Summary: The true battle starts now
Marco watched as Star argued with a dog about getting her wand back, trying to bribe it with treats. "Come on, give it back! Don't make me get the lion, I'm not afraid to use him!" Said lion just groaned and went to sleep. "I would use him if I could!" The dog ran away. "Don't worry Marco, the moment I get my wand back, I'll get us the best sandwich in the universe!"
"Right, sure, go for it." The boy nodded, sitting with Quartz. "How long are we gonna be here for?"
"She usually would have just used Royal Money to buy a new one if it was something like a sword, but for the Wand … we're gonna be here a while." The brother sighed.
"Ughh, I'm not even hungry, why is she even going this far?" Marco rolled his eyes.
"That's how Star is. She wants to show the people she cares about just how much she cares." Quartz explained. "You should've seen us during my fifth birthday. We shouted at each other over it, and avoided getting grounded by blaming the mess on Ludo."
"That seems reasonable." Marco stated. "So what was she getting you?"
"Cookie Cat Cake … turned sections of the castle wall into it." He laughed. "I can understand the adventures being a bit much to handle at times, it took me a while to be relatively comfortable with fighting back against Monsters."
"It's not that it's too much…not most of the time at least." Marco admitted. "When Star first came to Earth, I wanted nothing to do with her. She set the school on fire and sucked my room into a black hole."
"Yeah, that sounds like a rocky start."
"That doesn't even begin to describe half of it." Marco laughed. "Then she apologized after I blew up at her, and then we got the adrenaline pumping when Ludo tried attacking."
"As much as I don't like fighting, it seems like an easy way to get complicated feelings out of the way." Quartz smiled. "Thanks for taking care of my sister, I know she can be a handful."
"It's no problem…sometimes that's what makes it fun." Marco admitted. "So, is being a knight just as exciting as it sounds?"
"Oh, very. You'd be surprised that the castle's laundry knight has one of the most dangerous jobs in the kingdom." That either meant that the kingdom either didn't face actual threats or all Mewmans took everything about daily life to an extreme…why was that even a question, of course it was the latter.
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Sapphire wondered why people always sat awkwardly when they were alone with her. It's not like it would ruin how awkward it was, she saw the conversation from beginning to end, especially when they were as predictable as Moon or Pearl. "I suppose you want to know more about fusion."
"Yeah." Kelly admitted. "I wanted to ask Amethyst, but she said you and Ruby were better choices, and she's on a mission with Quartz at the moment." The girl blushed at the mention of the boy's name.
"And you chose today of all days because it was during one of you and Tad's breakups, and he would do everything in his power to sabotage the conversation.
"Okay, how do you know all this?" She asked, less scared and more confused.
"I see the future." The five seconds of skepticism were a treat to witness. "It's one of the abilities special to me. I have a limited view into the future, a window that allows me to peak into certain paths that I use to guide my team." She explained. "I can only see one path however, but it expands like a river when I fuse."
"Wait, so Sugilite could see the future and still lost the fight?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Different forms mean each personality uses it differently. In Sugilites case, she's too brash and hot headed to even remember that she has Future Vision to begin with. She mainly used it to find a path back home after we were left behind." She herself knew it would be the case. "So to begin with, let's start with the scientific aspect." She created frost puppets to demonstrate. "When Gems Sync on a mental wavelength, their hard light bodies combine into a single one, with the processing power of both gems to support it."
"I see….wait, then how is Quartz able to do it? He's organic, right?"
"To our knowledge, he shouldn't have been able to do it with you either." She spoke. "Rose tried with Greg for years … before resorting to 'butt stuff', or whatever that means."
"Gross, gross, I didn't need that image in my head!" Kelly blushed, trying to hide in her eyes. "Okay, but if me and him were able to do it with each other, then that means we're naturally in sync, right?"
"Anyone gem can fuse, and it does fine when a purpose is required. However, staying focused is significantly harder." She explained. "Pearl and Amethyst diffuse easily due to their argumentative nature."
"Diffuse…" Kelly pondered that word. "So..how do you actually feel…emotionally when you fuse? Like what's your stance on it?"
"I view it as a conversation between two people." Sapphire smiled. "Some people have a good one, some people have a bad experience, and others can't stop talking with one another."
"I..when me and Quartz fused..when Kurtz existed…there were three voices I could remember hearing. One was Quartz's, all his surprise and shock at the situation, another was mine, being worried about what other people were thinking about me, and the third I think was Kurtz's, the fear of just…being yourself…being a monster…a freak."
Sapphire stayed silent. "If that's the case, I suggest you may want to become hesitant on fusion."
Kelly's eyes widened. "Why?"
"The fusion itself sounds very … unstable. Too many negative emotions between two people bubbling up into an unstable self worth that can't, and doesn't want to, hold its own form." She looked at the girl's disappointed expression. "If you want to ever form Kurtz again, the best advice I can offer is just being Quartz's friend, someone he can rely on and be vulnerable around."
"Got it." Kelly nodded, looking eager to do just that. She was worried in all honesty, it looked like Sapphire once did a long while ago … someone addicted to the feeling of fusion.
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Moon and Star stare at each other, a clock ticking next to them. They had been staring at each other awkwardly for the past half an hour, neither knowing what to say. "More tea?" She decided to make the first move.
"Sure…go ahead." Star said with a groan, slowly lifting up her cup to allow the pouring. "So…how's castle life? Is Dad throwing more parties?"
"Surprisingly, he's toned down on the aspect. I actually caught him making the bed the other day. So uncanny." Moon shook her head, knowing that she was getting off topic. "Not that I don't mind the visit, but with Quartz jumping to Earth every day, you've rarely come back to Mewni."
"What, can't I see my childhood home? Even if the better memories have been popping up in another dimension?" So she continued building off that. "I just thought maybe I should look back on stuff. Get a new perspective on monsters." Moon could feel her chair crack.
"Oh..is that so?" Moon did her best to not snap back. Her first conversation with Star in weeks, she didn't need it to turn sour the moment she reached out her hand.
"Yeah, Mewnipendence day was a real bust, Pearl told me and Quartz's about some of the stuff Rose did to support both sides …"
"Oh, she told you that story, didn't she?" Moon sighed, knowing that her son's stance on monster's wouldn't be broken with the past being as grim as it is. "Rose was a great ally, but she was someone that loved to, as you say, play by her own rules. I can't even begin to tell you the dozens of attempts the Commission made to try and control the woman."
"... When you were talking about hiding Quartz-"
"They once sent Rombulace to try and contain her for Study and use … she broke out of the thing with her bare hands." Moon spoke. "Even some interdimensional deities aren't able to pull off that level of power."
"See, that's my problem here. I learn something cool about Quartz's mom and then I learn something terrible, like I learn something cool about Skywynne, but also something terrible about Solaria." Her daughter groaned. "Did you ever think about just…forgetting about everything you have if it made life simpler?"
"I thought about it many times …" Moon admitted. "Then I realized that someone else would have to take the burden … someone has to keep pushing or the sky will fall."
"I wish that was just an expression I learned from a children's book on earth." Star rolled her eyes. "I also wish I could time travel and just make life better, but I can't because some future version of me and Quartz turned time into spaghetti, so that sucks." SHE DID WHAT!?
"Star, what have I told you about reading Skywyne's chapter thoroughly!?"
"It's very overly detailed!!" Star indignantly shouted, before shaking her head. "Anyways I've been trying to be cool with the whole Gem thing, but I still don't know what to think of them, except for Amethyst, she's sometimes fun."
"I'm afraid I'm in the same boat as you there. Pearl has a habit of looking so smug when explaining even the simplest instructions." Moon moaned.
"Tell me about it, she put a freaking leash on me the last five missions, a freaking leash!" It wasn't completely perfect, but the fact she could talk this much with her daughter meant things were slowly moving in the right direction.
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Star sat outside, waiting for her friend to exit school. The past few months have been quite a rollercoaster, one that she's been back and forth about in enjoying the ride. It was certainly fun, there was no doubt about it.
She could've done without the whole family drama surrounding both her and Quartz's families. But on the plus side, she had an endless amount of adventure and could experience so much history. So that was a win in her books. She looked over at the pink portal, Lion coming out with Kelly and Quartz. "Hey bro."
"Sup Star, finally getting out of school?" Her brother asked.
"Yeah, just another boring day learning how to divide by zero or whatever." Star rolled her eyes. "You're so lucky Quartz. You get to come to earth and not go to school at the same time." A pro that made her miss castle life was not getting 'traditional' schooling.
"I don't know, going to school sounds like it could be fun." Her naive brother responded. "Especially those sports games, Chess sounds really fun with knights and bishops duking it out."
"Star, what did we talk about when it came to teaching your brother about earth tradition?" Marco walked out the school doors and down the stairs.
"To have an earthling present when I do." She repeated with an annoyed tone. "So, which dimension are we heading to today?" She has a lot of fun options in mind.
"I was actually thinking of inviting Ferguson and Alfonzo over for a special board game I got for the group." Marco grinned in a way he thought was exciting.
"Marco, I love that you're perfectly fine with the nerdy charm that you have going for yourself, but we're not going to spend the next five hours in costume rolling dice." Kelly rolled her eyes.
"What are you talking about? Diamonds and Daguars is a perfectly fun game." A green portal opened behind Marco. "You just need-" A scaled hand grabbed his hoodie, pulling him inside with a yelp, the portal closing without them so much as able to blink.
"....Quartz, please tell me this is just like that one birthday surprise during my birthday where you had Lion portal me through different dimensions to my party."
"Not at all, I don't know what the heck happened!" Quartz confirmed her fears. "Marco was just kidnapped! Lion, track!"
The animal went forward, sniffing the spot. "Grrrrrr." His hair looked on end, tail straight.
"What is it, boy, did you find something!?" She got on the ground, begging with the beast to have something! Lion just shook in place, before he ran off, leaving them alone. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT!?"
"I don't know, he…he seemed scared!" Quartz looked confused byond all words. "I…I don't know what to do here! I…I don't know how we're going to find him!"
Marco was gone … her first and best friend on earth … someone she cared deeply about … was taken from her. She pulled out her spellbook, flipping until she found a locked skull. "Open Eclipsa's chapter." She commanded the tiny blue guide.
"Not that I can stop you, but be warned if you open it, there's a huge chance that you'll be taken over by the dark magic covering its pages."
"Don't care, Marco's in trouble." She was grateful that Glosseryck didn't get all annoying about it, and began unlocking the pages.
"Star, wait!" Quartz shouted. "This is Eclipsa we're talking about, we can just talk with-"
"No time, it's in there, I'm using it." She said, flipping through the … in all honesty pretty boring stuff. But she knew it was here, a spell to find someone no matter what. Once she found it, and read it twice for good measure, she stood up, raising her wand.
"I summon the All Seeing Eye, to tear a whole into the sky." She could feel energy flow through her as the small black mass formed. "Reveal to me that which is hidden, unveil to me what is forbidden." She would find the bastard that took Marco and bring the boy back.
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Toffee threw the boy into a glass case, letting it close behind him as he took his seat. "Fastest time we've gotten into trouble." Marco spoke, looking confused at the minions surrounding the case. "So what's the story here? New boss kicks out Ludo, turns out to be more effective but crazier?"
"In a sense you're pretty spot on." He deadpanned. "You best get comfortable. Your role is tory in this game of mine." Empathy and attachment were always going to be a Butterfly's greatest weakness. Solaria with Eclipsa, Eclipsa with Globgore, Comet with Moon, and now Star with the earth boy she's grown attached to. If he was in the mood to really mess with her head, he would've taken Rose Quartz's brat instead, but he needed the boy alive for the end game sadly. Marco? Perfectly expendable if she was bratty enough.
"Or I could break out of here." The boy punched the wall. "... WHYYY!" He shouted aloud.
"It's not glass, it's crystal … a specific type of gem technology." He smirked. "Even if your friends came in with all the crystal gems fused together, they'd only begin to barely crack it."
"How'd you get…how do you even know about…" The human boy asked, rubbing his throbbing hand.
"The same way I know Star will either give me the wand or let you die." He answered. "Lobster Claws, be a dear and let star know-" A portal of absolute darkness opened before them, an eye in the center that revealed the princess in question. "...Or she'll just come to us." Toffee didn't anticipate the girl delving into Eclipsa's dark chapter, even if he probably should've. "Like Mother, Like Daughter I suppose."
"... "Marco!? Are you okay!? Where are you!?" She screamed through the viewing magic.
"Star! Star!" The human boy pounded on the walls, calling out to the girl. "I'm fine, don't do anything crazy, he just wants your wand like Ludo."
"I'm not like Ludo. For instance." He pressed a button, and the crystal cage started to sink, giving the boy less and less room. "I actually have the spine to follow through on a threat. Come to Castle Avarice, alone, or Marco Diaz is crushed." He threw a cup at the illusionary view, cutting it off. "So, last meal? Or do you believe your life is worth more than her wand?"
"..You're not going to win. Star's going to kick your butt, and you'll never get her wand."
"Oh, both are true." He smirked. "You have no idea how right you are."