The Princess and the Pirate

Chapter 9

Expecting to enter a scene similar to when the monsters had attacked them, Star was shocked by what she saw in front of her. Several fires roared along the main deck, licking across the wood and up towards the sails. Almost instinctively, she pointed her wand towards the burning flames.

"Super Geyser Windstorm!" she cried as a blast of water propelled outwards, instantly putting out every fire and soaking several crew members in the process. "What on Mewni is going on here?!"

Despite Star's yelling, not one even spared a glance. Each pirate was locked in tight combat with the enemy. It was then that she noticed the massive galleon anchored next to them, and charging from it onto the pirate ship was a troop of soldiers, each clad in a full suit of blood red armor.

What caught her eye, however, was the insignia engraved onto the side of the ship. It was a skull with a pair of demon horns, the emblem for the kingdom of the Underworld. Tom's kingdom.

Frantically, her eyes scanned the intense fighting for a pair of tan horns atop a head of spiky salmon hair. Not paying attention to what was happening around her, a large force knocked into her from behind, causing her to tumble to the floor.

It was one of the pirates, a short boy with orange hair wearing a black vest and matching trousers. "Apologies, princess," he purred, extending a hand towards her. She didn't take it.

"You should stay in your room until—" he stopped, noticing the magical item in her hand. "You shouldn't have that."

Star gritted her teeth and jumped to her feet, running towards the Underworld's ship. A few wooden planks were stationed between the two vessels, allowing the soldiers to cross over. This meant she would have to find another way over. As she reached the edge of the ship, she spotted who she was looking for. On the quarterdeck of the navy galleon across the water was none other than Tom himself—but he wasn't alone. Facing him in a one-on-one clash was captain of the pirates—Marco.

"To—" Star began to yell to him, but stopped herself when she noticed something peculiar.

She could see both of their mouths moving, as if they were talking to each other. In the midst of a fatal battle? Confused and inquisitive, she snuck past the others and quietly hurried closer to the two of them.

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"Where is she?" Tom spat menacingly as he swung his sword towards Marco. It was stopped short with a reverberating CLANG! as it hit the pirate's blade.

"Tch." he forced the demon's weapon away, retreating a few steps before returning to an offensive stance. "The question is, who are you? You're not from Mewni." He lunged forward with his cutlass. "Why are you here?"

Tom narrowly dodged the attack, jumping out of the way just in time. "I'm her boyfriend." he charged toward Marco, driving his rapier forward.

The brunet swiveled to the left, barely managing to evade a stab to the gut. However, his scarlet tailcoat was not so lucky. The tip of the blade had pierced the fabric, and as Tom withdrew his sword, a long line was audibly torn down the pirate's beloved garb.

"Really now?" Marco grit his teeth and swung towards the demon, who parried with his own move. "Strange how she never mentioned you when she agreed to marry me."

This comment caused Tom to falter, giving his opponent the momentary lapse he needed. Marco faked an attack with his blade to the right while he kicked with his left leg, sweeping the prince's legs out from under him. He landed on the ground with a loud thump, and the royal rapier fell from his hand. The move was a dirty trick, but he was, after all, a pirate.

Placing his sabre against the boy's throat, Marco panted, "Do you yield?"

Tom didn't respond. His eyes slowly started glowing a bright white, and an incredible amount of heat radiated from his body, causing Marco to drop his sword and cry out in pain as he backed away. He rose, hovering in the sky as flames grew around him.

In a demonic voice he shrieked, "Star is mine!" A fireball shot from his hand towards the pirate, who rolled out of the way just in time. "She belongs to ME!"

"You bastard," Marco shouted, picking up his weapon and running towards Tom, evading blazing hot projectiles along the way. "She's not a possession!" He swung upwards, but the prince merely flew out of his reach, continuing to assault him with a barrage of flames.

"Wrong," Tom growled. "She will come with me back to my kingdom, where she—and her wand—will stay forever."

Marco half jumped half rolled down the stairs away from him. The entirety of the vessel's quarterdeck was ablaze. By now, the scene had caught the attention of the others, and the pirate captain was intercepted by a band of nearby soldiers. They grabbed him forcefully, and he dropped his sword, defenseless against their brute strength.

Tom floated towards him, letting out a malicious chuckle. He raised his hand to strike his target, fireball at the ready. Marco clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, accepting the inevitable. Yet nothing happened, except for the loud thud of an object hitting the floor.

Opening an eye in confusion, he was shocked to see Tom, still ready to attack, encased in a block of ice. Standing next to him with a wand pointing at his frozen body, was Star.

"Wha—?" Marco clamped his mouth shut as the princess turned to face him, still in the grasp of the soldiers.

Her eyes were two narrow slits and her teeth were tightly clenched. She was livid. Without saying a word, she aimed her wand towards the guards and they immediately let go of him, backing away with their hands in the air.

Leaving the frozen body of her boyfriend lying on the wooden planks, Star grabbed Marco and stomped away across the makeshift bridge and onto the pirate ship. Everyone silently watched her as she turned around and yelled "What are you looking at?! Hurry up and leave!"

At this, the soldiers of the Underworld scrambled back to their ship, removing the planks and unfurling the sails, speeding away along the ocean back to their kingdom.

The crew of pirates cheered, beginning to clean up the mess left by the encounter. Marco could only stare at the princess—the one that had saved his life. She stood still, fists clenched and her face turned towards the ground. He began to approach her, unsure of what she was thinking or feeling, and wary of the wand gripped tightly in her hands.

Suddenly, her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the floor, her head in her hands. She broke out into an uncontrollable sob that racked her body, and a visible tremble shook her shoulders.

Marco squatted next to her and awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her as her crying grew louder. He made no move to take the wand that had fallen out of her hand and onto the floor, for she no longer had any reason to use it against him.

"He was a jerk," he murmured, breaking the silence. This only seemed to make her condition worse, but she was able to give a slight nod and choke out a few words.

"I... just... hic... want to go... home.." she sniffed, rubbing her eyes. Marco could only sigh at this. Seeing her this miserable caused a pang in his heart that he could not explain.

Wiping away the rest of her tears, Star got to her feet. She noticed that the pirates around the deck quickly snapped their heads away and got to work, trying to evade her gaze.

"I'll... be in my room," she said as she hurried away to the cabin she stayed in, shutting the door behind her.

With a frown, Marco got up and made his way over to the forecastle deck, where a crew member surveyed the seas through a spyglass held up to his eye. "Alfonzo," he said, getting his attention. "Turn the ship around."

"Huh?" Alfonzo looked at him in confusion. "Why's that, captain?"

"We're headed back to Mewni."