Episode:

8: Who Am I? Part 1ㅤ

Adam begins to investigate the circumstances behind Star's aberrant behaviour, leading him to take drastic action. In doing so, he realises that there is something malevolent hanging in the air, and it surrounds Star Butterfly.

The next day, Adam got back to work. Taking another exasperated breath, the teenager began pacing about the small room. He grabbed his hair and pulled on it between his fingers. The Mewman let out a groan of frustration as he turned to his right.

'Look, I'm telling you, there's something wrong with Star!'

Marco's eyes narrowed. He sat back on his bed, resting against the back wall.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' he shrugged off. Adam's eyes widened in shock.

'Are you kidding?!' He gawked. 'She put me in the medical wing yesterday!'

'She said she was sorry about that,' the squire defended, scratching the back of her scalp.

'So? Her spells have never been that powerful. Besides, how haven't you noticed how…cold…she's been lately?' Adam insisted, speeding up his pace about the room. 'Last night, she was talking with Janna…and she was giving off an intense magical aura. Intense enough to frighten her own friend! Star never does that. Don't you think that's…weird?!'

Marco sighed.

'Have you tried asking Red Glossaryck?' He inquired, gesturing disinterestedly.

'Yes,' Adam responded curtly. 'Not much help. He said that Star's just "becoming her true self" and told me to "end her while I still had the chance".' Marco rolled his eyes.

'I don't think Star's turning evil,' he mocked, nodding his head in disapproval.

'I don't either!' the Mewman assured him, stopping his pacing to look at him again. 'Something is up, and Glossaryck thinks the solution is murder. So will you help me figure this out, or not?'

'You're being paranoid, man,' his friend deadpanned. 'You might as well put on the tinfoil hat, while you're at it.'

'I'm not being paranoid!' Adam snapped. 'Look, we don't all know all the facts yet – it could be anything. But I'm telling you now, Marco: we can't just leave this. Something is wrong with Star, and she definitely won't tell us herself. We have to find out.'

Adam couldn't believe Marco wasn't even considering what he was saying.

How had he failed to notice Star's bellicose behaviour recently? The claims that Star had made for her actions – namely, that she was stressed – were anything if not apocryphal. She'd been remarkably, eerily, cruel recently, but not outwardly. Recently, he had found it very hard to tell what she was really thinking. Sometimes, there would be these flashes of something darker…like she was behaving as two different people at once.

Or pretending to be one person, but the disguise nevertheless becoming a self-portrait.

'Maybe Star needs to handle this on her own.'

'And that gives her an excuse to behave like this?' The warlock asked him rhetorically. 'I'm going to find out what the hell is going on, with or without you.' He marched towards the door. 'If or when you change your mind, I'll be in the library.' The teen walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Marco stayed on his bed for several minutes, staring at the door through which Adam had left. He did consider following him for a moment, but not to tell him he'd changed his mind.

A fleeting thought was spent on the possibility of changing the teenager's mind. Except that would be next to impossible. Now that Adam had his mind set on something, there was zero chance of talking him out of it. He had already made up his mind, and the teen wasn't the type to be fluid about it. At the very least, Adam hadn't neglected his health and wellbeing in favour of overworking himself.

Marco didn't have a huge reason to doubt Adam's instincts, but he also had no reason to believe him, either. Especially not over Star. If something really was wrong with her, then Marco felt he would know immediately. As of right now, he hadn't been able to detect anything abnormal from Star. The mishaps Adam had referred to, Marco easily wrote off as mounting stress on her.

It was obvious to anyone that the princess was under a lot of pressure. Not only did she have to figure out a way to stop the Monster oppression, while dealing with frequent abuse from non-believers, but she was also bound to her duties as a princess. Duties that were exponentially becoming more significant to the future of Mewni.

Star's health was possibly worsening, though she was doing a good job at hiding it. Perhaps she needed a moment to relax.

The young squire sat there silently for another minute, before he ultimately decided to get off his bed. Walking over to the door, he opened it and left, turning right. Not to go to Adam, but instead to look for Star.

Last time the Latino had seen her, the magical princess had absconded from the dining room with some food from the lunch table. Marco had spotted and asked her, to which she said it was for "extra snacks". If Star was stress-eating, or comfort eating, then perhaps that was why she took the food.

Marco made his way to Star's bedroom. It was right next to his, after all. Once he was standing in front of the door, he leaned forward and knocked on it four times.

No response.

He knocked again, slightly harder.

Again, nothing. No indication that the individual inside was aware of his presence outside the room.

Marco knocked again, five times this time.

It was only after the last round of knocking that he heard a faint sigh from within.

'Enter,' the exasperated voice of his best friend commanded. Slightly disconcerted, the squire pressed his weight on the door and pushed it open.

Star was sitting at her desk, back completely upright against the chair. She was writing across a sheet of paperwork of some kind, but Marco didn't have a clue what it was. He spotted a tiny bear, one of Star's favourite stress toys, lying absent on the ground. Strange…she usually loved that toy.

'Uh…Star?' Marco asked when the princess didn't look up at him. Despite his prompting, she still remained focussed on her work such that she hadn't even acknowledged his presence. 'Star? Uh, hey?'

'What is it, Marco?' the princess snapped, only side-eyeing him. 'Shouldn't you be working?' The squire frowned awkwardly.

'Uh, just came to check in on ya,' he claimed, abashedly scratching the back of his scalp. 'Just wanted to know if we're…still on for Friendship Thursday tonight?'

Star ignored his initial question. She simply stood up and collected together her paperwork on the desk. The princess got to work filing away some of it into the nearby drawers. Instead of answering him, she walked past him to place the remaining work on the nearby shelves.

'Star?' Marco prompted again, but she simply walked past him. 'Star, are we on for tonight or n–'

'I'm going on a date with Tom,' Star cut off harshly. The squire blinked and drew back in bewilderment.

'But…you went on a date with him two days ag–'

'So?' The princess interrupted yet again. 'Tom's awesome and I've been neglecting him terribly. Suck it up, will ya?'

'Oh…okay,' Marco reluctantly agreed, looking down at the ground despondently. Reluctantly, he sighed. 'I'm…gonna, uh, go.' He gestured awkwardly to the open door behind him. As he staggered away, Star merely hummed in agreement.

'Squires should be working, not playing,' he heard her mutter to herself.

It took about an hour before Marco could muster the courage to find the Butterfly Family library. Even after that, he spent a solid few minutes hovering before the door, his hand poised to knock against it. His hand wavered for a few moments, before Marco gave in. Rather, he opted to simply open the door and stepped inside.

'Okay, you were right,' the squire confessed. 'Something's wrong with Star. She just blew me off to go out with Tom. Not to mention she was treating me like a servant. Star would never do that. Any ideas what it is?'

Adam, who was currently sitting at a table opposite him, looked up from the book he was reading. To Marco's surprise, the Mewman did not take the opportunity to gloat over being right all along, or his prediction that Marco would change his mind and eventually come find him.

Instead, Adam closed the book he was reading and sat back in his chair.

'I don't know,' the Mewman admitted candidly.

'What do you mean you "don't know"?' The squire criticised, as he walked up to the table the warlock was sitting at.

'I mean I don't know,' Adam repeated irascibly. 'So far, all the tests I've run have come up false. It's beyond any doubt that Star is not under the effect of any kind of spell. She isn't giving off any abnormal magical signatures that would suggest foul play. So it's not a behavioural spell or personality alteration hex.'

'It could be an impostor. Aren't Glamour spells a thing? I remember Star mentioned those once.' [20]

'It's not a Glamour,' the Mewman dismissed. 'You can easily detect a Glamour when you're looking for one. There are numerous spells that can remove them and many more that indicate when they're active. All of them have come up with nothing. Believe me, I've tried.'

'So what else?'

'If she's been dosed with a potion, then it would have to have been a long-lasting one,' he continued. 'Potions usually don't last that long; there are no records of potions that last indefinitely. You'd think the potion would have worn off by now. You'd have to be an alchemical master to make a potion that lasts that long.'

'Or she's been constantly dosed with it,' Marco suggested, seating himself opposite his friend. Adam shook his head.

'I've run tests on all food and drink she has consumed within the last twenty-four hours,' he informed him, receiving an odd look from his friend. 'It was necessary, okay? What I found were no traces of any potion or alchemical substance. It's not a potion administered since then – so unless the maker is a master-level alchemist with access to the castle, I don't think it's a potion. Nor is it a spell.'

'So what is it?'

'I told you. I don't know,' the warlock repeated irritably. 'Whatever it is, it's not normal. I asked Eclipsa for help, and she said she knew a spell that could "scan" the magical aura of a target. She used it on Star and found that the polarity of some of Star's magic has been reversed. It's behaving in the negative, kind of like my anti-magic.'

'So you think someone flipped her magic somehow?' Marco considered, shuffling in his seat. 'And, by extension, her personality?'

'Possibly,' Adam responded. 'I don't know how. Some kind of ritual, maybe? All the books I've looked through don't make any reference to rituals of that nature.'

'Then someone must have just invented it,' the squire deduced. He merely shrugged.

'I doubt it,' the teenager disagreed. 'For the uninitiated, inventing magic is really hard, you know? Especially for a ritual that complex. There aren't many magic-users who aren't Butterflies, much fewer with the skill to cause something like this.'

'So what you're saying is…you have no idea?' Marco summarised, huffing in disappointment.

'I believe that's what I said to begin with!' Adam snapped, folding his arms pointedly. 'I've exhausted all my options here…' He rubbed his forehead tiredly, exhaling a drawn-out sigh. Suddenly, the Mewman shifted upright and dropped his hand. 'Wait. What did you say Star was doing tonight?'

'She's going on a date with Tom,' he reiterated with a peeved sigh. Adam raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips.

'I have an idea,' he announced. It took a few seconds for Marco to realise what that "idea" entailed. The squire instantly sat up and halted him with two outstretched arms.

'Oh no…no, no, no, you can't be serious.'

'Got any better ideas?'

'We are not spying on their date, Adam!' He disapproved, folding his arms.

'If we're going to figure out what's wrong with Star, then we need to observe her when she thinks we're not with her,' the warlock reasoned. 'What better way than when she's on a date with Tom? Besides, she's much more likely to divulge more personal details when she's with her boyfriend. I doubt the Truth Binding Spell would work on her, anyway. Or Dream Entrapment. It makes sense.'

The squire frowned pensively and looked down at the table in contemplation. After a few moments of silent thought, he looked up at Adam.

'Fine,' he reluctantly agreed, nodding hesitantly. 'Not like I could have changed your mind, anyway.'

Adam smirked at his success for a moment, before returning to a more neutral expression.

'The date's tonight, isn't it?' The Mewman presumed, receiving a nod from his friend. 'Good – that means we have a couple hours to plan this out, and run and re-run magical tests. We have to make it very certain that this isn't a spell or potion. We still don't know how this happened.'

'Or…what the point of all this is,' Marco added, throwing up his arms in confusion.

'If it were mind control…well, I imagine controlling a powerful political figure like Star Butterfly would be useful,' Adam hypothesised. 'If, for some reason, they couldn't control Moon, then Star's the next best thing. Altering her personality to make her more radicalised to your views would be another way to tip the political scales in your favour. Same goes for Glamours, though I already ruled those out.' He sighed. 'None of those explain how her magic's polarity has been reversed. We just don't have enough information, Marco.'

'Whatever it is…I hope we figure out before it's too late,' the squire hoped. 'The Mace Treaty ceremony's supposed to happen tomorrow. One wrong move from Star could mean chaos.'

'Yeah, you're right,' Adam agreed worriedly. 'Moon's been stressing about that for months. We need to get to the bottom of this ASAP.'

Now seeing that there was no going back now, Marco decided to fully invest himself in the situation. It was undeniable by now that Star's behaviour was subtly aberrant, and those small differences could mean big problems.

Whether he liked it or not, Marco was going to have to spy on Star and Tom being lovey-dovey with one another.

Once the sun was setting, the human-Mewman duo put their plan into motion.

Resting his arms on the fence, Adam stood at the top of the balcony overseeing the main foyer of Butterfly Castle. Two staircases sat on either side of him, meandering down to the ground, accompanied with polished wooden bannisters. The floor was made of polished marble, a swirly design spinning across it. The bricked walls were adorned with various paintings, and ceremonial shields with familial crests on them.

He watched as Star, laden with makeup and a new dress, walked up to her parents by the doors to the castle. Adam narrowed his eyes as she straightened the strap on her handbag and patted down her skirt to appear presentable – believable – to her parents.

'Alright, Mom, Dad, I'm off on my date!' She announced with a bright smile. 'Bye!'

'You've been spending a lot of time with Tom, recently, Star,' Moon observed with a tired voice.

'So?' The princess challenged, frowning slightly. 'He's my boyfriend. That's what couples do, Mom.'

'I'm just concerned you're neglecting your other duties.'

'It's romance, Moonpie!' disagreed River. 'If you hadn't invested time in such things, we wouldn't be together!'

'Even so, I was still able to balance my social life and duties to the crown,' she pointed out, folding her arms. 'Historically, Star, you have lacked the ability to keep your priorities in check.'

'So you don't trust me?' questioned Star, as her previously ebullient countenance hardening to that of exasperation.

'Have you met with Marco, recently?' Moon answered, annoyingly, with another question. The magical princess frowned at the mention of the name.

'What? No,' she refuted, almost laughably. 'Why would I?'

'He's your best friend.'

'He's my squire!' Star snapped. Moon's eyes widened at her aggressiveness, before frowning.

'Did you two…have a falling out?' The Queen inquired. River raised an eyebrow.

'What did the boy do this time?' The king suspected. Star sighed angrily.

'What does it matter?' She complained impatiently. 'What does any of that have to do with my "priorities"?'

By now, even Queen Moon was becoming irritated with Star's childish behaviour.

'If you cannot remain objective with your squire and your boyfriend, Star, do you honestly expect me to believe you are a suitable political figure?'

'I'm going on this date, Mom!' The petulant princess yelled, practically growling at her. 'I'm not going to have you ruin it before it's even started!'

Before the queen could protest, Star stormed out of the castle, slamming the doors in her wake.

Having seen enough, Adam opened a glowing portal behind him and stepped back into it.

He returned to his bedroom, his base of operations for this particular mission. Sure, it was breaking the whole "no portalling in the castle" rule, but the pertinence of the situation superseded that. In his opinion, that is. Not that Moon would have noticed anyway.

'She's left,' the warlock announced, as he stepped into the room. Adam pointed his hand at the doorknob. 'Profeci densis!'

The knob of the door flashed with a gold aura for a few seconds, before returning to normal.

'There,' he said. 'That way we won't be disturbed.'

Now pleased by his success, the Mewman turned to face Marco in his room. He was sitting at Adam's desk, which had been rotated around to face away from the wall, moved several inches forward to make room. The chair had likewise been moved to match. As soon as the Mewman arrived, Marco sat up and shifted his chair to the right to give space for Adam. Adam moved another seat to behind the desk, next to Marco.

The squire turned to his friend and hesitantly nodded.

Adam raised his right hand.

'I summon the All-Seeing Eye,' he spoke, as his eyes lit up bright purple. 'To tear a hole into the sky. Reveal to me that which is hidden; unveil to me what is forbidden!' [21]

His glowing star-mark blinked, before turning into the burning outline of an ominous eye. He fired out a blast of purple-orange fire that harmlessly collected on the ground. Quickly, the fire animated itself, forming an oval shape. Most of the fire then blew away.

In place of the inferno, a burning yellow eye hovered above the ground, bounded by a burning purple-orange aura.

The eye blinked, and an image appeared, like a television screen. The two of them watched as Star met up with Tom outside the Butterfly Castle. Tom's signature maroon carriage singed the ground, no doubt leaving a burn mark behind. Neither Star nor Tom seemed to have much regard for lawn maintenance.

'Are you ready to disembark, my lady?' Tom asked, giving a comedic bow before her. Star giggled excitedly.

'Thank you, my prince,' she flirted, taking his head. Marco rolled his eyes at the exchange.

Tom and Star stepped into the carriage together. On his way in, the demon snapped his fingers at the carriage driver impatiently. The driver sighed as the door shut and the carriage was suddenly encased in a chasm of bright orange fire.

The two were instantly transported away. Adam peered closer to get a better look at the new location. It was some earthly kind of dimension, with night skies and fair lands. Except, as he looked closer, he spotted numerous floating islands in the distance, levitating impossibly above the ground.

'What dimension is that?' Marco inquired, frowning.

'I dunno. I've never seen it before,' the Mewman admitted, shrugging his shoulders. He watched as Star and Tom walked up to a transport platform, which floated them up into the air.

At that moment, the Eye gave them a good view of where they were going: a floating restaurant. Bright lights shone from the ceiling, pointing multi-coloured spotlights across the evening sky. Star and Tom levitated up to the entrance, met with a member of staff at the glass doors.

'We're here for the 6:15 reservation,' Tom announced, proudly displaying his girlfriend beside him. 'Table for two, under the name "Lucitor"?'

The waitress checked her list of names and, after a few cursory moments of searching, nodded in agreement.

'Right this way, Mr Lucitor,' she concurred, beckoning the two of them to follow.

Star and Tom did as such, stepping through the expensive glass doors into the full fancy fine-dining restaurant a la carte. The two lovebirds exchanged bright smiles as they gazed around in wonder at the sheer brilliance of the establishment.

'I still can't believe you got a reservation at Quoque Pretiosa!' [22] Star exclaimed ebulliently, almost squealing in overexcitement. 'It's the most expensive restaurant in the multiverse!'

The waitress led them to their booth, where the two slid in and sat next to one another.

'I have my ways,' Tom replied confidently. 'Besides, being a prince and all, dating a princess, has its perks.'

Star chuckled at his comment before sighing dreamily at him. Tom gave an affectionate grin back.

'Ugh, do I have to keep watching this?' Marco complained, sinking in his seat.

'Shut up,' Adam silenced hastily, glaring at the couple through the Eye.

'So,' Tom addressed at one point, as the two were tucking into their starters. 'How were things at the castle?'

'Boring as usual,' the girl answered with a greatly beleaguered sigh. 'I went shopping earlier and there were so many beggars and peasants in the way. They all wanted some of that sweet Butterfly dough. Money-hungry little wenches. So annoying.'

Tom nearly coughed on his food. He managed to beat his chest to force it down.

'Well, yes, I suppose,' he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. 'They do actually get…really annoying sometimes. And they're pretty dull; I doubt many of them have interesting personalities. Not as interesting as you, Starship.'

That answer seemed to have pleased Star. At least enough for her not to continue her tirade on lower-class folk.

'That's why I like you, Tom,' the magical princess complimented. 'You understand me better than anyone I know ever could.'

The demon prince raised an eyebrow.

'What about humans?' He inexplicably asked.

Star frowned.

'What about them?'

'What's your opinion on them?' Tom clarified. To Marco's shock and hurt, the teenager merely shrugged.

'What's there to talk about?' She dismissed coldly. 'Most of the time, they're just a thorn in my side. Always messing with things they should leave alone.'

'But…Star…?' The teenager stammered. 'Marco – your best friend – is human.'

She blinked.

'We had a falling out,' the princess claimed. Either Moon had been right on her assumptions, or Star had conveniently adopted the same excuse. 'He's…not really in my good books at the moment.'

'So how do I compare to him?' The prince asked almost breathlessly. He looked terrified just to hear the answer.

Star snarled a bitter laugh.

'You're the Prince of the Underworld,' she pointed out, folding her arms. 'Marco's some random Latino kid who likes karate. He's nobody compared to you.'

Tom grinned brightly.

'Thank you, Star. I really needed that.'

Adam put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Marco's face had slowly grown more and more forlorn and melancholy as that conversation had continued, and he could not really blame him. He stared down at the ground instead of the image through the Eye.

'Star doesn't really think that about you,' the teenager reassured him. I don't know what's going on with her, but I do know that what she said is not true. Star wouldn't even be here without you.'

'I know, I know,' Marco replied. Adam was unsure whether the young squire was trying to convince him or himself. 'It's just…hard, hearing it from her.'

'I understand, those are words Star would never usually say,' the Mewman understood, nodding sympathetically. 'I promise you that, once we find out what's causing this, I will find a way to reverse it.'

'Thanks, Adam,' he accepted welcomingly.

The two of them continued to spy on their date some more. Normally, Marco would still be protesting against this obvious invasion of privacy, but it had become necessary. Those cruel things she had said were so uncharacteristic of Star that, at this point, it had to be some kind of spell. No matter how many times he suggested it to Adam though, the Mewman refuted the idea.

Given his abject refusal to consider the possibility, Marco was beginning to think Adam was acting on instinct instead of substantiated knowledge. Perhaps it was his connection to Star's wand at play, somehow indicating to him that all was not right with this particular Star Butterfly. In the past, Marco had placed trust in Adam's instincts, and it had mostly paid off. When it came to Star specifically, his instincts were not something to be ignored or waved off as superstition.

Of course, that begged the question: if absolutely no magic was involved, what happened to Star?

No answer yet seemed in sight. All they could do was watch.

Shortly after Tom and Star had received their mains, the two were conversing again. Tom looked down at his rapidly emptying plate.

'What do you think of this food, Star?' He asked.

'Hm, good,' she supposed, examining her beef steak with a fork driven through it. 'Could be better though.' Star looked up and spotted a waiter. 'Hey, you! Waiter dude! Over here!'

Tom sniggered at her behaviour, although he tried to contain it. He still failed to hold in his amusement.

Eventually, the hollered waiter did come over. He attempted to hide his exasperated disposition, but Adam was easily able to spot it. Star probably could too, not that she really cared all too much.

'This steak is too rare,' Star complained. The waiter bent down to examine the food. After a few seconds of staring, he frowned and leaned back in confusion. Disconcerted, he checked again.

'How did you want it cooked, Miss?'

'Medium rare.'

'This is medium rare,' the waiter stated bluntly.

'Are you calling me a liar?!' The princess suddenly yelled. 'Do you know who I am? I'm Princess Butterfly of Mewni. And he is the damn Prince of the Underworld. If I say it's too rare, then it's too rare!'

'O-of course,' the waiter stumbled. 'W-Would you like a…a new one prepared, or –'

'I want this one comped!' She demanded forcefully. 'This steak – for free. You got that?'

'Um, yes, yes,' he assured her fearfully. 'I…I will make sure you aren't charged for the steak, Miss Butterfly.'

'That's Princess Butterfly,' Princess Butterfly instantly corrected, glaring at the waiter as he left.

Tom was mainly laughing throughout this whole exchange. Marco looked away in disgust. How could he condone such behaviour? How hadn't he considered this was an abnormal thing for Star to do? What kind of boyfriend would be so blind to something like this?

'Star, don't think I haven't noticed,' the prince addressed teasingly. She frowned bemusedly, jerking her head to her shoulder in confusion.

'Hm?'

'You've been acting differently lately,' Tom identified. Star's eyes flashed with worry for a moment. 'I like it.'

The magical princess's face lit up instantly.

'Oh, really?' She prompted, leaning in to goad him on.

'Definitely! I was always worried there'd be something between you and Marco, but I'm glad your views have changed,' he freely admitted. 'Plus, I have to say, I'm liking the new look.'

Star's "new look" had not escaped Marco and Adam's attention, either. She had dispensed with the typical brightly coloured clothes or flamboyant frilly extensions. Instead, she was wearing a far more muted dark purple dress, similar in design to her typical princess attire, but less extravagant. Instead of a star-shaped handbag, she was carrying an oval one in the vague outline of an eye. Her dress was also longer, extending further down her legs, exposing only her tall horned black boots below. Rather than a horned or cactus design, she wore a more regal black headband, studded with numerous small gemstones.

'Thank you, hot stuff,' Star accepted flirtatiously. 'So, if you like the "new" me, what did you think of the old me?'

Tom looked uncertain.

'Uh, I don't think I should be –'

'Tom,' the princess silenced, smiling at him encouragingly. 'Be completely honest. Don't hold anything back. I need to hear this.'

'You were cool and all, but annoying,' he described. 'You were so melodramatic, always trying to mess with things that shouldn't be messed with. Like the whole "Monster equality" thing. I go along with it because I'm your boyfriend, but I think the whole thing's stupid.'

'Yeah, you're right,' she agreed. 'It was dumb of me to try.'

'A lot of things you do are dumb,' Tom blurted out. When he realised what he'd just said, he scrambled to apologise but Star stopped him and nodded acceptingly.

'Please, continue, Tom,' she requested sincerely.

'Well, you always hang out with Marco,' he complained. 'You barely leave any time for me. There have been a few times where our relationship has just been…frustrating, more than anything else. I deserve the attention, I'm entitled to it, but instead you hang out with Marco instead. You can't blame me for being jealous.'

Star reached out and placed her hand on his, beaming at him comfortingly.

'You don't have anything to worry about Tom. There will never be anything between me and Marco. He means absolutely nothing to me.'

'Thanks Star,' Tom acknowledged happily. 'I so prefer this you over the old you. Much better.'

Adam stood up and stepped in front of Marco, blocking his view of the All-Seeing Eye.

'I think I've seen enough,' he decided, folding his arms. Behind him, the Eye collapsed, fading from view. Marco, at this point feeling crushed, frowned at him.

'What do you mean?'

'That's not Star,' he told him confidently. 'It's some kind of…duplicate. Not the real one.'

'Some kind of clone?' Marco suggested. Adam shrugged.

'I'm sure there's the right technology to clone someone without using magic,' the warlock supposed. 'The Mace Treaty is tomorrow, right? Perhaps someone didn't want that to happen. It would seem the only explanation.'

'So what do we do?' He asked. 'Do we crash the date and take her down?'

Adam shook his head.

'We're no match for her,' he pointed out. 'I fought her one-on-one, remember? It left me hospitalised. Besides, Tom is likely to take her side and fight us instead. There's no way we're winning that fight.'

'Well we can't just sit and wait!' objected the squire, jumping to his feet.

'We're not going to,' Adam reassured him. 'If we can find the real Star, then we're gonna have a much easier fight on our hands.'

'What makes you think she's still alive?' Marco inquired morbidly.

'I can still feel her presence through the wand,' the Mewman explained. 'She's still alive, I'm sure of it.'

'Then let's go ask Moon for help.'

'We don't have enough time to explain and prove this to her,' Adam argued. 'We have to rescue Star as soon as possible. Once the "Fake Star" realises that we're onto her, it's only a matter of time before she kills Star – or us.'

'So we're on our own?' Marco said, receiving a reluctant nod from his friend. 'Great. How are we even gonna figure out where Star is?'

'Well, she must be keeping her somewhere easily accessible,' the warlock teenager deduced, rubbing his chin in contemplation. 'Easily accessible, but out of sight by most.'

'How about her bedroom?' Marco proposed. Adam shrugged his shoulders acquiescently.

'It's worth checking,' he supposed, raising a hand to his side. He tore open a golden gateway a foot away from where they stood.

The two of them nodded at one another and stepped through the portal. They arrived in Star's bedroom instantaneously. It wasn't very far from Adam's room, but far enough to justify portalling to save time.

'Search everywhere!' Marco exclaimed, suddenly becoming assertive.

The two of them turned the entire room upside-down looking for any trace of Star.

The most obvious place to check was Star's secrets closet, which Adam was able to unlock after a second attempt with the Unlocking Spell. Unfortunately, they didn't find Star in there. In fact, there was no indication anything had even been touched in there. Perhaps the Fake Star was too smart to use such an obvious hiding spot.

Of course, they searched under the bed and in the wardrobe. What they found was less than impressive, simply Star's untouched belongings. It was becoming evident that Fake Star barely used anything in Star's room and mostly kept things as they were.

This told Adam one important thing: Star's bedroom was not the clone's base of operations.

'Hey, Adam, over here,' Marco's voice directed from behind him. He turned around and saw the Latino standing beside Star's desk, jiggling one of the drawer knobs. No matter how hard he tried, it didn't seem to budge.

'Star never uses that drawer, anyway,' Adam dismissed, shrugging noncommittally.

'Exactly,' Marco pointed out, as the Mewman came over to look. 'Star doesn't use it.'

Adam wanted to slap himself for his stupidity. It should have been more obvious. They had never bothered to think much of Star's writing desk, so it hadn't come to mind as a potential hiding spot for something. Hiding it in plain sight was so obvious and yet so clever that Adam was honestly frustrated with himself for having fallen for it.

The warlock reached forward and tried the handle just as his friend had previously.

'It's locked,' the Latino identified, as Adam failed to open it.

'I can see that, Marco,' he retorted. 'What matters is the magic used to lock it.'

The Mewman's hand glowed with purple energy as he waved a hand across the drawer knob.

'Octarinis,' he whispered.

A series of glowing circular runes with various symbols appeared across the surface of the drawer. Some of them rotated and spun, while others remained static. Marco frowned as he bent down to examine them. Adam crouched down and looked over them, searching his mind for any recognition of these runes within the books he had read.

'Several Locking Spells,' he identified, running his fingers across the wood.

Marco frowned. 'Several?'

'You can stack Locking runes, Marco,' he explained, glaring impatiently at him. 'It enhances their potency. Think of it like adding more encryption to a computer. Or adding extra locks to a door.'

'Can you unlock it?' his friend asked, looking at the lock worriedly.

'I can try.'

He stood up and pointed his hands at the desk drawer.

'Summa holistica!' Adam incanted, the magical star shape burning in his palm.

The desk drawer handles glowed bright, while the glowing runes began to fissure. Cracks spread across their surface, slowly and steadily collapsing. There was a loud high-pitched shrill as the holographic runes shattered and faded away into nothingness. Adam reached forward, now able to open it. He smiled happily.

'Alright, let's see what she was hiding,' Marco declared, as the two searched through the desks.

At first, they couldn't really find anything. It was mostly cryptic symbols and markings that neither of them recognised, along with a few random items that seemed to bear no correlation or discernible intention. Adam was beginning to think this was just a red herring, or an intentional distraction to keep them from finding out the truth.

However, right when he was about to give up, Marco spoke up as he checked the last drawer.

'I think I found something,' he announced, pulling out a sheet of paper. Adam came over to examine it.

It was a folded map. Not just any map – a map of the lower levels of the Butterfly Castle. The basement was circled in blue ink, with the words "ACCESS TO CATACOMBS" written next to it. There had to be only one reason the clone would have this written here – a spot to hide the real Star. Which meant one specific thing: this had been planned. There was something the clone or clone's creator had to gain from this, enough to plan out all the variables.

Apart from Adam.

Adam was a wildcard, having only been around for a few months. It was highly likely that his existence was unknown to the perpetrator, as he remained out of the spotlight in Mewman society. That would explain why the clone had not been able to behave normally around him, unable to discern how to behave around a complete stranger whose presence had not been pre-programmed for.

'The catacombs under the castle,' he discerned. 'I guess they're not written on the official building plan.'

'So that's where she's taken the real Star,' the squire realised, receiving a nod from his friend.

Adam leaned closer to get a good look at the location. He pushed out a hand to his right, opening a golden glowing portal a foot away from where he stood.

'Come on,' he prompted. 'We're gonna find Star.'

Marco nodded and the pair stepped through the portal next to one another.

The first thing they registered when they entered was almost total darkness. The two of them looked around and found they were in a dingy medieval corridor comprised of stone bricks. It was arched in design, narrow in length and ancient in age. Beneath Adam's feet was a paved stone pathway caked in dust and grime, seeping through the old tiles.

'Where are we?' asked Marco, perhaps ignorantly.

'The basement,' Adam said, turning around. 'There!'

The squire spun around to find an old wooden door at the end of the hall. It was just barely visible in the semi-darkness. Several bar locks were fitted against it, almost completely rusted across. A thin layer of dust was dispersed across the door, like a fine powder.

The two walked up to the door, inspecting its details.

'I'm guessing this door leads to the catacombs,' Adam presumed, reaching forward to unlock it. It took a lot of effort to slide across the rusty bars, but their combined might was sufficient enough to grant them access.

What they found was an ancient corridor constructed from more ornate stone than before. The tunnel was regular and rectangular, assembled very neatly. The walls had tabloids with designs on them depicting various figures in ancient Mewman history. A series of torches were attached to the wall on sconces, flames burning brightly against the germinating darkness.

They entered the ancient catacombs with a cautious pace.

'Brr, cold,' Marco shivered, as a draft was brought in. He zipped up his hoodie. He looked around the tunnel. 'So where do we go?'

Adam responded by fumbling through his coat pocket. After a few seconds of ruffling, he produced his golden compass. The flames from the torches flickered in the glass and caused the metal to glint in the burning light. He pointed the compass in front of him, and the pointers continually flipped ends. However, when he turned around to direct it in the opposite direction, the compass re-centred in the easterly direction. It was completely convinced of what compass direction he was facing. Once he turned back again, the pointer resumed vibrating and flipping around the westerly indicator.

'Woah, that's…weird,' Marco described with a frown. 'What does that mean?'

'It means there's a region of high magical flux density around here,' the Mewman explained. 'It's perfect for us.'

'It is? Yes!' The Latino celebrated, almost too quickly. 'Wait, why is it perfect?'

'Because, Marco, we can follow the trail!' He elaborated impatiently. He reached out, lifted a burning torch off the wall, and held it forward to light the tunnel. 'Come on!'

Marco chose not to argue and followed him. He looked at the torch in his hand.

'Why don't you just use magic to show us the way?' The squire enquired, gesturing towards the torch.

'And mess with the magic density?' He disagreed with a ridiculing laugh. 'If I release any mystions into the system, it could disrupt the trail. Besides, why use magic when the torches would work just fine?'

'I hope you know what you're doing,' Marco said worriedly, as the two followed the trail through the corridors with his compass.

'Marco,' he said flatly, putting a hand on his shoulder. 'We're going to find her. Once we do, I promise you – we're taking on that impostor.'

The squire let out an audible sigh, biting his lip.

'Thanks, Adam,' he appreciated sincerely. The Mewman gave him a fair smile and walked onwards.

Fortunately, the magical trail did not waver, only fluctuating whenever they had to turn a corner. It wouldn't have mattered too much if it faded, considering how sensitive Adam's compass was to changes in magielectromagnetic fields. The Mewman was so attuned to measuring the disturbances this way that he knew where to go. However, Marco had more trouble identifying the small changes that were indicative of the direction, so most of his time was spent following Adam and trusting his judgement.

The catacombs below the Butterfly Castle were mysterious, to say the least. Adam didn't recognise most of the figures in the tabloids, though he wasn't sure if this was due to its exclusion from the history books, his own ignorance, or a discrepancy between the histories of the two multiverses.

Whatever it was, Adam was intrigued about the nature of these catacombs. They were obviously meant to be more secret, given that this whole tunnel network didn't exist on the official blueprints. What concerned Adam the most about it was the why. Why would they have a whole secret network of catacombs below the castle?

What were they hiding? Was it something unspeakable, or simply something more private?

His questions were half-answered when the two turned a right and entered a room. Adam immediately stopped when he realised that they were no longer entering a corridor. Initially, the room was completely dark, but as they stepped inside, torches lit themselves on either side, running across the length of the room to reveal its full details.

Much like most of the catacombs, it was a rectangular, slated shape, decorated with ornate statues in the corners and inscriptions on the walls. What was especially different, though, was the presence of several stone coffins dotted along either side of the room, running in parallel. They were rectangular also, with stone lids that extended over the central columns. The central columns were filled with different, decorative designs, likely meant to symbolise death or the passing into the afterlife.

Adam could have sworn he heard something.

'Is this a crypt?' Marco deduced, looking around puzzled.

'Ssh!' He ordered hastily, bringing a finger up to his lips. 'Do you hear that?'

Marco fell silent and pointed the side of his head and corresponding ear in the direction Adam was indicating.

It was faint. Very faint. Yet he could hear it, he just had to strain his ears.

Muffled noises, almost like whining, echoed throughout the room.

'There!' Adam yelled, pointing at one of the coffins at the far end of the room.

He sprinted over to it before Marco could even think. The squire hurried after him, as the Mewman pointed his hands at the coffin.

'Levitato!' He cried, conjuring a blue aura of magic around the lid of the coffin. Throwing his hand above his head, Adam caused the stone lid to come flying off, revealing the contents inside.

Marco gasped.

'Star!'

[20] Glamour spells are a class of Illusion magic that provide a false image of the outward appearance of an object or person but does not transmute them. Glamours are merely an image and are not physical. Contact with the false image immediately gives its façade away.

[21] I suppose it would seem odd that Adam has never been seen using the All-Seeing Eye before, even though it was mentioned in Chapter 3 that Glossaryck taught him the spell. There's been no reason for him to use it so far, apart from any time it was explicitly made clear the spell wouldn't help, so that's why.

[22] This Latin phrase literally translates to "too expensive".

Guess who's back at it again with a new chapter? It's me! This chapter concludes the first episode of this two-part mini-arc. The second part is gonna be off the walls, I tell ya. Can't wait to post it.

Adam's gone full research mode trying to figure out what happened to Star. I'm sure most - if not all - of my readers have figured out what's going on here, but give the characters a break, they don't have as much information available to us as they do. Nevertheless, Adam's going hell for leather, spouting off all the kind of things he thought it could be, although he kept having to repeat that he doesn't know what's wrong with Star lol.

But now that they've found the real Star, it's pretty obvious that we have an impostor at hand here. And you prolly all know who that impostor is.

It kinda hurt me to write that restaurant scene, just because of how horrible the fake Star is to...well, everyone. Not to mention Tom actually liking her, which is gonna be heart-breaking for Star, especially considering he admitted he lied to her a lot about what he thought about their relationship. Poor Marco, too, hearing all those horrible things evil Star said about him. Even Adam had to take pity on him and cancel the All-Seeing Spell, having concluded that she wasn't the real Star.

Adam's compass makes another appearance in this chapter. It's just a random tidbit, a small characteristic of Adam that I quite like. It hasn't shown up since chapter 11, but I don't think it will show up for several episodes. Knowing the brevity of the chapters I wrote, that will be probably about 30 chapters. I have this all planned out and it's gonna be a while.

It's in my head canon that the Butterfly Castle naturally has a network of catacombs below the ground level, which makes sense to me since Eclipsa makes use of tunnels around the castle a lot.

Anyway, I suppose this chapter is mostly set up for the next episode, but I hope you all still enjoyed it anyway. See y'all next time and thanks for your continued support!