The whole thing came down quickly.
First mason was depressed, hearing about the death of his poor plant.
Then, his wings fell to the ground practically as he was told not only was he grounded, but his entire garden was being searched for any more dangerous plants and he wasn't allowed in his garden for as long as he was grounded. The devastation of the small boy was heartbreaking, not only to him, but to judas who couldn't help but take pity on the boy. But the worst seemed to be their parents, who hated having to punish their kids at all and were thankful they rarely had to do so.
But they looked pained about talking down to their youngest son, having a hard time even looking the poor boy in the face. Marco seemed to want to reach out and comfort them about his plant but they held back in order to keep themselves under control. Tom's hand was on marco's back, patting it and keeping himself strict and calm. With the lucitor's history of anger issues, tom's cool demeanor during moments like these was impressive, even if he was hurt on the inside.
Though the boy knew, it wasn't just mason who was to blame.
Judas's eyes naturally wandered to landon, knowing full well it was him who gave mason the seeds. Though judas himself couldn't help but feel a bit to blame himself for not saying anything about what landon had been doing for some time, he was just as guilty, wasn't he?
Though landon, being the one to hand it over, still needed to say something.
His eyes told landon to just admit he was the one who did it, but landon's mouth tightened and his eyes shifted. Judas was about to say something only to hear mason spill the beans through his cries. "Landon...gave me the seeds...", the pink child immediately turned scarlet as his parents turned their disapproving and worried gaze towards him. He looked defeated, and judas could see he was holding back some tears, refusing to even look his mother in the face in particular.
"You're not allowed to have your earth friend over for two weeks, and you'll be tasked with finding all the plants you gave to your brother so we can find them homes outside of the underworld, with assistance of course.", landon didn't even fight back, he had no reason to. He was caught for what he did and now he was in serious trouble. Judas could feel his brother's gaze, as if loathing him for being the only one out of the three of them to be off scott free for this entire incident.
The entire room was silent, mason trying to hide in his wings, and not even letting his parents hug him before running off to his room. His older brothers watching him go sadly, before landon mumbled under his breath, asking to be excused as he went off to brood. Judas still said nothing, watching his siblings leave and seeing the sadness clear on his parent's faces. Sometimes he gave them too much flack for feeling like they weren't attentive enough as parents but...seeing them actually do something like this was never easy to watch.
"It's for their own good...even if they're upset about it...", the queen sighed, wiping their tears. "Someone could've gotten killed and we just can't keep these things in the garden anymore, it's...we can't...we can't make an exception this time.". Tom wrapped an arm around their partner and tried to comfort them as marco started to get a hold of themselves and address judas, "Sky is here to see you, she should be in sunny's current room, with her um...green haired friend. You might as well go see her...we'll see you at dinner judas.".
"Mom, dad...I-I", he sighed, "I did know, landon was giving mason seeds...I-I'm sorry, i should of said something about it and told you...". Tom looked up at him and nodded, "Judas, thanks for telling us...but...your brothers are still the ones most at fault...that's not going to change that.". His gaze was sad, seeing his parents so sad together seemed to tighten at judas's heart a bit. He was so used to them being so lovey that it was strange to see it otherwise.
"Judas, you'll be brushing lucy's teeth every day for the next week, and cleaning out her pen...never let your brothers put themselves into danger again, ok?", judas nodded, his parents going back to comforting each other, "You can go now, you better not keep your friend waiting...".
He partially wanted to stay, but leaving him parents some time to think was probably the better option as he nodded and went on his way, seeing his parents comfort each other as he left.
Some day this had been.
He was so bothered by what just happened he wasn't even all that eager about going to see sky and ask what she was here for. He almost wondered if he should go find his brothers but maybe he just needed to give all his family some space after such an incident. Maybe he just needed a walk, some time to be alone and think by himself. But then he closed his eyes and he turned his way towards sunny's room, he couldn't exactly abandon his best friend.
Especially since she'd been waiting hours to see him anyway most likely.
He had to go see her and see what this was all about.
Though he felt his body slog and his eyes just look to the floor the entire time, he felt so unfocused, and his arm twitched for a moment. Forcing judas to hold back his current feelings, no, not today. Last thing he needed today was an accident, he needed to focus on the matter at hand and keep himself under control. His brothers and parents needed space and maybe spending time with his friends could get his mind off things, and then worry about it later, right?
He knocked on the door of sunny's room, pressed his forehead against it and sighing. "Hey sky, i'm finally back, my mom said you had something to say to-AHHH". The door opened, and judas almost fell before getting a hold of himself and meeting the eyes of galexia of all people. Judas gaped at her at first before reverting back to himself, taking a look around the familiar guest room to spot sunny sitting on the bed and waving at him, and a multicolored blob sleeping on the bed next to her.
Sunny's face said it all, as her legs swung off of the side of the bed and she smiled sadly, "I heard mason crying, he knows about the incident...right?". Jude could only nod a little bit, taking a seat next to the smaller demon, "He and landon are both grounded, they ran off...we're uh...we're all not doing too well." His eyes glanced to lexi, who went back to drawing, and then to sunny. "Mom told me she found you in there, you sure you're alright?", the girl seemed unharmed on the outside, unless...she used magic to remove her bruises?
"You know me, i can handle myself...".
"Yeah...", he rubbed his arm on instinct, "I know...".
"I'm really sorry about your brothers...", a tiny hand patted the tall boy on the back, "Landon sounds really hurt...and sky told me how upset mason gets when he loses something.". Judas rubbed his face before pulling at his hair, avoiding his horns. "It just wrecks my folks to have to ground any of us...they hate having to yell or even be remotely aggressive to any of us. It's just...i hope dinner tonight doesn't turn out super awkward or anything.".
"Heh...too late for that...", sunny sighed, her red eyes losing their usual spark, "Reminds me of my brother, when he gets scared or has a nightmare...and i'd have to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright and he was safe, we're all kinda gentle with him most of the time because we don't want to upset him.". Her fingers linked together, "He used to get so scared when he first got his own bedroom...i hope he's not scared while i'm gone...". This talk was starting to get depressing more then anything, and they only snapped out of it because of sky's small snores next to them.
"Heh, guess she was tired...", judas was able to smile at the sight of his friend fast asleep, drooling on the bed. "Yeah, she wanted to pass the time, that or...she wanted an excuse to not here me continue talking about angel...", the boy's attention sparked to sunny, "You were talking to her about angel? What about?". The small girl sighed, "I talked to angel, that time i interrogated him? I was kinda thinking maybe he just wants attention, to be your friend and uh...sky didn't like it...".
"Wait, angel wants to be our... what?",
"Well, he says he doesn't but...yeah, i think he'd like for you all to be...friends. Well, then again, he thinks i was being nice to him because i feel sorry for him and he uh...he didn't seem to like that very much."., she rubbed the back of her head, "And i do feel bad for him, I do...i didn't know that was a bad thing though...". Her tiny legs swung off the bed and her eyes lingered on them, "I guess i really should've known better then to think I was going to do much, you both know him so much better...".
The boy blinked at her before turning his head to look off in the distance and think, "You know, i've kinda told sky similar stuff...well, not the friend stuff, but that maybe we could at the very least be on good terms with each other before things got any worse. But well, sky reacted the same way...she and angel have always been kinda stubborn...and look, don't worry i know you didn't mean harm, angel's just never been an easy guy to talk to.". The small girl was thinking to herself still, licking at her lips, "You know, what do you think of angel? You seem to like him more then sky but you also kinda tell him off...".
"Hm?".
"I saw you do so...at the sleepover...".
"Oh? Well uh...well, we're not friends, but not enemies exactly either. I think angel...well...angel, i think he has the best intentions at heart, and i don't think he's a terrible person. He's just well...he's stubborn, irrational, careless, and overall has issues he needs to work out. Though, seeing his parents and how they have little control over him...it's not wonder there's so many issues over there...". There was clearly some irritation in his voice as he said that last bit.
"But his parents seem so nice?", sunny squeaked out, "I mean, they offered us food, they love seeing you, and they love angel...right?". She stared into the boy's eyes with worry as he quickly reassured her, "Well no, they're very lovely people and i mean no ill intent to them, but they can't ever find a way to control their son. Angel walks all over them, he does whatever he wants, causes issues for everyone in mewni and skips his lessons and they just...they just kept letting it happen...i mean i'm not a parent and i know things are rough, i just think i dunno...they need to get him under control more. They're his parents...there has to be a better way to take care of him when this stuff happens...at least...maybe the lessons are a good start".
He crossed his arms, taking in the silence, "Angel wasn't always like that you know? He used to be this small kid who wouldn't leave his parents side during his first ball with us, but his parents wanted him to make friends, and i guess he'd never done that before because some of the kids were kinda mean to him and he was kinda mean back and things escalated from there when he learned more about the butterfly family. I kinda wish at the time, i'd have approached that kid, and asked to show him around and be friends...but well...I was no better. My arm was chained and only sky could stay near me because she was my best friend...".
"Your arm was...chained?".
"It was a long time ago but...yeah, the high commission made me wear this big metal glove around my arm before i went anywhere...i couldn't even use my right arm with it...it sounds bad i know, but it was better then their other idea...", he went silent for a moment before speaking up again, "But it's ok now! My parents pushed back against it and i only ended up wearing it for a few months...but that's besides the point...i uh...anyways i just...sometimes i feel like i could've prevented a lot if i hadn't been so scared back then...".
"You blame yourself a lot...", Sunny noted, "I don't think it was your fault jude, for how nora and angel turned out...y'know?".
"Maybe, but...i'd like to do something, now, if i could.".
"Well, it's never too late to make that up now...right?", the boy reached up to ruffle the small girl's hair, "No, no it's not...maybe if things get easier i'll drop by his lessons with sky, talk to him. We might be able to make some kinda convo...if he's actually willing to listen.". Judas didn't seem to find sunny's attitude towards angel to be nearly as strange as sky did, and sunny felt a bit of relief in knowing she didn't sound crazy to at least someone for having sympathy for the prince.
"You think i should wake sky now or wait for her to wake up? Sorry, i didn't mean to ramble on for so long...guess we really are related...", there was a moment of laughter between them as they felt a small cough from behind them. Sky was finally awake, the talking between the duo most likely waking her up from her rest. Her hair was a mess and she looked rather groggy as she fixed her hat and sat up, yawning. "You guys didn't forget about me did you?".
Jude's smirk was enough to make sky grumbled even more, before realizing the whole reason she was even here was because she was going to speak to him. Her eyes looked to sunny first, "Did you tell him or do i have to tell him?", judging by her reaction sky already knew the answer as the boy blinked at her. "Wait a second, what's going on, this isn't a another emergency is it? Or did you find something out about the masked creep? Oh, i'm sorry about my compact...no connection up there for some reason...weird for the ponyheads but..fine.".
"No it's more like...", she looked off to galexia, "We were considering...well...sneaking into nora's room during certain periods of time so we can well..spend time together and uh...have nora look more into your arm.". Sunny nodded along, "Yep, we talked to nora, she's totally cool with it, it's just kinda the only way we can think of to y'know...get you to speak to her.". The prince was gaping at her, needing a minute to process what she had just told him. "Wait, you tell me you snuck out to see her and get us to hang out...? You know how much trouble we could get into...right?", he sounded partially upset, and kinda amused to know sky went on a mission to sneak into a kingdom on her own.
"Yeah, I know-".
Then big strong arms wrapped around the bluenette, judas holding his friend tight, "Thanks sky, i mean, you really should not have done that for me, and we'll get grounded if anything happens. But, thank you for going through the effort for me and nora to talk again.". That demon strength was something sky was never going to get used to, but she wrapped her arms around judas anyways, "Hey, it's not really a big deal, remember, I owe you one?".
"Yeah, yeah you did...".
He hugged her for what felt like a solid minute before letting his friend go, his shoulders falling, "We'll probably get busted for this but...then again it wouldn't be the first time we snuck out together.", sky just shook her head at him, "You're not as responsible as you like to think...sneaking out of the castle to enter a girl's room. You're secretly evil under that smile Judas i swear to heck...".He laughed as she plopped back down, "I'll tell nora tonight and we'll work it out, make it official, and everything...".
"Thanks sky...again...", he plopped down next to her, sunny squeeing and falling down as well on the bed. "Luna's gonna be SO mad though...that you're prioritizing this over y'know, finding out this masked person?". They all shared a collective sigh of agreement, "She will, but maybe...well, nora is really knowledgeable. Maybe we can ask her some questions and she might be able to help. We can't rule out the masked person living in her kingdom can we...?".
Then sky remembered something, "Well, i could even...contact katrina, i mean...she did like...give me something i think is supposed to help us talk again. I mean, she does kinda do spywork, soooo...masked creeps might be something she's used to". Judas stared at the ceiling, counting the bumps on the walls of the underworld, "Then you better speak to her, i just hope when we do catch that guy, they have the answers we need...i'd hate to catch them and find...well...they're not what we're looking for.".
"Well it kinda goes hand in hand doesn't it? Powerful magic user, powerful inter dimensional magic and corruption?".
"If they did that, they have to have knowledge of the multiverse, even your wand...ugh i hate thinking about it but luna had a point in accusing our parents and it makes it worse when you think about the details. I know they'd never do it but we both know they'd be powerful enough to do what that masked creep did. They've been doing magic forever and they've taken down powerful opponents and...to a degree is it bad i almost wish it were my parents?".
"Why would you want your parents to be thieves?".
"No no, it's just...if they were, at least i could feel like...there wasn't another dangerous threat out there...y'know?", he struggled to lay his head on it's side, "I don't want them to face any threat that might...hurt them, and i know my parents would never lay a finger on any of us. But then problem is, they have no reason to steal anything, to break in? To do any of it? Every time something goes wrong everyone worries it's all connected and it's freaky...even loki seems stranger then usual, and we're being broken into, and then mason's plants went on a rampage...".
"Yeah, it's like the dude just wants to draw attention to themselves or something...".
"Maybe they do..."
"Hmm?"
Both royals turned to sunny, who was lost in thought, "Maybe they don't want anything, maybe they just find it funny to watch us squirm and panic. Making our worlds all out of wack, messing with the things that are most important to us? I remember a boy back when i was smaller that did stuff like that, liked to cause trouble and mess with other kids cause he found it funny. Maybe this magic user doesn't want the kingdoms or treasure, they just want to mess with all of us...".
"Well, they succeeded...".
The room was quiet for a moment as the team was left to their thoughts, just the sounds of scrabbling nearby. Sky didn't even feel like getting up, no doubt her moms were gonna ground her for this when she got back. She was going to have to sneak out again to speak to nora and she couldn't help but want to hit something, everything was just getting better and better wasn't it? But she couldn't stay for long, especially not in this underworld heat.
"SKY SKY!"
Sky almost jumped as lexi waved some drawings in the girl's face, "I made some cool stuff! You guys wanna come over and see!?". Sky looked as though this was the last thing she felt like doing right now but on cue sunny got up to go see her friend's work and judas managed to get up and see as well, probably wanting to think about something other then his brothers or evil entities at this point in time. Sky managed to get her groggy body up and off the comfy bed to join the rest of the group.
Sunny was already complimenting her doodles and judas was looking at them with praise, the brunette squealing at their reactions as she kept on drawing and drawing. "I have had SO many cool dreams lately i just HAD to draw them...". Seemed the whole "Attacked by a plant" thing didn't really seem to bother her at all, she looked just as happy as she always did. Sky looking over all the sketches laid out on her desk, some were even of them by the looks of it.
"You...have a very active imagination...", she noted, "I don't even know how you manage to draw so much, don't you like...ever get tired?". But the girl shook her head, "Nah, I wanna get my stuff down first, then sleep, don't wanna forget it the next day!". She kept on scribbling as sunny admired a picture buried underneath some others, "Oo! Look at this one! There's eclipsa and uh...hey is this meteora?". Lexi nodded happily, "Meteora is nice, she likes to watch me draw...".
"Awww, she used to teach me some magic and stuff back home, i miss her...ooo, here's one of you judas!", she handed him a doodle and he held it up to look over, it was indeed him, though galexia drew his monster arm, and upon closer inspection noticed his eyes were glowing, "Yeah, have to agree with sky, very active imagination...". He almost felt a bit of pain in his cursed arm for a moment as he put the piece down with the others.
As sunny looked over some more he butted sky, eyeing her.
"Hey uh...can i come with you...to see nora about the planning i mean. I kinda just...i don't feel like being alone with my family right now, it might help me get my mind off things...", and sky wasn't one to disagree with a face like that. "Yeah, it's ok, nora expects me anyway, so we can totally teleport in this time...as long as i uh...y'know, remember all the spells i need to make sure we don't get caught super immediately?". She needed at least SOME of that training with her mom to pay off, even if most of it sucked.
Even judas was giving her a funny look, he knew her a little too well, and sometimes sky hated it. "So basically you're saying I should be prepared to use some of MY spells in case nora's folks find us and your wand decides not to work today...right?"". Yep, knew her just a tad too well, sky made a face and he laughed. "Don't worry, we should be fine, but i am glad you''re getting better at magic anyways, i like seeing you really try and improve y'know?".
She looked over at the table of giggling girls and smiled to herself.
"Thanks jude...".
Sky wasn't even here yet and nora was already panicking, books flying off her shelves as she tried to organize everything and clean it all up. She found her mind trying to remember if judas or sky were picky about their surroundings or didn't mind sitting in what she considered her messy room. Being part slime only made her efforts worse as her slimy hair made a mess everywhere it went, making everything sticky and goopy and did little to help some of the feature it seeped into over years of this.
She shouldn't be panicking, sky was just coming to tell her jude's answer, but she was caught so off guard last time and she wasn't making the same mistake again. She fumbled around, making sure to hide anything that would be too embarrassing to show in public. She didn't exactly have friends in her room very often, or at all for that matter. How was she even supposed to prepare for this? Was she supposed to prepare snacks and drinks for her?
God, she didn't know what she was doing.
She was a mess right now, she was freaking out again about this and she probably had no reason to. Sky really would't care about her room would she? I mean, her room was WAY messier then hers wasn't it? Why was she in such a panic about this? It's not like she was being forced to hold a gala was she? She plumped down on her bed, she wasn't even here yet and nora felt like hiding her face in embarrassed shame. This was so stupid, so ungodly stupid of her.
Maybe sky shouldn't come at all, maybe when she shows up she should tell her she changed her mind about this idea altogether and that she and judas should leave her alone. But Nora knew she didn't actually want that, she felt...excited to have them show up, to have other kids she'd get to see daily and hang out with, even if it was limited. No doubt their royals schedules would get in the way of things but at least sometimes was better then nothing...right?
Ever since she agreed to it she felt like backing out, every muscle in her body was telling her she needed to back out of this and have things return to the way they were. But she couldn't seem to let the words slip out of her mouth, holding them in and keeping to her word. She was still willing to work more on judas's condition, and she knew him and sky would be incredibly disappointed if she told them she no longer wanted to speak to either of them.
She didn't like admitting she was mad at her parents for being in this situation but she knew she was.
She hadn't felt this excited about something since...forever it felt. Even sky, even sky thought she was cool, even cool enough to make her a hat? Nora almost felt like smiling, calming down enough to relax on the bed. Her mom went to sleep hours ago and time was only ticking untill-
The sudden burst of fire caught nora entirely odd-guard, so much so that she almost tried to put them out before realizing who was standing above her. A handsome faced purple demon with dark brown hair, three eyes, curly ram horns, and a small mole and next to him was a pretty girl with dark blue hair, blue eyes, a signature monster hat to match her clothes, and purple spade cheek marks. She froze almost instantly at seeing their faces, processing the situation.
Sky didn't tell her judas was coming...
"Uh...hey nora?".
And by the sounds of it, he totally knew that was well.
"Uh...Surprise?", sky said weakly.
Nora clearly hadn't prepared mentally for both of them to be here tonight like she was preparing to do for when they actually would have these meetings. Now she felt herself stating to panic and start to sweat, at a loss of words before sky quickly came to her rescue. "Sorry nora, judas asked to come over and talk about this whole thing with you and well, i can't exactly call you and tell you, hope you don't mind or anything. Though maybe it's better we all agree on time and everything...".
"I-I...i'm sorry if i might've came at a wrong time or anything but well...I figured i probably should be here. Considering you're doing this mostly for me, y'know? I appreciate that you're willing to do all this to help me and hang out and uh...you don't have to do so much for me you know?". Nora was still frozen but she managed to shake it off and pull on her hair, "Well, i just wanted to help and i just thought...if i could, shouldn't i? I just...I'm sorry i'm making this sound weird."
"What? No no, it's ok! Truthfully, it's a scary moment and maybe in my right mind i know you shouldn't do it. But...it's also not fair that you don't...well, really get to hang out with friends...maybe if we well, figure something out, we can convince them you should be able to go out on your own.", Sky looked over to him knowingly. Judas typically wasn't one for breaking rules, especially ones his parents made, but she couldn't help but notice how willing he was to break rules for nora.
Even at risk of getting caught.
Kinda like he did with her.
"Look, if anything happens...i'll take the blame...i'm the one whose been pushing this and it only feels fair if anything happens i'm the one who needs to deal with it.", this sparked nora's interest, and sky was worried she was about to panic, "Wait, please don't blame yourself...i told sky...i don't want you both...being hurt because i agreed to this. If you guys get blamed i'll never forgive myself...this...it's my choice and i should be the one who deals with it...".
"But nora...".
"Judas...please...I-I'm nervous about this, but...i don't want you two to blame yourselves...".
Judas seemed like he wanted to fight back against this, but he didn't push her any further on the matter. Accepting her words on the matter if only because it would make her happy, though sky could tell he was still very troubled. Nora looked off to the side, "If it's too much trouble you don't really have to do this...i don't wanna be a burden and make you worry about me so much.". Sky felt judas move past her and sit next to nora on the bed, her face turning away from his.
"No, no, nora you're not a burden...we want to help you...t-this isn't just about my arm...".
He grabbed onto his wrist, sighing, "Might be hard to believe but I've kinda had a hard time making a ton of friends, at least, other then sky. My brothers rarely leave the castle because our citizens weren't happy with us and our parents created us, created imperfect heirs. The high commission once considered locking me up, you know? I was void of making friends and meeting new people and had to earn the respect of the few people who do think i'm worth respecting...".
His fist clutched, "I-I don't...I don't want you to feel the same way...like you can't make friends or can't find someone out there who cares about you. Who knows where i'd be if my parents hadn't pushed for me to hang out with royals more and egg me on to be a great king, especially when i still have issues making friends and gaining respect today. I-I...feel like i let you go through this when i could've made an effort to get to know you and speak to your sooner...and...if it means breaking the rules...it's worth it...we're the future of our kingdoms right? We should be allowed to talk to each other.".
"You're doing a lot just for me...".
"Is that ok...?".
She turned to face him, "No one's ever done this much for me before...are you sure you guys are...ok with...this...?". Judas nodded, "Yeah, we're gonna make it official that we hang out, even if it's not that often.". Nora looked at him and smiled a bit and sky was sure she'd hug him if the girl could convince herself to do so but she resisted, her eyes turning away and her going back to mumbling to herself. "So...w-we could...have a few hours on uh...weekends, i checked my stuff and...i think i can make some time in the afternoon, before dinner...".
"That could work...", The three exchanged smiles and glances as sky took a seat on the bed, finally joining her friends. Adding another thing to her plate was probably a bad idea in retrospect but judas's smile seemed enough to ease her up on it. By the time they finished working things out they had agreed to meeting between 4-6 in the afternoon as their schedule during the weekends. Though sky secretly wished they made their schedule as an excuse for her to skip her lessons with angel.
The parting was sad, but at least judas seemed better as he reassured sky he had ideas to avoid getting caught.
Sky couldn't help but wonder if she was a bad influence on the boy at this point, as she knew all the scrapes he got into were usually because of her throughout their entire childhood.
And then she couldn't help but wonder as he smiled the biggest grin ever, showing off his fangs and bringing some life into all of his eyes, if that really wasn't such a bad thing.
Celeste grumbled at the knock on her bedroom door, finally she gets some alone time and it's interrupted? Seriously? After hearing luna yammer on and the headache celeste was getting just thinking about the fact she was going to be forced to investigate in the woods, she just wanted some time to herself, was that so hard? As soon as she even got back everyone was talking about some crazed plat attack or something and it almost made it hard for her to go to her room, her personal guards still following her.
Honestly she was surprised they hadn't seemed to have heard her conversation with luna but honestly knowing luna she soundproofed her bedroom as soon as she started staying there. Though that still raised the question how celeste was supposed to shake these two off if she was supposed to investigate the woods. Her thoughts briefly distracted her as the knocking got louder, and she grumbled louder in response, forcing herself up and to answer it.
Finding a pink demon with baggy eyes and a rather pained expression waiting for her.
"Hi...", landon, hiccuped through his words, "Can i-I use the bathroom, yours was the closest...".
Celeste didn't even say anything witty, moving aside to let the crying boy in. Though, landon seemed to be forcing back any tears he could, replacing them with angry glares and a rather sour attitude. Well, more sour then it usually was with him. Celeste was tempted to just ask him what the problem was but still said nothing, the demon entering her bathroom and shutting the door behind him. She'd never seen landon cry since she first arrived here and seeing him cry now...made her wish she hadn't seen it.
"Uh...landon?".
She approached the door and knocked on it, "Hey uh...is everything ok or...whatever?". Only to be met back with a yell from the inside, "GO AWAY". Yeesh, and everyone here called HER bitter and rude. She snorted and almost turned around, but grumbled and instead turned the handle and entered the bathroom. The pink demon was washing his face in the sink and as the door opened he was startled and fell back, falling on the hard floor. Celeste suddenly froze in place, welp, that was a bad idea.
Landon grumbled under his breath, not moving as he groaned in pain on the floor.
Celeste could swear she could hear him mumbling some rather crude things under his breath as he struggled to get up.
And out of the flicker of her eye, celeste could spot something long and dark pink on his person. Landon standing up and rubbing his arms, only now allowing her a good view, the long objects wagged back and forth and ended in a spaded tip. As landon finally got himself under control, he noticed the girl's eyes and where they were looking and red faced he grabbed onto the limb and tried to force it back under the protection of his ripped jeans.
"A tail huh?".
"Shut up.".
"Yikes, it's just a tail, i could've seen WAY worse...".
"Leave me alone, what in the heck are you doing, barging in the bathroom while i'm here?!", she almost couldn't help thinking to herself how much this boy really did share with his father, judging by his slight temper and rather rude glare. "Well i dunno, why did you come into MY room to use the bathroom in the first place? Aren't you the prince? Why are you coming to me? Can't you go and talk to your boyfriend or something instead anyways?".
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!", landon yelled louder before his sudden burst of anger died down and his parent's punishment sinked back in once again, "I-I'm grounded, I-I...we can't hang out for a bit...I needed a place to clean up and I told you, you were the closest, so...there...". He wiped his face, "And shut up about my tail, it's none of your concern, it's my tail i'll show it off if i want to show it off...". He walked past her, making the effort to leave, "Look, i just wanted to see if you were ok, that's it...alright?!".
He stopped and turned to look at her, "Could've done it without making me fall and almost break a horn..". He kept a move on, clearly still incredibly embarrassed about the boyfriend comment and having his tail exposed. What was so embarrassing about having a tail anyway? The boy already had pink skin, three eyes, and horns, a tail couldn't make his appearance that much weirder then he already was right? He reached for the handle as she sucked up her feelings and mumbled out some words that perked landon's interest.
"What did you say?".
"I'm sorry...".
That has to have been the first time landon ever heard her say anything like that since she arrived. He almost wondered if he misheard her for a moment as she turned her head away from him and sighed, "So, are you leaving or not?". Landon almost smiled as he headed out the door, closing it behind him and leaving the girl alone once again to mope. She sighed, and fell face-first into her mattress, some day this had been. Wonder if the days following would be any better?
Mason had barely left his room since he'd been grounded, and though seeing nora to be better friends with her had made judas feel better the status of his brothers sill seemed to be bothering him. Though sky's week only got worse when eclipsa indeed, agreed to teach her and angel, and the day of the first class finally arrived. Regardless of judas and sunny's words that she could totally make friends with the monster prince, she was less then happy to be stuck in the same room with him.
Her mother's lessons weren't exactly "Fun", but they were better then being stuck with a boy she'd been kicking out repeatedly for what felt like forever. Melaine had even been there to cheer her on during those lessons and now she couldn't because she had earth school. Though that didn't stop her from texting sky about getting some samples of angel's venom for her to keep, wanting to take it to show to her fellow peers. Sky thought judas was taking mel too seriously but maybe he had a point about her being a bit obsessive with some of this magic stuff.
Luna only gave her a passing glance as sky made her way to eclipsa's tower, the kingdom was still heavily guarded and she had barely seen her parents since breakfast. She almost wondered if they were closer to catching the guy then they were, but then again, it was her mom, so maybe that's why. Eclipsa was even waving to her, clearly having a pleasant chat with Angel's father as the boy stood by, examining the rose garden. Sky honestly couldn't recall if in all angel's time being a nusense he had ever been in the gardens before.
Eclispa laughed before patting the back of the king, sending him off, "Oh, and i wish Arana well!". The king nodded and gave his son a glance that told him to behave as he lifted himself up and went on his way, leaving sky alone with her sorta grandma and a prince who wouldn't look her in the face. Eclipsa looked between them and clapped her hands together, "Well, now this will be a fun crowd won't it? C'mon you two, lessons are going to be in here.".
Angel looked a little nervous about entering the strange woman's tower but followed her up, sky right behind him.
Angel looked a little nervous about entering the strange woman's tower but followed her up, sky right behind him. Eclipsa's room seemed about the same as when sky was last in it with judas but it seemed she cleaned it up a little now knowing she was going to have guests, sky could even spot some of her books lying around. What exactly did eclipsa plan on teaching them anyway? It wasn't like angel could do magic like she could? Were their ruling methods even remotely similar?
"Make yourself at home, do you drink tea young man?".
"Uhhhh...".
"Not much of a talker, ahhh, that's ok, don't worry, i don't bite...".
Eclipsa seemed to be enjoying the situation a little too much for sky's taste. Probably because she had very little interaction with sky's friends or any of the royals around her age, and now being in the presence of one had her more then excited. "Don't mind him, i'll take some tea or whatever...", sky grumbled, taking a seat as angel took in his surroundings with all four of his eyes, he was standing on her normal feet now, legs folded up behind him.
"Your room is...nice.."., Despite everything, Angel had always been rather polite for a bit of a bratty prince. It seemed he was more interested in maintaining the look of a prince then doing the actual duties of a prince, and sky felt herself roll her eyes again. He looked so timid, his pointed ears twitching and his four eyes scoped the room as though it were a new species of animal. He seemed to practically be taking as little space as he possibly could be, wrapping his arms around himself.
"Thank you...", she was already boiling some water, "You know, i dated an Arachman once, your species is quite polite, though, i will say, i can't entirely get passed the hairy legs or the pincers. Kissing with a chance of being paralyzed just wasn't for me...though i'm sure some others are more into it". Angel was slightly red-faced in embarrassment, sitting down next to sky, who simply scooted away from him. She was just going to get through this day, without letting angel bother her, was that really so hard?
Apparently it was as she found herself trying to calm down and not make a scene of this.
Usually judas would be here to handle the situation but now that he wasn't, and they weren't fighting, it made for an unusual dynamic. Angel didn't even seem to know what to do with himself, playing with his hands and twitching in his seat. He'd probably never been invited to someone else's castle in this fashion for so long he didn't know how he was supposed to act or what he should even say. Sky was half expecting him to say something rude about the butterflies to eclipsa but the situation was so strange even he seemed too perplexed to do what he normally did.
Though considering his mother had high respect for eclipsa maybe he had no intention throwing words at the woman his mother admired while she was ill.
Eclipsa handed sky her tea and handed angel a teacup as well, sky's was purple with hearts on it and angel's was red with little stripes, "I might as well not leave you out, go on drink up, i know your kingdom isn't quite the richest or the most stable at this point in time, this might relax you a little.". Angel grumbled, "That's not my fault...", only for the queen to smirk at him. "Oh, we know it isn't, it'll be a long time before everything is truly fixed in mewni since the wounds are still fresh, but, things will hopefully improve...your kingdom isn't going hungry anymore and i can see your people have been getting fresher clothes..".
He put the teacup down and leaned on the couch, elbow on the arm and head against his fist.
"We produce silk...or at least...we've been starting to once again...", he mumbled it under his breath, it was almost a whisper. But it caught sky's attention immediately, "Wait, you've been producing silk? Since when? You make webbing using magic? I've never seen you make silk?". Angel looked rather flustered, turning his head away, "Because I don't make silk, i'm a prince. But considering you stole magic away from the monsters who needed it we hadn't done that practice in centuries...until recently when some of our kind started being able to produce it once again despite the little magic we have...".
"That's...weird...".
"Weirder then your main crop being corn? It at the very least means we might be able to do trade once again...", eclipsa seemed to be enjoying the situation, smiling to herself as the two royals made awkward small talk and gave each other looks."Actually, i believe with enough magic your species can go feral right? I've never seen one of you do it but i hear it's impressive and terrifying", He blinked at her, crossing his arms, "I uh...well, yeah, but with little magic we can't seem to do it anymore...but yeah it's uh...wait...Feral? It's called our ultimate form!". Sky grumbled loudly, not really caring to continue this conversation and get back to the point at hand, "Ugh, so uh...when is the lesson starting exactly?", only for the woman to shrug, "I honestly didn't have much of a plan but i kinda think you two are starting to learn a bit more about each other on your own.".
"You know that's not gonna be enough for either of our parents...right?".
"Oh no, but it's probably much for fun for both of you then reading dusty old books i assume?", she giggled against the cup, if given the choice sky would probably take dusty old books over spending "Quality time" with angel any day but this at the very least was better conversation then what she had had with the prince for months. She wondered if he was in any way bothered by the tasing incident now that she thought about it. She could even feel the taser she kept in her jacket pocket now just in case she ran into the masked criminal and her wand was a pain.
"Anyways, i'm very happy your family is starting to fully recover from that kinda stuff, if your folks ended up too desperate they could honestly have had your marry into money or another kingdom to help out. Well, that's what my mother did of course, though it was a time of war and honestly...i think sky and her royal friends are WAY more of a catch then he ever was anyway...actually, that reminds me, how do you feel about sky?"., sky looked almost repulsed and angel was frozen, pinker then he already was.
"Eclipsa! UGHH!", sky honestly should've seen this coming considering this is what eclipsa did most of the time when she talked about angel to her but it was more humiliating for her to bring it up right in front of the boy. Worst part was she couldn't just walk out of the room this time, otherwise her mom would never let her hear the end up it. She just gave eclipsa a look and pulled at her hair a bit, hoping angel would never mention eclipsa's weird ideas or ignore it entirely.
Gee, weeks of this were going to be fun.
Angel didn't provide an answer to eclipsa's teasing, not even trying to talk back to eclipsa at the very least for even suggesting the idea of dating sky or any of the royals despite how normally prideful he was about being too busy to care about that. Not getting a reaction, Eclipsa shrugged and simply grabbed one of the books nearest to her to get back on track much to sky's relief, "I'm not entirely sure of the limitation of what i'm allowed to teach either of you but i might as well start with something fun. You want to hear about some of the strangest queens to ever rule mewni? We had some ruthless queens around here but we also had some who i'm not sure why they were allowed to rule...".
The two exchanged glances as eclipsa opened up the book and started "Teaching " them. Sky couldn't help but ask herself what angel had been told eclipsa by his family, because it seems this was the last thing then what he had been expecting, being taught by one of the most powerful and intelligent queens to ever rule. He might've been expecting to hear about the dark arts or maybe about some of the more serious history of mewni, but whatever it was..it wasn't this.
Eclipsa was witty and smarter then she was given credit for, but she was also playful and silly. There was no way they were going to have a boring lesson along the lines of earth school according to melaine was, especially since eclipsa didn't quite take this role as seriously as someone like grandma moon would. However, she seemed to be having a blast, seems she never really got to talk much about her findings on monsters and strange castle secrets all that much to anyone.
By the time the lesson was over sky was still a little speechless.
She really hoped there wasn't a test on what monsters were best to kiss and the 10 most disgusting spells because in no way was she ever going to explain that to judas if he asked her. However, she did notice eclipsa's rambling about subjects did at the very least, keep her and angel from spatting at each other throughout the entire thing as they were too focused on the things eclipsa had been talking about to really pay any attention to each other.
Not that she blamed him in this case, he was less used to the woman then sky was.
As angel was sent off back home, he said very little and his father thanked eclipsa as she waved both of them off. Sky staring at the monster royals as they left the premise, unsure exactly if she should leave or ask eclipsa over a dozen questions about what in the heck just happened. But eclipsa seemed ahead of the game, "Charming boy, a little more quiet then i thought he was...but i think he'll be left in thought for a little while, don't you?".
Sky pulled at her dark locks, "Ugh...please...don't talk about "Us" in that way again, i'm REALLY not into that jerk.". Eclipsa snorted at her and shook her head, "Awww, you know me, i'm just thinking about grandkids, though you two would make a FASCINATING couple. Never seen a butterfly paired with a spider before.". Sky tried to hide inside her hat, "Just, never say that again, got it? You're kinda supposed to teach us...not set us up together...".
Then she looked off to the side, "Though...i didn't uh...expect to learn about which queens angered the mewmans the most..".
She smiled at sky's funny expression, "Pft , well I figured you both might have a better time learning some fun facts more then anything boring for your first lesson anyway, and besides, you'd be surprised how helpful some of that info actually is to know about...you can learn a lot even from the smallest and insignificant of facts.". She patted sky on the head, "All knowledge is good knowledge sky...but don't worry, we'll get into a bit more of the meat as time goes on, and i do think you'll like some of the stuff i have planned". She headed back inside her tower, closing the door behind her and leaving sky outside to well...be dismissed. She shook her head to shake it off, it was eclipsa being eclipsa, she really shouldn't be acting weird about it.
At least it was...different, from other lessons she had before.
She went to text judas, heading back to her room as she passed by luna passing next to her. Sky turning around to look at her as she darted past, geez, not even a "Hi"? Sky shook her head as she moved forward, only to hear some murmuring among the guards. "I can't believe she's finally back, do you think she'll find the thief?", another guard answering in return, "Well, she's caught some pretty nasty foes before, she might be able to get her hands on this one.".
"Well, it's gotta be serious if they're calling her so early?".
"You think Ms Kelly will end up going on some secret missions with her here?".
"Probably".
Sky was tempted to ask who they were talking about but she heard the sounds of trumpets outside and she just knew. She couldn't actually recall the last time she saw miss Jackie, it felt like forever by this point, but geez having her around was going to make things more stressful. She felt the necklace she got from Katrina around her neck, she was seriously considering using it, but at the same time was it better to save it? She wasn't sure if she should be bothering katrina more then she needed.
She stopped to look out the window though, seeing a crowd form and she saw her moms go out to welcome a armored woman who got off her warnicorn and hug the two queens. Sky could make it out just barely as she was higher up, but she saw enough to know it was a warm welcome home. She sighed and moved forward, she needed to take a break, then maybe she could greet Jackie later. No doubt she'd want to see judas again as well.
She opened her door, throwing her stuff in only to find lexi was already there.
But sky was a little too used to that by this point.
And this time around, sunny was waiting with her, no doubt having snuck past her bodyguards once again.
They waved to sky, who fell on the bed and sighed. "How was the class?", sky's expression was almost enough of an answer but the girls's innocent eyes forced her to give her a proper answer, "It was...weird...i mean, i guess i learned about angel, but uh...eclipsa didn't teach us...like...the queen stuff i was expecting.". To her surprised sunny didn't seem to find this strange at all, "Back home eclipsa used to teach me all about monsters so i could make better friends with them when i was queen!".
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah...", her tail slinked out and started wagging, clutching around the dagger, "Well, when you're going to be a monster representative on the throne, it's just kinda important you get to know all the species and what they're like.". This peaked sky's interest, her head turning to look at her, "Wait, so are you like, SUPER familiar with like...angel's species and stuff?". Sunny shrugged, "Well, it's a little different here then it was there with their kingdom but i know about all their features and weaknesses and that kinda stuff."
"Huh...i just thought you knew some stuff on monsters, not that you were like...an expert.", how good WAS this girl anyway? Between how good she seemed at magic and how now she seemed rather clever and knowledgeable she seemed far beyond the studies of most queens were at her age. Definitely way more then sky was now, geez, this girl was 14 and could already do spells beyond her normal age range? How was she so normal about this?
"Well, i wouldn't say i'm an expert...i'm just, really studious. I like learning things...", she summoned her wand , holding the staff with both hands and stomping it down on the ground. "I also like practicing magic, it well...it gives me some kinda control y'know? Handling your magic right?". Her wand was honestly beautiful the more sky looked at it, between the giant red-pink diamond like gemstone at the top, and ribbons along it's body and small features like having horns and wings, it truly looked like the wand of a damage dealer.
"Yeah, i mean, cause like...my magic sucks so much so when i actually do something right, it just feels refreshing y'know? You finally did something right and things go your way for once in your life. Though, you seem to have WAY more control then i do." Sunny reached out and patted her shoulder, "You'll get it eventually, I'm sure you'll figure out the best way of making your magic work, you have been improving an awful lot after all! That's a good sign!".
"Yeah but like...my wand...it's not normal, it's just. Like, my wand break on me all the time and no ones knows what's wrong and i can't even let my mom take it cause it might be the key to fixing all this and it's just...UGH". She grabbed a pillow and placed it over her head and sunny pulled it off, "How come you didn't ask your mom to look at it ages ago?". Only for the girl to blush and turn to the side, "I dunno, maybe i just thought, if i said something, she'd think i was incompetent...or...never let me have the wand..".
"Sky...".
"Like, maybe my mom might not be so...great, or like how i thought but...like, i dunno...i don't want her thinking i'm like...stupid or something. She's just so...perfect, everyone loves her, and then there's me, her weird daughter who can't do a single spell and broke the wand somehow...", she huffed, "Like geez...i'm stuck in classes with angel because of this, like...if i could actually just do this stuff like she could, i wouldn't be stuck taking classes and doing the things i hate..".
"Well, you can't just magically know everything and be some super queen, you gotta do the work for it, you gotta study and practice more often. Mom did that, i mean, she wasn't always great at everything all the time was she?", now sunny seemed intrigued, leaning on her arms and her wand leaning next to her. "Yeah but mom was also somehow as experienced as eclipsa, more powerful then our grandma, how am i ever supposed to compete surrounded by queens like that?".
"Then just be you...maybe you need to stop trying to be them, and be more like you.".
"But being more like..."me" hasn't gotten me anywhere!", she was about to say more only for sunny to grab her arm and yank her to look at her. Guess that demon strength didn't just end up going to judas, even sunny got it as well. "C'mon, sky you know that's not actually true, it was you that got nora to hang out with you and judas again, it was you that wanted to go out and find luna when she vanished, it was you who made that impressive bubble spell that caught ALL of us!".
Sky was surprised sunny had even remembered the bubble spell , much less praised her for it. "Sky, maybe you don't think you're like other magic users, but maybe that's because you aren't like other magic users, maybe what makes your magic work is different then ours.". Sky somehow doubted that but the thought was at least nice, though sunny didn't seem done talking. "I'm part demon, i have magic that's from two different species, maybe you have something similar?".
Sky frowned, biting at her lip, she was thinking about it. She couldn't exactly say human couldn't do magic, as her mom was into the occult and Queen Lucitor has been doing magic themselves for quite a while. But did that really count for anything? Dirhennia was not exactly a great magic user and it had nothing to do with anything "Special". Her doubt was showing in her face and Sunny seemed to know it, patting her shoulder, "You'll do fine sky, you need to stop doubting yourself.".
"GUYS!".
Well at least Galexia seemed oddly happy.
Sunny smiled, "You made some new art? Ooooo, come on, show us!".
Galexia ran over to the group, pile of drawings in hand, dumping them out all over the bed for everyone to see. All over sky's bed of course, because where else would she do it. But sunny grabbed ahold of some of them and looked them over, at least this stuff seemed to make being stuck here easier for both of them. Even though sunny and lexi both were probably still homesick, this seemed to bring some bit of joy for them. Sky looked over at the stuff to see the same old same old, doodles, and some draws of her friends of course.
They seemed to be the thing lexi drew the most in fact.
Sky was about to roll over and take a nap when she spotted one particular drawing among the group that got her attention. The girl plucked the doodle out of the pile and looked it over, "Hey, lexi...is this me and angel?". Sunny looked over sky's shoulder from her looking to see what she was talking about and smiled, "Yeah, look at that, how cute! You guys are drinking tea together!". Sky bit her lip, something was off about this, and she took a minute before she placed it.
The teacups looked exactly like the ones she and angel used, Purple with little hearts and Red with some stripes. Of course the whole thing was in crayon and markers so it wasn't exactly perfect but, there was no denying they were very much like the ones sky had seen earlier.
Creepy.
Her blue eyes then diverted back to the pile and she noticed something else. Dropping her current drawing, she reached over to take a look at the new one. It was one of a woman, in armor, shiny silver and blue armor. She had short blonde hair with a blue streak and blue turquoise eyes and sky recognized her instantly. "But...wait, there's no way...she only just...sunny, how long have you and galexia been in my room, did you just get here or something?", and sunny raised an eyebrow, "We've been in here at least an hour, we were waiting for you to get back...is everything ok?".
"But that doesn't make sense, Jackie just got here, if lexi was with you, then...how did she...lexi...when did you draw this?!", lexi didn't seem phased at all by sky's concern, she simply shrugged and looked at her drawings. "I dunno, i think i drew it this morning, she's so pretty right?". Sky blinked at all the drawings, before looking back at the one in her hand. Then right back to lexi as though she had seen a ghost, thinking back to all the drawings she knew of lexi making.
"Sunny...we...we need to call judas, i think...i think lexi knows more then she's letting on..".
