Chapter Text
Marco tried his best to ignore the strange looks. It wasn't like he was wearing anything strange; it was just... not the usual. Hell, he was friends with Star; compared to her, this wasn't out of the ordinary at all! If anything, it should be expected that he would wear something like this. And with people slowly getting used to Tom, is it so out of the realm of speculation to believe that Marco would be gifted with something so nice?
"Janna, if you try to take it off, I swear-"
"Aw, c'mon, Marco!" Janna groaned, unhappily crossing her arms. "How'd you even know I was there?"
"I just did, Janna!" Marco mumbled, protectively nudging the bridal band back into place. "And seriously, don't touch it!"
"Um, we're kinda on Janna's side, dude!" Alfonzo so helpfully butts in, Ferguson nodding along. "You just started wearing that solid gold crown a few days ago! Of course, we'd be curious!"
"I-It's not solid gold! It's, uh, it's plate gold..."
Janna giggled, grabbing at Marco's head. "Still gold, Diaz!"
Marco karate-chopped Janna's head, huffing at her audacity. "Seriously, Janna! Bad things are gonna happen if I take it off!"
"What bad things?" Jackie asked, her sudden appearance making Marco jump. He flushed again.
"Look, it's just a gift from Tom's family," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I'm only really wearing it to prevent another 'plant incident' from happening."
"You mean the time you grew a huge ass tree in the middle of the courtyard?" Janna so helpfully asked.
"Yes, Janna," Marco sighed, "I mean the time I grew a huge ass tree in the middle of the courtyard." He rolled his eyes at her giggling. "It was like, two days ago."
Jackie hummed in acknowledgment, the only one who seemed to be interested in taking Marco seriously. "How does it stop the plants from growing? Does it have something to do with the way gold interacts with magic?"
"No, uh, I'm just using it to block the node causing trouble." His friends blinked at him. He sighed. "Nodes are places on your body where magic gets in. My body isn't exactly used to taking in magic, so it kinda, um, lashed out the other day. But blocking the nodes can stop so much from getting in."
His friends nodded at the explanation, but didn't seem to look any less confused. Janna piped up, "Where did you get these nodes from?"
"Uh, well, I guess we all technically have nodes." Marco shrugged. "Humans are just naturally closed."
"So, yours are open now? How did that happen?" Alfonzo asked before chuckling. "Have you been spending too much time with Star?"
Marco felt a blush crawling up his neck. "No, uh, i-it happened when I was... chosen by the Moon with Tom."
Looks of realization came across Alfonzo and Ferguson before the two started elbowing each other and snickering. However, Jackie and Janna were still confused, even more so with the boys giggling like children.
"Chosen by the Moon?" Jackie tilted her head. "What's that all about?"
"Uh..." Was Marco flustered before? Well, now he was full-blown embarrassed and panicking. It was not as if he didn't want to tell his friends, but how the hell do you tell your closest buds that you're engaged to someone you've known for less than a month without sounding incredibly stupid? And to be engaged by the Moon, no less, that floating rock in the sky!
"It was something that happened at a ball!" Alfonzo gushed, pretending to swoon. "The moon shone down on him and Tom, covering them in the red- wait, was it red light?"
Marco was covering his face, trying his best to blend in with the lockers. "Yes, it was red, from what I remember."
"Don't you remember?" Jackie asked, brows furrowing in concern.
"Eh, it's complicated..." Marco mumbled. "I was 'awakened.' The Moon opened up all my nodes at once, so... my memory is a little spotty."
"Oh, no wonder Tom was so stressed!" Ferguson frowned, wrapping an arm around Marco's shoulders. "Did it hurt? Is that why you had an amnesia moment?"
Marco considered the question for a moment. "Not... really? I mean, it was definitely overwhelming. It was kinda like being pulled out of a warm bed at night and thrown into a cold bath with LED lights."
"That... sounds like it hurt."
"I mean, it wasn't pleasant." Marco shrugged. "But, well, it's like getting a cochlear implant, I guess? Or a blind person getting a surgery to see. It probably feels weird for a while, but as long as you have the proper support, you'll probably be better off for it. Or something."
"So, you feel like you're better off because of the Moon deciding to randomly jack up your system?" Janna asked. Marco grinned.
"Well, I've got magic now, so..." He turned to walk down the hall, Janna sputtering behind him. "I've just gotta learn how to use it!"
.
Marco eagerly looked around at the flowing red grass around him, watching the wind roll through, making the grass wave like fire. Flowers of all kinds were dotted all over the place, some brilliant greens and yellows, others soothing blues and purples. Trees lined the field in the distance, curving up like claws toward the sky. It was serene and beautiful.
"Is my first lesson really gonna be here?" Marco asked, twirling around to look at Tom and Star. Tom nodded.
"Yes, this is where Professor Castwell told us to meet," Tom hummed, happily watching Marco enjoy the field. "I believe it's because humans first learning magic tend to be... a little explosive."
"You're not too far off, Prince Thomas!" A voice called from above. Looking up revealed Amelia, floating on a broom above the group. She looked elegant in her multicolored robes, and her hair seemed to float along with her, framing her face with gently drifting tendrils. With a flick of her wrist, she sank to her feet, bowing to the group. "Thank you for your timely arrivals, my lords."
Marco gaped at her. "Do people actually fly on brooms!?"
Amelia let out a hearty laugh, propping the broom against her shoulder. "It's an out-of-date method of travel, a little too slow for the modern era, but I figured you'd appreciate the image!"
"Oh, yeah. Earth 'witches'!" Star giggled. "It was so weird seeing all those kids dressed up like off-brand mages during Hallowed-Ween!"
"Exactly!" Amelia chuckled, snapping her fingers. The broom shrank into an earring, and some items floated out of her robes, scrolls unfurling and a brush fixing up her hair. "Now, as to why we're in a field..."
Marco nodded. "Because I'm explosive."
"Yes, I suppose," Amelia said, grinning at Marco. "As an awakened human, anyway. See, if you were learning traditionally, we'd be in the palace right now, working those nodes open." She gestured vaguely around him. "Fortunately, we don't have to deal with that long, tedious process."
"... But?" Marco asked. Amelia bit her lip.
"But, unfortunately, we have to train your sense of force in regards to magic," She let out a sigh. "It'll be easier to teach you spells, but harder to control them. We have to work backwards in that sense, as the sense of control built up with the slow method is absent." She rubbed her temples before shaking her head and grinning again. "The good news is that the more familiar you become with the feeling of magic, the easier it'll be to control how much magic you put into it!"
"Cool!" Marco was so ready to learn magic, and he had so many questions. "Um, why exactly am I more likely to explode? And don't other species have open nodes? What makes humans so unstable?"
Amelia tilted her head, a pleased smile on her face. "You ask questions, I like that. Now, if we're gonna talk nodes, you three should take a seat." She didn't wait for them to do it themselves, just flicking her wrist to knock them all over. Marco was used to rough treatment; the other two, not so much. "Simply put, magic nodes accept and release magic into and out of the body, and the way magic flows is similar to- to that thing water does. What is it again?"
"... Osmosis?" Marco asked.
"Yes! That!" Amelia waved her hand and made some shapes appear in the air. "Now, how does osmosis work?"
"Um, osmosis is just when water goes through a membrane," Marco said. "And, uh, water does that to make both sides even? Or, no..."
"You've got it!" Amelia waved her hand again, the shapes making a circle with other shapes inside. "Water wants to have equity on both sides. When a form like this has higher salinity than the water around it, then the water will flow into the form. Magic acts in a similar way." The shapes shifted into a crude human with dots all over. "The magic on the outside wants to equalize with the magic on the inside."
Marco hummed, glancing at the two on either side of him. Tom was paying attention, but Star looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.
"This brings us to our first difference with humans," Amelia continued. "See, other species will naturally equalize in any environment, unless they are conserving magic. Humans, however, don't ever equalize. See, even if someone from a magic-bound species isn't trained in magic, their bodies will try to match the magical environment around them, but humans with their closed nodes don't ever accept magic into their bodies."
"Wait, so even when Star hit me with her spells, I wasn't, like, absorbing magic or something?" Marco asked. Tom stiffened.
"She what?!"
"Nope, not even then." Amelia shook her head. "Human bodies possess a unique inability to interact with magic, unless-" She made the shapes wiggle. "They are awakened! Or, you know, slowly, slowly work their nodes open."
Marco nodded, ignoring the way Tom was glaring at Star, who was pointedly ignoring Tom. "So, humans don't equalize with magic."
"Exactly. When a human is awakened, they go from no magic to yes magic, and oftentimes, their bodies struggle to adjust to the sudden change." She crossed her arms, studying Marco for a moment. "You had a magical incident the other day, yes? I believe it was your newly awakened body struggling to stabilize. You had spent several days in the Underworld's higher magic levels, and when you returned to Earth, your body didn't know how to properly release the magic to match Earth's much lower resonance."
"... So, I didn't need to wear this?" Marco pointed to the bridal band that sat comfortably on his head. Amelia chuckled.
"Not for homeostasis." She crouched down and poked Marco's forehead. "You may notice that the bridal band perfectly covers the third eye node. That's not a mistake. The divining nodes are notoriously difficult to work with, and often drive mages to madness."
Marco stiffened. "M-madness!?"
Tom quickly rested a reassuring hand on Marco's shoulder. "Don't worry! We won't let you be driven mad! Besides, the Moon wouldn't let a bride fall victim to her own magic!"
"As long as you go about learning it responsibly," Amelia said. "Just as you should with all forms of magic. Now stand up! It's time to learn how to use your first tool!"
Marco jumped to his feet, eagerly following Amelia a few feet away. She opened a small sack that she was carrying on her hip and sank her hand in far deeper than she should have been able to. Out of it, she pulled a stick that was about three feet long with a dull red stone embedded in the top. She handed it to Marco with a grin.
"This is a staff. They come in all shapes and sizes, but this one is specifically for training purposes." Amelia summoned her own staff and stood beside Marco, demonstrating how to hold it, diagonal across the chest with hands a few inches apart. "Most young magic users use some form of staff or wand when learning how to channel magic, and even advanced mages use one of these tools when doing a particularly labor-intensive spell."
"Why? Is it safer, or something?" Marco asked, adjusting his grip on the staff.
"Well, let's just say if something goes wrong, you'd rather blow up a staff, rather than your arm, right?" Amelia chuckled at Marco's face. She moved her staff in front of her, motioning for Marco to follow her lead. "It also serves a unique purpose for humans. As you may have heard, with us saying it over and over again, humans evolved in a magicless environment. Well... that's not the full story."
Star frowned, moving to stand by Marco's other side, ignoring Tom's protests. "What does that mean? Isn't that why humans don't have magic?"
"No, humans don't have magic due to a lack of free-flowing magic. That's the kind you can find in any other dimension." Amelia gently lowered the staff to the ground, Marco dutifully following suit. "For humans, however... Marco, close your eyes and take a deep breath, and guide the music through the staff and into the ground."
Marco followed the instructions, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. The magic thrummed in his veins, beating gently against his skin as he tried to urge the magic through his arms, his fingers tapping to that imaginary beat. The stone at the top of the staff brightened and shone, the magic making it thrum with life. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to faintly glow, and flowers started flooding the grass around them, filling the area with blossoms.
"It's the Earth itself that contains magic," Amelia finally says, happily observing the new growth. She rested a hand on Marco's shoulder. "It's why humans seem to grasp plant magic easiest. You've seen it with your own eyes, yes? The Earth has a greater biodiversity than any other dimension discovered, millions to billions of different kinds of creatures."
"So... the Earth's chaos is due to magic?" Tom asked, eyes wide.
"Yes. Creatures from Earth don't simply have blocked nodes; they're closed to protect from the wild magic from Earth," Amelia hummed. "It's why humans seem oddly connected with the Earth. It's also why Marco will need to be thoroughly grounded while learning."
Marco let out a disbelieving laugh, excitement rushing through his body. "That's, wow, this is awe-"
The stone atop the staff suddenly burst, making Marco jerk back from the staff, watching helplessly as it crumbled to pieces. He stared at the pile in shock before slowly turning to Amelia, who was unfazed.
"And that's why I brought extra!" She chirped, pulling another staff from her bag. "Yeah... that's probably gonna happen a few times until you get the hang of it."
"Ah, I see..."