Unlimited Eldritch Blade Works

By: Bubbajack

Beta: IcySnowSage

Disclaimer: I don't own Star vs. Type Moon or anything else in this fic.

Ch.1: Brine and Iron.

Marco Ubaldo Diaz, had become a myriad of things in his quest to blow out all the flames of the Hekapoo clones. Rogue, cutpurse, hero, vagabond, adventurer, mercenary, guild leader, hedge mage, gladiator, and above all survivor. In the eight years he's been here, he had picked up a lot of different skills in the time he had been in Tangaea, the name the residence of this world had given this near hellish place. Humanity was more stubborn than a cockroach though, or perhaps it was the equivalent of the Multiverse's cockroaches as they persisted in even the harshest conditions no matter what.

It didn't matter how harsh the conditions were humanity would endure, they would persist until they couldn't anymore. This was made all the more apparent as Marco walked through a ramshackle village, while the farmers tended to a meager harvest and the biggest building in the place looked to be a bar. The buildings all looked to be made of cobbled together stone, bits of scavenged metal, and straw. Everyone kept their eyes down and away from Marco as he walked past. That was fine, he wasn't looking for trouble, just a bit of food, some water, and most importantly, information.

The door creaked audibly as he pushed it open allowing the light of day to permeate the cobbled together establishment. Dust particles floated in the air as Marco walked up to the bar. The adventurer could feel every eye on him as he walked across the room. Saddling up next to a well-dressed elderly gentleman with a cane propped up against the bar. He motioned to the barkeep, a humanoid with three eyes right next to each other and six arms. "Double shot of agave juice."

The man didn't even need to turn around to grab a bottle and a mostly clean glass before he poured a double shot into the glass. Marco flipped a golden coin to the barkeep and downed his shot. He then glanced at the old man just a seat down from him. He had swept-back grey hair, a messy tangled beard, his clothes were of fine make however, a pristine black suit trimmed in silver, with coattails and everything. He caught Marco staring and stared back smiling for a moment showing off his sharpened canines, his crimson eyes meeting Marco's brown in curiosity, then they widened in surprise.

The man turned to face him fully. His voice had a deep but jovial timber to it, like a lively grandfather. "Well, hello there lad."

Marco nodded politely, it was the least he could do for being caught staring. "Sir."

"You, you wouldn't happen to be Marco Diaz would you? The famous adventurer?"

Marco smiled. He was always happy to meet a fan he supposed. "I am."

The man smiled widely, "Great! Then maybe you can help me out?"

'Oh, he's in trouble.' The quester realized, his parents had raised him to help people in need, so he asked. "What seems to be the trouble sir?"

The man rubbed his head doing his best to look embarrassed. "Well, it seems someone has pilfered my wallet when I wasn't looking and now, I can't pay for my meal."

The Bartender was giving the man the stink eye with all three of his eyes.

Marco reached into his pouch full of his admittedly dwindling funds. His brain told him to leave the old man to his fate, it wasn't his fault he couldn't watch out for thieves. But the other part of Marco, the part that wanted to hang onto who he was before he started this crazy quest knew his parents would be disappointed on him if he didn't help this man. Moreover, she would be disappointed in him if he didn't help.

Marco closed his eyes. He could already see her frowning at him, her brown knitted in bewilderment, her sky-blue eyes collecting with tears as a frown etched itself on her face, the heart-shaped cheek marks would stand out just a little bit more due to her frown. Just the image weighed down on Marco's soul. A smile that was worth protecting. Marco sighed before he threw his money bag on the table. "Will this cover it?"

The barkeep emptied the sack and counted the coins. He counted what was there, leaving Marco with three silver and two bronze before pushing the rest back to the young warrior. Now quite a bit poorer, Marco turned to go, with what little he had left he couldn't even afford food. He needed to find a job and fast. He left the bar, not noticing he was being tailed.

"Lad, I say, lad wait up!" Marco turned when he heard the voice of the old man hailing him. He was running after him at a steady clip leaning heavily on his cane. Despite being annoyed at losing a majority of his funds, Marco stopped and waited for the elderly man to catch up to him.

"Is there something else you need help with sir?" Marco asked politely doing his best to hide his irritation. He was hoping to sleep in an actual bed tonight, and with a full stomach for once too.

The old gentleman took a minute to catch his breath, and once he did, he stood to his full height. He was an inch or so taller than Marco himself who was 5'11. The man possessed a regal if mischievous air about him as he seemed to sizing Marco up with his crimson eyes. "You, you didn't need to help me, Mr. Diaz. You would've been well within your right to leave me to whatever fate the barkeep had in store for me. A night of dishwashing wouldn't have killed me. Yet you intervened on my behalf, at great cost to yourself, why?"

Marco opened his mouth, then closed it. He shrugged. "It just felt like the right thing to do, sir."

The man chuckled. "The right thing to do? In this dimension full of cutthroats, liars, and backstabbers where everyone is out for themselves? The 'right thing to do' lad, would've been to leave me out to dry. You didn't. So, I'll ask again, why did you help me?"

"I…" Marco paused. "There are people… my parents… and…"

The old man smiled knowingly, "And a girl?"

Marco nodded. "There is a girl too yes. I don't want to disappoint them. Even if it has been years."

The wizened man put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at Marco, "That's what makes you a good person lad. When the chips are down, a man will find out what kind of person he's made of. The folks around here?" He gestured to this meager village. "They'd turn on each other in a heartbeat if it meant they could better their own lot in life," He then turned to Marco, "You though? Your different. You go out of your way to help total strangers just because they ask. A regular hero if you will."

The man led him over to an alleyway where a man was being mugged for what little coin he had, likely by his own neighbors. "See what I mean?"

Marco shook his head in disgust, before walking forward and drawing El Choppo from its sheath on his back, "Let the man go."

The three men, two of which were holding the mugged man by the arms while the third beat him all looked to Marco. One of the three stooges spoke up, he had a pointy angular face like a rat. "You ain't got nothin' in this stranger, so keep walkin'!"

"Yeah, this shit!" The other one shook the man he was holding by the arm. "Charges us for bread he makes at his bakery, even though we got little enough as it is!"

Marco put his hands on his face in mock horror. "Oh my gosh! A business is charging money for their goods?! Whatever is this world coming to?!"

"I know right?" The third man said while the other two nodded along with him in agreement.

Marco rolled his eyes. These three were so dumb they didn't know sarcasm when they heard it. He'd be doing the village genepool a favor by making sure they didn't reproduce and pass on the idiot gene to their offspring.

Marco tried again, throwing subtly out the window. "Put the man down before I gut you like the gutter rats you are," Hearing the buff and scarred warrior's menacing tone, the three men dropped the man immediately, and scampered away just like the rats they were called. Marco was tempted to kill them and leave their corpses in the alley, but the act of murder felt like it was more trouble than it was worth at the moment. So instead he sheathed El Choppo and went to check on the downed baker. Placing a hand on the man's shoulder, he gave him a shake and asked. "Hey you dead? Just so you know, if your dead, I'm taking whatever you have in your pockets."

"I'm… still alive thanks to you sir." The baker grunted out before rolling over revealing he had a bruised face and a bloody lip, yet despite his injuries he smiled at Marco who offered him a hand up.

"I am in your debt sir." The man said.

Marco shook his head, "You don't owe me anything. I really was going to go through your pockets if you were dead."

The baker laughed. "Well, I certainly wouldn't hold that against you. Had I been dead, I wouldn't have needed anything on my person anymore anyway. As that is not the case though I do owe you a debt," Marco's stomach took that moment to rumble audibly. The baker laughed. "Perhaps I could interest you in a meal?"

Marco rubbed his head, "I could eat mister?"

The baker blinked. "Oh forgive my rudeness. Its Kake. Joh Kake."

"Kake… your a baker… whose name is Kake… do you bake cakes?" Marco just had to know.

The man preened a little bit, "Best in the whole village."

For the first time in awhile Marco smiled and found himself chuckling, "I'll take you up on that offer of a meal, but I may need to challenge that notion of the best cake. I'm well traveled and I've tried a lot of cake. I'm Marco by the way."

Joh got a competitive look in his eye despite the beating he had just taken, "Challenge accepted Marco."

"Why did you follow me?" Marco asked the old man as he sat down next to him in the Kake's humble home which also doubled as their bakery.

The old man who had yet to introduce himself, replied easily, "I've yet to repay my debt to you. Besides, I love cake."

Marco blinked as he stared at the old-timer. "Firstly you don't owe me anything. Secondly, who said you could have any of MY cake?"

The old man pouted like a child, "And here I thought you were taught to respect your elders."

Marco sighed in annoyance. He hated being so nice sometimes, "Fine you can stay, but can I at least know your name?"

The geezer blinked in surprise and embarrassment, "Oh, pardon my rudeness. It must've slipped my mind. It's the first thing to go when you reach my age you know? Ahem, I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, though most just call me Zelretch."

Marco found that a tad odd for this man to be known primarily by his middle name but chose not to question it. He'd seen stranger things in his travels after all. "So Zelretch, you said something about repaying me? I said you didn't have to and you don't but at the same time, I'm curious as to how you'd do that. Considering you don't have any money."

"You've come across magic users in this world before correct?" Zelretch asked casually.

Marco was immediately on guard. There were several different kinds of magic and not all of it was good. Odic Magic, uses the magic within oneself, one's own life force to power spells. Ritualistic Magic pulls the magic from the environment, the mana of the dimension or planet, and concentrates it into an object or person, usually with a specific ability or spell in mind. Necromancy and Demonism pulls the energy from the souls of others, usually the deceased or sacrifices, which contain an enormous amount of magic but are extremely dangerous to work with as the souls of the dead need to be pulled back across the veil between life and death, and one wrong move could result in spiritual or demonic possession. Lastly there were Divine Miracles, which requested the borrowing of magic from a higher being, usually with a negative consequence on the user.

Marco being a hedge-mage was a practitioner of everything even undergoing a stint of dabbling into the Black Rites, the darker side of Odic Magic, and even Necromancy/ Demonism magic, if only to know how to help those afflicted with curses. He looked at his right arm which was bound in cloth that had numerous holy sigils drawn on it. Marco no desire to mess with the souls of the living or the dead anymore. Hesitantly, he nodded. "I have."

Zelretch smiled, "Good, good." Zelretch held a hand out with his palm up and there was a burst of rainbow hued light which solidified into a gyroscope of rings which turned around each other before shrinking down and becoming of all things, a playing card. It floated there right above Zelretch's hand the image of a classical mage embossed on the front of the card. A wizened old man, his face hidden under a cowl, his form hidden beneath robes, a long white beard trailing down from his face and a knotted crooked staff held in one hand.

Marco looked at the playing card dubiously. "What is that supposed to do?"

Marco had come across enchanted objects before, he was hesitant to accept such a thing without knowing what it did… provided Zelretch even told him the truth. He didn't know him better than anyone else from this village. Zelretch just smiled at the younger man's suspicious reaction. "Your suspicious, good. You'll live longer with a bit of paranoia, as to what this card is… well I guess the best description would be an all around enhancer."

"Enhancer?" Marco parroted.

To which Zelretch nodded and explained, " This card once infused with your being, will choose a legendary spellcaster from myth and infuse you with their abilities, the one that is chosen will be whichever one closest fits you in terms of personality. In addition both your physical and magical reserves will increase by an inhuman amount in compensation for bearing such a strain on your mind and body."

Marco stared at the card dubiously and warringly. "It can do all of that?"

Zelretch nodded, " It can indeed. This… class card can do all that and more if needed."

"Class card… that implies there are other classes than just spellcasters." Marco noted.

Zelretch grinned a little wider pointing a finger towards the boy. "Well done lad. Yes indeed there are in fact seven types of class card. In addition to Caster, there are also Saber, Archer, Lancer Assassin, Berserker, and Rider. Each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and specific skill sets."

Marco locked eyes on the floating card. "Why Caster?" Seeing the older man's slight confusion, he clarified, "Why give me a Caster class card rather than one of the others?"

"Oh, I just picked one at random," Zelretch bluntly admitted. "I find that fate gives us more often than not, not what we want, but what we need."

Marco finally made up his mind, he plucked the card from the sorcerer's hand and looked at it. Then he locked eyes with Zelretch and asked, "How do I use this thing?"

"Just press it to your chest and say install." Zelretch informed him.

Marco looked at the wizard's face looking for any trace of deception. He'd gotten pretty good at knowing when he was being taken for a fool over the years, mainly because it happened quite a bit. Yet he found no tells of any kind in the old man's face. So just this once, he decided to take the man on his word. Pressing the card to his chest he said the one word that would change his life and fate forever more.

"Install."

There was a burst of blue light as mana swirled around Marco in visible torrents. As this was happening knowledge flooded his brain. The legends of innumerable weapons, how to reproduce them at a glance, a man who wanted to be a hero... Who died being seen as a villain. Yet he died with his head held high, knowing he would be able to help more people even in death.

He was oh so wrong.

Instead of saving, he slaughtered. He was an idealist turned cynic betrayed by his own ideals, Left standing on a lonely hill of swords.

The vision changed. A knight followed a beautiful saintess into numerous battles, believing in her every step of the way…

That is, until she died, until she was betrayed.

He raged against his people, nay, against God himself! He fell into the darkest depravities and madness murdering even children in his grief with the help of a friend a true mage. He hoped to see her again. The mage who was distantly related to the demon Beelzabub and with copious amounts of mind altering drugs, managed to contact something… outside of human comprehension. Together the two inscribed what they saw in a blank bible and using it, sealed the link to that thing of writhing tentacles and strange unkowable shapes away within the book. Both were eventually executed for their magical practices.

Then the burst of mana cleared, and Marco felt different. He felt for lack of a better term, powerful. He looked at his body. He was now clad in a purple mantle and his legs covered in black platemail with his feet covered in steel toed boots. He looked down at his chest, seeing it covered in a black nano-carbon ceramic weave mesh armor while his right arm was sheathed in black platemail similar to his legs. On his right hip, there was a net mesh bag which held a grimoire of all things.

Marco looked at his hands trying to sift through the strange mismash of memories that were in his head now. He felt like he had two… no three different sets of memories alongside his own. He looked to Zelretch, "Umm is this… normal?"

The wizard just stared at marco for a long moment. "Well, this is new."

"I'll take that as a no. What went wrong?" Despite the fact that he should be freaking out right now, Marco felt unusually calm.

"I've no idea. You should've only ended up with the skills of one heroic spirit, but by the looks of it, you've got two?"

"Three, I got three sets of memories in my head, their settling down now though." Marco was relieved that was the case.

"Three?! And you got their memories?! Not just their skills and knowledge on how to use their Noble Phantasms?" Zelretch seemed both giddy and flummoxed at the same time.

Again Marco nodded. "That's… not normal is it?"

Zelretch shook his head. "Heaven's no lad," The man paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "You should only get the knowledge needed to activate their Noble Phantasm. For you to get more than that… how odd… You haven't been driven insane by the excess memories either which is something."

Marco wholeheartedly agreed. "Ok, me not being crazy is good… what should I do now?"

Zelretch leaned back in his chair. "Well you're the one on the quest for a pair of genuine dimensional scissors right?" Seeing the young man nod Zelretch continued. "Well then, if I were you, I'd take what you have now and hunt the rest of those Hekapoo's down."

Marco frowned a bit. He noticed how the elderly wizard couldn't help but grin as he said Hekapoo's name. "This wasn't just about paying your bill was it? You talk about Hekapoo like… like helping me would be playing a huge prank on her or something."

"I won't lie, that's part of it lad. What she so casually hands out willy-nilly with those scissors of hers took me forever to gain, and it irks me a bit that she puts people through hell for what amounts to a small trinket. So I figured I'd throw you a bone, make it easier on you, and hell for her." Zelretch admitted.

Marco nodded. "I see. Well, hunting down Hekapoos can wait." Marco replied as Kake returned with what looked to be a massive tiered wedding cake, covered in white icing.

Marco's luck held out longer than he expected as he was allowed to sleep next to the baking families hearth. It wasn't a bed sure, but he was plenty warm for once. When he awoke the next morning Zelretch was already gone. The two had spoken long into the night guessing and ruminating on how his new form came to be. Marco had no real clue and he needed to get back to hunting Hekapoos come morning.

"If your ever in my neck of the woods feel free to drop in and say hi," Zelretch told him before he took off late into the morning.

Marco too was getting ready to go, not wanting the Kake family to use even more of their meager supplies on him. He got up and walked on cat's paws towards the front door. His hand was on the handle when he heard a voice call to him. "Leaving already, before breakfast?"

Marco turned to see the Kake's daughter Julie staring at him. She had long blonde hair and big green eyes. If she had heart-shaped cheek marks and different hued irises she would look just like… Marco shook his head. It would take more than a pair of pretty blue eyes and some cheek marks for someone to be her.

Marco graced her with a smile. "Hey Julie, and yes it's about time I hit the trail. I've already stayed here in this village longer than I'd meant to."

The girl frowned seeming put out by his answer. "I see." She then went into the kitchen and searched around for a few moments before coming out with a burlap bundle which she pressed into Marco's hands. "Here, Pa wanted to make sure you got this a'fore you left."

Marco held the bundle in his hands. It must've weighed a couple of pounds at least. "What is it?"

"Honey and oat cakes. Good for people making long journeys on the road," Julie told him.

He knew the Kakes were simple folk and giving him even this would be a blow to them. He tried to give it back, "I can't…" He began only to be cut off.

"Yes, you can and you will." Julie cut him off. "You saved Pa, you… you're a good man. A kind man. An honest man. I wish you'd stay, but since your a Questor, we both know that's impossible. So, you take that food and you use the energy it gives you to blow out all the Goddess' flames yeah?"

"Questor, Goddess?" Marco was confused.

"Ma, Pa, and I heard you talking to the Wizard last night… we felt the surge of magical power. Your a Questor, someone chosen by the Goddess for her Trial of Flames. You blow them out then you go home, or fail and… well die."

"Hekapoo is a goddess to you people?" Marco shook his head. "You poor, poor bastards. You have no idea how… how uncaring she is."

Julie shrugged. "She is a goddess she has been here longer than any of us. Our lifetimes are probably just flickering candles left near an open window compared to hers. To you, Questor, she may seem uncaring, yet to me, to us, who have known of her for millennia, we all think the Goddess must be very lonely. To live so long and see those she would call friends age, wither, and fall like the leaves come winter. She has endured this for who knows how long. I think… all the Goddess really wants… is a friend."

Marco listened to the earnest thoughts of this simple village girl, and he began to wonder. How often did Hekapoo leave her dimension? Did she ever leave, if only to interact with the Magic High Commission, had she long since become what was the word? Desensitized to the deaths of those around her? Or did she just act like she didn't care? Marco had never actually thought about any of this before. His goal had been the scissors and seeing Star again, but now… now he was beginning to wonder about the woman, no the goddess he was chasing.

Marco nodded his head, "Thank you Julie, when I catch the next Hekapoo clone, I'll be sure to ask her these questions of yours… and if she is lonely… I'll try and be her friend. I promise you."

The village girl blushed, "You needn't jeopardize your quest or bother the Goddess with my musings Marco. I just thought… To be honest I don't even know why I told you this. But, it makes me happy knowing you'll at least try to ease her loneliness."

Marco gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll do my best." He promised before opening the door the sky was brightening with the grey light of dawn. It was a new day, and he felt he had new purpose along with it. He needed to do more than just find and blow out the flames on the Hekapoo clones. He needed to help Hekapoo herself, if she was as lonely as people thought she was anyway.

His hand drifted to the tome where it hung in its satchel on his waist. 'If I'm right, I may not need to do this alone though.'

Marco found himself out in a forest The tome which he somehow knew was bound in leather made from human skin, and no it wasn't because of the human face on the cover, "Okay Prelati you were one sick son of a bitch," Marco muttered to himself as he opened the book to its first page.

It was a table of contents.

There were basic spells, rituals, summoning's, offerings, a section on how to not to get eaten by whatever you summon on page three-fifty-one.

'Reading that bit first.' Marco thought to himself. As he turned to the page that the table of contents indicated. As he flipped through the book he noted it was filled with strange designs hastily scrawled notes, and weird chants. Cthulhu fhtagn was an often repeated one. Once he finally got to the noted page, he didn't find any instructions on how not to get eaten by anything. Instead, he found a magical seal of some sort taking up both pages. It looked to Marco like a disjointed star with an eye and a flame in the center.

"The fuck is this? How is this going to stop me from getting eaten by anything?" Marco asked himself as he reached out and tentatively touched the symbol.

Said symbol immediately began to glow with a bright golden light, causing Marco to drop the book and take up El Choppo, just in case. From out of the golden glow a woman appeared from the center of the book. She had ankle length snow white hair, that looked to have skull images embedded into it near the end, with black ribbons in her hair. She was adorned in a vertically striped black and white top with a sinnfully short white skirt. She was also wearing a visible garterbelt which connected to stockings that had bone patterns on them and thigh high boots with eye and teeth like designs adorning them. Finally, she had on a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to just below her shoulders. In one hand she had a parsole that was trimmed with lace.

She opened her eyes revealing them to have black sclera, a golden iris and a pure white pupil. This strange woman blinked several times. She looked around in confusion. "Where am I?"

She finally noticed Marco holding his sword and looking at her warily. "Who are you?"

She stepped daintily onto the ground then noticed her mystic code, the one she entrusted to a dear friend so long ago, "And how did you come across this?" asked the girl with a hint of menace in her tone depending on his answer.

"I um… I'm Marco, your in a forest in another dimension, and I got that from a weird old man after he gave me this thing called a Class Card?"

Marco snapped his fingers and the tome flew into his hands like a loyal well trained dog being told to sit. The two stared at each other for a moment and Marco not sensing any danger from this mysterious woman sheathed El Choppo on his back. "So um… miss? Who exactly are you?"

The woman in question opened her parasol protecting her pale complexion from the sun before she smiled at him. "I am Francesca Prelati magus extradonare at your service kind sir!" She gave an overly elaborate bow giving a nice view of her cleavage before straightening.

"Marco Ubaldo Diaz, adventurer I guess?" For some reason her name set off memories of one of the beings in his head. "Any relation to a Francois Prelati from 14th century France? Shortly after the Hundred Years War?"

The woman blinked and smiled disarmingly, "Well yes, as a matter of fact. You could say he and I are… closely related. Why ever do you ask?"

Marco noticed there was something fauxly-sweet in her tone, dangerously so. Still it wouldn't hurt to be honest, "Well, I've got the memories of this Giles de Rais guy in my head so I was kinda going out on a limb here…"

"Giles-kun?!" The woman's eyes suddenly lit up and for some damn reason she was using Japanese honorifics. She invaded his personal space and was peering up into Marco's eyes in morbid curiosity, "You don't say~! My, my how interesting! Fufufu!"

"Yeah, him and a couple of other guys too but anyway um Miss Prelati…"

"You mentioned Zelretch," The woman was ignoring him and going off on a tangent, "For you to have Giles-kun's memories in your head… you should be insane, how are you not insane?!"

Marco's tone was deadpan flat, "Lady I've been in this fucked up hellhole for almost a decade now… I've seen a lot worse than child murder unfortunately. Plus on top of that I've put up with demonic whispering from a demonic tentacle arm for about a week and been corrupted by dark magic at one point. Seeing kids die, while horrific isn't the worst thing to happen to me."

Francesca's eyes widened and she clapped her hands together, "Ooh, Marco-chan is a badass!"

"Can you please not use the chan honorific with my name?" Having had a Japanese foreign exchange student in the past, he knew 'chan' was meant for girls and small children. He was neither.

She smirked at him like a cat toying with a mouse, "Oh, does Marco-chan not like it when I call him Marco-chan?"

Marco held the tome out threateningly "You know, if you're gonna be rude, I could just stick you back in the book?"

Francesca pouted crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks, "Marco-kun is so mean! Can't even take a little teasing," She blew a raspberry at him before asking, "So, what exactly are you doing in this dimension Marco-kun?"

The adventurer huffed a little before he replied, "I'm in the middle of a quest."

"A quest," Marco parroted as he walked away, the woman following in his wake. "That requires me to find a thousand clones of this woman or Goddess called Hekapoo and blow out their flames, or I could find some way to locate the real one, either way."

Francesca leaned forward looking at him intently, her parasol held behind her back, "And what does Marco-kun get by doing this?"

"A pair of magical scissors that let me cut holes through dimensions," Marco replied matter of factly.

"Ooh, an object capable of replicating an ability of the Second True Magic. A worthy goal to chase indeed," Francesca said approvingly.

Marco spared his new traveling companion a glance in confusion, "True Magic? What's the difference between magic like casting a fireball and True Magic?"

Francesca tapped her chin, "How does Francesca explain? Magic, True Magic, is one of the few phenomena that still cannot be reached by science. Take fire for example. Anyone can make flame by rubbing a few sticks together," Francesca held her hand out palm up and conjured a ball of fire, "Francesca conjured a ball of fire using her Od. Her life force. That is what we call magecraft. That is to say a magic that can be scientifically replicated."

Marco nodded he understood her line of thought, and furthermore, he could really get behind it. The study of magic being treated like a science? Anything that couldn't be scientifically replicated was True Magic? Yeah it was easy for him to grasp, "Ok go on."

Francesca did so happily. Perhaps it was because she had been locked away in her spellbook by Zelretch himself, maybe it had something to do with being alone for so long, and she just wanted someone to talk to, or maybe, just maybe, she had found something she hadn't had since her first death…

A Friend.

Time passed slowly as it often felt like it did when Marco was on the trail of a clone. But things had changed ever so slightly. He had a traveling companion now. Francesca was… odd. She acted cute around him constantly using japanese honorifics and teasing him to no end. Yet just as he first suspected, there were… darker aspects to her personality.

He saw the first sign of it when the two had caught wind of a Hekpoo clone leading a bandit clan to the south. They walked for days until they came upon a fortress made of a mishmash of scrap metal. Marco and Francesca had crested a hill and gazed down upon the fortress from where it sat nestled in a valley below. It looked like an unsightly scar or black scab that marred the otherwise pristine verdant grassland below.

"Ok, Francesca, you stay here. I'm gonna go take care of this," Marco started walking down the hill towards the fortress.

Francesca blinked a couple of times, "But Mar-kun Francesca is hungry…" She stared at the fort and licked her lips, "And we just found plenty of fresh meat…"

Marco broke into a run when he heard the screams coming from inside the fortress. Not seeing any way inside from directly in front of him he looked for another entrance. Not finding one he cursed. "Fuck! I need to get inside! I need I need… I need to jump higher."

Images of a certain man clad in a crimson mantle reinforcing his body to superhuman limits flashed through his mind, 'Okay, how do I do that?'

The screams of terror intensified, "Ok, ok Marco just calm down and think. You can do this, you can do this…"

Suddenly the image of a revolver being cocked and fired flashed through his mind's eye along with a pair of words. These too, would define his life for years to come.

"Trace on."

Marco felt power, the same power that flooded through him when he first installed the class card flood through him again. His left arm felt tingly and warm, and his back felt like iron rods were running through it. Yet he ignored all of that, shunted magical energy from his newly awakened magic circuits to his legs, and he jumped.

Marco flew up and over the scrap formed wall he felt like he barely did anything at all one minute he was jumping, then the next he was grabbing the top of the wall with his free hand as he wielded El Choppo in the other. Hefting himself over the wall Marco took in the scene before him.

Buildings were on fire, and one blew up right before his eyes, sending large chunks of shrapnel flying everywhere. Men, women, and even some children ran about in makeshift armor and in tattered ragtag clothing. Jumping from the sentry post, Marco hit the ground running. He had gotten used to running towards the danger, screams, and explosions in the eight years he had spent in this dimension.

What he found when he skidded to a stop around the corner surprised even him if only for a moment. Francesca, her body split in half right below her navel had a long tentacle coming out of her body. This slime covered tentacle would scoop up a bandit, then constricting in a way that would crush him or her into a bloody pulp, bones, clothes and all.

It was then Marco noticed the sides of Francesca's torso were covered in teeth, and the slimy tentacle was a giant tongue. Somehow his friend had a giant second mouth vertically on her torso going from her below her navel to to the sides of her abdomen. That wouldn't bug him so much, he'd honestly seen weirder, if she currently wasn't using said second mouth to eat people whole!

"Francesca stop!" Marco yelled out to her. The tongue which had a child no older than eight held up by the ankle ready to be the next meal, stopped in midair.

Francesca locked eyes with Marco and smiled. "Ah, Mar-kun! You got here quicker than Francesca thought you would," The girl despite her chest being open and her second mouth about to devour a child, seemed not at all bothered by the situation. If anything she seemed… amused? Pleased? That he got here as fast as he did? Marco wasn't sure.

Marco took a hesitant step forward, "Put the child down Francesca."

The traveling companion… magic teacher… woman… thing cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Why Mar-kun?"

"It's a child. It's innocent," Marco replied.

"Is it? Francesca retorted, "It's parents are bandits they kill and steal from others to provide for their child. So doesn't that make the child guilty by association?"

For reasons Marco couldn't understand, he felt like Francesca was testing him right now, "Maybe," He replied, "But the sins of the father or mother shouldn't reflect on the child."

"What about the sins of a nation? Or the foolishness of a saintess who would damn her closest friend to madness by consigning herself to death hmm? Francesca wonders what you think about that?" The woman asked him.

Marco continued walking forward slowly. He knew what she was talking about now. "Giles… he wasn't killed by God or divine judgement or anything like that! He was done in by jealous nobles who wanted the worth of his land. What he and Francois did doesn't even factor into it! They didn't even care back in those days! Peasants were seen as no better than livestock as much as that sickens me to say. As for Jeanne D'Arc… Well I know her passing was sad for him. But we can't judge someone who isn't here to tell their side of the tale now can we? It reminds me of an old proverb. There are three sides to every story, one side, the other side and the truth. Since we only know Giles side, can't learn Jeanne's side, we'll never know Francesca," He gently places his hand on the tongue and followed it up to her body not minding the saliva that coated his hand. He locked eyes with her, "We'll never know, but eating this child won't bring Giles back. I'm… I'm not him… but I'd still like to be your friend if you'd let me… we're definitely gonna have to set some ground rules though."

Once again Francesca had her cheeks puffed out in annoyance, "Mou! Mar-kun is so, soo… so infuriatingly nice! Why can't Mar-kun just hate Francesca and try to kill her like a normal person?! Francesca could understand that. She's come to expect that. This, you… it's so much easier to be bad and hated! Then you go and make it so hard!"

Marco quirked an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"

The child was abruptly dropped on the ground but Marco was fast enough to catch him in his arms. The vertical mouth closed with an audible snap before Francesca covered her now bare chest with her crossed arms. "Idiot Mar-kun, instead of talking to me, he should've been hunting down Hekapoo-chan while I caused a diversion."

"Yeah probably," Marco admitted, "But your idea of a diversion is eating people Francesca and that's just not gonna fly with me."

"Well excuse Francesca for being locked in her mystic code for who knows how long and being a bit peckish," The woman shot back as if he was the one being rude.

Marco sighed, 'Why do all the women in my life need to be so difficult? First Star, then Hekapoo, and now Francesca,' He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well I don't exactly have a problem with you wanting to cause a distraction in and of itself its more like the chosen method of distraction. Also do you need to eat people or is it a preference thing?"

"Francesca must consume human flesh Mar-kun," the woman replied still covering her bare chest.

"Okay… also you can stop covering your chest, your not hiding anything I haven't already seen several times before."

Much to his surprise the eldritch woman blushed, "Mar-kun is an experienced man I see… Francesca will have to… reevaluate her opinion on him, yes she will."

"What the hell do you mean by experienced man?" Marco blinked. "Oh, that. Well I mean, yeah it's happened a couple times. Mostly after too much to drink or nights I really, really needed to forget," Marco waved his hand in front of his face. "Anyway we are getting way off topic. You can't eat kids. I'm drawing a line in the sand and I'm telling you right now, don't cross it."

"What about people who try to kill Mar-kun?" Francesca asked innocently.

Marco replied, "They are free game if they attack first. After all you are a humanitarian and I am no saint. The innocent are to be left alone though."

Suddenly the mouth opened again and the tongue shot out, and grabbed someone directly behind Marco. Glancing behind him, Marco noticed it was a bandit with a dagger, who was looking to bury it in his back. The poor fool was the cherry on the shit cake that was his morning.

"Like him?" Francesca asked innocently. But both knew she was no lady innocent.

"Yeah, exactly," Marco turned to the crowd of gathered bandits and gave them an ultimatum. "You've all got two choices. Bring me your leader. Short woman, has a flame in the middle of her head is super hot both literally and figuratively…" He paused before adding, pointing his thumb behind him as cracking and screams are heard as Francesca eat the bandit, "Or she'll eat all of you, leaving your children to fend for themselves."

The bandits looked to one another for a moment before they started shoving a figure to the front. There truly was no honor among thieves it seemed. It was a lesson Marco knew for himself already having become quite the pickpocket himself at one time. Soon enough the Hekapoo clone he was looking for was right in front of him, looking at Francesca in abject horror.

"What the hell is that thing with you Diaz?"

"She has a name, and its Francesca Hekapoo." He stepped closer to her. "I suggest you remember it cause the rest of your clones are going to be seeing a lot of her."

He blew out her flame with a breath. Marco cursed to himself as he forgot to ask her some questions.

In the depths of her forge at the heart of her domain the original Hekapoo's eyes widened when she received the memories of her latest 'snuffed' clone, "What the Underworld?! Who the frak is this Francesca chick think she is making a move on my Marco like that!? Oh, and eating people is bad too I suppose. Yeah I should totally do something about her. And seriously put a shirt on you fucking bimbo!"

Marco's quest just got a whole lot more complicated. As the flags of war had been raised and the battle lines were being drawn as we speak. For Hekapoo was many things. A goddess of creation, fire, and passion were chief among them. For her, for centuries, her passion had been her craft. On occasion she would test someone to see if they were worthy to receive a pair of her scissors.

Fakes exist of course but her scissors were more than just the genuine article. They also stood as a symbol for both the person who carried them, as well as the dimension of the carrier. For the person, it meant they were the strongest warrior of their race bar none. You pass her trial, and there was simply no higher bar to compare it to. For their dimension, it was a beacon, letting all know that dimension was ready for interdimensional trade.

There was only one problem though. Earth was on a small list of blacklisted dimensions a list of few that, as far as the Magic High Commision knew, were devoid of magic and got by using technology to overcome their burdens. On top of all of that Hekapoo had broken every rule in the book when she offered Marco Ubaldo Diaz this trial. He wasn't evaluated, he wasn't given time to prepare, he wasn't even told about the time dilation. Hell, he wasn't even in his prime when he started, much less one of his dimensions greatest warriors.

In all honesty, she did it on a laugh. Thinking this mortal boy would have given up long, long before now.

Only he didn't.

He persevered, he kept coming after he clones like a dog with a bone, refusing to give up despite the numerous near death experiences he's had. She's watched through the eyes of her clones as he became a thief to keep from starving on the streets of Zeb on his first few years here, how, once he mastered the skill he hired on with a mercenary band hoping to get experience in combat. He got that and then some, almost dying in his first real life or death fight due to his unwillingness to kill enemy combatants. That faded quickly enough, once he realized the enemy wasn't anywhere near as merciful as him. He snuffed his first clone a year into the mercenary gig. She was just serving as a barmaid at a bar when she bumped into him by mistake. The two locked eyes each recognized the other, and Marco didn't hesitate.

She, the true Hekapoo, was so proud of him for reasons she didn't understand then. Even if it was just one down nine-hundred-ninety-nine to go, it was still a step in the right direction. She continued to monitor him through both clones and small portals, she watched as he went from taking down one clone to taking down five-hundred within the span of three years. He hunted them like a hound with a scent of blood.

Hekapoo was a passionate goddess and what currently had her passionate fire stoked was the mortal known as Marco Ubaldo Diaz. He was brave, bold, determined, and above all heroic.

Most questers didn't bother to help her people. Any and all plights of the common folk were ignored in favor of the hunt for her. Yet Marco did. Possibly because he didn't know about the time dilation but she didn't think that was it. She'd seen him save children and damn villains, learn the darkest of magics and then burn the scrolls upon studying their contents. He wasn't looking for power, or even her clones half the time. No, Marco… he wanted something more.

He was searching for purpose. She could feel it. Could this Francesca woman give it to him? Would he find it if he passed her trial and went home? Or would he be bereft of purpose? Was hunting her clones all he had now?

Hekapoo bit her lip in worry. 'Have I unintentionally broken that which I hold most dear? Have my flames of passion burned him without me even knowing…' Another thought occurred to her, and this one almost brought her to her knees. 'Do I truly want him to succeed and leave me all alone again?'

Unshed tears of lava pooled in her eyes. "I don't want to be alone again. Not again, not after Festiva… I can't… I can't do this anymore!"

Deep in the depths of her domain, Hekapoo goddess of the forge wept. For even she could not escape the curse of time.

Later that night after the two got as far away from the bandit camp as they could after Marco took some much needed supplies from their food stores, the two sat around a fire. Marco stared into the flames wondering how to broach the topic he wanted to discuss with Francesca. He finally thought 'Fuck it!' and just decided to be blunt, "Francesca?"

The woman locked a single eye onto him almost lazily, "Hmm? Yes Mar-kun what is it?"

"I need to understand, just what the hell you are. Your not human, I get that much, and it doesn't bother me."

Francesca cocked her head to the side curiously, "It doesn't? Mar-kun isn't terrified of Francesca?"

Marco shook his head, "Nah, your not the first… different girl I've met. The first, the very first, and the whole reason I'm on this quest in the first place is because of a magical princess from another dimension, and her name is Star Butterfly."

"Ooh, so Mar-kun has encountered magic before he met Francesca," The eldritch woman noted filing away the name Star Butterfly for later, "Was Mar-kun scared when he first learned of magecraft?"

"Terrified, but Star just calls it magic to her, there is no distinction between magecraft and magic," Marco explained.

Francesca mumbled something about the 'Age of the Gods' and Marco made sure to ask her about it later. He continued, "Yeah she's bright and bubbly, she likes to give out hugs and loves to fight monsters. When it comes to magic she actually creates her own spells, even though she has… had? This huge book of spells passed down from her relatives. She also…" Marco shook his head.

"What Mar-kun? She also what?" Francesca felt a prime teasing moment was upon her and was loath to let it pass her by.

"She really, really likes fighting monsters. So much so that she skipped learning the basics altogether and went straight to learning combat magic. It's screwed her over a couple of times actually. I wonder if she's gotten any better in the time I've been gone?"

Francesca grinned, "So Butterfly-chan is a combat mage is she? Fufufu, how fun."

"Don't go getting any ideas," Marco warned her, "As I was saying she isn't exactly normal herself. She kinda has actual butterfly traits it's not just a last name. Like one time she turned into a lovesick monster and webbed up all the boys in goo. It's called Mewberty apparently."

"Oh hoh! Do go on! The more Francesca hears, the more she likes Butterfly-chan," Francesca leaned forward with keen interest.

"Yeah she's… Star is something else. She doesn't realize it yet, but she already has the makings of a fine future queen," Marco said with a smile on his rugged face.

Francesca's voice was soft when she asked, "Mar-kun… he loves Star-chan very much doesn't he?"

"Yeah…" Marco shook himself out of his daze, "I-I mean of course I love her as a friend."

Francesca fixed her companion with a glare, "Mar~kun be honest. You made Francesca be honest, now its Mar-kun's turn."

Sighing Marco nodded and admitted the feelings he kept hidden, "Yeah, I… I love her."

Francesca smiled, "Good Mar-kun is being honest with himself. Lying to yourself is the worst thing Mar-kun, remember that," Francesca cleared her throat. "Now you asked Francesca what she was yes?" Seeing him nod she took on an air not unlike a lecturer as she continued, "When Francesca first wrote that Mystic Code turned Noble Phantasm on your hip she made contact with… entities outside the domain of human understanding."

She pointed to her former spellbook which Marco took in hand before she continued, "Francesca must've either unknowingly in her drugged state made a deal with them or she roused the curiosity of one of them when Francesca made contact for after she died Francesca was reborn into a new body. This one lined with teeth from sternum to navel. To clarify, Francesca can be killed, and has been killed many times but she will simply be moved to a new body."

"Are all your new bodies female?" Marco asked.

Francesca raised a curious eyebrow as she smirked mischievously, "No not all, why does Mar-kun care? Could he find Francesca appealing? Even after just admitting his love for Star Butterfly-chan?"

"I won't deny the fact I think your pretty if not exotic in appearance. But I was really just curious. Your my friend and I want to keep you from getting hurt if possible."

Not for the first time this day, Marco's words surprised the old magus. So it took her a moment to reply, "Mar-kun is sweet. Francesca is… unused to someone caring about her."

"You've never had a real friend then. Even Giles must've just been a close acquaintance at most," Marco replied.

Francesca looked into the flickering flames of the fire for a minute or two before she replied, "Perhaps, but us magi we are a breed apart from the common man. We cannot afford to have friends. For therein lies possible treachery, and roadblocks to the goal of all Magi, the Root."

"Root of what?" Marco asked.

"Everything. The Root, or Akasha as some call it, is the fountainhead of all phenomena, possibilities, and variables. It is best described as God if God were a place. Or better yet, God's throne."

Marco blinked. "Ok, isn't that kinda… stupid?"

"Hmm?" Francesca was once again thrown for a loop by her companion.

"Hear me out ok?" When the woman nodded he proceeded to explain. "You all practice magecraft right? Which is the science of magic, correct?"

Francesca nodded. Marco continued, "Ok science is based upon theory, yet your telling me, that all mages are trying to get to a place where basically everything is true, nothing is false, and there is no point in theorizing anything or trying new avenues of research at all where new breakthroughs could be discovered? It all just sounds so… counterproductive! Like, where is the science in that?! None of it matters if all the possible answers are the correct ones all because some magic 'god throne' says every answer is the right one. That's backwards logic!"

Francesca blinked then her body started to shake. For a moment, Marco thought he might've offended her but then she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard, tears fell from her eyes, she laughed so uncontrollably her second mouth joined in the humor, and chortled along with her. "HAHAHAHAAHHAHA! Thank you Mar-kun, Francesca needed that."

Marco was confused, "Did I… say something wrong?"

Francesca shook her head, "No, no, no! Mar-kun said something right! Never once has Francesca talked to someone about magecraft and they looked at it like a true science. Like physics or geometry. You took magecraft, took the magic out of it, and kept the science part! And in doing so, you made the goal of hundreds of magi over who knows how many generations look so utterly stupid!" Francesca laughed again. "That was glorious. But yes, Francesca agrees with you, when everything is true, nothing is. Thus the craft of so many magi becomes pointless if they search for the Root… there is one benefit from reaching the root though," Francesca mentioned almost offhandedly.

"Let me guess True Magic?" Marco asked flatly.

Francesca clapped her hands, "Mar-kun is so smart! Yes, reaching the Root is necessary to enact True Magic, and finding a path there is another thing that separates Magi from Sorcerers."

"Hmm, good to know. I won't go looking for any paths to any roots," Marco replied before he switched topics. "So, I kinda need a favor Francesca."

Francesca smiled mischievously, "Ooh, Mar-kun needs Francesca's help? Francesca wonders what he could need?"

"I need help understanding this magecraft I received from the class card. I don't know how I did it, but I jumped several stories into the air this afternoon. I need a teacher, someone who can help me sort all this out," Marco rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Will you help me out?"

"Okay!" Francesca agreed happily, "But Francesca wants something in return."

"What?" Marco asked hesitantly.

She took her boots off and placed her delicate feet on Marco's lap, "A foot rub."

He stared at her flatly, "What?"

"It's hard on Francesca's feet walking in these boots all day. Francesca wants a foot rub, every night, until this quest of yours is complete," The woman replied smirking at him evilly.

Marco shrugged, "Well you could've asked for a lot worse I suppose. He gently took her foot in hand and started rubbing.

Francesca immediately let out a groan of pleasure. Marco stopped, "Did that hurt? Should I stop?"

"No, no keep going! That felt great! Have you done this before?" Francesca asked as she continued to writhe under his ministrations in pure bliss.

Marco shook his head, "No I'm just pushing on all the tense spots," there are a lot of them. He pressed on one spot in particular and Francesca collapsed into a heap. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Huffing a little Francesca replied, "Francesca is fine Mar-kun, just fine. You must be a natural masseur. We'll have to hone this talent of yours."

Marco shrugged. "If it gets me proper lessons in magecraft I'm fine with learning how to give massages."

Francesca sighed in contentment. "Good, good. Now work on the other foot while Francesca asks some questions."

Marco switched feet as he asked hesitantly. "What kinds of questions Francesca?"

"Your right arm for one," Francesca said with a sigh escaping her as Marco touched a sore spot kneading tense muscle into soft flesh, "Why do you have it wrapped in binding cloth?"

For just a brief moment, Marco stopped his ministrations. "That's… it's complicated."

Francesca nodded. "Francesca is sure it is. But you heard her out, and Francesca could do the same to you. So, speak."

Marco cleared his throat a couple of times before he finally started to speak, "It was after I did some work as a mercenary. The other side had these demons as superweapons. Called Archfiends. We ended up losing the first big battle against whoever we were contracted to fight due to those things. They were monstrously inhuman. Normal weapons did jack shit to them."

"Mmhm," Francesca hummed to let him know she was listening while experiencing his heavenly ministrations to her sore feet.

Marco continued with his tale, "Then we… well I… was approached by a man clad all in black. He said he was from an organization called Avalon and his group was dedicated to ridding the world of Archfiends. He said I had the potential to kill them and he could offer me training. I accepted, after seeing those things slaughter men by the score… I couldn't say no."

Marco silently massaged Francesca's foot for a moment, collecting his thoughts. It went on for so long the inhuman woman called out to him in worry, "Mar-kun?"

"Wha-? Sorry, got lost in thought there. So anyway I got trained in what's known as Offering Arts by Avalon, I had a partner for awhile. Her name was… " Marco stopped and grabbed his cloth bound arm, "Sortiara. She was brash, hot-headed, and borderline crazy most of the time… but most of that was just a front. Inside, past all the hot air and bluster, was just a girl who wanted a friend. For awhile, I was that friend... That is, until I…"

"Was Mar-kun forced to kill Sortiara-chan?" Francesca asked softly.

Marco nodded, "Yes, it was… a final test of sorts by Avalon. To kill the person you had been partnered with, gone through so many battles beside, so that only the strongest, the most resolute, and the most capable Archfiend slayers would be left."

Francesca found Avalon's methods to be very Magus like in operation. Get a pair to bond in battle and only to have the most cutthroat and heartless of the two survive and ascend to the rank of a true member of the organization? Yes it sounded very much like something a magi would do.

"So Mar-kun was the winner?"

Marco shook his head with a few tears falling from his eyes, "I tried saving her. Seven times I brought Sortiara back from the brink of death, and seven times she rose up just to keep attacking me. She understood long before me that only one of us was leaving that chamber alive. And now…" Marco looked at his right arm, "Now her soul is here with me, always."

"Soul absorption magic?" Francesca asked sounding impressed, "Francesca didn't think Mar-kun had it in him to use magecraft like that."

Macro shrugged, "That's the only way to destroy Archfiends, or at least, that's what Avalon told us. That all Archfiends were monsters that deserved naught but death."

"You found something out, didn't you Mar-kun?" Francesca asked as she tapped him with her foot, silently imploring him to continue, which he did as he spoke.

"I did, it was completely accidental mind you, but once I accidentally saved one of them I realized that the Archfiends were once human, once I learned that well. I left the organization. I hunted down Hekapoo clones with a renewed vigor. I just want to get the hell out of this place."

Francesca nodded. Marco was too good for the likes of this place or even Magi really. If he were to meet real magi, he would be consumed alive by political intrigues and backstabbing plots. He was just too kind for his own good. Francesca honestly considered using him for her own ends however briefly before discarding the idea entirely for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he accepted her, all of her, without any reservation instantly. And secondly, she wasn't willing to risk losing these heavenly foot rubs for anything… anything.

So, with these thoughts in mind, she started planning her first lesson for her pseudo-apprentice. With her now much less tense feet fanned out near the dwindling fire, Francesca cleared her throat, "Francesca has decided what Mar-kun's first lesson will be."

Marco blinked, "Already? That was fast."

The eldritch witch smiled, "Francesca had been alive for a long time Mar-kun. While she's never had an apprentice before, with what she knows of Mar-kun's situation, it's not hard to figure out what to teach first."

Marco nodded. "What might that be… sensei?" He added as a questioning form of address.

Francesca beamed at him with a warmth forming in her chest, "You may call Francesca, Francesca-sensei if you want. As for your first lesson my pupil I will be teaching you a particular branch of Alchemy that they only teach at Atlas."

"Alchemy? You mean like making potions with plants and stuff?"

"Fufufu!" Francesca giggled, "Nonono! The Alchemy taught at Atlas deals with the acceleration and partition of thought."

"Acceleration of thought? How is that Alchemy?"

Francesca tapped her chin in thought. "How does Francesca explain? Atlas seeks to predict the future by calculating the odds and avoiding negative outcomes and thus securing humanity's future. They do this by using Memory Partition. It is the ability to partition one's thoughts to form multiple independent thought processes," Seeing her student didn't understand, she tried again. "Think of it like this Mar-kun, while normal people can only have a single "room" in their brain and focus on one thought, partitioning adds partitions to the one room to create multiple rooms."

Marco nodded, "So it's like having Multiple Personality Disorder?"

Francesca cocked her head to the side, "Yes and no? Instead of having multiple voices in one's head saying different sometimes violent things, they work together towards one goal. They manage different problem sets, but work together to generate one overall solution. While machines can calculate on the same level, nothing else compares when used for problem solving. The limit of an average alchemist is one thought into multiple rooms, but superior alchemists can perform first−order tetration of their thought into rooms. The rooms are synergistic, so four partitions allows for two-hundred-fifty-six thought processes. As they work towards one goal, it does not allow for two-hundred-fifty-six separate calculations."

Francesca was glad to see the look of awe in her pupils eyes, "Woah so it's like super high-speed thought?"

Francesca nodded. "Indeed it is. Francesca is capable of producing five rooms in her head. It's useful for remembering things and planning in the moment. You, however, will be using these rooms to separate the memories of the various Servants you have in your position."

Marco hummed in thought. "Kinda reminds of of Occumulcy in Harry Potter."

"What is Harry Potter?" Francesca asked.

"A popular children's series involving a boy who finds out he's a wizard and goes to a school for mages. The titular main character learns something similar to this… sorta."

Francesca nodded after a moment, "Remind me to read this book series once we leave this dimension Mar-kun."

"Will do… so um, how do I partition my thoughts?"

"Tell Francesca Mar-kun, have you ever meditated?"

Marco easily took up a lotus position his legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees, "All the time, I was a red belt in Tang Soo Do before I took up this quest."

Francesca nodded, "This helps immensely. First you need to find your center. Once you do, tell Francesca and she will give you further instructions."

Marco nodded before he let himself relax. He allowed himself to think of everything and nothing in particular at the same time. His thoughts drifted as his body continued to relax. Soon enough, his breathing evened out and he found himself in that calm state between sleep and wakefulness, "I've found my center, now what?"

Francesca's voice was quiet so as not to break his concentration, "You need to dig into your memories, find all the ones you want of a particular time in your life, and then lock them behind a door. That is how you form a room they can also be used for thought acceleration, but Francesca can show you that later."

"Ok," The first room he created dealt with everything in his life from before Star showed up. All the years he spent growing up with his parents, creating his super special nachos… the myriad of days all he did was say 'hi' to Jackie Lynn Thomas… that made him cringe even now. All the time he spent with Janna picking on him which he only now realized was her way of flirting with him in her own way.

He created a second room related to everything to Star and his adventures with her. They had gone through so much together. The day she showed up, she freaked him the hell out with her magic, but her bubbly disposition and the chance to get some 'danger' in his life fighting monster mooks was too good to pass up. The two threw themselves into danger time after time. Sometimes for fun, other times to help people like Ponyhead, whom Marco fully admitted he still didn't like all that much. Marco watched the memory of himself dancing with Star at the Blood Moon Ball and grinned a little. Those ballet lessons he took when he was younger paid off in dividends that night. He was a bit miffed how Star blew up at him saying she 'didn't need a hero'. While true, he wasn't trying to be a hero, he was just trying to be a good friend and look out for her. He remembered embracing her after her wand was destroyed. Then he recalled admitting his crush on Jackie… 'I'm gonna have to let her down gently.'

He created another room. This one encompassing all of his time he's spent in this dimension. Every trial, tribulation and near-death-experience of which there were legions of them were put in this room. Even his meeting with Francesca was placed here, with reverence. Marco felt a tear fall from his eye as he recalled Sortiara's death yet again, this time in much more vivid detail. As he slew the Archfiends Elven Queen, Harpy, and Leviathan, and even a Centaur. Everything changed when he came across the Archfiend Phoenix. She was a simple girl who only wanted more time to spend with the man she loved … so he did the only thing he could… instead of sacrificing and consuming the soul of the Archfiend, he saved her. Freeing her of her demonic taint. He left Avalon after that.

Now, he got down to business. He created three more rooms, dragged up every single memory he knew didn't belong to him. He then sorted them out. Those that belonged to Giles de Rais, be they before or after he went mad, went into one room. The memories of the original Francois Prelati went into another room, and the memories of the man who was betrayed by his dreams, Emiya Shirou, were put into the last room.

Marco created one final room one that he wouldn't fill with memories… yet. This room would be filled with all the good memories he planned to make with Star after he made it out of this hellhole. But for now, it remained vacant.

"Ok, I'm done now what?" Marco asked.

"How many rooms did you manage to create?" Francesca asked curiously.

"Eight," Marco replied easily.

There was a lull, a silence before Francesca replied, "Eh, did… did you say eight?"

Marco opened his eyes to see his new sensei staring at him with her dark eyes wide in utter disbelief. It was scaring him honestly, "Did I do something wrong?"

Francesca jerked her head mechanically from side to side to side like a rusty door hinge in need of oiling, "No, it's just… that's amazing! Mar-kun's aptitude for Memory Partition is on par with the Director of Atlas!"

"Oh, so eight is considered a high number then?" Marco asked.

"Having four rooms in one's head is considered genius level, Sion Eltnam Atlasia who had seven and was considered a prodigy and you surpassed even her!"

"Huh?" Marco thought to himself.

"What? What does 'huh' mean Mar-kun?" Francesca asked narrowing her eyes at him.

Marco rubbed his head, "Well it's just… it never felt difficult making many of those rooms. Like… I felt, felt like I had plenty of room to work with. Like I still have plenty of room to work with."

An evil twisted grin spread out over Francesca's face, "Mar-kun…" She said in a sickly sweet tone, "I want you to center yourself again and create as many rooms in your head as you can, until you can't anymore. Understand?"

"Ok," Marco closed his eyes again and quickly found his center. He created another room, and another, and then another still… he strained to create a fourth room but managed. Then pushed himself to his limits and crafted a fifth and final room. When he opened his eyes he noted his brow was coated in sweat.

"Well?" Francesca was looking at him with keen interest.

"Thirteen," Marco gasped out feeling suddenly mentally fatigued, "I created thirteen rooms."

Francesca started to giggle, then chuckle, before she cackled like a madwoman. "Bwhahaahahaha!"

"What I do now?" Marco ask tiredly. Making those extra rooms really took a lot outta him, if he were being honest.

"Mar-kun blew the record for Memory Partition out of the water! Mar-kun could be a genius… or an idiot… Francesca is not sure," The woman mused after she calmed down, "What she is sure of is that Mar-kun should be capable of at least eight-hundred-thirty-two thoughts a second now, a new record."

Marco lay flat on his back feeling completely spent, "Awesome. You can show me how to do that tomorrow. Making all those rooms took a lot out of me. Goodnight Francesca."

The woman tentatively reached out and ran her hand through his messy hair, "Goodnight Marco-kun, sleep well, you've earned it."

(...)

When the next morning arrived Marco awoke to find Francesca cooking a giant egg over the fire. Marco remembered filching that thing from the bandit larder the previous morning, "Morning, when will breakfast be ready?"

Francesca looked at him like he'd grown a second head, "Breakfast? Mar-kun do you not know what this is?" She pointed to the ostrich sized egg sitting in the fire.

Marco shook his head, "I'm assuming it's not breakfast?"

"It's something better than breakfast…" Francesca told him a smile on her face, "It's a dragon egg."

"Seriously?" Marco asked sounding just as dubious as the look he was sending his companion at the moment.

Francesca nodded her hands on her hips, as she smiled superiorly, "Quite,"

Marco nodded. He's seen some crazy shit, dragons would be one of the most normal of the bunch, "Ok, what are we going to do with a dragon hatchling?"

"Tame, train, and ride it of course!" Francesca replied.

Marco shook his head, "No, you misunderstood the question," Marco repeated himself. "I asked what we were going to do with a hatchling? As in a baby that can't defend itself, and needs constant food, care, and attention? We're going to be constantly on the move Francesca. We can't afford to take care of a baby dragon for God knows how long."

"One month," The Eldritch Witch replied, "I used some quick divination magic to find out we'll need to look after the dragon for one month before it becomes rideable."

Marco wanted to sigh. To give up a whole month without tracking down any of Hekapoo's clones would grate on his nerves, but he could use the time to gather intel and practice his new skillset. An added plus would be, after the month is out, he could cover more ground once the dragon, which needed a name, was big enough to use as a mount. Seeing the egg begin to shake and quiver, he pushed Francesca behind him and reached for El Choppo. He didn't know if the hatchling would try and eat them on sight or not.

A crack zigzagged it's away around the crown of the egg and moments later, a dark green scaled head popped out, no larger than a small dog with an ivory horn poking out at the end of its nose, and a small set of black ram horns coming out of the back of its head. It looked around, then locked eyes with Marco before rapidly breaking the rest of the way out of its shell and crawling its way towards them, or more specifically, Marco.

The vetran adventurer held his sword point first towards the baby dragon, who sniffed it curiously before disregarding it entirely and crawling up the live steel and then up his arm before nestling in the crook of his shoulder and then rubbed its head against his cheek.

What the hell?" He glanced back at Francesca who was giggling at the scene. "Francesca, what's so funny?"

"It," She looked underneath the dragon and seeing no dangly bits corrected herself. "She thinks your her mommy Mar-kun."

"Oh brilliant," Marco said to himself his tone dry. He tickled the newborn dragon under the chin with a finger causing the dragonling to croon and purr like a cat, "She needs a name. How about Nachos?"

"No," Francesca said flatly, "We are not naming a noble creature such as a dragon after food."

Marco frowned, "Ok, how about Natchios? That's the last name of a fictional female assassin… who probably isn't fictional considering the multiverse is a thing."

Francesca sighed, "Note to Francesca, don't ask Mar-kun to name things when he's hungry… But Francesca supposes Natchios will work," She then snapped her fingers and the fire bloomed to its previous exuberance from last night moments before the Eldritch Witch went rooting around in Marco's provisions.

"What are you doing?" Marco asked.

The woman, who turned around with some packaged meat and some much smaller eggs in her arms, promptly replied, "Francesca is cooking Mar-kun breakfast of course. Clearly he can't think straight until he's eaten."

"Do you even know how to cook?" Marco was mentally kicking himself for not asking this earlier.

Francesca looked at him affronted, "Francesca will have you know that she was one of the first graduates from the Cordon Bleu School of Cooking back when it first opened its doors in London back in 1933."

"Oh… ok then, wow me," Marco sat back and let her get to work.

The first thing Francesca did was take a large rock near their campsite and used what he assumed was alchemy on it to turn it into a flat piece of stoneware which she placed in the fire to heat, she cracked a couple of eggs once the rock surface looked hot enough and then added a copious amount of meat onto the hot stone allowing it to grill there.

Marco's mouth began to water when he smelled the food. He noticed that Natchios too was keenly eyeing the meat as it cooked on the makeshift grill. Soon enough the food was ready and the flames were extinguished. Francesca picked up the stone which was now seemingly hot to the touch and brought it over to Marco, who looked at it hungrily. Reaching into his pants pocket, Marco pulled out a two pronged fork and small knife. He proceeded to carve up his meal and eat it in small bites, savoring the meal.

"This is great Francesca," Marco complimented, causing the woman to beam with pride.

"Thank you Mar-kun this is Francesca's way of repaying you for the foot rub the other night," She sent him a playful wink, causing him to blush and focus on his meal.

Marco saw Natchios trying to snag some meat off his plate and speared some meat on his knife before offering it to her. The dragonette happily nibbled at the offered food, while Marco ate some of the meat himself with his fork. When Marco saw the dragonling ate the offered piece of meat, he speared another and offered it to her, and kept doing that until she let out a belch of sparks signifying she was full. Marco finished up the remains of the meal, "That was great Francesca, thank you."

"Francesca was glad you and Natchios enjoyed it Mar-kun," The Eldritch Witch beamed. After spending so long alone, it was nice to be around others, to be appreciated by others once again.

"Anyway, we should get moving it's already half past the Time of Bast," Marco replied as he got up.

"Time of Bast?" Francesca asked as Marco dusted off his pants.

"10:30 in the morning. People around here name their time after their gods. From noon its goes Time of Ra (Noon), Time of Neo (1pm), Time of Cthugha (2pm), Time of Messiah (3pm), Time of Nodens (4pm), Time of Valkyrie (5pm), Time of Shub-Niggurath (6pm), Time of Yig (7pm), Time of Scathach (8pm), Time of Yog-Sothoth (9pm), Time of Yidhra (10pm), Time of Nyarlathotep (11pm), Time of Wyches (12am), Time of Cthulhu (1am), Time of Ithaqua (2am), Time of Beelzebub (3am), Time of Levithan (4am), Time of the Lightbringer (5am), Time of the Phoenix (6am), Time of the Cyclops (7am), Time of Cait Sith (8am), Time of Azathoth (9am), Time of Bast (10am) and Time of Odin (11am)."

Francesca nodded, "Francesca sees," She stowed that information away and asked. "Where should we head next Mar-kun?"

Marco pointed in a north-northwest direction, "The bandits said there was a town called Dis about a few hours walk from here. They would often raid it for supplies. We can lay low there for a month."

Francesca looked at him and smiled, "You know what this means right Mar-kun?"

"Your going to want another foot rub once we find a place to stay?" Marco replied as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Francesca nodded sagely, "Mar-kun is a quick study indeed. Francesca is most pleased."

Marco sighed and started walking, "We'll see how pleased you are after an hour or two of walking. Since we'll be on the road, why don't you explain how that Thought Acceleration thing from the other night is supposed to work?"

"Certainly Mar-kun but before that Francesca wants to know something for your sake. How many Magic Circuits and how much mana do you have?"

"Magic Circuits…" A look of realization dawned in his eyes, "Oh you must mean that feeling like having several irons rammed down my back the first time I did magecraft!"

Francesca nodded, "Yes Magic Circuits aren't natural for the human body so even using them feels uncomfortable to most magi."

Marco filed that tidbit of info away, while cursing his luck, 'Almost feels like I'm getting a raw deal here. 'Star' didn't have to deal with half the crap 'I' do to learn magic.' He just shrugged and decided to roll with the punches. "Well to answer your question, I've got twenty-seven Magic Circuits and they can each hold... " He paused for a moment and focused on the multitude of Magic Circuits running down his left arm, "About forty-five units of mana each. My max capacity is twelve hundred units of mana."

Francesca grinned like the Cheshire Cat, "Fufufu! That's enough to be considered C-rank Servant mana capacity! Impressive! Also just so Mar-kun knows, Mana is technically considered the energy that is the life force of the planet, Od is the life force of the human body, and energy taken in by one's Magic Circuits and useable by a magus is considered Prana."

"But it's all technically the same thing right? Magically energy?"

Francesca nodded, "Yes."

"Then why give it three different names Francesca-sensei?" Marco inquired of his magic teacher.

Francesca thought it over, "It does seem a tad redundant," She admitted. "It's best thought of like this. Oil when first taken out of the ground is crude yes?" Seeing Marco nod, Francesca continued, "Mar-kun's magic circuits are like an oil refinery, taking the Mana from the planet, which your body takes in as Od from your body, and refining it into something more useful. Does that make sense?"

Marco nodded, "Perfectly. So I've got twenty-seven little oil refineries in my arm… cool!" The adventurer looked at his left arm with respect.

"Yes, pretty much. That reminds me, what is our money situation?" Francesca inquired.

Marco rubbed his head in embarrassment. It was obvious Francesca was a high-class lady despite her ability to rough it in the wilderness, "Actually, I'm kinda broke."

Francesca nodded seemingly not at all bothered by this, "Well, we'll just have to fix that really quick," She cast her gaze around till it stopped on something. She ran over and picked up a sturdy wooden branch that thinned at one end, "Yes, this will do nicely."

"For what?" Marco asked Natchios peering at Francesca from her place on his shoulder.

The Eldritch Witch began drawing symbols in the dirt with her stick. It took her a couple of minutes to finish whatever she was doing but once she finished she stood back proudly, "There that should do it."

Marco was looking at a magic circle it had writing in French all along the exterior. What was freaking him out, though was that he could read it in plain as day English, "May all particles of purest Aurum gather here in the center of this circle? Your trying to collect gold from the dirt?"

Francesca looked at him and blinked in surprise, "Mar-kun can read French?" When she saw Marco nod she asked him, "Can you understand what Francesca is saying right now?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be able to?" Marco asked while raising an eyebrow.

Francesca grinned, "Francesca was just speaking French."

Marco's eyes widened, "Wow, and I understood you just fine."

Francesca agreed then she spoke in a different language, "#$%- &%&- ^*% #%^&(&- ^&- &^%?"

Marco had no idea what she just said and the look on his face said as much. Francesca repeated herself in various different languages until he finally did comprehend her again, "Can you understand Francesca now?"

Marco nodded, "Yeah, sounds like English to me… It's not, is it?"

Francesca shook her head, "I was just speaking Japanese. So, Mar-kun knows French, Japanese and English… how interesting Fufufu!" Francesca Seemed to tap her cheek in thought, "Mar-kun's brain seems to be translating the language as if he grew up knowing it."

"So I can understand it, but not speak it? That sucks," Marco was bummed out. He was actually looking forward to learning a new language or two.

"Maybe there is a way," Francesca said to herself, "If Mar-kun were to use Thought Acceleration on the memories of those he has locked away in his head, he could learn both French and Japanese at an advanced rate."

Marco chuckled a little, "Ok, back to my original question, how do I do that?"

"Find your center, go up to one of those rooms, and open the door. Mar-kun should be able to control what content he sees and the speed at which he witnesses them," Francesca replied easily as she glanced at the magic circle, where a sphere of gold roughly the size of a marble had formed in the time they'd been conversing.

"Should I do it now? Do we have time for that?" Marco asked.

"Go ahead, this could take awhile," Francesca replied after looking at her little golden seed which was still growing slowly but surely.

Sitting cross legged on the ground, Marco easily centered himself. He closed his eyes and let himself enter his mindscape.

Marco found himself in his room back home. It was exactly as he recalled it, his bed, his desk on which his computer sat, but instead of one door leading out to the house, there were several doors lining his wall. Thirteen of them to be exact, and several of them had bronze name plates. He looked at the ones with nameplates on them.

One was labeled Giles de Rais memories.

Another was titled Francisco Prelati I memories.

The last was entitled C.G. EMIYA memories.

"C.G., what does that mean?" Marco asked himself. He reached for the door. He figured this was the one who knew Japanese, "I could start with Japanese I suppose." He pulled the door open and stepped through.

He wasn't prepared for what he found, which said a lot. Marco found himself in a burning city, people cried out for help as buildings toppled around them and the stench of burning flesh was poignant in the air. The very atmosphere was thick with smoke and the sickly sweet smell of death, making it hard to breath. Marco wanted to retch but he held firm. 'This is a dream, a memory I can't do anything for anyone here, it's already happened.'

Or so he told himself as he watched this horrific scene play out before him. He looked around, searching for the subject of the memory. He spotted him shortly. A young boy, no older than seven or eight, his eyes faced forward with his eyes covered as he walked through the flames past all the people begging for him to save them.

He rushed up to the boy all the while thinking of those who were crying out to a child for their salvation. 'What could a boy possibly do to save any of you? He's doing everything he can to save himself you miserable wretches.'

Marco tried to put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, only for it to go right though. He could truly do nothing but watch. Watch as the boy finally collapsed from utter exhaustion his side speared by some rebar that was sticking out from the piece of rubble he collapsed on, as life faded from his eyes, even as he used the last ounce of his strength to raise his own arm towards the heavens, as if to silently beg for a miracle that he had denied others.

Only, he was actually granted a miracle. For a man in a disheveled three piece suit grabbed his hand with tears streaming from his eyes. He gripped the boy's hand, which was rapidly losing life with both of his, joyous proclaiming his happiness at finding someone else alive.

Then he performed a miracle, though he knew it not. A brilliant sheath, formed from motes of golden light with gold crisscrossed with royal blue enamel down its face and it was inscribed with letters that were not of human make. Marco immediately knew it for what it was.

Avalon the magical sheath of King Arthur, it granted immortality, in the form of agelessness and regeneration, and was even capable of transporting its king to the land of the Fae, a flawless, perfect defense.

Marco felt something click in his mind, like the gear of a clock ticking. He didn't know what it meant but something was waking up. Marco watched as life returned to the lifeless boy, and the first thing he saw was the man smiling, crying jubilantly in a destroyed city of flames.

The scene abruptly to that of a hospital room the boy whose name he still didn't know was sitting up in a bed. Other than a bandage wrapped around his head, he couldn't see anything wrong with the boy… that is, until Marco looked into his eyes. Those golden-brown eyes were vacant, empty like that of a lifeless porcelain doll.

'Something is wrong with this kid.' Marco thought to himself. 'He may be alive but he looks dead inside.' Marco recalled seeing that look on the eyes of a lot of soldiers after he fought Archfiends… they were usually found dead by their own hand come the morning after the battle.

Marco turned to the sound of a door opening. The very same man from earlier, who saved the boy, entered the room. He walked up to the boy and gave him an ultimatum. He could be adopted by him, or he could be put into the foster care system. The boy jubilantly declared his desire to be the son of the man who saved him. The man smiled…

Then casually dropped the bomb that he was a magi.

Marco facepalmed. "That's supposed to be a secret ya moron!... Then again, Star does magic all the time and pretty much no one bats an eye so..." Marco shrugged. "Carry on."

The scene shifted again to the boy who now went by Shirou Emiya if he heard right, helping his dad Kiritsugu whom he called 'Old Man' more often than not, fix up their house, which to Marco looked more like a Japanese styled mansion.

It was a nice place Marco had to admit, very Zen and tranquil. It even had a dojo. Marco watched Shirou get taught swordsmanship by his dad, and then by his neighbor who became a big sister figure to him, Taiga Fujimura or as Shirou referred to her Fuji-nee. Marco often listened to conversations they had during this time, trying to soak up as much Japanese as he could.

What really helped was the fact that Kiritsugu was teaching Taiga English. She was a somewhat terrible student and would frequently switch from Japanese to English on the fly, causing Kiritsugu to correct her. Bad for her, beneficial to Marco. Thankfully, Shirou was often nearby when these lessons took place, making food, which surprised him the first time he saw it. So Marco could freely watch. Shirou seemed a normal enough kid, even though he did get into fights with other kids over the smallest things. But that was normal for a kid his age.

Marco was glad the boy seemed to be adjusting. 'Maybe I was worried over nothing?' Marco thought to himself.

Then five years later, Marco saw a sad scene.

The night of Kiritsugu Emiya's death. It was an ordinary night. Kiritsugu's condition which Marco believed was brought on by some kind of curse. He could see a black aura around the man growing stronger as the man grew more and more sickly. It couldn't have been natural seeing something like that. Yet no one else seemed to see it. Now that darkness seemed to consume the man whole. He could only just make out a humanoid shape amidst the black smoke that obscured his form.

He talked to his adoptive son about his dream to become a hero, how he got too old to do it and gave up. As Marco expected of the boy by this point, Shirou easily said he'd become one in his fathers place. Without even thinking about what becoming a hero could entail for him. Then again, what could Marco expect? Shirou was still a child. What child doesn't dream of becoming a hero at some point in their lives?

Marco watched Kiritsugu Emiya die with a smile on his face. Whether he was happy to finally die, happy his ideals had been passed on to his son, or simply happy he could spend his last moments with him, it was anyone's guess.

Marco glared as the curse that killed the man blew out like a candle flame, it's dark job finally complete, 'I'll get you, you son of a bitch. I promise you that.'

Marco speed watched the next few years of Shirou's life slowing it down to listen to the occasional conversation. He would practice what little magecraft training he needled out of Kiritsugu in the secrecy of his shed. Marco thought he would grow out of his dream of wanting to become a hero.

Boy was he wrong.

The kid was like a Pitbull with a bone. He had no intention of giving up, in fact he intended to master what little magecraft he knew to become a hero! There was just one little problem…

He sucked at magecraft.

It was obvious to even Marco that the kid was either just not suited for it, or he must've been doing something wrong, because he couldn't even reinforce a metal pipe, while Marco, on complete accident, jumped five stories into the air the first time he used reinforcement.

He shrugged, maybe he had a sort of knack for magic? He did read Eclipsa's forbidden chapter after all, maybe some of that was still floating around in his head somewhere… 'Huh, now that's a scary thought.' Marco thought to himself.

Marco fast forwarded through Shirou's life some more. Scowling when he made 'friends' with a boy named Shinji Matou. It was obvious to everyone but Shirou of course that the boy was a devious little snake in the grass, but Shirou was… well Shirou. He enjoyed being helpful above all else. In a lot of ways he was Marco's own 'safe-kid' persona cranked up to eleven.

The more Marco saw of Shinji, the less he liked him. It was obvious he was using Shirou's good nature against him, tricking him into cleaning up the Archery Club room when it was his turn because he knew he could most days. Then, when Shirou got injured at his part-time job, Shinji convinced him to quit Archery Club altogether. Marco pointlessly took a couple of swings at Shinji's head for that. That little bastard really pissed Marco off.

But it wasn't all bad. Sakura, Shinji's little sister seemed to take it upon herself to look after Shirou while his arm healed. Marco knew something was wrong with her too. The moment he looked into her eyes. They were like hollow holes of despair.

"Okay, what the fuck is wrong with this town? First a fucked up fire, then a man dies via a curse, and now two kids are walking around like fucking zombies! Once is coincidence, twice is happenstance, but three times is enemy action…" Marco rubbed his beard, "Which makes one wonder… just who is the enemy?"

Marco endeavor to figure this out, even as he proceeded to watch Sakura try and fail to fold a shirt. Shirou had to instruct her on how to do it.

As he kept watching Shirou's memories, with Sakura coming to all but living at his house, 'Seriously dude just get a clue already.' Marco thought as Sakura woke him up one cold February morning Shirou having spent the night in his shed. It was going to be another ordinary day…

Until some weirdo in a dark blue gimp suit stabbed Shirou in the chest with a red spear.

"Jesus kid hang on! I'll call the cops… and report a violent BDSM player in the area?" Marco quirked an eyebrow, "God that sounded even weirder out loud than it did in my head. But seriously don't die!"

Thankfully, Shirou must've had the devil's own luck or something because the school idol Rin 'I'm better than you and my strut proves it' Tohsaka was a Magus too. And she had a thing for him too if the words Marco could make out through her blubbering were right. She pulled a fist sized ruby that looked big enough to buy the damn school twice over out from a chain around her neck and then started chanting in a language that definitely wasn't Japanese. Marco, his family having housed several German foreign exchange students over the years, knew the language when he heard it. There was a bright flash of red light…

And when it faded… Shirou wasn't bleeding out anymore.

Marco sighed in relief, "Man kid, you must be part cat or something cause you've got nine lives."

Rin then left said gem with Shirou, "Why do people keep doing things like… Remember Star Marco, remember Star!"

He then followed the boy home… where he was promptly attacked by the gimp suit wearing spearman who had returned for round two!

"Should I say ding ding? I feel like I should say ding ding?" Marco said flatly.

The gimp suit wearer attacked Shirou at near blinding speeds. The boy somehow managed to grab a metal poster and reinforce it enough to block the attack even if it did send him flying backwards and out into his backyard. The boy ran towards his shed, getting slashed in the arm as he ran. He fell backwards into his shed screaming.

"I want to live!"

Marco had never felt so useless.

There was a bright flash of golden light which consumed the interior of the shed, and when it cleared one of the most beautiful women Marco had ever seen was standing in front of the bleeding Shirou. She had hair of flaxen gold ornately tied behind her head, with keen eyes that gleamed like emeralds, she was garbed in shining steel plate that had the image of a dragon on the breastplate fixed in sapphires while it matched the royal blue cloth that covered her form.

She was petite barely five foot tall but he could feel the fact she was brimming with power. She fixed her gaze on shirou and asked in a regal tone, "Are you my Master?"

Shirou too, must've been taken with her beauty for he couldn't seem to formulate a response.

"Oh c'mon Shirou! Sakura comes by everyday and you have no problem talking to her. This girl pops up outta nowhere and you can't form a sentence?" Marco was embarrassed on Shirou's behalf.

Then Marco got to see something awesome… his first Servant fight!

Saber and the now named Lancer exchanged bravado for a bit, then they duked it out. Saber moved so quick she tore trenches in the earth, but Lancer gave as good as he got. Hundreds of strikes must've been exchanged in a matter of moments between the two combatants and then they broke apart. Neither even looked winded.

"Go Blue Team… Wait their both wearing blue… Go Team Saber!" Marco cheered from the sidelines.

Lancer it seems was done screwing around for his crimson lance was consumed by a blood red curse and Marco felt something in the air freeze. Moments before he called out his weapons name, Marco finally got a good look at it and cursed.

"Oh fuck, Saber move!"

"Gáe Bolg!"

The heart of Saber was pierced because the crimson lance was thrust. Casualty had been interfered with, that was the power of Gáe Bolg, spear of Ireland's Son of Light Cu Chulainn.

Yet somehow, against all odds Saber was bleeding, yet alive. She was using her sword, which Marco saw was a beautiful golden blade of light, it's rainguard covered in gold and blue enamel and sheathed in wind magic, as a crutch.

Marco also noticed that Lancer seemed to have trouble seeing the weapon. 'It's just like with the curse. I'm seeing something I shouldn't be able to see. Something that should be hidden.'

Now that Marco got a good look at the sword, he identified it. The crystalized prayer known as Glory, that which all warriors hope for on the battlefield but it was only ever granted to one person. For the name of this sword, was…

Excalibur, and it was the fabled blade of King Arthur Pendragon.

"Okay, so King Arthur is a cute girl… I am ok with this," Marco said to himself as he heard the click go off in his head twice more.

And then just as suddenly, the fight was over, with Lancer choosing, or perhaps being forced into retreat.

And that's when Rin showed up. With a catgirl… who had a bow… in a maid outfit. Marco couldn't stop himself, "Ok what is this Fetish Friday? We've got a guy in a gimp suit, a girl in armor, and now a cat girl in what looks like a maid outfit!"

Saber who almost attacked Rin on sight was forced to stop by Shirou somehow. Then he started to ask some very important questions like what the heck is going on Who are these people, and can you fix up my house?

Rin was not impressed. The fact that Shirou not only got the 'best Servant' but was also such a terrible magus and was freeloading on her property irked her to no end.

'Sooo…. Does she own the whole city or what?' Marco found himself wondering as he watched her repair Shirou's backyard with just a single drop of her blood.

Then Shirou invited them in for tea, "Tea better come with explanations," Marco said to himself.

Tea did in fact come with explanations. Explanations which had Rin doing funny poses as she explained things, "God I wish I had a camera right now! Just look at all the blackmail material I'm passing up!" Marco bemoaned his loss.

Shirou had, through his own dumb luck which may or may not be associated with the devil, become a final participant in a murder game where the last surviving pair of Master-Servant duo's got a wish… of whatever they wanted.

"Bullshit, what's the catch?" Marco found himself asking, "If I have to hunt down a thousand clones of a goddess just for a pair of scissors there is no way this is that simple.

This murder game, was called the Holy Grail War.

"False advertising!" Marco called from the peanut gallery, "Should've called it Danganronpa: Spirit Edition."

Then Rin decided to take him to someone who could explain the rules of not only the Grail War, but life to him….

She took him to Church.

"Don't go in there Shirou, I'm getting pedo vibes from this place…" Marco said as they approached the Church sitting on the hill.

The Priest who had a mullet and somehow had an organ playing itself with no one sitting in the back playing it, was called Father Kotomine.

"Yeah I bet you like all the little boys to call you daddy don't you, you sick bastard?" Marco mocked. Something about this guy really, really freaked Marco out.

Maybe it was the fact that every word that came out of his mouth seemed insulting. It could've had something to do with his shitty seventies haircut that made him think the man had an El Camino hidden around the property somewhere, or it could the giant fucking black void where his damn heart should be.

It was just a black hole in the middle of the guys chest. Again, Marco felt like he was seeing something no one else could. Moreover, he felt like he was seeing the same curse that killed Kiritsugu Emiya. Only more condensed and of all things beneficial?

"I'm beginning to wonder just how many kids this guy has locked in his basement," Marco muttered to himself.

It was then the priest, which Marco had nicknamed Butt Stallion, revealed to Shirou that the Holy Grail is what caused the fire a decade prior.

"Well… fuck. Normally I don't look a gift horse in the mouth but considering this info is coming from Butt Stallion of all people… He's probably omitting some very important information," Marco said to himself.

The group left the church, only to be ambushed by an adorable little German girl. "Oh my god she's adorable!" Marco said to himself.

Then Berserker showed up.

"Sweet Jesus! What did you eat to get that big?!" Marco asked as he looked up into the giant's face.

Illya the adorable little psychopathic tyke, revealed that her Servant Berserker, was none other than Herakles, the most famous Greek hero ever.

"Ok, so your part god… I get that, but why are you so huge? Like did you eat your Wheaties or something as a kid or… And you supposedly had like forty wives. How did you not rip them in half with 'Lil Herc'?" Marco was still contemplating the sheer size of Herakles in many ways when the fight started.

Archer, was out of the fight due to being wounded by Saber earlier, which left the blonde on her own. She put up one hell of a fight. Marco even thought she killed him once…

And she did…

Then they found out you had to kill his ass twelve. Damn. Times. In order for him to stay dead. Not only that, but he became immune to whatever killed him previously.

"Hax! I call hax! Foul! Flag on the play! I am calling shenanigans!" Marco yelled pointlessly from the sidelines as the manly demigod moved in swinging a giant sword made of stone towards the downed servant.

Only for Shirou to jump in the way of the hit.

"Shirou you fucking moron!" Marco yelled as he facepalmed. "She's already dead you idiot! It doesn't matter if she dies again!"

Yet Shirou laid there on the sidewalk nearly cut in half, and Illya, much to his surprise walked away with Berserker in tow.

Later on Shirou woke up. How did he way up from being nearly bifurcated you ask? Well because he had a healing factor even he didn't know about apparently.

'God I wish I had some popcorn. This is going the way of a riff movie.' Marco thought as he watched the scene unfold.

Rin and Shirou formed an alliance. Since Saber was running at half power with Shirou as her Master and Archer was still recovering due to the wounds inflicted by Saber herself, both Servants were weak at the moment. They returned to school the next day…

To find that somebody was up to some fucked up shit. Marco could see a faint dome, the color of clotted blood, surrounding the school. 'That can't be good.'

Marco, already suspicious that some fuckery was going on, was sure some fuckery was going on the moment Shirou walked into the gates of the school and nearly retched. 'Can Shirou smell the magic or something? He seems to be having a weird reaction to it at the very least.'

He was given a firm shake by Rin to bring him back to his senses and Marco experimentally sniffed the air. He wrinkled his nose. It smelled strongly of dried blood and corpses, "Yeah, no wonder he wanted to throw-up. The kid can smell magic, and this thing, whatever it is, it smells wretched, gah!"

Shirou through literally following his nose, eventually found out Shinji 'the worm' Matou was the Master of Rider, "I'll bet a truckload of my super special nachos that this little shit is the one responsible for setting up the... Whatever the hell it is!"

Shinji, the little wretch, went on some long ass spiel about how his family used to be prominent magi. Marco was a little distracted because A. Fuck Shinji, and B. Rider was gorgeous! A mane of long purple hair trailed all the way down to the floor, her eyes were concealed by a metal visor, and her choice of clothing left little to the imagination. It was a simple black dress that showed off her generous cleavage. Additionally her weapons of choice were a pair of nails with chains attached.

"So… is it like a prerequisite for female Servants to be incredibly hot or something? Cause I'm starting to see a trend here… also I would happily call Rider 'Mistress' any day… unless she wants to live up to her class designation of course." Marco said to himself as he drank in Rider's form. He shook himself. "Where did that come from? I'm a gentleman damn it!" He looked to Rider and frowned, "Sorry Rider." Even though she couldn't hear him it felt better to say it.

Shinji ended up telling Shirou about another Master-Servant pair who were camping out on the mountain at Ryuudou Temple. When he told this to Saber, she wanted to go and confront them. Marco thought she was being full of herself. She was only at half power right now, and she wanted to go looking for a fight? If he could've Marco would've slapped her upside the head. A king she may be but even kings listen to good advice from their advisors.

That night, once Shirou went to sleep Saber snuck out of the house. Not for the first time, Marco wondered why he could view things Shirou had no knowledge of. But he'd been seeing other things he shouldn't be able to see before now too, so he paid it no mind as he followed the petite swordswoman. She ended up confronting the Assassin of this War. When Marco glanced at his long as all hell katana he got his name.

Sasaki Kojirou, famed opponent of Miyamoto Musashi. With that sword of his Monohoshi Zou, he could…

Marco's eyes widened, "Dear God!" He looked at the blonde Servant who, no matter how she tried, couldn't get a handle on her opponent, "Be careful Saber. He is not an opponent to underestimate or go easy on."

Again, Marco heard a clicking go off his mind. He was really starting to wonder about that. The sword fight between the two was epic. It put every fight Marco had been in to shame. The wind whipped around the two as they swung their weapons, blades, both visible and not, clashed, Assassin parrying sabers heavy handed blows while he elegantly kept aiming for her head with swooping horizontal strikes. The stark differences in their combat styles was beautiful to watch. The two separated and both stepped onto even ground, each preparing to unleash their trump cards…

Only for Assassin to call a sudden halt as Shirou came running up the temple steps. Assassin said their duel could wait until there were no prying eyes around. He was hinting that a third party was nearby, watching and waiting in the shadows.

"Assassin, your good people," Marco said nodding at the samurai in respect.

Marco watched as he carried Saber piggyback to his house. Then the two got in an argument about her fighting Servants instead of him!

"Oh, I'm sorry, but did you forget what happened last time you tried to jump in the middle of a fight? You almost got chopped in half you moron!" Marco yelled at Shirou for his stupidity and recklessness.

Yet somehow he managed to convince Saber to teach him how to defend himself.

"Oh, this is gonna be good. I really wish I had that popcorn now," Marco said to himself as he anticipated what was to come.

The next day Shirou skipped school and was 'trained' by Saber. To Marco, it looked like he got his ass kicked... a lot. But the kid wanted to learn so who was he to judge? The two went at it for awhile. Marco even picked up a few tips. Like don't fight Saber fairly. Ever.

Once Shirou went back to school he finally got a clue and realized Shinji was a dirtbag.

"There is a god!" Marco cheered to the heavens upon seeing Shirou finally getting it. Also, apparently getting his butt kicked did him some good because not only could he fight half decently now but he could reinforce a bokken too.

He and Shinji fought with magic mono a wormo and when it came right down to it using a really strange book or grimoire…

Marco decided to try structurally analyzing the book to see why it summoned such strange creatures… Marco fell to his knees and started to vomit as the history and images of the book came to his mind.

"You sick and vile twisted shit. You let your own sister adopted or not suffer that HELL and then you decided to RAPE HER! If I was able to I would kill you right now with my own bare hands," Marco began to rage at the defilement and corruption that the Matou "family" did to poor Sakura. How they violated her, broke her, and then raped her. Marco could only seethe in anger as he realized how utterly broken Sakura was. The worse part, Shirou never fucking noticed. Looking back at the current battle Marco could only look on in disgust and anger.

Shirou was talking Shinji down.

"No! Don't talk to him, cleave his head in two like you were planning to do just a minute ago! Damn it Shirou! He needs to die like the scum he is! He doesn't deserve mercy! In fact Francesca is more salvageable than Shinji and SHE EATS PEOPLE!" Marco lamented as Shinji was convinced to remove his bounded field and was allowed to run away… well fly away. Apparently Rider can summon a damn pegasus. That was cool. Note to self never let Star meet Rider and her magic flying horse for the safety of the universe.

And now they still had to stop Shinji yet again, which is what led to Saber and Shirou searching downtown for another building for possible places Shinji might be setting up that bounded field of his. They found it eventually, near a skyscraper which looked to be a busy office building. The duo raced to the roof and confronted Shinji and Rider.

"You know, not that this whole Mexican standoff isn't cool and all, but I would like to point out this wouldn't be necessary if you'd just done Shinji in yesterday, Shirou, better yet kill his grandfather to" Marco said to no one in particular and voicing his hatred for the entire Matou family except Sakura as Rider, who revealed herself as Medusa the Gorgon as she used her Pegasus to attack Shirou and Saber.

Marco's mouth dropped when he finally saw the Golden Sword of the Victorious unleashed.

"It fires fucking lasers!?" Marco yelled after a beam of golden light consumed Rider and her mount entirely, "It fires fucking lasers! How?!"

Saber collapsed after using Excalibur and Shirou rushed to her side leaving Shinji to escape again.

"Damn it! If Shirou is a cat than he's a cockroach!" Marco complained to himself as he followed the miserable wretch, "No matter what happens he just keeps-"

Marco stopped talking as he watched Berserker cleave Shinji in half with a lazy swing of his axe-sword. He grinned like a madman, "Illya you adorable little psychopath, I love you!"

Shinji 'the cockroach' Matou had finally met his end at the hands of Herakles the world's oldest exterminator of beast and vermin.

Marco was only slightly disappointed. Mainly because Shinji died to quickly for all the shit he pulled… that, and Marco kinda wanted to kill him himself.

"Ah well, c'est la vie." Marco said to himself as he followed Shirou home who was carrying Saber on his back once again wondering if the bastard Zouken was still alive.

Rin's prognosis was grim. Saber was running out of magical energy. She was at her limit. If not given a fresh supply soon, she would disappear. Shirou slept that night, and for the first time ever, Marco saw Shirou's dreams.

He dreamt of Sabers time as King. It was a sad lonely existence. "You know Saber, you could've avoided like ninety percent of this if you'd just revealed your gender. I mean really, who would've cared? Lancelot wouldn't have. He could've then happily been with Gwenevere. Kay already knew. Galahad had no room to talk being Lancelot's son born out of wedlock. You could've avoided so much shit by just doing one simple thing!" Marco complained after he saw Saber's memories of the fall of Camelot.

The second vision Shirou had was him being saved by Kiritsugu again. Being in that hellhole once was enough for Marco, so he fast forwarded through it. Then for some reason, even though there is a secret war going on Shirou decides to go to the park, alone, to think.

He promptly gets kidnapped by Marco's favorite little loli.

"I don't know whether to pity Shirou right now, or feel jealous… am I a lolicon? God, I hope not…" Marco shivered, "Maybe I just like cute things?" Star definitely counted in that category as far as he was concerned and even Kelly with her fluffy and comfortable looking hair so… "Yeah that's it."

Thankfully or maybe not so much, Rin, Archer, and Saber mounted a rescue. How they figured out where he was, Marco had no idea. They busted into Illya's mansion like the A-Team, all they were missing was the theme music. The fact that Marco was humming the tune under his breath as they commenced their assault didn't count.

In the end, Archer decided to stay back and face Berserker alone smirking and calling him an 'old friend'.

"Am I about to see a best friend fight? I think I am! Someone cue some epic fight music!" Marco begged.

Unfortunately, there was no epic fight music, but the fight was still epic. For Archer was none other than Atalante former Argonaut and companion of Herakles. The first full drawn shot from her bow went right through Berserker's skull. Apparently even Atalante's normal attacks counted as A-rank. But she was far from finished. She then used the true power of her bow, Tauropolos: Bow of Heaven. She fired a pair of arrows to the heavens beseeching both Apollo and Artemis to slay her enemies.

The result? Hundreds of lasers in the form of arrows falling from the heavens. All of them centered on Herakles. It was like the world's most lethal laser show. And it was awesome!

"That had to take at least two or three lives at once right? Right?!" Marco asked no one in particular as the Black Giant that was Herakles began to slowly regenerate.

"I said it once, I'll say it again… HAX!" Marco shouted, as Herakles regenerated.

But Atalante had one last card up her sleeve. Agrius Metamorphosis, the hide of The Calydonian Boar. Her hair, and skin paled considerably, while her eyes took on a golden hue and her pupils became slitted and beastly.

She also gained a stripperiffic outfit if Marco said so himself. Consisting of a black furred bikini, with the head of Calydonian Boar on her right shoulder, black thigh-high fur trimmed boots, and metal gauntlets.

"Damn I wish I had a camera right now. This is a picture worth a million words, at least," Marco muttered to himself.

Atlante punched Herakles in the chest, and with just that, she managed to destroy his heart, killing him once again. Then, she started charging her bow. The tip of her arrow gleamed with an eerie crimson light, which only grew into a giant orb as she pulled the arrow back further. Did Atalante have yet another secret Noble Phantasm that could only be used once she activated Agrius Metamorphosis?

Marco would never know, for Herakles regenerated his heart faster than either he or Atlante thought he would. The movement was sudden but final. He was upon her in moments and with a single swing of his axe-sword, Atalante, the Archer of this Grail War fell, bifurcated at the waist.

Berserker stared down at his foe and former companion something akin to sadness entering his maddened eyes as he just stood there, head bowed as he watched her fade away in silence.

Even Marco bowed his head respectfully to the fallen huntress, "You fought well Atalante, rest now, you've earned it," Marco looked to the Black Giant. He too seemed to be in a state of silent mourning for his fallen friend.

'Maybe there's more going on in that head of his than I thought?' Marco grimaced. "I'd better catch up with Shirou and the others."

The scene shifted around him and Marco suddenly found himself in a shack. Watching a threesome taking place between Shirou, Rin, and Saber.

"Woah! Hey! Hold up! This show just got an R-rating!" Marco looked away. And marched out of the shack. He was a lot of things, but vouyer was not one of them. Besides he saw Shirou as something of a little brother and there were some things he just didn't need to experience with him.

This? This was one of those things.

"Bi the way, Rin? You go both ways," Marco joked to himself before he fast forwarded time.

The trio was forced to battle Berserker and Illya. For a minute there, he thought Rin was going to die, 'Well at least she won't die a virgin,' Marco thought as Berserker picked her up with one hand, only for Rin to throw ten jewels into his face and blow his head off, dropping her on the process.

"Ok, that makes how many lives now? It's gotta be at least half," Marco grumbled to himself.

Shirou then traced Caliburn, the sword in the stone. He and Saber wielded it together and slew Berserker in one shining attack.

"FINALLY!" Marco yelled, "I thought he would never die!"

Then Shirou, the epitome of Shirouism, which is like heroism but a bit dumber, decided to take the rich loli psychopath home with him, because why not?

Marco ran a hand down his face, "Damn it Shirou, she just kidnapped you last night! And she lives in a fucking mansion! Moving in with you and your… um lovers, I guess. Either way, this would be a downgrade for her!"

As it turns out, Marco needn't have been so worried. Illya already had Shirou wrapped around her little finger. She would pester him to buy her video games and manga, make her food, and generally just wait on her hand and foot.

He was so busy looking after the mischievous little pixie, and treating her like a little sister, that Shirou didn't really have time to do anything else, like asking Saber about what he saw in her past when he dreamt about her or what her wish might be for the Holy Grail should she attain it.

Then Caster of all Servants attacked the house. Playful banter ensued, and then Caster was turned into a purple pincushion. Blades and spears of all sorts gored her in the back.

Tyrfing, Caladbolg, Gae Buide, Gae Dearg, Moralltach, and Beagalltach. Marco knew the names of the weapons the moment he laid eyes on them. Caster, the Witch of Betrayal Medea was revealed by the jagged bloodstained dagger she held in her hands moments before dying.

Rule Breaker.

She dissipated into motes of light… and a twenty-four-carat douchebag took her place. He oozed ego just standing there with his arms crossed in gaudy golden armor, golden earrings, with his equally golden hair flipped upwards like a ducks ass, and his crimson eyes looking down on everything he gazed on. Saber called him Archer, the Archer from the last Grail War.

"The fuck? There's only supposed to be seven of these guys right? I smell bullshittery at work… I smell… HERESY! As a member of the Imperial Inquisition would say." Marco found himself saying as the twenty-four-carat douchebag monologues about how awesome he was and how everyone else was a mongrel, and Saber was going to be his queen."

"Dude, the only woman I could ever see marrying you, is a floating unicorn head! And that's because she's as egotistical as you are!" Now that Marco thought about it, this golden turd and Ponyhead would be a perfect match… "They must never meet!" Marco swore to himself. He felt his heart stop for a moment at the very thought.

Shaking away the possibility of the universe collapsing under the weight of their combined ego, Marco got his head back into the scene. Egotistical jerkass had left, and a new pile of shit had been heaped onto Shirou's life. The next day, Shirou went to the church to inquire about Gilgamesh… instead of finding Kotomine, Shirou and Marco found out the guy kept a lot of corpses in his basement.

"I KNEW he was a pedo… the neophiliac part was a twist I wasn't expecting!" Marco cried out, slightly sickened over seeing the corpses of the children. Their emaciated forms were still somehow alive and begging for death. Shirou put them out of their misery. That was to be expected. Mr. Blue Gimp Suit trying to kill Shirou for a third time… honestly, they say good jokes come in threes but this was getting a little stale.

The so-called 'neutral' priest being the Master of both Gilgamesh King of Heroes and Cu Chulainn, was a nice twist that Marco kinda saw coming though.

"You mean the creepy priest was actually up to something after all? What a twist!"

He then ordered Lancer to kill Shirou with a Command Spell. Only for Saber to show up and fight Lancer. The creepy priest escaped in the commotion though. Once he was gone, Lancer turned on his own party allowing Shirou and Saber to escape. Marco knew he should probably follow Shirou and Saber, but he felt he owed it to the spearman to watch his fight to the death, since it was his actions that allowed Shirou and Saber to escape.

The battle lasted half a day. For twelve hours straight Lancer deflected dodged and parried an innumerable number of bladed projectiles. Names of weapons beyond counting passed through Marco's head as he watched the Son of Lugh fight for his life. Durandal, Harpe, Dainsleif, Hotengeki, Boneless Man, Almace, Cortana, and many others besides those.

But Gilgamesh was like a cat playing with a mouse. He was toying with Cu Chulainn before he got bored with him and decided to kill him. With a snap of his fingers, more motion than Gil had taken for half a day, Ireland's Son of Light was bound in golden chains. The golden chain of heaven used to bound and slay Gulganna Enkidu.

He was then pierced from every perceivable angle. Turned into a shishkabob. Marco clenched his fist. He really hated this Gilgamesh bastard.

Marco rewinds time twelve hours and decides to catch up with up Shirou, Saber and Rin. Shirou and Saber rushed back to his house, along the way agreeing the Holy Grail must be destroyed. When they arrived they found Rin bleeding by the front door.

"The game's afoot Shirou," Marco muttered.

Rin despite being in pain explained how Kirei wounded her and took Illya, and furthermore explained how Illya was the Lesser Grail the conduit for the Grails power.

She then gave him her Azoth Sword, a former gift from Kirei, and told him to kill the son of a bitch with it.

"Go Tohsaka," Marco said.

Shirou and Saber prepared for their final confrontation. Shirou brought up the fact that they had no way to counter Gilgamesh, causing Saber to lament the loss of her third and most powerful Noble Phantasm, Avalon. Something clicked in Shirou's head in that moment and he traced a perfect copy, no he brought out the real deal from the depths of his own soul.

Shirou then mentions that he'd been having dreams relating to this sheath, but couldn't figure out what they meant. Saber looked at him gobsmacked for a moment before she burst out laughing. Now armed with her final and most crucial weapon, she could defeat the King of Heroes, while Shirou dealt with Kirei Kotomine.

Marco decided to watch Shirou's fight first, as Saber's was bound to be more entertaining by far than just watching two humans duke it out. When Shirou arrived at the site of the Greater Grail, Marco just stared.

For the Greater Grail was a massive obelisk of flesh and eyes with a pitch dark sphere floating just above it. Black ichor soaked the ground and Kotomine stood in it easily as Illya now naked floated in the air above him. He gave some cliche villain speech about how Avenger, a Servant from the Third Holy Grail War was trying to be 'born' from the Grail, as All the World's Evil. Kirei Bad. Angra Mainyu? Also Bad. That's all Marco and Shirou really cared about. That, and rescuing Illya.

Kirei being the evil villain though, had no intention of playing fair and entering into a slug match with Shirou. Instead, he covered him in the curse of the Grail Mud. Both Marco and Shirou saw what the curse, and thus humanity were capable of if pushed to the absolute brink…

And it caused them to shout at the same time. "Fuck this!"

Well, Marco did at least. Shirou might've shouted something else, but it sounded similar. They both rose from the Grail Mud unharmed, shocking the evil priest. Shirou wasted no time in charging towards the priest, Tracing a copy of the Azoth Sword, and stabbing him in the heart with it. He then gathered energy in his fist and punched the weapon while shouting the release phrase.

"Läßt," The weapon released a huge blast of energy, exploding in the process. Kirei's lifeless corpse fell to the floor, and Shirou traced a blanket and caught Illya as she fell into his arms.

Smiling and knowing that was one fight down, Marco rewound time and watched the final clash between Servants in the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Gilgamesh, in the typical arrogant fashion he'd come to expect from the man, stood there with arms crossed as golden portals opened around him, spewing out an arsenal worthy of an army. Saber practically danced amongst spears, swords, flails, magical arrows belonging to indian gods, and much more as she tried to approach the King of Heroes.

Unlike with Cu Chulainn however, Gilgamesh saw the Once and Future King as a serious threat. For he pulled out a weapon that wasn't a weapon, a sword that wasn't a sword. Just looking at it made Marco's headache at the contradiction it was causing him.

Ea. His mind told him. Creator of Heaven and Earth. Star of Rupture and Creator of Primal Genesis.

The not-sword screamed at it spiraled grinding three separate parts together as they rotate and created a howling wind. A crimson power gathered at the tip of the blade and then Gilgamesh pointed the weapon at Saber releasing a vortex of crimson power her way.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Marco screamed as the crimson tide came closer to washing over both Saber and himself.

"Avalon!" There was a flash of golden light, and Marco found himself standing in a verdant green field, under the most brilliant blue sky he'd ever seen.

"Wow…" He said to himself as he looked around. He saw Saber standing behind him looking confident and serene. "Is this… Avalon?"

Before he could get his answer, they were back in the real world Gilgamesh's attack had passed them by and before he could even comprehend what had happened, Saber had run him through, her sword buried hilt deep into his chest.

Despite everything, the egotistical jackass laughed and gently touched Sabers face, which Marco was honestly surprised she allowed, "Somethings are precious… because they cannot be attained."

With that, he faded away into golden motes for the last time.

The only thing left to deal with was the Grail. Using his final Command Spell, Shirou ordered Saber to destroy the Holy Grail once and for all. She did so gladly. Marco was happy. Shirou had his grand adventure. He got to be a hero like he'd always wanted. Surely now, he would calm the heck down now that he saw saving people was harder than he thought, right?

Heh, no.

The Fifth Holy Grail War merely acted as an eyeopener for Shirou. It showed him just how weak he was. He took to training what little magecraft he knew with renewed vigor. Like a man possessed. He sought to, as a human, reach the realm of Heroic Spirits. He was so caught up in realizing his own dream, he failed to notice what was happening to the people around him.

Marco watched sadly as little Illya got sicker and sicker as the year after the Grail War went by. He noticed when she could hardly make it out of bed anymore. Shirou? He was too focused on his dream, and only noticed something was wrong with Illya when Taiga pointed it out to him.

By then, it was far, far too late to do anything to help her.

"Shirou… you fucking idiot," Marco said, for the first time he was truly angry with the young man.

She was laid to rest next to Kiritsugu. Shirou and Taiga felt it's what she would've wanted. Rin came back from the Clocktower where she'd been studying to attend her funeral.

Illya's death pushed Shirou to train even harder and he started using his skills meager as they were to stop crime. It was small things at first, purse snatchings, muggings, vandalism. Then it escalated. Shirou hunted down a murderer when the police couldn't catch him. Reason being? The person was a magus trying to conduct some kind of greater ritual. Shirou killed this magi.

Besides the fact his acts could've damned an entire city had his Greater Ritual actually worked… one of the people he killed was Taiga Fujimura… his dear Fuji-nee.

Shirou didn't stay in Fuyuki long after that. Marco couldn't blame him either. He moved on to bigger problems. Armed conflicts, whole battlefields, occasionally killing Vampires and their kin, or taking requests from Rin. Slowly but surely however, Shirou lost contact with everyone in his life. Marco realized something immediately as Shirou left Fuyuki for the last time. He never found out what Shirou did for Sakura. Anger began to rise Marco's chest, "You left her. She was all but screaming save me but you left her to Zouken. You didn't even check on her after the war. You didn't even question why she didn't come to your house anymore. You selfish bastard. She loved you and you left her to rot in her living hell! With God as my witness if I ever meet you Shirou I will make your life hell for you but paradise for your friends and loved ones. I won't let you forget those who are important!"

Then that happened.

To Marco. it didn't seem like anything serious, just a hundred people killed in a drone strike in the Middle East. Such was the way of war unfortunately. But for Shirou having a hundred people he couldn't save was a travesty. So he made a deal. A deal with the World. If it brought these people back, he would serve it as a Guardian after death.

So the deal was struck and those people lived. Shirou kept helping people by killing others. One to save ten, ten to save a hundred, a hundred to save a thousand and so on. It went on until one day he was betrayed by someone he trusted, who pointed to him as the cause for the very wars he sought to stop. Shirou went to his death, death by hanging, with his head held high and a smile on his face. Sure in the fact that even in death, he could keep saving people…

He had never been more wrong and more right about anything in his entire life. Shirou did save others in death yes, but he saved others by killing anyone related to an imminent disaster to humanity. Young, old, male or female, it didn't matter all fell to his yin-yang blades regardless if they were in the area of an imminent disaster. Again and again, time after time, he killed and killed, and he kept killing! Seeing the ideals he held so highly tarnished time and time again in death twisted Shirou. He became jaded, cynical, resigned… borderline insane. He had all but given up hope of escaping his fate, but he had one final fatal gambit left…

Should he be summoned as a Servant in a Fifth Grail War and should he manage to kill himself before he makes a contract with Alaya, then he might just be able to escape this hellish fate. As EMIYA the Counter Guardian killing Shirou Emiya may just be a big enough contradiction to wipe him from existence. He prayed it was enough. It was the only thing letting him maintain what little sanity he had left…

Marco suddenly found himself standing in front of the doors of his mindscape again. He looked at the door that had Emiya Shirou's name on it, and he punched it as hard as he could, "Shirou, you damn idiot!" He punched it again. This time it was weaker as his emotions began to overwhelm him. Marco weakly slammed his fists against the door as he slid to his knees his head pressed against the wood of the door that locked the memories away, as tears streamed down his face.

"Shirou, you damn fool," was the only thing Marco could say at the tragedy he just beheld even if he was angry at the fool for damning Sakura. The hero who rose so high but fell into despair by the cruel hands of his own fate. He tried to save so many but damned himself in the process and even damned some of those he should have saved.

"Marco?" A voice called to him concernedly.

"Marco wake up." Marco ignore the voice calling his name, he didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He just wanted to mourn the fallen hero, and boy he saw grow up.

"Marco!" The feminine voice was angry now, it didn't like being ignored. He didn't care. He just wanted….

WHACK!

Marco blinked and rubbed the back of his head which was currently hurting. He'd been knocked over from his sitting position, and he looked around to see Francesca cracking her knuckles and smiling at him.

"Finally decided to answer Francesca have you?" She said as she smiled at him.

"I… what?" Marco asked, "What happened?"

The woman huffed. "Mar-kun started crying and wouldn't answer Francesca's summons, so Francesca had to resort to… alternative methods to wake him up."

Marco felt his still tender head, "You punched me," He said matter-of-factly.

Francesca nodded, not even trying to hide it, "She did. Mar-kun was in distress and he needed to wake up. Since he wasn't answering Francesca, she assumed something was wrong. Is Mar-kun ok?"

Marco pushed himself into an upright position. Natchios scampered up his arm and claimed her rightful place on his shoulders, bunting her head against his face like a cat. Marco rubbed her under her chin, "I'm fine girl," Marco looked to Francesca. I'm fine."

"Mar-kun is a horrible liar," Francesca huffed, "What happened? What did Mar-kun see that upset him so, hmm?"

Marco sighed. "I saw someone who just wanted to help people become crushed by that very desire," Marco stoically told her about Shirou and his desire to be a hero in the modern age. It was a dream whose fire was only stoked by competing in the Fifth Holy Grail War. His dream consumed him, It overshadowed everything in the end, his care for Illya, his relationship with Rin, it even caused him to eventually make his faustian bargain with the collective consciousness of mankind Alaya, and become a Counter Guardian.

Francesca listened silently, and once she was sure Marco had finished she just laughed a little causing him to glare at her, "Francesca is sorry Mar-kun, but think about it. This Emiya Shirou sought to play God, deciding who lived and who died. He even made a deal with the planet to enact True Resurrection, something that requires True Magic to pull off. Yet in the end, he is forced to kill for all of eternity. Do you not find it poetically ironic that one who sought to step into the territory of God has been punished in such a way for his insolence?"

Marco sighed. He had to remind himself that Francesca wasn't exactly good or morally upstanding, "I suppose that's one way to look at it. To me, it just seems tragic."

"It reminds Francesca of the tale of Icarus. Like Icarus, Emiya Shirou flew too close to the sun, blinded by his pride… thinking he could save everyone. Then he came crashing back down to Earth when Alaya came to collect on its end."

"What about Giles and Francois Prelati? Weren't they playing God when they murdered all those children?"

Francisca nodded, "Indeed they were, for it is the way of the strong to rule over the weak. To do with them as they see fit. Even kill them, should they desire it."

"So what you're a social darwinist? The strong live and the weak die, is that it?" Marco asked her dryly.

Francesca nodded, "Essentially yes. Do you know why you've survived everything this dimension has thrown at you Mar-kun? When others would've laid down and died long ago? It's because Mar-kun is strong," Francesca told him with something akin to conviction in her tone, "He was stronger than all the Hekapoo clones he's snuffed out, he was stronger than the Archfiends he's slain, and he was stronger than Sortiara."

Marco gripped his right arm when it twinged in pain at the mentioning of her name, "You don't know what your talking about. In a majority of those fights, I pulled through by the skin of my teeth, hell half the time I was lucky to still have my skin afterwards!"

"Yet Mar-kun is still here, and his enemies are dead. That speaks volumes to Francesca," The Eldritch Witch retorted.

Marco sighed, "We could debate back and forth all day long, but we don't have the luxury. We need to get to Dis by sundown. All kinds of crazy monsters prowl around these parts at night and we'd be safer behind some city walls," Marco flipped to his feet and looked at the magic circle, where a hunk of gold the size of an ostrich egg sat, "Your carrying that by the way."

"Shouldn't Mar-kun as a gentleman offer to carry a ladies things for her?" Francesca needled.

Marco looked left and right, "Lady, where?"

Francesca puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, "Francesca thinks Mar-kun picked up more than just Japanese from Shirou-san! He is snarkier now too!"

Marco just laughed, and kept walking towards Dis.

Francesca hurriedly picked up the hunk of gold and ran her foot over the magic circle, destroying it before she raced off after him.

Dis was a simple farming community. They had thatch roofed buildings made of stone, and the largest building in the town was the town hall at the end of the street, an imposing building made of white marble, oak timbers, and solid grey stone. It looked more like a keep than a town hall.

The second largest building was of course the tavern, with a blacksmith and apothecary nearby as well. It was one of the larger towns Marco had seen in Hekapoo's dimension if he was honest with himself.

Marco made his way into the tavern and then right up to the bar that was being manned by a dwarf. His thick red beard was in plaits and he was casually cleaning the counter as Marco and Francesca approached. " Welcome to the Overstone Keep. What can ole' Braddovin Firebeard get ya weary travelers?"

"Food, Bed, and information please," Marco flipped the dwarf a gold coin, Francesca having converted her chunk of gold into ounce sized discs that could pass for tenure before they entered the city.

"If its food, drink and bedding you be needin' look no further than here. As for information well, it depends on the type it does," The dwarf replied as he deftly caught the coin.

Marco easily flipped the dwarf another coin, he'd played this game before with others far craftier than a dwarven barkeep, "I'm looking for a woman."

"Aren't we all, though I gotta ask, what's wrong with the one right next to ya? She kinfolk or something?"

Marco shook his head, "No, and I'm not looking for a woman for that reason."

"That's what he has Francesca for," The Eldritch Witch chimed in happily a devious smile on her face.

The dwarf laughed at her brazenness. "I see. I'll give ya a room with one bed then shall I? Since you'll only need the one."

"Yes please." Francesca replied, a purr in her voice.

"Can we get back on topic please?" Marco asked the barkeep pleadingly to keep his mind away from other thoughts.

The dwarf nodded. "Right, right, you're looking for a woman right? What's she look like?"

"Long auburn hair, horns, has a flame floating above her head, amber colored eyes one of which is usually covered by a fringe. She's unusually pale, and has a bombshell figure… ow. What?" Marco asked looking at the annoyed Francesca who just smacked him upside the head.

"Stupid Mar-kun," Francesca huffed.

Marco just looked at Francesca in confusion. He honestly couldn't figure out why she just hit him. 'It's not like she… nah, there is no way,' Marco shook his head, "Anyway, you see any girls like that around here?"

"You know lad, you basically just described the creation Goddess Hekapoo dontcha?"

"Yep, that's her alright," Marco nodded.

The dwarf nodded, "So yer a Questor then?"

Marco's brow furrowed, "That's the second time I've heard that mentioned. What's it even mean, to be a 'Questor'?"

The dwarf let out a long low whistle, "She threw you right into the deep end, didn't she lad? She told ya nothin' about the Quest?"

"The basics I blow out all the flames of her clones and her, and I get a pair of dimensional scissors."

"Lad, there's a lot more to getting a pair of her scissors than that. Have a seat," Braddovin motioned to one of the stools lined up against the bar. Marco saddled up to one and Francesca sat sideways ladylike on the other.

Want anythin' to drink before I start?" The barkeep asked.

"Agave juice, a double." Marco asked.

"Wine please," Francesca requested.

Placing a bottle of agave juice in front of Marco and a bottle of wine in front of Francesca, Braddovin began his explanation, "Okay, now, where to start? Firstly, Getting a pair of Hekapoo's scissors is more than just opening portals to wherever. They are status symbols kid. For you, and your dimension."

Marco took a long pull off his bottle of agave juice. This felt like it was going to be one of those conversations, "Explain."

"If you manage to pass the Trial of Flames, well your a bona fide badass bar none. Like seriously there is no higher bar for the greatest warriors in the multiverse, than completing Hekapoo's trial. Mainly because, only the best of the best are chosen to take the trial by the Magic High Commission in the first place."

"Wait, you mean people are chosen to take this test?!" Marco was shocked to learn people volunteered for this.

"You mean you weren't?" The dwarf blinked in surprise, "But the Magic High Commission has a waiting list of people wanting to take the trial or at least they did last I checked. They have exams for people who want to take it and everything," The Dwarf gave Marco a once over, "You certainly look like the type they'd let take the trial. You've been here what? A year, six months tops?"

Marco slowly shook his head, "No sir, I've… I've been here eight years. Ever since I was fourteen..."

The Dwarf's mouth dropped. For a full minute he just stared at Marco in nothing short of absolute awe. Then he snapped it shut, "Fou-Fourteen? That's not even when a human is in their prime is it? And since when were humans taken off the Magic High Commissions blacklist?"

"Blacklist?" Marco questioned.

Braddovin held his head in his hands, "Dear me, what has she done?! Kid, do you even know your in a time dilated dimension? Please tell me she told you that much!"

Marco's eye twitched, "I'm what?!"

The dwarf paled considerably, "Oh sweet stone. She just threw you to the wolves with nothing but a goal didn't she?"

Marco took several deep breaths, "How… how heavily?" Marco asked once he managed to calm down.

"How heavily what lad?" Braddovin asked gently.

Francesca piped up, "I do believe Mar-kun wants to know how quickly time passes her compared to Earth. Francesca too is curious."

Braddovin tugged at his beard, "Well, I dunno the exact numbers mind you, but for every minute that passes in most dimensions two years pass here."

"And Mar-kun has been here eight years… so then back on earth…"

"I've only been gone four minutes…" Marco muttered to himself before he raged, "Four damn minutes!"

"Mar-kun," Francesca's hand landed on his shoulder and the softness in her tone made him look at her, "Calm down and let Braddovin-san finish talking. He could have vital information."

Marco took a long swig of agave juice, "Continue Mr. Braddovin."

"Right, like I was sayin' being a questor, gets you a special status. You become the pinnacle of warriors in your dimension, and for your dimension, its proof that your dimension is ready for inter dimensional trade."

Marco slowly nodded, "That… makes sense actually, when I was traveling around with Star."

"You mean princess Star Butterfly of Mewni?" The dwarf seemed astonished he knew her, more so that he was casually talking about her by her first name.

"Yeah that's her, but anyway, I always found it odd how no one batted an eyelash whenever we'd pop into a random dimension with the dimensional scissors Ponyhead gave us."

Braddovin raised a hand so he could ask a question, "Are you talking about Princess Lilacia Ponyhead future heir of the Ponyhead Kingdom?"

"Yeah her, she's a real conceited pain in the ass. First time I met her, Star and I try to protect her from getting sent to St. Olga's… then we actually bust her out of that place! Even though I had to dress in drag and start a revolution to do it, what does she call me still? Earth Turd? What does it take for a guy to get a little respect?"

"Woah, woah, back up!" Braddovin said holding out both hands, "You mean to tell me that you've not only saved Princess Ponyhead twice, but you're also Princess Turdina of Earth?"

"Say what now? Oh, yeah I suppose so."

The dwarf reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle of what looked to be whiskey before taking a long pull for himself, "Now, now it all makes sense."

Marco was lost, "What does? How does any of this make sense at all?"

Braddovin ran a hand down his face, "Kid, when you save a princess whether they acknowledge it or not, a debt is owed by the royal family. The more you do it and the more severe the threat, the deeper the debt is. You saved an entire fortress full of princesses from across the multiverse. Meaning if you pass this trial and prove Earth is worthy of interdimensional trade…"

The truth of the matter hit Marco like a ton of bricks, "I could turn Earth into a multiverse level trading hub by calling in a few favors?"

Braddovin nodded, "Aye lad, and with so many future rulers in your debt… well, this'll be easier to set up than you think."

Marco glanced over at Francesca who had been covering her mouth with both hands for awhile now to stifle her giggling. He gave her a deadpan glare, "Your still laughing at the image of me in a dress, aren't you?"

"Francesca can't help herself! Fufufu! She just thinks Mar-kun would look too adorable. Why, she could practically eat him up," Francesca fluttered her eyelashes at him as she said that.

"Sorry, but as we've discussed I'm not on the menu." Marco deadpanned.

Francesca huffed. "Stupid Mar-kun… how many hints must Francesca drop?" The woman muttered to herself.

Marco looked to Braddovin, "Any idea what she's talking about?"

The dwarf looked at Francesca sadly, "You poor, poor, woman. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll get it eventually."

"What?" Marco asked feeling completely lost, "What am I not getting?"

"Idiot!" Both the bartender and his traveling companion said at the same time.

Marco decided to change the subject, "So Braddovin, how do you know all this stuff about the Quest and everything anyway?"

The dwarf snorted out a laugh, "Well, there's a real good reason for that lad," Braddovin thumbed behind and above him.

Following his gaze, Marco's eyes locked onto a pair of ornate stone hued dimensional scissors that were hanging by a pair of hooks on the wall above the bar. His gaze flicked back to Braddovin, who smiled knowingly, "You were a Questor. You completed her Trial."

"Aye, but that was centuries ago now," The Dwarf commented offhandedly, "Now, as a questor on a Quest, there's a couple of other things you need to know lad."

Marco leaned forward eagerly. "Hit me."

"As a Questor, you can request aid and supplies from anyone in this dimension at anytime. You just need to identify yourself as the Questor. It part of the rules for living here."

Marco let out a long sigh, "All the money I wasted on bribes…"

The Dwarf nodded solemnly, "Questors have been known to take advantage of this and make total asses of themselves at times. Hell, one guy once took over a castle just because he could, all under the pretense of using the place as a base of information gathering while he hunted the clones of Hekapoo."

"He was lying?" Marco guessed.

Braddovin nodded, "He had no intention of completing the quest by that point and just wanted to live out the rest of his life in luxury. By the time anyone caught on he had complete control of the area. He and his lackeys were making the people's already difficult life near unbearable. It took Hekapoo herself sending him back to his own dimension to restore any semblance of order to the area. And that was just the most recent in a long line of things some Questors have done in this dimension. Not all of them are bad of course, but the people in this place know, whenever a Questor shows up it's a toss of the dice whether or not their lives are about to get worse, stay the same, or get a little better."

Now Marco didn't feel so bad paying for whatever information he could on Hekapoo clones. Not when the people had been treated so badly in the past by previous Questors. He ran a hand through his hair, "Ok, is there anything else I need to know?"

"Just one thing," Braddovin said holding up a single finger, "The Trial is a test within a test. It tests both the endurance and intelligence of the Questor. Think back lad, what exactly did Hekapoo tell you before she started?"

Marco utilized thought acceleration for the first time. The memory came back to him clear as day, as if it had just happened, "She said I had to blow out her flame! The real Hekapoo's. The clones are just a diversion!"

The dwarf nodded. "Aye lad, that's the riddle within the quest. You find the real Hekapoo and blow out her flame, it doesn't matter how many clones are left. You win."

Marco slammed his head against the bar. Once. Twice. On the third time he sighed, and it sounded like he was crying when he spoke next, "I feel so stupid right now!"

Braddovin patted Marco reassuringly on the shoulder, "There, there now lad. Outta all those who took the Quest of Flames, you've had it the toughest of the lot. If anything its a bloody miracle you survived this long. Fourteen… what the hell was she thinkin'?"

Marco sat up and looked the dwarf dead in the eye " Give it to me straight Braddovin, do you think I even have a chance of completing this quest?"

The Dwarf didn't hesitate, "Lad, you've been given the shittiest hand outta any questor I've ever seen. The fact that your not dead is a miracle in and of itself… and its for that very reason that I think you got more grit and bigger stones than anyone I have ever met. Why, if you didn't finish this quest, you'd be doin' yourself a disservice."

Marco smiled, "Thanks, I… I needed to hear that," Marco was silently kicking himself for even thinking about giving up. 'Remember what… 'who' your fighting for Marco Diaz!'

The image of Star smiling at him flashed through his mind. He ran a hand down his face before asking Braddovin tiredly, "What do you got to eat around here?"

"Got some lamb stew on the fire. Should go good with what you're both drinking, along with some bread," The proprietor said.

Marco looked to Francesca, "Sound good to you?"

"Stew and wine? Sounds lovely. All we're missing is the quaint table and the candelabra, and this would be a proper first date to Francesca."

"I've got you covered missie," Braddovin replied a roguish smile on his face and twinkle in his eye as he finished putting a checkered red and white picnic blanket over a table and setting a lit brass candelabra in the middle of it, followed by placing two wooden bowls full of stew and an accompanying tray of bread and butter. Motioning for the two to sit, The dwarf disappeared for a moment and came back carrying two collapsible chalkboard signs which he set up on either side of the table. Curious, Marco looked at the message the dwarf had written before he sat down. It read.

"Date in progress. Disrupt under threat of being punted head first into the blender dimension… and yes, this includes you too Rick Sanchez!"

"Blender Dimension?" Marco asked the dwarf.

"It's a thing lad, trust me," Braddovin commented.

Marco nodded before pulling out Francesca's chair out for her so she could sit down, "Whose Rick Sanchez?"

"A drunken lout who skips out on paying his bartab. Don't worry about him; focus on your lady friend, and gimme a holler if you need anything else," With that the dwarf walked off, back behind his bar as more customers walked into his establishment.

Marco had only really ever been on one date before, and that was with Jackie. It felt like forever ago already. He'd had sex, yes. But it was something he did to relieve stress and forget all the deaths caused by the latest battle with an Archfiend or some other horrible event. Not that he didn't know what to do on a date of course. He still knew how to be courteous to a woman… it's just he always kinda assumed his second date would be with Star of all people after all she was on his mind a lot in his quest to get her scissors back.

'The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.`` Marco thought to himself as he took a bite of the stew. It was thick and hearty, with thick chunks of lamb, chopped potatoes, onions, and leeks in it and the sauce was slightly gravy like. He glanced at Francesca who he had to admit looked pretty in the candlelight, with it both dancing and casting shadows on her pale skin. Despite what she was and how she acted, there was no denying how pretty Francesca was.

She caught him staring, "Mar-kun? Is there something on Francesca's face?"

"No, it's just… your very pretty," Marco complimented.

"Fufufu! Mar-kun isn't used to complimenting girls is he?" Francesca commented while smiling at his attempt at flattery.

Marco sighed, "I've only ever been on one date, and that was before I started my quest… It was… pleasant…" Marco recalled bits and pieces of that night mostly how nervous he felt around Jackie and then getting a sick feeling in his stomach before rushing off to help Star, "So, how am I doing so far?"

The Eldritch Witch smiled at him, "Francesca has no complaints… well, she does have one."

Marco sighed, "What did I do wrong?"

"On the date nothing it's just… how does Francesca explain? Mar-kun looks… scruffy."

Marco blinked, "Scruffy?"

Francesca nodded, "Mar-kun should properly shave, try and grow a proper beard, instead of looking like a vagrant."

Marco ran a hand down his face which was full of dark fuzz, "I see…"

Francesca nodded, "Francesca, she is older than she looks. She is from fourteenth century France. Back then, it was common for men to keep either clean shaven or have neatly trimmed beards."

"And since I don't, I look like a vagabond, is that about right?" Marco asked with a smile.

"Yes," Francesca replied in a simple and brutally honest fashion not bothering to pull her punches for the sake of his feelings.

Marco nodded, "I'll shave, but I get to choose how the hair grows out of my face."

Francesca smiled, "Thank you Mar-kun."

The two went back to their food. Their usual topic, that of magecraft was too dangerous to talk about out in the open like this, so they stayed silent. Yet Marco was ruminating about something, actually several somethings Francesca had said earlier.

'Francesca said she was born in the 1400's. She says whenever she dies she swaps bodies and even genders. She knew Giles de Rais personally… She said the book was hers when we first met. That means she has to be!' Marco's eyes widened in realization.

"Mar-kun is everything alright?" Francesca asked.

Looking at her right in her darkened eyes, Marco asked her pointblank, "Francesca, your Francois Prelati aren't you?"

Francesca looked surprised for just a moment before she said, "Can we speak of this after dinner Mar-kun?"

Marco nodded, he didn't want to ruin the mood with heavy talk, "Yeah that's fine."

The two finished their meal and Marco politely pulled her chair out for her again before making his way up to the bar to get their room key. Braddovin saw the Questor approaching and tossed him a key, "Third floor, door all the way at the end of the hall."

"Thanks."

Marco made his way to Francesca who was waiting near the stairs looking a bit anxious. He took her by the hand which he noted was clammy with sweat and led her to their room, unlocking the door with the key he was given.

The room in question could only have been the honeymoon suite. It had a king size bed covered in a rose red comforter, that took up a majority of the room, a freaking hot tub took up one corner and what looked to be a large bathroom dominated the rest of the room. There was also a large closet dominating one wall.

"Braddovin you son of a-" Marco was cut off by the sound of the door closing behind him.

He turned to see Francesca standing in front of the closed door her hands behind her back, looking nervous and unsettled. Marco frowned, "Francesca, is something wrong?"

"Can… can we go sit on the bed Mar-kun?" She asked nodding towards the massive plush mattress with a tone of nervousness and slight fear.

Marco obliged her sitting down on the mattress. He let out a groan. It felt like it had been forever since he'd sat on something other than solid earth or wooden chairs. Francesca sat down next to him, her hands wringing the hem of her dress nervously. Marco waited for Francesca to speak. When she didn't he called out to her gently, "Francesca? You said we were going to talk?"

"Right. Francesca… her original self was indeed Francois Prelati, who originally wrote the Noble Phantasm Marco now carries. Does… Does Marco hate Francesca knowing who she was, what she's done?"

Marco took a moment to think, "Well I mean… I can't exactly condone it…" Francesca winced, "But at the same time I don't really have the right to judge you or Giles either. The Fourteenth Century was… different compared to the current era. If you didn't have royal status, you might as well be livestock rather than a person so… While I don't agree with what you and he did, the original Francois Prelati died for his crimes, and so did Giles. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that's good enough for me."

Francesca looked up at Marco in surprise. He smiled at her, "What? Were you expecting me to call you a monster or something? I mean sure you have two mouths, but most girls have those anyway, yours just has teeth… and a tongue."

"Sex jokes, really Marco?" Francesca asked even as she giggled behind her hand at his poor but funny attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah sorry… but I gotta ask. If you speak English and the other mouth speaks French at the same time, does that count as you speaking in tongues?"

Francesca laughed, bending over this time, "Marco, stop!"

"I noticed you stopped with the pet name."

Francesca who'd placed her head on his lap, looked up into his face. "Which do you prefer, Marco or Mar-kun?"

"Mar-kun's kinda growing on me if I'm being honest but only you. Anyone else and it feels kinda creepy," Marco admitted, cringing at little at the very thought of Star calling him that.

Francesca reach up with both her hands and started stroking his face, "Mar-kun, my Mar-kun. You are… special to Francesca. She has never… cared for anyone before. Not after Giles-kun anyway. What is it about you that Francesca likes so much?"

"I don't know?" Marco replied honestly.

"Francesca thinks she does." As she sat up still holding his cheeks. "You accepted Francesca. You didn't see a monster, you saw a person. Someone needing help. Francesca thinks she might already like Mar-kun quite a bit."

(Lemon warning skip if you so desire)

Francesca kissed Marco passionately. Her lips pressed against his hungrily. Marco was stunned for a moment then pulled back, "Francesca I…"

"Love Star Butterfly Francesca knows… but Francesca also knows Marco has received quite a shock today. If he doesn't spend his access energy he won't be getting any sleep tonight. So don't think of this as sex Mar-kun. Think of this as a… a Tantric Ritual."

"Tantric Ritual?" Marco asked.

Francesca nodded. "It is a ritual where magical energy is exchanged through two or more parties through the act of sex. As magical energy imbeds itself in human bodily fluids. Francesca has been trapped in her book for a long time. She could be dangerously low on magical energy you know?" She smiled at him deviously.

'Ah, so that's what those three were doing that time in the woods.' Marco thought to himself before he returned her grin with one of her own. This was a compromise he could live with. "Well, we can't have that now can we?"

The two met in another passionate kiss. Francesca stood up, one hand still holding Marco's for as long as she could as she walked a couple of feet from him while Marco stayed seated on the bed. Francesca then slowly, hesitantly, almost sensually, started taking off her clothing. She shrugged her arms out of her gloves, then reached down and slowly unzipped her boots before daintily stepping out of them. Her eyes locked onto Marco and she smiled at him sexily, even sending in a little wink as she undid her garter belt and started rolling down her pantyhoes revealing the soft pale flesh of one leg, then another. She casually cast her skirt aside leaving her in just her underwear and stripped top, if one didn't count the ribbon in her hair. She turned around, giving Marco a good view of her plump pale backside. She turned around and smiled at him as she slowly shimmied out of her underwear causing her ass to jiggle a little with every motion it made. Now wearing only her top and the black ribbon in her hair, Francesca turned back to Marco, her hands discreetly covering her holiest of holies. She seemed to be waiting for something, pleading at him with her unusual black and gold ringed eyes.

Marco knew just what to say, "Take it all off Francesca, I want to see everything."

For the first time since she started her striptease, Francesca blushed and smiled at Marco demurely, before nodding shyly, "Ok, Mar-kun."

Francesca slowly gripped the hem of her top before she gently pulled it up and over her head. She didn't bother with a bra, but Marco already knew this. Her second mouth was shut but the clenched teeth were clearly visible forming a U incision from directly below her pert and perky bust and going all the way down to below her belly button. Francesca hesitantly stood there in front of Marco for a moment waiting for a reaction, any reaction. Yet he just stared. Francesca placed her hands on her blushing cheeks throwing all sense of modesty out the window as she looked away and said, "Please say something Mar-kun!"

"You look beautiful Fresca," Marco said at last too stunned by her beauty to find his own voice to speak.

Hearing him say that on top of giving her a pet name was just too much for the Eldritch Witch. She launched herself at the Questor and assaulted his mouth with renewed vigor. The force with which she hit Marco with knocked the two back onto the bed, with Francesca on top of Marco. The eldritch woman forced her tongue into Marco's mouth and a battle for dominance began. It was a battle Francesca happily found herself losing. The two pulled away, a bit of saliva connecting to their mouths, and Francesca said a little breathlessly. "Mar-kun is overdressed for this."

"Agreed."

Francesca rolled off of him and propped herself up on her elbows, watching as Marco began to peel off his purple holy shroud, only to suddenly stop. "I wanna try something hold on." He put a hand on his chest and said "Exclude."

There was a brief flash of light and when it cleared Marco was wearing his usual adventurer attire, and he was holding the Caster Class Card in his hand. Marco placed the class card on the nightstand near the bed before he stripped off his jacket revealing his toned muscled form to Francesca who licked her lips appreciatively. Then he kicked off his boots and took his hoodie turned tattered cape off. Lastly he shimmied out of his pants. He had no need to take off his undergarments as he had long since gone commando.

Francesca whistled, her eyes widening and a bit of drool coming out of the corner of her mouth when she beheld his tool, "Mar-kun… is not small."

"Thanks?" Marco said laughing at little at her sort of compliment.

Francesca smiled sexily and made a 'come-hither' motion with her fingers. "No more talking, not unless your screaming Francesca's name."

Marco smirked as she stalked up to her. "Funny how you think it's me who will be screaming your name."

"You forget Mar-kun," Francesca all but purred his name before she briefly captured his lips. "Francesca is hundreds of years older than you… she knows how to please her lovers."

"We'll see who calls out whose name by the time the night is over!" Marco growled before he abruptly entered her with no warning. He had a feeling that Francesca was the kind of girl who enjoyed rough sex. As he pistoned in and out of her, and roughly bit down on her collarbone, Francesca had to bite her lower lip to keep from crying out in ecstasy. Seeing that he was indeed correct in his assumption, Marco kept going. He grabbed her breast and squeezed it, and that did it.

"Ohh, Yeeees! Hurt Francesca more Mar-kun! Make her ache! Make her moan for you!"

"Ah, you're a masochist," Marco wasn't really all that surprised. This was Francesca after all. "

Francesca nodded rapidly, eagerly. Kissed her lips gently before admitting. "This is new territory for me so… let me know if I go too far ok?"

Francesca nodded again before she let out a squeal of joy as Marco pinched and twisted one of her nipples. All the while, he was still thrusting in and out of her as if his lower body was on autopilot. He quickly noticed that whenever he caused her pain, her internal walls would convulse around his tool.

He smacked the side of her ass, and got the same reaction. Marco kneaded her breasts with both his hands. Suddenly, the mouth on Francesca's chest opened up and her tongue lolled out licking Marco's abs. "Mmm, you taste amazing Mar-kun!"

Marco stuck his tongue in Francesca's mouth and cleaned her tonsils with his tongue before pulling back. "You don't taste so bad yourself."

Suddenly, Francesca wrapped her legs around Marco's waist, preventing him from escaping. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his ear. "Francesca's close."

"Then let me." He tried to pull back but Francesca wasn't having it.

"This is a Tantric Ritual remember Mar-kun? In order for it to work you need to cum in Francesca."

"But what if you…" Marco began.

"Get pregnant?" Francesca asked raising an eyebrow. "Does the thought disturb you? Of Francesca's stomach heavy with child, your child?"

The image of a heavily pregnant Francesca flashed through Marco's mind's eye, and it was quickly replaced by that of Star. He shook that image away. "No, it doesn't... bother me. If anything...I think... you'd be.. a great mom." Marco said in-between pants He was reaching his limit too.

Francesca's black eyes widened in surprise and something else. "Really?"

Seeing Marco nod, Francesca Locked her lips with his. Then she whispered sexily in his ear. "Knock Francesca up."

Hearing her say that sent Marco over the edge. He rammed into her even faster than before and kissed her like his life depended on it. He felt a tingling near the base of his spine moments before he gave one final mighty thrust, before he came, painting Francesca's inner walls white with his seed, as Francesca herself came alongside him.

The two separated slightly breathless as they came down from their mutual high.

Marco and Francesca looked in each others eyes both were blushing though it was more noticeable on Francesca due to the pallor of her skin. After a moment, Marco spoke. "That was…"

"Amazing? Yes, Francesca agrees."

Marco smirked at her, "And you said you could outlast me."

Francesca huffed. "Well, it's been several centuries since Francesca has had sex so she's…"

"Horny? Incredibly horny?" Marco finished for her.

"Mar-kun has no idea how horny." Francesca admitted. "But Mar-kun can't help me like this." She gently pushed him off and out of her. Her second tongue took the liberty of lapping up some of their mingled juices.

"Mmm, Mar-kun really is delicious and simply bursting with Od," Francesca said to herself as she used her second tongue to plunge and pillage her own depths for more of this delicious flavor, she found herself getting rapidly addicted to.

Marco having never seen a girl eat herself out before was very much turned on by the sight. 'Not so little Marco' was back up and ready for action in moments. Francesca licked her lips. More of that delicious Od was right there, ready for the taking. She just needed to coax it out, just needed to work for her meal.

Francesca got up from the bed and walked over to Marco before she dropped down to her knees. 'Francesca doesn't mind working for her food.'

'No way she's about to…' Marco thought before she swallowed his length in her mouth. Marco immediately grabbed her long white hair and pulled on it, which just caused Francesca to hum in pleasure, the vibrations of her throat causing Marco to be in even more ecstasy.

She then pulled him out of her mouth with a pop. "If there is one thing Francesca prides herself on, its her blowjob skills."

"I can only imagine why that would be. It's not like you have two mouths or anything." Marco panted.

"Actually, Francesca has never used her second mouth in sex with anyone before Mar-kun." The Eldritch Witch admitted. "Mar-kun is the first… the only one to accept and love Francesca… all of Francesca for who she is. That is why, that is why Francesca is going to do this now."

"What thiiiss!" Marco groaned out as the tongue from Francesca's second mouth and Francesca's normal tongue were joined together giving him a double blowjob.

One girl giving him a double blowjob… tonight was a night of firsts for Marco.

Francesca had him back in her mouth while her second tongue licked whatever she couldn't reach. She was also fondling his balls with her free hand. What sent him over the edge though were her eyes. She was on her knees doing all of this and she was looking him in the eyes while she did it. He didn't know why, but for him that was the biggest turn on of all.

He soon felt that tingling in his lower spine again, " Francesca, I'm close."

This just motivated her to bob her head up and down even faster, while her second tongue whipped around his groin like a snake, and her slender fingers moved around his package even quicker. 'Cum, cum! Cum for Francesca Mar-kun!' she told him with her eyes alone.

Marco came. Francesca's cheeks puffed out like a chipmunks before she swallowed. Once, twice, three times this happened. Then on the fourth time, a bit of his seed leaked out of her mouth and dribbled down her chin. She swallowed quickly and hastened to wipe it up, only for her second tongue to lick her face clean.

She finally pulled away. "Ah, Mar-kun is delicious! Francesca thinks she might be addicted!"

Marco was feeling a little tired. He felt like he gave up a bit of his soul on that last shot. "I think I'm spent."

"Hmm?" Francesca put her hands on his dick and started pumping. "No, Francesca thinks he has enough for one more round in him." Once he was erect again, Francesca crawled onto the bed, and wiggled her but at him invitingly. "And Francesca knows just where she wants it!"

"Umm, we don't have any lube?" Marco commented.

"Exactly!" Francesca said smiling giddily.

Marco sighed. "Right Masochist I forgot, silly me." Marco lined himself up to her backdoor. "Are you sure about this? I mean there's masochism then there's just plan stupid."

Francesca turned her head and looked at him. "Mar-kun Francesca appreciates that you are trying to be sweet… but could you please just shut up and fuck Francesca in the ass?"

Marco shrugged before he grabbed her by the waist. "Ok, what the lady wants she'll get."

Marco entered her full speed ahead. And then he nearly pulled all the way out before he entered her again. He kept this rhythm up slamming into her repeatedly.

"Oh, Mar-kun! Oh Mar-kun! Don't stop! Don't stop!" Francesca cried out in pure bliss. "Oh yes!" She cried out as Marco went from holding onto her waist to grabbing onto her hair forcefully pulling her back into him as he pushed forward into her.

Drool fell from both of Francesca's tongues as they lolled out of both of her mouths. Yet even as this happened Francesca continued a tirade. "Yes! Francesca is your whore, your bitch, your slut, your cumdumpster! She'll be your toy, your object, whatever you want her to be just don't stop fucking her like this!"

Marco in his heart of hearts was too nice for dirty talk but he had to admit, hearing a girl say that to him, that she'd willingly debase herself for him, because of what he was doing to her at the moment… it was kinda hot. It stroked the part of his ego known as his Id he knew from his psychology classes, and subsequently pushed him to please her even further by pounding her even harder.

"Francesca is close, she is so close Mar-kun!" Francesca cried out.

"Me too." Marco grunted. He felt that tingling in his lower spine for the third and final time this night.

Marco decided it was time to end this. Taking both bunches of her hair in one hand. Marco raised one hand…

Smack! It landed right on Francesca's ass causing her buttock to quiver and shake, a red handprint was already forming on her pale cheek.

"OOOOoooh YYYYEEeaah!" Francesca cried out. Before looking back at Marco. "Do that again!"

Smack! Smack!

Twice more Marco's hand rose and fell on Francesca's asscheek, and on the third time, her whole body shivered before it seized up. "I'm… Francesca's cumming Mar-kun!"

Marco was at his limit too and gave one final thrust into her bum before he released his final load.

(Lemon End. Proceed from this point if you don't want to read the lemon.)

He fell forward onto her the two collapsing onto the bed once they were spent. Marco quickly rolled over and held Francesca in a warm embrace. The two were silent after they did the deed for a moment, "Hey Francesca?"

The Eldritch Witch looked up into Marco's face, "Yes Marco?"

"That was amazing… and just what I needed thank you," He kissed her on the forehead.

"Mar-kun is most welcome. Francesca had fun too. Lot's of fun," She assured him before she rolled off of him, his limp tool sliding out of her.

Feeling his juices siding down her legs Francesca frowned, "Well, Francesca can't let a good meal go to waste no can she? Itadakimasu!"

Her second tongue lapped up her and Marco's juices then it plunged into her own depths once again. Only this time, it went into a different hole.

"Seriously?" Marco asked her as he watched her commit analingus on herself, "Are you trying to start round four?"

She sent him a devious wink, "Francesca is game if Mar-kun is."

Marco sighed, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh? The flesh is weak."

Francesca shrugged, she was plenty satisfied either way, "That's fine Mar-kun… Mar-kun, Francesca has a request."

"Yeah?" He asked, curious as to what she'd want.

She looked at him like a kicked puppy, "Can Francesca and Mar-kun cuddle while they fall asleep?" Francesca asked, "It's the one thing Francesca never gets to do during sex. Usually Francesca has to either kill and eat, or erase the minds of her lovers. She never gets to cuddle with them afterwards."

Marco blinked, "Well, I didn't need to know that last bit but yeah we can do that. Just let me get cleaned up first," Marco replied before heading to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

While Marco was in the bathroom, Francesca let her gaze idly wander around the room. Natchios had made herself scarce. Likely sensing the mood between the two of them, and their clothes were laying in two heaps on the floor. 'It really 'was' kind of Braddovin-san to lend us this room.' Francesca thought as she started picking up her clothing. 'Francesca will have to do something nice for him, like 'not' eat him when she gets hungry.'

Francesca hung her clothes in the closet so they wouldn't wrinkle before doing the same with Marco's own tattered possessions. With a bit of simple magecraft she fixed his torn pants before hanging them up, before admiring his jacket for a moment.

It was made out of the black hide of some beast, and adorned with spiked shoulder pads. With a quick bit of Structural Analysis Francesca found out just what it was made of…

She almost dropped it in shock! 'Black dragonhide?!' Francesca thought to herself. 'Mar-kun has fought and slain a black dragon?'

She decided to ask him about it later before she hung up his coat. The Class Card caught her gaze from where it sat on the nightstand. She walked over to it, and looked down at it. She reached out to take it… then stopped. 'It would be 'so' easy.' she told herself. 'The spellbook turned Noble Phantasm is rightfully Francesca's'! She wrote it! She is it's original owner!' Yet her hand didn't move. 'But the Card… the Card belongs to Mar-kun. Francesca… Francesca doesn't want to hurt him. Not when he has accepted her so completely.' She shook her head and let her hand drop, "No Francesca won't do it."

"I wouldn't hold it against you if you did you know?"

Francesca jumped in fright and turned around, she had been so caught up in her internal struggle, she never heard Marco come out of the bathroom. He was leaning against the bathroom door looking sexy as all hell naked as the day he was born.

"Fran… Francesca wasn't going to!" She silently cursed herself for stumbling over her words.

"I know, I heard and watched you stand there for a good minute and a half. Marco looked around, "Where are my clothes?"

"Francesca hung them up. We've both seen each other naked so why not sleep nude?"

Marco just shook his head, "Wow, you really are trying to start round four aren't you?"

The nude magus put her hands on her fine pale hips, and smirked at him, "As Francesca said, she is willing if Mar-kun is."

"Nah, I'd much rather just go to sleep at this point. Sound good to you?"

"Mmhm," Francesca replied as she pulled back the sheets revealing them to be the same red as the comforter.

"Ladies first," Marco motioned for her to get comfortable before he got into the bed next to her. Once she was tucked away beneath the sheets, he joined her. Marco let out a groan that had nothing to do with sex, "Wow, I can't tell you how long its been since I slept in an actual bed. With sheets and pillows too!"

"Mar-kun you have a naked Francesca in your bed with you, and she wants to cuddle," Francesca reminded him.

"Right right, c'mere,"Marco pulled her into him, and wrapped his arms around her petite frame, while she did the same to him, "Better?"

She nodded into his chest, doing her best to both hide her blush and not release an undignified squeal of girlish glee as she replied, "Much better, thank you Mar-kun."

Marco gently ran his fingers through her snow-white hair, "No problem, glad to do it."

Francesca for the life of her, couldn't even recall the last time someone was even glad to see her, much less do something for her. Yet here Marco was, doing something for her because he knew it would make her happy.

Francesca felt a sudden fluttering in her black heart. 'Is… is this what love feels like?' Francesca wondered, 'If so Francesca never wants it to stop.'

With that thought in mind she drifted off to the feeling of Marco still stroking her hair.

Marco found himself being shaken awake the next morning, "Mar-kun! Mar-kun wake up! Hurry hurry!"

"Francesca," Marco groaned as he rubbed his eyes, "If you wanna go again, can it at least wait till after breakfast?"

Francesca slapped him on the shoulder, "Idiot Mar-kun! Francesca is in trouble and it's all your fault!"

The word trouble had Marco snapping his eyes open and sitting up. He looked at Francesca who was now wearing her underwear and top, but little else. She looked feverish to Marco her face was flushed and her body was slick with sweat. He immediately reached out and placed a hand on her forehead in concern, "You've got a fever, your burning up! What happened?"

"Mar-kun happened," Francesca sulked, not shying away from his touch, in fact, she leaned into his touch.

"I… I happened?" Marco's eyes widened in shock, "Wait… don't tell me you're… expecting?!"

If possible, Francesca's face became even redder than before, "Eh, no stupid Mar-kun! Francesca has yet to even meet your parent's yet! Francesca is many things, but she would never have a child out of wedlock. She used a contraceptive spell on herself when she woke up this morning."

Marco took a moment to process all that, "Oh… then what's causing all this and how is it my fault exactly?"

Francesca took a breath and explained, "Mar-kun semen was incredibly Od rich. So Od rich in fact that it has overloaded Francesca's magic circuits. She has too much prana in her body and now needs to get rid of the access before it kills her."

Marco nodded. He now understood the severity of the situation, "What can I do to help?"

Francesca pointed to a magic circle she'd drawn on the ground at the foot of the bed. Marco raised an eyebrow at it, "Is that drawn in blood? Please tell me it isn't human blood… or dwarf," He added after a moment's pause.

Francesca rolled her eyes, "If Mar-kun must know it is chicken blood. Francesca acquired some simply by asking the local butcher."

"You didn't go out dressed like that I hope?"

"Hmm, was that why he was staring at Francesca?" The Eldritch Witch wondered to herself. Upon seeing Marco scowling she said, "Francesca is kidding! She didn't go outside naked. Only Mar-kun get's to see Francesca naked now." she told him sending a smile his way as she did, before pointing in the middle of the circle. "Now, stand in the middle of the circle."

"Dare I ask what this will do to me?" Marco inquired as he got up fully nude and did as she asked.

The white-haired hellion was quick to reply, "Francesca intends to summon a low level demon and bind it to Mar-kun's shadow. Such familiars are quite useful. They can survey areas for traps, relay messages, and act as hidden guardians."

Marco looked at the magic circle warily, "Not sure how I feel about having a demon bound to my shadow." He touched his bandaged right arm, "I've had that done plenty already, and I'm not sure doing more of the same would be a good idea."

Francesca looked him in the eye, "Mar-kun, do you trust me?"

"To not bite my dick off during sex? Yes. To summon a demon and latch it onto me without somehow screwing me, yourself or both of us over well…"

Francesca started pouting, she looked like an adorable little chipmunk with her cheeks puffed out like that, and her arms were crossed… Her body was all red and she was roasting internally from all the Od he'd accidentally given her the night before… If she died it would totally be all his fault and no one else's.

'Fuck you conscience,' Marco told his conscience as he stepped into the magic circle.

Francesca clapped happily when he stood in the center of the circle. "Yes, now Francesca can begin!" She stepped around to the other side of the magic circle so she was facing Marco then intoned, "Order shall be overturned, from the depths of the nine circles, I call thee forth, by my link to Beezabub. Qliphoth, oh Tree of Evil from which wickness springs… Come! Come! Come! Let the Chaste become Lustful whores. Let those who Abstain, Gluttonously drink and eat till they burst. May the Generous drown in their miserly Greed. Let Diligent lax in their work and become Slothful. May the Patient become short tempered, violent, and Wrathful. May the Kind become Envious of their fellows. And may Pride be the fall of the Humble. Come forth oh child of Qilphoth!"

As Francesca spoke magical power gathered in the magic circle. A wind picked up as she continued chanting. Both the light and the sudden gale reached their peaks when she spoke the final line of her aria, and the entire room was consumed in crimson light and howling wind.

Both the raucous wind and blinding light faded away moments later. When Marco finally opened his eyes he found himself looking into the eyes of a woman who wasn't in the room with him moments ago. She was pale, with her ink-black hair in an updo with red camellia flowers in her hair. Her eyes a light crimson red, like the flowers in her hair. She was wearing what Marco assumed to be a sinfully low cut black cocktail dress that stuck to her like a second skin. At least he thought it was a dress… till he saw the tentacles on her arms holding of all things…

'Paintbrushes?' Marco thought to himself.

Yes indeed, each of the five tentacles on each arm poofing out like sleeves on a dress, were all coiled around a paintbrush. The woman was holding ten in all. She stared up at Marco, and Marco looked down at her…

Then she looked down and blushed, "My, my, could I perhaps draw you later if your willing?"

"Uh… what?" Marco asked… then he realized he was naked in front of a total stranger, and his face turned redder than his hoodie, "E-Excuse me!"

Marco rushed off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, "What the hell happened Francesca?!"

"Francesca is… she has no idea! Her aria was perfect! Francesca was sure of it! It should've summoned a demon not… not this girl!"

"Excuse me, but could you tell me where I am?" The woman politely asked, "And if that man would be willing to let me draw him later on?"

"What? Why are you so obsessed with drawing Mar-kun?"

"Well I am an artist, and I haven't seen a nude model quite that fine in… some time," The woman admitted.

"Indeed, indeed! It would be a shame not to put his form to canvas!" An older male voice replied.

Francesca blinked, "Who was that?"

"Who the fuck was that?" Marco called from the bathroom.

"Francesca has no idea, come back out here already you've seen Francesca naked, what's the big deal?"

"Nudity isn't something to be shown in polite company!"

"If that's the case then come on out! For this woman is both a shameless pervert, and an artist!" The woman replied happily.

"It is so, it is so." The older voice replied.

"Quiet To-to." The girl chided.

Slowly the bathroom door opened and Marco popped his head out. The still unknown girl coaxed him forward with her hand. "Come, come, you certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. Not with that pinnacle of phallic masculinity in between your legs."

Marco blushed, but held his head high as he marched over to the closet and got his pants out before he proceeded to put them on.

"He has a nice posterior too, very chiseled. I am speaking from an artist's perspective of course," The woman said casually as Marco pulled his pants up. He turned around, still red faced but now at least somewhat decent. "Okay, so what exactly is your name miss?"

The woman bowed respectfully, showing her Japanese heritage, "Ah forgive me for not introducing myself I am…"

"We are," the elderly voice of an old man spoke up again.

"We are," The woman corrected herself, "Servant Foreigner and come at your summons. How might we assist you Master?"

The girl was looking directly at Marco as she spoke. He pointed at himself, "Me? I'm no…"

"Mar-kun, the back of your left hand." Francesca noted pointing at it when he pointed at himself.

Marco looked at his hand, on it there were three marks each swerving outwards in the form of a makeshift triangle. They looked like a trio of tentacles to Marco, they even had little bumps on them to signify suction cups. The young man sighed, "Son of a bitch." He looked to the girl who called herself Foreigner, "So, who are you really, and where and who is the old guy?"

The girl bowed politely in her cocktail dress, giving Marco a spectacular view of her cleavage, "We apologize Master, for not giving our formal names. We shall do so now if you so wish."

Marco nodded, "Please, and while your at it, could you slip into something a little more… formal?"

The girl nodded, "Yes of course."

There was a flash of light and when it cleared, the girl was wearing a formal kimono though her breasts were covered, they pushed out the top, making it appear like a very low cut dress. Beside her, floating next to her was a tiny black octopus, its big round eyes staring at Marco unblinkingly.

The girl sighed in relief, "Ah, that's better. Oei doesn't like our combined form much To-to. Even if it lets her paint faster… that outfit… just so unseemly."

The octopus spoke in the voice of the old man Francesca and Marco had been hearing, "Now, now, I think it suits you quite nicely."

The girl, Oei rolled her eyes, "Of course you would think that dirty to-to."

Marco cleared his throat, "Ahem, you were going to introduce yourselves?"

The two looked startled. The octopus spoke first, "Yes, yes, apologies. This one is known as Katsushika Hokusai famous Japanese painter."

The woman bowed low to Marco, "And I am his daughter, assistant and pupil Katsushika Oei. We shall be in your care from now on Master, so please take good care of us."

Marco bowed in return, though not nearly as low as Oei as a show of status as her Master, "Marco Ubaldo Diaz, please take go care of me also Hokusai-san's," He straightened, "Now, what's all this Servant and Master business about?"

"You are our Master, you summoned us. We are your Servant, Foreigner. How is this complicated?" The old man octopus asked confused.

"The fact that I didn't summon you for one," Marco pointed to the silent, thinking and befuddled Francesca, "She did. I was simply standing in the summoning circle."

"Ooh!" The father-daughter duo said at the same time. "That is strange." Oei commented, "You weren't trying to summon us?"

Marco shook his head, "Nope, don't even know how we ended up with a couple of artists. We were trying… well, Francesca was trying to summon a demon."

"That is strange," the old man commented, "To look for a demon and end up with the two of us…" The proverbial lightbulb went off over the cephalopods head. "Wait! Oei, do you think it could be related to… that one time?"

Despite his vague wording his daughter quickly caught onto what he was hinting at, "You mean the thing that inspired you to carve the Dream of the Fisherman's Wife?"

The octopus bobbed back and forth rapidly as if nodding, "Yes! Yes exactly!"

Oei put a finger to her chin in thought, "That might be it."

Hokusai asked Marco, "Have you ever by chance come across tentacle monsters of malign or unknown origin?"

Marco promptly replied, "Me, no… but I did have my right arm turned into a tentacle monster once... briefly… for a week."

The two Katsushika looked at each other before nodding and saying at the same time, "Yep, that'd do it!"

Marco ran a hand down his face, "Damn it! Alright look, it's too early for all this speculation and shit. Can we do all this theorizing and stuff after breakfast?"

The Katsushika's looked at Marco and nodded, "Sure."

"Fresca, get dressed, we're getting breakfast," Marco told his… Friend with benefits? Lover? Booty Call? He didn't know how to classify their relationship if he was honest with himself.

"Fine, fine, Mar-kun. Francesca knows better than to make you try and think when you first get up in the morning…" She went to the closet and started taking out her clothes, before firing off one last quip, "She wouldn't want you to hurt yourself after all."

"That's funny 'cause I'm pretty sure you were the one begging for pain last night."

Francesca smirked, "Yes well, if Mar-kun had tried a little harder maybe Francesca wouldn't have had to have begged."

Oei and Hokusai just kept looking back and forth between the two as they verbally sparred with one another.

"Pff, last night I was like a lawyer with how hard I was getting you off."

"Francesca objects!"

Marco smirked, "Overruled."

"Who put Mar-kun in charge?" Francesca asked.

Marco just pointed at his Servant and then at his left hand which bore the command spells, "They did, since I'm the Master I'm in charge."

"Ooh, should Francesca call Mar-kun master too? Hmm? Would you like that, Master Mar-kun?" Francesca asked as she batted her eyelashes at him playfully.

"Please don't," Marco deadpanned.

"Oei can still refer to Marco as Master yes?"

"Yes Oei you can still refer to me as Master," Marco said before sighing and asking Francesca, "You ready yet? And where is Natchios?"

"Francesca is ready, but has no idea where Natchios is. She disappeared last night after we got frisky," She smirked as she remembered the fun they had the previous night.

"Damn it," Marco said, "Now we've got to find a baby dragon before breakfast."

"I do believe," Old Man Hokusai spoke up causing everyone else to look at him to find Natchios had him pinned to the bed, and she was chewing on his head, "That I have located her."

"Natchios, no! Hokusai-san is not a chew toy!"

The octopus waved him off with a tentacle, "No need, I can't even feel this… for some odd reason. Rather, Oei! Please tell me you are getting this on canvas!"

"Of course I am To-to! The contrast between your rubbery body and her scales, green against black, claws and scales against squishy tentacles! I shall call it Dragon Dominating the Sea!" Oei replied even as she added paint to a canvas… where she got any of that from neither Marco nor Francesca had no clue.

"Yes! Yes, it is perfect!" Hokusai cried even as Natchios continued to chew on his head.

"Done!" Oei said just a couple of moments later, revealing a resplendent painting of a great green dragon battling a black octopus, the head of the octopus in its jaws as the octopus flailed around trying in vain to wrap its arms around the dragon and drag it into the depths.

"Wow… that's gorgeous Oei… it's almost as pretty as you are," Marco being hungry and somewhat sleep deprived was speaking before thinking, not that his present company minded one bit.

Oei flushed at the praise to her art and herself, "Master is too kind. I was just… inspired in the moment is all."

"You do fine work…" Marco's brain suddenly caught up with what he'd said. "I-uh, sorry about a second ago. I'm tired and hungry and I tend to say stupid things when I'm both so if you could just forget I said that, it would be great."

Oei giggled, "Master is cute when he's flustered like that. Oei wants to draw him even more now…" She paused for a moment before lightly touching his face with one of her slender hands, "Master needn't be so shy though. As an artist Oei is used to criticism and compliments."

"To your artwork, maybe, not yourself so much?" Marco wondered aloud.

Oei cheeks heated up some, "True." she acknowledged.

"Ahem," Francesca cleared her throat catching everyone in the rooms attention. "Breakfast Mar-kun remember?"

"Right, food, let's go!" He offered Oei his hand which she dainty accepted. "Now, try not to freak out when we go downstairs ok? It might be a little… stranger than your used to."

"Ok Master."

"Oei, Hokusai, when we're out in public… could you please just call me Marco? I don't need anyone getting any weird ideas about me."

"Can do, Marco-san, by the way, I approve," Hokusai gave him a thumbs up, or he thought he did, he raised a curled a tentacle, Marco was going to count it as a thumbs up.

Oei looked a bit more hesitant, "Is it really okay to be so… informal?"

Marco smiled at her, "It's fine."

Oei blushed again, "Well if Marco-sama insists."

When Marco told her not to be freaked out, he didn't think Oei would start painting everyone in sight the moment they got to the ground floor of Stonesrest Keep. For the past thirty minutes, she had done nothing but sit and paint people as they came and went from the tavern, a teetering stack of canvas' sat near a plate of bacon and eggs that had long since gone cold.

"Oei as much as I love your artwork, could you please stop for just a moment and eat something so I won't worry about you all day long?" Marco asked kindly after she'd finished what must've been her thirtieth painting in as just as many minutes.

"Hmm? Oh, food!" Oei said surprised. She tried it, then frowned, "It's cold."

"It was plenty hot when I brought it to ya lass," Braddovin commented looking at her latest piece of artwork which just so happened to be of him washing down his bartop, "A fine piece of art you did there missie, how much you be wantin for it eh?"

"Oh, um… I'm not sure what a decent price for art in this place would be sir so… would you just like to have it?"

Braddovin blinked in surprise, "You're willing to give away something this nice for free?" He looked at the piece again, "Why it looks almost lifelike, like another me's about to jump out of the canvas," He looked up into Oei's eyes, "You wait here."

The dwarf disappeared behind his bar, and after a minute or so returned with a coin pouch, "Here ya go lass. This bag here is full of fifty gold. Enough to buy an acre and a half of land with."

"I think that's more than enough sir," Oei replied accepting the coin pouch graciously and handing over the portrait, "Thank you for your patronage, sir."

"Thank ye for the art piece, it should liven up the place a tad, even if it has my ugly mug on it," The Dwarf chuckled as he walked away, and came back moments later with a hot plate of food, "Now, eat this time yeah? Can't paint if you got no strength in those limbs of yours."

Oei nodded and dug into her meal with an "Itadakimasu!"

Francesca, who had long since finished eating, pondered aloud, "Any ideas as to how you could've been summoned Hokusai-san?"

The octopus, who had taken to feeding Natchios, replied, "Well, my best guess would be, we got called to Marco-san due to him previously having a tentacle arm. That acted as a catalyst to summon my daughter and I. Wouldn't you agree Oei?"

"Mmhmm," Oei said through a mouthful of food.

Marco rubbed his head in confusion, "How does me having a tentacle arm act as a catalyst for summoning a pair of admittedly awesome painters?"

"Well," Hokusai began, "In my younger years I… ran afoul of this thing. Oei was my assistant at the time. Anyway, it was a horrid creature, not quite dragon, nor octopus nor man. It had a head like a squid, a scaled rubbery body, clawed hands and feet like a tiger, and bat-like wings," Hokusai paused to let his description sink in before continuing. "At first I thought I'd found a Nue, but it didn't match the description. Then I heard its voice in my head it was strange."

Oei nodded, "Yes it was. It spoke but it was garbled like a person trying to speak underwater. With the words came strange images. Shapes that made no sense to us."

"Geometry that was all sorts of off kilter, creatures that writhed and twisted shifted and bubbled. We soon realized that's what this thing, whatever it was wanted to repaint the world in its own image," Hokusai recalled, "So do you know what I did?"

Francesca and Marco both shook their heads in the negative.

"To-to called him a quack, a two-bit hack who didn't deserve to put a brush to canvas much less paint reality over with his vision," Oei told them both giggling a little at the memory.

"But he was though!" Hokusai hotly argued, "His idea of color contrast and shading, and shapes, it was amateurish! Complete and utter rubbish! Kutoolloo my ass!"

"Wait," Marco said upon hearing the name, his eyes widening and complexion paling considerably, "Did you just say Cthulhu?"

Hokusai nodded, "Yes Marco-san that was the hack's name. Ktoolloo, or Cthulhu or some such unutterable nonsense. I may have changed my name thirty or more times in my career, but at least my names were pronounceable damn it!"

"Oh my god! Oh my god you guys met Cthulhu and you didn't go insane or die?!"

"Mar-kun," Francesca asked worriedly, "What is this Cthulhu thing?"

Marco took a breath, searching for a way to make her understand just how amazing an event this was, "Cthulhu is… he's... " Marco came up with the perfect example. "You know your spellbook and what it can summon?"

Francesca nodded, "He is the creator god and father of all those creatures."

Francesca's jaw dropped, and her black and yellow rimmed eyes became as wide as dinner plates, "He… they? How?"

"I… have no idea. Maybe they were already crazy to begin with?" Marco answered with a shrug.

"To-to always did call himself a crazy old man who loves to draw," Oei commented before adding slightly self-deprecatingly, "I'm hardly any better."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Marco said before reaching over and taking her hand, giving her a reassuring smile, "No talking like that. You have a great talent Oei, and you honed it. No shame in that."

"Marco-sama is truly too kind to me," Oei said, flushing again, "I might just catch fire from all the praise if you keep this up," She fanned her face with her free hand.

"I'm just being honest though. I mean my dad's a painter and I draw a little but I'm nowhere near your level."

"Ooh?" Oei and Hokusai said at the same time.

"Marco-san is an artist too is he?" Hokusai said intrigued, "Come, show us your work!"

"Guys, I already told you, my dad's the artist, and my mom… Me? I'm just Marco."

"Your kaa-san as well? What does she do?" Francesca inquired. She'd never heard him talk about his family much in all of the two weeks they'd been traveling together.

"Well, she teaches poetry at the local college."

"Mother a poet, father a painter. Marco-san, you have to have some artistic talent, it runs in both sides of your family after all," Hokusai argued while using one of his tentacles to throw scraps to Natchios.

Marco scratched the back of his head, "Well, don't laugh, but I'm a pretty good cook actually."

"So I'm not the only one who knows how to cook? Good to know," Francesca replied smiling deviously.

Oei didn't laugh, nor did Hokusai, "Nothing wrong with that. In Japan we put a lot of weight, no, what's the word I'm looking for Oei?"

"Umm, I think the word To-to his looking for is presentation?" Oei tried.

"Yes, yes presentation! We put a lot of value on the way food looks just as much as we do on taste. Food can be art. Just as art can be food, it's all about presentation," the octopus told Marco, "So if you want your food to be seen as art, make it so."

"Then again, we don't like to cook, so having Mar-kun cook for us is great too," Oei commented.

"Oei idiot! Don't tell him that! We almost had free meals set up for who knows how long!" The octopus proceeded to assault his daughter's head with his tentacles, it was comical really.

"Ow, To-to, stop it!"

"Ok, that's enough you two," Marco said putting a stop to the comical family spat, "For the record, I don't mind cooking for either of you, as long as you actually eat it," The emphasis he gave the last three words were not lost on Oei, nor was the sharp look he sent her as he finished speaking, making the girl blush in embarrassment.

"Oei promises to eat if Marco-sama cooks it." The woman promised, her gaze flicking to Marco's ever so briefly.

"These two are just too cute together," Hokusai whispered to Francesca.

Francesca didn't know whether to smirk in amusement or be slightly annoyed Marco could so easily woo another girl the morning after bedding her, "They are quite the amusing pair to watch."

"Okay, we've eaten, probably figured out how you summoned us, and my daughter has made her first sell in another dimension all before breakfast. Question is, now what?" Hokusai asked.

"Well, this is the current situation," Marco explained how he had met Star, his early adventures, how was currently in the middle of his Quest. How he'd met Zelretch attained a Class Card, and they were currently laying low in the town of Dis for a month waiting for Natchios to get big enough for her to be used as a means of transport."

"My, my, what an interesting life you've led," Hokusai commented once Marco had finished, "Truly it is worthy of its own series of paintings, each more wondrous and epic than the last!"

Oei was nodding resolutely next to her father, "I agree! This could be our greatest work yet! It could even top A Tour of Waterfalls of the Provinces. It might even be greater than the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji."

"Possibly, possibly," The octopus replied nodding in thought. "We must gather more information though, before we proceed with this project."

"Mmhm, we need to do this chronicle justice."

"Chronicle… yes! We shall call it, Chronicle of Justice vs the Forces of Evil!" Hokusai declared, tentacle pointing towards the heavens.

"Yeah!" Oei seemed to share her father's exuberance as she threw her fist in the air.

Marco just smiled. It seemed like his life was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

The following month passed by quicker than Marco would've thought. The first thing Marco did was go to the town hall and introduce himself to the mayor. Scheffield, a portly balding man with grey hair in a charcoal grey suit, received him with a little bit too much fanfare for Marco's taste. He was trying way too hard to be kind and charitable. He told Marco to sit and quickly offered him a drink. Marco waved him off. "No, thank you Mr. Mayor. Actually I was wondering if you had any information on Hekapoo clones in the area?"

The man visibly winced, "I'm afraid not m'boy."

Marco sighed, "I was afraid of that, but it's fine, I'll be in town for a month so it's possible you might get some info like that crossing your desk. If you do, let me know would you? I'd appreciate it."

The man began to sweat a little, "Your staying in town a month you say? Might I ask why?"

"I am currently raising a dragonling and intend to use it as a mount to speed up the progress of my quest. She'll be big enough to ride in a month's time."

"A dragon?!" The man squeaked, "Isn't that a fire hazard? And don't they eat people, steal gold, that sort of thing?"

"Natchios is too small to anything like that at the moment sir, and if I train her properly, she won't do any of that in the first place."

Sheffield seemed reassured by Marco's words. Especially when he added, "Also, I have no intention of stealing your job sir, you can relax."

"Oh thank goodness!" The politician released a sigh of relief. He became much more relaxed and casual after that folding his hands on his desk and asking, "Excellent, now is there anything else I can help you with Marco m'boy?"

Marco scratched at his head. He didn't know if it would work, but he figured it would be worth a shot, "I need a temporary place to sell art pieces? One of my companions is an artist and she's very good at it, she's completed several paintings but has nowhere to display or sell her work."

"I can have you a permit whipped up by the end of the day, and I'll inform my guards to keep an ear out for any news of clones of the Goddess. Will that be all?"

Marco nodded. "Yes, thank you Mr. Mayor."

The two men stood and shook hands and Marco left his office.

Once he was sure he was gone, Sheffield let out another relieved sigh before he reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, "Well, he seems like a decent fellow," He pulled the cork off the top and took a long draught. "That's something at least."

Oei and Hokusai had their art stall up and running within two days. They quickly sold all of Oei's portraits, making a tidy sum, the two mad artists took requests or did a random painting or two and kept doing good business. Soon word of their work spread and people came from neighboring towns to either buy one of their works or have a portrait done. Additionally against Marco's wishes the two were donating half of whatever they made at the end of everyday to Marco's own coin pouch.

"You don't have to do that," He insisted as he filled his bag with even more gold from another day of hard work by the two painters.

"But we want to help Marco-sama," Oei insisted, "Think of it as us contributing to the Quests warchest."

Hokusai nodded, "Yes, yes, if our art can aid you in your endeavor then we're more than happy to do this much."

Marco sighed. "If you insist... " Marco made his way out of their shared room. They were still staying in the honeymoon suite, it was plenty big enough for all of them. The only real problem was the sleeping arrangements. Marco being the gentleman he was insisted the girls take the bed. The girl's insisted the bed was big enough for five people, much less the three of them. While they were correct, it was the principle of the matter.

That, and the fact that Oei and Francesca seemed to want him to sleep in-between the two of them, putting him into a blissful hell every night. With each girl clinging to a separate arm of his, and the appendage wedge firmly between their cleavage, it was safe to say he had a hard time getting to sleep most nights.

"Is Mar-kun going to train again?" Francesca asked looking up from her spot by the window where she was watching people pass below with an almost bored gaze.

"Yeah… I need to get a hang on… all this." He pulled the leather throng up around his neck revealing the Class Card housed in a simple wood and clear glass case. It was a simple yet trivial matter for Oei and Hokusai to put that together for him, but he appreciated the gesture all the same.

"Ok, just be careful," Francesca warned him recalling what happened the first time he delved too deep into his newly gained memories.

"I will, I will," Marco promised as he made his way out of the room.

Once outside he made his way around the back of the Overstone Keep, where the occasional horse was kept, along with the rapidly growing Natchios. His Dragon had started out being barely up to his knees, and now she was up to his waist in height when she sat on her haunches. And was three times as broad. It had only been two weeks since she'd been born, but she was growing at an amazing rate. She wagged her tail upon his approach and padded over to him nuzzling his chest.

"Hey girl, how you doing? Everyone treating you ok?" He scratched her under her chin, causing her to purr like a cat, though nowadays it sounded like the revving of an engine than anything feline.

"Good girl," Marco sat on the ground in a cross legged position, and Natchios encircled him protectively, "Thanks girl, I'm gonna be practicing… sorta. Just wake me up if I start crying ok?"

Natchios' forked tongue flicked out and licked his cheek, "Thanks girl. Wish me luck, here goes nothing," He put his hand on the Class Card and said calmly, "Install."

There was a flash of light and when it cleared Marco was in what Francesca called his Mage Knight uniform. Putting his hands on his knees Marco slipped into his mindscape.

Much to his utter surprise, he found a visitor waiting for him, sitting on his bed. He was tall, gaunt, pale, and bedecked in shining mail half of which was covered up by a green tabard on the right side of his body. His dark eyes framed by long, curly black hair seemed, haunted.

Marco knew exactly who this man was the moment he laid eyes on him, "Giles de Rais, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

For a moment, the man said nothing, he just stared at Marco. Then after a moment, he spoke, "Marco, it is Marco isn't it?"

"Yes," The younger man affirmed.

Giles smiled if only a little. "Oh good, I was afraid I'd get it wrong and make a fool of myself," The former knight turned serial killer stood to his full height and offered his hand. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance I must say."

Marco tentatively reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a brief but fim shake, "You too? To be honest, I have no idea how your here. I wasn't exactly expecting… visitors inside my own head."

Giles nodded, "Perfectly understandable, perfectly understandable of course. You see, Marco. I wanted to thank you." Giles said before sitting back down on the bed, prompting Marco to sit in his computer's swivel chair.

"Thank me, for what?"

"You… have the potential to be so much more than I am, than I was. You can take my power, my legend as great and terrible as it was, and… and do some good with it. You've already managed to help Francesca or is it Francois?"

"Let's go with Francesca shall we? While I don't have a problem with people dating who they want to date and loving who they want to love, I am very much straight."

"Fair enough," Giles replied easily enough, "You have helped her immensely simply by accepting her for who she is, I can't thank you enough for that."

Marco shook his head. "No need to thank me, we… we needed each other. Still do in fact."

Giles gave another ghost of a smile, "Good, good. Relying on others… that's not something I did since after… after I lost Jeanne. Remember this Marco no matter how hurt you are, there are people hurting with you, likely because you are hurting. I failed to realize that and took my anger out on the undeserving and the innocent. Children."

Marco nodded his face severe. That was one thing that Marco would always hold against Giles de Rais. He went mad with grief. Fine, he could understand that, but to murder and rape children? Innocent boys and girls who still believed in the innocence of the world? That, that he could not forgive.

"Ah, I see the anger for me in your eyes," Giles commented, he shook his hand. "No, no, please. Don't apologize. I deserve every bit of hatred and scorn I get. I loved Jeanne greatly Marco. For I had never met someone so… so innocent, so pure, so convinced that she was just trying to do the right thing, for everyone, regardless of what was best for herself. Her loss wasn't just a great loss for me. It was a loss for the entire world. So I lashed out at the world for the loss of Jeanne."

"That didn't make it right." Marco replied evenly.

"No," Giles replied calmly. "It most certainly didn't. Yet it happened, we can't change the past Marco only forge a path for a brighter tomorrow. I realize that now. If I had realized it back then, well… we likely wouldn't be talking right now, which would be a pity I think."

"Is that what you want me to do with your power?" Marco asked, "Forge a path to a brighter tomorrow?"

"I am hopeful that will be the case, yes," Giles replied, ghost of a smile gracing his face again.

"How are you even here? You never did tell me that,." Marco reminded the spirit changing topics.

"I, unlike my fellows, actually want to talk to you. It's as simple as that."

Marco blinked, "Wait, you mean the other two can manifest outside their memories but are just too lazy to do so?"

"Quite," Francois was always… what is the word? Ah yes, laid back. He is content enough that you have his power, and merely wishes to watch and see what you'll do with it. Hero, villain, it doesn't matter much to him."

"And EMIYA?" Marco questioned, briefly glancing at the door with the heroes name on it.

"Honestly curses his luck at being stuck with you, but says it beats being Alaya's dog." Giles replied honestly.

"Screw you Shirou!" Marco yelled at the door, even flipping it the bird. "If you don't have the balls to talk to me, you could at least tell me yourself instead of sending Giles de Rais of all people. No offense."

"None taken."

Suddenly a piece of paper floated down from the air, Marco caught it and his eye twitched when he read.

"Please do not disturb." ~ EMIYA.

"Fuck you."

Another note popped up. It read "Sorry you're neither female or a Servant of legend, so your not my type." ~ EMIYA.

Marco crumpled up both notes and threw them in the wastebasket in his room. "Anyway, anything else you wanted to talk about Giles?"

The former French nobleman nodded, "Yes, actually. My Noble Phantasm or should I say Noble Phantasms? Regardless, they are changing."

"Changing? What do you mean? How? From how Francesca explained it to me, a Noble Phantasm is the item or object that defined a hero's legend. They don't just change."

Giles nodded, "Correct Noble Phantasms usually don't change like this… however it is possible for a Heroic Spirit to possess a Noble Phantasm that wasn't originally theirs. Semiramis is often credited with creating the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for example when it was actually Nebuchadnezzar II. I've consulted with Francois and he believes a similar case is happening here."

"Again I ask, how?" Marco stressed.

"You for lack of a better term are mantling our legends." Giles told him.

Marco blinked, "I'm doing what now?"

Giles pressed his fingers to his temples, "Give me a moment to recall what Francois said. He was quite excited at the prospect so he was speaking quite quickly and animatedly," de Rais was quiet for a moment as he collected his thoughts before he finally continued, "Alright, the best way to explain it would be this. Do you know how the Gods are known by multiple different names in various pantheons? Hercules is known as Herakles and Athena is known as Minerva etc, etc?"

"Yes?" Marco said prompting him to go on.

"This effect is known according to Francois, as mantling. Gods assume different forms based on the region they are in, sometimes completely subsuming the old deities or what have you. That is essentially what you're doing to the three of us. You are mantling us and becoming a new heroic spirit, or to put it more accurately your becoming a Caster while still alive."

Marco took several deep calming breaths so he didn't freak out, "Ok, this is fine, I can handle this. I have a couple of questions though."

"Go ahead." Giles prompted him.

"Does that mean I'm going to be stuck in this armor forever?" He motioned to his Mage Knight getup.

"Heavens no, you can in fact dismiss your armor into harmless prana when not using it, just like with EMIYA's weapons. Go on, try it." Giles prompted.

Marco focused on his gauntleted right hand, with nary a thought the armor dematerialized leaving his bandaged arm behind, "Huh so I can change clothes good to know," Marco rematerialized his armor and continued his inquiry, "You said your Noble Phantasms were changing, in what way?"

In response, Giles summoned a standard. Blazoned on the standard was a gold butterfly with its wings in the shape of hearts, with two big blue dots on its wings, on a green field. Marco had never seen such a beautiful flag before. In fact, just looking at it made him think of Star. The golden butterfly was the same shade as her hair, the dots on its wings were the same shade as her eyes, and the green background was the same shade as her favorite dress.

"This was my Noble Phantasm Saint War Order. It symbolized my time fighting alongside Jeanne and my belief in her. Now though it symbolizes something else, or rather, someone else's devotion to a certain princess of Mewni?"

Marco blushed, "You mean that standard symbolizes…"

"Your love for Princess Butterfly yes. It's quite beautiful really. For a Noble Phantasm to symbolize one's love and devotion like this," Giles smiled, he was a romantic at heart it seemed.

"If it's not called Saint War Order anymore, then what's it's name?" Marco asked.

"Come now Marco, you know its name already, don't you? In fact, you knew its name from the moment you laid eyes on it, didn't you?"

Marco nodded, somehow, he didn't exactly know how, as he couldn't pin this one on EMIYA, he did know the name of this standard.

"Then tell me Marco, what is the name of this Noble Phantasm?" Giles asked almost rhetorically.

"Monarch Butterfly Order." Marco replied intoning the name almost reverently.

As its name was called the cloth burst into golden light which became an innumerable number of golden butterflies which encircled Marco briefly before entering his body. "What just?" Marco didn't finish as he suddenly felt stronger, faster, and he had even more magical energy than before as if Star was her hugging him and mixing her magic into him, "Ok, this is useful."

"Indeed it is, your love for Star Butterfly has been turned into literal strength you can use to protect her in times of need. Use it well."

Marco nodded, "You said Noble Phantasms as in plural what's the other one?"

Giles grimaced before he reached under Marco's pillow and revealed a book. Not just any book, but Prelati's Spellbook, only it was different now. It still looked like it was bound in human skin, it had the face on the cover but there were words, a strange script just below the face. It wasn't in any dialect Marco knew, which by now encapsulated English, Spanish, French, and Japanese. No, the script was in a strange tongue. One not meant to be pronounceable by human vocal cords but regardless of that, Marco tried anyway.

"R'lyeh Text."

The effect was immediate. The walls began to twist and distort bending in non-Euclidean ways and shifting in zig-zags and spirals. Everything was covered in a thick, slimy green ichor and barnacles. The doors in his mindscape were now hanging on his wall horizontally, but still remained perfectly shut. Tendrils of seaweed hung from the ceiling and a wet, briny moisture now clung in the air.

Then a knock came from one of the unoccupied doors in his mindscape. Marco went up to the door and called, "Uhh… who is it?"

"It's Oei-san Marco-sama, might I come in?"

"Oei? And what are you doing in my head?"

"Oei will explain as soon as Marco-sama opens the door, please?"

Oei's tone was becoming more frantic, more desperate, but something wasn't adding up to Marco. 'How did Oei get here? Why couldn't she just let herself in? Why did it seem like she needed… an invitation?' Marco wondered suspiciously. "No, no, I don't think I will, Oei, if that is your real name."

"What? What is Marco-sama talking about? Of course Oei is who she says she is?" Oei said pleadingly

"Cut the crap, Cthulhu! Cut the crap and tell me what you want!" Marco shouted to the other side of the door with anger and indignation.

"Fufufufufu! Very good boy!" Oei spoke again but her tone was harsher darker, deeper, and otherworldly, "You are… more astute than most, this High Priest of the Outer Gods commends you, incognizant observer."

"I'll ask again, what do you want?" Marco asked.

"I should be asking that of you. Your the one who summoned me here, not the other way around," mused the Great Old One with an unknown texture to his tone.

"I see… so that's how it is. If that's the case then why not just announce yourself? Why play at being Oei? Feel like tugging at my heartstrings?" questioned Marco with a sense of serenity in his heart.

"I was unaware human hearts had strings to tug, but no. The girl, and her progenitor are my… aspect, they are a piece of me in this world. They are both me, and themselves at the same time.

"Their your avatars," Marco summed up for him.

"That is the human term for it I believe. To me, they are no different than another tentacle or a talon or claw. They are just… another piece of my greater whole. Now if you would be so willing, I would assume the girl's shape and speak with you properly."

"I…" Marco paused and looked to Giles, "Giles, what do you think?"

The knight looked unnerved to say the least. "I… do not feel I have the right to speak one way or the other. This is a choice you alone must make Marco."

Marco closed his eyes and sighed. He put his hand on the door, "You can come in, provided you assume Oei's form like you promised.

"I will do as we agreed boy. It would stain my honor as a priest of the outer gods if I did not," The voice on the other side of the door became Oei's in full once again, "So open up Marco-sama! Hurry hurry!"

Marco resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he opened the door.

Oei stood on the other side, in the black cocktail dress he'd first met her in. Her eyes were tinted crimson again and she smiled a bit too widely to be considered normal as she entered his mindscape and looked around, "My, my, Marco-sama's head is a mess. He should do some spring cleaning in here."

Marco, despite knowing who and what he was dealing with still politely offered her his chair. Oei sat and crossed her legs. She smiled seductively at Marco when she did, "Was Marco-sama hoping to get a good view of something naughty just now?"

"Cut the crap Cthulhu, what do you want?" Marco asked crossing his arms.

Oei sighed before speaking in a deadpan flat tone, "You really are no fun at all you know? Can't even tease you a little bit. And again, you summoned me!"

"I didn't summon you… intentionally anyway. I was just trying to figure out how to use this thing!" Marco tossed the R'lyeh Text onto his desk.

"Ooh, so that's what did it!" Oei said before she skimmed through the book easily reading the strange glyphs and script, "Yes, yes, this explains a lot." She turned back to Marco her face unusually serious, "This tome, in the wrong hands, could be incredibly dangerous. It could very well end the Age of Man as you know it."

"Age of Man? Is that anything like the Age of Gods I heard Francesca mention once?"

Oeithulu as Marco was calling her in his head now, nodded, "Indeed. In the beginning there was the Age of Gods, a time when Man and God walked side by side and depended on one another. Over time however, the humans devotion and worship of the Gods waned. Then the age of science, rationalism, and human understanding of the World around them, the Age of Man, began. It has continued to this day, for the past two millennia."

"And if someone… bad get's their hands on that book?"

"Then a new texture, a new Age will begin. One of madness and depravity, of murder and bloodshed, for not all can understand us as you can Marco Ubaldo Diaz and what man cannot understand they destroy," Oeithulu stood and made her way to the very door she entered. Putting her hand on the doorknob she stopped and turned back to look at Marco smiling at him warmly, "Do take good care of that book, should it fall into the wrong hands, the Age of the Great Old Ones will begin, and that… that will herald the end of Mankind. Even I fear what will happen when mankind dies and who will awaken."

Oeithulu almost opened the door, only to stop and add, "One more thing. Due continue to take good care of Oei-chan, and Hokusai-jiji. I'll be rooting for you Marco-kun. Maybe in the future you can help another me."

With those final words, Oeithulu left and his mental mindscape reverted back to its normal shape. Marco just stared at the door Cthulhu had left from. It now bore a brass nameplate.

R'lyeh, where dead Cthulhu lies dreaming.

"God… God damnit," Marco swore.

Marco's eyes snapped open and he found Natchios staring at him intently, "Girl, the world is a lot, and I mean a lot stranger than I thought it was. You can quote me on that."

Natchios snorted softly blowing smoke from her nostrils before she rubbed her head into his stomach, "Yeah girl, no worries, I'm fine really," He assured her. He then got up and Natchios padded behind him softly her tail swishing through the air behind her.

Marco looked into the pig trough they were using as Natchios food bowl, "You need food."

Natchios wagged her tail. If there was one word she knew it was food.

"Yeah, hang on girl I'll get ya fixed up," Marco went over to a stack of burlap bags labeled "Dragon chow" which Braddovin picked up from Questbuy at his request for Natchios and tore the top off before emptying one of them into the pig trough. "There you go girl, chow time."

"Sir, Mister Marco sir?!" A ragged and out of breath boy came running up to him his shaggy black hair covering his face. He reminded him of Oskar Greason after a fashion.

Marco took a knee, and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Easy there kid, stop a moment, catch your breath, and then tell me what you need to tell me."

The boy did so, then spotted Natchios eating her lunch, "Wow, the rumors are true, you really do have a dragon!"

"Yep, that's Natchios, she's just a baby though. She'll get more than twice this size before she's all grown up. Anyway, you had something to tell me?"

"Umm yeah. One of the clones of the Goddess was spotted just outside the gate for a bit before running into the nearby woods. I was asked to pass it along to you."

Marco ruffled the street urchin's hair, "You did good kid," He reached into his coin pouch and gave the boy five gold coins. "Really good, now go in the Overstone here and tell Braddovin to make you whatever you want to eat. Tell him to put it on Marco's tab ok?"

The boy's eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Yeah go on, you look like you could use a good meal, or six. Besides…," Marco's gaze turned towards the direction of the forest outside the walls at the opposite end of town. "I've got some business to take care of."

The Forest, called Deathbend's Wood, was creepy. Mostly because everything in the wood was dead or in a perpetual state of slumber. Or so it seemed. The trees never blossomed with new leaves. Birds never nested in the dead trees, and nary a fish could be seen swimming in its bracken waters. Yet this was the place Marco found himself in, hunting a Hekapoo clone.

'I promised Julie I'd talk to her, or one of them anyway, and that's what I plan to do.' Marco told himself as he ducked under a low hanging tree branch. Marco had been honing his magical senses when he had the time, since being able to see and smell magic was useful. Marco could see a purple misama floating in the air around this place, and with it came a foul odor, like steel mixed with snakes and rot.

"What are you doing here Hekapoo?" Marco mumbled to himself as the miasma only got stronger, the further he moved into the forest. He heard something on the wind and reinforced his hearing. The sound of metal clanging on metal was heard, a fight was in progress.

"Trace, on," Marco said calling forth the yin-yang swords Kanshou and Bakuya before charging towards the source of the noise, reinforcing himself as we went.

Marco burst into the clearing to find not only the Hekapoo clone he was looking for, but also an Archfiend. The two were locked in combat.

The archfiend was a knight, garbed in vicious vulpine armor, twice the size of a man, and wielding a giant barbed spear.

"A Red Riding Hood, really? Well, at least it's not a Phoenix," Marco muttered to himself as he tossed Kanshou at the Archfiend's back, glancing off its metal hide and getting its attention.

"Here doggy, doggy, doggy! C'mere fido!" He joked. EMIYA's sarcastic humor in deadly situations coming to the fore.

The Archfiend let out, a savage howl before charging him down swinging his barbed lance like a club. Marco shook his head in utter disappointment as he jumped away, "To think, something like you used to be difficult. Now, now your just sad."

"Diaz what the hell are you-" The Hekapoo clone began only for Marco to shush her.

"You did not just shush me!"

"Yes I did, now be quiet, I'm trying to think," Marco replied. His mind awhirl of thoughts. He took in the battlefield, his opponent, his strengths, weaknesses, and then his own strengths and weaknesses. Within under five seconds he had a viable plan and moved to execute it, "Right wait here, this won't take long."

The Archfiend which had destroyed the tree Marco was originally perched in and had yet to notice it had failed to slay Marco himself, turned around when it heard him approach. It growled and posed threateningly, "Yeah that's not gonna work on me big boy, sorry."

"Oh, you remind me of my son, let me… mother you," The demon cooed in a feminine tone.

"Yeah no," Marco replied.

In response, a bunch of chains floated into the air and lashed out at Marco. He sighed in annoyance before dodging left, right, then ducking before tracing the spear Hotengeki. With one sweep of the mythical spear, the chains of the Archfiend were severed.

Electrical bolts arced from the tip of the spear and Marco rolled out of the way as the Red Hood charged him, trying to gore him in the back as he dodged bolts of lightning. But his luck held out, thankfully. Once he took to his feet again he used EMIYA's catchphrase, "Trace on!"

Moments later he was holding a golden Masakari axe in one hand. It's name, was Golden Eater, the weapon of Sakata Kintoki. He pulled the sideways handle on the axe ejecting two shells from it and imbuing the axehead with lightning.

"The thing about wearing metal armor is… it conducts electricity!" Marco told the Archfiend as he rushed towards it, axe trailing behind. The demonic knight, as if sensing danger, stabbed its spear into the ground. Marco could see and smell a horrific curse coming his way. It had the iron tang of blood, and the sickly sweet rot of death.

'I just need to take two more steps,' Marco said to himself.

One step. The curse was almost upon him

Two steps the curse was right beneath him, Marco spun to the side right in time for a blade of black curse energy to burst out of the ground. He avoided it by a hair's breadth. He smiled, it was his victory. Marco stomped on the ground, it split open and two spears one rosy red and the other golden hued popped out of the ground. Gae Dearg and Gae Buidhe the spears of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, jumped into his hands.

Marco threw the crimson spear first. The Crimson Rose of Exorcism pierced clean through the head of the witch ignoring any magical defenses she might've had, and taking her out of the fight. Then the Yellow Rose of Mortality swiftly followed suit, hitting the knight square between the eyes from where his skull popped out of its chest.

And just like that, the Archfiend took a knee, weakened defeated and ready to be saved, or sacrificed. Marco slowly approached while undoing the bandage around his right arm, and unveiling the proverbial sin he carried with him at all times to the Hekapoo clone. Who just watched him take down a monster with almost no effort.

Marco's right arm was black and warped, veins cracked and glowing like molten lava, and his fingers were twisted into demonic claws. As he approached the Red Riding Hood, he read its history from its spear. A coward of a knight who relied on the imposing figure his armor cut to win his battles was himself tricked by a treacherous witch. Marco shook his head. Neither deserved salvation, but who was he to play god and damn another?

'Do I save them or sacrifice them?' Marco wondered to himself. Deciding to leave it up to fate, he took a gold coin out of his coin purse and flipped it into the air before catching it. 'Heads I sacrifice, Tails I save,' He looked at the result, "So be it."

He put his demonic right arm on the Archfiend and reached into the very core of its being, before he pulled. Marco pulled its very soul into the depths of his right arm.

The coin landed on heads.

Once the deed was done, he turned to the Hekapoo clone who hadn't taken her eyes off of him since the fight started. He was honestly surprised she hadn't run away while he was preoccupied. "Let's talk Hekapoo."

The Hekapoo clone nodded wondering what was to come, "Okay."

As the two walked through the woods and back towards Dis, Marco kept his eyes on the Hekapoo clone. She just like the one before her was slightly hazy like a mirage in the desert, it was how he could tell she was a clone, and not the original. Once they cleared the treeline, with Dis coming in sight, Marco addressed the elephant in the room, "So Hekapoo what are you doing here?"

The clone sighed, "I was hoping to talk to you, actually."

Marco raised an eyebrow, "Me? Well, I'm right here, let's talk."

The clone stopped causing Marco to do the same, "Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into Marco, with that girl and that… thing?"

"Their names are Francesca and Oei," Marco corrected, heat and anger entering his tone at Hekapoo's slight against his friends.

Hekapoo sighed and replied with worry and care entering her tone instead of suspicion, "Right, Francesca and Oei. Do you know what they are? Can you trust them? Do you even know what they are?"

"I could say the same about you," Marco retorted with more anger in his one, "You threw me to the wolves at age fourteen, you gave me fuck all in terms of information, and I don't know why you did it. Was it a game? Did it amuse you to watch me struggle like that oh 'Goddess of Creation'?"

"You asked to take the challenge!" Hekapoo retorted sharply trying to hide her shame. "I didn't force it on you!"

Marco nodded, "True enough, but I didn't know anything and I mean anything! I didn't have time to prepare like I was supposed to have or anything. I didn't know getting a pair of your scissors would tell everyone else in the universe 'Hey we're ready for interdimensional trade' or that I was in a fucking time dilated dimension! Knowing some of this would've been a nice heads up!"

Hekapoo waited until he stopped his tirade and until he had nothing left to throw at her in his anger. She withstood it all partly because she felt she deserved it, and partly because she knew Marco needed to vent and get this off of his chest or it would fester and worsen any chance she had of reconciliation. Once he was done, she spoke in a slow deliberate tone making sure she wasn't misunderstood, "I… she should've done all of that yes. To be perfectly blunt, I… she didn't expect you to last a week in this place before you practically begged me to send you home… But you didn't! You stubborn bastard! You persevered, and you kept doing so! The original has been keeping tabs on you, you know? Through both small portals and us whenever you blow out our flames. She is… worried about you."

"Is that why your here now? Because the original Hekapoo is concerned about my association with Francesca and Oei?"

The clone nodded a little her gaze refusing to meet his out of guilt, "That has… something to do with it, yes."

Marco sighed the anger leaving him, "Great, I have a voyeur."

The clone blushed at the insinuation, "Wait what she… NO! Nonono! She's never spied on you in any… intimate moments."

"Right, sure she hasn't," Marco said in a clear tone of disbelief as he rolled his eyes.

The doppelganger just shrugged giving up easily on changing his opinion, "It's not my place to convince you, believe what you want to believe. I would much rather participate than watch if I'm being honest," then clamped her mouth shut before she said anything else.

The topic of belief made Marco recall the conversation he had with a certain baker's daughter before coming to Dis and ignore the insinuation of sex with a goddess. 'I did tell her I would ask.' Marco told himself. He sighed ignoring her faux-pas. "Hekapoo can you tell me something… something about the original?"

"Depends on what you want to know. I can't tell you where she is, if that's what you want to know."

Marco shook his head. "No, not that… a certain worshipper of hers brought up something I'd never thought in all the time I'd been here myself so I just figured I'd ask."

The clone quirked her one visible eyebrow. "Oh what is it?"

"Is she… are you, lonely?"

Hekapoo's visible eye widened in shock at such a simple question. Her voice became small and uncertain as she asked, "What? What did you just say?"

"I asked if the original Hekapoo was lonely living in this dimension where time passes so quickly relative to other places." Marco repeated. He took a step towards the clone who stepped back in response. "It makes sense when I think about. Time passes so quickly here, you can't afford to get attached to anyone or anything. Entire civilizations can rise and fall within half an hour relative to Mewni. You… your very lonely, aren't you Hekapoo?"

As Marco talked he slowly approached the clone who kept backing up until she tripped over her own dress and fell unceremoniously on her butt. Marco stood on the balls of his feet as he crouched and offered her a hand up. "It's ok, I'm not going to blow out your flame yet. I just want my question answered."

The goddess' doppelganger just stared at him in shock like he'd grown a second head. "I… you… why do you have to be so kind and caring?!" she yelled at him as tears of molten lava leaked from her eyes.

Marco without a second thought flicked them away with his right index finger, burning himself a little even with reinforcement.

"Idiot! Stop that, your just hurting yourself!" The clone reprimanded him as he kept wiping away her tears with his finger as she tried to swat his hand away. The clone couldn't put any strength behind her hands.

"I'm not just going to stand here and watch a girl cry. It's not in my nature. I don't care if your a goddess, a member of the Magical High Commission, or the reason I'm in this mess in the first place. I'm not just going to watch you cry when I can do something about it." He gently wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his shoulder. "If you are sad I will comfort you. If you are angry, I'll let you vent, and if you're lonely I'll be here for you."

The clone pulled back and looked at him with something akin to awe, "Why?"

Marco gently cupped her face with his demonic right hand, "Well, because that's what friends do for each other Hekapoo."

"How can you call us, me, her your friend after everything we've done to you?" She asked, almost innocently like a child sitting on the knee of her father.

Marco just smiled at her genuinely. "A wise man once said Hekapoo, that to err is human, but to forgive is divine. Oof!" Marco had the air knocked out of him when the clone barreled into him and wrapped him in a hug, and proceeded to cry into his chest. Marco ran his hand through her hair. It was just as soft as he imagined it would be, something he'd thought about on occasion. His magical senses picked up the scent of her divinity, the scent of heated iron, mixed with ashes lingered in his nose. "There, there Hekapoo its ok, your gonna be ok, you've got me now… shh…"

The duplicate lifted her head off of Marco's chest. "I… thank you Marco, for… being a friend," She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek while pale cheeks ignited in embarrassment at the form of affection she only did for one other person.

"Your, uh welcome," Marco said a little awkwardly as he was laying on his back in the grass while the clone was practically straddling him, "But if you keep this up, were gonna be really close friends real quick."

"Huh?" Hekapoo noticed how they were position and blushed before leaping off of him in a burst of speed she was famous for. "S-sorry about that! I-I lost my head for a moment!"

Marco sat up and chuckled. He'd never seen Hekapoo anything less than calm, cool, collected, and snarky. The fact that she could become a blushing mess of a maiden both endeared him and made him worry a bit, as it inclined him to think her aloof personality was nothing more than a mask, and the real Hekapoo, the one behind the mask, was the one he was seeing right now.

A lonely girl who was hungry for attention and love. Someone who just wanted to be wanted. No matter how far above humanity Hekapoo is. She can be so very human.

A+ in psychology for the win he supposed. 'I really need to stop psychoanalyzing my friends.' Marco thought to himself. He got up and dusted his pants off. "Now, do you feel better after letting all that out? It's not healthy to keep all that bottled up you know?"

"I… do feel better I suppose." the Hekapoo clone admitted. "Thank you."

Marco nodded. "Even if you are a goddess or whatever, you still have human inclinations. As such you want, and need contact with other people Hekapoo. If you don't interact with people regularly or form somewhat normal relationships… you could spiral out of control and in your despair and in your madness destroy everything you ever cared for."

The clone blinked at his assessment of her and the original's state of mind. "How can you read us so easily is it written on our forehead or something?" The clone rubbed at her pale forehead, as if to remove the offending ink.

"Nonono, I just took a college psychology course, back on earth. It lets me get a read on people. It's the study of the soul after all. Normally I don't psychoanalyze people like this but you, she, Hekapoo really needs to socialize more. For her health and happiness at the least." Marco replied gently.

Hekapoo crossed her arms in thought. "Psychoanalysis huh? sounds like a big long complicated word for being able to get into someone's head and figure out what they don't want anyone to know. You sure your not a mind reader?"

Marco chuckled, "Positive. It does come in handy sometimes though. I'm really good at card games."

"Right, don't play cards against Diaz," The clone joked, "But seriously, thank you Marco... For… everything."

"No problem, I'd give you a hug but…" He nodded towards her flame."

The clone shrugged. "I honestly don't mind if you blow it out. In fact it would likely be the fastest way for the original to learn all of this."

"She gets the memories of all her snuffed clones?" Upon seeing the doppelganger nod, Marco huffed. "What the hell is she, Naruto or something?"

"What's a Naruto? Is that an earth thing?"

"Yes, and it's the worst best selling manga ever written. With a main character so stupid he didn't even realize his clones did what yours did, until someone pointed it out to him years later."

Hekapoo blinked. "No one is that stupid."

"The protagonist in this series is."

"And it's a best selling comic or something?"

Marco nodded dead serious. "Yep, main character is dumb as a box of rocks unless he's in a fight."

Hekapoo shook her head, "Wow, Earth culture is weird."

On this, Marco had to agree. "True, true, it is."

The two stood there silently for a moment before Hekapoo started laughing… at the absurdity their heartfelt conversation had taken. Marco soon joined in. This time, Marco didn't bother wiping away the tears, because they resulted from happiness.

"Ahh, I needed that, thanks again." She stepped up to him. For the first time, Marco noticed how short she was.

'She can't be much over five foot. She's tiny. A lot of power in that little package though.' Marco thought as he all but loomed over her simply by existing now.

"Bye Marco," Hekapoo said with a smile.

Marco shook his head. "Not goodbye, more like… seeya later." he replied returning her smile before he blew out her flame.

She disappeared with an audible *pop*. Marco started walking back to Dis. 'I hope you got the message Hekapoo.'

Deep in the depths of her forge, Hekapoo was smiling as tears kept rolling down her face. "A friend, I have a friend… how long… how long has it been since I can say I had one of those? Have I ever had a friend?"

Hekapoo paced around her forge, hands clasped behind her back as she actually pondered the question. She tried thinking back to all the past Questor's none of them came off as particularly friendly… 'Well except for maybe Prince Braddovin of the Dwarven Realm. But he was the first one to ever figure out my test within a test. Clever little dwarf.'

So no, Hekapoo could honestly say she didn't have any friends. "I have a friend Festiva," Hekapoo spoke to the painting of Festiva the Fun she kept on her wall. It was life-sized and painted by Cobalt Ferrero. As such it was an exact likeness of her surrogate daughter. She spoke to it as if it were a living being, something she did more often than not. "I think you would've liked him had you gotten a chance to meet him, Marco I mean."

"I'm hurt Hekapoo," An ancient powerful voice spoke from behind her. "I've come to see us as friends after our long and storied history together."

Hekapoo rolled her eyes before she turned around and put her hands on her hips, and glared at the entity who dared invade her forge, "What do you want Romulus?"

Romulus was twisted looking fetus garbed in a golden feathered robe, a single angel wing bursting out of his left shoulder, with his robe looking like it was melted onto his form. A crest of feathers was adorned on his elongated head which bore multiple sets of eyes. In one hand the entity held what looked to be a golden whip, but looks can be deceiving as it was apart of its own umbilical cord that was still attached to his stomach.

"What, can't an old friend stop by for a visit?"

"We aren't friends," Hekapoo spoke with vehemence. "We had a problem and we joined forces to deal with it, that's all."

"You wound me Hekpaoo truly you do," Romulus replied his tone airy. "You know just as well as I that Cert is… active again."

"Your brother, your problem. You are the 'God of Order' of this dimension, so why don't you take care of it!?" Hekapoo retorted. She was in such a good mood until he showed up to.

"Hekapoo it took both of us combined to seal Cert away. It could very well take both of us to stop him."

Hekapoo stomped up to the twisted abomination of a god. "I sealed him just as you asked, if he keeps escaping then that's your problem Romulus. I have my own concerns," Hekapoo told him before she stalked away her flame blazing into an inferno.

"Like the Sorcerer Marco Ubaldo Diaz?" Romulus' words stopped her dead.

She spun on her heel and got right into Romulus' face. She was so close that Romulus started to sweat due to her divine flame being so close, "If you touch so much as one hair on his head, I will burn you to less than ash!"

"Me? Oh nonono! I would never!" Romulus denied with all the honesty and conviction of a snake oil salesman. "But Cert on the other hand. He tends to appear to others in their time of need. And if they sacrifice what they love the most well… you know what happens…"

"Marco would never make a deal with your brother!" Hekapoo seethed, her flame bursting into a pillar of wrath showering the room in its bright crimson glow.

The fetus smirked at her, "Can you be so sure though? He's sacrificed plenty of Archfiends sixteen and counting to be exact. It would be so easy for him to sacrifice something else in return for more power. So I'm sure you can... understand my doubts."

"You can take your doubts and shove them up your ass!" Hekapoo shot back.

"My, my such language, and from a lady? No wonder Glossaryck regrets giving you all free will," pompously commented the arrogant God.

"We're done here, leave!" Hekapoo demanded, her voice harsh with her anger.

"Of course Hekapoo, of course I meant no offense," Yet the smirk on the demented baby's face and the oily tone in which he spoke said otherwise.

Once he'd faded from existence Hekapoo punched the wall he'd been in front of moments prior, leaving spiderweb cracks in solid stone. "Bastard! For him to even hint about threatening Marco in front of me!" Hekapoo punched the wall again, this time leaving a fist-sized hole in it. Hekapoo took several deep calming breaths. "Calm down Hekapoo, calm down. Marco is fine. You, well, a clone of you saw him just a few minutes ago. He has friends even if they don't seem entirely trustworthy they want to keep Marco alive. He'll be ok, Marco will be ok," She pulled at her auburn locks in anguish! "ARRRGH! What the hell should I do?!"

Hekapoo proceeded to pace. Despite thoughts on the contrary, Hekapoo was not an omniscient entity. She was long lived, immortal even, but far, far from all knowing. That was her brother Omnipraxus Prime's domain. The benefit of her inhumanly long life coupled with the relative time difference between this and other dimensions had taught Hekapoo a very important lesson.

Time marches on with or without you. All you can do is learn what you can with what time you've got. She being as old as she was, had learned to tell when something was dangerous…

And Romulus and more so his brother Cert, were very dangerous. For all her strength Hekapoo knew she couldn't take them alone. She'd need help, allies. She'd need…

"I need the rest of the Magic High Commission," Hekapoo said to herself. She proceeded to pace. "But if I tell them what's going on, that'll lead to them finding out about Marco, and it'll open up a whole… mess that doesn't need to be talked about right now," Hekapoo scratched at her head in irritation. "Rrgh! I don't know what to do! Hell, dad could probably just fart in their general direction and beat them but he's too lazy to do anything!"

Hekapoo released a breath and asked herself. "What would Marco do?" After a moment, the goddess nodded to herself. "The right thing even if it's difficult and it sucks for him personally."

With that thought in mind, Hekapoo created a portal to Mewni's Royal Palace. She might as well tell Moon first and get her lecture out of the way. 'I hope she doesn't take too long though, I do need to be back here in time for Marco to finish his Quest. Legitimate or not Marco is 'getting' a pair of my dimensional scissors.'

With that thought in mind, Hekapoo walked through the flaming vortex.

Hekapoo came out of her portal and into the Castle Throne Room right in front of a surprised Moon and River Butterfly. Moon was the first to speak at the unexpected visitor, "Hekapoo what a pleasant and unexpected surprise. Did I miss a meeting with the Magical High Commission by chance?"

Hekapoo shook her head, "No, no, you haven't. Moon I… I need your help."

"My help?" Moon asked looking concerned, "Whatever for Hekapoo?"

Hekapoo proceeded to pace as she talked, a habit she'd developed but never displayed in front of the royals before, "I… I kinda messed up real bad and I need the High Commissions help to fix things."

Moon had never seen Hekapoo so distressed before. She got up from her throne and put her hands on the diminutive Goddess' shoulders. Moon had never seen another member of the High Commission act so human before. It was a new and much liked experience, "Okay, okay just breath, just breath, there you go. Now, tell me what happened."

"I messed up," Hekapoo repeated again with more distress in her tone.

Moon nodded briefly feeling like she wasn't talking to Hekapoo but her daughter when she made a mistake, "Yes we've established that, but how exactly did you mess up Hekapoo?"

Hekapoo gathered all of her courage. Then she looked up into Moon's face and told her, "My dimension wasn't originally mine. A long time ago, I helped the god of order of that dimension Romulus, seal his twin brother Cert into the planet. In doing so, I gained a proving ground for Questors. They could take my Trial, and hardly any time would pass at all in their relative dimensions."

Moon blinked as she digested this information, "I… I see. How exactly is this bad? It seems like you did a good thing Hekapoo."

"I quite agree." River commented. "Sounds like you took out the trash so to speak."

"Took out the trash?" Moon commented with a raised eyebrow.

River nodded. "Yes, its an Earth saying I learned from that lad Marco. It means to get rid of something undesirable."

Hekapoo chuckled awkwardly. "Ehehehe. It's funny you should mention him, Marco I mean."

Moon fixed her gaze back on Hekapoo. If she didn't feel like she was talking with Star before, she certainly did now. "Hekapoo what does your dimension have to do with my daughter's best friend, the one good influence in her life, and guide in the Earth Dimension?"

Hekapoo took a breath it was time to face the music. "He is currently a Questor, in my dimension where Cert the evil God of Chaos is slowly getting free from his prison."

Neither Moon nor River said anything for a moment… then Moon exploded. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!? HE IS A CHILD NO MORE THAN FOURTEEN?! HE IS...HE'S…" Tears collected in Moon's eyes. "He's just a child! He's no champion! His dimension is on a blacklist for goodness sake! It's why we sent Star there!"

"I know." Hekapoo said.

"And you sent him on an unsanctioned Quest?! Dear sweet Cosmos!" Tears fell unbidden from Moon's eyes. She'd heard horror stories which were only fragments of what some of the Questors endured in Hekapoo's dimension.

For her to do that to a fourteen year old boy. "How long?" Moon croaked out.

"What?" Hekapoo asked.

"How long has he been on the Quest?!" Moon asked.

"Before I came here, he'd already been at it eight years." Hekapoo said refusing to meet Moon's eye.

"Holy sweet corn!" River exclaimed. "Did you tell the boy nothing at all?!"

Hekapoo shook her head. "No, not really. I thought he'd give up pretty quick but he… he surprised me in so many ways."

"Atta boy Marco, atta boy!" River said approvingly.

"River this is serious!" Moon snapped dabbing away at her tears. "Hekapoo has broken so many High Commission laws, I… I don't even know where to start. Giving out a Quest unsanctioned, giving a Quest to a person from a blacklisted dimension, to putting an underaged child in mortal danger, likely multiple times. Who even knows how mentally traumatized the poor boy is!"

"To be fair, he was doing fine the last time I saw him… but I've been here a couple of minutes at least, so it's been a few years…" Hekapoo commented offhandedly.

"This is no laughing matter! Moon snapped at the demigoddess. "You could very well be crystalized for this!"

"I am not laughing!" Hekapoo had raised her voice since the first time she admitted her wrongs to the queen. "I know what I did was wrong Moon. I know full well. Marco… he has more grit than you or anyone gives him credit for. I've seen him fight things that would have you running scared and turn your hair white. Yet he stood tall against them and defeated each and every one of them. Just going on what I know of him now, I'd say he is your daughter's equal if not superior in the arts of magic."

"Marco knows magic?" Moon asked perplexed. "But how? He's human, he shouldn't be capable of such a thing."

"He found a way… but as you know better than anyone Moon, magic can and does take its pound of flesh if used… improperly."

Moon glanced down at her covered arms. She closed her eyes and prayed Marco was as responsible with magic as he was with her daughter. "I see."

Hekapoo shook her head, "No, you really don't, but you will. At any rate, I should be getting back. I've been here too long as it is."

"Getting back… Hekapoo don't tell me you came to visit while Marco was in the middle of his Quest?!"

"Yeah this was kinda important you see?"

Moon slid a hand down her face. "Of all the irresponsible…" Moon began. "Need I remind you it is your job to keep an eye on your questors? Be they sanctioned or not?"

"Oh don't worry, Marco's fine." Hekapoo replied.

"How can you be so sure?" River asked, concerned for the boy's safety.

Hekapoo was quick to offer a retort. "He has some very powerful friends that won't let him die so easily. Now, unless you intend to shackle me in irons right here and now, I really should be getting back. Marco has likely found all the rest of my clones by now. Unfortunately, since I'm not in my dimension at the moment, I'm not getting any memories… the moment I walk through that portal though…"

"Ouch?" River asked.

"Yes ouch." Hekapoo nodded.

Moon frowned down at Hekapoo every bit the regal queen she'd helped raise her to be. "I shall be coming with you. Someone needs to explain what's really going on to the poor boy."

Hekapoo shrugged. "Suit yourself." Hekapoo opened up another portal and motioned for Moon to go first. "Royalty first."

Moon walked through quickly followed by her husband. Hekapoo took up the rear, the portal closed behind her. None of them knowing what revelations they would find out soon enough.

The trio arrived through the portal to find Marco sitting on her couch bare chested, showing off his GODLY ABS, and his arms resting casually on the back. Sitting on the couch with him was Francesca, Oei, and a girl Hekapoo had never seen before. She had long dark hair a pair of goat horns coming out of her head, violet pink eyes with white pupils, and she was wearing a white summer dress.

"Marco," Hekapoo said with a nod, "I see you've grown a mustache."

Marco upper lip was dominated by a light brown horseshoe mustache which trailed down his face becoming a sort of fu manchu-horseshoe hybrid as the tips extended well past the boundaries of his face and was kept from becoming a tangled mess via use of some kind of oil, "Hekapoo, took you long enough to get back, we've been hanging around here for a week." Marco informed her a little irritated but overall happy to see the goddess.

Hekapoo released a sigh, "Sorry about that, I had to… take care of something."

Marco sent the Mewni royals a nod, "I see that. Moon, River, it's been awhile, for me anyway. How've you been?"

"Marco," Moon said conversationally, "I see you've… been busy. You look like rather well off, compared to some Questors though if you don't mind me saying so."

Marco blinked looking surprised, "I am? God, I got the short end of the stick and I still came out of this hellish place better than most. Does that mean I'm awesome? I think it does!"

Moon let the boy preen a little bit, he'd more than earned it as far as she was concerned, "You've accomplished quite the feat. Doing so at fourteen with no supplies, or anything of the sort, it is… well its unprecedented. It's also highly illegal."

Marco sat forward and almost glared at the Queen of Mewni, "Moon, if your about to tell me I'm not going to get my dimensional scissors because Hekapoo decided to cut all the corners, I am going to be beyond pissed off. I went through hell and back, and back to hell to get these damn things, and I am not leaving here without them."

Moon stared into Marco's eyes and he stared right back. Neither were willing to budge in this silent battle of wills. Finally, Moon sighed, "I won't deny you've been through quite the ordeal Marco it's just that… Hekapoo broke so many rules with your quest… I'm not sure what to do with you."

"This is about Earth being blacklisted and me getting my scissors right?" Marco quickly deduced.

Moon blinked in surprise, "Why, yes. "You are well informed."

"I met a barkeep who knew a little something something about how Hekapoo's Quest worked and what it meant," Marco replied cryptically, "So yeah, we're in a pickle aren't we Moon, at an impasse, between a rock and a hard place you could say."

"All that and more, I'm afraid." Moon said contritely. "I won't deny you your right to dimensional scissors Marco as for opening up Earth for multi-dimensional trade… Well, I'll need to discuss that with the rest of the High Commission after we decide Hekapoo's punishment of course," She glared at Hekapoo after she finished speaking, and the goddess had the decency to look sheepishly at the ground in shame and embarrassment.

"That's fine I suppose. I mean, I wouldn't say no to turning Earth into a multiversal trading hub but," Marco shrugged. "Nothing I can really do about that, right?"

Moon sighed in relief, thankful he seemed to understand the severity of the situation. "Good, good."

"Awesome, so if I could get my scissors I would really love to get back home. It's been awhile since I've seen my parents or Star for that matter."

Moon smiled in a motherly fashion at the boy, "I've never got a chance to say it but thank you for looking after Star, Marco. I know my daughter, and I know she can be… a handful."

Marco waved away her thanks, "Don't worry about it Moon. There isn't much I wouldn't do for Star."

"Oh really?" Moon asked smiling knowingly as she quirked an eyebrow holding out a hand to keep her husband from charging forward and attempting to break the boy turned man.

"Isn't that the truth?" Hekapoo replied as she magically manipulated the molten metal in her forge, "The whole reason he took up the Quest in the first place was to get a pair of Dimensional Scissors for your daughter, after he realized the pair she had was stolen."

"Is that so, and whose stolen dimensional scissors were they using Hekapoo?"

The Goddess of the Forge sighed, blushing in embarrassment, "They were mine, actually."

"Star, my daughter, stole your dimensional scissors?!" Moon asked shocked.

"No, Star didn't. Ponyhead did. When I don't know," Marco retorted, quick to defend his best friend.

Moon let out a long-suffering sigh, "I see, I shall be having words with King Ponyhead about his daughter's behavior."

Marco nodded, "You do that. Might I suggest a lobotomy for Ponyhead if nothing else works?" Marco added in a hopeful tone.

"Marco… what's a lobotomy?" River asked.

"It's an archaic medical procedure where they would damage the frontal lobe by means of a sharp pointed object jammed through the nasal plate or surgical removed by means of key incisions. It causes the patient to become docile and passive." Francesca easily, with a bit of a grin on her face as she saw the looks of horror spread across the royals faces.

"Ponyhead, being as unhinged as she is, might even benefit from it." Marco said optimistically.

"I… how barbaric!" Moon said, staring at him in horror.

"That's funny coming from a society that launches people into active volcanoes and calls it a medical procedure," Marco retorted, "But that's neither here nor there I suppose."

Moon sighed. "Now isn't the time for this Marco. You need to go home, spend time with your family, give Star our love."

"Mar-kun would be more than happy to do that," Francesca replied, cheekily earning her a glare from Marco and two long stares from both royals directed at Marco himself.

"Are those scissors done yet?" Marco asked just wanting to get out of here already.

"Right here hero," Hekapoo replied making her way over with a foot long pair of scissors that bore Marco's first name in glowing archaic English glyphs. Hekapoo flipped them over and handed them to Marco handle first, "Here, you've earned these."

"Thanks H-poo."

Hekapoo swatted at him playfully, "Don't call me that Mud man," The two smiled at each other fondly for a moment, before Hekapoo said a bit morosely, "This'll probably be the last time we see each other Marco, what with me breaking all the rules and all so…" She closed the distance between them in moments and placed a chaste kiss on his lips surprising him, "Thank you, for choosing to be my friend. It means so much to me."

Marco finally had the dimensional scissors in hand he could leave now and go back home… He looked to Hekapoo who was opening a portal to who knows where. 'She called me her friend, but could I call myself her friend if I just walk away now and left things as they are?'

"Hold on a second Moon." Marco called out causing the royals and Hekapoo to stop.

"Yes Marco? What is it?" Moon inquired quizzically.

Marco took a breath. "I would like to ask for mercy on Hekapoo's behalf."

The Queen's eyes widened in surprise, as did the king's and Hekapoo's herself. "You would? Whyever for? She put you through hell Marco."

"Yeah a lot of what I went through here was pretty bad, but is wasn't all bad. I met some amazing people learned how to survive just about anything. Life back home will probably be a boring cakewalk by comparison. Yet I couldn't have experienced any of this if Hekapoo hadn't issued her challenge, legal or not…" Marco paused as if wondering if he should say more.

"Is there something else Marco?" Moon asked.

Marco took that as his cue to proceed. "Yes actually. Before this Quest Moon, I was always unsure, uncertain if I could protect Star properly come what may…" Marco smiled confidently. "Now, I know I can keep her safe from anything. That I can stand beside her, as an equal and the two of us can face anything."

Moon smiled. "I see so despite it all, you consider your time here beneficial?"

Marco nodded. "Yes ma'am. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with destiny."

"Destiny, Francesca thought her name was Star?" Francesca joked, earning a light shove from Marco.

"I am excited to finally meet Star-chan." the unknown woman with long dark hair said happily, sounding both giddy and eager.

"Who is she anyway?" Hekapoo asked.

Marco just smiled a little. "Just another friend I picked up in my travels."

"Friend as in friend or friend?" Hekapoo asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her one visible eye in clear annoyance.

"And here I thought you didn't spy on me during my private moments Miss Vouyer?" Marco shot back at her smiling knowingly.

Hekapoo's cheeks became as red as her hair. "I… I… Shut up!"

"Well, Marco-kun did wish for me to be his friend." Chiyo added unhelpfully. "It doesn't mean we can't be more later on."

"Chiyo," Marco said sighing out her name. "Your not helping." Marco told her as he cut a portal to his home.

Only for a bleeding and terrified Janna Ordinia to come stumbling out the opposite side. She stumbled right into Marco's rock hard chest, and blinked staring up into Marco's face. "M-Marco?!" Upon realizing she was indeed looking at an older version of her friend Janna let out a sob before she sighed and hugged his chest. "Thank God!"

"Janna, Janna what the fuck happened to you?!" Marco asked gently setting her down on Hekapoo's stone couch.

Janna who still had her hand on her bleeding stomach replied. "Your house man, some weirdos in suits showed up and they took Star."

Marco instantly adapted a stony visage. "Oh, really? Janna I need you to tell me more. Everything you can about these bastards."

"I...I'd love to man, but I'm feeling a little faint at the moment, probably the bloodloss." Janna replied a little woozily.

"Chiyo, patch her up quickly please." Marco requested his tone authoritarian as he pointed at Janna.

"Marco is so bold and forceful when he is like this." Chiyo commented. "It makes me feel… strange."

"Chiyo can be as horny as she wants later. Right now, focus on saving the girl!" Francesca snapped at possibly one of Marco's friends dying in front of Marco and making him sad.

"Yes, yes, I'm on it." Chiyo said as he long hair became tendrils which melded with seamlessly with Janna's injured flesh. Moments later Janna's eyes fluttered open and she watched as Chiyo's hair morphed back to normal. "Cool."

Marco snapped his fingers right in front of Janna's face to get her attention. "Not that I'm not happy to see you or thankful your alive Janna but I really need to know what the hell's going on with Star at my house right now." Marco told her looking her in the eyes.

The first thing Janna thought was. 'Diaz being assertive is pretty hot, and so are his abs!' The second thing she thought was 'Drool over abs later, help Star now.' She gave her head a shake. "Like I said man, some posh people in suits showed up and hypnotized your folks, and Star before taking her away."

"How can you be sure it was hypnotism?" Marco asked.

Janna blinked at him. "Marco it's me you're talking to. I know hypnotism when I see it."

"Fair enough." Marco conceded "How'd you get hurt?"

"One of the fuckers saw me and threw a spear of earth at me."

"That, that can't be." Moon retorted. "That would mean that the Earth dimension has…"

"Mages, which means access to magic." Marco affirmed.

"Hmm," Francesca tapped her chin in thought.

Marco looked over to his sensei. "What is it Fresca?"

"Janna-chan, Francesca wants to know what kind of accent did these people have? You called it posh yes?"

"Yeah real fancy like… like hoity-toity like." Janna said. "Regal and royal-like."

Francesca nodded. "Did they sound British?"

Janna pointed at her knowingly. "Yeah that's it! They were totally brits!"

"Francesca was afraid of such." The Eldritch Witch said gravely.

Marco looked at how grave Francesca of all people was being. "Fresca, what's going on, do you know these people?"

"Francesca thinks she does… Francesca thinks Star-chan has been kidnapped by the Mages Association, specifically the Clocktower branch, and is being taken to London."

"Let me see if I understand the situation." Moon asked. "Magic does in fact exist in Marco's dimension. My daughter has been kidnapped by said dimensions mages who are so good at keeping magic a secret, the High Commission couldn't even tell they were around. The question is, why did they take her?"

"Likely because Star-chan broke the cardinal rule of magecraft in that dimension. Do not reveal magic to the public. To do so is to result in death. But considering they were kidnapping her according to Janna-chan, it is likely her fate will be far worse."

"Worse than death?!" Moon asked while River looked ready to rush through the portal to save his daughter.

Francesca nodded. "She is likely to be granted a Sealing Designation. Meaning she will be… preserved. Dissected and experimented on by those in the Association."

"LIKE FUCKING HELL SHE WILL!" Marco roared.

"Uh-oh, Francesca pushed the 'nono' button." Chiyo said in concern.

"This may be a bad time for Francesca to add, but Enforcers are likely to destroy any evidence of her existence, including her place of residence…"

"Everyone, we are securing my house and my parents now! No highway option!" Marco barked out like a drill sergeant before he stomped through the portal everyone following behind him. Francesca left last while whistling to outside where a loud purr was her answer.

Marco arrived just across the street from his home. A bunch of posh people in very nice suits were standing on his dad's immaculate front lawn. His eyebrow twitched at the sheer audacity the enforcers had. He walked forwards, his hands cupping to hold weapons that didn't yet exist. "Trace on!"

There was a brief electrical charge emitted from his hands which took strange unknowable shapes before forming into Kanshou and Bakuya. With the Married Twin Swords in hand, Marco stalked across the street his gaze locked on the magi like a predator about to pounce on his prey.

One of them a woman with plum colored hair, noticed him coming, causing the others to turn and face him. "I'll only say this once… get the hell off my lawn! Failure to comply within the next ten seconds will result in me turning your corpses into fertilizer."

"Silence plebeian!" one of the men in a suit said to him, his tone haughty and oh so holier than thou. "You dare speak that way to me? Heir to the house of…" Marco stopped listening to him then, since it was obvious the guy was too busy believing his own hype to realize just how fucked he was. Marco threw Kanshou and Bakuya into the man where they embedded themselves in his chest. The man fell backwards, utterly shocked that someone would kill him before he could finish announcing his pedigree. The other two were a bit smarter, the woman who'd seen him blitzed towards him intending to strike him in the chest while the other provided firing support in the form of… fireballs.

"Too easy." Marco said to himself, spinning behind the woman he kicked her, quickly summoned his black bow, fired off a single arrow which struck a nearby fire hydrant causing it to gush out highly pressurized water striking the woman in the face while simultaneously putting out the fireballs being sent his way. It was then a simple matter to shoot an arrow or two into the remaining Enforcer's chest and throat, killing him on the spot.

Marco cast his bow aside allowing it to dissipate into motes of light as he rushed into the house. He found his parents sitting at the kitchen table in a daze. He checked his mother first. Marco sighed when he found she still had a pulse. He gave her a light shake. "Mama, mama, wake up."

Angie shook herself as if coming out of a daydream. She found herself looking at an older very muscular man, he looked strangely familiar. "Who are… Mijo?"

"Hey mom. Look I know you probably have plenty of questions but now isn't the time. Star's been kidnapped and I need to go save her. I need you, to stay here with dad and Janna till I come back with her ok?"

"I'm coming with you Marco." Janna said from the kitchen doorway, a stubborn look on her face as her arms were crossed.

"No your not and I don't have time to argue." Marco retorted. "I need you to do that voodoo that you do so well Janna and keep my folks safe until I get back with Star. Can you do this for me... Please?"

Janna sighed and then smirked at him. "Your lucky your hot right now Diaz."

"Noted thanks. I owe you one." Marco replied, playing off her words as another prank as he went outside.

He never heard Janna say under her breath. "You could take me out on a date, that'd make us even."

Once back outside, Marco found the last living Enforcer had been forced to her knees with her hands tied behind her back via one of Chiyo's hair tentacles. He marched over to her and forced her to her feet with one mighty tug of his hand on her shoulder. "I'll only ask once before I start breaking bones. Did they take my friend Star, the blonde haired blue-eyed girl to the Mages Association?"

The woman looked back at him somewhat defiantly. "Most likely."

"Did she have anything on her?" Marco asked turning to his friends.

"Just this Mar-kun." Francesca tipped over a circular bag that was filled with shotputs of all things.

His gaze structurally analyzed them and revealed them to be copies of the Irish sword Fragarach, which originally belong to the god Lugh. Again, Marco felt the click in his mind having long since discovered the meaning behind the sound, he ignored it. Instead, he gently replaced the shotputs back in the bag and placed it back on the woman's shoulder.

He then handed his new dimensional scissors to Francesca asking, "Fresca, can you get us into the Mage's Association?"

Francesca took the scissors daintily. "That depends, is the Mages Association still located beneath the British Museum?" Seeing the woman's eyes widen in surprise, Francesca nodded, "Francesca will take that as a yes. She can get us in no problem Mar-kun, as soon as you tell her how to use the scissors."

"Just imagine where you want to go, then cut the air with the scissors, they should do the rest… Oei-chan, Hokusai-jiji, what are you two doing?"

"Painting the epic of Justice vs. The Forces of Evil of course!" Oei said excitedly as she painted three canvases at once. "This is just the kind of inspiration we needed, right To-to?"

"Yes, yes YES! This will be our finest work yet!" Hokusai raved madly waving his tentacles around, "It'll make all our previous works look like fingerprints done by children!"

Marco just sighed at the two artist's antics, "Fresca, make with the portal please. We have a princess to rescue… and I have some uppity snobs to teach a lesson to… Lesson number one when dealing with Marco Ubaldo Diaz… don't fuck with my family! Lesson number two… don't fuck with my women!"

"Wow, saying that in front of her parents bold move Diaz," Hekpoo commented. As she and Moon held back River by hoisting him into the air as he struggled to break free.

"I think it's sweet," Chiyo commented. "After all Marco-kun has to make his claim on us before someone else does."

Marco just shook his head at the peanut gallery he had for friends before he marched through the portal. Someone had taken Star Butterfly, and they were going to answer for it. Come hell or high water he will save Star Butterfly.

Word count: 48,925 Number of Pages: 122 Date Completed: 10/29/2019

AN: Holy sweet Jesus Christ! This chapter was Long! Like long enough to be a story in and of itself kinda long! This ladies and gentlemen who are reading this on October 31st is Unlimited Eldritch Blade Works… the newest in my series of new fics I've been churning out lately. As usual it's a Star vs. multicrossover work, and it also has a harem, but Marco's and Star's relationship is going to be… interesting to say the least. If you wanna know whose in the harem, as usual PM me and I'll tell you. Just know that I won't be accepting any edits, or changes. With that said, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Till the next one, which I pray to Cthulhu won't be nearly as long as this Bubbajack out!

Now, to my Friendly Neighborhood Beta Snowy! Take it away Snowy!

Bubba I will be serious mate. This chapter was beyond amazing to write. This story will be different from the in its approach to morality. Nothing is seen through the eyes of normal. Everything is twisted and confused by the twisted mind that Marco develops through his adventures. Save the innocent and damn the sinners to fates worse than death. Now to see whether or not Marco and his companions can be infected with humanity or will the strangeness of the outer worlds change them for the worse. Also Marco's devotion to Star is key so remember that at the end of the day Marco loves Star first. A crush grows into infatuation then love and finally devotion.