Almana's POV

When we got back to the castle, Toffee assisted in mending my facial wound. He handed me a rag with some warm water and peroxide doused on it, "This should prevent any infection, though it may sting like Hell." I nodded and padded the rag on the scratch, flinching a few times from the pain. Toffee leaned against the counter, "You know I didn't mean to do that to you right?"

"I know, it was my fault. I should've backed off, it's just that I was...worried."

"Worried?" He asked.

"...I...didn't want anything to happen to you. I guess...I've grown more fond of you that I thought."

He scoffed, "That wand is the only thing that could really do any harm to me." He said as he glanced at the missing finger on his right hand. "Even then, perhaps I should've informed you of the fact that I'm immortal."

"...What? Really?" I lit up in shock and amazement.

"Lizard monsters like me can indefinitely regenerate, making us practically invincible to the mewman's magic. At least that's what we thought." I nodded respectfully, still intrigued to know more but not wanting to push my luck with him sounding irritated. I went back to rinsing out the wound to occupy my thoughts from it while Toffee finished cleaning himself up.

Normal POV

Star and Marco stepped through a dimensional portal and started wandering around through the depths of the forest, looking for where Toffee and Almana could be. "Tell me again why this couldn't wait till morning?"

"Marco we can't just leave Almana alone with Toffee, who knows what he could do to her."

"How do you even expect to find them?" As the two stepped through some dead trees, the castle came into view and the two stood in silence for a moment.

"I'm gonna put my money on that one." Star noted as she started to walk up to it.

"So...now what?" Marco asked as Star used her wand to construct a grappling hook.

"We're going to see exactly what's going on here, I still don't buy that Almana would so easily side with someone like Toffee." She said as she started to scale the wall and prompted Marco to follow.

"For the record, I thought that something was up about her from the start. Maybe it's easier than you think, I mean she's so docile and sensitive. He probably knew that and took advantage of it for his own gain."

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get her out of this."

"After what she did earlier?"

"Toffee could've threatened her into doing what she did, she's still my friend." Star stated as she eventually got to a window that looked into the main room where Almana was. She was resting in the chair in front of the fireplace, soon approached by Toffee. He stirred her awake and starting talking to her, though Star and Marco couldn't hear what he was saying. Marco managed to get a glimpse through the window, only to cringe at the sight of the scratch mark.

"Geez, she forgave him for that?!"

"Trust me, it was a lot worse earlier."

"Ugh, who knows where his claws have been, that's not going to scar over well."

"Marco, for once can you put aside your health concerns and help me with this?" Star groaned as she tried to hold open the window. Once Marco finally got the hint, he took over with holding it open while Star aimed her wand through it. "We've got one shot at this, if I blasted his arm off once, I can do it again." Star took the shot, only for the window to suddenly shatter from the impact.

Almana's POV

Once the window pretty much exploded and glass scattered around the room, Star and Marco jumped down and readied for another fight. Toffee approached them while looking over the damage, "If you're going to drop in unannounced, you could've at least brought a gift." He said in a sarcastic manner, "Have you come to finish what we started earlier?"

Star was quick to aim her wand and take a step back, "Not exactly, we've come to save our friend."

"Friend? I highly doubt that she wants anything to do with either of you." Toffee stated as he glanced back at me, "Isn't that right dear?"

"Almana don't listen to him, we can get you out of here and away from him. You don't have to bend to his will, we'll take you back with us where it's safe." Star exclaimed in desperation, "I mean, who would you really trust with your life, this monster who's kidnapped you and did that to your face, or us, your friends?" I didn't need a lot of time to decide, I walked up to Toffee and stood by his side confidently.

"We never were friends Star, you should've gotten that earlier."

"Look I know that Toffee influenced you to do that, you'd never do what you did otherwise."

"How do you know? We've known each other for four days, you don't know what I would've done otherwise."

Marco intervened, "And Toffee does?! You're standing here defending him like you love him or something when you've only known him for…" He paused as if he had just realized what came out of his mouth. I became a little red in the face which seemed to prove something to Marco as he stood in stunned silence for a moment. "...You're kidding right?"

Star interjected, "Almana please, just tell us why you're defending him like this."

"...Like you would understand, you have no idea what I've had to go through for years. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and have nothing to worry about because everything is just handed to you. Do you know what some of us would give for that luxury? Instead, we go about our lives allowing our pent-up emotions to build until we one day find ourselves taking a long walk off a short bridge. Toffee's taken me out of that."

"Sure, he may have taken you out of a bad situation, but he only dropped you into another one!"

"This is different, he hasn't hurt me!"

"Have you seen your face?!"

"That was a fucking accident, caused by you!" I shouted as I lunged at Star, shoving her to the ground with anger-fueled adrenaline. I think I may have hit something deep with Star, because she only stood and stared at me with an indistinguishable expression. Her eyes were a bit glassy as she held herself back. She eventually collected herself and pulled out her dimensional scissors.

"...Fine, but when he finishes using you and ends up hurting you, you only have yourself to blame." She stated as she and Marco stepped through the portal and left. I needed to take a breath, feeling relieved but also exhausted from venting. Toffee reassured me and we headed upstairs for the night. I stopped him before he went into his room,

"Toffee, could I ask you something? It's kinda been on my mind for the past few hours now."

"What is it?"

"I know you might not be up for it and if you want I'll gladly back off from it but, who is Nova?"