Chapter Text
~Echo Creek Junior Academy, Janna POV~
Arriving early to school was an almost unthinkable concept for Janna, as her general opinion of the education system and its schedules was unkind at best. Unless there was “business” to take care of before school her preference was unfashionably late rather than punctual.
If it wasn’t for Marco showing up at her door every morning to walk with her to school, so he could have his daily nod with Jackie, she would probably be late as much as she could feasibly get away with. Which considering her parents mostly hands off approach to raising her, would be a lot.
Today however was an exception, she wanted a front row seat when her best friend strolled into class and showed them all the results of their ‘excursion’ last night. She even brought her camera to capture the looks on their faces and frame it later. She also had Marco’s phone so she could return it, although it had died at some point while she was asleep.
Beneath all of the excitement however, was concern and a bit of fear that she was doing her best to ignore. That was normally easy for her, burying anxiety beneath her usual smug sarcastic schtick where almost no one could see it. With every minute that passed with no sign of her hoodie wearing companion it was getting more difficult to suppress that worry creeping up in her mind.
She tried to convince herself that she was just being paranoid as she stood in the hallway looking out for Marco. So what if he hadn’t shown up to walk with her to school? They had both been up late last night and Marco wasn’t practically nocturnal like she was, maybe he just had a late start.
That excuse died a quick death as the clock on the wall hit 7:56AM and the telltale sound of skateboard wheels rolling on pavement hit her ears. Jackie Lynn Thomas came rolling down the corridor towards her locker. Their eyes met for a moment, a bit of surprise, and possibly disappointment, crossed her face before her laidback smile returned and she gave a nod anyway before continuing to her locker.
Janna, barely registering anything, returned the nod, her mind was racing, trying to deny something that was becoming harder to do so. A nuclear winter wouldn’t stop Marco from showing up to share that small greeting with Jackie.
Something was clearly wrong and she was tempted to leave school altogether to find out what might have happened to her best friend. But still her mind supplied her with excuses, to avoid the pit of dread from forming in the face of the alternative.
Marco could simply be sick, or he chickened out, or he could be waiting to make a big entrance once class started. As if on cue the warning bell sounded and Janna began walking to class, hoping for the best while her traitorous mind expected the worst.
~??? POV~
He had a name, but he couldn’t remember what it was, it probably started with a mmm sound though, maybe. There was a reason that he came here, but it eluded him as well. Like everything that might have mattered to him was simply floating beyond his reach, and he was floating too. It probably didn’t matter anyway.
Trying to recall these things felt more and more unimportant as time went by, and caring about that seemed difficult as well. Anything that wasn't directly in front of him didn't matter as much, it was all just… huh, he couldn’t think of the word anymore.
The boy smiled, unaware his eyes were sparkling with a pink gleam around his wide pupils, both unfocused and taking in all around him with wonder.
With a spring in his step he left his unimportant thoughts behind and got back to what mattered, catching these green things. He was approaching one now, the small lizard creature drinking from the golden pool, not noticing the smiling giant behind it. Just as the red hooded boy closed in enough to reach he tripped over a loose crystal under the surface of the golden current.
He went sprawling and splashing into the golden pool, alerting the horned lizard and giving it time to escape. Unbothered by the fall and already forgetting his failure the young man looked over to one of the rising waterfalls and decided to see where it went.
As he ran towards the anomalous current he spotted something in the distance. It was that four legged thing with the vest that had been chasing him earlier, he gave it a wave before diving headfirst into the rising current. Maybe it was just shy and wanted to play with him.
~Vincenzo POV~
This child would be the end of him, which considering his immortality would be an impressive feat.
Vincenzo had lived his entire life in this realm, awaiting the day he would undertake his sacred duty to enter the wand and power it. A responsibility passed down from his ancestors since the prime unicorn was born from the creator and given to the first Queen of Mewni. It was a day he anticipated with both eagerness and dread. And until it arrived he would stand as a sentinel over the realm of magic. Just as his Madre had done as her Padre had done and so on.
It was a task he had never failed in… until a certain red hooded boy had landed very literally on his head and had tugged quite painfully on his tail.
Being the responsible and level headed unicorn that he was he had immediately given chase to the boy and eventually managed to send him back to his own dimension with hardly any effort or horn stabbing. All in a good day’s work as his Madre would say, only for the boy to return seconds later, to his amazement and rising frustration.
His Madre hadn’t raised a quitter however, so he had tried again, and again, and again. A total of four zaps later had yielded the same results, a confused and slightly teleport sick boy frolicking in the once sacred realm of Magic.
Vincenzo was at a loss, having no idea what force was keeping the boy in his home or how to circumvent it. He was ashamed to admit that when the child entered one of the dimensional wells he hoped it would be the end of things.
Only for his eyes to widen as the current abruptly cut off, leaving the child to fall and land deftly onto one of the crystals below. The child was amazingly agile for his age and size he had to admit, though that wasn’t the true focus of his attention.
A magic well ceasing to function at such an inconvenient time as well as his own magic? It all led to one conclusion, a lesson imparted to him when he was only a cucciolo di cavallo.
Despite what most practitioners of the arcane had to say on the subject, magic in of itself was not simply a power to be wielded or a resource to draw from. Magic had a will to it that few could interpret and even fewer could gleam the bigger picture of its intent. Though creatures such as himself, who were created by magic and raised in a realm suffused by it’s presence could gain a kind of clairvoyance of its intent with enough concentration.
Shutting senses to all outside of himself he turned inwards and allowed nothing but the steady flow of magic to be felt in his form. His horn gained a golden glow and his eyes would do the same if they were open. Vincenzo fully surrendered himself to almost imperceptible whims of a force that penetrated most of the known multiverse.
In only seconds that felt like hours he was finished and with a clear understanding of what must be done he lowered his head and charged towards his unsuspecting target.
~??? POV~
“Long… short, long… short, long…” he sat idly in the shallows of the golden waters, playing with the strings that came out of the red hooded thing he was wearing. He was ready to investigate the strings on his feet too when he heard a series of loud splashing sounds coming from behind. Looking over his shoulder he spotted a creature that he spotted earlier. Only now it was coming at him a lot faster and had its horn pointed directly at him as if to give him a great big poke.
He waved excitedly at it, more than happy to see his shy friend coming right at him rather than away from him. It wasn’t until he saw it’s eyes and the angry gleam in them that the little clarity he had washed over him like a cold bucket of water. Feet moving faster than his head he sprang up and away from the homicidal quadruped. He clambered up an expanse of crystals, quickly reaching the top with adrenaline fueled agility, hoping the creature, and its sharp horn couldn’t reach him.
As if reading his mostly empty mind it leapt from its sprint, arcing higher than should be possible and landing no more than twenty feet from his position. As if part mountain goat it continued its path leaping from one colorful stone to the next, eyes never leaving its target/future victim.
Not wanting anything to do with that future he started awkwardly shuffling along the expanse of crystals until he reached an edge that sloped downwards towards the golden sea. If he had his usual wits about him he would probably freak out and overthink his next move. Luckily he was running on nothing but instinct and fear right now, with a crouch he pushed off and began sliding down the smooth amethyst surface. He attempted to roll as his landing approached and partially succeeded as he landed on his side.
Wind vacated from his lungs, but he hardly noticed as he looked up, smiling widely as he saw the vest wearing creature stop at the edge of the cliff. Once again his premature celebration came back to bite him, with a glow of his horn the creature disappeared and reappeared no more than ten feet away from him.
“...No fair” he whispered to himself but the creature heard anyway.
“Life is often unfair boy” it said in words the boy didn’t understand but could guess the meaning from how it was stomping its hooves.
They circled each other for a moment, the well dressed quadruped inching closer to him with every second that passed. The boy looked for an avenue to escape and thankfully found one just as the horn was mere inches from his face.
Without warning he charged at the creature leaving it stunned for a moment at the unexpected move. Seizing his chance the boy dropped into a slide on the smooth surface of the crystal and passed underneath the irate animal. He once again sprang up into a spring and took off from his would be attacker towards his destination in the distance.
The boy with no name didn’t need to look behind to know the creature was once again on his heels and would soon overtake him once again. Thankfully his target was in sight, one of the spiraling currents that flowed into the sky. His last attempt at using one of these hadn’t panned out but desperate times call for… something he forgot.
He felt a sharp poke in his back and let out a yelp as he redoubled his sprint, ignoring the burning in his lungs and the heaviness of his legs. As he grew closer he thought he could hear the hoof beats behind him slow down but chose to ignore it. He dived into the current and immediately felt himself rise with it. He got a single glance at the creature as he was tossed around by the tumultuous tide, the vest wearing thing was staring up at him and he could swear it was smirking at him?
Again his mind would be working on overdrive to speculate some things that didn’t make sense from the last few minutes if said mind was functioning properly. About how the creature had the ability to teleport and yet chose to chase him instead. Or how the creature could have simply used its glowing horn like it did previously to catch him. Maybe if any of these thoughts had occurred to him he could have realized the creature had chased him in a wide arc to this exact spot. For reasons he couldn’t possibly guess at nor would he understand if he were told.
Unfortunately he didn’t have the presence of mind or time to ponder this as he reached the zenith of the current, only this time it didn’t cut off and leave him stranded in midair. Rather he could see an end to it. A circular portal that was giving off a blinding light, causing him to shield his eyes.
“Hopefully wherever I end up there won’t be anything chasing me!” That was the last conscious thought the boy had as the light engulfed him.
~Vincenzo POV~
The Italian speaking stallion watched as the boy disappeared into the portal, a grim expression replacing the smirk he had worn previously. A dangerous world awaited that young man and though he believed in the intent he felt from the magic it was still unsettling to send a boy from a world like his own to a world such as Mewni.
Whatever need the magic had of that boy was unknown to him, he was merely a servant of a greater cosmic force.
“Godspeed young man, I know not what awaits you but I hope we meet again, if fate is to be kind to you.”
~Echo Creek Junior Academy, Janna POV~
“Psst, spooky beanie girl”
Janna stared straight ahead, pretending to listen as Mr. Dellobits took roll call while internally fretting over her still absent partner in recent crimes.
She neither had the patience or mental capacity to respond to whoever was calling her at the moment. Especially if the best name they could come up with is ‘spooky beanie girl.’
“My grandma can and has come up with more insulting nicknames than that.”
And then a wad of paper hit the back of her head, because why not?
Taking a deep breath she slowly turned her head around, giving her best deadpan stare to the guy sitting in the desk behind her. She couldn't put a name to him even if her life was on the line. But he had quickly become her number one target for pranks in the immediate future.
The smirk on his face quickly slipped into an uncomfortable grimace in the face of her stare. There was an uncomfortable silence, uncomfortable for him at least, for a moment.
“How can I help you?” she asked, which translated to ‘how would you like to die today.’
The boy, now probably regretting his asking, shifted in his seat.
“Uh, d-do you know where the Safe Kid is? He was supposed to bring that burrito costume and people are wondering if he uh- well if he chickened out.” He finished, voice growing softer as Janna continued to stare at him, with a look corpses would be jealous of.
Another moment of silence passed before she responded, both to let the unnamed classmate stew in his nerves and to let her formulate a believable response. Others were looking at her now, awaiting a juicy piece of gossip since the teacher had moved on to a droning history lecture.
“I don’t know where he is,” not a lie, “but I know he’ll be here eventually.” Definitely a lie, but necessary to keep Marco’s chances alive for as long as possible. Plus lying was basically her third language so most of the onlookers seemed to buy it easily.
“As if, we know your boyfriend probably ran off crying and you’re just covering for him” cut in the grating voice of Brittney Wong, one of the most cliche mean girl to ever hold a pom-pom.
Janna rolled her eyes, unaffected by the ‘boyfriend’ comment, people made that assumption at least twice a week, she was mostly numb to it at this point.
“You know Brittney if you keep calling Diaz my boyfriend people are going to assume your jealous.” a smirk rose on Janna’s face as the stereotype cheerleader tried and failed to stammer out a retort and flushed at the quiet snickering around her.
The static of the intercom interrupted anything else that might have been said.
“Would Janna Ordonia please report to the Principal’s office, Janna Ordonia to the Principal’s office please.”
“Well better there than getting grilled here” she thought as she stood up, not even glancing at the teacher as she snatched the hall pass from his hands. Mutters followed her out of the class before the closed door silenced them.
~Unknown Location, ??? POV~
Light filtered in from a small window, directly onto the sleeping boy’s eyes, he winced and slowly opened one eye. The space around him was unfamiliar, which was fitting because everything felt unfamiliar at the moment.
He sat up, groaning at the ache in both his mind and body and tried to survey his surroundings for any clues of how he got here. Here, at this moment being a tool shed of some kind. The interior had a thick coating of dust, as if no one had stepped foot in here for a long time. Various wood working and farming tools decorated the walls, most of which had surprisingly little rust.. Looking over his shoulder he saw a door with an iron handle, there was a sign above it with writing he couldn't read.
Standing up with difficulty he looked over to the sunlit window and could see a forest of trees outside of it, he began to walk over to it when he noticed a broom sitting just beneath the window.
A broom with eyes and a mouth that seemed fixed into an unnerving gapped tooth smile.
“Did you know you snore in your sleep?” asked the evidently talking broom in a, slightly annoying, high pitched voice.
He was thankful no one else was around to hear the shrill scream he let out. Or see him fall on his butt and scramble away until his back touched the solid door, his eyes never leaving the joyful piece of wood.
“Woah I'm excited to meet you too but that's no reason to scream. What never seen a talking broom before?” Said the broom, extremely chipper despite his reaction.
“N-no, or at least I don't think so, who or what are you exactly?” He asked, heart still racing but no longer in danger of bursting from his chest.
“I'm Doop Doop!”
“Doop Doop?” He repeated and the now named Doop Doop gave an affirming hum. “Ok, do you know how I got here?” He ventured, as long as he was talking to brooms he might as well try to get some much needed answers.
“Oh yeah! You appeared in a big flash of light that blinded my eyeballs for a few hours.” Once again the smile remained, even as it recounted its loss of sight.
“A few hours!? How long have I been asleep?”
“Six hours, forty seven minutes and eighteen seconds.” Replied Doop Doop with no hesitation.
“Were you counting while I was asleep!? How did you even know I was here if you were blind at the time?”
“I could hear your snoring of course, and I've been counting ever since I was created here, it’s my favorite and only hobby.”
“Uh, out of curiosity how long have you been-”
“Three years, six months, twenty-one days, sixteen hours, forty-five minutes and fifty five seconds.” Answered the broom before he even finished the question, smile getting even wider if it were possible.
“And you're ok with that?” He asked, not wanting to offend the broom but also worried that it wasn't all there either.
“Of course I am, I've gotta wait until she comes back for me, no matter how long it takes, so we can go on adventures together.” It said, some desperate optimism leaking into its cheerful tone.
He was tempted to ask who exactly “she” was, but remembering his current predicament made him change subjects instead.
“Well I hope she comes back soon… anyway do you know where we are currently?” He asked with a bit of urgency, hoping to at least answer one of the many questions he had.
“We're in a tool shed silly, but if you mean in general we're on Mewni.”
Mewni wasn’t ringing any bells but nothing else about this situation did either so it tracked. He needed to find out more about where he was and how he got here. He wasn’t sure if the broom who spent its whole life in a shed would have much more useful information but it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few more questions.
Just as he opened his mouth his fellow shed dweller beat him to the punch.
“By the way I don't think I got your name? Which is exciting for me cause you're the second person I've ever met.” Doop Doop asked with a voice crack at the end.
He went to reply, but quickly realized that nothing was coming to mind. He frantically searched his memories and only now realized that there were none to be found. If he had an identity, a home or a family he couldn’t recall any of it right now.
“I don't know who I am” he said in a whisper, confusion and panic quickly filling his mind and he struggled to remember anything about himself.
~Echo Creek Junior Academy, Janna POV~
The school secretary didn’t even spare her a glance as she approached the principal’s office, which was fair. She got called into the office at minimum three times a week, though occasionally she could scale it back to once a week if Marco was really on her case.
Moving past the desk she could hear voices from behind the windowed door that lead into the principals office. She considered waiting out here until they were done but she wanted this over and done with as soon as possible.
Not bothering to knock she opened the door ready with a sarcastic greeting only to freeze in the doorway at the sight of Rafael and Angie Diaz looking back at her, from their seats in front of Skeeves’ desk.
Both of them looked slightly off from their usual happy go lucky attitudes, Mr. Diaz had his usual smile present, but it was clearly strained. He held his wife's hand tightly, to comfort her or himself she wasn’t sure.
Mrs. Diaz wore her worry clear as day, her usual makeup was missing and her hair was out of its ponytail. They both looked as if they left home in a rush.
The sight of them like that made the worry that had festered in the back of her mind come screaming to the forefront. She already knew why they were hear but didn’t want to vocalize it, to make it real, she hoped her face wasn’t giving any of this away as she closed the door.
“Janna! Its so good to see you.” Exclaimed Rafael, closer to his usual attitude, as he and his wife stood and embraced their sons best friend.
She returned the hug on instinct more than anything, having gotten used to the Diaz’s welcoming behavior years ago. Despite the fact they basically saw her every day they always treated every visit as if it were the first.
She’d sooner wear pink in public than admit it, but she really enjoyed the affection they gave so freely and how they’ve made their home feel like her own.
“Ahem, sorry to interrupt this tender moment but I believe were all here a reason” said Principal Skeeves from behind his desk.
“Yes, of course” said Angie, giving her a reassuring squeeze before letting go, her husband following suit as they turned back to the Principal.
“Now Ms. Ordonia we were hoping you could shed some light on the whereabouts of your friend Mr. Diaz? He failed to show up to class this morning and the office wasn’t notified of his absence, which is a first for him.” Skeeves explained in his professionally uncaring voice.
“He told us that he’d be spending the night at your house, did you two walk to school together? Did he run back home for something?” Asked Angie, hope in her voice that Janna could clear everything up and that her son was merely delayed in getting to school.
Her first instinct, as always in time like this, was to lie, to cover for her best friend who was probably fine. But she had always sucked at lying to Marco’s parents and didn’t want to try it now.
Omitting certain details on the other hand…
“I haven’t seen him since last night, before I went to sleep” she said trying to keep the worry out of her own voice, “I thought he just woke up early and left without me.” she finished her voice carefully nonchalant by the end.
Rafael placed a hand on his creased brow as his wife sighed with renewed concern, wondering where their child had gotten off to, especially in such an uncharacteristic way.
She didn’t think telling Marco’s parents about their late night B&E would go over very well. So for now she would just continue covering for them until the boy himself showed up to explain. Because he was definitely just delayed and would show up to school any minute right?
Right?
~Doop Doop’s Shed, Mewni, ??? POV~
It took a good while for him to calm down from his overwhelming panic at not remembering anything about himself. Thankfully Doop Doop got his attention eventually and guided him through breathing to the count of ten.
Being a lot calmer he had the presence of mind to check his pockets for any type of clue and found a deep purple wallet and two keys in his left pocket. In the wallet he found a few loose coins, some paper bills ruined from moisture and a two different plastic cards. Both of which had writing he could actually read.
The first was a membership card for the Mackie Hand fan club, unsurprisingly the name was unfamiliar to him. Luckily the other card was more helpful, with a picture of his own smiling face and a name next it.
Marco Ubaldo Diaz, student of Echo Creek Junior Academy
His name is Marco, that felt right to him even if he couldn’t recall anything else.
Showing the cards to Doop Doop proved fruitless, the brooms cheer dimming somewhat at not being able to help more. It quickly returned though as it came up with an idea.
“Ooooh, you should head to the Butterfly Kingdom, they might know where you came from and who you are!” It nearly shouted, rocking from side to side in excitement and almost tipping over.
“The Butterfly Kingdom? They’re not ruled by giant butterflies or something are they?” he asked in thinly veiled fear, only for Doop Doop to laugh.
“That’s just their name you goof, its where Star Butterfly is, she’s the princess who created me and left me here.” It said nostalgically, as if talking about an old friend who went away for a bit rather than years.
Marco chose to focus on one thing at a time, “you know the princess? Can you introduce me to her?” He asked hopefully, a royal family member would definitely be able to help him. This Star Butterfly could be everything he needed to get his memories back.
“Sorry, no can do, I gotta wait for Star to come back here, should be any day now” It said with zero doubts in its voice.
Marco’s hopes dropped, he didn’t like his chances of wandering alone or being able to talk to the princess without someone who knew her. He racked his brain for something to convince the cheerful cleaning tool.
“What if she’s waiting on you?” he asked and noticed the broom’s full attention was on him now. “You keep saying she’ll come back but its been a long time right?”
“Yeah.. I guess it has been awhile since she’s been back” Doop Doop said, its smile replaced with a thoughtful frown on its wooden face.
“Exactly! I could help you get back to her, I bet she misses you like crazy.” He offered, an optimistic smile on his face for the first time since he woke up here.
“You really think so?” It asked with fragile hope.
“I mean yeah, probably” he responded a little lamely, not wanting to promise anything that might not come true. The broom was a little weird but it had been as helpful as it could be so far.
A moment passed as Doop Doop considered his words before its smile returned and it gave the its best approximation of an enthusiastic nod.
“Alright! You get me to Mewni Castle and I’ll introduce you to the Princess.” It agreed with beaming excitement.
“Yes!” Marco cheered, feeling so much better than he had, now that there was a clear objective in front of him and hope at the end of it. He turned back to Doop Doop, beyond ready to start their journey.
“So what do we do first? How do we get there?” He asked excitedly, nearly running in place.
“Well if I remembering right we just need to make it through the Forest of Certain Death and we’ll be right there!” Said the broom with too much cheer for the news it just delivered.
Marco’s excitement quickly died as he registered what he just heard, slowly he turned back to Doop Doop.
“I’m sorry, the Forest of Certain what?”