Cleaved, but it's the opposite direction

the magician

To be completely fair, Star knew that she would absolutely be hurting after magic was destroyed.

But, seeing as she lived her entire life with it, seeing her mother perform it day after day and being around the Magical High Commission - who she did miss dearly - it was something she always took for granted. If Star had known she was going to destroy magic, she would've weaned herself off of it a long time ago. Unfortunately, she just had to deal with it, just like everyone else who had seen and used magic. People who lived on Earth were fine with the loss of magic, though, most of them didn't even know magic existed until it was gone.

One good thing that did come after the destruction of magic, though, was the repair of the Butterfly Castle. The Butterfly family was living there again, along with Marco, sometimes. Half the time he lived in a room for him at the Butterfly Castle, and the other half he lived with his parents and sister in their home.

Star was stood in front of the mirror of her bathroom, staring at her unfamiliar reflection. She still looked the same, mostly. Star's hair was the same buttercup yellow it's always been, still the same length down to her knees. She still had her blue eyes that her mother loved. The red horned headband was still a staple in her wardrobe, along with her funky dresses that she loved to wear. It still wasn't quite her, though. Her heart cheeks, the signifier that she was a royal member of the Butterfly family, were deemed a sign of magic and taken away from her when her family destroyed magic. Same with her mom. It was really weird to see her mother without her purple diamonds. And the same with Eclipsa without her cheek marks, and Meteora's too, but not quite so much them, as she had only known Eclipsa for a short period of time before they destroyed magic, and Meteora for even shorter of a time.

Rubbing her empty cheeks, Star sighed, before turning around, only to see Marco standing in the doorway.

"You still miss them." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Marco had seen her like this a few times, standing in front of the mirror, forlornly staring at her reflection, trying to convince herself that she was fine without the hearts, that it wasn't a big deal.

Star sighed again, before walking over to him. "Yeah. I do." She mustered a weak smile, before dropping it. "I know it's a trivial thing, but I didn't realize how used I was to them, and, I don't know, I really liked them."

He nodded understandingly. "If it makes you feel any better, it's okay to feel like this. It was hard to destroy magic, and almost everyone has been feeling the effects. Plus, you're beautiful with and without your hearts."

She smiled at him, before accepting the hug he offered to her. He kissed her cheek, a very common occurrence at night when Marco was going to bed.

"Good night, Star- wait. I've had an idea, wait here." Marco dashed out of the room, leaving behind a confused Star. She sat on the counter, and waited for him to return.

He came back to the bathroom a few minutes later, concealing what he was holding in his hands. "Close your eyes," he told Star. "you can't look until I'm done."

Still confused by what he was doing, Star obliged. She heard the sound of a marker cap popping off and clattering to the floor, and felt something drawing on her cheeks. She resisted the temptation to jerk back. Whatever Marco was doing, it would probably be fine. There was a chance he was just drawing random crap on her face. Calculated risks must be taken sometimes, although it was less calculated and more her trusting Marco. Also, she was bad at math. This wasn't really a "calculated" risk, was it? Or a risk either. Oh well.

After a minute or so of Marco coloring on her cheeks, the pressure of what she assumed was a color marker left her face. "Look in the mirror." He said, and she opened her eyes.