The possessed kappa awoke from his lengthy meditation with a sharp exhale. He rubbed his forehead in an attempt to ease the migraine that pulsed within his tiny avian skull. Even after absorbing the magical essence of every Magic High Commission Member and Queen Moon, his physical form still strained under all the stress and exertion. The time to shed this feeble vessel could not come soon enough.
"Oookayyy..." Tom remarked, arching an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"
Toffee leered at his accomplice, his beak curved into a devious grin. "Just sending a message to an old friend,"
Tom merely shrugged. Since the birth of their alliance, Toffee has been extremely reserved about his grand strategy to find the God Hand. Since then, they've been waiting in the Castle Meeting Room with the huge round table. The only thing of note was that the lizard asked his demonic companion to send some of his minions to the surface and search all around and, in his words,"Leave no stone unturned or arm attached". But why send them to search for it at all? Shouldn't the Hand be closely guarded by the Butterfly Family? Was it taken out of the Castle at some point? When Tom approached his partner with these inquiries, he was only met with a single cryptic response that made little sense nor was worth trying to piece together. "A certain book genie got frisky," What did he mean by this?
"I've found the other Hand by the way," Toffee said, his smile still affixed to his face.
"You have? Where is it?!" Tom asked, ecstatic. The green flames in his eyes burned brightly.
"Mmm, I don't suppose you'd be very amused by the answer. Would you like to hear it regardless?"
The demon prince was gripped by a feeling of uncertainty, but he couldn't figure out why. He gave his answer in the form of a slow nod.
"A certain Marco Diaz has it attached to his body,"
What followed could only be described as an eruption strong enough to shake the Underworld and the land above. A volatile Supernova of green and orange flames spewed from where Tom was standing. Toffee's face remained unflinching despite this tantrum of godly proportions.
"WHERE IS HE?! LET ME AT HIM! I'LL RIP THAT ARM OFF OF HIM WITH MY BARE HANDS AND REDUCE THE REST OF HIS BODY TO ASH!" Tom's eyes were blank white and his voice had a heavy distortion that would chill a normal person to the bone. Once again, Toffee stood unfazed.
"Tom! What are you doing?! Didn't our lessons mean anything to you?" Brian, his anger management coach, ran into the meeting room, foolishly trying to quell Tom's jealously-fueled explosion.
The inflamed boy noticed the pudgy form running towards his direction. Without even a second thought, he drew his left arm as far back as he could, time slowing to a crawl. A forward-rotating menu of names popped into view, and his focus shifted to one that was most appropriate for the moment.
Head Slicer.
Tom drew his arm back further, it outstretched and radiated a very vibrant red-orange. After a few seconds, he swung forward, a wide blade made of pure energy flying towards the neck of the innocent counselor. With a loud pop, his head flew high into the air and his chubby, decapitated body fell limp. After several moments, his head fell back down onto the hot, hard stone floor with a resounding splat, bouncing once and then rolling a few feet from its drop point like a ball. Surprisingly, it remained intact.
Falling back to reality and realizing what he just did, Tom's overbearing flames were instantly extinguished and his visage shifted from deep hatred to that of absolute horror.
"Oh my gosh! Brian! Brian!" the concerned short fuse ran towards the severed head, his heart racing as he was coming to grips with what he just did. He lifted the head of Brian off the ground, tears welling up in all three eyes as he was apprehended by shame and regret. "I'm so sorrryyyy! Speak to me, pal! Speak to me-he-heee!"
"Do we hafta go back to lesson one again, Thomas?" the disembodied head tiredly chided the teen.
"Wha- Brian, you're still alive?!" Tom asked, incredulous and relieved.
"Yeah it was part of our deal, remember? I help with your temper and you kinda bound my life to yours. So as long as you're alive, then so am I."
"Oh yeaaahh, I totally forgot about that." Tom chuckled, a combination of embarrassment and ease washed over him. "Phew, I thought I lost you there for a sec."
"Alright, so we gonna start this whole anger management thing all over again or what?"
"Er, I'm kinda in the middle of a thing right now. How 'bout after all this is over?"
"Okie dokie then. Just don't die on me anytime soon or we won't be able to getcha back on track," They both shared a sensible chuckle, treating the prospect of getting beheaded like a humorous inconvenience. Toffee simply palmed his face at this moronic exchange.
The controlled avian turned away from Tom and his counselor. He concentrated deeply into the hand that held the other half of Star Butterfly's wand crystal upon his palm. A sizable green flame hovered above his palm and with it, the murky images of two members of a certain counsel of magical masters were imprisoned within.
Marco awakened with a startled yelp and a light jump as the wagon and earth roughly shook beneath him for a few seconds. Demons, forced amputations, Toffee, bandits, and now earthquakes. The stressed teen felt like the Universe suddenly turned on him for the last day and so hours. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if anvils or pianos started raining down upon him, a la those old Merry Melody shorts he watched when he was in grade school.
"Hey, you got up quicker this time. Makin' progress, Diaz." Janna gave a wink and a thumbs up, her demeanor more chipper and relaxed compared to the last time Marco emerged from unconsciousness. "We're almost at the castle by the way,"
"Heh heh, yeah, I guess so," Marco propped himself up and leaned back against his arms. His body was still a bit sore from his recent scuffle. Upon recalling what he last did before he blacked out again, Marco slapped each cheek with each palm, his eyes widening and pupils shrinking.
"Janna...I think I just killed a guy..." The teen was absolutely mortified. Sure, they were criminals bent on murdering an innocent civilian and himself, but that fact did little to alleviate the weight of taking someone's life off of Marco's shoulders.
He felt something acidic rising up his throat. The memories of every event that occurred since he first stepped off the portal coalesced into bile and filled his mouth. He reflexively shut his jaws and held his lips in his hands to keep anything from escaping. His tanned face shifted to a dull shade of green. He frantically stood up and ran to the back of the wagon, expunging the greenish brown vomit off the edge of the wagon and onto the streets of the Butterfly Kingdom. He hoped he wouldn't be fined for this.
"Geez, you're taking losing your murder virginity pretty hard," Janna quipped, much to Marco's chagrin.
"What the heck, Janna, this isn't a joke!" The ill boy yelled, his hands shivering and lips quivering. "How can you be so chill about this?!"
The apathetic girl shrugged. "When you've seen that the dead can potentially be resurrected, ya kinda grow to disregard human life a little bit,"
"That...is seriously effed up," Marco coldly criticized, his voice dreadfully low. "So what you're saying is, that it wouldn't have mattered if I died, too?"
"What? No, I'm not saying that at all! It's just that-" Janna took a few moments to gather her thoughts, choose her words wisely, and rationalize everything that lead up to this point. "Look, all I'm saying is that you shouldn't condemn yourself over possibly murdering a guy. They were gonna kill you and the guy that helped us. They didn't give you a choice. And yes, it most definitely would have mattered if you died. Because even if we manage to find a way to bring your body back to life, we wouldn't be able to bring you back to life. Catch my drift, Diaz?"
The boy mulled over her words. He couldn't believe he had to admit for a second time that she was right. But he still didn't like it. This might stay with him for the rest of his life. He can only hope he doesn't have to resort to something like that ever again.
"Lemme give you a small lesson in necromancy, my boy," Janna began, exuding an air of scholarly smugness. "You can bring the dead back to life, sure. But its "life" is only limited to moving and acting out of its own accord under the control of whoever resurrected it. That which was alive is no longer itself because its soul has already left it. Once a soul has completely passed on, it's out of this mortal plane for good. Poof. Bye-bye. From what I've read, there are two options to legit bring the dead back to its full life, soul, mind, and all. One is to capture the soul as it's departing the dead body into some sort of vessel, usually in what's called a Soul Gem. The other is to give a part of your life force to said dead body, reinvigorating the soul and the body if said soul hasn't completely left the physical world yet. However, it comes at the cost of draining your own soul to the point of destroying your physical body. Only the most powerful of necromancers can pull that off. "
Marco just sat staring at his hands throughout Janna's lecture, but he hung on every word. Once again, he hoped that the action of toying with people's lives, whether taking them away or bringing them back would never, ever have to be brought up except in hypothetical scenarios. But even then, it bummed out the boy. Kinda makes you think about your own mortality and how fragile and brief it can be.
"Whatever big thing's goin on in Mewni, ya gotta make some tough choices, Marco. We can't keep everyone happy or alive. The sooner you accept that, the easier it'll get from here on out,"
"Here's your stop!" The carriage owner announced. The two teens leaned forward as the wagon came to a halt. Both of them jumped off the back, walking around the side to say their farewells to the driver.
"We can't thank you enough for getting us here," Marco politely thanked. He wished that he had something to give to the hard-working gentleman as payment. In his hurry to get here, he forgot his wallet full of 650 dollars.
"Ah, don't sweat it kid. It's the least I could do after you two saved my pals and me. And me again! If you need to get somewhere, don't hesitate to call on ole' Ulrich to get ya there. For you two, I'll take this wagon all across the Universe if ya ask. No charge,"
"Thanks man, we'll keep that in mind," Janna stated with a little salute. "You take care of yourself, now,"
"You, too! Stay safe!" And with that, Ulrich made a brisk U-turn with his horses and made his way back to his home.
The duo ended up at the base of the white stone steps that led to the Castle proper. They made their way up, passing by nobles, knights, and the occasional servant. Several of them made passing looks towards the two teens, specifically at Marco.
"You seem popular 'round here,"Janna commented, noticing the stares they were catching.
"Heh heh...yeah." Marco's chest felt heavy as he recalled the Song Day concert he attended with Star not too long ago. The event that made everything weird between them to begin with. It never really occurred to him what he'll do when he inevitably meets up with his best friend. Should he pretend none of the past days events ever even happened? No, that would be pretty insensitive to her feelings. Should he just sit her down and discuss everything that happened up to this point? Where will he find the time if the Kingdom is in turmoil right now? And how will he smoothly bring it up without making it super awkward? The closer he reached the Castle's main entrance, the more he felt like puking again. And considering where he is now, he doesn't think the staff or the guards would take too kindly to that.
When they finally reached the towering doors, two guards in full armor armed with halberds quickly shifted towards them, vigilance seeping through their helmeted faces.
"What business 'ave you with the Royal Family?" Demanded one guard in a heavy cockney accent.
"Uh..." Marco began to sweat and pull at his collar.
Stop being so nervous. He internally chided himself. This is your best friend. You've lived under the same roof for how long? And you've been here plenty of times before. Don't puke all over yourself again.
"Er, I've come to see St- urf," He choked a bit, feeling dry heaves rising up his throat. He gulped hard and eventually composed himself. With a deep breath, he tried again. "I've come to see Princess Star Butterfly. I am Marco Diaz of Earth and-"
"Oi, Marco Diaz, ya say?" the same guard curiously asked, lifting the visor of his helmet and peering at Marco with a pair of muddy brown eyes surrounded by noticeable wrinkles. "Future King of Mewni? Ha ha! Why 'idn't ya say so?"
A deep red blush was slashed across Marco's face upon hearing "Future King of Mewni". For a second, he felt a tinge of remorse coming here. Yeah, getting attacked by demons and bandits and being in close proximity to Toffee wasn't what made him regret coming here. It was being dubbed the "Future King of Mewni". Song Day was a mistake. It's been nothing but trouble. Wonder what happened to Ruberiot?
"'Ey, just so ya know, the Family's in a bit of a stink right now," The knight warned, urgency creeping in his voice. "They ordered that no one is to disturb 'em at this time 'less it's an emergency. But since it's you, I'll just let 'em know yer 'ere. C'mon, I'll escort ya to the Throne Room."
The two teens were about to make their way past the door when the guard stopped them in their tracks.
"'Ang on, who're you?" The guard asked eyeing Janna suspiciously.
"Oh, er, I'm with him," She answered, pointing a thumb at Marco. "I'm a friend of Star's, too,"
The guard's hard gaze fell upon Marco, wordlessly asking for confirmation.
"Yeah, she's with me,"
"Alright then. 'Ey, Ken," The guard addressed his partner who shifted his head towards him. "Keep this spot warm for me. Anyone asks, the Future King of Mewni's 'ere,"
The partner silently nodded, and faced forward once more. The three went passed the towering purple door and into the vast white and purple corridor that looks like giants were meant to walk these regal halls.
"Sooo..." Janna began, morbid curiosity smuggled in her tone. "'Future King of Mewni', huh?"
Marco remained silent. He wanted to retreat into his hoodie. He got sick of the phrase when he first heard it slither uncomfortably into his eardrums. Now it's just a festering plague vexing him every second of his existence as the words echoed in his mind. The closer he got to the Throne Room, the faster his heart rate became. He didn't know or not if he could suffer cardiac arrest at his age and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out or not.
He instinctively raised his sleeveless tattooed arm to his face. Looking over every inch of it seemed to have eased his addled mind just a tad bit. Was it just him, or did his tattoos start to emit a faint, pulsing golden glow?
Queen Moon Butterfly was absolutely beside herself. She paced back and forth, holding and rubbing her temples. Her pupils were mere dots and a torrent of sweat rained down her seemingly flawless skin. You would think that it would be enough to smudge up the diamonds on her cheeks. She nervously repeated words to herself as her voice trailed off into whispers.
"Nononononono... This cannot be happening. How can this be happening? Why, why, why?" So much had happened that rattled the Queen's normally composed character. First, the recent Song Day has brought distrust and disorder to the kingdom after they found out the Spellbook was missing and the wand was damaged. Next, the Magic High Commission was wiped out in one fell swoop, with only two of their remains recovered. Toffee is currently at large and is most likely planning an all-out assault on the Butterfly Kingdom and most likely all of Mewni. House Lucitor has ignored many messages sent to the Underworld regarding the status of the Devil Hand. And now the God Hand was missing from the Castle with no evidence of who stole it or how it disappeared without a trace of evidence.
A combination of paranoia and strain was overtaking her as she still hasn't changed out of her armor or put away her swords since the day she and the MHC raided the Monster Temple. She hasn't even slept wink or eaten a nibble since then.
Star simply watched on as she witnessed her mother, usually the apex of order and rationality, freak out before her very eyes. It was jarring to watch. Her father, King River Butterfly, was getting rather uncomfortable himself.
"Dad, I'm worried," Star whispered to her father, "I've never seen mom like this before."
King Butterfly fidgeted a bit before turning to face his daughter. "I agree. Seeing your mother like this is putting me on edge. If even she cannot maintain her composure in this time of crisis, who can?" River turned back towards his wife, still pacing and her speech quickened to the brink of spouting gibberish.
Star replayed the recent events in her mind like a rewinding VCR. So, her mom announced that Toffee was back and took her away from Earth, possibly having to leave forever. She then took her to her room and told her to rest up so she can show her something "Pivotal to honing your magic and winning this coming war" later on. Then when she finally got around to getting her, she remained tight-lipped through the whole walk to the throne room. Then Mom opened some secret passage between the two thrones that went so far underground that it took half a day to descend, not to mention all the doors with all the confusing locks on them. Along the way, her mom went on to explain what the God Hand was, what it did, its history, and how it'll help turn the tide in this upcoming conflict. They reached their destination by the time the explanation was finished.
Then they came upon the biggest door out of all the other doors that only opened when Mom made a cut on her finger and put it on some hole on the door. Then after watching it light up all over and waiting forever for it to open, the room was massive and it was also dark, empty and smelled like dirty socks. There was a magical light that shined from the ceiling onto a pedestal in the center of the room which ended up being empty. Then Mom started freaking out, like hard. She calmed herself down, then they all made their way back up the super long passage, re-closing all the doors out of paranoia. And then they were in the Throne Room again, then Dad came in the room and here they were.
For a moment, all three Butterflies' hearts skipped a beat when the throne room door emitted a few loud bangs. All six eyes fell upon the towering door. Moon sucked all the air into every respiratory entrance she had and took the deepest exhale.. Her disposition straightened for the time being.
"Yes, what is it?" She said, as calmly as was possible from her at the moment, but there was a hint of irritation in her voice. "This better be an emergency,"
"Your highness," a muffled cockney voice resounded from behind the door. "We have a few very important visitors. They wish to see the Princess,"
Star's heart sunk. Who could have possibly wanted to see her right now? No. She knew. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to be right or wrong in her assumption. But the guy said "visitors" so who even knows?
Moon looked back to Star for a few moments. Star merely shrugged. Moon then looked back to the door and began walking forward. Her footsteps awkwardly broke the silence as each tap of her shoes bounced all around the room.
When the Queen unlocked the door, she was greeted by the warm, friendly smile of Marco Diaz. She couldn't help but give a halfhearted smile back
"Good day, Your Highness," Marco greeted out of respect and waved his right sleeveless arm at her.
"A pleasure to meet you my Queen," Janna pulled her skirt in a curtsy, as she's seen in movies that took place in the Middle Ages.
"A thousand pardons Your Highness, but they urgently needed to see the Princess," The guard apologized. Moon quickly forgave and dismissed him, leaving him to walk back to his post at the castle entrance. Her view returned to her daughter's best friend and apparent object of affection.
"Oh, it's good to see you Marco, but right. Now...we're...having..." Moon's voice veered off and her masked smile faded as she noticed the boy's right arm. The blue runes. The Deistic Braces. Something shattered within the Butterfly Matriarch. She could barely hold the pieces together as her composed facade utterly fell apart. All the insomnia, hunger, and pressure blended and boiled into rage. Her eyes became wild and her face twisted into a vortex of scorn.
"Um, is Star ava-aaahhhh!" Marco was forcibly dragged by the collar of his hoodie into the room, the door slamming shut on Janna's face.
Marco was tossed like a rag doll onto the solid, waxed floor. He rolled a few feet before he ended up on his back, facing the Queen of Mewni, who unsheathed one of her swords and directed it towards his face.
"I don't know how or why you have that Hand, but you are going to return it right, THIS. INSTANT!" Moon shouted as she raised a sword to the air and swung towards the base of Marco's arm. He rolled out of the way, the Queen's blade clanging noisily against solid stone. The hooded teen quickly brought himself from the ground, instinctively taking a defensive stance against his best friend's mom as he was gripped by self preservation. A green aura surrounded Moon's body, just like the three bandits from before.
"Mom! What are you doing!? Stop!" Star squeakily shrieked. Fear and anger at her mother's actions caused her to frantically sprint towards the two. This was the absolute worst time to leave her wand in her room. How could she have been so absentminded? Why was she so absentminded?
"My dear, control yourself, I beg of you!" River implored, following behind.
With a glow of her eyes and her cheeks, Moon pushed her free hand towards her family, emitting an unseen force that sent the two flying all the way to the thrones.
"Oh dear," River clenched his teeth, his mind grasping at air on what to do. There was just no way he could get close to his wife with her casting magic of this magnitude. If she's like this, getting between them could prove very fatal. Once a Butterfly was on the war path, they essentially become a force that cannot be held back by physical means. Star, however...
"Hold. Still." Her Majesty scornfully seethed, her voice and body language conveying a palpable intent to kill. She drew another blade, one not getting the job done well enough. She drew ever closer to Marco, with which he responded by skipping several feet back words. She managed to keep up with him, the distance being sufficient for a swing of her sword. However, the guarding teen moved his body out of its path, causing it to whiff. She swung her other weapon, hitting nothing but air once again as her target bent his body forwards.
She raised both blades and commenced swinging wildly at every angle she could possibly slash at, with no results as Marco's reflexes surpassed the speed of her swings. She wasn't even aiming for the arm anymore. She simply wanted this boy dead. After several more fruitless lashes, he ended up jumping a couple yards back, further away from her effective range.
"Your Highness, I don't want to fight you!" Marco beseeches as his feet touched down."Please, be reasonable!"
"Then why must you resist!?" He couldn't recognize her as Queen Moon anymore. Her voice and demeanor was miles away from how they normally were. Right now, she was a killer. Queen. Possessing a blood lust that could only be satiated by spilling this teen's insides all over the throne room. Then, something peculiar happened as she spoke her last line.
The murderous Matron's aura made a sudden shift from green to blue. Afterwards, she pushed one foot forward, her body then dashed swiftly towards Marco, her foot hovering just slightly above the floor. As soon as she was within range, she wound back both swords to one side, then they swung in the same direction, aiming for Marco's neck. Panicking, the boy raised his right arm, the blades clanging against the slender brace that hugged his forearm. The force of her swing caused him to fall over on his back. The last attempted strike flowed into an upward swing that would have split Marco's body up the middle had he not rolled to the side again.
Moon's movements were considerably faster than before since her aura shifted colors. Marco was no longer able to to keep away and dodge as efficiently as the tip of her blade began grazing his hoodie, but not quite cutting skin yet. Several close calls were had as every other swing of her blade began ripping his sweater up, revealing the white T-shirt that lay beneath.
This suddenly became a battle of attrition. Marco felt himself closing in on exhaustion as he tried desperately to avoid the sharp piece of steel that was rapidly thrown his way. As time went on, he felt his right arm physically pulsating, a severe heat repeatedly fading in and out.
He didn't know why, but Marco was compelled to raise his arm to the sky as he lengthened the distance between himself and the murderous mother. The two braces detached his arms and the tattoos on his arm went from a dull blue to a bright gold.
He now felt lighter than air, the speed of his dodges surpassing the enhanced speed of Moon's slashes. For a moment, he felt like he should take at least one swing at his attacker, but he stood by his word when he said he meant her no harm.
Star was at a loss as she just knelt on the ground, hopelessly and tearfully witnessing her own mother trying to execute her best friend for seemingly no reason.
This was all her fault. All her fault. If she'd have just left without a word, Marco wouldn't have chased after her. If she hadn't invested so much time with him, he wouldn't have been so inclined to go after her in the first place. If she hadn't misused her wand from the very beginning and ended up in his life, he would be living normal days, safe from all the turmoil her kingdom was under and safe from the hands of her murderous mother.
Speaking of which, she was now cloaked in a deep red aura.
"ENOUGH!" Her Highness was fed up. She tossed her blades away and her body emitted a sudden flash. She grew butterfly wings larger than her entire body and extra arms emerged from her torso, not unlike Star's Mewberty form from long ago. The altered queen hovered high above and conjured a great spiraling blade made of pure white energy.
In an ill-timed flash of golden light, the braces returned to their spots and the tattoos were back to their blue hue. The air became thick and heavy. Marco was apprehended by an overwhelming blend of awe and terror, completely frozen in place. Not by any magic cast in his direction, but the memories and the fear he felt from Star's Mewberty transformation amplified a thousandfold as it left him completely paralyzed.
Moon Butterfly raised her body and her enchanted blade high in the air as it radiated and vibrated intensely.
This was it. Marco was absolutely sure his life was at an end right here, right now. If the demons, Toffee, or the bandits weren't able to get the job done, surely the Queen of Mewni, especially in this form, was far beyond capable of doing so. His only regret was not making peace with himself and Star before his untimely demise.
The Butterfly's blade dropped like a guillotine.
Marco shut his eyes. Awaiting the end once again. He felt the enveloping heat of the blade closing in on him.
Seconds passed. The intensifying heat ceased and remained stagnant for a few more seconds. Hesitantly, the boy opened his eyes.
Moon was completely frozen in place, her insect body struggling to move any further as her body lightly buzzed. She was engulfed in a green aura once again, but it was different from the glow that enveloped her humanoid form. It was thicker and cloudier with a deep, dark purple outline.
The altered queen suddenly shot up to the ceiling, her body slamming against it. Bits of stone fell to the ground upon impact. The entire room, possibly the entire castle, shook violently.
Marco remembered where Star ended up when Moon magically pushed her and River away. He shifted his gaze to that spot, his heart fell when he saw that Star had "Dipped Down". No... more like she "Dipped Deep". Star's eyes and the hearts on her cheek illuminated in a bright purplish white as she seemed to have black-purple tears consistently stream down her face. She held an open, outstretched palm forward, her entire hand and body cloaked in the same purple-outlined, green energy that covered Moon. River could only look on in sheer wordless wonder witnessing the spectacle that unfolded before him
The queen darted downwards just as quickly as she shot up. She fell right in front of Marco, kicking up a considerable amount of dust that enveloped the hooded teen, who stood covering his face to prevent himself from choking on the thick cloud.
Once the dust cleared, Moon was suddenly back in her humanoid form, her body laying flat facing down. Apprehended by deep concern for the Monarch who just made an attempt on his life, he ran to her still body and checked to see if she was still breathing. Thankfully, she was.
His eyes darted back to Star, whose body laid limp against the cold hard ground after emerging from the deepest reaches of her heart.