Chapter 37: Children of the Dark
Hey Stardom! Hope everyone is having a great week and is staying safe! Thanks as always for the favorites, follows, and reviews you guys are so awesome, as usual. ;) So here it is everyone, ready for a Janna-centric chapter?! Well whatever you answered, you're getting it anyway, haha. I'm so excited for everyone to read this one, so I won't keep you guys for long and just let you dive right in and enjoy. Oh but first, quick thank you to my awesome friend, "Jcabrera35" for helping me with designing the OC's featured in this chapter. Check them out over on Instagram or Tumblr they have a pretty cool Starco comic going on there. Thanks a bunch! Okay so now, without further ado, please enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Star vs. and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. All right go to them.
She could see dark, billowing smoke in the distance, smell the burnt ash in the wind before she even spotted the ruined remains of the once-thriving city, the soft glow of fire lighting her path like a beautiful but tragic beacon of the night. Well, more like early morning, early enough that the sun hadn't even risen yet, Mewni still bathed in the blackness of near night. But that was just fine for the Impure child, darkness always suited her better anyways. Blending in was easier in the shadows.
"You remember your mission, don't you?" the adult Impure next to her asked.
The Impure child nodded her head. "Yes."
"Good, then stay on your guard. There might still be some Mewmans left alive."
"That or some Monsters still looking for a fight."
"Yes." There was bitterness in the adult Impure's voice now. "Sadly, that's all these creatures ever seem interested in. Violence."
The Impure child didn't respond. She hated when she got like this. Instead, she simply shifted into her bat form, ready to fly over and investigate the city. But she had only flapped a few feet before a voice called from behind her, "And Janna? Remember, nothing else matters but completing the mission."
Janna nodded again, feeling slightly annoyed by the constant reminder. "Yeah, yeah, I know mom. I've been on scavenging missions before. I think I know what I'm doing."
Her mom opened her mouth to say something but stopped, instead shaking her head and simply replying, "I know you do."
…
The city was in ruins when Janna reached it, the broken remains telling a story that the Impure child was getting all too familiar with. A Monster attack. The small Mewman village doing all they could to defend themselves. No survivors. This was only one of many villages her and her mom had pillaged since the war began, gathering supplies once the fighting and dying had ceased. It wasn't a perfect way of living, but it was how she and her people stayed alive and that was really all that mattered. Staying alive. Besides, it wasn't like this stuff bothered her, she had lived in the creepy and morbid her whole life, nothing could faze her anymore.
She flew through the village for a few moments, checking and then double-checking to make sure the coast was clear, that there were no more enemies lurking the shadows. Once she was positive it was safe, her mom joined her and together the two began their search. This was unlike their typical missions which were all about finding food and supplies, this was much more serious than that, a top-secret mission only her mom had all the details on, Janna only given vague directions that they were in search of something. Something important.
"What is it we're looking for, anyways?" Janna asked as she scanned the destroyed room, nothing in particular catching her eye, it seemed like just an ordinary house, like all the others they had searched.
Her mom locked eyes with her, raising an eyebrow in that scolding way that all mothers did, but her fanged mouth twitched with the slightest hint of a smile. "Nice try, Janna," her mother said, the pride almost as obvious as the sarcasm. "But you know the rules..."
"Yeah, yeah the less we know the better," Janna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "But I'm just saying, this search would go a lot smoother if you would just tell me what it is we're looking for."
Her mother tutted, waving a scolding finger in the air. "Patience, Janna. Our people have these rules for a reason. You'll understand when you're older."
Janna just groaned, watching as her mom turned her back on her, muttering under her breath. "Maybe then you'll trust me enough to start telling me things."
Her mother stopped walking, turning her head slightly over to her daughter before replying, "Trust isn't given freely, Janna. It's something you earn."
…
There was a glow up ahead.
The light radiating from a dark corner and Janna's night vision was quickly able to pinpoint the source of the glow, which seemed to be hidden in some closet. "Hey mom, I think I see something over there," she yelled over her shoulder and down the stairs to where her mom was busy searching the lower levels of the home. It had been a promising spot, the expensive-looking furniture and intricate paintings that coated the walls telling them that whoever lived there was of wealth and power and it was also the most torn up of all the homes so far, like whoever had lived there had fought back against the Monsters much harder and more desperate than their fellow Mewmans. Which meant that perhaps they had been desperate not just to stay alive but to keep their enemy from finding something.
She ran over to the closet, which was locked using some low-level magic lock, which the young thief made quick work of picking. After all, magic or not, a lock was a lock, there was always a trick inside, you just had to know what it was and she had learned all the techniques in her few short years on this dimension. Once she was inside, she saw that the closet was empty, save for a glowing blue box, covered in symbols and some ancient tongue Janna had never seen before. She quickly shrugged this off though, picking it up off the soft pillow it had been delicately placed on and turning to her mom, waving it around in her hand in a show-offy way. "So let me guess, is this what we were looking for?"
Her mom nodded, a bright smile on her face. "Yes, that's it!"
Janna smirked, before tossing the box over to her mom, who caught it with a look of slight panic, her face paling some the moment it had become air-born, and she breathed a sigh of relief the moment it was safe in her hands. "Well what do you know, looks like I'm more trustworthy than you give me credit for. Considering I just got your box all on my own."
Her mother rolled her eyes, before saying, "Alright, I admit it, you did a good job. And we will discuss you're future involvement in missions more after we get out of here. The Mewmans are bound to come across this place eventually, y'know."
Janna nodded and started to follow her mom when she heard a crack from above. She looked up to see the support beams over their heads losing their battle to stay in place, the many burn marks, and fractured wood causing them to bend and shake as they hovered dangerously over their heads. Janna gulped before locking eyes with her mom with a pleading look. Her mother was giving her a concerned look, saying in a voice barely above a whisper, "Okay, Janna. Just walk over to me very slowly."
Janna nodded and was about to do just that when she heard a voice shout from outside, her brain having no time to process this as the boards above finally snapped and Janna desperately flung herself away from the debris, her back crashing into the wall before a pain unlike anything she had ever felt before consumed her arm. Her vision swam, the world passing in a flash of nauseating colors as she heard a voice shout in the distance. "Janna!"
When she finally came to, she had no feeling in her arm anymore. And as Janna sat up she found that her movements were limited, something pinning her in place to a painful degree. She forced her eyes open as she took in the dreaded sight of the board leaning menacingly against her arm, which was already beginning to swell, and she swallowed, guessing what that meant for her.
She looked over to see her mom still standing in the doorway, frozen in shock and fear, the blue box in her grip rattling as her hands shook. "M-Mom," Janna managed to gasp out, fighting against the crushing board, her sharp nails digging into the flesh of her arm as she struggled fruitlessly. "Help me. My arm's stuck! I-I think it's broken."
She tried everything she could think of, even shifting into her bat form, but it was just as useless as her regular one, her wing completely pinned under the thick wooden frame, and she quickly shifted back. "Help me get this thing off!" she shouted, her voice strained as she pulled against the board with all her might, but her strength meant nothing at the moment. Right now, she was just a weak, little girl.
Finally, though her struggles stopped as she looked over to her mom, shocked to see that she had yet to move, her eyes drifting down at the box in her hands, then to her daughter than over her shoulder to the now distinct voices of the Mewmans outside. "Search the whole area, men. There might still be survivors."
"Mom?" Janna whimpered, tears beginning to fill her vision.
Her mom locked eyes with her and Janna felt her heart stop as she saw something in her mom's eyes that she had never seen before. Guilt."... I'm sorry."
And just like that, her mom turned and ran away, leaving her nine-year-old daughter trapped and alone with a group of angry, violent Mewmans slowly hunting her down. "MOM!" Janna screamed, as tears flowed down her cheeks in waves of pain, her world and trust shattered into pieces around her as the warning her mother had given her when this all began echoed endlessly in her head, coming back to haunt her in her lowest and most desperate moment. "Remember, nothing else matters but completing the mission."
Nothing else matters.
Nothing else matters.
You don't matter.
…
Janna held back a shudder as she slowly drifted out of her depressing thoughts, stabbing her fork numbly into the wood of the table she was sat at (something that would normally bring her pleasure but today felt more like a chore), her lunch all but forgotten at this point. She stared up for a minute at her three friends, Marco going on and on about something, eager to fill her in on the events of the other day, not that she had been listening for the last several minutes. Her mind was just too full today to care about whatever weird adventure they had gone on without her, she had more important things on her mind... like being constantly reminded of the worst day of her life.
She had been thinking a lot about that day since getting back from Hydra's Point and it had been affecting her more than she cared to mention, she barely ate, barely slept, and she had more than closed herself off from her friends, only coming out of her room to eat with them and even then she hardly spoke. Even Tom had tried to reach out to her since that day, texting her to ask if she wanted to get some corn shakes (as friends of course) and Janna had lied and said she was feeling sick that day. He hadn't texted since. She hated the way she was acting, knowing how pathetic she probably looked, not that she knew what to do about it. Well okay, she did know what to do about it, but that was the whole problem. She had a major decision to make and she had been torn in half trying to decide. Heck, she had even looked into finding a severing stone and splitting her soul in half, at least that way she might be able to think straight again.
"And then we followed them all the way to this weird pet cemetery," Janna heard Marco say as he continued his story, the smile on his face incapable of growing any wider, his infectious energy radiating off of him in waves. But they had no effect on Janna today, bouncing off of her and probably going back and hitting Star or somebody who was actually capable of feeling such things right now. "You would have loved it there, Janna."
"Oh yeah, it was wayyy creepy," Jackie agreed with a nod of her head.
Star giggled before saying, "Marco nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a noise."
Marco shared a laugh with his girlfriend, rubbing that back of his neck as he admitted, "Yeah, I was pretty scared."
"We all were," Star told him, putting a hand on top of his. "But I think you were super brave sticking with us despite how afraid you were." Star gave him a loving grin, while Jackie nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah, dude, it was pretty impressive," Jackie said, and the combined praise caused the boy to turn red and look away shyly.
"Aw, you guys," the boy muttered in embarrassment. But he quickly looked over to Janna, before saying sweetly, "It's too bad you missed it, Janna." His smile vanished as he noticed the sad look on his friend's face and added, "But I know you were doing your own thing, so I get you didn't want to come."
There was no response, Janna not even looking up to acknowledge them.
"Hey, maybe you and me could go back there sometime," Jackie suggested, hoping to find some way to cheer her friend up. "We could compete to see who could find the weirdest pet buried there."
"Yeah maybe," Janna muttered, unable to muster up any form of enthusiasm toward the idea as she just looked dryly down at her untouched plate. She wasn't surprised when out of the corner of her vision she saw her three friends share worried frowns at her emotionless answer. She knew her behavior lately was worrying them, because of course, they were worried about her after she had more or less closed herself off from them with no explanation of why, and part of her felt guilty for making them worry about her like that. But the other part of her really didn't want to talk about it with them, she liked keeping her secrets to herself and her past wasn't something she was willing to give up easily. Which was why she was hoping they would just drop the subject and move on, even though she knew exactly what question was coming, her friends as predictable as they were loyal.
"Janna," Star started, her voice hesitant but full of emotion and Janna mentally sighed. Here we go. "Is everything... okay?"
"Yeah, why?" Janna replied immediately, making sure to match Star's stare.
"Well because you haven't really seemed much like yourself lately," Marco pitched in, the worry in his eyes clear and Janna couldn't help but feel her heart twist a little at the look. "You've been really quiet and distant and we were just wondering if something was wrong."
"And if something is bothering you, you know you can tell us right?" Jackie added, giving her roommate one of her radiant smiles.
Janna paused for only a second before forcing out a little laugh, leaning farther back in her chair as she said in her typical cryptic tone, "Nah, nothing I can think of. I've just been busy planning my next scheme is all. And trust me it's gonna be a doozy." She stood up from the table, folding her hands smoothly into her pockets as she added with a smirk, "Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it."
The three watched their friend go, Star calling back to her worriedly, "Jan," but the girl didn't slow or even acknowledge she had heard her name as she just trudged from the dining room. The three all shared grimaces as they realized they had just made things worse.
Just before the beanie-wearing girl exited the room, Violet entered, practically bouncing with joy as she greeted her role model with excitement. "Janna! Guess what I just found, I think there is some kind of ancient beast living in the basement of the castle, do you want to go find it?!" The small girl's eyes glittered with hope and the tightness returned to Janna's chest at that look. Still, she simply shook her head, patting the girl's small head as she replied in the most smooth voice she could, "Not today, kid. But hey keep me posted, okay?"
"O-Okay," Violet whispered in clear disappointment, stepping aside as she watched her mentor leave the room, before slumping over some as she walked away too with a sad frown on her face.
Star, Marco, and Jackie just sat there in silence for a minute, letting what just happened sink in, before Star sighed and said bitterly, "Well that went well."
"Something is definitely wrong with her," Jackie observed, her eyes still trained on the door, her face set in a serious line. "I've never seen her like this before. Ever."
"Yeah, it's one thing to not want to hang out with us but she doesn't even want to go on adventures with Violet," Marco muttered, biting his lip as he tried to think up their next move. "And Tom called me the other day to check on her because Janna apparently said she was feeling sick after he asked if she wanted to go get some corn shakes with him."
Star and Jackie's mouths dropped open at that, the skater shouting in surprise, "She said no to Tom!"
"Okay, that's it, something is up with that girl and we need to find out what," Star said, confidently rising from her seat and heading for the door.
"Wait Star!" Jackie exclaimed, grabbing her friend's hand, who turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "We can't just go in there and start pestering her for answers. You saw how that went." Jackie rolled her eyes and gestured to the empty chair that once held their creepy friend.
"Well, we have to try something," Star argued, looking lost as she gazed longingly at the door, wanting nothing more than to march to her friend's room and trap her in a tight hug until Janna spilled her guts. "We can't just leave her like that."
"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," Marco spoke up and the two girls turned to him with confused but hopeful faces, waiting for him to finish his thought. "Maybe instead of all three of us asking her what's wrong, maybe just one of us should try talking to her. She might open up better if she's only telling one person what's bothering her instead of all of us."
Star and Jackie shared a smile, before the blond cheerfully shouted, "Great idea, Marco!"
"Yeah, dude, that might actually work," Jackie added, nodding her head in approval.
Marco grinned, happy he could be of some help, when a thought occurred to him, his eyes widening as he said hesitantly, "Um, only one problem..."
"What's that?" Star asked with a confused look.
"Which one of us is going to talk to her?" Marco asked.
The three teens fell silent, staring between one another, trying to decide on who among them was the best person to send to try and help their troubled friend.
…
Janna was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling when there was a knock on the door. She sighed, shouting in annoyance over toward the door, "You don't have to knock, Jackie. It's your room, too."
She propped herself up on her elbows so she could glare over to the person entering but froze in surprise to see not her white-haired roommate, but rather a red-hooded boy who stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"Oh, Marco, it's you," Janna said, trying her best to hide her surprise.
"Um, yeah, can I... come in?" he asked hesitantly.
Janna shrugged, before gesturing to the spot next to her, "Sure, knock yourself out."
The boy smiled in relief, afraid his friend had been about to turn him away, but happily closed the door behind him and plopped himself down on the creepy teen's bed. Janna laid back down her eyes jumping from the ceiling to the boy as she asked, "So what brings you to my room this lovely morning, Marco?"
Marco grinned at the girl's sarcasm, she sounded a bit more like herself, though there was still a chance she was hiding her feelings, she was awfully good at that. "Well actually, I came to ask you what was wrong?" the boy began and Janna sighed, running her hands down her face.
"Here we go," she groaned. She locked eyes with the boy again, before saying, "Didn't we just go through this? I'm fine. What did Star and Jackie send you in here to check up on me?"
Marco shook his head. "No, we drew straws and I got the shortest one," the hooded teen declared proudly before his eyes widened in realization. "And I probably shouldn't have told you that," he added sheepishly scratching at his cheek.
Janna rolled her eyes, before saying, "Well you can go tell the others that I'm fine and that there is nothing to worry about."
"No," Marco said firmly and Janna actually flinched at the unexpected determination shining in the boy's eyes. "I can't do that Janna. I know something's wrong with you. We all know it. And we just want to help. I know you don't like talking about this kind of stuff but I think it really might help you if you just tell me what's bothering you."
The girl opened her mouth but Marco quickly added, "And I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."
Janna stared deep into Marco's eyes for a minute, waiting to see who would break first but found that the boy was telling the truth, he wasn't budging, until finally, Janna had to accept defeat, letting out a sigh and saying, "Fine, you win."
The boy's eyes brightened instantly and he pumped his fists into the air, letting out a delighted shout. "Yes!"
"You know, I'm almost proud of you, didn't think you had it in you to be so commanding," Janna admitted, an eyebrow slowly rising in disbelief.
Marco shrugged, before confessing, "Well actually I kinda just reused a lot of the same lines you and Jackie told me back when you made me tell you about the Monsters."
Janna took a minute to recall that situation, and sure enough, those were basically the same things the girls had said to him back when the Monsters nearly kidnapped him right in front of them. A grin stretched across the girl's lips before she punched him in the shoulder, saying playfully, "You little sneak. Can't believe I actually fell for that."
Marco gave her an almost mischievous smile as he retorted, "Well, I did learn from the best."
Janna chuckled, before whispering, "Don't tell Star and Jackie, don't think they'd be too happy with me for corrupting you."
"Hey, it was for a good cause," Marco returned before his gaze narrowed and he leaned forward on the bed, saying, "Now tell me what's going on." He paused before adding, "Oh, but take your time... I'm here for you."
Janna's face contorted with emotions, no longer bothering to hide them from her friend. Marco was one of the few people she felt comfortable enough with letting him see her this way, his innocent and trusting nature making it easy for her to let her guard drop. There was a safety in relying on Marco, she knew he wouldn't judge her, wouldn't act differently toward her once he knew the whole story. Which is why she finally sucked in a breath and said in a low tone, "I think I found my tribe."
This was not what Marco had been expecting, his whole face the picture of confusion, his mouth opened in a stunned O shape, and his sun cheek marks switching to turning gears to match his inner thoughts. "Huh?" he finally managed to ask, tilting his head to the side.
Janna's hand began fiddling with her bedsheets. "When we were at Hydra's Point I found a symbol on the wall of one of the tunnels." She lifted up her sleeve, showing the boy the tattoo on her skin and the boy quickly gasped in shock, exclaiming, "Wait, has that been there the whole time!"
The Impure yanked her sleeve back down before the boy could examine it too closely, deciding to ignore the boy's question and instead continue her previous thought, saying, "This is the emblem of my people, it's technical name is the ouroboros but we usually just call it the 'Mark of the Impure'. All Impures are branded with it at birth so that whenever we see that symbol we know we are among allies. I remember seeing this mark outside my village back when I was a kid and it's the same one... I'm sure of it."
"Well, that's great news!" Marco exclaimed, his eyes glittering with joy and his cheek marks shining suns once more. But his smile vanished as he took in Janna's sour face, before asking hesitantly, "Isn't it?"
"It's... complicated," Janna said sourly, staring down at her hands and the boy did the same, muttering softly, "Oh."
Before the boy could no doubt press her for further explanation, she reluctantly opened her mouth and told him, "I'm not sure if I'm welcomed back there... if they even consider me an Impure at all."
"Why wouldn't they?" Marco asked, in his curious, innocent nature and Janna bit her lip not sure if she could bring herself to tell him the reason. She had never told anyone before, not even Star or Jackie. And after a while, she had more or less pushed this memory out, buried it in the darkest corner of her heart where she thought it would never escape. But finding that symbol had changed everything, she had never even thought there was a chance of her going back there, of facing them again. But now she had that option and it had brought a mountain of memories tumbling back onto her, crushing her beneath the burden of choice it had brought with it. And no matter how hard she tried she couldn't suppress it again, its hold was too strong, the roots too deep, they had ensnared her heart without her even realizing it, holding her mind and body hostage until she made her decision.
Which was why, after so many years of holding this secret to herself, when faced with the innocent, trusting eyes of her friend, his smile light and open waiting patiently for her to continue, she found her mouth opening and the words she had never spoken finally flowing free from her reluctant lips, "Because my mom abandoned me."
Marco's whole body froze up, slowly digesting this new revelation, every function in his brain coming to a screeching halt as he tried to make sense of what his friend was telling him. He blinked a few times, waiting to see if Janna was joking if she was just messing with him, but the look on her face was so open and exposed and serious that it made the boy shiver. He had seen many expressions on Janna's face before but this one frightened him more than any of the others because this one just felt... wrong. Janna was a mystery, she was creepy and weird and her own unique soul, but this girl in front of him looked scared and tiny and sad and the surrealness of it all left the boy stunned.
But as the girl's eye slowly raised to meet his and he saw the desperation hidden behind her dark brown he quickly snapped out of his daze and stuttered, "Well I-I'm sure she didn't mean to. Maybe it was all just some misunderstanding."
Janna shook her head, her eyes full of bitterness and grief. "No, it wasn't. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was following the code."
"The code?" Marco asked on instinct, before fearing he was pushing the girl too hard. She had already given up a big secret about her past, he wasn't sure how much more Janna was willing to give up before she shut herself off again.
But luckily for him, Janna didn't seem to mind, telling the boy in a matter-of-fact tone that was obviously trying to hide her true feelings, "Yeah, see the Impures have this little law that the mission has to come first, no matter what, even if that means abandoning a fellow Impure. She left me behind because I failed, I was about to be captured by Mewmans which meant, according to our laws, she had to leave me behind. "
"Well that's a stupid rule," Marco replied on instinct, his clear disgust toward this rule as plain as day.
Janna nodded, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, agreed. Which is yet another reason I'm not even sure if I would be welcomed back. For all I know, I'm no longer considered an Impure by them. They may not even want me back." Her face fell, her eyes staring sadly at her mattress, while she crossed her arms bitterly (and a little pitifully) in front of her chest.
Marco thought this over for a second, trying to decide what was the best advice to give his friend. She clearly needed it. But this was a very messy and complicated situation, more so than he had been prepared to deal with when he came into her room. Finally, he concluded to just give Janna his honest opinion and hope for the best, taking in a deep breath before telling her, "Well there's only one way to find out, right?"
Janna locked eyes with the boy again, as she asked, "You seriously think I should go back there?"
Marco shrugged. "I mean, I think you should. Otherwise, you'll never know exactly how they feel, all you'll ever have is just questions. That's what's bugging you, right? Not having any answers."
"Pretty much," she replied, slouching back on her bed. She rubbed at her eyes in frustration, before groaning out, "Ugh, but how am I ever going to face them? It's gonna be a whole thing and I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with any of that."
"Well you don't have to go alone," Marco suggested, putting on his most positive and heart-melting smiles he had in his arsenal. "I could go with you. That way you wouldn't have to face any of it alone."
Janna frowned, deep in thought, scratching at her chin as she considered her friend's offer. Marco held his breath, waiting as patiently as he could for the creepy teen to respond and after an agonizingly slow moment, the girl's eyes lit up with determination and a very Janna-like smile tugged at the corner of her lips, making Marco's heart jump for joy. "Yeah, you know what, Marco. Let's do it." Janna said, raising a confident fist in the air.
"You mean it?!" Marco exclaimed, leaning forward on the bed, till his face was almost touching hers. She laughed as his eyes twinkled with joy and she gave him a playful shove back, regaining her personal space back.
"Eh, why not? Sure beats hanging around here and moping about it," Janna said, her voice regaining its typical cryptic smoothness now that she had a decision made, the weight finally lifting off her shoulders. She didn't fight as Marco closed the distance again, capturing her in a bone-crushing hug as he began squealing and listing off a long list of supplies they would need for their trip, while the creepy teen just tuned the boy out, letting the reality of the situation finally sink in. She was really going back. She was going to see her old tribe... her family and she wasn't sure if she should be happy or worried about that fact. But then, there was no sense stressing over it, she would just have to wait and see what would happen. At the very least she would finally have answers. She would finally know if she still had a place amongst her people. And that thought was oddly comforting.
And as the hooded teen giggled and carried on in that adorable way of his, Janna couldn't help but take some comfort knowing that she would have one of her closest friends by her side when she finally came face to face with her tribe once again. And that didn't hurt her confidence, either.
...
Star was nervously pacing the room, Jackie watching the blond from her comfortable spot on the bean bag chair, the two anxiously waiting for Marco's return. The wait was nearly killing Star and Jackie didn't seem to be fairing much better, her normally calm, collected face now twisted into a worried frown, her eyes absentmindedly following her friend's movements as she wore a dent into the smooth tiled floor. As much as the two wanted to be waiting outside Janna's door to hear from Marco, the hooded teen had insisted on giving Janna as much space as possible, which the two had reluctantly agreed, moving instead to the room next door, being Glossaryk's.
The blue being was floating in the air, drinking from a small teacup, keeping his pinkie raised as he did. He too watched the blond royal's pacing form for a moment, before leaning closer to the skater and asking, "Does she do this often?"
Jackie shrugged. "Only when she's really worried about something."
"So all the time?"
Jackie opened her mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Star herself, who shot them a scolding look and shouted, "Don't answer that!"
The skater snapped her mouth shut and Glossaryk took another sip of his tea before turning to his guest once again and asking, "Would you like some tea, I put extra pudding in it?" And just like that a teapot miraculously appeared between the two, already pouring questionable contents into an empty cup.
"No thanks, I'm good," Jackie declined, politely raising a hand.
Glossaryk just shrugged, grabbing the teapot and bringing it closer to himself. "Suit yourself." He then preceded to hold the spout up over his head, pouring his pudding-coated tea into his open and waiting mouth.
Just then the door to the room burst open, Marco entering with a smiling face and a bouncy, vibrant demeanor. Star froze and Jackie hopped up off the bean bag as they both shouted excitedly, "Marco!"
Star ran over and hugged her boyfriend tight, causing both teens cheeks to flush pink, before pulling out of the hug and gripping his shoulders firmly but gently as she asked, "So how'd it go? Did Janna tell you what's wrong?"
Marco's smile faltered a little, but he nodded saying, "Yeah, she did. And she said she wanted me to explain it to you guys cause it was kinda too painful to keep repeating."
Star and Jackie both gasped and shared a look of joy, before Star wrapped her arms around the boy's neck, resting her head against his chest as she showered him with praise, "Oh Marco, I knew you could do it!"
"Nice work, dude," Jackie added in appreciation. "So what's up? Why's Janna acting so not-Janna lately?" the skater pressed and Marco cringed, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck.
"Welllll..."
One long story later and the two girls were left stunned, their mouths hanging open as they just stared numbly at the boy, who was starting to feel concerned that his two friends had gone such a long time without blinking. Marco looked over to Glossaryk, who was doing stretches on his book, making sure that time hadn't suddenly stopped due to his story but it seemed like the girls were just frozen in shock. The hooded teen awkwardly coughed into his hand, before saying, "So uh, yeah, guess that about sums it up."
"So wait, wait, Janna actually found the Impures!" Star cried in disbelief, putting a hand to head. "I-I can't believe it, after all this time, I didn't think she'd ever actually find them."
"And... that stuff about her mom," Jackie spoke up, her voice cracking against her will, her face full of a deep aching Marco had never seen before. "I can't believe she never told us that before."
"Well, it sounds like it was pretty painful for her," Marco pointed out, not wanting his cool friend to have any ill feelings towards Janna. "It was really hard for her to tell me, I guess she just didn't want you to think she was weak or something."
Star nodded thoughtfully, her own eyes glittering with sadness, "I get that."
Jackie let out a sigh, before nodding. "Yeah, I guess I can't blame her for it, nobody ever feels like sharing their darkest moment with others and it's not like I ever pressed her for stuff like that."
Star put a hand on white-haired girl's shoulder, shooting her a comforting look, before turning her attention onto Marco. "Look, Marco, I know you mean well and all, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with you going with Janna to find the Impures, all things considered."
"Why not?" Marco asked in confusion.
Star bit her lip, before saying, "It's just... the Impures are very dangerous. I know Janna is our friend but the other Impures aren't exactly friendly toward Mewmans. And from what you told us, it doesn't really sound like Janna is on the best terms with them either."
"Maybe we should go with you, y'know safety in numbers," Jackie suggested.
Marco shook his head. "No, me and Janna discussed this already, if all of us go then the Impures might feel threatened." Marco paused, before sheepishly adding, "Not to mention seeing Star might set them off anyways." Star frowned but didn't argue and the hooded teen gave his girlfriend an apologetic smile, before continuing. "But I'm a Diaz. Once they know who my family is I'm sure they'll allow me to stay. And who knows I might even be able to convince them to join our alliance!"
Star and Jackie found it hard to argue with that, the boy's delighted face squashing any doubt the girls might have had toward this seemingly dangerous plan. "You have a good point," Jackie admitted, while Star was still struggling to say yes.
But the confidence on her boyfriend's face as plain and clear as day was such a wonder to see that Star knew she had to go along with this plan if only to keep that smile on her Marco's face. So she swallowed the last bit of doubt down, telling herself that she couldn't tell him not to go, she had to support whatever choice he made. After all, what kind of girlfriend would she be if she tried to control his life like that? She needed to give him the space to live his own life and make his own choices. Besides, it wasn't like he wouldn't be safe. He would be with Janna. Everything would be fine.
So Star just gently placed her hand over his own, staring deep into his wondrous brown orbs as she said, "Okay, Marco, if that's what you think is best than I think you should go."
Marco's smile somehow grew even wider as his gaze held on the stunning blue in front of him, saying softly, "Thanks, Star." For a moment the world consisted of just the two of them as they unknowingly leaned in closer and closer to one another, Star's eyes shutting as she braced herself for the taste of Marco's lips on her own.
That was until Glossaryk, absentmindedly asked, "So when are you two planning on leaving anyways?"
Marco gasped and jumped to his feet, shouting in panic, "Oh my gosh, that's right, me and Janna are leaving in the morning! And I have so much packing to do!" He ran quickly out of the room, loudly recounting his long list of supplies to himself as he headed for his own bedroom to get ready for the trip.
Star, Jackie, and Glossaryk stared at the door in shock for a moment, before the blue man finally said, "Well he certainly seems excited."
"Maybe a little too excited," Star pointed out before her and Jackie shared a giggle at their childish friend's antics.
…
"Okay, so are you sure you've got everything?" Star asked the next day as she watched her boyfriend slip on his backpack, before turning to her with a small nod and a smile.
It was early morning, the two getting ready to head out on their adventure, standing just outside the gates of Butterfly Castle as they said their goodbyes.
"Yep, it's all packed and ready to go!" Marco exclaimed excitedly, giving Star a thumps up, before adding proudly, "And you don't need to worry Star cause I even triple checked this morning to make sure we had all our supplies, just to be safe."
Star giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she shot him a flirty grin. "That's good to hear," she breathed in relief. Her voice lowered some though as she added in slight concern, "And you're sure you don't want me to go with you on your..." She paused, casting a quick glance over to Jak and Dex, who were no doubt listening in to their conversation, coughing once into her hand before continuing. "...Ahem, camping trip."
"Nah, me and Jan got this," Marco reassured his girlfriend. He quickly glanced over his shoulder and shouted to his beanie-wearing friend, "Right Janna?!"
"Totally," Janna said, somehow hearing the two's conversation over her and Jackie's own. "You and Jackie just focus on your Commission stuff. Me and Marco are gonna be living it up in the woods."
Star let out an annoyed grunt, before giving the hooded teen still trapped in her grasp a quick squeeze. "Oh man, I totally forgot the meeting was today. Looks like you lucked out Marco, you aren't going to be stuck listening to Pony's two-hour lecture about why she should be declared the prettiest member in the Commission." Star stuck out her tongue in mock disgust and Marco laughed.
"Sorry Star, I hate bailing on you like this," Marco apologized and Star gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Don't be," she told him, snuggling into his neck for a moment as she was soothed by the gentle beating of his heart. "I'll survive."
Jackie turned to her creepy friend, giving her a quick punch in the shoulder, before saying, "Hey, don't die out there, okay? I'd rather not lose my favorite roommate." Despite the casual move, her eyes showed a much deeper message being sent her way.
"Ah, c'mon Jacks, this is me we're talking about, I can handle this," Janna told her friend, while secretly conveying her true meaning to the skater with a swift glance her way. "And I've got Marco with me, so he'll probably keep me from making too bad of decisions out there."
Marco glanced over at them quickly after hearing his name, letting out a confused, "Huh?"
Jackie nodded slowly in understanding, before saying, "Well just promise me that if you need me, don't hesitate to call."
Janna let out a fake annoyed sigh, "Yes mom, whatever you say." She ignored the small sting to her insides at the joke, the wound she had reopened too fresh for such jokes at the moment. She quickly swallowed down the lump in her throat, before forcefully quipping, "Besides, if something did go wrong then you would at least get your own room out of it."
"I think I'd rather have my awesome roommate instead," Jackie replied seriously and Janna's eyes widened in surprise, caught off guard by the response. She rubbed awkwardly at her arm before surprising the skater with a quick hug, whispering so softly in her ear that Jackie almost didn't hear it. "Thanks... for everything."
Jackie felt her heart clench up before giving her friend a quick squeeze in response, ignoring the tears building up at the corner of her eyes.
Marco and Star broke off their own hug as they stared over at the two, sharing a smile before going over to join the two as they broke off their sisterly hug. Star gave Janna a hug of her own, muttering softly, "I'm gonna miss you two so much while you're gone."
"We should only be gone for a day. Two tops," Marco told her, hoping to cheer his girlfriend up a bit.
Janna, however, didn't respond.
Star let out a sigh, saying, "I know, I know. It's just gonna be weird not having you here." She took his hand in hers. "But I understand you need to go." She let out a frustrated groan. "Ugh, and now I'm probably making you feel bad for going! Ugh, why is this so hard? I'm not trying to be a selfish girlfriend, I swear."
Marco shook his head, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, which caused the girl's whole face to go red. "You aren't being selfish, Star. To be honest, I feel the same. It's gonna be so weird to be apart from you for so long. But when I get back we'll have an extra-long date to make up for it, okay?"
Star let out a flirty breath, saying sweetly, "That sounds great." She then began peppering the boy's cheek with kisses, showering him with a few days worth of affection.
Janna realizing they could be there all day decided to speak up, saying just a tiny bit forcefully, "Well we should probably get going now."
"Oh right," Star and Marco said as one quickly pulling apart as Marco moved to Janna's side and Jackie went to stand beside Star.
"Well have fun you two," Star said, giving them a small wave.
"Bye, dudes," Jackie added.
"Bye guys," Marco said, returning the wave, before the two started to walk away, only to freeze as they heard a small voice cry out, "Wait, are you guys going somewhere?!"
Marco and Janna cringed, slowly turning around to see Violet and Daisy now standing in the opened gateway giving them curious and slightly agitated looks. Marco had been hoping to avoid this scenario, hence why he and Janna had agreed to head out so early, knowing the twins wouldn't be happy at being excluded. Unfortunately, though, they were up earlier then he was expecting, the two girls still dressed in their pajamas. But seeing no other way out, Marco quickly gave them the made-up story they had all four agreed on, "Um, yeah, we're just going camping for a few days."
And just like expected the two girl's faces lit up with excitement, Violet loudly screaming, "Oh wow, can we come too?!"
Janna shook her head, saying calmly, "Not this time, squirt."
"Awww, why not?!" Violet whined, making her tiny lip quiver.
"Can't we come? We promise we'll be good," Daisy begged, her eyes as wide as they would physically go as she hit them with her most powerful weapon of cuteness: the infamous puppy-dog pout. "Please, please, please."
Marco felt his heart melting under the looks, biting his lip to keep himself from breaking down and giving in to their demands, but Star held firm as she told them in a commanding voice, "No girls, you can't go. Marco and Janna want some time alone."
"We'll play when I get back okay?" Marco tried weakly, but it didn't do much in the way of cheering the two up.
The twins just whined in defeat, looking sadly at the ground. "That's not fair," Violet grumbled under her breath. But Star went over and picked the girl up, telling her sweetly, "But hey, while they're gone I can spend some time with you two. Just as soon as my meeting is over, that is. How does that sound?"
Violet and Daisy both let out gasps of delight, before cheering as one, "Yay, playtime with Star!"
Marco and Janna sighed as the two girl's spirits seemed to have brightened up immensely, Jackie leaning over to them and whispering, "You two should probably get going before they change their minds again."
Marco and Janna nodded, the latter readjusting her backpack as she replied with a smirk, "Don't have to tell me twice. Come on, Marco." With that Janna turned on her heels and headed off, Marco following suit, only pausing for a moment to wave to his friend and shouting out a quick goodbye, before racing after the creepy teen as their adventure into Janna's past officially began.
...
The two arrived at Hydra's Point (via scissors) fairly quickly, appearing just outside of town, not wanting to get distracted from their mission by paying the townspeople a visit. They both wordlessly traveled the short walk to the mines, pausing as they stared up at the eery and slightly unnerving sight before them, both of them trying to build up enough courage to face the dark caves, but for two very different reasons.
After a full minute of just standing there, Marco decided to ask his friend, "So are you nervous?"
"Nah, not really," Janna replied far too quickly, clearly lying to cover up her true feelings.
"Hey, you don't have to pretend around me, Janna," Marco reassured her. "I'm not gonna judge, I swear."
Janna paused, before admitting, "Yeah okay, maybe I'm a little nervous."
"Well that's pretty understandable," Marco replied. "I mean, I know this is pretty tough for you."
"What, the seeing my tribe again for the first time in years part or the facing my mom after she abandoned me part?" Janna said sarcastically, but there was bitterness in her voice.
"Both. But I'm really proud of you for facing this anyways."
Janna smiled, before changing the subject, needing something to take her mind off of the possibly terrible decision she was making, as she asked, "What about you? Worried about going back in there after everything that happened last time?"
Marco shook his head, before saying, "Nope, because this time I came prepared." He patted his backpack for emphasis, shooting the half-Monster a proud smile. "I have everything we could possibly need right in here."
"Oh, is that why they weight a ton?" Janna asked with a playful arch of her eyebrows.
"Well, I just wanted to be sure we were ready for anything." Marco began counting off a few of the items off on his fingers. "I got flashlights, batteries, backup batteries, changes of clothes, food, extra food in case we run into an actual spider, a first aid kit, a walkie-talkie in case we need to call Star and our phones don't work-"
Janna hid her smile at the boy's list, commenting sarcastically, "What no kitchen sink?"
Marco gave her a puzzled lost, asking, "Huh, why would we need that?"
The creepy teen just sighed as she remembered who exactly she was dealing with. "Never mind," she said and Marco frowned in confusion, feeling like he was missing something. Catching a glimpse of her friend's baffled face from the corner of her eye she added teasingly, "Guess I just never realized you were such a safe kid before."
"What's wrong with being safe?" Marco asked.
Janna let her next remark freeze on her tongue as she took in the innocent and earnest look on the hooded teen's face, so unbelievably pure it was nearly blinding to look at and the creepy girl found herself unable to mock this newly revealed part of her friend. So she instead forced herself to break eye contact, turning her head away from him as she said simply, "Nothing."
Marco was starting to feel like they weren't getting anywhere so he figured it was best to bring things back to the task at hand, asking his friend, "So you ready to head inside?"
Janna looked over at the creepy mine that held the answers and consolation she was so desperately seeking and sucked in a deep breath before nodding, telling Marco, "Yeah, let's do it."
But just as the two took the first few steps toward the mines, Marco stopped saying quickly, "Oh wait a second." He threw his backpack on the ground, rummaging inside it until he pulled out a flashlight, showing it off to his friend for a second. "There now we can see in the dark."
"Uh Marco I have night vision, remember?" Janna replied, arching an eyebrow again.
"Oh right, well now I can see in the dark, I guess," Marco corrected himself as he zipped his backpack back up and threw it over his shoulder.
Janna didn't say anything just entering the cave in silence, Marco following right behind her, flipping on the flashlight as soon as they were inside the tunnel. It was still as musty and claustrophobic as Marco remembered but the hooded teen was determined to keep going, pushing all negative thoughts out of his head and focusing on taking slow steady breaths. Even as his neck began stinging and the light bounced around the room slightly from being held in his shaky grasp he kept pushing himself forward, reminding himself that he was here for Janna. He willed his feet forward, walking alongside Janna as they retraced their steps from the previous visit.
An uncomfortable quiet settled over the two after a couple of minutes, the only sound Marco could hear being the steady dripping of water echoing around the dark tunnel, only adding to his already frayed nerves as he fought to keep himself under control, his breathing growing slightly erratic. He had agreed to be there for Janna and he wasn't backing down now.
Finally, just as the boy's nerves began to get the best of him, the two Mewmans at last reached the larger area from before and Marco nearly sighed in relief to see the small expanse of tunnels in front of them. He let his flashlight linger on each of the tunnels for a moment, before frowning and asking Janna, "Um, which one do we take again? Was it 'Death Cave' or 'the Tunnel of No Return'?"
Janna rolled her eyes, before correcting him, "First of all it's 'Blood Cave', 'Death Tunnel' and the 'Passage of No Return'."
"Oh right," Marco said, having trouble making sense of the various similar names Janna had created for the passages. "But which one is ours?"
"That's easy, it's obviously Death Tunnel," Janna told him, pointing said tunnel out with confidence.
"Wait I thought that one was Death Tunnel," Marco argued, pointing to the tunnel left of Janna's.
"No way, that's Blood Cave," Janna replied. "That's the one that Ferguson, Slime, and Penelope took."
"Really? I thought me and Star went down that one," Marco said in confusion, scratching at his head.
"No, no yours was the Passage of No Return."
"Then who had Death Tunnel?"
"Me and Tom."
"Oh right." Pause. "Which one is Death Tunnel again?"
Janna face-palmed, sighing in exasperation.
The two were so busy arguing that neither heard or noticed the pair of glowing green eyes watching them from the shadows, making sure to stay as far from the beam of Marco's flashlight as possible. It was soon followed by three more matching eyes, all of which were glaring at the two intruders. Finally, the two seemed to settle on a direction and began heading down the decided 'Death Tunnel', the four mysterious figures chasing after them, unbeknownst to either Marco or Janna.
…
"See told you this was the right one," Janna declared as the two stared at the symbol on the wall, the delicately carved snake taking Marco's breath away for a moment.
"Wow, it's kinda beautiful," Marco whispered, marveled by the sight as he ran a hand along the uneven surface. "Whatever Impure did this, must have worked really hard to make it."
"Yeah I guess," Janna said in surprise. She honestly hadn't thought about that before. But she shook her head, needing to stay focused as she knew what dangers could lurk in there, grabbing Marco's arm and leading him deeper into the tunnel. "Now come on, we need to keep moving."
Marco didn't argue, figuring Janna was just desperate and impatient and followed along silently. Once the creepy girl releases his arm, Marco began moving his flashlight back and forth around the tunnel as he tried to ignore the eery feeling he felt bubbling up in his chest, figuring it was only due to his own paranoia. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off now. Something about these tunnels had changed but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It almost felt like... they weren't alone.
Marco felt a shudder run up his spine and swallowed the lump in his throat as a flash of sinister eyes snapped into his brain for a second. He moved a bit closer to Janna, asking quietly, "Um, Janna are you sure it's safe for us to be here?"
"I never said it was safe," Janna reminded the boy, but to avoid her friend having a panic attack she added quickly, "But yeah, we should be fine. Even if there is a booby trap here and there it's nothing you and I can't handle."
Marco chuckled nervously but didn't argue, reminding himself that they were there for Janna's sake not for his own peace of mind. He followed along in silence after that, but he never quite shook the feeling that he was being watched.
Several uneventful minutes passed and despite the creepy teen mentioning the possibility of booby traps so far the teens hadn't come across any sort of thing even remotely like that. Still, Marco stayed on guard, keeping his eyes peeled and his flashlight poised for any sign of obstacles that could block them from their path... not to mention kill them. Time seemed to stretch on as boredom replaced anxiety, which soon gave way to frustration as the teens became concerned that maybe they had chosen the wrong path after all. Other than the symbol on the wall that was the only sign that these tunnels were even habitable and the creeping fear began to make Janna second guess her decision. But she was too stubborn to give up just yet, wanting to see this through until the end as she continued down the path before them.
But the end seemed to come a lot sooner than Janna was expecting as they soon reached a dead end, the tunnel leading them to nowhere it seemed as a large rock wall brought an end to their journey. "What?!" Janna exclaimed in disbelief. How was this possible? She had been so sure they were in the right tunnel. It couldn't just end here! Not when they were so close!
Marco cast his light on the wall for a minute before determining, "Looks like that's it."
Janna shook her head, refusing to give up just yet. "No, no, that can't be it. We came too far to turn back now. This has to be the right way. Th-They have to be here!"
"They still could be," Marco said, trying to reassure his friend. "Maybe this was just a fake tunnel they use to keep intruders away."
Janna didn't reply as she frowned at the wall, her keen eyes examining it, picking up small details that didn't add up in the structure. Its glossy, unnatural looking surface, its uncanny build, looking too pristine and perfect to match the uneven walls of the rest of the mine, and most telling of all was the way it clung to the rest of the wall, looking more like it was added on later than having already existed as the walls natural dead end. She took in more and more of these details with her flawless vision, muttering softly to herself, "Or maybe they used a fake wall instead."
"Huh?" Marco asked, unable to hear the muted whisper of his friend. But the girl didn't answer instead she sprung forward, her hands moving up and down the surface, feeling every inch of the wall in search of something. The hooded teen cocked his head to the side as he watched his friend curiously, before asking, "What are you doing?"
"There has to be some kind of lever or hidden passage or something here," Janna replied, grunting as she stretched her arms up, feeling near the top of the unnatural wall. Marco's eyes drifted slowly across the wall, looking for any signs of such a thing but all he saw was an ordinary-looking wall, no signs of a hidden entrance anywhere on its smooth surface. "I don't see anything," Marco pointed out.
"It's here, trust me," Janna replied, not even bothering to face the boy, her focus and attention on the wall and nothing else. "Just gotta find it."
Marco didn't argue, the level of confidence in Janna's voice enough to crush any feelings of doubt, as he just stood there watching his friend continue her search, making sure to keep his flashlight trained on Janna at all times so she didn't have to try and do this task in the dark. Sure she had night vision but Marco figured it was still a lot easier to find whatever it was that was hidden in the wall with a source of light to work by.
But the boy was so hyper-focused on this task, doing his very best to help his friend however he could, that he didn't notice the dark forms slowly creeping up behind him. Marco opened his mouth to shout a suggestion to his friend, only to have a firm hand clamp over his mouth, causing him to let out a muffled scream of fright. He reached up an arm to dislodge the hand, but another wrapped around his waist, pinning his arms to the side, causing the flashlight to fall from his grip, hitting the ground with a muted thunk. Before the boy could shout any form of warning to Janna or squirm in the grip in any way, Marco was dragged backward, disappearing into the shadows along with his kidnapper, his free legs kicking at the air in a desperate attempt to get free.
Janna noticed the light disappear from her back and shouted over to her friend, "Hey Marco, I could really use some light over here."
When there was no reply, Janna got the sudden sense that something was wrong, whipping her head around and calling out in concern, "Marco?" But there was no one there, Marco seemingly vanishing into thin air, his discarded flashlight setting off all kinds of red flags for the girl. Janna's eyes widened in fear, her heart hammering away in her chest as her body went into high alert, tensing up as she looked around the dark tunnel for any signs of her friend or whatever threat lay just out of her sight. "Marco!" she called again but received only silence in response.
However, her impeccable hearing was able to make out a slight shuffling in the distance and she whipped her head in that direction, only to immediately turn her head the other way when she heard another small noise to her other side... only this one was much closer. The flashlight was suddenly sent spinning across the floor as a form brushed past it moving too fast for even Janna to follow with her night vision. Janna let out a huff of annoyance, picking up the flashlight and waving it around the room as she snapped, "Okay, whoever you are if you think you can scare me off with some cheap scare tactics it's not going to work. Now show yourselves or else!"
For a few seconds, there was only silence and Janna let out a groan, figuring her threat had fallen on deaf ears, opening her mouth up to shout another warning, demanding they return Marco, when the flashlight landed on a man, his dark green eyes staring sinister daggers at her. The creepy girl froze, her mouth hanging open in shock, as she found herself staring at the first Impure she had seen in years, the man hissing at her and trying to shield himself from the blinding beam, his face showing he was clearly in discomfort, though he did his best to hide it.
"Keep that thing away from me, outsider!" the Impure screamed in a deathly serious voice.
"Sure I'd love to," Janna replied with a cocky smile, without lowering the flashlight down even an inch. "Just give me my friend back and then we can all sit down and have a nice friendly talk about all this."
Before the Impure could even reply, something dropped down next to Janna, the girl not even having time to respond as the flashlight was suddenly sliced in half by a pair of sharp and deadly claws, the light snuffed out in an instant as Janna was knocked to the ground. She looked down at the broken remnants of metal still gripped in her palm and growled under her breath, "Great, now how is Marco supposed to see anything down here?" She tossed the destroyed flashlight away and quickly rose to her feet, staring defiantly into the dark green eyes of the new Impure, soon joined by her companion, both glaring at her with sinister, superior grins. Janna grit her teeth, raising her fists as she got ready for the fight that surely about to break out, saying in a warning tone, "Last chance, give me Marco back or things are gonna get messy."
The two Impures laughed, not at all intimidated by the small girl before them and her weak threats, the man saying harshly, "Yeah I think not."
That was when Janna noticed that the two were not her only welcoming committee as at least four more Impures now surrounded her, all of them tensed and no doubt ready to tear her to shreds the moment she made a move. Janna remained still, trying not to let her fear show as she saw she was clearly outmatched by the bigger and stronger group that had managed to sneak up on her.
"Yeah, things is we don't make deals with outsiders," the man said sarcastically, leaning an arm against his partner's shoulder, shooting Janna a cocky grin that made the girl's blood boil.
Janna just sighed, slowly raising her arms over her head in surrender as muttered under her breath, "Great. Glad to know this is going exactly the way I was expecting."
...
Marco groaned, his head pounding as he slowly peeked his eyes open, ready to squeeze them shut the moment light touched them only he found he didn't need to, as he was sitting in complete darkness. He blinked a few times waiting for his eyes to adjust to the lack of lighting as he squinted, trying to get a good look at his surroundings. It took a while but soon Marco was able to make out the shape of some houses off to the side, their structure reminding him of the rat village, in fact, they were almost a replica of it only much bigger. The homes were made out of discarded materials, not quite trash but their mixed-matched style showed that whoever had built these homes had used whatever they had on hand, stone, wood, and many other things Marco couldn't even name. He tried to turn to get a better look, only to find his arms restricted. He looked down in confusion at the tight ropes looped around his body, pinning his arms to his side and making most movement impossible. "What?" Marco breathed, trying to keep his voice calm as he wondered how he got tied up, his brain unable to remember the last thing that had happened to him before he lost consciousness.
"Oh good you're awake," a voice said behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Janna leaning up against his back. She too was in the same position as Marco, her limbs tied tightly to her sides by rope.
"Janna, what's going on? Where are we?" Marco asked, fighting down the near panic that was threatening to seize him as he gave another nervous glance at the strange village they seemed to have found themselves in.
"Well the good news is we found the Impure village," Janna told him, her voice filled with annoyance and almost frustration as she spoke. "The bad news is they weren't exactly in the mood for company." The creepy teen looked over her shoulder staring past Marco as she let out a groan. "Oh great and here they all come."
Marco turned back around to face the village of Impures curiosity for a moment overpowering his fear, only to stare wide-eyed at the sheer number of half-Monsters in front of him. He hadn't been expecting there to be very many of them, figuring their numbers were small considering how little Monsters and Mewmans had gotten along in the past. It just didn't make sense to him that there would be that many what with the war happening and everything. But it seemed he couldn't have been more wrong, his senses in shock at the dozens upon dozens of forms he saw, in all shapes and sizes, tall, small, young, old, it seemed when Janna referred to this place as a 'village' she wasn't kidding. This wasn't just a handful of part Monster kids standing before them, this was a whole community of people, the whole group talking softly amongst each other, just out of earshot, while they all continually cast glares at them with the same narrowed, green eyes.
"You didn't tell me there were so many Impures," Marco whispered to his friend, Janna raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"Why were you expecting two or three?" Janna asked sarcastically.
"No, but I guess I didn't think there would be so many of you," Marco replied. But he began to get an eery feeling as he noticed all of their eyes seemed to be trained on him, giving him long, uncomfortable stares that sent chills up his spine. "Uhh, Jan, why are they looking at me like that?" he asked in a nervous whisper.
Janna shrugged, acting remarkably nonchalant about this whole thing. "Probably deciding what to do with you."
Marco swallowed hard at the creepy grin one particular Impure was shooting at him. "A-Are they gonna eat me?" he stuttered, his teeth chattering some as he spoke.
"What? Ew, no. Gross, Marco," Janna replied in disgust.
Marco breathed a sigh of relief that he at least didn't have to fear being eaten by these creatures. But his temporary moment of relief came to an end as Janna added, "If anything they might drain your body completely of blood."
"What?!" Marco screamed in fear. "But I thought you said Impures didn't drink blood!"
"We don't, blood is disgusting and tastes terrible," Janna explained and Marco really didn't want to know how Janna knew that. "I mean sure we can suck the blood out of your body, but we don't drink it. We aren't barbarians Marco, come on."
Marco was starting to hyperventilate now, unable to hide his panic as the Impures continued to glare over at them, deciding whatever cruel fate awaited them. "Oh relax Marco, they aren't going to kill us. Not yet anyways."
"Hey silence, prisoners," an Impure hissed at them. "Lord Nox will be here any second to decide what to do with you."
"Lord Nox? Who's that?" Marco asked in confusion.
The Impure just gave him an annoyed frown, so Janna took over the explanation, telling the boy softly, "He's the leader of the Impures and trust me you don't want to get on his bad side."
Marco audibly swallowed, before asking in a shaky voice, "Well c-can't you just tell him this is all just a big misunderstanding and that you're one of them. I'm sure he'd let us go then, right?"
The boy gave his friend a hopeful grin, only for it to drop a second later as he took in Janna's cringe. "Uhh, right," Janna replied, in a not at all convincing manner, causing Marco's fears to only increase, his face flooding with worry.
"Ha, fat chance of that ever happening," the Impure standing above them said, chuckling cruelly. "Lord Nox hates intruders, especially Mewman ones. I can't wait to see what punishment he decides to give you two."
"Punishment?" Marco squeaked in fear and Janna shot the guy a glare.
"Don't you have anything better to do than vaguely threaten us?" Janna snapped at him, her cocky attitude returning once more as she rolled her eyes. "Cause you're not even all that good at it to begin with." The Impure growled in fury at the comment and Marco gave his friend a worried look that screamed, 'Please-don't-anger-the-guys-holding-us-captive' but it seemed Janna wasn't done yet, as she added with a smirk. "Why don't you run along and go find someone actually competent so we can move this along."
The Impure looked ready to snap, his fanged teeth scraping together in a way that made Marcos' skin crawl, when a voice suddenly called out, "Vigo!"
Marco jumped at the sudden noise, the three all looking over to the crowd as it slowly parted to reveal a man in a long billowing cloak. Vigo, as the Impure seemed to be called, smiled darkly as he turned back to the two teens, saying in a threatening tone, "Well you're in luck, looks like Lord Nox just arrived."
The man before them was impressively tall, towering over most of his fellow Impures, even before they all dropped into bows as he passed them. He had long wavy black hair that flowed flawlessly down his pale purple face and back. His cheeks each held a pair of the ouroboros symbol and his fangs somehow gleamed in the lightless tunnel. He wore all black, his suit and pants lined in red and his boots a deep red, just like the cloak that fluttered behind him. In his sharp, clawed hand was a large metal staff with the same snake symbol on the end. His inhumanely green glare sent chills up Marco's spine, especially as they came to rest on him and Janna's helpless and tied up forms, their lives resting solely in Nox's hands. And as the half-Monster man drew closer, Marco saw only hatred and fury behind those eyes.
"And see, this is exactly why I didn't want to come back," Janna said with a sigh of frustration. If she was afraid of this man she didn't show it. Marco, however, was nearly petrified. He could almost feel the power radiating off of this man as he drew closer, confusion switching to hatred and fury as his eyes came to rest on Marco and Janna's helpless, tied up forms, their lives now resting solely in his hands.
The man stormed over to the two, his cape fluttering menacingly behind him, the red color looking like he was leaving a trail of blood in his wake which only helped to add to Marco's feeling of discomfort. He stopped just in front of the two, his halt so sudden and abrupt that it sent the cape billowing in front of him, the gust of wind at this action causing Marco's hair to blowback. "Am I to assume these are the two intruders?" he asked Vigo, his sharp eyes never leaving the pair of teens.
Vigo nodded, kneeling at the man's feet as he said, "That's right my lord, these two were caught trying to sneak inside by the patrols. And from the sound of it, they knew we were here, too. Probably coming in to try and kill a few of us before fleeing like the cowards they are. They nearly found the secret entrance, too, before we were able to apprehend them." Vigo raised his head to shoot Janna a particularly nasty glare. "Though not before this one almost blinded me with one of their light devices."
"Wait, you mean my flashlight?" Marco spoke up without thinking, only to snap his mouth shut as Nox's gaze fell on him.
"So you two dare to try and enter our most sacred sanctuary, even knowing who these caves belong to," the Lord of the Dark hissed at them, his eyes somehow narrowing even further. "And then to do harm upon one of our children. Well, the Children of the Dark do not tolerate outsiders. And believe me when I say that there will be severe consequences for your actions today!"
Marco gulped, trying not to cower in front of this powerful creature before him, while Janna just stared unflinchingly up at her old leader, her eyes betraying her as they showed the true level of pain she was currently suffering from. Seeing Nox again, seeing all of her old family, was bringing up all sorts of painful memories, many of which she had almost all but forgotten until now. As she looked at the crowd of faces staring at her in disgust, she found herself matching names easily to faces as she recognized nearly every person there. Only now she was an outsider to them. An untrustworthy individual who had disturbed their peaceful existence. And that thought was what made Janna's heart feel like it was being stabbed with a knife, the sharp pain almost more than she could take.
The only person she didn't see in the crowd, however, was her mother, though she wasn't sure if that was a relief or the greatest pain of them all, part of her still unsure about facing her again, while the other half was just glad she was spared seeing the look of disapproval on her own mom's face.
Janna was snapped out of these thoughts as Marco's shaking form pressed into her back, trying to move as far away from Lord Nox as possible, as the Impure pressed the end of his cane into the boy's chest, causing him to squeak in fear and surprise. "Now tell me," Lord Nox demanded, his voice full of harsh authority. "How did you two find this place? How did you know we were here?"
"The symbol, on the wall," Janna explained, knowing her nervous friend was incapable of responding at the moment. "It's the ouroboros, the Mark of the Impures. I saw it the last time we were here."
Nox seemed to be contemplating their answer as he muttered to himself, "So that is why our scouts reported so much Mewman and Monster activity in our tunnels. You were searching for us."
"No!" Marco shouted, shaking his head vigorously from side to side. "It wasn't like that, we swear! There was a bad Monster loose in these tunnels, we were trying to find him."
"Then how do you know about our symbol? Only an Impure has such knowledge. So how could two young outsiders possibly know its meaning?" Nox seemed to be growing angry, standing once more so his form towered over the two, his green eyes flashing a sinister color in harmony with his cheek marks, his fangs bared in a threatening manner, a warning as to what would await them should they dare to try and lie to him.
Marco looked over to Janna pleadingly, trying to silently inform her that now would be a good time to tell them who she was. The creepy teen caught the hinting gaze and sucked in a deep breath, trying to brace herself for the consequences of what she was about to say, knew there would be no turning back once she did. But hey, what other choice did she have? She really didn't want to explain to Star that she had let her boyfriend be killed all because she was too afraid of being rejected by her old tribe. "Because..." Janna began, closing her eyes tight as she tried to steal her nerves enough to continue. "Because I'm an Impure."
There was an audible gasp from the Impures, followed by hushed mutterings as they all seemed to be deciding on whether or not they should believe this Mewman or not. Janna opened her eyes, risking a look up at Nox, as she added in the strongest voice she had, "I'm... Janna Ordonia." The Impure leader seemed completely floored by this response, his body tense and for the first time, his stance was forced and uncomfortable, lowering his staff away from Marco to keep himself steady, as if he was struggling to maintain his authoritative mask, while his gaze was a mix between hope and mistrust, clearly battling with himself as he observed the beanie-wearing girl closely.
"Janna?" he muttered in disbelief, standing in front of her and putting a finger just under her chin as if he was making sure she was real and not just a figment of his imagination. He tilted her head back so that the two's eyes locked and for a moment he seemed to be just searching for answers in her brown gaze. Janna stared back at him with a serious expression, letting him soak in the truth that she was in fact who she said she was. Nox's eyes widen with recognition, his mouth hanging open in shock as the girl slowly nodded her head, letting him know that it was true. "How can this be?" the man gasped out, now taking in the girl's full appearance, before locking eyes with her once more.
"Don't listen to her, Lord Nox!" Vigo shouted, giving the creepy girl a hate-filled glare. "She's clearly lying! I mean... look at her, she can't possibly be one of us!"
There was a low murmuring from the crowd after that and Marco looked over to see the rest of the Impures' skeptical faces, in doubt that these outsiders could possibly be who they said they were. Marco quickly whispered to his friend, "Janna they're not buying it, you need to show them your Monster form."
Janna let out a sigh, before muttering, "Well I was hoping to build this up a bit more so they won't all freakout... but here it goes." The girl instantly shifted in form the same way she always did when she transformed back into her original look, her hair growing longer, her body turning a pale purple, her eyes switching from brown to green, even her cheek marks flashing once before the pair of creepy skulls replaced her more mundane ones. Nox gasped and actually pulled away from the girl, taking a full step back in surprise at the sight as the Mewman girl sitting before him became one of their own, unmistakable as anyone but the missing child who had vanished all those years ago.
"Janna, it is you. W-We thought you were dead," Nox whispered, still looking beyond baffled and Janna gave him a sheepish smile, before saying, "Yeah, surprise, not dead yet."
The Impures all began shifting uncomfortably, their nervous mumbling growing only louder as Nox took a couple more steps back, looking lost as he stared between the two.
Janna looked around at the disturbed and flustered half-Monsters and sighed, looking over her shoulder and telling her friend, "See I told you we should have eased them into it."
"Well I didn't know what else to do," Marco whispered back. "They didn't believe it was really you."
"H-How is this possible?" Nox hesitantly spoke up, interrupting the two and drawing their attention back over to him.
"Uhh, what? Janna still being alive or her being able to change to look like a Mewman?" Marco asked and Nox gave him a distrusting frown, his suspicions of the boy still clear, answering with a quick but firm, "Both."
Janna, seeing the mistrust in her old leader's eyes, decided to take up the explanation knowing Marco's word would never be believed by any of the Impures, at least until she could properly vouch for his trustworthiness. "Well it's a bit of a long story," Janna began, thankful when the attention returned to her and off of Marco, she really didn't like the way her people kept glaring at him, as if all of this was somehow his fault when in fact the exact opposite was true. "But after I got... left behind," Janna closed her eyes as she spat those two dreaded words, they somehow still tasting vile on her tongue even after all this time. "I was picked up by a couple of Mewman kids, they kept me hidden from the rest of the Mewmans and found me some pills that could disguise my regular form, make me look like one of them. And I've... been there ever since."
Nox stared long and hard at Janna, his eyes full of questions and his face filled with confusion as he silently processed, most of the other Impures doing the same. As the wait stretched long, Janna's body grew more and more tensed and rigid, her eyes never once leaving Nox as she waited to see if all her fears had been true. If she was about to be accepted back into the Impures or rejected from them forever and the wait was slowly killing her. Finally, Nox seemed to get ahold of himself, his eyes locking with Janna's, seeing her need and desperation and fear, and he reeled back slightly in shock at the unexpected sight, before he cleared his throat and spoke. "I had no idea. We were told- when you didn't come back- well, we all just assumed you had been killed. But... you weren't." Nox's face filled with regret as he added hesitantly, "I'm so sorry, Janna. If I had known you were still alive I would have..." His voice trailed off as he just stared sadly and guilty down at the floor.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Janna asked, her voice tight and shaken as something in Nox's words didn't add up in her head. "Didn't my mom tell you what happened? That I failed and let myself get caught so she abandoned me... just like the code says."
Nox seemed shocked by this, his mouth hanging open awkwardly and if this were any other situation Marco and Janna would find it immensely funny, but right now they only found the look uncomfortable as they were left unsure what the Impure leader would say next. Finally, the confusion was replaced with anger, white and hot and blatant, but when he spoke again his voice was remarkably composed and even sympathetic, completely alien to the intense expression on his face, as he said calmly, "The code has not been followed for almost three generations and I thought your mother knew that." He paused, taking in a deep breath as he struggled to keep his calm before he continued. "Your mother, she never told us what happened, she barely spoke for months after she got back and most of us just drew our own conclusions. Had I thought to question her, perhaps things would have turned out differently, but she seemed so upset I didn't want to make things worse for her. She almost stopped eating, barely slept, she was a mess and many of us feared she wouldn't recover..." His anger finally leaked into his tone, as he added with a dark hiss, "Now I know why."
"So wait you're telling me she never told any of you what actually happened out there?" Janna asked, her own voice sharp and uncharacteristically angry, not that anyone would blame her for it. She huffed, before muttering, "Unbelievable."
Nox paused, seeming to be deciding something over, before finally asking the teen, "And you were really living with the Mewmans this whole time?"
Janna nodded her voice light despite the intense bombshells that had just been dropped on her not a minute ago. "Yeah, they're not so bad once you get used to them. Most of them are actually pretty great, I mean, this one over here is proof of that." She pointed over her shoulder at Marco, who smiled nervously and waved. Up to this point, Marco had decided it was best to let his friend do the talking, knowing anything he said would only make things worse, plus he wanted Janna to be able to work through the problems she was facing and knew allowing her to speak freely with the Impure leader would be the best way for her to recover. But now he decided to risk speaking again as he softly said, "Uhh, yeah, but y'know, sir, Janna is pretty great herself. I mean, I couldn't ask for a better friend."
Janna gave Marco a quick grin before turning back around to face Nox, saying confidently, "So uhh, are you guys gonna untie us or what, cause these ropes are starting to chaff."
Nox seemed to recover from his stupor as he said, "Right, of course." He then turned to Vigo, ordering, "Release her."
Vigo nodded, though a bit reluctantly and went over to cut the ropes off with his sharp claw. Janna watched the man for a second before shooting her leader a confused look as she asked, "Wait, what about Marco?"
"The Mewman must remain detained until we're sure he poses no threat to-" Nox began only to be interrupted by a sharp yell from the creepy teen, her eyes flashing with anger as she snapped, "Oh come on, that's nonsense and you know it!" She stood as the last of the ropes were removed, quickly gesturing over to her friend as she added, "Do you really think Marco looks even slightly threatening?!"
Marco shrunk some as Nox, Vigo and probably the rest of the Impures all studied him closely, the boy feeling an uncomfortable shyness filling his chest as he struggled to keep a lighthearted (and hopefully non-threatening) smile on his face. "Well, no he doesn't," Nox muttered in agreement, before adding, "But, still for the safety of our people-"
"Marco is safe!" Janna snapped, refusing to allow her friend to be discriminated like that, he didn't deserve that. He was probably a better person than anyone here and she wasn't about to sit back and let her friend be insulted just because the Impures didn't trust Mewmans. Normally, Star or Jackie would be the ones to jump to Marco's defense but since neither of them were there that job now fell on Janna. "He's the safest person I know! And, you know what, without him, I wouldn't even be here right now. He's the one who convinced me to come back here, to face you all again, and he even chose to come with me despite the danger. So if anything you should be thanking him instead of accusing him of stuff without any proof!"
Every Impure, as well as Marco, could only stare at Janna in pure shock, nobody expecting an outburst like that from the cryptic teen, especially when it was directed at the powerful and commanding Lord Nox, Father of the Impures. For a few tense seconds, everyone just watched the half-Monster leader with held breath, nobody quite sure how he would react to Janna's harsh words, though the girl herself showed no sign of worry as she stared forward blankly at the stoic man. Finally, Nox spoke, keeping a calm demeanor, though his voice had a layer of irritation to it that no one could ignore. "I understand where you are coming from Janna, I really do, but I will not risk my people by allowing a stranger into our home, no matter how much trust you have in him. Especially when that stranger is a Mewman."
"Um, if I may, sir," Marco hesitantly spoke up, before Janna could argue, hoping to quell this in the most peaceful way possible. "I know I'm a Mewman and everything but I was actually raised by Monsters so in a way I'm kinda like you guys." When Nox showed no form of a reaction to this, Marco gulped and frantically added, "Plus, I'm also a Diaz." He gave the Impure one of his signature smiles, hoping it would help win the man over but all it did was cause Nox's eyebrow to slowly raise as he asked, "And that is supposed to impress me, how?"
Marco's smile vanished in an instant, giving the lord a startled look as he struggled to think up an answer, his nerves suddenly spiking again as his secret weapon proved completely ineffective. "U-Um, well, my parents were an ally to all Monsters so I guess I-I just figured you'd be okay with me staying here," Marco stuttered out, no longer able to meet the Impure's eye.
Which was fine, considering his dark green orbs were currently observing the boy up and down, a look of disapproval on his face. Finally, he replied to the boy, saying sharply, "We do not care about the rules of either Monster or Mewman, boy. Your parents' name means nothing here."
"B-But, my parents loved everyone, no matter what," Marco futilely tried, ignoring Janna's frantic hand signals, trying to warn him to stop talking before he made things any worse. "They dedicated their lives to peace on Mewni-"
"Then your parents were fools, there is no such thing as peace," Nox suddenly said and Marco froze, letting the Impure leader's words sink in, tumbling around his brain and digging their way deep under his skin, making his chest hurt as he stomach twisted itself into tight, unrelenting knots. Stabs of pain filled his being as if he had been physically attacked by the insult and soon the pain gave way to a new, more powerful emotion: rage. White, hot anger billowed up inside of him, causing a growl to slowly rise in his throat and his cheek marks to glow a darker shade of red to match the current color of his vision. He very rarely felt anger like this and it kinda scared him how different and harsh and wrong it felt to have it coursing through his veins, as all his anger become directed on Nox and Nox alone. He knew he needed to try and keep his calm, a more sane corner of his mind telling him that now was the worst possible time to be acting like this, but he couldn't stop himself, Nox had crossed the line and it was more than Marco could take. He felt all thoughts pushed to the background in favor of defending his parents, needing to defend them from such harsh and ignorant criticism.
"How dare you say that about my parents!" Marco screamed and every half-Monster there flinched as the shy, awkward boy's sudden change in tone, the fury in his eyes as clear as day. "My parents weren't fools, they were heroes! You have no right to talk about them like that when you never even met them!" Janna's mouth hung open as she watched her friend in complete disbelief. She had no idea Marco even had that in him and she wasn't sure if she should be proud or worried. She risked a glance over at Nox, hoping to judge his reaction to all this, but the Impure had gone completely silent, his face that of stone, betraying no emotion whatsoever as he listened to the hooded boy rage on. Though Janna thought she saw the smallest tug of a smile on her leader's lips and she blinked to make sure she was seeing right, before a small grin appeared on her own face.
Meanwhile, Marco was far from done, as he continued with his rant, shouting, "They were kind to everyone, no matter what! You have no idea the sacrifices they made or how much they meant to Mewni a-and to me! And I don't care what you do to me but I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you insult them like that!"
Finally, Marco felt himself start to calm down, the anger slowly fading, leaving only a numb ache in its place as he panted heavily, his cheeks hot from both anger and from his suns glowing an at an almost burning temperature for such a long time. And it wasn't long before Marco realized what he had just done, blinking away the tears that had formed at the corner's of his eyes as he looked around at all the stunned faces of the Impures, all of them staring at him with gaping mouths and inhumanely large eyes. His gaze slowly turned to Nox and he swallowed seeing the hollow stare the dark lord was giving him, his arms crossed menacingly in front of his chest. The Impure took a step forward and then another and another, his smooth movement causing Marco to panic as he scrambled to back away from the approaching lord, afraid of whatever punishment he was about to receive for lashing out like that. But Nox was too quick and soon his clawed hand rested tightly on the boy's shoulder, stilling all movements from the teen. But, fighting back every urge and safety instinct inside of him, he slowly raised his head and met the man's gaze giving him the most determined look he had, trying his best not to let his anxiety show.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime to Marco, the Impure leader burst out into laughter, shaking his head from side to side as his chuckles filled the dark cave, though it did little to ease Marco's mind as he just stared at the man in confusion, casting a lost look over to Janna, who gave him a cryptic thumbs up that did nothing to explain what exactly was going on. "You have spirit, Marco Diaz," Nox said in a pleasant and respectful tone, patting the boy's shoulder firmly. "I like that. A feisty soul that isn't afraid to speak up for what you believe in... just like your parents."
"You... knew them?" Marco asked stunned.
Nox gave a small nod in reply. "Not personally, but I heard tell of their exploits, though until today I thought their ideals to be nothing but hopeful ignorance. But if they had half the commitment and bravery as you, then I see I misjudged them." Nox then gently grabbed the hooded boy's arm, helping pull him to his feet and with one single slash of his claw the ropes were released, falling to Marco's feet as the boy stared down at them in shock and then up to the smiling facing of the Impure leader. "You have earned my respect, Marco Diaz, something no other Mewman has ever been able to do. And in return, I will allow you to remain here for as long as you wish."
"Th-Thank you, sir," Marco stuttered, still in shock that his little outburst had somehow gained favor in the eyes of the Impure leader. He wasn't sure how that had happened exactly but decided it was best to not overthink it. He should just relax and go along with it. Besides, maybe Janna could explain it to him a bit later.
Nox's grinning face turned slightly harsh as he added in a warning tone, "You may have my respect, but do not betray my trust."
Marco gulped and nodded, not trusting himself to speak out of fear of upsetting the Impure. But a second later, the kind smile was back, as he turned to face his fellow Impures, proudly announcing, "My children, today is a day of great joy for us all as we welcome back one of our own back into our family..." Nox held a hand out to Janna, who obeyed stepping closer and allowing Nox to grab her arm and raise it high over her head. "Our lost Child of the Night has returned to us after all these years!"
A cheer rang out through the crowd of Impures, some even clapping, as they all celebrated the miraculous return of their very own Janna Ordonia. Marco grinned as he saw the look of joy in Janna's eyes at her family's acceptance, glad that his friend was able to get some much-needed solace from the fears that had been plaguing her for who knows how long now. And as he saw his creepy friend's eyes continue to radiate happiness he couldn't help but beam with pride. It was rare for Janna to show this much genuine emotion toward anything without it being buried under a layer of sarcasm and wit, but seeing his friend like this, made Marco hopeful to see more of this side of her in the future.
The hooded teen was ripped out of his thoughts as he suddenly felt something grip his arm and pull it up, so it too was hanging over his head like Janna's. He looked up at Nox with shock and the Impure just smiled down at him before saying, "And we even welcome her friend and ally, Marco Diaz, into our ranks as an honorary member of this family! Let us all show him gratitude for bringing Janna back to us!"
Marco was stunned as a new cheer rang out through this group, this one directed at him and even as his cheeks lit up slightly with a blush, he couldn't help but smile at the unexpected praise. He wished he could say something grateful to them, but he was at a loss for words as a lump had entered his throat, making speaking impossible. His heart seemed to flutter up in his chest as he was showered with cheers and affection from these near strangers and he briefly wondered if this was how Janna was feeling at the moment. And as he looked over to the creepy teen, managing to capture her attention as she met his eye, he saw in her green gaze that she was definitely feeling the same thing as him.
Finally, the cheers died down and Nox gave a command to the Impures to continue on about their day and allow the two teens to settle in. The crowd reluctantly dispersed, all except Vigo who stood obediently from the sidelines, holding Nox's cane, though many of them kept casting curious glances over at the two newcomers and their leader.
Nox who was now gripping the two's shoulders tight, saying to Marco and Janna, "Now then, why don't I show you two to one of our guesthouses? Allow you to get settled in after your trying and probably a bit traumatic journey."
Marco opened his mouth to agree, that offer sounding amazing after the terrifying and emotional experience, only to stop as Janna shook her head and blurted out, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good."
Nox and Marco shared a look of surprise, before the leader asked, "Are you sure?"
Janna nodded, no hesitation in her tone as she replied confidently, "I'm sure." Her gaze hardened a little as she added, "There's... something else I've got to do first."
"What's that?" Marco asked, cocking his head to the side and raising an eyebrow.
Janna sucked in a deep breath, before saying softly but firmly (almost as if she was trying to convince herself more than anything), "It's time to face my mom."
…
Janna kept on a blank expression as she followed along after her old leader, allowing him to guide her, despite the fact she was fairly certain that even after all these years she could still walk these streets blindfolded. But she left the directions up to Nox so she focused on more important things, like willing her legs to keep moving forward as they seemed to fight her with every step or blocking out any and all thoughts. At this point, all her brain was capable of was freaking her out and trying to talk her out of what she was about to do. And she had to do this... no matter what, she couldn't allow herself to second guess herself now, not when she was so close.
Still, despite her efforts, it didn't stop the fear from setting in the moment she laid eyes upon her old home. It looked exactly as she remembered it, not a stone out of place from the image she had been picturing in her head for almost five years now. It was surreal being back like she was walking through her own memories, her reality shifting into that of a dream that didn't quite make sense and yet felt so overwhelmingly right it took her breath away. And the shock of seeing her old childhood home again was nearly enough to freeze her in place but somehow she was able to keep going despite the annoying pounding of her heartbeat. Though she figured Marco being there was the main reason she kept going, needing to prove to her friend that she was strong enough to overcome this. She never did like the idea of people thinking she was weak.
So, despite her racing pulse and her brain literally screaming at her to turn around and run, she merely climbed the few short steps leading up to her porch, before stopping directly behind Nox, waiting for him to summon her mother there. The Impure leader looked back once at Janna, waiting for her permission to continue and the dark-haired girl nodded, despite every inch of her screaming in protest. She tried to keep her calm as she watched Nox turn back around and give three solid knocks on the door, before pausing. Silence followed as the three listened intently for a reply and for Janna the wait was nearly killing her. But after a few short seconds, a voice rang out from within the confines of the house, "Be right there."
Janna's gaze turned steely as she gazed intently at the door. The moment she heard the unmistakable sound of her mom's voice her hand clenched up into a tight fist, so tight in fact her clawed nails nearly broke skin. But suddenly, the creepy girl felt a hand gently touching her own and her hand relaxed some, allowing her fingers to be peeled apart before she felt the hand expertly slipping around her own, holding on with a comforting embrace and she squeezed it back eagerly. Not too hard, though, since she really didn't want to accidentally break Marco's hand.
Janna was grateful for this small comfort from her friend, especially when she suddenly heard the doorknob click and watched mesmerized as the door slowly slid open to reveal her mother, Jade Ordonia. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Janna stared at her mother for the first time in five years, a swell of emotions rising up inside Janna, hurt, betrayal, affection, anger, love, and she honestly wasn't sure which of these emotions was stronger right now. She studied her mother closely as she allowed the emotions to course freely through her in painful waves. Most of the things she remembered about her mom were the same: she still had the same brown hair that came all the way down past her shoulders and laced black beanie, same startling green eyes, same brown bat marks on her cheeks. Her outfit was even almost the same, the dark purple heartline dress and skull necklace hanging around her neck, with a flowing velvet skirt reaching down to her knees. She had the same black fishnet stockings and black heels Janna remembered and the spikey bracelet on her wrist was the exact same one she always had on.
But something was off about her mom now, she looked more tired than the woman Janna had known, her normally playful smirk that Janna had practically inherited at birth was vacant from her mom's face, replaced instead with a thin frown and there were now dark bags hanging under her eyes, making her look a million times older than Janna remembered her being. When Jade was at her best, she could oftentimes be mistaken for Janna's sister, but not her mom carried herself with a sadness that seemed to be slowly eating away at her. Her clothes looked a size too big on her like she wasn't eating regularly and she could see split ends in her mom's normally perfectly styled hair. Her body was slouched and her movements sluggish as if she was struggling to perform the most basic of tasks.
Jade hadn't yet spotted Janna or Marco, her focus and attention on Nox, the Impure woman looking up at her leader with vague curiosity, but the dullness in her eyes was still startling to Janna. Never in all her life had she even not known her mom's eyes to sparkle or flash with emotion. "Oh Lord Nox, what a surprise!" her mom greeted pleasantly enough, dropping into a low bow. "I wasn't expecting you to come by. Would you like to come in? I could brew you some of my famous cinnamon tea if you would like-"
Jade was about to move aside to let her leader in, but Nox simply shook his head, raising a hand to still her as he said, "No thank you, Jade. I'm not here for pleasantries, I'm afraid."
Jade shifted uncomfortably hearing this, but her voice remained calm and pleasant as she asked, "Oh, well then to what do I owe your visit today, my lord?"
"Actually, it is not my visit," Nox replied. "I am merely an escort for someone who would very much like to speak with you."
"Who?" Jade asked, a skeptical eyebrow raising as she gave her leader a quizzical look. Nox simply gave a little nod behind him and Janna sucked in a breath as her mom's puzzled expression slowly shifted onto her form. Janna watched as realization slowly dawned on her mother, her face morphing to one of surprise and then disbelief and then panic, her eyes quickly looked her daughter up and down, looking as if she was staring at a ghost rather than her own child. Janna's mom was shell-shocked to say the least, her eyes widening to inhuman proportions and her skin turning pale. A hand flew up to her face, covering her mouth as her eyes shimmered with some powerful emotion that Janna identified as guilt, though there seemed to be so much more hidden in those green orbs that Janna couldn't begin to decipher. "Janna," Jade whispered so softly it was almost inaudible, almost as if she was afraid the word might break on her tongue.
"Hey mom," Janna greeted, her voice coming out much tighter than she had intended it to, her voice hollow and foreign even to her own ear.
But Jade didn't seem to notice this, as her eyes welled up with tears, her hand still pressed tightly against her lips. Finally, her hand strayed from her mouth, as she asked her daughter in a chocked tone, "H-How did you get here?"
"Well you definitely didn't make it easy," Janna said bitterly and Jade's flinched at that.
"I-I thought you-" Jade began, taking a step forward and slowly reaching out a hand to touch her daughter's face, but she seemed to think better of it, letting it hover hesitantly in the air for a moment. "You're alive. And you're here. You're really here." She sounded almost as if she didn't believe herself.
"Yeah, I am," Janna said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. A dark part of her brain, added, No thanks to you.
"I can't believe it!" Jade gasped, chocking on a laugh, as the tears now flowed freely down her cheeks, the look of relief on her face unmistakable. But it was soon replaced by guilt, as the smile vanished, replaced instead with a look of worry and fear. "Oh Janna, I-I'm so sorry for what I- for what happened that day!" she choked out, sobs slowly escaping from her body as she spoke. "I-I have no excuse for what I did to you. It was horrible and cruel of me to leave you behind like that!"
"Yes, it was," Janna hissed out, all the anger she had been holding onto for years finally surfacing as she lashed out at her mom, the person she had trusted more than anything, who had betrayed her in the worst way possible. "How could you do that to me, mom?! I was a kid! And you just left me there!" She felt tears welling up in her own eyes, but she refused to let them fall, not until she was finished. "You abandoned me! I trusted you and you abandoned me! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?! Did you even care?!" She was practically screaming now. "Why?! Why did you leave me there that day, mom?! After all these years, after everything I did to get back here, the only thing I really want to know is why?!"
Jade waited patiently for her daughter to finish, watching in sorrow as Janna's anger slowly turned into sadness (sadness that she had caused), the tears falling down Janna's face as she panted heavily. Finally, when she felt it was safe to speak, she took a deep breath, looking away from her daughter's distraught face as she explained softly, "I don't know, Janna. I've spent every day since it happened trying to understand why I did what I did. I thought I was doing what was best for my people, fulfilling the mission no matter the cost, just like I was told but really I was just being a coward. And there has not been a day that's gone by that I haven't regretted what I did to you. I hated myself for what I did and the guilt has been eating away at me the moment you left my sight." She slowly met Janna's eyes again, trying to silently convey her shame and remorse to her child as she muttered, "I don't expect you to forgive me, I certainly will never forgive myself, but please know that I am deeply and truly sorry for what I did to you."
Janna's stared long and hard at her mother, her face unreadable and Jade looked more and more unsettled with each passing second. Time seemed to stretch on forever as everyone waited for Janna's reply, Marco and Nox looking lost between mother and daughter, neither sure what was going to happen. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Janna took a step forward, causing Jade to immediately take one back in surprise. Then the half-Monster girl took another step and then another and another slowly closing the gap between the two as the Impure woman backed herself into the wall, frightened of what her daughter's response might be. Janna's head hung down as she walked, her mop of hair completely covering her eyes, leaving everyone guessing as to what Janna was about to do to her mom.
Janna stopped right in front of her mother and without a word, slowly raised her head so she could meet her mother's eye and Jade flinched at the level of hurt and bitterness she saw lay just beneath the stunning green orbs, a few small tears hovering at the corners of her daughter's eyes. Janna's whole body was tensed and nearly shaking as she faced her mom, slowly opening her mouth and saying in a cold tone, "Y'know I used to hate you for what you did to me. And I'm not sure if I can ever completely forgive you for what you did that day." Janna paused, before adding in a much lighter voice, "But... I don't want to hate you, anymore. As terrible as what you did to me was, it also helped me to make some great friends, all of which were far better role models than you were." Jade frowned at this statement but listened intently as her daughter continued. "They taught me a lot, about a bunch of different things, but one of the things I think that stuck with me the most was giving people second chances, even if they don't always deserve them."
From behind Janna, Marco couldn't help smile proudly at his friend, happy he was able to relay such a powerful message to the creepy teen. He hadn't even realized before that he had rubbed off on her that way, thinking Janna was too stuck in her own world and hijinks to ever really learn anything from him, but knowing she had made Marco's heart practically leap for joy and he listened with supreme interest as Janna continued her speech. "And well, I guess what I'm really trying to say is that while I still don't like what you did to me before..." Janna took in a breath, before saying abruptly, "I think I'd like to start over, y'know a clean slate. And maybe if it works out you and I could even... be a family again someday." Janna crossed her arms self-consciously in front of her chest, staring down at the ground as she waited for her mother's response.
But Jade seemed incapable of making one as she just stared dumbly down at her daughter, her eyes unblinking and her face filled with shock. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Janna risked a look up, the worry and fear of rejection finally pushing Jade past her initial surprise as she cleared her tight airways, giving her daughter a small smile and gently placing a hand on her shoulder as she said in the softest tone imaginable, "I'd like that."
For the first time since mother and daughter had reunited, Janna returned the grin, her arms unfolding from in front of her chest as she moved in for a hug, clinging on tightly to her mom, soaking in her presence once more. Jade's arms shot up, standing there awkwardly and unsure of what to do, her daughter's action catching her off-guard. She hadn't thought Janna would ever be interested in touching her ever again after what she had done but to willingly hug her of all things (something she distinctly remembered Janna being very much against even before the incident) both shattered and reformed a part of herself that she thought had been lost forever. Still, Jade didn't dare pass up on this precious moment she had been given as she eagerly returned the hug, wrapping her arms gently around her daughter's frame, closing her eyes as she let the tears of both joy and regret flow down her face.
Marco smiled, wiping away tears from his own eyes with the back of his sleeve, watching with barely suppressed joy as his friend finally reconnected with her mother after so many years, Janna and Jade seeming to be in no hurry to break up the hug, the two clinging onto each other as if their life depended on it. It was a heartwarming sight to say the least and although Marco was mentally cheering and celebrating his friend's success, he knew better than to speak up out of fear of running the moment for his dear friend. He was watching the two so intensely that he nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder, drawing his attention onto Nox, who whispered softly to the boy, "Come. Let's leave them alone for now. I'm sure they had much to catch up on."
Marco nodded in agreement and allowed the Impure leader to guide him away from the two, the man keeping a steady hand on his back as he spoke pleasantly to the boy, offering to give him a tour of their village to which Marco eagerly accepted, his curiosity spiking at the idea of getting to see more of the hidden town, leaving Janna alone to talk with her mother.
Jade finally broke off the hug, staring down lovingly, if a bit hesitantly, as she asked, "So... how about we head inside and get something to eat. We have a lot of catching up to do and I can't wait to hear what you've been up to all these years. Knowing my Janna, you've probably been keeping these friends of yours very busy." She winked down at her daughter and Janna smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Something like that," Janna replied. A smirk quickly formed on her face as she added, "And you might want to sit down for this cause, boy, do I have some stories for you."
…
Marco smiled as he took in all the sights the underground village had to offer, Nox guiding him through the 'streets' (if you could call them that) the two cheerfully greeted by smiling Impures wherever they went. At the same time, Nox was also answering whatever questions Marco had for him and the hooded boy had many, after all, it wasn't every day he came across an ancient and secretive society. He was probably the only Mewman in decades who had ever laid eyes on the place and he was soaking in all the sights the hidden city had to offer. Though he couldn't shake the familiar feeling of deja vu as he looked around the dark and crudely-made structures and he frowned in confusion. Finally, he voiced this thought out loud as he said, "Y'know this place looks pretty similar to another village I visited."
"Ah," Nox said in understanding, not even having to question the hooded teen further to know exactly what he was talking about. "You must mean the rats."
"How did you know?" Marco asked, his eyes shimmering with interest.
Nox chuckled, before saying, "These tunnels have belonged to the vermin long before we set up our home here. Rats come and go frequently from this place..." Nox pointed over to a building off to their side and Marco followed the direction, looking just in time to see three pairs of tiny paws scurrying away. "And let's just say they have adapted some of our culture into their own."
Marco was silent, watching as one of the rats stopped and faced him, the two locking eyes for a second, before one of the other rats squeaked to its friend and the rat turned and raced away. When Marco finally looked back in the direction they were going, he gasped at the large rocky bridge they were approaching and couldn't help himself as he raced forward to examine it closer. Nox grinned as the boy oh'd and awed at the sight, peering over the edge at the roaring underground river that waited below. Once he had caught up to the boy, he leaned back against the rock frame, crossing his arms as he just silently observed the boy. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Nox asked, his voice a low, breathless whisper as he stared across his quaint little village. Marco looked up at him with confusion, before following his gaze at the rest of the town and he smiled in wonder. "Yeah, it is."
"I'm sure it's far from what you are used to but-"
"No, no, it looks nice. Simple but it's honestly impressive you've all managed to live down here for so long without anyone knowing." Marco, his mind burning with one more question, looked slowly over to Lord Nox, biting his lip before hesitantly saying, "Um, sir, if you don't mind me asking..."
Little late for that, Nox thought to himself, hiding his smirk behind his stoic demeanor. Not that he minded, the boy's youthful energy was infectious and his curious naivety was too charming to resist and although he wouldn't admit it, he found himself enjoying their time together quite a bit. This boy seemed to have brought something with him that had been sadly missing from the Impure's village. Nox gave the boy a soft look, nodding his head once to let him know it was okay, and Marco taking full advantage of the encouragement asked, "Why would you guys choose to live underground? I mean, weren't there any better places to stay?"
Nox paused, trying to think of the best way to respond to that, that question was a bit more complex than any of the others had been and he wasn't sure how much he should tell the boy. Still, he could see the boy starting to shift nervously as he waited, clearly worried he had upset the half-Monster, and the Impure decided to just give him the shortest answer he had available, explaining simply, "We Impures can't survive in the sun."
Marco's face filled with confusion, his mouth hanging open as the gears in his head clanged together in an attempt to understand. "B-But Janna is out during the day all the time and she's just fine."
Nox shrugged. "There are a few exceptions to the rule, a few of us are unaffected by outside lights, Jade and Janna are the only two in the entire village who can do this, their family line has always been strong enough to withstand the heat from the sun. Which is why Ordonia's have always been one of our most valuable members, they've acted as spies and recovery agents for as far back as any can remember. You might say Janna was raised at birth to be a spy for us." Marco nodded thoughtfully. Well, that actually made a little too much sense. No wonder Janna was... well, Janna, her odd behavior (or 'Jannaigans' as Jackie and Star jokingly called it) finally explained. "As for the rest of us," Nox continued. "Our skin burns if it comes in direct contact with light of any kind, and overexposure to it can even prove fatal, which was why the others reacted so harshly toward your lightstick."
Marco gave the man a sheepish frown, saying hesitantly, "Um, yeah sorry about that. I didn't know my flashlight would be such a big problem. Janna didn't tell me about... you guys condition."
"That's quite alright, Marco Diaz," Nox told the boy, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "I'm not sure it would have made all that much of difference anyway, most Impures feel threatened no matter who shows up at our door. I'm just glad they didn't kill you both."
Marco shuddered, not wanting to think about that possibility. Instead, he decided to risk another question, as he locked eyes with Nox again and asked, "So uhhh, what happened between you guys and the Mewmans that made you hate them so much?"
Nox let out a long sigh, looking suddenly tired, as he muttered, "Well that is gonna require a bit longer of an explanation."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Marco replied lightly, shrugging.
Nox gaze the boy a long look before asking in a meaningful tone, "Are you really sure you want to know?"
Marco nodded his head immediately, hoping to show his conviction to the powerful man. "I'm sure," the boy replied in the most serious tone he could muster.
"Very well then..." Nox began and Marco leaned closer, eager to hear more. But to his surprise, instead of answering the man simply stood up straight and began walking the rest of the way over the bridge, Marco's eyes following the Impure leader in confusion. Once Nox was halfway across the bridge, he stopped, looking back to Marco as he gave the simple demand of, "Follow me," not even bothering to check to see if the boy would obey. The hooded teen didn't waste any time though, as he quickly raced after the Impure, still clueless to where he was being led but he was excited to find out.
…
"And the last thing we heard was the sound of Toffee's final screams echoing around the dark castle," Janna said in the most dramatic, over-the-top tone she had as she finished the latest story for her mother.
Jade shook her head in disbelief, saying proudly, "I can't believe my own daughter actually helped kill Toffee! To think that dreaded lizard's reign was brought down by my own flesh and blood."
"Well wasn't like I had much choice, Marco was in danger and Star was about to rush in there headfirst without thinking. They needed some back-up," Janna explained. But she paused before adding smugly, "Plus, I couldn't let them take all the glory."
Jade laughed and Janna hid her own smile as she took a drink of the cinnamon tea her mom had made and the taste of it filled her with a warm nostalgic feeling. In fact, everything right now was giving her that sensation as the two sat side by side on the old, worn couch in their messy living room. The house was exactly the way she had remembered it, the photos her mom kept plastered on the wall of different bizarre-looking and probably deadly flowers each one more terrifying than the last (her mom had to have a hobby after all), the large creepy eyeball they used as decoration sitting on the coffee table in front of them, the skeletons she could barely see peeking out of the hall closet (she still couldn't tell if they were real or not), even the house smelled the same and Janna took a deep whiff and breathed it out slow, enjoying the unmistakable scent of decay.
"Do you four always end up in situations like that?" Jade asked.
"Uh, yeah, why do you think I hang out with them?" Janna replied sarcastically, causing her mother to laugh again.
"That does sound like you," Jade commented, before adding softly, "You must all be very close, though, to risk your lives for each other like that." She gave her daughter's hand an encouraging squeeze.
Janna nodded. "We are. We look out for each other, keep each other safe."
"They're very lucky to have you, then," Jade said, giving her daughter a knowing smile, which Janna returned.
"Actually, sometimes I think it's the other way around," Janna admitted with a shrug.
"Well if what you said earlier was anything to go by than I suppose I do owe them all a lot for helping bring you back to me, despite... everything." Jade cringed at the end and Janna tried to ignore the twist in her gut. That was still a very touchy subject.
"Yeah well, your welcome to thank Marco whenever he comes back, it was really him who convinced me," Janna replied, not quite able to meet her mother's eye as an uncomfortable tension built up between them.
Jade coughed once into her hand to clear her tight throat, before saying, "I'll be sure to do that."
An awkward silence followed, neither quite sure what to say next but it felt unbearable to the two Impure women. The longer it dragged out, the more Janna desperately wanted it to end, but she couldn't for the life of her think of anything to say. She missed the playful back and forth she and her mom used to share, at least then she always knew what to say. And it seemed Jade felt the same as she suddenly spoke up in a hesitant but still teasing tone, "Sooo, are there any other boys in your life I should know about?" Janna saw out of the corner of her eye the smug smirk on her mother's lips, the first one she had seen since she got back, and seeing it helped put Janna's mind at ease even if it did look a little forced. She could see that her mom was trying to act more like her old self and Janna was kinda grateful for that since the sad, guilty shell that her mother seemed to have become was honestly just too jarring for Janna to make any sense of, even though a part of Janna was glad she regretted what she did. It felt like she had to be careful and courteous of what she said to mom like she was talking to a stranger and not the woman who raised her, and half the time she wasn't even sure how to respond. But this... this she could handle.
Janna let out a fake sigh of annoyance, rolling her eyes as she said sarcastically, "And here we go, I was wondering when that was going to come up."
"Well, you can't blame me. You have been away for a long time and you were pretty flirty with the other Impure boys back in the day," Jade replied, giving her daughter a knowing smirk.
Janna let out an irritated breath, turning her head away to try and hide her blush, as she said, "Well, I did kinda have my eye on someone."
"What's his name?" Jade asked in a sing-song voice.
"Tom," Janna admitted, before quickly adding, "And before you get any ideas about grandkids just know I'm still in the pretty early stages with him. He still hasn't even outright admitted he likes me."
Jade nodded, making a show of looking upset. "Oh darn it and here I was ready to knit a bunch socks for my precious grandchildren," the woman said sarcastically, putting a hand dramatically to her head.
"Stop it," Janna snapped halfheartedly, giving her mom a push and the two women broke out into laughter.
Once that died down, Jade put a hand over her daughter's, saying happily, "Well it sounds like you've made quite a life for yourself out there." She paused before adding in a strained tone, "I only wish I had been a part of it."
Janna didn't respond, staring down at the coffee table with a hard look. Jade seemed to pick up on this as she let out a sigh, squeezing her daughter's hand, while brushing a few stray bangs out of her child's face, as she said softly, "Oh Janna I really am sorry for what I did to you."
"I know, mom," Janna said, her tone bitter and careful like she was trying to hold back her anger. "It's just... gonna take some time before I can really move on, okay?"
"Of course," Jade replied instantly, her tone a mixture of hopeful optimism and crushing worry. "Take all the time you need." The Impure woman paused, thinking over her next sentence carefully before finally adding, "But I was hoping that maybe you'd consider staying."
"Huh?" Janna asked in surprise and Jade instantly cringed, her eyes alive and full of fear.
"Only if you want to, of course," the half-Monster mother corrected herself quickly. "I just thought that if you stayed here with me that we could reconnect faster, be a family again like you said earlier. Is that... what you want?"
Janna didn't respond at first, staring down at her feet in thought. Is that was she wanted? She didn't know, really. She hadn't never even expected to get this far, figuring she'd be rejected by the Impures without even seeing her mom, let alone be offered a choice to stay. Sure, some part of her had always hoped this day would come, going through this very scenario over and over again in her head, but now that it was happening in real life she didn't know what to do. It felt like her heart was torn in two, a part of her longing for the chance to rekindle a relationship with her mom, while the rest of her heart belonged to her friends, Star, Marco, Jackie, Tom. Could she really leave them all behind after everything they had done for her?
"I'll think about it," was all Janna said and her mother nodded in understanding.
"Of course," she said softly, giving her daughter's hand one last squeeze before letting go. She leaned back on the couch in an almost casual gesture as she asked in the same playful tone from earlier, "Sooo tell me more about this Tom boy. I want to know everything!"
Janna smiled, feeling a part of her she had thought had long since died come back to life, filling her with a familiar warmth as she took in a deep breath and began her tale about the handsome but elusive demon boy that had stolen her heart.
...
"Hello there!" Marco looked over to see two Impure girls waving to him, both looking to be about his age, and the hooded boy happily smiled and waved back. "Hi!" he shouted over to them. The girls gave him friendly looks before they spotted Nox a few steps in front of him and their faces changed to a more formal expression.
"Hello, my children," Nox greeted in a commanding tone and the two girls bowed in respect to their leader, saying in unison, "Hail to you, Lord Nox, father of us all."
Nox stood tall as he stared over at the two, saying in a dignified manner, "The night hears your both, my children, and sends you peace and protection."
"Thank you, my lord," one of the bowing girls said, before the two quickly rushed away, but out of the corner of his eye, Nox could see the two kept casting small glances over at Marco while giggling and blushing like crazy. The boy seemed oblivious to the attention at his back, too busy looking at everything else the town had to offer to notice the clearly crushing girls. Nox held back a smile, as he turned his attention up ahead, Marco had certainly made an impression on the Impures, himself included, despite the fact that he was still technically an outsider.
Nox was pulled out of his thoughts as Marco suddenly asked, "Um, so were those your kids?"
The Impure chuckled, shaking his head as he replied, "No, not technically."
Marco frowned, not quite understanding. "So then why did they call you father?"
"Well, as their leader I am considered to be a father to all Impures, as is every Impure who has ever received the sacred mark of my people," Nox explained, before laughing even harder at the completely puzzled and dumbfounded expression on the boy's face. "This." He pointed to his cheekmarks and Marco nodded.
"Ohh, I wondered why you had that," the teen said in understanding.
"Yes, when one of us becomes the leader our previous cheekmarks are replaced with this one."
"Does it hurt?" Marco asked worriedly.
Nox chuckled. "No."
There was a short moment of silence, before Marco asked, "So, um, where are we going?"
"To the temple," Nox replied cryptically.
"Temple?" Marco repeated questioningly.
Nox nodded, keeping his gaze straight ahead, "That's right. There you will have all the answers you seek, Marco Diaz." The man paused, before a fanged smile spread across his face, saying, "And it seems you won't have to wait any longer."
Marco followed his gaze and his mouth dropped open at the 'temple' before them. It was a large, two-story building, easily one of the biggest in the village, but unlike all the rest it was very old. The place seemed ancient, many parts of it cracked and decaying with age but still beautiful and foreboding, and just by looking at it, Marco knew it must hold a lot of history within its walls. It seemed to be made out of a different structure from the rest of the houses in the village, the particular type of bricks used unfamiliar to Marco. On the front of the temple was the same snake symbol from before, but oddly enough, the large doors leading inside were in the shape of a spade. In fact, there were spades in quite a bit of the architecture of the temple but the boy could only admire it for so long before he was lead inside by Nox and Marco froze, blinking in surprise as his eye immediately caught sight of the large statue towering over them.
It seemed to be of a Mewman of all things, no signs of any tails, claws, or fangs in the massive carved image. Instead, she wore a simple combination of dress, hat, and gloves, while holding an umbrella up over her head, as if brandishing it as a weapon. Her eyes were full of determination and decision while her lips told a different story, showing the barest beginnings of a playful smirk and Marco could tell from just looking at the statue that this woman was one of power and mystery, holding more secrets than she bothered to give. But the most interesting thing about the statue woman to Marco was her cheekmarks, as she had two very distinct spade shapes on both cheeks and suddenly the oddity to the temple's design made sense. For whatever reason, this temple was dedicated to this Mewman, everything down to the foundation itself was made in her honor, and Marco wondered why the Impures would celebrate the life of a Mewman when they themselves seemed so hostile toward them.
"Who is that?" Marco asked in a breathless whisper.
"That... is Eclipsa Butterfly," Nox answered, his voice full of reverence and unwavering loyalty as he spoke about the woman before them. "The creator of our race and Mother of all Impures."
"Wait, Butterfly?" Marco repeated with a small gasp. "You mean, she was related to Star."
Nox nodded, Marco already informing him about his relationship with the princess. "Indeed she was, in fact, she was one of the most powerful queens who ever lived. Her powers unrivaled by the rest of the Mewmans." Nox let out a sigh, before continuing, "Sadly though, she was rejected from the throne and cast out by her people."
"Why, what did she do?" Marco asked, his eyes shining with curiosity, finding this story extremely intriguing.
"She fell in love with a Monster," Nox replied, a sad expression twisting his features as he stared intensely up at the statue before him. "After that, many of the Mewmans saw her as pure evil and the Magic High Commission made the decision to stupidly force her to step down and replace her with her cousin, a ditzy girl who was more interested in parties than politics." Nox sneered, his fangs flashing darkly as he spoke of the MHC and Marco for a moment was reminded of just how dangerous the Impures could be, feeling a shiver run up his spine.
"That's horrible," Marco muttered sympathetically, looking up at the woman in a new light. She was related to Star and the boy felt sick at the idea of his bestie receiving the same treatment for simply standing up for his family. "How could the MHC do that to her?"
Nox took in a deep breath, steadying his nerves, before continuing, "After that, Eclipsa and her husband, Globgore, decided to start a new life together, away from the pressures and judgments of their people. They instead choose to create a new society where they could live in peace and the Mewmans and Monsters could live as one. But it would naturally have to be somewhere discrete and hidden, where their enemies wouldn't be able to find them, and they chose these tunnels of all places. The two of them worked tirelessly for many years clearing out the underground caverns and building beautiful homes made of stone, though unfortunately most of them didn't last through the years. And over time Eclipsa's loyal followers that had come with her and Globgore's Monster brethren had no trouble adapting to their new life in the dark tunnels and many of them began having children together."
"The first of the Impures," Marco said thoughtfully and Nox nodded.
"That's right, Marco Diaz. Thanks to Eclipsa's efforts a new race of creatures were born, creatures of both Monster and Mewman, but belonging to neither. Though there were a few unforeseen results from our creation, such as our intolerance to light, it was still quite an achievement to be sure and we owe it all to Eclipsa. So you see, Marco Diaz, that is why we refer to ourselves as the Children of the Dark, or the Night depending on who you ask, because to us, Eclipsa is the mother of us all and we cherish her name and sacrifices every day."
"Wow, that's incredible!" Marco shouted in joy, his eyes shimmering as he continued to gawk up at the statue. But he paused, a new thought striking him, before he asked, "But wait a minute, I thought you guys didn't get along with the Monsters, either?"
"Well, at first we were allies with them, but many years later, far beyond Eclipsa and Globgore's time, a group of them tried to invade us and use us for their own personal gain, a vile group known as the Avarius clan. After that, we Impures decided it was best to cut our ties with the outside world completely."
Marco nodded in understanding, his gaze on the floor, but it slowly rose back up to the statue as he said in a cheerful tone, "Well, still Eclipsa sounds like she was a pretty amazing person! To keep fighting for what she believed in even when the world was against her, it's kinda like my parents."
"Well, not quite," Nox hesitantly replied and the boy gave him a quizzical look. "You see, Eclipsa was less interested in fighting for peace, she just wanted her and her husband's freedom to be who they wanted. She chose to give up on the fight for an equal Mewni in favor of her own happiness."
Marco nodded thoughtfully, before saying, "Well, I guess that makes sense. She must have really loved Globgore, I guess I don't blame her for wanting to be happy."
"Sometimes the only thing we can do is choose to be happy," Nox replied. "Eclipsa knew that better than anyone and that is what we Impures have chosen to do as well."
Marco was silent for a second as he and Nox just examined the beautiful statue, the hooded teen taking in the playful expression on Eclipsa's frozen face, before he asked softly, "What happened to her, anyways?"
"Unfortunately, no one knows," Nox explained, sounding both mysterious and disheartened all at the same time. "According to legend, she just vanished out of the blue one day and never returned. Many feared her dead or killed, but no one could find even so much as a sign of what became of her. Though there are some of us even today who believe she will one day return to free us from our hidden existence. In fact, if I remember correctly Janna's mother is quite fond of this sentiment."
"What do you think?" Marco asked, curiously.
"Personally, I think the whole prophecy is just a bunch of childish ideals and false hopes. No ancient queen is going to rise from the dead to save us all," the dark lord replied cynically. "Like I said, it is up to us to make our own happiness, not rely on some legend to fix our situation." He slowly turned to face Marco, giving the boy a long look, examining him closely before asking, "Which leads me to the more important question I wanted to ask you, Marco Diaz."
Marco turned to the man in surprise, his innocent eyes searching the Impure's dark green as he waited for the man to continue and Nox nearly groaned at the level of naïve trust he saw in those orbs. He was much too young for this lesson, but if he was going to continue to play the part of peacekeeper than he needed to be aware of the possibilities, even if not all of them were to his liking. "Which side will you choose in order to stay happy?"
"Which side?" Marco asked repeated in confusion, his eyes scrunching together as he failed to quite grasp what Nox was implying. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that if something were to go wrong if you had to pick a side, who would you choose to stand beside, Monsters or Mewmans?"
Marco froze and for a moment there were too statue in the temple, as the boy just looked unblinkingly up at the Impure leader, his face contorted with an impossible choice he wasn't sure he could ever make. "But why would I have to choose?" the hooded teen asked finally, his voice heavy and hesitant, as his fingers began fiddling with the strings on the front of his hood. "I mean, we're at peace and me and Star are literally working on creating an equal Mewni-"
"But what if your plan fails? On the slim possibility the Monsters and Mewmans did go back to war, would you be able to pick a side, Marco?"
Marco was starting to panic now, his brain rushing to find a way out of the question as he blurted out, "But- But what about your story? The Impures wouldn't exist if Eclipsa hadn't formed a society where Monsters and Mewmans could live together."
"Yes, but at the cost of the Mewmans she left behind," Nox replied, his tone dire but his eyes were apologetic as if he himself hated having to tell the boy this. "Eclipsa had to leave her home and family in order to find her happiness. And our people have chosen to reject both to find ours..." Nox paused, seeing the look of defeat and desperation in the boy's eyes and he put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know you think this is harsh, me putting this on you like this. But even the best-laid plans can fall apart. And if that were to happen, you'd need to make a choice. So Marco, where does your happiness lie, with the Monsters or the Mewmans?"
Marco spent a few minutes turning this question over in his head, his head hanging low as he struggled to form an answer. What would he choose? The Monsters were his family and he loved and needed them almost as much as he needed air, but at the same time... Star. Could he ever even picture a reality without her in it? She was his whole world, Marco cared more for her than words could even describe, losing her would be like losing half of himself. Finally, he made his choice, saying in the softest tone imaginable. "I can't." Nox regarded the boy with confusion until the teen's head slowly rose and the Impure was taken aback by the amount of determination and resilience in those brown orbs. "I can't just choose one or the other. It just... isn't right. I love all of them and they all make me happy, I don't want to lose any of them, for any reason. So I won't fail, I can't! Star and I will find a way to make the Monsters and Mewmans equal so that I never have to choose."
Nox nodded, a fanged smile slowly spreading across his face as he chuckled lightly at the boy's naïve enthusiasm. He had to give Marco credit, he had never met anyone with as much faith as this boy had. He truly believed that he would succeed and nothing could shatter this hope for him. Nox couldn't help but find this optimism infectious and he felt some of his own armor crack under the persuasive, upbeat tone. Here he had been trying to give the boy a hard lesson on failure and instead all Nox had done was strengthen Marco's raw determination to succeed. "Well, if anyone could pull that off, I have a feeling it would be you," Nox finally said, speaking in a humbled tone, keeping his eyes locked respectively on the boy's brown. Marco had just unknowingly won a battle of wills and Nox only felt it only right to acknowledge this by treating him as his equal. "But I hope you know, after a speech like that, that I will be expecting great things from you, Marco Diaz. The future of Mewni is in your hands. Prove to me and to yourself that your words were true by living up to them."
Marco didn't even hesitate as he nodded and said in a confident tone, "I will, I promise."
Nox smiled, saying pleasantly, "Good, I'm counting on you. After all, it's not every day I root for a Mewman."
…
Marco hadn't known what to expect when he had been invited to a celebratory dinner in honor of Janna's return by the rest of the Impures, but so far he was actually enjoying himself. The half-Monsters were all being really nice to him, although some of their conversations left Marco a little on edge, he hadn't really been all that interested in learning which plants were best for creating which deadly poison and how best to sneak them into someone's cup without them noticing. But unfortunately, it seemed an older Impure lady disagreed as he was given a very detailed explanation of just that and the boy had tried to ever so subtly push his cup as far away from himself as possible. But at least so much about Janna and her odd behavior made sense now. Her family was as weird and creepy as she was. Some possibly moreso, as unbelievable as that was.
Speaking of Janna, the girl was currently deep in telling a story to a group of eager and invested Impures, Marco even spotting the same two girls from earlier watching his friend in awe as she continued her dramatic tale. Marco smiled at the look of pure joy on Janna's face. The beanie-wearing girl seemed to be in her element, soaking up every bit of adulation she could, and Marco could tell she was loving the way they hung on her every word, their investment fueling Janna to play up her story more and more with every word. "...so then after fighting with everything he's got, Bill Cipher eventually loses the battle and is sucked back up into his dimension where he belongs, but not before releasing a terrifying, inhuman shriek that rattled the very walls of the castle. And then I was all like, 'And stay out'."
"Wow, so cool!" one of the Impure girls squealed, the others looking equally as enthralled.
"I haven't heard of anyone beating a Cipher in almost thirty years," another Impure said, looking impressed with the young girl before him. "It's practically unheard of."
"Well, that's my daughter for you," Jade declared proudly, giving Janna a quick hug, which caused Janna to beam ear to ear.
"Thanks, mom," Janna said, holding herself just a little taller now.
"Wow, living in a castle, fighting off a Cipher, killing Toffee, your life must be so amazing!" an Impure child spoke up, his young eyes glowing with admiration.
Janna shrugged. "Eh, what can I say? Guess I'm just naturally gifted," Janna said, not at all humbly.
"Can you tell us another story about your life? Please? Please?" another child asked, giving the girl a little begging motion.
"Your stories are amazing and you're so good at telling them," the same boy from before added.
"Sure, why not?" Janna said, smugly, before giving Marco a meaningful look as she added, "It's nice to have someone who appreciates my dramatic reveals for once."
The hooded teen gave his friend a sheepish look, drumming his fingers nervously on the table as he muttered shyly, "Uh, right, sorry. But in our defense, you didn't always have the best timing for them."
"Knowing Janna, that seems very likely," Jade spoke up, flashing her daughter a teasing grin, which caused Janna to roll her eyes but returned the grin wholeheartedly.
"Well, where do you think I learned that from?" the beanie-wearing girl asked, giving her mom a playful punch in the shoulder.
Marco smiled as he watched mother and daughter interacting, warmed by the sight of his friend so happy. It had only been less than a day but already it looked like Janna was well on her way to repairing her broken relationship with her mom. It was hard to believe this morning Janna had been paralyzed at the idea of facing her mom and people again and yet here she was, sitting amongst them, talking and laughing and interacting with them like she had never even left. Marco took a moment to look around at all the smiling faces that surrounded him as he thought of how almost poetic this all was. Janna had been so worried that she wouldn't be accepted back by her people and yet, they had all welcomed her back with open arms, treating her just like family.
But the moment was cut short as Marco suddenly noticed one figure at the table who wasn't smiling and having a good time, instead staring over at the beanie-wearing girl with a grimace. Vigo. It was disconcerting, to say the least, spotting such a sour face in a crowd full of nothing but grins and it sent chills down Marco's spine. It seemed like Vigo was still very much holding a grudge against Janna and, by the looks of it, he wasn't letting it go anytime soon. Marco swallowed hard, making a mental note to keep an eye on Vigo for the remainder of their stay. Something about that guy just didn't bode well for the teen and he would hate it if the Impure ruined Janna's big day.
Marco was pulled out of his thoughts as a loud bang sounded from the front of the table, Nox slamming his cane down once to gain the attention of the others. Every head turned in that direction, all going dead silent as their eyes now locked onto the towering and commanding presence of their dark leader. "My dear children," he began, his tone light and loving but still carrying a weight and importance to it as it boomed around the room. "Today, on the 4th moonrise of the season, on the 184th year of our glorious Queen Eclipsa, we gather together to celebrate this most momentous of days, for after six long years, Janna Ordonia, our lost child has finally been returned to us and has been accepted back into her family once more." Nox made a point of looking Janna's way and many other Impure's did the same, the girl just sitting back in her chair with a casual lean, looking not at all flustered by the many pairs of eyes observing her. Jade put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and the two shared a quick look and a smile. "And we also gather to show our gratitude and thanks toward our guest and honorary brother, Marco," Nox added, now putting Marco in the spotlight and said boy gave the Impures a nervous smile, resisting the urge to hide his face in his hood. "...of the esteemed Diaz family," Marco heard Nox add and he quickly looked over at him in surprise, the Impure giving him a wink. The hooded teen grinned, sitting up just a little bit taller in his seat.
Nox returned his focus to the rest of the room, raising a glass of some sort of red liquid in the air as he finished his speech saying, "Now let us raise our glass and toast these two for the end of their journey home. May they forever be under the watchful eye of our Dark Mother Eclipsa!"
The other Impures let out a united cheer, raising their glasses before downing their drinks in thirsty gulps. Marco picked up his own glass, slowly bringing it to his lips, still slightly worried about it being poisoned, but stopped as something moved inside his cup. The teen's eyes widened as he realized it was a fish, only it was made of just bones. He let out a small squeak of surprise, before hastily setting the cup back down. An old Impure woman next to him looked down at the cup before asking, "You gonna drink that?"
"Uhh, no I'm good," Marco said, trying to fight back the wave of nausea he felt. "It's, um... got something... swimming in it."
The Impure raised an eyebrow, leaning forward so she was peering into the glass and after a couple of seconds, the skeleton fish resurfaced before vanishing again a second later. "Ahh, that's just Henry," the woman said, chuckling softly to herself. "Don't mind him, he does this kind of thing all the time." The Impure started to stand, telling him pleasantly, "Here let me get you another drink-"
"No!" Marco screamed, before realizing his mistake, clearing his throat before saying a much more polite tone, "Um, no thank you, I'm not thirsty."
The woman shrugged, before taking her seat again. "Suit yourself."
Marco let out a silent breath of relief, glad he didn't have to drink whatever strange liquid had skeleton fish regularly swimming in it. Suddenly, Nox called from the front of the table, "Now then, let the feast begin!" the Impure gesturing over to the meal that was being brought in. Marco turned in his chair, his mouth already beginning to water as he imagined whatever delicious meal he was about to receive, his growling stomach reminding him he hadn't eaten since breakfast. But that was when Marco's nausea returned tenfold as he stared disgusted and startled at the enormous spider being carried in on a large tray, the creature laying upside down on its back, clearly dead and cooked. Marco swallowed hard as the insect was set down on the table in front of him, trying to resist the urge to throw up. "A-A spider?" Marco whispered softly to himself, his face turning green.
"Oh my, this is a special occasion, we almost never get such a delicious meal. Spiders very rarely wander into these tunnels, you see," the older lady told him.
Marco watched wearily as a plate was set down in front of him, trying not to process the large, steaming spider leg now sitting in front of him. "Ooohh and you even got a leg," the woman gasped in delight. "Aren't you the lucky one?"
The hooded teen smiled nervously, muttering softly, "Yep, that's me alright." Marco looked up at Janna for help but saw her devouring her meal without a second thought, Jade doing the same, both completely unaffected by the disgusting food in front of them. The other Impures seemed to feel the same, as everyone but Marco was enjoying the delicious meal in front of them. The hooded teen looked around in a panic for a way out of this. He didn't want to be rude but he wasn't sure his stomach could handle eating a spider. He had some protein bars and snacks still in his backpack but that was back in the guest room at Jade's house, right now this was his only option for food.
Suddenly, the boy heard squeaking at his feet and he looked down to see a group of rats, waving to him, their eyes begging for food as their paws pointed hungrily at their mouths. Marco did a quick look around to make sure nobody was looking before maneuvering his plate over to the edge of the table, making it tip and sending the spider leg plummeting to the floor. The rats started to let out excited squeaks, when Marco put a finger to his lips signaling them to be quiet and they nodded, before running away into the shadows with their meal.
Janna, meanwhile, was just finishing the last bite of her food, slamming her fork down and shouting out in victory, "Ha, I win! Still the fastest eater here!" She gave a frowning Impure boy next to her a smirk, holding out her hand as she demanded, "Now pay up!"
The boy let out a groan before pulling out a small wad of cash and handing it to her, muttering angrily, "Knew I should've challenged someone else."
"Yeah, yeah, quit your whining, you lost fair and square," Janna told him while counting the money in her hands.
From next to her, Jade chuckled. "You haven't changed at all, Janna," the woman said, her eyes glowing brightly as she gazed lovingly at her daughter.
"Yeah, well, why change perfection," Janna replied, shrugging as she pocketed her earnings.
"True." Jade paused, before adding softly, "This is nice."
"Yeah, it is," Janna admitted honestly.
"I would love it... if this didn't have to be the last time," Jade said in a hinting tone.
Janna didn't reply, her gaze instinctively turning to her friend, watching as the boy desperately tried to keep an older woman from putting refills of baked insect on his plate, doing his best to sound respectful as he declined her offer, moving his plate out of reach.
Jade followed her daughter's gaze, before saying, "I know it'll be hard for you, being separated from him and your friends, but we're your family, Janna, your people. You belong here, with us." She gently placed a hand on top of Janna's. "At least, consider it. I just want a chance to make things up to you and... I can't do that if you go."
Finally, Janna let out a long sigh before giving her answer, "Yeah, okay, you win. I'll stay."
"Really? Oh, Janna, that's incredible!" Jade squealed in joy, giving her daughter a tight hug.
But Janna didn't even react to this, her eyes never leaving the form of her hooded friend. She swallowed the lump tight in her throat, as she replied in a barely audible tone, "Just give me a little time... to break it to Marco."
Bet you guys didn't see that coming, did you? ;) Haha, thanks for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun creating the world of the Impures and getting to do a chapter revolving around Janna, one of my favs in this story. Sorry for not giving you guys very much Starco but don't worry I'll try to have more of that soon enough. It was interesting to get to explore a different side of Janna in this one, seeing her vulnerable and unsure when we've all only ever known her to be confident and cocky. And I'll definitely go more into her reasons for wanting staying in the next one, in case anyone was unsure about this decision.
Also Eclipsa. I've had so many questions about her since I started this story but I had to keep it intentionally vague for this reveal. I did have to change some things from what I originally had planned for her reveal since her introduction was still pretty new in the series and her personality wasn't fleshed out yet, when I came up with this twist. Still I hope you liked this and I do plan on doing more with her in the future. ;)
Stay awesome everyone, and I'll see you whenever I finish part 2!
Gamelover41592- Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth, my friend. Heinous is making her next move, hopefully the others will be ready for it.
Bedrock Armor- Ohhh that makes sense! No wonder I hate spicy food so much my brain is probably freaking out going "What are you doing? Are you trying to kill us?!" Ha, so that means that technically Babs' ability to tolerate it is basically just a loophole of our power! *gasp* Does that mean she's immune to fire! *Babs juggling lit torches around* Babs: Yep, now for my next trick, watch me swallow one!
Me: NO!
Hahaha, me too, the only reason I know that weird Mortal Combat fact is because Jontron (y'know the Youtuber) made a reference to it one time and my brain likes to remember the weirdest things. As for the twins, yeah they are surprisingly doing okay... other than all the doll head's they keep ripping off, Lily is really concerned, haha. Maybe it's just because I was super sheltered and frightened as a kid but I don't think I would have handled that okay. I mean I was traumatized by "Dragon Tales"! You don't get more paranoid that that.
Wellll actually that was more of a reference to Uncle Lump from the Star vs episode "Game of Flags". Star mentioned he got his body cut off and then you see him later with his head attached to a horse's body. Haha, see what I mean about remembering the weirdest things. But yeah, that does sound like something Grunkle Stan would try and pass off as an attraction. Let's just hope he doesn't make Dipper wear any embarrassing costumes while he's promoting it. XD
Same. Why must this accursed beast attack us when we are most vulnerable?! I honestly couldn't tell you, for whatever reason procrastination can be one of the hardest struggles any writer will face. If I knew how to beat it completely I would tell you but I fall easily under its influence. It sucks.
Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to say the least. I'm looking forward to getting there but I do have some side stuff I want to write first. The confrontation is definitely going to be intense though and Star will most definitely not react well to it and it will be nice to see Marco doing the encouraging this time around. Star will definitely need it.
Viceversa96- Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed! Aww I'm glad I could trigger so many emotions in you, that's really what I wanted from the chapter, especially the ending. The father-son was pretty emotional! I love writing Buff Dad so much and I want their connection to feel real and strong. Their moments always bring a tear to my eye writing them. Haha, thanks, I tried! Yeah, I put in as many as I could because Starco is literally the best thing in the universe and beyond but sometimes I have to focus away from it in favor of story. So I do my best to make the moments they do have as satisfying as I possibly can! Unfortunately, not as much Starco in this chapter either (and like none in the next one) but I have plans for a pretty fluffy Starco one after that to help everyone cope.
Monkey lover 911- Aww you are so welcome! Well she will definitely be getting her robots back and an army of them is going to be enough to deal with, but I can't say about the princesses just yet without spoiling. More enemies? Probably. I'm not too sure every single one is gonna be making an appearance but I'll do my best, so long as it fits in well. If I can think of any, haha! Star vs did have a lot of food stuff didn't they? I love making as many references to the original show as I can so I will definitely try and put more in! Aww, you are so sweet! Stay awesome yourself, friend!
Sugar- Haha, thanks! The Jackie and Higgs moment was probably my favorite part in the chapter to be honest, it was great to explore vulnerable sides to both of them and see them bond over both losing a parent. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going for with Higgs, she wanted so badly to be like her mother that she put her on a pedestal of sorts and it made it so that she could never live up to her. However, she needed to realize her strengths and stop comparing herself to her mother.
I wanted Babs to reform in the end, mostly so that Star had her own spy! And it just made sense to me, Babs wasn't all bad, she just works for whoever is willing to pay but she grows to care for Star and Marco after they show her kindness, something she hasn't really seen before. Also Babs and Ludo? Hahaha, that would be quite the ship! Not gonna lie, even if this was just a funny idea, you're making me kinda want to ship it! They would definitely be a unique pairing! Hahaha, I also loved your little scene, too perfect! XD I also love that Marco thinks it's cute, don't think anyone else would agree, though.
*Ludo and Babs sitting at a picnic with each other staring flirtingly at one another*
Marco: You gotta admit, Higgs, they are pretty cute!
Higgs: Nope, still gross.
Janna: *taking picture* Ha, I am so blackmailing them with this later.
Yeah, I wanted to give a different interpretation of Heinous for this one, I never really found her all that intimidating in the show even when she was clearly trying to be, I'm not sure why. Maybe Toffee just so easily overshadowed her in terms of menace but Heinous was not really my favorite villain in the show. So I figured giving her a more menacing feel would do wonders for her, especially since she is following up Toffee for this story. I almost ruined it though, the first time I wrote the scene I had her simply frighten Rasticore by threatening him which didn't make sense, so I rewrote it and made it where she is controlling him, not that he's afraid of her. I'm glad you liked the change, I wanted them to be more business associates rather than dating.
Finally, I'm glad you liked the action scenes better, I like the result much better than the previous chapter, too! Thanks for the advice!
DC the cat- Haha, yeah well you know me love blending these two things together! Actually the Babs stuff was going to be a lot shorter of a chapter but I just kept adding on to it and I'm really happy with the result. Thanks! It was interesting getting to explore a more vulnerable side to Higgs and I'm glad to have given her some growth for the story. Yeah she does, Higgs kinda thinks too highly of her mother putting her on a pedestal and making it so that none of her own actions could ever compare. Even if her mom was talented and high ranking that doesn't mean she was flawless, but Higgs was just unable to see that. Thankfully Jackie snapped her out of it. Heck yeah, Warrior the Klingon cat! That's my new headcannon, haha! Oh actually I have! Those were super popular for a while, sadly though, I got halfway through the first one and gave up. It was too complicated for my young mind to get and so I moved on to other books. It's a shame since now I think I would have enjoyed it had I kept reading.
Haha, how'd you know? Good guess. ;) I've been watching Steven Universe during Futures final run and so I've had so many quotes stuck in my head from that show. Marco in this story actually kinda reminds me of Steven, actually, and sometimes I wonder how much I unintentionally based him off of him. Also I really want Marco to say my favorite line from that show: "I guess I'm just too manly to cry." "Just this morning you were crying about snakes." "They don't have any arms." I don't know where, but I'm going to sneak that in. XD
Well it was a good guess, I made sure in part 1 to not hint at Babs redemption cause I wanted it to be surprise for part 2. But yeah, I'm glad she's Star's ally now, too! Thanks, that's totally what I was going for! I like the idea of a Trait that works at a cost, but yeah maybe Babs should try eating somewhere else, not that anyone could ever get her too. Oh yeah that's really neat. I didn't know that but that's really cool. Also yeah, she's immune to caffeine too. Which means she can literally fall asleep mid-cup of espresso, haha. Yeah, Heinous is done sitting around, now she's going to get her robot army back and then sit around and wait for the right moment to strike, haha. XD Seriously though, with an army she will be much more of a threat than before, that's for sure. Me and Star: They aren't as dangerous as they sound!
Well it was really helpful since I didn't know the name beforehand and I was able to put it in to this chapter. Also that's cool, my uncle has done some graphic design stuff in the past! Oh man, I have been waiting for this chapter for so long now... I really hope you enjoy it! She will, she's just some stuff to work through first, after all, she needs some character growth just like all the others. Oh yeah that was a fun idea but one I just don't have time to write. Basically Marco is a knight who fought in the Monster War and Tom is his squire, who he saved during the war. He runs into Star who steals the wand from a museum and from there is charged with bringing her to justice. She also works with a group of thieves being Pony, Kelly, Heckapoo, and of course Janna. Marco slowly begins falling for Star as he realizes she isn't evil but rather her people have been mistreated since magic is illegal in this world. The villain is the leader of the knights who plans on taking the popular and well loved Marco, killing him and framing the magic users, thus setting off another war. Haha, yeah I had this way too thought out, maybe I'll write it someday who knows. Oh good I'm glad that's a real thing, in that case if I ever do write my own original story, I'm definitely doing it as a web novel! Also might have to check out The Martian.
Your welcome. Also that's fine, just let me know if you do! Oh okay, didn't know any of this stuff, not familiar with the British system at all, but it's really cool to know that now! I will have to look up both of those up especially the second one, I love learning new things about writing and every little bit helps me get better! Also Avatar is one of my favorite shows ever, so definitely going to enjoy that!
Good question! Well basically they are separate from the government, since there job is to council over the entire multiverse. But they only concern themselves with magical problems and have the authority to do whatever is necessary to preserve it and since Mewni has some of the most powerful magic in any dimension they are high on their list to watch over. Queen Moon kept them out of the war because she convinced them that the Monsters were of no risk to Mewni's magic so therefor they had no reason to interfere. But now that they had allied themselves with them the council is afraid the Monsters will upset the balance of Mewni and more importantly its magic. Hope that answers your question.
Oh good, I'm glad you liked it! It was nice to write just a sappy holiday tale! The stump stuff was directly inspired by our talk and I wanted to make sure you had read it since I went more in depth there than my original answer. Also yeah, good thing otherwise Star would have just found Marco and Jackie's skeletons hugging each other the day after. Thanks you, I take my cute fluff very seriously! XD
Oh that's cool, I feel the same about Star vs. I'm not crazy obsessed with it, even if it is my favorite show but I definitely like it more than anyone else in my fam. If you did do cosplay, who would you cosplay as? Haha, yeah they're cool like that! Oh I'm so glad I think it's sad seeing such a flawed rivalry. Star Trek and Star Wars are both awesome, let me enjoy both! Haha, that is so good that The Expanse fans care about it so much! It is always incredible to see fans uniting together like that to do something good for something they love! And man the creativity they put in, they sound like an awesome bunch! I can think of very few shows that could have a fanbase as awesome as that! And I'm glad it payed off! Yay, they saved The Expanse. Okay now I am gonna have to check out this show!
Me too, I think it's a lot healthier that way, since I tended to get pretty obsessive when I was younger. You probably have he has a pretty large reach and a pretty large fanbase himself. Well I'm glad I got you to read it! It was just such a cute series I had to spread the word about it, a little bit. Haha, I figured it was, but hey both are still enjoyable series that we can love for different reasons, right? ;) I'm just glad the genre is still getting new and creative ideas added to it, instead of dying out. It would be such a waste.
Finally, happy all these holidays back at you (sorry I'm tired) as well as Easter and April Fool's. See you next time, friend!
RizkyBiznoose- Well thank you for the compliment, I do my best with this story. But yeah, you are right, I'm not gonna make up some excuse or whatever this is a plothole. It doesn't make sense for Marco's character to doing something that risky, I did my best to write around it but in the end it was a bad idea from the start. The problem was I had that whole chapter already planned out in advance so when I got to it I didn't realize how flawed it was. I just wanted to see Tom and Marco cheesily acting together and didn't think how OOC it was for Marco to put Monsters in a negative light. My bad. I'm not a perfect writer, I'm going to make mistakes but I hope to learn from this one and avoid such a flawed plotline again. Still thank you for the concern and for the comment, things like this help me become a better writer in the long run.
LockAndKey989- ch. 23-Yep, they definitely are in fact, the worst. Oh Mina, um honestly I'm not sure if she is going to be making an appearance or not. I had plans to do more of a side chapter with her but not much else. I didn't expect her to become so important in later seasons, so it's hard for me to write a realist way of bringing her into the story.
ch. 34- Thank you. He was a fun inclusion to put in. ;)
Lord of the Storm- Oh hi, nice to meet you, officially! Glad you did, I love getting to meet my readers! Awww thank you so much! It means a lot to know my hard work isn't going to waste! I have no plans to stop until its done, so you don't have to worry about that! Hehe thank you, I pride myself on my Starco moments and making them as heart meltingly adorable as I can! I love AU stories and I had so much fun crafting the world of Mewni and the plot! Well wait no longer, cause the new one is out! Enjoy friend! And also have a hug, I love giving those out to new reviews! *Hugs!*
Mr. Spinner- Well thanks so much! I try my best to incorporate the world of Star vs into this one, changing things around just enough so they are all unique and different but still noticeably from the source! Plus, making it original means I can do pretty much whatever I want with the plot, which is endless fun! So many of the homages were actually inspired a lot from another author's work "EVAunit42" he was my main source of inspiration for this story and I loved the little subtle references he would make to the show, while blending characters perfectly into AU worlds. Thanks for the review!
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