The guards had their hands grasped on the flying pony prince, as if he had been caught for doing something bad. Knowing loki though, he probably did do something bad, though judas felt a sudden need to try and hide the girls in the room despite knowing there was no time for that. The demon's nodded to the prince as the pony struggled to get out of their grasps, "Sorry your highness, we found this sneak lurking outside the door trying to find you an-."
"Would you two please let him go?! He's royalty! Are you trying to hurt him and make us lucitors look more and more like savages?", the guards froze before suddenly letting the freaked out prince go, he checked his blue stripped horns for marks and shook his light green hair as he calmed down. "Uh, geez jude, what the heck is wrong with your guards? i was just trying to talk to you and your freaky guards wouldn't let me in an-". The green prince froze at the sight of the girls and then to the demon, "Uh, am i interrupting something?".
"No, you're not.", Judas said right away, before the prince could accuse anything ridiculous, he shot the guards a look and they immediately left the room and closed the door behind them. "What are you here for loki? Just letting you know if this is about the party i'm really not that interested in talking about that kinda stuff right now..". The pony's eyes darted to the side, "No...it's more like...well it's more like...". Judas sighed, knowing where this was going, "Your parents are fighting again and you needed a place to go hide and get away from them, right?".
He nodded quickly, shining eyes darting around the room. Expected as much, not like the prince himself exactly had any real friends to go to in the first place. Sky sure didn't like him and Loki self appointed Judas as the closest thing he had to a real friend anyway. The pony tried to keep his mouth shut as he slumped onto one of the beanbag chairs next to sunny and tried to make himself comfortable. Celeste's expression was one of utter disgust , Sunny looked surprised and curious, and though judas was smiling he could feel his heart beat faster as a sign he was nervous.
Loki was unsocial, but he sure could be a blabbermouth.
He needed to keep the pony's mind away from the girls.
"You know loki, i can't keep hiding you from your folks...one of these days they're gonna know it's me and then i dunno who you're going to go to next without me...",The demon started before giving in and sending apologetic looks to his female companions as he approached the pouty green head nestling on the comfy surface, "Ok, what did they fight about this time?". The unicorn grumbled, huffing his words as though he said them so many times before, "Mother has been spending days in bed watching more soap operas and he complained she wasn't paying much attention to us and...the usual..". His sparkling eyes glimpsed on the girls in the room, finally about to address them before Judas pressed a hand to the pony's mouth.
"Again, NOT my girlfriends...", the unicorn suddenly dropped what he was about to say, "So yeah, i'm gonna crash here and cool...". Judas grumbled but weakly accepted, pretty much declaring "Game Time", was over now thanks to loki's arrival. It wouldn't be like him to kick the prince out after all. Sunny and Celeste choose to remain close to Judas and he clapped his hands together, " Well, so we have a new guest for today I suppose, girls, if you want you guys are allowed to head to your room and we can-".
"Oh nah jude, you don't have to make your..."girl friends"...leave because of me, they can stay. I was just...whatever..just pretend i'm not here." He made himself comfortable and judas proceeded to frown at him even more, "Loki, i can't "pretend "you're not here. Every time you show up here to hide you usually won't leave me alone and eat from our kitchens!". The pony said nothing, "So where's butterfly? Did you two like...have a falling out after the party?", the demon breathed and kept his composure in front of the girls and his new guest.
Last thing he needed was to make himself more upset right now, it wasn't good for him.
Though sunny noticed his shift in comfort and the gears slowly turned in her head, wondering what she could do.
"Sky has her own problems to take care of loki, and these are girls i'm in the midst of watching, they're guests...and honestly, they probably outta head back.", He corrected. He didn't hate loki, but this wasn't the time or place he felt like dealing with his fellow prince. The pony himself in fact, was the last person anyone needed right now and how to handle the situation was still processing in judas's mind. "Look, If you wanted to be away from your family, i said that was fine, but don't think that means you are somehow allowed to start attacking me about my personal business..."
Loki was about to say something when a small voice spoke up.
"Your parents fight?", Sunny put on her best innocent eyes as she looked at the pony prince, who gave her a once over before turning his head away from the small demon. The pony grumbled, "Yeah, they fight, is that weird or something?". The girl shook her head, "No, that's not weird, Does it happen all the time?". The prince shook his head, "I don't feel like talking about it...cause they fight ALL the time, it's always about stupid things too! And then they get all lovely dovey after and it's super weird an-".
"Oh, that's the same about my parents, they always act that way, but have you ever told them it bothers you?", judas was wondering where the girl was going with this as she put the prince at a loss for words, "I uh...judas, who are these girls again?". Judas was about to say something but sunny spoke again, "You shouldn't have to be unhappy to be around your own parents, when they hurt you, you outta tell them up for it!". The prince shifted more in his seat, "Well look, i kinda came here to forget all that...not be reminded of it...".
He looked between the girls and immediately rose from his seat, "Er...maybe i should go...this is getting weird...". Sunny's face looked upset but Judas felt this had been her intention the whole time. A part of him was about to let her get away with it, but he stepped in. "No no Loki, you don't have to leave, it's fine. Just relax, i'll talk to the girls and we can spend time together later ok?". Sunny looked confused as judas lead them outside, closing the door behind him, "Listen, I appreciate you wanting to help, but i would rather you not do...whatever you did..".
"Well wasn't he making you feel uncomfortable? I know he was making me..", Celeste shot at the boy, who frowned at her like a disapproving mom. "Well, i still would rather not kick people out of the castle like that! Loki is a pain but he's got...well he's got issues with his folks and i told him he could come here when he needed to". Sunny felt guilt but surprised as Celeste continued to defend her, "Says the guy who told him he couldn't continue keeping him there so much..".
"Look-", judas turned to the guards, lowering his voice, "He needs to handle his issues in his own time, not by being forced into them, and not by making him uncomfortable. I'll be fine, you two...you'll be fine on your own right?". He was unfortunately breaking the rules he set down to take shifts with landon but he had to suppose if they were in their rooms for a bit they would be fine till he talked with loki and sorted things out. They were under protection by trained guards after all.
"Oh, we're back to babying again are we?"
Sunny just nodded as Judas ignored Celeste, "I'm sorry judas, I didn't mean to...". Judas looked her over and sighed, "We'll talk about this later...anyways it was fun spending time with you girls...stay safe ok?", he watched them leave as his gaze turned back to loki behind the door. Opening it, he huffed an apology under his breath, "I'm sorry about that loki, look, it's-". He turned to the beanbag, only to find loki wasn't there, in fact, he was already at one of the arcade machines, playing to his heart's delight and not even looking at judas.
Guess judas shouldn't be surprised, but he let it slide as he walked his way over.
"Uh...loki?".
The pony continued to play, "Give me a second jude, my sister NEVER lets me play with any of her games back home!". He went back to trying to use magic to play and judas found himself waiting impatiently for him to bring his attention back to the matter at end. He had more patience then sky, especially with loki, and it was a wonder how he did it. Then again, since he'd been growing up with siblings for most of his life, it was possible he was too used to dealing with people like this.
"Loki, I know sky's been rough on you for kinda tagging us a lot, and your parents are...yeah, but if you need a safe space i'd prefer to feel like you want to talk to me instead of making me feel like you're using me...", loki mumbled out before he beat the game and turned to judas, "I just like coming here to get a break, y'know...". The purple demon nodded, "Yes, i know, but you act as though you wanna hang out with us...but then you either ignore us...or say something..y'know.". Loki bit his lip, "Well it's not my fault you and sky act so...weird together, you guys are kinda glued together and it totally looks like you're dating judas! I mean...c'mon now dude!".
"You say that about any girl i spend a minute with!"
Loki was silent, and the demon took another breath to keep himself calm. "Listen loki, you can stay here but keep in mind i'm still the prince here, your problems with your folks is no excuse for any of this ok? Been a hard day as is for me.", loki snorted and judas raised an eyebrow, "What is it?". Loki turned his head, "Judas, c'mon now, your family's perfect...you don't get what it's like at home for me. Look at you! Your parents get along all the time! You got girls fawning over you! You handle everything easily...it's like, c'mon...you're like the only one who doesn't see it.".
"That's because not all of that is true!", He pulled down the sleeve of his right arm, "Loki, I am cursed! Every day for me is like dealing with a ticking time bomb strapped to my body! My brother gets mad with me, a lot of my family never comes over to see me, and I've never had a girlfriend in my life. I'm not some...i dunno, "perfect prince" like you think i am. Never was. You need to stop treating me that way.". He realized his voice was raising and he face-palmed, cooling himself off, "I'm...i'm sorry loki, look, i'm not in a good mood for this...and I shouldn't be acting like this when you need help...".
"Sorry, i just wanted..you know...to be here...and i got kinda funky cause..yeah...".
The demon breathed through his nose, keeping his polite exterior once again, "Loki, i'm not making you leave because i know your family can be rough, but do me a favor, no more back talking to me about this stuff...you have no clue what kinda stuff i'm dealing with. I don't have to let you come here for help, i don't have to let you hang out with us, " He was about to just leave honestly, usually when loki tried to hang with him and sky he let him because he wanted to give him a chance, today just wasn't one of those days, there was already enough happening."I'm sorry loki, i'm stressed, maybe i'm not the best person to talk to today...", he started to head out of the room, slightly ashamed of himself. Though loki followed behind, which is what judas should've expected from him, at the same time he seemed confused.
"Er...sorry...about like, all that back there", the green ponyhead mumbled, flipping hair out of his eyes, "Like my dad tells me all the time i can be kinda weird and it's just everyone thinks you're cool and whatever...like, way cooler then me! ". Judas grumbled, " I'm not cool loki, everyone hates me practically.". He started to leave and the pony followed, "Well no, all the LAME people think that but like...every prince and princess probably wants to get in your pants, uh, well not me but whatever."
"Loki...".
"Like it's TRUE, Nora, Sky, even my sisters, always just talk about how great YOU are. Cause like all the rest of us are nervous wrecks but you're the only wreck that doesn't show it all the time! Like you complain about how everyone hates you but all i hear is how great you are and stuff...", he looked over to judas, who was still kinda upset, but wasn't trying to remove him. Instead he folded his arms, "Loki, why do you think i've never had a girlfriend before, hmm?"
"Because sky rejected your feelings?".
Judas turned red and waved his arms, "What? No! It's because everything is not this easy. Being a prince doesn't mean i can have anything i want or that everyone has to love me. And when did this all go from being about hiding from your parents to about how everyone sees me?". There was a silence between them and judas huffed and covered his face with his hand, suddenly starting to get what was really going on as the truth was written on the pony's face, "Loki, if you just wanted to hang out with me, just do that, don't make excuses or follow us...or whatever you do. That's not how you make friends with anyone.".
"Well no, it's not like- i have a lot of other friends!", the green horse held himself high and judas gave him a look.
"Really? What's their names? And no, your sisters don't count.".
"Er..."
Judas watched the horse struggles to come up with a name, "Stef...a...stef...Stefanniy!". The pony prince said, though judas wasn't buying it, "Loki, you just came here because you were bored didn't you? There wasn't a fight this time." The horse almost hung his head in shame, "Fine, maybe not this time, it's just like. My mom and dad were gonna try and practice my coronation and i bailed so i came here...cause you're like...well you're the only one i know who kinda sorta likes me."
'I wonder why', he found himself thinking.
But he pushed that into the back of his head, now was not the time to act like some brat, that was landon's job. "Don't skip your practice coronation loki, especially not to hang out with me, if you get caught here i'm gonna be in so much trouble.". He felt the pony hide behind them, "C'mon, you know my parents are crazy, i can't go back to them right now, they can barely even decide on their last name and they've been married forever, if i told you why i was here-".
"I would've said no, exactly." Judas stopped in his tracks, "You're gonna be king loki, you can't avoid that...if someone finds you here, we're both gonna be in big trouble. Also, for somone who fussed about me and sky not being at a royal party when it started...you sure have no issue missing other important events and risking your mom coming after you.". He shivered at the thought of the giant pony queen bursting in in search of her missing son. She was a reckless force that wasn't worth making angry, though granted it probably wouldn't surprise anyone if she didn't go looking for loki at all, it was always one or the other with her.
No wonder loki was messed up.
"C'mon man, pleaseeee? I'm sorry, I just kinda thought we could..hang out, you know, do stuff...instead, since you always offer.", he returned to judas's side and his eyes shifted around, as if expecting his mom to pop in any second. The demon prince continued walking, "This isn't a good time loki, i have other things i need to focus on and-WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!". The pony suddenly bolted in the opposite direction before pausing and coming back to grab the back of the demon's shirt and pull him along, his voice was muffled but judas didn't need him to say anything when he heard a loud crash.
"LOKI! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Well crap...
That took no time at all.
Loki shoved him into the nearest room and magically slammed the door behind them, "so uh, know any dimensions i can escape to? Like, something my mom's never heard of? How about a shoe dimension? Is there a shoe dimension?". Judas gave him a dirty look, "Loki, c'mon now, go out there, and do your coronation practice, it's not as bad as you think.". The pony was sweating, "C'mon, you'd do it if i were sky wouldn't you?". Judas crossed his arms, disapproving, "No, i wouldn't, cause i want my friend to be a good queen. Like it or not loki, i'm not helping you hide from your folks...".
He was about to call out, and grab the attention of the pony when he felt loki tackle him, forcing his body over his mouth, "Dude pleaseeee? My mom's nuts! Just help me out this one time and i'll stop calling sky your girlfriend?". Judas pushed him off and sighed, "And stop lying to me when you need actual help?". Loki's eyes shifted to the door and back, "Yeah, that too...", though judas didn't entirely buy it he sighed, "Fine, but if you're gonna hide with me then do everything i say cause I've got things to take care of. I'm not leaving to another dimension, but if you stay close, you can stay here and out of her sight, you got that? ".
He nodded and judas heard the mother pony pass, no doubt his parents would be confronting her very soon for bursting into their kingdom like this.
Loki left an awkward smile, "So uh...what do you wanna do first?".
The demon gave him a look, followed by a smirk.
"Judas?"
Guess if loki was truly gonna skip out on his responsibilities, might as well have some fun with it? Right?
"Glad you volunteered to help me clean up after Lucy, prince ponyhead, come...we got work to do!"., he opened his jacket to give him a place to hide as he approached the door, the queen could still be heard down the halls and loki made a face.
"You little-".
Sunny felt at home in the underworld.
She didn't really live down here back home, but her parents had no qualms about visiting anytime they wanted. Usually to let her and her brother leave the castle for once under the best watch and in the best conditions for part monsters like her. Though it felt kinda lonely here, she liked spending time with the people she met here, even celeste. Some company was better then none at all. With the guards perched outside she could'nt exactly go where she wanted.
Plus no doubt judas wanted her to stay here and wait for him.
Sigh, she didn't screw up again did she?
She was just trying to convince the prince to leave because he was clearly bothering judas, she didn't mean to-. Sigh, she felt ashamed of herself, her parents would also not approve if they were here considering just how peaceful and rational they were, even when people where trying to kill them. I guess on the plus side, being here might mean she was in less danger then usual but at least back home she had her real parents, her pet dragon, her little brother.
Where they thinking about her right now? Worried she'd gotten lost? Kidapped? Worse?
They'd be searching all over mewni, all over every dimension they could find, and she wasn't going to turn up.
It made the girl feel like crying.
She bit her lip though, she needed to pull herself together out here, that's what her best friends would've said to her if they were here. But then again if they were here she wouldn't be in a guest bedroom deep in the underworld with no choice in where she could go. She leapt off the bed, finding herself pacing back and forth among the rocky floor, dinner would be in a few hours and there hadn't been much of a word from those trapped on mewni yet.
Sure, luna didn't seem too fond of her yet, but she might be more useful there then stuck here. Granted, she also might look out of place but it seemed monsters were pretty common there so she can't look TOO strange walking around. Was monster prejudice still that bad or something? Was it worse? Well then again, if it was that bad judas didn't seem to say much on it at least. Either way she found her curious mind wandering as she waited for judas to walk in any minute.
But he didn't, in fact despite how giddy she got when the door handle turned, it left just a little more as landon ran in, followed by celeste, and slammed the door behind him. Pouty, hair a mess , and violin on his back, he looked over at sunny and sighed as took a seat on the bed, a moody girl next to him. "Judas is gonna be busy, so apparently i'm stuck with you now...granted, i guess it gave me a reason to get mason off my tail. After he watered his pants he started talking about me planning some stupid date and...ugh...nevermind...", he waved the compact at them and grumbled. Celeste didn't look happy either but she complied, less angry then yesterday.
"Can't you just tell your brother no?".
"When my little brother sets his mind to something, he doesn't stop, trust me...i know judas had something to do with this i swear..."., he grumbled, "Try having a little brother who literally fills your room with books on dating and pick-up lines...who the heck even reads that junk anymore? I don't need mason's help, i want to be alone and sulk, is that too much to ask here?".
Sunny removed her frown fast, back to her smiling self, ready to lighten the mood.
"It's ok, we can all hang out together more! We heard you like to play ping pong landon?", landon grumbled, "I still don't feel like talking much ok?". Whatever has him down, he was really worked up about it, judas was right about his brother being unsocial alright. Half the time he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else then where he was currently and he was bad at hiding how he felt. Sunny's eyes wandered to the violin case, curious, she still wanted to make conversation with her technical half-brother, if she could.
"How long have you played? The violin i mean?"
"5 years, since i was ten...", he answered softly, "And yeah, i carry it around with me sometimes, i just want to.". Judging by his tone he was used to it being treated as kinda weird, but the girl didn't mind, in fact she looked delighted. "That's awesome, are you really good at it?", landon's legs hung from the side of the bed, swinging around, "Well, if i did it for 5 years we better hope i'm good at it. It's almost like...the only thing i really ever do..".
"Could you show us?"
Landon blinked at her at first, as if confused for a moment , before taking the case off of his back to take out the demonic looking instrument. "I mean, ok i guess, Mom and dad kinda picked it out themselves, they didn't want to give me some hand me down, they kinda preferred I had something that was all mine...". Even Celeste seemed to have gained some interest in what he was saying, not even trying to mock him at all this time around as he got himself together and checked all his strings.
"Most people don't really ask to see me play, so...i'm not used to performing much...", placing the bottom of the instrument under his chin, he closed all three eyes and started playing, the girls being silent for him as he tried not to screw up. He looked both reluctant to play, but also seemed like he'd been wanting to perform for someone for a long time. And yeah, sunny had to admit he seemed great at it, in his element, and for once he didn't look upset anymore.
When he ended, he blushed, and then went back to frowning, "So yeah, there you go...happy?". Sunny started clapping excitably, only making the boy blush harder, "I'm sure it wasn't that good, but at least you liked it...". Celeste didn't clap, but she didn't look disgusted nor did she say anything mean, which was good enough. "So is that your own song? Or is it someone else's?", sunny happily asked the pink boy, who carefully put his instrument back, "It's mine...".
"What's it called?"
"Uh...", an arm felt the back of his neck, "Lost In Plain Sight.". He shook off his embarrassment though, making sure the case was fully closed before trying to put it back on, "Don't worry about it though, it's really not a big deal..". There was a bit of silence when he chipper girl spoke up, "Well, i don't play instruments, but back home i liked to perform in like...plays? I like musicals and stuff, though i never really performed in anyone outside of my family.".
"Yeah well, i doubt my family has the time to watch my stuff anyway...", he muttered, "They got more important things to do...". The girl's eyebrows pricked, "Aw what? Nah, i bet they'd love this! They can't be THAT busy! You should show them!". Landon grumbled, "Well i can't, after all i'm also now busy watching you two! Since when am i gonna have time for this stuff? I mean, they have judas's coronation to plan, his curse to worry about, mason's plants to consider moving, y'know...other stuff..".
"Yeah but, a concert could be fun! Oooo, maybe you could play at your brother's coronation!", landon didn't seem to like the idea too much and seems Celeste was on a similar page, "Why? I'm sure then people would just complain about him taking the spotlight away from his older brother, that kinda stuff ain't worth the effort. and besides, pretty clear he's more interested in writing whateverlove song he was making last night...". Landon blushed even harder, "Would you stop with that? It was NOT a love song, now can it.".
"Don't pick on him cele, he can do what he wants!", She said, defending the boy, which shut the other girl up. "I think your music is cute, c'mon, you sureee you don't wanna play for them? I'm sure if you asked they'd love to!". The boy shrugged, "I dunno, i'm not exactly well...that important. Not like i'm next in line or got things they have to worry about or anything...i'm only useful if anything happens to my brother.", he stood up, "Anyway let's stop talking about me, this is my shift so what are we doing till we have to go to dinner and make things awkward again?". The girls exchanged looks, and sunny seemed like she wanted to keep talking about the subject at hand, but she went along with him, no need to make another person feel uncomfortable today because of her actions.
"You know this strategy is never going to work right?", celeste mumbled, "You and your brother make it seem like you two are gonna be able to switch us off like a video game console when you need it, you're not gonna be able to keep this up forever, if your brother gets involved in as many problems as you say he does, then you might as well give up trying to watch us like a hawk. ". She wasn't wrong, there was no way this was going to work at all, heck why were they doing this anyway? Where would these girls plan on going? They're on guarded protection by giant demons outside of their door.
"So what are you saying exactly?"
"I'm saying, you two should stop trading us off, i dunno, give us compacts of our own or something, doesn't seem any of us arrived with one. Then we can just...keep in touch if you weirdos need to, and you don't have to waste your time like this. Like, isn't that the most logical thing to do?", landon smirked, "Honestly you're right, though i dunno if you can convince my brother to just go out and buy you compacts. We're royalty but jude might think you'll use em for the wrong reasons...".
"He still doesn't trust us?".
"Er...well i guess he sorta trusts you? But still, like, i don't know if he'd agree to buy some-".
"i can take care of that!", sunny raised her hand, "Just take me to your parents, i'll tell them we lost them and they might be able to help! If we have their permission, then your brother sure won't mind!". She leapt off the bed, "Your family is just so sweet, they'll help! I've always been great with people!". The suspicious looks she was getting said otherwise, "Aren't they gonna ask why we don't have them to begin with? Like, how would we just "Lose them" considering our story?", cele stood up as well without any spring in her step. She looked over the girl, "Like sure, you know how to be all cutey and innocent and make people angry but the more you ask from these people the more they're gonna suspect something is up.".
"She's got a point.", Landon added.
"Well, what would you do then?", sunny asked rather politely, "You did suggest the idea after all.". Celeste took a moment to herself, "Well i know you two wouldn't approve of 'stealing', so how about instead we take out our wands and make some cash?". The demons eyed each other in confusion and sunny put a hand out, "Isn't that kinda a bad idea? I mean, we disguised our wands for a reason, so no one would be suspicious of us? Isn't it better to not use magic at all?".
"Oh come on, i only meant we go out there, use some spells to do tasks, and earn some cash out of it. What's the harm in doing work? Landon? C'mon now, you clearly hate dragging us around, let's use our wands for once instead of risking looking suspicious because we ask for stuff like greedy guests..". Sunny crossed her arms, she seemed rather harder to make angry since she wasn't "mad", but she did look noticeably upset. "Well it's not that it's bad it's just using magic is suspicious, the high commission can sense that stuff you know, they'll know something's up a lot more then me just asking for a favor."
"You just want to talk to your father again."
"But didn't you prefer being given clothes then trying to make your own?"
"You also grabbed some!".
"Girls...", Landon said softy, though his annoyance was apparent, "Look, i'll take care of it, no need to freak or anything...i'm sure I can just find you some old ones you can have, and i'll talk about it with jude. I'd kinda rather we didn't start arguing, it's not making anything better for me and if you wanna talk about drawing attention-". The girls instantly quieted, celeste huffing and sunny accepting rather well, "We're very sorry about that, we'll stop.". There was silence for a moment and landon fixed his strap, even though he didn't need to.
"C'mon, let's just go somewhere for a bit, i don't wanna be in another stuffy room...", before they could ask he spoke again, "We're gonna head to one of my other favorite places to chill when i wanna be away from everything...and no, it's not my room this time. Just follow me and stay close, That ok with you two?'.
The girls exchanged looks and mutually agreed.
"Then let's go..".
He reached out for their hands, "Except this time, without the guards? I kinda prefer they weren't on our tail... they won't know we left this room, don't worry. We'll teleport back in here later." Sunny looked nervous about breaking the rules and celeste wasn't entirely sure about taking the demon's hand, but both complied. Landon smiled for a second before going back to frowning, "Oh and uh, stay close, the place is full of pickpocketers and creeps."
"Wait, wha-", but she didn't get to finish.
Fire engulfed them, and the three teens left without a trace.
Sky was out, picked up by her mother as they teleported to who knows where. Leaving Luna and lexi on their own, something that luna still wasn't entirely sure about. Not that lexi was entirely awful companionship, she just was more of a liability when it came down to the fact. She did the strangest things to luna, at least, she had the strangest reactions to things. Sometimes she found her balancing pencils on her nose, other times she could be found lost in space, and other times she was asking questions about luna.
As luna was trying to y'know,"Blend in", it was much harder to do so with the world's most bizarre gal at her side.
Well to be fair, she wasn't too weird, just not the kinda weird luna needed right now.
Luna currently found herself attempting to sweet talk some of the other guards, at least, it was sorta something along those lines. Those that didn't send her away treated her almost like any other citizen and guard, and luna didn't know what to make of it. She was used to being treated like a princess after all, even when she didn't want to be treated like one. Now, no one really cared, she felt limited, which made everything just a tad more trickier.
She had to rely entirely on her charisma to get any info from anyone. It would be a challenge, but luna rarely turned down a challenge. "Work your way up" she always told herself, gain trust, be wary of your words, prove your worth to everyone around you. Though in reality this stuff would take years, years luna didn't have if she wanted to go home anytime soon. Her moms were out there, waiting for her and all her training lead up to this moment to prove herself, then so be it.
"Well yes, the queen basically took one look at me and said i would be a perfect guard!", luna blabbed on to a fellow trainee, keeping a close watch on lexi, who was more preoccupied looking out one of the nearest windows. "You been training for this a long time huh?", luna's face didn't waver as she answered. "Practically my whole life, i was so lucky to make contact with the princess, wouldn't have met the queen without her.", she wasn't sure if she considered herself a professional liar or anything along those lines, but she seemed to do well stretching the truth.
"You're lucky, the princess never really meets with alot of people, she's usually just hanging around those lucitor boys or making those hats of hers or who knows what.", the fellow cadet leaned against the stone wall, "Like, the gal's always getting into trouble, like you'd think a gal like her would stay in all the time but almost every week we find out she'd been kidnapped by a band of crazy wizards or something. I'm surprised she doesn't have a personal bodyguard already...".
"Eh, trust me, i've been asking about why none of these kids have them for a long time, guess they think it builds character or something..", the other cadet nodded and luna went in for the kill, "So how come the commission or something don't do anything to keep her in line? Any thoughts?". The cadet snorted, "Star doesn't respect their authority much anymore, they do their jobs but that's it. I like, think they practically hate her, well maybe not that crystal guy too much, but they haven't even been invited to any royal events since she took over.".
"Interesting."
"It's no surprise though, the "Meteora" thing still has her peeved. Nowadays half monsters are everywhere, their mistake is forever going to linger."
"You think they'd do something to take her off the throne if they could?"
The guard looked at her and shook their head, "Even if they wanted to they wouldn't, they're probably not THAT evil. But if they were she'd probably destroy them from what i hear, the queen has killed people in the past before.". Luna huffed, they probably meant toffee didn't they? Or was her mom a serious killer in this universe? With janna at her side, anything is possible. The cadet checked their watch before looking around, "I better head out, thanks...luna right?".
"Yes.", she answered plainly as they started heading off, acknowledging galexia mid step.
"I'll see you hopefully in practice tomorrow luna, oh and uh...keep an eye on your friend here, i think she's a bit out of it.", after they walked off luna's attention went straight to the brunette looking at the window, she snapped her fingers and instantly got her attention. "Lexi, we're moving on, i assume you wrote nothing from that conversation down in that notebook of yours?". She shook her head and luna sighed, "Let's just get moving, i want to have another talk with kelly..".
"Why?", the green-eyed gal asked sweetly, "You only met her today right? She's not gonna have much to say to you...". Luna seemed surprised, but only a little, that galexia had been paying any attention at all, but she continued to speak, "I know, instead i kinda wanted to know more about...". Galexia blinked at her, "Your mom huh? You sure you wanna know more on her? What for?". Luna's arms folded behind her back, "She's out on some kind of mission, I want to know what mission it is..".
"You're probably not permitted to know about that kinda stuff...", luna's eyebrows perked up, "Since when have you been thinking about stuff like this?". Lexi didn't answer her, "She'll turn you away, and you might have a harder time gaining some respect if you're too nosy..". Luna stopped in her tracks, "Ok then, i won't ask directly about the mission then, are you ok with that?". Lexi didn't answer, only adding to her strangeness as the blonde brushed it off.
"Anyways, I want to speak to kelly anyway, being a cadet is not something to take lightly and the more i form a bond with her...the better.", she sighed, "Never met her back home, she left without a trace in fact. Mom always told me good things though, that she was a fierce warrior and friend.". She turned to lexi, curious, "What about you?". Lexi's smile grew wide, "Wait, you're SHARING ABOUT YOURSELF?!", she giggled as luna started regretting all her life choices.
"I uh-".
"YES!"
"Lexi-"
"So yeah, kelly's not like..a guard or anything, she's more like an adventurer! She likes to send us gifts from her travels! Like whenever i spend time in the underworld, which is like a lot, we'll get calls from her because she always knows i spend time there! She's cooolll!". Luna blinked at what she said but she kept talking, "It's a shame you've never met her, do you know everyone else? Everyone's not dead right?". The girl fixed her hair, brushing away her bangs, "Well...no...so i guess that's a good sign..".
Actually, now that she thought about it, them being dead in other realities was a very possible outcome. She wondered if somewhere deep in the multiverse, there was a girl like her who had neither of her folks, and she felt her stomach sink a little. Who knew what else was out there beyond this universe, or her own? But that did raise a question, if there were millions, probably billions of alternate worlds, what was the reason for her and the rest being in this situation?
It could've been other kids like her right? Were they hand picked? Or was it random? She eyed Galexia and grabbed her hand, "Lexi, stay close to me...i'd rather make sure you're where i can see you...". With who knows out there that's responsible, she felt herself tense a bit. Lexi didn't question it though, nor choose to point out how soft she was being towards her. instead smiling fondly at her half sister as luna moved her along to the training quarters.
"Stay by my side, if anyone asks, you're my...cousin or something...", she was about to push through the door when none other then Janna popped out, startled by the girls at first, before she smirked at them. "Well well, there's sky's weird dinner guest...I was wondering when I would run into you again..". She took a look at lexi,the girl she was holding hands with, and right on cue lexi spoke out, "I'm her cousin...". Janna's smirk faded only a little, but she still had that smile Luna didn't like.
"Wow, one day as a recruit and you're already using your power to sneak your family in? mad props to you.", Luna felt extremely embarrassed, "Well I-, no it's just...I just wanted to show her around!". She didn't like the look on the queen's face, she was much harder to read then other people and luna hated being caught off guard. "Oh c'mon, you were totally trying to find kelly weren't you? Sorry gal, but she's on break. Hope i'm not a disappointment...".
"Then...what were you doing in there?"
"You're asking a queen what she's doing in a room of the castle?"
To be fair, it was actually a kinda stupid question.
Janna laughed at the girl, "Oh you look like a fun person to mess with, the strict type tend to always be the most interesting to watch get all flustered as they try to reign their authority back. Relax, i'm not gonna fire you, i was just doing my own important queen matters...in fact, since sky and star are out, you girls wanna help?". There was no comment from luna, who might have been still a little touchy from last night's dinner, but Lexi looked more then pleased and Janna took that as enough of a yes.
"Awesome, c'mon in girls, you can help me carry my stuff...", she walked back into the training room and luna followed carefully with lexi right behind her. There, in the middle of the room now, were boxes of...stuff. It wasn't a bunch of books, or potions, just...stuff. Luna could spot devilish dolls, herbs, she even thought she saw a skull in one. They were full of stuff usually thought of in witchcraft in fact, and luna suddenly wondered why she hadn't considered janna a suspect before now.
"Just help me carry these down to my office, since this place was empty I decided to get some stuff done here, but now i better move all this back...don't break any of it, some of it can kinda be hard to replace. Then again marco wouldn't mind another visit if i did need more demon urine...", the blonde cringed, "Why did you need all this stuff? were you...practicing magic in here?". Janna shrugged, "I do as a want, tried to get sky into it but she never got as into it, shame really...".
"You called us in here just to carry it?", luna's annoyance wasn't hidden very well, and janna laughed. "Aw relax, i just needed some help, if you girls want, i could show you some cool stuff i've collected in my office, sound good?". Luna looked down at the floor, she was bothered, but no way she was going to turn down some potentially useful info, especially not from someone as strange as janna. She picked up a box, galexia following suit as janna grabbed a couple of her own.
"Alright, stay close...", she practically kicked open the door out as the girls followed, boxes in hand. As people passed by luna noticed their nervous looks to janna, as if worried she was about to spontaneously combust. Janna didn't seem to care though, in fact she looked delighted by their reactions. It was odd, and it made luna more uncomfortable and suspicious. Were they all just freaked out by her pranks? Or something else? What kinda queen relished in her citizens being scared of her?
Janna must've been reading her mind as she started to speak, "Relax back there, mewni's always been that way about me. Used to think I couldn't help run this place for heck, now, well...they can't even get away with a lie around me.". Luna bit her lip, "Wait, what do you mean by that?", only to be met with a laugh and a smirk, "Means what i said it means, ah...we're almost to my office." They headed down a longer purple corridor to find a dark double door with skeleton handles, "Star helped me design it to my liking..".
Opening it with a skeleton shaped key, she kicked it open to show off a large office full of interior you'd expect to find in the lucitor kingdom, potions and other knickknacks lined the walls and decorated the place. If luna didn't know who owned it already she'd have said it belonged to eclipsa or some witch, she set the box down to look around in curiosity as lexi did the same. Janna staring putting stuff away as he talked, "Don't break anything, some of this stuff could possible scar you for life and others could...yeah.".
Galexia was staring at some rather odd dolls when janna walked up, "Those guys are old, haven't used em in awhile, think i had them since high school, you want one?". Galexia looked up at her, eyes sparkling and janna reached over and gave her a doll that was sewn from pieces of other dolls. A cat head on a human doll body with limbs from what could be assumed as a lizard plush. Lexi took it and luna could feel hearts flying from her head, "Thank you!".
Luna directed her attention to her other strnage objects as if she'd suddenly find any kind of clue here, taking a look at other ingredients and strange objects she didn't notice janna sneaking up on her. "Hey kid", luna almost jumped and janna snicked, "Careful, don't wanna break some of this, like arachman poison? That stuff can paralyze you for awhile. Also that mask is valuable, took star forever to find it. Sorry to break it to ya, but the gift shop is closed in this section.".
"Well no, it's just...".
"Fascinated?", She turned luna's attention to her desk in the center of the office, taking a seat and putting her feet up on the desk much to luna's annoyance. "Not a ton of people get to see this place unless they're on my watch, so consider it a treat for helping me with my junk.". Luna's eyes dimmed, suspicious, "Do you normally just drag random people to your office, aren't you worried we might steal stuff out of here or something, why bring us here?".
Janna smiled, kicked her feet off and scooted closer to the girl, "I could ask you something along the same lines luna, are you really trying to be a knight, or is something else really going on?". The girl's heart almost stopped, but she caught herself, not wanting to waver, "I'm a knight, like i told you last night.". Janna smiled, but asked no further questions as she sat back in her seat, "I know you weren't big on the "Candy in the bread" trick last night, but i hope i can make it up to you. Though your face was still priceless..".
"I just...don't find it...queenly to do stuff like that to people, i could've choked!"
"They were too small for that, and besides, whose to tell you what's "Queenly" or not? When you're queen, kid, everything is suddenly "queenly". Running mewni doesn't mean you got to do things a certain way, if we did that monsters would not be walking around this castle right now. Being queen doesn't mean you can't have fun, star's not like that and i'm sure not either.", luna sighed, "But public opinion matters, if you do something off...you risk...well you risk a lot.".
"True, but if you play if safe, well, that's still kinda a risk...might as well do what you wanna do if it's risky either way.", janna watched her closely and luna backed off, last thing she needed was getting caught so easily by a woman who used thing like voodoo dolls. Instead, she put her focus onto the other objects in the room but speaking as to not seem more suspicious then she might already be, "Maybe, I suppose you'd know better then I...though I feel queens aren't usually...well..". The blunette shrugged, "Eh, i'm just the consort, star's the gal you talk to for more of that, but queens don't all have to be one way...".
Her eyes snapped wide and she stood up, looking towards an eerier painting on her left, "In fact...speaking of queens...we have a guest...". Luna and lexi watched as janna pulled back the painting, which was more of a door in fact, a queen gasping behind it before smiling at the human. Green hair and red spade marks in check, "Ah janna! Deeply sorry for intruding but I just HAD to tell you about sky!". Luna's gaze was between confusion, nervousness, and shock at the sight of the former queen.
"Eclipsa! Hey, i haven't see you in a bit! Been going out perhaps?", the queen smiled gently, "Me? going out? What could possible make you think so?". They were being so jokey luna could've sworn they were just trying to outjoke each other by this point. "Where's globgor now? Like i know he can't fit in your tower but he can at least grow enough to walk around y'know?". Eclipsa sighed, "Ah what can i say? It's more fun pretending we're still forbidden lovers...brings us back to the old days...".
"He's tiny and still sleeping on your bookshelf huh?".
"Shhhhhh, don't ruin his fun."
"Nah, of course not, what's up with sky?".
"Oh i saw her practice more of her magic recently, she's starting to get really good at it! Though she did slightly blast herself in the face on accident and turn it into a squid, see, i knew she'd get the hang of it on her own eventually!", luna blinked at her, speaking up and drawing attention to herself in front of the queen of darkness. "Um, well, she's being trained by star...uh...miss, not on her own.", Eclipsa turned to janna who confirmed, " Yeah the whole "have sky learn on her own" didn't quite work out like you and star thought it would...so...guess star's finally gonna try her hand at teaching...and moon's enjoying retirement, so yeah.".
"Well, i suppose it is starting to pay off just a little in that case...but...", she smiled at the girls in awe," Seems we have guests! Which blows my news a little more out of the water. Who are these lovely ladies? Don't tell me you are star are having more kids without me dear?", janna happily showed them off, "Oh no, this is luna, some friend of sky's i never heard about till last night and her...cousin, actually i didn't get your name.". The green eyes gal stared at eclipsa, eyes never leaving as she said her name softly, "Galexia...".
"Yeah, i just showed them around my cave here, they might be getting a little bored with me though...", the former queen swung her legs off the edge of the open spot in the wall, smiling, "Aw, you know no one gets bored of you, though sky has never told me about you before. Then again we don't talk as much as I'd like, wonder why...". She hopped down from the frame, onto the floor, "No matter, it's good to get out of that tower sometimes, things are more exciting outside of it and i tend to miss most of the action.".
She brushed off her dress and got a look at the girls, "Sky spends so much time hanging out with boys she never talks much about having girls around. Then again i tease her enough as is.", she winked before poking luna on her cheek with her gloved hand, "pleasure to meet you, sorry for interrupting, was planning on waiting, but no one knows a trickster better then another trickster.", She nodded to janna. Luna seemed a bit speechless, like how she was at the first sight of kelly kinda speechless.
She was in front of the queen of darkness, THE queen of darkness.
The same one who ran off with her husband and daughter back home.
She didn't know what to say, what to do, or how to properly react. But the queen seemed to take it as a sign that perhaps she was intimidating her and turned her attention back to janna. "Oh dear, i think your friends here aren't much of talkers...". Janna leaned against her desk , "Don't mind them, i'm sure when sky gets back she can have you guys talk properly". This sparked eclipsa's attention, "aw, did i catch you at a bad time?". Judging by janna's sigh she did.
Eclipsa frowned, but only for a bit though, "aw it's alright, we've all been busy these days. But at least everything is still in order...". She rubbed her fingers together, staring at her hands as if not sure what to say next, "Y'know, i should consider teaching sky for a bit, i know my magic is still something iffy...but i'm sure star could use a hand...". The other queen shrugged, "Better ask her yourself when she gets back, she still isn't quite cool with it since the...yeah...".
"Well, then we'll just have to make sure that never happens again. She's older now, and she needs to branch herself out, star can't baby her forever you know...". There was silence in the room, even from the girls, until the human spoke briefly, any other feelings she might have had replaced with a smirk and a fake-happy voice.
"I gotta get moving in a bit, dinner is soon and i got a few things of my own to take care of till star is back. Plus i'm sure the girls here also got places to go, unless they don't mind helping me some more?". Luna snapped out of her trance and got back in focus, "Uh yes! Yes...". The older queen looked her over and started making back way to her portrait, "Well, perhaps i better come back later, I will be seeing you girls again won't i?". Luna nodded, "Yes, we're uh, sky's friends...just ask her...".
"I will dear, well, i'll see you girls soon! Night Janna!".
She vanished as quickly as she left, before the girls could fully process it.
Then Janna clapped her hands together, excited again, "Well, if you girls are helping, guess you better get your gloves ready. Cause You're helping me pick poisoness mushrooms tonight". Galexia cheered but luna needed a moment, "Wait wait wait wait, this is important queen business that you needed to rush into?".
"It is if you're the queen, now c'mon girls, we got some picking to do!".
Having Loki around was a blessing and a curse.
Judas somehow managed to carry out the rest of his day fine, even ordering landon the new bow he promised him while the pony was hiding in his jacket. After making the pony help him with some less then fun tasks, the pony had been under his bed most of the time to avoid his screaming mother who was made to leave by the king and queen, who urged her to pay for everything she broke. With everyone out judas had some more freetime, checking his compact from updates from sky, who was sending them out from her training.
Mason was also flying around, in search of landon, who judas assumed was probably hiding somewhere with the girls while he was taking care of his little problem. Though his focus was mainly for now on sky and their mission.
Melaine apparently had made an effort to come back for today's lesson, with bernard, who had been asking sky if his call to landon was getting through. Apparently this lesson seemed less then successful then the last time, making a new cloudy for sky herself had been kinda cool. But now all judas heard was her narwhal blast made a minnow and the room was now covered in slime that was supposed to be frosting. He couldn't help but wonder if she was so unfocused it was making it harder for her today.
That was sky though, sometimes her spells works, other times they didn't. Though he almost wanted to laugh when she told him she shot a rainbow through the dojo and it punched someone into the fountain. The most interesting things though, were all the updates sky sent, or maybe melaine sent using sky's phone...considering they sounded too lengthy to be sky. He scrolled more, thoughts brewing when loki popped up from under his bed next to him, scaring the demon half the death.
"Dude, you texting sky? Wait...what are you texting about...huh...angel?", Loki hadn't seemed to caught enough but the prince's name sure enough he had spotted through their messages. Making the demon anxious all over again. Loki had to totally be aware what he was doing, spying as per usual. Though granted, maybe judas should have known better then to have any private conversation within five feet of the most nosy prince in the kingdom of mewni.
He pressed the device to his chest, "Loki, that's none of your concern...". But loki persisted, "Wait, is that the spider guy who got banned when were were all like...babies?". Judas shifted in his seat, "Yes...that guy, loki, it's nothing to be worried about..". The pony blinked, "You two trying to talk to that dude? Why? Didn't he get banned for being a total creeper?". Judas put the device in his pocket, guess that conversation is over, "Something like that, it's just...he stole my compact yesterday, and i don't know why and-".
"That dude stole your phone? Aw c'mon, that's a low blow...".
"Yes, but it's...we don't exactly know why he took it. Well, sky told me his possible reason but...i dunno...look, this isn't anything to worry about, just...go back and hide, what if my folks burst in and saw you?", the pony's eyes shifted from the demon to the door, as if expecting his mom to burst in again unexpectedly, "What if i tried talking to him? Like er...bad cop...?". Judas made a face, and sighed, "Loki, no offence, but you're not exactly great with people. And this is a thing between me and sky, i don't think she would want you involved...".
"Well..."
"And why do you care anyway? It's just...why would you even consider helping us?".
"Well like, if i did get him to talk, then would sky be more cool with me?"
"Loki...you don't have to care what sky thinks of you, yeah she's one of my best friends, but you don't really have to do anything for her...", to his surprise the prince bit his lip and shot back, "Yeah well, she's like YOUR friend and she thinks i'm just kinda a creep and jerk and...what if i convinced her otherwise? Don't you think i should? Like, try to show her?".
He bit his lip, fangs pricking the lavender skin, "Maybe, but i still don't entirely think it's a good idea, not to mention sky would get on my case enough just having you involved in the first place. You shouldn't get yourself involved loki, just stay under the bed for a bit, i'll grab you a snack...dinner will be soon and i certainly can't bring you there". He stood up and opened the door, "I'll be back later...ok?". The door closed behind him, leaving the prince to his thoughts as he took a moment to himself before coming out from under the bed and heading to judas's desk.
Eyes shifting to the door before making note of the pens and notebook on his desk.
"Hmm...".
