Night falls on Septarsis and all the people of Mewni. Although they cannot see the night sky in Septarsis, their circadian rhythms tell the reptilians that the time has come to abandon the labors of the day, eat oneself a good meal, and lay in a comfortable bed to recuperate from the stresses of the day both physical and mental. It is a time for rest, and don't we all need it at some point in our lives, so that we may be refreshened and have the strength to face yet another? All of the residents of Septarsis are asleep, even Jade, Iggy and even Seth. Ludo finds himself finally getting enough sleep after the last few days of twisting and turning and worrying about Jade. Although Seth had been keeping him occupied, Ludo had been worried sick about Jade up to the point where he arrived again.
Ludo: Hello? Is anyone here? Am I asleep again? I don't remember going to sleep, or do I? Glossaryck?
Glossaryck: Yes?
Ludo: There you are. Am I asleep again?
Glossaryck: Well, actually, you fell unconscious while trying to learn how to dip down with Iggy.
Ludo: How did that happen?
Glossaryck: I think he was trying too hard to get you to dip down and it just wasn't working. The process drained you, both physically and emotionally. It's very dangerous to perform like that.
Ludo: I don't get it Glossaryck. Why can't I dip down like Seth did? He made it look so easy.
Glossaryck: I do believe that Seth may have unintentionally mislead you.
Ludo: What? How?
Glossaryck: Seth didn't only think about his son. For a brief moment, Seth was stricken by a much more powerful image that brought him considerably more sorrow.
Ludo: What is it?
Glossaryck: It would mean more if he told you himself. I could not accurately convey what he has to.
Ludo: Is it as sad as his son dying?
Glossaryck: it is an image that is filled with both infinite love, and infinite sorrow, something that triggered such an explosive dip down from him. Shadow... I can FEEL his presence now... I can feel that part of myself that's been lost for all this time.
Ludo: Is there any way to make you whole again?
Glossaryck: I wouldn't worry myself with something like that. You have worse to worry about.
Ludo: Why can't I dip down?
Glossaryck: Well, I personally think that you're just not strong enough, physically, to dip down and make the best of it. I believe that it would overwhelm you quickly, Ludo.
Ludo: Why is that?
Glossaryck: Well, think for a moment about how a wand works. Nothing has infinite energy, not even a wand. The wand operates off a sort of battery, if you must. The more you use it, the less energy it has. When a queen or princess utilizes a wand, even after dipping down, it is to preserve their own energy. The wand acts as a conduit for summoning magic. Without the wand, the user must utilize their own bodily energy. In order to have more energy, the physical body must be in relatively decent shape.
Lets compare two previous queens, shall we? Solaria, for example, maintained a body of peak physical condition, hardened with a strict and disciplined regimen of exercise and proper nutrition. The strange thing though, is that even when Solaria was wandless, she still would rather utilize her own brute strength than drain herself of energy with magic, despite the fact that her energy would be very efficient. Ultimately, it is what led to her downfall in her final battle between the Falcon and the Septarians. Then, there's Dirhhennia, who never actually learned to dip down, but even if she did, was in such poor physical condition that she would likely pass out from a very small amount of wandless magic usage.
Ludo: Pf... Dirhhennia.
Glossaryck: Ludo, focus.
Ludo: Oh yeah, sorry. So wait? Are you saying I passed out because my body is so weak?
Glossaryck: Hm, I do believe that because of both your incredibly high metabolism, as well as your bone structure that it's quite possible that you'd be a relatively efficient magic user.
Ludo: But I'm just skin and bones.
Glossaryck: You've put on more weight since the last time I saw you. You don't make me depressed just looking at you anymore.
Ludo: Gee, thanks Glossaryck.
Glossaryck: I didn't mean it like that, but what I'm saying is that perhaps if you took the little bit of flab you're accumulated in these tiny arms and pushed them to become some sort of muscle, you could be extremely effective for a long period of time.
Ludo: So... work out. Got it.
Glossaryck: Ludo... start with the small barbells. Don't hurt yourself, okay?
Ludo: You got it, Glossaryck. Next time you see me, I will be a wandless, magic spewing six-packed hulking beast! I can't wait to show Seth, and Iggy, and... oh... yeah.
Glossaryck: Jade?
Ludo: Yeah...
Glossaryck: Just keep that thought rotating in your head.
Ludo: Why?
Glossaryck: You'll see.
Ludo continues to sleep at Iggy's place on the couch and Iggy just leaves him do so as it gives him peace and quiet as he works into the night. As he continues to work diligently on Seth's projects, he finds himself dozing off as well. Iggy's dreams, however, are a bit more concrete in form but relatively abstract in structure. Iggy finds himself in a gargantuan library, surrounded by books.
Iggy: Excuse me, could you gentlemen help me find a book on magic?
Albert Einstein: A book on magic? Vhy in zhe vorld vould you need zat? Is a book on relativity or quadratics not enough for you, Iggy?
Iggy: I'm sorry, Professor. Excuse me, sir, how about you?
Plato: Is magic really a scientific form of study? Would you rather not simply ponder the great questions of life itself, things that are significantly more important?
Iggy: Sorry, Plato, no time to philosophize now, I have to study magic. Who will help me? Hmm, Gandhi? No, too spiritual. Perhaps, I must think outside of the box. I've been studying far too many earthlings to actually find the key. Even the man I thought would be a perfect candidate, Mr. Harry Houdini himself, told me "a magician never reveals his secrets". Ugh Enough of this nonsense. Why do I subject myself to these foolish confines? I'm clearly asleep, as nothing as absurd as asking long dead historical figures of the earth dimension could be real.
Iggy: Why not?
Iggy: Huh? I'm here too? Am I really gonna talk to myself.
Iggy: This is your dream. It doesn't have to make sense. Besides, you said it yourself. I... or you, are the most trustworthy person to assist you with your anomalies.
Iggy: I just don't know. What is it about magic? Why do I even want to study it?
Iggy: Perhaps, it is the elusiveness of it.
Iggy: Huh?
Iggy: Magic is something that you've studied and studied for years. But it is not a science. It defies you, molding and reshaping as you grow to try to understand it.
Iggy: Ah yes, I continue to discover more, to build upon my repertoire, but still, there are many things I cannot understand.
Iggy: And that is why it allures you.
Iggy: I see. What confounds me, excites me. That which I already understand... it bores me.
Iggy: Oh how I wish I could have another as intellectual as I to bounce my ideas off of?
Iggy: Oh no... that doesn't sound too egotistical, does it? Am I egotistical.
Iggy: Many geniuses are.
Iggy: Stop, you'll make my head blow up.
Iggy: Don't you mean my head?
Iggy: OUR HEAD!
Iggy: This is becoming ridiculous. My, your, OUR point, is that magic is one of the few things that you fail to grasp in its entirety. That, along with people.
Iggy: What? I'm not anti-social.
Iggy: No, of course not. But you're most definitely not a people person.
Iggy: I like people though.
Iggy: Of course you do, but they can be so irksome.
Iggy: What about Ludo? I like Ludo.
Iggy: We like him because he has the passion to learn. It excites him.
Iggy: Oh, to have that enthusiasm. To be as fresh and new as he.
Iggy: We may never experience that again. It is only magic anymore that truly excites us, due to its elusive nature.
Iggy: Man, it was a really good idea Seth gave us to look into this stuff.
Iggy: We don't give him enough credit. Maybe others are smarter than we thought. We must...
Iggy: We must...
Both: Think outside the box.
Jade is outside of Septarsis. She has set up camp in the wilderness and she lays coiled like a small rock in a sleeping bag. She doesn't want to dream of Ludo, who she's still freshly furious at, so instead she dreams instead of memories of her father, before he departed on the journey that led to his doom.
A young Jade and Toffee are sparring. He holds out a traditional hooked scimitar before Jade and Jade, whose nearly the same length as the blade itself, holds it awkwardly between her tiny hands. Emerald is off to the side, spectating.
Toffee: Jade, the Septarian Hooked Scimitar is a traditional weapon that our people have been using for thousands of years. It is a tool of efficiency, and a tool of brutality. To wield one with grace is to be a true Septarian. Very few outsiders have met the blade and lived to tell of its prowess. Jade, in order to be a true Septarian, you must wield the Scimitar.
Jade: Okay, but dad. It's kinda big.
Toffee: You need not worry about that. You are a Septarian, a proud and immortal warrior.
Jade: What's "immortal"?
Toffee: Immortal means you can't die.
Jade: So, why do we fight if we can't die.
Toffee: To make the opponent die.
Jade: What does it mean to die?
Toffee: To die is to stop moving, to stop breathing, and to stop existing. All that remains is the body. The soul, the spirit, it disappears.
Jade: That sounds scary.
Toffee: You don't need to fear such a thing little one.
Jade: Daddy, are you gonna protect me in case the evil queen comes and tries to kill me?
Toffee: What makes you think that would happen?
Jade: Father Seth told me that people die by the wand of the evil queen. I don't want to die, and I don't want you to become a dead body that stops breathing and has your soul leave you.
Toffee: The Septarian people are very, very strong, but magic is very strong too. It's why people are afraid of magic, but it's also why we learn to fight, with swords. Now, Jade, enough stalling. Spar with me!
Jade: But daddy, I'm not ready!
Toffee attacks Jade with a series of strikes that Jade, only through the intuition of her father's training, and through instincts alone, manages to deflect, dodge and parry. She continues to do this for quite the while, and her father is impressed. Unfortunately, Jade slips up, and it costs her nearly half of her tail.
Jade: AH!
Emerald: Jade! Toffee, what have you done?!
Toffee: Ease up, Emerald.
Jade cries as she holds her disfigured tail that ends in a bony stump.
Toffee: Hey, you've gotten your first dismemberment.
Jade: You cut off my tail, daddy!
Toffee: You want to see a magic trick that only we Septarians can do, and not those mean old witch queens?
Jade: Huh?
Toffee: I want you to concentrate for a moment. Feel your tail. Close your eyes and just imagine it's there. Focus really hard on it.
Emerald: But Toffee, she's so young.
Toffee: Trust me, she'll be fine.
Jade closes her eyes and pushes. She imagines that she has a full, long, functioning tail, and like magic, her tail regenerates to full.
Toffee: Open your eyes, Jade.
Jade: Huh? My tail! It's back! I'm so glad to have you back, tail. I love you, tail, and I'll never let daddy or anyone else ever cut you off again.
Toffee looks on and laughs as Jade kisses her tail and is so grateful it grew back.
Jade's nightly scowl turns to that of a smile as she lays by the fire, shadows glistening off her face and keeping her warm. Ludo, Jade and Iggy are resting rather peacefully. At first Seth dreams of what he would consider to be a rather sad dream in circumstance, but one that is also therapeutic in tone, and thus one that makes him happy. Seth's first dream is of he and his son, Enos. He and Enos are in the kitchen of the rather small house Seth builds for them to live in. Seth is accomplishing relatively uninteresting household tasks as his wife Marilyn, whom he insisted on resting, is taking a nap. Enos runs in the door and closes it, giggling.
Seth: Oh no. You got that look on your face again. What did you do this time, you little rascal?
Enos is too busy giggling thinking about his own mischief to even get a sentence out. After a minute of laughing, Seth grows impatient and cues his son to get himself under control and explain himself.
Enos: I went into the Mewnans' town, and I took all the flowers in town, and I undug them, and reburied them upside down, so that all the roots were sticking out of the ground and all the pretty flowers were buried in the dirt.
Seth: Kid, why is it that every time I look at you, you get filthier and filthier? That's it, I'm giving you a bath.
Seth chases Enos all over the house, but finally, after several minutes, he manages to wrangle the unruly kid into a big wooden tub of hot water and washes him, because he doesn't trust his son to get behind his ears and all the little details. He continues to converse with his dad from in the tub.
Seth: Why are you always messing with those townsfolk?
Enos: You and your buddies are always messing with them.
Seth: No, we raid them. We take them of their goods because they took our land from us and they owe us big time.
Enos: Well I'm trying to make them pay too. One day, I might even do something really big!
Seth: Oh really, like what? Are you gonna paint their houses pink or something? Lift up your arm.
Enos: No! I wanna do something like, really REALLY big, something that will make them really mad, but that also might help you and your buddies really stick it to Mewni.
Seth: So, what's your idea of a big bad prank to really stick it to 'em?
Enos: I'm gonna... I'm gonna um... I KNOW! I'll take the Queen's wand!
Seth: You'll WHAT?
Enos: I'll take her magic wand! And then I'll... uh, and then I'll turn her into a big ugly toad! She'll be like, a gazillion times uglier than she is now.
Seth: First off, that's nuts. Second, gazillion's not a word.
Seth begins rubbing shampoo all throughout Enos' knotted mop of spiky black hair.
Enos: It's not funny, dad. I'm serious. Maybe I'll even take over Mewni some day. That's right, I'll kick that ugly toad hag of a queen to the curb, and then I'll make myself KING of Mewni! And you can be my royal servant.
Seth: Wow, royal servant! ME? Oh I'd be SO honored.
Enos: Yeah. I'll be the coolest king ever! I'll kick all of those ugly Mewnans out of Mewni, and then change Mewni's name, because it's dumb, back to Septarsis, and all the monsters will love me and I'll be the greatest king ever.
Seth dumps water all over his son's head, drowning out anything he said afterword.
Seth: Alright kiddo, bath's done. Get your butt to bed. We're getting up early tomorrow and I don't want you tired and complaining that your feet hurt when we have to carry the big heavy load back home.
Enos: Okay.
He lifts his tiny son out of the tub and rubs him entirely dry with a towel. Enos just looks at his dad, with even messier hair than before, and hugs him.
Enos: I promise, I will do all that stuff. I'll be a really great king and make you proud and free us all from those weirdo Mewnans, I promise.
Seth: I know you will son... I know you will.
In remembering his peaceful reunion with his son, Seth starts to dream about another, his wife, the woman that brought Enos into this world. It is this memory that causes Seth so much grief. Up to this point, he had kept the memory of her pushed deep within the recesses of his mind, but just thinking about Enos, just thinking about his family, the more tried to find his happiness and inner peace, the more that putrid nightmare crawled back into his consciousness.
For years it haunted him, playing back in his head like someone rewinding a VCR, only to replay it again, over and over. He's done so much for so long to repress the memories but being around Ludo, being reminded so often of his past, it is causing something he had tried to ignore for so long to rear its ugly head. Seth just lays there in his massive bed, twitching and turning, stirring, gripping the sheets as he is thrust into the olden days, back when Seth was a young man, back to the last days Seth remembered ever feeling truly happy, and not too long before the day that would kill him, not on the outside, but on the inside.