Inquiries and Revelations

The low rumble of thunder filled the empty corridors. Butterfly Castle loomed over its small community, lit up by the occasional flash of lightning. In the past, a certain king would have romanticized a special someone with the alluring sounds of the storm. However, the royal couple had more pressing matters to deal with. Inside the queen's private study, three figures sat around a fire place.

"Before we can find Star, we need to figure out how to give her memories back for when we do find her." The young teen looked across the room at the couple.

"Your absolutely right, Marco. You see, the spell that was used takes away memories from the chosen target. The same spell, with a few word changes, can be used to return memories to their original owner." The blue-haired queen recited the short spell for Marco and the king. Moon poured herself a cup of tea from a tray.

"How come the spell wore off for you and not Star?" There were many questions swirling in the young teen's mind. He took an empty cup and filled it with the steamy brew.

"When Star fired the spell, it rebounded off a mirror, hitting a crystal. The crystal fractured the spell into different sized beams that shot into different directions within her room. I was hit with the smallest beam. Meanwhile, Star was hit with one of the larger ones. That's why I only lost part of my memory and was able to reclaim it after a short period of time." Moon carefully took a sip from the cup. She handed her saucer and cup to River to hold for her.

"There's something else that's been bothering me. I took Star to the Plains of Time to show her memories to her, but nothing showed up on the screens. Why didn't that work?" Marco had been dying for this one burning question to be answered. Ever since that moment, he'd been thinking of possible explanations but was still dreadfully confused. Hopefully, now he would get an answer with an explanation.

"I tried to explain that to Star when I first started teaching her the spell. See, the spell takes your memories, meaning they're practically nonexistent once they're removed. When you took Star to see her memories, they didn't appear because they weren't there. The beam that hit me wasn't strong enough to remove the memories, but it did cause temporary amnesia."

"Huh, that explains it. So…are her memories inside the wand?"

"I can only guess as to where they go, it would make sense though." Moon sipped on her cup of tea to soothe her throat. She had addressed the entire guard about Star's disappearance earlier. She wasn't used to raising her voice to be heard, so naturally she was parched. River removed her tea from her and poured more into the cup.

"Moon, do you think there's a chance she might slowly regain her memories? After all, she did remember a select few." River was still worrying about his little girl. How was she doing? Was Eclipsa teaching her to love monsters? Was Star going to become the second Queen of Darkness? He simply didn't know.

"I'm not sure. I'm hoping she'll remember enough to leave Eclipsa and return home. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll leave on her own accord. Something tells me that Star left with her willingly." Star's diary entries still haunted her thoughts. Moon kept telling herself that if she had just hugged her more, Star might be laughing with them. Guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders, threatening to crush her at any time. Moon never wanted Star to be like her, she simply wanted her to be prepared in case history decided to repeat itself.

"Queen Moon, why is Eclipsa considered evil anyway? I mean, yeah, I read her chapter, but that can't really be the only reason." Marco took a quick sip of his tea. He could understand why the chapter had been locked away by Glossaryck, but felt like there was more hidden. Out of the corner of his eye, Marco noticed the queen tense at the question.

"Well, if you're going to be fighting Eclipsa, I suppose you should know what you're up against." Moon leaned forward and released her hair. It bothered her to leave it up when she was having private conversations with close people. Her long blue locks tumbled down, releasing the tension that was beginning to form a headache.

"Eclipsa Butterfly is the only queen known to experiment with dark magic. Not to mention the fact that she abdicated the throne for a monster. Her spells caused much pain and destruction, as well as civil unrest between monsters and Mewmans. As a result, Rhombulus crystalized her."

"Personally, I have experienced her dark magic. When I was younger, another battle was waged between monsters and Mewmans. My mother…she was…killed and I was made queen. The following week, I had to decide between war and peace. I foolishly chose to speak with Eclipsa instead of deciding. I made a deal with her; she would give me a spell in exchange for her freedom. The spell would allow me to kill Toffee, which would complete the contract and free her. Instead, I removed Toffee's finger so neither could win. However, that's not all that happened." Moon took another long sip of tea, finishing her cup for the second time.

"The spell…caused me to lose control of my magic. I struck other monsters and dealt much damage. One monster killed my pet pig-goat before fleeing with the others into the forest. I was ashamed of my decision later, but at the time it was the only reasonable thing to do. Mewni would have fallen if I had faltered." Moon leaned on River, suddenly weary from her long explanation.

"Moon, dearest, why don't you go lie down? You seem especially tired today, I'm worried you'll get sick from all this stress." Genuinely worried for his wife's wellbeing, River escorted his wife to bed. Once he was sure she was fast asleep, he returned to the young boy.

"Will she be alright? I know I don't know her that well, but she seems…different lately."

"Marco, Moon loves Star very much, so all of this is taking a toll on her. I don't know how to help her. She's torn between ruling the kingdom and finding Star; it keeps her up at night." River sat down in front of Marco. He was worried about Star, yes, but now he was more worried about his wife. How much more heartache could she possibly take before she completely snapped? Darkness loomed over the royal family and Marco, threatening to swallow up Mewni as well.

"Maybe she should put off her duties? I know, that not something she's willing to do, but…it's not healthy for her to stress over both. Why…why is it so bad for Eclipsa to be with Star," Marco was afraid to hear the answer, but knew it might help them bring Star back.

"Do you remember when Star was evaluated?"

"Yes, that thing ate all our food! Then she yelled at me and Star." Anger rushed through the young teen's veins. Baby had eaten all the food he made and treated them poorly.

"Well, it turns out Star's extremely powerful. She was, or is, near Eclipsa's level of magic, which is higher than all the other queens. Star is quite possibly the only one who can defeat Eclipsa, but if she's on her side, we don't stand a chance. Ever since we found out, Moon's been worried about the two meeting. Now it's too late," the old king balled his fists. He dreaded the thought of battle, knowing that if they fought, Star might be imprisoned or killed.

"Thank you, River, for confiding in me," Marco stood and walked to the door. "I promise, I'll bring Star back safely and we'll all laugh about this in the future. Get some rest, I think the three of us should ride out tomorrow and search ourselves." Marco exited the study and made his way to his room.

Brooding, River stared at the dying fire to his right. He'd make a great king one day. There's no doubt the two are very close, even if they go separate ways, Star will benefit from their friendship. We'll get her back, even if I die trying.