Sweat ran off luna's forehead as she pined down another foe on the training ground, making that the 6th today she had managed to defeat.
Granted, she was most likely way more highly trained then any of these trainees but still. Taking down so many despite their size and technique was impressive. She almost felt back home for a bit, but only for a bit as she retracted her sword and got up and off her opponent. They bowed and luna turned to kelly, who was clapping in the doorway, "You're good, very good, keep up the great work luna...though maybe you outta take a break, at this rate...i'm not going to have any soldiers left...".
She laughed to herself and luna took 5, getting a mix of impressed looks and unhappy ones from her fellow cadets.
It had already been at least a week being stuck here and her relationship with them seemed mixed. A lot of them seemed very impressed and happy with her and others looked angry at how badly she seemed to be beating some of them. It was expected though, even back home that tended to be how other royals saw her. They either admired her or hated her, there usually was no in-between. At least they tended to stay out of her way, and any time she talked to them it was mainly to seek info.
She made her way to the locker room, sipping water from a canteen as she sat down on a bench. she could hear some other cadets fighting in the other rooms and considered perhaps taking this time to observe and talk to some of the other cadets until she heard some noises coming from inside the walls. Making her stand up and walk up to one of them in curiosity, She knew a lot of mewni's secret tunnels and it didn't take much to assume eclipsa herself was within these walls.
It was probably a bit bad of her to assume ill of eclipsa being some sort of culprit in all this but at the same time she WAS in an alternate universe. So forgive her if she couldn't help but not trust a thing she'd seen so far, especially not a queen who was considered evil by all of mewni for a long time. She pressed her ear against the wall, hearing the person in the walls pass by before they vanished and silence overwhelmed the room. Luna huffed, when she talked to sky about eclipsa after their first meeting sky said she was basically harmless and was just having fun.
Though then again, apparently sky didn't spent a ton of time with her, so...
After training she changed and luna wondered what was next on her task menu, was she to get in contact with any of the group? Or perhaps should she work some more on their mission? She bit her lip before stopping in front of a window and looking out of it, a rose tower in plain view and she knew what to do.
It was probably impolite to drop in on eclipsa like this but if she got dangerous, well, luna had her wand. She could take the queen of darkness right? Though then again, worse case scenario was eclipsa beating her and taking her wand for herself.
So maybe just stick to the normal visit and avoid getting into any trouble if she could.
To her surprise, eclipsa looked DELIGHTED to see her, opening the door before the girl even had a chance to knock. Her smile was friendly and she still seemed to be wearing pjs, then again i guess since she wasn't queen she could really walk around and wear whatever she wanted. Luna was caught completely off guard as the queen smiled sweetly at her, "Ah luna is it? It's good to see you, i hope training has been going well? Well, actually i know so, your comrades talk about you a lot.".
"I uh..."
"Come in come in!"
Luna gasped as the queen grabbed onto her hand and dragged her into the tower, leading her up the stairs, "It's good to see you again dear, i'm so glad you came all this way to visit me!". When they entered her room luna was at a loss for words, awkwardly standing in the doorway as eclipsa hushed her forward, "Come, sit! Don't worry about me, i won't bite.". Luna obeyed her, despite still being both confused and on edge a little. Her intention was to ask her some more questions but the queen treating her like her like an old friend was not the reaction she expected.
"I- how did you-?"
"Darling i know a lot of things...plus you're easy to spot from a distance! Would you like some tea?", luna blinked at her before pulling herself together and responding as politely as she could, "Jasmine please?". Eclipsa nodded and immediately started boiling some water as luna took in her surroundings, "I'm deeply er sorry, miss eclipsa, I hope i wasn't interrupting anything?". She smiled, "Aw no, i wasn't up to much, i'm always delighted to have guests, especially sky's friends...that girl is so secretive sometimes...i had no idea she had some gal pals.".
"Well, me and sky have only known each other recently, we're not exactly too close just yet...". Luna shifted in her, seat, eyes running over the paintings and notes all over the walls. "I er...You're room is lovely", eclispa took a seat in front of her, "Thank you, you enjoying your time at the castle?". Luna nodded politely, ", It's...lovely, i appreciate being given my own room here and the staff are nice.". Eclispa parted her hands together, "I can tell you've already made yourself at home easily.".
"Well, yes, i adjust easily.".
"Expert swordsman, easily adjusted, and polite, you seem like a very charming young woman miss luna.", The water started to boil and eclipsa hopped up to pour some cups, "I am sorry if this is all strange to you, meeting a former queen in her home and drinking tea with her and making small talk. I don't imagine you get out much, am i right?". Luna almost dropped the teacup she got, "Well, i'm fine on my own, i just have other things I prefer to put my mind to.".
"What do you focus on then?".
"My ambitions, I'm sure you can understand that a little, as a former queen."
"Well, i think i always had a different idea of what i wanted out of life, i wanted to be a good queen of course, but it didn't make me happy, in the end i had to choose what was best for me.", she eyed off into the distance, "Selfish, but we're all a little selfish sometimes..". Luna sipped her tea, "So um...you said sky doesn't hang out with a ton of friends huh?", eclipsa looked back towards her. "Well, it seems so, she mostly spends time with the lucitor boys and occasionally a few other colorful characters, i think i embarrass her too much to meet them..".
She winked and laughed, "Though i find you to be one of the most interesting ones i've seen, now why would you be friend with someone like sky?". Luna was taken aback and eclispa held out her hand, "You don't have to tell me but i'm curious, she's not exactly a social butterfly.".
"I mean, well, i think she finds me...interesting, we don't always get along put we put up with each other and maybe sorta learn from each other? It's uh...hard to explain.", luna knew she was kinda fibbing her way through this, but it seemed to be working, "We're still a little rough around the edges but we still spend time together.". Eclipsa nodded, "How about your parents dear? I bet they must be so proud of you, being trained to be a knight?".
"Well they're...yeah, yeah they've always been proud of me...", she held her cup in her hands," But then again i work hard for the things i want and as long as i'm proud of myself, i'll be fine.". She put her tea on the table next to her, "You know, inviting random strangers for tea is usually dangerous, i could be an assassin for all you know.". The queens shrugged, "True, but when have i ever avoided things that were probably too dangerous for me anyway?".
She snapped her fingers and luna watched as a book floated into her lap and she opened it, Luna gave her a funny look, "I'm going to be honest with you, i'm under the impression you're up to something.". Eclispa laughed, "Ah, well, i seem to always leave that impression, though then again when a strange old woman invites you into her room for tea i would be suspicious too. Truth is, maybe i just needed someone to talk to and you just fit the bill.".
"I'm sure you have closer family and friends...", luna noticed, motioning to some pictures on the wall. The queen shrugged, "True, but most of them are always busy, it's a shame too, i used to babysit sky before she got too old for that, sometimes i think they've forgotten about me.".
Luna sighed, "We've all been there, but everyone has their own demons to conquer, and sometimes they need to do it alone.". Eclipsa turned a page of her book and opened it to show luna, It was a photobook, one of pictures of sky and star and other people. There were even a few of tom, marco, and their kids in some cases, but the pic that snapped luna's interest more then anything, was the blonde woman with short teal streaked hair and in knight's gear on the bottom corner.
"Your sky's friend, and if you can, I want your opinion on it, i mean...i made it for when she is eventually crowned queen but you seem like you understand a little more about organization and your cousin appears to known quiet a bit on creativity, so i was wondering what you would think about this for sky?". Luna blinked at her, just a tad more distracted by seeing her mom, and barely listening to eclipsa's words. She shook it off though, getting on track.
"I'm sure it's fine, it's fine. I doubt sky would care much about this as long as you made your best effort..".
Well, maybe sky WOULD care, but luna couldn't be sure of that.
"You think?", eclipsa kept her eyes on luna and luna felt herself start to sweat a bit. She didn't know why, but something about eclipsa made her just a tad uneasy, despite their polite conversation. "Yes, i think you're doing fine, in fact, she'd like it more the more personal you made it probably.". Eclipsa's eyes diverted from her and she went back to smiling, "Thank you luna, the help is appreciated, though if you have any new info on sky i would appreciate it!".
"Ah, no, nothing.", she felt herself stand up, "I should probably leave...".
She had questions, she did, but she suddenly felt this was not the time to ask such questions. There was time for that later, and right now, she may have overestimated her abilities. She felt a little queqsy, maybe even a little warm as well, and there was no telling if it were the tea or her own nerves.
Maybe the tea.
"Have somehwere else to be?", the queen of darkness asked politely, though she looked rather concerned if anything at the girl's sudden reaction and her face. Luna put her cup down and eyes off, "Yeah, well, i'm sure i do, plus i don't want to overstay my welcome anyway." Eclispa stood up, "Are you feeling alright dear? You look oddly pale?". What was happening to her? At first it felt like she'd just been weird from the photo or from eclipsa but now she suddenly felt sick?
"Here, sit down...", she felt eclipsa pull her back in her seat and walk off to a corner to find something, "Just rest, i think i have something that might help make you feel just a tad better...you don't look in any fit state to go anywhere right now.". Luna closed her eyes, and before she knew it she felt herself fall asleep right then and there. Everything was black, and she could hear voices whisper in the darkness, something green, though she couldn't make it out, but it felt closer...
"Who...what is going on?"
She turned around, but saw nothing but black, till she saw a green light in front of her.
The voices only grew louder, practically digging into her skull. And She grabbed onto the side of her head, shouting "make it stop", it felt like something was trying to destroy her, break into her mind. She could'nt even open her eyes and she felt sure she was dying.
Only to find herself suddenly woken up, under the gaze of eclipsa and more surprisingly...sky. She blinked, her head was aching and when she smelled the air she noticed there were some herbs wrapped around her neck, probably part of one of grandmother Celena's old protection or healing charms, though her head was hurting too much to remember which one. Sky was biting her lip, "You ok?", eclipsa patted the girl's shoulder, "I was going to find star but seems sky was looking for you already...".
"What...agh...what happened? I passed out and i heard voices and saw something green and...AGH!", she held her forehead, "Did you put something in my tea?". Eclipsa shook her head, "You're not poisoned, it seems more like the after effect of some magic. ". She turned to sky who gave her a look, " Luna wasn't with me recently with my magic, i mean, unless she's been messing with my wand when i haven't been looking or something..".
"I have not", she gritted her teeth, "Ugh...maybe i came down with a fever from hanging eating something earlier, or maybe ms janna got me sick from helping her recently or...i dunno...", she wasn't sure that was he case but better not say too much to eclipsa for now, her headache ceased and she looked between both spade women, "Do i look normal? Everything intact?". They both nodded and that seemed to ease the blonde a little more, "I'm sorry, maybe something's wrong with me today...maybe i need a slight break or something."
Eclispa looked between the two of them, "I know what, i'll change and how about the three of us go out for a girls day for a bit? I've been itching to get out and take a little trip to the forest of certain death? Do you girls mind?". The girls exchanged looks and nervous expressions but sky complied, "Eh, sure...why not, i think maybe we all need some fresh air as of lately anyway...". Eclipsa looked delighted, "Wonderful! wait outside for me girls, oh, and luna? Keep the herb necklace on...just in case.".
Luna said no more as sky lead her out of the tower and into the gardens.
"What the heck were you doing with eclipsa?", sky whipped around, both kinda annoyed and concerned. "Like, i know you're trying to deduct everyone or something but it's super weird you were chilling with my sorta grandma.". Luna's head finally felt clearer and she crossed her arms, "Everyone's a suspect until proven innocent, you can hardly blame me for being suspicious of her, she was so know to be evil for years and it's entirely possible i landed in a dimension where she may actually be evil."
"Yeah, but this is still MY dimension, my parents and her aren't evil, trust me, i can tell who who you should be looking out for and you're on the wrong track. I mean eclipsa's kinda weird, but for what reason would she had to even do anything to you? I mean, don't you need like...a proper motivation for the suspect before accusing anyone?".
"You can't trust everyone sky, just because they may appear friendly doesn't mean there isn't some devious mastermind on the inside. I don't know what happened to me in there but it wasn't normal, i heard voices and say light and i passed out! Something's wrong..", the blonde looking to the tower door, "I'll hang out with you both, if only to get some fresh air and maybe see what she knows but that's it. If it's a lost cause, we may have to move onto something more drastic. I don't know exactly what kinda messes you have been in before but we may have to break into places i really don't want to break into.".
Sky gave her a look, "Isn't breaking in a little extreme right now? The whole archive thing is bad enough, if we do that again and get caught, i can't even imagine what they'll do to all of us.". Though again maybe she sounded like a hypocrite considering past experiences where she was in places she probably shouldn't be. "True, but if we can't get anything out of these people, we aren't going to have much of a choice in order to find some clues, the high commission is one of many secrets...".
"Don't tell me you already have some sorta of break in plan?", luna looked off to the side, "Well, if nothing much in terms of their offices and personality has changed...i think i could easily device a plan for us to sneak in and perhaps place some audio devices in which-". Sky looked at her, wondering just how many places she may have broke into before she showed up here. She could very much see it to with luna, between her magic and fighting skills she might've been some super agent back home.
Sky could see it, her wearing all black and sneaking into buildings, beating up guys and mind erasing them afterwards to forget her. Luna seems like she'd do anything she had to as long as she got what she needed, and that was almost scary. Luna kept speaking about her plan and sky felt herself just maybe a little suspicious of her more then anyone, might be a little far-fetched but luna did seem smart enough to act like she wasn't secretly up to anything.
Maybe she'd have to talk about this to judas later though, as luna went quiet with the arrival of the queen of darkness, already in a nice dress and hat. Sky kinda had the feeling she lived for stuff like this, since she never got to do this with her own daughter .
"So girls? You ready?"
They exchanged looks and luna nodded.
"Let's go, before i feel sick again."
"A 6!"
Celeste grumbled as she watched sunny take a few hits to the so called "Evil mage" she was supposed to be fighting. Why she convinced herself sit here and watch this session of DnD with sunny and galexia was beyond her, she honestly could've found more enjoyment elsewhere. And yet she forced herself to sit here because at least here it was a tad more exciting to watch these girls do silly and stupid things on this game that just sounded like a ton of nonsense. Judas was doing prince junk, landon finally talked to his crush and was a little too focused on that, and well...sky probably had plans.
so that really left these two in terms of people she knew.
Great.
Sunny turned to the princess and smiled, "You can play with us if you want, lexi has a fun imagination! You can totally help us beat up some candy warriors!". But celeste brushed it off, "I'm good, just go back to doing whatever you're doing.". Sunny shrugged but obeyed and the girls resumed giggling. They seemed to get more along then she did with any of the rest of the other kids, but that was typical, it's not like she had a ton of friends back home either.
Plus these girls seemed too bubbly to not be friends compared to everyone else, even if galexia was much slower then sunny.
They looked way too happy for people long ways from home, it was weird. Celeste wasn't panicking of course but at least she looked like she cared. Well, maybe she didn't look like she cared but at least she knew she DID care! What were her folks doing back home? Where they looking for her desperately? Or maybe they gave up cause she wasn't worth the cause. Though maybe that last part was just the girl's downer mind going at it again instead.
Was landon really the only person here she sorta kinda thought was alright? He was also kinda a jerk but he at least was more real with her about some of this stuff, sorta. Can't get to mad at him for at least being honest and saying it to her face. She twirled strands of hair in her hands, her stomach growling. They made it a universal rule between all of them to avoid getting in trouble, don't use magic to summon outfits, nor use it to make yourself food unless it's an emergency.
Magic in general was going to be used sparingly, since it was easily detected and suspicious coming from all of them. Which kinda sucked still, even if it was safe. At least on the plus side her disguised wand was a lot quieter then her normal one considering it was normally an instrument filled with beans. Probably one of the worst wands to have when you wanted to sneak around with it and it was probably even worse as an instrument despite how it tied into her weather magic.
Why couldn't she have a shield? or a helmet? Those would be WAY cooler!
She felt herself falling asleep a little until she heard the creak of the door open, a small boy with wings flapping behind him and she was awake again with some urgency this time. Mason was still smiling despite the slightly startled room and he closed the door behind him as he rushed his way over. "HELLO!", the boy looked super happy to be here, despite the surprised expressions of the room. His wings flapped behind him, he was probably used to knocking things over with them that he had to be careful everytime he walked into a room.
Probably why he was trying his best to fold them right now.
The girls continued to look at him but sunny, being herself, smiled wide. "Hello!", the boy waved back, "I finished feeding my plants so i was thinking...you girls want to play something- oh! You're playing Dnd!? Can i play?!". Lexi and sunny didn't even bother to thinking about it before inviting him to join, as celeste resisted every urge to not shoot them dirty looks for associating with something they probably should not be talking to at all.
Nevertheless, the other two gals didn't seem to mind, but then again they were probably too nice to turn him down.
Mason started setting up his character before turning to celeste, whose eyes diverted in a different direction, "Is she going to play too?". Sunny shook her head, "I don't think so, but hey, it's alright, we'll have fun with just the three of us.". A slight cord struck with celeste on that line, were they saying she wasn't fun? I mean, maybe they were right, but still. She grumbled, "Even if i wanted to it's not like i know how to play anyways you guys just look like you're making it up as you go along.".
"Well that's part of how you play", sunny explained, "But it's also strategy, we get to make up our own story and fight tons of cool monsters. You could be maybe...am elf princess! With like wicked dragon powers! And then if you roll your die right you can kick but or all kinds of stuff, the limit is your imagination!". Celeste still grumbled but she seemed a bit more morbidly curious, "So what? I roll the die and draw a magic wand or something to destroy a whole dimension...".
"YEAH!"
"It kinds sounds like nonsense...",, she grumbled, but sunny still brightly looked at her, "That's the point! What makes it fun isn't it's rules, it's what we all do that makes it so much fun!". The three cheery kids stared at her and Celeste felt herself finally give it, "Fine, i'll play i guess...". She lugged herself off her seat to join them, she still didn't look happy but no one really seemed to mind. She watched sunny get to work on introducing the two kids to the game happily.
"Ah, now my demon princess is being joined by her two comrades...what's your character names?", mason probably had played dnd before as he explained his own character with ease. "Oh, i'm a wicken with in army of plant zombies named Sir Flor.". Then she turned to celeste who grumbled, "I'm a...i dunno, some orc fighter...named...heart..puncher.". She said that without a care in the world and expected the group to laugh, but they took her answer with complete seriousity.
"Awesome, ok, so princess Vale is suddenly joined by Sir Flor and Heartpuncher to defeat the candy warriors!", galexia, the dungeon master looked more then excited. "Ooohh! Ok so they form from the wall to protect their treasure, they have cane swords and thick candy shields! You'll have to roll for a larger number to take them out!". Galexia, based on how she was as dungeon master HAD to have played before, though celeste almost had the feeling she was bending whatever rules she could for the sake of inserting more silly stuff.
After the candy fighters were burger cats, and after those were giant hotdogs. In fact, celeste was starting to think galexia just wanted food. Though she felt herself getting into it, there was something satisfying about saying her character could punch through three guys at once that was satisfying . To be honest she was still sure the girls didn't know how this was played and made up the actual rules but anything that allowed her to ride on a giant cat to victory was fine with her.
Mason's fake attacks were all plant-related of course, but the most surprising part was just how much plant information that little boy had in his mind. When he did poison attacks he knew which plants were enough to kill you in specific ways, when they were in a place of little to no light he had a spell of plants that produced light, and he even considered the weakness of his plant's vines and what it would take to destroy them when they strangled an enemy.
Sunny's were cutesy but at the same time not so much, they were always devil dogs or undead rabbits, or deadly toys. She seemed to have both a sweet yet scary mix in her spells, and honestly that kinda suited her. She was cute, but could probably kill you. Her character was clearly more based on herself, which only made celeste wonder if the spells she was using for her character were actual spells sunny had created and used in combat when she was in trouble.
"So when did you start playing dnd?", sunny asked lexi, who stared off dreamily, "Back home, my best pals played it with me, they never let me be in charge though! So this is super fun! I mean, I think this was how lukas did this.". Celeste eyed landon, worried how he might interpret lexi's words, "Well, i'm sure once you move back you can hang out again.". She hated having to cover lexi's tracks when she was on the edge of slipping stuff like that, luna seemed tired of it as well.
"Awww, you miss your friends back home?", mason asked her, "I don't get to hang out with a ton of people other then my brother's friends, it's ok though! My plants make good company.". Sunny looked intrigued, "How come you don't make other friends? You seem like a lot of fun!.". The boy shrugged, "I dunno, maybe something with my brothers, it's ok though! All the adults love me, they give me candy and like to give me hugs and check out my wings!".
"How old are you?"
"13!".
"NO WAY, I'm 14!", sunny gave him a high five and celeste just rolled her eyes. "So, we getting to the final boss anytime soon? We outta get our gold or...whatever exactly they're guarding.". That seemed to get everyone back to focusing on the game by sunny couldn't help but smile at celeste, "See, we told you you'd like this game!". The growl in return didn't even phase her as their characters finally made it to the last boss as created by galexia.
Which much to Celeste's surprise, WASN'T made of food.
"You encounter the great pig golem!", she hushed, "He oinks and shows off his CRAZY massive fangs! and his BIG sword!". Celeste gives her a look, "Errrr...", where was she going with this anyway?. "He's wearing super gold armor and he looks REALLY mad!". Sunny rolls a die, "We need to find a weak spot guys, i'll go from the front, you two from the side. We need something to melt away that armor and take him out! I'm rolling for a super lava blast!".
"You got an eight!", galexia was such an active person, her arms were always moving and she was so expressive. "You hit him square in the chest and see him wince in pain! But his armor has not entirely melted away! You sorta melted it into his fleshy body!". Celeste and mason winced but it was their turn to roll anyway, mason took the die, "I'm aiming for an acidic tulip attack on my side, to burn though the gold and blind the golem!". He Rolled an 6 and galexia gave him his attack.
"You attack was weak but it did leave a sting and temporary blindness! however, the golem took a swipe at you, you are temporary stunned!", celeste took a roll next, "I dunno, i use some super gold destroyer attack or whatever!". She grumbled as her spell landed on a two of all things and lexi sighed, "Your failed and you took some damage, you're stunned.". Celeste looked off to the side, mumbling what was probably swears under her breath and away from the younger kids.
"I roll crystal of love radiation! binds the beast and heals my friends!", sunny said, rolling and getting a 10. Galexia smiled, "the beast has been bound by your love and your friends are no longer stunned, heartpuncher is back to full health!". The grumpy girl could've help but be a tad annoyed, sunny was practically superior in every way wasn't she? Didn't let things get to her as much, was great at making friends, and now here she was, a natural at lousy games.
Ugh, maybe she was just getting grumpy cause she just hated losing at games, she was just like this back home according to her folks.
Unfun, and childish.
"Celeste?"
"Hmm?"
Mason held out the die to her.
"It's your turn."
She turned her attention back to the game and grabbed the die, "Fine, i'll go for...i dunno, some super melting attack.". She rolled her die again and much to her surprise, she got a 9. And sunny and mason clapped for her as galexia giggled, "Your blast was so powerful you melted away his base armor, he's weakened!". Celeste was stunned as sunny went in for the kill, her next attack a 7, a stab right for the heart with a fancy dagger. Mason and sunny shared high fives before hugging Celeste at their victory.
Man, these two kids were strong, did demon genes really do that kinda thing to you? Nonetheless, they squeezed her tightly before parting as galexia squealed, "You unlocked the goblin's gold! You guys are now SUPER rich!". Then out of nowhere she pulled glitter from her jacket and threw it into the air to celebrate. Sunny clapped her hands together, "Oooo, what do you want to spend our gold on!?", but celeste kicked back, eyeing lexi with some mischief, "Well i dunno about you, but i think someone wants some food".
"Food!", lexi said before standing up, "That's a GREAT IDEA!". Celeste watched Mason's wings lift him up a bit into his standing position, "Can i come too?". Galexia grabbed Mason and held him to her, eyeing Celeste with puppy eyes, "Can we?". Celeste sighed by complied, "Whatever, i'm not your mom anyway.". As long as they didn't do anything stupid it was probably fine. Though they didn't even get a chance to leave the room before it started to rumble.
"Is that your weird dog again?", celeste asked, trying to keep herself from toppling. Mason flew into the air and thought for a moment, his ears twitching. "Oh no, no...that's not lucy...". He sounded extremely worried, before the moving stopped and he landed back on the ground, "Don't worry, i'm sure my folks are sorting it out, it's not a big deal...". But the girls didn't seem entirely convinced, "You guys aren't keeping another giant pet are you?".
Mason smiled weakly, "Well, not a GIANT pet, but no...it's uh...it's my granny...". Celeste gave him a look, "Uh, then what's the big deal? I mean, she's kinda...you know? Shouldn't this moving be normal when she gets around?". Mason shook his head, "No, when she moves this fast, it means she's angry, and when she's angry, so is grandpa...". He bit his lip before the door of the room busted in, a guard sighing in relief at the prince. "Prince lucitor! There's been a break in! Your parents request you and your friend's immediate escort to their safe room as we search the castle.".
"Wha-?"
"There's no time to talk, come now!".
Mason wasn't even given time to think before some other guards came in to move the girls along.
"What about food?", lexi asked contently despite everything.
There is plenty of food where we're going.", said the guard, "But you must move along, now.".
"I love being out here, don't you both?".
"Yeah sure...", sky mumbled as she watched luna carefully check the ground for any dangerous traps or creatures. the forest back home must not be much different as luna seemed to have a keen idea of where they were going already, which was a good thing, not only did that mean they wouldn't die out here but it would be MORE suspicious if she didn't have some knowledge of the world around her if she was playing some kind of resident. Eclipsa of course seemed to be having the time of her life, she was so carefree after all.
Not to mention just how active she was for her age, jumping around and balancing on logs with ease.
Hopefully sky would be lucky enough to be that spry when she got that old.
"Being out here tends to be a very deadly idea you know..", luna said, looking around more for danger, "There is so much wildlife that would not hesitate to pick us all off one by one if it could and it's regarded and the least safe place in mewni, and that's saying something next to the underworld." Eclipsa just hummed to herself though, "Well then miss knight, that means this is the perfect place for you to properly test your skills, Not on some cadets that can barely pick up a sword.".
Luna raised an eyebrow, "You been spying on me?".
"No, but i hear a lot of things in the walls of the castle, apparently you've become quite a person of discussion, knights as good as you don't typically wander in after all...", sky eyed luna, "Wait, what exactly have you been doing to our cadets?". Eclipsa snickered, "apparently your friend has been taking them out really well, you sure know how to pick them sky..". Sky grumbled, "Hey, i don't find the strange people, the strange people always seem to find me.".
She eyes luna, if only for a short bit as she said that last part.
Eclipsa jumped over a log and knelt over some plants, "The forest is honestly one of my favorite places to visit in mewni, so many cool things you can collect, so many cute monsters you can meet, not to mention it's so much nicer then in the stuffy castle.". Luna knelt over some mushroom, gears spinning in her head, "Back in the day this was the main spot monsters did live, though now they're been able to spread to all kingdoms, think any hideouts from the older wars are still around?".
Sky and Eclipsa both turned to give her strange looks as she reassured them.
"I'm simply curious, military brain y'know?".
"I'm sure there are olden places to explore, been hundreds of years though, most of them have probably have worn out. The monster temple in the east was adapted into a shelter for homeless monsters after star took over, but even then compared to other places that was in MUCH better shape. Doesn't matter anyway, no one would even want to use some of those old places anyway, everything was changed when star took over. Mewman and monster relations are at an all time high...".
She snickered, "I don't know what you think you'll find in those old ruins out here but if it's buried treasure you're out of luck there..". She kept walking forward and sky pulled luna to the side, whispering to her, "Ok, what are you thinking about?". Luna whispered back, "I just think if maybe someone is really up to something they might hide the info we need in a place they wouldn't think anyone would go...It's a suspicion at least, though if they're really ruined we might have to rule that out.".
"You girls must really be close huh?"
The girls backed off, eclipsa watching them and smirking.
"Ever heard of privacy?".
Eclipsa laughed, "Alright alright, you girls have fun, this old lady will be ahead!". And with that she moved forward, leaving the girls behind. Luna eyed sky, "You know, back home i never got to meet her, mom always told me she took her family and left, Safe to say this isn't what i imagined meeting her was like. Sky simply shrugged, "She's not so bad, she makes me uncomfortable sometimes but she's at least really supportive and easy to talk to about y'know...being an outcast..".
Then sky's eyes lightened up, "You know, the night you er...arrived, i was kinda using one of her spellbooks to practice and stuff...". Luna raised an eyebrow, "Really? and you didn't think to tell me this before?". Sky shuffled, "Well, the spell i was doing didn't even have anything to do with...well you guys showing up. So it didn't seem really important.". Luna groaned, "Well, you still should bring it up, maybe the spell did something strange to your wand.".
"My wand was acting uber weird way before i even touched her stuff! C'mon now, like being suspicious of everyone i get it's just...my family is just...they got no reason to really do this kinda stuff.", she bit her lip, "Like, mom's all stupid powerful, but like...she's not evil or anything. Plus she can't lie for heck, if she got you hear she would really not be trying to pretend she didn't know you." Luna blinked at her, but agreed, "Well i suppose in terms of our mother that's true...though that doesn't mean they aren't completely alike.".
"Still, like, if you were mom, wouldn't you have done something already? Whoever is responsible is taking their sweet time to do...whatever they're trying to do...", luna snorted, "Honestly i'm starting to wonder if us being here was intentional at all, perhaps your wand just screwed up and maybe the destruction of the archives has nothing to do with us. Truthfully sky, we've been stuck together for a week and it feels like we still know little to nothing about anything happening.".
Sky put her hands in her pockets, "I dunno, maybe we're going about this all wrong...". Luna gave her a look, "What do you mean by that?". She shrugged, "We all just seem to think the culprit or whatever is just gonna walk right into our hands, or we're gonna easily find clues and stuff. At this rate, you guy's might never get home in years. So maybe if we wanna figure out what's wrong with the wand...maybe we need to y'know...go inside it?".
This sparked luna's interest, "You didn't consider doing that before now?".
"Hey, you didn't either! and anyways, it didn't matter because gloss is useless and is almost never around. Dude never listens to me, so...maybe you can track him down with your amazing whatever skills and convince him or something?", luna tapped her foot, "Sky, i almost feel like this situation doesn't really matter to you...that you aren't taking this whole thing seriously. Me and 3 other girls are trapped in an unknown dimension, away from our families and you don't even think to tell us valuable information that may save us?."
"Well its-".
"No buts, we could die out here! This isn't a freaking joke and you know it! We have to rely on YOU to know some of this stuff because we come from alternate universes, if you don't want to help us, well, we might as well give up now!
Sky's face of annoyance shifted into one of guilt.
"With judas...", she paused, "Would you risk everything to save him? If anything happened?". It was a pretty serious question and sky found herself taken aback by it, luna may of expected her to laugh it off but to her surprise sky's tone because dead serious, "Yeah, yeah i would.". Luna nodded, "Then if there's anything you can do to reunite us back home to our families, tell us.". She started walking again, sky at her side and watching her in silence.
Sky only could sigh before continuing, "Hey, i know you didn't like personal questions but...how were you created?'. The older girls blinked at her as they hiked through the forest to find eclipsa, "How i was created?". Sky made a face, "Well, you have two moms, me and judas didn't come from any wombs...so...how did mom make you?". Maybe that was too sensitive of a question? But then again luna DID ask her quite a big question just a moment ago anyway.
"I hatched from an egg, old spell."
"You too?"
Luna snorted, "There aren't many other ways, though i could see mom inventing a new spell in terms of that if she reallly tried. Though knowing her, i was lucky my egg wasn't full of glitter and stickers and ended up chocking on something bad.". Then sky remembered her mismatched marks and wondered if she could ask about them, though before she could, the girls seemed to have finally stumbled upon eclipsa, who was kneeling down to clearly very freaked out monster child.
The girls walked forward in curiosity as eclipsa tried her hardest to calm the poor thing down.
"-scary and i thought she was gonna hurt me and-"., the boy was hysterical and crying as eclipsa hushed him. "Dear it's ok, whoever it was is gone now and i'm sure your toy is still around here, me and my lovely friends will help, is that ok?". The small monster nodded and then his attention was turned towards the girls. He hid behind the older woman's dress as she acknowledged the girls, "Good to see you've caught up, this little one lost his doll out in the forest a few days ago and he's had a hard time finding it, you girls mind helping me look? I'll watch this little one."
They exchanged looks but complied, though luna didn't seem to happy to have to scower the whole forest for a toy. If they were lucky they'd find it in minutes, if they were unlucky they're be searching all day and maybe get eaten by something. How monsters used to live out here beat her. But she felt sky nudge her and they set off to start their search. trampling through shrubs and watching out for mewman eating plants everywhere they went.
"I guess your grandpa never took you out to find the swamp beast?", sky asked, kicking away a pinecone, "I got stuck out in the swamp for a long time for a completely pointless task to find this stupid swamp beast and my mom even came too, it was a mess...". Luna gave her a look, "What makes you assume i was never sent out for a task like that?". Sky shrugged, "Well you seem to know the forest really well but i kinda feel like you'd shut grandpa down if he made you go into the swamp to find a creature that never existed."
"Well truthfully I very much shut the idea down when it was proposed...though what happened was i actually went into the swamp that night by myself to do it. Apparently grandfather knew i was coming, but i only did it once and never had to repeat it". She seemed to be thinking back to that memory for a bit of fondness, "I kinda like being at least given chances to prove myself as the next queen, the looks of those who hate me are priceless when they see me prove them wrong.".
"Why would they think less of y-?".
"I think i found it!"
Luna pointed into what was a large pit, and there, sure enough, was a small monster doll in the center of it.
Sky walked up next to her and looked for herself, knowing fell well there was probably a trap in it. She looked to sky with a sigh, "Wands out?". Sky took a look at their surroundings before shrugging, 'I guess we're probably good, just don't do anything super strong, don't want to draw too much attention...". Luna understood before summoning her wand, admiring it, "I hate having to disguise my wand, hopefully once i perfect wandless magic i'll be fine but there's always something great about holding a piece of you like this".
Of course she's dipped down already,of course.
"So what's the plan?".
"Simple, we levitato the thing back to us."
She easily flicked her wand and spoke calmly, "Levitato..."
The toy rose up as sure as ever, but before it could float over something from under the dirt in the pit reached up and tugged it back. Luna immediately stopped and spell and changed her wand back, "Ok, so looks like we have company, and we need a new plan.". She looked at sky's wand and whispered to her, "Ok, I know your wand is kinda"wonky" but better you use it then well...me be caught with one. So you use it, and i'll tell you what to do, sound good?".
"Wait, you're gonna direct me?".
"Like any commander should."
Sky didn't entirely seem sure of this plan but luna nodded to her, "Think of it...as...a new training session for you! Just listen to my directions and this'll take no time at all...and if it gets aggressive, well...be glad i can fight without my wand.". Sky clutched onto her wand a little harder as luna started thinking of what they should do, "Ok, this guy seems strong, if your magic was stronger or he was weaker i would cut their branch hands once the toy was high enough...but that's not gonna work here...and we don't wanna damage the toy...".
Then it came to her, "A distraction is our best bet, this guy is a root creature, not a monster...more like an animal...he's buried under all that dirt. So if we want him to drop the toy gently, we either need to find something else he will wand, or maybe lift up enough dirt he'll get scared and scatter.". Sky groaned, "Well, if he's just an animal why can't we both do magic on him?". Luna looked at her, lips in a frown, "because I've been wrong before...and if i'm wrong here, the risk will not be worth it. We're better off with a distraction, better safe then sorry. " She bit her lip before eyeing sky's monster hat, and sky looked up to notice, "Ok, just letting you know now, i'm not letting that thing keep my hat, , i make these things myself and I like this one...".
"Well, dirt lifting it is i guess..."., she sighed, tapping her cheek.
"That's a lot of dirt for me to move...".
"We gotta do something sky, if you don't wanna give up your hat you gotta use your strength to lift the dirt...just...levitato as much as you can, put all your might into it.", sky didn't seem sure but she nonetheeless tried to go for it, only for luna to step forward and hold onto her wand arm. "No no, your position is all wrong, here hold still...ok...like...this.", after fixing the girl's from she stepped back. "Ok, give it your best shot..". Sky took a deep breath before copying the girl's move before in her fixed position.
"LEVITATO!".
Luna almost smiled when she saw a good bit of dirt start to life from the ground, the bluenette's eyes in utter wonder at her own magic. She pushed harder, wanting to keep going and she could spot a bit of the root creature under the dirt, only for him to start burying himself deeper under the dirt. Burying himself faster then sky could un-bury him. Sky could've almost tossed her wand in frustration when something else came to her mind. "Ok, new plan we-".
Sky started waving her wand and before luna could react there was a stuffed walk creature next to sky.
Sky nodded to the toy in the pit before looking at the cute little wolf, "Hey little buddy?...Fetch".
"What are you-", luna started as sky watched her summon run down to the roots, "I'm gonna try something my way this time..." . Luna watched as the stuffed wolf grabbed onto the toy, only for the roots to wrap around him. The wolf squealed, until sky's wand opened to pull the wolf, it turning into mostly into light as it moved, only the snout still solid, still holding the toy as it was being sucked back into the girl's wand. The toy dropped as it went it, right on the ground and at sky's feet. Luna looked impressed as the root creature angrily retreated and sky picked up the stuffed toy.
"He may be stronger then levitato, but he's not strong enough to stop light.".
"Clever, though i'm surprised your summon even manged to keep it in it's mouth...it could've fell right from it".
"It's one of my better spells, at least i could make his mouth solid enough so the creature had no chance of clasping onto it before he got outta there.", luna gave an approving hum, "I'll keep that one in mind then, taking advantage of even the silliest of things is always a good idea.". She moved away, "C'mon, we better catch up with eclipsa and move on.". She ushered sky along and shy almost smiled at herself, she actually did a good job? And Luna was impressed?
Must be opposite day.
She couldn't help but wonder how she managed to pull THAT off.
Eclipsa smiled when they approached, the little monster child squealing as he ran over and recovered his toy, hugging sky's legs with his clawed hands. "THANK YOU THANK YOU!", He strted to run off and eclipsa ran after him, "You need any help finding your mom?". The monster stopped and shook his head, "Nah, momma and i live nearby, thank you kind ladies!". He ran off and eclipsa smiled to herself before acknowledging the girls, "Sorry for the break in adventure, but thank you for finding the toy."
"It's...no issue, turns out sky is better at magic then I thought", luna smiled and eclipsa laughed, "Oh, i've been trying to say that for years! Come now, let's get back to walking, i wanna show your girls the monster village up ahead!". Luna raised an eyebrow, "We meeting any friends up there?". But eclipsa ushered her on, "Maybe, but i'd prefer to get some food and this place has a lovely view of the mountains, come now, we better get a move on."
The underworld's safe room was of course, luxurious and practically another living room. With couches and a fireplace and even a small kitchen in the corner for them. Tom, marco, landon, judas, and tom's parents were already there of course. And Tom and Marco sighed in relief at seeing the kids come through the door and thanked the guards as they left and locked the door behind them. Mason was immediately tugged into a hug from his parents, fingers running through his hair and smiled all around.
"What happened?", celeste asked, a bit of concern slipping through her tough exterior.
"We were robbed, someone broke in...stole well, stole an artifact...", tom sighed, "It's not a big deal, the real worry is if they could've hurt any of you. People rarely are able to break into a place as tough as the underworld and if anything happened to you kids...god..". Marco let out another sigh of relief, "At least were all accounted for, the guards even have lucy out sniffing for the culprit, and it's rare she can't find any target she starts to sniff out.".
"How long are they gonna keep us in here?", galexia made her way to the couch, and sunny stepped back to let the family check up on each other so that let celeste have room to continue speaking whether she should or not. "Depends, they need to check the whole castle first...", the girl held back a groan as they parents let go of their son and went back to thinking what they could do under these conditions. "We'll eat in here, maybe play a game, can't do too much just yet...".
Tom grumbled, "I was considering going out to find you myself, but our advisers apparently think it's better we don't put our own lives at risk considering this guy had to be pretty powerful to get in, they're lucky you came in when you did i was about to punch right through them.". Marco smiled but also rolled his eyes, "He's not kidding either, tom was pissed when they told him to wait here while mason was out there, but at least everyone appears safe.".
"You really think this guy is dangerous?", mason asked, grasping onto tom's pant leg and looking up at him, nervous the pursuer might be around the corner somewhere. "Don't worry about it, we'll find them, promise, let's just stick together and wait for new information.". Mason nodded and moved away to sit on the couch near galexia, though he looked a bit nervous and sad now. Judas walked over to join the group, looking as he usually was.
A combination of being calm, nervous, and anxious.
Judas had clearly been dragging from something more formal based on the outfit he was currently wearing, and he was trying his best to breathe in and out and get himself under control. Probably worried if he got too stressed his powers...and more then likely, his arm, would act up. Landon seemed to be busy trying to get reception on his compact, most likely to call Bernard but it's clear compacts would be of little to no use in here, to none of them.
He nodded to sunny, whose smile returned at the sight of him. Tom and Marco walked off to go find some snacks to spread around and that left judas in a more comfortable position to talk. He gave a small smile to the girl before he lost that smile and crossed his arms. "I'm glad you all are safe, it's rare we ever end up in here and when we do you gotta know it's pretty bad. At least no one was harmed though, i sent sky some texts before i got locked in, at least she'll know we're all safe when her mom starts to panic."
"You ever been in here before?", the small girl asked curiously and judas bit his lip, fangs pricking the purple flesh. "Years ago, but for entirely different reasons, we can typically take care of ourselves so locking us up is usually a last resort. when they came and forced me here, i was worried to say the least". He then smiled again, weak laughing, "Just glad you guys aren't dead...like...REALLY glad." Sunny twiddled her fingers before wrapping her arms around the taller boy and hugging him.
"I'm glad you're not dead either...".
Judas hugged her back, despite how much taller then her he was, "A least we're all together, even if we're gonna be locked in a room while they search the castle from top to bottom". They disbanded and examined their surroundings, Dave and Wrathmelior were in another part of the room, mostly talking but not to each other. Simply to one of the guards, though knowing them Dave was probably just extremely concerned that they managed to allow someone to even get through.
Sunny glanced over to them as well, "They look really mad.". She felt judas put a hand on her shoulder, "Eh, you know our grandparents...they always get kinda mad, they're passionate...they'll be fine eventually.". He directed her to the couch area, "C'mon, we have paper and colored pencils you and lexi can use...". Sunny followed his orders, taking a seat next to him. A fireplace was roaring nearby and it was clear the walls were infused with a magic spell just to be safe.
The underworld itself was already a bit of a death trap, was no surprise it was heavily protected as it was.
Sunny spotted the paper and pencils judas was referring to and slide them out, he was right, they might as well use them if they're gonna be in here.
Marco was back quickly with apple slices, crackers, and juice boxes. "Here, might as well eat, we'll be notified when we're out and anything we get...". They took a good look at the sitting kids and noticed a theme, alot of down faces. Marco smiled, "Hey, you kids wanna see a magic trick while we're here?". Everyone's faces suddenly turned to look at marco, celeste looked puzzled, sunny seemed curious, mason and judas didn't seem surprised and lexi was laying upside down on the couch, her head on the floor.
Though at the mention of magic she managed to flip the top half of her body upwards to face marco.
"Magic?"
Marco's cheeks began to light up, two crescent moons, usually unseen unless they lit up.
Galexia and Celeste had seen them before, so it didn't phase them.
Though Sunny's eyes were practically sparkling.
Marco started placing hands together, red fire spouting from them, "I'm not perfect, but i can sure do some damage when i want to.". The flames rose up and formed a heart and sunny could be seen clapping, judas and mason were very used to this from their mother though, reaction just reduced to pleasant smiles. Sunny looked over to judas and whispered to him under her breath, "Do any of you have...marks?". He shook his head, whispering back, "If we do, we sure haven't seen them yet, not enough mewman magic exposure perhaps...plus mom's not a biological butterfly".
"You...fight with magic?", Celeste looked extremely weirded out by the flames, guess her father back home never did anything like this. Marco switched spells, tiny green souls spouting from their hands and twisting and turning around each other before marco made them vanish. "Well, and karate, and swords, and a number of other things...but you have to admit, magic is handy.". The queen showed off a number of other spells, most of them being more demonic then anything, seems the underworld truly had an influence on them. Then Tom came up behind their spouse and wrapped their arms around them, "Oh c'mon, show them the mask, I know you want to."
"Mask?", Sunny said excitably, "You have a cool mask?!".
"Marco wears it like they're this big ole superhero...", tom explained," It was a present from my family when we got engaged, me and star helped teach marco all the tricks they know. Now they can magic it on at will! Though they only put it on to scare the heck out of people or for protection...". Tom gave marco some puppy eyes, "C'mon marco, show it off to the kids, we both know you want to and you haven't worn it in forever love...since like...oh wait we can't speak about that in front of the kids...".
Marco laughed, "You tease, but only if you ask...". In a flash the human waved a hand over their face, a beautiful skull mask forming over their face. Markings were all over the mask and the teeth of the skull were rather pointy. Though the most disturbing part was how it changed marco's eyes, making them black except for green pupils. They looked terrifying. Though Tom's first instinct was to kiss marco straight on the cheek, nuzzling into the side of their human's face.
"Toooommm~, not in front of the kids!",Marco immediately removed the mask as to not scare any of the kids too much. Plus, it gave him the ability to probably kiss tom back as the demon gushed on about their lover, "Marco kicks ass, it's just kinda what happens when you marry into the underworld, we're not letting our leaders be defenseless after all, and marco's pretty good with magic. Marco simply shrugged, "Be thankful i don't have to use it often, thought i do surely intimidate others quite well..".
They used magic and summoned an apple slice to them, biting into it, "Don't use magic often though, i'm more used to earth life and i prefer getting a jump on my enemies.". Tom bit into the rest of the apple slice and judas looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else then here as his parents flirted. Sunny kept on giggling and was probably going to ask to see more magic when someone entered the room. A guard, Tom pricked up his eyebrow and approached him.
Everyone exchanged looks, some nervous, some curious, some both. Surely it wouldn't take that short amount of time to find the culprit, or did they find him already? Though based on the guard's expression, Tom sure didn't seem to think so. He had gone from the happy and flirty king he was just mere seconds ago to his brows furrowed and his face in a worried frown. His cape breezed behind him and he crossed his arms as he tried to remain calm.
"That was...fast...".
"Sir, you still must say in here, but we've just come to say your Lucy has a scent on the culprit...", Tom smiled, "Well then what are you doing here! Go on, we have to follow her!". But the guard didn't move, "Sir, the culprit must've predicted this move, because the scent she got...has her running around in circles...the culprit left so many smells behind she can't track them.". Tom's eyes might've popped out of his head, but he cooled himself down quickly.
"Fine, lucy might be out but i still want ALL guards on lookout, is the castle clear?", the guard shook his head, "not yet sir, almost, we're still questioning the staff and testing your magic security systems, though it's possible the culprit tampered with them as well.". Tom grumbled, "May i come? Actually no, i AM coming.". He nodded to his family and pushed the guard out of the way before he could protest. Leaving the kids with marco and the couple in the corner.
"Is everything gonna be ok..?"
Marco sighed, leaning against the couch.
"I sure hope so."
