A lot happened within the next few days.

Which was expected during a time like this, and in combination with everything that had just happened, but no day provided them a break, things seemed to always been happening now even if they weren't a direct attack. It put everyone on edge because who knew what they would be in for today at this point. No one held it past anything anymore.

Jackie for one, was gone, most likely sent out to search for luna, only after star confronted eclipsa on the matter.

She hadn't been seen for days, even when speaking to Kelly the Woolette mentioned Jackie had disclosed she was about to go on a mission for the queen and Kelly had to hold the fort with the rest of the knights. Sky didn't even see most of the squires in training anymore because she had little reason to visit them, but she could always hear them whispering about luna.

Maybe luna was kidnapped?

Maybe luna was a spy this whole time for an enemy of theirs? It'd explain why she was as skilled as she was.

Maybe she just plain died and the queen was covering it up?

Maybe nothing happened and jackie kicked her out or gave her to another knight to have as his or her squire?

Sky was quick to avoid all the rumors, and just avoid luna's fellow knights in general, she only was running into them so much because with jackie gone some of them were getting more unruly and more suspicious. Luna didn't really share much about her being a knight though it was plainly obvious she became a favorite of jackie's and a top knight quickly, seeing jackie's pupil disappear and jackie soon after was bound to cause issues.

And sky hoped jackie came back soon so the rumors died down before her mom got put on trial for a murder she didn't do.

Judas had been more tired then usual, sky first assuming it was due to stress but he mentioned to her he'd been having nightmares, which was never reassuring for his best friend.

Landon had been busy mostly to himself, but considering how he usually was judas had to assume he was mostly trying to get in contact with Bernard, though he didn't know for sure if it was normal friend stuff or landon was working up his courage to confess to him or not.

Meanwhile the Spiderbites had approved of eclipsa's charm after testing it, it was ready to be used on the queen before the charm wore off. Though it had annoyed angel just a little they took so much time testing it when he clearly just wanted them to focus on helping his mom as soon as possible before she was lost. There was no telling how time they would have left after all even if star set it back a little more.

Especially since his mom was getting a little weaker, he couldn't have expected star's temporary fix to last forever.

She was being tube fed and taken care of well but it was clear her body was still fighting itself and she barely moved.

His hope had been draining fast, even if people had been reassuring him they had a chance and it wasn't over yet.

He really just hoped the charm helped and they came up with the best way to fix this whole thing, as soon as possible.

Though he sat by her side as the charm was placed around her neck and the spiderbites sent him away promising they were almost finished with a solution to guarantee the removal of the parasite. This sent him to find sky, who was in the middle of talking to melaine, mostly to help her have a better understanding of mewni, but also to hear her updates on her theories and info.

It was her thing after all.

Though sky wasn't alone, judas, nora, sunny, galexia and celeste were with her, though they all mostly were doing different things.

Judas was mostly trying to get a hold of mason, who failed to pick up or speak to him the last few days, getting embarrassed and running off. Celeste was resting in the corner with her large rainmaker wand, forming little clouds to keep herself busy though she still seemed a little sad, nora was looking around at some of sky's things, mostly admiring her clothes and hats, and sunny and galexia were whispering among each other.

Angel's appearance was welcomed by all of them, it was so pleasant, entering a room and everyone being happy to see him. Though maybe they were laughing at how judas's clothes were kinda a little big for angel despite how nice he looked in them. Either way at least they were smiling instead of scowling and that was something he'd never get used to honestly.

And Angel took his seat next to judas and sky.

Sky was busy but judas was not as he put down his compact and rubbed at his face, "Mason isn't getting in contact with me...i've tried to speak to him but he ignores me, and there's no sign of the truth potion.". He was left with the impression mason didn't get the potion and was too embarrassed to admit this to him after telling him he could be responsible and do it.

Mason didn't normally ignore anyone, he liked seeing his brothers, having him try and avoid judas like the plague was a bad sign. He was rather social most of the time and he loved spending time with his family, if angel was avoiding people he loved he must've had a serious reason for it. Though for what reason wouldn't be clear without his presense.

Clearly distressed, Angel reached out to comfort the boy with a pat on the shoulder, an awkward one. It didn't seem to entirely make judas feel better but it did get a laugh from him out of seeing the other prince awkwardly try to be more affectionate. Angel kinda still had some stuff to learn with proper social interaction and how to talk with friends but he was getting better.

Though with his own lack of siblings, it was probably harder to give judas any good advice on what to say or do, being siblings probably added an extra layer to any conflict or non-conflict they had with each other.

In fact the only one in this room who had siblings from their own dimension, was Sunny.

And Sunny seemed to have a better relationship with her own brother back home then judas seemed to with his own siblings.

Though as Sky focused on whatever mel was going on about angel tried to give him the best advice he could, "Um well...maybe focus on something else and let him figure it out?". Angel might not know if that was the best thing for judas to do but judas actually seemed to agree with him, the demon prince was nodding and angel removed his hand from his shoulder.

"I just hope everything's ok.".

"With your brother? Well...your younger brother i'm sure will come back soon and explain himself...I mean...he's...not really shy or anything, he probably has reasons...", well, it was about as good as anything angel could give to help judas out. Though that clearly wasn't the only thing on judas's mind, he turned to look at angel and then to his cursed arm.

"It...seemed to act up...last night...I had nightmares...I had a hard time sleeping and it's skyrocketing my anxiety.".

Oh...

OH

"Are you...in any pain?", he didn't want to ask but he had to, it was almost in his nature at this point.

He received a sigh, and thankfully judas shook his head no on that, "No pain...but a lot of panic...I've been having nightmares more often recently...I was just trying to rest and relax and enjoy the good news but i'm starting to freak out and I'm not sure it's helping...nora offered to give me something to help me sleep better but I should be alert in case...y'know...Her shows up.".

Nightmares? Every night? One nightmare was bad enough but having multiple every night?

"Does sky-?".

"Yeah, no duh I know angel, best friend here...he called me in the middle of the night after it happened.", Sky closed her compact, showing she and mel finished speaking, "Judas maybe you should take nora's offer, you need to relax and rest and I think all of this is just making it worse...maybe you could start by taking a nap here if you want to?".

She motioned to her messy room and bed, which wasn't the most unpleasant place for the demon to take a rest even if it was rather messy due to it's owner.

"Maybe you're right...but...what If i have another nightmare?", sky was quickly to lean past angel and push Judas onto the surface, "Then we'll see when we get to it, but you should rest...ok?". Judas grumbled but didn't protest much further, lying down, "Ok...i'll give it a shot...just...if anything happens...". Sky seemed to know and she patted his back as he tried to lie down on the bed and close his eyes.

And sky threw a blanket over her friend before leading angel away from the bed to give judas some space, judas was going to need some peace and quiet if he was going to get any sleep back.

And having them surrounding him would do nothing good for his nightmares for sure.

"Judas has put me in charge angel so...if you got anything, let me know...judas needs rest...he's so used to being the leader and taking care of everyone and being well...judas...he really needs a break. So you, me, sunny and galexia are going to go talk to mason and sort this whole mission out for him and Celeste and nora can watch him while we're out and alert us.".

"We're going to speak to his brother?".

"Yep, getting our potion back just in case...I mean the thing ain't always helpful but we might as well get it back. If i hadn't gotten myself worked up we wouldn't have lost it in the first place so i should get it back if i can...if mason doesn't have it already.". Sunny and lexi were already heading over to them, "So yeah, you know sunny, i don't think you know lexi super well.".

Galexia waved, and angel waved back slowly.

This girl was TALL.

Well, so was judas, judas was taller then her, but still.

Galexia must've been a little bit able to tell angel was intimidated by her size so she followed it up with a big smile and a big hug, welcoming angel to working on their team but also crushing him a little. Sky was already letting nora and celeste know where they'd be before they all left sky's room. The door shutting behind them as the four roamed the halls.

"So um...anything from your human friend?".

"Huh? You mean mel?"

"Well yes...you were talking when I arrived right?".

"Right right...well...i dunno she went off how maybe luna is responsible and maybe my mom is and like...it's just not a lot of really good ones right now, i don't think any of them are probably real...yet...". She seemed embarrassed, maybe asking a conspiracy theorist really wasn't the best person to help her figure out this incredibly serious issue.

Judas didn't like mel doing this stuff and he warned sky on multiple occasions since they met.

But it was less she thought mel was embarrassing and more she felt embarrassed for screwing up on her skills as a leader and not getting the best results. Granted, she should not have expected mel to just solve all her issues at the drop of a hat anyway, mel was mostly doing the best she can, even if her best was yet to give sky the answers she wanted.

"Oh...uh...sorry?".

"No need to say sorry...it's just kinda how things are going...they take time..." she still seemed to be a bit upset though, she probably hadn't expected being leader to go as super easy but judas clearly made way more progress in charge then her so far, they had plans but what they needed were full on results. If they knew what this person wanted they could trap them...but even if they found luna...she probably wouldn't know.".

They'd need something inciting, something they would want.

But what?

"Sky?", sunny tugged on her arm, "What's our plan for mason? Do we just talk to him? What if he doesn't wasn't to say anything to us?". Mason and Sunny were friends and did get along but she was right to be worried, if the boy was avoiding his own brother and even sunny herself during their dinners then talking to him probably wouldn't do a lot.

In fact, they didn't even know where he'd be.

"Well...we'll ask around and I guess we'll figure it out as we go?".

It was honestly the best advice she could give under the circumstances.

But as they teleported back to the underworld to get started on their search, they were greeted almost instantly by the former king of the underworld himself, Dave Lucitor. The man was surprised as one would if you popped out in front of them like that, but he quickly composed himself, probably used to something like this happening down here when demons regularly did that.

"Kids! Hey there! Hello sunny!", he smiled at the small girl as sky got to the point on why there were here.

"Where's mason?", that was a pretty sudden thing to be asked after being spooked at the man's appearance but they had o get right to the point if they wanted to get anywhere today. Thankfully they were in the presence of someone who might be able to give them some answers, instead of being froced to check the palace from top to bottom for the prince.

The former king, impressed with her boldness, crossed his arms and leaned his head, "Mason? Well he's been trying to help me out a lot for the last few days, so right now he's in my office, i was just going out to get us some snacks. What about it? He's not in trouble is he?". They were quick to tell him something, they really didn't need the guy with ears everywhere getting suspicious right now.

"No no...we just need to talk to him, uh...where's your office?".

"Just head down the hallway, take a left and he'll be at the end of the hallway in my office...though I could go with you all if you need-"

"No no...that's fine, get your snacks...we...won't be long anyway.", sky was quick to try and get away but dave stopped them, "Hold up, I wanted to ask...hows judas? We haven't gotten to talk much recently because he's been away...". With judas currently taking a hopefully calm nap in her room, the last thing he needed were his family members bursting in to worry him.

"He's...ok...", sky simply responded, "Just...busy...".

"He's sleeping", galexia piped in, before anyone could really stop her.

Though the man didn't say much further on where the boy was, "Well next time you see him, tell him to call me...I want to speak to him on his coronation and well...everything going on with it". There would be a lot to say it seemed, no one was sure if it would even go on anymore, at this rate it might be set back for a few more years in fact.

A place like that? an event like that? Perfect for someone like her to hide herself in...well if she had a reason to attend in the first place.

Then it hit sky like a brick, and it must've been right on her face because everyone was looking at her funny.

But she needed to get moving, "Uh...yeah we'll let him know, thanks Mr Lucitor!", and ushered the rest of her group to follow, leaving the man behind who shrugged and went on his way to grab some donuts. Everyone noticed sky's face but angel was the first to ask, "Sky...um...beg my pardon but...is something wrong? You now seem a little...more upset.".

"I'm not upset angel...in fact...thanks to him, I might have an idea...an idea about how we might be able to lure that...person".

"An idea?".

"We'll talk later...let's just finish this mission.".

The door the man had mentioned was quickly opened, and right there in front of them, going through several draws on the left, was mason. His wings were basically a dead giveaway as even as small as he was those things were too big to hide him away from what he was doing. The boy was so spooked, probably assuming it was his grandfather back already from his snack hunt.

But he wasn't anymore relieved to see who had actually found him.

"Mason!", galexia waved excitably to the boy, who suddenly became red with embarrassment.

Though he sent her a meek wave back.

"You could've just told judas y'know?", sky said to the boy, helping him go through another shelf, "We were gonna find out eventually, so might as well have told us and let us help you out...saved you some touble.".

"I was undercover!", mason argued back, "Judas said i could do it and i wanted to do it!".

"Well I asked judas to do it", sky told him back, "But he's been so busy he asked you...and still...after the first attempt, you could ask us?".

Lucifer, how many of the Lucitor kids had problems trying to prove themselves to others?

"I almost did it...".

"Well no, but only because of being unlucky...maybe the fact you went to a confrontation with fae might of already sorta made sure you wouldn't get what you came looking for...".

Mason's ears flickered on the mention of the demon girl.

"Anyways, let's just find it and go before he gets back."

The others were already helping them out, sunny cleaning and fixing each drawer they went in so it looked the same as when they left it. Granted, considering the strength and danger of a potion like this maybe the guy wouldn't just sit it somewhere a 13 year old could easily find it. Heck, maybe tom has it as he apparently held the investigation and interrogation of fae afterwards.

It wasn't unreasonable to consider.

"Grandpa seemed super happy when we passed him by ",Sunny mentioned, "I miss him so much, he loved my performances back home, but he's super happy here...so that makes me feel a little better.". Mason's wings flickered a little, "Yeah, i've been hanging out him...I hoped he would show me where to find the potion but...I couldn't find it at all.".

"You still have fun?".

"Maybe...a little...", the boy huffed, "But I want to help judas out and I couldn't do what he wanted because i'm too young, just like I can't help out anyone because my parent's think i'm too young.". He went through a few books before putting them back and shutting the door of the desk, "I'm tough...I can help out...i'm not like...a little kid right?".

"Just because you're not a little kid doesn't mean you can't get in trouble...", Sunny said, rummaging around, "I'm 14 and back home everyone says i'm a prodigy and i'm super mature and all that but I uh...I get myself into trouble sometimes...I uh...I made judas upset at one point. Cause I tried to sorta convince something of loki and he didn't think it was ok to do...".

"Really?", Mason seemed surprised, Sunny always came off as if she never made anyone mad and rarely got into fights.

"Yeah...and I stabbed judas once...and celeste got mad with me...and angel saw through my kinda lies...", angel nearby pricked up his ears, "Uh...for the record I mostly guessed...I think me trying to lie and practice to avoid tells made it easier to spot other's tells but I still mostly guessed.". He was sheepish before coughing and getting back to work.

"Yeah, your family is just being protective of you...not that they don't trust you...they just love you.".

Mason sighed before his hand found something, moving aside a hidden panel under the desk he almost hit his head as he pulled out the truth potion. It was still blue and partially used up, but it was definitely the same potion he had helped landon make. He almost screamed before the others quickly cleaned up the room and mason's victory was short lived as sunny reached out her hand to take it.

"Good, thanks mason, we better go before he gets back...", sky was relieved, she was so worried she had practically been watching the door more then searching.

Mason seemed to have his victory sucked away as he handed it over to sunny, who winked at him, "We'll tell judas you found it, we promise. But we have to fast before he spots us...ok?". But that victory was short lived as the door opened up and the former king walked in, with a box of donuts and a smirky smile on his face as he saw the embarrassed teens.

He leaned against the wall, chomping down on a donut. Everyone was left wondering how long he'd been standing there, he could've been for minutes, maybe an hour outisde of that door considering how distracted they all were trying to find what they needed considering how quiet he was being. But everyone seemed to have had their heart completely stopped at the sight of him.

They were so dead,

"What part of "Eyes everywhere" do you guys not get? You should know better then to think breaking into my office would simply be a cakewalk."


Judas quickly awoke from his nap, in a sweat, the girls only slightly scared at his sudden wake and quick to run to his aid to check up on him.

He was breathing heavily and nora was quick to check his temperature, demons were already naturally warmer then most creatures but judas did seem a little more above the line then usual. The Boy clearly just getting out from another nightmare and almost on instinct a rain cloud formed above him, raining onto his sweating head and all over the sheets.

Nora quickly looked to Celeste who shrugged.

"He probably wanted a cold shower right? That's something that's supposed to help wake someone fully up?".

Nora sent her a look that told her that sky would probably not be pleased to know they soaked her sheets whole she was gone and celetste grumpily turned ger head away from the princess.

The storm was quickly turned off, judas spitting out some water and rubbed his face, "I've had nightmares before, but not so...frequent before...not since I was a kid. I don't...I don't know if it's me or...it's...I'm seeing green and...". Nora quickly removed some of her cold slimy hair to place against judas's forehead, "What happened? Did..you...see anything?".

"I...I saw...something...a door? But I also saw...my arm...I think it...attacked me...".

"Was this the same one as last time?".

"Yeah...I think so...at least it's similar more then anything.".

She quickly removed the wet sheets to let them out to dry, judas laying back on the bed once more, "I'm not sure what's wrong with me nora...it seems to have started and it won't stop...maybe the stress really is getting to me.". Though celeste seemed more suspicious then anything, her arms crossed, "Look, green dreams sound weird if you ask me, especially with the door thing".

"How can you be sure?".

"Look, one dream in all green? Fine? Several though in a row? You don't find that weird at all?", she leaned on the bed, looking judas directly in the eyes, "Look, i'm not an expert on dreams, that seems to be lexi's weird thing if any of us know. But You haven't started having these nightmares until very recently, and they're all super similar, it's weird and not normal at all...something is wrong.".

"So what should I do then? I have to sleep at some point...", he held himself, shivering, "I can only keep myself awake for so long...I mean... I guess there's an old spell in the book of sleeps to help me stay well rested but...even sky can't do that for me forever...what should I do?", nora was the first to suggest, forcing her reply out of her before she could make herself stay quiet.

"Tell someone...get an expert...um...I mean...there have to be people who can help and look into it right?".

She got rather flustered, but coughed and got herself to cool down to explain her point better, "M-my family are mostly doctors and um...eclipsa is good at mind magic and uh...well your parents could do something, just tell them and maybe one of them can help...maybe". Dreams were a little hard considering there were many ways to interrupt a dream, one could claim his dream was a bad omen another could claim he would visit a green dimension in the future.

It was probably why he hadn't said anything before.

He told anyone and they might not think it's as important as celeste thinks it is.

He'd have just held up everyone with it and it might not even matter.

Though nora seemed to be reading his mind, quick to touch his shoulder and mumble, "Don't think your problems aren't important, they are...if something is wrong you should say something about it so we can help you...it's ok to ask for help...right? Like how you...helped me and you...wanted my help.". Judas rubbed his shoulder though, granted he must've felt a little bad about spending his time trying to have nora help him during a serious event and putting her in danger.

And it seemed he was taking a backseat since, with all of his problems.

And nora only seemed to get more worried, how did they go from judas wanting to help nora to nora wanting to help judas? Judas when he wanted to approach her wanted to help because he cared and wanted to make a connection with her, now that they did, nora just wanted to see him smile like he did before but was unsure how to do it. Judas just wanted to make her feel like she wasn't alone and she had power to stand up against her parents, nora was asking to fix judas's mental health that traumatized him since he was a baby.

That was not going to just go away, and it probably never would.

But she still wanted to do something, even though everything had been hindering her from properly focusing on helping her friend. Though for the time being the demon seemed to have appreciated the shower and cool slime even if sky would probably be upset later on that her bed was now covered in sweat and rainwater from out of nowhere.

"I know nora...but they're not as important as what's going on with you guys, i've been putting up with this for years without error...it's different then the pain everyone else is dealing with. I need to figure out how to fix myself but It can't come before helping you or angel or the girls...you've all been waiting long enough...I can wait a little longer if i have to...".

"Judas...this is important now, you can't just have nightmares like this for the rest of your life...I mean, we need you...you can't help us if you're distressed", celeste had to agree even if she wasn't saying much. "Dude, you really need to stop with your nonsense, the more you keep denying help the worse it's gonna get...I mean sky is in charge but we still need you."

"But...".

"But nothing, you can't help us if you're panicking and tired!".

She was right, he couldn't deny it.

As guilty as he felt about getting help during all this, help prevented him from causing more mistakes in the future.

Mistakes that could easily make things worse for the people he was trying to actually help, and cause so much worse in the long run.

"Ok...fine...but who should I go to? If you really think my dreams are bad and we need to find someone to help with all my...issues...who? I...I'm not sure who can really spare their time to help me.", the spiderbites would most likely not of anyone considering how much they had to deal with as is. His parents? Well they might just send him to someone...

"Eclipsa, she has all the time in the world anyway...", celeste grumbled, "Plus she probably knows dreams a lot better then anyone, might pick up on something the others wouldn't".

Guess she had a point, eclipsa didn't exactly have a lot to do with her time and mind stuff was something she was all too familiar with, though judas was worried eclipsa would give him nothing but bad news on something like this. There was no way he could go there and not feel worried, what if his nightmares were finally about to come true? What if it was going to take control?

Having something take over his body in his sleep was far from preferable for the young demon.

Far from.

"Fine...I'll go see eclipsa...right now, you girls can assist me...just in case I need help...", he got out of bed, before drying himself up in a blast of fire around his body, "Just...stay close by...I could use company right now.". He was followed out of sky's room and moved on his way to the tower, it felt too soon to see eclipsa honestly, and sky might get upset.

But even sky couldn't argue against this if it meant helping him.

However, as the demon knocked on the door, he was surprised to not get an answer, the door didn't open and no one called from inside. He knocked again, but he was still given no answer from inside. Was eclipsa sleeping? Or maybe she wasn't here at all and they came at a bad time? Maybe she was in her private home with globgor? Judas pushed the door opened and headed inside, the girls following.

"Eclipsa?".

As they entered her tower, they found no trace of her or globgor, the room looked tidy and empty.

They weren't here.

Darn.

"Gee, a time where you want her she ain't here", celeste kicked at the floor, "Figures...guess we gotta wait or...I dunno...find someone else.". But Nora disagreed, "We could just look around for her first? We don't know she's left the castle right? You know about eclipsa's secret home, let's go there and see if she's there. It wouldn't hurt right? The sooner we look at this the better.".

"Fine...whatever...I guess...".

It couldn't hurt, the worst is they go there and don't find her and just have to wait till she gets back. Though celeste was clearly not eager to go for some reason or another, and before anyone could ask she responded, fixing her hair clips. "Look, the place is gross and a pain to get to...i'd rather we just teleported there instead to save us the trouble...and then I don't have to row us forever and then come back if she's not there".

Well, at least she was honest about it.

"Maybe, but it's also rude to just...pop in, not to mention eclipsa probably has spells just to keep people from doing so to avoid ambush...it's ok though...i'll-", but nora stepped in front of him, "I'll row us! Judas you can just...relax, and celestte can-". But the other girl shook her head, "Actually, him rowing would probably keep him more awake, he'd more prone to fall asleep if he's just lying down, even if i'm there...besides...we'll all probably row...it might get us there faster...".

Then her bracelet glowed, "Plus...since we'll be alone down there...I can probably help out...just...for now...the commission probably won't think that much of it...mom could cover for us...". Celeste was offering to help out and put their needs before hers, she was warming up to them, and judas smiled at her knowingly despite her huffing and ushering them to go.

"C'mon...the sooner we fix this the better...".

Whatever storm powers Celeste seemed to be good at, did come quite in handy.

They all were rowing of course, but a gust of wind from a small cloud creature moving them through the gross looking water was also helpful. They were practically cruising that as they hit their mark they almost crashed into it with their boat, the ride seemed to get a smile out of celeste though. She actually seemed to have had a bit of a good time hanging out with them.

It was kinda nice.

Celeste wasn't great but she was still a person and they seemed to have tapped into her softer side in some places. Celeste might not want to admit it but she was having a good time and was feeling less angry for once. Though as they made it to their destination she was going back to being grumpy, guess they'd see more of her softer side another day.

As they made it inside they noticed quickly it was dark, judas lighting up some of the lamps around them to light up the room. It didn't look like eclipsa was here either actually, the place looked empty and clean and well...if anyone was in here they were being quiet as heck. It seemed most likely eclipsa was out and just hadn't gotten back yet and judas felt a little dissapointed.

"Maybe we could try queen butterfly?", nora offered weakly, trying to just figure out some kinda solution they could work up off of. The queen did go into someone's mind recently, maybe she could do something like that for judas? Then again, maybe not, nora lack of knowledge on magic just made this whole situation a lot harder for her to help out on.

Celeste didn't seem too surprised though, tapping her foot and grumbling, "Well, this was a wasted trip, let's get out of this dumpy place and find someone else to handle this." She was already on her way out when something sopped her in her tracks. She was quick to walk over to the nearest bookshelf and pull out a purple book that was sitting on the shelf.

It looked old and was covered in stickers, tape, and crayon, but something about it must've caught the girl's eyes in particular otherwise she wouldn't have bothered with it.

"Celeste?", she jolted at them, looking between them and the book, there was no way she couldn't show them what she found.

She showed them the cover.

Meteora's Scrapbook

"Meteora?", the name still seemed to affect judas, he never had met her before and yet he felt like he knew her. Everyone spoke on her and what she was like before her rampage and it was summed up as her being evil but also pitiful because of why she became that way, before this point he had been sure she was well...dead. Hearing about it made him afraid he'd end up the same way, but now he imagined what it was like for her growing up, not knowing what she did.

She probably grew up here, under their noses this entire time, completely ignorant with a fresh start in life to make friends and thrive on mewni without pressure to be anything other then herself. He wondered if they'd meet her eventually, face to face, as far as they knew she was still on mewni . His thought process was distracing them from the reason they were here but he couldn't help it.

Judas was quick to go over and look at the book, "Y'know...I still can't process the fact she's still alive...I grew up knowing nothing about her but that she rampaged and ended up killed before they rebuilt the entire kingdom back up. Knowing she's out there...I wonder how it feels...to have your mind erased and not have to feel terrified of the damage you can do anymore...".

"Judas...".

He carefully flipped through the pages, seeing a young half-monster with purple hair, horns, and cheekmarks throughout. "She's probably out there living her best life without having to worry about stuff like this happening, making friends and having relationships...there aren't even pressures anymore for her to be the next in line and be everything everyone wants her to be...".

"Jude...hey...it's ok...".

Celeste seemed to instantly regret her choice to give judas the book, ripping it from him, "Hey look, I only pointed it out because...meteora was...a bit of a friend to me back home...". She hugged the book to her chest, "I don't have a lot of friends back home but when I was ditching mom, meteora was there to spend time with me...she...babysat me a lot and I just missed her...".

"You never mentioned her before this point-".

"Well i'm mentioning her now ok?! I wasn't trying to get you upset...".

Judas sank, "It's not your fault...It just gets me emotional thinking about this kinda stuff...I know you didn't mean anything...". He stood back up, "Well...I guess there's nothing for us here anymore...we...better go...". Though he couldn't even take another step at hearing a crash in another room, spooking the three teens and making them jump.

Someone was here, and whoever it was hadn't said a word to them since they showed up.

Judas set a flame upon his hand in order to better light up their location, "We better check that out...c'mon...".

He took the lead, the girls following him behind as he opened a door and went further into eclipsa's mini home, finding his way into her kitchen. Though there was no sign of anyone in here, the kitchen being pitch black. Whatever made that noise had to have been in another room, and judas was already on the move to find whoever was sneaking around.

The next door found them in a bathroom, but nothing was there either.

The bedroom? Nah

Meteora's old room? Also nothing though the sight of it seemed to still leave judas conflicted.

Though the lack of progress was getting to celeste especially, stomping her foot and growling. "Where is that stupid sound coming from!? We've checked just about every room in this place!". Not that they knew much about this old home but they had been through every door and checked all the rooms inside and there was no telling where the source was.

Nora was even puzzled, having checked the same rooms, armed with a book, and finding nothing.

"It's as if...the sound is coming from nowhere...but it has to be coming from somewhere! Sound just doesn't come from nothing!".

And then it hit judas whose home they were in.

"Wait a second...celeste, check any of the portraits around here!", he looked determine and if his hunch was correct-

Celeste turned to him, "Wait...what? You think one of the paintings came to- OH!", she quickly ran off to the kitchen first and nora tapped judas on the back. The smaller girl clearly puzzled, "Judas...what if it's someone dangerous? Maybe we should call for help...just to be safe...I really don't want to run face to face with whoever is under that mask.".

But the demon stood in front of her, "Well, if they are...i'm here to help protect you...whatever it is if it's hiding then we'll have the drop on it before it knows what hit em, alright?".

"Alright."

And they quickly heard a whistle from the princess and followed suit, finding celeste back in eclipsa and globgor's shared bedroom, pointing to a portrait of meteora on the wall. "This one's funky...c'mon...let's see what's going on in here..." with judas helping they moved the hidden doorway open, showing a secret hidden passage, they honestly should've guessed eclipsa had some here just like in the castle...it was her favorite way to travel next to her wand.

And judas went first, the girls following him from behind, celeste in the back with her wand at the ready. Honestly they could be exaggerating, they could just find a rat in here, maybe even some old storage that fell over. They couldn't prove anyone was inside of here, thought if there was a chance it was an enemy or eclipsa herself they had to take it.

It smelled, that was for sure, eclipsa probably didn't clean in here very much.

In fact as they crawled around judas stumbled across candy wrappers and cans for soda, maybe this place was a secret room for eclipsa to store her snacks? If it was that would explain why it might have rats inside. They crawled for a little longer before judas hit the end of the road, pushing the wall in front of them and stumbling into a secret room, the girls following.

Only for them to almost be blasted, as food fell from shelves next to them.

Judas panicked and he almost struck the figure before he gapped, looking up at the person who shot at him he was surprised to find-

"Luna?", celeste grumbled, putting down her own wand.

And sure enough, panting in front of them, was the blonde teenager herself, putting down her own wand. Her eyes just as cold as the last time everyone saw all of them, which at this point had been far too long for them that they all couldn't help but stare. The tall princess gripped her wand tighter then before, looking at judas directly in the eyes, her red against her blue.

This was no warm welcome, for either side as luna pointed her finger towards the teenager intruders who stumbled upon her small hideout for the time being.

"You shouldn't be here...".


"So...how long has this been going on...", the former kind munched on a donut and sipped his brew in front of the pile of embarrassed teenagers. Honestly Sky should've seen this coming a mile away, judas always told her his grandfather had ears everywhere he could, if only to keep an eye out for the most unsavory of people. His office of all things would be bugged.

And yet-

Boy, jude was going to love hearing about this one when he woke up, they were about as stealthy as an elephant in an office building. Well, that's what judas would say when he found out.

It wasn't even as if no one could trust him, it was a matter of getting little as involved as possible, otherwise news may spread and news digging too deep about the situation would cause utter chaos. Plus this guy would probably not be happy his own son left him out of this for the most part, this was kinda a family matter after all even if sunny and celeste were...family in another world.

Yet no one wanted to say anything.

Maybe they could come up with a clever lie? Maybe?

His eyes were mainly on his grandson holding the truth potion, and rightfully so.

That was in a safe place last he checked and now it was being held by his youngest grandchild.

The more quiet they were the more suspicious they seemed to be, and the more suspicious they were the more the man would prod at them to find the truth of the matter. Just how much had he heard of them speaking? Did he know more then he was letting on? Or did he just think this was an average heist over a truth potion. Either way anyone knew better then to mess with any king of the underworld.

And sky felt all eyes on her, looking for guidance.

Or maybe just someone to lie them out of this, though she really should not have been their first option on THAT front.

Though Mason was the one to speak first, sensing that maybe as he was the one who started this, he was the one to take the fall for it. " I um...I made this potion awhile back and lost it and I...I just wanted it back...because If mom and dad found out...they'd know-". He seemed rather red-faced about it but his grandpa knew where this was going.

"You went into your garden against their wishes didn't you?", he actually wasn't even mad, in fact he seemed impressed, "I know you have the ingredients for one in your garden, if you were able to get your hands on one it would be through your own means. Eclipsa gave it to me to help, but sounds to me it wasn't originally her own potion, was it?".

He nodded, "I uh...they were just helping me out...I just didn't think you'd give it to me if I asked.".

"I understand, though I feel like I should be concerned for what reason you even made a truth potion. No one just causally makes a potion unless they intend to use it after all, so that's something worth asking. Not that i;m accusing you of doing anything in particular, but you do know you all are the most suspicious people in all of mewni doing stuff like this right?".

"Maybe, but like...we never intended to use it for anything bad...we're not...y'know, evil or anything?".

"Well, perhaps you have a point...but-", and that "But" seemed to make everyone's hearts in the room stop, "I heard something about sunny here stabbing judas? And the fact you're working with judas...I also seemed to have heard something about sunny passing by her grandfather...which is rather strange because as far as i'm aware, you said your family wasn't around here when we allowed you to stay at this castle right?".

Oops

Wow, they really should've been more careful in his office, who knows what other people have heard from them just rambling about everything going on when they thought no one was listening. If people didn't think of it as all lies or a bunch of kids playing pretend who knows if they also might be spreading rumors on what they were doing? God, they completely forgot about bugs, that should've been one of the first things they looked out for!

They were all looking between each other now and the man leaned on his desk, "Listen, i'm going to talk to my son very soon about this regardless, at the very least you should be honest about what's really happening around here so I can better help you.". Sky leaned back in her seat, not looking at him directly in the face, "Look...it's...I'm not sure it's a good idea to tell you...it's not simple to explain.".

"Try me."

But instead of sky explained, sunny stepped forward and wiped the makeup off her face, her sharp blood moon cheekmarks in full view, and the demon king actually seemed rather stunned. Then galexia did the same, revealing her green saint markings, they barely got to show them since they're been there and even angel seemed surprised to finally see them.

She really wasn't going to have much of a choice was she? He sure wouldn't believe her lies and if he approached his son about this there was no way he could lie them out of it either with this guy's bugging and spying. If they didn't tell him now, at this rate he'd find out eventually on his own, sky felt herself give in and lean back in her chair, annoyed but at this point just accepting her fate.

"it's...a long story.".


"Luna...".

"Judas?".

Judas seemed on the verge of crying in the moment, even if he knew luna was safe and he trusted her seeing her in person was incredible. Well, she wasn't perfect, she looked like she'd been living in the woods for weeks but still, she was alive and ok and...well, her normal self. Though hugs were out of the question as she was quick to grab what seemed to be a backpack of snacks to leave.

"Pretend you didn't see me.", she was almost demanding, she sounded so cold, and she was speaking to people who had kinda been basically friends to her before this point as well.

But judas stepped in front of her before she could go anywhere, luna was a rather tall girl but judas was taller. "Not until you explain yourself...we haven't seen you in awhile luna...you...you stepped out on us...". But the girl wasn't much for conversation, sending him a look and a wand raise, "Judas...I don't have time for this...someone is on my tail and you being here does nothing but blow my cover...".

So luna was aware she was being followed by a spy, figured, she was much to smart to think no one would be out looking for her and keeping a close eye on her. Queen Butterfly wouldn't have just let her go without any fight after all, even if she was given a bit of a head start to begin running so no one could have followed her and she'd have time to cover her tracks before anyone could.

She was sneaky, but the queens had been sneakier, and luna did not like that at all.

''You can't just leave! You've mostly cut all communication with us! Where have you been?! So much has happened and...", he was starting to get emotional and for a second it seemed to have gotten to luna's cold heart before she tired to dismiss it entirely. "Look judas, i'm not good at goodbyes and you would not have let me leave if you knew...but regardless I have say in what I want to do...".

"Luna...".

"I'm here to get some food and hide, and you're not making it easy for me...".

"Oh, should we be?", celeste pulled out her own wand, "You want us to just move to the side so you can walk past us and go back to dumping us on the side huh? Figures as much, we finally find you and it's not ' oh hello guys!' or ' How are you?" it's ' get out of my way, i don't want you around!". Celeste was not afraid of spitting back, that was for certain.

"Celeste...this is-".

"This ain't anything, you asked for my help on some ideal that we cared to get home and for the benefit of helping each other we'd do some investigating yourself. But then you decided to dump us as soon as you get a chance to run and cut out from us and don't even care enough to say a word to us...would it really kill you to stay here with us at all?".

"I'm not even supposed to be here, I tracked it down myself and because eclipsa was out i stepped in, figured she wouldn't miss a few candy bars. If she comes in and finds me, i'm busted and done for. I went out there alone to help, and any contact with you or bringing one of you along puts you at risk. I know my strengths and this is for my strengths.".

"So your strengths consist of constantly pushing people down who care about you?".

"Celeste...don't pretend like you didn't push people down yourself".

"Yeah but at least I stayed with them...".

Luna's expression suddenly got angrier.

Nora herself had not exactly been apart of this drama, her relationship with luna herself was rather minimal in fact, thought she could tell whatever happened seriously had affected judas and celeste and luna pointing a wand at them wasn't doing her any favors either. Luna was powerful and she was scary, and luna could blast her way out if she wanted to.

But she didn't seem to want to lay a hand on anyone here despite all of this.

Though someone had to do something, before things escalated or they were caught and she suddenly found herself in a burst of protectiveness for her friends, standing in front of luna directly, arms outstretched. This seemed to have caught luna off guard a little since most of her encounters with the slimely girl rarely showed signs of this much courage.

But she did it anyway.

"Please...put the wand down...let's just...talk...for a bit...if you want to leave you can leave after...", she glanced back to her companions who didn't seem entirely satisfied with that call but it was better then the alternative. Luna considered it, and lowered her wand, celeste following despite clearly not wanting to. Though luna still obviously didn't like being here.

Answering their questions at least avoided them from getting caught by eclipsa or anyone else who might of been out there and would notice any destruction or noise coming from inside of these walls. Celeste was still sending luna a dirty look her way and the blonde knew better then to try anything with her watching, celeste was not as powerful but she wouldn't hold back

"Fine...but i won't be here long..."., she simply muttered in a tone that expressed her displeasure.

"Fine...".

Judas plopped down on the floor, clearly still rather sad and upset.

And for a moment luna seemed actually guilty? Or at least that seemed to be the emotion on her face at seeing her friend in this state.

But she didn't say a word, staying trapped in her own silence and almost waiting it out for the situation to be over. She wasn't even sitting close to the others, keeping her distance as if worried they'd attack her or something. She folded her arms and folded her legs, the stuffy room wasn't exactly comfortable but it was all they had for now till further notice.

Hopefully whatever eclipsa was up to, she'd be busy for awhile.

"I heard about the trail...", she mumbled, "I heard form people...saw...papers...". She didn't seem happy nor sad when mentioning the event, it was probably hard to get too emotional over something she had little involvement with though she was probably happy no one got hurt or arrested. One could simply imagine how crazy the situation would've been with her there.

"We saved ourselves...however we could.", judas wasn't really looking at luna, but he still wanted to speak to her, even if he was hurt. "It wasn't easy though, angel and sky really could've been in a cell by now if things had gone any worse. I was panicking that day, it was...scary seeing everything play out. I was worried i'd lose sky and angel and...maybe even more.".

"Judas...you don't seem...well...".

"Well why should he be feeling peachy!?", celeste almost shouted, "It's not like we're the only ones being affected by what's been happening since we ended up here...everything's...been...a mess.". Judas shuddered at celeste's words, she was...defending him? She was straight up getting in luna's face to help him? It was all just...surreal.

Even luna was quite unused to celeste acting like...well, whatever this was.

"Well, i didn't imply that well...nothing bad was going on with any of you, I just noticed judas seemed to not be doing so well, am I not allowed to be concerned? ". One look at Celeste's face told her everything she needed to know, she knew leaving would have an effect on the group but not to this extent, was she completely cut out from everyone? It seemed like it.

Being away with little communication had it's disadvantages.

She lacked knowledge on the group, their plans, if anything bad may of happened in somewhere secluded, this was all unnerving. Though she didn't bow down to celeste's rude remarks, eyeing the demon. "I think judas himself is allowed to tell me anything he wants, I don't think you can exactly speak for him? He wanted to speak to me so...he can speak to me.".

Though judas was silent still, he did want to speak but didn't seem to know what to say.

Should he ask why she told him nothing? Ask about her strange markings? Ask why she felt leaving was the best outcome for everyone? Ask if she was up to anything...bad since the last time they saw each other? There was too much to talk about and he didn't even know if luna would answer any of it! She did like to keep so much to herself after all and some of this might never come out.

But sitting here in silence didn't help either.

In fact it was only making things worse for everyone in the room and if silence was not broken soon they'd miss their chance to do anything with this time they had to speak to luna.

"Luna...I...i've been having weird dreams, they're new, they started up a few days ago and i'm getting worried. We're here because we wanted to talk to eclipsa to see if she could help me. I don't know what's been happening but I've been seeing green and doors and whispers and-". He was quickly shushed by the blonde, who seemed startled, "Judas...repeat that...".

"I was in a dark room, and...I saw green, I heard noises, and I saw a door...and then my arm-", he didn't seem very eager to finish the rest though lucky for him luna didn't need it , the wheels in her head turning as celeste continued to glare at her. "Judas...I...had a dream very similar to yours...in fact that dream is why eclipsa made me...my charm...".

She pulled a very similar looking charm from under her shirt, "It's weaker now but...I remember passing out on the floor and waking up to find eclipsa making me this, saying it would protect me or something...". Something about that line seemed to run a chill down the boy's spine, eclipsa reacted to a dream by giving luna a magical charm that wards off dark magic?

That didn't bode well for him.

Luna looked at his face, and sighed, taking off the charm and handing it over to him without hesitation. "Here...you might need it more then me, it's not as strong as it was though i've been trying to increase it for as long as I could...using that much magic in a spot would blow my cover and it's been hard to try and get it to maximum strength again but maybe eclipsa can do it...".

"Don't you...need this? You're out in the woods luna! You need this charm!".

"I can protect myself if needed, i can make a new charm if i have to...but...i got this from one nightmare, you're having several in a row, you need this more then me.", luna seemed to insist, and judas placed it around his neck, his head feeling slightly lighter then before. "Keep that entirely safe, and wear it when you go to bed, if you want you can keep it under your clothes if that helps.".

Judas snuck it under his shirt, adjusting is jacket to hide it entirely for now. He didn't want anyone to know for now in case

"Thanks...luna...".

"It's fine, just be careful with it and don't lose it, the charm is useless if you break it or lose it...then again you may ask eclipsa for another, if you find her anytime soon.", celeste was still scoffing at the girl and nora was being rather quiet but neither were attacking her for the time being. Judas trying to get back into a conversation before luna was able to get out of it.

"Look, luna...I know you felt you had to leave us but...you should've said something to us, we're still your friends and...abandoning us like that, without telling anyone? It just made us feel...like you didn't actually care about any of us", he was clutching his jacket and he still couldn't look at her directly in the eyes, but he was sure she was avoiding his gaze as well.

She didn't answer, guess it was hard to make an excuse here, or maybe admitting she did care was harder for her then it was for him. Luna instead seemed to almost ignore what he said, trying to explain herself, "Look, I had to leave...someone needed to be on the outside, and I...i couldn't stay there with them all knowing who i was, or what i was...it...was bad news and I knew better then to put myself in that position."

"Oh, so it's ok for us to be there, but not you?", celeste grumbled, her side comment clearly insulting luna though she made a good point. The girls were also just as vulnerable if not more then luna was, but she didn't think they should've left as well? Luna couldn't even see to come up with any way of going against her, she was technically completely right about that.

"Listen...I...It was better I go then anyone else...I've been out there before, I can survive out there...I wouldn't wish that on anyone else. Back home i'd...well..I camped out for hours to weeks to catch criminals hiding in the woods. This is right up my ally, someone still needs to stay behind and we can't all just live in the woods! Someone had to leave and I was best fit to leave...".

"Yeah? And how's that working out for ya? Don't see a masked lady tied up anywhere?".

This was not going well.

"Um...luna? Will you come back anytime soon?", nora's voice sounded so innocent, so sweet despite everything going on around her. "We could really use your help, if you want to come back, not that you need to it's just...being here might be a lot better...for everyone. Maybe you could talk to the queens and they could give you some assistance and help you out and-".

"No...I...I can't face my mom knowing she knows who I am, neither of them...I'm not someone who can really handle that kind of thing"., she seemed to trail off on that note, leaving the others to wonder exactly what was up between her and her moms. Luna didn't seem to run much from anything but something about her moms she couldn't stand to still be in the room with no matter how much she tried to be brave.

"Luna...why not? Did you moms back home-?".

Luna seemed to know where this was going before shaking her head, "No, not that...but...I just can't face them, I barely like facing them back home, doing it here only makes it more...unfun.". She glared at the others, her voice cold, "I do not know the weight of how you all feel about your own parents, but I know my own, and I know i cannot face them right now...".

"Well you might be facing the rather soon...", the brunette mumbled, "Jackie's out looking for you...on your other mom's orders funny enough".

Luna's face twisted into one of horror, the mere mention of her mom coming after her sending shivers down her spine, she almost seemed nervous her mom would burst through the room and capture her right this second. Luna rarely showed much fear on her part, so when she did it stood out completely. She could clearly fight her mom off with magic if she wanted to and yet-

"She's...WHAT?!".

She quickly stood up, "Oh that's bad, I need to go...NOW! I had to train under her here and she's...she's not someone I want tracking me down...how long has she been after me!?" She was quickly starting to pack up her stuff, "Spy or no spy, i'd much rather run into a spy then my own mother whose hunting me down...I need to get out of here fast...".

"It's only been a few days, luna, don't-", judas was quick to stand up, "Luna...we just got here, I have so much to talk about with you! You can't just-". But the blonde was quick to pull out her wand, pointing it at him. "I'm sorry judas...but I need to move on, I can't be here right now and I need to get a head start on my mom before she tracks me down here...finding you all with me will only make it worse.".

Her wand being pointed at judas seemed to startle nora, who wasn't sure how to react but was quick to stand up to help, celeste was already drawing her wand. They both might've done something if judas hadn't motioned for them to stand down, there clearly was no point in using magic, they'd only get caught sooner and waste time, not to mention energy considering luna would put up one heck of a fight.

"Fine...get out of here...", the demon didn't seem too happy about this but like he had much choice.

Luna put down her wand, walking past the boy without even looking at him.

She stopped, he didn't even turn around to face her but he knew she had something to say.

"Judas...?".

"Yeah?".

"Good luck...", there was a pause but despite th snarling coming from ceelste she left the room, the door of the painting slamming behind her, leaving the teens behind.

And judas closed his eyes, his ears flickering at the door shutting.

"You too...".


The king took a LONG sip of coffee, in fact sky was sure he was almost about to spit it out, as he tried to process what he just heard. Honestly with how many people figured out what was going on due to them screwing up they might as well just tell the entire kingdom at this rate, Sky could practically hear luna complaining to her about revealing their secret once again on accident.

God, hopefully she never had to having being sneaky as a major part of her job as queen.

Actually, knowing what her mom got up to, it would probably be a major part of the job for the unfortunate young girl.

Ugh.

The rest of the room was mostly silent, though if luna were here she'd have most certainty wiped the mind of the man. For once though, sky would've actually been just fine wiping his mind out of anyone else's. But this was what they were stuck with, and this is what they had to live with. Dave was especially looking at sunny, as if now looking for the features she had inherited from their family.

He wasn't exactly dying on the inside, he had probably known about multiverses just as much as his son did. It was almost mandatory at this point to at least mention them to the leaders of the kingdoms in case Omni needed to but his head in about a timeline being broken so the multiverse doesn't collapse. It was one of those concepts that some people just kinda had to be given at least a mention of.

But that didn't mean this wasn't well...shocking considering the context.

This was one of those things that made you see other things in a whole new light then ever before, and he was clearly still processing everything sky had told him in rapid succession. He had probably expected to hear something was going on behind the scenes, this was not quite what he had been expecting though. No one expects this to happen normally.

However, what came next only added to the surprise.

He simply placed his cup down, and sighed, his lips parting before he pulled himself together in front of the kids as the respectful normal king he was.

"Alright, so how do you want me to help?", he said in the most calming voice he could possibly make considering the situation itself.

And everyone sat in awkward silence, the king folding his hands together, looking as clam and serious as ever. He was quick to notice their expressions and elaborate, "You need help, i'm here to help...I'll still be processing everything for days but well...I'll provide you help where I can.". He had his arms folded on the desk as he offered the kids donuts from nearby.

"I won't sell you out...and you don't have to tell me everything, but...I'll help if It means helping judas and his friends...not to mention...more of my own to an extent.", he motioned to sunny. "This conversation will not leave this room and...for now I won't mention anything to Thomas...we'll keep this between us until I think we're ready to say something. Don't look at me like that, like i don't get into stuff behind thomas's back on occasion with wrath".

He almost seemed to be daydreaming, thinking about his wife before his compact rang.

"Pardon me, stay right here...", he stood up, heading into a corner to speak with whoever was on the other line, he paused, before hanging up and facing the kids. "So...that was Marco, Landon's looking for you sky..".

The princess raised an eyebrow, staying cautious.

"What for?".

The look on his face didn't show promise though and sky gripped at her chair as he broke the news.

"Well um...it appears...his crush is missing, and you're the only other one who can really get in contact with him".