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Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Arc 1: Consequences

Chapter 1-1: Defeat

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

No, what was it supposed to go like?

What did she expect to happen?

Not this.

Star Butterfly was not expecting this. One second she was dropped inside the wand itself, and the other, she was face to face with Toffee. She thought it would be different. How could she know he would turn into a giant slimy version of himself? Or that he corrupted seemingly all magic, save for a couple of golden fragments here and there? She couldn't have known. There was no way to know.

And now she's here. He's winning. Her mom is about to give him his finger back, and there's nothing she can do.

"No mom, stop! I can take him, just hold on, please!"

She swam towards him, but what could she do, poke him in the eye? Knock a tooth out? There was nothing, this was a desperate attempt, and she knew it.

And so did he.

He didn't even seem to bother too much, he simply shoved her away with a hand, no effort whatsoever. But she kept going. He brought his hands up in an attempt to crush her, but they were too liquid to crush a solid object. So he just grabbed her by the hair.

Toffee looked at her for a moment. Helpless yet determined. Afraid yet bold. Stubborn yet resilient. The eyes who contained blazing fury ready to reduce him to cinders, and a steel tough will ready to do whatever it takes to do so.

She almost reminded him of himself, back in his younger years.

 "Poor little Butterfly, you've lost your wings."

 Brushing away the unnecessary thought he focused back on the task at hand. He spent too much time in here. It was getting to him.

 "Now your majesty, do we have a deal?" He said, his puppet Ludo extending his right hand.

The queen looked hopeless, he knew she would give it to him now. She cares too much about her daughter for that. Slowly, she extended her hands, and handed him his finger back.

The moment the finger reconnected with the wound a heavy surge of vitality and strength found Toffee again. He felt victorious, he felt his pride swelling inside of him, as the look in the princess' eyes shunned from bravery, to fear.

And sure enough, Star was afraid.

What could she even do now? He had his finger back. The seemingly sole purpose of his quest has been handed to him. He had the upper hand in every way. What could she do now that would change that? There was barely any uncorrupted magic left around her. Even the ones she saw would soon join the dark green blackness that was his doing. There was nothing she could do, nothing at all. She was alone, helpless, and very afraid.

He started ascending towards the skies, turning into a weird pillar, and yet, his face stayed on the same level.

He was dragging her to him.

With a look of terror on her face, Star Butterfly gazed upon the septarian. The smirk on his face and the glee in his eyes gave a distinct predatorian vibe as she stared at him. He was the hunter, and she the prey.

"Goodbye."

Wait, what? No. What is he doing? He's going to leave her in here? No, he can't. He and his mom made a deal, he had to give her back. There was no way he would actually leave her here was there? No, he has to be joking. He has to be. He can't just do that. He said he'd give her back. She had to go back, she had to. Without her, Marco, her mom, her dad, her friends.... He can't leave her here.

"No, no. N-no!"

But it was too late, he left. He left, and she remained. Now she was alone. Alone in this ocean of blackness. Alone, and afraid.

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The next thing Toffee felt after his farewell with the young princess was his finger.

His lost finger.

He felt regeneration, he felt his body building itself back from his finger. Bones, veins, blood, flesh. It was rebuilding itself back into him. He felt his ribs, then his skin. After a while he felt his suit. He felt his feet, hands and tail regrowing. He felt the neck, mouth, hair, nose.

And lastly, his eyes.

Once his vision returned, he looked at the world around him. The queen, the boy, and Buff Frog were looking at him, shocked. The tower remains scattered about in a crater. The sky bright as it always is in noon. Silence reigning in the air. Not a sound for miles.

Then, he vomited.

He vomited that puppet of his, Ludo. He was always so easy to manipulate. He hardly ever needed to try, it became more of a second nature to control him. That's how easy it was.

Standing up, he looked at his hand. There it was. The finger. It was back, it healed. He gave a wiggle just to make sure, but it was true. That wound always hurt like hell. Ever since the day he lost it, the wound has been a constant pain source. So the fact it was gone must have meant it was truly healed now.

"Where's my daughter?"

"Where's Star?"

"Oh, them."

Toffee, still with a look of bewilderment, turned his fully healed hand toward them, showing them the black half of the wand.

And then he crushed it. He crushed it, and poured the small fragments on the ground. Calmly, he recalimed his stoic expression, and with a monotone voice responded.

"She's gone." He said, turned around, and began walking away.

It hasn't even been ten seconds and he could already hear the queen rushing at him. Pure anger in her voice.

"Always the annoyance."

Slapping her hand away, he turned to face her. She threw a second punch, which he simply dodged. He grabbed her hands after she tried hitting him again, but what good would it do? She'll keep going. He saw her eyes slowly turning from anger to sadness, and then back to anger again.

She freed her hands, pulled out the other half of the wand, and pointed it at his heart. She started chanting that forsaken dark spell again.

The spell that costed him victory.

The spell that costed them victory.

He was not paying attention to her, he only stared at the wand. He wanted to see a reaction, he wanted to see if it would work.

...

...

...

It didn't.

Not letting the small shard of pride show, he grabbed her hand looked at her, and asked.

"Are you finished?"

The next thing he felt was a sharp pain where his heart should be. It couldn't be the spell, the wand was aimed at his face. Why did...?

He looked down, and saw the boy. He was crying. Normal reaction, nothing unexpected. If anything, he would be suprised if he wouldn't try anything. But really? A punch?

The wound regrew without any issues. Leaving the boy feeling even more useless. Toffee looked at him, he looked into his eyes. The boy was innocent, he did nothing wrong here. All he did was allow himself to be dragged into this mess. He was dragged into a dangerous situation by an irresponsible princess, and he suffers now beacause of it.

Toffee felt a small singe of sympathy for him, he didn't know why. Maybe it was that innocence? Maybe that broken will?

Or maybe...

No. There's no need to waste any more time. He's tired, he needs rest. This went on too long.

Grabbing the boy by the hair, he spun and threw him at a nearby piece of rubble. It cracked, and he fell down unconcious. He didn't want to kill him, he hadn't done anything wrong after all...

Or was it...

No. He had enough. Grabbing the queen by her hands, he shoved her into the ground, intent on immobilizing her. As much as it would to satisfy him to kill her, there was really no need. He gave up on those pure genocidal ways long ago. He was young back then. Now he's old. He's old, but also so much wiser. He dusted off his suit, and walked away once more. He kept walking until something took hold of his leg. He looked down and saw Ludo.

"Please, just tell me. Did I have... any part to play in this?" He asked.

"No." He replied coldly.

There was no point to lie to him, not anymore. He could have pulled this off with any monster, mewman or creature that found his half of the wand. The fact it was Ludo was almost pure coincidence, as once he discovered Ludo was nearby to the wand, he used the wand to create an illusion of the princess, leading Ludo to him. Ludo was known territory of manipulation to Toffee, so he was a preferable puppet. Still, no point in lying to him now. It's over. Lying to him won't achieve anything, so he might as well say the truth.

Climbing up form the impact crater of the whispering spell, he stood up, looked at his surroundings... and started walking away.

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Star was desperate. She was alone, cold, afraid and tired.

After swimming in the endless ocean of pure blackness for a while, she found that some spots seem to be shallower than the rest. So she looked aroung until she found one she could stand on.

Looking around, she saw nothing but a vast expanse of the black abyss. Nothing to help her, nothing to soothe her. The tides began rising, waves have formed, and seemed to be getting more violent and large in both nature and size.

She looked around, and saw it.

A single piece of uncorrupted magic, in the distance. Floating there.

Abandoning all shallow ground she found, Star rushed to swim to that piece. When she got close, it dissapeared.

No. Why? She needed this. It was her last hope. This was all she had, she saw her cheekmarks flash gold, following by that piece of magic reappearing, and vanishing soon after. She tapped her cheeks again, once the magic revealed itself, she swam with all her remaining strength. She was so close. Just as she was about to grab it, it dissapeared.

"No. No. No. No. No. No."

She stopped, ad floated on the surface. Should she give up? Accept that this is the end for her. Is that all she can do? I there no way out? She was so cold. The dead magic was freezing to the touch. Her senses have gone numb. What can she even do?

The magic reappeared, deep beneath the surface, and she dived for it. She had to get it. She dived deeper and deeper, she has to get it. She has to. It's her only way out, it's her only way home. She swam closer and closer....

...

...

...and grabbed it.

Filled with some semblance of hope, she swam as fast as she could to get some fresh air, magic in hand. Once she emerged, she frantically searched for some shallow ground again. After a few minutes, she found it. Standing on the shallow ground, she inspected the magic fragment. It was so small, she doesn't even know what to do with it? Does she eat it? Rub it on he face? Point it to ths sky?

She didn't know. She tried so many things. None of which worked. It was pointless. It wasn't helping her at all. She went through so much to get it, and it was pointless.

" What do I do now? What am I supposed to..."

After a while, Star Butterfly laid down on the shallow ground of the Realm of Magic, clutched the magic fragment to her chest.... and cried.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-2: Aftermath

"Karate boy. Wake up. I think the queen, uh, needs, uh, help." Said a worried voice of Buff Frog.

Marco came back to conciousness slowly, blinked, and saw Buff Frog, looking at the queen.

Marco got up, his spine aching from his back hitting the rubble. He took a moment to observe his surroundings. The queen was there, crying and looking at the wand. Ludo was having what seemed to be a quiet mental breakdown, and Buff Frog was just worried. Marco scanned the ruins for any sign of him, but found none. He quickly ran out of the crater, ignoring Buff Frog's plea to stop. As soon as he got out, he looked around. He had to see where he went. He spun circles and circles, looking and looking.

And he saw him. He was barely visible. He was so far too. Marco would have to run miles to reach him. He was heading past the cornfields, walking calmly, without any rush. Should he go after him? Can he reach him? Can he even fight him? He was absurdly strong, he flung Marco into a rock with barely any effort. Even if Marco was to reach him, he'd be both exhausted and weaker. No. He can't do it. He's going to get away. That was something Marco would just have to deal with.

Turning around and looking down into the crater, he saw the queen tampering with the wand. And then he remembered.

"Star."

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Moon Butterfly was not having a nice day. In fact, this was quite possibly the worst day in her life. Not even the pain of losing her mother could compare to this.

She lost her daughter. What's worse she lost her...

...to him.

She lost both her mother and her daughter to the same monster. Why? Why did she not aim for the heart all those years ago? Why would the wand not work now? Why did Star go in like that? She was supposed to stay at Buff Frog's place. Why was she here? Why did she do that? Why did this happen?

Why didn't she kill him all those years ago?

"Come on, come on. Why won't you fit? Come on." She pleaded the wand, pleaded some invisible force to help her, to tell her why. But nothing came.

"Queen?" Marco said, unsure of what to do.

"Maybe if... I put the wand back together. It'll-it'll-it'll bring her back. But this piece won't fit!" She started crying again. She could not go through this, not again.

"Here." Marco said. "Try this one."

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It wasn't long until the other mewmans in the area reached the crater. Slowly, they got their queen out of her hole, and gave Marco some ice for his back. In a slow, silent pace, they got the sobbing queen, the hopeless boy, and the worried monster back into the castle depths.

Moon quietly retreated into her personal quarters, and Marco was sent to the infirmary to get his back checked. Buff Frog was with him, since he really didn't know where else to go.

"So, we lost." Marco said, staring into the ground.

"Yes. Yes we did." Said Buff Frog, equally staring into the ground, expresionless.

"A-and Star, s-she..."

Buff Frog looked at him, looked at his broken eyes, and gently put his hand on Marco's back.

Some time later, King River reapeared, having allegedly been declared the king of eagles. He didn't hear the news yet. No one told him. All he was told is that his wife was in her quarters and that he should go see her, something he did immediately upon hearing that she was in a bad state. The queen would tell him. Nobody else could muster the strength.

Ludo meanwhile, was locked in the dungeons. Sure, he wasn't the one masterminding all of this, but he did aid him, albeit unkowingly. For that, he was locked up down there until further notice. His Eagle and Spider seemed to disappear after the tower exploded. No one has seen them since. Speaking of which, that tower was currently undergoing plans to rebuild it, and the rubble left behind by the explosion was being disposed of. The rest of the castle was removing all Ludo related items, portraits, sculptures, poems, books, banners, bedsheets or whatever that long sheet was.

Ludo didn't resist imprisonment. One look at him and you'd see that he was broken. He was completely in some inner world of his, paying no attention to anything going on around him. He was like a doll, you could move his body in different ways but he would not react. One of the guards even slapped him to see if there would be a reaction. But there was none. He was completely emotionless, empty, but breathing. So he was at least alive. He had that going for him. His rat army completely disbanded and ran away after his imprisonment, abandoning their master without hesitation. Not that he cared at this point.

 For the next two days, Mewni was completely silent.

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"I need to see the queen."

The guards looked at the red hooded boy. From the reports they had, he was the princess' friend and close companion.  But does that mean they can just let him into the queen's own quarters? She told them she wants to be alone and to let no one in, except her husband.

"You can't. Nobody goes in." they repiled.

"Please." he said, looking them straight in the eyes now.

Now they were guards, and they had orders. Their orders were to keep the queen safe and secured. The orders she gave them meant what they meant. No one gets in. However, back in the training days, they were taught queen safety is the number one priority. And they both all knew the queen was not feeling saafe, secured, or happy. If the boy could help the queen, so be it. It is their duty to help her.

"Fine, go in."

Entering the private room of the king and queen was something Marco wanted to see for a long time. He always wondered what wild luxurious items and decor they had in here. Now, though, even that felt dull and stupid. It wasn't really even that decorated or luxurious, it was a normal room. Funny, considering Star would always rant about how lavish her parents' room was.

Star.

"Marco." he heard a soft, strained voice from the back of the room.

Marco turned and saw the queen looking through one of the room's windows, out into the land of Mewni. She was still shaking, although it wasn't nearly as much as before. She seemed almost like a ghost from the angle Marco was watching her.

"Yes?" He replied, too tired for all that 'your majesty' nonsense.

"How are you feeling?" She asked in a calm, unwavering voice instead of that strained one she had seconds ago.

"A bit better. I'm here because I refuse to believe she's gone. She must be alive. I want to go find her, she must-" he started.

"I know." Moon cut him off abruptly.

She turned around and faced him. A stoic look on her face, she looked him straight in the eyes. Her blue into his brown.

"Will you help me?" she asked in a questioning, now determined voice.

"Yes."

"Good, because I will get this kingdom back in shape, and you will help me find her."

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-3: What We Do Now

The castle was alive. For the first day since what felt like eternity, it was alive.

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.

"But, your majesty, Star is-"

"My daughter is your concern now!"

...

...

...

...

"What?"

Moon stopped. Marco did the same, although a few steps behind. For the first time in the last hour, there was some semblance of quiet restored into his ears. Moon took a deep breath. Marco looked at her worryingly. She turned around and spoke.

"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 groung again, searching for something, some comfort, some sign that it will be okay.

"Now remember Moon, keep your head high. You're going to be a queen, and a queen keeps her head high in the face of danger. She is there to show her people hope, even when the rest of the world is in despair."

"Yes, mom."

"You need to stop worrying so much, you're going to do fine. It's going to be okay."

"Uh, your majesty?" Marco asked, breaking her out of her haze.

"Uh..... yes, of course, I'm fine." She put her hand on Marco's shoulder. Marco tensed up, but relaxed a few seconds later. No matter the circumstance, it's still uncomfortable when a royal touches you.

"I'm giving you a mission. The most important mission of all." She 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."

With a enthusiastic nod, Marco turned around and ran towards the east wing. Sprinting past the servants and dotting a bee line towards the archives.

"I won't let you down. I will find her."

With a proud smile on her face, and newfound courage within her, the queen proceeded with her duty. It's going to be okay. She can do this. Everything will be fine. She will save the kingdom, and he will save her.

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"So, what's the situation?"

"Well, your majesty, the magic highway is gone, and the anti-monster shields around the cornfields have dissapeared." Said the commerce counselor.

"The royal guard is ready to spring into action when you deem it so." Said the defense counselor.

"The citizens are worried, but they still don't know the news." Said the civilian counselor.

Moon sighed. This meeting was bearing nothing but bad news, but that was to be expected. She'd be suprised if there were any good ones. Problems were just stacking, stockpiling. Calmly and rationally, that's how she'll solve all of this. Looking at the other members of Mewni's council Moon could see their faces were ones dressed by worry. No one would have any good news, but that she has to deal with, that's the hand dealt to her.

"What about the other kingdoms, how are they standing?" The queen asked the ambassadors of the respected countries that shared her interest in fixing this mess.

"The Ponyhead Kingdom is facing problems with keeping all non-floating beings on the clouds. Without magic the clouds have returned to their less dense state. We had to evacuate everyone safely to the ground level. Also, the magic highway is gone, so no commerce will be available via modern ways." Said the Ponyhead ambassador.

"All portals leading to the Lucitor Kingdom are offline. The only way to get in or out is through the Lucitor Gate in the south. It is heavily guarded, and, like I said, the currently only known way in or out. Other than that, the Mountain Of Boom is becoming increasingly unstable due to the lack of the stability spell." Said the Lucitor ambassador.

"Us pigeons are fine, money is still flowing, but the winds and gales from the waterfolk sea have been returning, despite dissapearing for over five hundred years." Said the pigeon ambassador.

"The Spiderbite Kingdom is facing an alarming increase of spiders, now that magic no longer weeds them out, they've began multiplying like crazy." Spiderbite ambassador.

"The Johansen Kingdom is the same as before." Johansen ambassador.

"All exotic magical related beings in the ocean have dissapeared. Other than that, we're fine."  Waterfolk ambassador.

It's bad. Oh it's bad. She knew it would be bad. Magic going offline is about the worst thing possible, and should be her primary concern. However, she needs to hear everything beforehand. She needs to know what she's dealing with. And oh boy the news are not good.  Getting up from the table, she went over to the window of the room. Looking down, she could see everything. They were in the second-to-last floor of the tallest tower in the castle. The last floor was the main throne room, because the castle had to have six of those scattered about. Six throne rooms was a little excesive even in her opinion.

"And uh, what are we gonna do about the monsters?" She heard a voice coming from the end of the room. Turning around she saw the last warrior of Mewni. Her blue outfit cleaner than ever and her twin purple pigtails hanging of the sides.

Mina Loveberry.

"What do you mean Mina?" Moon replied calmly.

"Well it's obvious, without magic, those monsters are gonna take up arms. They're gonna attack us, so what we need to do is attack them first."

"Mina, how will that help? We don't need a monster uprising too on top of all this."

"Well what about that lizard? You know, the one that started all this? Should we not hunt him down? Should we just let him get away with this?"

"We don't know where he went. He could be anywhere, trying to find him is pointless. He won't be found. He can't be found."

"You're telling me no one saw him leave?! Did none of you bother to look where he went!? The direction he was taking?!"

"Marco went out of the crater for a while, you should go ask him. He's in the royal archives. Just please don't burn half of the archive down again and claim it's because of 'innacurate representations of history' or whatever it is you're always yelling when you see a history book."

"Look I'm telling you, these monsters can not be trusted. Sure, they're friendly now, but they'll attack the moment they see an opportunity. Trust me, I know how those savages think. They're dirty, dumb and pure evil. They need to be dealt with now before it's too late."

"Mina!"

"What?!"

...

...

...

"Marco's in the royal archives. Go there, ask if he saw where our culprit went, and go chase him. Will that satisfy you?"

 Without a second word, Mina went out of the room, she had a task to perform, ordered by the queen herself. Moon watched her leave. She wanted to see him caught. He had to pay for all he did to her. To her subjects. To her daughter. She wanted to see his expression once she'd finally get the upper hand. She wanted to see him plead for mercy.

"Anything on Glossaryck's whereabouts?" She asked, staring blindly into the wall, but listening very carefully.

"No my queen, we have no reports on him, None at all." said someone at the table. Who it was, she didn't care. She had to find Glossaryck too.

He could help her more than anyone. If she found Glossaryck, he could help make this easier for her. But how does she find him..? He was not at the Monster Temple. Where could he be? So many things to do, so many, so many.

She sighed, rubbed her hands, and turned to the council.

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Marco ran corner after corner, running through the labyrinthine corridors of the castle. The castle was huge. He was sure that in order to explore the whole thing, he'd need at least a week, if he went about it casually of course. But now was no time for casualty, he had a mission. He's going to do it. Running faster and faster, bumping into every second servant, he observed to find the entrance to the archives. He didn't care if he was going to look for hours, he was going to find them.

He was going to find her.

Running hall through hall, he ran and ran. He ran past a rather impresive large door. It had a sign on it, and had he ran any faster, he would not be able to read it before darting into the next hall. He stopped himself faster than he ever thought possible, and walked to that door. A large ornate one with a sign saying 'Royal Archives'. He had to give credit where it was due, that was a very well designed door. In fact, most doors in the castle seemed to be styled and carved with symbols, icons and all of those decorations all luxurious doors always had.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the doorknob, opened the door, and stepped inside.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-4: It's Raining Books

Entering the archives, Marco expected a normal everyday library.

He did not get that. No he did not.

The moment he saw the height of the ceiling, the amount of filled to the brim bookshelves, and the horrifying amount of them just stacked on the ground............

Well he disliked it, of course.

He entered his steps echoing through the maze-like, undeniably enormous 'library' he was about to venture into. The ceiling was 60 meters above the floor, wall to wall lined with bookshelves stretching from the ground all the way to the ceiling. Every single inch of them was filled with books and documents. Those that would not fit on them, were thrown and piled up on the floor. Marco swore that the amount of books on the ground was at least half of the amount on the bookshelves themselves. And the size of the room....

This wasn't just one room, it was at least a dozen, separated by large empty doorframes the height of the room, and as wide as three elephants lined up. There must be over a billion books in one room alone, let alone twelve.

This was going to be a long day.

After walking through the archives for two hours, he could confirm they were seemingly endless. No amount of wood on Earth could ever produce a fourth of the paper in here.  He would be looking araound for hours. Not only were the shelves stacked end to end, but all that didn't fit were scattered on the ground. There must have been more things down on the ground than up on the wall. He would never find anything magic related here in days.

One thing he did notice were the book designs themselves, they were color-coded, so each color would yield all books in the same place. In fact, all the rooms seemed to be color coded like that. In other words, every room was designed to house one specific topic. Not only that, but on each of the book's spines, there was a symbol drawn. For example, all orange-vermillion books had a lightining bolt, all light blue- cyan books had a diamond symbol, and so on. So, by that logic, that should mean...

"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."

Mina stopped, looking shocked for a second, before adopting a thinking face and wondering aloud.

"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.

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.

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.

"Why did they, at a time like this? Why? How?"

Maybe it's best he reads them, just in case.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

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 trulay just a coincidence?

"What if she's in the realm of magic instead?"

Could he bring her back by going there? Impossible, the only way to reach it is to go with a portal or some other magic related substance. No alternatives. And besides it was a theory, maybe she isn't even there.How could he find out? Was there a way? Maybe the wand? The books said the wand was connected to the realm, and if it was how she got in, so could he... right? But how would he get out? This was an honest nightmare, but he had to know.

"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?!!"

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"

Letting out a frustrated scream into the lifeless archive, he sighed and dropped his head. What was all this? These books are useless. He won't find anything useful. What was he to do?.

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.

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.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

1-5: Books Are A Uniquely Portable Magic

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.

"Where, where even am I now?" He kept his focus on the books, he wasn't looking where he was going, he didn't count corners or anything. The fallen books mixed up with the already sattered books all throughout the archive halls. There was no way he'd find his way back. All the books he read about magic were back there, but now that he was at least 40 chamber away, there was no way he'd just stumble upon the way back. The archives were massive, You could fit at least 50 Quest Buy's here and you'd maybe fill a third of the whole thing. Those books were lost, he wasn't gonna find them again.

Catching his breath, he looked around at where the raining trail led him. He was in a corridor, it was cold, unlit, and the cobwebs proved it wasn't cleaned for a hundred years. Looking back, he saw a couple of entries into different, yet unseen and unexplored chambers of this dungeon of literature. Mina's advice didn't help in the least. Sure, all chambers were queen coded, but how was he supposed to know which queen's chamber was where. They weren't organized in any sensible way. He grabbed a history book a while back to get a sense on whih queen came before which, but this massive maze of old books made no sense. Comet Butterfly, the current queen's mom, had her chamber placed on one side of the archives, and her daughter's was nineteen slots away in a mix of diagonal and horizontal. Even the chambers themselves didn't look the same. Some were round, some were segmented into smaller. One queen's chamber was in the shape of an infinity sign. And the halls were no different. Some of them would loop, some would just stop. Some halls even brought him to the ceiling of some chambers. This entire place must have been designed by twenty architects who fought for dominion on construction style. It was endless confusion.

Turning his gaze on the ceiling, he gave an audible sigh and cracked his back. There would be no easy way to do this. But he can do it.

He must.

"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?"

---------------------------------------------------------

"Are the mewnicorns ready yet?!" Screamed an impatient Mina Loveberry.

Her troops were slow, the days of inactivity gifted them rather slow movements. She had no time for this, she had a mission. She was going to carry it out, and these buffons better hurry up.

"Almost, captain Mina!" Yelled a warrior in the back

Mina took a squadron of seventy five 'expertly' trained Mewnicorn riders with her. Expertly was not what she would call them. Back in the old days when she enlisted, one had to spit blood and shower in sweat to get to a high ranking position in the military. Nowadays, the standards are softer, but still provide tough, sturdy and batle ready warriors that the kingdom needs. They were not the greatest warriors that ever graced Mewni, but they were good, which is why she was still had patience to wait for them to get ready. A few of them were very good, these were handpicked by her to be her personal guard and her most trusted warriors. Wanting to hear news of progress, she called her second-in-command.

"Miss Renee, is everyone ready to get going already?! This isn't a festival we're headed to. We're on a mission given by the queen herself. We need to head out now!"

"Almost miss, we're just sorting out the nitpicks. One of the soldiers lost his helmet and they're helping him find it." Answered a calm and neatly dressed warrior. It was her right-hand-lady. She could always count on her to get the data right and the soldiers obedient, even though she lacked a little on the fighting front.

"We're leaving him behind. We have no time for this! Every second we waste is our objective getting farther and farther away! Get the troops ready!"  Mina turned her gaze upon the map of Mewni placed on the table.

"South. He went south. Why south, there's nothing there, everything was razed to the ground. We made sure of it." She didn't like reminiscing on her past during missions. It always got her distracted.

Looking at the map. She saw the facts. The South of Mewni was barren. There was nothing there anymore. Which is why it confused her. Doesn't matter, this will only make it a bit trickier to find him. But he can't hide, she'll find this criminal, and she'll get him to the queen.

But where will he go? The forest of Probable Itchiness? The Musty Mountains? The lake? There was not much. She'll check the Lucitor Gates first. Those are the biggest bet, once she determines he did not pass them, she'll hunt him down on her own terms.

"Captain, we're ready to go!" Exclaimed Renee, rushed and already pumping with adrenaline.

"Good, we're heading out!"

"Our destination, captain?"

"Lucitor Gate. Posthaste, if he passed them, we're going into the underworld. If he hasn't, we're going to split in two groups, one heading southeast, and one southwest. We will find him, he's not getting away. Let's go!"

"Yes captain!" Giving one last salute, she followed closely behind her superior.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Tom, what are you doing here?!" Exclaimed a totally confused Marco Diaz at the demon that just suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"What do you mean 'What am I doing here?' magic has shut down planet-wide, and Star hasn't been answering my calls! I came here to see what happened! I asked the queen on where she was, but she just told me to go to the archives and find you, so I did!"

"Right, because yo-" Marco stopped mid sentence. He didn't know yet. He didn't know what happened to Star...

"You.... don't know?" Marco asked, all anger being replaced by sudden worry.

"I don't know what? What do I not know? Is there something I need to know? Is Star okay?!" Tom assaulted Marco with questions, each sentence faster than the last.

"You.... might wanna sit down for this."

Couple Of Hours Later

".... 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.

"AAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH! TOM!!! STOP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!" Marco yelled. The sudden outburst of demonic screeching and the outburst of fire gave him a heart attack, and the last thing he needed was Tom burinig a potential source of information.

Then again, there were over a trillion books in here, so what harm could he do?

 "You can't just ask me to calm down after all of that!!!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CALM??!!??!!" Tom yelled right back at him, the sheer volume of his voice collapsing Marco's eardrums. "You can't just tell me Star has dissapeared and then tell me to be calm! That's not how anger works you single life span idiot!"

"I know it doesn't work like that but you burning down the whole library is NOT helping!"

With a deep breath, Tom cooled what little of his sanity he could, waved his hands, and put out the fire.

"So, what exactly do you suppose we do, captain calm?"

Taking a deep breath himself, Marco looked Tom in the eyes.

"The queen believes there is a way to bring her back. So do I. Help me find it." Marco said, carefully choosing every word and mentally preparing himself for another outburst of hellfire from the demon prince.

...

...

...

"Okay." He said with a neutral tone, and equally neutral expression.

"Wait, just like that? There's no way he just said yes and that's the end." Marco thought, there's no way that Tom Lucitor, the Tom Lucitor, the one with major anger issues, said yes and moved on.

"Wait, what, really?"

"Yeah, let's do this. We can do this. Let's do it." He said, expecting Marco to move it so they can get started. He bore a neutral expression, and his voice sounded calm and expecting.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh....... okay." Marco said, standing up and eyeing Tom. They stood there for a minute, observing each other for what felt like hours. Deciding that enough was enough, Tom broke the silence.

"Okay, go time!" Tom said, jumping into the nearest chamber.

"Yeah, go time." Marco said, following closely behind.

"So, uh, do you know where we're going?" Marco asked Tom, hoping that he knew how to traverse this nightmarish complex of books, documents, and scrolls.

"Well, had you actually bothered to learn Mewman history, you'd know that this arcive is organized on the Lyric-Urania sequence after it burnt down during queen Skywynne's coronation." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The what now?" Marco asked, confused to his very core.

"Basically, you and I are going to be visiting records of all queens from oldest to youngest. That way, we won't miss anything."

"Uh, right."

"Now, the fire burnt down the chambers of the first twenty six queens, so those documents are lost forever. However, we can start with the twenty seventh, which is the oldest now...... Skywynne.... there it is." Walking up to the entrance to a rather unusually shaped entry to a blocky shaped chamber, he gave a slight nod, and entered.

"One chamber of the queen of hours, served right ahead." Tom said pridefully as they entered.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

A lot of time has passed. If Marco had to bet, it must hve been past midnight outside. Not that they could see it. They were deep in the archives, windows were nowhere close.

They passed a few chambers since the start. Marco didn't count which queen's chamber this was, he was here for information, and so was Tom. They started shakily at first, but once the two got a hang of the situation, they set aside their differences and got to work.

"So, uh, how come you came so quick? Isn't all magic offline?" The only way out the underworld now was the Lucitor Gate, and that was far away. How did he get here in just a couple of days?

"I ran for three days straight. I also died three times of fatigue."

"Sorry, what?"

"Don't worry, I have a soul bank in me. Got plenty of souls. I just used a new one. They're like batteries dude."

"Huh, well, that's..... nice..." Marco was unsure of how to morally answer something like that. But I guess that's what comes out of hanging out with demons.

"You know I'm just suprised you managed to calm down so quick after that explosion of rage you had back there."

"Oh that. Yeah, well.... I'm going to anger managment. You know that, don't you remember the whole fiasco with going to the movies?"

"Let's not go back into that. That was a weird day."

"Also Puffy Pinkberry helps."

Marco stopped to see if he herd that right. Pink.... what.

"Pink wha-?"

"Puffy Pinkberry. My pet bunny. I use him to relieve of my stress."

"You have a pet called Puffy Pinkberry?"

"Yeah, is that so weird?"

"Well, you know, back on Earth we mostly use normal names for pets."

"Hey these names are normal here."

Marco got up to look Tom in the eyes. These were normal names? Right, as if. Puffy Pinkberry is what a girl would call a hamster, not a demon prince. Seriously, who calls a pet that?

"No, Marco, I'm serious. It's a tradition."

"It sounds like what a girl would name a rabbit, not a prince."

"That's what I though too, then history class told us about Jushtin the Uncalculated! The only king of Mewni to use the magic wand. Did you know he had twenty nine cats?"

"No." Marco said, uninterested.

"He did. Then a rainbow viper ate twenty eight of them. The twenty ninth one actually managed to kill the attacking snake while it was eating the other ones!!"

"Uh-huh. Interesting."

"And that last cat was called Sparkles. So when she killed the viper, Jushtin renamed her into Rainbow Sparkles! So if a king can have a cat called like that then I can have a Puffy Pinkberry."

Marco stared at Tom for a minute straight. Did he seriously just recite how a king had a fancy named cat? The demon sure had some suprises, he'll give him that. Maybe he'll test out how much Tom likes pets, he could use a break anyway.

"You know, when I was little, I had a dog." Marco lied. He wanted to see how deep Tom's fascination goes.

"Oooooh, what was his name?"

"I..... uh, don't remember. But he had a normal name!"

"Well, I guess I can't blame you for the normal name part. When I was little, I had a pet lizard named Kevin and a pet owl named Matthew at the same time!"

"Don't owls hate lizards?"

"Well, I didn't know that back then. But they were good pets."

"What happened to them?"

"Well, one day we were playing in granpa's old room, and I found some old thing I liked toying with. My mom came in and took it away. She told me I must not play with the 'handy-dandy' because it's too dangerous."

"Okay, that doesn't sound to-"

"The next day they both disappeared. The 'handy-dandy' disappeared too. I though they left. When I grew up, Mom told me that the 'handy-dandy' was an ancient family heirloom, and that Matthew stole it, and, uh, 'banished Kevin into the void'."

"Wow. My dog just.... uh.... left." Marco lied again. This went south real fast. He needed to end it. "Anyways uh-."

"You should have seen my dad's pet. He lived in the cold regions before moving to the underworld, so he had a penguin called Grant! However, when he became king, the penguin didn't like the heat so... uh..."

"Did he uh.... bite the dust..?" Marco said, losing a pet was always hard, there is no joking around with that.

"What? No. He stole dad's antique surfboard and left."

Marco, for the third time, looked at Tom for a solid minute.

Then burst out laughing.

"He stole a surfboard?? How does a penguin steal a surfboard?! You Lucitors have a nasty pet history!" Marco was cracking up a storm. Good thing he poked deep, this was a serious relief. After days of worry and stress, finally some joy.

Tom chuckled and looked at Marco.

"I suppose we do, yeah."

"You know Tom, your company is not the worst in the world." Marco said, honest expression and a slight, but honest smile.

"Thanks, you're not the worst either." Tom replied, equally relieved.

"Anyways, these books are killing me."

"I hear you. This is a pain. But we gotta do it. For her." Tom said, determined.

"For her." Marco replier, equally determined.

"You know, some guy on Earth said that books are a uniquely portable magic...."

"What a liar, I haven't seen the slightest magic in any of these..."

"I second that opinion, books are nice, but this right here is not magic."

They both laughed.

---------------------------------------------

 Anywhow, I'm gonna post the author's notes here because I just don't trust the official Author's Notes place, it's shady.

So, HUGE apologies for being late, I had the agony of finals on my hands, and then I went on a week long internet-less week.

Now that I'm back, I can start posting regularly again, so hurray!

See you soon this time!

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-6: Sleep Did Not Honor Me With It's Presence

The heat was intense today. Not that it was unexpected, the weather reports were always correct. Now that magic was gone, however, even something as simple as weather reports is gonna be denied on Mewni's 'list of useful tools that make life easier'.

Vice-captain Renee, however, was used to the heat. The experiences she gatherered from years and years under Captain Mina's services were so vast, it was hard to be suprised by anything anymore. Although, to be honest, the recent erasure of magic was a big, big suprise. But who knows, maybe this makes things more interesting. She knew Mina is not following that mindset, but she was always the same.

They reached the Lucitor Gate before sunrise. They were riding for a day straight, and finally set up camp near the gate, as only demons and royals were allowed to actually enter the large, ornate gate that was basically carved into the mountain side. The demonic flames and magma practically oozing of the sides into the canyon below. The gate, as far as history says, was erected during the reign of queen Celena, after she ordered the Lucitor family to have it constructed on this specific location. It was, without a doubt, one of the most mysterious requests ever done by a queen of Mewni. Celena was known as the shyest queen of Mewni, so ordering another royal family to do something without their approval was suprising because it was a bold move. She never explained why the gate was nescessary, or why she had it constructed. Not that anyone questioned it, though. It was rarely used, so no one bothered. Still, that didn't stop this gate from becoming one of Mewni's greatest mysteries.

The gate itself was decorated in a specific, uniquely morbid design, at least for Mewmans. The demons were allowed to construct the gate to their liking, so they went with a dark and gold mix. The gate was 40 meters tall, so even the tallest of demons could pass. The gate was above a canyon that was created at least one thousand years before Mewmans arrived. It was two kilometers deep, with a small river running through it at the bottom. Since they couldn't keep the gate as just an exit into a chasm that would spell one's end, they constructed a small bridge connecting the gate to the other side. That way the whole thing looked like an expensive, ornate, demonic entry into the fiery domain of the underworld.

It was an hour until sunrise by the time Renee finally got to eat. It wasn't anything luxurious or over the top. Standard army rations, shaped like a brick; tasted like one too. The tents were set up a couple of minutes ago, and most of the riders went to rest, exhausted from the long ride. Captain Mina went to the gate alone to question the guards for any sighting on their target. She wasn't back yet, so there must have been a complication; either that, or he was seen, in which case things were about to get hectic. At least she got some peace and quiet. That was hard to get when working for someone like Mina.

Looking up at the moon and stars in the sky, the vice-captain breathed a sigh of relief. She liked looking at the night sky, it made her feel relaxed, and eased her mind to the point of basically switching it off. It was a full moon tonight, and the moon itself was misty, due to some clouds blocking it. Still, it was a relaxing sight.

Chewing her meal, she reminisced on how she got where she did. When she first joined the military, no one expected her to get far. She had barely any fighting skills or experience, and all her superiors were always telling her to just quit; lest she become mere cannon fodder. One day, she decided to train all throughout the night to become stronger so she could become a good knight. It was that action that fell into the eye of Mina herself. The morning after her all nighter, Mina came up to her and her only, and took her into her unit. That day still confused her. No matter how much she belittled herself in front of the legend that was Mina Loveberry, she insisted she would join her, saying it was not the brawn, but her dedication and potential that caught her eye. It was only a couple of years after when Mina told her that she herself was enlisted into the military in the same manner, not through brawn or power, but loyalty, dedication and potential. From there on Mina herself taught Renee swordfighting, brawling and the art of combat.

Swordfighting is where she was good at, purely physical fights were something where Renee was still lacking, but the swordfighting more than made up to it. Her true strength, however, seemed to be her quick wit and ability to quickly judge situations and formulate plans to achieve victory. Her genius brought Mewni many victories, even though there were some rather questionable ones. It wasn't long before she was promoted to be Mina's second-in-command. From there, every mission Mina went on, she would follow close behind.

Focusing her gaze back onto her dinner, Renee gave another audible sigh, and bit off another chunk. She was tired, she needed rest.

"Renee! Where are you, we need to talk!"

The voice was unmistakingly Mina's. Turning around and jumping into a salute, Renee greeted her superior.

"Captain. The camp has been fully established. What have you learned? Is the enemy's location found?"

"No. He didn't go here. The guards had no one approach the doors for five days straight."

"So, what now?"

"We stick to the plan. Bring me a map."

Running over to grab the nearest map of Mewni she could find, Renee rushed back to the captain to hear the further plan of action.

"So, he's not here. This is where we split up, you'll take half of the troops and head southwest, and I'll take the other half and go southeast. We meet up back here in two days, and take him back to the queen."

"When? Captain, are you forgetting the possibility that we may not find him?"

"He went south, Renee, and we're scouting the entirety of the south. We will find him."

"If you say so, but if I may share my opinion, I believe you should be the one headed southwest, because the Forest of Probable Itchiness. That forest is already nigh-impossible for a mewman to cross. You however, have powers that allow you to withstand the itchiness of that place."

"Oh, please. That forest is a major no zone to everyone, mosters included. No one can traverse this forest without proper magic equipment, and now that magic is gone, that place has become completely untraversable."

Renee gave Mina an unsure look at that statement. Mina said she wanted to check every inch of the south, but she's neglecting the forest just like that? It's true the area is hell, something that every member of every kingdom stays away from due to the itchiness it plagues upon its trespassers, but should they just leave it alone? Mina is her superior, if she orders the forest be left alone, she will obey.

"We move at dawn, get some rest."

"Thank you captain, what about you?"

"I'll go get some dinner, then send a crow letter to the queen saying we're splitting up. Now go sleep."

"Yes, captain!"

Mina got up from her seat by the fireplace and began walking away to go send an emergency 'crow letter' as she called it. From what Renee studied, they used crows to send letter during war times to convey messages. Nowadays, such things were forgotten and replaced by new and more inovative methods, but Mina was always an old fashioned one. She shouldn't be so suprised, the captain was over three hundred years old. Back in her day, those things were perfectly normal.

The thought of serving a military legend that is over three centuries old is something no one can just treat as if it's an ordinary thing. Mina, as everyone who ever enlisted into the military knew, was the second greatest warrior to ever grace Mewmanity, only being overshadowed by the one who got her that title in the first place: Solaria, the legendary Monster Carver. She was a pure warmonger, and a terror to all she deemed her enemies. Her open antagonism towards monsters was a fact known through all history. She was a simple queen, had one goal, and she stuck to it until her last breath. She preached how monsters would one day prevail over mewmans unless we eradicate them from all of Mewni. The people followed through with her beliefs and, if not for that that easy-going careless Festivia inheriting the throne, she would have likely succeeded. It's no wonder Mina still looks up to both her, and her beliefs.

"And stop calling me captain, it's just Mina for you." she said, not turning around or stopping.

"Sure thing, captain." Renee put special attention to that last one. As strict as Mina was, the more you get to know her, the more it seems as if she truly is just a normal warrior, and not an ancient killing machine.

 A distant laugh from Mina was all she recieved as an answer.

 ---------------------------------------------

"He's not at the Gate, we're going to split up to make the chase more effective. We will return by week's end."

Moon sighed. Of course he wasn't at the gate, why would he be at the gate? That is literally the worst location to go to while your head is wanted by the top royalty in Mewni. He's too smart for that, he's always a step ahead of anything they do. Did he come up with a plan for absolutely everything?

It's not that his capture was primary objective number one. He left. The results of his actions, however, have not. It was her fault, her failiure that caused this. She failed to beat him, she had a chance, and she failed. Now she has to deal with this. She had high hopes for Mina to find him. She needs to bring him in before he does something else. Without magic to track him down, who knows what he'll do now.

His capture is not her concern, it's Mina's.

Just like her daughter's is Marco's.

Her concern is the kingdom. The shortage of magic has already done major damage to it. The farm shields are down, the Underworld is almost unreachable, and so is the Ponyhead kingdom. Pigeons are in a panic due to the gales and winds distrupting their flying routines, and the waterfolk have just stopped responding altogether. She needs to stay composed and calm; or as her tapestry would say, undaunted. If she fails, everyone fails. Her role in this new era he created is one that cannot tolerate any failiure. So whether or not they find him, she needs to stay calm.

Pocketing the letter Mina's crow delivered, she went to the nearest seat she saw. She was tired. She did so much in just the past twenty four hours.

She ordered the mewman residents in the Ponyhead Kingdom to retreat to ground level so they don't just fall through the clouds and die.

She ordered guards to protect the farms from monsters that want to steal more than they deserve.

She ordered the farmers to get their butts back on the field.

She ordered her servants to do their damn jobs instead of running around headless.

She ordered Marco to look for her daughter.

She ordered Mina to find him.

She ordered the Johansens to increase their corn production and triple their hunting sessions for more meat, since corn can no longer be produced faster due to the magic shortage.

She ordered the Spiderbites to immediately begin purging those damn spiders.

She ordered the waterfolk to respond.

She sent a letter via Mina to ensure the demons stay composed and keep an eye on the Mountain of Boom, nobody needs a new Pomdeii disaster.

She ordered herself to keep going.

Standing up from her seat. She decided to clear her mind by walking through the castle's halls. Maybe she'll visit the gardens, the castle had a dozen of those. Just because she had to stay calm doesn't mean she couldn't take some time off. She needed to rest for a moment, everyone has their limits after all, and she was reaching hers.

To the servants, seeing the queen walk normally for the first time in days was a suprise, to be sure. But a welcome one. It was calming to not see her run and shout as if the world was ending. Which wasn't far off from the truth. Still, seeing the queen calm gave some semblance of comfort into the souls of her servants.

Moon kept her gaze down for the entire trip. She wasn't sure which gardens she wandered into, she just smelled flowers and followed the scent. Passing by a rusted vending machine, the queen figured she had nothing to lose and spent some coins to buy a bar of Snookers to soothe her nerves before her mind implodes behind her back. She sat down at the nearest bench and started munching away at the candy. It was a mix of some caramel-wallnut-corn-chocolate taste, didn't taste too bad; she had worse. Her mind, completely subconsciously drifted onto her daughter. What if Marco doesn't find a way to bring her back? Can she be brought back? What if Marco gets lost in the archives and starves? That happened to a multitude of servants throughout history. What if she loses Marco as well? What if she's gone?

"Where's my daughter?"

"She's gone."

What if she truly is gone..? What will she do with herself then? She already lost her mother, she can't lose her daughter the same way. She won't allow it, she can't. She must get her back. She can't be gone, she can't be.

The alarming increase of the dreaded 'what if' scenario inside her mind sent her into a  state of delirium. Outside, she lookedlike a statue. Inside, it was chaos and entropy.

"Everything really went way too wrong, didn't it?" said a voice behinda nearby bush, making it unable to see the speaker. Not that Moon bothered with turning her head. Instead just opting to speak.

"Tell me about it." she responded dryly.

"Oh I'll tell you alright. There I was, sleeping a deep sleep, having beautiful dreams in the most uncomfortable of beds; and suddenly the bed disappeared! Just like that!"

"Huh, how did the bed just disappear?" Moon responded dryly yet again, half brain dead. The speaker's words were just passing through her left ear and exiting on the right.

"I don't know, so I walked all the way here to see what the fuss is about! Apparently, all of you reached a bit of a pickle here didn't you?" the voice responded weirdly joyfully.

"Yeah. You lost a bed, I lost a daughter. I guess that makes up for the bed." Moon said, seriously not pying attention to either the speaker or the words she was saying. She was lost in some bland, quiet world in her mind. Her wide eyes just staring into the ground.

"Do you.... want to..... talk about it?" the voice became quieter and..... unusually sorrowful.

"Not really, no. Do go away now, please. I'm trying to rest. I need peace."

"If that's what you want. Before I leave, where did you get that bar of Snookers?"

"There's a vending machine in the back. The number is-"

"B4. I know the number, thank you!" said the voice, trailing off into the distance at a slow and even pace.

"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome."

Moon continued staring into the ground. Sitting there like a corpse, or a statue. Not a movement other than her breathing. Eventually, after sitting there for too long, her back started aching and basically pleading for a better, more comfortable position. Using her hands to drag herself into a proper sitting position, she noticed her hands.

The dark veins, to be exact. The spread again, undoubtedly due to her trying to kill him back then in the crater. Why didn't she kill him the first time, she had the shot clear in front of her. She should have just offed him right there and then. Had she done that, this would all be over, and she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. Why, why oh why did she not do it?

Because Eclipsa would have gotten out. She shot his finger off as a warning for everyone to back off, a way to scare the army off and end the war. Had she killed him, she would have been freed. Moon met Eclipsa to make the deal for that spell, the spell she intended to use to kill him. However, once the darkest queen of Mewni, as she was known in history; demanded freedom in return, that is when she changed tactics from murder, into a display of power. If Eclipsa was freed, who knows what terrible fate would befall Mewni. She was evil, history deemed her the biggest evil to ever walk Mewni. Of course she couldn't kill him, she had to choose between two evils, and she chose the lesser.

In the start, however, Eclipsa seemed normal, demanding candy and even proving relatable at some point. She'll admit, the snookers part was creepy, but the relationship and rulership part was mutual territory, so was the part where they both lost their mothers. Only Moon lost her mother to the same monster that just took her daughter. She failed, twice.

Eclipsa was still weird. She'll never forget how she devoured that snooker bar, no mercy whatsoever. Now that Rhombulus is gone, she'll-

"If that's what you want. Before I leave, where did you get that bar of Snookers?"

"There's a vending machine in then back. The number is-"

"B4. I know the number, thank you!"

No.

"Oh I'll tell you alright. There I was, sleeping a deep sleep, having beautiful dreams in the most uncomfortable of beds; and suddenly the bed disappeared! Just like that!"

 "Huh, how did the bed just disappear?" 

 "I don't know, so I walked all the way here to see what the fuss is about! Apparently, all of you reached a bit of a pickle here didn't you?"

 No.

Getting up from the bench faster than lighting in the sky, Moon bolted towards the rusted vending machine.

No way! There was no way!

Turning the corner,vending machine in sight, Moon gazed upon the person consuming the fifth bar of Snookers.

She had old fashioned dark clothes. A dark, long hat. Small, bushy, black hair. Two purple gloves.

And spade shaped cheek marks.

The person in front of her was Eclipsa.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-7: Sleeping Beauty

"Y-Y-Y-You're...."

"Oh, do you want a snookers too? I have some spare change. Oh, what am I saying? Just take one of mine! Here." Eclipsa's voice was bubbly, joyful and competely relaxed; no rush, panic, stress. She was completely and absolutely calm and collected. She had an almost goofy smile on her face as she devoured what must have been the eleventh bar of Snookers so far.

Moon meanwhile, was having a seizure. Her eyes were shrinking to the microscopic levels, she was sweating like a storm cloud, and her breathing completely stopped. She was ten feet away from someone who was declared the greatest evil of the second era of Mewni. Not only that, said evil also seemed to be both relaxed and uncaring about anything that transpired in these past couple of days. Why was she here? She could go anywhere. Of all places, why here?

"Ok, I need to stay calm. She's here, and that's good because she isn't anywhere out in public. I need to keep her here. If anyone sees her, it will start so much chaos that even I won't be able to help anymore. What do I do? Do I kill her? No, I have to question her first. Do I knock her out? That could work, I could leave her in a bush, so no one can find her. No I can't leave her in a bush, what am I thinking."

Moon's thoughts were interrupted by a small, heavy, stone object she caught out the corner of her eye. It was a bust of some old mewman royal, not that it mattered. What mattered it is that she could knock her out now. A swift hit in the head should do the trick. Now she just needs to get it without being spotted.

"Would you like something other than Snookers?" Eclipsa's expression remained unchanged, with her happily looking at Moon with a bright smile on her face.

"Yes. Yes please. Uh, what else does the machine have?" Moon replied, trying to sound happy but failing miserably. If she could get Eclipsa to look away at the machine, Moon could sprint to the bust, pick it up, sneak on Eclipsa, and knock her out. That's a solid plan.

 "OK! Let's see what we have here........" Not a second passed since Eclipsa turned around, and Moon was already running to the bust. Fifteen feet. Ten. Five. She's almost-

"Oooooooh, would you like chocolate cornchips?!" Eclipsa exclaimed, turning around swiftly; leaving Moon with approximately ten miliseconds to stop running. She managed to force herself to stop, even though her legs felt as if they were just suddenly struck with a blunt, large object. It hurt bad.

"Trust me, the chips are amazing! You have to try them, they're soooooo good." It became apparent Eclipsa found something special in the treats that included chocolate. Moon found the idea of chocolate cornchips the worst decision anyone could pick to put in their mouth, but Eclipsa seems to think differently.

"No no no. Thank you but, uh, I don't like chocolate. Maybe something without it?" Moon replied, trying hard to look normal. The bust was five feet away from her, and Eclipsa was about another fifteen feet away from the bust. If she could just grab the bust without Eclipsa noticing, she could pretend as if she just wants to get a closer look at the vending machine's inventory, fooling Eclipsa into thinking she's peaceful, when in reality, she'd be coming in for the strike.

"Oh, okay. Let's see here.... regular cornchips, strawberry cake, Cornshake deluxe...." Eclipsa gazed back at the machine and started looking at the snacks. Meanwhile, Moon jump started the run to her weapon of choice.

Grabbing the bust with her hand, she quickly hid it behind her back, and started calmly walking up to Eclipsa, she needs to act cool and calm. Reaching Eclipsa was easier than she thought it would be, she suspected nothing.

"Oooh, are you a fan of vanilla pudding? I heard it's divine. Wanna try it?" she asked, looking at Moon,who was directly behind her.

"Maybe, maybe. What about that one down there?" Moon replied, pointing at a snack at the bottom. As soon as Eclipsa turns around, she'll knock her out.

"Hm? Oh that. Huh, I didn't take you for someone who likes darkcorn liquorice." it worked, she turned around. It's now or never.

Moon raised the stone bust and swung it with all the strength she could muster, aiming for Eclipsa's head. The hit connected, and a distinct thud could be heard before the dark queen was propelled face first into the vending machine. Her face slammed againt the glass, leaving behind an unconcious ex-queen. Everything from her waist up basically glued to to machine, while everything below was lying on the grassy ground, giving her position an L-type shape.

Moon kept her 'weapon' raised in case the candy lover wasn't completely knocked out. Slowly, she poked Eclipsa's leg with her own to establish if the Snooker devouring monster was still conscious. After ten seconds of no movement from either, Moon dropped the bust onto the ground, gave a deep sigh, and fell on her knees.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok. It's fine. I did it. She's out. Now I need to.... uh..." What does she do now? She has to get her away from open places like this. But where does she take her? The most logial answer is the dungeon. But can she makeit there without being spotted by anyone?

The truth is, Eclipsa is no small deal. If anyone saw her, they would surely anounce the whole thing to all of Mewni, and at that point she could just quit being a queen altogether because even she wouldn't be able to fix that mess. The only option now is to drag Eclipsa to the dungeon herself.

"All I ask for is a break, and now this?"

---------------------------------------------

The dungeon is ten floors beneath hers, since the elevation platforms are offline due to the loss of magic, she has to take the stairway. There are two guards at the stairway's doors, and two more at the dungeon's level. The jailor is not an issue. He's under oath to keep the identity of all prisoners a secret unless said otherwise. Therefore, he will be the only one aside from herself to know there's an evil queen residing within castle grounds. But first things first.

Taking a peek out of the garden's exit to view the hall, Moon saw no staff members in sight. Deciding now is the best time, she grabbed Eclipsa by the arms, and began dragging her down the hallway. She was a lot heavier than she thought. It felt like she was dragging a dragon instead of a tiny, sugar consuming evildoer.

"How heavy are you?! You're so small and thin; how can you weigh this much?!"

After what felt like an eternity of pure physical torture, Moon arrived at the staircase. Just like she expected, there were two guards at the door. But that isn't a problem. She's a queen, she'll just give them a day off or something.

Shoving Eclipsa behind a statue in the hallway, Moon turned the corner, and approached the guards.

"Your Majesty!" the guards exclaimed, saluting their monarch.

"Please, there is no need for that. Tell me, hane neither of you heard the newest orders?" Moon asked, she needed to make them leave without them suspecting anything.

"No your Majesty!" the guard responded, keeping up with the salute and the humble voice.

"Well, the citizens are getting more impatient, and more issues keep appearing at the corn fields." she replid stoically.

"Your majesty?"

"I ordered a majority of the guards to go there to keep the peace stable. You two are also ordered to be there." it wasn't a lie, she did do this. It's just she didn't order these two to go there. She's a queen though, her word is absolute.

"We apologize, your majesty. We will head out now!" said the guards, ending their salute and sprinting to the nearest castle exit.

Moon sighed. That was fortunate, they won't question anything this way. She's the queen, she calls the shots; nothing more needed to be said. Now to get Eclipsa downstairs. Moon took a deep breath, went around the corner, and continued dragging the unconcious queen. The lack of magic made the whole thing a nightmare. Usually, she would cast a simple levitation spell on a heavy object and she could carry it without any issues. However, with no magic around, she has to resort to good old fashioned dragging. Moon quickly made a mental note to add 'difficulty with dragging heavy objects' on the list of crimes she was going to accuse him for once she gets her hands on him.

Grabbing the door handle and opening the door, Moon was about to drag Eclipsa inside when she heard a voice.

"Your majesty!" Exclaimed a young voice in the distance.

"Marco!" Moon exclaimed in suprise. This wasn't good, he was running in the same hallway Moon hid Eclipsa in. If she doesn't do something quick, he'll turn the corner and see her dragging the essence of evil itself. Sure, there's a chance he won't know who she is. Even if he does, Marco is trustworthy. Surely he wouldn't yell the whole thing out, right?

"Marco, slow down. I can't run that far."

Tom Lucitor. Of all places, why is Lucitor with him now at this very second?! Marco is trustworthy, but Tom has always been a short tempered blabber. That settles it, she needs to hide Eclipsa fast. Without thinking, Moon bolted the door to the stairway open. Hearing the footsteps reaching the corner, Moon acted quickly, and with a suprising amount of force, threw the limp body of the dark queen onto the stairway and slammed the door shut just as Marco turned the corner.

"Queen Moon! There you are. We needed to talk to you." there was a trace of hurry in his voice, not that Moon could really focus on it. Her focus was on the sound of a body tumbling down the stairs. Someone is going to have a very painful awakening.

"Your majesty, what was that sound?" said the young Lucitor. He heard it too. This is bad.

"Well.... uh.... we've had an accident. Yes, someone, uh, fell asleep while walking down the stairs and.... tumbled down."

"Well, in any case. We've come to ask you a question." Marco's voice contained a level of... concern?

"I'm sure it is an important one. However, I do need to deal with something right now. Would you mind waiting a little?" she needs to lock Eclipsa up first. Surely the question can wait.

"But-"

"Please, Marco. How about you take some time off now? I'm sure you worked more than hard enough. I'll take care of this, and come to you, okay?"

"It's fine, Marco. We can wait, and besides, you said you were hungry. Come on, let's get some lunch." Tom put his hand on Marco's shoulder, trying to help him out.

"That's true, I am hungry. Guess we're catching up lunch then."

As they were walking away, Moon decided that she might as well tell them of the meeting time and place.

"Meet me at the throne room in two hours. We'll discuss your questions there."

"Yes, your majesty." they answered in unison, bowing and walking away.

Letting out the sight she felt like she was holding forever, Moon opened the door to see what became of the dark queen. Looking both left and right, she couldn't see her. She must have rolled further downwards than expected.

Walking down the wide, spiral staircase, Moon wondered just how far Eclipsa rolled. Hopefully she didn't fall of the edge. The stairway had no safety rails. It was built circling a pillar, and there were tiny bridges connecting floors to the stairway itself. If Elipsa actually fell down, she could very well be dead at this point. 

Luckily, that was not the case. Moon found the slumbering dwarf three circles down, in a body position that should not be possible for anyone to get themselves in.  Her left leg was on her head, her right hand was dandling off the edge, she was drooling, and who knows where her hat went....

"A true sleeping beauty, eh?"

 ----------------------------------------------

"They're coming, you need to go."

"I can't leave you two here! If they find you, you're finished for."

"But... you..."

"I have to stay. They want me, not you! Get out of here, now!"

"No I can't just-"

The conversation was interrupted by the noise of swords clashing and doors breaking. They were close. They'll break in any minute now. Is this it?

"They're here. Go! We have no more time. Take her and leave, I'll stall them enough so you can leave, just go, please.... I can't lose you too. Please go."

"But you-"

The noise got louder, the guards have fallen, they'll be here in a matter of seconds now, it's now or never.

"How did they even know we're here? They can't know, everyone who knows about this swore to keep it a secret."

...

...

...

"Not everyone."

"W-What do you-"

"There's no more time, go! Go!"

"But-"

"Darling, for me. Please go."

The two stared at each other for what felt like an hour, noise dulling in their minds. There was no more time. The only thing separating them from the angry forces of reckoning are a couple of wooden doors. If they're planning on making a move, it has to be done now.

...

...

"Okay, I'm going."

  ----------------------------------------------

Opening her eyes, Eclipsa observed the room she was in. It was cold, damp, and dark. The walls had moss growing on it, and the floor looked like it wasn't cleaned in ages. There was a single 'bed' in the corner, a chair and table bolted to the ground, and what she assumed was supposed to be the toilet in the other corner. She herself had her hands locked in the shackles, whick were connected to a wall via iron chains. It didn't take long to figure out where she was.

"So, I'm in the dungeon."

"Yes, yes you are." came a voice from the chair. She didn't notice her at first. But now, there was no doubt who that was.

"Hello, Eclipsa." she said, getting up with a disgusted expression on her face. She walked closer to Eclipsa. Her footsteps were slow and calculated. She stopped two meters away from Eclipsa, and spoke again.

"I want the two of us to have a little talk."

"Sure thing, Moon."

 ----------------------------------------------

Author's Notes

Well, this was the hardest chapter to write so far. I suppose that's because I don't understand Moon that much.

She had these weird character shifts every season, so I have to find some common ground.

Other than that, thank Glossaryk this chapter is finally over. Now I can get to the spicy stuff.

Also, side note: I'm doing some experiments on the "Author's Notes" (real thing). I want to see if I can figure it out, if I can, maybe I can go back to writing there.

Who knows. Anyways, thank all this chapter is done and gone.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

1-8: Your Contract Has Expired

"I told you, the crystal was gone."

The atmospehere of the room was neither intense, nor relaxed. Instead opting for a mix of awareness, caution, and playful curiosity from Eclipsa. Overall, a precarious position. Moon's eyes glared into the ex-queen, trying to peek into her soul. Eclipsa, meanwhile, wore a interested and playful expression.

"And why did you come here? Surely you knew better?"

"Now, now, Moon. I think it's time that I get to ask a question. That way, we can both inform ourselves on what exactly is happening here, wouldn't you agree?"

"What?! You think I'll tell you anything?! You are the greatest evil to grace the Second Era, I'm not telling you anything."

Moon sat down at the bolted chair in the corner of the room. Did she seriously have the nerve to ask her to tell her anything? She must be insane.

"As you wish. However, I intend to answer none of your questions until I myself get some answers."

"Of course you won't, you candy monster."

She has to get some answers out of Eclipsa. She needs to know every detail of what she did during the period of which she was free.

Moon already knew much of the situation, it wasn't hard to put some pieces together. Eclipsa was freed due to the crystals depending on magic, the stronger the magic, the stronger the crystal. Now that magic was gone they must have turned into sludge.The question now was why did she come here of all places? Does she not know how evil history regards her? Does she know magic is gone?

"Hey Moon, quick question. You called me the 'greatest evil to grace the Second Era', is that truly what history made me out to be? Because I know some people that could fill that spot much better than dear old me." Eclipsa's voice rang out, once again layered with curiosity and amusement.

...

...

...

"Yes, that is what you are. That is what history has shown us you are. A dark, evil queen who sided with the monsters. An evil individual who threw away her responsibility to marry a shapeshifter, and completely abandon her people."

".... I see..."

"Now it's my turn again, isn't it? That's how you agreed to this, is it not?" Moon asked, annoyance, irritation and a slight hint of cockiness present in her voice.

The response got Eclipsa's attention; her smile vanishing for a split second, replaced by a serious expression.

"Indeed it is, Moon."

"Why did you come here?"

...

"I wanted to see what the ruckus is about. When I came out, I didn't know how many years passed since our meeting. So, after getting out of the confused mess all the other imprisoned monsters were causing, I came here; and what a time it is. Seems you're having some issues with magic, huh?" the serious expression was once again replaced by her smug smile.

Moon's only response was absolute silence.

"I'll take that as a yes. My turn. How did that spell work out for you?"

Moon's eyes widened. The memory of the deal and the usage of the dark spell was not a pleasant one. The whole reason she shot off his finger instead of his heart was to ensure Eclipsa would not get out, and yet, here she is. It's once again as if what she did was meaningless. She's out, he's alive and doing who knows what, and her daughter ended up like her mother. Great. Just great.

"Our deal didn't work out, Eclipsa. Nor have I intended it too."

"That's a pity. However, it seems that contract has expired. I'm out now."

Silence reigned supreme once again, neither of the two saying a word, instead opting to look at the mossy, cracked floor.

"The lack of magic; that's why I'm free, right?" Eclipsa's silent, expressionless voice asked. Despite that, they both kept their gaze locked onto the ground.

"Yes, yes it is." Moon answered quickly, not giving much thought into whether her saying that was actually a good move.

"Does the rest of the kingdom know I'm free? Because if so, you might have some chaos on your hands."

"No, they don't know. Only I and the jailor know you're here."

"You trust the jailor not to spill the secret out?"

"He won't, he's sworn to the crown. He swore his loyalty, and he's proven rather trustworthy in the past."

"Sworn to it, huh? Some people won't stick to a sworn oath. Trust me, I learnt the hard way."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that sometimes, those you thought you knew won't hesitate to give you up."

Eclipsa's gaze became cold and angry after saying that. Her eyes held a deep, ancient hatred and cruel intent. Whatever the case was, it affected her deeply. Of course, Moon studied history, she knew the details of the Second Era down to a fault, and even studied what little historical knowledge remained of the First and Zeroth Era; so it wasn't hard to guess which event she was mad about.

"It is said that, when you ran away, all of Mewni couldn't find you. You remained hidden for almost a year, until the Magical High Commission met an unnamed person who revealed to them the location of your residence. Is that the oath you're talking about?"

Eclipsa's only response was silence.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Walking to the door, Moon spared one last look on Eclipsa.

"I'll talk to the jailor to have your chains removed, then he'll bring you lunch. As evil as you are, I'm not letting you starve until we're through."

 ----------------------------------------

"Vice-captain Renee, why have we stopped?" asked the voice of a confused mewnicorn rider.

The vice-captain, however, was focused on the woods in front of her. The Forest of Probable Itchiness. Known to Mewni as one of its most dangerous spots. The forest was infested with little mosqito-like beings, a single sting from them causes severe itchiness to the one bit. The issue was not the itchiness itself,but the fact that, if one gets bit multiple times, the accumulated skin irritation causes the muscles to simply stop responding, after which the poor victim is left to the mercy of the flying pests. Add a few more stings after that, and one's organs cease to function, killing the individual. It's... without a doubt, one of the most dangerous places in Mewni.

"Vice-captain, why have we stopped here? We are supposed to scout all of the southwest to find the criminal. Captain Mina said so. Why are we stopping here ma'am?"

...

...

...

"Ma'am-"

"Don't you 'ma'am' me. I'm the vice-captain, call me such you simple minded fool. If you want to keep on going, be my guest. We're just stopping for a quick look around."

"You don't think of going in there, do you? You do know that even monsters stay away from this place, right?"

It was true, the forest is avoided by all. The pests inside spare no one. It would be a really stupid move if he came here. Heck, he's a Septarian, right? They always regenerate. Meaning if he came here, he would subject himself to true hell. Septarins are regerative, they can't just die. If he's in here, then once his musles lock down, he would die over and over due to his organs failing, and then regenerating themselves. It would be pure torture. Still, the forest clung to her mind like glue.

"If you say so, but if I may share my opinion, I believe you should be the one headed southwest, because the Forest of Probable Itchiness. That forest is already nigh-impossible for a mewman to cross. You however, have powers that allow you to withstand the itchiness of that place."

"Oh, please. That forest is a major no zone to everyone, monsters included. No one can traverse this forest without proper magic equipment, and now that magic is gone, that place has become completely untraversable."

Still, weren't the meadows around this place popular during the Zeroth Era? It's impossible to tell now, there was literally almost nothing left of that time, the only thing left was speculation and some embedded lore they tell you when you're young. It was quite literally a nigh-forgotten time. I mean, how could anyone remember details of a past Mewmans weren't even present in?

"Vice-captain, the sun is setting, we need to go if we wish to cover everything we planned for today." said the voice of a different rider. She knew she had to get moving. But she kept her gaze on the forest a little longer.

"He can't be in there, there is no way." she murmured to herself, the sudden wind blowing in her long and messy brown hair.

Reajusting her helmet, she turned her gaze away from the woods.

"How much longer until we get everything done?" she asked.

"About an hour of riding left, vice-captain."

"Good, you go. I'll stay here for a while longer."

"But, vice-captain-"

"Go!"

...

...

...

"Yes, vice-captain." with that, the riders carried on west, the sound of mewnicorns getting more distant with each passing second. Renee fixed her gaze back on the woods.

Getting off her mewnicorn, she tied its leash to a nearby isolated tree, and proceeded to walk to the forest's rim. It was quiet, no sound but her footsteps on the tall grass, and the wind blowing. Coming up to the forest, she took a cautious step in.

The forest was quiet. Nothing was moving, it's as if time itself stopped. Her eyes, now focused, slowly moved from right to left, observing the forest. Her breathing was even and shallow, her eyes unblinking, her mind sharp.

The next thing she felt was extreme itchiness on her right shoulder. The bastards were as quiet as they were stealthy. Turning her head, she saw the micro-annoyance attempt to fly away from her.

"Not today, you schmuck!" Renee quicly pulled out her sword with her right hand, and effortlessly sliced the winged insect in half.

It was exactly then when she noticed another dozen of them approach her from the side. Keeping the speed from her beggining swing, Renee turned around and sliced another one. Keeping the speed of her swing, she did another spin before cutting the next one.

If there was one type of combat Renee exceled at, it was swordfighting. She learnt it quickly and she mastered it in record timing. One of the things she found out is that if you never stop your swing, and instead guide it into the next target, the hit becomes more effective, due to increased force and power building up in it. Therefore, to anyone watching her fight, it would seem more as if she was dancing rather than fighting. However, no one could deny that she was without a doubt the best swordfighter in the army. Her experience with the blade and inclusion of a unique fighting style made her a fearsome foe. Renee herself preferred to view it more as a dance with death than a fight, which is likely why she earned herself the unofficial title of 'Death's Dancer'.

Still, when it comes to combat; the objective is to survive and win.

Easily dispatching the rest of the flying pests, Renee swiftly leaped away from the forest's edge.

"That confirms it. I merely stepped inside the damn place and I was already swarmed with the cursed things." the itch on her shoulder lived up to its reputation. The insect stung her through the fabric of her attire, and the itch will remain for a few hours, could be bothersome if she wants to go sleep earlier.

"At least this shows he couldn't have gotten in. He would have gotten swarmed the moment he entered. He's not here."

Holsting back her sword, Renee went to untie her steed. She has to catch up with her unit.

Getting up on her mewnicorn, she scratched her shoulder one more time, and cast a final gaze unto the forest.

"So long, forest."

 And with that, she departed.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-9: Not There

"So, those things will predict the way I'm gonna die?"

"Totally dude. I haven't had one yet myself, but people say they're life changers."

"Yeah, I think I'll pass. I don't really want to test my luck on these."

"To be honest, now that there's no magic they're really just normal food."

"Huh. Still, I'll pass."

Marco took the first opportunity provided to get out of the castle. He spent a week straight inside, it was time to get out and see something other than books, statues, and paintings of some old geezers. Therefore, Tom suggested they get something to eat outside castle grounds. Truthfully, appreciated the fresh air and being able to see the sky. It was grey and dull, but better than the constant marble walls that decorated the royal residence. They got some food at some fast food establishments, or rather, Mewni's versions of fast food. It was slow. He was fairly sure these can't clasify as fast food, but Tom informed him that they indeed are fast food joints, but the lack of magic prevents them from speeding up the cooking process.

Marco had to admit, mewmans were very dependant on magic. To them, it was like electricity to them; hidden behind every corner. The books he read in the archives had a lot of information on the integration of magic into their daily lives. Magic was just a really good thing, it advanced their medicine, education, agriculture, military, astronomy...

Marco's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shouting and arguing. Looking over, he could see the event in question. A local pharmacy was subjected to a loud and angry debate over what Marco could only imagine was medicine. The cashier was having an argument with a customer on available medicine. It was not a pretty sight, not at all. To be fair, it looked like a fight was incoming. He knew what it was about, of course. Magic greatly influenced medicine. Dozens of diseases were cured via magic. It was done by magic being 'infused' into the herbs which were then inserted into pills and syrups.

"Hey, Marco? Dude?" said the worried voice of the demon prince.

"Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"Your food, here you go."

"Oh..."

Rather than staying to witness the chaos that would arrise at the pharmacy, the two boys headed elsewhere, content on just roaming the town aimlessly. However, no matter where they went, the same thing awaited.

Chaos.

Chaos and hostility.

The complete annihilation of magic had an extremely negative impact on Mewni. Mewmans can't live like they used to anymore. Not only does the lack of magic make their every day life harder, but it also nullifies the centuries of progress that it allowed. It was only natural that the entire kingdom would be taking the news negatively. What else could they do? A valuable resource was taken away from them, and none of them can do anything about it. What must have been a peaceful and tranquil town is now filled with chaos and anarchy. People were arguing over food, clothing, shelter, medicine, about how they're going to do some things now, why there's no more shields on their farms, why the queen hasn't fixed the problem...

What a whirlwind of confusion.

Fifteen minutes later they reached the corn fields. The amount of guards stationed here was certainly and impressive view. They had every inch of the area on lockdown. With Mina hunting him down, and the minority of the guards protecting the castle, the rest of the military was positioned here. Why such a high concetration of soldiers here was a question that popped in Marco's mind.

"It's because of the monsters." said Tom, uninterested.

"Huh?"

"You're wondering why so many soldiers are here, right? It's because of the monsters. They started stealing corn after the shields came down."

"Monsters and mewmans don't really have a grand history, do they?"

"Nope, they do not. It's a thing, really. Luckily though, magic always kept things in proper order."

"Used to. Magic's not a thing anymore, I'm afraid." Marco quickly corrected him.

"Indeed it isn't. There's no magic anymore, it's not there. I do wonder how this will all play out in the end though. Mewni has been dealt a serious blow."

"We should head back to the castle, we need to ask the queen about him."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

The walk back was as dull as it was cautious. The air in the town really dropped down from a more friendly environment, to a more dangerous one. It's not like that truly mattered now, they've reached the castle. Entering inside, Marco was met with the familiar scent of enclosed air and the sight of endless marble halls. The castle's design was very unique.

Unlike castles on Earth, the Butterfly Castle was bulit into the mountain, basically haing the mountain be a shield, and the hollowed insides the rooms. Because of this, all rooms in the castle depths lacked both windows and fresh and cool air. The latter was fixed by magic, but now that there's no magic left, the castle's depths became hotter than a desert during high noon. However, the reason it still resembled a castle on the outside is because of the large number of towers and spires erected from the mountain. They were all interconnecting via small bridges, and kept the mountain hidden from view. Well, it was still visible, but less.... hideous for the eye.

The true magnificence layed not in those things, but rather in the amazing amount of hidden chambers and corridors that lay hidden and undiscovered. The castle had no blueprint, and since a majority of it was built inside of a mountain, there was no external viewpoints to find any irregularities in the structure. All in all, it was a fierce fortress. One would need all the apocalyptic power to bring something like this down.

"We need to get to the queen." said Marco, expressionless and determined.

"Yeshh. Buff Mawco, canf I jusht finishh my meal? I haff a shmall bit lefft." Tom attempted to speak with his mouth full, but Marco still understood most of what he said.

"Eat as you walk, demon boy. Come on."

"Wowf. Nwo cshill." muffled Tom, following the other boy.

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So, I have Eclipsa locked tight in the dungeons. The only one who knows about her is me and the jailor, but he's not gonna rat out to anyone. Eclipsa got out because the lack of magic softened Rhombulus' crystals to the point of melting like sludge. I should have known that. He did mention that the more magic weakens, the more his crystals lose their sturdyness. Mina should be returning soon. She did say she would come later, but she somehow always finishes her job a few days before the deadline. No doubt because of that vice-captain of hers. Smart lady, that one. Maybe they've found him, or at least have some positive news.

"Your majesty. We're here."

Marco.

"Hello Marco. Hello Tom."

"We've arrived on time, just as you wanted."

"So, regarding the question you wanted to ask me.... what is it?"

Marco stopped a few feet in front of the queen, Tom stopping right behind him. This was it, this is where it counts. The answer to this question could change a lot of things. With a deep breath, he asked.

"Do we have any idea where Glossaryck is?"

Silence reigned through the throne room, the boys holding their breaths and the queen staring absent-mindedly. You could hear the window cleaner from the other tower screaming in terror as he's plummeting down to his doom. Then, with a calm expression, the queen answered.

"We have no idea where he is." she said, walking back toher throne and sitting down, resting her legs and breathing slowly, she continued in a sad tone.

"When I went with the Magical High Commision to capture Ludo, he was kind enough to inform us that Glossaryck was not there anymore. Apparently, he left."

...

...

...

...

"He left? He can't just leave! Isn't he bound to the book?!" said the angry and annoyed voice of the Lucitor descendant.

"Glossaryck does whatever he wants. We can't do anything to him." replied the queen. "The more important question is if you found anything in the archives?"

"Nothing, your majesty." replied Marco. "We hoped Glossaryck would have answers, or at least make this easier."

"Wait!" yelled Tom, hitting some idea. "Can't we interrogate Ludo to find out more details?"

The queen was quick to reply.

"We cannot. He has completely shut down since the end of that battle. He has shut down, and just spends his days staring at the wall and staying still as if he was a statue. He doesn't respond, talk, and barely eats."

...

...

...

"We need to go there." said Marco.

"What?" replied both Tom and Moon.

"We need to go to the place where he was hiding. We need to look around, find clues. I'm sure Glossaryck left something behind to find him."

...

...

...

"If you believe that will help." said Moon. "But how will you get there?"

And then, by either fate or pure coincidence, the sound of a horn went of in the distance.

"Huh. It seems Mina is back."

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It wasn't much longer until Mina, with Renee close behind her, arrived at the castle grounds. The sounds of dozens of mewnicorns stampeding dying down in the wind. Dismounting her horse, Mina got to her feet, and once again with Renee close behind, headed to the castle entry, where the queen was waiting, along with the demon prince and the human boy.

"Mina, you're back earlier than usual."

"Indeed we are, your majesty." Mina said, entering a bow.

Moon wasted no time.

"Did you find him?"

The answer was only silence.

"I asked you if you found him, Mina." Moon repeated.

Silence was once again the only response. However, as Mina was silent, her vice-captain answered for her.

"We searched all of the south. He's nowhere to be found. He's not there."

 -----------------------------------------------

 Author's notes

I will explain why this is so late, and I beg you listen.

A few hours from now, I will depart to England, where I will attend a drama course for two weeks.

This has a kind of entry exam that I studied for, making me unable to write so quick.

However, once I either fail or succeed that "exam", I will be free from all delays, and will ACTUALLY be able to write in quick mode.

That exam is also the reason this chapter is so short, I had no time.

Please forgive me for the delay. I do have a way to update while in England, so I won't just disappear for two weeks.

Depending on when you're reading this, I might be there already. Either way, sorry for not uploading so long.

But I promise you that I WILL finish this story no matter what.

Either way, really gotta book it now.

I love you all, and thank you for being patient, I promise chapters will soon start dropping quicker.

Ciao!

Chapter Text

Monsters , Mewmans , Magic

Chapter 1-10: Strawberry Scented Incense 

The tallest spire of the Butterfly castle was bursting with loud, irrational, rushed, and hurried noises coming from the feet, voices, and rustled papers being strewn through the rooms and halls.

After Mina’s personal bastion of troops returned without their objective, the queen was... less than happy. That’s not to say she was mad or anything, far from it. In fact, the first thing she did was order Mina, her vice, Marco, Tom, and some other higher ups in the military to the strategy room to discuss further action. The whole thing happened so fast, many of the ones present were not sure if it actually happened at all. Well, if you ignore the fact that they were now all gathered in front of the map of Mewni with the queen questioning and demanding answers for everything.

“So he’s not south?” Questioned Moon.

“No, your majesty.” Answered Mina.

“How can he not be south?”

“We do not know, Marco Diaz informed me that he headed south. It might be he was mistaken. You hear that Earth boy?! You’re helping the enemy escape! You said he went south, you were sure of it!”

“I told you, he passed the cornfields, that’s the direction I saw him take!” Rebuked Marco, taken by surprise. 

“And the cornfields are south!” Yelled Tom, supporting Marco.

“We scouted everything possible that was in the south.” Mina said.

“We even checked the Lucitor Gate, he didn’t go there, the demons said so themselves, and we have little reason to doubt them.” Said Renee, supporting Mina.

“Can he not enter the Underworld differently?” Asked an unfamiliar army general.

“No, magic was the primary way travel was dealt with when it came to the Underworld and the rest of Mewni. Now that magic is gone, that crummy gate is the only way in or out. Thank the flames we have it, it was useless until now.” Answered Tom.

“Thank queen Celena for that one. She was the one who ordered it’s construction about two hundred years ago.” Moon said under her breath.

“That was a weird queen.” Said Mina. “She was always locked up in her tower, doing who knows what. The few things she did order the kingdom to do were weird and made no logical sense. Not to mention, one day she just started looking at me eerily fondly. She just started looking at me as if she was my grandma or something, telling me how I was this and that; and she stayed that way until she died. Weird, weird queen.”

“Again with the Celena story, captain?” Came the voice of her vice, who sounded like she heard that tale a hundred times. Which was likely, considering how old Mina was, and how many memories she contained within that brain of hers.

“What? It’s true. She wasn’t like Solaria, now she was a proper queen. Always ready, always in her prime, ready to whip out that wand and cut down everything in front of her. Her voice, filled with determination, with confidence, with POWER. Now, that, Renee, is a queen. Not that meek-voiced, shy, timid brat. A queen is supposed to do what is best for her people, like Solaria did; not sit around and make others do the work on something that doesn’t help anyone in the slightest.”

“Mina, stop. Please.” Said a tired Moon. She wasn’t up for ‘Story time with Mina Loveberry’. She had an issue to fix.

“Marco, did you and Tom find anything that could help find my daughter in that blasted maze of books.”

“Only some tidbits of information, nothing too concrete, the entire thing is just a giant convoluted mess. We hoped-”

“I know, you hoped Glossaryck could help see things more clearly.”

Moon glanced at the map sprawled out on the table. It showed all of Mewni on it, plus the Underworld, which was by far the biggest realm of them all. Mewni was the surface layer, kingdoms sprawled on top of it. However, beneath hundreds of kilometers lies the Lucitor Kingdom, more commonly known as the Underworld. That kingdom spread through the entire bottom layer, meaning it was as large as Mewni. However, there was a major disadvantage. More than 80% of that underground area was covered in a deep, deep ocean of magma, preventing any towns or settlements to be established there. There were also enormous columns of rock rising from their depths to the top, acting as support to keep the surface layer from falling on top of the bottom one. Taking that into account, the Lucitor kingdom was actually quite small, considering they have less than 20% of the Underworld to actually work with.

Tracing her finger through the map of Mewni, she stopped when it hit the Jaggy Mountains. They were at the eastern northernmost part of Mewni, and in them was a certain location that was not present on the map. The reason it wasn’t present because the structure was one of the last known remnants from the Zeroth Era; and since that era was so far back in the past, the thing was considered useless and as nothing more than a remnant of the very distant past.

Until recently.

That building was the Monster Temple.

“There is an old structure in the Jaggy Mountains. It’s ancient and not on this map. It was in that place that he resided in before he attacked us, and where Glossaryck was last seen.” Said Moon, not lifting her gaze from the map.

“You don’t mean the Monster Temple?! That old place, really?!” Mina yelled, surprising everyone.

“Oh-oh.” Said Renee quietly, so that no one noticed.

“That, Mina, is the last place we know of where he resided. Perhaps we can find something we can use.” Moon cut her off before she could begin another speech. “It’s also the last place where we know Glossaryck was.”

“And we know that how?!”

“Ludo told me.”

“Ludo?!?! That crazy Avarius descendant? He’s mad, and he tried to take over the kingdom. We can’t trust him! What we need to do is get down to the dungeons and torture the truth out of him.”

“He’s completely broken down, we won’t get anything out of him for a while yet. Besides, he was honest with me when it came to the book and family.” Moon said, calm and collected.

Mina was breathing deep and massaging her temples.

“And...” Moon continued “You’re taking these two with you.” She said, pointing at Marco and Tom.

“WHAT?!” The boys yelled in unison.

“You said you needed to find Glossaryck. Since he was last seen there, you two are going with Mina.”

“Welp.” Said Renee “I can see where this is all going, so I’mma go relax and meditate. I bought some cheap strawberry scented incense a couple of weeks ago; they should still be in good condition. See you around.” 

Walking to the door, she was interrupted by her superior calling her.

“You bought incense again?”

“Yes, captain.”

“Can I have some?”

Renee turned around and looked into Mina’s eyes. The room was dead silent. Nobody said anything, nobody moved and nobody even breathed....

...

...

“No.”

With that, Renee left.

”Oh come on Ren, please!” Yelled Mina, running after her second in command and slamming the door on her way out.

After a few seconds, Moon glanced at the two boys.

“You two both best get acquainted with them. They’ll be in tower seventeen; and tell them you’re leaving at dawn.”

The boys just stood there, watching the queen without moving at all. They were staring at her, then the door, then her again.

“Well boys, Off you go.”

True to the queen’s words, the two warriors were indeed in tower seventeen. The strong smell of incense gave it all away.

Entering the chamber decorated with armor platings, war maps, books on war strategies and army positioning, swords and other weapons, excess drinks, a bowl with sliced up.... lime...? In the center of the room there was a couch with Renee meditating on it. Slowly approaching her, she spoke.

“I know you’re there. I could feel your movement disturb the flow of incense.”

“What? You can do that?“ asked Tom, seemingly amazed.

“No, of course not. You stepped on a corn chip.” She said, giving a small chuckle.

The boys looked down and saw that Tom did indeed step on a corn chip. The small crack must have given away their location, not that they heard it.

“So...” she continued, getting up from her seat. “...you two are stuck with us on the next mission, huh?”

“Yes. Yes we are. And you are?” Marco asked.

“Vice-captain Renee, Mina’s right hand lady.”

Meeting up in the middle of the room, Renee looked at the two individuals.

“Come, my captain is waiting downstairs.”

Renee proceeded to lead them to a wooden door located at the back of the room. Opening it, the boys were met with total darkness. Renee then stepped away and motioned to them to get in. The inside was dark, so they couldn’t see what was within. According to Renee, it should be a stairway downwards to Mina. Time to see what lies inside the darkness.

Stepping inside, the boys were met with nothing. Sensing nothing, they continued onwards and onwards slowly.

...

...

...

Until a leg shot out of the shadows and crashed into Tom’s face, sending him flying out the room, past Renee, and onto the sofa in the room. Before Marco could respond to Tom likely cracking his skull, a fist came crashing into his; sending him flying right on top of the demon prince.

“You fools, you feel victim to one of the classic blunders! And that is never trust a stranger! If this was war, you two would be dead!” Yelled an angry figure inside of the dark room. Emerging from it came Mina Loveberry.

“If you two knuckleheads want to go with us into dangerous territory, we gotta make sure you can fight. Renee, show me what they can do!”

“Yes captain.”

“I told you, it’s just Mina for you.”

“Sure thing, captain Mina.”

Walking to the boys, Renee grabbed one of the swords from the wall and aimed it at the two. 

“I won’t kill you. That’s kinda illegal now, and I promise to go easy... at first.”

Then, she charged. Jumping into the air and swirling the sword downwards, heading for a thrust. The boys had little time to react. Without much thinking, Marco leapt out of Tom and ended in one corner of the room. Tom rolled out of the sofa to the floor, narrowly dodging the blade. Speaking of, the blade went straight through the sofa and pierced the wooden floor. In a second, Renee pulled her sword out of the sofa and lock her eyes onto the nearer boy - Tom. He was laying on the floor underneath her. She readied herself for a slash.

“You won’t kill us my butt. She’s crazy!” Tom screamed, trying to crawl or roll away to dodge. It wasn’t happening. She’s got him. Without a blink, Renee slashed the sword towards Tom. He closed his eyes and braced for pain.

But it never came.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a halberd’s head between his face and Renee’s sword. The halberd’s holder was Marco.

“Tom, get out.” Tom didn’t have to hear that twice. Instead, he got on his knees, and launched himself towards a wall containing crossbows and other throwing weapons. Marco swiped Renee’s blade away from his halberd and repositioned himself. Standing firm and facing Renee. His brown eyes staring into her equally brown eyes.

“Throwing away a chance to deliver a killing blow to a distracted opponent to save your partner? Respectable, but let’s see if your skills can keep up with that.”

Running ahead, Marco thrusted his halberd at a calm Renee, intended to clash blades. Once he does that, Tom can shoot her with a crossbow, if he grabbed one by now. However, Renee was not playing that game, instead doing a small pirouette and jumping over the halberd, spinning her sword along with her own body spinning in the air. She landed precisely behind Marco, and launched another slash directly at Marco, her jump-spin attack having cut the wooden handle of the halberd three times, cutting of the tip, rendering what Marco was holding nothing more than a stick.

In blind panic, Marco grabbed the entire small glass table next to him and used it to block the sword. It did just that. The sword went halfway through the table, and was then stuck inside. Using the time of Renee’s vulnerability, delivered a kick to her leg. The attack landed, and Renee, forced to undertake a tactical retreat, jumped away from the boy, but leaving the sword lodged into the glass table.

Marco put the table down and lodged the blade out, intending to use it as a weapon. Renee was distracted by a sound of a crossbow cocking. Looking to her right, she saw the Lucitor ready to fire a bolt directly at her. He took aim and quickly and fired the shot, however it was an easy dodge. Renee merely moved her head to the side and the bolt flew right past her head and out the window. Soon after, the bolt entered through a window of a different tower and a loud sound of an impact was heard, followed by a loud scream.

“AAAAA!!! My foot!!! Someone shot me in the foot!!”

Ignoring the screams of whichever poor soul that was, Renee looked back at Tom.

“Well done young Lucitor, you shot an innocent person. Did you really think you could hit me with such an obvious shot?”

“No, not at all...” Tom said “...I just needed to distract you.”

Eyes widening, Renee turned her gaze back to Marco and saw that he had not decided to charge at her, as she expected, but rather decided to throw the sword instead. It was spinning quickly and heading right at her. The spin made it impossible to identify which part of her body would be impaled should it hit her. However, Renee had way too many years of experience with swordplay.

So, she waited for the spinning blade of doom to come close to her, after which she slid right past it, passing it by inches. However the point was not to let it pass, but rather....

Extending her hand, she grabbed the sword’s handle mid-spin, turned around swiftly, and using the power built up both by the sword already having spun and her boost of personal strength, launched it right back at Marco.

There was no dodging this, the blade was way to quick, there was no time to react, it was headed straight for Marco. Neither him or Tom can stop it, they can only watch the spinning blade of death approach it’s target.

“Is this... how I die? Is this it?”    

Marco closed his eyes like Tom before him and readied for impact.

...

...

...

But it never came.

Marco opened his eyes and glanced at Tom. His eyes were not focused on Marco anymore though, rather on something else. Renee was also looking at something else. Looking down, the sword that was just flying towards to end him was handle deep in the wall 10 feet away to his right. What happened?

“I said no killing, we don’t want the boy to die.” Came the voice of Mina.

All three turned to her. Mina was standing in the corner, holding a dagger. Glancing back at the sword, Marco noticed a dagger on the ground not far from it. So Mina threw a dagger at the blade, hit it, and the impact sent the sword into the wall rather than into Marco.

“You two are quick-witted and know how to use your environment, to a degree. You still need some training though. Had Renee gone serious on you, you’d both be dead before you could have even gotten off that sofa.” Mina continued.

“Now newbies, welcome to my unit, once you’re done being pumped with adrenaline, come join Renee and I. Ren, come on.”

With that, Mina and Renee left the room without any further words, leaving Tom and Marco alone. The two just looked at themselves, each other, and then the door.

With a sigh, they collapsed.

Author’s Notes.

This is my favorite chapter so far, I loved writing it.

The test went great, and now QUICKER CHAPTERS can commence, starting with this one.

So yay. Also, I think I got the Author’s notes issue down, but I’ll do this one last test.

Man I loved writing this chapter.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-11: Into the Temple

“....and that, losers, is how you ride a mewnicorn!”

Having explained the basics of mewnicorn riding to the two boys, Renee left them alone and went to her own steed. The riders were once again set to ride, and Mina was ready and primed for a long, long trek. 

The mission was given. Go north, to the Monster Temple, and locate whatever traces of Glossarzck remained, as well as any hints on him. Was Renee in the mood to ride so far twice in less than a month? No, of course she wasn’t. However, she liked to travel, and working with Mina pretty much means you’re always on the move. But, as much as she liked traveling, she wished these world-span rides were a bit more..... separated apart.

Oh well, what can one do.

Meeting up with her superior at the helm of the riding horde, Renee looked at Mina, a look she returned. Hoping the boys managed to climb the horses and get into formation, Mina looked back ahead, and began the ride.

“Marco, how long have we been riding for?” Tom asked, exhausted.

“I don’t know Tom..... hours?” Marco replied, equally exhausted.

“Should we...... should we ask Mina how much farther? The sun.... it’s almost gone.”

“Hold on, I’ll come with you, I wanna hear this.”

“Isn’t she some ancient warmonger or something?” asked Marco.

“Not really, she’s an ancient warrior. Different things. She worked with queen Solaria, who’s like the most famous queen of Mewni to ever live on this planet. Basically, the queen used some wacky spell on Mina and turned her into this mega monster killing machine. There used to be more of them, but the others were driven by pure bloodlust, so they were executed all executed during Festivia, Eclipsa’s daughter’s reign. Mina was the only one kept alive due to being motivated by pure loyalty to Solaria, rather than lust for death and doom.”

“Uh... neat?”

“Oh and she’s pretty much Star’s idol.””

“What?”

“Oh yeah. Star loves her. She’s an awe inspiring force to Star. Maybe that’s why Star is always wacky and explosive.”

...

...

...

...

“We’ll be sure to ask her when we bring her back.” Said a determined, steely eyed Marco.

“Y-yes.” Tom said, regaining hope. “....yes we will.”

“Captain Mina!” Exclaimed a young voice in the back.

“Who’s calling me now for magic’s sake?!” Mina yelled, not bothering to look backwards.

“It’s the kids, captain.” Responded Renee, calm and also looking ahead.

Catching up to the captain and her vice, the boys began to slow down their horse-like unicorns-that-are-neither-but-something-else-but-who-knows next to Mina. While the boys looked tired and barely keeping their body moving, Mina and Renee seemed like they could ride for at least twenty four more hours. Which was expected. Mina and Renee trained for these moments their whole lives. This sort of thing should be expected and normal to them. 

What the hell was the queen thinking, sending them on a mission together? I mean, sure, it was the fastest way to get a job done, but was sending them with Mina really the best option? Actually, why was he surprised? The objective was to make this whole thing both efficient and quick, and Mina’s the one who fits that role best. There’s no doubt about that. The real question was could Tom and him survive until they get there?

“Captain Mina...” said a tired Marco “...how much further?”

“How much further? Boy, we’ve only passed the halfway point like an hour ago.” Said Mina, seemingly surprised that the boy would ask such a dumb question.

“Only half way??!!” Marco yelled. “Only half way?!?!”

“Yes pip-squeak, now stop groveling like a little baby and keep your eyes on the path ahead.” Mina responded.

“Hey, cap. Shouldn’t we lay it off. They’re not exactly used to riding for a full day.” Came the voice left from Mina. The voice was, of course, Renee’s.

Marco spared a prolonged glance at the vice-captain, sending her a subtle ‘thank you’ look. She noticed, but seemingly decided to ignore showing any response. Mina, however, was quick to respond.

“Ren, I told you before, this is a mission. We’re not slowing down because these two chumps can’t handle a little bit of extra overwork.”

“Overwork my butt! Mina, you’re gonna kill us!” Cried out Tom.

“That’s captain Mina for you, prince Lucitor.” Replied Mina, equally loudly. “Now get those butts of yours back into the damn line before I nail it on my trophy wall.”

Without further desire or willpower to argue with an army machine like Mina, Tom and Marco started heading back towards their original post. 

“Hey, Tom. Cheer up, we’re halfway there, that’s something.” Said a type-of-soothing voice of Marco. 

“Yeah, I suppose it is...”

What felt like two eternities later, they reached the temple. The primordial structure looming over all else in sight. It was a fortress, but the design looked so obsolete compared to what you would see in these more modern times. Not to mention the state of decay and ruin the thing was under influence by. It was ancient and abandoned; rarely used through history. At least, that’s what those history books in the archives said.

The books in that section....

“....Marco!”

“Aaaaa! What? Who’s here? What happened?” Questioned Marco, being completely disconnected from reality due to his observation and view of the ancient building.

“I asked you if you wanted to share a tent with me? They’re two-person shared ones. I’ve wanted to share mine with you.”

“Uhhhhh.... sure.... Sure!” Marco replied.

Finally getting of the damn horse-thing, the boys took a long break on the ground. They’ve been riding so slow that standing still seemed impossible; nothing more than a cheat or error in the universal system. Time seemed to slow to a halt and blood was both accelerating and slowing at nigh unnoticeable speeds. Their now limp bodies became one with immobility and melted into the ground while the sky sang a lullaby of comfortable rest as all became one and one became seven which became the two of them but they’re actually one and-

“Wake up, schmucks! Passing out is illegal without your tents set up! You’re allowed to pass out only after you set it up!”

“What no wait we weren’t no wait we ah stop where awake we are yes.” The mess of the two voices yelling in unison trying to both awaken and answer Renee that they weren’t sleeping is something that really just ended up as nothing more than a pile of words with no logical meaning while their two bodies attempt to stand up.

“So uh, can you stop flipping out and actually stand up?”

“Yes vice-captain.” Yelled Marco in unison, jumping up straight and firm.

“Y-y-yes, Vice-captain.” Said a more groggy looking Tom, getting up into a hunched underworld salute, for some reason.

“Good!” Exclaimed Renee. “Now, as much as I’d like to tell you to just set up camp and sleep, Mina wants you up and investigating ASAP!”

Getting themselves running up the incredibly large amount of stairs, the boys reached what they could only identify as Ludo’s bedroom. Given the posh bed and the amount of green feathers present on it. The room was filled with mewman warriors. They were likely searching for any traces to him. Not that they would find any. That lizard was way to smart to keep any evidence behind. Not that that’s their priority, they needed to find any traces of Glossaryck. That was their job. His knowledge on magic and it’s uses could make this entire search for Star ten times easier. They need to find him.

“There you two are!” Came a voice from the chamber’s corner. It was Mina’s. Approaching the boys, she finally had a smile one her face, something the boys felt as if they never saw.

“Listen here you two. It’s true that we’re searching for different objectives. But this is something we can benefit from. I’ve ordered my troops to also report any Glossaryck related clues. However, this damn place is huge. It’s going to take us ages to get the whole thing covered head to toe. But I have a solution.” Mina continued.

“Continue.” Answered Marco, interested.

“Renee will command these troops here to search all the surface layers and the temple outskirts, meanwhile, the two of you and me go exploring the depths.”

“With no troops?!” Exclaimed Tom. “Are you crazy?!”

“No troops? Of course we’re taking troops. I’m taking a small portion with us. The insides of this old baby are tight corridors and wide rooms. A small team is the best idea. Trust me.”

“You have some history with this place?” Asked Marco, even more curious.

“Now that’s something you don’t need to know about.” She said, cutting him off. “Anyways, you boys don’t really have a say in this plan, you’re under my command. So follow me, we’re going deep.” And with that, she was off.

“Did.... did she just ask for our opinion and then proceed regardless before we even delivered one?” Tom asked.

“Yes, yes she did. But I’m too tired to contradict her. Let’s just go.” Marco responded with a tired and defeated sigh.

“....right behind you.”

“So, what is this place, exactly?” Marco asked Mina. The architecture was unlike anywhere else, it fascinated him. He wanted to know more.

“Its one of the last remnants of the Zeroth Era. That’s why it looks so ancient.” Mina responded neutrally.

“Zeroth Era?”

“There were 3 Eras during our existence. The Zeroth Era, which started when we glorious Mewmans arrived on Mewni, and ended when we, the great mewmans, ended the everlasting Prime War that was raging for centuries before our arrival. Then the First Era, which began with the Prime War’s end and ended when queen Skywynne’s coronation burned the royal archives down and destroyed the original Book of Spells; ad it was that event which started the Second Era, which is the one we’re in now.”

“Uhhhhh.....”

“Did you not study any history at all during your stay here? You should know all this, it’s basic history.”

Marco just continued. “....and this place is...?”

An audible sigh escaped Mina’s lips. “This is one of the last surviving remains of the Zeroth Era, it’s the least common era in all of Mewni, since we weren’t even here when all this was built. This is basically like pre-Zeroth Era. But whatever. This temple served as the royal residence and ruling headquarters of the Sizeshifter monster race. It is surprising it’s still standing, given the Sizeshifters’s role in the Prime War.”

“And that was...?”

“Do I look like a history book to you? Back off.”

Not wanting to anger the captain who could likely kick his behind three ways to Monday, he decided it wasn’t worth questioning further, and hurried on back. This place was really awe inspiring, but some parts seemed weirdly.... modern.

“It was rarely used after the Sizeshifters were exterminated.” Tom whispered into Marco’s ear.

“Exterminated?” Marco asked, his face going a tad pale.

“Yup. It was the only way to get them to back off from the war. A swift blade of genocide. But this was eons ago. This was all back during the very first queen of Mewni’s reign, that’s super old. We have like, zero documents of the actual era. We just know some tidbits here and there.”

“So before Mina’s time?” Marco asked, unsure of what to expect.

“Dude, Mina’s only like three hundred years old. This happened, like, three thousand years ago.”

“So the Prime War, what was that all about?”

“Old times, but basically; it was this centuries long spanning war that was going around Mewni between Monsters. Then us Mewmans came and took the wand and won.”

“Took the-”

They were interrupted by a loud sound of running and shouting. Breaking out of their talk, the due could see that Mina was running full speed ahead through a giant hole in the wall, while the soldiers took positions and started running in different halls. It was an obvious ‘split up and find it’ type of thing.

But what happened?

Did Mina see something?

Did Mina see him?

Running up to the captain, the boys could see the massive amount of damage this part of the temple had sustained. It wasn’t magic made. This seemed like sheer brute force, whatever tore through all of this was strong and fueled by rage. The captain was just up ahead. She was standing still in a huge empty room. Staring at the empty space. Was there something in here? Something that was gone now? What happened?

Running into the room, the sound of splashes beneath their feet caught their attention. It was a huge puddle of crystal clear liquid, but why is there a huge pool of liquid in the middle of an ancient structure meant for primordial creatures?

“He’s not here...” mumbled Mina. “The crystal...”

“Captain Mina?”

“This liquid... the crystal....” She continued.

“Captain...?”

“Earth boy, get Renee here now. We have a serious issue.” Mina said, voice neutral, shocked and even.

“Tom, go get the vice-captain.” Marco whispered to Tom. After a brief look and a nod, Tom ran to get Renee.

“Captain Mina, what happened?”

...

...

...

...

“We have a big issue, something dangerous that was kept here....” Mina started. “...has escaped.” 

Author’s Notes

Don’t you love it when a sickness makes you unable to get out of bed for two weeks.

And then you have to go on a business trip?

For the love of Magic, it’s good to be back.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-12: Should We Panic?

“Any news?”

Upon the discovery of whatever disturbing news Mina had been hit by while searching the temple’s depths, the reaction was intense and swift. The temple was scouted in it’s entirety in about an hour’s time by Mina and a large team of riders, while the vice-captain grabbed the rest and went into a full on rush scouting operation to investigate all of the temple’s surroundings and beyond; something that they were still doing. 

After the temple was scouted, Mina got about a dozen riders to keep watch so nothing gets close, while she herself began fiercely stabbing a map of Mewni with knives serving as the ‘pins’. “Calculating routes and possibilities.” is what she said.

Marco and Tom, meanwhile, were left completely in the dark. They had no idea what was happening or why; and looking at the ofter riders, they didn’t seem any more informed on the matter. However, they were loyal to Mina, and her word was all they needed to spring into action. Guess that was to be expected though; considering that Mina herself handpicks who gets in her personal unit.

“Hey Tom. Tom. Tom!”

“WHAT?!?!”

“Any news?”

“For the last time dude, I am NOT going to go ask Mina about this. Did you see the state she’s in? She looks insane! I’m afraid she’s gonna rip my limbs off if I get close. If you wanna know if there’s ‘any news’ go ask her yourself. I value my damn life.”

 “Ok, ok, ok. I get it, you’re a noodle, sorry.”

“W....What did you call me?”

“Eh, don’t think about it. I’m just so confused why Mina is so on edge!”

“Do you think we should panic?”

“What?”

“Marco, dude, Mina is on edge. Mina Loveberry is on edge. That’s a big panic flag. A panicked Mina Loveberry is a very big yes to panicking, we’re talking about one of Mewni’s greatest warriors ever!”

“Tom.”

“I mean, Mina’s a strong warrior, she could protect us, right?”

“Tom.”

“Yeah, she could totally-”

“TOM!”

“WHAT IS IT?!?!”

“Please stop burning the floor. You’re gonna burn our tent down.”

Looking down, Tom could see that his feet were sending out small amounts of flame, which were burning the tent’s floor.

“Oh, sorry.” He said, extinguishing the flames and putting out the small floor fire. Looking back up, all he could see a blanket covered Marco drinking tea and staring into his eyes.

“Want some tea?” Marco asked.

“No thanks. We demons don’t really like tea.”

“Really? Is it the entirety of demonkind that doesn’t like tea or just you?”

“Ok, ok. I don’t like tea. But we can drink it.”

“Then you should have just said that.”

“Yeah, yeah, cool it.”

They spent the next twenty minutes siting in surprisingly comfortable silence. The tent was silently shuffling from the easy breeze coming from outside, producing a comfortable sound that eased their nerves, to a degree. The only noise present other than the tent shuffling was the occasional voice of a passing rider and his/her footsteps. After some more time passed, they decided they might as well eat something and finally get some sleep. They arrived here late at night and immediately went to searching the temple. Needless to say, they were both exhausted. If this meant they could finally get some sleep, they’ll take it.

“So what’s for dinner?” Asked Marco, barely keeping his eyes open.

“Standard army rations. That’s our only current option.” Tom responded, yawning loudly after.

“And what are those made of? I mean, I knew we weren’t gonna get anything luxurious like lobsters, but I wonder if these things are actual edible and tasty food.”

“Well, reading the labels, they’re made of ‘90% corn’.”

“What in Mewni isn’t made of corn?!”

“Apparently the other 10% made of Pig-goat meat.”

The blocky rations were bland, unseasoned, and dull. There was no taste whatsoever and it almost felt like they were chewing dirt itself. However, it did it’s job of filling their stomachs perfectly, so they couldn’t complain much...

...Not that they had the energy too in the first place. 

Laying down in the sheets was a much easier task, probably due to their bodies screaming for rest and granting their users extra energy just to get in quicker. They were rather comfy, something neither of them expected due to their standard army usage. Granted, no pillows were provided, but they were really to tired to care.

“Hey, Tom?”

“Please....Marco....quieter. I’m like 2 steps away from you and I can barely register where my legs and arms are.”

“Sorry.” Marco said, quieter than before. “I just wanted to tell you that we shouldn’t really panic.”

“Oh...and....why is...that..?” Tom was barely talking, he was right on the edge of slumber, and he was going down quick.

“Because everything’s gonna be fine.” Marco said, yawning.

“Oh....cool....”

“Yeah, everything’s gonna be okay.”

The only thing to meet Marco now was loud snoring. Tom was dead asleep, and it seemed like not even a thunderstorm would wake him up now.

...

...

“Good night, Tom.”

And with that, Marco was asleep.

“Awake.”

Marco slowly opened his eyes.

“Where....where am I?” Looking around, Marco could see that he was not in the tent anymore. In fact, he wasn’t.... anywhere anymore...?

There was nothing in sight anywhere, no lands, no hills, no trees, no temple, no Tom, no tents. He was laying on a dark gray rock, and surrounding the small rock.... were miles and miles of a pitch black, dark, calm ocean. The skies were dark and sickly green. And surrounding him was a small, easily see through pinkish mist.

“Where.... where am I?”

“Marco Diaz, the boy.” A voice responded behind him.

He turned around faster than a dancer performs a pirouette, and saw himself fact to face with an unfamiliar person.

Only, the person was more like a ghost.... or a specter. The figure had radiant, brightly glowing white eyes, and a neutral expression. The eyes were daunting; so much so that Marco couldn’t force himself to observe any other part of it’s body except it’s face. It was pale, and the neutral look coupled with the gleaming eyes gave the figure a sad look. Was it sad?

Taking a better look, Marco barely managed to advert his eyes behind the apparition, and came upon an unwelcoming surprise. There were dozens of bright white eyes behind her. Always coupled in two. However, those eyes had no bodies. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t see anything except their eyes.

“Worry not about them. You cannot see them for you are not meant to see them.” Said the first specter, it was a female voice, so he at least knew something about it.

“Aaaand who are you? And where am I?” Marco asked, unnerved and even slightly terrified.

The figure said nothing.

“Fascinating. You look so innocent. You are so innocent. Such similarity...” The voice continued without any response to anything Marco was saying.

“I’m sorry. But I don’t think we know each other. Hello, I am Marco. And you are..?”

...

...

...

“Such incredible similarity.... in fact, I’d go as far to say that you two are almost the same, were it not for some obvious and... unimportant differences.”

“Uhhhh. Similarity? Listen, I do not like attacking ghosts, I like ghosts. But you either tell me who you are or we’re going to have a big problem here.” Marco couldn’t look away from her eyes. Unlike the others, she clearly had a body. The rest were concealed in the mist, but she was visible. But the eyes were so bright and alluring, he couldn’t look or observe anything other than her eyes, not even her face anymore.

...

...

“That’s enough. There’s no more need of you here. You cannot be here. We just needed to see you, we had to make sure.”

Marco didn’t get any time to respond before the ghost muttered her next word.

“Sleep.”

 Marco opened his eyes. Once his eyes readjusted to the light of the sun beaming through the open tent door, he could see that he was, in fact, in the tent. Something he was more than glad for. What happened just now?

Looking around, Tom was nowhere to be seen, he must have gotten up already. Knowing him, he likely got bored and went out for a stroll or something and left the tent’s ‘door’ open, letting the sunshine wake Marco up.

“Tom, is it really that hard to close a zipper?” Marco whispered to himself in an agitated sigh.

Getting up and leaving the tent, Marco observed the surroundings. Some new riders were on the lookout duty, and judging by the noise coming from Mina’s tent, she was awake. Did she even sleep? Likely not, seeing her.... unhinged behavior earlier. The sun was rising, and the beams were gleaming on the rocks that made up the ancient temple so it must have been at least 9 AM by now. Tom was nowhere to be seen.

He was brought out of his stupor by a sharp pain in his right arm.

“Aaagggh! What the-?! Damn that hurts. Must be because I slept on it the whole night. Damn that hurts.”

Ignoring the arm pain, Marco walked forward towards Mina’s tent. Remembering Tom chickening out on talking to Mina, he decided to do it himself.

However, when he got in the tent, he wished he didn’t.

Mina had blood shot eyes, an insane grin on her face, was standing on all fours on the table, and had about thirty knives stabbed into the map. 

“Earth boy, come in! Come in! I’m looking at the map and trying to get things sorted out. Would you like some tea?” Mina said, dropping the mad slasher grin into a more calm and simple, but still creepy smile.

“Oh, no thanks. I was just wondering if there were any news on-”

“No no no no no no no do come in, please! No need to wait. I’m sorry about my appearance, I didn’t get much sleep last night but it’s fine. I was real busy you know?”

After being forcefully shoved into a chair Marco found himself subjected to the mercy of a mentally questionable war leader. Walking to another, smaller table in the tent, Mina grabbed two cups of tea and started talking.

“Let me tell you things are getting very unsettling here. Ren’s still out scouting around, but I did manage to send Sebastian over with a message to the queen specifying what’s happening, after which he’ll fly to Ren so she can write me a report on her current findings.” Mina said, lifting the two cups of tea above her head.

“Uh.... who’s Sebastian?” Marco asked cautiously.

Mina turned her head upwards and poured the two cups of tea directly in her bloodshot eyes, much to Marco’s disturbance. When she looked at Marco again, however, her eyes were miraculously no longer bloodshot.

“My crow! He’s the fiercest avian warrior around!” She said with a bright and... genuine...smile.

“Oh! Yeah! Of course he is!” Answered a terrified Marco. Why anyone would pour two hot cups of tea straight into their eyeballs and somehow end up with a positive effect is something he does not want to know or understand.

“Tell you what though! After I raised that alert and everything got wild, a group of riders who were scanning the temple came across a little thingie that might interest you.” Mina said, reaching into a bag located in one of the tent’s corners. Seconds later, she took out a small, slightly charred object.

“This!” She exclaimed.

The object looked oddly familiar to the boy, even though he couldn’t quite put a finger on why. It looked familiar, sure. Very familiar.

“It looks so familiar.... what is it?”

“Why, dummy, it’s a remnant of the Book of Spells! The corner piece to be exact.”

Marco’s eyes widened. It was, the weird carvings on what must have been the cover were undoubtably the truth. It is an actual piece of the book. This is perfect. This is what they were here for, something to get them more answers. Although...

“Wait.” Marco interjected. “That’s just a tiny remain. It’s.... just a little piece, we can’t learn anything from something that small! We came here to look for Glossaryck, how does this help?!”

“It, uhhhh, doesn’t.” Mina answered. “However, this does tell us what happened to the book.”

Marco’s mood drastically changed for the worse.

“W-What happened to the book?” He asked.

“See the edge of this thing? It’s charred. That happens when there’s a fire. The other ashes around the spot gave us an indicator too.” She took a big, deep breath. “The book was burned.”

Marco could have sworn he died for at least ten seconds.

“B-B-B-Burned...?”

“Yeah, sorry kid. I don’t think you’ll be finding any traces of Glossaryck here. But at least we got this! That’s something.”

Marco was too distraught to listen. “Yeah, yeah. At least we got that.”

Mina sighed and looked at the ground.

“Mina, what’s wrong dear?”

“Q-Q-Queen Solaria. I’m sorry, I just... I was tracking down a monster division to the south, those you wanted me to find. I...I...lost them. I’m so sorry.”

She laughed. ”Oh don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. Seems like we’re all having a bad day here, aren’t we?”

A small gasp left Mina. “Y-Yeah. Seems like we are.”

...

...

...

Mina knelt down to Marco and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Hey kid. I’m really sorry. Seems like we’re all having a bad day here, aren’t we?” Mina asked, trying to cheer him up.

The boy chuckled. “Guess so.”

...

“By the way...” Marco began. “...that’s another thing I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it, earth boy?” Mina inquired.

“Any news?” His cautious tone returned.

“On what?”

“The dangerous thing that got out?” 

Mina’s stance, posture, and mood changed almost immediately, as if a switch was thrown. He stood up, her ‘smile’ vanishing, her shoulders raised, her breathing slower and more methodical, her eyes focused and unblinking. She turned around and faced the map again. Observing the it silently. Her stature became composed and observant. Then, she spoke:

“There are no news.” She said, her voice stone cold. “Do go find prince Lucitor now and go sit patiently until we come for you, please.”

“Uhhhh, should we panic?” Marco asked again.

“No.” She said, still not moving an inch, just staring at the map. “There’s no need to worry over this. And please stop sleeping on your arm, that’s why it hurts you so much.” 

The silence was deadly. No one moved an inch, the tension was unlike any Marco had felt before. What happened? A minute ago she was happy and relaxed, why the shift? 

His thoughts were interrupted by the screeching of a crow. Mina immediately reacted.

“Sebastian! You have returned! With news from Renee, no doubt. Hang tight, I’m coming!” She said, storming out of the tent to get her bird. With Marco following closely behind.

Exiting Mina’s tent, Marco heard the whistling of a familiar demon prince not far from him. It was only natural to fetch him for a little chat.

“Hey, Marco! You’re up, that’s good. Did you eat breakfast? Of course you didn’t those rations are terrible, dude. Anyways, can you tell me why Mina just stormed out of her ten-”

Marco pulled the demon boy aside, and asked him quietly.

“Listen up, Tom. You’re smart about this stuff. Do you have any idea what might have been inside that chamber that got Mina so on edge?”

“Sorry to burst your bubbles, dude. But this stuff is barely recorded in Demon history. All info about this place was classified by the Magical High Commission decades ago. I have zero clue as to what’s going on here.”

“And what about that liquid that was all over the floor when we entered? Or those scratch and destruction parts we saw? What was all that?”

“Dude, I told you I have no idea. All we know is that this place was used as the primary headquarters of the Sizeshifers during the Zeroth Era, but they have been extinct for over three thousand years! There’s literally nothing else about this place I know!”

“Oh, for the love of-”

“ALL TROOPS ASSEMBLE!!!” Screamed the voice of Mina Loveberry.

“Get the Mewnicorns ready, pack the tents, gather your things, PACK UP! We’re leaving to the Forest of Spider Bites in TEN MINUTES!!”

“What the-?” Wondered Tom and Marco in unison.

 “Captain Mina, what’s going on?” Asked the boy.

“Good news boys!” Exclaimed Mina. “Report from Renee! They’ve spotted the thing that escaped. And now...”

“....we’re gonna hunt it down.” 

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-13: Crimson Titan

“Which one did you say it was, my lady?”

“The green one, you imbecile! The one with apples drawn on it!”

“With all due respect, my lady, but don’t you think he can feed himself now? He’s regrown his arm.”

“Look at him you dumb thing! He may be almost fully back but we have to make sure he’s fully ready and in good health when he does recover. Now bring me the stupid can!”

“Right away, my lady!”

The lady in the tattered lavender clothes turned her attention to the reptile sitting on the children’s seat in the tattered car that was their only shelter. It wasn’t much, that they all knew, but it’s not like they had any options to go anywhere else, really. So they accepted what little they had and rolled with it.

Either way, the mistress herself was way more concerned about other thing; such as a big, old and currently regenerating septarian lizard man that was blinking at her with his completely yellow eye, the other eye socket being completely empty.

“Oh yes, yes, yes, yes you’re almost back to normal, aren’t you, Rasticore?” The lady said in a creepy voice that carried a certain unsettling air of affection, much to the creature’s disdain.

“Gemini! Where is the food?!?!” She screamed in utter anger and impatience.

“Here! I’m coming, my lady.” Said the dwarfish, zombie looking automaton; running to the mistress to deliver the can of baby food she requested him to bring.

She tore the food out of his small, rough hands and began feeding the regrowing reptilian as if she were feeding a baby, once again to his disdain. After what felt like a year of torture to the lizard, the can was empty, which meant she’d finally stop force feeding him baby food.

The woman walked back to the car’s front seat, throwing the empty can without any regard for nature or the notion of tidiness. Reaching into one of the ‘hidden’ compartments of the almost broken vehicle, she rummaged through the mess trying to find something, likely cosmetics. Not that Her two companions cared. It was a blessing when she wasn’t talking.

“Gemini!” The lady screamed. “We’ve run out of hair gel!”

“Don’t you mean, you ran out of hair gel? No offense, my lady, but you’re the only one that’s using-”

“I don’t care, you moron! Go get me more!”

“I’m afraid I cannot, my lady. We’ve run out of money too.”

“What do you mean we ran out of mone-”

The argument was cut short due to a piercing roar that echoed from all around the land. To say that it took the trio by suprise would be an understatement. The lady, still bent in the car in search of something, banged her head against the car’s roof, the dwarf jumped and promptly fell over, and the lizard’s singular pupil shrunk to microscopic levels. The roar was filled with anger and pain, but the only thing these three received was a startling attack of fear that struck into their very essence.

“W-w-what was that?” Began Gemini, getting up from the ground. “It sounded so close, yet must have come from far away. It’s no longer safe here. We should get going, my lady.”

No response came.

“My lady?”

Once again, no response.

Gemini looked at where the mistress was. She moved away, and her eyes were staring at something in the distance, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes..... confused? She seemed to pay no attention to him.

“My lady...?”

“That scream...” She began, voice devoid of any emotion. She pointed a finger at the forest located miles away. “It came from that forest.”

“That’s the Forest of Unlikely Spider bites, it’s far away. If it came from all the way over there, then we should be safe, no matter what that was.” Gemini responded, trying to break the mistress from her daze.

“It sounded......familiar.” She said, her mind still in a foggy haze.

“Pardon, my lady?”

“I don’t know.... it feels weird...”

“Come now, I was by your side since the day you became headmistress and we never heard anything like that. There’s no reason to worry.”

Her gaze lingered on the forest, unmoving and unblinking. Until she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly opened them again. She regained her usual and annoyed posture and turned her attention to Gemini.

“It seems like it really is nothing important. Now....” She looked him in the eye.

“.....go get me some hair gel.”

The forest was minutes away.

The order Mina issued was carried out in ten minutes. The entire campsite was cleared and packed and all the riders were up on their steeds. The moment all was ready, Mina started the rush towards the forest. Her crow, Sebastian, carried a message from her vice-captain, sending the entire squad riding at full speed towards their location. 

They were riding for about three hours now, and the forest was minutes away. They were all following Mina, who in turn was following her crow. Sebastian would take them to Renee, that’s how much the boys knew. Just a little more, and they’re at their destination.

“Marco, we’re here.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“Are you ready?”

“I don’t know..... I’m not sure...”

The Lucitor responded with visible confusion.

“How so?” He asked.

“Well, we don’t really know what we’re chasing now, do we? All the two of us know is that the temple apparently held something dangerous inside, and now that something is out.”

“Look, Marco.... I told you that a worried Mina meant a bad, bad thing. I know you said we shouldn’t panic and all... but this is..... worrying.”

“Well Mina certainly seems to be calm right now. I think that’s a good indicator for not panicking.”

“Dude, she’s the captain. He job is to not worry. Do you seriously think anyone in her unit would be ready for whatever is in there if she was stressed and panicking? Besides how do you know she’s calm. Maybe she’s seriously screaming inside of her mind.”

Marco just followed that sentence with a stoic ‘really, man?’ look.

“What? It could be a thing!”

Marco didn’t move a muscle.

“Okay, okay. Nothing’s gonna go wrong. It’s all going to be fine.”

The forest was looming in front of their faces, their mewnicorns still giving it their all. The entry into the woodlands radiated an unwelcoming aura, sending a feeling of uncertainty into the two boys. A gentle breeze was coming out of the impending dark depth of the forest, brushing bast their hair and causing shivers to run down their spines. They don’t know what awaits them inside, but they’re about to find out.

And so, they entered.

...

...

...

The forest was a sharp difference to the outside valleys and meadows they were riding in before.

Gone were the radiant rays of the sun shining upon the land. Gone was the gentle, warm wind brushing against their hair, and the calm sound of nearby streams flowing. Instead, they were met with what they could swear was the exact opposite of that calm and peaceful atmosphere.

Instead of the sun, the forest was dark. Had it been any darker they would surely be in a cave. There was no light source anywhere, and the mix of thick branches of the trees and the city of spiderwebs stretching across them all blocked all sources of the sun to shine through, save for a few, extremely small spots here and there. The visibility was, as expected, awful. It was so bad that, while one could see something clearly within about a meter of himself, anything outside of that would just appear as silhouettes, figures and shapes of dark shadows. The cause was clearly the spiders themselves. Before magic’s deletion, frequent extermination missions were sent through the woods in organized periods, and magic-originated toxin was used to reduce the amount of spiders present without harming any other life in the woods. However, without magic, that toxin can no longer be produced, and the stored amount has become unusable due to the lack of magical properties within them. It wasn’t long until the spiders began multiplying at rapid speeds and decorating the forest with their webs. This darkened forest was the result of that.

The cold air was an equally unwelcome attribute to the unwelcoming presence. The lack of sunlight and the sun’s heat made the entire forest turn into a cold, dark and eerie place. The air was cold, the animals were silent. The only thing any of them could hear was the sound of their steeds stomping and the spiders creeping through the trees above them.

”Light the torches. Do it now, so we may proceed, and keep your eyes open and your ears sharp.” Mina instructed in a serious and calm tone. The soldiers obeyed.

The provided light was greatly appreciated by everyone in the unit, Tom and Marco included, and the road towards the vice-captain continued at a cautious and swift pace.

“Tom?” Marco said, voice barely audible.

“Yeah?” Tom said, in an equally quiet tone.

“Do you see or hear anything?”

“Not a single thing man, you?”

“Nope, I’m blind over here. I see nothing and I hear nothing.”

“This forest is huge right?”

“Yup, second biggest forest on Mewni, right after the Forest of Certain Death.”

“Isn’t finding this thing gonna take days then?”

“Not necessarily dude, we got the crow leading us.”

“And you think the crow knows where to go?”

“I dunno man the crow seems to have a good idea of where to go. It didn’t slow down since we started riding. I think it knows where it’s taking us.”

“Tom?”

“What? I’m right here dude.”

“That crow is slowing down.”

...

...

...

Looking over to the flying creature, the boys could indeed conclude that it was indeed slowing down. And, as if on cue, the crow did a circular motion and landed directly onto Mina’s hand. Sitting there contently. Mina proceeded to raise her other hand, signalizing to her troops to stop moving. They stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time, greeted with nothing but darkness. The torches were burning bright, the leaves rustling and producing a sound that was as relaxing as it was chilling. No one moved, and everything was still?

“Marco, what’s going on?”

“Tom, don’t you see that I’m just as confused and unnerved as you are.”

“It’s kinda hard to see in here.”

“Tom, torches are lit. You can see me just fine.”

The  next thing heard were stomps. Stomps coming from a singular direction, that direction was where Mina was. Whatever was coming would run head first into her. But she didn’t move a muscle, nobody did. A couple of riders put their hands on their blades, getting ready to draw them out for combat if need be. Some other started slowly and silently reloading their crossbows, getting ready to fire upon whatever the thing coming was. Mina’s face remained neutral, as did her posture, whatever was coming caused her no alarm. She was calm, and she was listening for the entity drawing closer.

It was only when the sound came closer that they realized that it was, in fact, the sound of a mewnicorn sprinting; a sound everyone in the unit was familiar with. This caused the alertness of the guards to loosen up, but not disappear completely.

However, once the creature came into view, everyone relaxed due to the revelation that a battle was not yet upon them. The creature in question was another mewnicorn rider, this one was assigned to Renee during this search and secure operation. He was sweating heavily and his face held a look of terror and shock, reinstating the nervous atmosphere into the other riders.

His words did not help ease that tension either.

“C-C-C-C-C-Captain Mina!” He began, voice cracking from fear and stress.

“What happened, warrior?” Said Mina in a rushed tone, it was clear that she wanted answers as badly as the rest of them here.

“You have to help us!” He yelled. “Vice-captain Renee has engaged with the objective after it ambushed us! We’re doing our best to try and fend it off but it’s too powerful! I was sent to intercept and fill you in on the situation, and then take you there.”

“Then there’s no time to waste!” Mina screamed. “Take us to the battlefield!”

The first thing that reached them was the sound.

The sound of combat and destruction. They heard trees snapping, heavy objects flying and crashing down, screams, sounds of metal scrapping across the rocks. They heard the sounds of a true battlefield.

Next were the vibrations. Every time an object seemed to crash into the ground it would produce a small earthquake, and that was without mentioning the stomps they heard every now and again.

The last thing they saw was the sight. And the sight was not pretty. Renee’s unit must have ignited their own torches in an attempt to get a better view of their attacker, and the fallen torches that ignited some nearby bushes gave the sight of their now broken bodies a superb spotlight. Armor pieces were broken on the ground, as were swords and crossbows. Some of them tried to crawl away from the nearby fight. Many among those fallen would need an immediate trip to the hospital after this, the other ones were not so lucky.

The last thing Tom and Marco saw before Mina snapped them all to attention was the silhouette of a giant trying to swat away a warrior wielding two swords.

“Hurry! Split into two groups! Group to my right get the wounded out safely, the other half follow me, we’re going on the offensive!” Mina screamed, and as usual, the riders obeyed with a salute and got to their tasks immediately, leaving the two boys behind to wander what to do.

“Marco!”

“Tom! What should we do?!”

“What do you mean what should we do, I was gonna ask you that!”

“WHAT?!?! How am I supposed to know what to do, we’re under attack from something gigantic! You saw that silhouette, right?!”

“Of course I saw it, that thing was massive, I bet everyone saw it!!”

“Shouldn’t we help Mina fight then?” Asked Marco, voice rushed and worried.

“Fight? How are we supposed to fight something like that? Do you have a death wish or something? Do you wanna die, man?!” Tom screamed at Marco, trying to understand his mindset.

“And if we don’t what then?! If Mina loses that thing will come for us, and half of those warriors are injured so they can’t take care of themselves on their own anymore!! We have no choice Tom! We gotta go fight that thing!”

“You really never know when to back out of a fight, do you?!”

“Nope! I’m going right in! You do as you want!” And with that, Marco departed towards the fight.

The scene of the fight was chaos. Unlike in the outer parts of the battlefield, the fire was much more spread out here than out there. It was engulfing trees and bushes like rain makes objects wet durning a storm. There was fire everywhere, making Marco’s eyes tear up and his vision to blur. He dismounted his mewnicorn and ran towards the nearest warrior he could find. They were positioned in groups, and were all firing their crossbows at the target.

The target itself was indeed huge. The blazing light from the fire shadowed his face and upper torso, save for his glowing yellow eyes, of which there were four, each squinted with rage. He flailed his arms and tail around in rapid succession in order to send the nearby riders who foolishly decided to attack him with swords flying. Marco couldn’t make out his face, but he made out the crimson color of his skin without any issues.

“Marco Diaz, what are you doing here?!” Screamed a voice nearby. Turning around, he could see the voice belonged to Mina, who has also dismounted her steed and rushed to the side of her warriors, whose positioning she seems to have ordered.

“I came here to help you fight!!” 

“You came here to fight?! After that poor performance against Renee?”

“You rang, captain?” Came the voice from above, and soon later, a charred female warrior came crashing down on her feet next to Mina, her two swords, each in one hand, glistening from the fire’s light.

“Ren! What’s the status on the escapee?” Mina said, cutting right  to the chase.

“Well as you can see we have him sorta pinned down. It really helps you came in with backup, we needed it. But now that you’re here, we got this in the bag!”

“Don’t be so sure yet.” Mina responded, looking away from the target and focusing her gaze on her vice. “The lack of magic has affected even me negatively. I can no longer utilize my solarian super-soldier form. That will prove as quite a setback.”

“But captain, even though you lack those powers, you still have your fighting skills. And besides, like I said, we have him beat. You see, I was playing the old endurance fight. He’s been fighting like crazy ever since the start. He’s more like a beast than monster. In either case, he must be exhausted after all that arm flailing and snapping trees.”

“Uh....ladies?” Marco said.

“Renee, I highly value your deductive and tactical skills, but this is an enemy beyond your comprehension. He’s something truly dangerous!”

“Captain, I highly value your leadership and combat skills, but I have held this enemy at bay for hours now. I have it handled.”

“Ladies!” Marco repeated, louder.

“As your captain I order you to be more cautious!”

“As my superior I accept your order but I do believe we should attack!”

“LADIES!!” Marco screamed.

“Uhhh..... captain?” Said a random warrior wielding a crossbow.

“What?” “Huh?” Was the united response of the two commanding officers.

“The enemy is gone.”

Turning their heads faster than Marco for nachos, the girls could see that the titan they’ve been fighting has truly disappeared completely from their sights.

“W-W-Where did he go? Which direction did he take?” Asked Renee in a worried tone.

“I don’t know, vice-captain! I swear the target just vanished!” Repeated a different warrior. 

“He can’t just vanish! He’s huge! He must have gone somewhere!” Said Renee, trying to decipher the enemy’s whereabouts.

“That’s right.” Marco said. “He just vanished, I saw it myself.”

“No that’s wrong, he didn’t vanish...” Whispered Mina, in a voice that suggested she was in a heavy state of reminiscence.

“Where did he go?!” Screamed Renee.

“Ready or not, here comes Tom!” Yelled the determined voice of a young teenage prince rushing in on foot to the battlefield. He entered the fiery battlefield from the other side of where Mina, Marco and Renee were, and was getting looks from each of them.

“You’re kinda late, Tom. The thing disappeared.” Said Marco.

“That’s right, young Lucitor!” Yelled Renee. “Come on over here and the boy will explain.”

“Ooookayyyy.” Said the demon prince, casually strolling to the trio.

“......Lucitor.....”

“What? Who said that?” Asked Tom, more to himself than anyone else. Did he just hear....?

“TOM!” Yelled Marco. “Come on get over here!”

“Coming!” He retorted, and started sprinting.

“He didn’t vanish.....” Mina said, a tad louder. Whatever fog clouding her memory having disappeared.

“Prince Lucitor!” Mina screamed. “Run away! Run away from the open field!”

“What?!” He screamed back. “Why?!”

“Because the enemy is a-” Her thoughts were interrupted by a small shuffling in the grass below. It was getting closer, the small shuffle moving along, towards them. Slowly, but there.

....Captain?” Renee asked, questioningly.

“He didn’t vanish!” Mina screamed.

Mina turned around, facing the other way of the approaching tiny peril, and jumped. She grabbed Renee with her left and Marco with the right. And she did it just in time before the small shuffling in the grass increased it’s size hundredfold into a titan at least fourteen meters long.

The reaction was immediate. The surprise attack caught everyone of guard except for Mina, who managed to get Marco and Renee out safe. The others were not so fortunate. The monster swatted the remainder of the surprised riders meters away and sent them crashing into burning trees and bushes, and used it’s tail to send the young Lucitor flying into the branches above before he could even react.

“He’s a Sizeshifter!” Screamed Renee.

This was the first time Marco saw the creature’s face clearly. It was as crimson as the rest of is body, and the four gleaming yellow eyes did not lose that wrath-filled tint. The fangs were massive and sharp, they looked as if they could chew through anything. The creature also had huge, ivory white hair and golden bracelets on his hands. But none of those features could compare to his expression.

It was an expression devoid of compassion, the only thing remaining being pure wrath and hatred. 

However, Mina and Renee seemed to have other plans.

“Renee! Now!”

“Right behind you.”

Renee grabbed one of Mina’s lavender ponytails with her teeth and readied her blades. Mina did not hesitate, instead twirling and using the momentum to shoot Renee right out like a catapult launching a boulder, however, this was more comparable to a gun, because Renee was heading right for the monster’s face. 

Getting close, she slashed his eyes. The monster wailed in pain and jumped to it’s feet. It quickly used it’s tail to attempt to swat Renee away, but she was not going down so easy. Instead, Renee grabbed onto the small tuft of white hair on the tail, and, since the creature was still partially blinded, allowed herself to be pulled back behind his back once he decided to retreat his tail to safety. Just as his tail was reaching behind her and Renee thought she was safe, the monster suddenly changed the tail’s trajectory and sent it crashing into a nearby cindered tree.

The collision sent cinders and smoke flying out. The monster slowly reopened two of it’s eyes, trying to deduce if the attack was successful. After not witnessing any movement from the smoking area, it turned it’s attention back to the other two.

Except, only the boy was there. The other woman was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to charge at the boy, he noticed a tug on his right hand, turning his attention downwards, the monster saw that Mina had used her hair as whips, and used it to wrap his fingers independently, trying to tie his hand down.

The monster smirked, and lifted his hand with incredible speed, he would slam his hand into the floor, and that should sent the warrior into the ground like a mace on a chain. A hit like that should break all her bones, if not worse.

“Figured you’d go for that.” Mina said, unwrapping her hair from his fingers. “You thought you could slam me into the ground, but you’ve played right into my hands, because now.....”

Mina grabbed her ponytails, one hand on each, and pulled towards herself. The force of the pull once again tightened around his two wide open fingers, and launched her into the air.

“.....you’ve made me a perfect slingshot!” Mina screamed with maniacal glee. Her laugh echoing, she turned the two most spread out fingers of his hand into a slingshot, and she was the pebble. The launch sent her at least a hundred meters above him. She went so fast and so powerful that she breached the tree tops, and broke out into the peaceful view of the outside world, which was under the sun’s radiant gaze. From this height, she could see the entire forest, and how beautiful all that was surrounding it was. To an artist, this would have been the ideal place for inspiration.

But Mina was here to fight.

And so, Mina turned her head downwards, and dived head first into the source of her launch. She would breach those burning tree tops and use her ponytail whips to slash him directly across the chest, that should take him down. But that all depends on her vice-captain.

Meanwhile, in the fiery arena, the crimson titan wondered where his opponent went, the launch sent her above the trees, so he had no visual of her at all. However, that was the least of his concerns when he heard an explosive crack from behind him. Turning around, he was met face to face with the dual sword wielding warrior he thought he bested, but here she was, completely obstructed by the fire, leaving only her darkened silhouette.

“That was real dirty of you, y’know?” The figure responded. Anger audible in the voice. “Can’t even play nice, huh?!”

The monster has had enough, and reached out his hand in an attempt to catch the sword wielding fanatic. But she was ready, and instead of attacking him head on, she threw one oh her swords directly at his face. The blade was lightning fast, and hit him directly below the nose. He wailed again, and the pain made him turn his hand slightly to the left, which allowed Renee to dip her body backwards and completely avoid the attack. With that, she made another pirouette in the air and landed gracefully on the grassy floor.

“Watch your back.” She whispered.

But the monster didn’t hear, it was too preoccupied with the blade below his nose to notice the meteor that just broke through the flaming tree tops. And with that perfect moment of distraction, Mina took the chance presented, readied her hair-whips, performed a couple of front flips in order to increase the velocity of the attack and right as she was about to hit the ground, she lashed out her whips, the hair-whips slashing the giant against his back in two separate lines.

The monster roared of pain and anger. The roar echoing and burying into the eardrums of everyone present.

And after that, the giant collapsed face first onto the cold ground.

“AND THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE!!!!” Screamed Mina, the exclamation followed by a maniacal and sadistic laughter.

“OOOHHHH YEAH!” Screamed Renee, right behind her.

Every conscious rider on the battlefield had the same reaction to that, and that was a thunderous applause for their superiors. Even Marco could not hold back from clapping along. These two just brought down a titan with their own wits and skill.

“Marco...” Came the voice from behind him. Turning around, Marco saw it was Tom, only a tad more.... bruised and limping.

“Sorry about my state, dude. The giant freak sent me flying through like thirty trees.”

“No need to apologize dude. It’s cool. Did you see this?”

“Of course I did! That was awesome! This is why I told you that Mina was famous. She destroyed him.”

“WELL DONE CAPTAIN MINA!!” Screamed the soldiers in joy and applause. “WELL DONE VICE-CAPTAIN!!”

“Thank you all, you’re much too kind.” Mina responded, and smiled at her units, Marco and Tom included.

“Ca....pta....i..n.....Mina....” came a voice from behind all of them.

It came from the monster. It was still concious.

”Mina....” it repeated.

Everyone was silent.

“He’s getting up!” Yelled Renee. Sure enough, the monster did get up on it’s feet, although barely.

“General....Mina....” He repeated. “You.”

“Oh no.” Whispered Mina.

“It is you. General Mina...”

“Captain?” Renee whispered over to Mina. “Should we attack him again?”

 “This is very not good.” Repeated Mina

“But.... if you’re here....” The monster continued, seemingly in it’s own world. He pulled out the sword lodged in his nose without any issues. “Then that must mean that- NO!!” 

The sudden change of tone startled the entire unit. The monster was on it’s feet and staring at something in the distance. His eyes converted to a worried state, along with his expression.

“General Mina....” He began. “We’ll call this one a draw, I have something else I need to take care of right now!”

And with that, the monster swept it’s tail across the now extinguishing flames and engulfed itself in smoke. Once the smoke quickly cleared, the monster was gone.

“Captain, he must have shrunk again!” Informed Renee.

“That’s right!” Agreed Marco. “We need to find it quickly!”

“....No need to track it down.” Mina responded, voice neutral and gray.

...

...

...

“What do you mean, captain? Do we know where he is?” Questioned the vice.

“No, Ren. But I know where he’ll attack next.” She responded.

“What, where?!” Said Marco, demanding an answer.

“He’ll attack the Butterfly Castle!”

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-14: The Selfish And The Selfless

The mossy, damp corridors of the castle’s dungeons were..... well, damp and mossy. They were also cold... and dark.

The thing about dungeons were that they were always so deep underground, that no one would even bother going down there, let alone make the place look.... clean. But that was to be understood. After all, this is where the scummy evil people went. Nobody wants to make their ‘apartments’ look clean and cozy. They didn’t deserve such luxury.

Nowadays, the statistics for potential increase in prisoners has been brought to a higher spotlight. Specifically due to the monsters. A big topic from her board of ambassadors and advisors were the rising amounts of angry and rebellious monsters. This was no big surprise. Monsters were always more unreasonable and savage than the mewmans. In the end, they always resort to violence and destruction. However, they managed to round the majority of the monster race into a few secluded and always patrolled towns. In those villages, they can do as they please, but they’re absolutely not allowed to disrupt any outer, non-monster activity.

There were five towns in total. Each named after a queen that ordered it issued. The oldest was Solaria’s. In the beginning, that one was more of a torture and concentration camp for prisoners, but it was later re-established as a proper town for monsters by Festivia, Eclipsa’s daughter. Speaking of her, she herself also ordered the construction of a second town, that one being called Festivia. That town is by far the most populated, even though Solaria’s was clearly older; I suppose the monsters just don’t really like Solaria’s town. Instead of being thankful for a place to live, they spit on it. Filthy, ungrateful animals.

Taking a stop to mentally berate herself for lashing out in anger within her mind, Moon started walking again.

The third town was built by Crescenta. However, she did not hold the slightest tinge of actual care for the monsters. She was a schemer and a manipulative sadist, despite her cheerful and happy attitude. Always locking up everyone who disobeyed the rules and rigging all elections as she pleased. The town was constructed purely as a way to gain a liking with the monsters, something she partially succeeded at. In the end, it was her cocky and cheerful facade that got her a meeting with a sword. Interestingly enough, nobody actually cared about her after she gave the wand to her daughter, and she was even declared as the second blackest sheep, after Eclipsa. Served her right.

The fourth town was by far the most interesting one, it was the smallest and least populated of them all. It was ordered to be constructed by Celena herself; another action she never explained. Those towns were always built when the monster population got too large for the current amount inhabitable in towns. After all, that’s their purpose, more living space for those beasts. But Celena just dropped one out the blue, no explanation. Not that anyone really took any curiosity in the matter. It was built, and there it was until today.

The fifth, last, and ‘youngest’ was....

...

As long as they remain in those towns, they’re fine.

Moon looked terrible. The endless days and tireless nights of weeks of work crippled her. She had no care for looks anymore. Her hair was loose and messy, and she wore her nightgown everywhere now. No royal dresses or crowns or anything. She looked like a homeless corn addict. After all, all that matters is that her brain still works.

Walking down the corridors, she neared Eclipsa’s cell. The two of them were in for another chat. This one, however, was not going to be a pleasant chat. Mina sent another one of her crow-letters, or whatever she called them. This one was more... serious. Either way, neither of them would like this.

Rounding yet another corner, she entered the hallway that held her cell. She slowed down her walking to a slow, almost creeping shuffling towards the door. It’s not that she wanted to be sneaky or get the drop on the candy-devourer-9000, she just needed to get her mind sorted out. She had to start with a neutral tone, rushing in and demanding for answers wouldn’t help her.

Nearing the cell, she could hear a quiet sound of melody. Was she.... singing? Well, there wasn’t really much one could do in a cell. No windows, no books, nothing to occupy oneself with. The tune did not sound familiar at all, and Moon knew pretty much every tune there was to know. She was a big fan of poetry and literature, something that she tries to hide from other people. But when you have a job like hers.... well, let’s just say she could really use a break.

Still, she knew her poetry, and that was not a song she knew. She knew mewman, demon, ponyhead, and spiderbite songs. If this tune was none of those, and it was not, then it’s clear that it’s some dumb monster jingle. Whatever, time for the questioning.

Taking a deep breath, Moon grabbed the cell key, opened the door and stepped inside.

“Moon!” Came the cheerful voice of Eclipsa. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

She was as cheerful as always, seemingly without a care in the world. Seemingly. She was playing around green clumped up ball of moss, something she definitely tore from the walls; judging by their clean and moss-less look. Which was surprising, to be sure, but Moon couldn’t blame her. The dungeons were constructed with the intent of being boring, cold, depressing and dark. Had Moon been locked up in here, she’d get dead bored within minutes. Something as making a ball of moss and using it as a toy is something she’d never think of. Points for creativity and ingenuity.

“Eclipsa.” Moon began, neutrally. “We need to talk.”

“Oh dear. Is something wrong? Other than everything, of course.” Eclipsa smiled, giving a hearty chuckle. She tried to lift Moon’s spirits up, get her to smile and relax. Moon did not budge. Her expression serious and devoid of humor.

“Is everything a joke to you?” She asked, staring into the dark queen’s eyes.

“No. It’s not. Don’t blame me for trying to lift your mood. You need to smile more.”

“Yes, you’ll have to forgive me...” Moon replied, sitting down in the cell’s chair. Walking all the way here exhausted her legs. Not that they had much strength to begin with. She’s been working non-stop for weeks. She slept about three hours each night, maybe four if she was lucky. She was tired, she didn’t smile at all. Well, she never really smiled, it’s just now she felt that frown of hers sinking deeper and deeper, as if two heavy tons of iron were pulling each side downwards. Blinking itself took tremendous effort, and talking sucked the air out of her lungs faster than she could say ‘corn’. The bags under her eyes were large and visible from miles. It was literally the first noticeable thing anyone who saw her glanced at.

Eclipsa just stared at her. Her purple eyes looking into her blue ones. The expressions in those watery orbs were completely different. Eclipsa’s eyes held curiosity, intrigue, and hidden concern. Moon’s eyes were tired, bored and in serious need of a bed.

“I’m just too tired right now. To tired to be amused by a jester like yourself.” Moon finished speaking, and looked directly into Eclipsa.

“Oh come now!” She began, joyous yet again. “You know, when I was little, I liked being called a jester.”

“You did?” Moon asked, summoning a fragment of willpower.

“Oh yes! I always wanted to make everyone happy. It was my thing, you know? Spreading cheer is something I loved doing.”

Moon glanced away, looking at the small ball of moss instead. “I can see where Festivia got her fun side from now.”

“What? Who’s-” Eclipsa questioned, truly puzzled. However, Moon didn’t notice any of that, she just kept going.

“Well I, for one, would appreciate some seriousness here. I don’t need you to joke around, and I’m just not in the mood for all of that.”

“Nobody ever clowned around you to make you happy?”

Dead silence was all that met her.

“Moon?”

Moon’s eyes suddenly became eerily distant, lost in some thought. Her breathing got shallower, and her face contorted into a shocked, sad, and hurt expression. Something definitely hit a nerve, that much Eclipsa knew. She should not have said that. This was either about to end in disaster, or Moon’ll shrug it off. She was hoping for the latter, but she’s likely going to get the former. Moon didn’t respond, setting a tense and silent atmosphere into the room.

“Moon?” Eclipsa repeated.

Moon didn’t even blink.

“Moon, honey, look at me!”

A laugh escaped the young girl.

“Hey, that’s right, there you are. All happy.”

“Mom, stop.”

“Oh but why would I when I love making you laugh?”

“Mom, I’m fourteen. I’m too old for this!” 

“Aw come on, Moonie. Don’t tell me you got bored of your own mom...”

“Well maybe if you stopped clowning around I’d change my mind.”

“That’s not happening, you’d become just like one of those princesses that get out of St.Olga’s. I can’t afford that to happen to my little ball of joy. Now, what do you say we go throw some pies at the faces of some unsuspecting staff members?”

“Oh, oh! Can we make the explode-a-pies again?!”

“Maybe, but don’t tell the Magical High Commission we’re doing it.”

“Alright mom. Those guys are boring enough as it is.”

“Now that’s a truth if I ever heard one!”

The both kept laughing their heads off.

“Queen Comet!”

The woman looked over.

“Ah, Mina, what is it?”

“The demon ambassador has arrived, your majesty!” Mina said, saluting.

“Thank you, Mina.” Comet said, and glanced down at her daughter again.

“Sorry, Moonie. Mom’s gotta go now.”

“It’s okay mom, I’ll see you later.”

Before leaving, the queen whispered one more thing into Moon’s ear.

“Don’t forget to bring the powder.”

And with that, they both chuckled in unison, and the queen left the room, Mina following behind.

“Eclipsa...”  Moon said, neutrally, voice calm with a tiny sense of passive aggression behind it. “I want you to tell me something.”

“Oh...” She responded. Half startled due to her quick shift in mood, and half surprised due to the sudden question. “What do you want to know?”

...

...

“I’ve gotten a report...” Moon began. “From one of my most trusted subordinates...”

“Alright, what was-”

“Now, don’t get me wrong. I really, really don’t want you to know any of this.” Moon stood up, and started slowly strolling towards the ex-queen.

“Uh, well y-”

“But the truth is, Eclipsa, I’m too tired to worry about all these details. I’m tired. I’ve not had a break for so long. My legs hurt, my head hurts, my back hurts. My sanity and patience are slowly going down the drain. So, I’m going to ask you this once, not because I care, but because you might have an actual answer; and I’d really like an answer. I could really go for a shortcut right about now.”

Eclipsa said nothing, Moon stopped.

“The report said something had escaped from the old temple in the north. The temple in which you were hiding it before they caught you.”

Eclipsa’s eyes widened.

“Now, I don’t know what it is. It wasn’t specified. So I came to ask you. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”

Eclipsa quickly hid the shock on her face with a neutral facade.

“I know also know you know what that thing is.”

”H-h-huh?”

“You masked the shock on your face, and just now, you stammered in your speech. I’m not stupid. I know you know what that is.”

“I-I-I...”

“Now you’re going to tell me.”

Silence reigned supreme yet again. Eclipsa didn’t breathe, her facade crumbled back into a shocked and fearful one. Moon’s eyes were cold, and drilling right into hers. Moon wanted and expected an answer. The room was quiet, but their minds were screaming. One in demand, and one in stress.

“Well? What is it? Are you going to tell me?” She inquired, voice and stare unwavering.

Eclipsa mumbled something inaudible.

“What was that? Could you please speak up?” Moon said, getting a tad impatient.

“...No...”

“Someone dear to you? Is it someone you got attached to? A close servant?”

“No.”

“Listen to me. I already know that whatever that thing is, it’s connected to you. You’re the only one to use that old place in recorded history. Sure, it was used back in the ancient times of the Zeroth Era but when it comes to modern times, you’re the only one who’s been doing serious things there.”

“I’m not....”

“It’s true there was monster activity within that place before you arrived, but is it not a bit incidental that the real surge of activity came when you arrived?” Moon teased. “Besides, your facial expressions already gave everything away.”

Eclipsa stopped and for the first time since this interrogation started, looked at Moon. Moon came closer, and lowered herself. Moon was taller than Eclipsa, but she came down just right to her eye level. Their faces were close now. Moon’s blue, now clearly passive aggressive eyes staring into Eclipsa’s purple, stern eyes.

“Now let me make something clear, Eclipsa... I didn’t want to ask you any of this. We’re not friends, we’re not just going to end everything with a tea party and have it all resolved by the end. You are here because of a mistake. My mistake. I had a problem, and that problem beat me. It was because of that failure of mine that you’re here now.”

Moon took a deep breath. She couldn’t talk that long, she was exhauted.

“I’m going to be honest. I want a break. I want to crash into my bed and stay in it for weeks. But I can’t. Because, unlike you, I care about the people living in my kingdom. You know what escaped from that temple. Don’t lie to me. Tell me what it is.”

...

...

...

“No.” 

Moon stood up back to her full height. Eclipsa’s eyes were as pleading as they were feisty. Moon was tired physically, but they were both tired emotionally. Who could she care about so much that would give her the strength required to jump from fear to determination? Now that was a puzzle. Eclipsa left everyone she knew behind, so it’s not likely to be any of them. Besides, all those people were dead for over three centuries. Who would’ve-

“Your husband.”

Eclipsa laughed. It was a laugh that sounded as if it was meant to ridicule the very idea; but there was a hidden layer underneath it. This was a forced laugh.

“My husband? That excuse of a mewman Shastacan? Oh please. I don’t dislike a lot of people, but he was a proper moron. Good riddance, I say.”

Moon stood there, looking at Eclipsa laughing. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at the smaller woman laughing her head off. Her laugh became more and more silent after each breath, and Moon’s eyes were looking on in disinterest. Moon wasn’t talking about Shastacan, and she knew it. 

Shastacan was Eclipsa’s mewman husband. He was a proper creep and someone Moon would never want to meet. Just seeing a portrait with his face made Moon ill. It wasn’t because she hated the man. He was just so... unappealing to look at. Other than that, there was nothing too important on him. He was Eclipsa’s husband, who records say she never loved. At any rate, he was left behind, and died a few years later due to some sickness. Not that she cared.

“Your other husband, Eclipsa.”

“Who, Globgor? As much as I love him he isn’t immortal. He’s certainly died of age!”

“You’re lying through your teeth!!!” Screamed Moon. “I know you knew I meant Globgor, and I know that he’s the one that escaped; your little charade of ridicule proved it! You seem to have this overwhelming opinion that I’m stupid. Well let me tell you, I am not!”

“I don’t consider you stupid!” Eclipsa screamed back. All sense of dignity was abandoned. This was now a heated yelling session. “I simply don’t want you touching my family! I lost enough, don’t you dare touch him.”

“You’ve lost everything, have you? I feel so sad.” Moon responded, sarcasm and aggression clear now. “What, you lost your mother when you were young, well I did too! And you didn’t lose anything. You left them all behind. You left everything behind when you ran off with that monster boy of yours.”

“I fell in love, Moon! I did, and I still love him! You got a problem with that? You got a problem with me loving a monster?! Ha?! Honestly, you sound just like Solaria! I’ve seen how monsters are treated today. Those towns of yours. Honestly, it’s sad. It’s sad you have them locked up in there, like caged animals. Honestly, it’s repulsive. You don’t give them the choice of picking their own food at the markets, you give them the leftovers from the mewman one. Sure, you gave them some land to grow their own food, but even I can see you all gave them the least populated areas of land for farming. And that’s not even considering the names the towns have. Named after the queens that built them? They don’t even have the right to name their own towns, instead they strictly have to be called: ‘Solaria, Festivia, Crescenta, Celena and Comet! Honestly, it’s just- ”

She was interrupted by a slap to the face. Moon then grabbed her by the collar of her purple dress and clashed her forehead against her own. They were literally eye to eye now. Moon’s stare was filled with quiet, seething anger. And Eclipsa’s face with a sudden look of shock from the surprise of the slap.

“I don’t care about your feelings.” Moon whispered, voice boiling with anger. “I don’t hate monsters. I don’t want to wipe them off the face of this land. I don’t like them, but I don’t hate them, so don’t you start comparing me to your mother. Sure, I’d like to torture a certain one of them until the end of time, but as long as the rest are obedient, they’ll be fine. As for you...”

Moon’s stare got more intense. “I don’t dislike you because you love monsters. I don’t dislike you for running away from a husband you never wanted. What I do hold against you, is the fact that you left your people behind. I studied history, you left shortly after your mother died. You left the kingdom, the people you were sworn to protect and care for in disarray so you could run off. A duty of a monarch is the kingdom before all else, you betrayed that. You put the kingdom and those who depended on you last. It’s true that royals like us have no choice but to take the crown and the kingdom, but that is our duty, one that we follow until the crown is passed on.”

Moon pushed Eclipsa away, the sudden push sending the latter to fall on the ground. Moon stared, towering over her.

“You, Eclipsa Butterfly, are selfish.”

 Silence.

...

...

...

“So what now?” Eclipsa asked, not even getting up. “What will you do to him?”

Moon answered without hesitation.

“We will take him in. He’s too dangerous to be free. Who knows, maybe if he behaves I’ll let him visit you.” 

“Is that so? And how do you plan to ‘take him in’? Word of advice, he may be vegetarian, but he’s a real beast in fights.”

Moon squinted her eyes at Eclipsa, turned her back on the dark queen, and began walking towards the chair again. This whole discussion tired her out way more than she should have allowed.

“I’m sure Mina will have no problem taking him down. She’s used to fighting beasts.” Moon responded, voice lacking emotion.

Eclipsa’s eyes widened.

“.....Mina.....”

The entire situation dissolved when frantic banging was heard at the cells’ doors.

“Queen Moon, your majesty, urgent message!” The voice belonged to the jailor. Whatever the news were, he was in stressed.

Moon rushed over and opened the cell’s doors. Stepping outside, she left the door open for Eclipsa to hear.

“What is it?” Moon asked.

“My queen, urgent message from Mina, her crow just delivered this.”

Handing the queen the wrapped scroll, Moon took it, opened it, and began reading. What was so urgent that this amount of speed was needed to have it seen? Surely something was-

Moon started sprinting, making a mad dash to the dungeon’s exit. 

“Jailor!” She yelled, tossing him the keys. “Lock our prisoner up don’t tell anyone about her.”

“Fret not, your majesty. Consider it done.” The jailor went to work, closing the doors of Eclipsa’s cell. The dark queen rushed to him, desiring some form of answers with great concern.

“Jailor, what happened?”

“I don’t know, ma’am. But it’s not my job to know. My job is to keep you here, contained. And I’m doing just that.” With that, the jailor locked her cell door, and walked away.

“Oh no no no no no no no no no no no...” Were the last things he heard of the prisoner.

Moon ran. She had no time. Mina sent this letter, and Moon knew that Mina never joked about her crow telegrams. Her words were to be taken seriously, and it seems that things are about to get way more uglier. Running faster and faster, her legs aching, Moon unconsciously dropped the letter, but kept running.

The letter was short and to the point, but it was enough to sow fear and panic into the queen.

“Fortify the castle immediately! He’s coming.”

Moon broke out into the higher, more populated and occupied hallways of the castle, and as soon as she saw some servants, she began screaming.

“Fortify the castle at once! You! Get the captains, commanders, sergeants! Tell them to enter code ‘gray’! We have no time! Quickly, deploy the scouts and get the lookouts ready! Inform the people to seek shelter at once!! Seal the main gate! No one goes in or out! Move it, move it, move it! And somebody please check if my husband has stopped stress eating already!”

The orders were carried out immediately. In just a few seconds, the entire castle was up on it’s feet. Everyone within it was running left and right. Halls were getting crowded, yelling echoed in every hall, every single servant, warrior, or other yelling at each other to get moving. Nobody truly knew what was happening, and they didn’t need to. They had orders, they trusted the queen. That was enough to get them all rolling. Soon after, the castle was fortified. Soldiers with armed crossbows were aiming outside, looking for the first thing that Wasn’t mewman to show it’s face. The non-army servants were evacuated into bunkers throughout the castle. The citizens outside were asked to go seek shelter of their own for whatever it was that was coming for them all

Moon stood there, at one of the smaller towers, surrounded by soldiers that were on the lookout for threats. She herself did not change. She was still wearing her nightgown-pajama thingie. Her, armor, being broken from the fight with him, was being repaired. Her hair was messy, but her tired eye were sharp. Whatever was coming, she was ready for it.

“Objects spotted! Approaching from the front!”

All eyes were instantaneously directed in that direction, and sure enough, there was an object approaching. Looking at it, every soldier saw the same thing. A giant, red monster running straight towards them. He was approaching fast. He would be here in a few minutes. Further back, everyone could see that the monster was being chased by a giant horde of warriors following a distance behind.

“It looks like Captain Mina Loveberry and her troops are tailing the beast! We should get ready. Form the positions!” Screamed an officer somewhere to Moon’s left. That’s what the soldiers saw.

Moon saw something else.

“Globgor.”

“Captain Mina! We’re not going to catch it, it will reach the castle before us.”

“I know that, Renee! We’ve been tailing him for miles. However, he got the head start. He’s definitely reaching the castle first. But that doesn’t mean we’re giving up. We’re on his tail, he’s just a two miles ahead of us. We keep marching!”

“Yes, captain!”

Deeper in the back, the two younger members were not in a calm mood. The emergency of the situation got them both in a very anxious and frightened mood. 

“Marco, we’re almost there.”

“So is he...”

“General Mina is following me, she’s close. If I stop running, they’ll catch me.”

Globgor was running towards the castle at full speed, but he wasn’t in the least tired. The two slash wounds on his back from Mina’s attack hurt every time he moved his shoulders, but now was not the time to wail, he had to stay focused; at least the pain kept him that. The troubles of the past fight that took place kept his mind busy, and aware.

“It seems the general has a new lap dog, too...” He thought to himself, looking back at the brown haired, brown eyed warrior next to Mina. “Good for her. At least this one knows how to wield swords.”

“Well done General Mina.” He said. “You truly cannot be reckoned with. That hurt a lot.”

He focused his gaze back in front of him, looking at the castle. He was about to enter the city, from then, he’d just run and enter in. The door was wooden. He could see it from here. Nothing changed.

————

“Okay, I’m going.”

“Thank you, darling. Take Mete-”

The conversation between the two was broken by the sound of warriors breaking through the door to the chamber.

“Well, well, well, well, well....” Said a cold, sadistic voice from the puff of smoke that rose from the hallway where the doors were blown off. Out of the smoke emerged Mina Loveberry, with the Magical High Commission.

“I think we finally found our little getaway queen and her...” Mina took a second to attempt to calm her nerves at what she was about to say next. “.....monster husband.”

“Mina!” Yelled Eclipsa, stepping in front of her husband in an attempt to protect him. “Why have you come? I left a note saying I was leaving. Not only that, I also left my wand so you could keep the kingdom going without me. Can’t you just get a new queen and leave me alone? Maybe you should take over, considering how Solaria praised you.”

“Don’t you talk about your mother with such disrespect, you traitorous worm.” Mina yelled back. “I’m not here to pat your backs and say all is forgiven, no. We’re here to end you. Now...”

Mina was engulfed in a bright blue fire, and out of it emerged a strong, imposing figure. Mina’s Solarian form.

“How about we get on with it, huh?” She said, voice dripping with desire for combat.

And with that, Mina charged at the two.

————

Globgor blinked, snapping himself out of his trance.

They’re not going to get away with it. He’s not letting them take her.

“Queen Moon, he entered the city!” Yelled an army officer. “He’s charging at the gate, what should we do?!” 

Moon did not hesitate. Globgor was not going to talk, that much she could understand. Well, if he won’t come along willingly, the forceful way will work. She’s been through too much to care for his well being

“Focus all of our archers on him, fire at will! Bring him down!” Screamed Moon with scorching determination. The soldiers didn’t hesitate. Soon, all the crossbows were aimed at the giant charging at the castle’s main gate.

”They’ve decided to open fire. Have they....” Mumbled Globgor to himself. “Well, I’m in the city, the gate is a just a mile away. Mina and her jockeys are far behind me, I have enough time.”

With that, Globgor bent himself down to add more speed, he was going to burst through the gate. But he can’t shrink. He’ll lose the valuable speed he needs to break it down. He’s going to have to endure the arrows. Bending his body further down, he kicked his legs and sped up. He used his tail as a steering wheel and a source of balance. Meanwhile, he extended his arms, allowing them to cut through buildings to his left and right. This would slow him down a notch, but having his hands lean on something to his left and right would add valuable support, and ensure he can’t fall on his face.

The gate was a few hundred meters away now. He’s going to make it. No matter what. He has to break it down. He will break it down.

————

“What is this?!” Screamed the red giant. His bottom half was engulfed in a bright blue crystal.

They got them. Eclipsa didn’t know any magic without her wand, and he alone didn’t stand a chance against both Mina and the Commission. He tried going huge to beat them, but he lost nonetheless. He never stood a chance. He was being engulfed in some weird crystal as a result. Eclipsa herself was detained. She was being held by some warriors. They lost, they didn’t make it out. What was gonna happen to them?

“HEY!” Screamed Mina. “I thought we were killing them!”

“Nope.” Said Hekapoo. “We’re detaining them. Crystallization, to be more specific.”

“Oh really, so why is she still on her feet and conscious?!” Mina pointed at a crying Eclipsa, who just kept looking at her husband. 

“She’s not going to be crystallized here, we have a different place for her.”

————

“Fire, fire, fire! Bring him down!” 

The arrows were flying at him. Every warrior on this side that could shoot him, was shooting him. Hundreds o arrows, pointed right at him. And yet, he was running. He hadn’t shown any signs of stopping, no matter how many arrows they nailed into him. He was even faster, every stomp he made a produced a mini earthquake around him. His hands were cutting through the building to his sides like butter. He would be at the gate in a few seconds.

“My queen, we can’t stop him! What do we do?” Screamed a nearby soldier, hoping for the queen to provide some hope.

“Nothing.” She simply said, her face a furious scowl. “He’s going to get in.”

————

”Stop, let me go this instant.”

“No can do, Globgor. This crystal is where you’ll stay, and nothing’s changing that.” Said Hekapoo.

“So...” Started Mina. “Would you tell me how we found out they were here? You said you got a tip? From who?”

“Now that, Mina...” said Omnitraxus. “Is something we’re definitely not telling you.”

“Ughhh. You’re all as annoying as ever.” She responded.

“Globgor, darling.” Came a voice from the back.

“Eclipsa...” Globgor said, looking at her.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” She said, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Eclipsa, it’s not-”

“Darling, it’s going to be okay.” She said, she was crying. She herself knew she was lying.

————

Globgor pulled his hands out. The Gates were a hundred meters away, this is it, they’re going down. He’s getting in there, no matter what.

“Run! He’s coming.” Screamed the terrified voices of the soldiers.

“Run! Run! Get to cover!”

They abandoned all sense of duty. Everyone realized he was going to burst through. Nothing was stopping him. No arrows, no blades, no magic, no miracle. He was going to break into the castle.

“We’re being charged! Go! Run! Run!”

————

“Eclipsa, my love...” He said. The crystal reached his head, he was seconds away from being completely engulfed.

“Yes, dear?” She asked, still crying and heartbroken; but trying to tell him that it’s okay.

“No matter what, I’ll find you.” He said.

Eclispa gasped. Her breath sucked out from her body. The tears, her breathing, blinking, moving. It all stopped. As if she froze. She stood there, held by warriors, unable to do anything.

Then, she screamed. They were cries of pure anguish and pain. She couldn’t watch, she couldn’t do this. It wasn’t fair.

Globgor himself squeezed out a tear, wanting nothing more than to comfort his wife. But there was nothing he could do.

————

“Captain Mina!! He’s about to break in!” Renee screamed, nervous and terrified.

“Yes I see that. Yes.... he is.” Mina said, her voice no longer calm or collected.

“Marco.... he’s going to....”

“Yes... I see...”

————

The crystal was almost complete, just a few more seconds. He composed himself. He calmed his mind, and accepted what was about to happen. His wife was still wailing in the back. Mina and the Commission were watching the crystal near completion. Globgor closed his eyes, there was nothing he could do.

Just as the crystal was about to be complete, he heard one last interchange.

“General Mina! We have located the baby.”

“Oh, a hybrid? How disgusting.” She said, disgust detectable in her voice. “Bring the baby here, then we’re taking both it and this traitorous queen back to the castle.”

The sudden urge of emotions that hit him when he heard his baby cry was immediate, and it collapsed all the acceptance he collected. Instead, he tried to scream; but just as he was about to, the crystal was complete, and he was frozen with a look of fury on his face.

————

He positioned a shoulder facing the gate. He would use it as a battering ram, it’s going to hurt, but it will do the job. This was it, he was going to break it down. He was going to break through, and find them. That was all he cared about now.

“Bring the baby here, we’re taking both it and the treacherous queen back to the castle.”

And then came the impact.

The collision of Globgor’s body and the gate was destructive. He tore right through it, breaking it and setting pieces of it flying in all directions. People were screaming, searching for cover from the debris. The gate was breached. Wrong, the gate was gone. Completely obliterated by his charge. There was just a giant, gaping hole where the gate was supposed to be.

Attempting to stop himself, Globgor jammed his left heel into the ground, the heel digging into the floor and cutting through the castle floor as he attempted to stop. He reared back and jammed the claws on his left hand into the ground too. The claws were even more effective at slowing him down than the heel. Either way, he was sliding as he was slowly slowing down.

Once the speed was reduced to minimal levels, he pushed himself upwards by pushing his left hand against the ground it was jammed in, the force of the push sending him forward. To prevent himself from falling on his face, he jammed his right foot steadily into the ground when gravity started pulling him a tad way too forward.

Having completely stopped. He stood up straight, and opened his eyes.

He broke in.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-♠: Tainted

The sheer volume and earthquake caused by the violent destruction of the gate heard and felt in every crevice of the castle. Ladders were falling, books were tipping over from bookshelves, The mounted plaques, pictures, canvases and busts were shaking; some even falling. It didn’t matter in which room anyone hid; everyone felt that. The prolonged ear deafening sound of the giant sliding and cutting into the floor as it attempted to stop itself was equally disturbing. The noise and trembling were furious in tone. Whatever calamity was about to grace them, it would leave behind pure terror.

Then, after a few seconds, all noise stopped.

There was nothing. No sound, no trembling, no nothing. It was silent, as if nothing happened in the first place. It was deadly quiet. Nothing could be heard, no matter how hard one tried. The silence and calmness was so absolute that the single and slightest noise or movement would scare someone to death. Absolute, unending silence.

No sound.

No trembling.

No movement.

Nothing.

As for Eclipsa, silence is the last thing she needed. It was the last, last thing she needed. She knew what was going on. She knew who the one breaking in was. She knew why he was here. He was here for her. He was here to get her out. However, for as much as she knew, there was still a large portion of that which she did not know; and that which she would have liked answered. How did he know she was here? Does he not know how dangerous it is for a monster to come to the very capital of people who are very much not okay with monsters? What was he thinking? Does he not know how much time has passed?

“Eclipsa, my love.”

“Yes, dear?”

“No matter what, I’ll find you.”

Her eyes widened. Surely he would know better? Right? Surely he would know to stay away from this place. Does he not know... how much time has passed? He must have an idea, right? There’s no way he would just storm the castle without any plans or any information on all the time that passed. Is he insane?

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.

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

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.

“We’re about to enter! Have your weapons ready!” Yelled Mina.

“Engage the target on sight! I repeat, engage the target on sight!” Yelled Renee.

The cavalry led by Mina approached the door without stopping or slowing down; they were, as per Mina’s style, rushing straight in. The gate was gone, broken down by the intruder, and the flying rubble and debris caused clouds of dust rise from their impact with the ground, making it hard too see what actually awaited them inside. However, their will did not falter. They were going straight in. Straight for him. 

The cavalry rush entered the fog of dust and all the riders screamed their war cries, preparing themselves for more combat. He may be big, but he’s only one monster. They are small, but many. Besides, he lost in the forest and sustained heavy injuries. If anything, it should be easier to pin him down here.

Mentally and physically prepared, the riders passed the dusty fog only to be met with...

...

...

...nothing.

There was no monster here, and the surrounding walls showed no signs of damage, apart from the destroyed gate and the long cuts in the ground left behind by what they could only assume was the threat attempting to slow itself down. Other than that, some knocked out guards that were likely hit by the debris, and some rocks and chunks of wood here and there from the break in, there was nothing. No sign of damage. Where did he go?

Fortunately, both Mina and Renee learned a great deal from the forest fight. They knew what happened.

“All troops, be cautious! The target has shrunk again!” Exclaimed Renee.

“Get the soldiers wounded from our last battle out of here. Only those who can still fight can stay here!” Exclaimed Mina, dismounting her Mewnicorn.

“As for you who can fight. Get off your rides and start slowly and cautiously inspecting the rocks and debris in this room, for all we know the target might be hiding behind one!” Continued Mina.

The troops, as expected, obeyed.

What followed were minutes of intense nervousness. All riders carried out their job without question, but with a lot of anxiousness in their hearts. For all they knew, maybe the threat was right behind the rock they went to investigate. In which case, they’d be the first to take a trip to the infirmary.... or the morgue, if they’re unlucky.

“As for you two boys...” Began Mina, voice back to a normal, no screaming tone as she walked to the two. “...you two need to get out of here. You’re only gonna get yourselves hurt, and I don’t need extra casualties. Especially if one is a royal prince.”

“But Mina, we can help you.” Said Marco. “We can fight.” 

“First of all, it’s captain Mina. Second of all, neither of you really helped me in the last fight, and once again, I’m not even going to mention that fight against Ren.”

“You called, captain?” Came a voice from a few feet behind.

“No, Ren. Keep on the lookout. I just have to educate some kids on valuing their own lives.”

“Look, captain Mina. We can-”

“I said no, Marco.” 

“But why? We can fight, we can-”

“Actually no, you can’t, at least not this fight. Now go. Shoo!”

With that, Marco gave a long, tired sigh. She wasn’t going to change her mind. Her focused and calm eyes were staring right into his own. There was no point in fighting with her, he’d lose, that’s all he needed to know. She wouldn’t budge. And so, Marco turned around and motioned for Tom to follow him.

Ten seconds later, Tom began questioning, as was his style.

“Marco, you’re giving up?”

Marco said nothing.

“Come on dude, since when do you give up?”

“Well, you heard what Mina said, didn’t you?”

“Since when did we have to listen to her? Tell you what, why don’t we just stay there and do what we want?”

“Because then Mina would whoop our behinds in three seconds and we’d be dragged away with twelve broken bones.”

“Oh really? So what, you’re seriously giving up?”

Marco countered with a sly smirk.

Moon was running.

More specifically, she was running towards the castle’s now destroyed front gate.

More specifically, she was running towards the castle’s now destroyed front gate with a cluster of soldiers.

Now, a sane person would ask the question of whether or not it was a good idea to charge dead ahead at a gigantic monster that just infiltrated your home. A sane person would also take into account the question of whether or not it's a good idea to engage something that broke the front gate like a fiddle without a plan. Of course, the queen had the support of a small army behind her, but the question is still something that should be raised. However, it's not like Moon cared about nitpicks. She's had enough of life throwing one nail after another onto her, and she was going to show that she's had enough. Is it a bad idea to engage Globgor in combat this blindly? Yes. Yes it is.

Does she care?

No. No she does not.

Twenty meters to the foyer.

The main central foyer was something akin to a hub when it came to the castle. One could easily find a way into almost any other section of the castle by navigating the hallways that connected to it. Of course, not every section could be accessed. The royal archives, the dungeons, the gallery of queens.... there were some parts the foyer did not connect. Thankfully.

However, that was where Globgor was at this moment, the foyer. After all, that's where he broke in, it's only natural for him to be there, right? Quickly glancing behind her, Moon reaffirmed to herself that her troops were indeed still following her. Good. She doubted she'd get out alive if they weren't.

Ten meters.

Now all that matters is that he does not reach Eclipsa. That is the one primary objective. One she has to keep secret, unless she wants even more panic than there already is.

Five meters.

"This is it." She mumbled to herself.

Three.

Two.

One.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......????"

If there ever was a moment in Mewni's history where a fierce war cry died down into absolute confusion, it would be this moment right here.

Because Globgor was not here. Instead, they were met with a severily damaged foyer, and what looked like Mina's troops investigating the rubble. No sight of the beast. The hallways connected to the foyer showed no sign of damage whatsoever. Where did he go?

Luckily the utter wave of confusion was soon broken by a yell from none other than captain Mina.

"Queen Moon!" Yelled Mina, sprinting over to the queen.

"Mina! There you are." Said Moon, relieved to see a familiar face. "What is going on here? Where is-"

"Dunno, your majesty." Mina intercepted quickly. "However, it is in my belief that the intruder can size-shift, and I believe that he shrunk in order to fit in one of the corridors."

Moon's reaction was immediate. Turning around, she screamed at her troops.

"Quickly, dispatch into teams and search the castle. Find the intruder!"

The soldiers tensed up. No one was excited over the idea of chasing something that both broke through the front gate with no effort, but could also change it's size. And not only that, they would have to split up into even smaller teams? They knew they swore their lives to the queen, but this was almost certainly a suicide mission.

Mina however, saw their fear, and acted quickly, annoyed by their delay.

"Well, slugs?! Move your flanks and get to work! Or are you not warriors, but cowards?!"

Now, the soldiers swore themselves to the queen, but the queen would never become as intimidating as captain Mina. She is not even the top dog in the military ranks. Well, she used to be, but was de-promoted from the position of supreme general to the captain of the Royal Unit. Still, even then, everyone in the military respected and feared her way more than any other commanding officer could ever dream of. So it's only natural that they obeyed her words without even thinking.

"Y-Y-Yes, captain Mina!!" They said in unison, and ran away, each team into different hallways and corridors.

 With the army out of the way, Moon turned back to Mina.

"So, Mina, tell me..." Moon began. "Where do you think Globgor is?"

"Well I think he-" Mina stopped, eyes widening for a split second, then shifting into a squinted and suspicious gaze. "....how do you know his name?"

Moon's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes shrunk for a nanosecond, after which she immediately returned to her neutral gaze, something decades of being queen taught her to do.

"What do you mean, Mina?"

Mina's squinted, quiet and suspicious gaze remained. "I never told you his name, and I'm pretty sure all documents regarding his name were deleted, with only the pictures remaining."

"I'm the queen. It's my business to know." Moon replied neutrally, walking past Mina and pretending to take interest in a piece of debris on the floor. She was lying through her teeth, but there was no way she could let Mina know about Eclipsa. After all, Solaria was something they had in common when it came to their early lives. However, the perception and views of Solaria were vastly different, and Mina does not take insulting Solaria lightly, and she likes monster relationships even less. If she found out, somebody would die and it would likely be the dark queen. She has to keep this a secret.

"Riiiiiiiight..." Mina said, returning her expression to normal. "Well, on the plus side, we do have one major advantage."

"An what would that advantage be?"

"There's nothing for him to find here."

"What do you mean there's nothing for him to find here?" Moon asked cautiously.

"Simple really. The fool came here looking for something; however, he doesn't seem to realize how much time has passed since..." Mina quickly silenced herself. "Well, the point is, everything related to him in this castle is gone. There is literally nothing in this place that is his. He's here looking for something that is no longer here."

Moon's heart skipped another beat. "So what you're saying is...?"

Mina grinned. "What I'm saying is, he's going to be parading around this place until he realizes that whatever he's seeking isn't here, at which point he'll want answers. And when he does..." Her grin got wider, and her pupils shrank a tad. "He'll come right to us, demanding answers, at which point all we have to do is take him down. All we have to do is wait, and then I'll beat him again."

Another skipped heartbeat. "NO!"

The sudden yell from the queen got the attention of everyone in the room. Moon realized that the one word sentence came out a lot louder than she thought it would. Everyone was looking at her now. This is bad, she needs a diversion.

"No?" Mina asked quietly. "How so? Do you know something I don't?"

Moon started sweating. This was really bad.

"You're not hiding anything important from me, are you Moon?" Mina asked again, calling her by her real name instead of the title.

Moon mentally composed herself. Everyone was still watching them, she needed to calm down or this will all go ten times worse. She needs to keep it cool. She breathed in, and out. What should she do? Should she admit it? Could she maybe use Eclipsa as blackmail for Globgor? No, that would likely only get the titan more angry. She needs to keep lying. She needs to stay calm.

"Of course not, Mina." Moon said, regaining composure, at least on the outside. "All I'm saying is that the idea is faulty. We have no guarantees that he will indeed come right back to us. Who's to say he won't just run away instead?"

Mina stared at Moon with dead cold eyes. No emotions behind either pair. Each trying to read something in the other's eyes, yet nothing happening.

"I suppose that's correct." Mina said neutrally, voice lacking energy or emotion. Her gaze was then distracted from a voice calling from the other side of the foyer. It was Renee, she seems to have found something. Smart and reliable.

"Ah, it seems my vice-captain has found something. Shall we go take a closer look?" Mina asked the queen, sparing a small glance in her direction.

"I suppose we could...." Moon responded, her voice equally lacking in emotion.

"Let's go then." Mina said and started walking, getting a head start. Moon started following a few seconds later.

"Oh and one more thing..." Mina began talking, again.

"What is it, Mina?" Moon asked.

"Your mother might not have been the best queen, but she was a good mother." She said suddenly.

Moon stopped.

Mina stopped a few meters ahead of her, and looked back at the tired monarch.

"She taught you a lot." Mina continued. "How to cook, greet, eat, talk, dance, write, read... she even taught you how to lie. Useful for when some old geezer won't back off."

"What are you-"

"Unfortunately..." Mina spoke, silencing Moon. "I'm way older than an old geezer. Way wiser too."

Silence.

"Come on now." Mina said, oddly cheerfully. "Let's see what Ren found."

"You know, Globby, I've been thinking." Said a young female voice.

"Oh? Had another 'brain rain?'"  Answered a muscular, manly voice.

"No, you red dummy. I was thinking about us."

"Ah, a 'brain flame' then."

"Gloooobbbbyyyy, stop ittt."

He laughed. "Oh come on, 'Clips. You know you love it."

She tried to frown, but failed miserably, smiling instead. "I do and I hate it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Realllllllyyyy?"

She nodded furiously.

"Reaaaalllllyyyyyy?" He repeated. She stared.

"...yes....."

"Reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllyyyyyyy?"

"Fine, fine, fine! You win I don't hate it."

"There's my sweetheart." He laughed, she joined in.

"So tell me, what were you thinking about?"

"About us." Her voice became sadder.

"Oh?"

"Yes, about us, here."

"Oh come now, 'Clips. We talked about this." He shifted his voice to a soothing, yet serious tone.

"I know we did, but I'm still worried. What if they find us?"

"They won't."

"Globby you can't just say 'They won't.' it's not..."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. They won't. No mewman knows about this place. This place served as a palace to my people an aeon ago, and even then it was never found. I'm telling you, no one will find us."

"But what if they somehow do? What if they use my All Seeing Eye? Or read the mind of a servant as he's on holiday? Or use some flying magic or something I don't know. I'm..."

She sighed. He watched calmly.

"...I'm worried Globby. I love you, and I want to be happy here. With you. But Mina is not the type to let go easily. Now that Solaria's gone, and I'm not there as the heir... the kingdom is hers. She was Solaria's second in command. So without her or me, she's the temporary ruler until the Magical High Commission finds a solution. Whatever that might be..."

"Hey, Eclipsa?" He asked soothingly.

"I know I know. I'm rambling again and we agreed to have solved this issue long ago."

"Do you trust me?" He simply said.

"What?" She asked, a tiny bit of her surprised.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. I trust you more than anyone else."

"Then trust me when I said we're safe. No one's gonna find us here. We can be happy. Live out our life in peace."

"Yeah.... yeah... you're right. We're going to be happy here. We're going to be the happiest couple who ever lived."

"...and ever will live." He finished, wanting to sound cheeky.

She chuckled. He smiled.

"I love you, Globgor."

"I love you too, Eclipsa."

She found the stairway up. That was good, up is where she needed to go. Upstairs. She needed to find him. Tell him that he needs to get out of here. That's all she cared about now. Nothing else. Now, she just had to find him. She needed to get him out.

But then again, he was as dumb as her.

He's going to try to get her out, and she was going to try to get him out. So the only true way out is if they both do leave.

But could they do it? Could they leave and stay hidden again? Like they were supposed to? He promised her no one would find them. And yet they were found. She knew how they were found, she knew who to blame, but there's no point in crying over that now. She just needs to get him out. That's all she needs to do. She needs to get him out. She doesn't know how she'll get him to just waltz out of the citadel of mewmans with her in his hands. There's no way that would go smoothly. And yet...

She's got no other choice. She can just hope at this point... hope and pray.

She's going to get him out. She's has to get him out...

...with her.

"This thing right here."

The vice-captain pointed at a small white object lying on the ground with her sword, urging Mina and Moon to look. The object was the size of a tennis ball, and it was completely white. However, it was the shape that got Renee's two superiors confused.

"What.... is that...?" Moon asked, her confusion obvious. Mina, meanwhile, was looking at it with utmost intrigue. Renee interrupted their gazes by stabbing the small object with the tip of her sword and lifting it higher into the light.

"This... is a tuft of hair." She explained.

"A tuft of hair?" Moon's confusion was lessened, but not enough for her to grasp the whole situation.

"Seriously, your majesty? You can't piece together where I'm going with this?" Asked the vice, not even hiding the cocky attitude.

Moon deadpanned. "I haven't seen a bed in days, barely ate anything that could actually be called a meal, I barely even get to sit, my bones hurt, my muscles hurt, my brain is killing me and I haven't seen a toilet in hours. I'm allowed to not put everything together at first glance. What's your excuse?"

"Sheesh, soooorry." Renee said, looking back at the tuft of white hair on her sword's tip. "Well, this... is hair, white hair."

"Our intruder has white hair, we know that. What's this supposed to prove?" Moon asked, getting impatient.

"Oh, not much...." Renee said. "I just find it funny how this is the only place in the whole room where there's a piece of his hair."

"Indeed, this is worrisome." Mina interjected, finally getting her thoughts together. "The fact that there's been no other traces of him found in here signals to me that he must have gone in one of the hallways close to us." She finished, looking back at the assortment of hallway entries behind them. "However, I do find it very odd..."

"Hmm, what do you mean, captain?" Asked Renee.

"Well, I find it....funny..." She started, then trailed of in her own mind, leaving the two hanging.

Mina walked away from the group and stared at the enormous empty space of the foyer. It was the largest room in the castle, unless you count the entirety of the royal archives as a single room instead of a section. The foyer was a giant room, with the ceiling fifty meters above the floor, and the room itself was a hundred meters long, as well as wide. It was, without a doubt, the largest room in the castle. The gate which Globgor broke down was no more than twenty meters tall, leaving an additional thirty meters to go up until the room's ceiling was reached, where dozens of expensive gold plated chandeliers were hanging from, providing light into the room. The foyer itself had exactly thirteen hallway entries connected to it, making for easy access to most of the castle. In truth, that was not the best design choice defence wise,  but it made the giant structure easier to navigate. Six of the thirteen entries were located higher up, leading to sets of stairs being added to make reaching those easier and... well... possible. The fact that there was not any other spot where a trace of Globgor was found in a room as massive as this, had her mind in a small enigma. And besides, how could a tuft of hair just fall out naturally. When hair falls out, then the entire string of it does, not just some small nitpick. No, this must mean that it was there on purpose, in which case...

In the forest, he attack by hiding in the grass... he shrunk to attack us.

He hid in the grass... a tuft of........grass.....

Mina's eyes widened.

"Renee, Moon, get out away from there!"

"Huh-"

But before any of the two could get another word out, Mina kicked the tuft of hair away, and pushed both her superior and her right hand gal back. Then, grabbing one of her ponytails, she lashed it at the bundle of hair, effectively slicing it apart like it was paper.

"Captain! What happened? What did you see?"

"Mina, what happened?"

Silence. Mina was staring at the now torn apart strings of hair as they were falling to the ground. Nothing happened, nothing moved.

Then, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that..." She started. "I had a suspicion he was hiding in the hair."

"In the hair? Do you think he could actually shrink to a size that small?" Renee questioned, understanding where Mina was coming from.

Mina, in turn, sighed and leaned her back on the wall. She then gave another sigh and sat down, still leaning on the wall.

"He can shrink to incredibly small sizes. And unfortunately for us, his size-shifting isn't magic. It's something that's in his cellular makeup."

"What?"

"It's possible." Moon interjected. "Septarians can heal their wounds. This is because their cells have a regenerative property that allows them to dish out instant copies of themselves. Demons have cells that have developed a fire proof outer layer, making demons immune to fire and lava. Same thing with the Ponyheads. They keep themselves floating without magic due to the distance between their cells. In other words, they inhale through the nose, but they exhale through their skin, the air passes between the holes in their skin allowing them to stay in place, and since that air goes out very slowly and almost automatically, they have enough time to breathe in again before the last breath completely runs out."

"So what you're saying in..." Renee began.

"What I'm saying is that it might be possible for Globgor's ability to also be linked with genetics rather than magic." Moon finished.

"And it is." Mina said. "They shrink the space between their cells and the the space inside of them without breaking anything when they wish to shrink, and expand when they want to grow."0

"No no no." Renee interjected again. "I'm asking what's that matter in the grand scheme?"

"Oh nothing much, just that we're dealing with an enemy who has abilities we cannot effectively counter." Mina finished.

"So what now?" Moon asked.

"I don't know..." Mina said. "I was sure he would be in the hair. I guess he really did go into one of the halls. However, like I said, he's got nothing here for him, we just have to wait for him to come to us."

Mina looked at Moon. Their eyes locking.

"There's nothing here for him, is there?" Mina asked slowly, her eyes staring into Moon's.

...

...

...

"So..." Renee suddenly said, breaking the two out of their haze. "We just have to wait for him to come to us?"

"Indeed." Mina said. "He'll come, and then we'll best him."

"I do have some questions about that plans..." Renee spoke, looking at her superior. "However, I will not question your decision. I trust you, both as a person and as a warrior."

And so, silence reigned. Moon's thought were occupied with Eclipsa and Globgor meeting. Renee's thoughts were occupied with figuring out an attack plan.

Mina's thoughts were on the hair.

Just there. A tuft of hair, obviously intentionally cut, right there. Empty, without any sign, message and seemingly no intention. But why would it be there? Why would he leave it. Of course, he must have expected the tuft to be found, in which case the one who found it would have to inform his findings to his or her superior, in this case, herself. And then what? She'd see the tuft and do what? What was the reaction that Globgor wanted? Was it this? Something else? If she assumes that he wanted her to destroy it, he could have thought that this would lead to her lowering her guard, or maybe it was intended as a way to distract her? Globgor lost the fight in the forest; he surely knows that she and Renee are his biggest threat.

Renee spared a glance to look at Renee. She was chatting with Moon about something.

Looking back at the white strings of hair tattered on the ground, she continued her thoughts. He must know that fact. So why do something like this. If he was smart, he would have deduced that she would never let him go. So his primary objective should be to get her out of the way first. But how? How would he beat her? She completely mopped the floor with him with that surprise attack. It was simple, he relaxed and thought he was no longer in danger, and she used that time to knock him down. Simple as that. Wait...

He relaxed and thought he wasn't in danger...

...a surprise attack...

"Oh no."

And it was exactly at that same second that it happened.

Now, it's been a while since they started the search. It's been a while since no sign of Globgor was seen. It was an anxious and quiet period of time.

So, the shock of every person present when a giant red beast broke through a wall and grabbed captain Mina was, something none had expected.

Mina's mind, however, was filled by a personal disappointment of not being able to predict what just happened.

"Of course..." Mina said to herself, realizing what happened.

He put the tuft of hair there so Mina would get closer to that wall. Then, he waited for her to relax and think she was safe, an error he did in the forest. After she relaxed, he would break through and grab her. Well, the plan worked, she has to give him that much. He had her. Globgor, seeing that he did in fact grab Mina, pulled his hand back and swung it forward, shooting Mina like a rock. The sound of what must have been at least thirteen walls breaking were heard, and there went captain Mina.

"One down. Goodbye, general Mina." Said the red giant, allowing himself to smile.

Wasting no time, Globgor located Mina's vice-captain, and attacked. He attempted to grab her, and then do the same as he did to Mina. However, Renee gave him no such luxury. Instead, she immediately jumped onto his hand, and started running towards his face. Globgor was prepared, and attempted to use his other hand to crush the vice as she was climbing his hand. He raised it and began his assault, but Renee jumped to the side of his hand and stabbed a sword into his flesh. Then, she used her strength to pull the sword downwards without pulling it out. The result of that was that she managed to use the lodged sword as a rope, and did a full circle around his hand while avoiding his other hand. When the swirl got back upside, she pulled the blade out, and the speed and momentum launched her above the titan.

Globgor looked up to where Renee was, but she was quick on her assault. The second he laid eyes on her, she launched the two swords she was holding, one in each hand, towards Globgor's eyes. But Globgor himself learned from last time. Without hesitation, he blocked the blades with the palm of his hands, the blades cutting into his skin. He pulled his hand back to see an unarmed Renee falling towards his face. However, she had no more weapons, the swords were stuck in his hand. Smirking, Globgor turned around, ducked, and attempted to swat of the young warrior with his tail. Renee, swift witted as always, grabbed the huge tuft of hair on the end of his tail. But, Globgor once again learned from his previous encounter, and had an additional trick up his sleve.

In a fast motion, Globgor jumped while turning around in mid-air, and aimed the tail at the floor. He knew that she would jump off and grab something else, so he decided he needed more speed. And so, in the middle of the spin, he began shrinking, the shrinkage caused his tail to begin receding towards his body, the sudden demand for a smaller tail increased the already incredible fast speed his tail was going at, and he understood that there was no way she could fully dodge this attack. And sure enough, she didn't. The sudden decrease in his size and the increase of the speed shocked her greatly. However, what shocked her more that, because he was smaller, she was closer to his body. But that was not the point, the point was she was now in the range of his foot, the foot that crashed into her back, and increased her speed once more. Without even a second passing, Renee was launched off of his tail, and crashed into the ground.

With a victorious smirk, Globgor increased his size back to his usual titan self, and looked at the pile of dust that the impact created.

"That's two." He said. He then went to remove the blades stuck into his palm. But as he went to remove them, he noticed only one was there. Turning around, he could see Renee rising from the puff of dust, her outfit scratched and some cuts and bruises on her skin. She had one of her blades in her hand. How did she?

"I managed to grab it when you shrunk. After all, you might have gotten your foot closer to me, but you also got my blades closer to me. Too bad I couldn't get both." She said, small smirk on her face.

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."

"Renee, stop!" Exclaimed a voice from behind them. The voice was Moon's. "You can't go back in a state like that!"

Renee looked at the queen. "Your majesty, I appreciate your concern, but that bastard launched my captain into a wall. I'm going right back in!" She exclaimed and rushed back.

"No, Renee stop!" But it was too late. Renee already re-attacked Globgor, attacking him from the back, so that she and Tom could execute a pincer move.

"She's really not going to listen. Best that we just let her fight. I'm going too." Marco said, getting ready to fight. However, he was stopped by a firm grip on his shoulder from Moon.

"No, you're not going anywhere." She said sternly. "You are too young and too inexperienced to fight in things like these, just like Tom."

"But I ca-"

"Marco, look. Globgor's got Renee stabbing him, Tom scorching him with fire and Mina's squad shooting him with crossbows. I think they've got this."

"Oh!" Marco yelled, offended. "So just because Tom can shoot fire makes him more qualified than me, huh?"

"What?! No. Neither of you are qualified, and it's not the fire that-" Moon stopped.

"Uh, your majesty? Is everything okay." Marco asked, concerned.

Moon walked past him, not saying anything. Instead she looked directly at Tom as he was using his fire to fly around Globgor and shoot him with his flames.

"....fire...." She said.

"Um, your majesty?"

"Marco." She quickly began, turning around and facing the boy. "Was Tom.... always doing that?"

"W-What?" Marco asked, completely confused.

"Fire. Was he always able to shoot fire."

Marco gave himself some time to think that question through. Truth be told, he never thought much about it, but it was a thing that Tom consistently did. He burned a pile of books in the royal archives after he told him what happened to Star and the others, and he set some of the tent's floor on fire back at the temple. But why is that....?

"Yeah. Yeah he did. He could always shoot it, from what I saw." Marco answered. "Why?"

Moon seemed taken aback by the answer he provided. Why this was, Marco didn't know. Tom shooting fire was just something he could do, right? There's nothing weird about that. Right?

"Well..." Moon began. "...it's because-"

However, the talk was cut short due to a flying Tom and Renee crashing next to them, with Tom unconcious and Renee barely being able to stand.

"Tom! Renee! Are you guys-" Said the queen and boy in unison.

Before they could finish their sentences, their focus was shifted onto Globgor. He was standing a few dozen feet behind them, arrows and spears sticking out of him. All of Mina's troops were knocked out, and it seemed some would never get back up. He was standing there, victorious, staring at the last two people standing in his way. With his four yellow eyes, he looked at Moon and spoke.

"You must be the replacement queen." He said, voice deadly serious. "Don't try to deny it. Your cheeks say much more than you can."

With a gulp. Moon tried to compose herself. She was panicking. She was in no shape to fight. She needs to talk this out, that's her only option. Taking another deep sigh, she composed what little of her mind she could and stepped forward.

"Yes, I am Moon Butterfly. The current queen of Mewni."

He gave a rough and dark chortle. "My, my, my. It does seem they got you in with the program really quickly. Gotta admit, the commission really gets the dirty deeds done quick. Well, what do I know?"

"Excuse me?" Moon asked, unsure of what to think.

"No excuses, I'm here for my wife and child. Give them to me, and I'll leave." He said, voice serious and stone cold.

"And I am to assume you are Globgor?" She needed to make sure. Sure, the evidence is pointing at this being him, but not only did she need to stall, but also get him to calm down... somehow.

"Don't play games with me, little woman. Of course I'm Globgor." He exclaimed, getting impatient. "Now listen to me. I could crush you with my hand right now. Crush you like a grape. However, I'm really not a fan of murder. All I want is my family. Either give them to me, or I'll tear this place down until I find them."

Moon could hear her heart beating out of her chest. She was scared, and he knew it. She needed to find a way to figure this out.

"Marco..." She said. "Go get Renee and Tom out." Marco's reaction was one of worry. He can't just leave the queen here.

"No!" Globgor yelled. "The boy stays here, just like you."

"We need to get the injured out or they might-"

"All the more reason why you should hurry and tell me where my family is!" He screamed at Moon, the intensity of the yell deafening the queen. "Tell me now, and then you can take care of your wounded. Either that, or we wait here until they die."

Moon berated herself for bringing such poor decisions during a conversation in which she might die. He wasn't budging. Nothing could distract Globgor from the topic of his family. So what now? Does she tell him? There's no way she can just lie to his face and get away free. Is there anything she could exploit, anything at all? Marco was behind her, unable top do anything. Renee and Tom were likely completely knocked out unconcious by now. And captain Mina was....  Wait a second. Captain Mina.

Her rank was captain. Mina was a captain. And yet Globgor...

"One down. Goodbye, general Mina."

He called her a general. Of course, Mina was a general during the Solarian war. Heck, she was the supreme leader of the military. But she was moved to the position of captain of the Royal Unit ages ago. Why still call her...

That's it!

Smiling internally, Moon pieced it together. Time. He does not know how much time has passed yet. Good, she can use this. If she could show him that over three hundred years have passed, maybe that will get him to back off. After all, if she tells him where Eclipsa is, he'll storm out with her, and it won't be long before both the monsters and mewmans find out someone like Eclipsa is still alive. If they find out, all of Mewni will fall into even deeper chaos than before. She can't allow them to meet. This is the only alternative.

"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. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"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."

"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.

"Honey! Thank goodness you're okay!" Said, Globgor, tears of happiness forming in his eyes.

"Globby! My love. Why have you come here? They're going to hurt you." She asked, voice filled with both joy and worry.

"What do you mean, why am I here? I've come for you! I've come to get you both out of here."

"She's not here, darling. She's not with me." Said Eclipsa, saddened.

Globgor stuttered for a moment. "What do you mean? Where is she?" He asked, voice shaking.

"I don't know love. It's been over three hundred years since the day we were captured." She had to explain it to him, he had to know.

"Over three hundred.... Wait, how are you still here then?"

"I was crystallized like you. They just kept me in a different location from yours. We were both sleeping for three centuries."

"And our daughter? Was she crystallized too?" He asked, fear sinking into his heart.

"I....I don't know, Globgor..." Eclipsa said in a saddened voice.

To the side, Marco nudged Moon.

"Hey, your majesty. Sorry to ask but...." Marco began, unsure if he should continue "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Something that we currently can't do anything about." Moon said, trying to recover.

"Can't we just leave?" He asked, not understanding why they simply couldn't. "I mean, Tom told me Eclipsa used to be a big deal like centuries ago but I thought she was dead."

"You don't understand, Marco. If she gets out, Mewni will fall into much heavier panic and chaos than before. If we leave, they'll get out. I can't allow my people to fall into even deeper disarray."

"And why would that be the case? She just looks like a normal woman, nothing special about her." Marco proclaimed, trying to make some sense of Moon's reasoning.

"Marco this 'normal woman' is highly regarded as the largest criminal of the Second Era, and that's a very big deal. Everyone knows who she is, and I assure you not for the right reasons."

"Well can't we-"

They were interrupted by a huge fist slamming right in front of their faces.

"Well maybe we should make them tell us where they took her!" Yelled Globgor, filled with rage.

"Honey..." Said Eclipsa.

"We deserve to know, where did you put her?!"

"Globgor..." She continued.

"Tell us! Now!"

"Globgor!" She yelled.

"What?" He said, looking at her.

"They don't know."

Globgor's view darkened.

"W-W-What do you mean they don't know?! The people who did this to us have no idea what they did to our daughter?!" He screamed, tears forming.

She nodded sadly.

Globor's shoulders relaxed, his gaze broke and his voice died. He looked broken. As did she.

"Darling..." Eclipsa began. "You're wounded. Come on. Let's leave while we still have the choice. Please, let's just go." She was pleading. She just wanted to go, but Globgor was stuck, his mind filled with questions. In this confused and heartbroken haze, he turned to Moon.

"You don't know where my daughter is?"

Moon was taken aback, this was too confusing. Their daughter? Does Eclipsa not know what happened to her? Surely she knew, she said her name more than once, and Moon's pretty sure she talked about her daughter in front of her, so why.... this question..? Why her response? Does she tell him? She needs to understand what is going on here. In a rush of confusion and leftover fear of being crushed helpless, she told the truth.

"Your daughter, queen Festivia, ruled happily ever since she inhabited the throne. She built a town for monsters, and lifted the morale of all the mewmans who were crushed by the aftermath of the Solarian War. She repaired the damages done to the mewmans and increased the population's happiness by a staggering 43%. She was a successful queen. Furthermore, her age is marked as one of the happiest ages of Mewman history."

Silence.

There was only silence.

Globgor froze. And Eclipsa looked at Moon with tears in her eyes. Nobody moved an inch. No movement, no sound. Nothing except the slight sound of a cold breeze blowing outside. Sunlight was streaming through the broken frame of where the gate once was, bringing extra light into the desecrated foyer. Dust flew here and there, the light of the sun making some particles of it visible to the naked eye. Other than that, nothing. No movement. No sound. Dead silence.

"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!

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.

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.

"Well, well, well, well, well. It's been a while." Said Mina, her voice sounding deeper and more beast like due to her transformation. "How are you holding up, princess?"

The grip Mina had on Eclipsa's throat was choking the ex-queen, making her struggle just to breathe. She tried to use her hands to loosen Mina's grip and her legs to try and get a footing on the wall itself. It was hard to breathe. Her face was going red.

"Well? Nothing to say?!" Mina exclaimed, pulling Eclipsa back just to slam her into the wall again. "Didn't your mother teach you that a queen must be vocal about her intentions?"

"M...Mi....Mina...." She tried to speak. The grip was too tight. She couldn't breathe. Her vision was going dark.

"Are you serious? That pathetic that you can't even talk? Fine, I'll make it easier on you." She said, voice dripping with murderous intent. She loosened the grip on Eclipsa's throat. The queen gasped for air.

"So... ready to talk now, you harlot?" Mina asked, not that she needed an answer. "Or should I kill your lover first?"

"Mina..." Eclipsa said, voice dry and rough. "Good to know you're still alive. To be honest, I hoped you would implode like all the other Solarian Warriors."

Mina once again slammed Eclipsa into the wall. "I've had enough of your jokes, you filthy hag! There is nothing I would enjoy more than snapping your neck right now as I should have done three centuries ago."

Eclipsa spat. "Oh really? But of course, that's all you are, isn't it? A weapon. You can't do anything except kill, kill, kill. Just like Solaria. A true crone-" Eclipsa grit her teeth as the grip on her throat increased again.

"Careful, princess.... your neck is reaaaalllllyyyy fragile. It wouldn't be hard to do the deed; and I certainly wouldn't mind doing it."

Eclipsa fought for breath, the grip wasn't as strong as before. "How.... how... did you transform? The Solarian Warrior form... it's magic linked. Magic is...... gone. How did...you..."

Mina laughed, the sadistic glee echoing through the foyer. "Well, to be completely honest with you, princess... I have no idea. I assure you that I couldn't do this an hour ago. I don't know what happened, but I sure ain't objecting."

"Mina." Came the voice from Mina's side. It was Moon's. "Let Eclipsa go."

"Terribly sorry, your majesty, but it's not happening." Mina said. "This is my job."

Moon opposed. "Mina, as your superi-"

"You knew, Moon!" Yelled Mina, her bestial tone writhing fear into the others. "You knew she was here and you lied.... this is my job. Eclipsa is my job. Now shut up and let me do my work."

Mina looked back at Eclipsa.

"Now, where were we?" She asked.

"I.... sacrificed... everything... I had...." Eclipsa began, still struggling to breathe. "Everything... just so I could be.... with him.... why couldn't you just....."

Mina's reaction was instant. She spun around and threw Eclipsa to the ground, the dark queen sliding bouncing of the marble ground and finally stopping. That hurt.

"Sacrifice?! Don't make me laugh! You don't know what sacrifice is!" Mina yelled. "You, my dear, just left. You didn't sacrifice anything, you left everything."

Mina started advancing towards the dark queen. However, she was interrupted by the roar of Globgor charging her with all the strength he had left.

"Neither of you two know what sacrifice is!" She yelled, using her solarian powers to fly straight into Globgor. She used the speed and momentum to punch Globgor into the stomach. The fist both delivered shocking pain and carried electricity, a little bonus ability the Solarian Warrior form could do. After all, they were designed for inflicting massive pain. Globgor then tried to grab Mina with his hand, but she grabbed one of his fingers and using her strength, threw Globgor across the room directly into another wall.

"I know what sacrifice is!" Mina yelled. "I was a leader of a great army. One which was made of many good men and women, all of them warriors, sworn to protect Mewni from scum like him!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at the dazed Globgor.

"I saw those warriors, those that trusted me, die. I saw them perish by the blades and teeth of monsters! And yet, I fought for them! For all of them!" Mina rushed and delivered another kick into Globgor's face, the impact staggering him further. He was weak, all the wounds that he endured through all the fighting. From the slashes on his back, to the blades, arrows, spears. He was hurt. He couldn't keep this up much longer. Angered, Mina threw in another kick, then another, then another. She kept sending them, one after the other, beating Globgor like a doll.

"All those men I fought alongside had families, some even kids. They had people who were waiting at them back home. And bastards like these ensured they would never be able to reunite." She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Those warriors sacrificed everything! Sacrifice means you leave behind something you care about! You, Eclipsa Butterfly, never cared about anyone! You didn't sacrifice anything because you did not care about anything! You only cared about him!" She stopped hitting Globgor, and instead used her hair whips to grab another broken boulder, and smashed it into Globgor's face. The impact once again sending Globgor flying.

"And even when they were about to die, they stayed true to their duty! They fulfilled it to their dying breath!" She exclaimed, wrapping a ponytail around Globgor's leg and launching him back into the wall. Eclipsa cried, but she could not speak.

"They fulfilled their duty to the very end, and they died for that duty! And what did you do?! You, the future queen of Mewni, allowed yourself to be tainted by these monsters, the ones who took so many lives of our people, and when the people needed you the most, when your mother was killed, and when they needed someone to tell them that there was hope, that there was a future, that the sacrifice of all the people we lost was worth it....."

Globgor stood up, barely being able to stand, he couldn't fight any more. But Mina did not care, instead, she walked to the barely conscious monster, and readied a more powerful hair whip attack.

"...you weren't there."

And with that, she unleashed her attack on Globgor, the strike echoing like lighting, and the cut inflicting pain Globgor never felt before. Her hair whips slashed him directly across the chest, and inflicted massive damage.

And with that, Globgor roared, cried, and collapsed.

"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.

Moon, Mina and Marco were sitting at the infirmary.

It's been two hours since the battle. Eclipsa was brought back to the dungeons and placed in a new cell. She did not resist. Her husband's size decreased after his defeat, likely subconsciously. Either way, he was taken to a secret cell way, way deeper underground, and there he would stay until this whole fiasco blows over. Renee and Tom were in separate beds, both unconscious. Sighing deeply, Moon looked at Mina.

"So.... since when could you transform into that Solarian form of yours."

"Like I said, I don't know. I couldn't and then I suddenly could." She answered bluntly. "The more important question is when were you going to tell me about Eclipsa."

Moon said nothing.

"Heh, thought so." Mina said. With that she got up from her chair and walked over to Ren. Mina herself had some injuries. A few broken bones and some bruises. The doctors advised her to be situated in a bed too. However, she shrugged it off and said that they just need to wrap it all up, she can take care of herself. Looking at her bedridden and unconscious right hand gal, Mina felt a tinge of sadness. Of course, her injuries were not that serious. Renee also had a few broken bones, some bruises and likely some internal bleeding, but nothing too deadly, the doctors said she'll be fine. Just like the Lucitor prince. Mina sighed, grabbed Renee's hand and patted it, her way of showing some emotions, Marco guessed. And with that, Mina started walking away.

"Well, I don't know about you two..." She began. "But I'm off to a hot, hot bath. I'm going to make it a three hour long one, I think I've earned it." She bid them farewell, and exited the room.

Moon and Marco stared at the Tom, which activated Marco's curiosity.

"Your majesty?" No response.

"Your majesty?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry Marco. I got lost in my thoughts."

"I think we should get going. We both need a bed and some rest."

Moon smiled a little. "I do agree with you there." She stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Your majesty?" Marco asked again.

"Yes, Marco?" Asked the queen, stopping at the doorway.

"I was just wondering.... what was that you wanted to say about Tom and him shooting fire."

Moon took a moment to recall the event. Then took a deep breath and turned around to face Marco.

"It's the same as Mina's Solarian form...."

"Huh?"

"You said Tom could always use it? Even after the event with....."

Marco knew which event she was talking about. "Yes, he set a pile of books in the archives on fire without any issue."

"See that's odd."

"Huh?"

"Mina could only transform now, but Tom could use fire all the way back then...."

"Your majesty, what's going on?"

Moon sighed, and looked at Tom.

"Both Mina's Solarian form and Tom's fire shooting ability come from the same source, and it is the fact that one could use it before the other that confuses me. In addition, not even I can use my own powers yet... and I shouldn't be able too, none of us should."

"What... what is this about? What's the shared source?"

Moon looked at Marco again.

"Magic."

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 1-16: Delirium

He opened his eyes.

The slight rays of sunlight breaching through the window signified morning. He could hear kids running around playing, having fun. It was definitely morning. However, the sound he heard louder and clearer than all others was the sound of the clock, churning the seconds away.

He looked at the clock, wanting to see how much he slept. It was eight in the morning. He went to bed at midnight, but he couldn't fall asleep until four. By applying mathematics, he concluded he slept four hours. Nothing's changing. The thought made him sigh, his tired, old eyes closing. He tries so hard to get a normal sleeping schedule going, but no matter what he does, he can't get it done. No matter when he goes to bed. Be it at midnight, one, two, four, eleven. It was always messed up.

He spent a couple of minutes there, lying on his bed, listening to the clock hands ticking time away.

He got up later.

Getting downstairs, he entered the living room, he then went to the kitchen, which was connected with the living room in a way that made them seem like the same thing. The absolute silence in the house leaving him alone with his thoughts. It was morning. This is when people eat breakfast. He decided he should do that. He went over and opened a cupboard located above the sink. He pulled out a box of cereals. Store-bought, cheap, not particularly tasty, but he preferred them over the other ones. That being said, he didn't think much of them. He then pulled out some milk. The milk was equally cheap. Well, it wasn't really cheap, it was just that he had way more money than needed for a simple life, so he could afford it without any issues. Closing the cupboard above, he walked over to the edge of his kitchen open a different cupboard. From this one, he pulled out a ceramic deep plate and a metal spoon.

Placing the four objects on the table, he sat down in one of the two chairs present. He slowly put the corn cereal into the deep plate, the cereal filling half the bowl. He then took the milk and began pouring. He poured the milk in slowly, careful not to spill any of it over. However, his trembling hand betrayed him, and he spilled some milk on the table.

Mentally cursing, he set the milk down and looked at his hands. They were trembling, the issue was getting worse. Once, they were as still as a rock. However, now they were trembling like paper in the wind. It was getting worse. It wasn't a big issue previously, as he could have calmed them down. Now, it would take him all of his mental energy to do so, and even then they would still slightly shake. He thought about seeking help from a doctor or psychotherapist, but always brushed it off as something he could tame. Time seemed to point otherwise. Whatever, he could deal with it.

Quietly, he stood up and grabbed a napkin to wipe the milk away. He moved the bowl with the cereal away from the stain, his trembling hands spilling a little bit of milk from the bowl. Taming his quick to rise temper, he set the bowl down, wiped the milk away, and began eating. His hands were still trembling. However, he managed to eat breakfast without any new issues.

Storing the cereals and milk away and washing the plate and spoon with which he ate, he went over to a more quiet spot in the living room. There were a couple of book filled bookshelves, a small table, table lamp, a fur carpet and a single sofa there. He sat down and grabbed yesterday's newspaper, not for the information, he read that yesterday. No, he grabbed them for the puzzles. He needed a distraction from the overwhelming silence that plagued his mind. Sitting at the table, he took a pen and opened a crossword. It was a simple one in design, fill-in-the-boxes-with-a-letter type: he believed they were called "Arrow Word Puzzles" He sat down and looked at the clues.

'To slay.' Four letters.

He wrote in 'kill'

'Parasol.'

Umbrella.

'Limb for walking.'

Leg.

'He who steals.'

Thief.

'Wall climbing plant.'

He stopped. This one was trickier. The word contained three letters. He should know this, he did research on them a couple years back, it wasn't anything new to him. What was it? What was it...? Three letters... three letters... three... maybe Gli? Was that it? No... was it Tri? No, no, no... It must be.... no.

He tried to recall. He tried to piece together any memory of the time he spent studying the damn thing. However, his mind didn't play along, throwing useless information to him instead. In the midst of that uncontrolled twister of thoughts he recalled the name ended on 'e', but it stopped there.

It must be Lab? Or was it Zab? No, none of those, it ends on an 'e'. Ree, Bee, Zae, Lre, Cre, Pie, Bie, Kie.........................die?

....die....

Die....

Die.

"Die!"

He clutched his hand, the pen dropping to the ground. He shut his eyes tightly and pinched the area between them with his other hand, trying to shut his mind off. The invading thoughts turning into voices. Soon, his mind was filled by nothing but voices. He tried harder to shut them off. his hands shaking again, but it was no use; the voices kept going and going. Eventually, they began overlapping with each other, forming a tornado of screaming, painful memories. He couldn't stop them, so he just embraced for the worst.

You don't have the privilege of being important. Hello, and who might you be? You're important, everyone is, don't listen to them. Why won't you die? Hello, how are you today? I brought you this! Oh what a nice present, thank you! Pull yourself together, we have one goal. Do you believe? Hello, it's so nice to meet you! Hey now, why the pouty face, you gotta cheer up y'know? The lord is expecting you. Your people have no place in this land. You're a failure, how haven't you died yet? I would like you to be there with me when I do it. I'll make sure to give him my regards! Listen here, slabmeat, I'm not here to tutor you. I think the dress looks nice, don't you? In fact, I'm here to make sure you leave. I never told you this, but I Can you knock it Hello Mewni calling Well maybe if you were He's dead Why won't you just you Listen here don't you see that die die die please understand that i only want the best for all of die my purpose is to create my goal is to create a world rid maybe if actually cared you couldmakestophellowhyyoushouldbenostoppleaseithurtsidonotwanttolistentomeicareaboutyouliaryoukilledherstopijustwantpeaceicallthedarknessuntomestopbossareyounotimegetmeoutdieithurtswellyouseepatheticdisappoitmentnoneedtoexplainanotherfailiurenowonderyouheycanyoupleaseseenohopeonedayyouwillunderstandwhyyouhereusibloodhopekillloveangrydreammypurposenohelppleasepainsadisttakeitlethergoisorryamhellnoyesyoumaybehelldiediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediedieHe'sdead.

There was a loud knock on the door.

The voices immediately stopped.

He froze, and breathed out for the first time in minutes. His hands stopped, and fell to his side, loose and relaxed. He opened his eyes, the cold air grazing them and causing his eyes to slightly water. Glancing over at the door, the knock repeated, louder this time. Closing his eyes again to take a deep breath, he composed himself and got up. He walked over to the door, his right thumb slightly rubbing his right middle finger. Standing in front of the door, he took a glance at his hand again. Still shaking. He couldn't calm it down, his mind was shut off. He couldn't make his mind start, he wasn't thinking at all. He was just... there. He understood what was happening and what he needed to do, but he couldn't formulate any thoughts about it in his head. Grabbing his shaking hand with the other, he held the hand tightly in an attempt to calm it. To anyone else, it would seem as if he was trying to strangle his own arm, but he was alone here, no one can see him.

The hand calmed down, and he took another deep breath and closed his eyes. Breathing out, he opened his eyes in an uninterested, dead stare. His facial expression equally devoid of emotion, just like he liked it. Having finally regained his posture, he opened the door.

"Good morning." Came the cheerful voice of the one handed, yellow monster. The monster had freckles, a smile way too goofy, and orange eyes clashing with his skin colour, he also wore a blue hat. A postman. 

"Uh, sir? Hello?" The postman said, confused at the his lack of response. "Are you okay?"

He merely glanced down into the younger monster's eyes. His dead stare piercing into him. Deciding it wasn't worth answering his question with words, he merely hummed in response. The postman took it.

"Sorry, sir, I'm new at the job. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right." The postman said, trying to lighten the mood.

No response.

"W-W-Well, sorry. I believe I have a letter for you..." The postman said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out an envelope attached to the morning newspaper and went to inspect the address. After a few seconds, the postman diverted his attention back to the larger monster.

"Y-You are Mr. Toffee Alastor, right?" The postman questioned, unsure.

Getting fed up with the yellow monster, he spoke.

"I thought I made it clear to the major that I prefer being called by my first name only."

The postman's eyes shrunk.

"O-Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot." He said, suddenly nervous and shocked. "I forgot. Please forgive me, Mr. Toffee."

"It's just Toffee, and please stop." He said, taking the letter.

The postman straightened up. "R-R-Right. Well here you go! Bye!" With that, the monster ran away, embarrassed.

He sighed again, and closed the door.

The moment he did, he slumped against the back of it, and unleashed the shaky breath he was holding. That was hard. This wasn't normal. He can barely stay still now. He was used to himself automatically kicking into serious mode when he was around people. Heck, he was in his serious self even when he was alone, but now... something changed. Every time he went away from eyesight, every time he was alone, a mental fatigue took hold of him. It was exhausting. Why was this happening to him? He didn't understand. No, wrong. He did understand. He knows why this is happening to him now.

He took a couple more deep breaths, the cold air in the room sharpening his mind. He needed this. He needed this time off. He was glad he got some time to himself. Some time to collect his thoughts. It helped him, a lot.

Having somewhat composed himself, he returned to the sofa he was in. He stopped at a nearby cupboard to take out a letter opener, and sat down in the sofa. First, he separated the newspaper from the letter. He placed the newspaper on the small glass table, and leaned back in his sofa. He then opened the letter itself, and read it.

Greetings, Mr. Toffee Alastor!

We've written this letter to you to inform you that your business suit, which you left with us due to:

-A hole in the left chest.

Has been successfully repaired to it's former, non-tarnished state.

Please come pick it up as soon as you are available.

-The Garnet Suit Store

Ah, the suit. He left it in the care of a suit store about a week ago to be repaired from the damage that boy caused. The action infuriated him, it was an expensive suit, and ruining it wasn't something he liked. Well, in either case, he should pick it up. After all, there's nothing else for him to do. But before he started on that, he glanced at today's newspaper that arrived with the letter. Without much thinking, he picked it up and leaned right back into his sofa. He enjoyed newspapers, they were mostly always informative enough to let you know what's been happening all over the land. It's been a little over a month and a half since his victory against those infernal Butterflies, so since he was laying low for now, the newspaper would inform him even more than they had before. In any case, he opened the newspaper and looked at the booming letters on the front page.

CHAOS AT CASTLE BUTTERFLY!

A TITANIC MONSTER HAS BROKEN INTO THE CASTLE AND CAUSED MASS PANIC THROUGHOUT THE CAPITAL!

THE CRIMINAL COULD BE THE ANCIENT MONSTER KING GLOBGOR?

 Yesterday at noon, a giant monster infiltrated the Butterfly Castle and caused sever damage to it's interior.

Luckily, the monster was stopped before he could cause any more severe damage.

This huge beast appeared at noon and charged at the Butterfly Castle all the way from the Forest of Unlikely Spider Bites.

His exact motivations and goal remain unknown, as the queen did not share any information.

However, several witnesses who have seen the beast describe it's image as the one of Globgor, the ancient monster king.

Globgor was the king of monsters during the Solarian War, and therefore their supreme leader, although certain evidence found during the time of the war pointed to him being a mere figurehead, while a different monster was secretly the true monarch of that time, who remained hidden in the shadows to hide his or her identity. However, that claim was never proven, and Globgor was charged by the Magical High Commission as the leader of monsters, and was accused of several major war crimes, and was therefore, supposedly, wanted dead.

Globgor was also notorious for his ties to the Queen of Darkness, queen Eclipsa. Eclipsa was a queen who betrayed her own people after the murder of her mother, queen Solaria, and left to live with Globgor. She, along with Globgor, remained in hiding for eleven months and six days, until they were found and imprisoned by the High Commission and Solaria's most trusted subordinate: Captain Mina Loveberry. The dark queen was taken to the castle and charged of several war crimes. According to the old documents, Globgor was executed at the spot, as he refused to come along with Mina's demands, and instead attacked the High Commission and her. Eclipsa herself was locked in the Butterfly Castle, until a monster ate her, ending her life.

However, the recent appearance of this monster has caused many alarms over what we thought was history. Mewmans and Monsters alike have begun asking themselves if this truly was the old king; and, if he was here, could the dark queen be alive too?

Once again, queen Moon Butterfly refused to make any comments, and the details are left to our interpretation. In light of-

He put the newspaper away. He's seen enough. He understood what was going on perfectly well. Placing the newspaper back onto the table, he leaned back into the sofa again, this time sinking deeper. He shut his eyes and pinched the area between them again. His right thumb once again began to rub against his right middle finger. On one hand, he appreciated the growing issues the mewmans were forced to face. On the other hand, this was something he did not expect. The old king Globgor, alive and well. Well, what's there to do? Personally, he thought it was a done case. The king killed and the dark queen imprisoned until she died. But, he was starting to doubt it himself. After all, if they were alive, that would explain that day. Yes, that would explain it.

It was certainly a day he wished not to remember, we wanted to think about anything other than his bad memories of failure, but his mind was against him. No matter what he tried, the memory came on it's own, he couldn't stop it.

"I want you and your army to leave immediately, or face the consequences."

"Your mom couldn't defeat us and neither can you."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"We're not afraid of your little girl magic!"

"We're invincible, just watch!"

"No wait! I already know about the- ugh!"

...

"I call the darkness unto me from deepest depths of earth and sea, from ancient evils unawoken break the one who can't be broken. From blackest night I pledge my soul, and crush my heart to burning coal. To summon forth a deathly power to see my hated foe devoured."

"Enough of this."

...

...

...

"Have you learned nothing?"

"No. I was the one who learnt nothing..." He said to himself, completely subconsciously.

He should have known. He really should have. But then again, he never saw it before, he only saw the...

Mentally cursing, he got up and went to the bathroom, he had to get ready to go pick up the suit.

He threw the newspaper in the trash bin.

He turned on the lights and looked at himself in the mirror.

He had definitely seen better days. He looked like a mess. Not surprising, he wasn't taking so much care for himself as he used to, and it showed. His hair was messy, he had huge bags under his eyes, his clothes were unkempt, and he lost some pounds. Of course, he wasn't sick or depressed, he was just... not used to this. He understood why a mental fatigue grabbed him every time he was out of eyesight, he knew why he couldn't keep his hands from shaking, and why he could barely focus. He knew why.

It was the normality.

His life was, for the first time... normal. No goal. No rush, no need to perfect, no need to strategise, or plan, or fight. He was... normal. His days were always scheduled, he always knew what he was going to do next, he had plans, a goal, a schedule... and now... now that he's done... he doesn't. He doesn't have a need to do any of that, not any more. So he did what he always planned to do after he walked away.

He retired.

He started living unscheduled days, unplanned days. He started just... living. And that's what caused this. The years and decades of endless work and seriousness were here to take their toll on him. These were all punishments for causing his body, soul and mind so much labour. He never felt it before because he was always so focused on what was ahead. But now that all of that's gone, it came crashing on him. Well, if this was his punishment, he found it acceptable.

He sighed and opened the bathroom drawer, searching for a comb. His eyes landed on painkillers first. He stopped for a second, and his right thumb once again began rubbing his right middle finger. The wound where his finger was shot off used to be a constant pain source. It hurt all day, every day, without pause. These painkillers were all that helped him. He stomached the pain, for the first few years, but eventually it got to him, and, well, the painkillers sure did help. A lot. He was very glad he didn't need them any more.

Taking out a comb, he started combing his hair, the shaky hands once again making the task a tad difficult. He combed and combed for about two minutes, trying to focus, until...

Bzzzz

He stopped, and sharpened his ears.

BzzzzzZZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzZZzZZzz

A fly flew past him, making a loud and annoying noise as it moved about the room in random fashion. He, however, was deadly still. Another unfortunate addition to his mental state was the increased chance for outbursts of anger. While he was calm and collected in the past; now a simple fly buzzing past irritated him greatly. He kept his eyes locked onto the winged annoyance, never losing sight of it.

BzzZZZzzzzZZZZZzzzzz

He sharpened his ears again.

BzzzZZZzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZ

 Ready.

 BZZZZzzzzzZZZzzZZZZ-

The fly suddenly ceased it's flying as it was struck down by his tail, the sheer speed tearing it's wings off and sending the rest of the poor insect into the wall. Needless to say, the fly died instantly.

Quickly whipping his tail back to where it was, he let a small smile of pride appear on his face. He was still as sharp as ever. That was good news.

Having finished combing, he put the comb away, and went to brush his teeth.

 He stepped outside about ten minutes later.

Looking up, he could see the sun's light protrude through the leaves of the trees clearer. The town was in the middle of a forest, there were no plateaus or meadows, instead, the entire town was sheltered by trees. It was for the best anyway, this way, no mewman airborne units could ever find this place. After all, this town is a secret. It's purpose is to shelter monsters who did something to warrant their arrest by the mewmans and needed a place to hide. Perfect for someone like himself.

He turned around and locked the door. With that, he began walking off to the suit store to pick up his repaired suit.

The town's name was Acheron. How it was named so, he didn't know. It was a town built somewhere in the depths of the Forest of Probable Itchiness, one of the most dangerous spots in Mewni, and that's what made it a perfect hideout. The forest itself was infested with some infernal hornet-wasp-type insects that cause intense pain and muscle failure should they bite you. They were never truly named, and are instead referred to as simply 'hornets' and 'wasps'. Something he also didn't understand why, but he didn't bother trying to find out.

Either way, those pesky things were the only reason why the mewmans never bothered to explore this place. As far as the mewmans were concerned, the mere thought of a place like this existing was madness. After all, there's no way that there's a section of the forest where there are no hornets. After all, the winged pests were aggressive towards everyone, mewman, monster, demon, seafolk, ponyhead...

But that's where they were all mistaken. There was in fact, a place of the forest where there were none of them. Why? Well, because of a special kind of smoke. Now, the smoke itself is more akin to gas than smoke, even though it visually looks like smoke. Either way, that was the trick. The smoke itself has chemical properties that are completely non-related to magic. The smoke was invented by monsters who lived at least one thousand and seven hundred years ago, if data was to be believed. Now, that was the time during the very beginning of the First Era; and he wasn't alive back then. Heck, he isn't even five hundred years old yet, and that's the usual estimate of a septarian lifespan. In any case, the smoke had a special property of causing all those who inhale it to lose active thought. They become defocused, they lose sight of where they are, and some even forget to communicate. Either way, it messes with the mind.

The smoke was never named, at least until the Solarian War, where it was used as a war weapon and mass produced for the first time in recorded history. The smoke was named 'Blackout', due to it's usefulness against fighting Solarian Warriors, but that wasn't the point right now. The truth is, the dumber the creature, the less smoke is needed to fool them, and the hornets were stupid indeed. So, in the end, Acheron and the few miles surrounding it were always shrouded in a very, very, very thin mist of Blackout. However, it was such a thin mist that it is invisible to the naked eye. And since the hornets need such a low amount to confuse them, it ensures that no monsters in the town can be affected by Blackout, due to their increased resistance to it. After all, all monsters were genetically superior to those single minded insects. Every hornet that wanders in eventually breathes in some Blackout, and then, in that moment of confusion, they fly around the town completely unaware of what they are, and exit the area in their own time, or they stay too long and starve. Either way, Blackout completely erases their simple minds, making them incapable of doing anything except flying, at least until they get out. But it'll just happen again and again should they enter in once more.

Which begs the question, if the only part of the forest that's devoid of those winged pests is the town, that means they're everywhere else. So how does a monster get into this town? The answer? Ruins.

More specifically, ruins from the Zeroth Era. Now, it was common knowledge that there were basically no remnants of that lost era, but some structures remain as reminders that it existed. One of which was a tunnel which connected the town to the outside world. Going through it bypasses the entire forest, as you're going underground. It's a tunnel that connects the town to a meadow outside of the forest. The tunnel itself is an absolute secret, and everyone who knows of it must take an oath to never speak of it's whereabouts, punishable by death. In order to add to it's secrecy, the tunnel was codenamed 'Charon'. A pointless move, he thought, but he was, once again, not going to question it.

And that's it. If you're famous for doing something bad against mewmans, they mail you a letter to come live here, should you accept, you get a nice town to live in with the only downside being that you have to keep an oath to not reveal the location of the tunnel. Something he accepted.

He himself was invited to live here for his deeds in the Comet War, as his army would have surely won had it not been for Moon. It was a perfect, flawless strategy, and yet one princess bested him and ruined it all. Well, at least he tried, and that was enough for them to invite him for a residence here, which he accepted.

Walking through town, he could see some monsters diverting their gazes to him, especially the ladies. It was no secret that he had a reputation as a mysterious and illusive monster that was always cool and collected, something which must have awoken the town's interest in him. The ladies were especially drawn to him, but he wasn't interested in any relationships of any kind. Those were... not for him. Either way, he kept walking.

"For the last time, could you please move and go play with that doll of yours somewhere else? We're trying to play Cornball!" Yelled a young voice somewhere to his left. Looking in that direction, he saw a young monster arguing with a younger one.

"Why should I move?" Asked the younger monster girl. "You've got all the space you need there, go play there. Leave me alone."

"For the last time, go away, we need more space." Exclaimed the boy.

"You always say that. Every time."

"I said..." the boy began, tearing the doll out of her hands. "Go away!" And with that, the boy threw the doll far into the distance.

The girl gasped, started crying, and ran away. Presumably to get her doll.

He decided he didn't need to watch kids argue about a game, so he began moving forward again. The shop wasn't far.

"Hey, Jerry?" Said another young boy, walking to the one who sent the girl away. "Donovan threw the ball and it got stuck in a tree."

"In a tree?" Asked the other. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it's too high, we can't get it down, none of us can."

"Great, so what do we do now?!"

"W-W-Well... why don't we ask that lizard over there, Jerry?"

Having heard that, he stopped, and turned around to face the two boys, the others were coming too. Soon, the entire Cornball team was looking at him.

"Excuse us sir. Could you please get that ball down from that tree?" Asked the one who scared the girl away.

"It's up there." Said another, pointing to a tree.

He looked up at the tree. It was barely big, four meters tall. He could likely jump and get it out. Actually, he could definitely jump and get it out. Even if the jump doesn't do it, he could climb the tree in seconds without any issues, he was a skilled fighter and knew how to use terrain for advantage, getting the ball out would be easy. And yet...

"No." He said, turning away from the children.

"But sir, why not? Please we believe you can do it. Please sir we just want to play." Asked the one who scared the girl away, followed by hums of agreement from others.

"I said no, get someone else to do it."

And with that, he was off, leaving the kids in a search for another adult.

He arrived at the shop shortly after.

Entering the small building, he went over to the woman working there.

"Hello, Ms. Ruby. I'm here for my suit." He said, plainly.

The small, cube haired, red monster was quick to reply.

"Ah yes, Mr. Toffee! We're so glad you came!" She exclaimed in a chubby voice, said voice happy. "Stay right here, would you? I'll go get it."

And with that, Toffee was left alone in the room, waiting. He waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, the wait bored him, so he glanced over at the room, wanting to see what wonders the room contained. After all, he was alone, his serious mode is shutting off. Either way, Toffee took a small trek around the room, looking at the different suits the store had to offer. Honestly, he didn't see anything that really got his interest piqued, but that's not to say it was low quality, in fact, he was almost surprised by how detailed and smooth some of the suits were. The store had everything: suits, dresses, boots, shoes, shirts, socks, ties, hats, jackets...

Reaching the jacket section, he cast a glance at them, it was at that moment he spotted a red jacket by the wall. It was too small for his size, but it was red, smooth, and and had some spikes protruding from the shoulders. The size makes it clear that this is something that younger monsters should wear, as he was far too old for....

He looked at the jacket again. Yes, far too old....

Looking at that jacket, he remembered he had one just like it. Back when he was young. He loved that jacket. He wore it everywhere he went. It was his pride and joy back in the old days...

Back in the old days....

"Come on, you can do it! How do you intend to win against any enemy with a stance as weak as that?!" Yelled an old monster officer.

"I'm sorry, sir."  Exclaimed a younger him, wearing a red jacket. "I'll do better!"

"Well you better!" Exclaimed the officer. "If you don't, the mewmans will beat us like we're sponges. We need warriors like you to be the pride of the nation! Do you understand that!?!?"

"Yes, sir!" He yelled.

"Well then get your ass back it line!" Screamed the officer. "You might be cool around your friends but you need to be stronger."

"I wouldn't exactly call mysel-"

"Shut up! How dare you talk back to me, boy?! Fifty push-ups, lemme see 'em! Come on boy, now, now!"

"Yes, sir!" He yelled back.

"That goes for the rest of y'all!" Screamed the officer to the other recruits. "I want every one of you to do fifty of 'em as well, since your friend here is so cool!"

"Sir." Said one monster from the back. "He's n-"

"I said do them!" He yelled. "Didn't I just explain that I don't like being talked back to?! Get your behinds on the floor and do seventy push-ups as punishment! Let's go let's go."

The officer walked back to him. "As for you, boy. You're gonna do a hundred and fifty five. You know why? Because I said so. Now we'll see how cool you'll be around your friends."

He did fifty four before he began struggling.

"Really boy?" Said the officer. "Really, fifty four and you're already having trouble? If children really are an imprint of their parents, then it's no wonder your parents didn't make it out alive."

He didn't talk back.

"Mr. Toffee?"

The bubbly voice broke him out of his trance. He turned around to see Ms. Ruby holding his suit, neatly folded.

"I do apologize for startling you." She began, sounding slightly worried. "But you were just staring at that jacket...."

He quickly formulated an appropriate response. "Yes. Please forgive me. I assure you that I'm okay."

She seemed to buy it. "Well, that's no problem at all. I do apologize for taking so long, but my partner made the task a tad harder." Said the small red monster, pointing to the back door. Behind it, an equally small one-eyed blue monster was smiling and waving at the two of them. She waved back, he didn't do anything.

"So, payment." He stated blandly.

"Oh yes, I apologize, please forgive me!" She exclaimed, running back to the counter. "Now I don't know what tore that hole, it must have been something really strong. I mean, whatever it was must have gone through you to make a hole on both sides. No mere punch or ball could do that. Honestly, if you weren't Septarian, you'd be dead!" She continued.

He said nothing, only pondering on her words.

"Well, in any case. It was actually an easy fix." She said, opening the cash register. "It'll be three hundred."

Without a word, he pulled out his wallet, and began counting bills. He ended up giving her a single two hundred and a single one hundred bill.

"Thank you, Mr. Toffee! Do come again soon!" She said, equally cheerful.

He left without another word.

He didn't even take ten steps before he heard crying.

He looked over at the source of the weeping and saw the little girl clutching something. It was the girl form back then. The one who got shoved away so the rest could play Cornball. by process of deduction, he figured she must be clutching the doll the boy threw. Judging by her expression, the doll must be broken.

Without saying anything, he went over to the small girl. She looked up at him when she saw him coming closer. She seemed frightened. She seemed as if she didn't know what to do, but she did stop crying.

"The doll, is it broken?" He asked.

The girl clutched the doll closer, not saying anything.

"Don't you have any other dolls?" He said, trying to get a response.

"...No..." She said. He didn't say anything.

"My mom got me this for my birthday..." She whispered. "We don't have much, but she was saving money to buy me this doll."

Toffee kept his gaze on the girl. "And your dad?" He asked.

"I... don't have one...." She said reluctantly, ashamed of her response.

Toffee kept his gaze on the girl, occasionally switching it to the doll.

"And your mother can't buy you more?"

The little girl started weeping again. "My mom's working very hard, we don't..." Her voice died down, replaced by sobbing.

Toffee didn't need any further explanation. They were poor. They didn't have any money. Therefore, it must be that the girl's father was the reason she and her mother were in this town, because it's not a usual thing to have someone poor live it this place. But, if the person who was invited here left them, that's likely why they were poor. Either that or he died.

"My mom just wants to see me happy. She bought me this toy to make me happy. She spent so much money. What do I tell her....?" She said, her gaze still on the ground. She wasn't looking at him.

...

...

"Here." He said.

The girl looked up. He was standing there, handing her a piece of paper. The girl didn't move an inch. Neither did he. They stood there in silence.

"Take it. There's a toy shop a street away from here. Go get yourself something nice." He said, voice still neutral and expressionless. The girl looked at the piece of paper between his fingers, and took it.

Upon taking it, the girl unfolded the paper to realize that it's, in fact, a money bill; but she's never seen this one before. It was bluer, and bigger. Looking over it, she looked at the part where the value was imprinted. She turned the bill so she could read it, her eyes widening once she did.

"A thousand?! Wow! I've never seen a thousand! Mister, you must be..." She glanced up to look at him.

But he wasn't there any more.

He locked the door behind him.

Having finally arrived in his house, Toffee's serious look crumbled. He hunched down a bit, breathed out, and his eyes started drooping. The mental exhaustion caught up, he couldn't do this. Normal life. It wasn't for him. Then again, he could only blame himself. He was the one who chose to do nothing but work for centuries on end. He made work become his norm. Therefore doing the actual norm became alien to him. It felt wrong. But, he can only blame himself. No one else. This was all his doing. And truth be told, he wasn't sorry. He accepted the job, he took that burden and he carried it, and he was finally finished. But he never thought the aftermath would feel so.... alien. However, it's okay now. He did his job.

His duty is done. He did his part, and now the monsters shall do the rest, he just needs to give them time. As for him, he can finally rest.

Breathing yet another sigh, he went over to the kitchen and pulled out some swamp water. He needed that. Pouring the drink, he sipped on it, the liquor waking his brain up to a certain degree. He stood there, in his kitchen, drinking swamp water and letting his mind roam, his shaking hands and his mind providing enough tension. He needed to cool off. That was exactly what he needed.

Deciding to try to cool down even more, he went back to the sofa to finish that Arrow-Word-Puzzle from this morning.

'Violent struggle of two.'

Duel.

'Long, throw-able weapon.'

Spear.

'Wrong act.'

Sin.

'Ending a life.'

Murder.

'Lasts forever.'

Eternal.

'Opposite of sunrise.'

Sunset.

Apart from a few words, he didn't have many issues finishing it.

He started walking upstairs, he decided to store the suit in his study. The one room where he planned for nights on end, he was going to put that suit there. He wasn't going to wear that suit ever again. That suit, he wore while fulfilling his duty, it was special to him. It wouldn't be fair to wear it now that the job's done. It's over, he's finished with that.

He reached the door to the study and found himself anxious to open it, he knew what was on the other side After all, this was the room where he used to spend most of his time in. Breathing deeply, he opened the door.

Entering the study, he looked over at all the apparatus in it. The lab equipment, the books, the mending tools, maps, documents, profiles, all of it. For a second he felt as if he was back here for more work. But the sensation quickly dispersed. He couldn't lie to himself. Looking at all the apparatus, all the equipment, and seeing all the things he did in here.... it made him a little bit sorry that he was done. He missed those days, even though only a month and a half have passed. However, as sad as he was that these days were behind him, he was far, far more happy that the goal was achieved. That was all that mattered to him.

"No price too heavy."

Walking over to the cupboard, he placed the suit inside, his shaking hands making the task harder than it should be, but he managed. Having put the suit away, he sat down in the chair. The same chair in which he sat when he planned. He had to admit, it was nostalgic. Sitting there, remembering the tireless hours he spent here studying after the failure of the Comet War. It was tedious, it was hard, it was exhausting.

But he liked it. He liked it that way.

And after all those trials. He did it, he won.

Deciding to hit himself with more nostalgia, he decided to clean all the materials he used to work with. He cleaned and brushed the chemistry apparatus, remembering all the different gasses and toxins he made in them. He cleaned the mending set, remembering all the machines he made, like that portal mace he used to get that fat bag of garbage out of Ludo's service. He brushed his suit stand, paying special attention to the mirror at the top. He dusted of and read the various notes he left, the maps, the sketches, the ideas. Everything he did to get him where he is.

Having seen enough, he leaned back into the chair, and sighed. He should likely go make himself lunch, it was about that time.

Just as he was about to get up, he noticed one last thing.

A covered vat.

Now, the vat itself didn't contain any toxin or chemical or cure or gas, no. The vat had something else entirely.

Deciding he might as well see everything, he removed the blanket.

His eyes bulged at what he saw.

He stood there, looking at that vat, his mouth closed, his eyes wide, he looked at the vat. Slowly, he felt his legs give up on him, and he quickly fell back into his chair, but he never took his eyes off of the vat. It was impossible, there was no way. He made sure that it was gone. How could this be?

Inside the vat were six Celestiflies.

Now a Celestifly is a type of insect that was created by an unknown previous queen of Mewni after the Fireflies went extinct. In a way, they were identical to Fireflies, only having two distinct differences.

One: They sparked a bright magenta light instead of the Firefly's yellow.

And two: They were created by magic.

When he left for Ludo's Castle to get employed, there were six in there, buzzing about without care, their origins made it so they didn't need to eat, so he didn't have to worry about them starving. However, when he left for Castle Avarius, there were six of them. When he came back after deleting magic and restoring his finger, there were still six there, but they were dead. Why were they dead? Simple.

Lack of magic.

He intended to use them as a way of confirming that he did it, a way of confirming that all magic was indeed deleted. And he saw it, when he returned, he saw all six of them dead on the vat's bottom.

So why...

....why were three of them alive?

He stared at the vat. No words, no movement, nothing.

Absolute silence.

His breathing stopped, his mind stopped, his movements stopped, his shaking hands stopped. Everything stopped.

...

...

...

Then, he smiled.

A small smile erupted on his face. His pupils dilated to smaller size, and his gaze became more predatory. Then, he laughed.

First, a chortle.

Then, a chuckle.

And lastly, a full blown laugh.

The sound of his laughter echoed throughout the house. The sound covering every single inch of the room. In a single sweeping motion, he leapt of the chair and landed directly in front of the vat, his feet implanted onto the ground while his hands where digging into the wooden table, giving him a quadrupedal posture, His tail raised up straight and then proceeded to curve in a line similar to that of the question mark. His face was planted directly next the vat, his enormous grin showing off his razor sharp teeth as his eyes were basically glued to the glass, looking at the glowing insects.

 And once again, there was silence.

He stayed in that pose, not moving an inch, his grin, posture and eyes staying exactly the same.

Absolute silence.

Then, slowly....

....the grin vanished, his eyes returned to their normal glare, still looking at the winged insects. He lowered his tail back to the ground, dug his claws out of the table, and slowly stood up.

His hands stopped shaking.

His mind was clear and focused.

His expression dead and emotionless.

His body straight and stiff.

His legs one next to another.

His hands folded behind his back.

His stare cold.

He was calm.

And he understood.

 That night, he didn't go to bed.

End of Arc 1

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Arc 2: Action

Chapter ♥-1: Minuit A Fond La Caisse

It was so quiet.

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Quiet.

....................

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Quieter.

...........

................

.......................

And it was dark.

..........

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........

So very dark.

.......

...............

..........

Darker.

................

...........

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No movements, no sounds, no light.

......

.....

....

Only the silent void of darkness.

...

..

.

"Star."

...

...

...

"Staaaaaaar."

...

...

...

"STAR!"

And with a bolt, Star Butterfly sprung awake.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!?!???!?!?!" The sudden screams of her name did wonders at waking the young girl up.  Springing awake, the young princess Butterfly gazed and glared at the voice which awoke her from her sleep.

"Glossaryck! What is it?" She yelled at the small blue humanoid, who looked at her with an unimpressed expression, completely forgetting the 'betrayal' back in that cave.

"Nothing much." He responded. "I just needed to silence that awful snoring of yours."

"Wha- I don't snore!"

"Mhm, yeah, sure. You sound like a meteor shower."

"Ugh, whatever! What do you eve-"

She stopped. Her mind stopping in it's tracks. Something wasn't right here. Wait, how was she here again? Taking a step back, Star gazed at her surroundings. Or rather, a lack thereof. There was nothing, she was surrounded by an absolute black void. No sound, no sight. Endless blackness spread in all directions; left, right, below, above. Everything was empty. The only things that were here were Glossaryck, a giant cauldron filled with some meaty stew he was cooking and.... herself.

There was nothing else.

"Wait. Glossaryck..." She began slowly, her voice low and dim.

"Hm?" He hummed in response.

"What am I... doing here?"

Glossaryck stopped stirring. "You don't remember?" He asked.

"Remember what...?" She asked, even more cautious.

Glossaryck said nothing, he just stared her dead in the eyes. His two, diamond shaped pupils staring into her round blue eyes. Hers bearing a completely innocent and completely ignorant personality, and his bearing the emotions of someone who just came across an idiot saying that two plus two equals twenty two. They remained this way for a few second, neither saying nor seemingly caring to say anything. Finally, without any warnings, just completely out of the blue, Glossaryck spoke.

"Toffee."

The word and it's meaning hit the young princess like a train, and the sudden memories came flooding back into her mind. Her mind filling with voices, emotions, and actions. She remembered everything. From talking Ludo into letting her use the Whispering Spell, to her encounter with him. It all came flooding back.

"Oh sweet Skywynne's hair! Glossaryck! I-I-I-I-I-"

"Breathe, Star." He interjected.

"What do you mean breathe?! There's no time to breathe! Toffee escaped! He's out of the wand! W-W-We need to stop him before he does something to my mom! Come on, help me get out of here!"

Glossaryck said nothing. He did not move, speak, or blink, he just stared.

"Come on Glossaryck! We need to move! Now! Please!"

...

"That won't be necessary." He simply said.

"............W....What....?"

Glossaryck once again remained silent, and simply stuck his hand into the pot of meat. Slowly, he pulled out a small lens. It was bright blue and shiny, almost like a small star. He puffed to remove the excess stew off of it, and tossed the object into the air. The object flew until it stopped a few feet away from them. It then flattened itself, and expanded. It continued to expand until it became a huge square, almost like a hue TV screen. Then it blinked twice, and showed Mewni.

Or more specifically, the crater.

What Star saw, she didn't truly understand, she saw her mother half buried into the ground, clutching her wand and trying to fit some small black fragments into it; she was crying. Next to her was Marco, who was handing her the black fragments, not far from them, a worried Buff Frog was tending to Ludo, who seemed gone; his eyes wide and his movements stopping, with the exception of breathing. Someone could even pass him up as a doll, were it not for the fact that he was clearly still alive.

"What........ what is this?"

"That, Star, is what's happening outside right now." He stated.

"What do you mean? Where's Toffee? Why is my mom crying?" She asked, her eyes still glued to the screen.

Glossaryck sighed.

"Star...." He began. "When he left you here, he reappeared on Mewni, broke Ludo's side of the wand, and walked away."

Star looked away to look at Glossaryck.

"Your mother and Marco tried to stop him from leaving. Needless to say, they failed, miserably. As for where he is now...."

Glossaryck turned his attention back to the soup, stuck a single finger inside, and slid it to the left. The screen responded by going left itself. Once the screen stopped, Star saw him. Except he was.... walking away.... calmly.

"He's done with playing cat and mouse, and as you can see, decided to walk away."

Star's stuttered for a moment, trying to understand his words. Her mind failed to do so, so she screamed.

"But we have to stop him! He's going to hurt more people! Who knows what he'll do next, if we don't stop him....." She stopped to catch her breath, swallowing excess saliva that built up in her mouth. "....if we don't stop him he's only going to hurt more people. You know he is! You know he's going to hurt others, you know it, you-"

"That....." Glossaryck said flatly. "......depends entirely on you."

Star's words died in her throat; her already strained and hurt throat aching for some relief. Her face changing into an expression of confusion and complete despair.

"Star." Glossaryck said calmly. "Listen to me. Panicking won't do you any good whatsoever. You need to be calm right now, or nothing good will come out of this."

He once again reached into the soup, but this time, he pulled out a small red box, giving it a small shake, he tossed it over behind Star. As soon as it hit the ground, or well, whatever layer of this never-ending omnidirectional dark void could be considered ground, the box exploded into thin red smoke, which vanished instantly. Once it cleared, in the box's place stood a big comfy looking sofa.

"Sit down, we have a lot to discuss."

She complied with effortlessly, slowly sitting down in the red sofa. Her eyes filled with confusion and anguish.

"Here." Glossaryck said, louder than usual, prompting Star to look up. "Eat this."

Grabbing the object he threw, Star saw that it was in fact, pudding. She gave a low chuckle.

"Pudding? Now?"

"Hey now, it's great to calm the nerves and relax. It helps me forget about the cruelty of reality and my sad life." Glossaryck said, a bit too cheerfully after what he just said. "However, I won't be needing pudding much longer, you're going to need it way more than me."

Raising a sceptic eyebrow, Star tore of the lid and jammed the plastic container onto her mouth, the chocolate pudding sliding down. After she ate the whole thing, she tossed the empty container aside.

"Hey... that's actually really good pudding." She said, sounding kinda relieved and a little happy.

"I told you it helps! It's the best for forgetting things that haunt your mind!" Glossaryck said, chuckling.

Star gave a small laugh. "I think I'm gonna need a lot more than just one package to move on past all of this."

Glossaryck's expression changed, his smile and happy tone vanishing, replaced with a sadder and.... accepting one?

"Yes well... don't worry..." He began. "You'll have my entire storage soon..."

"Huh? What'd you mean?" She questioned, taken aback.

Glossaryck did not respond.

"Glossaryck?" Star asked.

"You have two choices, Star." He interrupted. "Stay here with me and die, or bear the source."

"W-what?"

"Trust me, I don't want this either."

Star sat there, looking at Glossaryck in silence.

"I don't.... understand." She said.

Seeing that the girl won't connect the dots on her own, Glossaryck sighed, closed his eyes, and relaxed his shoulders. He was going to have to show her, that's the only way.

Sighing again, Glossaryck opened his eyes, put his hands on the pot... and pushed it over.

Now the pot itself was big, big enough to hold enough stew for an entire village, give or take. So, naturally, Star expected a lot of stew to pour out. However, whether it was the shock or the surprise, she didn't know. All she knew was that there was no way an ocean of stew could fit into that.

And it was indeed an ocean of stew that poured out. However, they didn't spill on the "floor". No, instead... they went through it; much to Star's surprise. Instead of making a mess of the "ground", the stew kept falling down into the endless blackness beneath, with more and more stew constantly pouring out of the pot, like a waterfall.

"What I'm about to show you is very important, and your decision later shall influence how the future of all mewmans, monsters, and magic plays out." Glossaryck said, looking down at where the soup was headed. "Have you heard anything about the Zeroth Era?"

"Mom mentioned it here and there, but nothing specific." Star said, eyeing the stew-a-fall curiously.

"Well, let me give you a little history lesson." Glossaryck said, a small smirk forming on his face. "As you're about to see, mewmans did not exist for the majority of the Zeroth Era, in fact, mewmans only came at the last few moments. If I had to put it into mathematics, I'd say the mewmans arrived at 99.9% of the Era's completion."

"O...kay? Why is that-"

"Before they arrived, there was something known as the Prime War."

"The Prime War?"

"Yes. The Prime War has many names, the First War, the Ceaseless War, the Endless Turmoil, Death's Kingdom... the list goes on, the point is that war there was raging for as long as I can remember..."

"As long as you can..." Star began, clearly confused. "Hold on. You're the oldest being in the universe, created by Magic itself, you remember everything, because you've seen everything."

"That's a lie." He stated plainly, still looking down.

"What?!" Star yelled, surprised.

"It's a lie. I''m not the oldest creature in the universe, I was not created by Magic, and I certainly did not see everything."

"So what... are...."

"Not now, you'll see in due time." Glossaryck said, silencing her.

Star wanted to speak up, but somehow, no words could form in her throat. This must be a joke right, a dream perhaps? First she wakes up in this void, then Glossaryck says how everything his family knew about him for generations was a lie. This makes no sense, none of it does and it frustrated her to no end.

Desperate for any information on anything, Star wailed.

"Glossaryck... what is going on? Why are you here? Why am I here? What happened to you? What happened to me?"

"You're about to see. It does not matter why we're here, and it doesn't matter what happened to get us here, all that matters....." He began, noticing a shape starting to emerge from the darkness below them. "....is this."

"Huh?" She muffled, looking down.

What Star saw down below made even less sense than anything she saw so far. it was... ground. She saw actual ground rising, rising up towards them. However, what she noticed above all else were the screams of... war. She heard swords clashing, people screaming, arrows flying, things crashing. It was then the she noticed the dim gray sky forming around them. The entire endless void they were just in was slowly getting replaced by a world. No. Not a world... a memory?

Soon, the ground came crashing into a halt once it reached Star and Glossaryck's level, the surrounding blackness of the void faded into a dim gray and cloudy sky, and the pot evaporated, along with all the stew.

As such, Glossaryck and Star found themselves in the middle of a battlefield.

"Look around Star, what do you see?" Glossaryck asked.

Star took a few seconds to look around. "Monsters." She answered. "I see monsters fighting each other."

"Aha! And there you are correct!" Glossaryck exclaimed. "What you see is one of the thousands of battles the monsters waged on Mewni during it's Zeroth Era! This...." Glossaryck yelled in excitement as he turned around to face Star. "....is the Prime War!"

And sure enough, it was war.

Wherever Star looked, she could see hoards and hoards of monsters fighting. Their swords, spears, axes, hammers and halberds clashing into metal, flesh and bone alike. The flocks of arrows flying across the gray sky coming down and crashing into those preoccupied with a different target, the screams of pain, anger, enjoyment and hatred booming from every side. War horns, war screams, severed heads, streams and lakes of blood seeping into the earth, which in itself was broken and torn from the constant stomping of the millions of feet, and the thousands of bodies that fell onto them. Hills of corpses laying around, with flies just waiting for a safe time to land as the surviving monsters stomped on the limp corpses just to strike a new enemy in cold blood. The daggers, blades, arrows and claws sticking out of the bodies of the wounded, but still fighting warriors. The severed limbs and body parts being used as improvisational shields, monsters grabbing rocks and broken sticks to bash their opponent's head in once they had no more weapons, the repulsive sounds of squishing as giant war beasts and bigger monsters stepped onto the dead bodies of their friends and foes alike, flattening them into pancakes.

"G..Glossaryck... this is....." Star began, but never finished, words couldn't form in her head.

"Hell." Glossaryck said coldly. "Yes. This is hell."

Glossaryck then snapped his fingers, the sudden action causing both him and the princess to start floating upwards. However, before any questions could spawn inside of confused princess' mind, the answer unveiled when she saw why he did this.

No matter where she looked, and no matter how far she could see... everywhere she looked, was war. Everywhere. Every inch, every direction, for as far as her eyes could see.

"So.... shall we get started with the history lesson?" Glossaryck said, ignoring the constant sounds of skirmish and hell below them.

Succumbing to the moment, Star begrudgingly accepted. "But only if you tell me why you're showing me this."

"I promise to do that, but later. Sound okay?"

...

"Okay."

"What you see here, is the time before your kind arrived, when Mewni as you know it was ruled by monsters and monsters only."

"But this isn't really Mewni! The landscapes don't align, look!" She said, pointing a finger at a mountain range a few miles from them.

"That was never there, Glossaryck! Or that lake! O-O-Or that forest right there!" She said, pointing at the things she noticed as odd.

"That's true, but that's because they were destroyed." Said the blue hermit, unfazed by her outbreaks.

"Huh?" She replied.

"You see, Star, the Prime War was an era of ceaseless fighting between monsters. Why this war started, nobody knows. I didn't exist back then, and even if I did, I doubt I would have really cared.. However, one thing is known." He said, and then pointed a finger at something in the valley below.

"You see those two monster races fighting? Those, Star Butterfly, were the apex monsters of the time."

Star looked, and stuttered for a moment, she heard about them only in legends. To think that she got to see them...

"Those are...."

"Yes, the two prime influences in the war, the two strongest monster races who, to my knowledge, have always been on each other's throats."

And sure enough, the two races down there...

...were Septarians and Size-shifters.

"During the time of the Zeroth Era..." Started Glossaryck, not paying much attention to Star. "...those two were the top of the chain. You either fought alongside one, or the other. Fighting without support from either resulted in guaranteed failure. That was the one law everyone knew. The Septarians posses a natural ability to regenerate any part of the body they lose, while the Size-shifters posses the ability to shrink or grow, depending on their decision. These strengths made them borderline unkillable in combat. Which is why they were usually left to fight each other when it came to battles."

The statement was true. Everywhere Star looked, dozens of monster races were fighting, sometimes even members of the same race. There was no code in that fight, it was just a simple code of 'attack the first enemy you see'. However, the exception seemed to have been made with Septarians and Size-shifters; no other monster race interfered with that. That slight detail showed Star how fearsomely respected the two races were, be it out of fear or genuine awe and admiration.

"But wait, aren't Septarians immortal? I mean, they can just regenerate all their injuries; the Size-shifters can't do that, all harm done to them stays, right?" Questioned Star.

"Eeeeeeeh, it's a tad more complex than that. It's true that Size-shifters can't regenerate their wounds, but it's also true Septarians don't have an infinite source of regeneration. You see, there's two non-magical ways to kill a Septarian."

"Wait, there are?"

"Mhm." He hummed. "The first is lack of stamina. Let me ask you this: can you run forever?"

"Wha?"

"Can. You. Run. Forever?"

"Of course not! I get tired. What kinda dumb question is that?" She exasperated, dramatically flailing her limbs.

"Well, the same applies to Septarians. Regeneration needs energy, it requires the cells to spend it in order to multiply. If they're exhausted, their healing is greatly decreased. The other factor is their brain."

"Their brain?" She asked, limply falling into the seat.

"Indeed. Do you remember Rasticore?"

"Yeah, he was some green lizard dude that came to stop us in Quest Buy and then got totally destroyed by a bank account card." She said, chuckling at the end.

"Well, yes. You see, the reason his regeneration is weaker than the one of.... let's say Toffee; is because his mental fortitude is lacking. He's not as determined, motivated, or driven as Toffee was."

"So what you're saying iiiiiiiiiiisss..." Star said, prolonging the last word.

"What I'm saying is Septarians aren't as invincible as everyone thinks. It's just their reputation of being nigh-unkillable along with their ability to live for centuries led to all of Mewni generally avoiding physical combat with them."

"Cool! So if I get into a fight with Toffee, all I have to do is fight him for like... a day." Star said, eyes filled with an eureka look.

She was quickly slapped out of her fantasy by a slap from Glossaryck.

"I can assure you, you'd be dead in one minute, two if you're lucky." He said, floating away. "And besides, this isn't why we're here."

"Okay then, Glossaryck. Why are we here?" She said, wanting to move along.

"Because you are about to meet me!" He said enthusiastically.

"I'm what-"

But before she could say anything, Glossaryck's snap took care of the issue and transported them elsewhere.

The next thing she saw, she was in the middle of a small, small village. The houses were small, in fact, they were precisely as tall as herself. They were simplistic, wooden, and sturdy. The place itself was located on a small mountainside plateau. The air was breezy, and the sky still wore the same shade of gray. A few flakes of snow kept slowly falling every so often. All in all, the place looked fairly normal, save for the size of the houses.

"Glossaryck..." Star reluctantly began. "Where are we?"

With a heavy, heavy sigh, Glossaryck responded.

"We are in my home town."

"Your.... home town."

As soon as she said that, dozens of tiny, Glossaryck looking blue monsters appeared. Biologically, they looked identical to Glossaryck, except the fact they wore different outfits, and lacked the purple gem in their forehead. Star could do nothing but point and stare in disbelief. Minutes later, the little blue monsters started doing normal every day things. Children would run around and play, merchants would set up at the marketplace, the tiny town square was tingling with life.

"Come with me." Glossaryck said, beggining to float further away from Star.

"Huh? Wait! This is your town, right? Why are you leaving if you brought me here for a reason?" Star exclaimed, frustrated.

"I brought you here to see something else, not them." He said neutrally. "Please."

The last word got to her, setting of some hidden inner switch of the princess, and all her frustration vanished. Understanding why he wanted to move away, she nodded.

"Okay." She added, and walked over to him.

Once they reached clearing outside of the town, Glossaryck pointed towards something.

"Right there, that's me." He said, his finger pointing at another small blue man. He looked exactly like Glossaryck, beard and all. The only exceptions were, once again, the clothes and the gem.

Having figured that gaping at every single thing like she's three years old won't accomplish anything, Star called a spade a spade, and started looking at things the more objective way.

"Alright then Glossaryck, why did you bring me here?"

Glossaryck, clearly satisfied with Star's change of mentality, passed a smile.

"Because you are about to see the arrival of magic into this world."

"Wait, did magic not exist yet?"

"Well..." He began, taking a moment to think. "I don't exactly know how long magic has existed, but I do know that this is when it arrived to Mewni."

"Mhm." Star hummed. "And tell me, what kind of race are you then? We don't have any.....Smurfs at home."

"Ah! Good question. You see Star... during the Zeroth Era, there were thousands, and I mean thousands of different monster races that existed."

"So what happened to them?" Star asked, prolonging the 'so' word.

"Well, they were exterminated."

"Excuse me?" She deadpanned.

"Star, this was a war that lasted so long, that there are no records of how or when it even began. This time we're in right now.... the monsters here don't know why they fight each other. All they know is that for as long as they were alive, for as long as their parents were alive, for as long as the parents of their parents were alive, this war was alive. They no longer remember or care why the war started, they just fight for dominion at this point."

"Yeah well, no wonder all the history books call the monsters savages." Star added.

"Well, yes. This era is likely the cause of that concern, but regardless..." He continued. "This race you see in front of you.... my race... was just another one of the countless of monster races that were exterminated during this war. I am currently it's only remnant.... if you could even attribute me to that race any more..."

"I'm sorry." She said solemnly, catching the blue hermit of guard.

Glossaryck hummed in confusion. "What for?"

"For what happened to your people. I'm sorry that they're gone."

Glossaryck did nothing but sigh.

"It's okay. I moved on centuries ago." He said, voice devoid of emotion.

Star, loosely worried with the response, raised her hand to try and put it on his shoulder. However, he spoke before she could do anything.

"Now, watch this event closely."

She obliged.

"Hey ****, could you go get some flowers from the field down below? My mom wants to make some pudding and she needs those purple thingamajigs to make them taste better!" One monster said, yelling at the Glossaryck of the past. However, the part that had Star on edge was the fact that the entire world went mute for a second, cutting a part of the sentence out.

"Glossaryck, what was-" She began.

"I don't want to hear my old name." He said neutrally.

Realization hitting her like a brick, Star said nothing, and instead focused back on the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Sure thing! I'll be right back." Said the past Glossaryck, running into the fields below.

"So... Glossaryck...." Star began. "I really gotta tell you, this place looks kinda peaceful. Is this somewhere far away from the war?" Star asked, desiring more answers.

"Oh no, don't be absurd." Glossaryck said, chuckling. "No monster is away from the war, we are all on the battlefield, and the battlefield is all of Mewni."

"So your people fought too?" She asked.

"Not necessarily.... My people also took part in the war. To be more precise, we were on Dedan's side."

"Dedan?"

"Dedan was the lord of the Septarians during this time. I do not know how many Septarian lords came before him, if any at all, but I do know that he was the last and greatest ruler of Septarsis."

"I'm just gonna assume that Septarsis is the kingdom of Septarians."

"Eh, it's more than just Septarians." Glossaryck stated. "You see Star, there were a total of three..... empires.... during the Zeroth Era, all of which were destroyed at it's end. Although, it wouldn't be fair to call them empires since that concept didn't exist yet, at the same time I wouldn't call them countries or kingdoms either.... they were just...... zones..... I guess.

"Wait, hold on, what do you mean the concepts didn't exist? What did they call those zones then? What were they classified as?"

"Star, these are primordial and undocumented times, things you see everyday were but a wild fantasy at this day and age."

"Still, didn't they have a classifications for these.... zones?"

"Nope, they just called them by their names: Septarsis, Eyrie, and Sucre."

"And what do they call their rulers?"

"They.... call them by their names, Star. There were no titles yet. Septarsis was ruled by Dedan. Not king Dedan, or emperor Dedan. Just Dedan."

"Really?" Star deadpanned. "If they're that non advanced then I gotta tell you, it seems they got the language out. After all, they're talking pure mewman; how do you explain that?"

Glossaryck just laughed.

"Oh don't worry." He said. "They're not talking mewman!" Calming down his laughter, he continued. "I'm just using what little magic I have left to translate everything you hear into mewman."

"Oh...." Star said, feeling dumb. "...so what language do they use?"

"Trust me, all of those languages have been long forgotten by your time."

"Okay, so what did you have during this time?" She asked.

"Well, we had pretty simple lives. At least until right about now." Glossaryck said, looking back.

"Huh?"

Glossaryck just watched his younger self.

The past Glossaryck was picking flowers in the field. The flowers were purple in colour, and he was humming a soft tune as he was plucking them out, all the while wearing a warm smile. The soft breeze, gray sky and the warm air made the entire scenery incredibly relaxing. The light sound of the flowers brushing against each other and the leaves from a nearby tree or two instilled a sense of calmness in the princess. If anything, she had to admit the place looked beautiful.

At least it did, until she heard the sound of something enormous breaking the sound barrier from above.

The past Glossaryck looked up, as did his present self and the princess. What they saw was a massive, rainbow colour trailed meteor coming right down.

"Glossaryck, what is that?!"

"That is the beginning."

The past Glossaryck gasped, dropping the flowers. In a fit of blind panic, he turned around and started running away, towards his town; his little blue legs trying their hardest to propel him forward.

Unfortunately, the meteor came first, crashing directly into the blue monster.

The next few seconds happened so fast, Star could argue that she didn't even witness them. The meteor's impact sent the entire plateau into absolute destruction. The meteor carried enough force to immediately cause a seismic earthquake. The peaceful scenery was all destroyed. The flowers set ablaze and evaporating into nothingness in a mere fraction of a moment; the few trees were sent flying, rainbow coloured flame burning them from the inside. The town stood no chance either; the buildings were torn apart, the monsters living within sent flying, the immense power of the blast evaporating their bodies. Nothing was spared. The rocks cracked until they broke, the clouds turned to plasma, the streams of water ignoring all laws of physics and disintegrating into dust. The dirt became sand, then ash, then dust, then nothing. The entire mountain crumbled. No, wrong. The entire mountain was deleted from reality itself, leaving a rocky wasteland of it's bedrock, and a glaring, black crystal that was the meteor standing in the center.

Star and Glossaryck were now standing in front of that meteor.

"....What...." Star said, barely able to talk. "....what did I just see?"

Glossaryck said nothing.

"Where....." She said, taking a few shaky steps forward. "Where did the mountain go?"

Once again, Glossaryck said nothing.

"Hey!" Star screamed out, hoping to get an answer from a survivor, forgetting that they were mere spectators, and couldn't influence anything.

"Is anyone.... there?" She said, eyes frozen in shock. Finally, she turned to face her mentor.

"Where........ what happened?" She asked, eyes wide and fearful.

Before any answers arrived, Glossaryck snapped his fingers again. As she was about to turn around to ask her mentor the reasoning behind his actions, the effect itself provided the answer she sought. Looking up at the sky, she saw the dull gray colour slowly melt into a dark black, then back into gray, then back to black, gray, black. She needed no explanation, for she understood what was happening. He was accelerating the flow of time. Finally, after a few seconds of rotation, the sky stopped moving and positioned itself on the dull gray again.

"How far did you take us?" She asked, curious.

"Approximately four days." He responded neutrally.

Suddenly, voices rang behind them. Turning around, she could see a squad of monsters closing in on the meteor, the pack being led by a few Septarians.

"What the hell is this?" One of them asked.

"I dunno, but whatever it is, it's likely why the entire mountain just disappeared." Said the other.

"So, what do you think this thing is exactly?" Said the third.

"Heck if I know." Repeated the second. "Let's just investigate this thing and then report back to the superiors. Who knows, maybe this thing has some special qualities."

"Like what, shining in the sunlight?" Said the first, jokingly.

"No, you sludge-brain, think about it. The entire mountain vanished and this is all that's left." Said the second. "If anything, this might help is vanish those size-shifting morons back into nothingness, where they belong."

"Yeah but it's too big to carry. Shouldn't we just-"

In that exact second, the meteor exploded. It's remnants being small black shards that were effortlessly flying through the air like pebbles, crashing into the stone cold ground. The area of explosion was now engulfed in purple-pink flames that were dying ever so slowly. Then, as the flames were about to go out, a figure emerged.

That figure was Glossaryck.

He wore the same robe, and looked no different to how he was before the meteor came, except there was something else added to him. Something in the eyes. At first glance, one would say nothing is different, but Star saw otherwise. Those eyes, had a certain emptiness in them now.

The past Glossaryck took a few steps forward, observed his surroundings, and kept walking forward.

"W-Who.... Who are you?" Said the first Septarian.

No response.

"Alright, I'm not dealing with this negotiation bulldump. Warriors!" Said the second. As he did, the monsters behind him raised their spears and swords and positioned themselves into a fighting stance, all ready to attack the small enemy.

"Wait, hold on." Said the third. "Look, he's one of those little monster dude from that race we we use as spies. You know, the ones we send off to use their size to hide in the smallest crevices and observe the enemy? Come on, what's he gonna do?"

"Did you notice that the 'little monster dude whose race we use as spies' just came out of an explosion of something we've never seen?!" Yelled the second, smacking the third.

"Guys.... he's not stopping." Said the first.

The past Glossaryck kept walking, his movement neutral, his expression neutral, his eyes empty. He finally stopped a few feet away from them. Then, he simply said:

"Sleep."

And everyone fell asleep. Their bodies relaxing and slamming on the floor, all of them immersed in a deep trance. Some of them even cut themselves on their own blades as they were falling, but none reacted. They were all dead asleep, some even snoring. Keeping the icy composure, the past Glossaryck looked at the only person that did not fall asleep, the second Septarian.

"You." The past Glossaryck said. "Take me to Dedan."

The second Septarian just nodded, his eyes clouded with fear.

"Wait!" Star yelled. "Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait-"

"What is it, Star?" Glossaryck asked.

"Okay okay okay. This is where we take a break, I need some answers. First...." She took a deep breath. "What the corn is going on!? Secondly, why are you all evil all of a sudden. Why are you alive? How did you do that? What-"

Suddenly, she found her voice muted, and Glossaryck floating in front of her with a raised hand.

"First of all... what's going on is you seeing the start of magic on Mewni. Secondly..." He said, putting the hand down. "I did not suddenly turn evil, we might have skipped ahead in time a few days here, but I spent a much, much longer amount of time in there." He finished, pointing to where the meteor used to be.

"As for the third.... I can't answer that. Nor can I answer why the past me is doing this."

"Really? And why's that?" She asked, eyebrow raised and head turned to one side.

"Because it's something you'll have to experience yourself." He said, voice still monotone.

"Something I'll have to.... what?" She said, the sentence still puzzling her.

Once again, her question was ignored.

"Now come..." He began. "...time to meet Dedan."

The next place Glossaryck showed her was.... a rather brutish excuse for a castle. The walls wore a dark purple colour, and the outlines of the stones could be visible on the walls. The walls themselves wore no decorations, they were just walls; making all rooms take a rather simple, repetitive, and slightly boring style. However, what the place lacked in looks, it certainly made up in activity. Monsters were walking around all over the place. Some of them carrying books and scrolls, some walking around in an army uniform, guards standing by their posts, female monster nobility tiptoeing around as if the ground itself was something they'd rather no touch if possible, despite the clean gray carpets that adorned it. The monsters with wings used their wings to fly though the rooms, the high ceiling and equally high doors making their movements slightly simpler, albeit still cramped. Even so, none of them had any difficulties flying about. The smaller monsters that are harder to spot due to their.... size, were walking on special walkways that were attached to the walls; probably to prevent other monsters from accidentally stepping on them. It was a very lively place.

"So,Glossaryck... where are we now?" Star asked, equally curious as she was impatient.

"This right here is the very acropolis of all activity in Septarsis. This is the center of Septarsis, in other words."

"Ah cool, so why are we here? To see some lizard abs?"

"Not exactly, no." He said, clearly unimpressed at her jab. "And besides, aren't you someone who prefers non-monster-y people?"

"Eh, abs are abs." She said, blushing a tad.

Glossaryck just stared. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Glossaryck spoke again.

"Yes well, in any case, I brought you here to meet a very important historical figure." He said, voice containing a tinge of excitement.

"Oh, is that so? Let me guess, it's a Septararian."

"It's Septarian, Star." He corrected, once again unimpressed.

"Yeah yeah lizards." She said, swatting his corrections away.

"Well, in either case, there's me." He said.

And sure enough, just a few feet to the right, they spotted the past Glossaryck, following the Septarian warrior from earlier. The present Glossaryck followed suit, which in turn caused Star to follow as well. They walked through the equally boring looking yet populated rooms until they reached a large crimson door, which had two guards wielding halberds at the front, standing watch. The Septarian leading the past Glossaryck was about to adress one of the two guards, but was swiftly stopped when the past Glossaryck snapped both of the guards and the Septarian leading him to sleep, their bodies falling to the floor with a thud. Without ceasing movement, the past Glossaryck simple phased through the door and into the next room. Star and the present Glossaryck did the same a few seconds later in order to observe what was about to happen.

The room they were now in was larger. While the room itself was still the same design wise, there were two rows of pillars, one from each side, shooting up to the ceiling, supporting it. The walls also had water flowing out of the carved faces of Septarians carved on the walls, the flowing water falling into an artificial stream that carried the water out of the room through a small gap in the floor, like a drainage system. The whole thing made the room look like some ancient shrine, which might have been the case.

At the far end of the room, a doorway stood, wide open. Beyond the open door was a balcony. From where they were standing, the balcony seemed completely generic, nothing special about it. However, there was a figure standing at the center of it, facing away and looking into the distance. The figure seemed tall and bulky, and wore a white uniform. But that's as far as they could see from here.

"Greetings." Said the past Glossaryck.

"And you are?" Said the figure at the balcony.

"I am ***********, and I've come to talk." Said the past Glossaryck, the entire world muting itself once more at one part, due to Glossaryck not wanting to hear his old name.

The figure gave a small sound of thought, and then spoke.

"That name of yours... you wouldn't happen to be *******'s son, would you?"

The past and present Glossaryck sighed at the same time.

"Yes." The past Glossaryck said. "I would."

"Ah...." The figure said. "A fine spy that was... his missions were always successful, and the information he gathered was always invaluable."

"Until they caught him, tortured him, and killed him." The past Glossaryck said.

The figure said nothing.

"They mailed his battered, beaten body to you, who sent it back to us for burial." The past Glossaryck said, voice catching a cold edge.

"What do you think of this war, *****?" The figure asked.

"I hate it." The past Glossaryck said immediately, as if he was waiting on the question to be asked. "I hate it because I'm sick of watching people I know be taken by your troops to go do their duty, only for them to return as corpses."

"Well, now that the entire area around your town is gone... they are too." The figure said.

"Yes." The past Glossaryck said, voice slightly wavering. "They are."

"I see..." The figure said. "So why have you come to me? Do you wish to abandon this land and go to Eyrie? Do you wish to just waste my time?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"I want to end this war."

The figure said nothing, and silence reigned in the room. Then, the figure laughed. It was a rough laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

"End it?" The figure said. "Just how do you plan to end something that's been active for such a long time that we can't even remember when it started?"

"Because I can do things that you can only dream of."

"Oh, is that so? And here your father couldn't stop talking about how good of a son you were."

"That was before he died." The past Glossaryck said, keeping the cold posture. "You'll find I'm quite different from him."

Silence.

Finally, after a few seconds, the figure turned around and began pacing towards the past Glossaryck.

"I'll have you know that I find you quite suspicious."

"How so?"

"An entire mountain vanishes in a span of seconds, and everything living there ceases to exist, and yet here you are. The fact that you are the only survivor of some event we've never seen is indeed quite suspicious."

"Well, how would you explain it..... Dedan."

The figure stopped moving a few feet from the past Glossaryck, giving Star a clear glimpse. He was tall. Tall and bulky. His scales looked as strong as mewman armour, and were sickly green in colour. He wore a coat, and some form of trousers; the lack of a shirt exposing his strong chest. His eyes were calm, but there was a certain tint of intense bubbling anger. His pupils were coloured yellow and grey, with veins popping out of the sides of his eyes. He was bald, but his sharp teeth were something he wasn't afraid of showing off.

"I'd say that a little dwarf wasn't at the mountain when it blew up, which is weird since your kind is ordered to stay there. Either way, after you saw your beloved home vanish, your brain got a clear hit of delusion, to the point where you're making things up. I'd say that sounds about right." He said, growing impatient.

"Shall I prove I'm not?" He stated neutrally.

Dedan just raised an eyebrow. With a low raspy chuckle, he asked.

"Who do you think you are? How dare you come here into my quarters and assume I'll believe your little fairytales?"

The past Glossaryck remained silent.

"I'll tell you what happened at the mountain. A meteor fell, that's it. It wasn't your work, you moron. Don't you think that an event like that would have no witnesses? " He spat, lowering to get closer to the little monster. "A huge meteor fell out of the sky and killed you all. You, however, left the mountain-site, something I clearly forbid. So please.... do explain why I shouldn't just kill you now?"

Dedan's angry banter ceased as a voice rang from the balcony, calling his name.

"Dedan! I must speak to you at once!" Said the newcomer, who landed on the balcony. He was an aerial type, considering the fact that there was no other way to get to the balcony.

"Japhet." Said Dedan, irritated. "Why are you here?"

The newcomer started pacing towards them. "I'm here because a the mountain of Alma vanished, and in case you didn't know, that mountain is very close to the borders of my land!"

"Hold on, Glossaryck..." Said Star, catching the present Glossaryck's attention. "That guy looks like...."

"Of course he does, Star." Spoke Glossaryck, confirming her thoughts. "He looks like Ludo, because he's Ludo's ancient ancestor."

Looking at the newcomer, it was all but obvious. Japhet, as was his name, was a tall green figure. He was slightly smaller than Dedan, but only for a few inches. He was dull green feathered, like Ludo; and he had a gray beak and yellow eyes, like Ludo. He was slim, and wore an outfit that was seemingly made of pure silk, and it was an even duller shade of green. Star remembered something similar about the clothes he was wearing; Marco told her of them at one occasion. They were called.... Kimono? Either way, it looked comfortable. The one outstanding difference from Ludo was, beside his height and the fact he had wings to go with his arms, albeit they were tucked under his loose sleeves. The major difference was his beak. It was longer. In fact, one might compare it to the beak of a stork, although it was just as grey.

"So he's Ludo's ancestor?"

"Yes, and a very, very old one. However, one might argue he's the most important one."

"What'd you mean?"

"Ever wondered why Ludo's family was considered royal to the point they had a castle? Ever wonder why they weren't forced to live inside of the monster towns?" He said slyly.

Star gave no answer.

"Dedan, I demand an explanation! While it is true the blast must have been caused by a meteor, that doesn't explain why a battalion of your soldiers was spotted sleeping on the crash site." Exclaimed Japhet.

Dedan groaned. "It seems I am indeed ruling a land filled with idiots. Thank you for the notification, I'll kill them myself later."

"Yes, yes. You and your iron fist. Honestly, you should get your anger issues checked out."

"What was that, you feathered weakling?!" Yelled Dedan. "I'll have you know that unlike me or that bastard Enoch, you're weak. We could both kill you without breaking a sweat. The only reason your land exists is because we allow it. We can kill you and everyone you rule at any point we want. So shut it!"

"Oh, is that so?" Japhet said, voice turning smug. "So what? You're just going to get your army of brutes to kill all of us, and then what? If you kill us all, you'll have opened another pathway for the Size-shifters to pass through; and if I remember correctly..." Japhet leaned in close to Dedan's face. "You don't have the resources necessary to handle more routes than you already do." He finished, returning into his neutral pose: spine straight, hands tucked in one another's sleeve. "And the same can be said about Enoch. Sure, he can also wipe us all out without any issues; but then again, if he does, all he's doing is cutting off his thirty three percent share of all products made in my land. And without that support, his war efforts will cripple." Japhet stated victoriously. "Either way, you're both tied! You can't destroy me or my people, because if you do, all you're doing is letting the other side win!"

Silence reigned.

"What do you want?" Spoke the voice of a tired Dedan, to which Japhet only chuckled.

"I told you what I want, tyrant."

A low hiss left Dedan as those words were said. "You're overestimating your freedom, bird-brain. All you do is put your life on the line for those weaklings you rule over. That's what they are, Japhet! Weaklings! All of them went to you because they're too afraid of this war. Do you honestly believe they'll thank you for your self sacrifice? You're not a god, you're not perfect; so stop thinking your responsibilities are far beyond those of a mere mortal."

"They come to me to hide from your anger and Enoch's delusions. I give them something to inspire hope. A safe heaven, where they can live peaceful lives instead of fighting in your war!"

Dedan just growled and looked away. "Your kindness is your weakness."

Japhet snapped back. "And your anger's yours."

They spent a few minutes standing there, Japhet's eyes drilling into Dedan's skull; who was looking down at the ground. Soon, however, his eyes fell upon the small blue monster.

"You want an answer so badly, do you?" Dedan said coldly. "Well then, you'll be pleased to know I don't have one."

Japhet raised an eyebrow.

"But you'll be glad this guy does." He yelled, monitoring to the past Glossaryck. "How about you take him and yourself out of my castle, and get lost?!"

Seeing how Dedan's temper won't cool, Japhet looked at the dwarf.

"You." He said. "You know what happened?"

"Yes."

Japhet closed his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, come with me. We should leave before he busts a vein."

And with that, the short monster and the winged sovereign walked over to the balcony, leaving an angry Dedan behind.

"You're just going to take his word like that?" Asked the past Glossaryck.

"Oh, don't worry. Dedan might be a lot to deal with, but he's always truthful when he wants someone gone. After all, lying to them would mean they'd likely come back, right?" He asked with a chuckle. "And besides, you're one of the mountain's natives. I have no reason to doubt you. At this point I'll take your word over his."

Japhet walked ahead, and spread his arms, the long sleeves of his attire falling down to reveal a pair of wings on his arms. He scraped his clawed legs across the balcony floor, producing a high pitched noise.

"Hop on my back, we're heading to my spire, back in my land of Eyrie."

The little man just laughed. "No need of that. I can manage on my own."

Saying that, the past Glossaryck stood straight, breathed in, and lifted his legs. What the ancient Avarius saw was most unexpected.

He was floating.

Unfortunately, Japhet couldn't ponder for long, because he was simply interrupted by the dwarfish monster.

"Well then, lead the way."

A few minutes later, the two companions found themselves soaring the skies above Septarsis. Their eyes fixated on the land below.

"So.... Septarsis... what do you think of it?" Asked Japhet, still trying to ignore the obvious question he should be asking.

The floating hermit next to him gave a sad sigh.

"I've been in it my entire life. I've never seen either Eyrie or Sucre. This is all I've known..."

Japhet's face turned into one of sadness and understanding. He may have not have been born in Septarsis, but he understood what it was like to live in a land fixated on war.

"I understand." Japhet said. "I was born in Sucre."

"Oh?" Inquired Glossaryck. "And how different is it from this?"

"Not much, it's all war focused. However, in Sucre, monsters aren't coaxed into fighting like this. Instead, they're.... delusional."

"Delusional how?"

"It's not something I can explain. It's... uncanny."

Taking a deep breath, Japhet slowed down and began descending to a nearby building with the past Glossaryck following closely. Landing elegantly on the roof, the two creatures took a glance into the lives below. There, they spotted a crowd of people swarming around two Septarians who were brawling in the mud. Their tails, claws and teeth sinking into the other. Meanwhile, the crowd cheered them on.

"See all these souls?" Asked a sad Japhet. "Look at em, they are itching to get into battle. That's what the difference is. Monsters in Septarsis crave battle, they crave combat. Once they have no combat, no opponent.... they become....pathetic."

"And I assume the monsters in Sucre behave differently?"

"Oh yes. However, I don't think it's any better than this. While the people here do it for the glory of war, the people in Sucre do it solely for the battle's spoils. The vast gold, metal and land they acquire. It's deluded their minds into something extremely greedy."

The past Glossaryck lamented for a few moments. "I see."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Said the defeated voice of Japhet. "One side blinded with pride, and the other with greed. Your life's decided the moment you're born. If you're born without pride here, you're shunned, and if you're born without greed there, you're also doomed. It's an endless cycle of pain."

They continued watching the two monsters fight. One of them was now on the ground, and the other was charging in to deliver a finishing blow.

"They wanted to make me like them too. They wanted to corrupt me with greed." Said Japhet, staring sadly.

The monster on the ground slid to the left and used his tail to make the charging monster trip and fall face first into the mud.

"But I stood strong, and I climbed the ranks bathed in a pretence of greed, until I became close to god of greed."

Both monsters got up and clashed once more, the wet mud sliding off of them like rain.

"Once I did, I met the wrathful god of pride too, and held my ground. I unveiled my emerald wings and offered them an ultimatum in the form of blackmail. You see, during my time in Enoch's servitude, I amassed an army of spies and undercover agents who aided me in building my spidery web. By the time I made the ultimatum, my web was complete, and the two rulers had no choice but to say yes, and so, Eyrie was made."

The two monsters entered a lock, and neither could move.

"A land where it's inhabitants wouldn't be tainted by either pride nor greed, but safety and happiness. No war, just peace. A land of perfection and joy."

At last, the two monsters released their hold, shared a laugh and shook hands.

"But I was mistaken, and now it's too late."

The two monsters exited, and in their place came two new ones.

"I killed greed and pride, but I made way for a greater evil."

The two new monster began clashing.

"At first, they were all happy. Everything was so nice. I made everything for them. Safety, shelters, joy. I gave them everything..."

One of the monsters received a punch in the gut, sending it to to ground.

"But after a while, they were consumed by fear. Fear of what would happen should it all start again, should the armies come to them. Soon... they started fearing even more, until they reached a point where they now are."

The monster that was sent to the ground was suddenly beaten senselessly by the other.

"Afraid of life itself, they're paranoid of everything. Everything. They forgot everything I had done for them. They all feel into their deep despair, their fear of existing."

Soon, the people started cheering, standing idly by as the monster on the ground was beaten over and over, having lost it's consciousness, but still taking all the blows, while the other drooled in fury.

"I gave them everything. Everything. And yet, they hate me. They fear me. That's why I'm so mad, why I'm so sad..."

The attacking monster stopped, stood up, and left the circle, all while being cheered on. Meanwhile, the beaten monster was left on the ground, unmoving.

The other monster was dead.

"That's why I must kill them all."

At last, the crowd dispersed, all of them going their separate ways. The dead monster, however, was ignored and left to rot on the wet, muddy ground.

"Japhet? Japhet. Japhet!"

"I can hear you, you know?"

The past Glossaryck just stared, slight surprise in his eyes. Finally, he gave a low chuckle.

"And here I thought you weren't the murdering kind."

"I'm not." He quickly retorted. "They just.... make me angry. I'd never kill them though. This is just me being a child."

"Is that so? And here I heard children aren't rulers."

Japhet laughed.

"Well, as old as I am now.... I still feel like one."

He looked up into the sky.

"A wrathful god of pride, a delusional god of greed, and here's me... a fake god of foolishness."

They spent some time, standing here on the rooftops in silence. The slight wind their only comfort.

"Come now, we must go to Eyrie at once." Japhet said, turning around to start flying again. He walked a few steps before noticing the blue monster wasn't following him.

"*******? Are you coming?"

His companion was only staring blankly at the ignored corpse on the mud.

"******?"

"It's fine." He coldly said.

Japhet, a little taken aback, asked. "Are... are you sure?"

"Yes. Leave."

"L-Leave?"

"Yes. I know what I must do."

Japhet only stared in silence.

"I want to end this war. I wanted to do it in a way that would benefit everyone, a happy end." Spoke ******, voice empty. "The meteor, it showed me that it would never happen, that there was no way any of it could happen. There would be no happy endings."

Japhet still said nothing.

"Everything that has happened so far, happened exactly as the visions told me. Dedan's responses, your responses. It's all... predetermined. Which means...."

***** turned around.

"It doesn't matter what I do, or what I try to do, the outcome will be the same."

Having shivered in anxiousness, Japhet had enough.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You have some freaky unnatural abilities, and they're making you depressed. It's okay. I don't know anyone who isn't depressed in these times. Sooooo.... how about you come with me to my tower back home, and we have a cup of tea?"

The past Glossaryck stared into Japhet's eyes. His Diamond shaped into Japhet's yellow ones. They remained this way for a few seconds, until the past Glossaryck sighed.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's."

"I've had enough!" Yelled Star. "Glossaryck, I don't know if you want me to feel sorry for you or whatever, but I can't see the point in this. What. Is. The. Point?!"

"The point?" Glossaryck said, chuckling. "Nothing much, I just wanted to show this to you."

"Show me? Just like that? No sinister reason? Nothing?" Star said, crossing her arms and sporting an irritated expression.

Glossaryck just shushed her.

"It's not over yet."

What Star saw next, was a series of images of Glossaryck with Japhet. An image of them drinking tea, reading books, an image of Glossaryck using magic to build a row of houses. Every second, a new image popped up. All of them with Japhet and Glossaryck. They seemed... happy.

"So..... you seem pretty happy."

"I was happy, until I realized there was no escape from fate."

"What'd you mean?"

Glossaryck said nothing. After some silence, a new image appeared, this one coming into motion. It was a scene of Glossaryck floating alone on a beach.

"I was a fool, Star." Said the present Glossaryck, having adopted the role of narrator for this specific event. "When that meteor hit me, I became a vassal for magic, and I believed I could use it's power to create a new and better era for monster-kind."

Glossaryck's voice adapted a sad tone.

"But I was wrong. Despite all my attempts... I couldn't save anything. And in that despair, I gave in to fate."

The calm serenity of the beach was suddenly shattered when she noticed some creatures emerging from the sea. They weren't monsters, they had gentler features, and they seemed to be aching to get out, which must have meant they weren't the aquatic type. Upon closer inspection, Star found out exactly what they were.

"Glossaryck! Those are.....those are-"

"Mewmans." He stated calmly. "After I realized what I had to do, I found the most suitable race of beings in the universe that could suffice the goal, and humans fit the description best."

"H-humans? Glossaryck, those are Mewma-"

"Star, mewmans are humans. Don't be surprised. I mean, have you noticed how the language is identical to english? Or how they look completely identical?" After giving the princess some time to fix her mind blown brain, he continued. "I used my powers to transport a few thousand humans from Earth to here, then erased the memory of all humans on Earth so they don't even realize anyone left, and I did the same to these ones. I deleted their memories of Earth, and made them believe they were always a part  of this world."

Soon, the scene showed a battalion of monsters led by Septarians capturing all of the mewmans and taking them to Dedan, who ordered them to labour and tend to the fields.

"The mewmans were hailed as madmen, for even thought they believed they were always here, the other monsters knew better, so they sent them to work jobs which wouldn't be affected by their delusions."

The next set showed mewmans being forced to work on farms, tending to the fields and cultivating the land.

"I unleashed them on Septarsis because I needed them to be enslaved, I needed them to be mistreated like lunatics and forced to work for the lowest possible results. And I succeeded. They were ordered to tend to the corn fields, which likely inspired why present mewmans are so obsessed with it. Either way, the mistreatment they received from the other monster races made them wrathful, just as I intended."

The following showed a set of monsters abusing mewmans and treating them like slaves. Some being beaten to death, and others humiliated to their lowest, unable to fight back.

"However. After a long time, one stood up. One fated mewman who would be the crown jewel of my plan to end the Ceaseless War."

A still image of a mewman woman holding a pitchfork in defiance as a group of other mewmans were following close behind her, arms ready for combat.

"And it was she to whom I gave your family heirloom."

The scene showed Glossaryck handing the woman a shiny object.

Instantly, Star knew what it was. "The wand."

Glossaryck grinned. "Indeed, I used my powers to create a wand; a bridge connecting the realm of magic to Mewni, the wand! With it, the woman finally stood a chance against the oppressing monsters."

The next scene showed the woman using a spell to eradicate a team of monsters.

"Using the wand, she massacred monsters in Septarsis, and her fellow mewmans elected her as their leader. She became the first mewman queen."

The image now portrayed the queen marching towards Dedan's palace.

"Having defeated hordes of monsters, she carved herself a bloody path to Septarsis' leader himself, and from there... began the end of the Ceaseless War, and the Zeroth Era."

The door burst of it's hinges, and through it emerged the queen. Emotionless, cold, and armed. She was walking straight towards Dedan, who eyed her with wrath.

"You!!" Screamed Dedan. "By pride's thousand faces."

The queen stopped moving.

"Are you crazy or just completely idiotic?!" He continued, voice full of white hot rage. "What part of 'I am going to kill you' wasn't clear to you?!"

With a cold voice and a cold face, the queen spoke. "I am here to eliminate you."

"You're insane." Countered Dedan. "I am the ruler of Septarsis, it ain't nothing without me! What mental illness enables this blind faith, hiding the obvious from your eyes?!"

Keeping the cold voice, she replied. "I'm the one who's going to purify the world; and you're the pest that eats away at this land."

Positioning herself in a stance, the queen said one last remark. "Prepare yourself."

Dedan wasted no time, baring his fangs and preparing to fight. "You will taste the pain, you sick monster!"

And with that, Dedan lowered on all fours, and began running towards the queen, with the intent to kill. Yet the queen just calmly lifted her wand in front of her.

"I'm going to cut your face to remove this insufferable smile." He retorted, lunging at her.

The queen simply shot a spell of blinding white light, and the only thing Star noted before the scene vanished was the queen's face.

She wasn't smiling.

Before Star could ask why the footage was turned off, a new scene appeared, this time with the queen standing in front of Japhet. In a fed up voice, Japhet spoke.

"Alright, your majesty." He spat. "You're going to seal my fate? No matter, I am ready to die."

Japhet straightened his back. "But first, prepare yourself to see my full strength!"

With a huge leap upwards, Japhet spread his wings to their fullest extent. The wingspan was massive, and each wing looked like it could cover an entire chariot.

"I am Japhet, ruler of the Eyrie." He spoke, voice calm and oddly soothing. "I am the emerald phoenix."

The queen pulled the wand back as the primordial Avarius said one last line. "Let the battle begin."

The scene once again faded to black, and in it's place, a new one formed.

The new scene showed the queen facing a giant monster. From his furr, Star deduced he must be a Size-shifter.

"Who... who are you?" Asked the giant.

"I'm the queen, and I've come to destroy you, god of greed."

"Destroy?" He asked. "But that's absurd! Nothing justifies this drastic measurement."

Suddenly, the monster got more inquisitive. "Dedan's sent you, hasn't he? Naturally, it's Dedan. It has got to be him. Whoever it was, I refuse!"

"It is no question of choice, you are the horrible monster that rules this land of greed." Said the icy tone of the queen.

"Horrible monster? Land of Greed?" He laughed. "This is my fortress of happiness, my wall against those lesser, blood obsessed monsters!"

Finally, after calming down his laughing fit, he continued. "I am Enoch, the ruler of Sucre. I am, like those other two morons, charged of ruling a land of monsters who deserve happiness."

"You demented child of evil!" The queen hissed. "The last grain of sand has fallen through the hourglass of your life."

The screen once again faded.

"As you just saw, that queen then murdered each of the three rulers. Starting with Dedan..."

A charred corpse of the Septarian was shown.

"....J-Japhet...."

An image of Japhet's beaten body was shown.

"...and Enoch."

Enoch's decapitated head was shown, the dead face sporting an angry look.

"With their death, the queen proceeded to commit genocide upon the entire race of Size-shifters; killing men, women and children alike. None was spared, and barely a few escaped, lowering their population to a single digit number within a night."

The next image showed a mountain of burning corpses of the exterminated race.

"While the original plan was to exterminate all Septarians too in the showcase of mewman power; since killing both the supreme races of the Era would showcase the power the queen wielded; the Septarians were spared. However, it wasn't an act of mercy."

The next scene showed the monsters marching towards a singular spot, with mewman guards ensuring they don't escape.

"Eyrie and Sucre were officially destroyed. However, Septarsis was spared. All the surviving monsters were sent to live in the land of Septarsis while the Mewmans established their own kingdom: Mewni."

The scene showed footage of the Butterfly Castle being built.

"Dedan and Enoch had no known family members, so their bloodlines could not oversee the monsters. Therefore, all command was passed to Japhet's family: the Avarius'. However, they were not the true rulers, only puppets to the real leaders, who were, of course, Mewmans. This way the mewmans gained their revenge on the Septarians by humiliating them to their lowest. Septarsis was ruled by a different royal family, and they were all puppets and slaves to the mewmans; the ultimate humiliation and killing strike to the pride of the Septarians."

The last scene showed the official beginning of Era One.

"And so ended the Ceaseless War, the Zeroth Era, and I became known as Sir Glossaryck of Terms."

All the decorations and scenes died down, and the two returned into the dark abyss.

It was Star who spoke first.

"So you're just a sad man who couldn't stop anything, so you killed everything."

Glossaryck responded calmly. "I had no choice. There was no other way."

"No other way?! Of course there was another way! You could have done something! Brainwashed them like you did the humans! What was wrong with that?! There was so much you could have done."

Glossaryck said nothing. He just kept his sad gaze on the ground. Suddenly, he coughed up something. It was a dark green liquid.

Dead magic.

"There was.... nothing." He said, voice broken. "When the meteor struck me, my mind was filled with a vision. It was a vision of an army of mewmans wiping the slate of monsters clean."

Star stopped, her mind blocked. "W-What?"

"Everything I did after I emerged from the meteor, I did because I believed I could avoid that outcome. I came to Dedan to show him that I can beat the Size-shifters and end more bloodshed. After that failed, I tried finding a more calmer approach with Japhet. He and I became friends, and I made wonders for the monsters: built cities, made rivers, summoned rains... and yet... it didn't help."

Glossaryck's head dropped. His chin hitting his chest.

"The ruler of my land refused my help, my friend tried to show me a different way that failed, and I didn't know Enoch- I didn't know the other side of the story well enough."

He lifted his head back up, and looked at Star.

"I couldn't prevent the vision, so I accepted it."

Star said nothing, and she felt only sadness.

"You asked me what the point was... I can't tell you, it's something you have to see on your own."

Finally, she spoke. "On my own? But I barely saw anything. I barely saw anything of Dedan, of Pre-Ludo, of the era, anything! You say it was ceaseless years of war and I only saw a few minutes and events."

"I only showed you the bare essentials. Should you choose to go back and see more.... more of the war, more of Dedan, Enoch or Japhet, or more of the people.... you have to do it yourself."

"And just how will I do it myself when I can't do any magic in here because I don't have my wand, all the magic is dead anyway, and Toffee is currently up there walking away to who knows where while my mom and Marco cry in a crater!"

"Because you will succeed me."

"I will s-" She stopped talking, her mind forcing her to freeze as soon as she heard and registered his sentence.

"I will.... what?"

Glossaryck sighed.

"Magic is dying, and so am I with it. The time has come for me to leave my position to someone else." He said, looking her in the eyes. "If I go back, you will die; and I can't go back, my time has ended, magic no longer sees me as a suitable icon, and I will die, and so will you. This is the only way."

"I.... I don't..... understand...." Was all she could say.

"This." Glossaryck pulled out a glowing sphere the size of a tennis ball, and placed it in front of Star. "Is a fragment of the very central core of magic. Once you accept it, you will become what I was. An avatar of magic, and it's living embodiment."

"I will.... control all magic?" She said, her vision fading from the news.

"No, no you will not. Think of magic like a wild sea, and all those who use it as sailors upon a ship. By accepting this, you will become that ship's captain. You can tame the sea, you can bend and overcome it, you can use it's power for yourself; but the sea can never be tamed, and neither will magic. All this will do is make you the most powerful user of this mindless force, and you will make sure that it doesn't violently lash out on the world around you."

"And what if I don't? What if we both die here?"

"Then magic won't have anyone to keep it in check, and it will lash out and eradicate all of reality."

Star suddenly found herself falling, her legs giving up on her. Her vision got blurry and her mind was spinning circles. Breathing became harder and her muscles stiffened to the point where it hurt.

"I... I can't. I can't do that." She finally gasped.

"Why not?"

Unable to formulate a response, Star kept gasping for air, trying to keep herself from passing out. Suddenly, Glossaryck offered her a cup of pudding.

"Why not?" He repeated.

Eating the pudding, Star found herself a little less busy, but equally overwhelmed.

"I.. I'm not a good choice. I can't keep something like this in check. I'll fail, I'll fail and everyone will die."

"You will do just fine." He said without hesitation.

"Wha?" Star said, surprised by his quick response.

"A part of why I know you can do it is because you're wild. You're energetic, wild and unpredictable; just like magic."

"G-Glossaryck..."

"And despite that, and despite your carefree nature, you have a real fire in you, a fire to change the world, a desire to be a good ruler. You're just as chaotic as magic, but you're also just as orderly."

"I..."

"Even so, we don't exactly have a choice, do we?" Glossaryck laughed.

Star looked down, she couldn't look at him.

Seeing this, he understood. "Listen, Star....I know I'm not the best person in the world, but I believe you can do this. For yourself. For your mom. For your friends."

She only had one question. Gazing up at him, she asked.

"If I do it.... will it all end happily?"

...

...

...

...

...

"It will end exactly how you want it too."

Star's eyes widened. She started crying.

Glossaryck smiled, and offered his hand.

She took it.

"So... this orb...all I have to do is.... touch it?"

"More than that. You need to let it into you, accept it as part of yourself."

"And once I do... I will take your place?"

"And I will die."

She was holding the orb, the shiny gold emanating from it in a faint light.

"Use it's power to restore magic back to life, bit by bit. It won't come back all at once. You'll have to work hard to restore inch by inch; but once you restore it all, everything will be in your grasp, including the happy ending which you long for."

She looked at the small object, the light coming of it was soothing, almost relaxing.

"I'll never see you again, will I?" She asked.

"No. But that's okay, because you don't need me any more."

With one last look, she turned her eyes onto him.

"I'll miss you Glossaryck." She smiled, tears in her eyes.

He smiled softly. "I'll miss you too, Star."

With that, she closed her eyes, and quickly enclosed her hand around the orb.

The effect was immediate. First, her senses went wild, feelings of cold, heat, moist, wind, electricity... every feeling possible went through her. Fear, anger, joy, sadness, wrath, pride, lust, love, despair, relief.... all of them, Then her five senses stopped working. Her eyes opened wide and a white light shone through them, and through those eyes she saw...... everything. She saw every star, every galaxy, every planet. She saw the entire cosmos and beyond. Her eyes sharpened. She found herself seeing through the eyes of all creatures that used, lived off of, or were made by magic, she saw their entire lives, from birth to death, in picoseconds. Soon, they sped up. She saw millions of lives in a matter of nanoseconds. Then it amplified. She felt every feeling, saw every scene, smelled every smell, heard every sound, tasted every taste that anything connected to magic ever felt, saw, touched, smelled, or ate. The birth of planets, stars, nebulas. The supernovas, the black holes, the chaotic destruction of matter and antimatter. She was everything. It was all flooding her mind, entering and leaving at a speed faster than that of light. As soon as she saw them, she forgot them, however, it mattered not, and her mind, soul and body were ascending to the ultimate high. He eyes shot beams of light, her form grew four more arms, covered itself in gold, and grew butterfly wings. Her fake horns became real and grew in length, her cheek-marks shot golden lights threw them. She experienced every spell, every feeling, every motion, she experienced everything there was to experience. Colours her eye could never see, emotions she could never feel, senses she could never use. Everything in existence shot through her in those moments.

And in that one smallest fraction of a second, Star Butterfly...

Star Butterfly became the universe itself.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter ♥-2: Primum Mobile

She opened her eyes.

She opened her eyes and regained consciousness when she felt something cold and muddy.

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes to remove the unpleasant feeling one can only get after waking up way too early.

Cranking them open, she saw something she didn't expect to see.

The realm of magic. Dead; just as he left it. The sky was still dark green, and what once was magic was now a stormy sea of black, dead magic that went on forever.

She stood up, not noticing that she was literally standing on the surface of the deceased liquid, and took a few steps forwards, taking in the sight. She did not miss this place. The longer she stared at the uneasy sea, the more uncomfortable she got, as the memories of her drowning it the liquid echoed in her mind louder and louder. Finally, she tore her eyes away and looked up high; high above her. She took some time to watch the green sky and the almost black clouds. They were more comforting, sure, but the sound of chaos beneath her coupled with the fact the last thing she saw of him was how he ascended towards those green heavens made the sight increasingly unpleasant to enjoy.

Slamming her eyes shut, she breathed out a heavy sigh and sat down, still unaware of the fact she was sitting on the surface of the otherwise incredibly deep sea of cold sludge. Having sat down, she slumped forwards and started ruffling her hair with her fingers, a method she found relaxing when she needed it most. The action was very worth it, and she felt her entire head relaxing, the shuffling of her blond hair sending tiny tingling sensations, helping her ease her mind. Soon, she found herself touching the horns of her demon hairband. Deciding that removing it for a short while would easily free more of her hair, she grabbed the horns and attempted to remove the hairband; only to find out that she wasn't able to.

Having been hit with a wave of confusion, she tried again; only to meet the same result. She then tried finding the actual running part of the hair accessory, figuring they would be easier to grab then the horns, only to find out that there was nothing on her hair at all. Starting to panic a little more, she touched around. She felt the horns, but not the actual hairband. That's odd, where was....

Touching the horns again, she noticed something different. They were.... sensitive? That's not possible, they weren't real, she bought them at Demon-mart for a few coins, it wasn't anything real, no way. There's no way she actually grew horns! That's absurd. She quickly took a few seconds to register the rest of her body. Torn clothes from the struggle: check. Her skin: normal. Fingers: five. Legs: two. Hands: two. Nose: there. Eyes: two. Hearing: working. Hair: long and blond. Everything was as it should be, so why did her hairband feel so.... real?

Figuring out she needed to actually look at herself in order to determine what was up with her hairband, she got the idea to see her reflection of the muddy dead magic. However, she quickly realized this isn't possible because dead magic isn't reflective. However, she did find out that she was, in fact, standing on liquid.

"Wait, wha-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Star Butterfly unwillingly stopped standing on dead magic, and fell right in. In fact, she fell a few meters in.

Swimming to the surface faster than a record diver to catch her breath, Star coughed up all the excess dark goop that got in her mouth, and started swimming in place to prevent herself from sinking back in. Having coughed up all the excess mud, she tried to stand on the surface again, only to continually fail miserably.

"Come on! Just.... wor-AHH!" Failure. "Okay, maybe if I.... put my foot... her-" Failure. "Just....... stand straight-" another failure. This went on for several minutes, before she got too tired to keep trying. Taking a few shaky breaths to re-establish her own breathing, Star began to realize just how dire her situation at hand was.

The magic was chilling. It was very, very cold. The felt as if she was swimming in a pool of ice cubes. Every movement she did numbed her sense of touch more and more and slowed her basic functions down. She needed to find a way out, that's what she needed. And she needed to do it fast, or she'll likely freeze to death. Or drown. Both were a possibility, and she'd prefer to avoid both.

What even happened? The last thing she remembered was grasping that fragment of magic's core before everything faded to black. She couldn't remember anything past then. Why was she here? What happened? How will she get out?

And then, she remembered.

"Use it's power to restore magic back to life, bit by bit. It won't come back all at once. You'll have to work hard to restore inch by inch; but once you restore it all, everything will be in your grasp, including the happy ending which you long for."

Those were Glossaryck's words. She has to restore magic bit by bit. If she could restore even a little, she might be able to get out. It was a bit far fetched, sure. But she didn't have any other choice. She had to do it.

Closing her eyes, Star focused all her inner strength into a singular focus point.

"Magic........Restoration Spell!" She yelled.

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...

...

...

Nothing happened.

In the midst of confusion, she tried something else.

"Hey, magic. Uhhhh, I'm gonna have to ask you to fix yourself. You see, I'm kinda the new Gllllllossaryck here, and I'm gonna need you to do some...... self repairing."

...

...

Nothing.

Star, in the midst of frustration, managed to facepalm. "I knew I should have asked him how to fix it first."

During the next fifteen or so minutes, Star tried everything her mind could think of. She kissed it, licked it, touched it, dived in it, yelled at it, yelled ancient mewman chants, threw tantrums, asked it nicely, sang to it. However, nothing happened, and nothing changed.

"Okay okay okay. Maybe I need to do something else." She gave an audible hum, and averted her eyes upwards.

"When Toffee left, he went upwards." She said to herself, not really paying much attention. "So I should go up there too!"

Suddenly, she extended on of her hands straight up, as if attempting to grab a rope, and yelled into the heavens with an enthusiastic voice.

"Beam me up, magic!"

...

...

Star did not ascend into the heavens, if anything, she began to descend down into the dead magic due to not enough force keeping her afloat on the deceased liquid. Swimming back up, she gave an annoyed groan.

"Okay then, magi-moo, you want me to get physical with you? Fine, I'll get physical with you." She said, and then yelled once more. "Mewberty wings, activate!"

...

Needless to say, she didn't feel anything moving back there.

"Why are my wings not working?" She yelled, trying to touch her wings to start them up manually. The only difference being, there were no wings there.

"Okay, where are my wings." She said, voice dead cold but eyes panicked.

Touching around, she couldn't feel her wings at all. However, she soon realized what the issue was. The wings themselves were magical. They needed magic to work. Without magic, there can't be any wings. After all, Mewberty was a process started by magic, hence all the monster demon purple thing stuff. Still, why does she not have her wings, but seemingly has horns?

"This is so dumb! Where am I supposed to go?! Up? Down? Left? Right? Where do I go?!"

d

do

down

Down

DOwn

DOWn

DOWN

Star Butterfly jumped to attention.

"Who was that?!" She said, quietly. Here she was just relaxing until a booming echoing voice rung out all around her.

"Who are you?!" Star asked. "What are you?"

No response.

Spinning around in circles and looking everywhere, Star attempted to find the source of the noise. She found none. Whatever it was, it came from everywhere. She looked up and all around her, and she saw nothing. No possible source of that booming voice. The one direction she didn't look at however, was the exact one the voice specified.

Down.

Finally stopping her spinning, Star took a moment, and stopped dead in her tracks. Her senses activated, her hair stood at it's end, she got the worst case of shivers, and she felt the cold magic much, much clearer.

After being like that for a few seconds, she shakily looked down.

Only to find nothing there. Only the magic she was swimming in. However, her mind was too sharp from the adrenaline rush.

"Down.... Down as in, down there?" She said, shakily.

The world around her seemed to quieten as her ears went numb, and her mind was overtaken by a sense of dread.

"Down there as in..... at the bottom of this?"

Suddenly, she felt a cold wind blow through the air. However, it wasn't just wind, accompanied with it, was also a weird echo, the echo of standing in a dark, vast cave, and having the sound of the wind itself echo around the walls. It wasn't a nice or a pleasurable feeling.

Shivering once again, the cold became unbearable. She made her mind up, she had no other choice.

"Down it is."

Taking a deep breath, she took a dive into the sea of magic.

She swam.

She swam endlessly.

She swam for what felt like eternity.

And yet, she didn't feel any need for air, as if she didn't need to breathe at all.

And so, she swam, deeper and deeper.

First for minutes, then the minute turned into ten, then twenty, then thirty.

After thirty minutes of swimming downwards, Star lost all faith that a bottom existed.

But she kept going. She kept swimming down.

Diving into the ever colder, ever blacker and ever deeper reaches of the sea.

It was cold, so cold.

So cold.

So dark.

So deep.

But she kept on.

Down.

She had to go down.

Down.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Forty minutes.

It was so cold.

She couldn't feel her arms.

She couldn't feel her legs.

She still had no need for air, but it was cold.

So much colder.

So much deeper.

So much darker.

Did she even make any progress at all?

Fifty minutes.

She didn't feel anything. Not her arms, not her legs, not her body, not her face.

She just felt the cold, dark depths.

And although she was cold, her body didn't ache, and she had yet to need air.

So she swam.

Further down.

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...

One hour.

...

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...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Finally, she saw something.

Light.

She saw light.

The dark sea became lighter.

It became lighter.

She could see a bright spot ahead. Further down.

It seemed very close.

Suddenly, she felt.... warmer.

It was warmer and brighter.

Is that it?

With a rush of joy, she sped up as much as she could, and dived towards it.

Close.

Closer.

Closer still.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed as she reached the bright spot.

However, she didn't expect what she found there.

As it turned out, there was no bottom, or a floor, or a chest, or a source of the voice.

Instead, at the moment she swam through, Star Butterfly started falling through warm air.

Air.

...

...

Air.

Soon, her entire body emerged from the now upside down sea of magic, and she started falling.

Falling down.

Looking up in pure disbelief, she understood what happened.

There was a bottom, but not the one she was expecting. Instead of ground, there was a new sky.

The dead sea of magic she swam through was less like a sea...

...and more like a layer.

And so, she kept falling. Her eyes glued on the liquid she emerged from, as it went further and further away due to her falling.

After the sea went a far enough distance away, she took a look around. Surely, the sky also has a bottom, right?

It was then she noticed what was no less than about fifty meters away from her.

Now, Star Butterfly would usually call even herself stupid for not seeing something that stuck out this much, especially if it were next to her this entire time; but given what has happened to her in the past few hours, she forgave herself for missing something so obviously eye-catching.

Next to Star Butterfly, was a giant beam.

A giant, golden, liquid beam, that shot upwards, towards the dead layer of magic above. In fact, it was more like a reverse waterfall. A water-up. However, the main eye catcher, was the liquid itself.

It was golden, living magic.

Next to Star Butterfly was a giant reverse waterfall, shooting up into the sky, made of living magic.

Unfortunately, Star didn't have much time to appreciate the wonder before her eye caught something beneath her.

Ground.

It was ground.

And it was closing in fast.

Starting to panic once she concluded that, lest her face becomes a pancake, she needs to turn on her feet in the next five seconds, Star jolted her body so hard, that she'd likely break her spine had she done it any quicker.

Four seconds. She wasn't yet ready to land on her feet. She jolted again.

Three seconds. She was falling feet first now, she needs to brace for impact.

Two seconds. She positioned her body in a more comfortable, land ready position.

One second. This was going to hurt. She closed her eyes.

...

...

...

The next thing she felt, was that she completely stopped falling. Not only that, she didn't feel any pain either, and the only thing she heard was the loud hum of the magic beam shooting upwards at moderate speed.

She opened her eyes only to find that she did in fact land on her feet, and was standing on some odd stonework. Blinking a few times, she straightened herself up, and took a deep breath. That was supposed to hurt, she was supposed to be dead from a fall from that height, why was she alive?

She looked around, and noticed a few things.

First of all, she appeared to be standing on an elevated platform.

Secondly, The platform she was on had only one path, and it went for seemingly hundreds and hundreds of miles without any way to get off.

Thirdly, the ground  was below seemed very weirdly structured on a geographic scale.

Fourth, the one path leading into the distance, was leading away from the beam of light, which was now behind her, and to which she had no access too.

Fifth, since this seemed to be one end of the aforementioned path, it was more round-like in structure, so she couldn't see below her... not from here.

Sixth and lastly, there was a stone plaque not far from here, she should likely go read it.

Deciding to do what Glossaryck told her to do back in the memories; that being 'just listen and watch', she decided to not ponder on what was happening, and read the plaque first.

The plaque was located at the very start of the "path", and she could faintly see more up ahead, even though they were miles and miles away. The plaque was also close to the path's edge. The path itself wasn't wide. Three meters tops, and there were no handrails, so she immediately decided not to fall down at any point if at all possible.

She reached the inscription, not looking at what was below, and began to read.

This plaque, along with all others you shall encounter, were written by  ******** Glossaryck

The platform you are currently on, as well as the path ahead, is constructed sixty meters above the circles below, and it is supported by unbreakable pillars.

The condemned in them cannot reach you, and they cannot reach the platform or the path either.

The path you see in front of you will take you throughout the circles. The path is straight, and does not diverge, or make changes in direction, it only goes straight ahead.

Do not fall down into the circles, I do not know what will happen.

Stay on the path until you reach the outermost circle, at which point you won't need my guidance any more.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HELP THOSE TRAPPED BELOW, THIS IS THEIR FATE AS DECIDED BY MAGIC ITSELF.

Star stopped reading to process this last bit of information.

"Help? Help who?" And with that, she looked below, to see what Glossaryck meant.

And she understood immediately.

Below her, swimming in a giant lake of golden, living magic, were creatures.

But not just any creatures.

Monsters, Mewmans, Demons, Ponyheads, Pigeons, everyone.

They were all in a deep trance, as if they were asleep, as the current of the lake kept moving their bodies in a circular, clockwise movement around itself. Like mixing a stew with a spoon.

Looking at the faces of the ones below, she found herself surprised to recognize a few ones.

Her old babysitter.

Japhet.

Dedan.

Enoch.

The ancient demon warriors Tom told her about, who refused to use any demonic powers to their advantages, and stuck to the old fashioned ways of combat.

Hundreds of Size-shifters, Septarians, Mewmans, Demons, but way less Mewmans.

But all these creatures.... they're.... dead. So how are they here?

"What.... what is this....?" She asked, voice shaky.

With her wide, shocked eyes, she turned back to the plaque and kept reading.

You are located in the true realm of magic, also known as Heaven.

This is where magic is created, where magic makes more of itself, and then sends it via the great central beam upwards, to the Ascended Sea, where magic resides until it is used.

"The Ascended Sea up above.... that's... where I came from just now!"

Magic is created by flowing through the nine circles of Heaven, in four streams.

One from Southwest.

One from Southeast.

One from Northwest.

One from Northeast.

They begin flowing from the ninth and outermost circle, all the way to the central, first one.

In the ninth it begins as dead, black matter, and in the end it is sent above as golden, warm liquid full of life, chaos, and power.

The nine circles produce magic, and the magic feeds the real world, which then feeds the nine circles.

In this way, magic keeps itself alive and eternal, as it always will.

There are nine circles.

The first, second and third contain those who were influenced by magic, although they never used it themselves.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth contain those who used magic for a goal.

The seventh and eighth contain those who abused magic for their own gain, and those who defiled it.

The ninth contains those who allowed all those actions be done.

You are now located in the innermost circle, the first circle.

The circle of the innocent.

In here lie those who never used magic, and never influenced others on magic, but had their lives taken from them by magic.

Those killed by others using magic, or those killed by a mere random action of magic, it matters not, they all go here.

In this circle they sleep forever in limbo, neither suffering nor resting, and their dreams feed magic with it's endless potential to become anything. The circle itself is a bottomless lake of almost finished magic, which stirs clockwise to mix in with the dreams of those in it, giving it it's potential. Once done, the magic seeps into the beam, and ascends upwards. However, those that lie in the circle may never go with it, and they never shall.

Such is the fate of the innocent. Since they never indulged in magic, they shall never be granted the conscience to absorb this place either.

Having finished reading the plaque, Star turned her attention back on the lake below. Magic makes more of itself, and it does so here, in Heaven. Located below what she thought was the true realm of magic.

Taking a deep breath, Star examined the sleeping souls below.

Never to wake, circling the enormous lake endlessly through time, the youngest deaths close to the surface, and the eldest down, down in the depths of this bottomless lake. And in the lake's center was the beam. The beam of pure magic that shot up above into the sky, to reach the Ascended Sea from which she came from.

She looked ahead, ahead at the path. It was huge, she'd be walking for hours, if not a day straight. And at what seemed to be the end, she saw mountains, mountains with huge colossal statues spanning miles in between it. Star concluded that must be the ninth circle, and she was going to have to walk all the way too it.

Taking one last look at the souls in the first circle, she sighed, and said one final thing before walking onwards, beginning the path.

"I'm sorry."

It took her two hours of walking before she reached what she assumed to be the border of the first and second circle.

It was a low rocky cliff, high enough so no magic from the lake spills over, and also high enough so that nothing from the second circle gets in. Far in the distance, Star could see one river of magic from each side: left and right. Those must be two of the four rivers that flow from the ninth, all the way into the lake of the first. She then took some time to notice how massive this place was. It was spanning for seemingly forever.

She looked so, so far, and the mountains of the ninth circle seemed ant sized in the distance. The entire place was a huge, flat circle containing eight smaller circles. It was undoubtedly ten times the size of Mewni, if Mewni could be flattened out so all it's surface was straight. This place was massive beyond belief.

Regardless, she kept walking a little further, officially exiting the first circle, and observed the confines of the second.

The second circle was not a lake. The second circle was a giant canyon spanning all throughout it. With the only elevations being the high rocky cliff of the border with the first circle, and the far, far off border with the third circle. Looking below, Star could see an overwhelmingly big number of Mewmans, Demons, Ponyheads, Waterfolk, and all different kinds of monsters. They all had one thing in common.

They were missing their hands.

In fact, it almost seemed like their hands were cut off, but instead of blood... they were oozing magic.

Finally, she reached another plaque.

You are now in the second circle.

The circle of the supportive.

In here lie those condemned for supporting those who used magic, and aiding those who used magic, although they themselves did not. Here lie those who served, praised, loved, justified, cheated and gave their very lives to those who used magic. Here lie all those who even though they lacked it themselves, supported those who have it to use it.

As their punishment, they are stripped of the very hands they used to serve those with magic, their blood seeping into the rocky ground and travelling to the four magic rivers which flow towards the lake of the first circle. Their blood mixes with the magic and gives it the allure, and the desire that causes awe and amazement of those who use it, causing more magic-less beings to praise those who unveiled these awe inspiring acts upon them.

Such is the fate of the supportive. They are sentenced to an eternity of suffering here, where their one goal is to escape the canyon below and climb the rocky, sharp borders of the second circle. However, without their hands, they shall never have what it takes to escape, rendering their efforts useless; for they followed those who used magic equally desperately, and they themselves never attained magic despite those efforts; therefore it is only fitting that they struggle here, equally desperately, only to never attain the freedom they desire.

Looking back down at the wide canyon, she saw the millions of handless souls clinging to the rocks of the borders, using their teeth, legs, bodies and all they could to attempt to scale the mountainous border of either circle one, or three. However, they all fell down eventually, only to get up and try again; and subsequently fail again.

The magic that oozes out of their hands falling on the ground like rain, being seeped away by some unseen force and travelling towards the nearest of the four rivers.

Their cries of anguish were also something Star couldn't shake off. Each of them disregarding the others and screaming for their own masters whom they praised. Nevertheless, their cries will go forever unheard.

"Queen Rhina, please! You'll come down for me, won't you?"

"My lord! My lord please, come for me!"

"I promise to reach you master! Are you up there at the top? Master! Can you hear me?!"

"They would never leave us, never."

"Please, sire!"

It made sense why there were so many Mewmans and other non Monster beings down there. Mewmans were the number one supporters of magic, along with all the other allies they had. Monsters had no reason to be here because it was rare to see a monster support a magic user.

Looking back, Star remembered something.

This exact numerical difference happened in the first circle, which held an overwhelming amount of monsters as compared to mewmans... and now this.

Star gave herself time to reflect on this, before moving along.

Many, many more hours of walking ahead. Star entered the third circle.

It was a circle containing a completely flat meadow of grass.

That was it, miles and miles of pure flat grass.

However, on the grass, scattered throughout, were souls that were down on their knees kissing said meadow. Kissing it... very tirelessly.

Star approached the third plaque.

This is the third circle.

The circle of the faithful.

Here lie those who, just like the ones in the second, supported and loved. However, while the ones in the second realm supported those who used magic even though they had none, those in the third are ones who loved and devoted their lives to magic itself, even though they themselves never wielded it.

As such, their fate is to forever kiss the ground. It is to kiss the ground until their lips bleed and their bones crack, the blood, sweat and tears they expel then seep into the soil and travel to the nearest river, where they infuse magic with it's alluring property, which attracts all souls of every kind to it's light.

Such is the fate of the faithful. They are sentenced to kiss and praise that which they never had, represented by them kissing and praising an empty field of nothingness.

The hunched posture of the souls upon the field made the scenery look less like a field and more like a pack of leeches sucking blood out of a living being. An oddly repulsive sight. And yet, Star felt sorry for them, deep down in her heart.

They are to forever kiss something they'll never receive, and forever do something they always did, without ever doing anything on their own.

"Oh glorious the magic! Glorious oh you god of all!"

"Supreme creator, thank you for blessing us with this blessing of all!"

"Oh magic, my life is yours, do what you want with it!"

"Magic is love, magic is life!"

Taking another deep breath at the disturbing imagery, Star braced herself and walked onwards, noting one last thing from the ones screaming praise of magic.

They were crying.

Before she entered the fourth circle, Star noted how despite the fact she's surely walked over a two-digit hour span, she didn't feel any pain or irritation. In fact, walking this much seemed totally fine and not at all exhausting.

That being said, hearing the noises coming from the new circle were certainly more disturbing than anything else.

The first circle was devoid of any living noise. And while the second and third had wailing, the fourth had pure, bestial screams. For a second, Star Butterfly considered the possibility of animals being sent here too, and that's not something she'd like to see. Taking a good look at the fourth circle, Star noted it's difference.

The fourth circle was a forest. However, it was a forest of dead, lifeless, dry trees. The forest floor wasn't grassy, but equally dry and dead; giving the whole area a decaying look.

However, the main thing she noted where the ones in the forest. The souls here were unlike any other she's seen so far. They were absolutely feral, and seemed to lack any intelligent thought whatsoever, instead resembling wild rabid animals more than an actual intelligent being. Instead of thought, they seemed to move on pure instinct, and instead of ignoring one another like the previous condemned, these ones were stuck in an active environment amongst themselves. Some fighting, others making dens and  marking their lands. It resembles a pack of wild dogs more than anything.

You are now in the fourth circle.

The circle of the inquisitive.

While the first three circles revolved on those who never used magic, here begin the three circles of the ones who used magic for set goals.

Beginning with the inquisitive.

Here lie those who used magic in order to gain knowledge on the universe's secrets. Those who used magic to learn more about magic, life, chaos, the cosmos. All those who attempted to learn things through magic that souls like them shouldn't ever have touched, are sent here.

In their punishment, they are robbed of the very intelligence they craved, being reduced to animals; and in this state they live like animals. The seeping madness from their blind eyes leaking into the ground and travelling to the rivers, where they fuse with magic to give it the property to allow one to gain insight, but also to lose it. The power to discover both knowledge and madness.

Such is the fate of the inquisitive, who are are doomed to roam as animals, just as they were once roaming as praised intellectuals and philosophers. The forest they live in being one where no tree will ever lay fruit, for their research had also laid none. Their eyes as blind as that which they sought.

Not wanting to stay in the place of utter madness, and refusing to watch all kinds of Monsters, Mewmans and more be reduced to savages, Star left for the next circle.

She heard no voices, for they lacked the insight to speak.

She saw no eyes, for they were all blind.

She saw no hope, for those murdered minds.

The transition between the fourth and the fifth circle was massive.

While the fourth circle was populated with every member of every species on Mewni, this one seemed almost exclusive to Mewmans.

While the fourth circle carried cries of madness, this one did so in battle.

The fifth circle was a battlefield.

It was a battlefield where there were no rules, and every soul was fighting for itself. And every time one was defeated, he would rise back up after a short period of time, and continue fighting in a fight that would never end. The war cries, the laughter of a kill, the screams, arrows, blades and more were a sound all too overwhelming for her.

This is the fifth circle.

The circle of the violent.

Here lie those who used magic for violent intentions. Those who wounded, destroyed, butchered, murdered, pillaged and desecrated. Those whose soul focus was destruction, and used magic to gain that destruction.

Their afterlife is one on an endless battlefield on a desert of ash. The battle killing them over and over again, for the spilled blood to weep through the ash, and travel to the rivers, where it imbues magic with it's ability to destroy.

Such is the fate of the violent, to be locked into an endless battle of hatred and violence, just as they did in their lives beforehand; Standing atop a desert of ash, resembling the aftermath of such battles, where after so much destruction, there in nothing else left to destroy.

Unlike the fourth circle, Star found the war cries upon a battlefield less unsettling than the horror of what she witnessed in the previous one, so she took some time to observe what she saw. More specifically, she took the time to observe the overwhelming quantity of Mewmans here.

The plaque wasn't lying, all these Mewmans here used the power of magic to kill, and Star was sure of it. The main reason she was so sure of it was because she observed the type of Mewman Warrior was prevailing the most.

Solarian Warriors.

Thousands of them everywhere, massacring the other soldiers without issue. Their laughter echoing with every kill they got.

"For Queen Solaria!"

"Down, boy! Let the real warriors handle this!"

"I......"

"And where do you think you're going?"

".....love....."

"Oh no you don't!"

".......war!"

It was a terrifying sight to behold. Hundreds upon hundreds upon thousands of Mewmans, fighting to the death; and every time one fell, he'd get back up again. A ceaseless, never ending war. Bloodshed for no reason other than personal satisfaction. No remorse. No point. No end.

Just like the Zeroth Era.

You are now in the sixth circle.

The circle of the inviting.

Here lie those who shared the knowledge of magic to others, the ones who took on their own pupils and taught them the ways of magic without magic's blessings.

As such, they now inhabit these molten lands with burning cities, carrying stones the weight of the lives they've affected with magic; the sweat of their burden being swept away into the rivers, imbuing magic with it's power to attract those powerful enough to itself.

Such is the fate of the inviting, who roam the lands of burning cities, decaying and false just as their goals of better societies. The weight on their back pushing them down as punishment for all the others they have sent to the circles of Heaven.

Star was sitting on the edge of one of the path's sides, dangling her legs and breathing slowly. The trek took a toll on her. Not physically, but mentally. She herself never knew something like this existed. No one did.

Well.... except Glossaryck.

It made sense in hindsight. Many lives were taken by magic, and many people praised both it's followers and the essence itself. Furthermore, back in the First Era and some of the Second, there were active magicians who were taught and passed down the arts of magic, although they could never come even close to the power the royal family held. However, this decree was taken down later, leaving the Butterflies the only Mewmans allowed to study magic.

Still, watching these poor souls down below, walking tirelessly in pain and agony struck a heart string in her.

She didn't like it, not one bit. Why should these people suffer for doing what they thought was right? Is it because it was meant to be? Is it something else?

However, for some unexplainable reason, Star knew she couldn't break them out. She may be the new icon of magic, the new 'captain of the ship', but she somehow already knows that, no matter what, she won't be able to fix them.

But does this mean she shouldn't try?

Her dark and gloomy thoughts were immediately cut short by a sharp drop in temperature. From the volcanic hot of the sixth circle, into the below zero cold of the seventh.

The circle itself looked as that cold as the air felt, with a snowy landscape filled with icy hills popping out.

You are now in the seventh circle.

The circle of the wasteful.

Here lie those who used magic for their own personal means, without any major goals or ideas. Those who, instead of using it for a cause, used it for daily tasks, meaningless work, or to dispel their own boredom.

In here, they are frozen in ice, unable to move and talk, the only thing they can do is cry. Cry and weep. The tears they cry phase through the ice and snow, and join the rivers of magic; giving magic that allure to use it as one pleases.

Such is the fate of the wasteful, who were once free to do as they pleased in total joy and happiness. For that freedom, they are now frozen in place, lacking said freedom. Their joy and happiness turned into sadness and anguish. 

"So this is likely where I would go, huh?" She said to herself.

At this point, she wasn't disturbed by what was happening beneath; the previous six circles took care of that, leaving only a bad taste in her mouth. Still, what can one do?

"It draws people to use it, and then punishes them for doing it. How repulsive." She seethed, keeping herself from bursting in what would either be anger or disgust.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Just two more circles, this would all be over soon.

Just when she thought she's seen everything, the penultimate circle took a whole new view.

Unlike the previous ones, the environment of this one was constantly shifting. From deserts, to cities, to jungles. Every few seconds, a new landscape would emerge, only to destroy itself in an earthquake, and for a new one to ascend to it's level.

You are now in the eight circle.

The circle of the hateful.

Here lie those who hate magic, but ironically used it so they could destroy it. Here lie those who spread the words of magic being a force of evil, and those who used magic itself to prove their points; no matter the disturbing means. Their bodily fluids seep into the chaotic soil and join the magic in it's rivers; giving it that allure and potential for destruction.

In here, they waste away in a land as destructive as their intentions for magic, unable to find any peace, just as they lacked peace in their pursuit for magic's decay.

After reading the description, Star's face showed no emotion. No sadness, no anger, no joy, no amusement, no surprise.

The circles she saw made her entirely unimpressed by anything in here any more. She got used to the flow of things here.

Go to one circle, see suffering, go to another, different suffering. It was getting stale.

Showing no reaction of empathy or seeming care, Star Butterfly walked towards the last circle.

Deep inside she knew that that's where she needed to go.

After a trek of multiple hours, walking from the first to the eight, Star finally made it to the last.

The ninth circle.

Visually, it was a real kicker.

The entire circle seemed to be put into two parts, as in two smaller circles. The first was a giant moat of black, dead magic. It was surrounding the other eight circles like a.... well... moat. From what she saw, nobody was present in it, which meant that those punished here were not put into the moat itself; something she concluded earlier because of something very, very revealing. Still, the moat ran and enveloped all the inner rings, and spread into the four streams. It was simple. Dead magic isn't actually dead magic.

What she referred to as dead magic was just primal, raw, powerless magic, but not because it was dead; but because it was rewound into it's primal, original state. 'Dead' magic is just normal magic, but without the attributes that the eight circles give it. The 'dead' magic travels through the four streams and catches elements within it. Lust, power, destruction, violence, knowledge. It get more and more golden the closer it gets to the first circle, where the fully powered and grown magic shoots up into the realm above, where it waits to be used.

Which could only mean that the ninth circle was where the base form, the 'dead' form of magic was made. And she understood exactly how.

The outer, second part of the ninth circle was a giant ring of steep, rocky, tall mountains. The peaks extending high up, too steep for anyone to climb. It was meant to symbolize how everything within them stays within them. A way to show that the ninth circle guards and encloses the other eight, not allowing anything to leave. Fitting, considering it was the last one. However, the part that was most eye revealing.... were the colossal, unmoving giants.

The queens.

They were standing tall, each about a hundred meters in height, standing straight facing dead ahead, their wands in their hands, resting on their abdomens and pointing forwards too. Each giant queen was located on a small stone pedestal, and they were kilometres away from one another, with the mountains behind them, acting like the watchers and guardians of this realm. They were placed at the foot of the mountains, so the view made it seem like they were there to deter anyone from leaving. But the most noticeable thing were their eyes.

They were black, hollow and crying.

Their cheekmarks were also black and hollow, but they were also leaking.

Lastly, the places on their wands where the crystals once stood, were also empty, leaking something.

They were crying and leaking the black magic. Each queen leaked these five small waterfalls, and they were pouring into the moat of dead magic.

The path Star was on however, was leading into an opening of the mountains.

It wasn't any regal doorway, it was more like an entrance to a cave, with complete darkness within. What would be in there, she knew. She knew what was in there.

Unwavering, she went into the opening, and entered the mountains, completely ignoring the last plaque, and the short message on it.

You are now at the ninth, final, and outermost circle.

Primum Mobile.

Step.

Step.

Step.

...

...

...

Step.

Her boots echoed on the dead stone of the ninth circle. The darkness of this cave making it hard to see anything. The air was moist, and her skin cold. She walked in the dark until she reached she stepped on stonework once more.

As soon as she did, the entire area lit up, revealing before her a spiral staircase leading down. It was a large spiral staircase, and she could see what seemed to be a pool of golden, perfect magic in it. She could tell from here that it was shallow, so she wouldn't be doing any swan dives today, sadly.

She started walking down the large stone staircase, and looked at the walls. There were carvings in it, and most of them reflected some major event in history. Right at the top, before starting to descend, she saw a carving of the meteor that struck Glossaryck. Walking further down, a carving of Glossaryck brining the Mewmans to what would later be Mewni. Then the overthrowing of the three areas of the Zeroth Era. The construction of Butterfly Castle. New queen. Stuff, more stuff. Even more stuff she didn't know about... basically, the entire trip down seemed to reflect Mewni's history.

Or.... was it magic's history...?

At last, when she reached the last step, she looked at the wall once again. She looked at the very last carving.

It was the carving of her absorbing the fragment of the core of magic, and thereby replacing Glossaryck.

"Well that's not eerie at all." She said nonchalantly, dropping her eyelids to cover half her eyes. Finally, she stepped on the bottom floor.

There was a gate in front of her, a stone gate that had no knob, no cracks, and no way through. She didn't know how to open it. So she knocked, hoping to get a response. But nothing came.

With that, she looked at the small pool of magic instead. At the edge, a word was inscribed.

Empyrean

She raised an eyebrow. Empyrean? What's that.

However, she had no time to reflect, as she heard a lively noise. Turning around, the door she knocked on lit up, and slowly rose up, revealing the next room to her. It was a giant room, devoid of any items. There were no sofas, tables, chairs, nothing. It was just a lit room, adorned with statues at it's ends. Every statue was made of stone, and each had a queen on the podium. Except, they weren't just statues of the queens again. These statues were different. As stated, they were made of stone, so they looked less real than the real counterparts outside, and secondly....

...they were all modelled after the exact moments the queens died. From one corner, Star could see Skywynne, except her face was old and wrinkly, which made sense considering she died of old age, some queens had arrows in their chests, some sick faces, some were just old, and some brutally mauled.

She walked into the room, and carefully observed each statue as she walked down the long corridor, the statues coming one after another. Soon, she started encountering familiar faces.

"Grandma?" Star said, stopping in front on the statue of Comet Butterfly, Moon's mother. She had a dark line coming across her neck, and there was a floating stone scythe next to her. Star recognized this scythe from her Mom's tapestry. It was his scythe.

"Toffee had killed my mother."

Star remembered those words. They shook her to her core. But, this confirmed to Star one thing. These were truly statues of how they died.

Walking ahead, Star encountered the one queen she heard so much about from her idol.

"I'm telling you, young princess. Queen Solaria was the best there was! She could evaporate hundreds of monsters just by lifting a finger! And she didn't even need the wand for that."

"Wowwwwwww, she sounds so cooool!"

"Totally, you should have seen her! Once, I saw her split the earth in two, creating a canyon by just stomping angrily on the ground. She was fierce and unstoppable! No monsters stood a chance against her!"

"That's so cool! Tell me more!"

"Sorry kiddo, you know I have work to do."

"But Minaaaaaa!"

"Duty comes first."

She smiled fondly at those words, before sadly looking at the statue ahead.

The mighty queen Solaria, Monster Carver.

...

With a hole in her chest.

Now, Star didn't know how she should feel, but seeing someone your idol idolized falling down hurt her inside. It was.... saddening.

After some time, she tore her eyes away, and walked along. It wasn't long until she reached the end.

The end of the hallway was a different thing all together.

Instead of a doorway or some throne or something, it was a window.

A window overlooking 'Heaven'.

From here, she could see the other eight circles, with the eight being closest, and the first almost impossible to see. However, the altitude made it easy to spot. Right below, she could see a straight line, which was clearly the path she walked. Ignoring the fact that by logic, she not only walked into the mountain but also went down, and yet here she is with a view outside, kilometres above the very entrance she entered; she kept her eyes on the views.

She felt it. She felt the pain and suffering of all the circles. Watching them, even from this distance, hurt.

However, all that stopped once a booming, loud voice spoke.

WELCOme

WELCOMe

WELCOME PRINCESS STAR.

WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOUR ARRIVAL.

Her reaction was instantaneous, flipping around to find the source of the voice. It was the same voice she heard back then, when she was still in that realm above.

DO NOT BE ALARMED, WE SHALL NOT HARM YOU.

WE WISH TO TALK.

The booming voice, wasn't even a voice. It was like.... dozens of different voices talking at the same time, but also... not. Some of them started sooner than others, some abruptly ended, some were fast, some slow, some relaxed, others serious. It was a pack of voices speaking the same thing in different ways. Speaking of, the voice had no origin, it came from everywhere around her. Everywhere at once. Every voice came from all sides. It was eerie, creepy, and unsettling. It was a booming, chaotic, orderly voice, speaking in chaotic unison.

"Who... who are you?"

y

yo

you

You

YOu

YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE. AT LEAST, WE KNOW YOU HAVE A THEORY, AND THAT THEORY IS CORRECT.

"Y-You're the past queens."

YOU ARE CORRECT, BUT ALSO NOT. WE WERE ONCE QUEENS, YES. BUT NOW, WE HAVE BECOME SOMETHING ELSE.

WE WERE ONCE QUEENS, BUT NOW, WE ARE THE ONES KNOWN AS PRIMUM MOBILE: THE FIRST MOVED.

It made sense. The entire place was decked with royal imagery of past queens. From their colossal giants outside, to the dead statues here.

"So.... what exactly are you... Primum Mobile?"

The voices answered, once starting before the other, before they all exploded into one sentence.

f

fu

fus

fusi

fusio

fusion

Fusion

FUsion

FUSion

FUSIOn

FUSION.

WE ARE ONE. AND ONE IS US.

Us

us

u

WE ARE THE DECEASED QUEENS OF MEWNI. CAST HERE BY MAGIC AFTER OUR DEATHS. OUR BODIES WERE CLEAVED FROM OUR MINDS AND SOULS, AND THEY NOW STAND OUTSIDE, LEAKING THE RAW, UNPROCESSED MAGIC INTO THE CIRCLES. MEANWHILE, OUR MINDS AND BODIES HAVE BEEN FUSED INTO ONE.

"Is that so?"

each

Each

EAch

EACh

EACH TIME A QUEEN DIES, THEIR BODY JOINS THE REST, AND THEIR MIND AND SOUL FUSES WITH OUR UNITED MIND. THEREBY, WE HAVE BECOME THE FIRST MOVED.

WHEN MAGIC IS USED, PROVOKED, IRRITATED, SATISFIED, ANGERED, AWAKENED.... WHEN MAGIC IS USED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, WE ARE THE FIRST TO KNOW, AND THE FIRST TO MOVE ACCORDING TO THOSE MOVEMENTS, HENCE OUR NAME.

"Great, can you tell me how to get out? Please?"

THAT IS ON YOU TO DO, YOUNG BUTTERFLY. WE OURSELVES CANNOT LEAVE, WE ARE BOUND HERE. FORMLESS BUT STRONG. WE OURSELVES CANNOT SEND YOU HOME, FOR YOU ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN US.

Star blinked.

"Really?"

INDEED, YOU POSSES A FRAGMENT OF THE CORE.

now

Now

NOw

NOW DO NOT BE MISTAKEN, THE SMALL FRAGMENT YOU POSSES IS A MERE ANT COMPARED TO THE VAST POWER OF THE REST. YOU POSSES AN INCREDIBLY SMALL AMOUNT OF THE CORE, HOWEVER, IT IS ENOUGH. MAGIC ITSELF, POSSESSES A HEART, A CORE. IT IS LOCATED BEYOND EVEN OUR REACH. WHAT YOU POSSES IS THE ONLY FRAGMENT OF IT THAT ISN'T COMBINED WITH THE REST, AND AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THAT, MAGIC CAN BE TAMED. HOWEVER, SHOULD THE FRAGMENT RETURN TO THE SOURCE, TO THE REST.... MAGIC WOULD GO WILD, AND NO ONE COULD STOP IT'S MINDLESS CHAOS. NOT EVEN US.

"So let me guess, you don't posses any of the core, which makes me your boss?" She said slyly.

A hearty chuckle was her answer.

n

no

No

NO. YOU ARE NOT OUR SUPERIOR, AND YOU DO NOT COMMAND US. OUR LEADER IS MAGIC, IT IS THE PART OF THE CORE YOU DO NOT POSSES. HOWEVER, WE WILL HELP YOU, SHOULD YOU REQUIRE ANY ANSWERS.

ANSWErs.

ANSwers.

Answers.

"Well, can you give me any advice concerning anything at all? I dunno if you've noticed, but I'm kinda lost at what exactly to do."

THERE'S A DOOR TO YOUR LEFT.

Star looked left. There was no door.

"No there isn't."

THEN ORDER IT TO BE.

Raising a sceptic eyebrow, Star turned to her left, extended a hand, and spoke.

"Door, appear!"

Suddenly, a sound from beneath; sounding like stones clashing against each other. Suddenly, Star was once again left speechless when the stones ascended and formed a frame, from which a door seemed to simply seep out of.

"Well I'll be." She said, eyebrows raised. "So what am I gonna find on the other side?"

No response.

"Hello? Grandma Council?"

No response.

"They........... went to bed. Yeah, bed." She said, forcing herself to bypass the logic of a clustered mass of formless voices going to a physical bed to sleep.

Opening the door, she peeked her head in to see if any danger lurked within, but was oddly surprised by what she saw. Dropping the face of caution and replacing it with one of odd comfort, she entered.

The room was surprisingly.... modern... compared to the ancient style of the long path and the ninth circle. The walls were painted a light banana colour, likely made of cement themselves. There was a wooden chair next to a wooden table that was next to a wall that had a mirror hung on it. The wall opposite had a built in closet that was closed. There was a coat hanger next to the door, another, different door with a toilet sign on it, and the entire back of the room was filled to the brim with chocolate pudding. Other than that however, it was a fairly empty room. The stash of pudding made it easy to identify who this room belonged too.

Stepping inside, Star shut the door behind her and allowed herself to get adjusted to everything, the modern "smell" of the room calming her mind and allowing her to breathe out a sigh of minor, but present, relief. However, it was then when she noticed the first.... oddity with the room.

Glossaryck was a.... well, a dwarf. A smurf. And yet, all the furniture, from the table to the closet, seemed.... big. In fact, it was more her height than his. She spent a few seconds trying to figure out why, before she spotted a letter on the desk. Picking it up, Star read the content.

Dear Star.

If you're reading this, that means you've successfully reached and met the Primum Mobile. It also means I am dead.

I understand if the notion of talking to a fusion of the souls of your ancestors is concerning, but take it from me, they don't care.

I've made the furniture in the room bigger so it can suit your size, I've also left you some clean clothes in the closet, seeing that what you're wearing right now is both dirty and torn.

You can begin restoring magic at that small pond at the start of the temple, you know, the one with the words "Empyrean" written on it? That one. Primum can help you understand it better.

Speaking of them, don't worry, they are a unified mind when it comes to magic related things, and will reply as one. That being said, the way magic fused them is.... sloppy, to say the least. It's the equivalent of fixing a torn teddy bear with tape instead of a sewing kit; so if you bring up any topic unrelated to cosmic truths... say for example, grandmotherly advice, they will likely fall apart for a few moments. But that is no reason to be alarmed, if they do fall apart, I can promise magic will stick them back together soon, so just let it pass.

As for me, I am gone, I'm writing this letter as a formal goodbye. I place my utmost trust in you. You will do great. Also, feel free to eat my pudding, just don't forget to clone them. The original producers of it were shut down centuries ago, and it's no longer being made, so copying it over and over is the only way to keep it from being lost to the cold flow that is time.

-Kind regards, Glossaryck, the "wise hermit".

P.S. I still can't believe you called me a hermit I mean do you have any idea how insulting that claim is I mean I know I'm old but come on. If it weren't for me Ludo would've beat you in that wand fight back then, you're lucky to have-

Having noticed that the P.S. section is longer than the letter itself, and that it's all about him complaining about being called a hermit, Star placed the letter down. She gave a low chuckle at the memory of her calling him that name, before he sank into a donut box and had a temper tantrum about "not being her friend."

"We were always friends... you hermit." She chuckled again. 

She reached back into the envelope she took the letter out of, and took out a small picture of Glossaryck. He was smiling. A genuine smile. Flipping the picture, she noticed a small footnote. It read:

A picture I took three hundred years ago. It's the one I'm smiling the most on, I've decided to give it to you so you have something to remember me by. ;) 

Observing the picture over, she looked at Glossaryck's face. It showed genuine happiness. He was still wearing his usual bathrobe and was still floating in his usual pose. The only other thing of note was that he had some weird leaf hat on his head. Ah well, Glossaryck be Glossaryck.

She was about to put the picture down when she noticed another detail. Unsure if it were real, she went to double check. Trailing her fingers around the sides of the picture, she noticed something.

The left side edge was sharper than the other edges. The other sides were smooth and precise, but the left one was more rough. It's almost as if the picture she was holding was only a portion of a bigger picture, with Glossaryck only taking the rightmost part. However, she quickly stopped herself.

"Ah, what am I thinking, it's just a photo." She said, placing it back on the desk. She'd like to frame it, but there was no frame for her to put it in. I guess it'd just have to wait.

Turning around, she walked to the closet. Glossaryck said there were new clothes inside, and she really needed them. The dress she wore was torn and muddy from the effects of the battle with him and Ludo, and she could use a replacement. Sliding the closet doors open, she was shocked to not find any new dress at all, instead, it was the one thing she was disappointed to have not seen coming earlier.

Robes.

Colour wise, they were identical to Glossaryck's clothing. Size wise, they were her size. Sighing a sigh of disappointment once again, she looked at the robes, then her dress.

Robes.

Dress.

Robes.

Dress.

...

She put the robe on five minutes later.

Standing in front of the mirror, she examined her look.

The robe wasn't exactly like Glossaryck's. While Gloss' robe resembled that of a bathrobe, hers was more a mix between a wizard and a monk. The robe was soft and light, and it fell all the way down to the floor, obscuring her feet. The sleeves were long, reaching all the way to her wrists, as expected. The difference was, there was no need to tie it. It was like a huge sweater. Only, the sweater was more akin to a yellow robe and fell all the way down to the floor. The style was very Glossaryck like, and she could see why.

It was comfy. That was the upside.

The downside was that she looked like Glossaryck, at least clothing wise.

Well, at least it covered the entire length of her legs, instead of coming down halfway, like Gloss liked. Other than that, it was identical, blue gem and all.

She had to admit it was very comfortable.

Standing in front of the mirror, she reached up to touch her horns. Turns out, they were indeed horns, and not the red ones. They were identical in size, but white in colour. Poking them, she could feel the connection between her skull and them. They were, without a doubt, actual horns, and they weren't coming off.

"I bet you six hundred and fifty dollars Tom's gonna like that." She said to nobody but herself.

Checking for other changes on her body, she was glad to find none. The only biological addition to her body was the horns.

"Well, guess that's everything." She stopped, and glanced at the door she came in from. "Guess it's time to get to work."

Sighing a tired sigh, she felt sadness creeping into her heart.

It was fear.

Fear of failing, fear of the unknown, fear of the fate that befell those in the circles.... fear or fear.

"Is my mom going to become part of that voice when she dies? Am... am I going too?"

....

....

....

It was creeping into her mind. Too much happened, she saw too much in such a short span of time, she hasn't even properly processed any of it, how could she just.... start fixing it all.

She could stay in here for a while, she could stay in this room and rest. She could stay here and just... refocus her thoughts.

"But they're worried about me. Mom's worried about me. Marco's worried about me."

Taking a deep breath, she silently spoke to herself.

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

...

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

Before long, she started repeating those words in rapid succession, one after another, like a machine.

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

She needs to get out. Everyone needs her, everyone. She needs to show them it's all okay.

She sat there, repeating those sentences to herself. One after another, not letting any silence fall. She spoke silently, and her breathing was rushed. She needed out.

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

"I need to get out. They need me. They all need me."

....

....

....

Her eyes quickly darted towards the pudding. Pudding helps. Glossaryck said pudding helps.

She jolted and jumped towards the pudding pile. Grabbing the nearest one, she tore the lid off and devoured it in one swoop.

Still stressed, she ate another, and another, and another.

Eventually, after the fifteenth packing, her breathing eased.

"Oh thank you for this pudding, thank you for this pudding so much. Whoever made this deserves to be rich."

Grabbing another one, she read the notes at the bottom to see what it was made of.

Mind Calming Pudding for Septarians

Made in New Septarsis, First Era.

These chocolate treats are made of regular good old chocolate pudding, with an added addition of a light substance that slows down brain waves by killing brain cells.

The pudding is recommended to be consumed by Septarians only, as their regeneration can heal the murdered cells whenever they please, letting them effectively rest their cunning minds.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not give to children or other races. If you are not a Septarian, consumption of large amounts can lead to permanent brain damage.

"Well good thing I didn't eat a lo-"

Looking at the floor, she noticed the fifteen empty packets.

....

Her eyes shot open.

Permanent brain damage.

...

"O-oh no."

...

...

"Wait, hold on. Glossaryck ate like a few tonnes of these, and he was fine. Therefore, I should be fine too.... yes." She said, squinting her eyes.

It made sense in retrospect, Glossaryck had a piece of the core, so it's likely magic just healed the dead cells like Septari... Separti... Sperta... lizards use regeneration.

Standing up, she grabbed three more packets and started walking towards the door.

She's got work to do.

She cast one more glance at the pudding. Then, she cuddled it next to her face and started talking to it as if it were a toy.

"And if I ever get stressed, I'll just eat you and alllll will be fine!"

With that, she confidently opened the door. Time to get to work...

...

...

...

"Oh, right. Wrong door, this is the toilet. Woopsie."

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.

Chapter Text

Monsters, Mewmans, Magic

Chapter 2-1: Good Friends

”Checkmate.”

”Wha- you.... how?!”

”That evens the score at six-six.”

The giant castle standing tall at the center of the kingdom had many, many infirmaries, for the castle itself was so big that there would be no way to quickly make it over in case of emergency if an accident happened to befall you on the opposite end of the keep.

Therefore, instead of just having one primary center of medical attention, the castle had many smaller, but spread out, medical centers for the ill, the wounded, and even the dead, if it were to happen.

And it was in one of these infirmaries, more specifically, the infirmary on Tower-Two-Floor-Five-Eastern-Hall where a well rested and joyful boy from Earth and a wounded but safe demon prince spent a lot of time playing board games and chatting, the current game being chess.

The latest clash of their minds on the white and black board ended with Marco delivering a sneaky checkmate to Tom’s King, ending the game and securing Marco’s victory. 

“I totally forgot about your knight, dude!” Wailed the demon prince Tom Lucitor, making hand motions and pointing fiercely at Marco’s horse-shaped piece.

”I told you man, never let the knights out of your sight, they are fierce. They get you when your guard is down.” Declared a proudly boasting Marco, crossing his arms while keeping a sly smirk and closed eyes throughout the whole thing in a show of pride and cockiness.

Tom merely deadpanned, looking at Marco’s puffy pose. “Yeah, now stop trying to look like you’re some strong guy. The score is now six-six, so we’re even.”

”Six-six is better than five-six.” The boy replied proudly, not letting the demon’s bitterness weir him down.

”It’s still not good enough to allow you to boast!” Replied Tom, not giving him a second to enjoy himself.

”Awwwww, is a little demon boy too much a baby to admit he lost again?”

”Marco, I will burn your hair off. I’m sure walking around with bald headed is gonna get that cocky attitude of yours fixed.”

”Oh come on dude! You said it yourself, we’re tied! There’s no reason to get this bitter.”

”I’m not bitter!”

”Yes you are.”

”No. It’s just your boastful attitude is ticking me off!”

”Oh come on, you do the same thing when you win!”

”No I do not!”

“Oh really?”

”Yeah! Unlike you, I stop. You keep it up for like fifteen minutes!”

Ever since the end of the battle with Globgor, this is how every day pretty much went. Marco would come in here with board games and snacks for Tom, and they’d play. The teen demon took a serious beating in his skirmish with the size-shifter. Internal bleeding, broken bones, bruises, so on so on... Due to his injuries, he wasn’t allowed to leave the infirmary until the medical personnel allowed it.

It’s been a some time since then, and while his bones were still broken, and he still had some bruises, he was in a far better situation than before. He could walk, albeit slowly, due to his left leg’s bones being cracked; his left arm was fine, while the right was still wrapped in casting, recovering. However, all important body parts and functions were okay, so there wasn’t any risk of him dying or anything. 

Which was good, because nobody wanted that.

As for Marco, the worst he got from the battle was a bruise, which had already healed, so he had even less to worry about. Even so, Marco spent a big portion of his time with Tom, as to keep him company. Whether the two realized or not, the past month really brought them closer. Before, the term ‘friends’ is something they’d use sparingly, with an air of uncertainty; but now, they felt comfortable calling each other friends, and undoubtedly considered themselves such.

Not the best of friends, but good friends.

“Okay boys.” Came the voice of a doctor, who calmly entered the room while looking at some papers. “Sorry to interrupt your fun, but there’s good news in store.”

”There is?” “Oh?” Were the responses.

”I have to do another check up on Tom, to see how his body’s doing, and if the results come back as positive as they did before, we think we can let him out, provided that he takes care of his wellbeing.”

“Awesome.” was the only response this time, as Marco was just smiling, deciding not to talk.

Marco politely exited Tom’s room, as to give the doctor and the demon some quiet while he does the check up. He was thirsty, and could use some refreshment. Walking up to a nearby vending machine, he plopped some coins Tom gave him. Mewni has it’s own currency, so no amount of dollars would help him here. Which is a shame, because he got six hundred and fifty dollars just the other day.

Plopping in eight of them, he pressed the keys ‘7’ and ‘2’, which dropped him a refreshing can of grape soda, the flavour of which he grew to love during his time here. Speaking of which, it was almost time for lunch.

He sat down at the nearest chair, popped open the soda can, and sipped the purple carbonated drink. Waiting there in silence, he fidgeted in his seat. It was quite hot in here. The heat made him sweat and feel glued to the seat, so he readjusted every so often to make himself more comfortable. He looked around the room, and came to appreciate the decor of this place. It was no mistake to assume the castle was huge, because it was. It had thousands upon thousands of rooms. Massive towers sprouted all over, and the largest portion of the castle was built inside a mountain, making the true scale of the place hard to determine, but damn was it huge. The deeper in you go, the easier it is to get lost. 

Which led him to appreciating the design of it. With so many rooms and halls, one would quickly get bored if everything looked the same visually, which is why specific rooms had different styles, different towers looked differently, it was truly bizarre. He remembered bringing this up with Tom, who just said that each time a new queen ordered some new addition to the castle, they wanted it done in their style, making the entire castle just a mess of architectural design.

Marco didn’t know too much about the Butterfly line, but it doesn’t seem like they got along.

Before Marco’s thought process could evolve further, he saw Tom exit the room, with a crutch in his left arm; that, combined by the fact his right arm was still broken and in a cast, practically made it so the boy had no free arms.

”The doctor said I was good to go.” Came Tom’s cheerful response, despite his body’s condition. “You coming?”

With an amused smile, Marco asked. ”Where are you going?”

”To get food. Actual proper food, I wanna take a walk.”  

Marco did not complain in the slightest, and the two walked out of the infirmary.

”Man, feels good to be out of there.” Exclaimed a happy Tom.

“I’m sure that’s so. I was never the type that liked sitting in a hospital bed either.” Was Marco’s calmer and quieter response.

”Speaking of hospital beds, I find it amazing how little people died during the entire battle.”

”Dude, there weren’t any dead at all.”

”What?! No dead?! I always just assumed the death toll was low since nobody in this infirmary spoke about it or took any dead bodies in, but are you telling me that, during the entire fight with Globgor, not a single person died?”

“Not a single person.”

”What about those dudes we saw in the forest! Some of them looked dead!”

”Turned out they were just unconscious and broke some bones, which twisted their bodies so they looked dead.”

Tom’s only response was a low hum. Casting his eyes onto the floor, he nonchalantly asked.

”Globgor wasn’t really doing a good job then.”

”I don’t think it was that.” Marco responded, casting his eyes to the floor too. “I think he actively avoided killing anyone.”

”What makes you say that?”

”Back when he had me and the queen cornered, he told me to get out of the way, saying I didn’t have anything to do with this. That was.... oddly considerate, considering the circumstances.”

”He then tried to kill you regardless when you refused.”

Marco shook his head. “He was trying to kill her majesty.”

Looking at the hall ceiling, Marco continued. “In fact, the only person Globgor truly tried to kill was Mina.”

”How is Mina anyway?” Tom questioned with a curious glance.

”I haven’t seen her, but I heard she was fine. She had to get some stitches after being flung through a few walls. Other than that, I heard she was doing some regular military stuff and paying frequent visits to Renee.”

”Is something wrong with Renee?”

”Ah no, she’s fine, she just got pretty banged up, kinda like you.”

”Ah, good, good.”

”Good that she got hurt?”

”Nooooo. Good that she’s alive.”

They both chuckled at that.

“Honestly though, I’m surprised by how... not-anarchic everything is right now.” Tom said with confused glance, staring at the beige colored and cloud infested sky through one of the open windows.

”Oh it’s not, it’s not calm at all.” Came Marco’s immediate response, his voice chuckling at Tom’s declaration as if he stated two plus two equals twenty two.

”Really?” Tom asked, raising an eyebrow. “It looks really peaceful. I mean, I have heard zero yelling or fighting since I got on that hospital bed.”

Tom quietly turned his gaze back to the window, and approached it, the noise of the crutch in his hand echoing silently. Slowly but surely, he made it to the window, and gazed downwards, watching the peaceful capital of the Mewman race.

”I mean, the city’s not on fire or anything, so there’s no revolution or anything. I don’t see any fire, no rakes or protests.”

”I mean....” Marco started. “I don’t see any reason for the Mewmans to revolt.”

Marco joined him at the window, and leaned on the armrest.

”It’s true that magic vanished, Ludo took over the entire place with rats, Globgor tried to break in, and the royal family was revealed to be untrustworthy at Star’s magic song thingy, and all of this happened in like a month!”

He sighed, Tom tensed up a bit at the mention of the Ballad of Star Butterfly, considering the song’s.... ending.

”But...” Marco continued. “The queen’s looking out for them.” His eyes partially closed, his eyes adopting a sombre look. “They lost so much in a month, and they now hope the queen can help them while they attempt to lead their lives. A revolution wouldn’t make sense; at least not in the current predicament.”

”So you think they trust queen Moon?” Tom looked at the boy, forced to stand since his leg and arm made leaning hard. “She is a pretty Saturday figure. I admit she has some harsh methods here and there, but she gets the jobs done.”

“I think..... I think so too. She’s a good queen.”

...

“Yeah, she is.”

The two boys stared out the window together, one leaning against the armrest, the other standing tall. They looked at the somber sky, the sun shining, but not overly brightly, as sunset was nearing, and it would be night-time soon. They stood there in comfortable silence, the hall empty of all life except theirs. They heard the wagons roll, the people chatter, the breeze blow.

It was so peaceful.

It was peace they had not felt for a month. Having been doing nothing but work, running around, and generally not really helping put tremendous amounts of stress upon the two, and this moment was like soothing to their souls. The weak shine of the sun’s light covered their faces. It was weak, so they needed not to squint, but it was warm. The entire sequence, the entire moment was.... beautiful.

It was beautiful.

They were never the best of friends. Their first meeting had gone absolutely terribly, with that whole Blood Moon Ball and everything, and it hasn’t gone that better since, even with the whole party they had in Tom’s chariot.

But the last month really brought them together. They truly was camaraderie between them, and a deep sense of both friendship and respect was now shared. They were comfortable with each other. Enough to tell jokes, enough to play board games or make cheeky remarks.

They are friends. Good friends. Very good friends.

...

Not that they’d admit it.

They stood there, alone, watching the view, adoring it.

Then the sound of a rumbling stomach broke the peace.

“Tom?”

”Yeah?”

”We should go get lunch.”

“Yeah. We should.”

Having picked up the free dinner from the castle kitchen, the two boys ventured outside the castle, and set on a bench in one of it’s many gardens. The bench was made of marble, but still comfortable to sit upon. The place was next to two bushes from which grapes grew, black ones, to be specific, offering a comfortable aroma around the table, as well as slight coverage from the breeze; which, although pleasing, is quite notorious for huffing napkins away. From the seat, they could see the rest of the garden fairly well, although the small erected wall made anything past the garden impossible to see.

The bench itself had a table adjacent to it. The boys placed their food on it, and peacefully began eating away.

The food itself was corn-shed potatoes with pig-goat steak covered in some brownish sauce with green pepper(the spice, not the vegetable). The dish itself looked like something you’d pay top notch money for, but the queen gave them a free food pass, so to speak, so they were pretty much entitled to eat the food without any need for paying.

...

Even then, Tom’s not only royal but also dirty rich, so even then it wouldn’t be an issue. 

“So, Tom...” Marco started, wanting to start a conversation. “I was handed these yesterday, but I honestly forgot until now.”

He pulled out a crimson colored letter with a gray wax seal stamp from his red hoodie. The seal had an insignia on it. 

“It’s a letter addressed to you.” Handing him the letter over, he continued. “If I had to guess, it must be from your family.”

Taking the letter, but with Marco still holding one end, Tom asked with a chuckle? “What makes you so sure?”

Looking him straight in the eyes, Marco sly-fully answered. “I did a lot of research about mewman history while you were in the infirmary. A lot.” Letting go of the letter, oh continued. “And I now know that’s the insignia used by the Lucitor family.”

Tom could only chuckle. “And they told me that I was the nerd in school.”

Marco’s sly grin only grew. “Hah! You and me both buddy. You and me both.” He then returned to his meal while eyeing Tom and his letter.

On the other end, Tom opened the letter gently, as to not harm what was inside. He took out a piece of paper and a few cash bills. Unfolding the folded, salmon colored letter. He then read it.

Our dear Tom.

It’s been a full month since you left for Queen Moon’s residence, and we want you to know we miss you and think of you each day.

If you’re wondering who’s writing, it’s me, your momma. Pops is too busy with some royal things and whatnot, so I’m taking the liberty of writing to you, my sweet baby boy. 

I’ve been told you’re perfectly safe, but have been harmed in a fight, is that true? If so, just tell me who it was that hurt you, and then let momma take care of it.

Anyway, I’ve sent you a we thousand Mewro bills, in case you were running low.

We love you and can’t wait for you to return, we’ve rented a great place at the beach for next month, if you wanna join us! If not, that’s alright, as long as you’re happy.

Write to us! We love you!

Many kisses, Momma.

Smiling as he read the letter, he put it away before catching Marco’s curious gaze. Not wanting Marco to see his mom calling him a sweet baby boy and all, he merely flushed and shoved Marco’s head away with his left hand.

”What? It’s just a letter from my family!” Tom answered a bit louder than realized, feeling embarrassment creep up on him. “They just told me they care and they sent me a few mewros, so stop smiling like that!”

”A few mewros?” Marco laughed, his genuine smile taking up his entire facial expression. “I’d say that was quite a few mewros.” He turned his head upwards while keeping his gaze on Tom. “I count about..... sixty thousand?”

”Stop!” Tom yelled embarrassingly, producing a small fireball in the palm of his hand. “I said I would burn all your hair off! I will do it, I’m telling you I will!”

”Okay, okay, okay! I’m stopping, your fire bending majesty.” Marco said with a bow of his head. “Would you like me to make some tea too and then discuss wisdom while you rage about the honor you lost?”

”I.... what...?” The demon asked, confused. Oh just be quiet you!”

Marco ate his food in silence.

”Wait.... really you just stop? Like that?”

Marco eyed him curiously while shoving a comically big piece of steak into his mouth.

”Marco?”

The boy kept shoving more food into his mouth, not looking at his plate once, and instead eyeing the prince intently.

“I see what you’re doing here.” Tom said, realization hitting him. “I told you to be quiet, so now you’re not gonna talk at all.”

Marco shoved a lot of potato into his mouth, still looking at the demon.

They looked at each other like that. Marco shoving large heaps of food into his mouth and Tom just staring blankly right back.

...

...

...

Then, suddenly, Tom whipped his hand in an attempt to smack Marco in the back of his head.

However, Marco’s reflexes were so fast, that it was kind of.... creepy. Needless to say, he caught the arm mid swing by the wrist, and pressed hard.

Tom wasn’t sure what was creepier, the fact that Marco had a split second reaction time, or the fact that he was squeezing way harder than should be possible for someone of his physique. For a moment, he could feel his bones pressing closer together.

”Ouch! OUCH! Marco, Marco, dude!” 

Marco immediately let go of his hold and apologized. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea I pressed that hard!” Glancing at his arm, Marco adapted a look of concern. “I guess I am pretty strong...”

“Pretty strong?! Dude that was brutal! I’m pretty sure you could’ve crushed my hand if you kept going.”

Marco just chuckled, closing and opening his fist repeatedly. “I’m sorry.”

Shaking the pain off, Tom smiled. “It’s not problem dude. I’m all good, I’m just.... surprised how strong you are.”

Marco had no response.

”If that’s what all those martial arts do on Earth, I should apply for one.”

”Nah, that’s mostly just techniques and movements, not really much in the.... physical department.”

”You flipped massive monsters over and punched a hole through one.”

Marco stopped to ponder this. He really was quite physically strong, but even he was surprised with this. 

...

“You good, man?”

Marco quickly snapped out of the trance and glanced at Tom, retreating his arm back.

”Oh yeah, I’m good. I’m good, thanks.”

Tom finally continued eating his food, while Marco was just looking at the scenery, since he basically ate all he could fit during his staredown with Tom.

“How are you feeling?” The demon suddenly asked.

”Huh?” Came Marco’s dumbfounded response.

Tom looked to the ground worryingly, trying to rationalize whether or not the next sentence should be said.