Alright onwards to chapter two of this fic. I can confidently state that I am running on fumes as I begin this chapter and am only alive due to the caffeine running through my veins. My plan for this chapter is to have Eclipsa understand what happened to Marco and for her to test his loyalty to her. I'll probably have the next chapter go through some short time skips and several instances where Marco's loyalty and capabilities will be tested. He will learn some new things about his new body and his changed personality. I'll have him run into someone that knew him from before along the way and they'll be surprised by his new appearance. Mistakes will be made, and loyalties most definitely tested. How will Star react to hearing about the changes Marco has undergone and that he has allied himself to Eclipsa? Will she keep her stance on not making Eclipsa out to be the enemy, or will she jump to conclusions and make a mistake that could cost her not only her friend but the lives of those she swore to protect? Read to find out. I hope you enjoy this story as it continues to progress and maybe try out some of my other stories.

Chapter 2

"My Queen."

"Well, isn't this an interesting development? Now then why don't we sit?" With that said, Eclipsa created two chairs and a small coffee table between them with her umbrella. As she was sitting down, she waved her umbrella again and conjured them up some tea to drink. "Tea?" She asked as she motioned for him to sit. He simply nodded and sat down, accepting the tea handed to him.

"So, tell me young one, what exactly happened to you? Last I remember, you were completely human, but now, I can see you are part Septarian, while still retaining a small portion of your human structure, but there is another species within you. An ancient species at that." She said with mirth in her voice. She was excited seeing such a unique combination of species. To her, he was a beautiful masterpiece to be admired. She couldn't wait to introduce him to Globgor! Oh, he would have a field day testing out the boy's capabilities.

"Princess Meteora had killed me earlier by absorbing my soul when I had tried to stop her. However, attached to my soul were a few curses, one given to me by Star Butterfly, one given to me by Tom Lucitor, and the last one I in avertedly gave myself during the battle with Toffee. The curse I received from Star transformed my arm into a sentient Hydra tentacle. She was able to subdue the arm, but the curse remained. Tom used the Naysaya curse on me in order to cause me distress for several days before it disappeared. Yet, it still remained attached to my own soul. And lastly, when I punched through Toffee's chest, some of his blood entered my system, and through that blood, a portion of his soul. While Princess Meteora had my soul, her magic was instinctually trying to consume the curses that were attached to my soul in order to strengthen her. However, in order to survive, the curses began absorbing parts of my soul to fight off her magic. When my soul returned to my body after the Princess was reverted to the age of an infant, it was incomplete. In order to remedy this, my soul began to absorb the curses into itself. I portalled myself away from Star and Tom to keep from hurting them. Then over the next few weeks my body underwent this physical change while I communicated with my curses as they were being absorbed in my body. When I woke up in this new body, I portalled myself back to Mewni and sought you out my Queen." By the end of the explanation, they had both finished their tea and Marco still had the same emotionless look on his face that he had when he walked in. Meteora, on the other hand, was basically salivating at the information she had just received. She had always wondered exactly how a curse would affect the host's soul under extraneous situations, and here, right in front of her, was a perfect example of that situation taken to the extreme!

Before she had been sealed away for her crimes of studying dark magic and falling in love with a monster, she had been known as the Queen of Knowledge. She had understood magic to an extent that no other Queen before or after her had. She created more spells during her average study session than many queens had throughout their entire rule. To her, knowledge was as important if not more so than the air she breathed. So, to see someone in front of her that was the result of an unseemly fusion of curses and souls brought her more happiness than all the chocolate in the world.

"Oh my dear, would it be quite alright if in the near future, I could run some tests on you? You are quite the unique specimen and it would do wonders for my understanding of curses and souls if I could study the effects this situation has had on you?" Truly she had no shame when it came to her thirst for knowledge. She knew it and would wholeheartedly admit to it when called out on it, which Globgor would do on numerous occasions. That thought brought a sad smile to her face, oh how she missed his remarks berating her bluntness.

"Of course, my Queen. Whatever it is you wish, I will more than happily comply." He said bowing his head slightly as a sign of respect. His tone still courteous and flat.

"That reminds me. Why me? Why did you come searching for me? Why didn't you head back to the young Butterfly and Lucitor?" She asked with genuine curiosity. She couldn't really think of a reason why he would want to go to her before his closest friends. Sure he was mostly monster now, but Star wasn't violent against monsters unless attacked, and Tom never really judged on looks alone.

"A side-effect of fusing with Toffee's curse was that I gained his memories as well. I gained all 800 years' worth of his memories. I'm still processing all of the memories but what resounds most deeply with my soul, even if it isn't really all mine anymore, is the pain and suffering the monsters have gone through. For centuries, we've been abused, thrown aside, and hunted down simply because we are perceived as a threat." He clenched his fists on the table, digging his claws into his flesh in subdued anger. "This pain…this injustice…it needs to end."

Eclipsa lost her smile and looked down at the table, knowing what he said to be true. Before she had been trapped, she and her beloved were planning to unite the two people in an attempt to peacefully settle the animosity between them. They obviously never got the chance.

"This still doesn't explain why you sought me out. From what I remember, Star had been trying to pass some laws advocating for more equal rights for monsters. You could have gone to her about this." He immediately raised his head, so his eyes could meet hers and her eyes slightly widened at what she saw. His eyes were no longer green, but a menacing red and his faded purple skin had also changed to a faded red. His body began to radiate heat with steam rising from body. It seemed as though he hadn't noticed it yet meaning he didn't have any control over it yet.

"She is too passive on the matter. She may be able to sympathize with our suffering, but she could never understand. She could never do what needed to be done. She wouldn't have the conviction to force the people of Mewni accept us. She would bend under their outrage. She is not our true Queen. You are our true Queen, Lady Eclipsa. You understand our pain. You would fight for our justice. You would fight to make the people accept us….because to you we aren't just monster. To you….we are family. I came here to pledge my life to you, my Queen. I wish to help you retake the throne. I wish to see you and your family receive the respect you deserve. If you would have me, my Queen." By the end of his declaration, he was no longer overheating, but back to his faded purple. He was no longer in his chair but in front of Eclipsa once again, on one knee, with one fist connected to the ground and the other across his chest. His neon green eyes meeting her faded purple ones.

For a few moments, there was nothing. No movement from either party. Marco's stance did not waver and Eclipsa looking down on him with a focused look on her face. Then, a smile found its way on her face. She had come to a decision. With her left hand she reached down and caressed his cheek.

"I will give you numerous chances to prove yourself, hatchling. When you have finally proven yourself to me, you will have your place by my side. However, if you betray me or my family, there won't be anything left of you to mourn. Now stand, my knight. Your first task awaits you."

"Yes, my Queen."

At the Butterfly Royal Castle

It had been several weeks since the Meteora incident and the castle was already looking much better than before. It was still undergoing some repairs, but much progress had been made. If only the same could be said for the search parties. In all that time, they were no closer to finding either Marco or Moon. They had been able to cross off a few hundred dimensions during that time, but they still had no clue where Moon could have been transported to or where Marco had escaped to. During the first week after the incident, Star and Tom had gone to Earth to see if Marco had tried seeking help there but to no avail. All they succeeded in doing was worrying their friends and Marco's father. He had pleaded with them not to inform his wife because of the stress and how it could affect the baby.

During the second week, Star had fully recovered from straining her magic and with Tom and a few Hekapoo clones, had gone back to the unicorn dimension to see if they could get any answers as to where Moon was sent. This also proved to be a waste of time because as soon as the unicorn saw them, she teleported them back to Mewni, claiming they did not belong. Out of options, Star returned to her duties as acting Queen until Moon was found. On most days, she would have Tom there with her to comfort her throughout the day. He would still have to return to the Underworld every so often and perform his own duties as Prince.

Currently we find young Star Butterfly attending a Magic Council meeting with the three other high council members to discuss their findings and any other ideas they could come up with to hasten the search.

"From what we've been able to determine, they weren't in any of the time distorted dimensions because if they had been then Omnitraxus would have found them by now. But that's also a good thing! It means that they are on the same timeline as we are!" said Rhombulus trying to cheer everyone up in an attempt to give the ex-princess some hope for finding her mother and one of her closest friends.

"Yea, that only leaves the other hundreds of thousands of dimensions in known existence that follow this same timeline. How lucky can we get?" responded a sarcastic Star as she continued to review other issues going on in the kingdom. She had received several reports from both Hekapoo clones and Mewni Knights that monster activity had seen a rise as of late. More than likely due to word spreading about the existence of a Mewman/Monster hybrid princess and the 'escape' of Eclipsa with the royal wand. Though not yet aggressive, Star and the people of Mewni were afraid of what would happen if the monsters decided to rally together with this new spur of confidence, or worse seek out Eclipsa and her daughter and support her right as the rightful Queen of Mewni.

"Look, I know you're just trying to lighten the mood here Rhombulus, but until we can find my mother, we are still heavily under protected from any incoming attacks, unless Mina Loveberry is capable of taking care of them without foolishly charging in and getting taken out by the first beam she allows to hit her. And the longer that Marco is out there, fighting off Monster Arm's control, the lower our chances are of saving him! He has risked his life numerous times for our kingdom and just as it seems the smoke is clearing, this happens! We owe it to him to find him and save him." Just as Mina Loveberry was about to speak in her defense, Hekapoo came running in opening a portal in front of them.

"Kelly and one of my clones found Marco!"

Candor Dimension Several Minutes Before Hekapoo rushed into the Council Room

A dark barren wasteland is all that can be seen for several miles. The air itself seeming more like a viscous fog than actual wind and dark purple clouds blocking out any form of light, preventing anything from being seen. Yet, there was a figure moving through the fog, covered in a dark brown cloak and holding up one arm that contained a glowing crystal to light his way. Under the hood, two neon green eyes shone, in search of a particular item found only in the 'gardens' of this dimension.

As Eclipsa described them to him, despite being labelled as a garden, these areas were anything but floral. At first, he thought she was exaggerating, but once he reached the edge of the 'garden', Marco realized that she watered down their description if anything. Large dried up trees encompassed the area, their bark completely black but covered in spines oozing a dark red liquid while the ground was covered in a denser form of the fog he was breathing in, almost liquid. He now understood why she sent him instead of going herself or even asking Glossaryck to go get it for her. Most magic was nullified by the fog's properties and the viscous fog on the ground was rare and deadly poison while the trees spine's contained a potent acid. Without her magic, she wouldn't survive long enough to reach the garden, let alone what it contained within. Only fire magic flourished in this dimension, burning away the toxic fumes and purifying any poisons one could be exposed to here.

He was sent because of tougher skin and incredible regenerative abilities. His skin would be able to withstand the effects of the acids produced in this dimension, and his cardiovascular system would quickly and efficiently expunge any toxins he breathed in, making this world anything but dangerous to him. Grabbing his dimensional scissors, Marco cut off a large piece of the bark off of one of the trees before placing it within his cloak. Then he took out a vial and scooped up some of the more viscous fog and capped it, placing it back in his cloak as well. He was quite pleased that he wouldn't have to venture deeper into the 'garden' because he was certain only deadlier threats awaited. Threats that could even harm a being such as himself. Though he wouldn't admit it, the real reason he wouldn't enter deeper in is because he was afraid he would enjoy the challenge too much. Afraid the chance that he could fight against anything in there that could actually hurt him reminded him of his time in the trial and the wars Toffee fought. The sheer thrill of battle was addicting, and he didn't know if he could control himself in his current state.

Before he could ponder further about his capacity for self-control, he heard footsteps heading towards him. He determined there to be two people walking towards his direction and that there were both right light footed, most likely female, and most likely unarmed. However, that brought him to his next line of thought. Who the hell could be walking through this deathtrap of a dimension? This dimension has no listed sentient wildlife aside from the Nymphs within the gardens….unless….

Marco immediately pressed on towards the footsteps he heard before he stopped in horrific realization and realized his mistake. The closer he got he realized that there was light emanating from the source of the footsteps, encompassing two individuals, almost like….fire.

Hekapoo….and Kelly?

In front of him were both Hekapoo and Kelly who were now both armed, the first with her scissor blades and the latter with her large sword. Kelly was covered in thin protective layer of fire magic provided by Hekapoo to ensure that she could survive the effects of the dimension. When they first arrived in the Candor Dimension, they assumed that there was no way they would be able to find either Marco or Moon there, even if they did end up here. They would have likely been dissolved by the corrosive properties of the dimension. So, imagine their surprise when they saw a light in the distance moving through the fog. They immediately headed towards it with caution. Then they realized that the light started heading towards them, so they drew their weapons and approached, ready for a fight. Yet, instead of a natural resident of the land, they see a cloaked figure holding a light crystal in one hand and…Marco's scissors in the other.

Immediately, Hekapoo rushed forward and swung her blades down on him, not able to see his face under the hood, assuming him to be a thief of those scissors. Marco blocked the attacks with his forearms, silently thankful for the fact that his skin mixed with the Hydra and Septarian durability made him capable of blocking against most blades. However, he did notice that her blades still left several small cauterized cuts behind, which healed almost instantly. It seems as though blades coated in fire magic are capable of breaking my skin. It seems she isn't going for the kill, only trying to slightly maim or disable me. Does she know? Either way it doesn't matter. I have to end this quick and get back to Lady Eclipsa.

Quickly, Marco went on the offensive and try to disable the Heckapoo clone before she could bring in reinforcements and try to capture him. He went in for a kick to her neck which she blocked with the flat sides of her blades, but was forced back by the force behind the kick, knocking her back towards Kelly. Kelly rushed forward behind Heckapoo and jumped over her and swung her blade down on Marco. However, Marco simply moved to the side, narrowly avoiding her strike, and thrust his palm into her solar plexus, causing her to spit up some bile and fall to the ground. Quickly, he grabbed her and shielded her with his body as a large ball of fire crashed into him, courtesy of a certain Dimensional Scissor Forger.

"Shit! Why did he go and do that? Why would he try to save his enemy? Didn't he notice she's covered in my magic?" cursed out Heckapoo as she rushed forward to put out the fire and try to save her opponent, so she could still question him later. Unfortunately for her, she let her guard down by assuming he had been injured by such an attack. Just as she reached his burning figure, she came to an abrupt stop as his hidden tail had found its way around her throat, completely unscathed by her attack. When she looked up to face her opponent, her heart stopped for an entire beat. With a simple look, the Goddess of Flames had been frozen in place. Frozen by both fear and horror.

His skin color and texture had changed and so had his eyes, but his facial structure remained the same. His hair the same chocolate brown hair that she had spent 16 years burning off for amusement, only now it was slicked back in a familiar manner. As she gazed into his angry green eyes, she mustered out a single word, a word that was filled with her fear and horrific realization at who she an dKelly had just been fighting.

"….Marco?"

"Hello, clone. Do me a favor and relay a message back to the original." His tail began tightening around her neck even more as she tried to pull at it with her arms as tears fell down her cheeks in pain. Pain from the chokehold and pain from the fact that she had attacked her closest friend in centuries. He brought her in closer to his face so that their faces were mere inches away from each other. "You and the rest of the council committed a crime centuries ago, and it cost an innocent family everything while costing you nothing. I will not stand for it. WE will not stand for it any longer. You and the rest of them will be judged and you will be shown the same amount of mercy you showed them that day. You will all truly know what it means to suffer. Goodbye, old friend for when we see each other again, it will be as enemies." And with that Marco blew out her flame and made a portal before taking one last look at Kelly's prone body. He shook his head and took a step towards the portal.

"Marco…? Please…don't leave….me…."

Marco froze as his eyes widened. He turned his head back towards Kelly's body and saw that she was still unconscious on the ground, yet, she had said his name. Why? Why did she say his name? Why did she have to make this so much harder for him than it had to be? Why Kelly? Why do you still care? With those questions in his head, his resolve faltered for a moment, and in that moment, a choice was made. A choice that not only convinced Eclipsa of his loyalties but gave Marco a shred of hope that he wasn't just another abomination. He picked up Kelly carefully in his arms and walked through the portal, leaving the poisonous dimension lifeless once again.

The END! Cliffhanger! Sorry it took so long to put out this chapter, I had finals this past week and I wanted to get those out of the way first before focusing back on this. I hope with this I have made some headway in portraying how Marco not only views his own change but also the lack of change in the relations between monsters and Mewmans. Also, good luck figuring out what happens next because I have a couple ideas floating around in this head of mine so lets see which one I go with. Until the next time.