A/N: Hello! What's this? Svtfoe? Unexpected. Specifically, a story idea proposed by Hellsider1985. This is in response to their story idea about Eclipsa finding out that she has more descendants after the trial- credit for the idea goes entirely to them. I'm starting with the descendant for the first half of the chapter, though. Eclipsa appears after nearly 4,000 words.

Summary: Qeath Bennett just wanted to go a night without any hectic craziness- but it seems that life has other plans...especially the monsters out for his blood just before his fifteenth birthday. Meanwhile, in another dimension known as Mewni, a certain Queen of Darkness finds out a startling truth...and both are in awe of what is discovered when their worlds collide.

WARNING: This chapter contains violence and a fair amount of blood. If anyone is easily triggered, please exit this story now. Also, ANGST. HEAVY ANGST.

Standard disclaimer applied.

Viel Spaß!

Heir of Darkness

Chapter 1: Lost in the Moonlight

It wasn't very often, but when he had the chance to use his telescope, he had to thank his lucky stars that he didn't live anywhere close to the city- he could spy as many stars as he wanted. Baraquiel adjusted the front lens of the contraption, cleaning the smaller scope so he could reattach it to the main telescope and begin stargazing under the full moon. A supermoon, to be exact.

He grinned as his greyish lavender eyes looked up towards the large orb hanging in the sky. 'Perfect night for stargazing.'

Baraquiel "Qeath" Bennett, in his fifteen years of life, was rather astronomically inclined- something he felt he shared with his mother's side of the family before she had disappeared, along with his father- and was often found reading a book on astrophysical sciences whenever he wasn't in class (his friends often called him "book alien" because he liked to entertain of possibility of extraterrestrial life), but nothing could compare to the beauty that was the night itself.

And as an added bonus, he got to see a real treat- a lunar eclipse! Even better- right before his birthday!

"I wonder if I'm gonna have to stay up all night for the eclipse like I had to for the blood moon- no, wait, it looks like it's about to start!" He exclaimed, grabbing his screwdriver and replacing the part that he had been cleaning before he put his sight into the main scope in time to see the moon begin to eclipse the penumbra. Baraquiel zoomed in slightly to get a clearer view, as it seemed that his lens was starting to blur a bit.

"Qeath! C'mon, get down here!" A harsh whisper rang in his ears. Baraquiel pulled his attention away from the glorious event unraveling before his eyes to look below his balcony to see a blonde boy with eyes so bright a grey, they could be mistaken for silver, frantically waving at him with an even brighter grin on his face as he began to burst with energy like a child after eating candy.

"Toby, I'm in the middle of something, I can't just up and leave without seeing it through!" Baraquiel whispered back.

"Qeath, come on, this is the party of the century! Look, you can do your stargazing there, we need to make an impression! Think of all the ladies that'll be there!" Toby Schahler, Baraquiel's best friend, tried bribing to no avail, Baraquiel only scowled and turned his attention back to the telescope to continue viewing his eclipse.

Toby sighed exaggeratedly and began climbing up the vines to Baraquiel's window, careful not to get himself stuck there before he roughly grabbed the dark-haired teen's shoulders and pulled him away, seeing that Baraquiel hadn't changed his clothes from school. "It's the start of football season, the greatest part of the year, and you just wanna spend it cooped up here looking at the stupid moon? Live a little, man!"

Qeath roughly pulled his body out of Toby's grip, annoyed by his friend's choice of words. "The moon isn't stupid. And first of all, no amount of persuasion could make me go unless there's some heavy metal playing. Second, I do live- and rather well, might I add. Unlike certain company that I keep attracting."

Toby adopted a deadpan expression. "Qeath, I'm wearing nothing but black, you wear nothing but leather and denim and a moon stitched on to your back, and it's a metal music bash- you can wow the crowd with your guitar skills. All I'm asking is that you consider it a bit. No pressure."

Qeath gave him a hard stare, as if waiting for Toby to make one wrong move before he sighed in resignation. "Fine. I'll go." Toby looked ready to break out into a happy dance before Qeath held up a finger to cut him off. "IF you tell no one that I play guitar in my boxers."

Toby smirked devilishly. "That depends, honestly. We might wanna go before your aunt wakes up, though."

Qeath slumped over. 'Why me?'

Toby shrugged before he saw Qeath move his telescope back to the hammock at the other of the room. "Come on, Prince of Darkness."

Upon arrival, Qeath, with his Ibanez in its case on his back, was in awe of the crowd there- some had piercings, others didn't, much like Qeath and his feather earring. Entering through the gates of what could easily be mistaken for a mansion (and apparently, it was,), Qeath's grey eyes wandered to every inch before he felt he heard whispers, turning back in time to see the moon glow an astonishing blood orange color, signaling the peak of the eclipse.

And then he felt a tingle down his spine, as if the moon was telling him something that he needed to hear.

Toby had already gone inside of the building, no doubt having a good time at that very moment, so Qeath took it as his cue to follow him inside. Apparently, there was security at the front door, and upon noticing the guitar case that Qeath was carrying, escorted him to another door where more guitarists were lounging in wait for their turn before the door slammed behind him, nearly causing him to jump. Qeath spared a glance back before he turned to face the others, only to find very hungry stares in his direction- stares that began to turn more inhuman by the moment as he swore that one of them had glowing neon blue eyes.

He gulped, not realizing that his own pupils had dilated enough to seem reptilian and hoped to survive the rest of the night.

"Well...hello?" Qeath nervously greeted as an awkward grin spread on his pale face.

'Mom and Dad, wherever in the seven hells you are, PLEASE make sure that I don't get eaten tonight!' Qeath mentally begged.

It didn't help that one of them, a boy around his age, licked his lips as if he was expecting dinner to be served very soon.

Qeath could only try to avoid them, because he wasn't sure if he had just been left in a room full of maneaters and he was the appetizer!

To his joy, Qeath was quickly escorted out of the room and backstage, with just enough time to prepare himself for his performance before he pulled a pick from his pocket. Stretching out his fingers, he took a deep breath and waited patiently for the curtain to rise.

When it did, however, he wasn't staring at normal metal lovers- he was performing for monsters of all shapes and sizes. He dismissed it as a hallucination, starting off with a dark, haunting solo that reverberated and resonated through their souls as he was joined by another guitar, this time a bass, and a drum set as they fell into harmonized aggression with the music and before he knew it, their moment was over and the curtain fell, deafening cheers following.

"That...went a little better than what I was expecting," Qeath silently commented, disconnecting his guitar from the amp and packing up to go home when a thickly furred hand clamped down on his shoulder with a vice grip. A deep and terrifying chuckle followed and he slowly turned, his legs freezing in place as his eyes started to resemble the full moon outside.

What he saw was the epitome of monstrous- thick, choppy crimson fur over raven claws leading to a face that looked like something straight from 'Nightmare on Elm Street', only with actual horns protruding from its' head, sharp and not unlike those of a gazelle's.

"Oh, shit." Qeath cursed his rotten luck as he began to become desperate, trying to escape.

As it would seem, luck was not on his side.

Grabbing the bowie knife that he typically kept in his jacket, Qeath swung the weapon at the thing's shoulder and jumped back, slicing clean through.

Qeath grimaced and winced, looking at his shoulder. Lines and blossoms of red trickled down under his sleeve, meaning that he would have to get out of there faster than any trap he had gotten himself stuck in.

And to stay safe, he would need to get into the woods and stay there to get back to his aunt's house.

Qeath bolted for the window, beyond which laid the forest, and broke his way out, successfully landing on the ground with his knife in his hand when he sprinted to thicker brush, hearing a couple of angry yells follow him to what could have been no avail if he hadn't been bleeding.

'What the hell are they, part shark?!' Qeath nearly hollered before he fell into a river, effectively soaking him and washing off the puncture wounds. He sprang back up, glad that it had rained the day before, and saw his house in clear view, unconsciously leaping onto his balcony and closing it off with a deadlock. Qeath scurried to the bathroom down the hall, tripping over furniture with loud crashes. As soon as he closed the door, he heard a slightly groggy female voice coming from down the hallway.

"Baraquiel? Was that you?" Lana Bennett, his aunt, called out from her bedroom door.

Qeath clenched his sharp teeth, gripping his shoulder blade. "Yeah," he started, "I just fell while I was headed to the bathroom, no big deal."

Lana was quiet for a few seconds. "If I wasn't seeing a trail of blood on the floorboards, then I would believe you."

'Oh, fuuuuuuck.' Qeath mentally grumbled. 'Now, I'm stuck telling her that I was out. Wait...' Qeath's eyes widened in horror, grey and lavender mixing together to make a pale shade of wisteria. 'Don't tell me I left Toby there alone!'

Lana's footfalls approached the door he sat directly behind, slow in tempo.

Qeath's musings would have to wait.

"Baraquiel Roman Bennett," Lana said as soon as she was at the door. 'Uh oh,' Qeath thought as he paled even further. 'Full name. Trouble awaits.'

"Care to explain why you're losing so much blood?" she finished, Qeath barely suppressing a loud, dry gulp.

"...Promise you won't wig out?" he asked- no, squeaked- as he prepared himself for the inevitable.

Lana scoffed. "I will fuss over whatever it is as much as I want to, Baraquiel."

Well. There was her answer.

Qeath stood up to open the bathroom door after he peeled off his shirt and jacket to reveal a well-toned upper body where a tattoo rest on his uninjured shoulder, pulling back at the knob to reveal a woman with black hair so shiny, it could be mistaken for navy blue covered by a midnight robe. Her eyes were a bright fluorite color, lightly flecked with silvery grey and pale lavender, and her brow was raised in confusion before she caught sight of the gashes on his shoulder.

"Baraquiel, that looks like the opposite of a fall! You look like something hooked its claws into you! What the hell kind of accident did you get yourself into?!" Lana hollered into Qeath's face, her eyes tinged with concern and worry.

Qeath knew that the gig was up at the first shake.

"...I went to a heavy metal showcase with Toby and almost got eaten by monsters." Qeath said all at once.

Lana looked ready to faint as she stared at her nephew, cursing that he took after his mother. 'Clair, he is too much like you.'

Qeath slowly reached for his upper clothing and the peroxide, making a mad dash for his room, when he was greeted with the sight of cold, golden eyes glowing in the orange light of the eclipse. Startled, Qeath hastily pressed his back to the door, sparing a short glance to the bloodied bowie knife next to his foot as the eyes came closer, becoming a part of a body- the same body that the knife drew blood from not even thirty minutes ago.

'WHAT THE CRAP?! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS FREAK OF NATURE DOING IN MY ROOM?!' Qeath internally bellowed as the monster before him chuckled darkly.

"I've heard of the tales where a monster and a mewman married...but to find their descendant here? Today must be my lucky day!" the thing smiled in a mortifying fashion, sending chills down the boy's spine. Qeath, in a sudden burst of speed, picked the knife back up from where he had dropped it, and remembering all of the knife lessons his mother used to drill into him without pause when he had been a child, assumed a defensive position- being a southpaw had its perks.

"So, you use a knife. Color me impressed. Toby was right, you are well-versed in combat." The thing boomed again.

Qeath's blood ran cold at the mere mention of the name.

Toby? The guy he had been friends with since middle school? That Toby?

"So, you've just now figured it out? PAH! To think that my boy was able to snag a recon for a stupid one!"

"..ill you." Qeath nigh inaudibly whispered. The thing blinked in confusion, noticing how Qeath's head was now inclined to the combat boots on his feet as his grip on the knife tightened slightly.

"I'm sorry, stain?" It mockingly asked.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Qeath charged at him ferociously, his eyes feral with anger as he roared out, unaware of the bladelike claws before he ran himself through with them, not having remembered about the nails his assailant possessed at their disposal. Qeath's eyes were wide, the teenager coughing up blood in copious amounts as he was promptly thrown out of the window, the glass shattering as he broke through and landed on his back, sending jolt of pain up his spine as a small shard of glass made itself at home in one of his lungs, narrowly missing his ribs.

His vision blurred- he laughed bitterly, knowing that he was already losing too much blood before he saw Lana stealthily creeping over the spectacle from the balcony with murder in her eyes, an old, but sharp arrow nocked onto an equally old bowstring, ready to kill. Qeath desperately wanted to yell out for her to run, to leave him there, because she was the only family that he still had left and he didn't want her to leave him as abruptly as his parents did.

But then came the thought that maybe she didn't want to leave him as soon as his mother, her baby sister, had gone just a few years ago- and was doing it to remind him that Clair had loved him and trusted her to keep him safe.

Qeath couldn't find the voice in him to speak, much less do anything else as he started seeing black spots. He looked back at the moon one last time, preparing for the worst.

'Whoever is waiting for me...anyone from my ancestors to even my parents, I hope that we meet soon as I cross the bridge over.'

And just as soon as he blacked out, he saw the arrow find itself a spot through his attacker's fourth and fifth rib, sending them keeling over in a heap of dead flesh and all sorts of unpleasantness.

The whispers from before had also become startlingly clear, also, into one word that he somehow knew would haunt him for the rest of his time in the void before becoming incoherent once more:

Eclipse.

The next thing Qeath saw was a memory playing behind his closed eyelids- his last memory of his mother and father.

Clair had been an older, more feminine version of her son- she spoke her mind when she felt like it, but, hey, the woman was his mother. There were a great many things that she was great at keeping close to the vest, things that Qeath had often wished he knew, but their resemblance was unmistakable, from their eyes to their hair and even their faces were quite alike.

He was nine at the time, in a white button-down and shorts attached to suspenders and a pair of brown loafers on his feet. His mother stood at the door to his aunt's house while his father, Roman, stood before the bed of their pickup truck on a warm, mid-June evening as he helped Qeath get his bags out, Clair in a teal blouse and denim capris and Roman in a grey t-shirt and jeans.

Clair looked at her only child with great regret and sorrow, wishing that she could have more time to spend with him but knew that was just what it was- a mere wish that would not be granted in any future, not the near future nor in the far. She steeled herself for this moment, knowing that she would break down in tears if she put this off any longer.

She gently laid her hands on Qeath's shoulders, taking a deep breath before she continued.

"Qeath, baby, you need to know that it...might take quite a while...before we come back. But don't worry, I've got you a present before we go." Clair reached under her midnight black waves and pulled out an earring with a bird feather attached to a black string, placing it in his hand.

Roman turned to face his wife and child with a troubled look on his face, as if he was losing his last shred of patience. Roman's seaglass eyes glistened the same way that Clair's eyes currently were- with tears of regret and sorrow. In his hands was a long rectangular box that was partially open, as if he was slightly apprehensive to give his son what very well could be his final gift from him. "Baraquiel, I'm going to give you your birthday present a bit late, but I wanted you to have this," Roman said, finally opening the box to reveal a sheathed bowie knife with an eclipse carved into the handle. Qeath hesitantly took it from his father, cradling it like it was a child. He was already wearing the earring, as his mother had already pierced his ears when he was really little, so he waited for Roman to finish speaking. "My dad gave this to me when I was your age, and I want you to have it, too- it's a precious heirloom. Don't lose it like your socks-" Clair snorted to hide a laugh at that, but otherwise allowed Roman to continue. "And treasure it always. Think of your mother and I when you look at it, 'kay bud?"

Qeath nodded, resigned to keeping his expression neutral, but the tears on his cheeks as he bit his lip told another story entirely. "Yes, sir."

Clair pulled him into a very tight hug, nearly choking the poor boy as she shook with barely restrained sobs. "We love you, Baraquiel." she whispered into his ear, Roman joining in to what could be the last embrace he ever shared with both his wife and son.

Not thirty minutes later, Clair and Roman left while his aunt looked back inside the living room, where Qeath held onto his father's knife tightly, trying to keep himself from crying even further.

He would never see or hear from them again.

Qeath's eyes snapped open as he woke in a cold sweat, his heart racing erratically as he tried to calm himself down to find that he was in an unfamiliar place- the brick walls that were painted a shade of green were a big clue, along with the high ceiling. The black-haired teenager took the time to slowly stand up to walk around, stumbling but managing to keep his balance. He walked over to the uncovered, diamond-shaped window to look out at the inky night sky, quickly taking notice of the multiple moons- one of them had rotating rings, holy crap,- when Qeath looked down and saw that he was bandaged up and, after pricking his thumbpad with the tip of a needle, knew that he most definitely wasn't dreaming.

"Okay, we have gone from the woods in West Oregon next to my house, to the most bizarre place I have ever seen..." Qeath mumbled.

"Not quite 'bizarre' so much as your state of dress," a female voice piped up from behind him with an English accent, effectively startling the poor teenager. Qeath whirled around in shock, coming face to face with a woman in pink pajamas with spades, a matching pink headscarf covering a mass of dark teal hair and what looked like white rabbit slippers on her feet. Her cheeks were adorned with scarlet spades that seemed to glow, lifted by the playful smile she wore under her own set of greyish-lavender eyes. If Qeath could use a word to describe her hands, then he would say they looked charred, but still soft.

"Where did you...?" Qeath began, extremely puzzled as he looked over to the obviously locked door and the woman he was speaking to.

She chuckled behind a dark hand. "I believe this is the first time that we've met, no? Shouldn't we properly introduce ourselves before we start to trade any secrets?" She cryptically replied.

Qeath's confusion grew ever stronger by the woman's response, becoming borderline palpable. "Okay...ladies first." he politely supplied, sitting down in the windowsill.

The woman hummed, pleased by his manners. "My name is Eclipsa Butterfly. A pleasure to meet you."

Qeath allowed himself a small, but noticeable grin. "Baraquiel Bennett. Buuuut...Baraquiel is a bit of a mouthful, so I go by Qeath- spelled with a 'Q'." He politely introduced, now seeing that if they were to compare each other's height, then he would easily be the taller one between them.

"So...where am I, exactly? This...doesn't exactly look like Pelican Rock, Oregon." Qeath asked, glancing around the tower's room.

"Currently, you're in the dimension of Mewni. You've been lying there unconscious for a few hours." Eclipsa answered him. "So, what exactly happened to you? Were you mauled over by a wild warnicorn, perhaps?"

"You're...not too far from that guess, actually. I was actually being chased through the woods to my house and when I got there, my pursuer threw me from my second floor window after whatever it was impaled me just a little ways away from my heart and lungs. Luckily enough, it seems."

Eclipsa looked as if she had swallowed her tongue because of his answer, as if she had been thoroughly disturbed. "Oh, my."

Qeath shrugged lightly. "I'll be okay after I eat something. I heal faster that way. Besides, it was a party gone wrong. Could have stayed home watching the lunar eclipse, but no; I ended up getting dragged by my best friend after he decides to blackmail me because I-" Qeath stopped his rambling with wide, embarrassed eyes and slowly turned to look at Eclipsa, whose face had turned from perturbed to incredibly amused. "...I don't know whether to be embarrassed or creeped out right now."

"Oh, take it as you will," Eclipsa replied, waving her hand slightly. "But blackmail over what, exactly?"

Qeath looked like a traffic light not three seconds later, stammering uncontrollably until he could find comprehensible wording. "He sorta...walked into my room unannounced on a Friday night while I was playing a guitar solo...in nothing but my boxers." he squeaked, the redness in his face reaching new heights. His head hung lower after each pause, easily giving away his embarrassment.

Eclipsa brightened at the mention of his guitar, immediately interested, but when he said "Boxers," she tried and miserably failed to muffle a laugh.

"Why does everyone who eventually finds out about that start laughing about it?" Qeath lowly mumbled, eyeballs directed heavenward.

Eclipsa chuckled at the boy's antics, as if she could never be too amused by him. "It's probably because the mere mention of it is amusing."

"To them, yeah. But it was the most mortifying moment of my life," Qeath said, burying his face into his hands. "aside from the New Years' prank my aunt pulled on me last year. I will never be safe from nightmares of that day."

Eclipsa laughed. "Any moment can be mortifying, Qeath. But, sometimes you can return it in equal measure. It just has to be an appropriate time for it." She sagely advised, Qeath taking a moment to dwell on it before a demonic, fanged smirk plastered itself to his face as an equally demonic chuckle reverberated in his throat.

"Oh, I will." Qeath said, already waiting for the chance to get back at Toby. And he meant it- for both payback and for stabbing him the back.

"Nice teeth, there," Eclipsa grinned. "Could you be a vampire?"

Qeath's face went back to normal as he blinked, not expecting the sudden question. His lips pulled into a confused line, grey eyes glancing out of the window as he rubbed his bare, tattooed shoulder. "Actually, I don't know. I already crossed 'vampire' off the list because my mom had horns last time I saw her- and last I checked, vampires can't change from normal-looking to suddenly sporting demonic features."

Eclipsa allowed the information to process, coming up with a possible explanation that had her just as confused as the boy before her. "Maybe you're of monster descent, then, if your mother had horns. You do have fangs." She theorized.

"Fangs and a pair of snake eyes." Qeath supplied, scratching his earlobe, freezing when he didn't feel the familiar weight of Clair's earring. He started to run to the bed and ransack it, frantic to find his final remnant of his mother, when Eclipsa spied a silver ring attached to a string bound to a raven's feather and picked it up.

"Could this pendant be what you're looking for?" she asked, Qeath turning to face her before he took quick strides to where she stood.

"Thank you," he said, nigh breathless, "This was my mother's, before she vanished."

Eclipsa's face turned to sorrow. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Qeath turned to her, a reassuring smile on his face. "Don't be. She and Dad knew that they probably wouldn't come back home all those years ago." he chuckled. Qeath fastened the earring back onto its rightful place on his earlobe. Eclipsa reached up to rub his shoulder, feeling immediate guilt for the boy, when she spied the tattoo on his shoulder: a bird in flight with words under it in cursive so compact, it was nigh unreadable.

Eclipsa changed the subject so abruptly, it was like turning someone strapped to a wheel so fast, they were dizzy enough to pass out. "What does that marking say?"

Qeath rose a brow. "What?"

Eclipsa pointed at Qeath's tattoo, prompting him to follow before he realizes what she's asking him. "Oh, this? It says 'Baraquiel, son of Roman.' My-" he blushes as he struggles with the word, a picture of a girl with fiery hair and ocean eyes with a black tattoo on her cheekbone coming to his mind, "-girlfriend took me to get it for my birthday last year without telling me what we were doing. Roman is my father," he explains, suddenly looking around. "And now, I'm missing my shirt. Juuuust great." Qeath held out his hands before him, level with his chest, and a glowing ball of shadows the size of a tennis ball forms before it envelops his arms and the rest of his upper body (aside from his neck and higher,) until it solidifies and becomes a quartersleeve with black sleeves and a mauve crescent moon emblazoned on the right side of his chest.

"So you can use magic, I see." Eclipsa comments in surprise and wonder before she takes note of the emblem.

Qeath sheepishly grinned as he scratched the back of his head, short tips brushing against his fingernails just slightly. "More like summon things from shadows since I was four."

"Four? Now that is very impressive, young man. You seem to be twenty, but already, you're quite innovative with your powers." Eclipsa exalted the boy on his prowess before he nervously chuckled, looking away awkwardly.

"Actually, ma'am, I just turned fifteen today." Qeath politely corrected.

Eclipsa blinked owlishly out of sheer disbelief. This man- no, boy was only fifteen and already so creative with his abilities?! Why, he must be descended from nobility! What else could explain his great well of magic?

"My word...a true prodigy, indeed." Eclipsa managed to say before she remembered her manners. "Happy Birthday, Qeath."

"Thank you, Eclipsa." Qeath returned with gratitude. He dropped his hand to his side as he took a seat back on the bed, summoning yet another ball of shadow before forming a multitude of shapes until he saw the sky beginning to brighten a little bit. Qeath turned to Eclipsa with a tinge of worry, knowing somehow that she would have to leave.

"Umm...Eclipsa-" Qeath turned to face her, only for his concern to be replaced with shock.

Eclipsa, just as suddenly as she had appeared, had vanished into thin air, leaving Qeath to his thoughts.

The sun continued to rise, and once it enveloped all of Mewni, someone walked in through the door, grabbing Qeath's attention, and revealing a human boy around his age but shorter clad in jeans and a red hoodie walking over to where Qeath was now perched in the windowsill.

He glared at him like a lion about to eat him whole, Qeath raising a black brow in confusion.

"Can I...help you, somehow?" he asked, beginning to feel very uncomfortable with the awkward tension in the air as the boy continued to give him a hard stare.

"Yeah, you can. Who are you and why are you here?" The shorter teenager asked, ready to spring into a fight if Qeath tried anything.

"Baraquiel Bennett. And to answer your second question, I have no idea how in the seven hells I even got here." Qeath supplied opting not to give the stranger his nickname unlike how he had so with Eclipsa.

The other boy, who Qeath realized was Hispanic, squinted at him as if he was trying to figure out if he was being candid or not. "Why should I believe you?"

Qeath's expression turned deadpan. "Because several hours ago, I was in the middle of a fight to the death and passed out from blood loss in Pelican Rock, Oregon before I woke up here at what I guess was half-past six in the morning in bandages. Or do you want my entire life story starting with my birth onward-" The Hispanic boy suddenly waved his hands frantically in the air, telling him to stop talking with eyes wide as saucers.

"No, no, no, that's more than enough information!" he squeaked out. "What I meant was why are you here?"

Qeath scratched his neck, as if looking for a reason. "How should I know if the last place I remember being was in front of my house in a knife fight?"

The boy relaxed, wondering how he could have gotten better in just a few hours. "How does someone on the brink of death seem perfectly fine after something like that?"

"Well, if you descended from monsters and had a monster parent, then you would heal fast depending on your condition, no?" Qeath offered, giving his company a half-lidded stare and grin as he held out one of his hands to make a gesture. The Hispanic boy recoiled at the word "monster", getting ready to fight him and Qeath knew that he would have to be using hand to hand- no using Roman's knife.

He jumped from his perch and assumed a stance, and waited for his opponent to make a move, eyes zeroed in on him. "What? You wanna fight me 'cause I'm half monster?"

"I don't know if you could be working with them." The Hispanic boy clarified, falling into a stance of his own.

Qeath snorted. "Yeah, right- fat chance there. I was on Earth for the entirety of my life before now, don't go against me just because you don't know me."

Just as the boy in red was about to charge at him, a loud crash came from the door, the pair of boys stopping and turning to look at the door with wide eyes.

"MARCO! There you are!" and energetic, female voice piped up from the scene, belonging to a girl with long blonde hair, water blue eyes and a megawatt grin stretching over two pink hearts (one on each cheek, much like Eclipsa's spades,) on her face.

Marco turned his attention to the girl, not once moving his eyes away from Qeath. "Yeah, Star, do you know who this guy is?"

Star, the blonde, took a hard stare at Qeath for a second before her expression turned into one of confusion. "I don't. Why, did he do something?"

Qeath's glare returned, the reptilian pupils in his eyes thinning to resemble those of a poisonous viper's. "Yeah, please tell me what in the hell is going on? Better yet, how the crap did I even end up here?" He questioned dubiously, fists still curled even as he prepared to summon Roman's treasure just in case he had to fight his way out.

"Now that you mention it, how did you get here?" Star asked, confusion reigning over her features. Unlike Marco, she stayed calm, and something told Qeath that she wouldn't make any sudden moves to defend herself unless it was absolutely necessary. Qeath, almost hesitantly, dropped out of his stance and stood upright, deciding to avoid any notion of combat.

"Like I told him-" Qeath made a gesture towards Marco, "I have no clue when I last remember being in Oregon back on Earth in a knife fight. Here," Qeath removed his shirt, revealing a couple of faded scars and bandages tied around his chest and shoulder- a testament of the previous night's fiasco. "There's the evidence."

Marco and Star winced. "Yeesh, for a twenty year old, you sure do get into a lot of trouble." Marco commented

Qeath, again, adopted a deadpan expression, as if he could not believe that people kept thinking that he was older than his actual age because he was nearly six feet tall. "I'm fifteen today, but thanks."

This time, they gaped in unison. "YOU'RE FIFTEEN?!" They hollered with varying degrees of shock plastered all over their faces.

"Yep." Qeath nonchalantly replied. "Let me guess- my height threw you off, didn't it?"

Marco's jaw hung limply whereas Star could only make an attempt to nod.

"Holy guaca-moly." Star quickly mumbled.

Qeath chuckled nervously, as their expressions were starting to creep him out a little. "The two of you...okay?" he questioned, eyes showing concern.

Star was the first one to snap out of her reverie, followed in close second by Marco, when Qeath spoke. "Y-yeah, we're okay- wait, how are you okay after injuries like those?!" Star exclaimed in shock.

"I'm part monster. Monster mom, human dad," he explained, and Star was in awe. "Also, do you have any chocolate bars I can eat? Haven't really eaten a thing since yesterday evening. That is, if you'll let me."

Marco leaned over to whisper to his best friend behind one of his hands. "Are you getting a sense of Deja vú, here?"

Qeath's ears picked up on their conversation as he strode to the window to once again perch himself in, his growling stomach becoming even more irritating.

"Yeah, and now I'm thinking of Eclipsa and chocolate. Weird, huh?" Star whispered back.

"A bit." Marco replied.

Qeath decided to intervene. "I hate to come across as rude, but I can hear you both pretty well,"

The pair stopped talking, opting to answer his earlier question. "I think we do...somewhere." Star hesitantly replied. "Wait, I don't think I got your name, earlier."

"Baraquiel. Baraquiel Bennett." Qeath replied, walking over to them to shake their hands.

It was slightly awkward, though- neither of them expected him to be a southpaw. Qeath noticed his error and switched hands, shaking Star's before Marco's.

"Baraquiel sounds like a pretty cool name, but it's a bit much. Got any nicknames?" Star asked, as Marco was still wary of the other boy.

"A few of them- like 'Metal Nutcase', 'Book Alien', or my Mom's nickname for me, 'Qeath'. To be honest, though, 'Qeath' is a bit more preferable." the raven haired boy responded in kind.

Marco raised a brow as they left the room. "'Metal Nutcase'?" he questioned.

"You don't wanna know." Qeath hurriedly defended his dignity, not in the mood to talk about his...ahem...'practice attire'.

"Why 'Book Alien,' though?" Star questioned.

"Don't take this as a pickup line, but I'm astronomically inclined. Like either Mom or Dad, I can never remember. Anyway, Marco, was it? If I'm right, then aren't you from Earth? How did you end up here?" Qeath asked, a brow raised slightly.

Marco and Star stumbled slightly, surprised by the accuracy of the birthday boy's guess. "H-how did you-"

Qeath tugged at his shirt, as if referencing Marco's attire. "'A man is best known by his clothes.'" Qeath quoted from his father.

In this case, Roman was most definitely right.

Marco and Star slowly nodded, Marco from apprehension and Star from wonder towards the new expression.

"Whatsat mean?" Star asked.

"It means you can tell where a man comes from if you pay attention to their fashion style. Something my dad used to tell me some nine or so years ago," Qeath elaborated for her. "also applies for the opposite gender -or even both- if you reword it right."

The trio turned a corner before Qeath realized that he had no form of knowledge about...well, wherever they were at.

"I just realized- I have no idea just where 'here' is." Qeath said as he blinked owlishly.

Marco facepalmed. "Oh, yeah... you're right about that. Just follow us, okay?"

Qeath stepped back a few paces. "That might be the best course of action, there. Thanks a bunch."

Eventually, they passed by a multitude of things that made Qeath's jaw come close to malfunctioning until they got to the kitchens, where luckily, there was some chocolate fudge left in the refrigerator for consumption.

Qeath had to keep himself from drooling at the heavenly sight of sweet, velvety goodness before him as he struggled to retain his composure once it was placed in his hands.

"All that I am going to devour- erm, EAT, sorry, is one scoop. Don't mind me." And with that, Baraquiel grabbed a spoon and started singing for no reason, scooping out a gob of chocolate the size of his wrist before placing the tub back where it belonged, belting out "Happy fifteenth birthday to me~" horribly out of tune before he shoved the massive wad into his mouth.

Marco failed to hide a humored snort, whereas Star was miserably failing to hide a laugh before Qeath removed the somehow spotless silver spoon from his mouth, having swallowed the entire lump entirely.

"What?" Qeath asked, confusion written all over his face.

They just continued to snicker, Qeath joining in to go along with it when the chef came into the room. The three friends (Could Qeath call them that?) froze in place, unsure of what to do when they looked at each other with owlish eyes, coming up with an unsaid agreement to split up and get the hell out of dodge pronto.

Looking back at the now agitated chef, they blurted out a very loud- and honestly should never be repeated in unison,- collective shout all at once-

"THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN!"

-and promptly sprinted out of there full speed ahead, going into different corridors leading to separate parts of what Qeath realized was actually a very large castle, Marco ending up in the woods, Star to the knights' quarters, and Qeath in a beautiful rose garden, suddenly spying a very familiar woman with dark teal curls tucked neatly under a black hat with feathers(or fur, Qeath could hardly tell from that angle,) and a pair of thorny branches bound the ribbon around it. This time she wore a black dress and a pair of mauve gloves extending to just under her elbows.

What he did not notice until the next three seconds passed was that he was about to bowl her over if he kept sprinting like a hound from hell.

Qeath hurriedly dug his heels into the grass to pull him into a stop with a loud screech, causing the woman to stop what she was doing and turn to face him just as he crashed facefirst into the dirt right before her feet, his momentum having caused him to topple over.

"Qeath?" a voice that Qeath knew to be Eclipsa's rang to his ears, "Are you alright down there?"

He weakly raised his thumb over his head, raising himself up and holding his now profusely bleeding nose, crimson liquid leaking through his fingers despite how tightly they were closed around his face. "Au. Cred că l-am rupt." He hissed in Romanian.

Eclipsa raised a brow in a manner similar to Qeath would, confused by his sudden change in language. "...What?"

"I think I broke it." Qeath translated behind his hand before moving to another area of rose bushes, summoning forth a box of tissues most likely from the bathroom at his house back on Earth. Taking two, Qeath ripped them all at once and wadded them up, sitting down Indian style so as to not drop them while he pressed down on the bridge of his nose. To his relief, it wasn't broken, despite all of the blood flowing down his nostrils like spilled water. He shoved the wads into his nose to stanch the bleeding before he looked down to his shirt, feeling something warm and sticky around his neck and chest, and groaned in frustration.

Removing his shirt (and completely forgetting that he was in the presence of a lady,) Qeath strode over to the nearby water fountain and dipped some tissues in it to wipe off his bare chest along with his vermilion hand, opting to replace his shirt the way he had gotten it, along with replacing the box of tissues, and summoned a sleeveless dark mahogany hooded shirt with drawstrings.

"Sorry about that- got blood on my shirt," Qeath sheepishly explained as he turned to face the flabbergasted woman. "Fancy seeing you here, Eclipsa."

Eclipsa blinked out of her reverie in a snap of time."I-i'm sorry?"

Qeath raised a brow. 'Why is she acting so weird all of a sudden?' "Are you okay?"

Eclipsa steeled herself. "Yes, I am."

Suddenly the atmosphere became incredibly awkward- whether Qeath found it welcome or not was another matter entirely, but whatever- and Qeath suddenly remembered that he was running away from a very angry chef when a loud bellow reached their ears.

"WHERE IS THAT CHOCOLATE THEIF?!"

A/N: 7.5k words...I think I've beat my usual record before sunup.

If you have any questions about Qeath, please tell me in a review or in a PM.

But, before I go, Qeath's real name is pronounced "Bah rah keel".

Also, for the Romanian, I used Google translate, so if anyone who knows Romanian sees something wrong, do tell me so I can correct it.

~Deathblow88