Chapter 5

"It's an honor to meet you, Princess Marco Turdinia sir!" The young princess gushed as she shook his hand enthusiastically. She seemed very much starstruck, and Marco hoped he could get her over that.

The girl was a centaur of sorts- her lower body was horse-like, perhaps closer to a deer, and her upper body looked human. She couldn't have been much older than twelve, Marco tried to recall what St. Olgas' age of admission was, but he was disappointed when he came up blank.

"Thanks for agreeing to this, Princess Equia." Marco returned formally "Uh, you can just call me Marco."

"Uh, okay. But only if you call me Ella." The princess… Ella tittered . "I can't believe that I actually get to meet you Pri- Marco, this makes getting kidnapped totally worth it!"

Marco frowned, not quite comfortable with that. "Really? Because it sounds like a pretty serious situation. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Well, it was kind of scary at first, but they sent me back really quickly. So, like, nothing really happened." Ella explained.

Marco ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. If whoever had taken her had sent her back quickly, that meant they might be looking for something or someone in particular. Either that, or they had a soft spot for kids.

"How about we start from the beginning?" Marco prompted "When were you taken, and where?"

Ella explained how she'd been practicing swordsmanship on a dummy in the training grounds behind St. Olgas when she was sucked up through a swirling indigo portal. Marco did the mental math to convert the date in time to Earth's system, and found that it happened on what would be a Saturday on Earth.

That was consistent with the information Hekapoo had given them. On Earth's Saturdays several portals opened up from seemingly random dimensions to Earth- sometimes sucking in objects- and in a few cases, people.

The time suggested that this was not a professional operation. If this were a government or corporate experiment, weekdays would be more likely. Which meant these were amateurs fooling around with magic in their off time. Though given what they'd accomplished, it would be a disservice to call them amateurs.

"Did you get a good look at them?" Marco asked.

"I'm sorry." Ella shook her head "It all happened really fast. I was freaking out, and I think I threatened them with my sword. They were, like, wearing cloaks and hoods and stuff, and they were sitting in a circle around me. There were some candles, I think."

"Don't be sorry." Marco reassured her "That actually really helps." It meant that he was probably dealing with the occult, maybe a coven that had gotten its hands on some real magic.

"Really?" The princess asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it helps a lot. Thank you." The princess beamed under the praise, while Marco cast his mind to the next logical step and internally sighed. There was no way around it, he was going to have to call Janna.

Kelly stuck close to Marco as they navigated through the bustling crowd. She'd barely been on Earth, and the dimension was still mostly foreign to her. Earth really was an oddball dimension, with its seemingly magical innovations that actually weren't magical at all, and its almost complete ignorance of the larger universe.

Her eyes swept across the mall that Marco had taken her to, to all of the stores and restaurants proudly advertising their services. This sort of scene was familiar enough, but it sort of boggled her mind that humans used no magic to make it happen.

She felt more than a little out of place. The large sword strapped to her back was getting her quite a few suspicious and cautious looks. Carrying deadly weaponry must not be standard in this dimension.

Kelly shifted closer to Marco, and his eyes shifted towards her. "Don't worry Kelly. People handled Star's magic well enough. You're not gonna get into any trouble." He favored her with a reassuring smile "Heck, the worst trouble that Star got into on Earth was having to clean a few police cars, and you know how she is."

Kelly couldn't help but feel jealous, of just how fondly he talked about Star, even now. What did she do to deserve Marco's affection?

Then, with a look of realization in his eyes, Marco's expression turned sad. Kelly sighed- it had become a sort of pattern with him. The two of them would be talking, Marco would launch into some story, and that story would always involve Star in some way. He would seem to get sucked into the happy memory, until reality reasserted itself.

"So where are we meeting Janna again?" She asked- not particularly caring, but hoping to get Marco's mind off of Star. She'd been so excited when Marco had asked her out for lunch, and couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when she realized that Janna would be there too. Too soon. Kelly had thought wistfully.

"Eh, just some Chinese place. Janna suggested it, since I haven't actually spent that much time on Earth recently."

"Could have fooled me. You seem really comfortable here."

"Well, it is nice… a little nostalgic I guess, after years of crazy adventures." Marco said with a melancholy smile.

He led them to a small restaurant, where Janna was already waiting for them. She had several books piled up on the table next to her, and her lips curved into a roguish smile when she caught sight of them.

"Hey, Janna." Marco greeted "Eh, thanks for coming."

"'Sup Diaz." Janna returned, her eyes shifted to Kelly "I see you brought your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend! It's not like that!" Marco sputtered, and Kelly felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Janna scrutinized her for a moment, smirk widening as she did so.

"God, Marco. You're so easy to wind up." She chortled "You aren't going to start moping on me, are you? Because I've had enough of that from Star."

Star had definitely taken the 'breakup' the worse between the two of them. She never talked about it, but at the same time it was clearly present in her mind constantly. Her bubbly persona had been flattened and subdued. Her smiles were forced and she reacted to Marco's name like a physical blow. Marco was downright cheery in comparison, mentions of Star provoked that painful bittersweet smile of his, but Kelly felt, or perhaps hoped, he was finally moving on.

Marco rolled his eyes "Janna. The only person bringing up Star is you."

"Yeah, yeah." Janna waved him off "So whatya need me for? Ghost problem? Did you get cursed? Did Tom put another nayasaya on you?"

"No! Nothing like that… look someone from Earth is opening up portals. Someone is using real magic to do this. That's why I need your help."

Janna's eyes went wide "Ohhh, and what's Kelly doing here?"

"I wanted to help too." Kelly said defensively.

"And since I'm getting paid for this, I figured I should split the money with you." Kelly had already known about this, and it still didn't sit right with her. She wasn't doing this for the money, she was doing it because, well… if she was being honest with herself she was doing it because she liked him.

"Sweet! How much money?"

"Six hundred and fifty dollars for each of us."

"You've got a deal." Janna said without hesitation. "So. We've got ourselves a coven on our hands! This should be fun." As if to emphasize her point, Janna slapped Marco's but.

"Janna!" Marco squeaked, blushing.

Janna just shot him a lecherous smile, and waggled her eyebrows as she repeated "Lots of fun."

Kelly wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

Star burst into the council room, briefly taking in the pandemonium before her. Her circle of advisors- the Magical High Commision, 'Monster Expert' Buff Frog, and 'Captain of the Guard' Sir Stabby were shouting at each other.

Uhg.

Raising her wand, Star created a magical, multicolored explosion in the center of the room, coating everything in glitter. The argument had been halted in its tracks as everyone in the room was forced to wipe the glitter off their faces, and for a few out of their mouths.

"I'm glad that I have your attention." Star said with forced cheer, twirling her wand between her fingers. "So that we can have this civilized meeting where we talk about things calmly like grown-ups."

Star was satisfied to see Rhombulus look properly chastised, while the others remained silent. "Alright, well let's get started then."

"Should we not be waiting for Karate Boy?" Buff Frog asked.

Star winced, but there was no beating around the bush on this one. "Yeah, uh, Marco is no longer… working with me." Star felt so vulnerable at the admission, and wondered if anyone else noticed how small her voice had sounded at the last part.

"I do not understand…" Buff Frog shook his head "Why would Karate Boy stop working with you?" Star felt herself wilting inside. This wasn't how she imagined this meeting going. Couldn't Buff Frog see this was very personal?

It was Hekapoo of all people who saved her "Marco's working for me now." She revealed with a smile "I think he just needed a change of scenery."

Star's eyes went wide as her mind tried to digest the revelation. Marco… working with Hekapoo? Now that she thought about it, it was blindingly obvious. After all, the only reason he stopped working for Hekapoo in the first place was because she asked him to. Hell, he might never have left her dimension in the first place if Star hadn't asked him to.

Well that's good, right? Star told herself. Marco's moving on, good for him! Except no matter how many times she told herself that this was a good thing, the sick churning feeling in her gut told her otherwise.

"Star, I wanted to talk to you about attacks on monster villages." Buff Frog brought her back to reality "Monsters are beginning to wonder if they are better off leaving Mewni."

This was only a marginally easier topic to manage. It was what had prompted this meeting, and nearly every other emergency meeting Star had had as of late. Another one of the monster villages had been attacked, and for all their magic Star and the High Commission were powerless to predict them, or see them coming. By the time they got word that an attack was happening and were able to respond, the raiders had already fled, leaving them little to do but fix the damage and heal the wounded.

While the hit and run tactics were frustrating, the fact that Hekapoo couldn't track their portals, Omnitraxus couldn't seem to use his powers to predict where they might strike next was downright worrying. Mina definitely wasn't capable of that on her own, which meant she had help.

"But what about the Mewmans?" Sir Stabby asked "Queen Star, we also need to worry about the monster raids. Just yesterday a corn farm was burned to the ground by monsters."

"I have no idea what monsters are doing these raids." Buff Frog countered "All my sources- none of them have heard whisper of who it is." Star rubbed her forehead in frustration, it was the same arguments they'd had a dozen times at this point, and none of them had gotten them anywhere.

The all-seeing-eye could only get her so far- and infuriatingly it seemed like Mina was expecting to be watched at all times. Her ramblings only occasionally gave insight into her targets, which seemed almost randomly chosen, and the scenery- usually a nondescript forest or room, never gave hint to her location, which seemed to change daily.

"Star, maybe it's time we considered negotiating." Hekapoo suggested.

"What? No! I'm not going to make a deal with Mina." Star refused. She was somewhat ashamed that she'd ever idolized the mentally unstable warrior. The last time they'd crossed paths, any attempts by Star to talk Mina down just resulted in her spiraling higher in her delusions. "Even going to the table with her would give her legitimacy, which is the last thing we need."

"I'm just saying, this conflict is hurting both monsters and mewmans, if we can find a peaceful resolution, why not take it?" Hekapoo pushed back.

"Because it would mean selling monsters down creek!" Buff Frog interjected.

"I'm not negotiating with Mina. I appreciate the input, but my decision is final." Star insisted, her tone signaling and end to discussion.

Hekapoo raised her hands in acquiescence "Alright, alright, you're the queen, but I can't help but notice we're running low on ideas at the moment."

"I know." Star sighed, feeling more isolated than she had in years. She was feeling Marco's absence keenly right now. She knew that if he were here, he'd have backed her up. He'd have been in her corner no matter what.

Star steeled herself. Marco wasn't here, but she still had a job to do, people who relied on her. "I know that it looks like we've hit a dead end, but I promise that I'll bring Mina Loveberry to justice. I'm not about to give up because a few setbacks, and I hope that the same is true for everyone here."

After the meeting, Star retreated to her room, falling face first in bed. At long last, the day was over- no more meetings, no more petitioning commoners, or having to worry about the problems of petty nobility. Finally, she could take a breather.

"Hey Starship, how are you holding up?"

With a beleaguered sigh, Star pushed her out of bed. Tom was there, looking at her with that concerned expression of his. It was starting to get on her nerves- how he asked how she was every time he saw her. It was nice that he cared, but every time he asked it reminded her that she wasn't okay.

"Just peachy!" Star responded "Finished with everything today so…"

"So we can get some alone time, eh?" Tom grinned.

Star huffed "If by alone time, you mean sleeping then sure."

"Oh, yeah, right. Uh, sorry."

"Look, Tom. It's not that I want to spend time with you, it's just without… without Marco" She forced his name from her lips "Things are a lot harder. I don't have the time."

"Sorry, Star, I just figured, it didn't look like you had anything tomorrow, so I thought…" He trailed off, and Star was confused.

"What do you mean? I have things every day. Why wouldn't I have a thing?"

"Look, it was just, you're schedule didn't have anything! Sorry!"

Then it hit her. The schedule- it didn't have anything for tomorrow. Marco's schedule had run out. She felt her chest clench up, like something had wound itself around her heart and was squeezing. Even though her breathing was coming in gasps- it felt like she was suffocating.

It must have shown on her face because Tom was scrambling to backtrack "Shit. Star! I'm sorry. I'm not sure what it is I'm sorry for but I'm sorry!"

"No, Tom. It's okay." She tried to reassure him, but her voice broke with a sob. "Just go."

"Whatever it is, Star. I'm sorry." Tom said sincerely, completely missing the point. "Look, I know-"

"GO!" Star bellowed, forcing him out of the room with a blast of magic.

Star waited, and Tom did not come back. Assured that she was alone, Star collapsed back into her bed and let herself cry.

A/N: Another chapter up. I'm not super happy with this one to be honest. I kind of feel like this was mostly just set up for future stuff. Anyway, things will get moving soon enough!