Star & The Forces of Harmony

Part 03: Premonitions of War

It is the following morning, the first day of summer vacation for Luna and Luca, as Marco is the first of his family to wake from bed. He sat upright before yawning, stretching his arms and slipped his feet into his slippers by the bedside. Next to him was the family dog, still sleeping soundly. He walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot, letting out another yawn. But as he waited for the coffee to brew, he noticed a strange light eminating from the kid's bedroom.

"Huh? Are the kids awake ALREADY?" Marco asked. He rubbed his eyes before looking again at the faint light.

"They can't be….wait. Did Luca leave a light on last night or something?" he asked, walking into the room. As he stepped inside, he soon noticed the lights coming from the children.

"Wha…?" he muttered. He crept up towards the beds and peeked down at their faces. When he noticed the dimly lit heart markings on Luna's face, he nearly yelped from shock. But he quickly slapped his hands over his mouth before he could blurt it out. He then snuck out of the room before making a dash back to his bedroom, seeing Star still asleep with a pink sleep mask over her face.

"S-S-Star! Wake up!" he whispered, rattling Star's shoulders. With enough shaking, Star slowly begun to wake, peeking out from under her mask.

"Marco? W-What's going on…?" she mumbled. Using his eyes, Marco hinted towards the children's bedroom, leaving her puzzled still. Seeing the message wasn't getting through, he took her by the wrist.

"Come on. You got to see something." he said, pulling her out of bed. The two hurried back to the kid's side. Upon seeing the glowing marks on the children, Star's eyes widened from shock while Marco merely looked on at her.

"W-W-W-Whuh…?!" she muttered before looking to Marco "Marco? What's going on?" Marco merely shrugged.

"I-I don't know. When I woke up, I….saw this light coming from the kids room. A-And when I went to check, I found….THIS." he explained, maintaining a soft voice. Looking back to the kids, Star reached for Luna's cheek, resting her hand against it gently while rubbing the marking with her thumb. Luna merely mumbled in her sleep.

"It's….warm. B-B-But this makes no sense. I mean, this can ONLY mean the kids somehow have magic in them." Star said. Marco looked down at Luca, still cuddling his stuffed toy.

"But how? I thought you destroyed the magic." he asked.

"I…I did. It was the only way to stop Mina from wrecking Mewni. But….if that really DID happen, how do we explain THIS?" she replied, looking back to Luna. Marco fell silent, glancing downward before the marks on Luna's face faded away alongside her brother's. They both noticed and looked to one another.

"Should….Should I tell mom?" she asked. Marco suddenly shook his head.

"I…I don't think so. We don't know what EXACTLY is going on right now….or how it might affect them. I think its best they stay in the dark about this. I mean…as long as they're still happy and healthy….I think its better that whatever magic they MIGHT have…dies out eventually." he said. Star remained silent, looking back at her kids and then back to Marco.

"O-Okay." she muttered, letting go of Luna's face. Afterwards, the two slowly walked out of the room before gently closing the door behind them. As soon as they left, the same voice from before spoke again.

"Oh, Star….how you've grown into quite the young woman. However, I'm afraid…there's no avoiding what is coming…"

~ Later That Day… ~

After the kids woke from their slumber, the day went on as normal for everyone. Star and Marco remained silent about what they had seen as the kids were eventually out in the city, running errands with their parents. Their first stop was at the recently opened Quest Buy, revived because of popular demand after the world fused and now refurbished into a large shopping center for all species living in Mewni Creek. Their car slowly pulled into the parking lot as Luna and Luca eyed the store from the car window.

"Wait. We're going HERE? No offense mom and dad….but….doesn't it usually take us FOREVER whenever we come here?" Luna asked. But Star scoffed.

"Not ALL the time Luna. Besides, this shouldn't take TOO long. Marco? You got the list?" Star asked. Marco nodded, fishing a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"Yep. Right here." he said. But as the family exited the car and prepared to go inside, we look in the back to see a hooded Mina watching them from across the parking lot. A creepy smile was on her face as she eyed Star. She rose her arm from beneath her cloak, exposing a solid black hand radiating with dark energy, and began taking aim at the back of Star's head. She chuckled softly to herself, envisioning Star screaming and falling to the ground in her mind.

"Goodbye….traitor." she muttered, eyes squinting. But just as she was about to fire, she felt a presence behind her which stopped her in her tracks. Feeling it was Solaria's ghost again, Mina groaned.

"YOU again? I told you….help me or STAY OUTTA THE…!" she yelled, spinning around quickly to see it was actually Tom and Janna. Seeing Mina's face caused them both to gasp and Tom dropped a bag of groceries he was carrying his arm.

"M-Mina Loveberry?! Is that…Is that you?!" Tom asked.

"No way. Girl…I thought you were DEAD. What up?" Janna added. Tom glanced at her.

"Uhhh….Janna? Did you forget that this woman is a basket case that ALMOST ruined all of Mewni?!" Tom asked. Realizing she was discovered, Mina pulled up her hood and started to flee. But Tom quickly took notice and suddenly chased after her, shooting fire from his hands as Mina ran.

"H-Hey Tom! Wait for me!" Janna called.

"No, it's okay Janna. I'll handle this. I'll catch up with you!" he called. As they both disappeared from sight, Janna snapped her fingers.

"Dang. I miss out on EVERYTHING fun." she muttered. The chase went on for a while as Tom kept on Mina's heels, no matter how many twists or turns she tried to pull on him. Eventually, he followed her all the way into the southern end of town, stopping when Mina tried to hide in an alleyway. He landed in the mouthway of the alley, eyes focused on Mina.

"All right Loveberry….what are you doing here? And WHAT was that stunt you tried to pull on Star back there?" he asked. But Mina merely laughed, making Tom weary, before she turned around and faced him. She pulled her hood down in the process.

"Sharp as ever….child of the Underworld." she said "I had a feeling if I tried anything….one of Star's "goody-two shoe" friends would interfere." Tom remained silent as he approached Mina, keeping one hand a lit behind his back.

"I don't know what you're up to, but I KNOW, for a fact, you tried to destroy everything Star worked hard to accomplish on Mewni. So what brings you out of the shadows?" Tom asked. Mina smirked.

"Oh….you know? Wanted to see the sights, take in the scenery….blow Star's head off her TINY, TINY BODY!" she said, growing slightly insane at the end. Tom's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah….uh huh. Don't think I didn't hear that last part. If you even THINK of killing Star….you'll have more than just ME after you. So…I'll give you a warning. Back off…or be torched." he said, exposing his fiery hand. Mina took one look at Tom's fiery hand before cackling to herself.

"Right! I forgot! Your powers AREN'T based off magic, are they? They're just silly demon magic." she replied, annoying Tom slightly.

"You got a problem with that? Last time I checked….you had NO power left, not after Star destroyed the magic. No magic…no "Solarian" powers." he said. But Mina chuckled again, revealing her pitch black hand once more, cloaked in the evil energy. She raised her hand until both had their powers aimed at one another. Tom took a quick glance at her hand.

"I see you don't value mortal hygiene anymore. Look at that hand. It looks ready to rot away. Have you heard of it? It's an invention known as "SOAP"." he replied. Mina smirked.

"If you think I DON'T have the goods to take out Star….you're gravely mistaken. I've had a taste of something far GREATER than magic. And, with it, your "ex"….along with her ENTIRE FAMILY….will be nothing but CORPSES! Maybe you can resurrect them for your "undead" entourage..when you get LONELY." she said. Tom growled.

"Not if I stop you here you LUNATIC!" he shouted. The two then unleashed blasts at one another, Tom shooting fire and Mina blasting a wave of dark energy. However, without showing much effort, Mina's energy overwhelmed Tom's fire before he was sent flying across the street and into the wall of a building. Groaning from the impact, he watched as Mina hovered towards him, bathed in the dark energy.

"L-Lucky shot…" he said, pushing himself free before firing flames with both hands. But with one wave of her hand, the flames were pushed back by a dark shield. Tom couldn't believe his eyes.

"W-WHAT?!" he gasped. Mina snickered before, with a swipe of her arm, disrupted Tom's fiery stream and dashed at him, slamming into the wall again with a hand clutched on his shirt. When Tom opened his eyes this time, he saw her eyes were solid black now and she re-grew her razor sharp teeth.

"What….ARE you?" he muttered.

"A WHOLE new woman." she replied in a snake-like tone. Slowly raising her other hand, she made a fist that radiated in darkness. Tom prepared for impact, closing his eyes before turning his head. But Mina simply stopped, letting Tom take another look at her.

"You know something, demon spawn? I'm feeling….lenient right now. I'll let you go." she said. She then released her grip on Tom, letting him fall to the ground.

"I WAS planning to silence you so you couldn't worm your way back to Star….but, you know what? I can't wait. So….just let her know….that I'll be in touch….VERY SOON." she said, suddenly disappearing before Tom's eyes. Surprised by what happened, Tom groaned before collapsing against the wall. His eyes then slowly drooped shut. But right afterwards, Janna happened to rush onto the scene, hopping out of a taxi cab and ran to Tom's side.

"H-Hey! Tom! What happened? Where's that Mina chick? Hey! Say someting! Tom? TOM!" she called, shaking him feverishly. Tom's eyes slowly opened, taking one look at Janna's worried face before blacking out again. She gasped and quickly braced Tom against her.

"Come on. Let's get you to a hospital." she said softly, carrying him back to the taxi. From the nearby roof, Mina's shadow looked down upon Tom and Janna before turning away, smirking once more.

TO BE CONTINUED…