Chapter 14: Light Through a Butterfly Wing

Clyde walked down the road to his home after a hard day's work. He was lucky; being a monster in a substantial mewman village and having not been kicked out or killed yet. He was the right side of a conjoinican; his sister Bonnie the more headstrong left head.

Hushed whispers and stares were commonplace, but it seemed to be extra tense that afternoon. He arrived at the home he was renting out in a hurry, eager to get off the streets. He would have to avoid public for a while as much as he could; he didn't like the atmosphere out in the village.

Clyde dug his keys out of his pocket, but he was not expecting to find his landlady standing in the middle of his living room. He didn't have an overdue payment on the rent.

She was dressed in nothing but her bathrobe and slippers, her greying hair strewn out and sticking up.

"Hiii... you're in my living room. Can I help you? I made this month's payment."

The mew-woman sighed.

"Listen... Bonnie, Clyde. You're been good tenants. You've paid your rent on time; you haven't caused any trouble. But, I'm afraid I'm going to have to evict you."

A pit dropped in the two-headed monster's stomach. His sister, being the more outspoken one, predictably freaked out and began cussing at their landlady. to be fair, he was on the verge of panicking himself.

"Why? You can't do this, you dried-up old hag!" Bonnie roared. If they didn't have to coordinate their movements, she'd already be strangling the landlady.

"I'm afraid the other tenants are not comfortable with you living here. I'm sorry; I need you out of here by Friday at the latest."

Clyde was just stunned. He and his sister's life had just fallen apart at the seams. His landlady had always been... tolerant of them. Her husband on the other hand... was this about the fact he joined with the Lepidopteran Order? Or the other tenants, did they join the order too?

One thing he knew about the popular cult was that it was about as anti-monster as it got. Clyde prided himself on being reasonable, but in this situation he had no idea what to do other than hand over the reigns to Bonnie completely.

With their left arm, Bonnie slugged the landlady right in the face.

For what seemed like the millionth time, Marco concealed himself by pulling his hood up in the vicinity of the village. More time had passed since he had escaped the castle, and the disastrous incident that happened.

Tension had already been rising all throughout the kingdom after Star had become queen, with the cult rising up and the violence against monsters increasing.

But now he was staring at a wanted poster with a picture of himself plastered all over the wall of some of the local businesses. To top it all off, he wasn't even the most common wanted poster. Blown up bigger than his and replicated more was the wanted poster of Queen Eclipsa.

This village was much like the others; it excluded monsters and the same cult he had raided had taken up a presence in the town, mainly filled by the fact that there was a friar in the town square shouting out the order's creeds and teachings to anyone who would listen.

Buildings that the order used for meeting places or "cathedrals" had been adorned with banners of their butterfly symbols or banners depicting events from their mythology.

The one in this town's chapel depicted some sort of wave, a torrential downpour from the heavens.

"Excuse me, young man..."

Damn it, he had drawn the attention of the town friar, but made sure that the mewman wouldn't see any defining features on Marco.

"The next sermon is starting in an hour. Have you taken the time to learn about the glory of Queen Butterfly?"

Well, would you look at that? Star had been deified, all in the span of about a week. Marco wanted nothing to do with the creepy religion, but...

"Can you point me in the direction of the sermon?" he asked, feigning as much enthusiasm as he could. He might as well learn more about the cult beyond their hatred of monsters and deification of their monarch.

They were coming a long way scarily fast. Star had told him that mere months ago they were meeting in caves away from prying eyes. He went and sat in a pew in the very back of the building, away from all the other mewmans.

The priest who was overseeing the sermon was a fairly old, severe looking mewman. When he addressed the crowd, it was with disgust.

"Look at yourselfs. Disgusting, pitiful creatures. Creatures of hair and skin. A shallow bastardization of the once proud mewman race."

It seemed to resonate with the crowd, despite the fact that the rhetoric was doing nothing more than ridiculing them. They would have heard something like this before. The faithful of the Lepidopteran were enthralling at the prospect.

"Centuries of sin, caused by monsters and other species. We as a species have suffered from sinful inbreeding. Monsters have stolen our providence with their dark magic. But no more. Soon will come the day of the Great Awakening, when magic will rain down from the heavens. The monsters will melt away and the mewmans will once again achieve their rightful place in the universe."

Marco just sat there, transfixed by what he was hearing, albeit with the complete opposite emotional reaction of others who were listening.

The monster village past the River of Endless Suffering was one of the most well-known monster communities, but it was far from the only one. Several monsters communities thrived in the swamps of West Mewni; on the fringe of Mewman society, pushed further and further away from the fertile cornfields of the Mewman heartland. After being evicted, Bonnie and Clyde moved back to their home village in said swamp.

Only things were getting unfriendlier these days. The "fringe" of Mewman society was constantly expanding; it had for hundreds of years and peaked with the Solarian conflicts. Mewmans always took more and more, and more. Bog people had moved in within the past few decades, and they had a habit of hunting and tracking them as if they were wild beasts.

The suitcase dropped from Clyde's hand as he looked at the state of his home village. It had always been dismal, but this... this looked like it had been destroyed from what was already a terrible state.

"Beck, what happened here?" he asked, as he noticed his old neighbor huddled around the front of his now destroyed hut. In his fist he was clenching several bloodied arrows that had clearly been stuck into him.

When he spoke, the septarian looked surprised to see him.

"Clyde, what are you doing back here?" Beck's eyes lit up with clarity, as another relevant thought occurred to him, "Oh, wait, Clyde! Your nana..." he said delicately.

"What? What do you mean? What happened to Nana, and who did this?"

"Bog people. They ransacked the village and captured a third of the villagers, including your grandmother. They're planning to do something."

"The bog people have never directly attacked us before."

"I know, but this are dark times, Bonnie... Clyde. Last I saw they were headed south into the bog with the hostages," Beck paused, "Whatever they're planning, it's going to happen out there."

As if prompted, Bonnie pulled out a nasty looking mace as if from nowhere with a lust for blood on her face.

"Big mistake. Nana ain't dying on my watch! I'll smash all their skulls before I let that happen!" she roared.

For what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, Clyde couldn't disagree with Bonnie.

"Beck, get the most able bodied monsters you can find. We can take this abuse sitting down," Clyde ordered. The septarian nodded, brow furrowed from the seriousness of their situation.

By the evening, Clyde and Beck had amassed a posse of about twenty monsters from the village.

"Have you heard of the Lepidopteran Order, Beck?" Clyde asked, as their boots marched through the bog. The sun was receding over the horizon; now they only had the torchlight to guide them.

"Only rumors. You hear things, about how they're rapidly growing in power. Rumor is it they attack and murder monster families. You don't think they could have possibly spread out here?" Beck let the question hang on the air.

"They've spread into the village we were living in, anything is possible. We got evicted so we came back here only to find... you know."

The cult members were gathered in the clearing, a multitude of monsters tied up, as usual for cult practices. However, there was no sign of the large wooden vigil that was to be set on fire. In its place was a pewter-black cauldron, bubbling with something. The High Moth was huddled around it, an open book in one hand as he sprinkled ingredients into the potion. The hooded members all began chanting and bowing in unison, around the cauldron and the hogtied monsters. The High Moth was chanting the loudest of all.

The High Moth roared some gibberish in an ancient language that Clyde didn't understand. The cauldron began to froth, and emit a bright glow the penetrated the entire clearing.

It was at that moment that Clyde and his posse emerged through the underbrush, forgoing their cover and showing themselves to the fanatics. The cult members, all except the High Moth, ceased what they were doing and stared.

The leader was too absorbed in what he was doing to notice, and liquid was rising out of the cauldron in a column, which Clyde and the monster posse stood there and gaped. They stared. The cult members stared back. Neither made a move.

Not that the monsters had that option. An oppressive atmosphere entered the air upon the column of light; he could feel Bonnie choking next to him and his throat was beginning to get scratchy.

The stream of liquid flowing into the air turned a brilliant shade of gold, and a rift began to open up in the air directly above the cauldron as a result. The cult members in rhythm pulled back their hoods and spread their arms.

The rift above all of their heads was widening, a miasma of swirling colors.

"What is that? What's going on?" Clyde cried through his hoarse throat. The portal began to rumble, and Clyde began to gasp for breath more desperately. He wasn't alone.

Light began pouring from the entrance to the portal in the opposite direction, from the sky down to the ground. It shone down on the swamp, bathing the normally shadowy and murky area in its luminescence.

"Ah!" Bonnie cried as she stuck out her's and Clyde's arm and looked fearfully on as welts began to break out on their skin. The light was burning to the touch.

The other monsters in the posse were feeling the same thing, as they choked and fell to the knees quickly and began to writhe in the dirt.

The mewmans just stood there and stared. They were not being affected; just the opposite. They were drinking in the light as if it were holy, euphoria in their reaction.

"You see brothers, they are harmed by the light from the Realm of Magic. That is why the deserve the name of "monster". They are merely a stain, a parasite as the good book says."

Clyde and Bonnie hit the dirt last, the former raising his head through bleary eyes to see the light pour through the portal in earnest.

Vanessa Goldriver tied her bathrobe around her mid-section and sighed as sunlight filtered into her room in the castle. Being Grand Moth, supreme leader of the Lepidopteran Order had its benefits.

She turned to her nightstand, where he compact mirror rested.

She opened it up and found herself staring at several missed calls. She glared at the screen, opening up her voicemail and sighed as she listened to its contents. She just learned of some... reckless actions taken by congregations of her own order.

It was inevitable with the way the following was growing. Attacks on monsters were increasing, which was good. But the increase in size also led many people to have their own ideas on what was best.

Certain subsects had gotten it into their heads to prematurely open up rifts into the Realm of Magic. If it wouldn't deal a crippling blow to their organization, she'd have them thrown out on their rear-ends. Opening up rifts would end up upsetting the monsters and the balance too soon.

Her Majesty would be the one to open the rift, in full, to a greater extent that could be done with rituals and incantations.

"Oh, dear. Time for the meeting," she said, looking at the next message.

"Monster raids are on the rise," Star grumbled to herself as she meditated in what was once her mother's royal chambers.

"See, they are merely a parasite in Mewman society, that cannot deal with their lot in life. That is why they stole the magic." Solaria said, as she meditated in kind beside her.

Star flexed her fingers. Her middle and index fingers were beginning to merge together, and starting to grow a very light fuzz, and the additional nubs between her underarms were getting larger.

"This feeling. I feel amazing. My old body, it seems like a cumbersome pile of flesh that I have shed off. And this is what the monsters have stolen from us?"

"Well, you are a queen..." Solaria said, "You are a degree higher. But yes, this is what our people have had stolen from us."

"What can we do?" Star asked, letting the question hang on the air.

"My queen, my queen!" The dialogue between queen and former queen was interrupted by Manfred.

"Manfred! This is not a good time!" Star cried. Manfred flinched, not just from her tone but also from her appearance. The half-sized golden wings which were beginning to frame her, she looked about halfway between her human form and mewberty form.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty! But I bring news. The church in Cornfield was burned down by a band of marauding monsters."

"They are getting bolder and bolder. Once we open the rift, that problem will solve itself, but now I fear war might be unavoidable if we are to avoid unnecessary casualties," Solaria said, only heard by Star. Her eyes panned upward, just in time to glimpse a rising shadow from around the nearest corridor.

"Queen Solaria?" Star asked as the spirit took off flying down the hallways, giving chase to the entity that had been spying on her and Star. Solaria kicked off in mid-air, wings glowing with ethereal red and gold magic.

The one she was in pursuit of ducked around corner after corner, trying to keep themselves out of view. Eventually she got a good look at the shadow as it crossed another corridor. The figure had wings, just like Solaria. The warrior queen narrowed her eyes, as a realization seemed to strike her.

She formed a magical sword, similar to the energy blade wand she used while in life. and she turned up into her top speed as she spiraled down the hallway. She zipped past the other flying figure, halted and stared menacingly at Celena the Shy.

"Hello, Celena. Going somewhere?"

Celena said nothing, merely also observing the other queen before raising a spectral golden fan to cover her mouth.

"You traitor. My daughter disgraced the Butterfly name, so I was accepting of your family taking the throne, but if this is the way your line is going to behave then what was the point?"

"Solaria, please. This isn't... well, I suppose it is actually you talking. What would your mother say?"

"She's been coming around, you see. Trying to expand Mewni's territory was originally her idea, after all. They all have come around, except for you. What do you plan on accomplishing, Celena? You have neither the other queens, the Realm of Magic, or the living mewman populace on your side. The Ether is starting to run out of patience. Why not merely concede and help your race achieve its destiny?"

"We can't hold on to a long-gone sense of past glory. Holding onto the past is never the answer; we have advanced in ways you don't even realize."

"You're a fool, Celena," Solaria said simply, and that was all she had to say about that. It was energy sword vs. golden fan, mere ghostly projections of the wands they used in life.

Solaria attacked, like the hyper-aggressive queen she was. Her ectoplasmic sword danced, with Solaria's signature all-offense swordsmanship. She was over six feet tall, pushing herself against the petite Celena and clearly winning.

She attacked in big, wide swings designed to hit in the most damaging way possible.

"Astral Hypnosis," Celena whispered, as she folded her fan as a sort of prelude to her spellmaking.

What looked like distorted pink waves of lights popped up in the around them. It jolted Solaria and interrupted the final blow of her latest flurry. Her face went lax and her movements sluggish.

Celena unfolded her fan and sidestepped Solaria. Solaria growled, even under the fog of Celena's spell she was a powerhouse.

"Solaria, we both know we cannot do much harm like this," Celena folded her fan again, and her image shattered into a million mirror pieces. Solaria sensed her, but she was long gone, and would no doubt mask her presence before long.

If Solaria actually had a flesh-and-bone body, she would be as mad as a tomato with rage.

She was seconds from blowing her top, but she floated back into the main corridor, where he protege and the savior of all magic was standing there confused at the outburst.

"Queen Solaria?

"Change of plans, Star. We must make a move to start preparing defenses and mobilizing against the monsters."

"I thought we were going to wait. Judgement Day would eradicate all monsters so there was no need to risk any mewman lives in a war," Star responded, "That's why we didn't want the Order causing trouble, taking things into their own hands as it were."

Solaria shook her head.

"The situation has changed. The monsters will no doubt no know about we plan on doing soon enough. Pockets of resistance will emerge, monster raids will increase even more than they already have, and if we're truly unfortunate they will manage a fighting force themselves."

It felt like Marco had been on the run for several years, even if it had only been a couple of weeks. The wanted poster with his face on it had been a huge wake-up call, as had been the violent activities of the Lepedopteran Order that he had witnessed.

He had thought about going back to the monster temple, and was on the verge of doing so in the past few days. Now that Star was fairly far gone, holing up there seemed a lot more tempting. But for now, he was just walking around the Mewman countryside aimlessly, never staying in one place for too long.

He wasn't positive, but he most likely had been heading north for the past few days. The woods around him were becoming increasingly evergreen, going from a deciduous forest to a taiga. The houses were something out of a fairy tale. Well, that was all of Mewni, but these looked like gingerbread houses in particular.

He still stayed out of the villages at large though, but as he was wandering in the woods outside one of them he tripped over what looked like a lump.

"What?" he blurted out as he hit the dirt. The lump was ovular in the shape and was... fuzzy? It looked like a rock covered in silvery-blue fuzz.

Him running into it and tripping had caused the apparent rock to begin rustling and moving about, which was definitely not something that rocks usually did.

"Ughh..." a very feminine voice groaned, "What kind of dream was that? Where am I?"

Marco's eyes widened as the apparent person-not-rock stood up.

"Q-Queen Moon?" he asked nervously. It was in a state he wasn't used to seeing her in, but it was without a doubt the actual Queen of Mewni.

An awkward silence fell over them as Moon still seemed half-asleep. Her hair was unbound from its usual style and fell over her body in ridiculous volumes. Good thing too, because she was totally stark naked with her hair the only thing covering her modesty.

"Uhh..." Marco stared as he felt the blood rush to his face, well, that is if his heart still pumped blood. Moon finally seemed to realize what was happening. Naturally, she reacted with a high-pitched scream and used her hands to cover her decency.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Marco said frantically, a heavily embarassed look on his face, looking away and averting his eyes. He was 0 for 2 on things that could get him beheaded by queens. First attacking Eclipsa and now this.

Moon and Marco seemed to wear themselves down with all the screaming and running around aimlessly.

"Who are you? How DARE you look upon your Queen in such a manner!"

Well, at least all her memories were intact and she knew who she was.

"Q-Queen Moon! Please calm down! It's me... it's Marco!"

"Mar-Marco?" she asked, and the queen seemed to calm herself down a bit. Of course, the fact that it was her daughter's young friend seeing her in such a state made it all the more awkward.

"So..." Marco said the one thing that seemed the most appropriate in this situation.

"That wasn't a dream," Moon said to herself, "Last thing I remember is confronting Meteora with Eclipsa. But there was the Realm of Magic and the soul-sucking magic."

"Queen Moon, you have no idea what has happened since you've been gone."

Moon stared. Marco stared back.

"I'll just be over here, covering myself with leaves and whatnot."

Marco waited patiently, and a few minutes later Moon emerged wearing a makeshift dress of leaves, branches, and other plant fibers. She also noticed how uncomfortable Marco looked, and it wasn't just because he had seen her naked. It was the way he kept pulling his cloak around himself. And the fact that he was out here alone in the middle of nowhere. Star was nowhere to be found.

"Speaking of makeshift clothes, what is the meaning of your current garb?"

"I... Queen Moon." It was one thing thing to confide in his problems with her, but he was well aware of the... problems she had with monsters.

"Queen Moon, I need you to promise me that you won't freak out."

Moon didn't respond, just looking at him oddly.

He threw the mantle off himself and felt as naked as Moon had been earlier when he sensed eyes on him. He closed his eyes in shame, trying to blot out the emotion. She was trying to hide it, but he could still feel her palpable disgust.

"What in the world did you do to yourself? You look like a... a monster!" she said the last part with such contempt.

"Yes, thank you for noticing," replied the now agitated Marco. Part of his ESP meant he often shared in the emotions.

"Is this Star's doing? Does she think that Mewman-Monster relations mean that we need to turn ourselves into monsters?"

Star should've been the last thing on his mind, but for whatever reason he felt the need to defend her.

"You know what, I don't think you understand at all!" Marco said angrily.

"I beg your pardon! I'll have you know that if this is some radical idea of Star's, it has no place on Mewni. We keep monsters out because monsters are dangerous. She's not the first royal to rush the monster-mewman relations, but she will find herself very rudely awakened if she continues to rush this!"

"That's not what this is about!" Marco roared, "You may not think Star's ideas are worth anything, but her ideas have merit. They did, until she became the tyrant she currently is!"

Moon's anger faded slightly, as she realized they were talking about a similar topic, but weren't exactly on the same page of that topic.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Why do you think she hasn't found you yet? She doesn't give a damn! Something happened, Queen Moon. You may not like monsters, but seeing entire monster families get burned alive by the cult Star's supporting is something I know you can't support."

"B-Burned? What cult? What are you talking about?"

"And for your information, I wouldn't be in this situation if your psychotic "greatest warrior" hadn't killed me!"

The argument had devolved into into a one-sided shouting match, for Moon was dumbfounded.

"If it weren't for Eclipsa, I wouldn't be here. But something happened to your daughter. I know this attitude towards monsters suits you, but you look me in the eye and tell me you want your daughter to live brainwashed by something sinister for the rest of her life!

"..." Moon tucked her lip into her mouth, "Let's just get into town. You can give me a more in-depth explanation of just what on Mewni is going on."

End Chapter