Tales of a Different Crescent

	It was all so predictable. Princess of a far away Kingdom visiting some random human, out of all of those in the school. There were better men than him, stronger men, he knew. It had wracked his brain for some time, wondering why he was chosen of all of them. A sinister idea came to his head, when he'd spent some time listening to Star's explanations over Mewni and its history. Something about Eclipsa did not bode well with him. But at the same time, the story attracted him since it had been the only odd bit of history, and one shrouded in darkness and mystery.

Being Star's protector, of course Marco took it upon himself to do gather what information he could over the woman.
	"Why are you so interested in her?" Star had asked one night, finding Marco with one of her older books open on his desk, where he was sitting.
"Not sure, I've always been sort of a night-owl...plus I mean, something doesn't sit right about her story." He answered her. Her hand came up resting on his shoulder, and she gave him a comforting smile, a twinkle in her eye.

	"There are some things you shouldn't learn about, Marco" She says, and suddenly her grip tightens on his shoulder. Marco freezes at once, his expression stiffening. The Mewnian's strength was something to see in battle, fighting at her side, but to be on the receiving end Marco could feel his should scream in slight pain. He'd never seen this side of Star before, so he was struck into silence, staring into the sweet smiling eyes of the blonde girl. He could feel his mouth drying up, and he gives a small swallow. But he finds some courage, even against his best friend and frowns slightly, reaching up to press his nails into her hand in an effort to lift it off. Strangely, she lets him lift it off-only for Star to rip her hand out of Marco's. Her smile never wavered as she did so, and Marco flinches slightly, his frown deepening across his face.

	"Thanks, but no thanks Star, haha" he says giving a light laugh in an effort to break up the thick tension in the air. Her brow knits slightly, and he sees a flash of definite fury in her eyes, but it's quickly replaced by a returned laugh of her own. "Ok, whatever you say Marco!" She says giggling and poking his cheek softly. She turns on her heel, and bounces away to the door to leave Marco wondering just what he was getting himself into by reading into Eclipsa. If Star was like this...-

His train of thought is interrupted by her speaking from his door. "Just-be careful, ok?" She says, looking away from him, leaning against the door-frame. He raises an eyebrow. Thus far in his educational career, Marco hadn't ever ran into a subject that he had been told not to peek into. He knew jack-squat about Star's education, and had only picked up on Eclipsa due to the fact that hers was one in darkness. Who knew, maybe she was trapped somewhere waiting to be released like Rita Repulsa. Still it seemed like Star had been protecting something, and not Marco-specially given that anger she'd shown for the briefest of moments and her weird demeanor. It was eating at him, but he attributed it to her age, girls were going through...puberty right? Maybe Star was on her period.

Marco thought nothing of what happened however as he went to sleep, it was possible Mewnian's just had a real reason to not pick at the dark history of their past. It made them look bad, so it'd make sense to shroud the stuff in mystery. In any case, he dismissed it. Maybe he'd stop reading into that stuff for Star's sake, especially if she had her own reasons for doing so.

The morning after had been uneventful, after sprucing up for the day, Marco found himself a bowl and cereal to eat in the kitchen. Star came in a moment later, humming to herself cheerfully. He stared at her back for a couple of moments.

	"So-"
	"About last ni-"

They'd interrupted each other. "You first" Star said, blinking at Marco. "N-No, it's fine." She nods, "Sorry about last night Marco! Mom's just told me not to read into that sort of stuff!" She says with a smile. "But-didn't you want to read that part Glossaryck was trying to keep from you? The one she wrote?" He counters. "Silly! That's not the same thing as the history!" She counters. A slightly confused expression crosses Marco's face. "But, why teach the "Dark arts" before you're against looking into their history anyway?" He asks, pointing his spoon at her.

	"Cause it's just not worth mentioning, silly-head!" She says, her eye-lashes fluttering.

	"And that is....?" He asks.

	"Mmmm, I don't know! I just know Mom says that it's important to keep that stuff under wraps,-" She stiffens her body, striking an official poise. "It's important to keep the Kingdom's darker parts just that, dark for the good of the public!" She says imitating her mother's official manner of speaking, she giggles as soon as she's done giving Marco her cutest look. The boy didn't take the bait, plowing onwards, "But-" he works over the thought in his head. "Toffee came back, and nearly hurt both of us badly-you really think I'm going to take a second chance with someone else? Someone who's spooky li-"

"Just. Stop." She says, her expression thinning out.

	"H-Huh?" He says, blinking at her. "I don't need a knight in shining armor protecting me every day Marco." She answers.
	"What? I'm not doing this to protect you-I mean I am-but-hey"
	"I said stop, so you should stop!" She says, looking up with a smile on her face and turning to him from the counter where she'd been making her breakfast, this one suddenly seeming a bit more creepy, given how she was holding a knife in her hand.

Marco's face goes pale at once as he spots the thing. He finds himself remembering last night, and his mouth is as equally dry.

	"O-Ok." He nods. "Good! Thankyou!" She says happily, turning back to her food, leaving Marco dumbfounded. He'd never seen this side of Star, and decided to finish the rest of his food in haste, the rest of their meal continues in silence, and Marco quickly puts his things up.
His composure is fine the whole way through, and he even gave Star a smile as he puts his bowl away in the sink next to her. Walking away however, he could feel slight annoyance at being vaguely threatened by the guest of the house. Royalty or not, the Diez's held politeness, and respect above most all else. Kindness and forgiveness didn't really exist with a single child. Marco's expression digressed into a troubled expression as he trudged back to his room. Still, this entire event didn't sit right with Marco's Morality, so he made it his goal to forget the book, and pursue knowledge elsewhere. What Star didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

Besides, he feared there was a lot more at stake given how things had gone south with Toffee. It'd eat him up inside if he couldn't get some basic questions resolved about Eclipsa, but he brushed it off for now. Why damage his relationship with his best friend?

____


-Memories, I want to give them to you-

	He dreamed that night, of monsters hunting him through a forest. He had nothing to defend himself, not even the clothes on his back. He could hear their wild jeering as he spurned himself through the dark cold rain, the glints of their torches and pitchforks he could see through the wilderness behind him as he ran. His breathing was hot and heavy, his limbs shivering cold in the rain.

	"Marco!" Came a terrified shout, as he ran, stopping the boy in his tracks. He looked around for the source of the noise, recognizing Star's voice immediately. "Star?" He calls out to her in the pitch of night. "Marco, help!" Came the terrified sounds again. "I'm coming, hold on!" He answers her. He could barely feel his limbs, his fingers numb. He could barely see anything in front of him, save for the cold light of the crescent moon. The sounds of shivering drew closer, and he immediately ducked under a branch to see Star facing away. He quickly reaches out, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around. "Star?"

	It was a woman he'd never seen before, spades on her cheeks in an old-fashioned dress, a much larger man standing behind her in the rain holding an umbrella up. "You're not-" Is all he can manage before he sees the glint of a knife, flying into his eye.

	He wakes up with a yell, his breathing hard, a cold sweat blanketing his body. "Marco?" Came Star, opening and poking her head in through the doorway. "I'm fine thanks..." He says, wiping his face off with his hand. "What is it?" She asks, slinking into the room, shutting the door behind her. "Nothing, I just had a nightmare is all." he says, giving her a smile of assurance. Star seemingly teleports onto his bed, face-to-face with Marco. He at once became aware of the warmth of her body, and Marco wasn't one to sleep in pajamas, so this was made more uncomfortable by the fact that he was just wearing his underwear. "Uh-" Is all he can manage before Star cuts him off.

	"What was it?" She asks, oddly eager to hear about a nightmare and not console Marco over the fact that he had one. She wiggles slightly for a moment. "Star you're..-" His voice trails off, and it dawns on Star how close they were to each other. A blush immediately sprouts to her face and she gives a small "Eeep!" As she realizes she was so deep in Marco's personal space. She shifts away, folding her legs under her, sitting in a more lady-like manner.

	"Ok-so...tell me!" He squints at her slightly. "Was it about Eclipsa?" She asks, immediately jumping to the punch.
	"Wha-how do you know that?" He asks her. "Well it's obvious, duh! We had our little scuffles yesterday so, I put two and two together"

	"Wait so..." Confusion crosses his face. "You wanted me to stop talking or looking into Eclipsa, and... here you are asking me about a dream I had with her in it?" He asks, sensing the obvious hypocrisy of her statements. "Oh puuuuh-lease Marco, one dream isn't going to hurt the "family legacy" plus, don't you think it's weird you had a dream-"

	"-It was a nightmare, Star" He says, correcting her.
	"Mmmhm, come on tell meeeeee~" She says, gently slapping his knee.
	"Fine, sheesh..." He answers her. "We were in some forest, being chased by monsters with torches. I thought I heard you screaming for help, but when I went to find you it was "you-know-who" with some big guy standing behind her. She put a knife through my eye."

Star giggles at the end, oddly enough. Marco squinting slightly but dismissing it-he'd seen her battle-lust plenty of times to know she liked violence, and so did Marco-but he wasn't going to just admit that outright. "....Yeah...giggle at the part where I got a knife-put into my face and woke up yelling in terror." She only laughs again. "Ok, I get it sheesh! But it's funny you mention that dream, some suitors in our family seem to have dreams like that, and even some women. Usually it's the men! And if you have one, they say you might start having more! Also weird stuff happens I think?" Marco begins to frown.

	"Well, it's usually just one right?"
	"Mmhm, just one-or two, or three!" She seems decidedly excited, much to Marco's chagrin.
He nods after that, sitting in silence as he works over the repercussions that he might have more nightmares now. "They're just dreams though silly, not like you can be hurt in them!" She adds, sensing his worry. "But ummm, yeeeaaaah you should probably tell me about them when you do have them!" She adds, before getting off the bed and retreating to the door. "Goodnight Marco, and umm don't worry about that stuff too much, I'll be here to help you get through this if it comes back to you, but try to keep it from Glossaryck and Mom if she calls!" She says in the dark, leaving him sitting there alone with his thoughts. He turned, looking out the nearby window out at the trees nearby the house. A small fleck of violet pops into and out of his vision, and he flinches. The ball had been as tiny as a needle-point of light. He stares in wonder, not sure if he'd seen it or if it had been a figment of his imagination. He knew he'd have to get information about Eclipsa, if the dreams persisted. This was all getting too weird, first Star's oddly threatening reactions, and now a nightmare. Laying back down to pull the covers over himself, he stared up at the ceiling for some time, mulling over the past events of the day and yesterday. He had a bad feeling building up about his relationship with Star, but it wasn't like he could run from it. He closed his eyes and went off to slumber, dreaming about nonsensical things.