Hello everyone, I know I usually put these messages at the end of chapters, but whilst editing this particular chapter  I realized it has some mature content I should warn all of you about, so here we go!

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOSIS AND MOLESTATION, IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH READING SUCH THEMES, SKIP THE CHAPTER!

As for the rest, enjoy the chapter!

###########################################################################

Days. It's been days. He watched the endless snow falling from where he laid, in the frozen roots of the willow tree, Willow's favorite tree. Nowadays she doesn't even go with him to these sessions, she just lets the tree do all the work. And so, Marco felt the delicate roots skimming over his bare back, extending their grasp over the scars under his shoulders. He doesn't remember how he got those scars in the first place, all he knows is that Willow made them. She tore something straight out of his body, but he couldn't remember what it was. Whenever he tried to think back to the first session, his mind would go into a type of brain-freeze, where his mind could only focus on one thing; Star.

"No, stop..." He whispered to the tree, but it was no use. This was his punishment. Her name is a punishment to him. He should have been more persistent, more hardworking. If he tried to strive for his goals, then he wouldn't be lying right now in the freezing water as a magical tree performs unknown rituals on his body. 

"Marco." Willow appeared next to him all of a sudden, which made him jump slightly and tear away from the roots. She knelt down next to him and shook her head. 

"What did I say, Marco? Always keep your detection spell active." She scolded him in a monotone voice, at which he just nodded at, seemingly disinterested in her as he got up and put his hoodie on.

"Time to finally test you, my student." She grinned all of a sudden, sitting down on her heels as he raised an eyebrow at this sudden enthusiasm. 

"Test? What kind of test?" He muttered, but she seemingly ignored him and looked above, to the sleepy canopy of the willow tree. They both sat there in silence for quite a while, the gentle yet harsh breeze fluttering around them.

"I have to see if my magic did the job right. You couldn't possibly think that I can monitor what every tree in this forest does." She looked back down at him and sneered slightly as she spoke; she hated questions. 

"I thought you did me. I doubt any other tree is sinking its roots into your student." Marco replied back sharply, which made Willow get up and narrow her eyes ever so slightly at him.

"How about you save that precious energy for the test, and not waste it on arguing with me. I have other things in my life to worry about besides you." She watched as he got out of the cold water, his wet clothes drying immediately, then freezing over. "Follow me, we can't waste time." She walked off, leaving Marco to trail behind her as the water froze beneath their feet.

Just like before, Marco's mind was blank as he watched Willow's hair bounce and sway; no thoughts going through his head except following Willow quickly. The more he stayed with her, the more his mind numbed.

"Remember that rose you touched when you first came here?" She whispered as their feet  touched the frost covered grass of the main island, the ice trail behind them melting back into the Marshes. Marco nodded when she turned back to look at him, her face once more as cold as the air around them; not that either felt that cold. 

"Good. Now that your sessions are done, we have to see if you'll still have the same reaction to it." 

"Mind telling me why exactly I have reactions to a flower?" He raised his eyebrow slightly, but she just chuckled carelessly.

"That's because that rose is unaffected by my magic. That flower comes from the rose bush of Queen Wilhemina herself, the ruler of emotion. My magic can't protect you from what is truly empowering you, and that rose will amplify that." 

"What is inside of me? I don't understand anything." Marco snapped at her, feeling a strange feeling rise in his chest as they walked into the stone temple. She just turned around without answering and walked into the large sectioned room. He had to lag behind her a bit as she carelessly passed through the numerous curtains, a strange tingling sensation spreading through his face. He had not felt anything in a such a long time, that the very notion of feeling this otherwise insignificant sensation brought shock to his brain.

"Willow?"

"You know that I won't answer what you don't need to know yet, Marco." She shot back without turning, walking speedily through the compartments.

"Willow, it's not that..." He stammered a bit as his footsteps turned heavy and slowed down. 

"What then?!" She turned to face him, her eyes narrowed and lips pulled into a snarl. She blinked and knelt down once he started swaying on his heels, his eyelids drooping down as his mind buzzed. 

"Well, I definitely didn't expect this." She reached out to touch his face, but recoiled as if she almost got burned by the mere thought of touching his skin. Instead she gripped his hoodie and carried him off through the temple, ignoring his increasingly louder groans and attempts to from a sentence; she must see what went wrong, did her magic do something wrong?

Once she reached the section where the white rose lied on the small pedestal, Marco released a cry of pain so loud that even Willow could not ignore his pain any longer, making her turn to look at him with a broody expression. 

"Bare with the pain Marco, freeze it. This is all just a test, if you pass it you can finally start your journey to our end goal, do you hear me? Clench your teeth, dig your nails into your skin, whatever helps you ease the pain, just keep quiet." She sneered as she laid him down on the floor, clicking her tongue in dissatisfaction when he did not even try to stand up, a small tear trailing down his cheek.

"I can't believe this...Marco, get up. I can't touch the rose, only you can." Nothing, he didn't respond, just continued to whimper on the ground.

"Marco." Nothing again, he didn't even move. 

"Marco!" After being ignored the third time, Willow had finally had enough and dragged the aching boy to the pedestal, ignoring his whimpering protests and feverish muttering. She dropped him next to it and tipped the pedestal just enough so that the rose would fall on his chest. 

The moment the rose touched his chest, Marco's whimpers turned into sickening howls of pain, his small tears into large drops as he arched his back and opened his eyes wide, a helix of a blood red hue circling his irises. The rose felt like a ton of bricks on his chest, constricting his breathing even though he could feel himself taking big gulps of air.

"Take it in your hand Marco, your hand!" Willow urged him, Marco barely managing to lift his hand through the enormous pressure circling his body, pulsing on his skin, exploding in his ears, trapping his brain. Once he finally held the rose in his hands however, everything stopped, it grew quiet. 

Then, there was red.

*several days later*

Marco now stood nude in the freezing water, it reaching up to his ribs. Now taller and more muscular, he looked as if he was back in Heckapoo's dimension again; only he hadn't left the water ever since that incident a few days back. He hasn't had a drink to drink or a bite to eat since then, there was simply no room within him to do that. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't taste. He couldn't shiver at the cold that he now definitely felt, the only thing he could sense is the magic moving within him, slithering, twisting, turning, overwhelming every nook and cranny with a prickling sensation. It was adjusting his body to its liking, stretching his pain tolerance to an unimaginable level before shrinking back down, invading his brain with thoughts he didn't even know he could conjure; thoughts of dark times, dark times ahead, dark times caused by him. 

"How are you feeling, Marco." Willow's velvety voice came from behind him, sounding more like a statement than a question. As per usual these past few days, she received no reply, not a single tiny sound to indicate that Marco even registered her words, but she knew he was there, aware of her presence even if he couldn't hear her words.

The water behind Marco made a splashing sound as another body joined him in the water, released from its fabric prison. He tensed up as cold, slender fingers glided over the two long scars on his back, then up to the nape of his neck before settling in between his shoulder blades. His skin shivered under the ghost-like touch, tips of well manicured nails leaving goosebumps in their wake. Marco screamed in his head as the fingers moved to his biceps briefly before finally touching his front, making the chill even more prominent on his skin.

Meanwhile, Willow smirked at every slight muscle spasm his body would make underneath her touch, loving the effect her touch had on her human apprentice. She hadn't felt a warmer body in so long that she didn't even care that his senses are null, she had waited long enough.

"Marco, Marco, Marco... Life is so unfair for the two of us..." She leaned her head on his shoulder, watching as her unruly hair spilled over Marco's stiff arm and into the water below. "Both of us were nothing but innocent creatures, looking for some affection, then both got banished into this frozen wasteland like some lowly criminals! The only difference between us is, well, that my prince is dead. I don't like that you have something that I don't, my apprentice." Her slender fingers found their way to his chin, where she trailed his jaw ever so slightly as she craned her head to look up at his stoic face.

"This curse flowing through your veins... This power the ever-present moon wishes to grant you, it all depends on her. It hurts you when she is not near you, but it gets even worse when she is close by. It makes a monster out of a man and a pathetic mess out of a woman..." She smiled slightly. "...Do you think Star is a pathetic mess right now, Marco?" 

Marco's body gasped involuntarily as pain flooded his system, making the magic within him recoil a bit. He couldn't register anything she said, apart from his lover's name. He was shocked to the core when he felt Willow's kisses on his back, trailing slowly downwards. She must have said her name once more, making the magic back down again, bringing back his hearing. He wished it didn't, because Willow's words shocked him much more than any magic tearing his body up.

"Your love is so pure it's disgusting, Marco Diaz. I can't wait for the day you two meet, when the curse becomes whole, when the Butterfly line finally dies!" Willow produced a small giggle at the sentence, then whispered straight into his ear, as if knowing he can hear her:

"When she dies, which can't come soon enough, her part of the Curse will bee yours to own, and you can choose a new soulmate, a better one; one that won't play a chasing game with you, don't you agree?"

He could feel the Marsh's bottom disappearing under his feet as the water level rose, letting Willow tangle her legs with his, shivers sprouting from where her cold skin touched his. Her hands covered every inch of his torso, making every fine hair raise where she passed.

"You'll soon be perfect again my prince; my dear Jushtin..." She whimpered quietly as a single raindrop hit the smooth surface right in front of the two, disturbing the water's peaceful image for just a small second before it calmed once more, and Marco was all alone.

###########################################################################

And that's that! What do you think, are things getting interesting? Should I put songs with these chapters?

Thank you for reading, wash your hands, don't touch anybody and binge read wattpad!

Stay safe, kitties!

OceanFury