What.
That was all that was running through her head in that moment.
What.
They caught her? How? Why? When?
As sky was sitting here, planning what to do next, they had already caught the culprit?
There was no way, there was just no way they could've done that. Not when it had been so hard before, not when they had done everything in their power to avoid being caught before this point, this all seemed too weird. Judging from the boy's reaction, they were having very similar thoughts. Instead of being joyous over the capture of a tormenter and criminal they were skeptic and confused.
No one moved except for the queen, rushing down the halls and away from the kids towards the prisons.
Sky turned to jude, whose eyes followed the queen before heading off after her, still rather confused but ready for anything nonetheless. Judas wasn't even running but he was walking rather fast, sky and landon rushing to catch up with him as he had been given a head start at this point. Though no one really knew what to expect at all from any of this, or who they expected to find in the prison.
Would it really be someone they knew?
Or was it someone worse then they could imagine?
There were so many questions being raised and they all could feel their heartbeats get faster and faster with every step forward, even though they weren't in any danger right now they still felt as if they were, they were still scared. The small group passing through crowds of people who were also eager to see what was actually going on in the butterfly prisons.
People protestors, royals, guards, you name it.
They were all there, shouting and screaming.
But Kelly and Katrina wouldn't let them in, pushing them all back before star stepped in, pushing them back further with magic, her wife almost running into her on her way out of the room as she stepped in. Janna's presence immediately scared the crowd, who backed up and away from her. Honestly it was rather amusing that janna just standing there was considered way scarier then star's magic to these people.
Though if sky herself had to chose between the two, she'd rather deal with the magic as well.
But at least the crowd backing up allowed room for the kids to squeeze through, janna spotting them in the crowd, and ushering them towards her. Frankly she outta push the kids away and not let them get involved in this right now with all these people, but at the same time this was janna and she tended to not care about most of that kinda stuff like she probably should.
She actually looked way too happy for sky's taste.
Sky stopped in her tracks right in front of her mom with a worried and puzzled expression.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?", judas and landon were also stopped in their tracks next to the princess. The three shared puzzled expressions and janna smirked harder, "Well, we caught someone alright, but not entirely sure if we can call wo we caught and the guy who wrecked us last night the same person. Unless we've all been even dumber then we thought we were, which...i dunno".
Now sky was MORE confused.
"But...w-what?".
That's when Jackie popped her head through, scaring sky half to death.
Wasn't she supposed to be-?
Jackie ushered the kids inside the prison, janna helping keep guard as the kids headed over to the obviously crowded cell just to see what was going on over here. And sure enough, in a musty and dusty old cell was a figure in a dark dress, mask on their lap and chained hands behind their back. Their hood was clearly peeled back to see their face.
And Sky was dumbfounded at seeing light blonde hair and blue eyes.
"L-luna?".
Luna looked dazed, something strange to how she normally was, usually sky would expect Luna to either be sneering at them or sitting patiently as if she hadn't done anything wrong at all. But she looked weakened and tired and everyone around her was constantly asking her questions and exchanging confused glances between them all. No one is sure how to react to this exactly.
Luna was clearly being set up, she had to be.
Sky had seen her in the same place as the figure before, when they attacked angel.
So it couldn't have been her, no way.
Granted, that was the only time and she never knew the extent of luna's abilities but...still, there was no way luna was behind all of this. Just like there was no way she had been mind controlled into doing anything herself, something else had to be going on entirely. Sky walking up to the bars, looking at her dazed sister, it had to have been mind control.
and Judas looked stunned.
His hands suddenly reaching out to his neck all of a sudden without hesitation on his part.
The charm, luna had used it to repel being controlled or cursed and had given it to him when he told her about his dreams, she had only given it to him just the day before and without it they might of never found bernard how they did. Judas had been hesitant for good reason, because who knew what could happen if she gave it up and handed it over to him.
Had they gotten to her?
Landon of course was not happy to see her, considering their encounters before this point had been nothing but unpleasant to deal with, he felt himself sink back against the wall, he did not want to talk to luna, at all. He much rather would stay out of this whole situation if he could, crossing his arms and avoiding luna's gaze as he tried not to get himself worked up.
But they weren't finished, sky was quick to go up to her mother and question her. She had too many questions, questions her mom may or may not have answers to right now but she had to ask someone right now anyway. How long had luna been like this? Been captured? Where had she been captured? Who was the one to bring her in? Jackie? The spy who had been following her?
And wait a second-
But Star quickly tried to quiet her down, clearly in the midst of processing a lot herself right now.
Everyone was talking rapidly between themselves, no one really did seem to believe luna was responsible exactly, but at the same time luna left when they discovered who she was, and how much did they really know about her and what she was doing? With luna leaving the group for all they knew she was working with someone and manipulating everyone behind their backs.
Sky shaking her head, not even wanting to consider that.
Luna wasn't a great person, but she'd never well...go THIS far.
Right?
Judas quickly passed by Sky, pressing up and against the bars, staring at luna in disbelief and worry. Ignoring all the discussion around him about what was going on, the boy looking over luna to make sure she wasn't hurt, or if there were any signs she had been attacked or controlled by anything. His face full of regret in taking her magic charm before shaking his head.
She gave it to him, it helped save bernard, he shouldn't regret that..
But Luna...
His face however, seemed to be the thing that snapped luna out of whatever state she was currently under, the girl shaking her head rather fiercely and waking herself up, realizing just in what state she had been left in. She blinked her shiny blue eyes to get the sleep out, pulling on her bound hands, and she quickly was turning back into the luna everyone knew and tolerated.
"What...what's going on!?".
Her speaking finally got everyone's attention from their arguing to see luna snarling at all of them, confused and angry. She looked like if given enough time, she could break out of her situation with her fists alone, and no one would be shocked if she did. But her scary expression wasn't doing herself any favors and the argument if she was evil and out to get everyone secretly or not.
If anything all of this seemed to make her look so much worse right now.
But judas seemed delighted and relieved, so different from how he saw her the day before, and luna actually seemed almost happy to see him.
So much for her goodbyes of yesterday.
Guess being here was better then most situations she could've gotten herself into. The blonde actually rather sad in her tone as she spoke up properly for the first time since she got here, "Hey judas...sky". For once she seemed actually rather defeated, there was nothing she could do in this situation to make anything any better. Break out and she was screwed, say anything encrypting and well...her other mom was right there, stay here and who knows what would happen to her at this point.
"Luna...what...what happened?", Judas wanted to take this as slowly as possible, get as much out of luna as he could. Though her expression wasn't exactly reassuring, luna responding with more of a shrug and a look of puzzlement, "I...I don't know...I went to sleep last night and...oh...oh no...". She looked right at judas, and the two knew where this was going.
The charm.
"How could...i was trying to be so careful and...judas what happened since i saw you last?". There was a lot to actually say but they were currently in no condition to talk about it with so many people around, all the demon prince could do was try and reassure her. "We're going to figure this out...just hang tight right now and we'll try and get this...sorted out.".
"They took over my brain...didn't they?", the way she asked it gave him chills.
"I...maybe...yeah".
Star was quick to ask for some privacy from some of the adults in the room, Katrina and Jackie leaving to work on the crowd outside and getting them out of the area in general. Obviously whatever Luna wanted to talk about, it was going to have to remain private, lest information got out that no one wanted to get past the castle gates to cause more damage.
But Landon also made his way towards to door, his older brother stopping him, worried. "Landon? Hey, you don't have to leave so soon, don't you want to-", but landon cut him off, "I'm going to tell mom and dad what happened and you can't make it to your arm thing right now, they'll reschedule, I-I don't want to be here...with her". He nodded towards the blonde teenager, "We'll talk alter...you can let me know...what you find out...". And judas could do nothing more as landon headed out after the other adults, judas sighing but letting him go.
Guess he couldn't blame him after how luna acted to him, Celeste was pissed about it just as much.
But they'd have to focus on luna for now and deal with it later, and judas went back to focusing on the princess, who watched landon leave with a face of mixed emotions, whether she may of had regrets, judas couldn't say for now.
"Luna...you first...what happened after i saw you last?".
Luna seemed to be struggling to remember, eyes closing and lip quivering, "I-I...I left and...I made my way back to my camp that night...I-I was keeping an eye out to make sure those after me hadn't caught up and i put charms around my area for protection...and next thing i know...i'm here...oh no, i hope my stuff's ok...I don't want all my evidence stolen..".
"Evidence?", star asked, startled.
"On who was after us...and how to get home", she muttered, "I...I might've found some crucial stuff and...ugh...". She seemed about ready to punch a wall, only for star to try and hush her down, her distress only making everyone more stressed. "We'll find it...the ones tracking you...i'll send them out to your camp and see what they can find...you...still have...it...right?".
Luna scoffed, still not happy her sorta mother was talking to her, it had been so long sky and judas nearly forgot how...tense luna got around star.
"It?", she asked rather rudely.
"Your wand".
The mention of it seemed to freak luna out, struggling to make her hands to desperately feel it.
Breathing a sigh of relief, "Oh...no...it's still safe...they must not have noticed it...".
Thank god.
And thank god for luna knowing how to hide her wand so well, or they'd be in deep trouble. Everyone else seemed to be just as relieved, though their reaction seemed to make luna curious. At the very least the wand was ok, though with luna in a costume no doubt she didn't put herself in there had to have been a reason for it other then looking for a wand.
"Check her for bruises", sky sputtered out randomly, everyone staring at her.
"Sky?".
"The masked figure that attacked us last night, we attacked them...we need to make sure if it was actually them-".
"-Or luna..", judas finished.
Luna looked at them all, rather puzzled before muttering, "Ok, but...get me out of this cell first...we're not checking my body with all of you staring at me in a cold jail cell.". Star opening the door to escort the girl as sky let out another question that she couldn't help but have in the back of her mind throughout this situation. "Mom...hey uh...luna was being followed by a spy wasn't she? Where...are they?", it might've been a weird time to ask, but if jackie was here Katrina's partner had to be as well.
Perhaps they could ask them some questions.
"Oh well...I think they're with eclipsa in the gardens right now".
"Eclipsa...why with her?".
"Well-", star started only for janna to walk in and cut the mood, "Hey star, we kicked all of those people out, so if you wanna move little trouble over here better do it now before they start climbing the walls...oh and uh...maybe put the mask back on...luna might not want people to see her face if they find out she was the one we actually caught".
Luna could agree to that alright.
And in an instant, luna was rushed out in her costume, judas looking back at her as she left, only dragged away by sky, who needed to go find eclipsa. For once she actually wanted to find eclipsa and find out what was going on. Maybe the spy saw something? They were following luna after all, they could figure out how this all happened, when luna got her mind taken over...anything they needed.
It was a better lead then nothing.
Though judas still seemed worried about luna.
Would she end up like how angel did? On trail?
There was no way they could defend her the same way they defended him, angel was only a boy who didn't know what he was getting into and didn't commit the crimes himself, luna on the other hand...if this was what it looked like...she was going to be in way worse trouble. Though at least her kingdom was in another reality and she wouldn't be surrounded by an angry mod anytime soon.
Angel was still dealing with the risk of that last part.
And he barely left the castle.
His mind was so lost in thinking about luna he had to be snapped out of his state by sky to notice they had moved to the outside of eclipsa's tower, everyone had seemed to have left. Angel, nora, sunny, melaine...all of them, off somewhere else. Melaine was home obviously, angel might've went for lunch with nora and then back to see his mom, and sunny...well sunny was probably with lexi if anywhere.
Sky hung out with them so much now she could practically guess what they were up to at any point in time.
Guess everyone had to get back to life as per usual for awhile, besides...outside was a good place to get ambushed.
But she was happy they weren't here, she didn't want them involved in this just in case things got a little...rough, they didn't know what they were in for if they were going to ask the spy some questions and who they would see on the other side obviously. Though it didn't take long for someone to answer, and sky had to take a step back. Because though this was eclipsa's tower and home when she was staying by the castle, she wasn't who was standing in the doorway.
And sky was speechless and...baffled.
She had knocked, trying not to be rude, and before she could back herself out of this whole deal, they had to be inside and hopefully eclipsa wouldn't mind them joining to ask some questions of their own. Though the moment the door had been opened, sky almost felt the color drain from her face, and she and judas had gone stiff as a board as their stomachs turned.
Because instead of a green haired mewman standing at the door.
In front of her was a woman who was much younger, and much less mewman if the horns and tail were any indication. She had striking red eyes but the thing that clearly got the both of their attention was the plain clover cheekmarks on her face. Even though they had never seen this woman in person since the day they were made, they both knew who stood before them.
For the first time in their lives, Meteora stood before them.
The monster who almost destroyed mewni.
The original princess to take the throne before sky.
The monster who got a second chance to live.
The sight of her alone was enough to stop the two in their place unable to say a word to her, just gapping at her and their minds going full blank. They never knew what they'd do if they met meteora in person since they found out she was really well...not dead. Now that they were actually seeing her for the first time they had nothing to say, looking as though they were staring off into space.
Meteora however, seemed to know them rather well.
"The prince of the underworld and princess of mewni...hey".
They still didn't say anything, how much did meteroa know about them? About what was happening? Was she happy to see them or was she just as freaked out as they were?
It took all of his strength for judas to rely like he wasn't freaking out on the inside.
"H-hey".
It was a start.
Of course meteora was the spy following luna, of course.
Why didn't sky think about this before? Who else would go to see eclipsa but her own daughter?
And that meant, Katrina and Meteora were working together all this time, all this time they had been closer to meeting the former princess then they thought they were. It was only an ask away. They must've looked pretty silly gawking at her like that, because meteora was staring back at them as if they had grown a head between the two of them, confused and worried.
"Uh...hi?".
"Meteora, dear...what's going-", Eclipsa paused at seeing the teenagers at her door, but quickly smiled and invited them inside, "C'mon in, have some tea, meteora was just telling me how work has been going". She pulled her daughter aside to let the teens enter, judas and sky recovering from their frozen state, but still having a hard time not looking at meteora as they entered.
Man, now meteora must've thought they were weirdos, looking at her as if she was some sort of ghost.
Great start, they just seemed to have a way with making first meetings really uncomfortable.
And indeed as they were welcomed in and to take a seat the monster girl watched them curiously, reminded them this was again, her first time really meeting them either. She'd probably hear many stories about them from her mom, some probably fun and some sky really hoped would never ever be mentioned ever again if they could help it.
Eclipsa and her might not have had the closest relationship, but that never stopped eclipsa from knowing too much for comfort.
Regardless, now neither sky or judas was sure how to go about this, they barely knew meteora, would she really answer any of the questions they had for her? Or would she not say a work, considering the spy business was purely confidential. Maybe meteora was stingy about that info and they'd have to pry it out of her, good cop and bad cop style?
Actually, no, that'd be stupid.
Truth potion?
Oh right, with what happened yesterday sky basically forgot they lost it to Judas's grandfather.
Well today was full of inconveniences now wasn't it? Leaving Sky more anxious then she probably would've been otherwise.
But she might've been just panicking, she didn't know meteora, and she didn't know for sure she wouldn't easily help them or not. Maybe this would go a lot better then she was thinking it would. Though meteora's looks weren't exactly reassuring her a ton, as the former princess seemed to be trying to read the two royals herself, as any good spy probably would.
Did they look suspicious? Or just weird?
Sky wished she could read meteora's mind, wondering what eclipsa had told her about all of this if
anything.
There was no way meteora didn't at least have some questions considering she was tailing luna, someone she DEFINITELY didn't know.
And if she had ever spotted Luna doing magic….yeah.
Sky just had to pull herself together and maybe if she was lucky this would go rather well and maybe eclipsa would even help her out?
"Any flavor you'd like?" , Eclipsa asked sweetly, sipping her own cup as meteroa drank from her own.
"Oh uh….it doesn't matter…" Sky answered awkwardly. Eclipsa just shrugging and walking to her teapot. Guess she didn't feel as weird since Sky and Judas already knew Meteora was alive, but that wasn't shared among the others.
She really shouldn't be acting so peachy to Sky, especially since she knew how unusual this was for everyone.
But the 3 said nothing between them, just sharing awkward glances at each other as they heard the teapot boil nearby. Eclipsa humming to herself as she did so, acting as if this was all somehow just extremely normal and nothing odd was happening at all right about now.
They couldn't even bring themselves to ask about her thoughts on Luna with Meteora there. It was nothing but dead silence and odd tension that Meteora probably didn't fully understand herself.
Eclipsa handed them their cups before taking a seat next to her daughter. She bumped the monster's shoulder, eyeing the kids, "Meteora, this is Princess Skyler, and Prince Judas. Two of the lovely royals I've told you about".
Meteora coughed into her fist, trying to almost reset the whole meeting as she held out her hand.
"Hello".
They better take it, otherwise enter another awkward staring contest between the three of them.
Judas shook first, meteora and him both seeming to note just how strong the other appeared to be.
Sky felt the grip next, and she was sure her hand had been uncomfortably sweaty throughout the whole thing.
At least meteora didn't seem to be too focused on that last bit, trying to strike up a conversation herself to ease the tension. "So um...you've been...taught by my mom? She keeps raving about how you and this dorky spider prince studied under her for some reason?". Well, this was not really where sky expected this to star but it was something it seemed.
"Oh yeah...angel, he's the prince of the-".
"Arachfords, yeah, i've been to that kingdom...kinda a bit of a dump".
Well that was one way to start a conversation, though sky was sure if angel had heard he wouldn't have disagreed with her. Guess it figured at one point or another meteora would've spied there, probably as part of the investigation into all the strange masked person activity when angel was still working for Her. Perhaps Meteora had been more involved with this conflict then sky thought she had.
"How is it there these days?", the demon prince was quick to ask, curious about how it's been since angel was on trial. Meteora simply shrugging, "Eh...still a dump, though at least people aren't overunning the castle anymore. Should've seen the king, dude couldn't even leave his own castle with all those monsters out there yelling at him for one reason or another...guess it comes with the job".
Fun.
"Oh yes, i told angel earlier, his father is coming over here for a bit while globby takes care in his place. So if you have questions you'll be able to ask him in person rather soon if you'd like...though maybe give him and angel some space, they clearly have some serious catching up to do with how long they haven't seen each other. Downside to him not letting angel have a compact.".
"Yeah...angel probably should have one...", judas gritted his teeth, "Hard to contact him without it...".
"Old fashioned type kingdom?", meteora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually more like they didn't trust angel to just have one".
That actually seemed to make meteora laugh, "Man, dude must have some issues then...must be fun parties".
"Well he was kicked out of most of them...".
Actually out of context it almost sounded like angel was some sort of badboy who got in trouble a lot rather then what actually was going on. But they didn't need to go into that with meteora right now, they had more important matters to get into. Though meteora seemed to find the fact he was kicked out of royal parties to actually be kinda interesting.
However, meteora was quickly onto them, scanning their faces closely, "You're here to ask about the girl i just caught aren't you? Don't try to deny it, i can tell from your body language you both wanted to ask something in particular and were hesitant about it". Judas and Sky immediately felt embarrassed, she caught on quick, that's for sure but she didn't seem to mind.
"Ask away, i don't have an issue...I kinda figured you'd have questions, the news was bound to spread fast...", she sounded actually rather cool about it, ushering them to get out what they wanted to ask while she was still here. Judas and Sky gapping and looking at each other as sky cleared her throat, guess if meteora was really cool with it they better hurry up before she wasn't.
"So uh...were you uh...following..-".
"Was i following the blonde girl with a resting face in the cell? Yeah, mom called me in to follow her since she apparently ran away or something. She spent the whole time trying to shake me off, it was insane. I've never had someone try so hard to make sure they weren't being followed, i'm not exactly sure how she did it...but she had to be an expert on it...and only culprits go out of their way to hide so much".
So meteora didn't know about the magic luna could do then.
But she thought luna was suspicious.
As she would if luna was going so far to keep herself from being tracked, of course that would look suspicious. She didn't know why luna left and why she didn't want to be followed. Luna was kinda a suspicious person even when she was an ally, going off and doing her own thing and keeping secrets from the others, all of this would be even worse coming from someone who never met her.
The kids exchanged glances, meteora still talking, not really paying attention to the kids or her mom, who all seemed to mutually send glances, knowing the truth behind luna's weird actions and unsure what to respond with after that statement. "Honestly i can see why mom wanted me to follow her, she's tricky...no normal guard could handle something like that...did your mom see her already?", she asked sky.
"Uh...yeah...yeah she did.".
"When's the trial then?".
"Oh...uh...", so meteora was also expecting luna to be put on trial after all this too? Did she have any evidence to get her convicted? She had to have right? Though sky'as silence seemed to tell luna enough about the situation, "Alright then, i guess we'll see when she wants to take care of it...y'know i thought she was weird before, but i never expected to find out she was a criminal".
But thankfully, eclipsa chimed in.
"Oh dear, you don't know that, innocent till proven guilty after all, give it some time", meteora didn't seem so sure about that fact but it didn't seem she was deadset on not agreeing with her mom either, false accusations was a sore spot in their family and meteora herself couldn't go around claiming her mom was wrong when that part of their family history was still fresh.
"She's still really suspicious though", she grumbled, leaning on the couch and drinking more of her tea.
They could all agree to that, even when luna was helping them she was suspicious, she tended to have a vibe to her.
"Did you...what was she doing...when you guys got her?", sky asked, trying not to sound suspicious as she brought the topic up, meteora simply shrugging to herself and drinking her tea with a sigh. "She was just...strolling through the woods, pretty unlike her all things considered since she seemed obsessed with trying to stop me from watching her...but there she was...out in the open, might as well have just turned herself in and saved me the trouble".
"Just...walking?".
"Pretty much, tired too by the looks of it".
So luna wasn't caught doing anything that seemed scary or dangerous at least, though meteora seemed to help make it more obvious luna wasn't in control of her own body at the time. Luna would never have put herself out in the open like that, they knew that well enough. She had to have been under control and got caught while being so, honestly it just seemed like they gave up using her when they finished what they needed.
At least luna seemed mostly intact instead of being heavily injured during this whole thing, being out of control of what happens to your own body is scary, luna was lucky nothing worse happened to her when someone else took the steering wheel. Not to mention be attacked by anyone who had really though they had caught the big bad enemy that had terrified all of mewni.
She got lucky this time around, that was for sure.
"But i've caught some real scary folks in my time, usually i hang out in that sweet dig in the underworld to get new jobs, place has great smoothies...and music...as long as those demons don't pick any fights". The royals exchanged looks knowingly, guess for certain they could confirm the cloaked figure fae had seen there, meteora might've seen landon there a few times if she went regularly.
"How long have you been a spy?".
"Eh...maybe about...four years?", she said, still a little unsure, "I mean, if not that then five, but it's not much more then that...katrina started earlier then me, since she ages differently and got a bigger head start...but it is what it is, she's cool though, best partner i could have. She talked about you guys all the time, like your weird big sister...she gave you that pendent thing right?".
She pointed to sky.
"Yeah...she did...".
"Did she tell you you had to wear it on your hat before she did it?".
Sky shook her head, meteora snorted.
"Sounds like her".
Eclipsa smiled into her teacup, "Meteora is wonderful as a spy, sneaky and smart...i tend to get her help a lot when teenagers get a little rough around the castle and they need to be taught them a nice lesson." Meteora also seemed to share a smile about that, leaving their company to wonder just exactly what eclipsa did when they weren't paying attention to her.
"Eh...it works, but it's nice to take a break...come over...where's dad anyway?".
"Busy, he'll come over soon though".
Meteora sagged her shoulders, "He better get here before i have to go back into work, hard to get in contact with him when he's spending his "retirement" cleaning up other people's messes". Her attention went back to the royals, "So yeahh...hopefully that takes care of your little masky problem, and well, that blonde girl in general, hopefully you both stay safe from now on".
"What do you mean by that?".
"I mean...you were nearly killed a few times right?", she said knowingly, "If you die, well lucitor has brothers, but well...in sky's case...who knows where the throne might go without you there to run it. Mewmans are just work in general, their a mess without their queen, you leave them alone for too long and they can barely feed themselves, so better not let anyone stupid get a chance to take over".
Honestly sky only felt more awkward knowing meteora almost had this position herself years ago, would meteora have been a better queen then sky? It's possible, meteora ight also have been just as hated if not more then sky but at the very least she had to be far more powerful then her and maybe more accustomed to dealing with all of this then sky.
Or maybe sky was just doubting herself again.
"Yeah well...i guess we'll just have to see for ourselves about that...things kinda seem to happen to our family a lot", she was joking, but she wasn't wrong, her mom nearly died multiple times, in fact she had claimed to have actually come back from the dead during one of those occasions. Their family seemed to have poor luck in avoiding ending up in serious life-threating peril.
"Hey, all queens deal with it, just blast anyone who tried in the face, works every time".
At least Meteora was enjoying this.
Judas coughed, knowing they needed to get back on topic about luna before they left with little info, there had to be ore they could push on. So far what they asked seemed mostly fine and not that odd, probably because it was stuff meteora had no reason to hide anything about, but there could be more they were missing and would have to go further to get.
Eclipsa seemed to know their next move, continuing the conversation with her daughter as normal, "Well meteora, i really hope staking out wasn't too bad this time around, though i'm sure the girl didn't make it easy for you...it's hard to sleep if you have to keep finding the person over and over...but at least you can rest here if you need to, i kn0ow it's tiring".
"Jeez...no kidding, she had camps, but kept wandering off, only reason i found her again was she went back to her campsites...otherwise i might've lost her".
Guess at least that meant luna did go off and do the hunting for clues she promised, she wasn't fibbing when she told them in her cell, she had stuff at her camp, waiting for her and everyone else to see.
But it also meant she looked more suspicious cause no one but her could claim what she did when she wandered off right now.
Cause for all they had known, luna could've been out doing terrible things when she went out of meteora's view. But they'd have to ask luna herself, only she could really say what went down. And if what she did was bad or not, even judas was up in the air about what she had down since they parted, and he knew luna would not be against doing some shady things.
They needed to talk more about her absence when they could.
"You...you really think it's her?", he said it in such a sad way, he couldn't help her, he really honestly didn't want to doubt luna but he couldn't help but be worried about all of this. How much did he really know about luna? What if she really was just as bad as meteora seemed to think and all of them had been tricked? His mind felt fuzzy just thinking about all of this.
Meteora seemed to take note of his tone, hers immediately shifting. She actually seemed rather
worried that she upset the boy, feeling rather embarrassed all of a sudden. "Oh um...were you and
her...friends or something? I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply-".
"It's fine….", he said, so quickly that it only emphasized how upset he actually was. "I'm sorry….its just….I don't believe luna did this….or at least I hope she didn't ".
His own voice seemed to betray him, because he, to an extent, wasn't sure about luna. He couldn't betray a friend either, and luna was a friend no matter how mixed things currently were right now. Eclipsa seemed to be admiring his loyalty, despite how luna kinda was to everyone around her. She was lucky anyone was standing up for her with how things had been.
"Well, I guess we'll see for ourselves once we do some kind've investigation on her and everything. So Let's just hope for both our sakes this capture isn't a complete waste of our time", the monster girl put down her teacup and took out her compact, "So enough questions for me...time for me to question the two of you". Her compact now aimed at the two teenagers.
"What….?".
"You both are part of this whole deal and I need to hear what you know so I can further do my job.", her words seemed to strike some worry into the kids, how much did meteora know if she knew they "Were part of this whole deal"? Judas quickly trying to relax himself, especially since meteora could read their body language and might get suspicious if they kept freaking out.
The former princess looked them both over and tried to explain more clearly, she then said simply, "So since we're here together I better do it now and hear what you both have to say. Especially since you both know the girl I captured on a personal level".
They both felt their hearts drop, Eclipsa sending them a shrug.
Guess they had no choice but to answer meteora's questions and just hope they didn't say anything that might make them look weird.
"So how do you know this girl?", she pressed record on her compact, keeping eye contact the entire time with the teens, the two struggling just to answer the first question. They couldn't outright say who she ACTUALLY was to Meteora right now, they barely knew her, they'd kinda have to lie….if even a small lie for now. They were just going to have to be careful of their words, though even just thinking what to say too long might make them seem suspicious.
"Uh she wanted to be in our guards".
It was technically the truth so hopefully it worked, though in their minds they both just really hoped that meteroa wasn't an expert lie detector, because if she was they were doomed.
"Is that how you met? She came to you looking to be apart of the guards"
"Well no, we met a bit before b-"
"How long ago did you meet and how close were you? You didn't tell her anything you shouldn't have did you? Was she interested in anything she shouldn't have been?", geez sky hadn't expected meteora to be so….intense. She really seemed to take her job seriously, like VERY seriously. Sky was nervous just trying to answer her first question, much less all the others.
It was overwhelming, they barely could process all the questions she was even asking them, catching them more off-guard.
Sky especially.
"Well I uh-".
"Luna came down wanting to be a guard and we met her in town, so we hung out and asked for her to stay in the castle since she left home to be a knight ", judas to the rescue of course, a significantly better person to handle this then sky. At least he was staying consistent to the story they gave luna as best he could.
"Where's she from?"
"She's from….a very far part of mewni, she traveled through scissors to get here, she didn't wanna say because it was personal information".
This seemed to make meteora suspicious, whether of them or luna they couldn't tell for sure but she didn't seem entirely satisfied with that answer. This only seemed to make the demon more nervous, but meteroa didn't push further on the matter, moving onto the next question she had.
"Why'd you help her become a knight?"
"Because we're...nice people?"
She made a face in response to that one and judas kept his mouth shut once again just to avoid sounding more like an idiot in front of the master spy. But really he didn't have a better answer then that, he wasn't exactly sure what meteora had expected to hear honestly.
"How much do you really know her? She seems to have been vague about all the important things a friend would share normally?".
Eclipsa must've sensed how nervous the teens were trying to figure out their next set of words.
Quickly getting her daughter's attention with a tap on the shoulder, "I've spoken to Luna quite a few times and seen them with her quite a bit since she's been here, I can say for sure luna has quite the relationship with both of them….judas and luna even hung out with me, sky, and angel before ".
Well if meteora didn't know whether to trust the royals for sure, there was at least a decent chance she might trust her own mother's word on the matter. The girl biting at her lip and moving onto the next question she had about the matter. Judas and sky becoming extremely relieved about that one, trying to talk about luna without mentioning her whole deal was...tricky.
"I've already spoken to some of her comrades , she was dangerous….like she had training way before she even came here...can both of you confirm this?".
They nodded.
"So she was well trained before she entered the knights ? I'm gonna guess she never explained why she was so well trained right?".
"She trained herself ", sky said, "she wanted to be the best".
It was the most in character thing luna would do if this was her actual backstory.
They couldn't deny any of luna's skills, that was for sure, nothing about her read as "Incompetent".
They were waiting for meteora to ask anything else but she stopped her recording, "I'll probably get back to you later...but i have others to talk to about this as well...anyways, thanks for helping me with this for the time being". They simply nodded, still anxious about being bombarded with questions they couldn't be entirely truthful about.
At least it was over, they didn't know for how much longer they could've kept that up before they said something more stupid that gave them away. They had enough mixed emotions about meteora, they didn't need her hogging down their backs on top of that, and even now they were still processing the fact they were in her presence. Looking at her now she didn't seem the type to attack an entire kingdom like she did.
She seemed...well normal.
Focused on her work, talking to her mom, hanging out with her friends.
Would she still be like this if her mind hadn't been wiped how it was?
"So...wait...are you going to be part of this whole deal?", sky asked all of a sudden, meteora blinking at her in confusion, "Uh...if you mean am i apart of this whole masked person stuff...i kinda have to be now, my target was caught with the costume on...when she is on trial i'm going to be a witness to everything...also honestly if my mom is investigating...i might as well join in".
She grabbed her things, fixing up her hair and checking on her tail, "I'm going to find Katrina real quick mom, to share some notes...i'll meet up with you and dad later...give you updates, you tell me when you find anything out..." Then she looked to the teens, holding out her hands for them to shake, "And i'll see the two of you...later...don't spend too much time with my mom...the longer you do the more she starts talking about weirder things".
She headed out the door, eclipsa laughing to herself as her daughter left, her attention on her guests.
"So how was-?".
"METEORA IS A SPY?! And you said NOTHING?!"
Sky said it so loud it even scared judas, but she couldn't help it, she had so many thoughts running through her head and she could barely process most of them. But Eclipsa just seemed amused, sipping her tea to herself and nodding, "Sky c'mon, i couldn't tell you anything about that, it's meant to be a secret...and besides, it's not relevant to everything else...meteora's life is her life, nothing to do with you all anymore".
She was right about it, sky didn't need to know what meteora did, but she was still shocked.
"But like...she...and we...", sky couldn't even come up with a defense, she was so defeated, and so was judas too by the looks of it. The dark queen put down her cup, patting their shoulders gently, "Kids...it's ok, honestly you just seem shocked all this time meteora was right nearby and you missed her for so long, it's alright...i'm sure anyone would be just as shocked.".
"Wait...but meteora...she's going to go out there...won't people recognize her?", it suddenly came to sky, meteora might not be who she was but the people of mewni would NEVER forget her, a surge of panic wave through her as eclipsa quickly answered her question without a worry on her face.
"They will".
So she knew just as much, but-
"But she doesn't know what she did...what if-?".
"It's no matter, I told her".
The two sat there, stunned.
"When?".
"Just now, before you showed up, i told her everything...well...everything about her life before...nothing about the whole "Sister from other timelines" thing", she was sitting there, so casually about it too, like this wasn't a big deal. She kept meteora from the throne and erased her mind of destroying mewni, and meteora had no reaction to it? At all?
"I considered it for awhile...and thought it was time...better she learn about it from me...then anyone else.".
"But she didn't...she-".
The queen smiled sadly at them, her eyes facing away and towards the wall, "She's an adult, and i'm sure this is going to be a lot to process for her, but i think she'll be ok...eventually...but of course she wasn't going to freak out, she's rather fine with what she's doing now...never had much interest in ruling, finds the mewmans annoying to try and manage.".
"So when we came in just now and she was talking about me being queen and that without me who knows who it might go to...", sky started, "She...she was aware that it might go to her...". Well, that suddenly made that conversation even more awkward then it needed to me, maybe that was why meteora was so silent after they came in, she was just as uncomfortable as they were.
"Yeah you came at...very awkward timing for her".
Judas suddenly felt very sick, his stomach sinking, "We...we had no idea i'm so sorry about that...it was a big deal and we must've walked in while she was still processing everything and we didn't mean to make everything more weird then it had to be". But she hushed him, relaxing back into her seat, "It's alright, you had no reason to know about any of that, you don't have to say sorry for anything in relation to this...it's between me and meteora.".
That finally seemed to silence the nervous teens, who tried to settle themselves against the couch beneath them, the former queen handing them chocolate bars that had been hidden in her drawer nearby. " Today seems to be a day of confession, so i think it's good to get all of this out of our system...even if it hurts, but it's better let out and consumed inside...", they took the candy and unwrapped it, taking bites.
"Do you think...she hates us?".
"Doubtful, she barely knows you...and it's not your fault".
They fell silent, nearly forgetting why they even came here in the first place, to look for answers and clues. Now back into their guilty modes, getting themselves off track and their minds unfocused. The older woman snapping in front of their faces to get their attention, encouraging them to eat their chocolate before she took it back from both of them, and knowing her, she would.
"You both need to stop blaming yourselves, what happened was in the past...you have a new future ahead to make things right. Meteora has a lot to process on her mind but...i think by how she left is enough to indicate she'd be happy to be friends with you both. Trust me, when meteroa hates something...it sticks...probably why she still flinches instinctively over queen lucitor".
She looked deep into their eyes, "Enough wallowing in sadness, you'll never get things done if you keep feeling sorry about things you shouldn't be sorry for, i made my choice and i'll deal with the consequences. Me and star have made some...well...questionable choices in the past, bit we were the ones to make those choices, not you...you could never have known what we'd do and we could never have guessed how this would affect all of you...including meteora. We can't change our past but we can work on bettering our future, you know as well sky...".
"Huh?".
"You said it yourself, to Angel".
She was right, sky had said something similar to him before.
Told him to stop thinking in the past, and work to the future, for the betterment of everyone.
Guess sometimes she needed to be reminded of her own advice.
"I'm sorry, i didn't meant to get all upset and whatever...sometimes i just feel i don't deserve the throne and i feel bad i might've...stolen it away from someone who deserved it more...", she took another bite of chocolate, "Eclipsa, the wand broke cause it went to me, the girls might not even have been here if i didn't have it...i just feel like...giving it to me only made things worse...".
"Oh hush now, meteora is happy to not have the pressure you do, and you don't have anything to feel sorry for, your mom's broken the wand plenty as well and done her own fair share of stupid things, my grandmother erased gravity once...what you've done is fairly tame in comparison. As far as I'm concerned, you'll be a good queen...but perhaps...instead of hearing it from us...maybe you need to hear it from yourself.".
Sky was about to question what she meant but eclipsa was way ahead of her, "We can only do so much, for you and judas both, we can encourage you, help you, cheer you on...but getting over these fears and doubts you have...we can only do so much on our own, you both need to learn to love yourselves and trust yourselves as well, otherwise you may never fully get over this sinking feeling".
She was right.
They did keep falling into this, because even if everyone else felt one way, they still kept doubting themselves.
If they didn't believe it, they were never going to overcome these issues.
"Do you know how we can try?", judas asked, his shoulders hunched and his eyes mostly staring at his hands rather then eclipsa, "I...want to...i want to get better, i want to fully stop...even if it takes time...i know it's not my fault and i know what i do is to help...but...i want to know how i can prevent myself from falling back into...bad thoughts...if there's a way to do so".
This really seemed to peak eclipsa's attention, caught off guard by judas's sudden question, leaving her in thought for a moment. "Well, it's a step by step process...but...start by recognizing things you like about yourselves...things you're proud of...and start doing nice things for yourself...it'll take some time to get over years of self doubt...but...you need to fully have faith in yourselves if either of you are to get passed this...".
"Angel asked me out..."Sky started noticing eclipsa smile before giving her a face, "As friends...he asked us to hang out to make up a bit for...what happened. Maybe i'll take him up on his offer...soon...in between plans and dealing with the mission. At least...it might be a good start into truly feeling more confident, he's confident in my magic it seems".
"And judas?".
He looked at his arm, clutching it.
"I'm going to learn to control it".
Luna being in prison was quick to spread to everyone in the group, everyone reacting with a similar face of shock and confusion. Though celeste reacted more with "Whatever", probably still mad with luna just like landon was. She didn't exactly have the best time with her yesterday when the blonde pointed her wand at her and nearly got into a fight with her.
The only plus side to this all was because they saw luna yesterday they knew the timeslot they had for luna to have been cursed, making it easier to determine when everything might've went down and if luna was at the lucitor castle or somewhere entirely different. No one seemed to really believe at the end of the day that luna was actually their enemy, as mad as some of them were at her.
It all did make the dinner they were all at very awkward however, as they went in expecting to plan stuff in the morning and now the talk was entirely around luna herself, of course next to queen moon and meteora. Star was already panicking and stuffing her face at just the mention of her mom, having no ability to shun her away this time was driving her nuts and the only reason she wasn't here already was because River was getting into a fight at their retirement cabin with a bear.
Next to Janna, who honestly was actually way too calm about the whole situation, maybe at this point she was numb to every dumb big event that happened seemingly each week. Which of course didn't apply to anyone else, The lucitors were here after all and they were already trying to figure out what happened to luna and coming up with theories of what was actually going on.
Luna of course, was not eating with them, but at least she wasn't in prison either.
Oh no no, they locked her in her room, surrounded by guards, with Jackie watching over her in case she tried to escape. Not that Luna would try it knowing how much worse it would make her look, but it was better to be safe then sorry when it came to luna, she had a knack for being unexpected. It was just unfortunate she couldn't be here to well...defend herself.
But on the plus side, she wasn't here to start arguments over those who were fussing about her right now either.
"But let's say she WAS being used as a distraction, for what purpose? They didn't use the opportunity to do anything, was it just to frame someone?", the Queen of demons was pondering, their partner presenting his own theory to the group, "Maybe they gave up and ditched their clothes, realizing now that we're close to catching them they needed to get out as fast as possible and us catching luna would make a good distraction..".
"Would they really just give up after all this? They've gone this far...even considered murder...".
"Maybe i'm just wishful thinking marco, but i guess that would just mean they'd be someone else's problem".
"Well, i um...i'm not sure what the reason was either", angel's voice was a little quiet, trying to speak over the others who were talking loudly around him, "But they well...it wouldn't surprise me if they wanted to just frame her...luna is well...she's kinda the perfect candidate to frame, she wasn't around during the sleepover incident, she's highly skilled...luna would be smart enough to do this kinda stuff...and she's been missing awhile".
"But luna is still an ally to us, she has no reason to run around in a dress and mask to do the things that thief did unless she had ulterior motives we aren't aware of, and even so...eclipsa's been in her mind, she would've seen something if luna had been up to anything outside of helping us, like one of us would've caught on, like this whole framing idea just doesn't work...", judas explained, trying to not eat with his mouth open.
"Well, to us, sure, but to everyone who doesn't know about your little...secret...they wouldn't know that...and we can't admit to any of it in court either.", Marco was rubbing their head, pulling at their hair as tom interjected, "Yeah, whatever they intended or not this is kinda a problem, the only way we can defend luna is by revealing what's happening and well-".
"You know what could happen if we do that".
"But what can we do? We can't let her be frozen either...if we fake evidence that's only going to look worse on our part, and we can't just let luna go free without any explanations either...we'll just look more suspicious...", they were all in a rut, all because of this luna situation. Keeping this a secret was important for many reasons, but how were they to keep it a secret and keep luna innocent at the same time?
They couldn't, they couldn't get themselves out of this one that easily.
"We're just going to have to get risky...", marco admitted, "There's no other way...maybe if we catch the person whose really behind this, we can clear luna's name entirely...and then we might not even have to worry about trying to defend her, at the very least it's a plan that could work...but that's if we use a truth potion and even then that's risky if they well...know who luna is".
"Are you sure about trapping them...at your coronation judas?", his father looked worried, barely touching his food, "It's an important part of your life and well...it's dangerous to do something like this". But judas shook his head, "Sky's right, it's the best thing we have to make into a trap, we can't lure them somewhere they know will be dangerous and we can't do something so out of character they'll know something is up".
"But...they can't hide with that mask on, won't be much of a trap otherwise...".
"Not if...we're all...wearing masks".
This seemed to get everyone's attention, their heads drawing towards the boy.
"Judas?".
"Scrap the original plans...let's make my coronation, a masquerade ball...".
There was silence after the idea left his lips, everyone looking among each other in question as judas explained, "If everyone's wearing a mask, they'll show up in one too, they'll feel safer...it'll help them feel like they're blending in...then we wouldn't have to worry about them bursting in on a rampage, they'd just sneak around...and we could lure them".
"But how-? They won't trust us...especially not to lure them anywhere, they could be anywhere during the party, we might lose them in all of the guests".
"Simple, they want something others don't, they'll be the only ones to take the bait, making it easier for us all to figure out who we're attacking", there was murmurs among the dinner group, it was a good start to a plan, and it might actually work. If they could figure out how to set the trap, and make sure that it would work, they'd be golden, though there were still doubts.
"What if it's not enough?".
They all turned to face none other then the former King Lucitor, the mewman listening in to all their ideas and plans but he didn't seem as confident as some of them were. "You're counting on them to come in for the wand, maybe even something else entirely...but what if they don't, what if this is all for nothing? Then we'd have wasted time and effort into a plan that doesn't work...", he sighed, "I have faith in you kids, but I have to admit, after this break in, after this kidnapping...I don't want us to be fooled again...not in our castle".
"Dad...".
"You know what i mean thomas...", he said, looking over the others, "I've never seen the kingdom so...scared before, they came running out of our castle, if we're to form some kind of plan...i just want it to be something we can be sure will work, because if we don't make this work the first time...we might never fool them the next...this idea needs to be foolproof".
"Then make sure i'm in the lead...", angel spoke up, "If they don't come for the wand, they'll come for me...make a show of it...that i'll reveal who they are or something, they'll have to show up then...they can't miss that kinda opportunity". He seemed unsure of this decision himself and sky and judas were quick to try and protest before he stopped them with his legs.
"I have to face it eventually after what i did, and it'll make sure they show up...i'm...i'll be bait, for this".
"Then i'll guard you...", angel turned to sky, who looked at him fiercely, "With or without my wand, i won't leave your side the entire night, just to make sure no one sneaks up on you". Angel seemed rather touched, though he wasn't sure the adults would agree with this arrangement, considering someone more powerful was probably better to guard him.
But it was sweet anyways.
"Well...we can't stop you if you do so...", marco sighed, "We don't like the idea...but...you're right...it would work...but let's not put it as our first option, i just want to consider other options first...". Angel felt sky touch his shoulder comfortingly, and judas pat his other as he went back to silence. The plans going over and being discussed over and over again.
and that's when Sunny coughed, standing in her seat.
"How about we go out and investigate? If we can't be sure of this then the best thing we should do is gather more information!", and sky knew where this was heading, after all, sunny's costume idea was still an option that could be used. The plan was still viable but if they were to find out more details they were more likely to avoid running into more issues, after all, meteora and eclipsa still were investigating.
And this seemed to be something at least all the adults seemed comfortable with...for the most part, them all sharing nods.
Maybe they were better left with more time to plan then over the span of a single dinner when it comes to the most feared criminal in mewni right now. Otherwise they might as well be going in with no plan at all. Though the lingering problem of luna was still in their minds, and in the minds of landon and celeste, who had avoided most of the discussion about her as best they could.
That's when it hit sky, standing up and almost slamming the table.
"Eclipsa's investigating that lair thing right? No dna evidence to luna means they can't like her directly to the kidnapping or maybe even to her directly...we can use that! That way we can keep luna from being in trouble and we might find out some more evidence to use for our plan!". That wouldn't of course stop false evidence or anything but it was a good start to fixing this whole mess if they could.
"Alright, we'll wait until eclipsa gives us a report and perhaps we'll do a little private investigating on the side then...", Marco said with a sigh, and a rub to their face, "God, nothing can be easy around here...but at least having some idea of what we're doing is better then nothing at all.". They seemed tired, from lack of sleep, and that seemed to go for everyone at the table.
No one could sleep, fearing they'd wake up to see a pale white face in front of them to take them away.
Maybe that was another reason they weren't thinking straight when coming up with plans, they were all almost about to fall asleep into their own meals. Everything had happened so fast and crazy it had been nearly impossible to get any proper rest around here. Especially with all their minds wandering and constantly keeping them awake all the time.
They were all tired, but they didn't want to leave the table either, not when they couldn't be sure of their safety.
"Where should we investigate...", marco mumbled, "I hate to ask...but...do you know anywhere from your own investigations we can look into at the very least?".
And that's when landon finally spoke, arms crossed and clearly knowing what he'd have to do, his eyes still away from everyone but still spilling the beans regardless. "I...have a place...fae went there, it's a good place to catch gossip or whatever...it's at least something you could go to to hear out from other people of mewni for more information...i'm not going to promise anything though".
Was landon really going to give up his safe spot for this mission?
Celeste nor Sunny made him either, Landon spilt it himself, even if he didn't actually originally want to.
"Landon?".
"No...meteora goes there...", Judas added on, "It might be a good place to check, if you went in dressed as well...anyone other then yourself...you might have a decent chance of finding out some important information". If meteora went there to help her out then it had to of been something worth looking into, meteora was on the case after all.
And the adults seemed in mutual agreement.
"Then i think we have a plan".
Everyone had to be escorted to their room, and when they meant room, they meant single room.
New orders meant they were all going to be spending the night in the butterfly's private safe room, like they once did with the lucitors. Their belongings already down there waiting for them and everything set out for them, those who had been living in lucitor castle were mostly staying in the butterfly guest rooms and the safe room was the biggest place they could keep all of the kids and adults of this group under supervision.
The room was nice, it was fancy, it didn't have as much activities as the lucitor one but it was for the sole purpose of sleeping right now, so it didn't matter anyway, fitted with sleeping bags everywhere for everyone, star having enhanced it to the best of her ability. The queen falling on the nearest couch, immediately asleep upon reaching the fluffy cushions under her.
People were spacing out and sky went to find her pjs and change, seeing judas stare at his sleeping bag.
He was clearly thinking about luna, sleeping alone and unsure of her future.
And sky saw angel wandering off, worried what would happen if angel really was to put himself in the line of fire. He looked like he couldn't even believe himself that he had said that, the girl reaching out for him. "Hey...that...was brave of you back there...stupid...but brave", the boy turning to face her and nodding, "Thanks...I'm...I'm sorry to hear about...luna".
"Well, we're not finished yet...at least they didn't burn all the evidence we could use...".
He nodded.
"Hey uh...if you wanna hang out...at some point...let me know...when we can at least...".
He simply send her a small smile before heading off to get ready for bed, making himself comfortable in the safe room.
Everyone set up to try and get some sleep, safe and sound.
Meanwhile in another room, not too far away, a girl laid next to the window, unable to rest, touching her ring carefully, knowing full well she could escape but knowing what would happen if she did. Luna was lost in thought, unable to sleep, debating whether her leaving had been a good idea at all. But there was nothing she could do now, her fate seemed to be out of her hands.
And she could only trust in her friends to get her out of it.
She could only hope that she didn't screw up with them too bad.
Because she was doomed without them,
