Chapter 7
Stopping an Immortal
"Think positive, Star. This will work."
Star popped her head just enough to see the whole floor. There was only sealed crates and wooden chairs. No magical beings fighting to the death. She continued climbing up to the next floor. The spiral-arranged stairs, combined with some blood loss, were making her dizzy.
"I am Star Butterfly. A terrible liar, but an awesome actress."
Another empty floor climbed up. This made the fourth one. Waiting for the world to stop spinning, Star wished castle Butterfly was equipped with the miracle invention from Earth, known as "escalator".
A series high pitched, muffled sounds reached her ears. Somewhere close could be heard spell flying around. Somewhere up.
Loud bang shook the tower. Star's heart shifted into higher gear, instantly clearing up any trace of tiredness. Her bandaged hand tightened the grip on the wand. With leaps she continued climbing up.
"And if the plan fails, I have backup."
One floor behind was the backup. Marco, Kelly and Pony Head followed her from distance, as she had instructed them. Buff Frog was left behind at the tower's entrance. His assignment was to make sure nobody gets inside. That included both monsters and mewmans.
As Star got closer to the sixth floor, she noticed the sounds of spell casting were replaced by familiar voices. By their clarity she judged that this was the floor where Toffee and Moon were. She backtracked way back to her friends. With free hand she pointed up. Marco nodded to show he understood and raised thumbs up.
The Princess returned to the entrance of the next floor. The voices were still having their conversation. Part of Star wanted to peek just to make sure her mother was alright. Different part was too nervous to find this a good idea. Another part wanted to jump inside and start bringing magical chaos. Not that she had the slightest clue how to do it.
Star closed her eyes and tried to ignore the world for a moment. A deep breath later and her contradicting emotions got quieter. Not gone. With her left hand she made sure the dagger hidden under the hoodie was still there. When the eyelids lifted, Star had summoned one of her most serious faces.
"Showtime!"
Nervously, she climb the last few stairs and stepped out right into a mess.
The whole room was scorched from magical attacks. Wooden debris were all over the place. Sunset rays lightened the floor through a giant hole in the wall. The stairs ended where the hole was, as if they were bitten off.
Two pair of eyes stared at Star.
Toffee stood up in the middle of the room. He wore the same black leather clothes as Star had last seen him with. They were full with perfectly shaped holes, revealing his undamaged pale blue skin. The star-shaped crystal pulsated in jade colors and illuminated his right pawn. Raised in the air, the lizard's right hand choked an invisible person.
Dark shadows had engulfed Toffee's face, giving him a menacing look.
Midair, against him, Queen Moon was being crushed against a wall. A green aura had surrounded the woman. Both her legs and hands were perfectly straight and spread forcefully. The silver armor was covered in deep cracks and charred scratches. Her left pauldron was completely shattered, with only a small piece left attached.
What bothered Star was in her mother she was seeing an exhausted normal mewman, instead of a powerful magical butterfly.
"Why aren't you fighting it?"
- Ah, just the girl I was looking for - a sinister smile grew on Toffee's face.
Moon's eyes had widened so much, Star could see the panic inside. The woman did not say anything. Maybe she could not. Not a single word left Star's mouth either. She was too terrified from blowing her cover, if it worked at all. The whole plan relied on her convincing Toffee she was the shape-shifter. The lizard's words did not bring Star confidence, but they did not take any as well.
"Clever bastard."
- You look terrible - he narrowed his eyes.
Inside the Princess' mind a mental scale was measuring which was the worst idea: saying nothing, or anything. Star had no time for the results.
- It's war out there - she spoke back. - You know how it is.
- Mewmans can be quite persistent. You've took quite the beating from them. I'm giving you a chance for revenge.
To Star that sounded both promising and terrifying. Good as Toffee seemed to be believing she was his minion. Bas as he's about to ask of her something horrifying.
The monster turned his head at the Queen and tightened the invisible grip.
- Kill her.
"Kill her?!"
His words struck Star. Her hands wanted to start trembling, her legs wanted to give up and rest. With all willpower left inside, Star commanded her body to get a hold of itself and stay still. She hoped Toffee had not noticed her troubled body language.
"Wishful thinking..."
The seconds were passing by, each feeling like a tiny eternity. The monster had not acted. Maybe Star had taken control of herself fast enough. Maybe Toffee knew already and was taking pleasure messing with her. Maybe he wanted Star to kill Moon to prove she was not really the Princess. Such thoughts jumped around the girl's head, until one surfaced above the others:
"It doesn't matter."
With heavy steps Star headed towards her mother. Trying to look as believable as possible, she steeled her gaze at Queen Moon. Their eyes met. The women's expression was full with confusion, shock and disbelief. It got burned into Star's mind.
- Star! What are you doing?! Don't listen to him! This is not you! I'm your mother!
The Princess hated fooling her mother in such awful way. As she passed Toffee, her eyes jumped to him for a brief moment. A wide smile was written on his tensed face.
"That bastard is enjoying it!"
From his palm, the crystal shined with an evil hue. Somehow, Toffee used its power to take Queen Moon head on. Closing the magical breach was supposed to weaken him. Nobody expected he would find a way to become even more dangerous, by extracting the magical power source of the wand. His only source, the Princess hoped.
"It's as bad time as any."
With less than graceful movement, Star tried to pull the dagger from behind, turn to face Toffee, and not move the injured arm. Even without the best coordination she was capable of, the girl swung her blade at the glowing pale hand.
Her guess was that Toffee did not expected it. At the last moment, the monster moved his arm away. The attack left a deep cut close to the wrist, completely missing its intended target. A second later and the wound was gone.
It took Star the same amount of time to recover her balance and strike again. And again. Each attack Toffee managed to somewhat evade, leaving temporary marks on his right hand. Star bet if she was at her best health, by now the lizard would have lost the arm.
After another wound healed, the monster turned the crystal at Star. A green beam instantly hit her. Then came the crushing force. Every attempt of movement was met with resistance from a magical pressure. Too focused on fighting it, she missed when a jade aura had surrounded her and got lifted from the ground.
- I don't know if you're the real Star, or just decided to betray me. Nor I care - Toffee spoke with disturbing calmness.
The green crystal started to increase its brightness. Star desperately struggled to make some kind of movement. Her body was still being forced into disobedience. All she could do is watch as the lizard was getting closer, with his glowing arm pointed at her abdomen.
Flowing adrenalin slowed the next second, letting Star's eyes capture every detail of the moment. Toffee's expression got distorted from an external force. A sneaker got thrust deep into his cheek, sending a tiny shockwave across his pale face. A chopped tooth flew away in unknown direction.
The lizard crashed into a pile of scorched debris. His magic was no longer holding Star midair and she fell on all four. Cutting pain from the right arm rippled through her body. She clenched teeth, tried to resist the agony and it worked for a millisecond. Then she collapsed on the floor and gave away a tortured scream.
Marco kneeled before Star and helped her sit on the cold floor.
- Star! Are you all right?
"Wow, Marco. You look like you've seen Glossaryck naked again."
Pony Head flew past them with yells. Lasers were getting shot from her unihorn like a machinegun.
- Star?! - Marco grabbed the girl by the shoulders and shook her good. When he stopped, she spoke to him:
- Go help with stalling Toffee. I'll get my mom.
- Star! Your arm is bleeding again. You need to...
- Marco Diaz! - she interrupted him with a yell.
The boy stood up without taking his eyes off Star. They shared a silent moment, each saying to the other "I'm trusting you" with just a stare. Then Marco dashed away at where green and pink beams were coming from.
Star's right arm felt a little numb. Tiny rivers of blood were running down from the improvised bandage. First she wrapped her other hand around the soaked cloth and squeezed it to apply pressure. Then she used her left arm to move the injured one closer to where the wand had fallen and grabbed it. Star had hard time deciding which move was the most painful one.
It was uncomfortable getting up with trying not to move your arms too much. Taunts and battle cries echoed through the tower. From all of them, Star's brain decided one of Toffee's statements was very important to focus on:
- Hm. What do we have here...
For a moment a bright green light came from the side. Star turned to the right, where the spell was cast. Her eyes widened when she saw a long purple tentacle heading straight for her. She let the blooded bandage and used the free hand to pull out her dagger. Behind her the blade was nowhere to be found. After realizing she had never picked it up after Marco saved her, Star tried evade the tentacle with a leap.
Instead the Princess got intercepted by the monster arm and it wrapped around her neck. The deadly lock got tighter and blocked any air going in or out from Star's lungs. Panicked, she tried kicking and smacking the foreign object. Her fists were jumping back the same way a girl jumped back from a trampoline. Star needed tenth of a second to trace the monster arm to its source.
"Not you again!"
The tentacle's other end was part of Marco's body. He was using his fist to try make it let the Princess go. He also had no visible success.
Darkness clouded Star's peripheral vision. Suddenly her arms and legs weighted a ton each. Through the shadowy clouds only a fraction of the world was visible.
She barely saw the sky blue beam that blasted the monster arm. As the grip got loosen up, each breath felt less painful. The tentacle unwound back from her throat and started to take the form of a human hand. Still weak, Star fell on her back and focused on replacing the air in her lungs.
The moment of relief didn't last long. Star was interrupted by a pale blue hand grabbing her by the neck and picking the girl in the air.
"Again with the damn throat!"
Delighted, Toffee simply held the Princess midair with one hand. The other glowed from the pulsating crystal. Star used all remaining strength for some kind of strike to break up the grip. Her energy was just enough for a kick in Toffee's abdomen. It did annoy him and he tighten up the grip. His lock was not as strong as the tentacle's.
Marco jumped on Toffee with a karate chop. The monster turned his free hand at him. A dark magical blast sent the boy crashing on the floor. Star barely recognized her friend tried to save her and got injured.
Once again Toffee's attention was all Star's. He lowered the Princess to his eye level and brought the glowing crystal right to her face. It was so bright that Star had to close her eyes in order to protect them. She could hear a familiar sound coming from the crystal. With each passing moment its pitch was getting higher.
- I warned you to stay out of my way - Toffee reminded of his threat.
The sound stopped and with it, the jade light was also gone. Instead of magical fire burning through her skin, Star felt first her legs, then the rest of her hitting the floor. When she opened her eyes, an unbelievable scene revealed itself.
The monster was lying down on the floor. His right arm was missing from the shoulder down. Holding a sword with both hands, Kelly was standing nearby. She dropped the blade and went on to help Star get up. The Princess still had hard time believing what she was seeing.
Even with a lot of issues, the plan had worked. They had managed to cut off Toffee from the crystal, potentially weakening him enough. Unfortunately, neither Star, nor Moon were in a state to finish him off.
When Star got back up, she noticed Toffee's separated arm lying nearby. Its color had changed to dark gray. One of the fingers fell off and crumbled into a pile of dust. The crystal was still there, dark and jade-colored.
Kelly tried to warn Star, but the Princess didn't react on time. Her friend stepped in front, protecting Star from the incoming attack. Toffee's fist landed in Kelly's face, sending her flying. Star desperately wanted to protect her friend, to fight back. She also knew there was a better way than getting crushed in a hand-to-hand combat by the lizard.
She make two steps towards the green crystal, before a boot kicked her in the leg and knocked down Star on the floor. Fortunately, she landed close enough to reach the crystal. With a single swing, she pulled it out from a pile of ashes. An awkward move of her right hand brought the wand in front, next to the green stone. Clenching teeth, Star had to ignore the pain from the bloody triceps. She pushed the star-shaped crystal into the dark socket with the same form. A short sound clicked from the wand.
One by one, the crystal's walls started to brighten up into a golden color. The process mesmerized Star. She had no idea when was the last time she saw the wand in its perfect form. She also had no time to wait for the transformation to complete.
Toffee grabbed one of her legs and pulled Star back at him. The Princess suppressed the raising panic. Quietly, she lowered eyelids and started chanting an incantation. Warm light from crystal illuminated her face. The monster brought Star right in front of him, and pinned her legs with his boot. She continued to whisper words from a spell. An intrusive feeling warned her the lizard was less than a hand-length away. Warm breeze grazed her neck.
- The crystal is mine!
Toffee extended his only whole arm. The lizard hand was less than an inch away from the wand, when Star opened her eyes and responded:
- Here, you can have the whole package!
With heroic efforts, the Princess turned her upper body to face the monster. His right hand had regenerated up to the elbow. Star used all her might to thrust the wand into the open wound. Its lower end was sharp enough to sunk up to where the guard was.
Surprised by the foreign object in his body, Toffee stood up and stepped back. He reached for the magical relic, when the Whispering Spell activated.
The crystal was glowing strongly, it was getting brighter by the moment. The wand emitted an illuminating ripple through Toffee, through Star, through the room, through the tower.
"I know what follows next…"
All Star could do was to raise the still working arm and cover her face. This close to the explosion, she would be lucky if anything was left of her. The girl desperately hoped mom, Pony Head, Kelly and Marco would survive this. Was it too early to start having flashbacks of your entire life?
Thinking about the boy, with her peripheral vision, Star saw Marco charging at her position. Suddenly the room got much brighter and hotter. A second magical shockwave passed through. One more remained. For a moment Star saw her friend right next to her.
- Don't! Get away! - she yelled with a hoarse voice.
Marco did not listen. He did not stop to help Star either. Instead, the boy launch himself at Toffee. Still struggling to remove the wand, the monster never expected an attack. A pair of sneakers landed on his chest with stunning force. Then Marco unleashed the energy of his entire body. Using the lizard man as a support, he made jumping move and pushed himself away.
Toffee's face was a mix of surprise and disbelief. Struggling to keep his balance, he stepped back. His upper body was leaning in one direction, making it hard to stay up. The lizard continued to make backward steps. Finally he managed to raise up and took a stable pose. One last step back was made to kill the rest of the momentum.
His boot landed on thin air. Toffee's whole body blindly relied on that last step to support it. It failed. Uncontrollably, his center of mass got shifted backward. His new pose was too unstable on its own and the monster leaned back on a wall made of air. For a moment Star saw Toffee's eyes, still full with shock.
Then, through the giant hole in the wall, the monster disappeared.
With eyes wide opened, Star and Marco stared at where Toffee was a moment ago. An eternity passed in a silent second. Out of nowhere the world lost its shadows and became all white. The Princess only felt the third shockwave throwing her in the air. Somewhere between this and the next moment the sound of explosion reached her ears.
The blinding light started to decay rapidly. Star's bottom slammed back on the floor. The ground made of stone failed to support her weight and once again gravity pulled her down. Panicky she waved her hands, searching for something to grab on. Through the floating white spots of her vision, Star noticed stone and wooden debris were falling from the artificial sky.
It was a long way down through the collapsing tower.
