?"

"Not the point, sweetheart." Stan said.

Seeing something down below, Mabel made a face. "Are those Unicorns down there?"

Star was quick to answer, "No, those are warnicorns. They are ridden by the knights of Mewni. Why? Do you not like unicorns?"

Dipper answered for his sister. "She had a bad experience with unicorns, a few years back. Are they friendly?"

"Yeah totally, totally, totally." Star affirmed before she asked a question of her own, "Do you really think you can help us find Marco?"

"We will certainly do everything we can to help, Princess Star," Stanford promised. "But in order to do that, we need as much information as we can. To do that we need to know as much as we can about Marco and comb over as much facts and information as we can before we can deduce where he might be."

"What poindexter is trying to say is, we'll search for clues and he and Dipper'll make the science to find your boyfriend." Stan explained.

"Thank you both, and just Star, please. I'm no princess in this dimension." Star politely requested. Before adding, "And Marco isn't my boyfriend."

Stan gave Star a sly glance. "Girlie, don't try to con a conman. You don't cross dimensions and bring twenty mounted knights with you to help find a boy you consider just a friend."

Star pouted her cheek marks turning into raining storm clouds very briefly before she admitted. "Okay, yes! I like him! But he has a girlfriend already so…"

"OOoh A love triangle!" Mabel said enthralled.

"Love square," Janna said with a smirk pointing her thumb at Wendy.

The former lumberjill flushed angrily, "Do I have to sew your mouth shut or something, Janna?"

Janna shrugged, "You could try, I suppose."

Wendy gave her friends, who were giving her curious looks, the quick version. "He saved me from a groper at work, a few years back. He was twelve at the time. It was take your son to work day, Janna didn't want to go and since Marco's dad and hers had always been close, he got to go instead. The stupid copier was broken, was trying to fix it and next thing I hear is a kid yelling 'stranger danger' behind me and some old dude on the floor holding his kiwis like he was just kicked."

"And then he carved the mark of Zorro into the dude's buttcheek with a boxcutter." Janna finished for her.

"Yes, he also did that." Wendy admitted.

Mabel burst out laughing, "This Marco guy sounds awesome! Mark of Zorroing someone's butt! Hahahaha!"

Star was laughing right along with Mabel so hard she was releasing the occasional snort. "Our Marco did that? Right on, Marco!"

"Yeah, he's cooler than we all gave him credit for clearly," Janna admitted. "But we really should get on with the search, yeah? That way we can tease him about this mercilessly when we find him."

Nodding, Star lowered everyone back topside. Once their feet were firmly on the ground Stanford started speaking, "I really do have a million and one questions as to how your magic works Star, but for now that can wait as finding young Marco takes precedence. Now, before we begin can you give us any clue, any at all as to his location?"

Star screwed up her face in thought. "Well maybe, but I don't know if it'll help?"

"Any information you can give us would be invaluable, I assure you." Stanford assured her.

Star nodded. "Wait right here, then," Star ran off back to the Diaz residence as fast as her feet could carry her. She ran up the steps two by two and grabbed her Dream Journals before she jumped out of her window, not bothering with the stairs, a second time. By the time Star made it back to the others, she was slightly winded. "Here ya go, not sure how this'll help, but I've been seeing Marco in my dreams every night. He keeps dying."

"Oh dear," Stanford said, flipping through the book, smiling a little when he saw the picture of the Blood Moon Ball before continuing on. The imagery became darker soon enough. Images of Marco dying repeatedly yet what he died to kept changing, a dragon whose entire torso had become a gaping mouth here, gargoyles there, hordes of zombies, a knight in black armor, the scenery and means of death kept changing.

He then took the second book once he finished the first and it held more of the same dying to poison and crushing, a spider woman and lava, the most recent pictures had him dying several brutal deaths by various traps boulders, dart traps, swinging pendulums, he even saved what looked a mage with an obscenely large hat on his head from a cage before the last page depicted Marco walking calmly towards a towering golem, rapier in hand and galant full helmed knight armor gleaming on his form.

Looking at the pictures, Stanford grumbled to himself, "It could be some form of ESP or dream-based connection."

Star shook her head and flipped back through the first book to the dance at the Blood Moon Ball. According to my friend Tom, our souls have been bound together by the Curse of the Blood Moon."

"A curse?" Stanford inquired, eyebrow raised, "That implies some form of negative effect, doesn't it?"

"I consider having to watch Marco die over and over in my dreams quite negative, Mr. Pines." Star replied flatly.

Stanford nodded. "Yes, quite true… Hmm, I've been all across the multiverse in my travels yet the places depicted here do not seem familiar. And even if they did ,we would have no way of reaching young Marco."

"Oh, I've got that part covered." Star assured. Reaching into her handbag and pulling out the Royal Dimensional Scissors that Manfred usually kept ahold of. "Once we know where Marco is, these babies'll take us right to him."

"A pair of scissors?" Dipper questioned dubiously..

Star shook her head. "These aren't just scissors; they're dimensional scissors. They cut portals to other dimensions. Observe."

The sound of tearing cloth echoed across the yard as Star cut open a portal to Mewni. She motioned for the others to follow as she then led the way onto the castle grounds. But only after letting her dad know where she was going.

(...)

"Wow," Dipper said, taking in the sights of Mewni Castle, "You live here?"

"Yeah it's pretty cool. C'mon, I'll introduce you to Mom." Star said before leading the way to the Banquet Hall.

"Mom?" Dipper echoed.

"I think she means the ruling Queen." Standford said before he sent his brother a mild glare. "I suggest you be on your best behavior, Stanley lest she turn you into a newt or something."

Stan snorted. "Don't have to tell me that, Sixer."

Star upon hearing that snorted. "She wouldn't turn him into a newt… she'd probably just vaporize him." Star replied before she threw the banquet hall doors open making them slam against the wall. "Hi Mom!"

Moon looked up from her breakfast and smiled a little. "Hello, Star dear. Who are your friends?"

Star made with introductions. "These are Wendy's friends, Mother. It took them longer to arrive then they thought it would. These are Dipper, Mabel, Stanford, and Stanley Pines, and Soos."

"Your highness." Stanford said bowing respectfully which the others mimicked.

Moon chuckled. "Thank you, but there is no need for that. Any friend of Star's need not be so formal. Please refer to me as Moon. Now, have you eaten? Would you like to join me for breakfast as you tell me how the search for young Marco progresses?"

Stanford looked at the others who nodded. "We'd like that, Moon."

"Then please sit." Moon picked up a silver bell and rang it twice.

Manfred came forth at the call. Bowing at the waist he said "Yes, Your Highness?"

"We'll need more Corncakes Manfred, we have more guests this morning."

The manservant bowed. "Very good, your Highness." He glanced at the 'guests' barely hiding his distaste as he turned on his heel and walked away.

Taking a seat, Stanford placed Star's Dream Journals on the table next to him before inquiring, "Those Dimensional Scissors are simply fascinating, Moon! To be able to create a stable portal so easily… Why, it took me years to build a machine to duplicate such a feat, and it caused all manner of side effects, gravitational anomalies, power blackouts, things like that. So, if you'll indulge an old man's curiosity, how do they work?"

Moon was quick to reply. "That I'm afraid I do not know Stanford. For I do not create them nor know much of their creation. That knowledge belongs solely to Hekapoo of the Magic High Commision. It is her job to monitor and oversee the regulation of portals and distribution of Dimensional Scissors."

"So magic is regulated…" Dipper said with relief in his tone. "That's good… it seems as powerful as it is unpredictable. Without any oversight, it could be really dangerous."

"Indeed," Moon said with a nod, "Magic is a powerful force and has been regulated since its inception by the MHC. Hekapoo handles portal regulation, Rhombulus goes after law breakers and dangerous magic users, Lekmet handles or rather, handled the domain of life and death, Omnitraxus Prime keeps an eye on Space-Time, and Reynaldo the Bald Pate watches over the river of Time and time travel."

"Mom! You're a genius!" Star said excitedly as plates of food arrived.

Moon quirked an eyebrow at her daughter's exclamation. "Thank you for the compliment Star, but would you care to elaborate?"

"We can totally ask Omnitraxus or Hekapoo to help find Marco!" Star said excitedly, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Moon frowned but nodded. "We could," before adding, "But they are still mourning the loss of both Lekmet and Glossaryck, Star. We should give them proper time to grieve before we tell them of Marco's disappearance and ask for their assistance and force them back to work."

Star frowned but nodded. "You're right of course, mother. Sorry, I got a little over excited there."

Moon smiled understandingly. "I know you're just worried about Marco, dear." She then motioned towards the books next to Stanford. "What are those?"

"Those are my Dream Journals, mother." Star replied as she spread a copious amount of honey syrup on her corncakes. "I've been dreaming of Marco often of late."

"Oh dear, Star, that's perfectly normal for a girl your age, especially since you've already gone though mewberty."

Star blushed crimson. "Not those kinds of dreams, mother!"

Next to Star, Mabel and Wendy burst out into giggles while Dipper blushed and looked away.

"Then pray tell, what kind?" Moon asked, eyebrows raised.

"Marco keeps dying over and over again," Star admitted, handing her the first journal.

Moon flipped through it, she made note of the simplistic stick figures of her berating her daughter and made sure to bring that up in private at one point before she kept going through it. When she got to the picture of the Blood Moon Ball she stopped and asked, "Star, did you go to the Blood Moon Ball and get bound by its curse with Marco?"

Star looked down and nodded before looking back at her mother worriedly, "Yes? Please don't be mad I didn't tell you, but you were running the kingdom and I didn't want you to worry about me like you always do and I didn't even know I was cursed till like, yesterday and… shutting up now." Star said when Moon raised her hand for silence.

"Star," Moon began slowly. "Of course I worry about you, you are my only daughter. I'm your mother, it's as much my job as being a queen if not more so. I wish you had told me, you were going to attend the Blood Moon Ball before it happened as I could've forewarned you about being careful about who you danced with, as the Curse of the Blood Moon is Soul Magic, which the most potent and dangerous type of magics in existence and is almost unbreakable…" Moon then stopped and smiled. "As it stands though, I think the Blood Moon couldn't have picked a better suitor for you."

"Mom." Star quietly, a small happy smile playing across her lips.

"Marco has been nothing short of a gentleman. He is courageous, kind, daring, and charitable from what I've seen of him. He espouses the very ideals of knightly chivalry without even trying." Moon praised. "I wholeheartedly agree with River's assessment of making the boy a knight or perhaps a Duke once we find him," Moon smiled a little wider before she continued, "Though it seems like a bit of a formality at this point."

"You'd make Marco a Duke?" Star said in shocked tones. "But that's…"

"A rank worthy of one courting a princess, yes?" Moon said with a knowing smile before she continued to flip through the dream journal and her smile quickly faded. "Oh dear, that poor boy."

Moon picked up the second book once she finished the first. Her frown had become a thin grimace by the time she'd finished. "This is most concerning. Is there any way to track him?"

"None that I know of." Stanford said honestly.

Star awkwardly cleared her throat. "Well, I could use the All-Seeing Eye Spell."

"Star," Moon said flatly, "Please tell me you didn't read Eclipsa's forbidden chapter…"

Star shrugged. "Okay, I won't tell you that."

"Star Cosmica Johansen Butterfly!" Moon said using her daughter's full name for emphasis.

Star winced. She didn't really like her full name and when either of her parents used it she knew she was in trouble.

"Eclipsa's chapter in the book of Spells was forbidden for a reason, young lady!" Moon said hotly briefly glancing at her covered arms as she recalled just what Eclipsa's spells were capable of.

"Well, Glossaryck sure didn't have a problem unlocking it for me when I asked. Didn't put up a fight or anything… and her chapter isn't all that evil. The worst I've seen is dating advice for certain types of monsters, which isn't really my scene. But seriously, to each their own, you know?" Star said with a shrug.

Moon rubbed her eyes in frustration. "This… spell of Eclipsa's, what does it do?"

"It lets you spy on someone from anywhere in the multiverse. The first time I used it I was uh… worried how Marco was doing on his first date with Jackie, so I decided to check up on him."

"Spy on him and your love rival, you mean?" Moon said flatly while Mabel and Wendy giggled and the men just shared knowing grins.

"Jealousy isn't cool, dawg," Soos said sagely. "Pain leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, and suffering… leads to darkness."

"Very astute observation, Mr. Soos," Moon agreed.

"Thank you, your queenliness," Soos replied.

Moon smiled, finding his mode of address endearing. "You're most welcome ,dear," The queen returned her attention back to her daughter, "Now Star, I'm going to guess you haven't used this spell just once?"

Star shook her head," I used it to try and find Glossaryck after he got kidnapped, and again to check on Marco after we left."

"And you haven't experienced any side effects from using this spell repeatedly?" Moon questioned.

Star cocked her head to the side, "Side effects? Like what?"

Moon shook her head. "Nevermind, I'll allow you to use this spell, I suppose."

Star got up from the table and held her new wand up in front of her before she incanted, "I summoned the All-Seeing Eye to tear a hole into the sky. Reveal to me that which is hidden. Unveil to me what is forbidden."

A sickly green shaft of light emitted from the plate of the wand, and opened a viewing portal in front of her.

What she and the others saw was a titanic fight. Marco fencing, sword in hand and the Kindly Knight by his side was facing off against a golden armored knight with a cross spear and a portly behemoth wielding an inhumanly heavy hammer that had Star questioning if her Papa could even lift it. The Behemoth charged like a rampaging beast, smashing down marble pillars with sheer brute strength as the Kindly Knight rained down bolts of lighting upon his form. Rolling out of the way of being squished against the executioner and the wall, the knight with the grinning sun on his tabard said, "I say, Maroc old boy, do you think we should've brought the others with us after all?"

"Now is not the time for second guessing, Solaire! Now, wilt thou please killeth that fat bastard and lendeth me a hand?!" Marco, his voice having taken on a strange accent but it was still his replied as he ran his hand down the length of his rapier, setting it on fire before he continued to duel with the spear wielding knight who seemed to almost dance across the ground like a ballerina with Marco's own feet echoing his movements as their blades clashed.

"Certainly my friend, I won't be but a moment," the now named Solaire called back his own sword becoming coated with lightning before he proceeded to hack and slash at his gargantuan opponent.

Star watched in awe as Marco deftly dodged spear thrusts, her eyes could barely perceive, She winced whenever he was stabbed in the shoulder or stomach yet he shrugged them off, or took a swig from a golden glowing flask at his hip before pressing on. He would run towards bolts of lightning only to roll under them at the very last second and rise up to poke and prod at his foe stabbing in gaps in his armor. One such mighty thrust went up and through the helmet causing Marco's foe to fall to his knees and then collapse.

The remaining giant of a man crushed his colleague under the face of his hammer taking his strength for his own. But his now even larger and lightning infused form was no match for the two warriors combined. Thus, the giant fell to the two knight's swords stabbing relentlessly into its armored flesh, once it finally fell, its form dissipating into ash, did a bonfire appear in its place.

Marco huffed a little. "That t'was a most tiring fight. It felt almost like the fight would never cease."

Solaire nodded. "Indeed my friend, it was quite the perilous venture indeed. But nothing a bit of jolly cooperation couldn't overcome! Praise the Sun!" Solaire then held his arms up in a Y shape as if venerating sunlight itself.

"Praise it," Marco replied mimicking Solaire's gesture albeit briefly. "You go back and get the others…" Marco looked up above. "I have business to attend to."

"Verily, Maroc. My friend, we shall be awaiting you here when your audience with the princess is concluded." Solaire replied.

"Princess, what princess!?" Star said hotly under her breath loud enough for everyone to hear.

Marco ascended the makeshift elevator and entered the personal chambers of a giant woman. She had flaming red hair and was lounging on a sofa, her form barely concealed by the toga she wore.

"Big chest ahead," Stan joked.

"Try poking," Dipper added.

"Quit it ,you two," Mabel said, rolling her eyes. "Men."

Wendy scoffed, "Screw poking, try Two-handing."

"Wendy!"

"She is quite well endowed," Ford noted.

"Stupid big tittied bitch. With your giant boobs and your huge rack seducing my Marco," Star muttered to herself angrily. Even as for some corn forsaken reason, music started to play

[Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight - Dark Souls Soundtrack]Marco, who had bowed respectfully before Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight, suddenly looked up when a golden pot flew from behind him and struck the princess in the brow, causing her form to dissipate into all was cast into darkness and a voice rang out. "Thou that tarnished the Godmother's image. I am Gwyndolin, and thy transgression shall not go unpunished. Thou shalt perish in the twilight of Anor Londo."

"I did nothing!" Marco defended.

"It matters not, thou hath seen through the image of the Godmother, so thou must perish."

"Damn it all to hell!" Marco swore as he ran from the room, collecting the Lordvessel from where the illusion once lay and shoving the giant basin into a small wooden box. "How did this happen?"

"Star?" Moon questioned, "Did you do that?"

"Umm, now is not the time to be pointing fingers and blaming people, mother." Star said hurriedly.

"Thou, interloper destroyer of the Godmother's image. I sense thee though thou art here not. Know this, thine own reckoning is coming as well once I deal'st with the other."

"Bring it on!" Star called back unafraid.

Suddenly, the picture changed to that of a pale young man with the upper half of his face covered by a golden starburst crown, his form wrapped in pale white sheer silk robes. He sneered at her. "Consider it brought, foulmouthed wench, and know that today, you hath made an enemy of Dark Sun Gwyndolin. Last God of Anor Londo."

"Star, did you just bad mouth a deity… cause I think you did," Mabel said in a scared tone.

"I'm not afraid of a little brat who plays with illusions. Unlike him, I know real magic," Star retorted.

Gwyndolin grit his teeth at that. "Thou shalt suffer for that insult wench. Thy screams shall be akin to music to mine ears. Those of the Darkmoon Covenant shalt suffer no insult to the gods."

"Oooh scary, what are you going to do, talk me to death?" Star retorted with anger and passion, clouding her judgment in insulting the god before her.

"No," Gwyndolin retorted dryly, as four swirling blue portals appeared at the corners of the banquet hall and blue glowing ghostly phantasms appeared from their depths, each one armed to the teeth. "I'm going to kill you."

"Oh shit!" Star swore, breaking off the All-seeing Eye to battle the closest incoming phantom, a warrior in heavy plate mail wielding a massive cleaver. She ducked under a blow aimed to take her head clean off its shoulders before she yelled out, "Rainbow fist punch!"

The warrior was thrown back all of five feet before giving her a thumbs down gesture as if saying her spell was weak and pathetic, before charging back towards her. Rolling under the table to avoid being cut in half, Star crawled to the other side, just barely avoiding being bifurcated by the swordsman as she did so.

Once she got to her feet, she saw Stan fist fighting with another phantom who was wielding a cestus. Yet Stan seemed to be winning or at least stopping himself from getting attacked.

While her own mother was dueling with a magical helix sword in her mewberty form facing off against a spearman who had a spear in one hand and a greatshield in the other, and was weathering her mother's assault with little effort.

Lastly, Stanford matches his laser pistol against the bow the final foe carries. That left her with the cleaver wielding knight. Star ducked when the massive blade of said knight came for her head again before jumping over him and striking him from behind with a pink Strawberry Annihilation Beam. That actually sent the knight stumbling a bit but didn't down him.

'That was one of my strongest spells.' Star thought gravely. 'Well if one of my strongest doesn't work, what about the strongest?' pointing her wand at her foe she cried out the name of her strongest spell, "Spider with a Tophat Blast!"

"Warcry!" Spider with a Tophat called out as it unleashed its gatling gun from its tophat.

Magical bullets pelted the warriors armor yet he rolled through most of the assault just like Star had seen Marco do earlier with the bolts of lightning. Then he was upon her, Star saw stars in front of her vision when the butcher knight smacked her in the head with the pommel of his weapon then pain in her gut as she was kicked away. The air was ripped from her lungs as she impacted the wall. She saw triple, then doubles of the knight as approached. Her vision cleared just as he raised his blade above his head to deliver a coup de' grace.

"Star!" She heard her mother call out.

Everything seemed to slow for the princess. She could hear her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Her mind was awash with thoughts. 'Is this how it ends? I die here because I shot my mouth off at the wrong guy… will I never get to see my Mom, Papa, my friends on Earth, Ponyhead, Tom, Janna, Jackie, or Marco again?'

'Marco,' the name resonated throughout her mind.

Marco, the boy who had taken her in despite their rough start and treated her like family.

Marco, the boy who treated her not like a princess but a normal girl.

Marco, the boy who took the time to teach her all manner of things.

Marco, the boy who fought by her side.

Marco, the boy she danced with at the Blood Moon Ball.

Marco, whom she had freely sacrificed her wand for, to save him from Toffee.

It was Marco who had in return, come back and saved her, nay her entire kingdom from Toffee in return. All because he never stopped believing in her…

"You will not stop me from seeing Marco again!" Star said moments before she released a burst of golden magic, sending the butcher knight stumbling back.

Star was now in her golden mewberty state, cheek marks aglow and her braided hair standing up on end like two antenna. She raised all six of her arms and pointed them at the knight. "Strawberry Annihilation Blast!"

All six beams struck the butcher knight head-on, and as he was still off balance from being pushed back… he was quickly ripped asunder by the pink disintegration rays.

She then flew up over the battlefield and seeing her mother struggling with her opponent said, "Sparkle Kitten Fireworks Shower!"

Explosives went off around the knight and small kittens roamed around in their wake. Moon used the momentary distraction to run her foe through, her helix sword going straight through the chest of her foe.

Star then turned to Stanford, but he had already shot down his bow wielding foe. Standing over him, Stanford finished him off with a blast to the head before he turned to see if his brother needed assistance.

It was unnecessary however, as Stanley was sitting on top of his opponent hitting him repeatedly in the face all while yelling, "You had enough! Huh, ya punk?! You had enough yet?!"

"I think he's had enough, Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called from behind a protective Soos who were watching their Grunkle pummel the snot out of this poor unfortunate soul.

Stan huffed before he finally got off his foe. "Yeah I think you're right, kid." Stan took the napkin Mabel handed him from the table to clean the blood from his knuckles. "Thanks, princess," He then dropped it over the face of his defeated foe, pointing down at him and saying, "Go clean yourself up."

With the battle finally won everyone regrouped. "Well," Moon said as she looked at her daughter, "I hope you've learned something from this, Star."

"Yeah, don't let my mouth write a check my butt can't cash as Marco told me once. I never realized how true that was until today." Star replied, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Star that's… good enough, I suppose," Moon sighed before hugging her daughter happy she was unharmed.

Star sighed. "So, is anyone else still hungry?"

"Yeah, I could go for some more of that bacon you guys got here," Stanley replied.

"Pig-goat bacon is great, right?" Star said as if they all hadn't just been in a fight to the death.

"No complaints here," Stan replied.

"Wait, we're just going to ignore the fact we almost got killed because Star shot her mouth off to a literal god?" Dipper pointed out.

"We're not ignoring this," Star rebutted, "Fighting to the death just works up an appetite. And I totes learned my lesson by the way."

"Amen sister," Stan said as he proceeded to put several slices of pig goat bacon on toast and consume them.

"Um, how about the fact that these same assassins have likely been sent after Marco as well?" Dipper continued.

"Oh, right," Star said. "All-Seeing Eye!"

The spell once again opened up a viewing portal to the blackened Anor Londo. Only to show the final moments of Blacksun Gwyndolin. Marco had just buried his rapier right down to the hilt in his heart as he lay on the floor, beaten, battered and bloody.

"Thou art forever cursed," Gwyndolin said with his dying breath.

"That was… a tough fight…" Marco said between gasps.

"Indeed," Solaire agreed equally out of breath. "Are you alright, ladies?"

Two women walked into the frame. One was pale and pallid-looking, with long stringy white hair and glazed-over eyes, wearing a simple if elegant white dress. The other had her entire body enshrouded in thick, soot-covered robes, and even her face was mostly concealed in the shadows of a hood.

"We are fine, knight Solaire. Thank ye for asking. What of ye and Maroc?"

"We'll live, nothing a couple swigs of Estus and a kip at the bonfire won't fix. Right Maroc?"

Marco nodded tiredly, "Yeah."

"I am glad," The pale woman said in a needy voice, "That you are both unharmed."

"Mayhaps, we should call me Maroc the Godslayer now?" Solaire suggested in jest.

"Ugh, please don't," Marco begged.

The robed woman chuckled. "Yet it seems fitting truly, for t'was thou that slew the Darksun."

"Not you too, Quelana," Marco said as he walked to the end of the passage, where a scroll sat upon a sarcophagus. Taking it he said, "Ah, a miracle relating to the lost god of war."

"Ah truly?" Solaire said excitedly.

Marco nodded. "Yes, Sunlight Blade, describes how Gwyn's Firstborn fought during the Dragon War."

"Oh c'mon! I got rid of one and then two more show up!" Star complained, "They're like cockroaches. Cockroaches!"

"Star!" Her mother warned, "Remember what we just went through dear."

Star rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes, mother."

Stanford cracked his neck as he took a seat at the table. "Well, it seems now we have a way of monitoring Marco from time to time at least."

Star nodded a morose look coming over her face. "Yeah it's better than nothing, I suppose."

"I for one noticed, you didn't even need to use a full incantation to cast the All-Seeing Eye. I don't know if I should be proud or concerned about that." Moon said conflict showing in her tone.

To which, her daughter replied flatly, "Can we just go with pride, please?" Before she blew the unaware Marco a kiss and said, "Stay safe, my red knight," before finally allowing the viewing portal to close.

"So now what?"

"Now we…"

Star was interrupted by the doors flying open and a very familiar voice shouting "B-Fly! I thought I heard you blowing things up! What were you doing throwing a party without me, gurl?"

"Hey, Ponyhead," Star said in a slightly exasperated tone. While she loved her friend, she really didn't want to deal with her and her self obsession right now.

"Unicorn, why did it have to be a unicorn?" Mabel asked herself in a small quiet voice as she grabbed Dipper's hand and put it in a vicelike hold.

"Lilacia, always somewhat pleasant to see you," Moon said in a slightly frosty tone.

"Queen Moon, how you doing?" Ponyhead said being as polite as she could to the ruling royal.

Moon gave the pony princess a stiff nod, "As well as can be expected, all things considered."

Ponyhead nodded. "That's good to hear, but seriously though, where you been B-fly? I haven't seen or heard from you in like a week, gurl!"

Star figured she might as well be honest. "Well Marco's been kidnapped Ponyhead, and I'm trying to find him."

Ponyhead's jaw hit the floor. "Wuuut?! Earthturd's been turdnapped? Gurl, why didn't you tell me? I would'a had Pegasus Knights up and helping like forever ago!"

Star blinked in shock. "What? Ponyhead, I thought you hated Marco?"

"Well yeah, I did but that was before we went and had our own little adventure. We totes jacked a car, bought skinny jeans, had a party and made pizza together… and he might'a taught me some of that self defense stuff for when my lil sisters get too rowdy. So yeah, turns out Earthturd can be kinda cool when he isn't being all turdy."

"Any idea how she's capable of breathing, Great Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked in a whisper.

Stanford shook his head. "None at all my boy." She appears for all intents and purposes to just be a floating sentient unicorn head."

"Um, I can hear you, you know?" Ponyhead said dryly. Turning back to Star, she said, "More earthturds, Star? What'chu gonna do? Start an orphanage or something?"

"They're scientists, Ponyhead. They come from Earth which isn't big on magic, so they try and understand how things work by observation and testing and lots' and lots of thinking. To them, you look like a floating head with the rest of your body missing."

"Oh…" Ponyhead spared the two a glance. "Well listen up, Nerd Turd and Nerd Turd Jr. I keep the rest of myself in a pocket dimension cause it's just easier to get around that way, alright?"

Both Grunkle Stan and Mabel burst out laughing at their twins' new epithets. "Nerd turd!"

"That's a good one!" Mabel praised.

Ponyhead bowed, "Thank you, thank you, I even do parties… sometimes… when it suits me. But yeah B-fly, gimme a few hours and I'll have some Pegasus Knights helpin' locate Earth Turd Prime."

"Why are you going so far, Ponyhead?" Star asked, "And I don't wanna hear some crap about some adventure that happened on Friendship Thursday."

"Well first of all, that did happen, okay?" Ponyhead began, "And secondly maybe because it's like obvious to everyone that you, my bestie have the hots for Marco?"

Star blushed, something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. "Obvious? It's not obvious… is it?"

"IT'S OBVIOUS!" Everyone yelled.

"Well, I see…" Star said, "I thought I was doing a fairly good job at hiding it honestly."

"Yeah, that's like saying dragon'\s are discreet when they leave a path of destruction ten miles wide, gurl." Ponyhead retorted.

Mabel added, "Or that a cheetah doesn't stick out in the arctic."

"Or that if a tree falls on you, you aren't liable to die." Wendy added.

"Or that infinity isn't a concept, it's a reality." Ford chucked in.

Stan chipped in. "You got it bad girlie, worse than Archie, Betty and Veronica, bad."

"Okay, I get it!" Star snapped. She sighed, "I get it," she paused for a moment before saying, "Part of me just wants to go back to bed but I don't even think it's noon yet. But another part just feels so… so useless!" She banged her fist on the partly ruined banquet table causing it to shudder. "Like what can I do, other than watch Marco struggle? I can't get to him. I don't know where this Anor Londo place is, I've never been to that dimension before."

"But you've seen the location, so perhaps that is enough?" Stanford inquired.

Moon shook her head, "From what little I know, Dimensional Scissors don't work like that Stanford. They work off of both the intent and memories of the user. Say for example, you pictured a place in your mind's eye. The clearer the picture, the better the chance you'll end up where you want to go. If you've been told about a place the chance you ending up there is slim, if you've seen it in a picture once… well you might make it there provided it hasn't changed at all. If you've been there then yes, you can go there."

"But Star hasn't actually been there," Ford finished, adding, "And time between dimensions can move at unknown paces. "Why, I was in a dimension once, went to another for half an hour and came back to find the person who told me about it originally had died with his great grandson now working the tavern in his stead."

"Moon nodded, "Exactly. That is why dimensional scissors are only given out to those deemed worthy by Hekapoo though knockoffs do exist. In the multiverse blackmarket."

"Dimensional Scissors!" Star said standing up, having another epiphany, "Why hasn't Marco just come back using his dimensional scissors?... Unless he dropped them somewhere when he got carried off?"

Moon smiled brightly. "I do believe you've found the next route you're investigating should take, dear."

Star nodded, resolve burning in her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the help mom. "Ponyhead, send the Pegasus Knights whenever you can, everyone else, let's get going, we've got a pair of magical scissors to find." Star all but commanded before cutting open another portal back to Earth and ushering the others through.

(...)

The objective of the search may've changed yet it remained as fruitless as ever. A week turned into a month and within that time, Star had watched as Marco lost friends. A maiden who lost her knights and was betrayed by another, only to turn savage in the crystal libraries of a pale blind dragon. The big hatted sorcerer he'd rescued at some point had also gone mad in the same place, driven to lunacy by the contents of the arcane lore of the archive.

At one point, she witnessed his fight against a behemoth monster in a chasm filled with darkness. Its many eyes glowed like embers, and large, broken, misshapen horns came out of its back. One of its arms was gigantic, cyst-ridden, and malformed, while the other carried a crooked staff.

She watched as he unsealed the floodgates on a drowned city, fighting his way through the streets filled with drowned corpses and knights wearing ghoulish armor, only to drop down into the black abyss with seemingly no end and face off against four inhuman abominations and claim their shared soul. She watched with bated breath as he walked through the ash strewn and explosion torn Kiln of the First Flame and fought its burnt guardian, Gwyn Lord of Cinder, a foolish king who sought to defy the natural order and prolong his Age of Fire.

She had just put the finishing touches on her drawing of his epic or perhaps not so much duel with the fallen Lord, as he kept his distance and kept parrying his strikes wide sloppy strike with a simple buckler, only to punish his now broken defenses by running him through with his serrated rapier he did this time and time again until the undead god fell, and did not rise again.

Then, Star watched with bated breath as he approached the bonfire of First Flame, and stared at it intently.

'Don't do it, Marco!' She silently pleaded not wanting to lose him to the flames. 'Come back to me!'

It was almost like he heard her, for he stared at the last bonfire for a moment, and then shook his head in disgust before saying, "My Beloved Star is not to be found here. Nothing waits in this place but death." Pointing down in the bonfire in disgust, Marco turned his back on it, and walked out of the Kiln of the First Flame, back to his group of companions that had grown since she had last seen them. A pale statuesque stunner of a woman who stood at least eighteen feet tall and had an ethereal beauty to her immediately caught Star's ire. She was either wearing a feathered dress or was covering herself with feathered wings. She had small white scales around her eyes and long white hair and if Star was honest with herself the cutest fluffiest tail she'd ever seen. She also had a bigass black scythe.

"Didst thou find what thy seeketh, Maroc?" The woman asked.

The undead shook his head. "No Priscilla, my Beloved Star was nowhere to be found, even in the Kiln of the First Flame. One would thinketh if it were anywhere to be found twould be at the center of all."

Then a dozen toothy serpents rose out of the abyss around the kiln. "Hail the Dark Lord! Hail the King of the Age of Man! We have come to serve your highness!" They said all bowing before him.

Star watched as Marco gripped the hilt of his rapier tightly. "You snakes speak naught but lies and deceptions! I would be a fool to accept decivers like ye into mine service!" Brandishing his blade, he pointed it at the closest snake before saying, "To the true void of death with the lot of you!"

Star watched in awe as Marco and his companions slew the dozen or so serpents. Marco lept on the head of the closest on stabbing his rapier down into its skull. Knight Solaire pelted one to death with spears of lightning while the two sisters torched three to death with hot orange and black centered flames. At the same time, Priscilla swept through them like a Mewman farmer harvesting stalks of corn, her scythe claiming head after head in a brilliant gory yet elegant display.

Once the job was finally done, Solaire turned to his compatriot and asked, "What now, Maroc? We've reached the seeming end of our quest, yet not met our goal."

Marco sighed. "Well, I've a Star to find, and you a Sun, Solaire. Neither of which can be found here. So I guess we just keep searching… I can't force any of you to come with me of course, and if you want to part ways here, I understand."

"You are not getting rid of us that easily, boy," Quelana quipped. "Thou art stuck with us for good or ill. Besides, thou shalt get into all manner of trouble if we leave thee and Solaire by thineselves."

Marco looked around at his friends and smiled. "So that's how it is, is it?"

Everyone nodded. With Priscilla adding, "Thee art my hearth and home, I have… nowhere else to go."

Marco sheathed his sword. "Well, we'd best be going then. Nothing left here in Lordran for us."

"If thou shalt give me a moment Chosen One, I know where thou canst head next," A sultry female voice spoke from the shadows.

Everyone tensed. "Perhaps I'd be willing to listen, if thee wouldst identify thyself first. Tis rude to speakst from the shadows," Marco called out.

"As thou wisheth," the woman replied, walking out of the darkness. She was tall, her face hooded and she wore a flowing dark purple gown complete with armor yet the most striking feature were the two pairs of long sleek wings sprouting from her back. Reaching up and lowering her hood, revealed she was pale skinned and had regal elegant features. She had long black hair that had black bird feathers coming out of it and wore a spiked circlet upon her brow interwoven with her raven locks. Her eyes were a bloody ruby red and bored into Marco's own. Marco noticed the red of her eyes accentuated her just as red lips.

"Who… are you?" He asked after staring at the woman for a moment.

"Thou knoweth mine name," The woman replied. "Thy carries my Talisman on thy hand and my blade on thy hip. Thy knoweth my name."

"... Velka, Goddess of Sin," Marco said, his voice echoing into the air.

The woman gave a simple nod, "Verily. T'was I who had you brought here era long ago."

"Why?" The anger in Marco's tone was palpable.

Velka did not smile though she could've. "A champion I direly desired. I needed Gwyn and the other gods taken to task, they needed to be held accountable for their crimes, their sins against humanity. The darksign is proof of their sin."

Marco ripped the rapier off his hip and threw it at the goddess' feet. "How do I get home? How do I find my Beloved Star?"

This time, Velka did smirk. "In order to goweth back from whence thou camest, two miracles must taketh place simultaneously. Thou must forever seek thine Beloved Star," Velka looked off to the side and directly at Star herself who was watching this play out through the All-Seeing Eye at the moment as she replied, "And thine Beloved Star must continue to wait for thee. Only then, shalt thou see thine homeland again."

Marco took a breath to quell his growing anger. "Very well, where to next, oh Goddess of Sin?"

"Head to the Far North to the place where fireflies gather. There you shalt find a place where you can waylay the Undead Curse for the sake of your companions… and mayhaps put yourself on the path to ending this accursed Flame for good," Velka said ominously before she took flight into the dark.

"Well, you heard the lady, let's get going everyone," Marco said to his companions before he walked off leaving his rapier behind him in the ash.

Star closed the All-Seeing Eye and laid down on her bed thinking about what Velka said. 'So I just gotta keep waiting while Marco suffers huh? Well sorry Velka, but I'm not the type to sit around on my ass while my loved one's suffer,' Star rolled off her bed and went downstairs to greet the Diaz'.

Angie did her best to stay her usual cheerful self, but she had bags under her eyes equal to Star's own, so she could tell Marco's disappearance was taking its toll on her. Rafael too, was looking haggard. His usually immaculate hair was messier than a crow's nest and he had a couple days worth of stubble on his face at all times these days. Star kept ping-ponging back and forth in her mind whether or not it was a good idea to tell them about Marco's current state.

'On the one hand, we know he's alive. On the other he keeps dying and we don't know how to get to him. The cons outweigh the pros.' Star thought to herself as she made her way into the kitchen and made herself a bowl of Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds.

Angie gave Star the biggest fake smile she could when she heard her pour her cereal in her bowl. "Good morning, Estrella dear."

"Hi Angie, Rafael…" Star silently munched on her favorite cereal for a moment before coming to a decision. "You guys, I have to admit something to you."

Marco's parents looked at her questioningly. "What is it, Star dear?"

"I have this spell right… and it lets me see where Marco is and how he's doing. I've been using it to keep an eye on him," Star admitted.

Both of the Diaz' brightened upon hearing that. "Really? How's he doing, Star?" both parents asked at the same time.

"Well… good I guess?" Star said, rubbing the back of her head as she took another bite of her beloved breakfast food so as to decide what to say next.

"You don't sound too sure about that ,dear." Angie noted. "Estrella, what's wrong with our son?"

Star sighed. 'I guess there's no point in lying about it.' Star thought. "Marco has been cursed."

"With what? Has he become a werewolf or something?" Rafael asked, concerned his hands over his mouth.

Star scoffed. "If only…" She shook her head, "No, he's been cursed with undeath."

"He's a zombie?!" Both parents cried out.

Star waved her hand side to side in a kinda sorta motion. "Not exactly, he can die. He just can't be permakilled. He keeps getting back up. Whenever he's killed, he sorta pops back up at these lit bonfires and he loses more of his memories each time that happens."

"Oh, how awful," Angie said, hugging Rafeal to her as her husband wrapped an arm comfortingly around his wife.

Star nodded. "It is… but Marco is… well he's Marco. He just keeps going," The two adults nodded. They knew their son was stubborn when he wanted to be. Star continued, "Anyway, I just watched him kill a god, a weakened god, but still a god, and now he's heading north with his friends."

Hearing that caused the two parents to smile with pride. Their son had this way to draw people to him, even without meaning to and despite wanting to be a loner. "So he's alive at least."

"All-Seeing Eye," Star intoned before saying. "See for yourselves."

They watched as the group marched what looked like a swampland. Star pointed out Marco the knight at the front of the group holding the torch. Angie and Rafael smiled happily upon seeing their son was alive. Star closed the portal shortly after that saying, "Sorry, but I've already had it up for a while and it's a bit draining." Star lied, she just didn't want the screen there in case Marco got attacked while they were watching him.

"We understand dear," Angie replied sympathetically. "Just knowing he's alive is enough, thank you."

"No problem." Star said with a smile.

(...)

Over the course of the next fifteen days, Star watched Marco and his companions fight their way across the ruined kingdom of Dranglaic after throwing themselves down a whirlpool to get to it in the first place. They met a bunch of nasty old women who cackled at them and swore Marco and the others would go hollow, something they vehemently denied as they left their hut and came to the beautiful seaside city that she would learn is known as Majula.

Marco found himself captivated by the sound of surf and sight of the waves and Solaire put a hand on his friend's shoulder asking, "Does the sea remind you of your beloved Star?"

Yet Marco shook his head and smiled. "No, it reminds me of… a woman. She… I can'st recall her name but she had glass green eyes and sun bleached hair… The sea brings her face to mind."

"Come friend, best we tarry not here long." Solaire advised making his way forward.

Marco agreed and that was when they met her. The Emerald Herald. Half of her pale face was shrouded by her reddish brown bangs and sole brown eye flicked to Marco as he approached the bonfire. She wore an emerald cape with her hood drawn over her head, the rest of her attire consisting of a green and tan dress with an emerald cross on the chest while it trailed down to her feet that were covered by intricate sandals that went up to her knee. She also wore a blood red sash wrapped around her chest and above her belt. She wore loose brown leather gloves that were weathered by time and stitched again. Strapped to her belts were a single large feather and a carrying pouch.

She spoke in a mournful tone. "Are you the next Monarch?"

Marco shook his head, "I'm no one's king, girl. I've killed far too many of them. Twould be foolish of me to claim a crown for myself."

"Indeed, and how could one with a soul so pallid and weak hope to claim the throne of a king?" The girl seemed to goad.

Marco just shook his head however. "Thou shalt have to do better than that to incite me to wrath, girl. I've had my fill of monarch slaying…"

"Bearer of the Curse, if thou hast not come to be the next Monarch, then why hast thou camest here to Dranglaic?"

"We seeketh a way to endeth the curse," Marco replied, "Willth thou assist us in this endeavor?"

The Herald was stock still for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Regardless of thou's reasons, thy shalt still need to hunt down the Ancient Strong Souls to be strong enough to seek the King, Vendrick. He alone mayest have the answers ye seek. Seeketh out the small curious one in the village here, she can telleth thou more of thy quarry."

The group ended up seeking counsel from a talking cat who spoke cryptically yet in the end, Marco and his company made their way through an overgrown forest where trees seemed to be growing out of the corpses of faceless giants. They were attacked by nearby forts' defenders, however they were easily dispatched and the group climbed their way up to the top of the ruined seaside fortress. Near the top, the group was confronted by a heavily armored pursuer who seemed to float a couple of inches off the ground as he charged at them with a greatshield and sword in hand.

Star watched as Marco and his friends took this unknown threat out, not with brute strength but brains over brawn. While Marco and Solaire held the unknown hunter at bay in the center of the battlefield, Qualana and her sister Quelogg fired two ballistas into its backside, killing their foe outright.

Star cheered at the display of wit. "Whoohoo! Nice going girls!"

"Nice job spotting those ballistas, Maroc," Quelana said with a nod. "You've learnt to fight smarter not harder. I'm proud of you, my former pupil."

"Thank you, Mistress Quelana," Marco said with a respectful bow.

"Just Quelana shall do from here on, dear boy. Equals should refer to each other by name," The Grandmother of Pyromancy replied in earnest praise.

Marco bowed again, "As you say, Quelana. Now if you are all ready, shall we explore the interior of this place?"

"My champion," The familiar voice of Velka called out on the wind. "Wilt thou not take up my blade once more?"

Star watched Marco shake his head. "I've no desire to wield your rapier or be your Champion, Goddess of Sin," Marco held aloft the Heide Knight sword he'd pilfered off the white knight in the forest. "This blade suits me just fine, thank you."

"Very well," Velka's voice replied, "Just know that something wroth with age and anger lurks below this place. Ready yourself if you venture forth."

Marco was silent for a moment before he replied, "Thank you… for the warning. Come, everyone, let us depart."

Marco and Solaire took point slaughtering any hollow that was fool enough to cross their path until they finally came to a wide open chamber. Where Marco silently called for a halt. For if there was one thing he knew about wide open areas, it was that they either contained a trap, or an enemy that needed a lot of space to maneuver in. Neither was good news. Twitching his fingers forwards, Marco silently motioned his companions forwards.

They didn't notice it at first, thinking it was just more refuse from above… till it moved. A Giant like those seen in the forest above stared directly at Marco before it released an inhuman cry of rage and proceeded to haul itself out of the rubble. It had a broken crossbeam through its stomach and its wrist was chained to the floor, but that seemed to not to hamper the Last Giant in the least as he drew himself to his full height and tried to crush Marco with his full height and sheer weight.

"Move Marco!" Star cried as the giant tried to stomp him flat.

Marco seemed to hear her as he rolled out of the way of the giant's incoming foot. Taking to his feet, he cast a lighting spear that was as brilliant as the sun itself at the giant. When it struck, it caused the giant to stumble and take a knee, only for Solaire of Astora to win the day by charging up to the downed beast and stabbing his sword into the black void that constituted its face.

"Well struck, Solaire," Marco praised.

"What of thee, friend? Was that not Gwyn's own Sunlight Spear just then?" Solaire asked with reverence in his tone.

Marco nodded. "A last gift from the Statue of the Firstborn before we left Anor Londo behind."

"Why did the thing attack us? It didn't seem to like you much, Maroc," Quelogg noted in a quiet tone moving her pale hair out of her eyes.

Marco nodded. "I noticed… tis a shame to have to kill such a magnificent creature, but it looked quite wounded as it was. We were probably doing it a kindness, putting it out of its misery like that."

"I concur," Quelana said, "Such a thing should not be left to suffer better to end it quickly and justly then… to draw it out."

Star noticed Marco grimace and she couldn't help but wonder why that was. 'Well, I don't exactly know how any of these guys met come to think of it. So I've likely missed a lot.'

Star continued to watch as Marco and his friends trekked across Drangleic. Their next destination was a gigantic prison tower, which according to the cat housed the Sinner who tried to light the First Flame. Guardsmen wielding spears and jailers hampered them at every turn. Marco eventually got fed up with the constant distractions and started setting everything on fire.

"The entire room, really?" Quelana complained as they walked out of a room covered in ash and smoke that Marco covered in Chaos Flame.

"It worked, didst it not? If it's foolhardy but it works, tis not foolhardy, no?" Marco retorted back.

Star grinned at that. "I totally agree with you Marco, if it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid. We are so going to have to get you used to modern English again once we get you back here. But the flowery speech is kinda sexy too," Star said to herself. "Besides, I miss your Super Special Nachos."

The group proceeded into the innermost tower of the prison and fought the Lost Sinner. Even with her hands bound in wooden manacles, and an iron mask on her face, she was a formidable opponent. She wielded a massive greatsword two handed and with a sort of erratic proficiency, Star had never seen before. It took Soliare and Marco together stabbing her from both sides to finally put her down, and not without being sliced and gored several times themselves. Their only saving grace was that the Sinner seemed to fear the flames of the witches and would shrink back whenever they cast their pyromancy, giving the warriors some brief respite.

The day finally won, Marco lit the bonfire created from the Sinners death, teleporting the entire group back to Majula.

(...)

Star decided she'd kept enough of an eye on Marco for now and decided to see how the search for Marco's scissors were going. She made her way out of her room and downstairs where the HQ for the search was held. Technically speaking, she was on 'Marco Watch' and it was her job to keep everyone else appraised of Marco's status from time to time while they searched for the Scissors.

Going to the fridge for an apple Star said, "Any leads on the Scissors, guys?"

Ford shook his head. "None I'm afraid, none of my instruments seem to be able to pick them up, which is odd as you'd think a high-power metal detector would be able to find them, yet they aren't showing up."

Star huffed in frustration. "I tried finding them with the All-Seeing Eye but all I get is static too. It's as if something is blocking us from finding him…" Star suddenly squeezed her apple so hard she pulped it in her hand as she grimaced. "And I think I just realized who's doing it."

"Well if it's another deity try and be respectful this time please," Ford requested.

"Fine, Grunkle Ford," Star said having jokingly adopted the elder Pines twins as her own Great Uncles, it never failed to fluster Ford and make Stan grin from ear to ear.

"I well, just remember to behave yourself, Star," Ford grumbled clearly flustered as he bent over his maps of Echo Creek "And go wash your hands, you'll get all sticky."

Star did as he said before she tried contacting the one she thought was behind the team's inability to find Marco's dimensional scissors. Going into the living room, where she found Dipper and Janna in deep conversation about the occult. She smiled. The one good thing to come out of this mess was that Janna seemed to have found a boy that shared her interest. She and Mabel, who she thought might be this universe's equivalent of herself, were taking bets on who asked whom out first. Star had money on Janna, naturally.

"Sup, Star? How's my bro doing?" Janna asked.

"Killed a giant and an insane person with a greatsword." Star replied.

Janna's jaw dropped. "He killed a giant? Rad."

"Well, that Solaire guy got the killing blow but Marco set him up for it," Star amended.

Janna's grin didn't waver. "Doesn't matter, Marco the Giant Slayer still has a nice ring to it."

Star rolled her eyes. "He's already killed gods, Janna. Giants feel like small corn cobs compared to that."

"Pff, weakened gods." Janna shot back. "What'cha doing down here anyway?"

Setting her face into a scowl, the Mewni Princess replied, "About to have a chat with the person responsible for this whole mess. All-Seeing Eye!"

Moments later, Velka's face appeared on screen, her hood was down revealing her slightly avian features. "I have been waiting for this meeting, Star Butterfly. To be honest with thee, I had'st expected it much sooner than this."

"You kidnapped Marco," Star said. It was a statement not a question.

"I did," Velka didn't even bother denying it. "Tis also mineself who am preventing thee from finding the Chosen One's Dimensional Scissors"

"Why?" Star asked.

Velka's ruby red eyes gleamed. "Tis not yet time for thou's beloved to come home to thee. Thou must keepeth waiting."

"He isn't mine to love, that's the problem," Star huffed with her arms crossed.

The Goddess of Sin let out a chuckle. "All things in time, child. As he has his destiny so to doth thee. Thine souls and thine fates are intrinsically linked."

"I've got to know one thing, why Marco? You could've chosen anyone? So why him?" Star all but demanded to know.

Velka tapped her chin with a slender finger. "Shouldst I explain to thee? Marco tis a man of means. Tis stubborn, unyielding, and enduring. Much like the stone dragons before the Advent of Fire. Yet while the dragons were unchanging, Marco embodies their better attributes. Their Stubbornness, Hardiness, Strength. I could count on one hand, the number of people who could hath accomplish'd all he has already doneth and all he yet will do and I would have almost all my fingers left over."

"Woah… so Marco is a badass then?" Star asked.

The goddess nodded, smirking, "Yes, he is quite badass as you say. This fight, this mission is slowly teasing out his inner strength teaching him to harness the greatest him he canst be. Yet in doingst so, he shalt lose himself. Tis up to thee and thine to put him back together once he come'st back to hearth and home. For once, his mission endeth, and yours beginith. I wish ye the best of luck in that regard," Velka said before ending the All-Seeing Eye spell with the snap of her fingers.

"That bitch, she's just going to break Marco, use him up and then send him back home for us to fix?! Grr, she pisses me off so bad!"

"She's a deity, Star. You can't expect to really understand her mindset." Janna told her friend.

Star sighed and nodded. "I know, I know, it's just infuriating. Know what I mean?"

"We do, we really do," Dipper said, nodding sympathetically.

Star made her way back into the kitchen yelling over her shoulder, "I'm grabbing a bite and heading back to 'Marco Watch'. Don't get too cuddly now, you two."

Both Janna and Dipper chuckled awkwardly at Star's blatant teasing. "Can you believe her? Thinking we'd do something like that? Dipper said awkwardly.

"I know right? We aren't the cuddly type," Janna replied with a scoff.

"Yeah!" Dipper agreed, "We're too awesome for that."

"Well I am," Janna joked. "You look like you might like to cuddle."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "I was thinking more along the lines of us dating."

Janna quirked an eyebrow. "Why does that seem so impossible?"

"Well, you're awesome for one, and I'm just… me."

In response, Janna pulled Dipper's hat down on his head, "First of all, thanks for the compliment, secondly you are the kid who helped outsmart a manifested demon at age twelve. That makes you pretty badass in my eyes."

"Really?" Dipper asked, surprised. Seeing Janna nod, he asked, "So… if I happened to ask you out to that new horror flick this weekend, you'd say?"

Janna replied with a smirk on her face. "I'd say yes."

Dipper was grinning himself now. "Really? So would you like to…" Janna suddenly kissed Dipper on the lips. It was a chaste kiss but it had the intended effect.

"Shut up, Dipper."

"Okay."

(...)

Another week passed, and Marco and his companions fought their way through the hellscape that was the Iron Keep and then after slaying the gigantic Ichorous Earth, they proceeded to conquer Brume Tower. It was the desolate former land of the Iron King. Possessed Armor attacked them at every turn, every now and then. As they climbed their way up the tower, they would come across these odd twisted idols formed of ash. For each one slain, they would gain the small shard of a pitch dark soul. At the top of the tower, a black knight waited for them, wielding a black greatsword that seemed to be carved from granite.

The fight was one of the most intense Star had ever watched. Marco died three times, and three times, she watched him come screaming back into the knight's battle arena Sunlight Spears flying into the knights back as Solaire weathered his assault alone. On the fourth death, after Marco and Solaire had fallen to the knight and Marco arrived just in time to see the sister witches die, Star saw all hell break loose. A warcry flying from his lips, Marco released pyromancy after pyromancy at the black knight, rolling away when he got within sword range, only to pelt him with lightning. Marco's body was on autopilot now. The only thing that mattered was the destruction of his enemy at this point. Slamming his flame into his chest, Marco called upon the fire within and hacked and slashed at the knight waiting for the opportune moment.

'Wait for the pattern, wait for the pattern… there!' Marco thought to himself as the knight began to swing his giant sword. Marco parried with his shield and used the opening to stab his straight sword into the black knight's chest, finishing this fight finally once and for all.

"YES! YES! YES! GO Marco Go!" Star cheered, jumping up and down on her bed.

"What happened?" Jackie asked coming into the room, "I could hear you yelling from downstairs."

"Marco totally just owned this jerk black knight that kept killing him. And might've just killed his friends." Star realized in shock as she watched Marco sprint haphazardly back to the nearest bonfire.

She sighed in relief alongside Jackie and Marco himself when she saw all of Marco's friends alive and unharmed. Marco hugged the two witches happily, laughing in joy upon seeing them alive.

"Didst thou really think us dead? Fool boy, I too have a darksign and Quelogg was a firekeeper. She is replete with humanity." Quelana playfully chastised as she returned the embrace.

"Didst thou slay the black knight by thy lonesome?" Quelogg asked in amazement.

"He piss'ed me off," Marco replied gruffly.

"Well fought, Maroc," Solaire said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Did you collect the last piece of the soul from his corpse?"

Marco shook his head, "Forgot."

"Well, let us go get it and leave this place then." Solaire replied clearly, eager to be rid of the sight of this ash strewn tower.

In the gray ash, Marco not only found the last black soul shard of Nadalia, Bride of Ash, but also the crown of the Iron King himself. Marco picked it up and put it on his head. "What do you think? Is that a good look for me?"

"It has a certain appeal," Quelana admitted. "But it doth not suit thee."

"Yeah," Marco agreed, putting the crown in his bottomless box. "Let's get outta here."

(...)

Star wanted Marco to come home! With every week that passed, she watched him get hurt more and more. The fact she could do nothing but watch as he threw himself at the disgusting creature that was The Rotten, a twisted macabre creature consisting of numerous corpses, or as he delved into the Sunken City of Shulva and fought the poison spewing dragon Sihn infuriated her to no end! She wanted to take him into her arms, kiss away his aches and pains and promise to protect him forevermore with her fists, her wand, and every scrap of magic in her arsenal if need be.

Please, Marco," Star was actually praying to the cosmos, something her people had forsaken centuries ago, "Please make it back to me. I promise to take care of you once you come back, just get your cute little ass back here so I can show you how much I've missed you!"

"Didn't take you for the praying type, Star," Janna said leaning against her doorway.

"I'm usually not… but any port in a storm right?" Star said, hoping she got the expression right.

Janna nodded. "Yeah, but I think the one you want is, desperate times call for desperate measures."

"That too," The princess agreed with a nod. "Soo… how was your date with Dipper?" Star's grin widened as she spoke.

Janna rolled her eyes. "We enjoyed ourselves, thank you for asking. Saw the movie, riffed at the riffable bits, went to Britta's afterwards."

"Well, I'm glad at least one of us has a lovelife." Star said sardonically.

"You know he'll come back to you, right?" Janna replied. "He's Marco, he's the most stubborn person ever. Even death won't stop him, now that it's not permanent."

Star nodded sullenly. "I know, but watching him get hurt hurts me, Janna. Knowing all I can do is watch and do nothing to help. It's my worst nightmare come true."

Janna shrugged. "Well then, maybe stop watching? At least for a little bit?" Janna added when she saw Star open her mouth to argue. "Clearly it's doing more harm to you right now than good, so take a day or so off. Get some damn sleep! You look like hell."

Star looked at herself in her pixie mirror. She looked pale, unusually so and her hair was a tangled mess. She looked like a raccoon, so dark were the circles around her eyes which were bloodshot from lack of sleep. "I… can't sleep. Even in my sleep, I see Marco fighting, dying."

Janna sighed and left the room before coming back holding a bottle. "Here, take a couple of these before you go to bed. They should help."

"What are they?" Star asked, taking the small white pills in hand.

"Melatonin, it's a natural sleep aid that'll put you under right quick. I wouldn't be surprised if you slept sixteen hours or so as haggard as you look." Janna said putting a hand on the princess' shoulder she said, "Rest up, Star. I guarantee Marco will still be there when you wake up."

Star yawned. "Alright, alright Janna, you convinced me. I'll sleep." Star conjured up a glass of water and threw back the pills gulping them down before crawling into her bed.

"Nighty night, Janna Banna."

"Night ,Star." Janna replied, but the princess was already drooling and snoring chainsaws into her pillow. 'Guess a little reassurance was all she really needed.' Janna thought as she shut the door behind her.

Turning, she found just about everyone in the house standing behind her. "Uh, can I help you people?"

"Is Star finally resting?" Angie asked in barely above a whisper.

When Janna nodded, everyone sighed in relief.

"She was starting to worry us almost as much as Marco," Stan admitted. "Girl shouldn't be able to stay awake that long without some kind of aid."

"Agreed," Stanford replied. "It's quite possible she was burning through her own magical reserves to stay awake if that's a thing."

"She was worried about Marco, that's all the aid she needed," Janna replied, "Now let's leave before we wake her up."

Everyone nodded before they dispersed, allowing the princess her well deserved rest.

(...)

Star awoke with a yawn and stretch. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so good. Looking at her clock, she saw it was 9:30am. "Wow, those sleeping pills really did the trick. I gotta remember to thank Janna for that." Star said to herself as she got ready for the day using spellwork in case someone was in the bathroom. "Squeaky Clean Bathtub Beam."

With a simple chant, Star was soon enjoying a nice soak. 'Maybe I should create a Squeaky Clean Shower Beam in case I need to get ready quickly.' Star thought to herself. Turning the wand into a scrubber, Star washed her back and then used the attached shower head to wash her hair. Once she felt well and truly awake, Star conjured a fluffy red bathrobe and slipped herself into it before she poofed away the washtub making sure to clean up all the water. She didn't want to damage Rafael and Angie's house.

That done, she used another spell to dress herself. "Radiant Shadow Transform!"

Star was wearing her light blue heart outfit today along with her blue and white striped leggings and pink boots. She even changed the color of her horn headband to match her dress. Additionally, as was her custom these days, she wrapped Marco's hoodie around her neck by the arms and wore it like a cloak. Now dressed, the princess made her way downstairs to hopefully find some Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds.

When Star came downstairs, she was met with several stunned gazes. She smiled and waved. "Good morning everyone!"The princess suddenly found herself in the middle of a group hug. "Awe, hugs are nice!"

"Star, are you alright?" Her father asked worriedly.

Star looked at him curiously, "Of course I am Papa, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, maybe because you've been out for like three days straight, unresponsive and we didn't know if you were going to wake up for a bit there." Janna told her with genuine concern in her voice.

"THREE DAYS?!" Star's shriek caused nearby birds to take flight in fear. With pupils like pin pricks, Star cast the All-Seeing Eye spell without even using its name just by shouting "Marco!" The blonde princess sighed in relief when she saw him and his companions which now included the Emerald Herald and another person who wore a plumed hat and mask over their face walking through yet another dead kingdom. Flags that did not look familiar fluttered in the breeze and various odd statues were all over the place, as were corpses with large stones on their backs, which the group passed with heads bowed as they entered a grand cathedral with a giant stain glass window and walking across a tattered red carpet approached an elderly woman sitting in a chair alone in a vast room that was lit solely by a grand array of candles.

She was covered completely in a dark purple robe with a hood drawn over her face. Yet she addressed Marco as he approached, "Ah, the wait has been long Unkindled One. I am Emma, High Priestess of Lothric Castle. Allow me to speak frankly. You will not find the Lords of Cinder here. They have left, gone. To their churning homes, converging at the base of this castle. Forge on to the High Wall. To the Great Gate, and raise this banner to proceed."

Emma then handed Marco a tattered white banner with a black chain circle in the middle of it.

"Tis a good thing we already killed that mad beast near the gates before coming here, eh?" Solaire commented after they left the cathedral.

"Quite," The masked figure spoke, indicating it was female. "Fortuitous for us, indeed."

"I say, should we head back to Firelink for a rest and check up on that chap you saved, Maroc?" Solaire offered.

"It may just be mine own opinion, but methinks the knight of the Sun is sweet on our dear Fire Keeper." The masked woman japed.

"W-why, that's preposterous Lucatiel!" Solaire denied. He wasn't very convincing.

Marco shook his head at their bickering. "We'll head back to Firelink for now. I've Souls to spend at the Fire Keeper."

"I could fulfill that role just as well," The Emerald Herald said with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

Marco as always was oblivious to the ways and wiles of women, the fact this was so made Star shake her head in amusement as he replied, "I'm well aware, Shanalotte, but I mean to check on Priscilla as well as speak to that Yoel of Londor. He promised me strength for his service… let's see him deliver."

Star watched them all teleport away in a flash of flame. The All-Seeing Eye was shrouded in mist for a moment before the others reappeared in what looked to be a cave. Star could hear the sound of hammering of metal on metal in the distance and watched as Marco approached a tall blonde, her hair tied into a twisting braid and her eyes covered by what looked to be a silver crown. Her dress was an elegant but simple brown and she turned to Marco as he approached. "Ancient One, thou hath retun'd."

"Annette," Marco greeted with a nod.

Hearing her name caused the woman to smile. "I am but a Firekeeper, Ancient One, there is no needth to call me by mine name."

"And I am but a king slayer five times over, but a name I still have." Marco swiftly retorted. "Now come Annette, I have Souls that need attuning."

Annette smiled. "Of course Ancient One, as thou sayeth."

Marco took a knee in front of the woman and took her offered hand as her hand glowed with a pale light. "May these vesselless Souls become thy strength, and grant you the power needed to push ever onward in your duty. So that the world might be mended… so that the world might be mended."

"I've never seen that before," Star said quietly to herself. "Has Marco been doing that the whole time?"

"Pretty boss." Janna replied.

"By the by, Hath thou seeneth a pillager by the name of Greirat around here, Annette?" Marco inquired politely.

Star facepalmed. "She's blind Marco, she can't see anything!"

But to Star's surprise, the woman nodded. "Yes, he introduced himself and went to sit near the staircase to the west Ancient One."

"Thankee." Marco said before walking off patting Solaire on the shoulder as he passed silently encouraging his friend to speak to the Firekeeper as he searched for the thief.

Marco found him easily enough, crouched in a corner with his gray hood over his face. He was sickly thin, hardly wearing anything and was resting on his haunches as Marco approached. "Well, well if it ain't my rescuer. Wot can ole Greirat do for ya, Gov?"

"Ye wouldt have happened to have pilfered anything of value before you ended up in that cell, did you?" Marco asked.

"Jus so happens I do, sell it to ya at a premium, I will too. Since ya saved me an all." Greirat promised him.

"Hustler," Janna commented.

"Yeah, he should just give Marco his stuff. He'd still be locked in a cell if it wasn't for him." Star huffed.

When Marco brought up that very fact, the hollow chucked. "We all need Souls to stay sane, gov. This is how Greirat gets his. Don't hold it against him, yeah? I'll tell ya what though. I'll give ya an even bigger discount if you do me a favor, I swears I will." Greirat promised, putting his hand to his heart.

"That depends Greirat, how much of a discount am I currently getting and what kind of favor would I need to do for you to get another one?" Marco asked, crossing his arms.

In response, Greirat produced a blue tearstone ring from the bag at his side. "You just gotta take this ring here and deliver it to Loretta in the Undead Settlement below the castle wall, gov. Do that fer ole Greirat, and he'll give you a total twenty percent discount on all his goods, he will."

"Make it thirty and we have a deal." Marco replied.

"Thrity?!" The undead complained, with shock evident in his tone.

"I'm putting myself and my companions in danger, and buying goods you got for free, Greirat, likely taken off corpses. And on top of it all, I've already saved you once, and would be going out of my way to help you again, need I go on?"

Greirat sighed. "No Gov, no. You got me. Do Greirat this favor and he'll sell at your price."

"It'll be done then." Marco said, taking the ring and adding it to his bottomless box.

"The old Marco would've just done that to be nice." Star said with a frown.

"The old Marco would've been conned." Janna retorted. "The fact is, he's still willing to help that guy even after he tried to play him, shows he's still a good person, he just wised up is all."

"Indeed," River agreed. "He'd make a fine King."

"Papa!" Star said, flushing. Her gaze was drawn back to the portal when Marco asked a question.

"How much for that?"

"The lute, five hundred souls and it's all yers, Gov. You play?" Greirat asked.

"I learned… long ago," Marco replied. It's been an age since I played." Marco replied as he handed over the souls and picked up the instrument. His fingers plucked at the strings, grimacing as It was out of tune. He spent a few minutes tuning it before strumming the strings again. Satisfied, he plucked the strings again and started to play a melody and a song came from his lips as if unbidden.

[When the Stars go Blue by Tim McGraw]

"He can sing?!" Janna sounded impressed.

Star nodded enthralled with Marco's performance. "He used to do it all the time in the shower. A lot of the time, I'd just stop by the door and listen. Oh Marco, I miss you too," Star said that last bit to herself.

When the last note echoed off the walls of Firelink Shrine, a chorus of applause soon followed, even the smith had stopped his hammering to add his claps to the applause. Star and the others also added to the praise though Marco couldn't hear it, it just felt appropriate.

"Encore," A familiar gruff voice called out.

Star's face lit up. "Andre?!"

"For you Andre, of course," Marco plucked the strings again. "The first song went out to mine Beloved Star, whom I hath yet to find, this second one goes out to the maiden whose face I recall whenever I hear the sea."

[She's My Kind of Rain by Tim McGraw]

"Oh geez, Marco," Jackie rubbed the back of her head, grinning a blush staining her own freckled cheeks.

Star playfully elbowed the other girl in the ribs, "And you thought he wouldn't remember you."

Jackie frowned a bit. "He really doesn't though. He knows my face and associates it with the ocean but my name, our history is gone Star."

Star gave Jackie a hard glare. "And I'm pretty sure he's associating me with a ball of hot gas, what's your point? Once we get him back we just need to remind him what he means to us, that's all. Nothing a night or two in the bedroom can't fix, right?" Star asked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

"I'll need to have words with the boy I see," River grumbled under his breath.

"Star!" Jackie flushed.

The princess rolled her eyes. "I was joking with you two. I promise, jeeze," With her back to her father, only Jackie saw that Star had her fingers crossed behind her back.

"So since I was out for three days, what did I miss?" Star asked as she threw herself down on the Diaz' couch.

"Well, Ponyhead came by with her Pegasus Knights." Janna shuddered.

Star sighed, "What'd she do?"

"Not her, the leader of her knights is just weird. Friggin' Pinkie Pie," Janna shuttered again. "She's so damn peppy!""Oh Sweet Corn no!" Star said, her eyes like pin pricks.

"Starzie! You're awake!" A peppy voice called out before a pink blur hit Star in the stomach.

"Hi Pinky." Star said, petting the pink horse that just rammed in the gut on the head. "How've you been? Last I heard, Ponyhead sent you on that quest to find the ultimate soup spoon that was supposed to take you a long, long time. Like a couple hundred years."

The pony nodded and rattled off. "Well I was for a while then I realized… Why not just go to Questbuy? They have like everything! Including soup spoons!" Pinky Pie said in response. "That said, it still took me a while to find the soup spoons because who can figure out how that place is organized, am I right?"

"Marco did," Star replied right away with pride in her voice.

"Who? Oh right, your missing boytoy. No such luck finding him while you were snoozing, sorry," Pinky said.

"Marco is not my boytoy!" Star said with some heat in her tone. "He means far more to me than that!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to offend you Starzie," Pinky apologized before she looked at the floating portal where Marco and his friends were currently on the back of a giant red dragon that was flying them down towards a dilapidated settlement. "Wow, he tamed a drake, cool!"

"Oh wow, he tamed a drake, will you look at that," Star said to herself as everyone dismounted from the back of the giant red drake, sliding off its wing and Marco patted its neck saying, "Thanks for the lift Jannoc, we owe thee."

Star put her hands to her cheeks and said, "Oh. My. Corn! Janna, I think he named the dragon after you!"

"Sweet!" Janna said to herself, taking a selfie of herself and the dragon. "Nice choice Marco. Nice choice."

But Jannoc wasn't done. It released a gout of flame from its maw, incinerating the dozen or so hollow around it, roaring in triumph before flying off.

"Your boyfriend's pretty cool, he's got some moves." Pinky complimented as she watched Marco hack down undead left and right with his sword.

"Thanks," Jackie and Star said at the same time, only to glance at each other and then go back to looking at the screen.

"Geesh, will you two relax? We all know Bubba well enough by now, that this is gonna be a harem fic," Pinky said with a roll of her eyes.

"What?" Jackie and Star said at the same time.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad I'm not in this mess. I get to sit back and watch the ensuing chaos," the pink pony said before she cackled. "Parry, go for the parry!" She shouted at the screen as she watched Marco block a series of attacks from an undead only to smack the blade away and stab it in the chest. "Boom! Parry King, thy name is Marco Diaz! FightinCowboy, hand over thy crown!"

Jackie looked to Star in bewilderment. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

Star held her head in her hands showing a sign of defeat. "Nobody knows, that's why we try to keep her as far away from everything as possible. She's nuts!"

"Nuts? I'm not nuts. Mina Loveberry, now she's nuts. Just wait for season four!" Pinky defended. "But if you can't wait…" She pulled a bag of honey roasted peanuts out from… somewhere. "Have some of these nuts on me. Quite delicious if I do say so myself."

Star sighed. She'd learned long ago to just smile and nod when it came to Pinkie Pie's rambling. The other reactions to her behavior only lead to madness.

Thus did everyone watch as Marco and his growing group of companions conquer the Undead Settlement. Upon cutting down a hanging corpse, Marco found the name Loretta stitched into the clothing. Delicately taking some of her remains as a token for Greirat, after giving the woman a funeral by fire, the group set off to claim the rest of the overrun settlement. They rescued a pyromancer by the name of Cornyx of the Great Swamp who had somehow become locked behind a door. He then set off for Firelink Shrine promising to teach Marco Pyromancies. Something that made Quelana scoff in amusement as anything he could offer would pale in comparison to anything she had already taught Maroc. Slicing through hordes of undead dogs and their farmer masters the group came upon a curmudgeonly knight Eygon of Carim protecting his charge Irina by keeping her locked up in a cell of all things.

Upon freeing her, she promised to teach Marco the art of Miracles before moving to Firelink. "Thou hath a thing for picking up strays," Shanalotte noted quite amusedly as Maroc seemed to attract strays like fresh honey attracted flies.

"Indeed, thou art one of them," Marco joked back, causing the tacturn girl to blush in embarrassment as a smile graced her otherwise stern features, not that he noticed.

They had ended up traversing through the sewers beneath the settlement and becoming exterminators to rats of Unusually Large Size in the process. Coming out near a church, Marco took a lift and took it up until he heard… snoring? He then jumped off onto a balcony to find a knight dressed in armor reminiscent of an onion sleeping while sitting on the roof ledge. Rousing him from slumber with a nudge of his foot, the knight introduced himself as Seigward of Catarina and he was taking a slight rest before going off to fight the demon over yonder.

Then the real nail biting part came when the group encountered a hulking demon. Not the nice sentient Tom type demon, but the 'I want to kill you and suck out your cooked bone marrow' kind. The fire demon was a hulking twisted mass of what Star would best describe as charred tree bark twisted into the gnarly visage of a fifteen foot tall demon ending with gigantic antlers that looked more like branches than horns. The demon's stomach held ominous flames that flowed through its body like blood. The beast stomped about on legs thick as a tree trunk. In its hand, it held an ancient tree branch that only gave Star feelings of chaos, that ended in a flaming ax hewn from stone that sparked and glowed with the same flame that coursed through the demon.

Marco didn't care one bit for the beast's size however, as he hopped down from the roof and chucked a lightning spear at it, rousing its anger. He knew where this spawn of chaos came from and it deserved nothing but his ire and might to smother it to ashes.

"Hey guys, what's going... is Marco killing a primordial fire demon with lightning, right now?" Tom asked, looking at the screen in growing horror.

"Yep," Star replied as she watched the fight play out.

The demon tried using its bulk to its advantage by trying to crush Marco with the giant axe, only for the experienced fighter to roll under the blow rise to his feet holding a lightning spear that seemed to split and splinter as it crackled in his hand trembling in almost anticipation to annihilate its monstrous foe. Throwing it into the air, The bolt disappeared into the heavens where it formed a sigil like a sunburst before it rained down small lightning bolts upon the Fire Demon who grunted and groaned as it weathered the assault chips of its skin breaking off and parts of its horns being reduced to splinters.

"No, you should've waited!" The voice of Siegward called from behind Marco. "Oh well, no use for it now!" The Onion Knight leaped from the rooftop brandishing his broken greatsword as he cried out, "I, Siegward, of the Knights of Catarina fight by your side! Tally Ho!"

"Umm, I think I got… oh nevermind," Marco said as Siegward charged into the lightning storm and buried the blade deep into the the Fire Demons gut, causing it to roar in pain before it died as its body began to lose its glow and its heavy armament fell to the ground with a thud. The demon blackened and then crumbled into ash as it was spread amongst the winds.

"It would've died anyway, you really didn't need to do that," Marco chastised the knight running up to him as his friends came round the corner.

"Marco killed a Primordial Fire Demon… they're supposed to be extinct!" Tom said.

"Looks like he's working on it." Janna commented quite slyly as she basked in the pure awesomeness of what Marco did.

Tom shook his head in slight fear and even awe, "No, you don't understand, they're my ancient ancestors on my mom's side. They're said to have died out aeons ago, hunted down to the last by the Daemonslayer," Tom's eyes, all three of them widened in realization. "Oh… oh no!"

"Tom?" Star asked in concern, "What is it?"

"Well Starship, I can say without a doubt, I know where Marco is," Tom said matter of factly as the whole room paid attention.

Star grinned from ear to ear, her smile was bright enough to light up the whole room. "You do?! Well don't keep us in suspense, where is he?"

"About fifty thousand years in the past, give or take a couple centuries. Also he is in the homeworld of not just demons but unaccountable horrors that make the things you fought look like laser puppies," Tom replied.

"What?!" Everyone yelled in surprise and horror.

Tom took a breath before he tried to explain. "Demons are… complicated. According to myths my mom told me when I was a kid, the first demons were born from untamable flames created by Izulath the Fire Mother. Then as more demons came into existence, Gen the Cinder King, the ruling deity at the time, waged war on the demons not really liking them for some reason. The war lasted a long time, but eventually ended in a draw with Gen's knight's silver armor being scorched black. Time passed and the Birth Fire that the demons came from was extinguished, but the ability to create more of our kind persisted through the royal bloodline. But then one day the Prince, whom the flame of birth had been passed onto was struck down by a prince seeking glory… the demons started dying out."

"So how does that lead to you guys?" Star asked.

"Some of the lesser demonkind used the flame to teleport themselves across the multiverse. Some eventually ended up on Mewni and the rest is history," Tom said with a shrug.

"But where does the Daemonslayer come in?"

"Well, again, according to myth, the Demon Prince was only gravely wounded by the prince and he fled to the ends of the world to heal. It was then that he was set upon by the Daemonslayer who ended his life."

"And you think Marco is this Daemonslayer?" Star asked.

"And thus the Daemonslayer camest, with shining mail upon his head, and staff in hand, to take the life of the last Prince of Daemons." Tom quoted, as he nodded at Marco who was wielding a stave that when swung, produced a magical blue sword. "Yeah, I'd say that fits the bill."

"Holy crap, Marco's a legendary boogieman," Star said to herself.

"Haha, you're scared of Marco," Janna teased.

"I am not scared of Marco," Tom denied. "The daemonslayer is something used in the underworld to frighten children into obedience."

Janna crossed her arms and smirked, "So you're saying if he wasn't right in front of you, you wouldn't wet yourself?"

"Absolutely," Tom affirmed. "The Daemonslayer is the stuff of nightmares. But I also know that Marco is my best friend and wouldn't hurt a fly."

Janna thumbed at the portal. "You sure about that?"

Tom watched as Marco used what could only be the Birth Flame itself to set a giant possessed tree on fire moments before the ground beneath them gave way and sent them both falling into a massive pit where the fight continued to the tree's demise.

"I… guess not," Tom said after a moment.

"Is Markie gonna hate me after all this, Tommy?" Tammy asked sadly.

'Don't, don't be ridiculous Tammy… to be honest Marco doesn't even know who you are.'

"Oh thanks, Tom. BBPPT!" Tammy retorted.

'Did you just blow a raspberry at me?' Tom asked in a demonic tone.

"Well I suppose I could rip one off in here if I try hard enough." Tammy retorted.

"Don't you dare!" Tom hissed, "If you'd have let me finish, I'd have said we just need to prove to Marco that not all demons are bad."

"Star, Tom is talking to himself… is that normal?" Janna asked.

Star sighed and said, "Oh it's probably Tammy. Is it Tammy? Tell her I said hi. Hi Tammy!"

"Tell Star I said, Hey gurl." Tammy demanded of her brother.

Tom sighed, 'How has my life come to this?' "She says hi Star."

"You didn't say it right!" Tammy complained.

"Star dear, with your permission, I'd like to do a full workup on you. Blood tests and the like to see what caused a strange reaction." Stanford requested. "It could be that you being from another dimension means you could be susceptible to all manner of common diseases and standard medication or heaven forbid drugs here on earth provided you haven't been inoculated yet."

Seeing the Diaz' shake their heads, Stanford sighed.

"What's inoculation mean?" Star asked. "If Marco were here, he'd explain it to me."

"It means strengthening your immune system to common diseases by making you a little sick," Dipper explained.

Star held her hands up. "Woah, woah, woah! Wait a minute here! You prevent yourself from getting sick, by injecting yourself with the thing that makes you sick in the first place? That sounds so dumb!"

Dipper shrugged. "If it's stupid but if it works."

"It's not stupid," Star finished with a sigh, before putting on a brave face. "Well it can't hurt worse than taking a punch to the face, right?"

Ford shook his head, smiling. "No, of course not. You'll feel a little pinprick in your arm and have some aches and pains for a few days after that, but that's about it."

Okay," Star said, taking a breath, "Let's do this!"

(...)

Star groaned as she lay in her bed. "Why did I let him do that?!" She asked herself several days later, feeling her head aching her every joint lancing with pain as she watched Marco as he climbed a massive staircase towards the final Lords of Cinder in his journey. The Twin Princes of Lothric, Lorian and Lothric himself.

"Give 'em hell, Marco!" Star cheered tiredly as he faced off against the crippled Lorian first, the armored knight dragging himself around by his knees as he attempted to hack her would-be beau to death. Star had seen faster rampaging sandwich beasts, so it came as no surprise to her that Marco was able to evade his sloppy sword swings and easily respond in kind by swinging his crystal orb topped staff which became a magnificent glowing greatsword as he swung striking the curse stricken prince and leaving his already weakened form prone on the ground unmoving.

"One down, one to… oh I call hax!" Star cried before she broke into a coughing fit. For Lotheric had teleported to his elder brother's side and raised him from death and the two now fought as one being teleporting around the arena that was Lotheric's feather strewn bedchamber. Star watched in growing annoyance as Marco was pelted with spell after spell from behind.

"Grr, enough with your cheating teleporting, if you're gonna die, die with dignity!"

The two brothers were suddenly encased in a sickly green light and found themselves only able to crawl along the ground. Lothric though, was not one to give up so easily. Crystal soul spear after crystal soul spear was cast Marco's way, yet Marco had become rather deft at dodging projectiles at this point… yet he did not need to. Raising his greatshield made of stone before him he cast a spell upon it, completely negating Lothric's magical assault as he closed in and swung his staff once, twice, then thrice. With the third swing, Lorian fell prone once again, and Lothric was helpless before Marco.

Despite it all, Star looked away as Marco finished off the other prince. She knew he had to do it, but that didn't mean she wanted to watch him kill a defenseless person. With the deed done Lothric said with his final breath, "Mark my words Ashen One… you remain among the Accursed."

"I'm no Ashen One," Marco said to the dead prince before he cut off his head. "This should do as suitable kindling for the fire." He dragged the head to the entrance and held it aloft shouting, "Your king is dead! Lay down your arms!"

The red eyed hollows and bowmen the others had been fighting paid Marco no heed. "I donst know why I thought that wouldst worketh," Marco said to himself before he threw chaos fireball after chaos fireball into the hollows, killing them outright.

"Ah Maroc, the job is done is it?" Solaire asked. Marco held up Lothric's head silently in response. "Jolly good. Let's get… get going then shall we?"

"And so another kingdom falls… how many does that make now, six, seven?" Marco asked himself as he headed back inside towards the bonfire.

"What kingdoms?" Yorshka, the former Knight Captain of the Darkmoon asked quite cutely in Star's opinion. She was someone Marco had basically kidnapped. He had physically picked her up, hauled her over his shoulder and carried her back to Firelink Shrine. When she asked why he did so, Marco said that staying where she was wasn't safe as she could've been found by Pontiff Sulivan and fed to Aldrich. When she asked if that's what happened to her brother Gwyndolin… Marco's silence said volumes.

Reunited with her hammer-spear, thanks to Marco's near OCDlike obsession with opening any chest he finds after hitting it once first to make sure it isn't a disguised mimic. Yorshka joined their fold despite her frail looking form, she was quite dangerous with her preferred weapon she would poke through or outright crush the defenses of her opponents, leaving them open for parries and counters by her companions.

She also got along famously with Priscilla as they shared similar physical attributes, scales on their faces, and tails though neither knew how they came about.

Marco returned to Firelink Shrine for the last time and plopped Lothric's still bloody head on the final empty throne. Then he walked over to Ludleth of Corland who had been here from the start. He who had dragged himself legless from his grave to his throne. He, who had assisted Marco throughout this journey by giving him straight up honest advice.

"Are you ready for this, Ludleth?" Marco asked.

Ludleth nodded. "Indeed my friend, indeed. I may live small, but I shall die a colossus!" He said with a grandiose gesture of his hands. Marco held out a hand. "It has been an honor, Ludleth of Courland."

The legless hollow looked bemused for a moment before he took Marco's hand and gave it a good firm shake. "The honor was all mine m'lad. Now go find your destiny whether it be cast in flame, in darkness… or as flame."

With those final cryptic words ringing in his head Marco paused, "There is something I need to do before we continue, Annette."

"Of course, Ancient One. We shalt proceed with the ritual whence thou art ready."

Marco used the bonfire to teleport to a small room. It held a single statue that held the likeness of a familiar women.

"Velka?" Star said to herself.

Placing his hand on the monolith, Marco knelt. "I ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for Great Wolf Sif, who I slew unjustly. Forgiveness for Vendrick, and Aldia who reached too far into the Dark, and needed to be put down. For Reah of Thorolund, whom I couldnst save, and Bighat Logan, whom had gone addled. For Laurentius of the Great Swamp whom shared his flame, his very soul with me that I carry to this day, for Quelagg, whom I slew for trying to protecteth her sister though I kneweth not. For Gwyndolin, who thought of all others cast aside. For the Burnt Ivory King, whose only sin was caring for his kingdom and I couldst do naught but watch as his beloved wife, Alsanna, kill'd herself due to my actions for denying her the only man who could have loved her. I ask ye o Goddess of Sin forgiveth me my many, many transgressions over these long, long millenia."

Marco felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso from behind and Star saw the goddess herself press her head onto Marco's shoulder. "I am sorry to make you bear such a terrible burden. I… was desperate. This world… can'st continue to go on like this. The Flame, it hast been turned into an abomination thankst to Gwyn. Twas never supposed to last this long, his Age of Fire. Man was suppose'd to inherit the Earth and the Dark, long long ago. You shalt see ought I mean once the ritual is complete."

"And mine sins?" Marco asked.

"Thine sins are mine to bear, for it was mine choice to bring thee hence. Never fear Maroc Godslayer… Marco Ublado Diaz of Earth, thy sins belong at my feet. Not thine own."

"Marco… Ubaldo… Diaz… why does that sound so familiar?" Marco said to himself.

The Goddess chuckled behind him, "Dost thou not even recall thine own brithname? Hast it truly been so long since thee hath heard it fall from another's lips that it sounds foreign to thee? Sad, truly."

With more questions than answers Marco knelt before the bonfire, as the Firekeeper, Annette beseeched the Lords of Cinder. "Noble Lords of Cinder. The fire fades… and the Lords go without thrones. Surrender your fires to the true heir." The ashes of the Lords of Cinder gathered, collecting into Annette's hands and she in turn turned to his knelt form and spread the sparks over him intoning. "Let him grant death. To the Old Gods of Lordran, deliverers of the First Flame."

The All Seeing Eye's portal was obscured as Marco was teleported somewhere else. When he showed back up again, Marco appeared sitting with his back to the open sky, Jagged mountains and hills of ash surrounded him… him, and his companions. The sun was obscured by something, perhaps the moon, but it looked like a giant darksign in the sky.

"Well, that's not ominous or anything." Star said to herself.

"Ready for this everyone," Marco said as Jannoc flew up from the mists below releasing a mighty roar. "This will be the last trek… and when we get there… I'm facing whatever lies under that sun alone."

"Don't you always, friend?" Solaire asked with a chuckle. "You always seem to take these final fights personally. Though I've no idea why."

"For the same reason I let you fight Ornstein's Armor awhile back, Solaire. It's personal," Marco replied. As he walked off.

"Indeed… when were you going to tell me about Archdragon Peak?" Solaire asked.

Marco sighed. He was really hoping his longtime friend wouldn't find out about that. "I wasn't. Tis a little awkward to bringeth up the fact I killed the god we both worship in single combat."

Jannoc perched on some nearby cliffs and grunted, releasing a plume of smoke from his nostrils. "Ah, and Jannoc helped too, of course. He assisted in the slaying of his mount, the Stormlord."

The hellkite drake released a mighty triumphant roar, as if shouting his victory and dominance, to the heavens.

"My friend, if you defeated the God of War, then doth that not make thee the new God of War?" Solaire asked.

"I… don't thinketh it works like that Solaire," Marco replied flatly as he noticed something in the distance. "Gael?" Marco asked himself.

For yes indeed, it was the old hollow or a ghostly image of him pointing in a certain direction.

"Hey Gov, ain't Gael that ole hollow who tricked you and Priscilla into getting sucked into a paintin'?" Greirat asked.

Both Marco's and Priscilla's faces soured at the mention of the painted world of Ariandel. "So it was," Priscilla said, "My former home had rotted and become a twisted and foul place. What t'was required was fire, but maiden fair of face but most foul of heart, called Friede had taken on mine own likeness and tricked the folk of the painting into letting it decay… they were… dealt with."

"You can be right scary when you wanna be, you know that luv?" Greirat told Priscilla, causing the pale scythe wielder to blush and look away embarrassed. "My apologies, t'was naught my intention to frighten thee."

"Pigment of the Darksoul," Marco muttered to himself before he took off in the direction the apparition was pointing in, throwing himself off a cliff and into a waiting pile of ash.

"You al'right, Gov?!" Greirat called down, he looked to the others. "If he's dead, first dibs on his stuff. I called it, you all heard me call it."

"I'm fine...and if anyone gets my things it's Solaire, Greirat!" Marco called back up, calling the pillager to flinch.

Solaire was the first to make the leap. "Praise the Sunnn!" he said while swan diving off the cliff.

"Solaire, you really wanna try and land… arse first." Marco said when he saw his friend land on his face in the ash mound.

"Ohh, that looked like it hurt." Star said, wincing for Solaire's sake.

"Canst someone help me down there? I wouldst like to attend to sir Solaire," Annette called from above.

"Lady Annette? Whatever art thou doing here?" Solaire called up.

"I… doth not rightly know sirrah. The ritual shouldst not've sent me along with thou yet here I am," Annette called down.

"Just jump, it's safe." Marco called up. "Provided, Solaire moves his metalclad arse out of the way that is."

"I'm moving, I'm moving… gah blast! I think I inhaled some ashes!" Solaire complained as he rolled off the mound.

"Hey now, Priscilla what're ye doin'? Greirat asked. "Don' pick me up! Put me down! Don't you jump off this cliff with me an Shan, and Anne in yer arms you addled BITTTC- GAH!" Greirat said when the half-dragoness said when she hit the mound hard.

Priscilla turned to the thief asking, "What were thou about to say pillager?"

"Jus' just don't do that again alright?" Greirat replied shakily. "I dun think me stomach can handle it."

"Yorshka, come on," Marco called.

"Umm, Maroc?" the Captain called down.

Marco cupped his hands over his mouth, "Yes?"

"Why doth we not all just fly to our destination on Jannoc instead?" Yorshka called down.

"Girl's got a point you have a dragon, use it Marco," Star said.

Marco blinked. "A fair point. Truly, your position as Captain was not given out of nepotism."

"A charmer with a serpent's silver tongue thou art," Yorshka called down, a giggle in her tone.

"Yet I counter thine point by asking, canst we see the way to go from Jannoc's back?"

"Have a spyglass doth thou not?" Yorshka countered, "Give it to me and I'll guide us true. Tis the least I can do."

"Verily, forgot I had it, don't use it much," Marco said that last bit to himself. Marco let out a shrill whistle calling the hellkite drake to his side. "You're still going to have to comest down here, thou knoweth?"

Yorshka nodded before she threw herself off the ledge and landed in the ash heap. "That was quite fun actually, canst I do it again?"

Marco chuckled. "Get on the dragon, Yorshka."

(...)

Star was amazed at the dragon's eye view she was getting of the world. Twisting mountain peaks and townships all caved in on one another pulled towards the floating darksign in the sky, nothing made sense as all kingdoms across time seemed to swirl together like so much refuse washed up on a beach. It was both amazing and disheartening at the same time.

Then she saw it.

There at the end of the world, surrounded by curving mountains, practically in a hollowed out pit, was the Ringed City. it took her breath away at the first sight. It looked so majestic, the fact that a city, any city was somehow still standing in one piece in this cacophony of chaos and ashes did nothing less than amaze the princess. As the group neared the city proper, they were assaulted by a black dragon, his very form tainted by the Dark. Crystals of purest black grew out of his back and his breath was burning darkness. It flew at them like a sleek surface to air missile, and due to the angle along Marco had a plan of attack. "Jannoc, get the others to safety, I've got this!" Marco said as he threw himself off his dragon's neck midair, to attack his foe in earnest.

"Marco, this has got to be the stupidest, coolest thing I've ever seen you do!" Star yelled at the screen as Marco freefell towards his foe staff drawn. The black dragon breathed a gout of flame at the gnat who dared take him on in his element, but Marco simply brandished his rock shield from his back and enchanted it with magic, weathering the flames much like he did Lothric's. Going through the tide of black flames mostly unscathed, Marco readied his staff and plunged it, magic greatsword first, right into the dragon's shoulder, causing it to cry out in agony as the blade bit deep, right to its magical hilt.

Grabbing onto a protruding spine, Marco clutched to the dragon with one hand and with his staff in the other, he hacked away at its vulnerable neck. Once, twice three times, more than Star could count, Marco was covered in black ichor, whether it was blood or congealed Dark, she couldn't tell but finally, with one last mighty swing, he cleaved through the dragon's neck, and its corpse, along with Marco fell out of the sky into the ash dune sea below.

"MARCO!" Star cried out in abject fear. Clasping both her hands together, Star prayed to the cosmos again, "Please don't let him be dead, he's been through too much to die like this, please please let him be alright… please bring him back to me."

She watched as Jannoc circled the place where the black dragon's corpse had landed before coming to a skidding halt before it. With wide eyes, Star watched as Yroshka leaped off the dragon's back and ran towards the black dragon's corpse, Shannalotte hot on her heels with Priscilla quickly out pacing them both with Karla not far behind her.

"MAROC! MAROC! If you're alive, answer us ye damned fool!" Karla called out.

"Shouldst we worry?" Yorshka asked trying to be optimistic, "He tis undead after all, if he dies, he'll merely return at the last bonfire he rested… at." Yorshka said. "The ritual, we doth not know what effect twill haveth on the bonfires."

"And it has been long since Maroc last rested." Shanalotte added. "Not since before the ritual."

"And should he cometh back, twould be far, far from here." Priscialla added.

"The situation is most dire indeed." Karla commented gravely as she yelled Marco's name again.

"I'm over here!" He called out, prompting the women to scramble over the corpse to get to him as quick as they could.

"Maroc, thank Londor you're alive!" Karla said, reaching him first. Marco had an ivory dragon spine going through the meat of his upper arm, and his leg was bending at an angle no leg should bend at, but otherwise he looked unharmed.

"Oh thank Corn and Cosmos." Star said, putting a hand to her chest to slow her fast beating heart. "This'll be a story for the grandkids, Marco… eheh, eheh, listen to me, haven't even come back yet and I'm talking about our children's children."

Karla cupped Marco's helmed face in her hands, "Thank what little that is good in this world that you are alright."

Karla, like Vendrick's Nashandra before her, was a Child of Dark. Born from a shard of Manus, Father of the Abyss when he was destroyed. And like Alsanna before her, she too was kind. While Alsanna was borne out of Manus' fears and these fears were soothed by the Ivory King, Karla came forth from a different emotion.

Love.

There were few things Manus loved in this world upon being awoken. One was his ivory pendant that had been broken and lost, his desire for its recovery, maddening. This maddening desire, this wanting, is what gave rise to Nashandra herself. Karla was brought forth from the other thing Manus cherished even upon his humanity running wild.

Princess Dusk of Oolacile herself. For why else would Manus, driven mad though he was, keep the princess alive and in the depths of his lair if not for love? If not to keep her close due to his own longing? So too as Manus longed for Dusk,did Karla long for a companion. Tales cropped up over the centuries of her seeking companionship, in particular with the Knight Alva when she went by the name Zullie. Yet she finally found the one she had been searching for all this time! Maroc had shown her kindness when she deserved none, chose to learn from her despite knowing her spells were of the Dark, and chose to care for her… though knowing full well what she was.

"What can I do to help?" Karla asked.

"Flask, Estus Flask." Marco groaned out as the other girls rushed to his side.

Karla hurriedly reached down for the golden flask. She could tell the moment she picked it up it was old, ancient even. The emerald flask blazed with golden light and was almost large enough to be considered a small jug. Showing that it had been improved much over a long period of time. His Ashen flask by contrast was the size of a flask, a very large flask, but a flask nonetheless. Karla couldn't help but wonder about the history of the Estus Flask as Maroc raised it to his lips and took one draught then two before he yanked his arm off the dragon's spike and took a final pull from his flask to both drown out his cry of pain and seal his wound.

"Are you alright?" Karla asked as she helped him to his feet.

"I thinketh I'll manage, yes." Marco replied with a nod.

Karla started ineffectually slapping him on the chest, his leather padded armor and green cloak barely fluttering from her strikes as she raged at him. "What were't thou thinking?! Thee couldst have died! No bonfire to return to, and all for naught with nothing to show for it all but friends to mourn ye!"

Star nodded along with everyone of Karla's points as she shouted at Marco. She wanted to do much the same so she was silently grateful to the witch for acting as her mouthpiece. She watched as Marco slowly wrapped his arms around her and said, "Sorry Karla, I… wasn't really thinking about myself. I was thinking about keeping the rest of you safe. And…" Marco fell silent.

"And?" Karla pressed.

"When I prepared to jump, I saw a face. T'was of a girl, golden blonde haired eyes like a clear blue sky with pink marks on her face in the shape of a heart. I saw her face in my mind's eye smiling at me wildly, as if in approval of my actions.

"I most certainly do not approve of your actions, Marco Diaz!" Star yelled at the screen before she added quietly to herself, "Although that was pretty cool."

"What'd Marco do now, Star?" Janna asked, coming into the room upon hearing her rant.

"Umm… rewind?" Star asked the All-Seeing Eye.

The spell dutifully obeyed, and Janna watched in awe as Marco jumped from the top of one dragon to divebomb another and kill it in midair. "Dude, that was insane! Awesome, but totally insane!"

"What's insane? Dipper asked, coming into the room upon hearing his girlfriend shout.

"Ugh, Dipper go get everyone, I only want to watch this one more time." Star said.

Once everyone, which now included Ponyhead and Pinkie Pie had squeezed into Star's room, she played the fight again.

"That's insane!" Ford yelled, "His chances of survival at that height are under 5%!"

"Earthturd you got a screw loose, son!" Ponyhead yelled but there was a hint of respect in her tone.

"Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!" Mabel said at hyperspeed her knitting needles went as fast as her mouth as she watched the fight play out.

"Mijo!" Both of his parents yelled in both worry, shock and awe as he slew a dragon in midair.

"Now, that's a King of Mewni!" River said, sounding congested as he too had to get shots.

"That kid's something else," Stan said with a toothy grin.

Wendy nodded wide-eyed. "Yeah, he really is."

Jackie just shook her head, "Man Marco, jumping off of a perfectly good dragon with no parachute? Sick moves, man."

"That's my brother who did that." Janna bragged.

When they got to the part about Karla beating him and Marco's admission everyone laughed, confusing Star. "What, what's so funny?"

"Cause you totally would do that Star." Jackie said through her chuckles.

"No, I wouldn't... Well, maybe the old me, the me before I realized monsters were people too, and that magic is this heavy, important, dangerous thing that I need to be careful with but now? I dunno, guys." Star said honestly.

"Sweetie," River said, patting her knee before clearing some phlegm from his throat. "I wish your mother was here to hear you say that just now because she would, no doubt like I am, be very proud of you. It shows your maturity and that you are growing up, and that one day, you'll make a fine queen of Mewni."

"Aww, Papa." Star drew him into a hug. "Thank you."

River kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Anytime pumpkin, now shall we continue watching more of our favorite show? The Marvelous Misadventure of Marco and Friends?"

That got a chuckle out of everyone, as they all made themselves comfortable on Star's bed to watch Marco take on the Ringed City.

(...)

The others watched as Marco and his cohorts fought their way past armies summoned by priestley giants, waded through a black swampy muck and fought off giant locusts, some of whom seemed to preach about the kindness of the coming Dark, while most seemed to want to fill their bellies with Marco's and his friend's flesh. Several red ghosts attacked the party but were fended off. The group was forced to invade a church of all things and fend off its giant guardian who led a holy congregation in defense of Princess Filianore's eternal slumber. Finally, the group ascended a tower that led to the princess' bedchamber with Yorshka leading the way, eager to meet her fraternal sister.

When the group entered the chamber proper, they found Princess Filinore in all of her slumbering splendor. Her raven locks were long, trailing down from the very bed on which she slumbered, she wore rich pale garments and she held a giant hatched egg close to her bosom, upon which her arms and chin rested. As they drew closer, they saw Filinore had black sickly veins around her eyes and that the egg had a black mass, akin to the Dark itself at its core. Yorshka approached hesitantly. "Filinore? Elder sister? Wilst thou not awaken? Tis I, Yorshka thine youngest sister. Lo, though we've met nought, I have so much to ask thee about…" The former Captain of the Darkmoon reached out and touched the egg… it shattered at her touch.

Filinore awoke at the eggs full sundering, her eyes glowed a blinding pale white that occluded everything… and when the light faded all that was left in its wake, was a long dead desiccated corpse. Yorshka covered her mouth in shock and quickly turned, burying her head in the crook of Marco's neck. "Whatever happened?! What is this madness?!"

Marco looked around, the once pristine room was now in a state of decay, the tower was overgrown with vines, it looked to be a ruin with holes everywhere and liable to collapse at any moment. "I do not know, but I thinketh the Ringed City is no more."

The group ventured outside and found themselves in a vast wasteland of ash; the magnificent Ringed City had been swallowed whole by the ravages of time. Yorshka stared at the destruction, shaking her head in denial, "How canst this be? How canst this be? We were't just here moments ago, were't we not?"

"I agree with Yorshka, what the hell just happened?" Star asked the room at large.

Ford rubbed his stubbled chin. "I am far from an expert on the field of magic, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that Princess Filinore staying asleep kept the entire city in a form of stasis unchanging to the tides of time. Once she woke up, however…"

"Time caught up with them, fast." Star finished with a grimace. She understood better than most the consequences of messing with time would have. "And that Gwyn guy just did that to his daughter? What a prick." Star said in absolute disgust.

"Indeed!" River said.

The companions set out across the wastes still seeking their original goal. The Slave Knight by the name of Gael. They were attacked by a member of Filinore's Honor guard who named herself Shira, Knight of Filinore. She came upon them chanting her titles with a still living Pygmy Lord gored upon her spear. "I've searched for thee, dark-stricken creatures. I am Shira, daughter of the Duke, descendant of gods, and trusted friend to Midir. At once, I am the honor of the gods, the glory of fire, and the fear of the dark. Thou shalt not go unpunished. For thy treachery, thy profanity, and thy shameless yearning. Remember this, creature. Ne'er will I forgive thy kind. Try again, to remember. The great honour it was to be a spear. ...Ahh, but why."

The fight was long and arduous. Bolts of lightning flew about courtesy of Shira, and Yorshka inisited on battling alone, her spear flashing in brilliant arcs smacking aside Shira's crosspear to finally cave in her head. Yorshaka insisted on fighting alone without aid upon request for it was she who awoke the sleeping Filinore, and her alone she felt, to have earned Shira's ire. The battle was one long fought for Shira had fought the Ancient Dragons herself in her day, the proof being in the scrap of a miracle found upon her corpse. The Lightning Arrow Miracle, in which greatbows are formed of lighting that could outrange any spear, could pierce a dragon's eye, blinding it. Then they saw it. A half dead pygmy dressed in regal yet tattered robes, a silver crown upon its brow, dragging its bleeding corpse towards Filinore's crumbling tower.

"Ohh, Filianore! Help me please! He's come to eat us! The Red Hood is come to eat us! To eat our Dark Souls!"

Marco's grip tightened on his staff upon hearing that. "Gael, what've you done?" Marco sprinted off, following the bloody trail the pygmy left. It lead to a dilapidated throne room, now open to the ash and dust. The Pygmy Lords of the Ringed City were scattered about, their thrones moldering and broken ruins. As he crested the ash dune, he saw him. Gael, his form now hulking and inhumanly large, his armor rusted and crimson cloak in ragged tatters looking like the wings of a demonic bat, his executioner sword, a rusted hunk of broken metal.

As if sensing his presence, Gael turned around to face him, speaking in surprise, "What, still here?" He motioned with his free hand, "Hand it over, that thing, your Dark Soul. For my lady's painting."

His companions meeting him atop the hill, Marco said, "Stay back this is my fight."

Everyone there and not watched as Marco calmly walked forwards towards Gael, as the slave knight lopped forwards on all fours like a deranged beast. Leaping into the air, Gael thrust his sword forward and was carried along with it Marco dodged it the first time it happened and got a few licks in that didn't seem to do anything at all. Gael recovered quicker than he expected however, and stabbed him through the chest lifting him in the air, and then throwing him across the arena.

"Marco!" Star cried out in fear, yet she needn't have worried. For Marco picked himself up, took a swig of his Estus Flask and grimaced. "Is that it, Gael?"

The addeled knight was fool enough to try the same trick twice, but the same trick never worked twice on Marco. He dodged to the side, got a few strikes in with his magic conjured blades, and rolled away as Gael proceeded to pound the ashen ground, sending up sprays of ash with every impact his weapon made. Every now and then, Marco would dart in when Gael would jump into the air and try to skewer him from above only to roll beneath his fellow Hollow's strike and return fire in kind. He would slip up on occasion and be smacked around for his trouble, blood flying from his lips and from gashes in his flesh.

Gael was near relentless in his assault and left little room for either error or time for healing. But Marco eventually wore him down, and Gael collapsed to one knee, a trickle of blood falling from his mouth and onto his blade.

When he saw it staining his blade black, a semblance of self was restored to the old Slave Knight, as he looked upon it and spoke. "Is this it? The Blood of the Dark Soul?"

Marco took these few precious moments to both heal and take a drought from his Ashen Estus Flask, as black thunderclouds gathered overhead, and a crimson miasma began to waft off of Gael. He stood on two feet, like a man, a beast no longer and like Marco before him, slowly approached his foe with steady strides.

"So that's how you want it, is it Gael? Well good, because I prefer it this way too. Come then, die on your own two feet like the knight you are!" Marco screamed at him before charging him down.

A duel for the ages of twin legends took place then, and few bore witness to it. Slave Knight Gael who era long sought the Dark Soul, fought now as the conduit for the very thing he had spent so long searching for, and the other was one who had put down the gods of Light, Life, Death, and Dark already more times than he cared to count. But their battle raged. Gael threw out the Way of White Corona en masse and Marco dodged them as deftly as he dodged the repeating crossbow fire that was quick to follow. A few strikes, and with a swish of his tattered cloak that released cursed souls, Gael forced Marco back and on the defensive.

As the battle raged on, lightning fell from the very heavens around the two combatants, occasionally blurring them from view of their anxious watchers. Gael would flip through the air quite spryly for his old age, firing his repeating crossbow as he went, with Marco deflecting the bolts on his stone greatshield and placing himself just so, so that when Gael landed he could get a few strikes in with his spell swords before darting away again. It was like watching a lethal dance take place knowing that any moment, either participant could end up dead.

Star was coiled up like a spring, her eyes glued to the screen as she watched Marco fight a veritable god in physical form. Then he launched a halfmoon of five crystal spheres from above his head that homed in on Gael, making him stumble for just a moment. Sensing victory, Marco dashed in swinging his staff with both hands as an ethereal scythe blade came out the end and passed through the crimson hooded knight's neck. The whole world was still for a moment as Gael fell to his knees reaching out as if still trying to grasp Marco's Dark Soul for his own before finally falling to the ground, dead. His body dispersing into black mist, leaving behind only a floating black Soul.

With the fight finally finished, Marco fell to his knees and released a keening cry of anguish. "GRAAAHHAAH!" The others who were making their way towards him stopped at his harrowing cry.

They stayed well away as he unleashed his rage, and smashed the Pygmy King thrones into dust with his magic blades, and only once it seemed his wrath was spent did Solaire dare approach. Tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder did the knight say, "Thou doth knoweth there was nothing thee couldst do, yes?"

"Solaire?" Marco said in a tired voice but with an edge to his tone.

"Yes, friend?" The aged Knight of Astoria asked.

"Today, the Fire dies. I don't care if I have to personally stamp it out with my own two feet. The Flame dies today." Marco said in a cold resolute tone as he turned to face his friend.

Solaire nodded. "As you say my friend, every last spark must be stamped out."

"Every last spark." Marco nodded before making his way back to Filianore's rest where Jannoc waited.

(...)

"Dude…" Janna said after the fight was finished.

"Marco…" Star had tears collecting in her eyes, she rubbed them away. "He had to do that to his friend, all because of that stupid fire and those stupid Souls!"

Speaking of, they watched Marco march into Filianore's chamber, grab her soul which was no bigger than an ember, and stuff it into his bottomless box. He then mounted Jannoc and waited for the others to arrive.

They watched as the drake took his passengers not back the way they'd come but to Archdragon Peak before insisting Marco get off by turning around and giving him a look before looking down into a deep hole.

"What is it, Jannoc? Why hath thou brought me here?"

In response, the drake released a gout of flame from its mouth. Then looked down into the hole.

"Fire? Remnants of the Fire lay down below?" Marco said with a growl before leaping into the pit.

"Wow, he's on a fire killing kick today, huh?" Star said to no one in particular as he confronted a pair of demons, one who looked like half of his face had been carved off and the other looked like ash charred wood. Both attacked Marco for invading their rest. And for his part, he assaulted them both relentlessly with Lightning Spears of all manner of size. The two demons skittered around spontaneously igniting and throwing chaos fire at their would be prey. But compared to his recent fight with Gael this felt like childsplay by comparison and soon enough one of the demons fell. The last demon, possibly the last of its kind, absorbed the soul of its kin… and the Demon Prince was reborn from their combined strength.

"Someone better pick up that pixie mirror, because I fucking called it!" Tom yelled.

Yet no one bothered to acknowledge his comment as they watched Marco hurl Sunlight Spear after Sunlight Spear at the Demon Prince as said Prince made a futile effort to slay him. They watched as he put down the last embers of the Chaos Flame. Taking the last burning ember that was the Demon Prince's Soul went into his bottomless box before Marco teleported back to the top of the Peak with his friends.

"Let us not tarry here any longer." He said before remounting Jannoc again.

"Marco is on the warpath," Star said, concern entering her tone. " I've never seen this side of him before."

"A man, any man can only take so much before he can't take anymore pumpkin," River said sagely. "Marco has finally reached his breaking point."

Star shook her head in sadness as she continued to watch Marco and his friends travel back to the Kiln of the First Flame, stopping only briefly to help a poor hollow called Lapp locate the Purging Monument to help him regain his lost memories… only for Marco to get kicked off a cliff for his troubles. Then he got called greedy, right before everyone else in Marco's party gave Patches a thorough beating.

"Oi… did you kill the thing down there already?" Patches called down.

Marco called up. "Yes… They kicking your ass for kicking me off a cliff, Patches?"

Patches called back, "They're tryin' Greirat's talkin' the wimmenfolk down as we speak!"

"Everyone… its Patches… I'm kinda used to this by now… which reminds me, I owe you a kick to the balls for what ye did to Reah of Thoroland, ya prick!"

"Oi, it was either they get thrown in the pit or get killed by the other gnarly shite around there." Patches defended.

Once Marco found a way back around he promptly spartan kicked patches off the cliff. "That hurt?" Marco called down.

"Little bit," Patches called back up.

"Good. Now get thine ass back up here, we've got a First Flame to puteth out."

"On my way."

Star scratched her head. "Wait, he's in the party now, just like that? But… but it's Patches! He's an asshole!" the Princess complained.

"Yeah but he seems to be a constant. It just wouldn't be the same without him now would it?" Dipper commented, causing the others to mutter in agreement.

Suddenly, the viewing portal was overtaken with static like bad tv reception and moments later, Velka's face appeared on the screen. "Princess, tis time for you and Marco to be reunited. Go to the woods, and followeth the trail of raven feathers. You shalt findeth his scissors at the end."

And then the viewing portal was shut down in its entirety. Star leaped out of bed. She didn't care if her joints protested in pain from her inoculation shots, she could finally after all this time see Marco again. Tying his hoodie around her neck she raced down the stairs and all but kicked in the front door when it got in her way, a small stampede of people following in her wake.

Star was already hot on the trail of raven feathers when Tom caught up to her using his flames to keep pace with her. "Um Starship, I know you really wanna see Marco again, Darkness knows I do too, but don't you think you should take a minute, maybe magic yourself up a bit so you don't look like you just crawled out of your sick bed when you see him?"

Star stopped and gave Tom a confused look. "Who are you and what have you done with Tom Lucitor?"

"Not my words, they were Tammy's," Tom replied dryly.

"Well thank you Tammy, and you too Tom," Star said before she pointed her wand at herself. "Fantastic Pepperup Beam!" A ray hit Star right in the face and when it cleared any and all symptoms of sickness she had were gone she then used Radiant Shadow Transform to put herself in the same ball gown and hairstyle she wore to the Blood Moon Ball.

"Going for nostalgia. I see," Tom said with a nod.

"If this dress doesn't remind him of me, nothing will," Star said with certainty. "Oh Jackie, Jackie, Jackie! Hold up a sec!" Star said, stopping the tomboy cold.

"What's up with the sweet threads. Star?" Jackie asked slightly out of breath due to chasing after the princess.

Star grinned. "We should look good for our man shouldn't we? Plus I figured if anything would jog his memory of me, it would be this dress and for you… Radiant Shadow Transform!" Jackie suddenly found herself in her prom dress. "It would be this dress, right?"

"Yes, definitely." Jackie replied as the two girls continued to walk through the forest at a more sedate pace. They eventually came to the end of the path, which ended in a small clearing in the woods. At the center of which they found what looked to be a small nest made of lizard skins held Marco's long lost dimensional scissors.

Picking them up, Star grinned. She looked at the others who were gathering at their location. "Okay everyone, we've found the Scissors!" A cheer went up and Star waited for it to pass before she said, "Now, who's coming with me to get Marco? Warning, he might be in the middle of a fight so…"

"I'll go," Tom volunteered, "I've got plenty of firepower if needed."

Star nodded expecting as much. "Right. So me, and Tom. Jackie, Janna either of you up for this?"

"I'm gonna have to stay here on this one, Star," Jackie said, "I'd be not all that great in a fight." She admitted.

"After what I've seen Marco do, I don't want to get in his way," Janna replied easily. "But once you give the all clear, Jackie and I'll come in and help knock some sense into him if needed."

Star smiled. "I figured as much. Papa?" Star said in surprise when her father marched over to stand by her.

"I'm coming, don't try to talk me out of it," The King said briskly. "That boy has been through enough. I'll see him home," He promised Marco's parents, "You can count on it."

"Gracias, River," Rafael said as Angie looked to the three and said, "Bring him home, please."

Star smiled determinedly. "Count on it, Angie." Star focused on where she wanted to go as she cut a hole in space-time with Marco's Dimensional Scissors. 'Marco, take me to my Marco.'

With the sound of tearing fabric, the portal opened and the princess walked through followed by her father and her best friend. It was time for a reunion long overdue.

(...)

The trio stepped out into a warzone. In an area that looked like the center of a nuclear explosion had gone off. All manner of weaponry lay stabbed point first into the ashen earth, tall spiky crags of stone ringed the area like the maw of some kind of beast, above them the eclipsed sun hung like a giant darksign, and before them…

All out war.

Marco and his companions were currently engaged with a veritable army of red phantoms, As well as a towering knight in molten armor wielding a coiled sword that was aflame. This entity had Marco's undivided attention as his companions held back the crimson ghosts as best they could.

Solaire, the crown of the ivory King upon his helmet was fighting the ghost of the very king himself in single combat, with every two-handed swing the ivory King made with his burnt blade, the Knight of the Sun was pushed back.

Siegward of Catarina was for the second time now, facing his friend Yhorm the Giant, this time in single combat, his blade Storm Ruler blasting him backwards as he tried and failed to advance on his position.

While Quelana and Quelogg fought their sister Quelagg, returned as a half-spider chaos demon. Quelagg was trying to devour them or crush both of her last living sisters under her massive bulk.

Patches was dueling with his leafspear against two knights and… 'Is that Reah of Thorolund?' Star asked herself as a royal looking maiden kept throwing lightning spears at the deceiving man who just looked bitter at his opponents.

Priscilla meanwhile, was fighting the Paledrake Duke Seath The Scaleless himself, her scythe slashing away at his scaleless form even as tears fell from her eyes. Star dared not wonder what words the dragon phantom spoke.

Yorshka fared little better against her own opponent, Gwyndolin himself in all of his mystically finery, his catalyst flinging sorceries unendingly at the one he gave both duty and name to.

While Lucatiel seemed to have her own opponent well in hand, having just finished putting her rapier through his armor slit.

"Tom, take the spider bitch, Dad, go ham on the knights, as for me, that the Rhombulus ripoff is mine!" Star said before taking on her golden Mewberty form.

Star launched herself at Gwyndolin with a battle yell. "Pick on someone your own size!" She said blasting Gwyndolin into the side of the arena.

"Who art thou?" Yorshka asked as Star came to a stop next to her.

"A friend of Marco's," Star said quickly as Gwyndolin pulled himself out of the hole in the wall Star put him... her... it in.

"Thou shalt pay for thine interference, wench. Thine corpse shalt make fine fuel for the first flame!"

"Well at least I can fill out my dress, you girl wannabe!" Star shot back.

"How dareth thee, Father picked out these clothes for me!" Gwyndolin retorted as he fired off a gigantic magic missile.

"And if your daddy told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?" Star retorted.

"Verily, for he is the king of the gods and his word is law!" Gwyndolin replied without a moment's hesitation.

Star looked to Yorshka, "I think your bro has a few screws loose upstairs, girl." Before she took to the air to avoid the giant soul spear.

"I knoweth not who thine art but if thee art here to offer aid it is most welcome," Yorshka replied as she rose to her feet after coming out of her own roll.

"You know it, now let's take him down!" Star said, before firing no less than six Strawberry Annihilation beams from all of her hands.

Gwyndolin met her spells with one of his own. The two collided in mid air which is where they stalemated in a growing swirling vortex of pink and blue power.

"Surrender girl!" Gwyndolin spat. "Thou canst best me, I am the god of the Moon, and you… are nothing!"

"I'm not the best at magic," Star admitted, "But I've got something you don't."

"Which is?" Gwyndolin replied.

"Friends!" Star retorted.

Gwyndolin never got a chance to retort before he felt something heavy brained him in the back of the head. Glancing behind him, he realized what it was. 'The other one, I forgot about the other one!'

Yorshka with tears in her eyes pulled her hammer-spear back, lining the point of the blade up with her brother's heart. "I'm so sorry, brother." She whispered moments before thrusting it into his back.

"Move!" Star yelled, for without Gwyndolin to maintain his half of the connection, the mass of energy was now heading in the knight-captain's direction. Yorshka was struck still with terror she couldn't get out of the way in time… 'I'm going to die! Maybe I deserve this for letting brother die,' She thought only to feel herself blasted away by an unseen force.

"Brother?"

"Foolish child," Gwyndolin said smiling at her as the explosive vortex of energy closed in, "Thou shouldst know better than to stand in such a dangerous place. Live long and well, Yorshka."

"Gwyndolin!" Yorshka cried as he was consumed by the vortex of magic utterly destroying him.

Further afield, Tom had just engaged with Quelagg the spider witch, who didn't know what to make of this newcomer. "What art thou. Sense the flame in thee I doth, yet tis different, weak, changed."

"I'm your worst nightmare, bitch!" Tom growled before he spoke in demonic and hordes of undead rose from the ashes around him, with half rusted scorched weapons in hand did the Black Knights of Lord Gwyn rise to fight their ancient foes, the Demons of Chaos once again. Quelaag slashed and stomped, her demonic lower half spewed flames roasting knights alive yet for every one that fell another two made their weapons bite deep into their hated foes flesh. Soon, Quelaag fell under the unending barrage or scorched steel and Tom called the Black Knights off.

Quelaag was beaten, battered, broken and bloody. The legs of her spider were hacked to pieces and she had several spears and halberds stuck into its thorax. Yet despite all this, her sisters rushed to her side and comforted her as best they could in her final moments.

"Sister, we are here," Quelogg said softly as she held her hand.

"Dearest Quelogg, is that you?" Quelagg asked. "Someone has cured thee of thy poison and removed thee from thy prison as well? What miracle of the gods is this?"

"Thanks be to Maroc for that. Much humanity he giveth me. Enough to afford such a transformation," Quelogg admitted.

"And Quelana too, wilst wonders never cease?" Quelaag asked quietly.

"Hello dear sister… Tis good… Tis good to see you again," Quelana said with tears running down her face.

"And you," Quelana replied tiredly, "So good to see you both happy and healthy… Do you remember before mother's ill fated attempt to light the Flame how I'd always look out for the pair of you?"

A chorus of, "I remember," followed.

Giving a little laugh Quelaag sighed and said, "I don't think… I'll be able to do that anymore, just know that… even when I'm not here… big sister loves you both… very much. And stay out of trouble… and… try to find happiness far, far from this... wretched place."

Quelaag of Izalith died with a smile on her face.

River Johansen had picked up a spear off the ground as he passed and rammed it into the back of a knight garbed in armor made of stone. The spear broke on impact, and the knight turned around to face him, giant club on his shoulder and greatshield in hand. "Was that supposed to do something, surah?"

River ripped off his clothes leaving him in his loincloth. "C'mon boy! Lemme show you how a real man fights! YYYAH!"

Thus did River Johansen proceed to put Havel the Rock in a headlock and due to the weight of his armor, Sir Havel was powerless to defend himself even as River snapped his neck like a twig…

Apparently, you can stop the rock.

"Thou art a failed creation." Seath said as he breathed his crystal breath at Priscilla. "Fit only to be refuse."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Priscilla screamed as her scythe bit deep into Seath's flesh, healing her wounds and thus stalemating the two.

"Need a hand?" Star asked, flying over along with Yorshka, "I've got six free."

"Please." Priscilla asked.

"I know not what thou art but interesting for an experiment one would be." Seath said aloud his occluded eyes locked onto Star.

"First off, eww. Secondly, I'm spoken for. Lastly, even if I wasn't, which again, I totally am, not even if you were the last guy in this forsaken dimension!" Star listed off on one hand while the other five glowed with ominous spells.

"A pity I was not asking then," Seath replied as he tried to snatch Star out of the air only to have his arm sliced off by Priscilla's scythe.

"Spider with a tophat blast!" Star yelled, using her strongest spell six times over, surrounding the Paledrake as her spiders released their simultaneous shrill war cries and their minigun payloads with them.

Seath the Scaleless toppled over under the assault of magical minigun fire. Star moved to finish him off, only for Priscilla's scythe to intercept her. The dragon crossbreed glanced back. "Tis my duty to put an end to this… I thank thee for thine assistance."

Star nodded. "Of course."

Seath lay there, his breath heavy as Priscilla approached. "So, you have surpassed all my expectations after all my little experiment. I am... most pleased."

"What doth thou meanst to say?" Priscilla asked her scythe raised over her head.

Seath took a moment to gather his remaining strength to talk. "I created you to bridge the gap between the Gods and the Dragons, to be something more than the sum of your parts. To be immortal in both flesh and spirit. The creation of thine Lifehunt ability was unexpected, unprecedented… yet not important. You were supposed to be more than a god or a dragon… yet you were meek… unwilling to fight, unwilling to stand up for yourself. No Dragon or god would let themselves be confined to a painted false world! Thus, I deemed thee a failure… but something hath changed within thee lit a fire within thy soul..."

Priscilla looked to Marco who was still battling the Soul of all lords of Cinder combined.

"Ah, I see the boy… perfect…" Seath said with a cold, analytical chuckle. "For I created you… with another plan in mind. You shall be… the mother of a new breed. The mother of a new race. The perfect combination of Dragon, God, and Human. The mother of flawless immortals… Stone Dragons, immortal gods, and humans of the Dark."

"To the Abyss with your plans," Priscilla said coldly before lopping off Seath's head.

All that remained was Marco and the Soul of Cinder.

Marco or Maroc was beyond furious, for he'd not only had to fight every single person who'd been tricked into linking the flame, but for the second time now, Gwyn Lord of Sunlight and Cinder stood before him as the First Lord of Cinder.

"You!" Marco yelled pointing his crystal orbed topped staff at him accusingly. "This is all your fault, Gwyn! You caused this," Marco motioned around at the wanton destruction within this twisted and wretched world. "Is this what thou wanted?! Was preserving thine Age of Fire worth all this sacrifice?! Answer me!"

Yet the Soul of Cinder's only answer was to raise its coiled sword aloft and set it alight, just like Gwyn of old.

"Fine then, fine then hold thy silence… and take it to the grave with thee!" Marco pointed his staff at him and launched a wave of pure Dark at the Soul of Cinder. It recoiled in fear and pain and Marco closed in, summoning a greatsword of Dark over his head as he closed in saying, "Long live the king!"

Marco swung down through the Soul of Cinder. But it was ancient and strong, a conglomerate of all who had linked the flame from first to last. It slammed its coiled sword into the ashen earth blasting its hated foe back with a sphere of flame before charging him. But Marco too, would not be denied this rightful end to Fire. Throwing back a chug of Estus, he met the Soul of Cinder head on, ducking under its flaming swing, and taking a moment to focus his power with a chant before unleashing a Crystal Soul Spear into its back. He was not yet done however, Homing Crystal Soul Arrows followed, and White Dragon's Breath after that, the sudden burst of crystals launching the Soul of Cinder up into the air before it flopped down into the earth like a fish on land.

Yet still it weakly tried to rise.

Marco took two gulps from his Ashen Estus and at the cost of five hundred of his stock of souls, cast Great Resonant Soul, the second most powerful Hex he'd learned when in Drangleic. The beam of dark hit the Soul of Cinder dead on and it fell on its back, sword broken, scabbling in the dirt for the hilt of its weapon as it tried to push itself to its knees.

Marco approached hand raised. Within his palm was a growing Black Fire Orb. It represented everything Gwyn hated and feared all at once. The Dark of Man and the Chaos of Demons combined. "For Reah of Thorolund, for Priscilla, for Vendrick and Aldia, for The Ivory King, and Lucatiel of Mirrah, Seigward of Catarina, The Four Kings of New Londo, Knight Artorias, Sif the Loyal, Gwyndolin the Darksun, The Nameless King, The Witch of Izalith, Gravelord Nito, and all those others you have cast aside for the sake of your Age of Fire, I condemn ye, Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight and Cinder both, to death!"

Maroc cast the Black Flame Orb upon the weak Soul of Cinder and watched as it burned helplessly, a small smirk on his face as it rolled weakly trying fruitlessly to put out the pitch dark flames, until at last… it finally went still and became naught but ash once more.

Picking up the blazing soul that consisted of the combined souls of all those who had linked the Fire, Maroc held it aloft before shouting, "VICTORY!"

"Maroc old boy, we've got some extra guests that sayeth they know thee." Solaire claimed catching his friend's attention.

Maroc found three unknowns standing within his ranks. One was a short man with a full blonde beard clad in naught but a loincloth. Clearly he was close to going hollow if he could not even bother to properly clothe himself.

The next was a three-eyed humanoid of demon descent, his crimson hair looked like a burning flame. Marco had to reflexively stop himself from slaying the demon before him with a divine sunlight spear as he sensed no malice from this demon. His gaze was drawn, fell upon, and held by the last person.

She was nothing short of gorgeous. Standing there in this ash strewn battlefield wearing white thigh high boots, and opera gloves in a layered light red dress, her flaxen hair done up in a bun with her two small golden curls framing either side of her face, the cherubic cheeks of which were adorned with pink hearts. Her cerulean blue eyes locked with his and filled with tears though they were, Maroc could tell they were filled with love, passion, and joy as she looked at him.

"Maiden, I ask of thee who art thou?" Marco asked the woman, looked so familiar… she caused an aching… a pang of longing in his chest for reasons he knoweth naught.

Dabbing at her eyes with the back of her gloves the girl spoke, her voice like the chirping of birdsong the Godslayer's ears. "Marco is… is it really you?"

'Marco Ubaldo Diaz. Hath it been so long that thou hath forgot thine own name?' Maroc recalled Velka saying.

Planting his staff and greatshield into the dusty earth, before reaching up, Maroc removed his helm.

Star gasped for he looked just like he did in the beach day picture. His hair was long, his face rugged with dark stubble, and his dark chocolate brown eyes looked haunted. But some things hadn't changed. He still had that cute little mole under his left eye, his eyes though now looking at her shrewdly and with suspicion were the same dark chocolate brown she'd been dreaming about, and though he was now buff he was still lanky and tall. A swimmer's body, they called it. In Star's eyes, Marco was nothing short of perfect. Despite all his hardships and pain he'd gone through, he was still her Marco. 'I just need to remind him of that.' Star thought to herself. Pressing her hands to her heart the Mewman princess said, "It's me Marco, it's Star."

Marco cocked his head to the side in confusion.

'So cute!' Star squealed inside her head.

"Surely, thou doth not mean my Beloved Star that I hath searched for so long?"

Star beamed and nodded her cheeks stained with a blush. "The very same! Um, surprise?!" Star said a little awkwardly, opening her arms wide. She also noted several of Marco's female companions didn't look thrilled at this revelation. 'I'll need to have some serious girl talk with them soon.' Star thought to herself.

"But… But mine beloved Star is a sun! A flaming ball of fire in the sky… is it not?" Marco asked himself, sounding unsure even as he spoke.

"Well, I owe Janna ten bucks," Star muttered to herself. Before she shook her head saying to Marco, "No, you… let's be honest here, you died… a lot. You forgot a lot of things Marco," Star said comfortingly as she slowly approached him like he was a wild Warnicorn and she was afraid of spooking him.

Marco held her gaze and nodded. "True,"

Star held his gaze and kept slowly making her way forward. "So isn't it possible that you could've forgotten me too? Mistaken me for something else?"

"You speaketh the truth… but if that tis so, then I hath search'd for thee… for five hundred millenia."

That little factoid made Star stop in her tracks. 'Wow, if that isn't devotion then I don't know that is,' Star thought as tears gathered in her eyes anew. "All your searching paid off Marco. Here I am, and I'm all yours."

As she came within arms length of him, Marco grabbed her arms and asked suspiciously, "How do I know thine speaketh the truth and this is not another deception? Tricked before I hath been. T'would not be the first time, nor the second a pretty face hath tried to deciveth me."

He saw pain and hurt flash through the girl's eyes and it caused a pang of guilt in the ancient warrior's heart. Yet an idea quickly sparked in her eyes as she replied, "Dance with me."

"What?" Maroc and several other people said at the same time.

"Dance. With. Me." Star repeated slowly. "You've done it before, even if you don't remember."

"Even if I couldst dance, which I don'st beleiveth I canst ,what would it prove?" Marco inquired.

"If you can dance with me and feel nothing," Star said with sadness in her tone and reflecting in her blue orbs. "Then the man I love is well and truly dead."

Maroc looked around the desolate battlefield. "An odd place for a dance, milady, and we hath no music."

"I got it covered," Star replied, raising her oddly shaped catalyst and poofing into existence a small square red device.

"What tis that?" Maroc asked.

Star smiled. "Something of yours you forgot about. It's called an I-Pod and it plays music," Star replied as she scrolled through his playlist. She wanted to go for something romantic but also that fit the moment because unfortunately, Marco couldn't remember anything about all the time they spent together. 'Ahah, this'll do perfectly,' Star thought to herself as she pumped the volume before tossing the device to Tom, who clumsily caught it.

[We Were in Love by Toby Keith]

Musical notes filled the air as Star put her hands in Marco's and he almost instinctively swayed to the beat. A crimson light surrounded the two as the song started in earnest. Looking up, Maroc found the eclipsed sun replaced by a crimson moon who's beams shone down on the pair of them like a spotlight. The Chosen Undead, Next Monarch, The not so Ashen One danced within the Kiln of the First Flame. He twirled this girl in his arms around him, kicking up small clouds of dust as they waltzed across this all but dead world.

"Whoo, I see you still got them moves, Diaz!" Star said her face flush with exhilaration as he pulled her in from a twirl and held her close.

"I knoweth not where this cometh from… only that holding thee feelth right," He said softly as he held her close.

"You've gotten taller." Star said to him as they box trotted. "You've got a full foot on me now, before it was only about eight inches. Been eating your Lord Souls, have you?" Star joked.

"Heh," Marco let out a chuckle. As the song reached a final crescendo, he dipped her low, his face close to her's, he asked. "Thou art mine Beloved Star, art thou not?"

"Yes," Star replied, her face flushed, "I am."

Marco closed the distance as he pressed his lips to hers, and kept them connected even as he pulled her to her feet, Star had her arms wrapped around his neck the whole time. The princess felt fireworks go off behind her eyes and even felt one leg pop off the ground as she pressed her lips to her beloved. She put all the passion she could into the kiss without adding tongue, she was well aware they still had an audience after all. When they finally parted for air, Star couldn't stop smiling. She'd finally done it! She'd finally kissed Marco! He was here in her arms, alive, and they even got to finish their dance under the blood moon to top it all off. 'But I'm not the only one who deserves a dance, though maybe the only one under the Blood Moon.' Star noted as the crimson satellite had disappeared after their kiss had broken.

"Marco?" Star said softly.

"Hm?" he said, seeming content just to hold her in his arms.

"There's someone else you owe a dance to," Star told him softly, "Can I send Tom to go get her?"

Marco glanced at Tom, giving him a once over as if sizing him up. 'He hath not attacked yet… he doth not seem like other Demon's of Chaos. Benefit of the doubt I giveth ye.' Maroc thought to himself before he silently nodded at Star.

"Tom, go get Jackie would ya?" Star called.

The three-eyed demon nodded. "On it, Starship." The demon disappeared in a flash of flame.

"Starship?" Marco asked curiously.

Star gave a weak smile. "We used to date… uh court," Star amended.

"And now?" Marco asked.

Star blinked. "Marco Ublado Diaz, is that jealousy I hear in your tone?"

The undead shook his head. "I merely wish to knoweth where we stand, Beloved."

Star sighed in contentment. "Something tells me I'm never going to get tired of hearing that, but to answer your question, we're just friends. You and Tom are good friends, actually."

"Is that so?" Marco replied, surprised.

Star nodded. "Yep, best friends… and I'm not the only girl who wants a piece of you, mister Diaz," She whispered playfully into his ear standing on tiptoe so she could reach him.

"How doth thou feel about that?" Maroc asked.

Star shot him a wink. "I'm a big girl who's okay with sharing… I suppose."

"Most unusual," Maroc said to himself as a flash of flame heralded the return of the demon and with him two others.

One was yet another blonde vision in a seafoam green dress, her hair was wavy and short and her face was spattered with freckles and her eyes were bottle glass green. She looked around herself in awe.

The other girl had raven black locks, a small olive green hat on her head and two different tones of green shirts one the sleeved one being mint and the one beneath it being evergreen, which was offset by her yellow skirt and brown boots. The raven haired girl ran up to Marco and launched herself at him, hugging him around the middle.

Hesitantly wrapping his arms around her, the Chosen Undead said awkwardly. "Oh… hello there…"

"You don't know who I am, do you?" The girl asked after a moment.

"Nary a clue, apologies." Maroc said as he wracked his brain for any clue of the girl.

"It's Janna Orodina, and I'm your sister kinda, it's complicated." Janna told him.

"Janna," Marco said to himself, the name brought up a mixture of both affection and annoyance but mostly affection. 'Must be mine younger sibling. That canst be the only reason for feeling such upon hearing her name.' The aged warrior thought to himself. "Tis good to see ye again, little sister."

Janna blinked at that. "Little sister? Well yeah I guess now I would be, huh?"

Marco fixed his gaze upon the approaching vision in green. "Thou… I knoweth thy face. I see it everytime I look out to sea or heareth the ocean, but might I ask thy name sea maiden?"

Jackie flushed, "It's Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco."

"Jack Key?" Marco sounded out, "What art thou the key to?"

That caused a round of laughter from the three girls, and Jackie wiping a tear from her eye replied. "It's short for Jacqueline, Marco. My parents thought Jacquline Lynn Thomas sounded a little weird so they shortened it."

"Thomas, music please," Maroc requested before he held his hand out to Jackie invitingly. "Jacqueline, might I hath this dance?"

Jackie lifted up her seafoam prom gown, the hem of which was stained with ash. "You may, fine sir."

Tom, who fiddled with the I-Pod a bit, finally managed to play the first song on the playlist labeled Jackie.

[Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys]

The song kicked off with a twang and Jackie smiled as she took Marco's hands and spun around. "Like this is my favorite song, dude!"

"Tis very upbeat," Maroc noted as he moved to the beat, spinning with Jackie and giving her the occasional twirl. The song was shorter than Star's though and ended with the Chosen Undead pulling Jackie close.

"You've got moves, Diaz," Jackie complimented before she leaned in and gave Marco a peck on the lips. It was short and chaste but there was a spark there, not a blazing inferno like Star's kiss had been but a spark that smoldered and was just waiting to burst into flame. The undead could feel as such in his chest.

"So Marco, are you ready to get out of here and finally go back home?" Star asked him.

"In a moment, beloved," Marco replied absentmindedly not seeing Star's cheeks burn scarlet at the use of his pet name for her, as both his thoughts and his gaze turning to the First Flame with a scowl fixed upon his face. "Before I leaveth this place, there is something I must do. Fire must be smothered forevermore."

"Ancient One," The Firekeeper Annette beseeched, "If thou willith, I can smother the Flame. Since thou hath returnth the eyes of the First Firekeeper to me, if thee want, I can do this upon thine request."

Marco looked to the barely lit First Flame again then back to his third Firekeeper. "Tell me Annette, what doth thou seeth if thy put out the Flame thyself?"

"There shalt be Dark… for a time. But then sparks like embers shalt flicker across the Darkness and Fire shalt bloom anew," The blonde Firekeeper affirmed.

Maroc shook his head. "Unacceptable. The Flame must die! Here and now! Forever!"

Seigward who had been passing around his siegbrau and toasting the waltzing, inquired, "Hmm, how does one expect to go about this, my friend?"

"Just like how I fight Seigward. I wait, and I watch until I notice a pattern. Lighting the Flame does nothing, letting it sputter and die also does nothing as another shalt just come along and relight it. Thus, a third option is needed."

Marco reached out with his Pyromancy Flame and absorbed the remaining embers of the First Flame into his palm turning the eclipsed sun pale white as he pressed his flame to his chest before collapsing into a heap.

"Marco!" Star rushed to his side with Jackie, Janna and the other's hot on her heels. She rolled him over onto his back and asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Seeing the pale ring hovering above him in the sky, Marco smiled. "I hath done it! I hath killed the First Flame!" Marco turned his head to the side to see a small group of Hollows kneeling before him with Yuria of Londor dressed in all her black finery at their head. "Yuria, this was thy plan all along was it not?"

"My Lord of Hollows," Yuria spoke reverently, "'O Usurper of Fire. Prithy, make Londor whole."

"Uhh, Marco, who are these guys?" Star asked, freaking out that they'd been snuck upon so easily.

Taking to his feet, Marco addressed the Sable Church of Londor. "Harken to my words, folk of the Sable Church! Usurped the Fire I may've, but to stay and lead within this Age of Man is not mine desire."

This caused a muttering within the crowd of undead. Yuria silenced them with a raised hand, "Then what doth thou wisheth, Lord of Hollows?"

"To leave this place," Maroc was quick to reply, "To leave the Fire, the Dark, the death and the pain behind me. You, just as I, am now free of the Flame and its cruel shackle round our souls! Take thine freedom, and do with it what thine willst!" Maroc told them, "Let none, neither Man nor God rule over ye again! Let the Age of Man, mark the age of freedom for Man!"

The hollows cheered Marco's impromptu speech and he let them, for a moment, until he wished to speak again, and Yuria once again silenced them with her raised hand, allowing Marco to continue. "And if that is not enough for thee then prithee taketh these words which were toldeth to me era long ago by one much wiser than I, to heart. Beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of Dark… what could possibly await us? Light? Dark? Or something else entirely? Tis up to ye to find out and discover, to you all and this world of darkness and ash, I say farewell."

He turned to Star, "Let us depart this place, there is nought left for me or mine friends to do here."

Star smiled and nodded, never once seeing Yuria of Londor tracking her every movement with her eyes. "One portal home coming right up!"

Star took out Marco's Dimensional Scissors and cut open a portal before using everyone's thoughts, she gave one last look on this black, ashen wasteland that had kept Marco from her for so long and scowled at it. "Good Riddance," She said before stepping through the portal. Marco was finally heading home, back to safety with his loved ones and to her. And to Star, that was all that mattered.

(…)

Word count: ? Number of Pages: 126 Completed: 10/25/2024

(…)

AN: Hello readers and to cap off my Halloween bonanza, welcome to my Uber Star vs the Forces of Evil one-shot. This one goes out to Helios (Pay up you bastard!) who said he'd pay me if I wrote him a one-shot that was a harem and at least 20k. Well I can safely say Mission Passed and Respect! Now cough up the scratch! In fact, if you've read the whole thing put (#Helios) in the review. Hell, I might write a sequel one-shot to this one day… I got a feeling in my gut there's more story to be told here… Now here's the rest of the peanut gallery to add in their two cents.

Snowy: This is a long story in the making. I am proud that bubba has written and published this MONSTER of a story that adds everything he could want into one story. I am grateful for his endeavors and am happy for the progress. Thank you Bubba for all your hard work. And Readers. Have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

First Hassan: YEEEESSSSSSSSS! It's a dream come true! Hallelujah! Marco has done the impossible! He has finally ended the nightmare that a certain lord has started!...Hello everyone First Hassan here and today we are bringing you a special chapter. If you managed to read this far then this is by far one of the biggest projects we've made and completed. It took us a while but we've done it. A completed story (Well a one shot story but it still counts). Marco has not gone to Dark souls one but the entire dark souls series 1, 2, and 3 and even managed to get through all those which was thought to be impossible by certain peoples. Hehehehe, I'm proud of that dude. But God this was exhausting, I'm gonna pass out. This is our gift for all of you. Thank you guys for reading our story, if you want more or want to be a chapter ahead, head to Bubba' account or his SubscriberStar where it hasn't been edited by yours truly. I'll see you guys later! (Turning around while blue flames surround Hassan before disappearing).

Antagonist:

Loamy Coffee: God damn. It was a tremendous adventure for Marco, and such a tremendous weight on his friends, family, and Ladies having to witness him perish again and again as he went through the Entirety of Dark Souls. Still, he emerged triumphant! And now? Quality time with his Ladies, both fluffy and Spicy~

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