SVTFOE: King for a Day Ch. 2

Star vs The Forces of Evil: King for a Day Ch.2


	Marco and others finished eating and headed towards the King's Helm, it was handmade stone structure by the Fairs founder some thirty plus years ago. It was a popular attraction that Marco had visited many times over the years, each time he wished he would be the one who pulled the sword that has been stuck in the stone structure since the fair first opened. As they went Marco told the Ferg and Alphonso about how no one has ever managed to remove the sword from the stone's encasement, the founder of the fair was a bonafide engineer who loved the old legends of Excalibur and swords in stones waiting for the one true king to appear and wield it. The sword is said to be real made by him and a blacksmith friend, the hilt is said  to be made out of a meteorite, granted that last bit of trivia  has been contested over the years by fans. Whoever can pull the sword from the structure can keep it AND be crowned king of the fair for a day.

At least it was intended to be a day, but 30 years later not a single person has been ever to make it budge, the current owner of the fair who is the founders son once said whoever does pull it out can be the permanent king of the fair. If it was just a PR stunt, well it worked as attendance to the fair has increased each year as people want to be that person that gets the bragging rights of removing an unremovable object. There was other part of the story, and that whoever becomes King (or Queen) can now rule over her faithful subjects and are encouraged to play along, in this case the fair's workers and the visitors currently present. If Janna got the thing who knows what she might do, anything from banning Marco from future fairs to making him her court jester. Worse yet even if Marco just ignores her she'll never let him live down the fact that she beat Marco at something he's always wanted, Marco can just see Janna waving the sword around and gloating, oh how Janna loves to gloat.

"So that's why you don't want her taking that sword," Alphonso said as Marco finished his explanation.

"I dunno man, you said no one's been able to make it even budge after all this time, I doubt she'll be the one that does it" Ferg added.

"Yeah, your right but I'm not taking  any chances with her, for all I know she'll stick some C4 on the rock and blast it apart, I just want to keep en eye on her...and then try myself."

Ferg just shook his head. "I keep telling you bro, you've approached the whole Janna thing wrong. She likes you, it explains the way she is around you  just go out with her once and I'm sure she'll lose interest once she realizes you are as uncool as Alphonso and me."

Marco and Alphonso gave Ferg a mean but yeah you are kinda right look.

"As uhm...true as that maybe Ferg, I just think the risk is too great. If I go out with her I'll probably wake up in a bathtub full of ice with a missing kidney and that's if she wants a second date" Marco protested.

They had a good laugh as they appraoched King's Helm. There was a line of people leading to the huge boulder, a set of wooden stairs leads to the top of the rock where the sword was. In the distance the hilt practically glowed and sparkled in the afternoon sun. As they walked to the end of the line Janna waved at them, she was already in line and a good 5 people ahead of Marco. She gave him a wink and then cracked her knuckles, the odds of her succeddeeing were low but Marco still wished he could have gone in front of her. Each person got about a minute to try to remove the sword from the rock, when the fair worker said time was up then that was that. In total there were about 22 people in front of Marco and the others, but the line would move fast as some people would give up after giving the sword just one tug. As the line moved, that camera crew neared the line with a person who Marco recognized the fairs current owner, he guessed they were doing a fluff peice on the sword, maybe they would get to be on TV after all.

At the Diaz house, Star was bored. She had been up in her room playing with apps on Marco's phone since he left, she decided to join his parents hoping to find something to do. She found them downstairs watching the news as they usually do at this time. She sat down in front of the couch and groaned.

"Something wrong sweetheart?" Marco's mother asked.

"Bored" replied Star.

"You should have gone with Marco and those two weird niños to the fair" Marco's father chipped in.

"Honey...they aren't that weird" his wife mused.

"Meh, it is like going home and home is boring," Star replied. She laid down on the carpet and began to count the dust bunnies under the couch.

"It's that time of year again," the TV anchor said on the TV.

"The Medieval Fair has opened in Echo Creek and once again people are lining up to try their luck at removing the fabled sword from the stone. We go live with our special guest reporter from up north, the award-winning Shandra Jimenez, Shandra?"

"Oh look, Rafael, Star they are at the fair too" Mrs. Diaz said, focusing on the TV. The scene cut to a woman talking about the fair and behind them a long line of people, Marco, and the others included.

"Oh-oh oh Rafael get the camera my baby is on TV," Mrs. Diaz said eagerly urging her husband.

"Alright, alright Angie, ay cálmate" Mr. Diaz groaned as he went for the camera.

Star's ears perked up after hearing Marco's name. She quickly crawled to the TV screen on all fours and began to tap the screen like how a puppy or a kitten would.

"Hi Marco, it's me Star and your parents we are watching you" she shouted.

She closed her eyes and put her hands to her head. "Marco I am sending you my thoughts telepathetically if you get them, give me a sign."

"Guys look the camera is pointing right at us" Alphonso pointed out. All three of the guys began to wave and make silly faces as they waited in line.

"HE HEARD ME, I TOLD MY MOM I HAD PSYCHIC POWERS," Stars said gleefully, she was practically drooling.

Mr. Diaz returned and handed his wife the camera.

"Sweetie can you move to the side for just a second, I want to capture this on film"

Star did as she was told and kept her eyes glued to the TV. She was impressed on how good those nobleman clothes Star zapped up for Marco look in HD.

"So your father didn't think the sword would stay in its place for this long?" Shandra Jiminez asked the fair's owner.

"He wanted to make it hard, and yet incredibly simple, sort of like a mental test according to him. I asked him many times growing up for the solution but sadly he took the answer with him to his grave." The fair owner replied.

"Even he was surprised that after 10 years of touring the country no one had managed to even make it budge, at this point I don't even think Thor would be worthy" he added with a chuckle. "That's a comic book reference" he added when he noticed Shandra wasn't laughing.

"I see, any other fun trivia you can share with the viewers at home" Shandra replied.

"Well, whoever pulls the sword is crowned King and ruler without question, our golden throne as has sat empty for years, most people use it to tie their shoes. Oh and my father did say he left a clue on how to pull out the sword , but even I don't know what that clue is, he always had a thing for riddles and such on top of his secretive ways."

"Oooh, I didn't know you could become a king on Earth by removing a sword from a rock. On Mewni, you usually have to kill the reigning royal family." Star mumbled.

Nearby Marco had overheard that last part. A clue but where, what? Up next was Janna, she gave Marco a thumbs up as she climbed the wooden steps to the sword. The time had come, Marco crossed his fingers that Janna does not succeed.

From the house, Star and the Diaz saw Janna try her luck.

"Oh hey Janna is there too," Star said proudly.

"Is that even era-appropriate attire?" Mr. Diaz asked.  "Girl's dressed like a Middle-Earth drag queen"

Mrs. Diaz giggled, "oh stop it, Raf, that's mean."

Janna grabbed hold of the sword and pulled with all her might, but the damn thing would not move. She let go of it and began to kick the hilt repeatedly hoping to get some reaction but instead it just hurt her foot. Marco watched amused at the scene before him, the most frustrated Janna got the funnier it became. Finally, she collapsed on the ground exhausted and the sword still in place, if anything she may have sunk it further into the rock.

"Oh that is unfortunate," the fair owner said laughing as Janna made her way back down, the cameraman had filmed everything.

"As you can see people will try anything to make that thing come loose" the fair owner added.

"As if you'll do any better" Janna sneered as she walked past Marco and his friends. Marco was just happy she didn't get it. Soon it was his turn, but his mind returned to that possible clue.

At the house, Star and the Diaz kept watching people go up and try their luck each one failing one after another.

"I believe in you baby" Marco's mother shouted at the TV.

"You can do it son" his dad also shouted in agreement as Marco's turn came up.

Star said nothing but stared at the screen, if she was there she would use magic to help him but her parents always said a true King is born without the use of magic or other cheats.

"You got this bestie, I know you do" Star whispered.  How cool would it be if Marco was royalty, Star thought. Like forming an alliance with Marco's kingdom and her own to conquer other lands, oh that would be amazing.

"Oh watching this kid reminds me, anyone 14 or younger gets a free corn on the cob upon paid entry to the fair," the owner said looking into the camera.

"Not fair we didn't get any corn on the cob" Ferg complained, Marco was not paying any attention, however.

He walked up the steps to the sword, and kept his eyes on his surroundings, maybe the clue was here the whole time, although Marco doubted it be something as easy as entering a real life version of the Konami code.

"Time starts when you touch the sword, son," the employee told him. "You got sixty seconds"

Marco looked around but saw nothing but the sword and the rock below him over the makeshift wooden platform. At that point, the a gust of wind blew and moved some leaves on the rocks below revealing what looked a bunch of random letters.

"Gsv zfgsli lu gsv qlfimzoh. Qlsm Xvmz."

And the other grouping of letters was slightly different.

Wr eh Nlqj brx pxvw vwdqg rxw, gr qrw gr zkdw lv vlpsob hashfwhg jr djdlqvw wkh qrup. Rqob wkhq zloo wkh iroorzhuv eh vhsdudwhg iurp wkh ohdghuv.

Marco looked at the last batch of letters, somehow he knew what it meant. In his free time he reads a lot of books about magic and interdimensional puzzle solving via books Star bought him at Quest Buy.

"Don't do what is expected," Marco mumbled to himself.

"Hey kid are you doing this or not?" the employee asked him.

Marco nodded and reached for hilt.

And here we go.