Ludo is in quite a pickle. He has no place to stay for the night.

Ludo: Seth?

Seth: Yes, Ludo?

Ludo: I don't think I should go back to Jade's house, not after what I told her... not after she possibly told her mother what I told her.

Seth: Hm, you're probably right. Even if Jade didn't kill you, Emerald might have if she found out. I'll tell you what, how'd you like to spend the night with good ol' Iggy?

Ludo: I'd love to hang out with Iggy some more! I still have so many questions for him.

Seth: Good. That guy loves questions. He sure loves to talk his head off too.

The two go up to Iggy's castle and Seth goes rattling on the door. Iggy has remembered to keep it closed after Seth and Ludo just walked in last time. Iggy opens the door for them.

Iggy: Ludo! Have you come to expand your knowledge once again?

Seth: My friend Ludo here needs a place to stay. Can he crash with you? I'll set up better arrangements for him tomorrow but it's kinda just a sudden thing. Is it alright with you?

Iggy: Oh man, um, I have to arrange some things, but I guess he can just rest on my thinking couch. I hope you don't mind the stains or the smell of cheese doodles, Ludo.

Ludo: I used to sleep on rocks. This is like 5 star accommodation to me. Plus, I like cheese doodle smell.

Seth: Alright. I'll leave you two nerds to bond. See ya tomorrow, Ludo.

Ludo: Later.

Iggy: Bye, Seth.

Ludo: So Iggy, what have you been working on lately?

Iggy: I've been messing around with this formula I've been developing for Seth to help him with his "skin issue".

Ludo: What kind of skin issue.

Iggy: I don't know if you've noticed this about Seth, but he doesn't look quite like other Septarians.

Ludo: You all look fairly different to me so, no, I didn't really notice.

Iggy: It's more-so about reversing the physical aging that has occurred to Seth's face.

Ludo: He does look kinda wrinkly.

Iggy: Still, not bad for being over 1000 years old.

Ludo: Holy cow! He's really that old?

Iggy: Yup. I'm only a bit over 450 myself.

Ludo: Iggy? How do Septarians age?

Iggy: For the first 20 or so years of our lives, our bodies mature at about the same rate as everyone else. We are laid as eggs by our mothers, as I'm fairly certain your species is as well, and we hatch. We go through relatively similar aging from an infant to toddler, child, preteen, teenager. We hit puberty at roughly 15, and by the time we're 20 years old, we've fully matured and our bodies just stop, well not ACTUALLY stop, at least not age according to what science believes over the average stubborn Septarian.

I've personally deduced nearly 200 years ago that we are not, in fact, immortal, but rather our bodies fully mature, and then the maturation into any further progression towards death is significantly halted to about 1/10th that of any other surviving creature of the average Mewnan lifespan. So in reality. While I am 450 years old, my body is roughly that of a 43 or 44 year old man. We Septarians also just age very gracefully. Seth had only started to show decline, well, right around 50 years ago. I'm actually quite astonished that even as a being over 1000 years old, that should have the body of a feeble 100 year old in Mewnan aging, yet he's still incredibly strong.

Ludo: How does he do it?

Iggy: You're not gonna believe it, but Seth does 500 push ups every single day.

Ludo: What? I can barely even do 5!

Iggy: He pushes himself to his physical limit every day, to the point where I seriously wonder how he hasn't had a heart attack. Just when I think I know everything there is to know about our species, Seth goes and further confounds me and slaps that science in the face with his sheer willpower.

Ludo: Well, doesn't science practically beg to be proven wrong?

Iggy: That it does Ludo.

Ludo continues to observe Iggy and question him, while Iggy answers his relentless questions until Ludo passes out on the cheesy smelling thinking couch. Iggy, unbelievably restless, pulls an all-nighter indulging in his science. Ludo awakens the next day to find that Iggy has not even gone to sleep and is currently having a bowl of cereal, still somehow wide awake both before and after Ludo had awakened.

Iggy: Hey Ludo, Seth had stopped by today and told me to tell you that whenever you're ready, you can head over to his place.

Ludo: Okay.

So Ludo departs from Iggy and heads right over to Seth's big, scary office. Seth is at his desk, hands in a finger pyramid, smiling at Ludo as he peers into the room. Seth's body is silhouetted against the fireplace, with the front of him basking in shadow and his amber eyes glowing in the dark. Ludo actually finds him pretty intimidating in that spot, yet, with a voice as smooth as butter and as calm as a lamb, he summons Ludo into the office.

Seth: Take a chair, Ludo.

Ludo climbs up on the chair.

Seth: So lets cut to the chase. How familiar would you say you are with magic, Ludo?

Ludo: Magic? Well, I know one spell. It took me a bit to learn it but Glossaryck showed me how to do it pretty well.

Seth: Really? Could you demonstrate to me right now, the spell you learned?

Ludo: I'm afraid I can't actually.

Seth: Why is that, Ludo?

Ludo: Last time I'd performed it, I had a wand. It was Toffee's creepy hand wand and it didn't even work right, but it was a wand.

Seth: So you performed the spell with a makeshift wand?

Ludo: I guess it's makeshift.

Seth: Certainly not anything official. Still, could you demonstrate it for me?

Ludo: I can't. I have no wand, unless you do.

Seth: Sorry, Ludo, I don't.

Ludo: Then I can't do magic.

Seth: Why not?

Ludo: No wand equals no magic, right?

Seth: ...

Ludo: Right?

Seth: Ludo... you didn't know? He never told you?

Ludo: Told me what?

Seth: You don't need a wand to use magic.

Ludo: What do you mean? All the queens use one. Star still uses hers.

Seth: So, you've never heard of, or witnessed any of them perform what is called a "dip down"?

Ludo: No. I never have.

Seth smiles at Ludo menacingly.

Seth: Ludo, what if I told you that you could perform magic without a wand, and all you had to do was learn how to dip down?

Ludo: Seth, how do you know this stuff?

Seth: Instead of telling you, I think it would be much more fun to show you.

Seth rises from his chair. He walks towards the fancy dragon head, pulling on the tongue. The fireplace widens and rises before Ludo, revealing a doorway. The fire spreads to the sides.

Seth: Follow me, Ludo, and be careful. Don't get burnt. Just walk down the center.

Ludo is nervous about walking through a fireplace, but he does, and he doesn't even get burnt. What is before him is a long, stone staircase, descending into a dark abyss. He follows Seth as close as he can as they walk into what looked like the pits of hell.

Seth: The next room is where your life changes, Ludo. Go on, open the door.

Ludo: Okay.

Ludo opens the door to find a rather large room made of stone. Before him is an altar with a massive black book.

Ludo: What is this place?

Seth: This is my special place. It's where I go to be alone. Incidentally though, I'm never actually alone in this room.

Ludo: What do you mean?

Seth: Ludo, I want you to go up on top of that altar, and open that big, black book.

Ludo climbs up on top of the altar, and he opens the book's massive front cover. Ludo is in shock and what is before him.

Ludo: ... Glossaryck? Is that you?

The Glossaryck before Ludo is not the same bright, blue man that Ludo has gotten to know well. This being looks like Glossaryck, but much more ghostly. He is a pale, grey-ish blue creature, corporeal with robes in tatters, cracked gems, vacant, soul-less eyes, and tortured and tired hands iron-bound in chains. This Glossaryck looks like he is filled with despair, like he has been punished by being forced to serve Seth for all those years.

Shadow: I am, and I am not. How you know me, I'm not sure. I certainly don't know you.

Ludo: Of course you know me, buddy. We've had so many adventures together. You taught me magic. Sometimes you show up in my mind.

Seth finds himself quite curious of the last statement.

Seth: What do you mean Glossaryck shows up in your mind?

Ludo: It's weird, sometimes when I sleep, I dream about Glossaryck.

Seth: Hmmm. Well, Ludo, like he said. It both is, and isn't Glossaryck that stands before you.

Ludo: Who are you, sir?

Shadow: I am the Shadow of Glossaryck. We were split, many years ago. Glossaryck's soul was divided. His body stayed in the original Book of Spells, and I... I stayed here.

Ludo: Seth? You duplicated the book of spells?

Seth reveals a dragon-like fanged grin at Ludo.

Seth: Yes Ludo. I divided the group of spells.

Ludo: How?

Seth: With magic.

Ludo: You... you know magic?

Seth: Ludo, I have MASTERED magic.

Ludo: How long have you been doing this?

Seth: For the last 100 years. I believe it was the reign of Rhina Butterfly, or could be Celena. It's a bit fuzzy, but I remember sending a thief to go take it for me.

Ludo: How have the people of Septarsis not find out that you were practicing magic?

Seth: It all took place down here, in this room where I practice. There are times, however, where this room would simply not be suitable for practicing magic, and that, is when I used these.

Seth pulls from his pocket a pair of inter-dimensional scissors.

Ludo: Is that the same pair that you took off of Solaria's body?

Seth: I see Igginaus has informed you of our exciting past. Why yes, these are those very same scissors. You see, I was able to get Iggy to restore the scissors' magic by soaking them in liquid magic, where they absorbed the properties and were granted the ability to open portals again.

Ludo: And Hekapoo hasn't found out?

Seth: She must have really dropped the ball over the years because for some reason, she hasn't. Then again, she also hasn't used her authority to lay the smack down on you for attempting to steal Star Butterfly's wand either.

Ludo: You know what? You're right, that is strange. So, how do you do magic without a wand?

Seth: Take it away, Shadow.

Shadow: In order to perform wandless magic, one must dip-down.

Ludo: What does it mean to dip down?

Shadow: In order to dip down, you must_

Seth: You know what Shadow, I'll take this one.

Shadow: I don't think that's such a good idea.

Seth: I insist. Look how well I turned out.

Shadow: It was... incredible. I never saw anything like it.

Ludo: What happened?

Shadow: His story begins like this

100 years ago, Seth had obtained the Book of Spells. He opened the massive book before him, laying inside was a small blue man with purple diamond-shaped eyes, wearing a yellow robe. He yawns, stretching and scratching his bottom.

Glossaryck: Hey, what gives? It's 4 in the morning.

Seth: Who are you?

Glossaryck: The name's Glossaryck. I am Glossaryck of Terms, and I am the master of the Book of Spells.

Seth: So the Butterflies, they learn all that magic from you?

Glossaryck: That is correct.

Seth: You WILL teach me magic!

Glossaryck: Okay.

Seth: Really? Okay? No resistance whatsoever?

Glossaryck: Oh, you must be confused. You see, I have no morality alignment. I am not sworn to any sort of alignment solely with the Butterfly family. My job is to teach magic to whoever possesses this here book.

Seth: I see. So, I have several questions. First off, what will I need to practice magic?

Glossaryck: Well, I see that you possess the royal Butterfly wand, and what a scary looking image you've born onto it.

Glossaryck notices how the wand has transformed into a rod of gold with a weaving and interlocking snake spiraling around a navy blue shaft leading up to a star with emboldened Septarian written around it.

Glossaryck: Other than that, merely a will to learn and to listen.

Seth: So it's that easy, huh?

Glossaryck: Learning magic is only as easy as the student is willing to learn it.

Seth: Alright. I have the wand. Gimme a spell.

Glossaryck: Well, lets start off with a simple levitation spell.

Seth: You're joking right? A levitation spell? How about something I can actually use against my foes?

Glossaryck: Baby steps, Seth.

Seth: I don't have TIME for baby steps, blue man!

Glossaryck: I assure you, Seth. It's important to practice the beginner spells before moving on to the higher level ones.

Seth: Sigh... fine. You're right. You're the master of this stuff. So I'll do my best to listen.

Glossaryck: Excellent. That's what I like to hear.

Seth: So, what's this levitation spell you got for me?

Glossaryck: Hmm, we'll need a target. How about that wooden chair, is that of any importance to you?

Seth: Not really. It's just a chair.

Glossaryck: Then we will use this chair as the target. Now, point your wand at the chair, and say "Levitato".

Seth: Right, okay.

Seth aims the wand at the chair.

Seth: Levitato.

Nothing.

Seth: Levitato!

Still nothing.

Seth: What's up? It's not working.

Glossaryck: It isn't enough to point a wand and merely say the name of a spell. Spells must be cast with conviction. They must be spoken with a deal of command. You must genuinely desire to cast the spell in order for the spell to execute. Now focus, and enunciate, clearly, Levitato!

Seth looks at the chair with determination.

Seth: Levitato!

Nothing happens.

Seth: Still nothing! I did what you said!

Glossaryck: Yes, you did. That's odd. May I see your wand?

Seth lays the wand on top of the book and Glossaryck begins examining it (as well as doing a few things, like sniffing the wand and licking it before putting a pondering and puzzling look). Seth watches Glossaryck's bizarre display with a sense of bemusement.

Glossaryck: Oh, here we go! Looks here like your wand is dead.

Seth: What? Well, how do I fix it?

Glossaryck: It must be charged.

Seth: Charged with WHAT?!

Glossaryck: A wand charging cable. Don't tell me you don't have a wand charging cable.

Seth: I don't even know what that is!

Glossaryck: Okay, calm down. You would just have to take one from elsewhere.

Seth: I don't know if you've noticed Glossaryck, but I'm not exactly buddies with the Butterfly family.

Glossaryck: You don't need them.

Seth: Great. How am I supposed to practice magic now? I have no wand.

Glossaryck: I never said you needed a wand to perform magic.

Seth looks at Glossaryck with a very curious gleam in his amber eyes.

Seth: What did you say?

Glossaryck: You don't need a wand to perform magic.

Seth: Then why do the queens all use one?

Glossaryck: The wand is to act as a conduit for conducting magical power and channeling it until the user has mastered the art of "dipping down".

Seth: And what, exactly, is this "dip down" you speak of?

Glossaryck: To dip down is to find the magic deep within one's body.

Seth: And how do I do that?

Glossaryck: In order for one to dip down, there must first be magic of which to dip down into. This requires a user to have had some previous experience with magic, any of the sort, to dip down into.

Seth: So I need to possess inner magic in order to "dip down" into it?

Glossaryck: Precisely.

Seth: Glossaryck. How do I get a hold of this magic? How do I dip down?

Glossaryck: You must focus. I want you to relax for a moment. Sit with me.

Seth sits on the ground, Indian style.

Glossaryck: Close your eyes. I want you to think of something. I want you to picture the thing that means the most to you. I want you to picture something you care about more than anything else in the world, more than yourself, more than your own inner desires.

Seth draws in a deep breath, completely calm, he draws thought. Seth visions himself in a big field with many bags of raided goods with other Septarians, on their way home from a successful village raid. A young Septarian runs from the horizon. It's Seth's eldest son, Enos. He is a 6 year old pale green Septarian just like his father, with wild black hair and eyes of sienna, pure and filled with childish wonder. He runs toward his father.

Enos: Dad! Guess what, dad!

Seth: What is it, son?

Enos: Dad, when we raided that Mewnan village, and the others were taking their goods and fish and stuff, I went and I tracked mud all throughout their houses!

Seth looks at his naughty son, and notices he's barefoot and his feet are covered in mud and he has tracked them all throughout the villagers houses. He facepalms.

Enos: So did I do a good job, dad?

Seth laughs.

Seth: Yeah. You did a good job, Enos. Why don't you get back to your mom?

Seth, of course, is referring to Enos' stepmother, Marilyn, who would eventually fall with the original Septarsis.

Enos: I don't wanna hang out with mom. She says I shouldn't even be out here with you.

Seth: What? Why not?

Enos: She says I'm too small and young to be out on raids.

Seth: Who knows? Maybe she's right.

Enos: Not you too!

Seth: I'm just messing with you, kid.

Enos: Cousin Gill always gets to go on raids.

Seth: Cousin Gill's also much older and that boy has a death wish.

Enos: I just want people to see that I'm a big strong Septarian and I'm gonna rule Mewni one day!

Seth: Yes you will. Now go along. Get back home. I gotta get the boys to help me get this load back to Septarsis.

Enos: Fine. See you dad!

Seth: Enos.

Enos: Yeah dad?

Seth: I love you.

Enos: Yuck! Mushy dad love!

Seth: Ha ha ha!

Enos runs off into the horizon in the direction of their home.

Seth: Alright boys! Lets go!

Nothing.

Seth: Boys?

Nobody was there. Suddenly, Seth was alone. He hears a scream, the sound of Enos.

Seth runs ahead. Ahead of him stands Enos, staring into the eyes of a flaming figure in a long dress. She's a tall, royal figure with glowing orbs on her cheeks and bold, pupil-less bright white headlight eyes. She wields a wand of fire. Enos looks at her in complete terror and awe.

Seth: Enos! Get away from there!

The figure aims the wand at Enos, who just stands there.

Seth: Enos!

Enos catches fire. He disintegrates before Seth.

Seth: Enos! NO!

The figure looks at Seth. She guides toward him. A massive trail of fire rises behind her, covering the land as she treads. Seth runs, but he find he can't run fast enough. Her light blinds him as she approaches and Seth trips on a rock. Upon getting up, he finds himself in a land of ash. There are bodies all around him, Septarian bodies, monster bodies, an endless field... of bodies.

Seth: No! NO NO NO!

Seth falls to his knees. Before him he sees the Queen of Fire. She approaches him. Behind her walks an army, a Septarian army, a monster army, eyes like headlights. He sees Enos. He sees Gill. He sees his wife, his many other children. He sees Reginald Alshain, and all the others he lost. They all approach him, and with looks of great disappointment and despair. The Queen of Fire aims her wand at him. A glowing light flashes before his eyes. Seth is sitting on the ground in the real world, clenching his fists so hard that his claws dig into his hands and blood starts leaking onto the floor. Glossaryck looks on, puzzled. His eyes open, revealing soulless eyes like white orbs. Then, a great channeling fills the room with heat and energy. Seth rises into the air, and like a god, great beams of blinding light shoot from his eyes, his hands, and from his gaping maw. The room quakes with ferocity for several seconds until suddenly the beams stop and Seth falls to the ground on his hands and knees. Glossaryck looks at Seth with wide eyes, visibly and genuinely concerned but also, astonished, and terrified.

Glossaryck: You dipped down... You dipped down hard. I actually felt that. I am so sorry.

Seth rises from the ground and looks at Glossaryck with a cold, malice-filled stare, and Glossaryck just continues to look up at him with that same concerned look. Seth closes his eyes. He cracks his neck and lurches out his hand towards the chair.

Seth: Levitato!

The chair rises and crashes violently into the ceiling, raining wooden pieces on the floor. Glossaryck is utterly floored by what he had just witnessed. He never had a student, let alone a Septarian with no inner magic, dip down within the first day of training. He never experienced a student that had mastered a spell without a wand before successfully executing so much as a single spell with one. Seth snatches the wand off the floor and exits the room without saying goodbye to Glossaryck. He would never enter that room with a wand again.

Ludo: You learned wandless magic on your first day? Is that even possible for someone like me?

Seth: Ludo, did you know that Star Butterfly has learned wandless magic?

Ludo: She did? So... she doesn't even need a wand anymore?

Seth: She learned a few months back. I don't think she told you because she knew you would be jealous of her. Wouldn't go too well if she was trying to manipulate you into being her friend.

Ludo: There was no manipulation. She didn't try to be my friend. I tried to be hers.

Seth: If it's any consolation, under my training, I could make you even more powerful than she is.

Ludo: Okay. Then how do you do this dip down thing?

Seth: I want you to sit on the ground. We'll do this together.

Ludo: Like this?

Ludo sits Indian style on the floor and Seth does the same.

Seth: Exactly. Now close your eyes.

Ludo: Okay.

Seth: I want you to breathe slowly, calmly. Erase the universe from your mind. You are nowhere. You are everywhere. You are peak calmness. Now I want you create a scene in your inner mind. I want you to picture your greatest fear.

Ludo sits there for a moment. Greatest fear, what does he mean? Ludo sits there pondering and pondering, but he cannot think of a single thing he fears anymore.

Ludo: Seth? I'm having a bit of a problem. I can't think of anything I fear anymore.

Seth: What do you mean?

Ludo: Well, I used to be afraid of my parents, of their disapproval and shame of me. I used to be afraid of being inferior forever to Star Butterfly. I used to be afraid of starving to death in the void, and of the wild, and then of telling the truth to Jade. But I've conquered all those things. I feel like, I have no fear anymore.

Seth: Really? What about... the tickle monster?

Ludo: The tickle monster?

Seth: Yeah, you remember, the hairy guy that was at your birthday when you were a kid, that scared the daylights outta you and made you afraid of hair.

Ludo: How do you even know about that?

Seth: I know everything, Ludo. How many times must I tell you?

Ludo: I'll try, I guess.

Ludo tries to picture the tickle monster. The thought of hair makes him already start giggling, first some chuckles, then outright boisterous laughter.

Seth: What is this?

Ludo: I think I remember now, I remember why I was afraid of the tickle monster!

Seth: Well, why?

Ludo: I thought you knew everything.

Seth: I know from watching you and your interactions with Star. All this stuff was previously revealed to me. I wasn't watching your childhood.

Ludo: It's embarrassing.

Seth: You can tell me. It won't leave this room, I promise.

Ludo: Well... I was afraid of the tickle monster... because he tickled me so hard... that I wet my pants!

Seth: That's it?

Ludo: What do you mean "that's it"?

Seth: You wet your pants... and you were what... like 4 or 5?

Ludo: Yeah, so?

Seth: It would be embarrassing if you were like, 15 or 25, but 5? Lots of kids wet their pants when they're 5.

Ludo: You know, now that I think about it, it is pretty silly. You're right.

Seth: Sigh, this isn't working. I may have cured you of even another phobia.

Ludo: I'm sorry, Seth. This must be so disappointing.

Seth: I hate to have to do this. But I'm gonna have to play dirty.

Ludo: What do you mean?

Seth: Ludo... I want you to think about Jade.

Ludo: Jade?

Seth: I want you to imagine that she never, ever forgives you. She hates you... and because she hates you, she does something reckless. It is your confession that triggers this. It is your confession that triggers her to do something so drastic that it costs her her own life. She counters her father's killer, and she fails. And all you can do, is watch in horror.

Ludo clenches his fists.

Ludo: Stop.

Seth: Can you feel it in your mind?

Ludo: Please, I don't want to think about this.

Seth: Do you want to learn? Do you want to dip down?

Ludo: I can't.

Seth: Yes you can AND YOU WILL! FEEL THAT MISERY!

Shadow: Alright! STOP!

Seth: Excuse me, little man. Who said you could interrupt?

Shadow: There's no guarantee this will work.

Seth: What do you mean you mean?

Shadow: It's a matter of whether or not Ludo has lost touch with his magic.

Seth: How would I know that?

Shadow: Look for the marks.

Seth: The marks?

Ludo: The marks?

Shadow: The cheek marks.

Seth: The cheek marks?... Of course. Ludo, hold still.

Seth walks up to Ludo and grabs his face.

Ludo: (muffled) Shrff... wht r u dng?

Seth uses his fingers to start sifting through the pale green feathers on Ludo's face.

Seth: The marks... why yes. There they are.

Ludo: I have marks on my face?

Seth: All beings subjected to a period of magic start to develop marks on their face. On the Mewnans it appears on the dermis of the skin. It appears as though you have developed marks as well. The reason we all could not see them is because they're on your skin, and your skin is covered by feathers.

Ludo: What do the marks look like?

Seth: Little joker hats.

Ludo: Joker hats?

Seth: Are you familiar with playing card decks, Ludo?

Ludo: Yeah, my dad owns a pack he uses to play Poker with his friends.

Seth: Remember the shapes: the spade, the club, the heart, and the diamond? Those are all suits. There seems to be some sort of correlation between the standard 52 deck of cards, and the symbols. I have no idea what, but your symbol is that of the Joker.

Ludo: My mark is that of a clown?

Seth: It makes sense. You were, at some point, literally a clown.

Ludo: This is too much.

Seth: Anyway. Maybe I am trying to push you a bit too hard on the first day. My greatest fear was very lucid and personal to me. It was something very upsetting to me.

Ludo: It was because of your son, Enos. Wasn't it?

Seth: Ludo... you remind me so much of him.

Ludo: Is that why you wanted to train me?

Seth: I think it may have been part of my delusion... I'm sorry.

Ludo: I'm not your son, Seth... but I will train. I will make you proud like he would have if it were him learning magic today and not me.

Seth: That means so much to me Ludo... thank you.

Ludo: I will continue to try and dip down. I'm gonna perfect this, for you.

Seth: Don't do it for me, Ludo. Do it for you. I suppose though, that maybe I should show you just the kind of magic I'm capable of. Follow me.

Seth takes out his inter-dimensional scissors and cuts open a rift in time space. Ludo can't quite believe where he has taken them.