(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

“Close your eyes. Focus on the flow of the sounds around you; the dozens of voices having conversations, the clanks of forks against trays, the scratches of items being pushed and shoved across tables, and finally, focus on my voice. Now that you’ve heard all those sounds, crashing with each other and scattering across the room, imagine if you could concentrate them into one solid sound, into one solid being,” Marco said. “That’s how magic works.”

Jackie and Janna opened their eyes and looked about as confused as Marco thought they’d be.

“There's magic in the air, constantly fighting itself and scattering and dissipating, sometimes chaotic and sometimes tame, but always present whether you can feel it or not.”

That seemed to somewhat help them understand, but he’d told them to wait on the questions till he was done.

“On Earth, for the most part, the magic is tame and barely present, like the chirping of crickets or the whistle of the wind, whereas in Mewni or Heckapoo’s dimension it’s more like this cafeteria, with wild amounts of magic in every nook and cranny. This makes it easier to control on Earth, but weaker overall.”

He still had their attention.

“The magic in an area isn’t the only type, though. There are also magics within most living creatures, which usually reflect the environment they’re in or the sources of magic around them. Different types of magics use these different sources and have different potencies.”

So far, they seemed to get it.

“Contemporary Magic, which is the main type I’ll be teaching you, uses the magic within oneself. Enchanting Magic pulls the magic from the environment and concentrates it into an object or person, usually with a specific ability or spell in mind. Demonic Magic pulls the energy from souls, which contain an enormous amount of magic but are extremely dangerous to work with. And Ritualistic Magic requests the borrowing of magic from a higher being, usually with a negative consequence.”

He could see a few questions on the tips of both their tongues, and was glad they chose to hold them back for now.

“The order I just described them in is the order of power, with the weakest being Contemporary Magic and the strongest being Ritualistic Magic. I know a little bit of all four genres of magic, but I tend to stick to those two. I mostly used Rituals, actually, but they aren’t the only type of Ritualistic Magic. They are the most powerful and reliable type of Ritualistic Magic I’ve ever seen, though. A lot of higher beings are very wishy-washy with how they handle mortals using their magic.”

Janna bit her lip, obviously using all her power to hold back her comments and questions.

“But because the Rituals are so dangerous and powerful, I won’t be teaching them to anyone. I’ll start with teaching you guys Contemporary, and we can move on from there eventually.”

Jackie was gripping the edge of the table and, even though Marco was done speaking, he almost wanted to keep going just to see how long they could actually go without talking.

Unfortunately, Marco was a good person so instead he said, “Any questions?”

Janna slammed her hand on the table. “What’s the ‘higher being’ thing?”

“Oh,” Marco said. “They’re a type of being that have so much magical energy in their system that their Contemporary Magic is god-like and near-limitless. So, usually, because they want followers or they’re bored or something, they’ll loan it out to people without innate magical ability for a price.” At least, that was the general gist of what was written in books and runes. Marco had a feeling it was pretty on point, though. “Sometimes a higher being could just be an item or artifact with a lot of magic in it, though. That’s kind of where the lines get blurry between Enchanting and Ritualistic Magic.”

“Okay,” Jackie said, “So then what’s the higher being you speak to or whatever with your Rituals?”

“Beats me,” Marco said. “All I know is that whatever it is, it’s really powerful and keeps to its guns. And it apparently works across the multiverse, which most Higher Beings are incapable of. It’s even more shocking considering the time-dilation effect between Heckapoo’s Dimension and here. That’s why I didn’t even consider using Rituals during the Mask Tag game. I didn’t think they’d work.”

Jackie frowned. “Wait, so you borrow power from this thing and let it do shitty things in return, and you don’t even know what it is?”

Marco chuckled at her. “Millions of people pray to a god they don’t even know exist every day. I have proof mine is real at least.”

Janna grinned. “Did you just dis every religion on the planet?”

Marco frowned. “Oh, no, definitely not. People should believe whatever gets them through the day. You know… so long as it doesn't hurt anyone or summon an apocalypse.”

“Summon an apocalypse?” Jackie asked.

“Higher beings aren’t always good. In fact, almost all of them have some ulterior motive for what they do.”

“Like summoning an apocalypse?”

Marco coughed. “Yeah.”

They both gave him an odd face and he realized he’d have to explain further, even if it was way off topic by this point.

“Okay, for example, there’s a higher being that goes by the name of Galdos. It spends millenia as a non-corporeal being, with no body or presence, just observing as society grows and culture spreads, looking for a seed of fear to grasp on to. Once it finds one, it digs itself into the minds of people, pushing them together into a cult that worships it, and manipulates that cult into gathering enough magic together to finally summon it into our world, where it takes the form of a dragon the size of a town.” ”

Marco took a breath.

“At that point, it attempts to wipe out all life and all magic from the world in one big feeding frenzy.”

Jackie and Janna looked terrified.

“The moral of the story is don’t trust higher beings,” Marco said.

“How…” Jackie gulped. “How do you even stop something like that?”

“You stop the summoning ritual before it completes,” Marco said.

There was a moment where he let that sink into their heads.

“And that would be why I’m teaching you Contemporary Magic,” Marco concluded.

“Gotcha,” Jackie said.

“So, when do we get to actually do the magic?” Janna asked.

Marco thought about it for a moment. “In probably three or four more lessons? You have to have a firm grasp on the concepts and be able to direct your energy before you can actually do anything with it.”

Janna groaned. “Wow, boring. I wish Star was here…”

Jackie seemed reluctant to agree, but eventually said, “yeah, it’d be a little more fun if she was teaching us too.”

Marco smiled. “If Star was teaching you, she’d just be all ‘you just gotta feel it!’ and ‘go pew-pew’. You wouldn't actually learn anything.”

Jackie sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I still miss her, though.”

Marco frowned. They all missed Star.

But, maybe he could take a lesson from her in how to make this all a little more exciting for the two of them…

“How about we go on a quick field-trip?” Marco suggested.

Jackie quirked an eyebrow at him. “Dude, you are not skipping any more classes.”

“Don’t worry. This will take less than five minutes. I promise.” Marco said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Jackie seemed unconvinced.

“Look, I’m not Star. That much is obvious,” Marco said. “If I say it’ll be five minutes, it actually will be five minutes.”

“Okay, then I’m down,” Janna said, a tinge of excitement in her voice.

“Sure, it can’t hurt, right?” Jackie added, a little nervous.

Marco smiled wide and pulled out his scissors. “Then let's get educational,” he said, cutting open a portal in the middle of the cafeteria and gesturing for them to enter.

They both took tentative steps in and Marco followed after them.

On the other side, a large black and purple temple stood before them, with two gigantic pearl-white doors in the front, at the end of a long stone pass.

The temple itself was surrounded by dozens upon dozens of statues and sculptures, each one depicting a different person. The majority of them represented a rugged and bearded warrior dude packing some unrealistically proportioned muscles. Others showed centaurs, sphinxes, angels, krakhens, and other common races of the dimension. While Marco did not understand the native language here, every single statue was labeled with the same title, or the same name, to be exact.

It was only a guess, but Marco assumed that each of these statues represented the artist’s interpretation of the higher being’s appearance. However, these things were clearly hundreds of years old, and were overgrown with the surrounding vegetation. It made sense. As exciting as this place was, once you learned of its purpose, you’d have no reason to go or come back here. The unkempt nature of this area represented the denizens’ indifference to this place.

As it stood, the Temple of Grong was a hot spot for interdimensional travelers who were lucky enough to be fed only the vaguest details.

“Whoa,” Jackie said, impressed at the towering structure.

“Yeah. We’re going to go inside that,” Marco said, leading the way to the doors.

“So what is this place?” Janna asked, following close behind him.

“I’ll explain once we’re inside,” Marco said.

They reached the doors, towering high above them. With a simple push, they opened wide, into a pitch black void.

“Nice,” Janna said.

“Follow me,” Marco said, walking in.

Around him the world went black, but he knew he just had to turn around to leave.

“Holy crap,” Jackie said. “I can’t see a thing. Are you sure this is safe?”

“Very,” Marco assured.

They heard the distant sound of the doors shutting behind them.

“Why are you here?” A booming voice said, compelling an answer out of everyone in the room.

“I’m just chaperoning. Just pretend that I’m not even here,” Marco said.

“He brought us here,” Janna said.

“I don’t really know,” Jackie said.

“Very well,” the voice said. “Your wish shall be granted.”

“What?” Jackie said.

The doors reopened behind them and a strong gust of wind blew all three of them out into the light and onto the dirty ground.

“Ow,” Janna said. “What the hell was that all about?”

“ That was a higher being,” Marco explained. “It grants one of the duller wishes you have knocking around in your head while you’re in there. Star took me once and I ended up with an infinite bag of chips.” A bag of chips that he really could have used on his quest, to avoid starving as often as he did.

“Um, why didn’t you just tell us that to begin with?” Jackie asked. “Knowing that ahead of time would’ve made the dark spooky temple a little less dark and spooky.”.

“And how do we even know what wish got granted? I had so many random thoughts going through my head in there. I feel kinda gypped!” Janna said.

Marco shrugged. “It only grants wishes to people who don’t know that it grants wishes. It's stupid and ridiculous, like most Ritualistic magic.”

They both frowned.

“And you’ll find out what got granted later. Sometimes it takes up to a day, but it still makes your day get just a little more exciting, right?”

“Nothing… bad will happen, right?” Jackie asked.

Marco shook his head. “It's a weird higher being, but it seems to be a good one. But you can see why dealing with them could get really annoying and contrived, right?”

“Yeah, I think I get it,” Janna said. “But it's still pretty cool that we got a wish granted!”

“Just don’t count on it changing your life or anything,” Marco said. “Most people get disappointed by what they end up with. That’s the supposed ‘negative effect’ it comes with: regret for not thinking of something cooler.”

“Then I guess I won’t raise my hopes very high,” Jackie said.

“You’re already doing better than I did,” Marco said. After hearing what the temple did, he’d really hoped he’d end up with Jackie or at least go on a date with her. Eventually he did, obviously, but it was weeks after the temple ordeal, and he’d ended up with those chips instead anyway.

“We should head back,” Jackie said, looking down at her phone, “lunch is almost over.”

Marco nodded and cut open another portal. They all stepped through into the cafeteria. A few of the kids there gave them some looks, but went back to their conversations soon after.

“Hey, can the next lesson be after school or during the weekend so we can actually get something done in it?” Janna asked.

Marco smiled. “Yeah, sure. Whenever you guys want to. I just thought the chaos of the cafeteria was a good starting point.”

‘Oh, yeah, definitely. You sounded totally sage-like and wise,’ Kar thought.

‘I thought you were sleeping.’

‘Of course you did. I’m allowed to just be quiet and let you have your stupid lesson, you know. I’m capable of shutting the fuck up sometimes without being unconscious.’

‘Well, thank you for shutting the fuck up for my lesson, then,’ Marco thought.

‘Well, I did doze off for a bit, but you’re welcome.’

Marco rolled his eyes, and they landed on where Jackie and Janna were gathering up the garbage from their lunch.

Janna looked up at him and said, “Oh, you done?”

“What?” Marco asked.

“You were talking to Kar, right?” Jackie said, tossing the stuff in the trash bin.

“Was I that obvious?” Marco asked.

“Dude, you went quiet and then ignored us,” Janna said.

“Shit, sorry,” Marco said, feeling like an asshole. He walked over and grabbed his own tray of trash.

“Oh, it’s no biggie,” Jackie said with a chuckle. “We figured out what you were doing right away. We get it, Kar can be pretty attention-grabbing.”

“I’m not sure if I should be insulted,” Kar said, forming in Marco’s arm and making him drop the tray he was holding.

Marco groaned and then started picking up the trash with his free hand. “Kar, some warning?”

Kar scooped up all the trash and deposited it in the bin. “Oh, don’t be a pussy.”

“I see you’re enjoying your freedom to come out whenever you want,” Marco said.

“I would,” Janna said. “Annoying you would be just an extra benefit.”

“This girl gets me,” Kar said, with a shit-eating grin.

Marco laughed a little. “You are going to be the most inconvenient-”

The bell rang.

Right. Class.

“On to science class!” Janna said, punching a fist in the air mock-enthusiastically.

Marco followed behind them as they made their way through the halls to a half-filled classroom. Sitting at the teacher’s desk was a skinny young blonde woman with glasses, who had probably just became a teacher this year or something, because she was definitely younger than Marco.

Or, wait, younger than Marco had been in Heckapoo’s Dimension. He was younger than she was now.

The teacher was hunched over and deeply focused on writing on a small stack of papers.

“Marco, your seat is over here,” Jackie said, patting a desk helpfully.

“Thanks,” Marco said before making his way over and sitting there. He was sitting pretty far from both Jackie and Janna, so he’d be mostly on his own this period.

The bell rang again and the rest of the students filtered over to their seats. Then, the teacher cleared her throat and stood up, holding a stack of papers in her hands.

“Alright, I’ve given you all fair warning on this test. You’ve gotten the review papers. I’ve told you exactly which chapters to study,” she said. “There is absolutely no reason you should not pass this test.”

Marco could think of a good reason. But also, apparently a few other kids could as well, because nearly half the class looked very nervous. Even Janna looked nerve-wracked in a way Marco hadn’t seen before.

“No one is allowed to speak until the end of the class,” the teacher said. “I don’t care if you finish early or not.”

And then, she walked down the rows of students, putting a packet on each of their desks.

Marco swallowed uncomfortably and stared down at his desk. Here was to another failed class.

But when the teacher got to him, she put a singular paper down onto his desk. “Sorry about the illiteracy thing, Marco. I guess just look at this periodic table or something while everyone’s test-taking. I’ll figure out what to do with your lessons during the weekend and go over it with you on Monday.”

Marco blinked. “Uh, okay,” he said, a wave of relief washing over him.

He could immediately feel the harsh glares of the other students, who were still forced to take the test, but Marco could deal with the entire student body hating him, if it came to that. It was almost nothing compared to the bounty on his head.

The teacher made her final rounds and then leaned back against her desk. “Alright, that’s everyone. I hope you studied.”

“Hey, uh, Ms. Z?” Janna said, raising her hand nervously.

The teacher turned to her. “Yes, Janna?”

“You forgot to give me a test,” Janna said.

“Oh! No, you don’t have to take the test, Janna,” Ms. Z said with a smile.

Janna froze. “What?”

“You already passed the test, you don’t have to take it,” Ms. Z repeated.

Oh. That was Janna’s mundane wish that got granted. Apparently this test was causing her quite a bit of mental grief. He felt a little bad for taking up her lunch time with the magic lesson when she could have been studying, but then again she didn’t seem like the type that would bother doing that last minute.

Janna seemed to come to the same conclusion about the wish, as a look of epiphany mixed with delight crossed her face.

“You’ve already passed every test this year, actually,” Ms. Z said, “so you don’t really have to come in anymore if we have a test, okay?”

Janna smiled devilishly. “Okay.”

For all the glares Marco got, no one seemed to bat an eye at the fact that Janna didn’t have to take the test. Marco wasn’t sure if that was the wish’s fault or if the class just liked Janna more than they liked Marco.

The only person with a reaction other than Marco and Janna was Jackie, and it wasn’t really the reaction he was expecting.

Jackie had definitely come to the same conclusion as they had, but she seemed really nervous about it instead. She bit at her nails and fidgeted as she took her test, while sneaking glances back at Janna that only seemed to make her more nervous.

Hm. Marco would have to ask her about it later.

In the meantime, he could try to decipher the paper in front of him. At the edges of his brain, the shape of the table looked familiar, but he had no idea what it was for, other than “science”.

Still, he knew the alphabet a little better now, so maybe he could just work on recognizing them on the table. As he looked down at the paper, enough of it looked familiar-

Marco stared far more than he should have at the woman across the room. She was sipping at a drink, looking at the hustle and bustle of the bar aimlessly, which, by itself wasn’t unusual. It was just that-

‘Marco swore the woman across the room looked like his childhood crush,’ Kar thought, causing Marco to frown.

‘Please don’t do this again,’ Marco thought back.

‘Marco argued with the voice in his head, narrating his every thought and move.’

Whatever. If Kar wanted to screw with him, the best solution was to ignore it.

Either way, the more he looked at the pale, blonde woman, the more she looked like an adult version of Jackie Lynn Thomas. The piercings really sold it.

‘Marco took a swig of whiskey in anticipation of getting some tonight,’ Kar thought, as Marco did just that.

Marco attempted to ignore Kar and watched as the Jackie-look-alike took the last few sips of her ale.

Then, he-

‘Marco sauntered over to the hot chick so he could buy her some more alcohol, because no one would fuck him sober.’

Keeping a straight face, Marco said, “hey, mind if I buy you a drink?”

She looked up at him and flashed a smirk. “Only if you get me the good stuff.”

‘Marco couldn’t actually afford ‘the good stuff’, but he was willing to use up his transport funds if it meant he’d have a chance with her.’

Marco nodded and motioned for the bartender to come over. “I’d be happy to. It’s only fair if I get your name in return.”

“Vintias,” she said, looking up and down Marco’s body. “And you?”

‘Marco was already excited-‘

“Marco,” Marco said. Fuck.

‘So excited, in fact, that he completely forgot to use his alias.’

‘You fucked me up, Kar. That was your fault.’

“Marco?” Vintias said, a smile stretching across her face. “Like THE Marco?”

Well, no getting out of it now. Marco played it cool and said, “The one and only.”

She licked her lips. “Hot. I’ve never been with an outlaw.”

‘Marco was now completely done thinking with his brain.’

“Well, no time like the present,” Marco said, placing a hand on her chin.

She smirked again and then leaned into a kiss, which got very heated.

‘And then Marco sucked face, hoping his mediocre kissing skills would be passable enough to lead to something more.’

Marco tried to stop thinking about Kar and let himself melt into the kiss.

Did it mean something that he’d been attracted to this woman just because she looked like Jackie?

Did he just have a type, or was he trying to relive his lost youth, knowing it was taken by the scissors quest?

‘Marco was desperate to get this particular line of thought out of his head, it was really messing with his technique and-‘

Something came at Marco’s head and he grabbed it before it made contact. He pulled out of the kiss, annoyed that someone had interrupted him, and then looked at the offender.

He was gripping the arm of the Jackie-look-alike (who he’d already forgotten the actual name of), and she had a look of shock on her face.

“Shit, sorry!” Marco said, letting her arm go. “Instant reflexes, hah.”

Instead of being awkward about it, though, she just ducked to the ground and picked up what she’d dropped- a knife.

Oh! She’d been trying to kill him. Gotcha.

‘Marco shouldn’t have drank as much as he did, or he probably would have noticed that earlier.’

Well, Kar wasn’t wrong.

Not-Jackie held the knife up defensively in front of her.

“Couldn’t we have just had a good night?” Marco asked with a sigh.

“Your head is worth enough to build me a castle,” she said, flipping the knife around her hand in an attempt to look menacing.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty hard to kill,” he said with a shrug. “You’d have had better luck if you tried to kill me in my sleep afterwards.”

Not that she’d succeed even then, either, but then at least Marco would’ve gotten something out of this ordeal.

Marco took one last good look at the girl. Her sloppy stance and the way she was holding the knife told him everything. This girl was no professional bounty hunter, but a poor girl who thought she was at the right place at the right time. He wouldn’t feel right killing her in self defense, her resemblance to Jackie notwithstanding.

With a heavy sigh, Marco turned to go.

“Hey, wait! What are you doing?” Not-Jackie said.

“Getting a wagon before I waste any more money on alcohol,” Marco said.

“We’re not finished here!”

‘They were absolutely finished there.’

Marco pulled his head off the desk, and the people around him were still entranced in their test to even notice he’d passed out. A quick glance around the room showed Janna doing something on her phone and Jackie finishing the last page of her test.

A few other students were completely done and had empty desks, and a few more were panicking and desperately trying to finish before the end of the class, which was in about 10 minutes, if Marco was reading the clock right.

He looked at the paper the teacher had handed him, and it was covered in a little drool. Marco realized that he really wouldn’t be able to survive school if he kept passing out for half the class. He needed to somehow fix this over the weekend.

Maybe he could involve Jackie and Janna in this as some sort of group project? They could go to a dimension that has specialized mental magic and learn from a professional there.

He still had a few hedgehogs left. Maybe they could dissect one and discern its properties. Find a way to produce whatever gets him out of the flashbacks.

As Marco thought to himself, he watched idly as Jackie got up from her desk and handed the test to Ms. Z. She quietly went back to her desk and buried her head in her arms. Marco kept wondering if she was okay.

…

‘What are you planning to do about her, kid?’ Kar asked in his head.

‘I’m surprised you aren’t narrating again,’ Marco thought. ‘And as Marco glanced over at his childhood crush, repressed feelings locked within started to resurface,’ He waved his hands around for emphasis.

‘Naw, I’ve learned my lesson since then. I was a much less mature demonic curse when I first learned to telepathically communicate, and I’ve grown since then.’

‘That was five years ago. You haven’t grown that much.’

‘Yeah, well the threat of listening to that stupid song over and over again in your head was enough to get me to break that habit.’

Marco snapped his fingers. ‘Oh right! You mean Space Unicooorn! Soaring through the stars!’

‘Gaaaah God fuck no with that!’ Kar slapped Marco with his right hand.

“Ow!” Marco said.

Ms. Z looked up from her desk and glared at Marco.

Oh yeah. No talking.

‘Sorry. My point still stands, though,’ Kar thought. ‘You have to talk to Jackie.’

‘About what?’ Marco asked, looking over at her.

‘You have to figure out what you guys are, for one, and get that whole thing straightened out. Then there’s that whole nervous thing she’s got going on right now, which probably has something to do with the sudden onslaught of magic invading every aspect of her life.’

‘I know I should help her through that,’ Marco thought. ‘But I have no idea how to approach the whole relationship thing.’

‘Well, do you know what you want it to be?’

Marco thought about it for a moment.

There was a part of him that wanted more than anything to be in a relationship with her, but it was entirely ruled by teenage hormones and puberty.

But Marco, or at least the Marco he was now, had no idea what to do about the whole situation. In some moments, he felt like a kid, and in others he felt like an adult, and that made the whole relationship thing so… complicated.

It was creepy and wrong if he ended up with someone, no matter what age they were at this point. If he eventually reverted completely back to a teenager, mentally, then it would be the best thing in the world to date the girl he’d been head-over-heels for his whole younger life, but right now…

He was in a purgatory, halfway between adulthood and childhood and not really either.

‘I mean, isn’t that the definition of being a teenager?’

Was it? Or was he just trying to find an explanation when there was none?

Marco pulled his hand through his hair. This was all way too much. He needed a drink.

He snuck another glance at Jackie, and his inner teenager was content just being in her presence. Meanwhile, his inner adult saw a kid being way too overwhelmed with everything she had to deal with all of a sudden.

God, the poor girl. Her boyfriend suddenly became an aloof douchebag and forgot they were even dating, she immediately had to deal with life-threatening magical situations, and then one of her best friends had to go back to her home dimension, possibly to never be seen again.

He’d be nervous and overwhelmed, too.

Marco took a deep breath. Yeah, he could figure out the weird relationship stuff later. What mattered right now was that Jackie needed his help.

‘And when has Marco The Freedom-fighter ever backed down from helping someone?’

Marco almost laughed. ‘Yeah, okay. You got me there.’

He looked back over at Jackie, who nearly jumped out of her skin when the bell rang, but she wasted no time leaving the classroom after the initial fright.

Marco frowned. Jackie’s next class must have been on the other side of the school, or something. It was a big enough building that it would make sense for her to be in a rush like that.

Or at least, Marco hoped it was just because of something simple like that.

‘I’ll talk to her at the end of the day,’ Marco thought

Marco's last two classes, Literature and Programming, went by relatively quickly. The crappy thing was that neither Jackie nor Janna were in those classes with him, but besides that they were actually pretty pleasant.

While he didn't get the hang of written English just yet, Marco was still able to participate in Literature. His teacher actually seemed to believe his whole story, and so made the lesson entirely verbal, and reviewed a couple of the myths that they’d been been reading about.

Marco made a connection between Beowulf (which was the current book they were working on) and a myth common to Heckapoo’s dimension. When he spoke up about it, his teacher’s eyes lit up and she urged him to continue. Eventually, the class turned into Marco telling the tales of old, myths and legends that permeated through his quest, and the rest of the classroom, students and teacher alike, listening rapturously and occasionally interrupting with comparisons to their own myths and legends.

The parts that really caught their attention, though, were the points where he mentioned meeting the creatures or people of myth. Most of the time, they were something that had been misunderstood and turned into a humongous monster, when in reality it was an animal with a large shadow, or just a person with a deformity. But other times, it was an actual giant bird spirit cursing a mountain, or a higher being with a grudge against a town.

It went far too fast, and Marco was actually disappointed when the bell rang.

The Programming class also proved to be productive. He explained his lack of knowledge to the teacher and he helped him with the basics of computer-use while the rest of the class worked on projects they’d been given.

Marco had no idea what those projects could have even been. He'd forgotten how advanced these things were. Were they making websites, or just delving into the way the machines worked? He wanted to ask, but he felt kind of like an idiot about it already. It didn’t help that they all used jargon that he couldn’t understand.

He ended up asking the teacher if there was a way to find out his password, either from his own computer or from the ones they were working on. His teacher just told him that the whole point of passwords were that they were a protection against unauthorized people accessing personal files, so if they were easy to get any other way, that would make them pretty bad at their jobs.

Marco thought that made sense, and also it meant that Janna was a powerful person to have access to those things.

As the final bell rang, Marco no longer felt the same sense of dread and embarrassment he felt walking in this morning. He actually felt like he had a chance to pass this year. The teachers were actually quite accommodating. He left his last class and headed for his locker.

As the metal door opened, Marco reflectively guarded his body with a textbook as a pink hedgehog launched itself at him.

He didn’t know why, but the hedgehogs Star made were quite affectionate towards Marco and only him. That, or they really wanted to stab him with their quills. He wasn’t sure which explanation was more likely, but he’d rather only let them poke him while he was unconscious.

He shoved the thing back into his backpack, which was reinforced on the inside with some steel plates his dad had loaned him, just to make sure the quills didn't poke through the bag.

“Maybe it’s a better idea to to bring your backpack to class,” Janna said as she and Jackie approached Marco. “You know, so the hedgehogs can wake you up anywhere, and not just when you happen to pass out near your locker?”

“Hmm, good point, but these guys won’t stop struggling, and that would get really annoying really fast,” Marco said, trying to close the zipper on the creature. “I think we should just try and cure the problem, not the symptoms. And when I don’t need these little guys anymore, we can just release them into the wilderness.”

“Wouldn't that... negatively impact the environment somehow?” Jackie asked sheepishly.

“Well, we're on a mission to bring magic to Earth, right? So I say we let em loose and observe the ensuing chaos.” Janna said.

“I can't really see them lasting that long regardless, but it would be cool to monitor them somewhat.” Marco was curious what would happen if the pink hedgehogs mated with the local ones. Maybe some cool magic hybrids would result from that. Every animal in Heckapoo's dimension had magical properties. Though that only resulted in making them harder to kill and more likely for them to kill you, so maybe releasing them was a bad idea...

“It doesn’t really matter what will happen if you’re just going to run out of them anyway,” Jackie said. “Which you’re dangerously close to doing, by the way.”

Jackie was right. Marco was down to seven hedgehogs already. Now they were really an emergency-only resource, in case he ended up stuck in memory-purgatory again.

“So then, what’s the plan?” Janna asked. “We can’t just expect Marco to get better willy nilly, right?”

“You guys free this weekend?” Marco asked. “We can go exploring some dimensions and study their magic. For safety, we’ll only go to the ones I have enough memories of. We can look for a cure to the memory spell while we learn. You know, cut off two hydra heads with one sword.”

“Sounds good to me,” Janna said. “I’ll go to the store and buy some snacks. This can be an all day thing, right?”

Marco smirked. “I don’t see why not.”

“Um… I know you’re excited to get the ball rolling on this magic stuff, Marco,”Jackie said, “but you’re still illiterate, and have missed a lot of school. Shouldn’t we prioritize that?”

“That’s what Sunday’s for,” Janna argued.

“Well, we don’t even know what my wish was yet. I don’t exactly want to pile on the magical mysteries until it blows up in our faces.”

Janna had a look of epiphany. “Oh man! What if your wish was to make Marco literate again?”

“I couldn’t read any of the words in any of my classes after the wish,” Marco said. “And before you bring it up, I also had a flashback in science, so that’s not cured either.”

Jackie frowned, obviously unnerved by this piece of information.

“It’s okay, though! I’ll get it eventually,” Marco said.

“That’s not it,” Jackie said, looking at the ground. “It’s just…”

Was the whole magic thing really freaking her out this much? “Jackie, what’s wrong?”

She took a breath. “We really don’t know what my wish was, and I’m kinda scared it’ll be something big.”

Marco put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “It won’t be anything dangerous. It’s always something you wanted. I wouldn’t have taken you anywhere that could hurt you.”

Jackie didn’t reponsed. She seemed frustrated that no one was apparently getting her point. To be fair, Marco wasn’t even sure what said point was.

‘Don’t wave this off as teenage angst. The last thing she needs is to be treated like a weirdo for not accepting this magic bullshit with open arms. Talk to her about it,’ the not-so-subtle-voice in his head said.

Marco sighed, and turned to Janna.

“Do you mind heading home without us? I need to discuss things with her.”

Janna eyed Jackie and nodded, seeming to get the picture. “Sure, I’ll go ahead and assume the plan is still on, and head to your house tomorrow. If things had to change, well, you and your parents can just shoo me away. No big deal.”

She made her leave without uttering another word to them. Marco was relieved she didn’t punctuate her exit with a smart comment about him and Jackie being alone again. That filter she had was one of the reasons she was a good person, after all.

Marco took a moment to make sure she was completely gone, and then said, “Jackie, what’s really bothering you?”

Jackie looked around, double checking that they were alone. “It mind-controlled people, Marco!” she said.

“What did?” Marco asked, suddenly not understanding at all what she was talking about.

“Janna’s wish! It took regular bystanders and went into their brains so they’d be okay with her not taking a test!” Jackie said. “No one in that room had anything to do with her wish, but they were used to make it come true!”

Oh. It made pretty good sense to be upset about that. “It didn’t really hurt them, though,” Marco reasoned, trying not to seem like he was undermining her concern.

“I know no one got hurt , but they didn’t consent to having their brain rearranged! What if I wished to get my boyfriend back? Would you just wake up tomorrow morning without any memories of your quest?”

Marco felt the sting of that possible wish. Not to mention how something like that would affect Kar.

Jackie frowned, realizing she may have gone a bit far. “I wouldn’t wish that. I didn’t wish that. I’m... sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Marco said, smiling to comfort her, “I would get it if you did.”

Jackie sighed. “Maybe I’m just being overdramatic. I get that. But I find something horrifying about this. Humans are scatterbrained creatures who think things that we would never act upon. So to have this ‘higher being’ come out and do it for me, without any tangible consequences… What if I was pissed off at my dad for grounding me, and then after visiting that temple, he died in a car crash? No one could even question it because every witness was under the wish’s influence, and was made to believe it was an accident.”

She was shaking.

“Who deserves that kind of power? Who gives away that power? How limited is it? You make it sound like understanding magic is possible but I don’t really think it is. And that’s terrifying!”

Marco frowed. “You’re right. Magic is terrifying and powerful.”

Jackie looked relieved that Marco seemed to agree with her.

“It can be unpredictable, intense, and falls into the wrong hands far too often,” Marco said. “But that’s exactly why I want to teach it to you guys.”

“What?” Jackie asked.

“Magic is everywhere. It’s in the air we breathe, in the creatures around us. The High Commission wants Earth to be free of magic, but they’re only trying to stop humans from using magic.”

Marco smiled.

“It’s not going to hold forever, though. Sooner or later, magic will worm its way into the minds of people across the planet, and there’ll be full fledged wizards walking the streets.”

“So then why even bother with all of this?”

“Because I don’t want babies running around with guns,” Marco said. “If we understand magic, we’re less likely to shoot ourselves in the feet with it.”

Jackie scratched the back of her neck. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to do it, Jackie,” Marco said. “If you don’t want anything to do with magic, that’s okay. We can still hang out all the time. We’ll still be friends whether you decide to do this or not.”

Jackie smiled, and then wiped a little at her eyes. “Thanks, Marco. I, uh... really needed to hear that.”

Marco hugged her. “I’m sorry it came off as an ultimatum. If you’re uncomfortable, it's always okay to back out.”

Jackie returned the hug and then pulled away. “Thank you.”

Marco found himself blushing a little. “Yeah, anytime,” he said. “And if you ever feel like it’s too much, you can reach out to me for help.”

“Thanks, I-” Jackie paused. “Wait, don’t you not have your phone anymore?”

Marco could have slapped himself. “Right. Yeah.”

Then, an idea hit him.

He handed his dimensional scissors to her. “Take these. If you need me, just pop on over to my room.”

Jackie barely even glanced at the scissors. “Are you sure? You went through a lot to get these.”

“Then you can just borrow them temporarily, and I’ll get you your own pair one day.”

Jackie’s eyes went wide. “What? No-”

Marco laughed. “I mean a shitty pair from Quest Buy. I don’t intend to go on another quest.”

Jackie laughed awkwardly.

“But really, it’s okay. I don’t need them right now. It’s well worth it if it brings you peace of mind.”

Jackie smiled. “If you’re sure…”

“I’m positive.”

Jackie grabbed the scissors and put them in her pocket. “Thanks, Marco.”

Marco scratched the back of his head. “Oh, no problem.”

Oh. right.

“Actually, can you cut me a portal to my room?” Marco said.

Jackie chuckled. “Uh, sure. But I’ve never been in there.”

“That’s okay,” Marco said with a shrug. “Just the concept of my room should be enough.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” She took out the scissors and cut open a portal. “There you go.”

Marco smiled. “Thanks.” Then, he stuck one foot in and then stopped himself. “Wait, will I see you tomorrow?”

Jackie thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. If I decide not to learn magic, I’ll still let you know in the morning.”

Marco smiled wide. “Awesome. Then see you tomorrow,” he said, disappearing through the portal.

Marco’s room was now a complete mess. He had turned the entire thing upside down just to find one item, and he was pissed that it still eluded him.

None of the drawers had it, and after a thorough examination of his bed’s underside, the only things he ended up with were a magic vacuum, a video game, some utility pack that you wear as a belt, enchanted pixie gemstones, a skull mask, lots of his own hair for some reason, a pamphlet for some island made of garbage, a shirt with a hot dog on it, a frilly pink dress, and, finally, a worn out porn magazine. Some cool loot in it’s own right, but not what he was looking for.

“Why don’t you try out the kitchen? It is food, after all.” Kar said as he slithered out from the bed's bottom.

“Ah, right! Good idea!” Marco exclaimed. He assumed he wouldn’t have left such a magical item out in the open like that, but then again he was a stupid-ass teenager so who can say.

Marco rushed out of his room and headed for the stairs, but not before looking at Star’s room, or more specifically, what had been Star’s room.

The room she had been living in for so many months was a spell in it's own right, and Star was, either intentionally or not, keeping it around using a little of her energy through the wand.

If Marco had to guess, his friend was either forced by Moon to convert the room back into a normal guest bedroom, or Star no longer had the wand, and couldn't channel her magic into Earth from Mewni.

He didn't want to waste time speculating on what happened between Star and Moon after that pure shitshow yesterday. Star was probably beyond upset, and wanted to find a way back to Earth, and Moon wouldn't let that happen, for obvious reasons. Marco felt like he had made their already strenuous relationship even worse, and who knows how long it would take for Star to listen to her mother.

Or perhaps he was the one Star was upset with right now. Was she expecting him to rescue her? To portal to Butterfly Castle, escape to Earth, and adopt her as a permanent member of the Diaz family? She had to know something like that would never work out.

Maybe one day she would forgive him, but Marco in good conscience could not guarantee her safety if she helped him, not with the Magic High Commission’s strong connection to her family.

He promised himself it wouldn't take another sixteen years before they could be friends again.

Much less enthusiastic than a minute ago, Marco slowly went downstairs and into the kitchen, hoping to get Star off his mind.

His parents were in the middle making supper.

“Hi honey! Hello Kar!” his mom said excitedly. Though she was smiling, her gritted teeth betrayed a different emotion entirely. Still mad at Moon, probably. Marco though he had a bad mouth until yesterday night…

“Hey Mom. Hey Dad. What uh… are you making for dinner?”

“Oh, it's very special dinner, to congratulate you on completing your first full day of school since coming back!” his dad said.

And yet Marco skipped two classes today… “You didn't have to go that far. I… wait, are those nachos!?”

“Yes, your favorite!” his dad beamed. “The same way you used to make them!”

Kar interjected. “The way Marco used to make them? Isn't the point of a congratulatory dinner is that the food's at least edible?”

His mom laughed. “Oh Kar, I’m sure you're exaggerating. Marco loved cooking ever since he was young. He had quite the knack for it.”

“You’re a good mother, Angie, but your son can’t prepare a decent meal to save the lives of several orphans, let alone his own life.”

Both of his parents winced at how uncomfortably specific that was.

“Nothing grew for miles in the Plains of Wrath, Kar. What the hell was I supposed to do with rocks and twigs?” Marco asked.

“Fried rocks and twig stew,” Kar said in a pompous tone.

Marco’s dad clasped his hands together. “Well, I’m sure it would’ve been a very delicious twig stew! But let’s focus on the nachos for now.”

Marco wanted to argue further, but decided to help his parents prepare dinner instead. Eventually he’d mention how Kar had completely different taste buds from a human, so it wasn’t really fair if Kar couldn’t appreciate his cuisines. The guy ate bowels for god’s sake! It was a miracle they both liked ice cream.

For the next ten minutes, Marco and Kar assisted his parents with the nachos. Thanks to Kar sketchy body, he had no problem placing all the silverware and plates on the table, while Marco relearned the processes for making nachos with his folks.

It was actually very enjoyable. Marco realized that this was the first calm moment he’d spent with his parents since coming back. Sure, the absence of Star still loomed over them, but for the first time since yesterday, the small family of three, er, four, were finally able to enjoy each other’s company again.

There was a knock at the door and Marco’s dad went to get it. Meanwhile, Marco grabbed napkins and started cleaning off the silverware at the table where Kar had left some slime.

His mom put the big plate of nachos in the middle of the table, and Marco had a sudden thought.

“Hey, Mom, where did you get the tortilla chips for these nachos?”

“Oh, from the open bag in the pantry,” his mom said, licking her fingers where some cheese had fallen on them.

Marco glanced over at the pantry, where a single open bag of chips sat.

‘Found it,’ Kar thought to him.

“Hey, how long have you used that same bag of chips?” Marco asked.

She frowned. “You know, now that you mention it, it seems like we’ve been digging at it for forever. I had assumed you were replacing the bags, but with the hospital and everything, I guess that’s just not possible.”

Marco chuckled.

“What is it, honey?”

Marco smiled. “I think I just solved world hunger, Mom.”

Then, his dad came back into the kitchen with a sullen frown. “World hunger will have to wait, son. The police are here. They would like to speak with you.”

Jackie opened the door to her room like there might be a bomb behind it, but in reality, it could be anything. She still had no idea what the effects of the wish could have been, and even if Marco insisted it wouldn’t be bad, it was just so unpredictable.

When she came home, she told her parents that she wasn’t feeling good and wanted to go to bed early, which they were okay with. In the few minutes she interacted with them, Jackie made sure there was nothing off about their personalities.

Thankfully, they seemed normal as ever. It wasn’t like her dad had handed her the keys to a new Harley or anything like that.

She took several careful steps inside and then slowly closed the door behind her. She surveyed the rest of her room, and nothing seemed different.

Still, she took every step intentionally over to her desk and then sat down in the chair. So far, so good.

Marco had said the wish was supposed to happen by the end of the day, but Jackie realized she should have asked if it was just a general term, or if midnight was the deadline for whatever it was to rear its ugly head.

She took a deep breath. If she had to wait till midnight, she would.

Or, at least she thought she would…

It only took about 20 minutes before all the adrenaline drained from Jackie’s body and she was just tired and bored.

Would she even know if the spell had already taken place?

What if it was something she wouldn’t see the effects of until much later? Like a stronger immune system? Or slightly better eyesight after being annoyed with the darkness inside the temple?

Jackie groaned. Why did this all have to be so complicated?

With a resigned sigh, Jackie walked over to her TV and turned it on. Maybe there was some shitty cooking show to pass the time.

She flicked through the channels with the buttons on the cable box (she’d lost the remote ages ago) until she landed on a ghost hunting show. At least those made time go by quick.

Then, she walked back over to her bed and sat down. She slowly leaned back until her head hit the pillow, but it felt like there was something solid underneath.

Annoyed with the discomfort, she pulled the object out from under her head and looked at it.

And then her stomach dropped.

An old, worn book, with pages jutting out at odd angles and bloodstains on the leather cover as well as several pages within.

It definitely didn’t look like it’d come from Earth.

It definitely looked like it was whatever she’d wished for.

For what seemed like forever, Jackie just stared at it.

Should she read it?

Should she just throw it away?

Jackie got up and turned the TV off, not taking her eyes off the book, as if it would disappear if she did.

She made her way to the desk and placed it in front of her.

Should she give it to Marco?

Curiosity gnawed at her. What was it? What wish did it grant?

With a shaking hand, she unhooked the twine that bound it shut and opened it to the first page.

It was a diary. Just the structure of the first entry gave it away, without her even reading a single word.

But why would-

Oh.

Oh no.

It had to be Marco’s. Jackie sucked in a breath. She had Marco’s personal journal.

It was the only thing that made sense! A journal that looked like it went through hell and back, as an answer to a wish in her subconscious?

Not that she’d wanted to read his journal, but…

Jackie swallowed uncomfortably.

She had to return it. It wasn’t hers, and it was invading his privacy, and it was probably mostly in that weird language anyway-

Not that she would even read the english part!

Yeah, she’d definitely return it.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Jackie took the dimensional scissors out of her pocket.

All she had to do was give it to him.

All she had to do was-

Wait, since when had the scissors had Marco’s name on them?

Jackie looked down at the scissors, which very clearly read “Marco”, but simultaneously was still the weird runes that she remembered being on them.

She could read his name now?

Her eyes darted back to the journal.

No, there was no way she could-

Just to test it, and definitely not due to any curiosity on her part, she flipped to a later page of the journal.

An entry about Marco saving a town from pirates filled the page, with details about what mistakes he made, and what people he failed to save in time.

And it was in Riradesh.

And Jackie could read it perfectly.

Jackie closed the book like a demon was going to pop out of it or something and took a step back.

She could read his journal. Every last page of it.

She could find out everything he’d hidden from her.

Even beyond that stuff he confided to Star.

She could really know him, instead of the projection he was giving off.

But, was that any different from Star’s spying?

Jackie paced back and forth, staring at the journal.

She’d been on Star’s case for ignoring privacy and yet here she was, considering the idea of going through all of Marco’s inner thoughts and troubles.

That was so much more in depth than just watching Jackie and Marco’s date, but Jackie didn’t go out of her way to get his journal either. It was given to her, by Marco’s own lesson.

Would not reading it spoil the lesson?

Would she break some cosmic rule by not completing the wish?

Jackie shook her head. She was pretty sure whatever the wish was, it had just handed her the tools.

The journal, and the ability to read it. The ability to truly understand the boy she liked.

Jackie looked back at the scissors, which she could still read Marco’s name on.

All she had to do was give it back to him. He was probably wondering where it was already-

No. If the classroom’s reaction to Janna was anything to go by, Marco probably wouldn’t even think about his journal until after she’d read it and returned it.

But she wasn’t going to read it.

Right?

Jackie pulled at her hair a little.

This was a once in a lifetime chance, handed to her through a wishing temple. Could she really turn that down?

Jackie sighed and sat down at her desk. She would only read a few entries, and then she would return it.

She opened the book in front of her and stared down at the first page.

Okay, here went nothing!