Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter ♥-3: Protostar

"So, this is the pond."

yes

Yes

YEs

YES.

"This is where I can start fixing magic?"

THInk

THINK OF IT LIKE A NERVE. THE COMMANDS YOU INPUT INTO THE EMPYREAN SHALL BE CARRIED TO THE REST OF THE CORE, WHICH SHALL THEN ATTEMPT TO ADAPT TO YOUR WISHES.

"Adapt? So it's like.... communication?"

THAT'S ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT, YES.

"Right.... I'm just..... going to talk to magic." She said, trying to not give away how unsettled she was. She failed. "Well, magic.... You and I are officially friends starting today."

Extending her hand, she tipped her index finger into the pond.

"Hello?" She asked.

There was no vocal answer, only a low hum in her mind.

"Hello? I am Star Butterfly."

Once again, a hum.

Keeping her finger in the Empyrean, she turned her head upwards while keeping her eyes on the finger.

"Hey uh.... Primum? Is it supposed to be this quiet?"

it

iT

IT IS IN THE NOISE. YOU FELT A LOW HUM, DID YOU NOT?

"Well, yes... I did. What of it?"

THAT MEANS THE CONNECTION HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, YOU MAY NOW STATE WHAT YOU WANT.

WANt.

WAnt.

Want.

want

Lowering her head, and focusing on the hum she felt within her. She asked internally.

"Tell me how to help you. Tell me how to heal you. Tell me how to wield you, as Glossaryck did before me."

The hum was still, still and silent.

Nothing happened.

"Oooookay. Maybe I'm demanding the wrong things. State what I want...... what I want.... what do I want?"

Of course, the question of what she wanted was one that could be answered in so many ways, her brain would start to hurt. She's seen so many things in the span of a few hours that she's not sure what she wants any more. The first thing should be getting back home, but the sheer amount of new information she found out was making her head spin circles. If she intends to get back, she needs to understand what she's dealing with here.

"Alright you.....thing!" She yelled, unaware of the fact she was actually speaking it. "Help me get home. I want you to tell me how to get home!"

That's what she wants, that's what she's wanted ever since she got here.

No response.

"Well? Tell me something you gelatinous goo!" She said, louder.

The 'goo' remained silent yet again.

maybe

maybE

mayBE

maYBE

mAYBE

MAYBE WHAT YOU SEEK IS NOT WHAT YOU SPEAK.

Not taking her eyes of the small pond, she spoke.

"That's impossible, I want to get home. I know I want that!"

WE KNOW THAT IS WHAT YOU DESIRE, BUT THAT IS ONLY THE END OF YOUR DESIRE.

"H-huh?"

YOU DESIRE TO GET BACK BUT LACK DESIRING HOW TO GET BACK.

BACk

BAck

Back

back

Her expression changed to one of revelation. Slowly, she looked up at the Primum even though there was nothing to be seen. Then, she let out a small 'Oh', and returned her gaze at the Empyrean.

"I crave to get back, but I don't know...... how too?" She spoke to herself, silently and calmly.

Her eyes widened, and she looked up again.

"Primum! How did Glossaryck gain understanding of this place? How did he activate it? How did he get back?"

...

...

Now, not even the Primum responded.

...

...

The Primum didn't respond, but she could feel it staring into her. She could feel the formless eyes drill into her.

Of course.

She understood why.

"You didn't exist back then, did you?"

...

...

...

we

WE DID NOT.

It made sense. The Primum Mobile is the fusion of the souls of each queen of Mewni after their deaths. When the meteor crashed into Glossaryck, there were no queens of Mewni. Therefore, there was no Primum Mobile. But that would mean...

"Did Glossaryck create you?" She spoke, uncertainty at whether or not she wanted the question to be true.

HE DID NOT.

"So who did?"

MAGIC.

"So Glossaryck had no say in it?"

NO.

Star looked down and began thinking again.

"When Glossaryck was hit by the meteor, he likely wound up here. Not only that, but from what I've seen, every soul in this place is related to Mewni, which means when Glossaryck got here the first time, nobody was in here, because nobody was killed by magic yet. The only exception would be his own people, who died when the meteor crashed."

Star blinked, swallowed her spit and narrowed her eyes.

"Furthermore, Magic is created by the souls of those who end up here. Which means that when Glossaryck found himself here, there couldn't have been any magic because there were no souls to make it. One could say his people who died did it; but that wouldn't make sense. After all, they died a few seconds after the meteor hit him, so there was likely a period of time where no magic was being made at all. So the question becomes...."

Her eyes opened, and her mouth fell agape.

"Of course."

The question.

The first question that anyone who found themselves in Glossaryck's situation would ask if they came face to face with magic.

She focused her thoughts again, closing her eyes.

The question. She has to ask it.

...

"What are you?"

She kept her eyes closed. Waiting for a sound, some form of noise, a hum, anything. She felt nothing.

Then, she heard a voice.

So, she opened her eyes.

...

Only to find that her body was gone. She was gone. The room she was in was gone...

...everything was gone.

The only thing she had left.... was her eyesight and hearing.

But there was nothing to see, and there was nothing to hear. Nothing but the sound of a howling wind.

She tried to move her head, but she couldn't. She tried to do some form of movement; that too failed. She tried to make a sound. Nothing. She tried to blink.... nothing.

And then, the eyes with which she saw moved on their own, without her say so, and she heard the voice again, only the voice wasn't hers...

...and the hands that she saw were blue. But they weren't coming to her...

...they were part of her.

And then, she understood.

He opened his eyes slowly. They were heavy.

He sat up and looked around, and he saw nothing.

The sight of darkness around him alerted him to many things. The most obvious one being what had happened to him just moments before.

"W-Where am I?" He spoke, terrified.

He frantically looked around, as if expecting something to emerge from the dark abyss surrounding him to grab him.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?!" He shouted again, louder this time. Once again, he was met with nothing.

His eyes were still adjusting to the dark, so he couldn't see his surroundings yet, but the wind that blew made him shiver in cold.

He brought his small, blue arms to his chest, and rubbed the sides of his arms with the palms of the other hand, in a desperate attempt to gain warmth.

"Where am I....?" He whispered, more out of shock and confusion than anything else.

He remembered what had happened. A meteor. A meteor fell. A huge meteor broke through the clouds of the sky and crashed directly into him. He was just going to get some flowers, he needed flowers for pudding. He was just going on a stroll for some flowers, when all of a sudden a huge rock from the heavens flew down and crashed right into him.

His mind was filled with questions. What happened to him? how did he end up here? What happened to his town? Are they all safe? Is he dead?

Flowers for pudding. He was just going to get some flowers for pudding.

His mind spiralled with these questions, his mind overcome by the endless torture of being unable to answer any. He lost his balance, and with it, his footing. His weight got the best of him and he started to fall, but, regaining his senses, he quickly took a step back to avoid falling on his ass.

The surprising thing was the fact he stepped into something wet.

Wet and ten times colder.

Quickly removing his foot from the liquid, he put it next to his other one, preventing any more nasty surprises. Crouching down, he noticed his eyes have somewhat adapted to the dark, and he could see about a feet away from him. Squinting his eyes to get a better look, he noticed he was on a shore. He put his finger into the liquid to check if it was dangerous or if any reactions were to happen, and was pleased to find none. The liquid was dark, cold, and much more thick than water. Moreover, the 'shore' he was on was not sandy or rocky. Well, it was made of stone, or at least, it felt like stone, but it wasn't like a cobblestone beach, it was just one big rock.

He then took got back up and turned around, at took a few steps in the direction opposite of the liquid, he had no idea how wide, big or deep the liquid mass was, as his vision was still limited just enough for him to see where he was stepping, but not anything further from that. Taking a few steps, he noticed the ground he was walking on got more steep, signalling to him that he was going upwards, likely climbing a hill or something of the sort. He took further steps up, and cautiously climbed whatever it was he was climbing.

The further he walked, the more steep the ground became, eventually however, he managed to reach the top. His eyesight was more adapted since the climb, and he could now see about two feet in front of himself. He had spent a couple of what felt like hours climbing the supposed 'mountain', but he didn't get tired in the slightest. Physically, he felt the same as he did when he woke up.

Understanding the fact that he should be on a geographically higher position, he looked around for any sign of light. But he was surrounded with nothing but the dark. It encompassed him, engulfed him.

Except for one spot and one spot only.

It was incredibly small, almost invisible in this dark, but far, far away from him...

...a singular dot of light, small and seemingly dim.

It was extremely hard to see, but it was there. It was no trick of the mind.

There was light.

Letting out the breath he's unknowingly been holding ever since he reached the top, he let out a sigh of relief and tiny joy. Just by the mere presence of that distant, faint light he gained the resolve to keep going. And so, he proceeded onwards, carefully navigating the dark and silent landscape while making sure he doesn't stray from the path to the dot.

The next few steps were easy, but what followed was a total drop. Seeing no other way, he climbed down slowly but safely using his hands and legs as support. Once down, he walked some more. If he had to guess, he entered a ravine, and due to it the light was obscured from view, just like the mountain kept him from seeing the light when he first got here.

Using considerable effort to not go left or right, but only forward, he reached another wall. It was as steep as the one he came down from. So, he saw nothing else to do but to climb up, his arms and legs once again the supporting factor. Reaching the top, he once again saw the light, and continued forth.

This went on for what felt like days, but no hunger came upon him, nor did sleep request his attention, nor did fatigue claim his body. The only thing that was beginning to take a toll on him was his mind. It was the wind, the wind was driving him insane. The constant 'Whoosh'-ing and 'Whoooiiioooooo'-ing sounds were taking their toll on him, driving out and silencing all other voices in his mind; and yet, his gaze on the light lingered, not moving an inch, he had to get there. He had to make it.

And so he walked, through meadow, then a dry forest, then a desert, volcanic fields, frozen icy hills, and a barren dry dirt ground. He walked and the light got closer, it was so close now. He could almost reach it. It was so... close. He was almost there.

Suddenly, he fell into water.

No-not water, it was too thick for water. It was the same substance from that shore he dipped his foot into when he awoke. But... the light was in front of him. He knew it, it was so close.

So he swam. He swam as fast as he could, he needed to get to the light, it was so close, he could practically feel it on his skin. He swam, and reached a shore. It was steep, it was going up again, the light too was above him. He had to climb.

And so he did. He climbed, and saw that the light was coming out of a doorway, an entry into the what he assumed to be mountain. He had no choice but to venture inside. Cautiously, he entered.

Inside was a room, it was lit from the light, and he could see the walls. It was empty, but the wind stopped, and an odd warmth overcame him. However, what caught his eye was the source of the light itself.

A huge sphere, shining a dim light. The sphere was big, the size of a fully grown Size-shifter. It.... pulsated every few seconds...

....with the sound of a heart beat.

It was a heart.

A round, perfect sphere, a perfect ball the size of a Size-shifter, and it was weak. He could feel it. The heartbeat caused rumbling in the ground, but it was weak. Nevertheless, the beating was loud.

(beat)

The heartbeat was scarce, with at least twenty seconds passing between each one, accompanied by a pulse that threw the perfect shape off, making it chaotic, before it returned to it's original state.

However, something inside him was telling him one simple fact. How he was so sure, he didn't know.

It was weak.

It was a weak heartbeat.

He moved towards it slowly, never taking his eyes off of it.

"What are you?" He asked calmly, taken in by it's allure.

"Where did you come from?" He said, once again, no response.

"Just what....... are you.....?"

She screamed.

"Ah! Glossaryck!"

She stopped, her breath quick but imbalanced, sweat pouring down her forehead. Confused, dazed, and panicked, Star looked around.

She was still at the pond, she was still in the same chamber she was in, there was nobody around her, there was no other soul, she was alone. There was no Glossaryck here, there was no Marco, no mom, no dad, only her.

She took a few minutes to compose herself, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Breathing deeply and slowly to stabilize and even out her breathing, taking note of every sensation her body was feeling, as if searching for something that would feel off. After spending a few minutes there, sitting on the marble-like floor in a giant chamber, in front of a small pond with only the word 'Empyrean' written below, she composed herself, and calmed her mind.

Subconsciously, she pulled out another pudding packet from her robe's pocket and quickly downed the whole thing. After she was done, she turned her focus to the ceiling.... at least, where the ceiling should be, but instead was just a black abyss.

"What was that?" She spoke loudly, to ensure the Primum could hear.

a

A

A VISION

"Oooooh, is that so?" She replied sarcastically, said sarcasm dripping off her tongue. "I thought I ordered a pizza- Yes I know it was a vision! I'm asking-"

YOU ASKED 'WHAT' IT WAS YOU SAW. WE REPLIED TO YOUR QUERY. DO NOT BE UPSET, WE MERELY ANSWERED WHAT YOU REQUIRED TO HEAR.

HEAr

HEar

Hear

hear

hea

he

h

"Okay, okay, I get it." Star replied nonchalantly. "Would you care to tell me why it was Glossaryck?"

hE

HE CAME BEFORE YOU. AS SUCH, MAGIC SAW IT FIT TO SHOW YOU THIS VISION AS TO SHOW YOU HOW HE ENDED UP HERE. MIND YOU, WE DID NOT EXIST AT THE TIME THIS EVENT OCCURRED, SO THE VISION CAME EXCLUSIVELY FROM MAGIC, NOT US.

"If that's so, how do you know what I saw? Did we share the vision?"

WE ARE LINKED TO THE MAGIC, YOU POSSES A FRAGMENT OF IT'S CORE, WE DID NOT SHARE, AND NEITHER DID WE SEE WHAT YOU JUST SAW, BUT WE KNOW WHAT YOU SAW. WE ARE THE VOICE OF MAGIC, AND ALTHOUGH WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER IT, WE ARE THE ONES WHO UNDERSTAND IT BETTER THAN ANY OTHER LIVING BEING IN THE COSMOS.

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna spoil anything, but the vision is useless, it provided no answers for what I wanted to know!" She yelled.

Standing up, Star angrily pointed at the pond in front of her, as if accusing it for committing a crime.

"I wish to know how to work with magic! That's what I want to know! But neither you or........ this...!" She exasperated, pointing at the pond more intensely ."...have any answers to what I want, apparently!"

The abyss above was quiet for a moment, that was a first.

we

wE

WE APOLOGIZE FOR NOT PROVIDING THE ANSWERS YOU SEEM TO DESIRE.

"Aargh! Talking to Ludo is easier than talking to you!"

Plopping back down onto the floor, Star gave a long, slow sigh. This was annoyingly slow and tedious. She was stuck, unknowing what to do. Should she keep screaming at the Primum? That would likely just cause more annoyance. Should she open up? No, that wouldn't do anything. Take a stroll? Where would she do that? On that long bridge she was crossing? So she can get a good luck at all the suffering souls again?Maybe she should just.... think?

Now, the thought sounded absurd, actually taking a moment to think was not something Star Butterfly was known for, she was more the 'we'll figure it out as we go along' type of girl, but it seemed she currently had no better options than to do just that. She relented, and sunk into thought.

"Primum said I lack the desiring of getting back, but not the desire itself, it seems the entire thing is based on my desires? But that wouldn't.... would it work? No, of course not, if it was as simple as that, I'd be back by now."

She stopped, eyes discretely gazing upwards while her head stayed where it is.

"It also seems Primum won't give me direct answers, at least not the ones I want. So the best course of action..."

What would that be? What would be her best course of action? She needs a game plan, a way to figure out a way to get back at the least, everything else can come after that. What she needs now is a way back, but to find a way back, she needs to grasp the basics of how this place operates. By that logic, the safest thing to do would be what the alchemists do.

"When alchemists attempt something, they experiment. Experimentation leads to success."

And just like that, she answered her own question.

"In order to get back, I need to experiment."

She straightened her back, her spine giving her a relaxing feeling of approvement in the form of a tingling sensation. Perhaps subconsciously, she asked:

"So, if I desire something and know how to make it happen, will it work?"

it

iT

IT IS A START.

She put her hands into the pond again, concentrating her thoughts, she desired something that was both simple and important to her.

"I wish to see my mom, Moon Butterfly. I wish that this pond shows me my mom, by acting like a window to Mewni."

Silence was all that followed in the next few seconds that felt like minutes.

Suddenly, the entire pond rippled, tiny, tiny waves emerging and clashing into different ones. Then, it all came to a stop as the pond turned from colourless black to a moving image, just like the All-Seeing Eye spell worked, except no dark magic involved.

"Mom!" Star gasped, amazed to see that it both worked and that she sees her mother.

The event was similar to that of watching a livestream, with Star seeing and hearing everything that was unfolding, once again, very similar to the All-Seeing Eye spell.

Her mother, Moon Butterfly, was running around the halls of what Star recognized to be her family's castle. She was yelling orders at everyone she saw, urgency and a voice that demands attention. Star rarely saw her mother get angry, or as.... active as she is now, and the view was both alarming and oddly calming, likely because she hadn't seen her mom for so long that any sight of her made her happy.

It was then that Star was hit with a bitter question that formed in her head. She didn't actually know how much time has passed since that entire event with him transpired. To her, it all went by so slow, she was in here for a few days at the least, but what about everyone else? How much time has passed? Days? Weeks? Months? Maybe less, maybe a few hours? She really had no way to know.

"Primum, how much time has passed since I.... since the event with.... since..." She tried to say it, she tried to ask, but for some reason it wasn't... "...since h..."

you

yoU

yOU

YOU SEEM DISTRESSED, WOULD YOU-

"Stop." She said firmly. The Primum Mobile did so. "How much time has passed since I entered this realm." She repeated, not understanding why it was so hard to ask the former question. Surely, she would be able to ask, right?

YOU ARE CONCERNED FOR YOUR ACQUAINTANCES.

"I wouldn't exactly call them that, I'd call them friends and family." A hint of threat in her voice.

TO ANSWER YOUR QUERY, THE TIME THAT PASSED IS MERELY A FEW DAYS. YOUR MOTHER HAS BEEN GRIEVING, BUT AN

An odd, small pause.  That was a first, the Primum never pau-

OUTSIDE ENTITY OF EARTHLY ORIGIN HAS AWOKEN HER TO ACTION.

Her mind subconsciously eased itself, relieved to know her friends were safe, and that she wasn't gone for long. Of course, her situation was still dire, but knowing that she was at least only a few days gone put her at ease.

Star looked back down into the pond, watching the events unfold.

Everyone was rushing left and right, every single hall was occupied by at least one running person. No room was spared of mewman presence. The queen was shouting orders to everyone who she suspected had nothing to do. Walls were echoing with the sounds of life, haste, need, determination, life.  Every door was kept wide open because every few seconds a staff member would practically run through it. Everyone was in a rush, doing what they were told. No exceptions.

"Give me reports on the Johansens, the Lucitors, the damn Pigeons, Waterfolk, Spiderbites, everyone. I want to know everything the lack of magic caused." Moon shouted at people, who would start running to their given tasks as if their life depended on them.

Which, given the queen's mood, was probably true.

Marco meanwhile, walked next to the queen, trying to keep up with her pace. He never saw her this angry, determined, stern, or imposing. She was radiating respect and and her eyes blazed willpower. She looked like she was ready to break the universe in half should she have to. People were afraid to look at her. They just wanted to hear her orders, and go carry them out.

"Soooooo, what exactly are we doing?" Marco asked confused.

"I am fixing this damn kingdom. We've been inactive for two days, which might seem small, but the result of our little feud with him will take a serious toll on this land should we delay it further." Moon replied quickly, shouting at other staff members as soon as she was finished.

So two days passed, that was already something, nice to have an official number. Star also found some inner peace at seeing Marco alive and in one shape too, although she did not show it. The Primum Mobile, being omni-present, noticed regardless. Just as it was about to speak of the matter at hand, it stopped itself, for it knew that the princess would find the next few sentences far more occupying.

"But, your majesty, Star is-"

"My daughter is your concern now!"

...

...

...

...

"What?"

"What." Star said, perfectly on sync with Marco's.

"Trust me, I would want nothing more than to help find her, but currently, I am the only one who knows how to deal with the mess this kingdom is about to become."

"What do you-"

"Magic is gone, Marco. The one factor that accelerated our advancements and reinforced peace throughout Mewni is gone. You have no idea what the consequences that are about to befall us will be." She stopped. Taking a deep breath, and continuing.

"I want to, but I can't grieve for my daughter now. The kingdom comes first, that's the duty of the queen. My duty." A deep sigh escaped the queen. She was looking down at the ground again, searching for something, some comfort, some sign that it will be okay.

Well that was in character of her, so not really much to expect. It wasn't that big of a surprise to Star. Her mother was a fearsome ruler. Sure, she didn't lead it with an iron fist or anything, but when she needed things done, she got them done. Truth be told, she did not know whether to feel insulted or just.... neutral. Her mother was always a figure of authority, so this really should not come as a big surprise to her.

we

wE

WE SENSE DISCOMFORT IN YOU, STAR.

STArR

STAr

Star

star

She merely hummed a low hum in response.

IT IS BECAUSE OF YOUR MOTHER, IS IT NOT?

The question itself was purely rhetorical, since the Primum Mobile both sees all and knows all... at least, knows more than anyone else.

DO NOT BE UPSET, WE ASSURE YOU THAT SHE IS WORRIED FOR YOU. SHE MERELY WISHES NOT TO DESCEND THE KINGDOM INTO DOOM.

The words did little to comfort her, but she remembered Glossaryck's note; and how he specifically said that brining up any topic unrelated to 'cosmic truths', such as grandmotherly advice, will lead it to fall apart. She figured that theory would be worthy for a test, but perhaps later, as she was distracted by the next few sentences she overheard coming from the pond-screen.

"I'm giving you a mission. The most important mission of all." Moon looked into his eyes. Once again, her blue into his brown. Marco steeled himself, and looked at her with a face of determination.

"I need you to find her. I don't know how, you believe she's alive and I want to believe. Go, find her. Find a way to get her back. That is your mission."

"How do I start?"

"The royal archives in the east wing. They're filled to the brim with old books, scrolls and documents about monsters, mewmans, magic.... There's everything in there. Search the magic section and find something. Search as hard as you can, call whoever you want to help you, but find a way. I know you won't let me down."

"The royal archives?!" Star yelled, unknowingly. "That place is a labyrinth of nothing but old paper and..... older paper! He'll never find anything there!"

YOU HAVE A STRONG EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO THE BOY.

"Yes, yes, yes I know! Everyone knows it at this point! Not like I blabbered it out in front of an entire crowd of people at a party!" She yelled, desperately gasping for oxygen, having run out of it while talking.

She looked downwards into the pond-screen once more, seeing Marco walk away, presumably going to the archives, not that she could tell since the screen was focused on her mom and not Marco. Sighing audibly, she pulled her hand out of the pond, the screen dying not short after, returning the pond to it's dead black liquid state.

"My mom is a smart person, but the archives will drive Marco insane!"

She dipped her hand into the pond once more, and calmly spoke.

"I wish to see my...." She stopped for a few moments, a pang of guilt and sorrow in her soul. "....my friend, I wish that this pond shows me Marco Diaz, by acting like a window to Mewni."

Once again, silence.

...

...

...

...

"Uh, hello?" She asked, as if expecting the pond to answer. "I'd like to see Marco Diaz, please."

that

thaT

thAT

tHAT

THAT IS NOT CURRENTLY POSSIBLE.

Her eyes widened. Dread filled her very essence. What happened? Why was it different? Did something happen in the few seconds she took her hand out? What was-

CALM YOUR MIND, THE BOY IS PERFECTLY SAFE.

Her mind froze, and she sat there for a few moments, feeling the cold sweat roll off her forehead.

"S-so why can't I see him?"

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH MAGICAL POWER TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR TASK. YOU ARE REQUESTING SOMETHING WHICH, IN THIS CURRENT TIME, CANNOT BE DONE.

"There's.... no magic? But that doesn't-" Suddenly, her very breathing stopped. She tried to breathe, but she could not. Her arms fell to her side, her spine relaxed, her sight dimmed and her neck relaxed. "..w...h....a..t........i...s........."

THE MAGIC YOU USED TO SEE YOUR MOTHER HAS BEEN EXERTED, IT WILL TAKE MORE TIME FOR HEAVEN TO CREATE MORE MAGIC. YOU ARE CURRENTLY FEELING NAUSEOUS BECAUSE THE SHRED OF THE CORE YOU POSSES REQUIRES MAGIC TO SURVIVE, AND SINCE YOUR OWN SOUL IS FUSED WITH IT, YOU NEED IT TOO.

Star's eyes were rolling into the back of her skull, her legs grew weak, and she collapsed.

DO NOT BE AFRAID, YOU WILL NOT DIE. IT WILL NOT TAKE LONG FOR HEAVEN TO CREATE MORE MAGIC, YOU WILL AWAKEN AS SOON AS THE MINIMAL REQUIREMENT IS MET.

"B......u.....t...................M...ar....c.....o......" Was the last thing she thought before her entire world became black.

She sprung awake with a jolt and an audible voice of alarm. It was the equivalent of suddenly springing awake after suddenly remembering you're not supposed to be sleeping. She immediately got up into a sitting position, her memories having instantly returned to her, and her senses awake and sharp. 

“What was that?! What just happened?!?” She wasted no time, she wanted to know what happened, and she wanted that answer immediately.

you

yoU

yOU

YOU DRAINED YOUR RESERVE OF MAGIC.

”Clarify, please.”

WE INTEND TOO, SHOULD YOU GIVE US THE TIME.

TIMe

TIme

Time

time

She sighed, she knew that she had no choice. She has to find out everything there is, and if Primum is willing to open up about anything at all, she has to listen. There is no alternative.

“Fine, but please try to keep it simple, will ya?”

AS YOU ARE AWARE, NOT SO LONG AGO, A CERTAIN ENTITY HAS ENTERED WHAT YOU CALL THE ‘REALM OF MAGIC’. 

”Toffee.” She blubbered aloud, albeit unkowingly.

HE HAS SINCE SPENT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME SEEPING THE POISON THAT LEAKED FROM HIS WOUND INTO THE REALM, CORRUPTING ALL OF THE MAGIC YOU SAW WHEN YOU CONFRONTED HIM.

They must have been talking about the confrontation where he played a big goop monster, and where she unwillingly became a token of blackmail. It was not a memory Star was pleasant with remembering, but it was one that would remain engraved in her memory until her end... if an ‘end’ was even possible for her with this current position...? 

HOWEVER, HIS KNOWLEDGE, WHILE DEEP AND VAST, WAS INCOMPLETE. 

“Huh?” This was new.

he

hE

HE KNOWS MUCH. HE KNOWS THE PRINCIPLES OF OPERATING MAGIC, AND KNOWS HOW TO ENDANGER IT’S EXISTENCE; WE DETECT THAT HE IS CURRENTLY THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, AND THAT MAKES HIM A THREAT TO US, TO MAGIC, AND TO YOU.

A threat to all magic? Well, that was to be expected, he was a danger to everything. She didn’t know why she was surprised. He erased what she considered to be all of magic, so it’s really no surprise that even the Primum finds him to be a threat.

HEAVEN IS A UNIQUE PLACE.

DOWN HERE, THE SOULS AND MINDS OF THOSE AFFECTED BY MAGIC ARE SEALED TO PRODUCE MORE, WHILE WE OVERSEE THAT IT OPERATES WITHOUT ANY DISTURBANCES.

ALL THE COMPLETED MAGIC, HOWEVER, IS SENT TO THE REALM ABOVE WHERE IT STAGNATES FOR ETERNITY, WAITING TO BE CONSUMED. WHEN A SPELL IS CAST, AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF MAGIC NEEDED TO PROCURE THE SPELL IS CONSUMED, AND THE REALM’S SUPPLY OF MAGIC IS DEPLETED.

HOWEVER

HOWEVer

HOWever

however

Star merely raised an eyebrow, deep in thought about this information dump.

WHILE YOU CONSUME MAGIC, MORE MAGIC IS MADE. MAGIC IS MADE, THEN SENT UPWARDS, THEN CONSUMED. THEN MORE MAGIC IS MADE, THEN SENT UPWARDS, THEN CONSUMED. THAT CYCLE GOES ON FOR ALL OF TIME.

“It took me a long time to swim from the surface to the bottom, and if we add the seemingly infinite length of the realm, that would mean that there would never be a moment where all magic could be consumed since there’s both already a massive amount stored as well as more and more being made by the second!” She yelled, understanding finally having started to set in. It felt good to get some exposition.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE ENTITY YOU KNOW AS ‘TOFFEE’ HAD FAILED. HE HAD ASSUMED THAT THE MAGIC PRESENT IN THE REALM ABOVE WAS ALL THAT THERE WAS. HE DOES NOT POSSES KNOWLEDGE OF IT’S CONTINUED CONSTRUCTION.

HE ERASED MAGIC, YES. BUT THE MAGIC IS BEING REMADE.

That’s great news! If magic is slowly automatically being revived, that means that, slowly but surely, all will be restored to it’s previous state!

”That’s excellent news! That means I’ll-”

BUT

”But....?” The joy was immediately replaced by worry.

IF LEFT ALONE, IT WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY MILLION YEARS FOR MAGIC TO RETURN TO IT’S PREVIOUS STATE; THIS IS ALSO NOT ACCOUNTING FOR ALL THE CORRUPTED MAGIC THAT LIES ON TOP OF ALL THE NEW ONE.

She stammered, her brain shutting down upon hearing the number that was presented to her while her eardrums caved in on themselves.

”One hundred and...... seventy..... million... years?” She stammered again, not sure how to recompose herself. “W-we don’t have that much time! That’s way too long! Can’t we make that happen quicker?!”

that

thaT

thAT

tHAT

THAT IS INDEED POSSIBLE.

BUT ONLY IF YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN. WE OURSELVES ARE UNABLE TO AID IN THIS ERRAND.

“Only if I help?” She stopped again, but not due to shock this time, but due to mere questionability of the statement presented, it simply couldn’t.... “Are you sure of this? Why can you not help?!”

WE ARE SURE. ALL STATEMENTS WE SAY ARE ABSOLUTE TRUTH, FOR WE HAVE NO BENEFIT TO GAIN BY LYING, ESPECIALLY NOT TO YOU.

YOu

You

you

A few moments of silence.

CHILD, ALLOW US TO EDUCATE YOU ON HOW THIS PLACE OPERATES. 

That came out of nowhere. What was this now? Is the Primum making a request? But... that’s... what is happening?

IN ORDER TO CREATE MORE OF ITSELF, MAGIC CLAIMS SOULS.

IT CLAIMS THE SOULS OF THOSE IT AFFECTED.

THERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT MAKE UP AN ENTITY.

THERE IS THE BODY: THE PHYSICAL VESSEL WHICH ALLOWS THE ENTITY TO MOLD AND INFLUENCE THE WORLD AROUND ITSELF. IT IS ALSO THE MOST EXPENDABLE PART.

THERE IS THE MIND: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AMALGAMATION OF THOUGHTS, IT CONTAINS YOUR BELIEFS, THINKING, MEMORIES, WHAT YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU WISH TO KNOW, YOUR WISHES, DREAMS, HOPES, FEARS.

AND THERE IS THE SOUL: THE NUCLEUS OF EVERY ENTITY. IT IS YOUR LIFE FORCE. THE BODY CAN BE SEEN, THE MIND CAN BE FELT, BUT THE SOUL CAN BE NEITHER. YOU CANNOT FEEL IT, YOU CANNOT TOUCH IT, YOU CANNOT FORM IT. IT IS MERELY YOUR LIFE, AND THE ONLY PART OF YOU THAT LASTS ETERNAL.

WHEN ENTITIES DIE, THEIR BODIES ARE LEFT WHEREVER IT WAS THEY DIED WHILE THEIR MINDS AND SOULS ARE RIPPED AND CARRIED TO THIS PLACE, TO HEAVEN. THEN, MAGIC INVADES THEIR SOULS, AND LEARNS HOW THEIR BODIES LOOKED AND FUNCTIONED. THEN IT RECREATES THOSE BODIES INSIDE OF THE CIRCLES THEY ARE TO BE DISPOSED INTO; AND THEN MAGIC PUTS THOSE MINDS AND SOULS INTO THE CORRESPONDING BODY.

THESE ENTITIES ARE THE ONES WHO CREATE MAGIC, AS YOU SAW WHEN YOU WALKED THROUGH THE CIRCLES. THEY ARE FUSED WITH MAGIC VIA THEIR BODIES.

THEN THERE IS US, THE ‘FIRST MOVED’, THE PRIMUM MOBILE. WE ARE THE PAST QUEENS OF MEWNI. ONCE WE DIED, OUR MINDS AND SOULS WERE BROUGHT HERE, JUST LIKE ALL THE REST, HOWEVER, WE ARE NOT GRANTED A BODY.

OUR BODIES YOU SAW OUTSIDE, THEY STAND TALL AS TITANIC COLOSSALS, BUT WE DO NOT FEEL THEM, NOR CAN WE MOVE THEM; THEY ARE ENTIRELY SEPARATED FROM US, NOTHING MORE THAN STATUES.

”THIS IS TOO MUCH EXPOSITION! TOO MUCH INFO!” Star yelled. “I can NOT keep up with this!!!”

we

wE

WE UNDERSTAND YOUR TURMOIL, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW ALL OF THESE FACTS.

All they received as a response was a groan and a growl.

AS WE WERE SAYING, OUR BODIES ARE LOST TO US, WHILE MAGIC FUSED OUR MINDS TOGETHER INTO ONE. OUR SOULS, HOWEVER, REMAIN SPLIT, AND ARE FREE TO ROAM, THEY ARE OUR EYES AND EARS, BUT OUR MIND IS ONE. WE ARE FUSED WITH MAGIC VIA OUR MINDS.

AND THEN THERE’S YOU.

“Me?”

YOU ARE FUSED WITH NOT YOUR BODY, AND NOT YOUR MIND, BUT YOUR SOUL. THE FRAGMENT OF THE CORE THAT ENGRAVED INTO YOUR SOUL MADE IT SO THAT YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO MAGIC BY YOUR SOUL.

Once again, the poor princess could only reply in cold, shocked silence.

LIFE FEEDS ON LIFE.

MAGIC FEEDS ON MAGIC. WITHOUT MAGIC, IT ITSELF WOULD DIE. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY YOU COLLAPSED BEFORE. EVER SINCE THE ENTITY YOU KNOW AS ‘TOFFEE’ LEFT THE REALM, THE NEW MAGIC THAT WAS CREATED WAS NOT CORRUPTED, BUT SIMPLY LEFT IN IT’S DESIRED POSITION.

IT IS THIS VERY MAGIC YOU CONSUMED IN ORDER TO SEE YOUR MOTHER, AND SINCE THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS LEFT, DEPLETING IT CAUSED YOUR SOUL TO FAINT, FOR THERE WAS NO MAGIC LEFT FOR THE CORE TO ASSIMILATE, AND YOU ARE PART OF THE CORE NOW.

...

YOU ARE A PART OF THIS PLACE NOW, STAR BUTTERFLY. LIKE US, AND LIKE EVERYONE IN THE INNER SPHERES, YOU BELONG TO THIS PLACE.

”N-No. No no no no no no nononononono. I refuse! You can’t cage me in like this!” She yelled, the implication of her being part of a place like this making her wish to puke.

WE FEAR IT IS TOO LATE, YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED IT.

It

it

”NO!” She yelled up at the abyss overhead. “You can’t! You can’t do this to me!”

There was nothing but silence in return.

”Primum...?”

No response.

“Primum?!?!” She tried again, desperately. Of course, the response was the same in the way that there wasn’t any.

With her shaky eyes searching for the slightest movement, and her ears searching for the slightest noise other than her own unbalanced breathing, she started to walk backwards; her eyes still glued to the abyssal ceiling above, waiting for something, anything.

But nothing came.

The nausea having settled into her stomach, she knew she would puke soon. All this news was simply too much for her brain to process, and she couldn’t handle it. Barely tearing her eyes away from the ceiling, she turned and went into a full sprint towards the door that led to Glossa- her ‘apartment’.

Slamming the door open with her hands, she ran towards the toilet, the vile puke starting to rise from her stomach and into her neck. She could feel it, she could feel it coming. It was warm. It made her even more sick, which only made her wish to puke more. 

She threw the toilet door open just as she did the first one, and flung herself towards the toilet itself. Quickly launching the seat open and sending it to bang loudly against the top, she shoved her head into the toilet and let nature take it’s course.

She puked.

The entire event happened fast, and yet slow. She could feel all the pudding she ate pour out of her mouth and spew into the toilet, she could feel her eyes tear up and her stomach lurch, twist and convulse. Once the bile stopped, she’d gasp for air as her stomach would take a small rest before giving her a portion of dry heaving; only for it to then take her back to proper puking.

The Primum was, of course present, although it was unseen, unfelt and unheard. After all, the Primum is omni-present. It is everywhere. But it is a bystander, for the Primum never acts, it merely observes. 

Star’s mind went black, the physical convulsions her body was giving her rocking her whole body, not giving her any time to rest or recover from all the information she was hit with.

Having puked all the pudding she ate in what she presumed to be the last few hours, Star collapsed onto the bathroom floor, breathing in all the air she needed to reactivate her senses and brain. She laid there, doing nothing but breathing and reconsidering all her life choices for a time. When she finally mustered the strength to get up, she leaned on the nearest wall and sat there, doing the same thing.

”I can’t go on like this.” She thought to herself in a defeated tone. “I just want to get home.” 

She momentarily eyed the door, thinking of going back out into the sanctum-temple-like chamber where she was to do..... something, she didn’t know what, nobody was filling her in, what was she supposed to do?

Is this really how she, Star Butterfly, will go out? By admitting personal defeat? By just sitting here and giving up?

...

...

”No.” 

Her mom is working to keep the kingdom secure, Marco must be looking for her. The more she... sticks around here... the more time she wastes while everyone else does work while she does nothing but.... sit here and toil away.

”I’m going to get home.” She said, out loud. “No matter what!”

Standing up, she eyed the door with renewed determination. 

“I will get home!”

"YOU!"

"Uawwaagah!" Marco exclaimed, turning around in his battle stance, only to see two purple pigtails hanging from the head of a mewman knight.

"I know her, she's that crazy garbage person that lives in the trash can. Mina, I think that's her name...."

"You're Mina, right?"

"Where did the monster head off to?" She asked, getting closer.

"Who, what, when, why, where?" Marco said, schocked by both her tone and composure.

Mina stopped right in front of him, eyes blazing into his.

Then she stopped, breathed in, closed her eyes, brought her hands together as if she was praying, breathed out, and opened her eyes again.

"The queen ordered me to find the monster responsible for this anarchy, I intend to hunt him down. I need you to tell me where he went."

"Where he wen-"

"You did see which direction he was headed for right?" She was getting impatient.

"All I know is-"

"Yes?" Impatience was oozing out of her by this point.

"All I know is he was walking past the cornfields. He went in that direction."

After she stormed out of her ‘Heaven-house’, Star Butterfly asked the Primum Mobile some questions; how much magic was renewed since she woke up, how much time passed, and if there was enough magic to try some stuff out.

The answer to the first question was not much, but some.

The answer to the second question is that it was only a few hours. Meaning if she does faint again, she needn’t worry since she’ll likely only be knocked out for an hour or two.

And the third was a yes.

So, she went to the Empyrean, the pond thing where she did her spy thing on her mom, and did it on Marco this time, wanting to see how he was doing. Turns out, the more she keeps her emotions under control, the more time she’s given to see the events happening. She didn’t fully understand how this worked yet, but right now she had other priorities.

She performed the same ‘spell’ she did earlier, deciding to see her mother one more time before checking in on Marco. Turns out, Tom Lucitor himself came to the queen and asked for Star’s whereabouts, to which she said nothing before curtly sending him to the archives. Knowing her mom like she did, she knew she was sending him there so he could team up with Marco.

Reminiscing on certain past events concerning the demon prince and the human boy, as well as her own recent conversations with him, she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of him teaming up with Marco; but it’s not like she had a say in it.

Either way, after ending that little ‘spy-see’, as she dubbed it, she went on to ‘spy-see’ Marco instead; which leads us to the present minute, where Star Butterfly is watching Marco Diaz soil his pants talking to Mina Loveberry about the whereabouts of him in the middle of the royal archives.

"So he went south. Why? There's nothing down there. Only the Lucitor Gate but that's well guarded, he can't pass that. I mean, the Monster Temple is up north. So why go south?" She was walking in circles, eyes drilled to the floor.

"So, uh, could you-"

"Thank you for the intel, Earth boy, I will go hunt him down now, queen's orders. He must be brought to justice."

Mina turned around and started sprinting towards the exit, wherever it may be.

"Wait!" Marco exclaimed.

"What?" she replied with lightning fast reflexes, turning around to face him again.

"Could you tell me how to find my way around this huge maze? I'm looking for magic related stuff."

"All the books are color and symbol coded to the respective queens that ruled during the period of time the books were published. Magic stuff is usually on the top shelves. Try not to go into queen Rhina's room to much though, all books during that time were just... weird. They don't call her 'the Riddled' for nothing. Also no, Jushtin the Uncalculated has no room, and the dark queen's chamber was locked and sealed for over 300 years. Bad queen, that one. Other than that, you're goooood to go."

"Uh, thanks?" By the time Marco even said the 'uh' part, Mina was already at the next corner, running for the exit.

Star was, despite sometimes trying to cover it up, a big Mina fan. Even with the whole ‘Mud-sisters’ thing, she still couldn’t help but adore the legendary Mina Loveberry. The monster-kicking bad girl heroine. There was just something about her that Star aspired to be. 

Mina was always Star’s idol. Mina was energetic, spoke her mind, kicked monster butt, chewed gum, and was just an all around bad girl; and well, Star took that lifestyle to heart.

If she wasn’t a princess and just a regular Mewman, Star would definitely want to become a warrior in the Royal Unit, just for the chance of working with her, but, well, she’s a princess.

Regardless, she watched as Mina ran out, and Marco went back to exploring the endlessly big library. Ah well, at least Tom would be joining him soon so he won’t have to do it alone for much longer. Then, she remembered something.

”Wait, Marco is never going to find Tom in this place, it’s a labyrinth that only gets people lost! And Marco doesn’t even know Tom is coming!”

And as if on cue...

you

yoU

yOU

YOU HOLD SYMPATHY FOR THE BOY FROM EARTH.

“I do. That is none of your business.” She exasperated, lifting a single eyebrow in defiance.

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS CAUSE FLUCTUATIONS IN LOGICAL THINKING. IF YOU ALLOW YOURSELF THESE ATTACHMENTS, YOU MAY LEAD ALL OF MAGIC TO DANGER.

“So what, you expect me to turn into Glossaryck?” She replied sarcastically.

GLOSSARYCK HAD HIS OWN ISSUES, BUT HIS WAY OF DEALING WITH EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS IS PREFFERED OVER THE ONE YOU ARE CURRENTLY APPLYING. 

“No.” Was all she said to that, swiftly returning her eyes to the screen.

She knew there was no way for Marco and Tom to meet up. Marco, while smart, will sooner starve to death than figure out how this place works, even with Mina’s advice. And Tom, while holding a better understanding of this place than Marco, is too stubborn about some basic other stuff that Marco excels at. Basically, two disasters that would oddly benefit if they were brought together; sadly, the current predicament is dire.

Star understood this perfectly well.

And she got a sudden hit of brilliancy.

Without batting an eye, she said:

“I want this pond to show me a geographical layout of the royal archives located in the Butterfly Castle. I want the walls to be displayed as yellow lines, I want the location of Marco Diaz to be displayed as a red dot, and the location of Tom Lucitor as a blue dot.”

...

Her will be done.

In a matter of seconds, the pond shifted from the spy-screen into exactly what she desired. First, the pond went black. Then yellow lines appeared all over, drawing a maze alike one you’d see in puzzle newspaper.  Then, two dots appeared; one red, one blue.

“Now I just gotta get the red dot to the blue dot.” She spoke aloud, once again unaware of it.

She thought to herself what the best way to achieve this would be, and ended up at a singular solution.

”Primum?”

yes

yeS

yES

YES?

”Can I affect things on the other side of this screen?” She asked in a surprisingly dead serious tone.

Silence reigned.

DOING SO IS NOT ADVISED, BUT YOU INDEED MAY.

Her only reply was a smirk. “Excellent.”

With this knowledge in mind, she turned her attention back to the layout.

“I want to see Marco Diaz in this pond again in the same way I did earlier before, but I want the geographic layout currently on display to be minimized and put in the top right corner, so I may have it in sight at all times.”

Once again, her will be done.

It was done exactly to her specifications. Marco was looking at the bookshelves. Excellent.

”Now...” She began, a smirk present on her face. “I want the book that I’m looking at to drop from the bookshelf, do so by suddenly creating a gust of air behind the book, which will push it and it alone to fall.”

Looking back at the sanctum of books, Marco had trouble figuring how to climb a 60 meter tall bookshelf for some magic stuff without hurting himself. But before the answer presented itself to him, he heard a book drop.

It worked.

”Repeat.” She spoke emotionlessly, hyperfocused on what was happening; thereby failing to notice the fatigue that started to creep up on her.

CHILD 

The primum said something, but Star couldn’t register it due to her own hyperfixation on the scene before her.

Then another, another, another, yet another.

Going to investigate the noise, Marco found himself in a room labeled a pinkish-ginger. and saw book dropping out of the bookshelves. Not all of the, just a select few. He couldn't tell what was doing it, only that it stopped when tossing down the eleventh book. Going to pick them up, he saw they were all magic related. Was this a clue? Was it a signal? Pure chance? He didn't know. He took a moment to try and figure out why the books fell down, but it proved fruitless.

“Yes, it’s working, it’s working!” She exclaimed! “It’s working, it’s wor.......”

Suddenly, her eyes snapped closed, and she began to fall backwards. 

“.....in....g....”

Then, just like before, she passed out.

And once again, she awoke with a jolt. This time however, she wasted no time.

”I passed out again, didn’t I?”

YES.

“But it worked! It worked! You saw it, I know you did! You saw me influence that book!” She yelled, her mind starting to race with all the vast possibilites about the things she could do and attempt.

CHILD, YOU OVEREXERTED MAGIC AGAIN.

”Yes, yes yes I know I know, but did you seeee! Did you see all the things I can do! This entire thing will be so much easier if I can just say I wish for something to happen! As long as I have a desire and a way how to achieve it, I can do anything!”

She started bouncing up and down, her joy reaching high levels. “Now, let me do that ag-”

NO.

Pause.

”No...?”

MAGIC DOES NOT WORK ON THAT CONCEPT ALONE, IT IS TRUE THAT DESIRING A RESULT, WHILE HAVING A WAY TO ACHIEVE IT WORKS, BUT IT IS MORE COMPLEX THAN YOU THINK.

”Is that so?” She asked, annoyance dripping from her tongue. “Would you care to share why exactly?”

And once again for the hundreth time, silence.

THAT IS NOT ON US TO EXPLAIN. 

“Then keep quiet.” She replied immediately, as if execting the answer she was given.

The Primum Mobile did not reply.

Star walked back to the pond, stuck her hands in, and repeated the same old strategy.

”I want to see Marco, this pond is to act as a screen, allowing me to see and hear everything.”

...

...

...

Nothing.

”Um.... hi?” She asked. This worked the last time, and the time before that.

THAT WILL NOT WORK.

She sighed, for she understood what it must have meant.

”Let me guess, not enough magic yet?”

CORRECT. YOU MANAGED TO WASTE EVEN MORE MAGIC THAN LAST TIME DUE TO YOUR INTENSE FOCUS. THAT ALSO MEANS IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE LONGER FOR THE DESIRED RESULTS. 

“So.... you’re saying focus matters?” She asks.

YES. 

“See?! See?!” She exasperated, pulling her hands out of the pond. “You had no problem telling me this! But literally thirty seconds ago you were all like ‘NO wE cANnOt teLL yOu wHAt To do.’” She exasperated, taking a small break to catch her break after the voice cracking impression.

“So why oh why is it so hard to just tell me what I want to know before? There is literally no reason for you to do so!”

it

iT

IT IS MORE EFFECTIVE IF YOU FIGURE IT OUT ON- 

“No, no no no no!” She yelled, interupting the Primum Mobile. “You don’t get to pull this Glossaryck move on me!”

She stopped, rolling her shoulders to ease the tension that set into her shoulders. With a puff, she removed the hair that fell in front of her face, feeling the strands hit the horns. Dang, those horns are actually quite sensitive, she wondered if this is how Tom feels his own. 

“Glossaryck said..” She took in a sharp intake. “He said you were fused together, but in a really clumsy way. He compared it to ‘fixing a torn teddy bear with tape instead of a sewing kit’, and apparently, he was right. Because sure, you do know some cosmic truths, but clearly you have no knowledge of how to handle putting it lightly!”

She stood straight, turned around, and started to pace around the large chamber.

“You gave me that massive exposition dumb without stopping, even when I asked you too; you let me pass out twice, twice!” She put special emphasis on that second ‘twice’.  “You don’t wanna tell me what’s going on until I discover it myself, at which you’re suddenly super open to discussing it all, and you just....... ugh!”

She stopped pacing circles and looked at the floor.

”You say you’re the ‘fusion of all the past queens’, but if that’s the truth, then none of you know how to handle a kid!”

...

For the millionth time this chapter, there was only silence.

... 

Then, a voice from above.

It sounded like a yell, it was a singular. Only one voice. 

Then another joined, then another, then another.

Suddenly, a hundred or more voices, all independant, were yelling up above.

”Uh..... Primum? What is happening...?”

Then she remembered Glossaryck’s note, and what it said when it came to asking about ‘Grandmotherly advice’.

“Oh no.”

Suddenly, all the voices stopped.

...

...

...

...

...

Then, only one voice.

”Oh my Goooood, my mind hurts!”

”Oh shut up, Estrella!” A second voice.

”Ladies, ladies please!” A third.

”Finally, my mind is free to think about balls again!” Fourth.

”Nobody wants to talk about your balls!” Fifth.

”Excuse me my balls are an excellent topic.” Fourth one again.

“Sister, please shut up.” Sixth.

“I am free, free from all you horrid accidents!” Another new one.

”Horid accidents?! Is that how you talk to your ancestors and predecessors? You horrid excuse for a queen!”

Suddenly, the entire place was filled to the brim with countless disembodied voices talking at the same time. Oh yes. At. The. Same. Time.

”I will have you know I was a perfect queen!”

”What is invisible, yet very prolific in language?”

”Balls.”

”Am I free to commit tax fraud again?”

”Hey you, heart-cheeks, can you hear me? How’s my Mina?”

”Time is just a strange concept.”

”Always look on the bright side of life!”

”Can we rap battle now?”

“I wonder if I can pay a visit to my daughter.”

”Hey, stupid question, I know, but can we drink? I’d kill for a taste of alcohol!”

”Baaaaaaaaaalls.”

”Thank you for your input, Rhina. All creatures, no matter how small have a place in service of me.”

”I acknowledge that you four made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it.”

”Note to self: the cake is a lie.”

”Yare yare daze.”

”According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee-”

”Shut up, nerd!”

”Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram!”

”I’m finally free of you all!”

”Hey, I can’t hear anything anyone is saying, could we please go one at a time?“

”Season four of this show was a disaster.”

”I need help, I’m trying to talk but this one past queen keeps talking before I can start?”

”Is it queen 27?”

”Yes it’s queen 27-“

”Somebody toucha my- oh wait. I have a face.... but no body!”

”All in favour of blaming this on Kyle?”

”That’s right I heard the story over and ov-”

”Stop singing!”

”Oh my God, is this chapter still going?! When’s it gonna end?!”

“How many slices of bread have you eaten in your life?”

”BBBBBaaaaaalllllllsssssss.”

”Wubalubadubdub!”

”He turned himself into a pickle! Funniest s### I’ve ever seen.”

”This voice chat is sponsored by Raid Sh-”

”Don’t you mean Nord VP-”

”You guys are getting sponsors?”

“So it’s cool, just cool, into the mouth. Nice.”

”But what if the haters dab back?”

”It’s treason, then.”

This kept going until a singular booming voice broke everybody’s ears.

”Everyboy SHUT UP!!”

And everybody shut up-ed.

“Alright, can we have some order in here now ladies, please?”

“Yes.”

”Yeah.”

”Uh-huh.”

”Totally.”

”Finally.”

”Good idea.”

”I agree.”

”Please.”

”Affirmative.”

“So, heart cheeks...” Said the voice that seemed to take command. “I guess you didn’t hear me before, how’s my Mi-”

“Wait, why do you get to be the one in charge, I got here before you-”

”Be quiet or I’ll make sure you never talk again!” The commanding voice blared. “How’s my Min-” 

“Solaria, dearie, that is no way to treat your ancestors.”

”Are you actually serious? Can you please stop interrupting me while I ta-”

”Y-yeah, it’s not cool to just yell at us like this.”

”She’s right, let’s just relax. Magic will fuse our minds back together shortly. Let’s put what little time of individuality we have left to some good use.”

A different voice spoke to Star. 

”My dear child, I believe you were worried about that Marco boy, yes? Why don’t you go on and check up on him, I’m fairly sure there should be enough magic left for at least that.” 

“Th....thank... you.” Star responded distantly, not sure what to make of the situation.

She walked back to the pond while the voices above were all arguing between themselves on who should do what. On her way back, she pulled another cartridge of pudding. Ignoring the puke-fest she had earlier, she easily swallowed the whole thing, her brain cells starting to die as soon as she did, easing her troubled mind. She’s going to need serious therapy when she makes it back.

Dipping her hands back into the pond, she recites what she recited so, so many times before. It took a few seconds before the pond turned into the spy-screen.

Few hours later, Marco learned some stuff.

First, apparently there is something called a realm of magic, which is where all the magic comes from, and where it originates. He also learned of all the things that depended on magic to survive. From roads, to wildlife. Comparing that to today's situation, Marco understood why two days were enough to send the kingdom into anarchy. The books however, provided no intel on Star or anything like this. There were no records of any magic user entering the wanda and dissapearing, or the wand being broken. There was none of that. Where these books dropping down truly just a coincidence?

So, he’s still reading the books, and it seemed Tom was nowhere near him. In order to make sure, Star requested the pond position the ‘map of the archive’ in the top right corner like before. To her surprise, the blue dot, which was Tom, was moving. He was likely searching for Marco. Well, judging from his pace, he won’t be finding him anytime soon. 

“Okay, okay. I have a small amunt of magic to perform this, let’s try and-”

“Ooooh! He really is a cutie!” Came a new, sudden voice next to Star. “Do forgive us all for that entire Primum Mobile thing, we don’t really have a choice; we’re simply kind of forced to be one.” 

Not knowing where to look, since there were no eyes to look into, and her only conversationalist is a disembodied voice, she could only faintly respond.

“Uhhh, yeah don’t worry abou-”

”I do have to say though, thank you so much for splitting us all apart.” The voice audibly sighed. “I know magic’s gonna stitch us back together soon, but it’s nice to have an individual, free mind. Trust me kid, you have no idea how valuable that is.”

Star’s only response was a prolonged ‘uuuuuhhh’. She didn’t get to prolong it too much due to a new contender voicing her opinion.

”Estrella, please stop nagging the poor girl, we all saw how embarrased she was to reveal her crush back at that human party; I doubt she’s gonna have an easier time talking to her ancestors.”

”Fine, fine, fine. You win, Skywynne.”

”Don’t I always?”

”No. Why even did you come here? Neither us us invited you.”

”Well you weren’t invited either.”

”Just answer my question.”

”I was gonna propose that my young descendant here tries out one of my time spells, maybe slow the flow of time so we can stay apart longer?”

”There is not enouh magic for that, Sky.” Answered a new voice.

“And what would you know about ‘enough magic’, all you did was make puzzles and rhymes.”

”Heh, that’s better than the ball depressoid.”

”Honestly I’m surprised you haven’t started talking in riddles.”

“RHINA!”

”Yes, Dirhennia?”

”You killed my husband!”

”Whaat? No I didn’t!”

”Oh yes you did! Don’t think I’ll let you get of the hook for that, I’ll have your head you hag!”

“But darling, we’re dead. There are no heads to be had.”

”I’ll.... I’ll.... rap battle you to death!”

”You’ll what?”

”Oh! Oh! I know that, that’s some tradition of the lower folk. They like sing to each other but in an insulting way, like the opposite of a love song, a hate song; but everyone loves it!” 

“Not know Cressy.”

”But sisteeeeeeer.”

”I said no! I have a score to settle with your worthless daughter.”

”Oh please.” Came Rhina’s voice. “Even if I did this ‘rapping’ with you, you’d lose because the only words you’re capable of spouting are ‘I’ and ‘want’ and ‘to’ and ‘draw’ and ‘balls’.”

“Oh, that’s it! Come here!”

But just before the rap concert could begin, a male voice silenced them all.

”Oh my goodness ladies please, shut up! Did you all die while you were on your period?”

And then, all the female voices replied in perfect unison.

”SHUT UP JUSHTIN!”

And he did.

”Ladies, ladies, please. I know we all have our issues and differences, but let’s not forget that we are the only ones who know of the pain we endure, how about we all calm down and talk about our differences in peace? There is no need for conflict.”

“Comet, I swear to fire, you can’t solve all your issues with talking!”

”Says the insane genocidal warmonger!”

”I’ll have you know my strategy was ten times better than yours! Unlike you, I didn’t get my head sliced off by some monster that looked so suspicious even a baby would see that he was evil!”

”Oh?! You want to throw down?! I’ll have you know that I made plenty of good natured decisions that benefited all of both Mewmankind and Monsterkind.”

”Yeah, and then your daughter cancelled them all out and sent the monsters you wanted to co-exist with back to their prison towns! What a great daughter you raised!”

”Well, you’re one to talk! Comapared to your motherhood skills, my daughter had a nice childhood! Remind me what your daughter did again, Solaria?”

And just like that, all hell broke loose.

As soon as the voice of what Star presumed to be grandma Comet insulted Solaria, all the voices broke into the same uproar as it was when they first split up. Only this time, they were all yelling at each other.

”You’re all disgraces to the Butterfly family line!” “Well at least I can draw something other than balls!” “Your cooking skills are as bad as your mothering skills!” “I regret birthing my daughter, had I not done that, none of you would exist.” “Riddle me this: What’s stupid, loud, and immature? You.” “You’ll be the one begging for mercy when I shove my balls down your throat!” “Thank god I can’t see any of you! That way, at least my eyes are spared of you horrors!” “I should have destroyed all of Mewni with that dimension-ending spell.” 

Meanwhile, the show’s protagonist and current chapter’s focus was simply kneeling with her hands in the pond with a ‘this is fine’ expression, her eyes open and staring into the distance, looking like she was smoking her tenth roll of pot.

Her ‘peaceful’ trance was broken when a particularly quiet voice whispered to her.

”You should act now, while you have the time.” The voice was quiet and.... shy...? As if getting caught speaking would make her panic.

“I should... act?”

”The boy.” Replied the same hushed voice. “Now’s your chance.”

However, before the message could sink into Star’s mind, she was distracted by a yell coming from the ‘spy-screen’.

"Please, just tell me. What am I suppossed to do? How am I suppossed to find anything out in this massive maze of wasted paper?!!"

Marco.

Star looked at the map of the archives in the upper right corner, and saw that the two dots weren’t that far from one another, but the blue one started moving the wrong way. Tom’s going the wrong way! 

“If you intervene, they will meet. But if your heart is wavering, do not do it.” Said the hushed, shy voice.

...

And there, in the middle of a chamber filled to the brim with loud, arguing accusations and yells from her ancestors, and with a shy voice by her side, Star silenced all the voices, and reached a conclusion.

Another book dropped, then another, than another.

Marco walked up to the first one and read the label.

"Flirting for Shy People" What? When was he gonna need this? He went from magic to dating advice? What even? Throwing the book behind his back, he went to the next one.

"Death Document" Ok, this was getting ridiulous.

"Long Hair For All Who Want Long Hair"

"Empty Liquid Alchemist: Sisterhood"

"How To Not Tell Your Son He's Your Son, by Teamforty Spynine"

"Blue Sky 2: Portals"

"Lolo's Ordinary Journey"

”I told you not to- wait what is she doing?” Uttered one of the many voices.

“She’s dropping books again.”

”But she passed out the last time!”

”I don’t think she cares.” 

Although she wasn’t as hyperfocused this time due to the distracting voices talking, Star definietely felt the nausea creep back into her spine. It made sense, there was a larger supply of magic last time, she’s not going to be able to drop so many books.

She needs to drop them in a line, a line. A line leading Marco directly to Tom.

”Your heart wavers not, it seems.” Whispered the shy voice. “Hurry, you have not much time.” 

Listening to the voice, Star forced herself to suck the nausea up, she continued.

More books dropped from above. Marco looked at them with his tired eyes. Dropping one after the next, in a long line, waiting to drain his sanity and sap him of life.

Wait.

They were forming a line. Marco understood now. He wasn't meant to read these ones, but follow them. His call for help was heard. This could take him to an answer, or it could lead him nowhere. But damn it, it was currently his best lead.

The nausea was creeping up her body now, and Star could feel her legs give out. The unwelcome sensation was growing stronger by every new book that fell.

“Oi, oi, oi! Kid, what are you doing? There’s not enough magic to do this, you’re gonna fall flat on your face again!”

“I have to get them to meet. Tom and Marco, I have too!”

”No you don’t! They’ll be fine! I mean, even if they don’t find each other right away, they’re bound to later; this isn’t some life or death situation. You’re putting your health in danger for no reason!”

“It’s not that.” Star mumbled.

”Honey. Crescenta is right! It’s going to be all right, please stop this before you fall unconscious again! Please.” 

“It’s not that. Please keep quiet, I’m trying to concentrate.” She replied, the nausea was creeping into her brain, and she could feel herself fading with each passing second. Her legs went completely numb, and what felt like ants started to creep up her hands. “Marco needs this.”

“Dearie?”

”Beg your pardon?”

”What?”

”Oh.”

“My mom is a strong person. No matter what happens, she always lifts her head and gets through it. My mom can handle anything.” She stopped, biting the fainting feeling, taking a deep breath, she continued talking through her teeth due to struggling to stay conscious. “But Marco is not my mom. He’s strong, he’s smart, he’s resurceful, but he is not my mom. He’s all alone now. He’s stuck alone in the middle of a planet he barely knows anything about, worrying that I might be dead. It’s true that Tom and Marco don’t get along the best, but Marco needs someone right now. Someone to be with, a friend. That’s why I have to do this. So please, be quiet. I’m..... ” She bit back another wave of fatigue as her arms were giving out. “I’m trying to focus.” 

Hastily, Marco followed the trail of falling books. Running swiftly corner after corner, going from Reddish-pink, to black-brown, to yellow-white color coded rooms. The trail went on for minutes. Time itself seemed to be speeding up while slowing down. His eyes were focused on the trail. Focused on the falling books.

And he followed, until the trail stopped at a dead end.

The trail of falling books that Marco's been running after for ten minutes led him to a direct dead end. There was no sugar-coating it; it was a dead end.

"What?! NO! Come on, why here? There's.... there's nothing here! It's just a blank wall!" Marco shouted, equally shocked as he was angry.

He was running for so long, his legs ached. The wall in front of him countained nothing. Not a centimeter of color or anything. It was just a dead, pale, blank wall.

Suddenly releasing the breath she’s been holding for minutes, Star collapsed to the ground. Her arms were itchy from what felt like a thousand insects crawling over them, and she didn’t even feel her legs. Her entire body refused to move, and er brain was slowly fading again; yet she did not fall unconscious.

“Well, close call; but no quarter. You led him into a dead end.”

”Sadly. It seems you didn’t make in the whole way.”

”But she did get them closer.”

The voices kept talking and mumbling between each other, but Star heard none of it, she was focused on the screen. When she collapsed, she barely managed to keep one hand inside the pond, allowing the ‘spy-see’ to keep working; her eyes however, were glued to the top right corner.

”She did it.” The shy voice said. “She did not waver, and did what she set out to do.”

The entire chamber fell silent.

“But...” Replied Skywynne’s voice.

”They’re still apart?” Muttered Rhina’s.

“Being closer isn’t the same as being in the same place, Celena.” Solaria replied pessimistically.

“Watch.” Was the shy- was Celena’s answer.

Everyone, Star included, silently observed the image, waiting for something to happen. They spent some time there, watching Marco turn around left and right and curse at his current predicament. Nothing changed, until suddenly.

"Marco?"

Caught in a mix of suprise and shock, Marco looked down faster than his dad could say "sad teen hotline" to look at the caller. The familiar face that met him envoked a sense of confusion, and a tinge of relief.

"Tom?"

“Well I’ll be damned!”

“She really did it!”

”Yes! Yes! Yes!”

”Woooo! Pop open the champagn- oh right we can’t really drink...”

”Festivia, you have the shortest-term memory I’ve ever seen.”

Star herself sighed with deep joy, and closed her eyes. Calmly taking her hand out of the pond, the screen died out, and she feel into slumber. She did not faint, even though she was exhausted.

No, she just fell asleep.

She stirred awake about an hour later.

Rubbing her eyes, she slowly opened them and produced a loud and audible yawn. She sat up, rubbing her arms, unkowingly enjoying the lack of uncomfortable sensations on her body. After yawning again in quick succession, she stood up after what felt like eternity, her legs releasing a pleasuring feeling throught said limbs.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Comet’s voice rang out.

”Oh? You’re still split apart? I thought magic woud patch you up quicker from all this ‘we’re gonna get fused back’ talk.”

”Hah!” Replied a loud, rash voice. “You’re not wrong there, we only got split up once before by what Glossaryck reffered to as a ‘freak accident’.”

”It seems we will not remain seperate for much longer though, I can feel the pull. I feel as if my brain is being dragged away.”

”You feel it too?”

“Oh, I thought only I feel it...”

”I feel it too.”

”Same.”

”Yeah, feels quite uncomfortable.”

“What a shame, I got quite comfortable with this individual mind.”

“So... magic really does just put you back together? Is there any way I can keep you all separate?”

”No, dear, I’m afraid not.” Comet’s voice said. “We are made this way from magic’s own will. There is nothing you can do to stop this.”

“Maybe I can just ask you for some grandmotherly advice again, that seemed to work.”

”That won’t work. After magic put us back together following Glossaryck’s ‘freak accident’, he tried the same thing as a test. But it didn’t work.”

“Are you sure? Maybe that was somethin-”

”Kid, it’s not gonna work. Magic learns. It seems that every time we split, magic ‘updates’ us so the same thing can’t repeat. Soon we..... well, a time might come when splitting us apart will become entirely impossible.” Said a voice of a queen she didn’t recognize. Which made sense. The end of the First Era marked the night when the original Book of Spells burnt to ashes, along with more than half of the Butterfly Castle, erasing all remnants of at least a few dozen past queens, meaning there was at least a few dozen past queens Star would not recgnize here.

Nobody responded, and a sorrowful moment in silence was shared amongst everyone present.

”But hey! That’s no reason to be sad! My mom always told me not to worry about things I cannot change.”

”Hey! Don’t go around spreading my words!”

”Sorry, moooooooom.”

Star chuckled, as did a few more voices.

Eventually, Star fired up the spy screen one more time to check on Marco, who was now explaining Tom all the events he had experienced during the entire battle for Mewni.

“Oh my god, how clingy can you be? Can you stop checking in on that boy?”

”She has a crush, did you never had one?”

”Well yes, but not even I was this clingy.”

“I’m doing this for a different reason.”

”Oh?”

”I’m looking at Tom at the moment.”

”The demon boy? Why?”

”He’s a spellcaster. The Lucitor family was famous for their mastery over fire magic, making them masters of flame. I want to see if I can.... restore that connection to magic with Tom.”

”That is extremely risky, my dear. There isn’t yet enough magic to easily link creatures back!”

Every creature that could use spells had a connection with magic, and in return, magic had a connection with them. Some creatures had this due to ancestral bonds that made them more proficient with magic. The Butterfly family was the best example. Since descendant after descendant was a magic user, magic is linked more in their blood than with some other creatures that aren’t as exposed to it.

Therefore, making a connection with a person like Tom and magic would mean Tom could openly procure all spells he pleases by making an unseeable and unfeelable connection to magic that would connect him and the energy, producing his spell. 

However, as stated by Primum Mobile earlier, magic is currently in a very short supply, meaning that what little magic is present now would be shared with Star and Tom.

The best example would be like that of a bottle of water.

Imagine that Star has a bottle of water (representing usable magic), and she is the only one that can drink it. The bottle of water is the amount of magic Star has at her disposal. Meanwhile, a new bottle of water (representing Heaven creating more magic.) is delivered via a slow drop-by-drop valve pouring the water into the bottle one drop at a time. If Star drinks all the water, she will be unable to drink again until the valve refills enough for her to drink.

If Star allows Tom too drink of the bottle too, however, then the risk of running out of water increases due to there now being two people allowed to drink from it.

“I know this is risky, but I have to do it.” She replied, unmoved by the mention of risk. “My current goal is to make it home. However, once there, I will have to begin restoring magic to Mewni, and to do that, I need to know how to do this.”

The ‘spy-screen’ focused on Tom instead of Marco, and Star ushered new words.

“I want Tom Lucitor to be given access to magic, I want him to be able to use it in the same way he did before.”

Having ushered this desire, she glanced towards the pond, waiting to see if something would happen.

".... and.... so.... that's why I'm here now." Marco finished summing up the story of what had happened these past few days.Starting with his arrival to Mewni, all the way to the present. 

Tom meanwhile, stopped sending emotions or any signal of functiuon as soon as he got to that part. He stopped blinking, then he stopped breathing, then he stopped moving completely. His eyes grew dull and grey. They sat there for ten minutes, Marco looking at him with a worried and waiting state, and Tom just sitting like a statue. Not a sound was heard, not a muscle was moved, and not a word said.

Then Tom stood up. Walked a couple of steps away from Marco, turned his hands outwards...

....

...

..

.

Then he screamed, and set a nearby pile of books on fire.

She rejoiced, jumped upwards, and fell on her rear.

”I did it! I did it! Oh my god! It’s so simple! I never thought this would work, I was sure there had to be some trick to do or something, but I was, I was wrong! Ha, ha, ha!”

She laid down on the ground, spreading her arms and legs in an angelic pose. Feeling joy run through her for the first time in a long while. 

“Oh! When this all started I though restoring magic would take like emotions and soulpower and a lotta soul stuff and whatnot but as long as I have a desire and a way how to achieve it, it seems to work!”

“It works for now because magic can support it so far.” Said the hushed, shy voice.

”Oh?” She asked, before repeating. “Well, yes, I know. I have to focus on helping magic restore itself, but at least this is a small victory! Isn’t that right guys?!”

Silence.

”Guys?”

”They won’t be replying.” Said the hushed voice. “The time has come.”

”T-the time?”

”Magic has begun putting us back.” 

“What? But it’s so sudden! There wasn’t even a sound, nothing?”

”We can’t do anything about that now. I myself am going to be pulled away soon too.”

”B-But...”

“Listen well, what I’m about to say is important.” Said the hushed voice. “You need to focus on restoring more of magic now, that way, you’ll even be able to send yourself back home. Right now, there isn’t enough magic to do so, but should you focus solely on restoring it, you’ll be home soon.”

”W-wait how do I do that?” Star asked. “Hello?”

...

...

Nothing.

”H-hello?”

...

...

...

No response was given.

She was alone.

She stood there, alone in the darkness, alone with nobody. No voices, no bodies, no minds. She considered the peculiar position she found herself in, and all the things she did since arriving here. Slowly, she turned away from the pond, and made her way outside.

Stepping outside, she had a perfect view of all the inner circles, a clear view of the beacon of light shooting towards the realm above.

The realm of magic, the place where finished magic was sent too, was visible from here, it was as distant as looking at the moon, and it was dead green in color. The only patch that was golden was the place where the beacon of yellow, finished magic, was pouring itself into it; the tiny, golden spot of living magic must be the amount of magic that she is allowed to use, and it must be that wasting that amount will cause her to faint as before.

She could tell from here that, if left to automatic creation, it would truly take millions of years to cover this entire ‘sky’ above her into the gold color it must have once held. 

Looking back at the ground, she observed the circle she was in, more speciffically, the collosal visages of the past queen’s bodies, who’se eyes and cheek symbols were hollow and leaking the dead magic which was sent to the innermost circle, being fused with certain elements along the way, slowly going from dead green to glowing gold; and then sent skywards by the beacon at the center.

Star Butterfly once again glanced skywards, looking at the dead green sky. The Primum said it would take about a hundred and seventy million years for magic to return to it’s previous state, and that’s not accounting the time it will take to get rid of all the dead magic located at the top.

Star then paused, and glanced back down.

Then up again.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Up.

”Eureka.” She said quietly.

She thought it was weird at first, but it turned out to be correct.

The dead green magic in the sky was the same color as the raw magic leaking out of the visages of the collossal queens; and that magic was being turned into gold, living magic while travelling to the centre. And if that magic was the same magic as the dead magic up there, the same dead magic as the dead magic that he corrupted.....

Then...

”He didn’t corrupt magic.” She whispered. “He reversed it back to it’s original, ‘dead’ self.”

Which means.....

”It can be turned back into it’s living, gold self.” She concluded.

...

”I want to float like Glossaryck.”

With a new gaze sent skywards, Star Butterly began to float. Whether she realized it herself or not, she began floating upwards towards the sky.

It was a rational thought, Glossarcyk always floated about wherever he went, so that means that the action of floating was quite ‘cheap’ in terms of magic consumation; which would explain why Levitato is among the easiest spells in the book.

Not looking down, she sped up her ascent, until she entered the giant ocean of corrupted raw magic. The cold dark embraced and shook her entire being, just like it did when she was swimming downwards. However, she did not allow herself to stop her acceleration. Instead, she kept going faster and faster. She was piercing the ocean like a rapier piercing the flesh of it’s opponent, faster and faster, until she broke through.

She broke through to the other side.

Shooting out from the surface like a missle launched from a submarine, Star Butterfly floated high above the stormy, violent ocean of corrupted magic.

Looking at it, she remembered. She remembered how he toyed with her when she got here, how he used her as a bargaining chip; she remembered how he left her here, how she swam for hope, how she almost drowned, and how she wept here, expecting to die.

The memories steeling her resolve, she started descending towards said ocean. She descended slowly, her hair floating above her, slightly obscuring her white horns. Her outfit, while of Glossaryck’s looking, floated at her level. She looked like a goddess, calmly descending upon a chaotic, black abyss. Her eyes were closed, her arms extended by her side, as if she were talking to a wide crowd of people or calling a child to a hug. With that incredible stillness, she extended her legs, and stepped onto the stormy, chaotic, giant-wave infested blackness, and uttered, perfectly calm and yet deadly serious, as if demanding obedience:

”Cease.”

Her will be done.

In an instant, as if on cue, all the chaos, all the waves, all the anarchy.... ceased to be. The thrashing and violent surface was instantly replaced by.... a perfectly still, calm one. All the noise stopped, all of it. It was perfect silence.

She opened her eyes slowly, and looked at the ocean top with half-open eyes and a steeled, yet emotionless expression. Staying in her pose, she took a few steps forward. 

She knew the ocean was deep, she knew that she should be falling right in and likely swimming for her life. But she was’t.

She was walking.

Like walking on water.

With spent some time calmly looking at the horizon, her facial expression still in a determined, yet almost cold stare.

The raw magic below was tranformed into it’s living, useful self by being fed various emotions from the souls that were cast into the circles. Like ingredients for a meal, the emotions were combined with each other, and with the raw magic to create the living, golden sort.

So doing the same to this one should work too, right?

No, it is not a question.

It is a fact.

Using her feet as her connection with the ocean beneath, Star Butterfly closed her eyes and closed her hands arund her as if hugging herself, the entire pose made her look like she was trapped in some cocoon. Then just in that pose, she dived in.

She dived into the blackness from head to toe, her hair, horns, clothes and body being enveloped by the dark once more.

Then, she focused. She focused on emotions.

She thought about things that made her happy, things that made her sad, things that made her angry, things that made her feel love, peace, envy, pride, humility, every emotion she could think of, she thought of it, and then let it go, as if releasing it. 

She repeated the process through her head, balancing each emotion, making sure not to stick on a singular one for too long.

Star floated down there, in that murky dark, focusing on all the emotions that she could. Waiting for a reaction. 

Suddenly, a light slowly rose in front of her. took this as a sign that it was working, and instead of opening her eyes, she kept balancing emotions.

The light kept getting stronger and brighter, and it seemed to get.... bigger.

...

Then she realized she was running out of oxygen.

Quickly shutting her eyes even tighter and completely abandoning the regal poses, she flailed her arms to get up.

However, no matter how much she tried to swim up, she couldn’t.

That made no sense, she dived barely a meter down, there’s no way she went this deep.

She was running out of air, her lungs were pretty much demanding she breathe, but she tried to hold it off, and kept swimming up and up, but there was no surface.

”I need to float again.” She thought, but it was too late, her reflexes kicked in before her mind did, and her mouth slapped open gasping for air.

But just as she got ready to drink gold, she suddenly came to realize something shocking.

She was breathing.

But that made no sense, she was deep inside the ocean, she could feel the liquid on her eyelids, even though her eyes her closed, she could feel the now warm and bright magic on her eyes.

But she was breathing.... while being in the middle of the ocean...?

Deciding there was no alternative, she slowly opened her eyes.

Only to find herself at least fifteen meters above the surface.

But, she could feel her body being in liquid.........

And yet she could see and she could breathe, but she was ‘underwater’, and yet above water?

Then she looked down, and understood.

Her body was made of golden magic.

She tried to touch it, but the hands that she brought fourth were also made of golden, warm, living magic. She tried to touch her face, but it too was made of magic, at least, her hands told her so using the feel of touch. She tried to move, but the body  of magic that she was in moved with her. Her body was literally made of golden goop!

Then she understood.

When she came into this realm, she expected to fight Toffee, only to find herself helpless in front of a giant, dead magic version of her.

This is the same thing!

This is what he did!

Just like he had a huge body of dead magic when she came here to face him, now she has a huge body of living, golden magic!

”I.... I.... whoa....” Star stared, she was so big. She could see so much more than before, not that there was much to see but still.

Soon after, she burst out in laughter due to the sheer magnificence of the situation. She played around with her hands, seeing how she can manipulate them, seeing how she can bend her body. She even tried to do some poses in her new goopy body. Oh the sensation was glorious, and she spent some time basking in her new form.

The experiment was a success, as long as she touched any corrupted magic with any part of her body, as long as she was focusing her emotions, that corrupted magic would slowly turn into golden, living, warm magic!

”This is how he did it! This is how he corrupted magic!” Star said, more to herself than anyone else. “Well I mean, kinda, now I know how he got it all, but I don’t know he exactly managed to corrupt it yet. Did he like suck emotions up?” 

She resorted her questions with a laugh. “Well, I guess I’ll just ask him once I beat his mean butt with my awesome magic titan!” She laughed. “Hello, lizard.” She said, replicating his voice.

”You don’t even recognize your own magic when you’re sWiMiNg iN it!”

She struck another pose ”It was, until I got here!” She said, dramatically touching a corrupted part of magic and restoring it.

”Only I can speak to her now!” She said in her ‘Toffee’ voice. Extending her arm upwards, she pretended to create a screen like he did.

Actually....

Could she do that? I mean, if he did, it should be possible for her too, right?

Regardless if it was actually possible or not, Star shrugged it off for now, and set off to restore as much magic as she could in her new and awesome body before she gets bored or something.

A lot of time passed.

A lot, lot of time.

But Star Butterfly, she completely lost all notion of ‘time’. She was having fun. And hey, after all the puking, stress, panic, fear, anguish and what not, a moment where you can just be happy to have succeeded in something is a tremendous feeling she just couldn’t get enough of. 

And so, she enjoyed it.

She enjoyed it so much that she completely lost all concept of time. Her eyes sparked with.... well sparkles, and she enjoyed every second of this. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she just couldn’t stop herself. The more magic she fixed, the more fun she had, she simply had no idea what to do, it was just so..... fun!

Progress was slow, of course, but progress was happening.

”Oh why didn’t I do this sonner?!” She asked herself. “This is so fuuuuun! I wanna keep doing this.”

And so, Star Butterfly, in her magic titan form, kept swimming about the realm, restoring what magic she could.

And she’s have kept doing it, were it not for a voice to interrupt her fun.

we

wE

WE ARE GLAD TO SEE YOU HAVING FUN, YOUNG PRINCESS.

”Primuuuuuuuuuuuum!” She yelled in an oddly cheerful tone, her sparkling eyes looking at the sky, pretending that’s where the Primum was.

WE ARE PLEASED WITH YOUR CURRENT PROGRESS, HOWEVER, YOU SEEM TO HAVE FALLEN UNDER THE CHARM OF THE REALM, WE REQUEST YOU CEASE THIS INSTANT.

”But Primum!” Star yelled, laying down in her magic goop form, posing like a drama queen. “Look at how much magic I’ve fixed! And what even are you talking about? What ‘charm’? This place is charming all right, heh.”

you

yoU

yOU

YOU POSSES SOME PUDDING IN YOUR POCKET, PLEASE CONSUME IT.

It

it

”Say pleaseeeeee.” She said, dragging the word on. “Come on, weren’t you taught any manners?”

The Primum did not reply.

”Primuuuuuuuuuuuuuum.”

PLEASE.

”There, I’ll do it, just because you asked so politely!” She said in a playfully motherly tone.

She took out the pudding out of her pocket. Well, her true self did, the fake goop suit merely replicated all the movements without actually holding any. Appartently, her own real body was positioned in the chest region of her gold goop titan, and even though she could see, breathe, touch, smell and hear only from her goop titan body, the real one inside was still her first and main body, with the goop titan being nothing more than a suit.

Which meant he was also likely very much in one piece when he was toying with her. With his real body being in the middle of his black goop titan’s chest.

Either way, her real body tore the lid open, the magic not pouring and mixing with the pudding, and propmptly ate it, while her titan suit did nothing but replicate the events like a mime.

The effect was immediate. Her eyes stopped sparkling, and her cheerful grin immediately toned down on the ‘happy’ factor.

”What just happened.” She asked in a flat dead tone.

YOU WERE AFFECTED BY THE MAGIC’S DEFENSE SYSTEM.

WHEN UNWANTED ENTITIES ENTER THIS REALM, THEY ARE CHARMED TO IT, WHICH MAKES THEM LOSE ALL CONCEPT OF TIME AND SPACE, AND THEY WISH TO DO NOTHING BUT REMAIN HERE UNTIL THEY DIE.

YOU WERE NOT MEANT TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS, SINCE YOU POSSES A CORE FRAGMENT, BUT IT SEEMS EVEN MAGIC MADE A MISTAKE WITH YOU, WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING, YOU ARE STILL MEWMAN IN BODY AND MIND, AFTER ALL.

ALl

All

all

“Wh- what?! That makes no sense, that.... I.... ” She stopped herself once she got to properly look around. 

The whole place was still surrounded by corrupted magic, of course; but she herself was in a pretty big patch of golden magic. Extending her body upwards, she could see that the amount of space that she ‘revived’ was proportionately twice as big as the Mewman Capital. 

“At least I did some good work, that’s a lot of restored magic I see.”

Wait a minute.

The Primum just said those affected lose track of space and time, but that would mean...... oh no.

”Primum.... how long was I doing this?”

WEEKS.

Now, Star Butterfly wasn’t someone who ever had a heart attack. Despite her being in numerous life and death moments, and despite her fading a lot of opponents in the span of her lifetime, she never got that tightening feeling in her chest.

Well, she did now. That one word sent both her brain and her heart into a paralyzing shock.

”Wh-Whu-What??!?! Weeks!?!?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?! Where were you?!”

OUR PURPOSE IS AIDING MAGIC. YOU HAVE FALLEN TO IT’S CHARM DEFENSE, SO WE CAME TO RELEASE YOU FROM IT.

Wait, that’s not right at all.

”Wait a minute, that makes no sense! You’re Primum Mobile! If your only purpose is to aid magic, and by extension, aiding me in restoring it, then you would’ve just left me here to do all the work myself while I’m lost in my delusions!”

The Primum did not respond for a while, as if it were thinking.

DO NOT QUESTION OUR PURPOSE. WE WERE CREATED TO AID MAGIC. THAT IS THE ONLY FUNCTION WE CAN SERVE.

“I just said, that makes no sense, the fact you’d come here and.... why did you even come here?!”

we

wE

WE CAME TO TELL YOU TO REVISIT YOUR FRIENDS, THEY ARE IN PERIL, AND THEY WOULD SURELY APPRECIATE YOUR AID.

“That.... that makes no sense. The Primum doesn’t care about other people, you just said you only care about aiding magic, not about anything else.”

...

Unless...

“Unless....” Star began her goopy form eyeing the sky. “Unless that entire splitting up thing had some effect on your mindset....”

The Primum was silent, but Star felt the tension.

”Are you sure aiding magic is the only function you can serve.....?”

Silence.

...

...

...

OUR PURPOSE IS CLEAR. WE ARE TO AID MAGIC.

DO NOT QUESTION OUR PURPOSE AGAIN.

That sounded like an ominous threat, but Star shrugged it off, she could focus on it later, for now the primary part of her focus was on the ‘your friends are in peril part’ part.

Extending her hand upwards, Star opened the palm of her hand and closed her eyes.

”When I got here and face Toffee, he opened a screen to see through Ludo’s eyes.” Star said calmly, as if explaining to Primum. “So, I figured maybe I can use my ‘spy-screens’ here too. If I can, then that means I no longer have to go down to that ‘pond’ down in Heaven, and can instead multitask between doing everything I would do down there and everything I can do up here at the same time.”

In her mind, she repeated the same old formula:

”I want a screen to appear that whill show me the events around Marco Diaz.”

...

After a few moments, a low hum was heard, and Star opened her eyes to a marvel.

It worked. It actually worked.

A small, wavy-line encircled screen appeared, showing her what she wanted to see. Her ‘spy-screen’ worked!

However, before she got to celebrate much, the events that were happening made her mood swift very quickly.

Globgor's gaze darkened, and he prepared for another attack. However, he was interrupted by a big ball of fire crashing right into his face. The sharp boiling impact of pain sent him crashing to the ground.

"Hahahahahhahahaha! That's right! Sneak attack!" Yelled two voices from one of the chandeliers.

Globgor quickly recovered and looked up at the ceiling. So did Renee, and Moon, and every shocked warrior who tried to attack Globgor. The pair on the chandelier were Tom and Marco.

"Hahaha! Did you like that? I call that the Scorch Shot! What you gonna do now big boy?" Came the teasing voice of Tom. The smirk on his face giving Globgor a migraine never experienced before in his life. With a low grow, Globgor roared at the two.

"Marco..." Tom whispered. "Now."

"One ride downstairs coming up!" Marco said, cutting the rope holding the chandelier to the ceiling with his karate moves. The sudden falling chandelier stopped Globgor's roar and twisted his face into one of horror. Without having time to react, the chandelier crashed into Globgor's face. However, before he allowed himself to succumb to his injury, he threw the chandelier of himself as if forcefully wiping away a pie glued to his face. Which was basically almost the same thing, only the chandelier hurt. Having thrown it off, he readied to crush the nearest breathing object before being blasted by a stream of fire produced by Tom, who had taken the assault by himself while Marco went to get Moon and Renee out of danger.

"Vice-captain Renee!" Marco said, reaching Renee. "Please, you need to get out, you've been injured."

"What? Do I look incapable of fighting to you? I can still fight." She exclaimed, getting ready to rush back into the fray. "You just make sure you and your little demon pal don't die."

“Whaaaaat is this!?! What’s going on? Are they fighting?! What did I miss in the last few weeks?!” Star yelled, demanding an answer.

A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE LAST TIME YOU SAW THESE TWO, BUT WE SHALL SPARE YOU THE DETAILS AND SAY THAT GLOBGOR, THE MONSTER HUSBAND OF THE ENTITY ECLIPSA BUTTERFLY, HAS ATTACKED THE CASTLE IN SEARCH OF HIS BELOVED.

MINA AND HER FORCES, AS WELL AS MARCO DIAZ AND TOM LUCITOR HAVE, AS YOU CAN SEE, LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON THE SIZE-SHIFTER.

“This is madness! They’re being... this.... this isn’t good!” Star replied, panic in her voice. “Eclipsa’s known as the Queen of Darkness, that’s... forces of evil, eternal surffering, the anguish, the pain; and this is her husband!” She exasperated, she didn’t need any more confirmation about who the size-shifter was, as she already saw him in Eclipsa’s tapestry.

INDEED, THEY ARE INDEED IN GRAVE PERIL, AND IT COULD BE FATAL FOR THEM SHOULD YOU NOT INTERVENE.

“How can I help?” Was her immediate, no eye batted response.

The Primum did not respond, and Star was hit by a new wave of pressure.

”Right, right. I have to figure it out on my own.” She breathing started to increase, and she started to sweat, the sweat being represented by more magic in her goop form, making it seem like her warm, big, magic self was meeting.

She got an idea!

”Y-Y-You said he was here to free his ‘beloved’, right? That means Eclipsa is somehow in the castle? Right, right?!”

Without waiting for a response, she extended her hand once more and demanded a spy-screen for Eclipsa show up, and to her endless relief, it did.

Walking to her cell door, Eclipsa grabbed it, and shook them with all her might. They, of course, didn’t budge at all. Why would they? This was a dungeon. Not only was it a dungeon, it was the castle dungeon. These were probably the sturdiest cell doors in the whole kingdom. No meek flabby arms of hers would bust this down. Letting out a sigh, she turned around and furiously stomped away.... only to turn back around, walk to the door, and hit it with her foot.

The pain was immediate, and so was her response. Yanking her foot back, she fell on the floor with her now injured foot held tightly in her hands. Her face was stuck in a fusion between shock and pain, her eyes wide as plates and her mouth agape in the largest O-shape ever, yet no sound coming out of it. She felt as if hundreds of ants were climbing her leg, and her mind clouded around that single sensation. Her vision darkening as the crawling pain and sensation continued.

After what felt like a year of suffering, Eclipsa regained her senses, got up, and glared at the door. Despite the door not having eyes, it was the most intense stare down the castle ever housed. Eclipsa’s eyes were staring the door right down to it’s very core, while the door silently taunted the ex-queen for her lack of strength.

“Oh Skywynne’s hair, mom put her in the dungeon.” Star muttered in a tone of utter disbelief. “Mom put her in the.....” She stopped, putting her goopy arms on her knees and taking deep breaths due to her starting to hyperventilate.

”Okay, okay, okay.” Star muttered to herself, her mind racing with ideas. “I can fix this, okay okay.”

Hyping herself up, Star glanced at Eclipsa’s spy-screen again.

She stood up, eyes not leaving the door, and then turned around, and took a step.

Star rubbed her slimy arms together, and with a buff and a puff, Star pushed both her hands forward as if shoving an object away.

The next sound she heard was the sound of the door flying off it’s hinges into the opposite cell door across the hall. The sound after that was one of the same cell door falling flat on the ground, the metal clanking against the floor. The third and last sound was the audible creaking noise that the ex-queen made with her vocal cords while slowly turning around.

Sure enough, the iron door was gone. Not only was it gone, the same door somehow flew over seven meters away from where it was supposed to be. The door literally flew off it’s hinges. Taking a peek outside, Eclipsa looked both left and right. There was no one in the hallway, no one at all. So how did this happen?

“I didn’t do that.” She said to herself, stepping out of her cell.

“Nuh-uh. I didn’t do any of that.” She repeated.

“So how did the-”

She was quickly snapped out of her stupor when she remembered what was going on upstairs. With a panicked look and panicked breaths, she spun around and ran, looking for an exit, looking for a way up.

“Yes, it worked, it worked!” Star yelled, putting her hands up in celebration! “I did it, I just pretended to push the door and the door got pushed!”

The moment of celebration was quickly broken when, just like Eclipsa, Star suddenly remembered what was happening with Marco and everyone else.

The next few minutes were the most tense moments of Star’s life; on one screen, she watched Tom and Renee duke it out with Globgor while Marco was talking with her mom; and on the other screen, she saw the dark queen desperately run through the corridors of the massive castle, looking for the fastest way to the battlefield.

Every second, she felt like she was going to faint. She had more than enough magic to do something, to help in any way shape or form, and every time she tried to use some magic to help the group fight Globgor, or help Eclipsa find the way, the Primum would simply say:

IF YOU ARE WAVERING, DO NOT ACT. 

Normally, this sentance wouldn’t be off-putting to her in the slightest, but she heard that sentence format before, she heard it from a shy voice who only provided useful advice before. And therefore, in the midst off all this chaos, Star Butterfly did not act, but merely watch from the eyes of her liquid titan suit.

That is, until Globgor sent both Tom and Renee flying, and cornered her mom and Marco like rats. With Globgor holding their lives at his whims, Moon had no choice but to answer his questions.

"Globgor, I regret to inform you that over three hundred have passed since the capture of your family. They are no longer here."

Globgor's reaction to these news changed his face from an angry look to a confused and shocked one. His pupils shrank and he stopped breathing. His mouth fell into a hopeless agape state, and his face paled. Based solely on his facial expression, Moon guessed that he must have been falling apart inside. Good, good. She needs him to become more vulnerable.

Those words hit Star with a surprise. That can’t be true, Eclipsa was right here; in fact, she almost reached to room where Globgor was, so why would Moon, her mom-

Oh no.

”Mother, why do you do this.” Star replied in growing horror. Her mom was lying, why was she lying, why was she risking it all when both she and Marco could die in seconds if the Size-shifter so chooses. Lying is the last thing her mother should be doing!

"You're lying." He said, voice dripping with anger.

"What? No I-"

"I understand. Seems like no matter what I do, you won't tell me anything. So be it." He said, Moon's world caving in at each of his words. "I suppose I'll just take care of you then. You'll only be an obstacle later." He lifted his hand and started moving it towards the queen. She couldn't move. No matter what she tried her body caved in. She couldn't do anything. She was too terrified to.

"Ooohhhh no you don't!" Yelled Marco, jumping between the queen and the crimson titan's approaching hand. He was going to defend the queen.

"Oh? What's this? A boy?" He asked, slightly surprised. "Listen, young one, I'll only say this once. Move out of the way. This has nothing to do with you."

The boy said nothing, but he also didn't move an inch. Globgor scoffed.

"As you wish."

Oh no.

In that very moment, Star Butterfly’s entire world was frozen in place. She saw the huge crimson first come down for her mother and Marco, but just like them, she was too afraid to move.

In that moment, Star’s very soul cried out.

"STOP!"

His hand stopped instantly. All three beings looked at the newcomer. And all three eyes widened. One in shock, one in horror, and one in utter confusion.

"Eclipsa! You're okay!" Came the booming and overjoyed voice of her husband.

"Eclipsa! You're out?!?!" Came the horrified voice of Moon.

"Eclipsa! .........Who are you?" Came the confused voice of Marco.

Globgor ignored the voices of the two and focused his full attention on his wife, just as she did on him.

Star’s entire world, which a second ago was frozen solid, melted way too fast. She could physically feel the blood rushing into hear head, making her view darken. Under such pressure, Star, along with her magic suit, collapsed into the golden magic around them; both sinking beneath the surface, but Star still being able to breathe.

She spent a few moments there for she herself had no energy to keep watching. She had witnessed way, way too much stress a single person should deal with, and she was seriously ready to throw in the towel and just sleep for another week or so.

Knowing that the situation above hadn’t resolved, Star had the top of her titan form, specifically the eyes, more above surface so she could keep watching the active screen. Now that Eclipsa had joined Marco and the rest; the two screen fused into one.

She straight up looked like an alligator ready to pounce at his prey, the only differences being er eyes were not as focused, and were instead both stressed but also tired.

She watched everyone in the room converse, and prayed to whatever existed to blues this hell to end peacefully.

Sadly, this did not come to pass once she saw Globgor get aggravated again.

"Y.....you...." Globgor said, quieter than even the breeze, yet loud enough to barely hear. Eclipsa looked at his, her eyes widening and her face turning into a scared look.

"You don't even...." He said sternly, voice returning to normal as he got up on his feet. Then, he started shaking, and with tears in his eyes and a furious expression, lifted his hand above his head.

"....know her name!!" He roared. He said, bringing his hand down in an attempt to crush Moon. Moon was once again, too petrified to move. Luckily, she once again pushed away by Marco, leaving Marco exposed to the titan's hand.

"Globgor NO!" Yelled Eclipsa. But Globgor didn't hear. Blinded by anger, he kept the hand going to deliver a crushing blow on the boy. Marco's eyes widened with shock, time slowed down for him. Is this is? Is this where he bites it? Is being crushed by a hand the only reward he's going to get from all these weeks of misery? Watching the hand inch closer to him in slow motion, he recounted the nice things that happened to him in his life. His parents, his friends, Star... He remembered them, but he did not accept any of those memories. He can't die here. He didn't find Star yet!

”No!” She yelled! “Stop!”

The hand kept going down.

”STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!”

Marco's trance was then broken by the sight of a huge boulder crashing into Globgor's face. The boulder shattered and the impact sent the red monster flying across the room, he crashed into the ground with a loud cracking sound, and a storm of dust erupted from his impact crater. With a loud growl, he sat up and looked at where the boulder came from, all eyes in the room were following the direction from which the boulder came from. And it came from a big hole in the wall. But more importantly, standing at the broken wall itself...

Was Mina.

And not JUST Mina.

It was Mina in her Solarian Warrior form.

”H-HUH?” Was Star’s only response. “When did she? How did she? When did I....?”

Globgor launched himself on his feet and attempted to rush Mina, but was quickly sent flying by yet another blindingly fast boulder hitting his face. This time, he crashed through the wall opposite of Mina. With a devious smile of glee on her face. Mina jumped onto the floor and kicked herself towards Eclipsa. The dark queen had no time to react as Mina grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the wall, keeping her grip on the dark queen.

“How did she transform? Isn’t her Solarian form based on magic?” Star replied, confused, shocked, and dazed.

it

iT

IT IS.

Not even paying attention, she simply asked the Primum:

”Then how is it that she can use the form? I didn’t allow her this!”

YES YOU DID.

”No I didn’t.... when? While I was in my delusions?”

NO. YOU DID IT A FEW MINUTES AGO, WHEN YOUR MOTHER AND MARCO WERE ABOUT TO DIE, YOUR BODY AND MIND WERE PARALYZED BY FEAR, BUT YOUR SOUL CRIED OUT.

Star was stunned, and had no reply.

YOUR SOUL DESIRED MARCO AND YOUR MOTHER SAVED, AND MAGIC DID SO BY GIVING THE LAST SOLARIAN WARRIOR ACCESS TO THE POWER SHE WAS GIVEN THREE CENTURIES AGO.

AGo

Ago

ago

“So she’s....” Star began, but couldn’t finish her thought as something caught her eye.

Her golden lake of magic was getting smaller. It wasn’t getting so rapidly, but it was noticeably quick. Was it because of..?

IT IS TRUE, YES. THE SOLARIAN FORM TAKES A LOT OF MAGIC TO MAINTAIN. YOU SHOULD BE VERY CAREFUL WITH HOW OFTEN YOU ALLOW THAT WARRIOR TO USE IT.

With that parting message, Star did nothing but watch as Mina beat Globgor around.

She watched Mina yell at Eclipsa, watched Globgor’s desperate attempts to knock Mina out, and watched how easily Mina dealt with the massive monster. She didn’t know how to feel. She was relieved that everyone was safe, but she herself didn’t know how to react to... all of this. She should be happy. She should be happy that the villain was losing, but she was so emocionally exhausted, that not even she knew what to feel.

And so, Star Butterfly merely watched.

Star Butterfly accepted this.... as fate. 

"Globgor!" Eclipsa screamed. But she didn't get far, Mina landed in front of her before she could get anywhere. Eclipsa was sobbing, and looked Mina directly into her cold eyes. Mina, exhausted, transformed back into her normal form.

"You left... everyone.... for him..." Mina said, coldly. "You left everyone you ever knew... for him."

With that, Mina's cold and serious expression returned, and she passed by Eclipsa, going to check her vice-captain's health.

"G-G-Glob-b-bgor..." Mina said, sobbing.

"Don't worry." Mina said. "I didn't kill him. No matter how much I wanted too."

Eclipsa looked back at Mina.

"I just knocked him unconscious. The wounds are heavy, but he'll live." Mina continued. "After all, I want to kill you both at the same time. So you can see your lives ending."

Mina knelt down next to Renee, and took her in her arms, she then turned to Moon.

"I'm taking Ren to the infirmary, I'll have some troops sent to shackle these two." She stated, then looked at Marco. "Earth boy, take care of the Lucitor." Marco just nodded, not saying anything.

With that, Star slowly shut the screen off. Silence reigning supreme yet again.

Feeling exhausted in both mind and soul, she, along with her goop titan, laid down into the golden pond.

And there, Star Butterfly feel asleep.

When she awoke again, she quickly checked on Marco and her friends, and after confirming they were all safe, she went back to restoring magic.

Walking around in her liquid magic form and touching all the corrupted magic, Star Butterfly did not succumb to the charm again, she was very, very aware of all the time she spent restoring magic.

And throughout this entire thing, she kept thinking.

It was later that day that she spoke to Primum.

”Primum, I think I’ve figured out how to get out of here.”

yes

yeS

yES

YES?

”This entire time restoring magic... properly restoring it, I’ve been doing it in what I can only presume was how he did.” She took a small pause. “”Of course, I am restoring magic, while he was corrupting it; but the screen got me thinking.”

When she realized Primum was waiting for her to continue, she obliged. 

“He created screens, he turned into a goop titan like I am right now, he influenced magic.... it’s got me thinking...”

TO ANSWER YOUR BURNING QUESTION, THE ANSWER IS NO.

THE ENTITY YOU KNOW AS ‘TOFFEE’ DOES NOT, AND NEVER DID, POSSES A FRAGMENT OF THE CORE. THE ONLY ONES TO DO THAT ARE GLOSSARYCK AND YOU.

Humming in affirmation to this response, Star continued. ”So that means anyone else can come in here and turn themselves into a big magic giant of themselves while they influence screens and all?”

NO.

“No?”

you 

yoU

yOU

YOU POSSES A FRAGMENT OF THE CORE. THAT IS WHAT ALLOWED YOU TO DO ALL YOU DID DURING YOUR TIME HERE, THAT IS YOUR ‘KEY’.

THE ENTITY YOU KNOW AS ‘’TOFFEE’ HAD A DIFFERENT ‘KEY’.

“A different key? What could that different key be?”

...

HIS WOUND.

...

”The finger?”

THE WOUND AROUND HIS FINGER WAS CAUSED BY A TWISTED, SPITEFUL, AND VILE ABOMINATION OF MAGIC, AND IT IS WHY HE WAS ABLE TO INFLUENCE THIS REALM IN SUCH A NEGATIVE WAY.

”Dark magic....” she whispered to herself.

YES. FORTUNATELY, THE ENTITY KNOWN AS ‘TOFFEE’ HAS RETRIEVED HIS FINGER, AND THE WOUND IS CLOSED, HE NO LONGER POSSESES A ‘KEY’, THEREFORE, HE CAN NO LONGER INFLUENCE THIS PLACE SHOULD HE EVER RETURN.

RETUrn

REturn

return

”So... two sides of the same coin, huh?”

No reply.

”Well, it doesn’t matter. What I wanted to adresa is how he got out.”

The Primum did not respond, and she took that as proof to continue.

”When he got out, he took his magic goo form and ascended upwards towards the sky. And from that little aftermath scene Glossaryck showed me, it seems he came out of the corrupted half of the wand. Meaning...”

Star allowed herself to grow a little smirk at her next line.

”If I do the same, I should come out of the un-corrupted part of the wand.”

HE HAD A VESSEL TO EMERGE TOO IN THE FORM OF HIS FINGER.

”And I have a desire, and a fragment of the core, that technically makes the wand my eternal master; and wands are made for spells. I’m not going to regrow from an old piece of my meat, I’m going to shoot myself out of the uncorrupted wand half like a spell.”

YOU SHALL TURN YOURSELF INTO A SPELL, AND CAST YOURSELF OUT. AN AMUSING IDEA.

”Will it work?” She replied almost instantly.

...

...

...

YES.

Star needed no more confirmation, casting her eyes upwards, she began slowly ascending in her goop form, her real body being taken with her due to it being in the chest area. On her way up, she asked one last question.

”Will we still be able to talk?” 

WE ARE EVER-PRESENT, CHILD. WE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING.

Not showing any signs of picking up the answer, Star Butterfly sped up as her goop body disconnected from the ocean below and flew upwards at amazoni speed.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Suddenly, the sky was replaced by a blinding white light.

”Faster!” She ordered.

She kept accelerating, until she was a vogue shape in the distance.

It was the shape of half a star, with a little ‘cut’ being visible in the middle.

It was the shape of the crystal in her wand.

”Knowing my mom, she has the wand stored safely in some room in the castle, I’ll be fine.” 

She kept accelerating, the half-star coming closer and closer. With a yell, she announced in her spellcasting voice.

”Star Butterfly Blast!” 

In a split second, Star Butterfly tore through the now vacant appartments where her spells used to live in, and flew into the half-star crystal at a speed comparable to the speed of light itself.