Hello... Well...the first thing I'd like to say is...yes, I'm still alive. Also...no, I haven't abandoned this story nor do I plan on quitting writing any time soon. I wish I could give you a "good" excuse as to why it's taken me over 9 months to update this. If I must, it was a combination of just not feeling creative for a long time, combined with enjoying life again after the last year and a half and spending time with people I hadn't seen for a long time.
This is not an overly long chapter. But, I wanted to get "something" out there for people to read and enjoy. I do plan on getting the follow up to this chapter out as soon as I can, but no set timetable.
Thank you to everyone for all yourcontinued support. I means a lot to me. Now...on with the show!
"Wake up, Manny!"
Manfred awoke from his slumber with a start. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the hut he was staying in was completely pitch black, even with his eyes open he could not see anything. Fortunately, he did recognize the voice that was speaking to him, and it was not an enemy. Mina was also staying in the same hut and had woken him up.
"I say, Mina. It is the middle of the night. Why are you waking me up now?"
"We need to get moving, Manfred!" Mina hissed. "Get yourself out of bed."
"Out of bed?" he asked incredulously. "Whatever for?"
"We need to have a meeting…"
"At this hour?!"
"Manny, shut up and get out of bed!"
As his eyes adjusted, Manfred could see the outline of Mina's body standing over his bed. Toffee had set them both up in a one room village hut since they were his guests now. He wanted to continue to protest his rude awakening in the middle of the night, but he could tell that Mina had no interest in letting him argue. Reluctantly, he climbed out of his bed, and made his way across the floor to the door on the opposite side of the hut. At least he had gotten used to the layout of the hut, so he did not trip over or bump into any objects.
Mina cracked open the door and peeked outside. When she was satisfied that no one was there, she motioned to Manfred to follow her outside. The light wasn't much better outside though. Back on Mewni, there were three moons in the sky to provide illumination. However, in this dimension there was no moon to shine bright overhead. There were stars in the sky that did manage to provide enough light to see the outlines of the buildings in the village, and Manfred followed Mina as she led them down a path that wound its way through the settlement.
Eventually, their path led them slightly out of the village, and down towards the water's edge of the river that lay next to it. Manfred was glad they had appeared to finally stop, as he had tripped a few times over various objects in the dark, and also had turned his ankle on a rock. It was quite difficult for him to keep from shouting in pain every time he encountered an obstacle, but Mina's admonishment to stay quiet each time forced him to.
"Alright, Manny." Mina instructed. "We can stop here. The sound of the water should be enough to cover up our voices. I know Toffee has spies all over this village so this is the only way that we can talk without being found out."
"I see..." he replied. "What topics shall we be discussing?"
"I want to hear your report."
"My report? It's pitch black and I can't see anything. I'm extremely tired from being awoken so abruptly. I tripped over numerous objects on the way down here, and I also believe that I turned my ankle and it is very hard to walk on it right now. Which will make it even more difficult for the walk back to our hut."
"Manfred…" Mina calmly spoke. "I'm going to ask you again for your report from the mission I sent you on, and if I don't get the answers I want to hear, I will hit you over the head with one of these rocks we're standing on and then I will throw your unconscious body into the river next to us! Tell me what you saw when I sent you to spy on the monster encampment!"
Manfred sighed. "Very well. I shall give you the contents of my report."
Manfred hesitated for a moment to compose his thoughts, earning him more wrath from his companion.
"Well? Spit it out, man!"
"Earlier yesterday, as you instructed, I travelled out of this village and through the adjacent woods to where you thought the monster encampment might be." Manfred finally began.
"I assume you found it without too much trouble?" Mina asked pointedly.
"The path you told me to take wasn't very well worn, not to mention the terrain was very uneven, however I did manage to find the camp relatively easily."
"That was on purpose, Manny." Mina interrupted. "There was an easier path to the camp that the monsters followed all the time, but I didn't want them finding out that you were spying on them."
"I thank you for your guidance then, my dear Mina." Manfred acknowledged. His attempts at praising her were only met by more scowling.
"Nevertheless," he continued. "The path led me to a vantage point on top of a hill that allowed me to see the whole camp. It's located in a fairly large clearing in the middle of the forest. There were tents set up, ostensibly for the monsters to sleep in, as well as training grounds set up in the field."
"How many of them were there?" Mina demanded.
"From what I could tell, around a few hundred. They were all milling about at first, then a horn blew and they all began to gather in groups for what looked like the day's training session. They then began combat drills with each other in their groups."
"I see." Mina nodded in the darkness. "What type of monsters does Toffee have in this army of his?"
"Many of them appeared to be the same monsters that were found on Mewni. Because this dimension is so similar to what Mewni used to be like, I can't say if the monsters were from this world or Toffee brought them here like he brought us here a few days ago. I also couldn't get an exact number, but quite a lot of them looked like they were Sepatarians."
"Really?" Mina was somewhat astonished at this revelation. "Was Toffee at this camp while you were spying on them?"
"As far as I could tell...no." Manfred replied. "But I saw his two lieutenants that we met when we first arrived...and who you left quite the impression on. They were overseeing the troops."
"Fine. So, we know that Toffee is keeping his end of the bargain and training his part of our little army. What kind of skills do these monsters have as fighters?" Mina asked.
"From what I was able to observe they appear to have some skills as warriors." Manfred replied. "Some of them appear to be a bit raw, however. To be truthful, I wasn't able to watch them train for as long as I wanted to."
"Why not?" Mina inquired. "Did they see you? Why didn't you keep yourself more hidden?"
"I did what I could to stay as hidden as possible from my vantage point." Manfred countered. "Mina, there's something that happened while I was watching the monsters train that I need to tell you about that obviously I couldn't when we were together during our waking hours."
"Go on…"
"Not long into my observations I heard a bloodcurdling scream from the training field. I quickly scanned the area, and saw that there was a Septarian down on the ground in quite a lot of pain. It was also apparent why he was down on the ground...he had a sword sticking out of his chest. It was not a pretty injury either, I can assure you of that. Apparently, he was combat training with another monster using real swords, and he was stabbed in the chest."
"But...he was a Septarian, correct." Mina inquired with an astonished tone that cut through the darkness.
"Indeed, he was. But yet he appeared to have sustained a serious, possibly even fatal wound. Quickly one of Toffee's lieutenants rushed to the scene. He started screaming at the monster who had stabbed the Septarian. Then he grabbed the monster and dragged him away to a nearby tent. The Septarian who was on the ground was carried to the same tent. It wasn't long after that I saw Toffee's colleague exit the tent wiping his sword. I didn't take much to ascertain that the monster had been punished for his...how shall I put it...clumsy actions?"
Manfred was greeted with stone silence as he finished his story.
"Soon after that incident, I felt that I had to leave the area. You see, a number of monsters started motioning in my direction and I could feel their eyes on me. I thought that it would be a wise choice to return to the village and lay low for the rest of the day. At least until I could inform you of what I saw...which happens to be right now in the middle of the night."
The silence that followed after Manfred finished telling Mina his story from earlier in the day went on for so long, that the former Butterfly Court member thought that his companion had abandoned him in the dark by the edge of the water.
"Do you know what this means, Manfred." Mina finally spoke, confirming that she was still present.
"All the Septarians we dealt with on Mewni were invincible." Manfred answered. "At least until Queen Moon used her dark magic to subdue them after the first battle with Toffee that resulted in him losing part of his finger. But...magic is now gone, and it appears that Septarians are no longer able to recover from wounds that they receive in battle."
"Let's get back to our quarters, Manfred." Mina directed. "It's late and we both need rest. However...when we get up in the morning, I think we need to have a little chat with Toffee."
"See? What did I tell you, Hekapoo? Isn't this a great view?"
Star motioned to the former member of the Magical High Commission. They were both standing on top of the hill that rose over Echo Creek Park. It provided both ladies with a panoramic view of the city of Echo Creek. From their vantage point, you could see just how much the Cleaving had transformed the surrounding area.
"Look over there." Star pointed. You can see how huge Butterfly Castle is in relation to the other buildings downtown. I never realized just how big my old home was until it ended up being transported to Earth."
Star continued to point out the sights to her companion. "You can also see the Monster Temple from up here. Check out the Forest of Certain Death! It looks super huge from where we are. See, there's Ludo's castle right in front of it."
Star shielded her eyes. "I can even see Ludo and Dennis from here. It looks like they're playing basketball out in front of it. That reminds me, I totally need to take up Ludo's offer and come visit him for a game. Marco would totally be up for coming along as well. You should see him...he's got some pretty sweet moves on the court…"
"Star." Hekapoo interjected. "Just...stop already."
Star turned to face the fiery redhead with a blank expression on her face.
"I'll admit, it is a nice view from up here, but we can cut the charade of you wanting to bring me up here just to admire a view." Hekapoo crossed her arms and stared at the former princess.
"Fine." Star mirrored Hekapoo in crossing her own arms. "You're absolutely right. Let's cut all the crap and get right to the point."
"And what would that be?" Hekapoo shot Star a bemused look.
"I think you know what I'm about to ask, Hekapoo. Why are you here?"
"Didn't you pay attention to my story the first time I told it?" Hekapoo replied snarkily.
"You bet I did!" Star shot back. "But you didn't give me a straight answer when I asked you about Marco!"
"Not again…" Hekapoo rubbed her hand over her face. "What the hell is it going to take to get it through your dumb blonde head that I'm not interested in Marco in the same way that you are!"
"How about for starters you do a better job of telling me the truth?"
"What the hell do you want me to say, Star?!"
"Admit that you're in love with Marco…"
Hekapoo just scowled at Star but refused to say anything.
"When I walked into Marco's bedroom and saw that he wasn't there, but instead saw your open portal, I knew exactly what had happened and that I had to go and rescue him." Star continued. "But first, I wanted to have a little talk with you, since you and I both know how dangerous your dimension is. I wanted to make you knew that if anything had happened to him while he was in the Neverzone, I'd be holding you responsible for getting my best friend hurt...or worse."
Hekapoo's scowl stayed etched on her face but she kept her silence.
"When I burst into your place, I was beyond relieved that I had managed to find Marco, even though I barely recognized him at first since he was a lot older-and I'll admit-way hotter than before. But I also saw that it looked like you two were having a moment together. I saw how you were looking at him. You told him to come back any time with his scissors. I'm just glad he still remembered me after all the time that had passed from spending all that time in your dimension."
"I give up…"
"Say what now, Hekapoo?"
"I said I can't take any more of this shit." Hekapoo gritted through clenched teeth. "You win, Star."
"Sorry, Hekapoo." Star leaned in closer. "I didn't quite catch what you just said."
"I said that I'll admit that your boyfriend became a total hunk and a hottie after sixteen years of hunting my clones...and that I never could understand why he wanted to go home with you when he could have stayed in my dimension with me!" Hekapoo yelled at the former princess.
"I KNEW IT!" Star exclaimed. "I knew you wanted to steal my Marco from me all this time!"
She started doing a celebratory dance where she stood, all while Hekapoo continued to glare at her.
"I am so smart...I knew it all along…" Star sang as she danced in place.
"Congratulations, Star…" Hekapoo deadpanned. "You're definitely way smarter than me. I guess after you rescued him from me, and after he realized the whole time dilation thing, you confessed your love for him and you both lived happily ever after."
Star stopped dancing and stared at the now smirking redhead.
"Oh...that's right!" Hekapoo exclaimed. "You never told Marco how you felt about him! He only found out when the whole kingdom found out on your song day! Boy...that sure went well! Between that little revelation and losing the Book of Spells, the entire fucking kingdom was up in arms!"
"Bitch…" Star said softly.
"But I'm sure you and Marco talked it out afterwards, and you said that you were sorry that you strung him along, and then you guys got together and everything was ok, right?"
Now it was Star's turn to have a scowl etched on her face.
"Wait...no...you ended up back with Lucitor again." Hekapoo gave Star a hard glance. "Oh well...at least he was nice arm candy, because you both sure looked like you didn't give a shit about each other."
If looks could kill, Hekapoo would have been dead where she stood. Star was absolutely boring holes in the former magic commission member. A fact that made Hekapoo want to twist the knife even further.
"Back to the subject of your Marco. Do you know how much it killed him seeing you with Tom? We used to ride Dragoncycles together all the time. We even had our own crew that ran together. He was always talking about you. How you were his best friend. How great you were at magic. How you'd make a great queen one day. It was so painfully obvious how he felt. I tried to steer him away from a place where I knew he would just get hurt, but it ended up being a complete waste of time. I realized that if he was willing to take sixteen years to get back to you, he would have waited 30 years until you finally reciprocated his feelings. You want to know why I was a bitch to you back when you were the Crown Princess? Because I saw what Marco could become...and you were still an immature little girl. If you couldn't handle your relationship with Marco, no wonder you couldn't handle being Queen either!"
"Enough!" Star cried out. "Are you happy, Hekapoo? Are you done putting me down? Do you want me to admit to you that I was a pathetic princess and an even worse Queen? Fine. I Star Butterfly admit that I was a terrible, immature princess, and even worse Queen! Which is exactly why I gave the wand and the crown to Eclipsa...because I knew I wasn't ready for the responsibility. Never mind the fact that you and the rest of the fucking assholes on the High Commission stole her birthright from her and tried to erase her from the history books! At least I was mature enough to try to right an old wrong! I guess you weren't paying attention when I was single handedly trying to keep the kingdom running and keep all of our allies from abandoning us! Or when I tried to get the people to accept Eclipsa as their Queen? Oh...that's right! You guys tried to sabotage the whole thing at the coronation!"
"We didn't sabotage anything! Your mother convinced that idiot Rhombulus to let Globgor out of his prison! What were we supposed to do?"
'How about nothing, Hekapoo?" Star shot back. "Globgor wasn't a threat and you know it! All Eclipsa wanted was to have her family back! How is that a crime?"
"Uh...let's see. He used to eat Mewmans!" Hekapoo pointed out.
"How many did he eat after he was free?" Star countered. "You know something, Hekapoo? I'm surprised that you actually saved all of us when Mina was attacking us. Because your stubbornness to admit that you and the idiots on the Commission were wrong makes me wonder why you weren't siding with her all along."
"Mina Loveberry is a crazy fucking bitch!" Hekapoo yelled. "I'd like to know just what the hell your mother was thinking in the first place! You know what? Let me tell you a little secret, Star. I wanted nothing to do with Mina and her fanatics. Did I want Eclipsa as Queen either? No, not particularly. Especially since I didn't trust her to do what was right for the kingdom. But I was overruled by the other two on the commission. They always were overruling me! I was overruled by Omnitraxus and Rhombulus to let Rhombulus out of his cell while he was still in it! Those two were always abusing their powers...and by letting Rhombulus get off without any sort of penalty was the last straw! So that's why I saved all of you. It was the least worst option at the time. I also had enough of dealing with those two idiots..."
Star stood there in complete shock at Hekapoo's confession. Did she actually go against her own allies on the Commission when she decided to save Star and Marco along with Moon and Eclipsa from the rampaging Mina?
"But...at Eclipsa's trial you were completely convinced that she was evil." Star countered. "The three of you covered up Eclipsa's daughter being of royal blood and rightful heir to the Butterfly crown. My mother and I nearly died at the hands of the Truth and Punishment Box because of all your refusals to admit what had really happened!"
"Uh...we were in the same room, Star!" Hekapoo snapped. "You don't think I've forgotten about that little near death experience?"
"Exactly my point, Hekapoo!" Star shot back. "You were willing to die to protect your precious Commission and it's lies. If it wasn't for Rhombulus cracking under the pressure, we wouldn't be here right now!"
Star stared right into Hekapoo's eyes. "Or...maybe you would have just bailed out to your dimension...just like when you saved us from Mina. Just like when you convinced Glossaryck to send you to Earth if magic was ever destroyed. Glossaryck and the other two idiots, as you called them, have been wiped out of existence. But you're still here... "
"You know what, Star?" Hekapoo interrupted. "I am so glad that you are proving me right. Right about you being completely immature and a lousy leader. Right about being completely insecure about your relationship with Marco when he literally worshipped the ground you walked on. But most of all...what an ungrateful little bitch you are after I saved all of you. I could have left you, your boyfriend who puts up with your shit every day, your idiot mother who thought she could control Solarian magic...and especially Eclipsa, to die at the hands of Mina Loveberry!"
"I may be ungrateful, Hekapoo...but at least I'm not a fucking hypocrite."
"I think I've heard enough!" Hekapoo snapped. "Magic may be gone, but that doesn't mean I can't physically kick your ditzy ass!"
The fiery redhead took a few steps towards Star. But the former Butterfly Princess showed no fear and stood her ground. Star was no stranger to fighting, and although she wasn't letting on inside, she was very surprised that the former Magical Commission member wanted to start an altercation against the daughter of a barbarian prince. Maybe Hekapoo realized this as well, as she stopped only inches away from the former princess's face. Up close, Star could see the utter contempt on her adversary's face.
"I so wish you hadn't destroyed magic," she uttered in a low voice. "I would have loved to show you what a real wielder of magic can do in battle. You wouldn't have stood a chance against me..."
"We're not going to find out either, Hekapoo…" came a familiar voice right beside the two young women. Star and Hekapoo turned their heads at the same time to see Marco and Talon had climbed up the hill to join them.
"Marco!" Star exclaimed. She quickly moved in his direction away from a perplexed Hekapoo. After arguing with her over him, not to mention almost ending up in a physical fight, Star wanted to give her boyfriend as much physical affection as she could as a message to Hekapoo to stay away from him. So, it came as a shock when Marco held up his hand to stop her in her place before she could embrace him.
"Oh...hey, Marco." Hekapoo smirked. "When did you get here?"
"Hekapoo…" Marco began. "I think you need to leave."
The former Magic High Commission member's smirk suddenly turned to shock. Slowly it dawned on Hekapoo that Marco had heard the argument between her and Star.
"How long were you listening to us?" the redhead asked Marco flatly.
"Long enough…" came the stern reply. Marco's gaze was firmly affixed on Hekapoo the entire time he spoke to her.
The redhead's look of shock was now giving way to a scowl. Did he hear her confession about wanting to be with him while he was hunting her in the Neverzone? The stern look on his face seemed to confirm this. Suddenly, Hekapoo felt trapped. She needed to get away from this situation that was becoming rapidly volatile. Still, the former Magical High Commission member knew she had to project an air of superiority and defiance on the outside.
"Fine…" she finally spoke. "Be that way. Little Miss Butterfly is perfect for you anyway."
Hekapoo then turned to Talon, who had been standing next to Marco the entire time.
"Why are you here, Talon?"
"Uh...Marco wanted me to come in case things got a little bit...uh...out of hand." the muscular eagle headed creature offered.
"Seriously...Talon?" Hekapoo arched her eyebrow at him.
"Yeah…" he replied. "Hekapoo...I think we should listen to Marco and like...get out of here."
"You're lucky I find that body of yours attractive, Talon!" Hekapoo huffed. "Otherwise, I'd have left your dumb turkey ass to fend for yourself against those bikers!"
"Alright." she sighed with resignation. "Let's go get our cycles and get the hell out of here."
She started to walk back down the hill, but not before stopping in front of Star and Marco.
"You should be ecstatic that he hasn't gotten tired of your shit after all these years, Star." the redhead snarked. She then looked directly at Marco.
"I don't know how the hell you put up with her sometimes…"
Hekapoo stalked down the hill with Talon in tow. Marco kept his gaze upon them as they descended. He felt a feeling of sadness watching Hekapoo walking away from him. Despite the issues between her and Star, he still considered the former commission member a friend, and for what it was worth a close one at that. Obviously, not at the same level as his blonde best friend and now girlfriend.
However, it was unquestionable that Star Butterfly was the most important person in his life, now and in the future. A fact that left Marco somewhat torn. Especially considering Star was right about Hekapoo being attracted to him. Knowing how protective Star was towards him, even when they weren't a couple, troubled the young Latino. How would she handle this development going forward? Would she become jealous? Would Marco have to lose someone he considered a close friend, and that he thought he'd never see again due to magic being destroyed? He didn't even want to consider the worst possibility, namely Hekapoo's revelation causing severe harm to his and Star's relationship.
"Marco...I'm sorry…"
He was broken out of his thoughts by his girlfriend standing next to him with a mixture of worry and sadness on her face. Marco then realized that he had sort of pushed her away when he confronted her and Hekapoo. Never mind what had just happened, Marco knew that what he had just done would definitely cause even more harm to their relationship than anything Hekapoo could do. The fact that she was even apologizing to him meant that she felt at fault in this situation. There was no way he was going to make the situation even worse than it may have already been.
Quickly, he opened both his arms and took a step towards her. Without even a hint of hesitation, Star closed the gap between them and firmly wrapped her arms around his torso. She nestled her forest of blonde hair under his chin, while resting her head against his chest.
"It's ok, Star…" was all that he needed to say at that moment.
Short, but pretty intense nonetheless. Once again, as I've said before, leave a review get a response!
jkrust78