Astro's eyes shot open, and he let out a gasp as he sat up and quickly took in his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was… meeting with the Ten, Titania showing up, trying to get the souls, and then… pain. Unforgiving, agonizing, pain. He remembered going through the portal, but things go fuzzy after that. He couldn't imagine anything good happened since he was now in the infirmary.

He tried to get up from his bed, but a hand landed on his shoulder and pushed him back down. "No, you stay there and rest. After what happened to you, you need to take some time to rest." Astro glanced up and saw Meteora leaning over him, a stern look on her face. He opened his mouth to speak, but she glared. "Don't even try it runt."

The boy stared back at her for a moment, and then sighed. Meteora was like a big sister to him. She'd been one of the few people who knew his secret as a kid, and he always confided in her. For a long time his 'big sis-sis' had been the only person he really felt could understand him. Given her own father's history and her half-breed heritage.

And he had learned a long time ago there was little point in arguing with her.

"Are the souls okay?" he asked.

Meteora raised an eyebrow at him. He'd just barely escaped the Ten, and had a heart torn out of him, but the first thing out of his mouth was about the souls. "They're fine. But… they couldn't be put back into the bodies. There's some type of magical interference in the way. Corona and my mom are working stabilizing both them and the bodies at least. As long as they stay near each other, they should be fine."

Astro felt both relief and frustration. He had been hoping that the curse they'd used had only been put on the Spiderbite's souls, but it looked like his reign as King was going to be a bit longer than planned. But he felt some relief that Corona had managed to find a way to keep them preserved. He knew what happened when body and soul were separated for too long. "What about Tom and Uran?" he asked.

"Still trapped on those crystals. Titania tried to break them out but… well, she isaid she could by force, but it might do more harm than good. As of now the only way to safely free them is by getting whoever sealed them to remove it." Either that or probably killing them, but neither seemed like a very likely option right now.

Astro sighed once more. So he could count them out on helping too. "Do you know if the Ten are showing signs of-"

"You're not even going to ask about what happened to you? You're not even slightly worried about why you're in the infirmary?" she asked, cutting him off. She appreciated that he was worried about the situation. She understood it. But the lack of concern he seemed to have for himself was off putting to her.

Astro looked towards her. "Well, I'm still alive so I assume I'm fine…"

Meteora flicked his forehead. "You had two vital organs pressing against each other, that's not fine. You had to be in serious pain. Why didn't you say anything?" she asked standing up. "What possessed you to go through with this plan while this was happening to you? What if you had dropped before Titania had gotten to you? What then?"

Astro frowned. "I didn't have time to worry about that. It was like my sister said, I was the only one who could get close enough to them to do this. I had to-"

"The Ten gave us three days. You could have taken at least one to figure out what was wrong with you," she said shaking her head. "You know your girlfriend is pissed as you. Said she doesn't understand why you do this. Why you always have to take the most reckless route possible. Said you never take a single moment to consider the consequences of things."

Astro winced. Maria being mad at him for recklessness was nothing new, but… that didn't make it any easier to deal with. Sometimes he knew she was right. That he was being rash and jumping in without thinking. Other times it was just unavoidable.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Look who I'm fighting against. How else am I supposed to win without taking any risk?"

He knew Maria and the others were worried about him, but he couldn't afford to slow down. The kingdoms were relying on him, the tribes were relying on him. All of mewni was relying on him right now. If he lost then every single thing he, his family, and his comrades worked for, was all going to go up in flames.

Meteora looked exhausted. "I want you to rely on us," she said, irritated. She pointed towards the door. "There's two kingdoms worth of people out there who pledged loyalty to you. Every last one of them is willing to help. Being king does not mean taking on every burden by yourself. You're a leader. You're not a one man army."

"But the Ten are-"

"They're strong, yes. Stronger than you. I understand that. But that's all the more reason to ask for help," Meteora argued. "You're always so obsessed with keeping everyone else out of danger. It's a terrible feeling, I know. But it's a feeling you force on everyone else when you go off and do things like this. Do you have any idea how terrified I was? I almost watched my little brother die out there. Don't you know how that feels?"

Astro felt his hearts sink when he looked at her expression. He remembered how terrified he always felt when Nia or Visas were in danger, and he knew Meterora and Sting had no doubt felt the same way.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I… I should have said something. I should have asked for help. But I'm just… I don't want to risk losing anybody else." Maybe it was stupid or selfish, but he felt desperate. He felt like he had to do as much as he could as quickly as he could if he was going to stop them.

"Well, this might come as a surprise to you, but we don't want to risk losing you either," she said crossing her arms. "And if the person you're talking about losing is your father… I actually have some good news for you."

Astro looked up at her confused. "What?"

"We need to talk about some things…"

Corona was exhausted.

Stabilizing the souls along with the bodies had been a daunting task, even with Eclipsa's help. Not only had the process itself been tricky to figure out, but it required a lot of magic to perform, especially with so many people. Both she and Eclipsa had a lot of magic, even among the Butterfly family. But still, it had taken a lot out of them. One or two might have been manageable, but the entire court?

They had thought about asking Nia… or rather Titania, for help. But she was out in the courtyard keeping an eye out for the Ten in case they attacked. They had decided that was more important since they would undoubtedly need her strength, and if she had to leave during the process of stabilizing the souls it would set them back quite a bit. And bringing others in might have been risky. This was a very delicate process after all.

"You look tired…"

Corona looked up from her seat and saw Morel approaching. "I'm fine. I just need a few minutes to catch my breath," she said trying to reassure him.

He hummed and then sat down next to her. "You need more than a few minutes. Take a break. It's not like we have any heavily injured yet. Lenora can run things without you holding her hand for an hour." He knew if he didn't stop her, she'd end up overworking herself. That seemed to be a trait she and Astro shared.

Corona looked like she wanted to argue, but… she honestly felt too tired to. She was always advising her patients to be careful and take it easy, and sometimes she needed a reminder to do the same. But there was something Morel said that bugged her. "Yet…" she muttered. "We don't have any heavily injured 'yet'. But we will," she said.

Morel just kept staring forward. "...yeah, we will." There was no way the Ten would take this lying down. They had told everyone their terms, and Astro made it very clear they weren't going to accept them. A battle was coming, and given who they were fighting he expected casualties.

"Do you think he'd help?"

Morel looked towards her surprise. "Who?"

Corona frowned at him. "You know who I'm talking about. If you went to him and asked, do you think he would help you?" she asked.

Morel sighed and hung his head. "No, there's no way. He knows about the legend of the Ten and there's no way he'd stand against him. He's gonna sit it out and be neutral, like always," he said. "I could go to him on my knees and he still wouldn't even consider it. My father is a stubborn cold hearted piece of shit."

His father was one of the last living titans in mewni. Having him on their side would have been a great asset. But he had no love for the kingdom, and even if he did, his primary goal had always been survival. Keeping them alive and making sure the Incubus race continued on. The chances of that happening going against the Ten would be little to none. Not odds he was willing to gamble on.

Corona gave him a sympathetic look. "Well, at the very least he could give them back to you then. He knows you're going against them. He should want you to have a fighting chance," she reasoned. She knew exactly why Morel had been able to pick up on what was happening to Astro. When it came to hearts, he had the most experience having them removed and replaced.

"He's not gonna risk it…" Morel said, shaking his head.

"Talk to him. This is important."

"I can't. You don't know him. The guy isn't going to listen to me. Or anyone. He thinks just because he lived a couple hundred years he knows everything."

Corona sighed. "You don't even think it's worth trying? There's a lot on the line here Morel. If there's even the slightest chance we can up our odds…"

Morel bit the inside of his cheek. He knew the stakes here. He knew the Ten was going to be their toughest battle yet. But going to his father was just… not an appealing idea. It might have seemed petty, but even if he did try it, the chances of his dad going along with it were pretty much zero. "I… I don't want to leave here. In case something happens."

Corona gave him a sympathetic look. "Alright then." She knew he was just trying to avoid the real issue, but she wasn't going to force him. If he felt this strongly about it then there was no point in trying to press the issue. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Would you mind terribly if I borrowed your shoulder for a bit…?"

Morel sighed and wrapped an arm around her. "Sure…" He knew she wasn't letting up just because she was tired. She just didn't want to grill him about it. Which somehow made him feel even worse than if she had. He was being a baby, he knew it. But he couldn't bring himself to go crawling back to his old man…

Hody had been annoyed that they had decided to wait for Astro to wake instead of planning their next move. As if they couldn't prepare a proper plan of attack without him there. It was pathetic. But it did present him with an opportunity he'd been looking for. And that was checking up on a certain fire nymph.

He'd found a secluded place and pulled out his mirror, waiting anxiously as it rang. He understood why Topaz needed to head back home. She'd wanted to check on her people after they'd gotten word that one of the Ten had met up with their tribe. But with him not there to curb her recklessness, he was concerned she'd get in over her head.

Thankfully the Ten had gathered back together and weren't there when she came, but he still figured he might as well check with her to make sure she wasn't going to try to go after them or something. "Hello?" Topaz voice answer, looking through the mirror that had been installed in her home.

He let out a sigh, and then scowled. "What took you so long to answer, woman?"

Topaz narrowed her eyes. "Well excuse the hell out of me for being busy. There's a lot going on over here," she said looking over her shoulder. "I'm gonna guess it's pretty damn crazy up there on the surface too."

"It's far crazier than you could imagine. They actually… they made that fool Asterossa king," he said, still sounding disgusted by the words. He still couldn't believe it. It was like a nightmare he couldn't take up from.

"Shit, are you serious?!" Topaz asked. "Wait, that happened?! I thought Nia-!"

"She and her mother decided it would be best to hand control over to him for some god forsaken reason," he said. "He managed to recover the souls of the court, but he's recovering. Apparently there was some nonsense involving his hearts. I'm not entirely sure about the details, but everyone insists we wait until he's back on his feet."

Topaz whistled. There was definitely more she needed to be filled in on, but… man, that sounded insane. "Well, my dad is in a meeting with the elders deciding what we should do about what happened. A lot of people aren't happy one of the Ten tread on the Great Volcano. Not to mention she injured a bunch of our best warriors too. There's some calls for revenge going on."

Hody grunted. "Well, if you're planning on going after them I might as well advise coming up here. Somehow the bastard managed to sway the monster tribes to our cause. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to add your number to our ranks," he explained.

Topaz looked hesitant. "That might be a tough ass sale for a lot of people. You know how stubborn some people in my tribe are…" Given what they were supposed to be up against though, they might not have had a choice. If one of those guys could take Scorch and his whole gang out, she knew they wouldn't stand a chance against all Ten of them.

Working with the kingdoms, especially the Lucitors, was something some would rather die than resort to. But they had an even more dangerous common enemy now, so maybe that would be enough for them to set it aside. At least for a while anyway.

Hody was about to speak again, but then noticed something from the corner of his eye. He jumped when he saw Puff looming over him. The goliath let out a breath before reaching towards him. Hody instinctively lifted his arm to defend himself, and Puff grabbed it and yanked it upwards before taking the mirror from his hand.

He looked into it at Topaz. "You in the Underworld?"

Topaz obviously looked confused as to why she was now looking at Puff. And a bit more surprised that he seemed to want to talk to her for whatever reason. "What the-?! Give me that back you oaf!" Hody said, trying to grab his mirror back. Puff put a hand on his face and then pushed him back.

"Uh… yeah…" Topaz said. "Why?"

Hody growled and leapt up to snatch his mirror back, but Puff once again shoved him aside. "There's a village of outcasts about ten miles west from yours. A smith named Ashley works there. Get her and her brother and take them to the lava falls. I'll meet you there," he instructed.

Topaz tilted her head, looking confused. For one, she had never heard him talk this much. Like ever. And two, how the heck did he knew where the outcast village was? And why did he want her to bring them to the lava falls? How was he going to meet them there. There were a bunch of questions she should have asked.

But the first one that came to mind was, "Why should I?"

Puff growled. "Because I said so…"

"Try again."

"Because I upgraded your weapon…"

"I didn't ask you to do that."

Puff looked annoyed, and then reached out and grabbed Hody by the face. The king grunted and struggled to pry his hand off. "Because I'll pop his fucking head like a balloon if you don't…" he said turning back to Topaz.

She winced. "Damn man, calm down," she said. He really was serious about this. "Is this chick like some honey on the side you're with or-"

"Just go get them," Puff said, dropping Hody.

Hody gasped for air as Puff turned and began walking off, throwing his mirror over his shoulder. He reached out and managed to catch it, glaring after the captain. "What in the hell is wrong with him?" he asked. Was everyone around here just going crazy?

"No damn clue. But I better head out and go get those two. Somebody should warn the outcast villages anyway." She knew a lot of them probably had no idea what was going on, and if a battle did go down they might get caught in the crossfire. "I'll check in and let you know what's up later big boy."

"I'll do the same… and Topaz, make sure to be careful…"

"Aw, you worried about me big boy?"

"I'm worried you'll land yourself into trouble."

Titania stood in the courtyard, keeping her eye out for any signs of powerful magic headed their way. With Asterossa down for the moment, it fell to her to defend them if the Ten came to attack. Not that it wouldn't fall to her anyway. Honestly, if they weren't cloaking their magic then she'd fly right to them and take them down single handedly.

"Nia?"

The blonde looked over her shoulder and saw River approaching. "It's Titania," she said, looking back off into the distance. It was no wonder she didn't sense him. River had almost no magical power to speak of.

The elderly man hummed. "Ah, I see. You're going through one of those phases where you go by your full name. Alright then Titania, how are you?" he asked. "I've been so busy running around trying to figure out just what's going on I didn't get a chance to really talk to check on you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be checking on Asterossa?"

River chuckled. "Oh, there's no need to worry about that lad. He's a tough one. Having one or two hearts ripped out won't phase him," he said walking next to her.

Titania scoffed. "I'm far tougher than he is, so your concern is misplaced. I wasn't injured in the slightest," she pointed out. River didn't seem to quite understand the difference between 'Nia' and 'Titania'. The old man seemed to just write it off as a phase or something, and Nia eventually gave up trying to explain it to him.

It hadn't really mattered much anyway. "Oh, I know. But I was just worried you were standing out here all by yourself. I thought maybe you'd want someone to keep watch along with you. Cover your back," he said, taking out his axe and throwing it over his shoulder.

Titania looked towards him once more. Did he seriously think she needed someone to watch her back? "And why exactly would you want to do that?" she asked. Everyone else had kept their distance. They weren't very familiar with Titania, and she could tell some were rather intimidated by her. She couldn't blame them of course. If she wasn't her, she'd be intimidated too.

"Well, because you're my granddaughter of course!" River said happily. "And I thought maybe you'd like the company. I feel like things will be rather busy with… you know, a war approaching and whatnot. And perhaps we could have a little grandfather and granddaughter time before it gets hectic."

Titania blanked for a moment. Was he being serious right now. She knew Nia was close to River, very close. So she didn't understand how he somehow got them confused. The two of them were night and day, and someone who knew her as well as he did should have been able to tell that. She tilted her head. "Do you really not know the difference between Nia and Titania?" she asked.

River looked at her genuinely confused. "I… I'm not quite sure I get you. Is there a difference when you use your nickname and full name? I suppose I went through something similar when I was your age. But you still seem like grandpa's little warrior to me," he said, smiling as he patted her on the head.

Being pat on the head like some child might have been a death sentence for anyone else. Titania wasn't someone to be placated or babied.

But instead of slapping his hand away or scowling at him, she found herself… blushing. She turned away from him and huffed. "You can stay and keep watch if you want. It doesn't make much difference to me," she said crossing her arms. River whooped and raised his arms.

"None shall pass!"

Titania stood and wondered how he could seriously not see a difference in his granddaughter. Was he senile, or was he acting oblivious?

"We're still the same person you know…" Nia's voice said. "Just like AJ said that one time. Remember? Everyone of my friends and family are yours too. And they still care about you. So you don't have to act like they're strangers."

Titania narrowed her eyes. "Don't lecture me…" she muttered under her breath. Nia just giggled, and River began to ramble on about something she was only half listening to.

Nia knew her other self may not have wanted to admit it, but she could tell was happy River had come here. They may not have shared the same attitude, but they shared everything else. Even the worry that people would look at them differently when she was like this.

But River being here reassured her that her friends and family still saw her as… well, her. And she was going to make sure to protect them all.

Maria had very mixed feelings about a lot of things right now. Most of it was made up of confusion and anger. The former was about this situation as a whole, and the latter was towards a certain king.

Astro was reckless. She knew this. She thought she had gotten used to it. But to her amazement he seemed intent on finding new ways to worry and make her panic. When she heard he was going to meet with the Ten, she had obviously been worried. Of all the battles and fights he'd been in, the threat of death had never been so present before.

And that threat can almost become a reality when he had dropped down from that portal and collapsed. With all the injuries he had gotten over the years, she had never seen him in that much pain before. He usually either shrugged it off, or made an effort to make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it really was.

But there was no mistaking just how much he was suffering, and it frightened her.

What frightened her even more was that this had happened after a simple meeting. A plan to get their parents' souls back. One that had been successful, but at a cost. What was going to happen when he actually stepped out onto the field to meet them in battle?

"Are you okay?"

Maria jumped and looked up from her seat to see Amber approaching her. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. I just… am thinking about some things. Nothing important," she said waving her hand. "And what about you? Are your injuries all properly healed up?"

Amber nodded. "I'm doing fine. It took a little longer than usual but I'm fully back on my feet," she said, taking a seat next to her. "I've been tracking to track down my mother. I have some questions for her. But she and the rest of the Commission seem conveniently busy," she explained.

She had no doubt they were trying to avoid facing Asterossa and the others. She wondered if it was just because they were being awkward, or if they had more secrets… well, she knew they had more secrets. She guessed it would be more accurate to say secrets relevant to this situation.

"Yes, I suppose there's a lot they need to get sorted out. But at least she's still up and about," Maria said, letting out a breath.

Amber frowned. Here she was complaining about her mother while King and Queen Kelpbottom were floating around without their souls. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Oh, no it's fine," Maria quickly assured. "Well I mean, it's not fine, but I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's just… There's a lot going on right now. A lot to think about. Our parents, the Ten, our reckless new ruler…"

Amber winced. "You're mad at him?"

"Just a bit," Maria said, narrowing her eyes. "He can be so reckless. So stubborn. How could he not have told us about what was going on? How could he go through with this plan while he was in so much pain? It's like he doesn't think about how we would feel if something happens to him."

Amber hummed. "Well… I kind of get it."

The waterfolk princess looked at her surprised. "What?"

Amber rubbed the back of her head. "It's not like I don't think he was being reckless. I do think someone needs to talk to him about that." She had no doubt that person would be Maria herself. "But I guess I'm saying… with him being in the position that he's in, I get why he's being that way. He's worried."

"He's always been worried," Maria argued. "But that doesn't excuse it."

"You're right, it doesn't," Amber clarified. "But it's just… when my dad came up with the plan to make me a princess, I was all for it. I wanted to do everything I could to help my people. But I also felt this huge weight on my shoulders. I knew that I had people helping me and everything, but I also know if I failed I'd let all of them down. And it was a scary thought."

"But you still let other people help you though," Maria said. "I just don't understand why he won't do the same. He can't do everything by himself. No matter how strong he is."

"And we're definitely going to have to remind him of that. But I guess what I'm saying is… he might just be scared," Amber said shrugging. "Chances are we're going to end up going to battle with the Ten, and if he fails then…"

Maria didn't need to hear the end of it. If he failed then it was over for all of them. Their friends, family, every mewman and monster who sided with them. Astro always did take his responsibilities seriously, and with that rattling around in his head he probably was more panicked than ever.

She sighed. "He really can be a fool sometimes," she said annoyed. "When I see him again I'm going to lecture him good. I'll get it through his thick skull that he needs to rely on us even if I have to literally beat it into him," she said, balling her fist up.

Amber let out a nervous chuckle. "You and Astro are good for eachother…" she said.

Despite how polite and sweet she could be, Maria could flip at the drop of a coin. She wondered if it was Astro's taste specifically, or perhaps a titan trait in general that drew him to go after such a strong willed woman.

A/N: Astro wakes up to a lecture, and just a little bit of good news in a crappy situation. I thought it would be cool to take a chapter to show what some of the others characters are up to. Set some more stuff up and show how they're all reacting to the situation. Hope you guys enjoyed! Next chapter things get... Sirius (I couldn't help myself.)