"Masked character huh?".

Luna took a sip of tea, a depressed group of teens sitting in front of her.

"Know anyone like that?".

"Maybe from my dimension, yes, but no one here has a description like that from my research, not even one of your enemies that were listed by Kelly."

She placed her teacup down on her saucer and placed it on the table next to her, "If they're masked and didn't speak, that's going to make them harder to track down. However, we're still waiting on words from the commission, and they're doing through look around the castle for what they left behind, we'll have to wait for their report.". Her words didn't seem to be lightning the mood however, judas's head was still staring at his lap, the faces of the Spiderbite family as they picked nora up and took her away the night before was still fresh in his mind.

Landon didn't look any better when bernard was forced to go home, but at least he had a higher chance of seeing him again. Nora's parents were panicked beyond belief that an intruder was so close to their daughter, and even Star's pleads weren't convincing them otherwise. He didn't really even get to say goodbye either, and it made it hard to focus. Sky seemed to share his guilt, even if the whole situation wasn't really their fault at all, just a bunch of bad luck.

Mel was gone, and so was coral.

In fact, the only "guest" still here was Angel, and even then he was in the other room. It was so late out the queens allowed him to stay here for the night, and in the morning could stay there, waiting for his parents. Or rather, just his father, who wanted to speak with queen star before he took him back. Sky wasn't exactly super happy he was staying the night, but then again, he hadn't left the room since he entered so at least he seemed to have actually listened for once.

"Guys, we need to focus...this creature, whoever they were...they...if it's the same person there HAS to be a reason for their actions. They sabotaged the archives, they stole from the lucitors, now this? Whoever this is not only has clear info on the castles but also seems to have some distaste for the butterfly family. If I had to make a guess, I would think the culprit is either getting info from a inside source or they're someone we know. There's no denying it now...".

No one answered or acknowledged luna's words, the room bleak and quiet.

Till a growl came from celeste who was sitting in the back of the room, "Then i guess it might be finally time...to start pulling out our wands and using them to find this freak. If that masked creep is the whole reason i'm stuck here then i'm going to give them a piece of my mind.". Luna stood up from her seat, "Magic around here is currently a bad idea, but...our threat...may be more dangerous then we previously could've believed if they're someone in close contact, hate to say it, but we should use our wands to get what we need, one way or another.".

"Wait?...what are you proposing?", judas, finally looking up from his slump, suddenly looked incredibly concerned.

"We cannot wait any longer on this jude, and we don't know where they may strike next, but we are going to have to use magic if we want to get anywhere. We're going to need to keep an eye on the commission much more thoroughly and we have to somehow bring this masked person out in the open.". The demon stood up, "You know if any of us are caught, we will be in trouble beyond belief right? We don't know if we can trust the commission, that could've been one of them in that disguise...".

"Judas, if you have an idea here, feel free to let us know...".

He bit his lip, thinking for a moment.

"The seeing-eye spell...I'm sure you know the one luna, queen eclipsa created it.".

There was a bit of a gasp among the room, luna and judas made eye contact as his brows furrowed. "We know who we're looking for and we know a spell that can allow us to see anything we want right? We should take advantage of it, find out where thy're hiding and who they are. We couldn't use it before because we didn't know who we were looking for, not to mention most of our suspects know about it and we'd get caught immediately for using it on them...but now, we can use it to search for our new friend...".

The talking in the room silenced, nods of approval coming from all around.

"Early tomorrow morning, Let's use it...".


"Jude...you sure this is going to work?", sky whispered to her friend, the boy looked to luna, who was outstretched with her wand. "Now that we know who we're looking for...we can find them easily. We know what they look like and can be specific with our spell...". Sky hummed to herself, "I mean, i guess so...but what do we do when we find them? What if they turn out to be someone we know jude? Like, are we even ready to do this? At all?".

"We gotta do it sky, your mom will probably think of doing it soon as well. We outta see for ourselves first if we want to get any answers without her knowing...", she sighed, "Alright...well, I just hope this whole thing doesn't get too freaky...". Judas wrapped an arm around his friend, trying to comfort her as he looked around the room full of anxious teens. Only the people who knew were here, mason was in his garden, nora was still at home, this was a private meeting between the group and it had to be done.

And all of them didn't know what to think as luna turned to them, ready to start. No one was surprised out of anyone she already knew the spell, though they could all only hope she hadn't used it on them during their time here. "This spell is rather powerful you know, if it attracts any attention, you know you have to take the fall right sky?". The girl she was referring to grumbled and nodded, "Just hope my moms think it was me and i suddenly became all powerful.".

"Eh, to be fair, it seems to me when you don't beat yourself up so much...you seem to do rather well.", sky almost wanted to mock luna for her complimenting her but didn't, might as well take it at this point. Luna went back to focusing on her spell, stretching her arms out as the room whispered among each other. Sky didn't seem to be the only anxious one around, as though the masked creep would pop out through the eye if they could and attack them.

She chanted the spell and the room suddenly felt darker as the girl's marks started to glow, an omnimous eye appearing in front of her. Sky had never seen the spell before, only heard about her, and knew her mother had used it. Though for what for, no one really told her, though the whole thing did scream eclipsa. Sky had only waded into her spellbook and all her creations but there is no doubt there was a reason why people thought of eclipsa as scarier then she had been.

"-reveal to me what is forbidden!".

The group gathered around as the eyes blinked at luna before opening up to reveal-

A mix of green colors and then-

Sunny screamed as a hand pressed against the eye pressing against it harder, as if it were rying to go through to the other side. But instead of doing so, black ink spread from the hand to cover up the eye entirely. Even luna looked startled at this, her wand out at the ready and sunny doing the same, followed by celeste and then lexi ad sky pulled out her own. They expected some sort of ambush but the secounds passed and nothing had changed.

It was just a black screen, covering the view of what would've been what the group had been looking for.

Luna stepped back, "What is this?".

Then the spell shifted, words appearing in front of the screen in green text.

TRY AGAIN CLOWNS.

"L-luna, what's going on with the spell, why we can't see them?", sunny peeped out from the group, holding her wand in front of her still and urging landon to get behind her.

"I...I don't know...", luna took a closer look, but before she could do much else, the spell switched channels to show the room of kids, with static as though it were a broken tv, first showing luna, then switching the channel to show sky. Luna grumbled before shutting the spell off, th eye vanishing from the room, "That was, I don't know what that was, something attacked the eye and then...broke our spell?", Sky got up and walked over, staring at the spot the portal was. "Ok, well...you clearly wanted to find the masked person but they...so they sent us to a black screen, then bugged out and showed us? Like...did it show anything to us...?".

"But that's not right, it was supposed to just show them. I mean, how can it not work? What happened there?!".

Sky pocketed her hands, "Guess this masked thief really is smarter then we think they are. If they can be prepared to bust this spell so we can't use it, there's no telling what else they can do! Then again, Omni can see through space and time and still never caught toffee on his own though...". Luna didn't look pleased though, "That's not helping sky, i've never seen this spell not work before, how could this thing not work? We know the person we're looking for and-".

"Well, we just saw it for ourselves right? this dude knows magic...".

"Hmm?".

"They used magic, to block us from finding them, we saw their hand and ...there's kinda no denying it.".

Luna folded her arms, "Sky, that doesn't make sense, how could they do that? There's no way they would know we were about to do that! We couldn't even see if it was them1". The girl in front of her merely shrugged, "I dunno! But look at this! We aren't dealing with some average thief! This guy managed to get away a dozen times and they now have the power to block out spells. This means...they're a powerful magic user, no average thief...". Everyone talked among themselves, "It's obvious isn't it? how you guys are here, how they got into so many places without issue...they have magic powers...or at least...got magic powers from somewhere...like, c'mon now luna. You're the gal that's open to all possible outcomes right? There's no other explanation for this! It took us to them, but they predicted it.".

Luna bit her lip, clearly the thought of going against a magic rival with book knowledge was something she felt uneasy about, but she couldn't deny sky's words.

"Yeah, and like...how many creatures out there can use magic?", landon stood up, drawing everyone's attention, and grumbling. "Like, sure, now we know this creep uses magic and had a defense system in place for this spell, but that doesn't dim it down. Demons can do magic, ponyheads can do magic, mewmans can do magic...like...how is that going to make our search any easier? This dude could be from one of the other dimensions outside of mewni!." Sky paced, "Well i mean, the magic...i've never seen anything like it...but..if anyone would understand...It'd be...well...eclipsa?".

"Eclipsa?!".

Luna closed her eyes and breathed heavily, as if letting out her frustrations but holding back at the same time.

"I don't doubt you on that but...what would you tell her? What would she even be able to say or do?".

"Well, spells can have countercharms...", Sunny walked forward, arms folding behind her back, "Eclipsa is one of the most powerful queens that's even been on mewni! Maybe she'd know who'd be able to counteract her spells? I mean, it's either her or glossaryck, and in my world, gloss entirely ignores me.". Luna eyed to sky, and judas stepped up to the plate, and more importantly, up to luna. "I'm mad this didn't work as much as you are but it's a step forward, we know whoever we're dealing with...can do magic, or at least...understands it enough to stop it. Our best bet is asking eclipsa on the matter.".

"And what if she's responsible?".

"She can't do magic without her wand luna...remember?", sky rolled her eyes, "She's clean, we'll just...ask her some questions about this...".

Judas added on with his own bit.

"We've spent weeks together and have made no progress to finding our culprit, now that we have a lead, that they know how to handle eclipsa's spells...we gotta follow through with them. Isn't this what you've been looking for? We can't give it up now, there's a chance eclipsa already knows and we're just wasting time here talking about it.". There were murmurs amoung the group and the blonde finally gave in, "Fine, judas, you and sky should go...I think...we should have a talk with your prince friend.".

And that's when sky remembered angel was in the other room still, most likely awake by this point, if he even did sleep.

"You gonna figure out why he was really here?".

"I'm going to try, you both can't seem to intimidate him, so perhaps a professional should do it."., she put her hands on her hips, "If that boy is nothing on trouble, he could easily be in on this. We should not leave him out of the picture and we deserve a better explanation for him ending up in butterfly castle how he did.". Judas and sky exchanged looks but judas shot one to luna, "Ok, but, do not lay a finger on him, you hear me? He is still a prince and he should not be touched. Sunny, make sure she doesn't hurt him, ok?".

The small girl smiled, her chipper tone returning along with a silly salute to the prince, "Yes sir!".

That seemed good enough to judas, "Alright, we all should get back to our everyday lives, i'll send you all texts on what we find, I expect luna will do the same?". The blonde nodded, sighing, "I can't believe this you know, I'm going to blow my cover at this rate.". She let out another frustrated sigh as she looked between the two royals, "Anything I should know about your spider friend before i question him about his reasons for being here?". The boy looked to the crowd as they started to disband, "He's not a very good liar and is kinda brutally honest, also he doesn't like star and mewni for...a bunch of reasons...".

"Well if he's brutally honest then this should be rather easy...", but judas rubbed the back of his head, "Well, this time he actually denied doing anything, so, i'm not sure exactly if he's telling the truth but at the same time...he sure believes he's telling the truth." The girl nodded, "Alright, we'll meet up with you later, you better call if there's an emergency, and if you fidn that masked creep, zap them without a second thought, got it?". She looked mostly to sky who didn't look so sure, giving her no answer, luna walked out, sunny following behind as judas and sky were the only ones left in the room.

"Hey jude?"

"Yeah?".

"You think we'll find this guy? If they have powers and can do junk like this?".

The boy rubbed his arm, his mind wandering, "We've well, we've dealt with some crazy foes in the past, we can do it. We just need to keep working at it...We'll find her, and we'll figure out what's going on.". Sky then looked up to him, she scanned him over as if he said something strange just now, "Wait, Her? How do you know it's a she? They didn't even talk!". Her friend shrugged, "I don't know, they just took a more feminine form so I'm really not sure what to call them.".

"Your mom wears dresses though.".

"and my mom considers themselves genderfluid. Look, back on track here, we'll find them, whether a guy or girl...".

"C'mon dweeb, let's go...", sky grabbed his arm and pulled him along, "the more we stand here the less we talk to eclipsa, and the less we talk to eclipsa the more likely luna will go on a fit. And i'm not waiting for you two to ping pong each other to death again, c'mon...we got a queen to question.".


Angel looked up as the door closed behind the girls, both surprised and not surprised at the same time. Then again, it was more then likely he'd been expecting sky or maybe his parents more then anything. With his mother sick his father couldn't even get him the night before, forcing him to sleep here, in the castle of the butterfly family. Their rooms and most importantly though, their beds, only reminded him how bad his home was though. He should've been sleeping in places like THIS? and all his family has was a run down castle and barely working furniture?

They were able to get upgraded clothing and were given tools for farming and repairing but this family still had all THIS?

He grumbled as the girls approached his bed.

His legs were folded back and the boy looked restless, guess not even sleeping in a fancy castle with soft beds was enough to cure how tired he was. He yawned, mouth wide enough to see the boy's pincers before his mouth covered them back up. His nose and ears twitched, and his red eyes glared at the girls. He didn't quite feel like having guests at this point in time, honestly he'd spent a few hours preparing to be yelled at by his father for sneaking inside the castle.

No doubt after this he'd be grounded for the rest of his life.

Then again, he was already grounded for the rest of his life and he still escaped to get grounded more, so-?

"I could smell you coming...", sunny smiled at him but luna looked less then pleased, stepped forward and looking down to him. Angel did not seemed remotely phased by her appearance though, "Princess butterfly sent you to question me right? there's nothing else I can say, I don't know what happened.". Luna didn't move though, "Well, if you're telling the truth, then i suppose we won't have any issues will we?", the boy didn't seem to take kindly to luna's potential threats but he was far from intimidated.

"We're sorry...", Sunny stepped forward, "We didn't mean to intrude on you, we just wanted to ask some questions...". Sunny's methods were clearly not on the same page as the ones luna was thinking of using but angel seemed much more compelled about sunny speaking to him. "My parents will be arriving soon to take me back and scold me...I don't really need to hear more of it from you...", Luna snorted, "You were trespassing on castle grounds in the middle of the night, at least give us some explanation.".

"I don't know, i guess someone moved me there then!", he almost shouted, sighing before lying down on the bed. "Why aren't Prince Lucitor and Princess Butterfly here to see me instead, why did they even send you?", he eyed off to the side, "They're more then capable to talk to me themselves...". Sunny frowned and put her hands together, "Well, they just had things going on and we volunteered, i mean, were you looking forward to seeing them or something..".

"What? No no, I'm just...well they never miss an opportunity to criticize me...".

"Well, i'm sure they mean well! I mean, they did want you to have your own room for last night right?"

Angel didn't say anything and luna got back to speaking.

"Alright, enough about sky and judas, what were you doing here in the middle of the night?", angel didn't even turn to look at the girl, resting on his side and keeping to himself. "Like I said, i have no idea.", luna was about to persist when sunny spoke up, "Have you eaten anything today?". There was silence for a bit until angel spoke, though it was as if he was didn't even want to answer in the first place. "Queen star sent me breakfast but...the servant saw me and dropped the tray...they never came back".

Sunny bit her lip and turned to luna, "Luna, can you do me a favor, go and get him some snacks from the kitchen, i'll stay here and take care of this, ok?". The look on the girl's face was one for the books, "Sunny, i beg your pardon? We're on an important mission right now.", but Sunny persisted, "C'mon luna, go get some snacks. You're the best one to do it, since the people here love you. It'll only take a few minutes...PLEASE!". Her three eye twinkled up to the girl and luna gave in.

"Fine...fine..I'll be right back, alright?".

Sunny squealed and hugged luna quickly as luna shook her head and walked out the door, eyeing the pair as she closed the door behind her. Angel sat up, turning to look at the little girl, "Why do you care if I've eaten or not if you're trying to question me?". She hopped on to take a seat on the bed, "I don't want you to go hungry, you should get something to eat, it's hard to think right on an empty stomach." He still was looking at her rather funny, as though this was the last thing he expected out of a questioning.

And indeed it was.

"Don't mind luna, she's just like that. She likes to spook people, scare them. ", she blinked at the boy and he turned his head away from her, "I don't quiet understand why judas and sky would suddenly have a friend like you around, you don't seem like someone they would spend time with, well, maybe judas...". Sunny couldn't quiet tell if he meant that to be an insult or maybe he was actually surprised but her tone didn't change, "Well, it was kinda on accident sorta, but they like me! Judas is really nice and forgiving.".

"Why? what did you do to him?".

"Might've hurt him on accident...", she twiddled her fingers together and the gears started turning in angels head, "Did you hurt his uh...arm?". Sunny looked up at him before nodding and the boy shook his head, "I knew I smelt blood on him, At least his arm is fine.". Sunny bit her lip, "You know, i was so worried i made him mad or hate me, but...he's really nice, it's really nice you're worried about him too.". Angel snorted, "Maybe to you, I don't think prince lucitor finds it charming..".

"Do you want to be friends with him? And sky?".

"Well, i don't want them to be mad with me and scold me if that's what your saying."

She laughed, "No, i mean, if they asked you to spend time with them, and hang out, and do fun things together, would you like it?". The prince turned away, "Why would i do that? It would take away from my work, i have more important things to do...". Sunny wiggled her feet, "Yes, but if you could...would you?", the prince blushed and crossed his arms, "What does this even remotely have to do with you thinking I snuck into the castle in the middle of the night?".

"Well, i was wondering if it had more to do with them?".

"Don't you imply anything! I-I wasn't supposed to be there!".

"Ok, just asking!".

The prince clearly looked a bit shooken up about her accusations, still red-faced and annoyed, "Prince Lucitor and Princess Butterfly are...very annoying, but very respectable individuals. But I don't need friends, they don't want me around anyway, there's no point.". The small demon bit her lip and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, "I think if you tried to talk to them...they might, like one my other best friends, at my home...he was hard to talk to at first...but went spent so much time together we just...clicked.".

She was so smiley it was almost infectious.

"You know, if you really care about them, totally not saying you are, then just talk to them! I just kinda think it's sad you don't seem to have anyone, and I don't like seeing people sad.". The boy was silent, and sunny chose to change the topic, "For a long time i never really got to meet anyone, me and my brother didn't get to make many friends or explore anything. But then when we finally did i just REALLY like meeting other monsters! You guys are so cool to me!".

"You don't need to show me so much pity, i'm used to it.".

"But-".

"I know you're really doing all this because of my mother, aren't you?"

The girl went silent as the boy stood up, turning his back to her. "You feel bad for me, that's why you're trying to be so nice to me, why you're getting me food, why you're trying to set me up with friends, why you're trying to compliment me . You're like everyone else on mewni. That i'm some poor prince who needs to be babied all the time, something to be embarrassed about!". He wasn't even looking at her but he sounded mad, "I've treated judas and sky as nothing but equals to me, and they think lesser of me in return.".

Then he sounded almost as if he were about to cry, "I-I don't...I don't want to talk about my mother, alright? You can compliment me and feel bad for me all you want but i don't need this, i'm...i'm not a child...don't treat me like i can't handle myself fine.". The demon girl frowned, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...upset you...I just kinda think...well...your mom seems so nice and I just think, it's what she would want. You know, to see you with friends, and be happy.".

"What would you know about my mom? You've only seen her once!".

"Well, that she really loves you, and wants to see you smile.".

The spider stood there for a few minutes before turning around, "We're done talking about this, you took this opportunity to talk to me and you said what you wanted, but that's it. If you care so much about your fellow monsters, understand that what i want to do will help us. If anything would help my mother, it's the butterflies, and if they don't budge, someone has to make them...I don't need friends, i need a cure. I was never supposed to be here last night and that's final, end of discussion". Just then the door opened, luna stepping in with some bags of insect crunchies she looked less then happy to be holding.

Though the tension in the room has incredibly obvious as she walked in.

"Uh-?".

Sunny stood up, grabbed a bag and tossed it to Angel before grabbing onto luna and directing her outside the door, "Luna, it's nothing to worry about, promise.". But the blonde wasn't buying it as sunny took the other snack bag from her, "Nothing to worry about? What did i miss here? My plan was to go through his mind then wipe us doing do from his mind and i find you're...talking to him? Are you conspiring are something?". Sunny held out her arms, "No! No no, luna...I just kinda think we should go easy on him...you know he's having a hard time.".

"And-?".

"And I just wanted to talk to him and see if i could find out what happened and help. Maybe have him try and make friends or make him feel better or something...I dunno. It's just...he feels like I pity him...", sunny looked down to the floor, "I just...I dunno, I think he just needs help and support.". Luna sighed, "Sunny, you're clearly a very smart young lady, but that boy in there causes all kinda of trouble on his own accord, him wanting to prove himself and blame the butterfly family is not excused by his mother...from what we know he's a trouble maker. He's considered nothing but trouble to mewni".

"Yeah, from sky and judas we know that, but shouldn't we also learn from his side too? I mean, isn't knowing your enemy just as important ? How they feel?".

The tall girl considered what she said then sighed, "Fine, fine...even i can't disagree with that. However, we still don't know why he was in butterfly castle...do we?". The small girl paused and shook her head, "He still says he didn't sneak in. But, what if he was framed? I mean, what if someone put him there? The masked culprit could've just been using him as a distraction.!". Luna bit her lip, "Some distraction, all they ended up doing was just getting the boy in trouble and still managing to get caught, sounds too incompetent for this magical trickster.".

"Pardon?"

The girls turned around to find Queen Butterfly, and a large bearded spider monster next to her in fancy...but less fancy then the Queen's...clothing.

Angel's father.

The girls froze on the spot as Star crossed her arms, "Girls? What are you doing out here? Luna, you are supposed to be training aren't you? And Sunny, what are you doing here as well? Were you girls talking to angel?". Luna looked at a loss for words, but sunny was quick to think. "H-he didn't eat anything apparently, so we thought that maybe we should bring him something. Is that ok? Last night was just really freaky for all of us and he really should eat...".

The queen looked to the arachnid king, who smiled, "Thanks for looking after my son, i appreciate it...". The girls moved out of the way to allow the adults to access the door, Star looked over to them as they entered, "Thanks for being concerned but don't go wandering without my permission next time, ok girls?". The door closed behind them and luna pulled sunny alongside her as they headed down the hallway together, " So much for not looking suspicious...".

Luna looked over to the small girl and patted her shoulder.

"Good save by the way back there...guess those snacks did come in handy...".

The small girl smiled to herself as they walked along.


"Eclipsa?".

Sky opened the door to the woman's room slowly, judas behind her. As the door hit the wall they took a look around, eclipsa didn't seem to be home. Sky pouted, "Guess she's running around in the hidden passageways again, guess we're going to have to come back...". But judas walked around further in the room, "Actually, i don't really remember being in here before? She really lives in here?". He took a look around at the spellbooks and fancy fireplace.

"It was her old room as a child, mom thought she should have it while she lives with us.".

"Well, i can't say it doesn't suit her well.", he looked over a picture of meteora and globgor, still well kept.

A smile crept along sky's face, punching her friend gently, "Still scared of eclipsa? She doesn't see you often but every time she tells me about you she goes on about how scared you were as a little kid of her.". Judas blushed and crossed his arms, asserting himself, "Oh come on, how many things were you scared of as a kid? Heck, you still get scared of things today! You tease me about eclipsa again and don't think I won't tease you about the puppet lady.".

"The puppet lady doesn't scare me", she stuck up her nose at the taller boy and he shook his head, "You're a terrible liar sky, i'm surprised honestly your mom isn't more suspicious of you.". He removed her hat before ruffling her hair, "By the way...I like how you handled yourself, back there. You were so focused and really brave standing up to luna.". Sky put her hat back on, brushing hair from her face, "Yeah? You're not messing with me right?".

"Cross my heart.".

"You're a dweeb.".

"Guilty as charged...", he laughed as her took a look around, "Seems eclipsa is out again, though, i don't know what she really does outside of be in here? Even globgor isn't in here and i don't believe they have any jobs or anything right?". Sky shook her head, "Mom doesn't usally pay much attention to them, so they kinda go wherever they want. It's probably a dumb idea, but they're been fine so far.". Judas leaned against a wall, "Well, if they are spying in your walls, that's a bit odd...".

"Says the boy with a cursed arm...".

"Says the girl with the strange wand...".

His friend only rolled her eyes, "Fine fine, but...shouldn't we get going and look for her? No point in staying if she's no-".

The attention of the duo drifted to a painting in the corner, shaking and then opening as eclipsa stepped through, only to pause at the sight of guests. For a moment she looked scared to see them, but then shook it off to close the painting behind her and rush over. "Sky, judas? What an unexpected surprise! It's good to see you two, i hope i hadn't kept you waiting long. You...were waiting for me right?". Sky quickly nodded, "Yeah yeah, sorry, uh...we wanted to ask you something...is this a bad time?".

"Oh uh, no no no, um...what are you here to ask about?", she dusted off her dress and made an effort to fix couch for the pair to sit down, Judas took a seat and watched the woman frantically run around and fix things, "Um...are you sure you're ok Eclispa? If this really is a bad time i'm sure me and sky can pick a better time.". But eclipsa slowed down and sky took a seat next to her friend, "No no, i'm just rather...excited to have guests, especially nice to see you again young man.".

"Look, we wanted to ask...about the person we saw last night, if you had any idea who they were or perhaps give us anything we might need to know to protect ourselves.", eclipsa seemed much calmer now as she took her own seat in front of them, "Still spooked about that creep from last night are you? Not surprised, when i was younger my mother used to have me worry about assassins coming in the middle of the night as well. Can't have been much better for you.".

She sighed, "But, I don't know who they are...neither does your mothers, they're angry and puzzled..".

The two exchanged looks, how were they supposed to even go about telling her the character did magic, and it took down her spell? It was incredibly possible she would even talk to Queen Butterfly about it, no doubt making them look more suspicious. However, eclipsa was smiling, looking between the pair with knowing eyes. "Ok, you both better spit out what you really want to ask me, or I could just go on about you both dating in the futur-".

Sky let out a annoyed groan and Judas coughed into his hand, taking the lead.

"Well we just think, we should ask you...about one of your spells, the all-seeing eye one?", was he being too weird about asking about it? He was wasn't he?

The former queen didn't seem suspicious though, looking to sky, "Dear, are you asking to learn it? I mean, your training seems to be getting better but that can be some advanced magic. Or do you have other reasons to be using a spell like that?". The princess crossed her arms, "No it's just...i had a question, to learn, it's just...does your spell have some some sort of countercharm? I'm just asking cause well...you know...creepy masked person running around, might wanna know as many spells as we can?".

She wasn't a very good liar.

And yet-

"Countercharm? Now what makes you think i'd make something like that?".

The princess froze in place, gaping for a split second before replying.

"So...you don't have a countercharm?".

"Sky...is something else going on?".

Sky eyes to judas, prompting him that maybe they should leave, but to her dismay her friend stayed put. "Eclipsa, me and sky have a suspicion the masked foe we saw, might be using magic, magic we don't know about. We're sorry if we're intruding, it's just...we know if our parents know about us well...wanting to investigate, they might freak out. We're asking you, and I supposed we're taking a risk by doing so, but this masked person is kind've a threat to our kingdom and since i'm going to be king...it matters a lot to me.".

The queen crossed her legs, smiling, "So, you kids are going behind your parents and doing some sneaky stuff? Well, i'd be a hypocrite to say no wouldn't I?". She stood up, heading over to her book shelf, "You know sky, I knew you were more sneaky then you were letting on. You're more like your mother then you think.". Sky pouted, "Doesn't feel like it...", only for judas to pat her shoulder as eclipsa pulled out another book. "Eh, you don't know your mother like I do, trust me, that "Rebel Princess" is still apart of her somewhere.".

Eclispa placed the book on Sky's lap, "You never returned this to me by the way, star had to bring it back to me after she found it in the gardens months ago. But seems you could use it now, With the current panic it's no doubt your mother might have to cancel your training with her to focus on the matter at hand, so might as well go wild with some new spells, hm?". Sky bit her lip, remembering the encounter, didn't she at first think she brought the girls here? Because of this book?

Should she even have it back, especially since she couldn't even get it to work last time?

"Eclipsa, i dunno, it's nice it's just...well...i still can't do proper spells have the time...and i kinda left the book behind last time i had i-".

But the queen shushed her, "Sky, enough, c'mon now, where's that determination to prove yourself?".

Sky nodded, "Alright, but...what do you want me to do exactly?".

"Skyler, i want you to study some spells again, if you want to catch that crook, better learn as much as you can right?"

Sky smiled, and nodded as the prince next to her stood up, "Perhaps we better get going then eclipsa, promise you won't tell our folks. You know my parents are protective as heck over me and my brothers, last night only made that worse.". Eclipsa only laughed, "I won't tell, c'mon now, though...do be careful with that book this time alright you two? I don't want that thing getting into the wrong hands or anything, and your mom would kill me if you got hurt."

"Alright, thanks eclipsa...i'll uh...make sure it's close to me this time.".

She hugged the book to her chest as eclipsa waved at her, the door to the tower closing after her. Judas was staring down at his feet as he went down the staircase, "Luna will probably kill me for telling eclipsa we're trying to find the masked person, but...we had to try something...there was no way we were going to get anything out of her otherwise. ". He rubbed his face, "Sky, i'm worried, i mean...the thief is a magic user...but how would they come up with their own counterspell? They had to know about the seeing eye bell before..".

Sky was silently sulking as she clutched the book tighter to her.

"But that doesn't make sense, only your family could know about spells like this-".

"Judas if you assume that masked freak was a butterfly i swear...".

"I know i know, but we know this is all suspicious., we should be a bit on edge of magic users if we can. But then again, you left the book alone, so...hmm...maybe someone had taken the book for themselves and then brought it back after getting the spells they wanted from the book.". Sky snorted, "You implying me loosing the book gave the masked freak an advantage? Judas, i feel freaked out enough as is, i REALLY don't want to think about me screwing up that badly right now...".

"Well, i'm sure it wasn't your fault, with all the commotion going around, i can't entirely blame you for forgetting about the book. But we can't entirely rule it out as a possibility now...I mean, unless we think eclipsa did it now?", sky bumped him gently, though that didn't stop judas from rubbing his arm in response, "I mean, she's been pretty sneaky ever since she arrived here but again, no magic, plus eclipsa has no reason to do that to us and you know it. ".

"Yeah, we're starting to sound like luna aren't we?".

"Very much so...".

"You think she'll be mad when we tell her?".

"Well if she is, trust me jude, you can handle her. ", she walked alongside him, carrying the large book over to her room and with a snap her friend opened the door for her, allowing her to set the book on the bed, and rest for a moment. "You know, my mom stopped from us using these spells for a reason, she kinda thought they were too dangerous to use. I dunno how well these are going to work alongside my terrible wand, might as well blow up the castle at this rate...ugh...i just wanted a simple angry tantrum to make you guys come.".

Just then there was a knock on the bedroom, and like a flash sky got up and headed out for the door. Was luna back already? Or did eclipsa change her mind about giving sky the book this fast? Or was there another emergency going on?

Gulping, she opened it to find-

"Mom, king arachford, angel?".

"Hello skyler...".

The three figures glanced at her, angel turned away his head as his father pushed him forward, "May we come in?". Sky looked to judas, still behind her, but she didn't even have the time to come up with a good answer as her mother pushed open the door some more to spot the prince on the bed. "Judas? ah, sorry if we were interrupting anything, we need to have a word with sky, hope that's not too much of a bother to you?". Judas shook his head, "No no Queen Butterfly, it's fine...I can go if I-".

"No!", the princess said fast before calming down and opening the door all the way, "I mean, whatever you have to say i'm sure judas can listen in. He's my best friend.". Star looked to the king and he shrugged as everyone entered sky's room, angel's four eyes scanning the scene in curiosity. Sky kicked some garments under her bed, her room was a complete mess but she was more concerned about the prince touching anything of hers like some creep.

The king was so much shorter on his regular feet, and less intimidating. The adults taking a seat on some beanbags in the corner of sky's room, and angel choosing to just sit on the floor, crossing his arms and legs. "Princess skyler...hate to intrude on...whatever we intruded on, but we need to talk...about my son.". Judas glanced over to Sky as she leaned against a wall, staring at the teenage monster prince avoiding eye contact with her, "In front of him?".

"Skyler, King Amir here tells me he asked you...awhile back, he wanted you to help his son if worst came to worst, is this correct?", sky bit her lip and turned her head, "Yeah, he did, why?". Star eyed to the king, "Because today, we had a talk...and we think the best for him in order to handle his behavoir, is for him to spend some time here...in the castle.". Sky's expression suddenly looked offended, as if her mom said something insane, "Wait, what?".

King Arachford stood, "We've grounded him, taken away his things, given him guards, tutors...but no matter what we do to put him on the right track he always comes back here...to you and this kingdom. For a boy who avoids his princly education he sure knows how to get out of situations he hates. This can't go on much longer, we've talked and have to come to an agreement. Angel and you, will be studying together a few hours per weekday, in the castle.".

Star then stood up before sky could protest, "With the current threat going on, we're cancelling your lessons with magic. You'll instead be studying history, how to be a queen, and overall other things...and angel will be joining you. We figure if he's allowed to come here, he will be less tempted to break out to do so. And considering you both are kinda far back in your magic studies, it only makes sense for you two to study together.". Star walked forward to put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and whisper to her, "You don't have to speak to him if you don't want to, but while he's here i at least want you two to get along and for you to tell me if he gets up to anything while he's here, ok sky?".

"You sure this is a good idea? Me and angel?"

Star sighed.

"With everything going on now, we cannot afford to have more issues. If King Arachford considers you someone he'd want to keep an eye on angel, it's going to be mighty hard for you to do so if his son further distances himself from you. His son needs guidance, and well...think of this as you learning to work together with another kingdom, like practice. As queen you deal with unruly people all the time, so...might as well learn by dealing with angel.".

"But mom, when he asked that of me, it was cause he was worried if...you know...angel did something stupid and had no one and-".

"And why does that make a difference now? We're all worried about a new threat, right now we need to come together more then anything. That's why i wanted nora to come last night so badly, we need to form friendships and allies more then ever.".

Sky went silent.

"I know it's difficult between you two, but...please, it's only a few hours out of your day anyway...and maybe...maybe you two can become friends...and we won't have to deal with any issues. I mean, if King Amir believes you can be a good influence on his son, you might as well start now. ". She looked over to the purple demon, "You and judas both ought to speak to him and help him. Hopefully the more time he spends with you two...maybe some of your good vibes will rub off on him? You know as well as I he doesn't listen to punishments...we need to try something else..".

"Mom."

"Please sky? For me? You won't have to be dragged out for lessons and you may not have to deal with the boy causing riots ever again, just try it.".

Sky glanced over to judas, who nodded at her. Of course judas thought it was a good idea, anything to avoid more fighting with the prince and resolving their differences more peacefully. Why her? Judas was so much better with people despite how so many people were against him and treated him like dirt. He was more approachable, didn't lost his patience nearly as much, and could handle being stuck in a room with the likes of loki or angel way more then sky could.

Angel looked unhappy about this arrangement as well, no doubt been told before they all had arrived here. Though, it was hard to tell if he was more bothered by doing actual work or spending time with sky. Then again, he was being invited to be in the butterly castle, something he hadn't had in years since he started causing trouble in the castle as a younger boy. Would he start causing trouble again? Did her mom even think this entirely through?

"Fine...".

She still didn't remotely think this was a good idea, but she new her mom nor judas would let her live the choice down if she said no, not to mention her mom would probably make her do it regardless. Star callped her hands together, turning to face Angel and his father, "Alright, then it's settled, we're going to resolve this tension once and for all...and we're going to get your son to do his studies. When he's under our roof he will be put under guard with my daughter, i'm sure we can find a good tutor...".

"What about queen eclipsa?".

Queen Butterfly turned to judas, his hand outstretched and his eyes blinking at her, "She's not busy and she's very knowledgeable about the queens and monsters, she'd be perfect as a tutor". The princess's blue eyes glared at him, as if he said something inappropriate. She knew exactly what he was doing, giving sky an excuse to talk to eclipsa in order to help with their mission, but her mom had her reasons for not really wanting eclipsa to teach sky much before, not that she ever told sky much.

"Judas...um...truth is, I don't think we outta bother eclipsa...we...we can find someone else just as helpful i'm sure.".

"With all due respect Queen Butterfly, I agree with Prince Judas...", The king in the room eyes his son with his four red eyes, "Queen Eclipsa is an incredibly powerful and knowledgeable queen, she was a helpful figure in your life was she not? If she's not busy I think she may be helpful in handling my son, she's had enough experience with monsters i'm sure she can help get my son where he needs to be...me and Arana have tried again and again to teach him with no luck from other tutors, and i know Arana has high respect for Eclipsa...".

"Well it's just...", she eyed her daughter, "Eclipsa can be kiiiiiiinda unpredictable, and i well, i don't want anything to happen to your son...".

"Queen butterfly, I insist, for Arana?."

Star looked like she was trying to resist so hard, biting her lip and closing her eyes, forcing them shut. She really couldn't resist the request of a man worried to lose his wife could she? She sighed, head hanging low and letting out a sigh, "Fine, i'll ask eclipsa if she's interested, but please, just understand there's no guarantee she'll say less or everything will turn out for the best. When your son's under my roof he's my responsibility and well... it's hard to promise there won't be issues.".

The king shrugged, stroking his beard, "My son breaks out of our castle and causes enough damage on his own, honestly...it's worth a shot. I don't honestly think eclipsa could make things worse, and honestly I just kinda expect my son to be a bit difficult by this point. Trust me, if you've raised him, you get a little too used to him acting this way. I am more then understanding what I may be getting myself into, but I have faith you'll handle this queen butterfly.".

He eyed sky and judas, "I'm very sorry my son snuck out last night into the castle, but I'm glad you're all safe. I better get going though, i'll be talking to your parents soon as well Judas, we have our own plans in order due to the recent threat running around. I wish you all a good day and Queen Star, call my mirror when you get your answer on the tutor will you?". He motioned for angel to get up and the boy reluctantly did so, not even looking at judas or sky as he father ushered him in front of him.

"Farewell..." star mumbled, the door closing in front of her, "King Arachford..".

She turned around, folding her fingers together, "Ok, well...not quite what i was going for when I agreed to angel learning here. But, I suppose i'm going to have to live with it. ", she closed her blue eyes, pressing her lips firmly together, "If this at the very least keeps angel from breaking into our castle, i'll take it.". She opened her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, "Alright, I better leave you two, and sky, please...I mean it, while he's in here...please try and get along...".

She smiled to her daughter before leaving the room, and leaving judas and sky alone once again.

"Sounds like you and angel are going to be close friends from now on...huh...", his smile was punchable and Sky couldn't help but push at him as she walked over. He fell on the bed and laughed, "Hey, it won't be so bad, maybe you can finally work things out between each other and we can put this all to rest.". His hands went to the back of his neck, "Life would be much easier for me and you if angel no longer started causing havoc for your kingdom.".

"Easy for you to say, you're not going to be stuck with him..."., sky fell on the bed next to him, hands resting on her stomach.

"He's not so bad sky, i mean, he's not good either but at the very least i think you could be stuck studying with someone else whose WAY worse. ". He snapped his fingers, fire shooting out of him in little flakes, " At least studying here might finally get him to focus where it matters.". Sky rolled her eyes, "Yeah but if eclipsa is teaching, she'll probably spend the whole event thinking this is some kind of elaborate date.". Her friend was on the urge of laughing, "Oh, that would be a sight to see...".

"Well i'll send you if that happens, since you like him so much jude. When did today become about piling homework and studies all over me anyway?".

"Ahhh don't get your hopes up sky, I don't think angel's in a position to have a real committed relationship with anyone other then his cause. ", he chuckled to himself and sighed, "Well, we're going to need to learn anything we can if we wanna find old tall, dark, and masked. And sky, that wand of yours won't be much help without practice. You've gotten slightly better...but summoning a cloud won't be enough...if whoever this is...comes after you...".

He suddenly got quiet.

"Sky, this whole thing has me worried...my arm's even been acting funny, as if it's on edge to change but it never does. I just don't want you or anyone getting hurt, there's so much going on these days and i'm so worried something could happen. To me, to you, to the girls...I just can seem to ease myself.". His friend next to him turned her head, "It's ok jude, I mean, you're so used to helping everyone handling situations that it's probably freaky that you might not be able to do much...if something happens I mean.".

"Yeah...It is...".

His sad tone made the girl sit up, looking down at her sad friend before poking him playfully, "Hey, you did a good job last night...with nora I mean. I think she really appreciated your support, even though things sorta got out of your control.". She was trying to cheer him up and judas seemed to appreciate it, managing a smile, "I just wish things were easier, I'm not even sure If we'll even be allowed to speak to her again after what happened last night...".

"Well...think of it this way, when you're king, you can talk to her upon request much easier.".

"Sky, I have a feeling you don't know quite how being a king works, kings can't do everything you know.", the girl only rolled her eyes and sighed, "C'mon judas, think positive alright? This won't be the last time you talk to nora and you know it.". He nodded, "Yeah, yeah...I need to think positive...I just hope it's sooner then later.". His eyes wandered around the room, the messy clothing, the pictures of him and sky on the walls and the hats laid around as he sat up.

"I better head home...this prince has his own fair share of work to be done...and I can't do it here...", he rubbed his arms as he felt sky grab onto one of them, "Hey...we uh...we should hang out more, I mean I know we're both busy...But i kinda want us to just...hang out...like we used to more...". She looked rather embarrassed asking the prince but her responded quickly by pulling the girl into a hug, he was more like his parents then he'd probably care to admit.

"Of course sky...and thanks for trying to cheer me up..".

She hugged the boy back, and it was brief as judas and her let go and waved to each other, judas heading out the door before teleporting home. Sky bit her lip, how many "IOU"'s did she still have for him again? Eyeing to the nearest window she found herself looking towards the woods. Last night was a mess, and boy was it going to be the utter worst working with angel, but lucky for her she cared more about judas then she disliked being stuck with angel.

She smiled to herself.

"The things I do for my friends..".


"Sky, I'm sorry we couldn't get much from angel...", sunny treaded alongside the girl close, watching where she walked and using fire in her hands to help her along. "No no, I mean, it's angel so...at least luna didn't end up killing him or anything cause of you...I wouldn't want her to interrogate me." The small girl nodded, "I just kinda feel bad for him...", she kicked a bit at the dirt as sky moved some bushes out of her way, "He gets stuck at home all the time and has no one to hang out with...".

"Yeah, but that's kinda his fault to a degree, he's not good at making friends...or with people in general...i mean, neither am I really but...I don't tend to well...web people to walls.", she hit her wand, trying to get the light back up, honestly she should've brought galexia considering her wand but sunny was a better spell caster and the easiest person of the group to ask for help. Sunny noticed her struggled as she summoned her wand, it'd been so long sky almost forgot she had a staff-like wand.

Sky didn't even have time to tell her to put it away before she whispered a spell under her lips and little pink flames started floating in mid-air, following the girls. The demon looked rather bashful as she hid her wand once again, "I know we shouldn't use magic unless it's am emergency, but i think we could use the help...my flame isn't enough...and neither is your wand.". Sky nodded, moving a bit faster now, "You're pretty good with that wand...maybe you should teach me..".

"Heh...thanks, i'm kinda passionate about my studies and spells...my parents wanted me to train as soon as possible.", the older girl sighed, "Maybe if my moms did that i wouldn't be such a screw up...". . The girl smirked and laughed, "Maybe, but for me i was just so overpowered as a kid I kinda needed to be trained younger then most princesses, part demon and all. So for me it was more of an emergency...and I had to learn a ton of spells to keep everything under control...".

"Any anger issues?".

"Hm?"

"Well i mean, Judas's dad has these anger issues and I was just curious...uh..sorry..", sunny took the lead in front of her, sky noticed the girl's tail poking out as she moved along. Sunny grabbed the knife from it to help her cut through some of the vines, "No, i prefer being happy...daddy's pretty happy too...so Is my brother." Guess it was a weird question to ask anyway, and sunny sure seemed like a rather cheery person, void of King Lucitor's issues.

"Oh...uh...sorry for getting too personal...", the girl stopped in her tracks, shrugging, "It's ok...I like talking to you about this stuff, I don't mind...I can't talk to really anyone about this stuff except for lexi and judas...luna and celeste don't seem to care much, i can't even talk to mason, and everyone else is busy...It's kinda lonely.". Sky could only assume she probably left behind a bunch of friends she missed dearly, and she bit her lip as she avoided another branch.

"Well you uh...You can talk to me and jude anytime, I mean, we don't want you to feel alone or anything...I mean, that seems to work for luna and celeste but we won't leave you if you need to talk...", sunny smiled as she adjusted her ponytail. "Thanks sky...uh...are we close? I've never been this far out in the woods or swamp before...", the blunette nodded as she looked ahead. "Yep, there's the castle, I think the lights are still on, so that's good.".

"I know why you didn't want to use the front door but breaking in still doesn't sound like a good idea.".

"I'd like to consider it...dropping in".

"But what's the plan? I mean, we get in, and then what happens?", the pair stopped in their tracks and faced each other. "Well, after nora hopefully lets us in, I was just kinda hoping we talked to her. Maybe formulate a plan for her to uh..see judas.". Sunny raised an eyebrow at her, "Wait, are you proposing we break in to convince your friend to sneak out?". Well, when she put it like that sky's plan sounded utterly ridiculous, especially since nora wasn't much for rebellion in the first place.

Then the girl started to smile in a way sky didn't like, like she knew something. "Wait a second, you're doing this for judas aren't you? Awwww, that's sweet.", the girl winked at her, "I mean, not that you wouldn't want to see nora but...I kinda get the feeling you did this for other reasons.". Sky could feel herself blushing, looking off in another direction. "Look, he's just my best friend and last night...he felt so disappointed, He really wanted to help nora and hang out with her and...I dunno, I feel like I should do something.".

"He has a crush on nora?".

"What? No, it's just...jude is just the kinda guy who wants to help people. Like half the time he worries about others more then himself. Nora's always been nice to him since we were kids but I think...I think he just wants to make her feel comfortable these days and everything just kinda sucks cause her parents are overprotective and they think judas will bite her or something." Sunny raised an eyebrow and sky crossed her arms, "I owe him a lot for putting up with me, so I just thought...I should find a way for him to talk to nora again. I know it'd mean a lot to him if he was able to ".

"What do you need me for?".

"Well, unsurprisingly...I'm not great with magic, And we need magic to make sure we don't get caught or sneaking in. And well, you were my best option.", sunny didn't know whether she should thank her for not. But if she was in sky's position she'd probably have chosen herself anyway. "Fair enough, so what do you need me to do? I assume it's nothing crazy since we don't want to draw any attention to ourselves.", her friend pointed to a window on one of the towers.

The castle itself was rather old, and covered with vines and overgrown plants and cobwebs. It was clearly not the most beautiful castle on mewni but the again considering the place it resided no one could be surprised of this. Sky had been here a few times with her moms on meetings as a younger child but she couldn't say she was an expert of the building, her moms would rarely let her out of their sight, not to mention the forbidden rooms of the castle.

But there was one she did know and remember.

Nora's room, in the very same tower she was pointing at.

"That's...nora's room, so the plan is you use magic to help me get to the top. I knock on her window, she lets us in, I talk to her about judas and working this out with her folks. And If all goes well nora might be allowed within 30 ft of our property.", sky kinda hated to admit she was making this all up on the spot to a degree, but sunny didn't need to know it. Sky seemed to do fine just winging it half the time anyway, no reason for her to do differently here.

"Are her lights on up there? Can you tell?".

"I think so? At least...I hope so."

Sunny looked rather unsure about this as sky suddenly was lost in thought, "So...what should we do about well...staying out of sight? There are guards around here you know? We can't do anything too crazy or we'll be in serious trouble, and well...I'm not a princess in this universe.". Sky ushered her forward, "It's simple, you turn us invisible and we use my cloudy to get up there and tap on her window, i'll tap on it and you can be my lookout just in case something happens, ok?".

"Sky, maybe you're making this just a bit more complicated then it has to be. You're a princess, i'm sure you can talk to the king and queen to go see their daughter. I mean, they might not like judas but they didn't say anything about you right?". But the girl insisted, "Sunny please? Like, I know what you mean but I can't...just...talk to people like you can. You're like, this sweet little girl, I'm known for mostly kinda being a screw up who gets herself into trouble...not to mention we're out in the middle of the night...I can't just stroll in like this..".

"Sky, i'm not just a sweet little girl, i'm also a monster back home...talking to people...has never always been easily for me..", she reached up to grab onto one of her horns, "Most of my people...they refuse to even talk to me...". She let out a sigh, "But...I can't exactly make you...I don't know these people like you do. So I guess if you really want a break in..". The staff summoned it's way back into sunny's hand, her stomping it onto the ground.

"Then I guess we're breaking in."