Ok, ya dicknuts. Right back into the swing of things. Maybe I'll actually be able to keep going during the summer. No promises though. But enough promises we all know I don't know how to keep because the rate at which I write this fic will never reach the point it was at back at the start.

Let's just look at the reviews instead

A unimpressive name: Whatchu mean, that talk is ALWAYS suitable here. Plus, why would you want to go out by drowning? Fuck that noise. It has to be extravagant, quick, and painless. I want everyone to know that I was more important than them and that this fucked up world doesn't deserve me.

Zeldex 72: Thanks, I love the concept so much, too.

We're maybe halfway through this story at this point. Maybe a bit more. It's hard to say.

Chapter 37

Kingdom Come

As the lizard man rose from his bow the masses of guards lining the walls moved their spears into striking position. A lizard's audience had never been hosted in the court before, let alone one with diplomatic intent. Moon waved the guards back and stood up to address the man before her. Her eyes, just like those of Toffee, were filled with a malicious connotation.

"What business do you have coming here, Toffee? In case you've forgotten, we're in the middle of a war. I could have your head severed and served for an early dinner in 20 minutes."

The reptilian straightens his back and places his hands back behind his back. "There's no need for that, your majesty. I come here with an offer, a trade really, not a proclamation of violence."

"Come to beg for forgiveness so soon? I knew it was only a matter of time after that devastating defeat a week ago."

The hatred in Toffee's eyes grew. Moon could almost see how bloodshot they were. The fury was palpable in the room. "That is not why I'm here. While the wellbeing of my people-" Moon let out a small scoff to Toffee's distaste, "is certainly a concern after such a loss, I'm here with the hope that, as the ruler of a kingdom of people yourself, you may want to avoid as much bloodshed as I do."

"Avoid bloodshed? Of course, I would love to keep my people alive and thriving rather than having their throats cut in front of their own homes. It's impossible to do that, though, while your 'people' are around to make trouble."

"My people have played the hands they were dealt from birth. We've been dealing with the situation your people have put us in."

"Is that how you justify starting this war? Self-defense?"

"We didn't start this war, Moon, and you know that as well as I do."

Though his voice remained as calm as it was when he arrived, Toffee had taken a step forward after this statement, raising a hand to his chest. The guards around the room resumed their defensive positions, ready to attack should he make any sudden movements. Moon didn't signal them to ease up this time. Instead, she took her own step forward in retaliation.

"Tell that to the family your evil, despicable army cut down for no reason." She put more emphasis on the spite in those words, projecting her message directly to the lizard's heart.

"They were trespassing on our land. You made that strictly prohibited years ago because you knew this would happen and yet you declare war on us when your people can't follow your directions. What sort of ruler do you think you are?"

"One that can provide retribution to those who had lost their loved ones." She had made her way all the way down the steps that lead to the two thrones. Now on surface level with her aggressor Moon was ready to hurl as many verbal attacks as necessary to make this beast leave her presence and rescind back to his worthless flock of murderers and bandits. "You think you can kill an innocent, unarmed family and expect me to just sit here and call it their fault? You justify killing the innocent after partaking in the act, you speak ill of my people in my presence, and you have the audacity to ask for this war to end?" Moon's eyes were practically glowing as she gripped her wand down by her side. She was ready to obliterate this monster's skull and think nothing of it. In fact, she relished the idea and felt that it could kill two birds with one stone and send a message to the monsters.

"And here you act so high and mighty, yet you're at fault of the same crimes you accuse me of committing."

"I don't need to justify killing your kind."

"What about all the families that died during the relocation? What about all the children that starved to death as you took all the food in the valley? What about all the innocent civilians that died during your raids? You seem to have no remorse letting them die, yet you come after me as if I started this bloodshed. When will you realize your 'benevolence' to your own people creates nightmares and graves for so many others?"

Moon's eyes were nearly an opaque magenta as her hatred for this creature burned to its boiling point. Even River had gotten up from his throne to voice his distaste in the events unfolding in the royal court. The action forming between the two rulers escalated to a heated silence as they stared each other down. The daggers beamed across the room between Moon and Toffee seemed to fly for ages without a sound before a tiny voice piped from behind the thrones.

"Mom…?"

The princess of the kingdom stood just in front of the door that connected the throne room to the rest of the castle. Though the interruption itself was new, this circumstance was a regular occurrence. Even at the age of 11, Star had always had an interest in the inner working of the court and would regularly spy on the meetings from behind this very door. She happened to be partaking in this action when Toffee had arrived. Of course, she knew who this man was from previous espionage trips to her little spying spot but even she was surprised when he had shown up in person. When the shouting had started Star was surprised it went on for as long as it did. And when everything went silent for too long Star had gotten scared that maybe something happened to her mom. Foolishly, she risked a peak into the room. When all she could see around the thrones was the guards with spears ready to strike and a lizard in a tailored suit she opened the door fully and stepped through.

Toffee was the first to break eye contact between the two. His eyes darted to the small girl in the door way. Moon managed to catch this through her blinding rage and turned to see what he was looking at. When she realized it was her daughter her eyes dimmed almost immediately to their normal image.

"Star, what are you doing down here? You should be in your room."

"I- I just… I thought you'd gotten hurt."

Toffee saw the opportunity before Moon realized she had made a mistake. He mumbled to himself something about the equivalent exchange of eyes and raised his hand to the child, palm facing out. Before any of the guards could react, a yellow beam blasted from his hand and struck the child's body. The unending beam lifted Star off the ground and her head tilted back. No words came from her gaping mouth. Beams of light shown from behind her eyes.

"STAR!" Moon's eyes widened in absolute fear as the guards around them charged Toffee.

Every spear that got too close was stopped by a large, orange semi-sphere that encapsulated him. None of the guards could manage to even crack this solid protection. As the pandemonium ensued River had bolted for his daughter. As he reached the floating child a spark lit up his vision, and the king was sent flying into the back of his throne. Moon, having seen all of this, readied her wand. She pointed the large blue crystal at the emotionless monster before her. Toffee didn't even look at her.

"I call the darkness unto me, from deepest depths of earth and sea." The crystal began to glow a pastel purple and her eyes followed suit. "From ancient evils unawoken to break the one who can't be broken. From blackest night I pledge my soul to crush my heart to burning coal." A black goop overtook the wand's top piece and formed as a dark veil, darkness running through her veins from the wrists. "To summon forth the deadly power, to see my hated foe devoured!" The diamonds on her cheeks burned black as tears began to stream from her eyes.

The spell didn't immediately break the shield. The black beam of light that was thrust from the wand hit the shield and festered for a moment, waves forming around the orange membrane. Toffee still payed no attention to it, his concentration solely on Star. The beam condensed and then shattered the shield, continuing on its path. Toffee's only movement when the beam's target was hit was his hand flinging back. He looked down at his hand and saw a finger missing, a black, smoky butterfly fluttering out of the wound. It began to bleed.

When the concentration was broken Star fell back to the ground. She was unmoving as her parents ran to her. Toffee covered his spouting finger stump and stole a quick glance around the room. The guards were snapping out of their daze from the spell and were about to charge again. Time for him to make an escape. As he ran back to the doors he attempted to put up a new shield. Though he was expecting the outcome, he was still rather annoyed when nothing formed. The massive doors closed behind him as several projectiled spears were stabbed into wall around them.

Moon payed no attention to the darkness that was slowly creeping up her arms. Her sole attention was on her daughter. Still breathing, thankfully. As Moon clutched onto the child River ran off to find the medical servants.

Star laid in her bed as every single castle nurse and medical servant did their best to figure out what was wrong with the child. Bustling feet ran in and out of the room, bringing new equipment and taking used. Some were yelling at others, sending them away to fetch some new tool that everyone knew would yield no new results. Moon sat by the bed side trying to stay as out of the way as possible while still clutching to her only daughter's hand. Her crying had stopped and the queen's words evolved from muddled sobs to choked curses directed at the monster that had done this. Every wish of death she had for that lizard she hoped would eventually strike his heart like he had done to hers. If she had wanted to wipe out the entirety of the monster population before it was nothing compared to the absolute destruction that was soon to come in retaliation of this crime.

The room moved back and forth for nearly an hour before any progress was made. There didn't seem to be any harm done to the child whatsoever. Someone eventually had the idea to check her eyes. Just out of curiosity, really. They had gone over every other inch of her body, what else was there to check? One of the doctors parted her eyelids, opening her one eye. Sure enough, there it was. The effects of whatever evil spell Toffee had cast upon Star. The room stopped moving and there was a collective gasp as all the working bodies realized what had happened. Moon choked back her anger long enough to ask what it was. One of the medical servants answered her.

"My liege… it seems Toffee has taken your daughter's sight. She's blind in both eyes. Thankfully that seems to be the only damage done."

"Thankfully? My daughter is now blind because of that… that monster!"

"Yes, your majesty. A hit to the princess is a hit to the entire kingdom."

Moon stood up from the chair that had been placed by the bedside. She let out a melancholy sigh and held her face. "Please, leave me with my daughter."

"Yes, your majesty." The medical staff began filing out of the room one by one, unable to take the somber energy with them.

"Manfred!"

The stout servant poked his head into the doorway. "Yes?"

"Go find Glossaryck for me. I need his opinion on this."

The man nodded and headed out. It was a good few minutes before he returned with the tiny floating blue man. Entire minutes that felt like a few hours to Moon. She couldn't pull her eyes off Star. Glossaryck floated right up to her head.

"You rang?"

"What happened, Glossaryck? How could I have made this big of a mistake?" Her voice rang with defeat.

"Do you want the literal answer or was that rhetorical?" He turned to see Moon's face. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes still locked on Star. She said nothing. "Right, well I thought it was pretty obvious anyway. To be fair you did save her life."

Finally, Moon broke her visual tether and turned to tiny man. "What do you mean?"

"That spell Toffee used was meant to kill her. He had every intention of leaving this castle with a child's life. Your quick thinking saved her. Of course, Star was under the influence of that attack long enough to leave some lasting damage but at least she's alive."

"Oh…" Moon slowly turned back to face her daughter and wiped some of the tears away with her wrist. "Yeah, at least she's alive…"

Tension in the kingdom only rose from that point on with the constant physical reminder of what the monsters had taken from them. Support for Moon's cause shot up dramatically after that day and more and more people were signing up to fight those bastard abominations out in badlands. Men and women of all ages and sizes were picking up their spears to roll some heads in honor of what the princess had lost.

Months went by and the war escalated ever further. The royal military was larger than ever recorded and monster casualties were racking up by the hundreds. Unfortunately, this did not go without loss on the mewman's side. Small militias of monster forces were managing to sneak through mewman lines, flanking their enemies and eventually pushing through to some of the smaller outlying villages. The capital, though, remained untouched by the monsters themselves. However, they didn't even have to get there to create disorder.

Star stood out on her balcony, listening to the small group of protesters below yelling their ideologies at the castle. Sometimes Star felt like she was the only one that ever actually heard them.

"Monsters are people, too!"

"End the bloodshed!"

"Stop killing innocent monster families!"

Star sighed and turned her back to the crowd, leaning her back against the railing. The nonsense they continued to spout only annoyed her more and more every day. An inescapable alarm that seemed to go off at the same time every day. She hated it more than she hated Toffee himself. All of that went away when she heard Tom speak up over the noise below them.

"Come on, Star, you spend so much time up here already. A little fresh air wouldn't hurt."

There was not a single person in this world that Star appreciated more than she did Tom. He always seemed to know exactly what she needed, after all he has been her best friend since before the incident. The Butterfly family has always had friends in the underworld's royal circle, and the Lucitor family, the current rulers down there, were no exception. Her parents had even suggested letting Tom court her a few times. Of course, she would turn it down anytime they brought it up while constantly using her age as an excuse, but there were times she would contemplate it when they would hang out together. Though he never said anything about it Star could tell he would spring for the opportunity should it be offered. But despite all this history, despite they're unending friendship, Star still felt like that was one of the dumbest things Tom could have ever said.

"I have plenty of fresh air right now. Why do you think I'm on the balcony at all?"

"Well if I didn't know any better I'd think you were starting to get quite fond of the mob down there."

"Right, next you'll say they're all peaceful and friendly."

"Star, come on, you don't need to be so stubborn. It's only for an hour or two, how bad could it really be? Gregorio's got a new flavor that I really wanna try and I know how much you love his ice cream."

Star tilted her head down, still adamant to stay exactly where she was. "It's been really dangerous out there lately. Remember last time when that group tried to attack me?"

"So, something bad happens one time and now you refuse to leave your room?"

The protests from down below only got louder.

"The queen is a murderer!"

"The princess is a coward!"

"End the war!"

Star tried her best to ignore them. "It's not like that, Tom! They managed to push me down before anyone realized what was happening! What if something worse happens next time? What if the one that gets to me has a knife?"

"If you let them scare you into staying hidden you're only proving their point." Star could hear him take a few steps closer. "You can't let those degenerates control you like that."

"They're dangerous! They've rioted before! People have already died! Imagine what they would do if they got their hands on me!"

"Star, please!" Tom placed his hands onto Star's shoulders. "So long as I'm around they're never going to lay another hand on you. I promise you I'll do everything I can to protect you, but you can't let them stop you from doing all the things you want to do."

A tear started to fall one of Star's eyes as she tilted her head up to face her friend. "They hate me, Tom… they fucking hate me…"

Tom brought her head in close to his chest, hugging her tight. Star returned the hug as she squeezed his waist. Sobs caught in her throat as Tom rubbed the back of her head gently.

"They don't hate you, Star. No one could ever hate you. They just don't know any better."

When the mewnian forces first began their onslaught of the monsters it almost seemed like the war would end sooner than they all thought. Sure, there were a few hiccups here and there but overall the shear force that the royal military exerted felt nearly unstoppable. But just like a wind changing directions the tides of war, too, can change on a dime without a moment's notice. The monster forces shifted from guerrilla warfare, random men and women with whatever weapons they could find or make defending their homes from coming disaster, to an organized task force capable of following complex militaristic orders. The shift was almost immediate, practically overnight, and at the head of it all was the battle-scarred Toffee.

Normally, a lizard having been wounded in such a manner without healing would be seen as a weakness. What sort of reptilian couldn't regenerate his limbs? How could they have let such a man lead them for so long? The other lizard folk had exiled him at first, not wanting such a weakling to taint the reptilian order, but Toffee saw it differently. He left for a while, planning his moves and readying any person who still sympathized with him. Soon he returned to the people who had outcasted him and he brought with him a message. He used his injury as a call to arms, a warning of what the queen was capable of and what could happen to all the rest of them if they weren't careful. He wasn't weak for not being able to grow his finger back, it was something the queen had done that had deterred his power. It was something the queen had done that could wipe out the entirety of his people. But if they organized and followed his lead he could make them into an unstoppable, unkillable force that even an abomination like Queen Moon wouldn't be able to stop. And that's exactly what he did.

Yielding farming tools and makeshift weapons the regenerating monstrosities began wreaking havoc on the kingdom. It took quite awhile to break through the mewnian lines, nearly a year in fact, but right off the bat every soldier between general and private knew the monsters were gaining strength. Once Toffee's forces broke through and started gaining ground on Mewni was the start of the kingdom's downfall. First the outlying corn farms burned and the grounds were salted. Then the minor villages on the outskirts of the city burned out one by one. Then they got through to the city walls.

Though Toffee's ranks managed to take out many ground troops, this wall was a force to be reckoned with. Even with regeneration a lizard had a hard time coming back from burning under a pot of boiling tar or taking a massive ballista bolt to the face. For three months the wall seemed unbreachable. For three months Toffee threw ever force he had at the wall essentially waiting to get lucky. Not a single soldier faced any casualty behind the wall and every lizard that took a hit would come back to fight in due time. It seemed to be a perfect stalemate. That's when one of the grunts found a blind spot.

While out for a midnight leak he braved a closer investigation of the wall. Managing to stay hidden in the under brush by veil of darkness he started to notice a pattern in the troop movements on the top of the wall. Feeling a little lucky he booked it across the field. He didn't stop running until his back was safely pressed against the wall. He made it. He was at the wall. He couldn't wait to tell Toffee about it. He began inspecting the wall and an idea struck him. He rushed back to the camp as quick as his legs could carry him.

Toffee wasn't keen to being woken up at 3 in the morning unless it was some dire emergency. But when he heard about how one of the grunts had managed to make it all the way to the wall he was more than willing to stay up just a little longer. The plan presented to him was simple: a small task force would make their way to the wall and pick a hole into it without being notice, stuff that hole with as many explosives as they could muster, and blast that wall sky high. It's a miracle they managed to pull it off.

A devastating quake overtook a large portion of the wall. The guards that didn't die directly in the explosion were either finished off by the fall or picked off by the coming forces advancing on the walls. Lizards funneled into the 30-foot-wide hole in the wall, wasting any poor bastard that stood in their way. Alarms began to ring all along the wall and soon made their way into the city itself but every soul that sounded an alarm knew it wouldn't help much at all. Messengers on horseback were sent out at the same time to alert those in the castle of the impending invasion. By the time the first arrived the queen had already figured out what was going on.

Moon was rushing down the hall with Glossaryck floating just beside her. "The evacuation process is underway. I really hope they all get out safely. Are you sure this is necessary? We could just leave, we don't need to go past that."

"And risk an entire dimension that's been blacklisted for centuries to discover us? You know what the high commission would do to all of you if that happened. And we can't keep a 14-year-old liability like that."

"I know, I know, I just don't want to have to do this to my own daughter."

"We don't have a choice at this point. Father Time has his plans and when he tells us what to do we follow him. Even I'm not always sure what he means."

As the two were crossing over a hallway overlooking one of the main castle atriums, one of the messengers rushed in below them. Seeing the queen, he called out to her.

"Your majesty!"

Moon stopped and look down at him. "What is it?"

"They broke through the wall! They're on their way here!"

"How long do we have?"

"Their pillaging everything in their path but their moving alarmingly fast! They'll be in the main city within the hour!"

"Thank you. Glossaryck, we have to hurry."

They continued on their path to Star's room, their pace quickening. River was already there, talking with his daughter. Star was wearing a new outfit. It was the opposite of royal, practically casual and extremely foreign. When Moon and Glossaryck arrived, he nodded and moved to the side. Glossaryck flew his way over to her to address her first.

"I'm assuming your father already told you everything."

Star faced downwards, unsure about what was about to happen. She at least wanted to say goodbye to Tom before this, where ever he was. And she really didn't want to forget about him. "I just… I mean, yes he told me, but I don't know-"

"Perfect." And with a flick of his hand, Glossaryck sent Star into a deep sleep. Her protests went unheard.

Her parents stood off to the side to watch idly. They watched in silence as Glossaryck did his work. He placed a hand on the child's forehead. Her breathing began to soften as a bright light emanated from beneath his palm.

"We've arranged a vehicle to arrive within the next few minutes. That'll be yours to use freely until you return. Directions to your new residence will be in there along with the correct currency. That should be everything you asked for."

The queen sighed lightly as she stared into the soft, curvy membrane of the portal before her. She couldn't see what was on the other side and almost didn't want to. The idea of abandoning her kingdom in such a time of need, leaving it to rot in the hands of exactly the person she swore to protect it from, sickened her. It felt like everything was crumbling down around her.

"Thank you, Manfred. You've served me and this kingdom well."

"Let's hope there's still a kingdom to serve when you come back."

Moon turned to the tiny man beside her and slowly dropped to one knee. "Stay safe, Manfred. I wouldn't want anyone else to serve my family."

The two hugged for a second. When Moon rose back to her feet she saw her husband enter the room with Glossaryck. Just behind them a few servants were carrying Star. The royal couple took a look out the nearby window. There was commotion riddling the streets and the citizens scrambled to get their families and belongings out of the city while just barely trying not to trample anyone else. They probably only had a few minutes before the town would become overrun. The screams were unbearable. Some of them sounded close, almost like they were coming from the castle itself. Glossaryck broke the through the noise.

"She'll probably only be asleep for another hour or so, and when she does she could be a drastically different person. The spell itself doesn't replace all her memories, it just changes some of the bigger ideas. She'll think she was raised on Earth but all of the smaller details her brain rewrites for her. It should still have the same parallels as her actual life but-"

"All I need to know is that she won't remember any of this." Moon didn't care about the how the spell worked. Now wasn't the time.

"No, not at all."

"Then let's hope she never has to."

Some of the screaming in the castle was getting closer. Some of it even sounded like pleas of mercy. Something was coming for them. Manfred headed for the door.

"I'll see what's going on. I think the lizards have made it here."

He disappeared through the door, closing it behind him. Glossaryck knew exactly what was coming.

"I guess it's time for me to go. I'll be here when you get back, you know where to find me. I think it's about time you saw yourselves out as well."

Moon nodded. "Goodbye Glossaryck. And thanks. For everything."

"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice." And with that the little blue man descended through the floor.

The family waited for a few more minutes while River brought their luggage through the portal. There was no word from Manfred though they weren't really waiting for it nor did they expect it. Moon sat down in one of the chairs, her daughter resting in one just next to her. The room was completely empty except for the two of them, the furniture they sat on, and the portal looming over them in the corner of the room. It was impossible to think with all the noise ringing throughout the castle. It was practically outside the door at this point.

River came back through the portal. "That's all of it. You ready to go?"

"No."

River hoisted Star's arms over either of his shoulder and began carrying her towards the portal. "Good, neither am I."

Moon stood up unsteadily, scissors in hand. She made her way over to the portal. She couldn't even hear the door being kicked open behind her through the exhaustion in her ears. She heard River yelling at her, though, and that got her attention. She turned around to see Toffee in the doorway, suit bloodied and torn. Moon ushered her husband through the portal as she fumbled with her wand. Toffee began walking across the room towards them, doing his best to fix his cuffs.

"What's the matter, Moon? Nothing left to say?"

"Stay back!" She fired something from her wand. She wasn't entirely sure what it was. Toffee didn't even flinch when it hit him.

River was completely through the portal, now. Moon was stepping back, trying to make it to the portal while shakily aiming the wand at the aggressor. Her back foot had just made it through.

"Where did all your hospitality go? I expected something a little fancier."

She kept firing shot after shot. They rarely hit and when they did it was like they did nothing to the lizard. "You blinded my daughter!" The hatred in her voice that should have been there was replaced with both fear and dread.

"Bygones, Moon. You took my finger." He lifted his hand up to show her. "Besides, she was never the one I was after."

Moon lowered her wand, realizing there was nothing she could do but run. She shook her head. Tears fell to the side. "I hope whatever kills you is as painful as what you've put me through. And I hope it comes soon." Toffee was almost in arm's reach when she fell back and closed the portal.

He took a second to stare emptily at where the portal was just a moment ago. He reveled in the screams that echoed behind him. This was all his doing. He had won. And now he would enjoy watching it all burn.

Hope you liked the nice long chapter for y'all. This was originally gonna be the apology for the literal 4-5 month hiatus but I figured I'd get something smaller out first instead of taking so long with this. Not having steady wifi doesn't really help, either, but I get by. I really need to get back to updating regularly and get these reviews flowing the way they used to.