Like Father, Like Daughter
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Star vs. the Forces of Evil
Chapter 26: Wake Me Up Inside
They found themselves standing before the Dream Eater who at the moment looked like Marco.
The Dream Eater had black eyes and a wide grin.
"Why is your daughter on fire?" His voice was a twisted hiss.
"Yeah, why is that?" Marco looked back to Seraph.
"I don't know!" Seraph shouted, she was greatly unnerved by Dream Eater and this was not helping.
"You are such a curious little thing," The Dream Eater spoke using Marco's voice. He looked over the group, "My, my, Marco the things running in their heads. What would your reaction be if you knew what they really think of you?"
"Shut up!" Marco ordered, "Stop talking!"
"Marco, Marco, you begged me to stop some many times for so many things. Did I ever stop once?"
Marco made sure to position himself between the Dream Eater and the others, he couldn't bare to relive those nightmares especially with the real them there.
"Marco," The Dream Eater shook his head, "this is a dream, this is my domain."
Before anyone could react the Dream Eater was standing behind Jackie and Janna. With a swift motion he grabbed them both by the back of their necks.
"What was the last thing I did to them in front of you? Was it crushing them or that thing with the badgers?"
The girls glanced at each other for a moment.
"Let them go!" Marco ordered pulling Seraph away.
Hekapoo materialized her scissors and Star held out her wand.
"I don't think you understand," The Dream Eater's voice boomed, "this is a dream, this is my world, what I say is reality. You exist because I allow you to exist and when I choose you to die you die. I feed off hundreds and will only grow, they give me more and more power, even as I speak I grow stronger." As if by his command towers formed around them and hung over the Ocean, the water turning dark red as the sky turned black.
The docks beneath them broke apart as hands ripped from it grabbing them.
Toffee emerged and grabbed Star by the neck and then twisted her arm forcing her to drop the wand. Hekapoo found two queens grabbing her one with spades on her cheek another one with red rubies on her cheek.
The yarn monster slithered through the cracks beneath them and wrapped around the Jackie keeping her from moving. Spider jumped out from beneath the docks and spun web around Janna cocooning her as Ludo sat on the spider's back dress as a clown and smiling at her.
The Fake Marco vanishing and appeared next Seraph.
Marco was launched into the air something burst out beneath him, he found it hard to breath as from beneath him the Monster Arm slithered out and wrapped around him.
Seraph couldn't react in time as Heinous appeared behind her holding her arms behind her back as Rasticore's arm wrapped his finger around her neck.
The Dream Eater looked closely at Seraph, "You strange little thing," He spun on his heel and turned to Marco, "Marco, I should thank you. My benefactor made this all possible but you are the one who let this all happen. You brought Hekapoo into these dreams, you came into the dream when I couldn't reach you anymore, and bringing her." He motioned to Seraph, he grinned at Hekapoo and Marco, "You trapped me, you left me to die alone. Why? Because I needed to feed."
Hekapoo grunted, "You were eating people!"
"I feed through dreams, it needs to be somewhat intelligent beings. Would you blame a bear for eating a poor deer?"
"Don't try that!" Hekapoo yelled, "You feed off whole civilizations, you grew fat off hundreds of people at a time, you didn't need to eat that many to survive. You enjoyed yourself! You enjoyed twisted people dreams into nightmares!"
"Like that's any different from you enjoying bacon."
"Its very different!" Marco objected.
The Dream Eater shook his head, "Well, maybe I really can't argue, after all, I know what I'm going to do next." He leaned in close to the parents, "We've been through so much that I think you deserve to know what will happen next. What I have planned for your daughter." He grinned, "I'm going to make you watch as I tear her apart, rip limb from limb, cry out as I crush her heart in my hands. You know she won't die, but you will pray for her death, beg for it just to put her out of misery but I won't let that happen," Marco's sword formed in the Dream Eater's hand's, " and I'm going to do that all while wearing your face." He turned away from them and moved towards Seraph.
No one was sure who spoke next, no one was even sure what was said. They saw Seraph crying out in terror at a man who looked like her father ready to hurt her. Marco and Hekapoo begged for him to stop. Janna and Jackie yelled at him to stay away from her. Star threatened him telling him she'd destroy him is he so much put a finger on her. Their cries all blended together and the closer he got to the girl the more frantic they got. They got more desperate as hope in stopping him dwindled.
The Dream Eater smiled, content in his actions and his revenge was in his hands.
Then came the thunder, the sky cracked open as buildings and other structures began to dissolve.
"What?" The Dream Eater questioned, "What's happening?"
"He's losing his hold!" Hekapoo explained, "He's losing power!"
Then something struck Marco, "Alfonzo and Ferguson…" He felt his heart beat against his chest in relief, those two friends of his had gone to wake up people and while the Dream Eater focused on them they'd woken up enough people to weaken him. Maybe they even got other people to help them either way little by little his base of power was crumbling.
"Seraph wake up!" Her parents shouted.
The Dream Eater's control over the world began to crumble and they felt the grips that held them weakened. In a blind panic Seraph pulled away from the fake Heinous and just run from her. She wanted to get away as she did a door formed before her and she tumbled into it.
"NO!" The Dream Eater bellowed.
"Time to go!" Janna yelled pulling herself free, her door formed and Janna bum rushed through pushing Jackie and Star into it.
"Janna no!" Star tried to argue the instant she was pulled away from Toffee but that was all she managed to do.
The Dream Eater was confused, its power was draining and it was throwing him off balance he couldn't focus. He had to keep him control over the situation. The Dream Eater turned its gaze to Marco and Hekapoo determined not to let them escape.
Hekapoo pulled away from the Queens and Marco rushed out of the Monster hand and to the Dream Eater's surprise they weren't trying to run from him but towards him. They pushed them and he didn't understand why until he saw them tumbling through a door.
0000
Seraph gasped awake some of the students around her were waking up looking around confused or maybe shaken. Alfonzo and Ferguson were walking around checking sure everyone was doing all right.
Janna woke up next along with Jackie and Star. Jackie shivered right until the moment she woke up she felt the yarn over her body and now it felt off like she was supposed to be feeling it still.
Janna walked over to Seraph, "You okay?"
"I-" Seraph looked at the sleeping forms of her parents.
"What do we do?" Star moved towards them, "Do we slap them awake or?"
Hekapoo and Marco jolted up groaning as they did.
"Mom! Dad!" Seraph yelled out relieved.
Relief painted their faces since Seraph was safe. That didn't last as soon the building shook and a laugh filled the air.
Both Hekapoo and Marco jumped onto their feet and without hesitation raced outside. No one noticed, almost no one but Star noticed it a look in Marco's eyes a fire burning bright.
At this point it looked like everyone who had been asleep woke up al together. They looked around confused but Star followed behind Marco and many followed along and the rest eager to get outside if there was an earthquake.
The school flooded out into the yard and they looked up.
Marco and Hekapoo spoke to each other softly.
"Say," Hekapoo suggested, "what about if we just grab your friends and family and leave? There are loads of dimensions and it's not like anyone here can really get off dimension," Hekapoo half joked. "I mean, how many people are on this dirt ball anyway?"
Marco gulped, "Last time I checked I think the population of Earth was around seven and half billion."
Hekapoo turned towards him, "SEVEN AND A HALF BILLION?! HOW?!" Marco jumped back from her shouts, "What are you?! Rabbits?! No wonder you got me pregnant! You must be the most fertile species in the whole freaking universe."
Marco blushed at the comments, it didn't help that more had gathered.
Hekapoo rubbed her head, she was joking she had no intention of abandoning Marco and Seraph's home but now she didn't have any choice. Seven Billion was far more people than all the dimensions the Dream Eater had ravished before combined. It was still recovering it could only deal with one town at the moment but given time it would spread across this entire world. It would feast on this world it would grow stronger than ever before and its influence would spread. She had no idea how strong it could get at that level. If it got seven billion meals it might never stop, they had to stop it before that happened. It would just keep on trapping people in their dreams until it drained them of every ounce of life.
Hekapoo sighed, "I guess it doesn't make much a difference either way."
"We follow through with the plan."
Hovering above the school laughing to itself was Dream Eater, in it's true form.
Translating a dream into reality is a hard thing to do, the only reason the Dream Eater managed was because it was alive and had power, it allowed it to change into another state of existence.
It was massive ebony skin, frail skeleton like body with large insect like eyes. Along its long spindly arms were countless smaller insects eyes which twisted and turned all around. The bottom of its body was a weird twisted mass of flesh that wrapped and reshaped itself every instance, it was like looking at sludge ebb and flow.
It was a sight Marco had seen before, the last time they fought he hoped it would be the last time he'd see it.
"What's going on?" Skeeves broke through the crowd, "What is that thing?!"
"Get inside." Marco said in a hushed tone.
"Mister Diaz please expla-" He stopped when Marco turned his scissors into a sword.
"Get inside!" Marco barely raised his tone but it was firm enough to get everyone to listen.
"Get inside," Marco repeated, "and get as deep in the school as impossible."
Skeeves didn't reply with anything but, "Okay, everyone inside."
Everyone saw what Skeeves saw, they had all noticed Marco had changed and they saw it clearly there that the safety kid seemed actually intimidating now.
"So what do we do mom?" Seraph asked her mother.
Hekapoo smiled, "I love you so much." She leaned in and kissed Seraph on the head.
"Mom?"
"Dormis." Hekapoo tapped her forehead,
Seraph swayed a bit before her eyes closed and she started to fall into Hekapoo arms. "You," Hekapoo glanced over to Janna, "Take her inside and keep her safe."
"Will do." Janna pulled Seraph onto her shoulder.
"Here," Jackie moved to the other side helping carry Seraph inside.
"Okay," Star smiled taking out her wand, "so what are we doing?"
Marco not Hekapoo looked at her, Marco spoke inside, "Get inside Star."
Star opened her mouth to object but the way Marco spoke made it clear this wasn't a request.
Star glanced over to where the others were taking Seraph and followed along she could at least make sure she was safe.
People started to get back inside and that started to get the Dream Eater's attention. He'd been distracted for a moment as it got used to having a physical form.
"Where are you going?" The Dream Eater spoke as it reached for the students.
His hand stopped as suddenly hundreds of Hekapoo jumped between them and held back the hand.
"Hekapoo!" The Dream Eater growled.
The clones started to race up his arms and started to attack it, at this size it was like having countless ants running up its body and biting it.
The Real Hekapoo moved next to Marco and pulled out a pair of scissors and handed them to Marco. Marco noted the broken heart handle, it had been the scissors Hekapoo had taken from him.
Hekapoo pulled out another two pairs of scissors and instead of splitting them open to make dual daggers she readied them as is.
"Last chance to back out." Hekapoo spoke up.
"No," Marco simply replied.
"Can't say I didn't give you an out."
They both cut portal and rushed through.
0000
Janna and Jackie settled Seraph the ground in one of the classrooms, Star took off her jacket and made a makeshift pillow for her.
Everyone was scared, the recent experiences left them shaken and hearing a massive monstrosity howling outside wasn't helping anything. The teacher were doing their best to keep everyone calm.
Janna whispered to Seraph, "You okay there? Manna Janna is here. I'll keep you safe." Janna was clearly a bit worried, she didn't think Hekapoo would do anything to harm her but why did she knock out her daughter. Something just felt off.
Janna knew a misdirect when she saw it but didn't get, Marco and Hekapoo couldn't fight that thing off by themselves. Why didn't they call for help? Why did they come alone? It didn't look like they brought a weapon or anything? What were they planning?
She was worried and she didn't like it.
Marco was the safety kid, he had to have a plan, right?
Janna turned to Star, "Hey Star, do you know what Marco is planning?"
She only saw Jackie there, Jackie looked around and through the classroom. "She was just here." It had gotten very crowned but she still should be able to make out the princess. Then an idea struck her, "Star must have run back," With their focus on Seraph and so many people in a panic it wouldn't have taken much for Star to just walk out, "I'll find her and bring her back. Stay with Seraph in case she wakes up."
Jackie didn't wait for a reply but ran out to find the princess.
0000
The Dream Eater had been swatting the Heka-clones away when a portal opened up and jumped through. Using the moment Marco lunged his sword and stabbed into his flesh. Marco jumped off him before he could swat him and opened another portal mid air. Hekapoo then opened a portal rushing out to smack him hard. Hekapoo let herself drop and stabbed him with her scissors slowing her fall, them leap off and into a portal she made while falling.
Trying to keep up with them was a bit harder that the Dream Eater expected, They just did quick attacks and fled into new portals. This was very unlike the time they fought it last, they fought from a distance and worked on moving him away. They had created a number of portals and they were all around him but nothing, they made no attempt to force him through any of them and even made them far too small for it to go through. The attacks had all been far to small to do any real harm.
"Have you grown so weak that this is the best you can do?"
The Dream Eater was confident, once this new form got accustomed to the waking world he would draw the energy of people once they fell asleep. He couldn't pull people into dreams in this state, he had a physical form and they could try to hurt him but any would instantly heal, as long as he had energy he would thrive. They only stopped him because they tricked into a barren landscape and fought him until he drained his energy through the fight. But this world, it radiated with life, he felt countless sleeping just out of his range on the other side of this planet. Eventually everyone on this planet would need to sleep and he would trap them and feed.
Marco opened a portal above his head and then another one and ran off.
What could they be planning? Had they gone portal mad? They were just opening portals around him.
Hekapoo was the mistress of the portals, she knew things about portals that few knew and she was the one to make their laws and she had a reason for every single rule she placed and Marco knew them.
They were about to break a big one. And a big rule set up by the magical High Commission.
Hekapoo and Marco stopped in front of the Dream Eater.
Marco stood before it and spoke, "We can stop now. We can stop before we have to do it."
The Dream Eater turned to them curious, "Is that a threat? It's a poor one, you've not trapped me and laid no wounds on me. You cannot kill a dream."
Hekapoo shook her head, "No, but you can destroy one. Especially if you have a physical form,"
"You think you can destroy this body?" Dream Eater scoffed, "I have enough energy to survive and reform countless times. I could easily before you couldn't even come close to destroying me. And I'll grow stronger, the longer I'm here the more power I will gather is only a matter of time before people have to sleep."
Hekapoo paused, her expression hard, "How about if there was a way to destroy you? A way to destroy every physical trance of you all at once. Regardless of how much power you could ever muster."
The Dream Eater smirked, "I'd very much enjoy seeing you try. It would make dragging your daughter before you all the sweeter to know you tried everything to prevent her misery."
Marco and Hekapoo both knew there would be no changing his mind, but they tried they could both live with the knowledge that they tried.
Marco held out the heart shape scissors and Hekapoo placed her hand on it too, if they were going to do this they'd do it together.
The opened the scissors and tore open another portal.
"Is that the whole of your plan?" The living nightmare taunted, "It-" it paused as it sensed something.
As it looked around the portals that had been left open started to pulse all around them.
Marco stabbed the ground with sword and they both grabbed it.
"What's happening?" The Dream Eater felt something, a strange pressure both pressing onto him and from him.
Then it came, like the crack of thunder as the portal pulsed and cracked open. The crack began to form in the space around the portals and they started to grow like splintering spider webs all around the Dream Eater.
You are never allowed to create too many portals in one general location. Hekapoo would detect it and race to that spot to stop it. There was one reason for that.
Space around the Dream Eater began to distort and twist before falling apart.
A terrible scream covered all of Echo Creek, there was no one town who didn't hear, no one except one sleeping girl.
Space around the portal began to tear and collapse forming a very unstable rift, a white voice formed around the creature as he screamed. The rift the Dream Eater found itself in lead towards a number of dimensions and at that moment every iota of it's being was being torn between every single one of those dimensions. It would try to flee back into Dream Realm but that would just add another dimension to be torn between. The Dream Eater continued to scream and scream as it felt its body, its mind, and it's very soul being torn apart. In a rift like that nothing could really remain it could only move and with nothing controlling which direction it went it went everywhere and it felt it. It felt every atom and every single electron being pulled away and it struggled and it begged.
"Please Make it stop!"
It begged for freedom, it begged for forgiveness, it begged to be caged, and finally it begged to be killed quickly.
"PLEASE JUST KILL ME!"
The air was sucked into the rift and Hekapoo and Marco just held onto the sword as they watched their enemy slowly die in agony.
It cried in the end, it couldn't stop screaming by then but it did start to cry it never cried before. The Dream Eater looked at his enemies as the darkness started to over take him, he looked at them and wondered if it would have turned out differently. They weren't enjoying his pain or his end but they were resolved in it, if not this way they would have found another way.
0000
Star paused at the door that led outside, she suddenly found a great pressure bearing down on her and just everywhere and it made her stomach turn. She had her hand on the handle but couldn't find the strength to push the door open.
"Star!" Jackie yelled out as she saw the princess at the door.
It started Star enough that the door move, it didn't take much thee had been a great force pulling on it from the other side already.
The door blew open and a gush of air was pulled out and both girls sucked out.
"Strawberry lasso!" Star already had her wand ready to attack the instant she stepped out and she managed to get a spell out to grab the door.
Jackie barely managed to get a hold of Star's boot.
Jackie looked back and she watched as space folded and collapsed as a creature in the middle of it cried out in pain, in a scream she knew she wouldn't be able to forget any time soon. Jackie held out tightly but her grip began to slip. She felt her fingers slip off the girl's boots and her body get pulled into the air.
Slap.
A strong white hand had gripped hers.
Jackie opened up her eyes and saw Marco struggling to hold Hekapoo as Hekapoo just barely managed to get her hand. Unfortunately all the clones got puffed out when the rift formed.
Hekapoo huffed as she turned her attention to Jackie, "I don't have a lot of time. I know you don't even trust me but you have to trust me now!"
Jackie looked at Marco struggling to hold onto the sword and Hekapoo. Jackie had to make a decision, could she trust Hekapoo? She knew Marco trusted her so could she trust him?
Jackie's eyes locked on to Hekapoo's, "Let go."
Jackie felt the air leave her lung but somehow she did let go. She felt weightless as sucked into the rift.
She closed her eyes not daring to see what was going to happen, she didn't open her eyes until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.
Hekapoo had caught her, it didn't make much sense until Jackie saw another portal next to her. That new portal lead to Marco, it looked unstable but Hekapoo was using her power to try and keep it as stable as she could so close to an unstable space.
Hekapoo managed to open the portal as Jackie got sucked in and catch the skater girl and with one motion she tossed Jackie through the portal where Marco caught her and told her to hold the sword. Hekapoo got sucked up towards the rift.
They had planned this, sort of, they hoped to wait longer so space would start to heal a little before Hekapoo would try to help the process.
Opening a portal so close had only made the rift all the more unstable, Hekapoo let herself get pulled in.
Marco pulled Jackie close as Hekapoo glowed and channel every bit of power she could. The instance Hekapoo came into contact with the rift space began to twist and collapse into itself.
Everything was covered in a bright light and faded away as soon as it arrived.
Jackie found herself looking at Hekapoo standing right where the world looked ready to fall apart.
"Are you okay?" Marco's voice rang in her ear.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jackie insisted.
Marco nodded and pulled away to check on Hekapoo who was starting to wobble.
Marco reached her before she collapsed but at his own exhaustion got to him and he lost his balance and they both collapsed to the ground.
Both parents broke into a tired chuckle.
They laid side by side where Hekapoo pulled out her scissors and open one last portal. Hekapoo pulled out a bottle of the Sand of Time and watched for a short instance as the star filled liquid swirled.
She opened it up and chugged down a mouths full before handing to Marco who did the same.
"They noticed didn't they?" Marco asked passing the bottle back.
"I don't think they could have missed it. They were probably looking at this place, I did tell them to get Omni on the phone and I don't think they would have kept it from her."
Hekapoo chugged down the rest of it the bottle and put it aside.
The drink swirled in their bellies, it didn't heal them or anything like that but it did help with their pain and did give them a boost in recovery and stuff.
Star let go of her wand letting it tumble to the ground. She was shaking, she had run back because she wanted to help, because she thought she could help. Then she just froze at the door and worse she almost got Jackie killed because she came for her. Star just stared blankly at the pair.
Hekapoo hummed to herself, "They're coming,"
A portal formed before them, Hekapoo got up and dusted herself off and Marco followed.
Queen Moon Butterfly stepped out with Lekmet, Rhombulus and Omni following close behind.
Moon spoke with her serious voice, "Hekapoo, do you know what you did?"
Hekapoo brushed off a little bit of dirt from her hem, "Yes, I do," She didn't try to hide anything, "and I'm sure we will have a long conversation about that. We have to do something first?"
Moon raised an eyebrow, "What would be so important that we have to do it first?"
"We have to find the guy who brought the Dream Eater here?"
The Rest of the Commission looked at each other.
0000
The Dream Eater was trapped in a barren segment of Hekapoo's dimension, the Dream Eater lost everything including a physical form and left as a shred clinging to the Dreamscape after it dealt with Marco and Hekapoo.
In that state it couldn't do much of anything.
So, how does something like that get itself to Earth? How does something like that get to Echo Creek? Why? The why was fairly obvious, it wanted to get back to Marco and hurt him. Then that brought up, how would it know where Marco was in all the multiverse much less just on one tiny planet?
It gave Hekapoo the answer, it had a benefactor.
Someone helped him.
Once Hekapoo arrived on Earth she sense something, a rough and nasty portal made close by. She would normally investigate it but she had other worries at the time.
As the High Commission and Marco walked into the forest they were lead by Marco and found a dead body.
Hekapoo and the rest of magical beings looked at the body with a bit of disgust.
"Is he-?" Moon began,
"Yup," Hekapoo said a tad coldly before turning to the device near him. "I hate these things, bit of nasty tech. I'm surprised no one came here to snap it away." Hekapoo studied the device, it had a terrible patch job on it and the battery was totally drained.
"Well, Maybe someone wanted some bait."
A blast of energy tore through the tree and struck the body and incinerated it quickly.
From the shadow of the trees swaggered Erebus. "Hey!" He greeted the group.
Marco jumped into his karate pose, the Magical High Commissioned stood tense and ready. Moon was the only one who didn't really react, she gauged their reactions and studied the newcomer.
"Who might you be?" Moon spoke calmly.
"My apologizes," Erebus gave a false little bow, "people call me Erebus and there is no introductions needed from you, you're the newest Butterfly Queen." He hummed, "Okay, maybe a bit of intro would be nice. What's your name? Galaxia? Penumbra? Nebula?"
"Moon," The Queen noted.
"Really? Getting lazy on creative theme names."
Moon Scowled at him not that he noticed.
"Though I gotta admit the only Queen I've met to do anything interesting with the names was Soupina. Odd, odd woman. She saw too much." He paused, "Oh Hey! Omni! Still trying to be intimidating?" Omni flinched at the words, "Block Head? Still, such a disappointment to dad?" Rhombulus growled, "And… " Erebus paused at Lekmet, "Okay, which one are you? Reynaldo?"
"Why I ought to!—" Rhombulus rushed at him but Lekmet held him back.
Moon had enough, "So, you're the legendary Erebus? Many of the past Queens wrote about you. Legends and whispers of you are spoken as stories to tell the dark."
"Flattery will get you nowhere queeny."
Hekapoo stated, "You sent the Dream Eater here?"
"Oh! Yeah! The Love Bugs and jealousy spells were doing very little so I decided to try something else and I had some people dig around. And Oh! The trouble you got into that little trial of yours. Well, you've made it so I can't enter your dimension so I found someone who could, and I'm ever so persuasive." He fiddled with his mask, the commission seemed to grow tense at the action.
Erebus waved off their concern, "Please you're not worth the trouble, besides if I actually got serious with you guys Glossaryck would show up save your hides. Ugh! That guy is a pain! He'd complain about having to revive you all the time while he flings me into the nearest star or something."
Omni, Rhombulus, Lekmet, and Hekapoo all fired attacks at the shadow man who only react by holding out his hand. The attacks all paused midair, the world twitched and glitched as he did, he made a fist and the attacks all vanished and the world settled down.
"So, you killed him?" Erebus said almost as if the world was shifting around him, "Gotta admit didn't think you'd do something like that. You violated your own rules, you tore space apart, ruptured it, tore everything across dimensions. AND THAT SCREAM! My goodness! He felt every bit of it! He felt everything torn apart until there wasn't anything left!" Erebus stated all giddy, "And you knew that. My goodness mama-bear Hekapoo."
Hekapoo stared back coldly at him, her expression hard and unwavering.
There was a flash of light Moon transformed into her Butterfly form and used her light sword spell. Interwoven bands of light magic crisscrossed formed a sword in her hand and swung at Erebus. Erebus just bent over backwards dodging the attack. Moon was stunned to see him bend 90 degrees backwards and more stunned to find his legs spring up and kick her into a tree.
Erebus landed on his hand and upside down saw Marco rush him sending a kick to his chest, or at least try he dissolved into his shadows dodging another blow. Marco passed over the shadow only for a large hand reach from it grab him and toss him aside for Hekapoo to catch.
Erebus emerge from the shadow only to realize he dropped his hat with the previous maneuver. He picked up his top hat and dusted it off as a blast struck him crystallizing him.
"You did it." Moon said happily.
"No, I didn't." Rhombulus hissed as they all circled him and prepared.
The crystal started to bubble, it started to crack, it started to evaporate and it started to glitch. The crystal shattered and melted off Erebus who just continued to dust off his hat.
"Do we really have to do this every time? Solaria cut me in half the long way and that only slowed me down and just barely. I really did just come to talk… well, after releasing and watching him run havoc." He raised his hands and shadows shot from beneath them, circled around the group and tighten around them.
Slowly the shadows squeezed them.
"I could kill you all but what would be the point. It would be boring and get me nothing. Besides there is something so interesting here: Your daughter."
Both Marco and Hekapoo struggled frantically against the shadow bonds.
"Down, I'm not here to kill her today. You've proven just as interesting, the whole dimensional rift to kill was something really genius."
"You liked that that?" Hekapoo grunted, "Let me go and I'll give you a close up demonstration."
"Oh if only," He turned to Marco, "you I kinda like. I like humans, ever since the old days so determined and so passionate. You two are ready to die or kill for your little cub. I really am eager to see what you will do next."
Erebus took a step back, "I wanted you to know I'll be back, sooner than later. I wanted to see what you will manage to have ready for me." They heard skin creeking into a smile under his mask, "Okay, bye-bye."
Erebus and his Shadows melted into the ground and vanished.
0000
Star and Seraph sat outside the meeting Room of the Bureaucracy of Magic.
At one end of the table sat Hekapoo and Marco and at the other end sat Moon and the rest of the Commission.
Before Moon sat records on the Dream Eater and Erebus. Moon glanced at the records on Erebus, she'd read them before as Erebus was marked as an enemy that had a habit to haunt generations of queens. The Dream Eater had done a lot of damage but that all paled to the history of what Erebus had done.
Moon let out a long sigh, "I know that some queens have had different views than I have. But generally there has been one rule when dealing with living threats." The motion to Rhombulus, "That is why Rhombulus has been deemed the warden for them, his unique abilities. The commission stands as a force to protect and maintain order not to destroy and cause chaos. With power and authority we must understand that purpose, and remember not break those fundamental rules. To over step those rules, to ignore and flaunt them, would make us no better than our enemies. To take a life, that is something we cannot truly take back. That is why we crystallize those we deem to dangerous to let run free."
Moon leaned back in her chair, "There are exceptions of course," she pushed the records for Erebus forward, " When the commission agree upon there can be an exception, those deemed too dangerous to simply contain. Erebus had quite a body count and seems impossible to contain." Pushing the Dream Eater's file towards, "We never agreed the Dream Eater deserved that fate. In all previous encounter the commission or a single member has been able to detain him. The only reasons he escaped was because a greater outside party interjected."
Hekapoo and Marco didn't react.
"There have been exceptions to the rules, where there were no other options where the situation was kill or be killed. But this wasn't one of those situations, you could have clearly left at anytime, you even managed to leave and get to Lekmet and Rhombulus and yet you told them to stay back. And it clear you planned this from early on. Do you deny it?"
Hekapoo shook her head, "No, me and Marco came up with the plan right after we got Seraph to safety."
"The Dream Eater was an unrepentant abomination," Marco continued, "it has killed and killed and enjoys it."
"And it hated us," Hekapoo added, "and it found out about Seraph. "We knew it was going to try to come for her. If we trapped it, it would just keep trying."
"So we decided together never to give it that chance."
"So we did what any parent would do, we made sure he never got the chance."
Moon was a bit unnerved in the certainty of their words. As a mother Moon knew she would go to extreme lengths to keep her daughter safe but these two didn't hesitate and formulated a plan and even seemed to plan for the commission trying to interfere by giving them other tasks.
"Your comments will be considered." Moon said solemnly.
Moon and the rest of the commission went into another room and discussed it.
None of them could disagree that they couldn't see the parent view point. They agreed that the Dream Eater was dangerous but they couldn't agree that he couldn't be captured again. Things had changed, they could have found another way to capture it. If they brought up they might have agreed to help their battle against the Dream Eater, and they would have been quicker. Moon couldn't help but think that maybe they choose a method that made him suffer so much because of their past, she would hope both Marco and Hekapoo wouldn't go down such a dark path.
In the end they agree, that maybe it needed to be done but they still had to punish them for their refusal to talk to the commission about this. For the breach in protocol, they punished Hekapoo removing her from her duties until they said so and grounded her, leaving her unable to leave her dimension or Earth Dimension unless otherwise stated. Marco wasn't a member of the commission or denizen of Mewni but they punished him the same way and he didn't argue against it.
As they exited the meeting Room Hekapoo Marco greeted Seraph and gave her a hug.
Moon Moved over to Star, "I know I asked you before, but are you alright?"
Star smiled and shook her head, "Yeah, I'm fine, mom. I'm fine." Star noticed her hand shaking and moved it behind her back before her mother could notice.
Moon didn't notice, after all Erebus was out there and planning something. What was worse was that the only being he sorted feared, Glossaryck, was missing.
Moon hoped to find him before it was too late.
0000
It started right when her mother put the sleeping spell on her.
At first she thought it was a strange dream because of the Dream Eater, or maybe some weird left over. Then every once in a while when she slept it happened again.
Seraph would find herself in a dark void but she wasn't scared because she wasn't alone. Whenever she dreamt of the darkness there was a bright flame in front of her. It was warm and soothing and it would hum to her, some old song she couldn't place but one that sounded so familiar.
When she dreamt of the flame she slept soundly and peacefully. Some nights she wished to have the dream again. She wondered what that dream meant, she wondered if it had to do with why she was on fire in people's dream.
She didn't know if she would ever know for certain. Seraph just decided to enjoy the dreams filled with fire light and song.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long delays. You would be happy to know that I have already written out the next chapter. We are getting close to the season finale of this story only a two arcs before it. In the meanwhile I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review telling me what you think and what you like. Anyway, some house cleaning. I need some help for beta work. My current beta seems to be getting busy with work and stuff so some help would be good. So if interested in helping please DM me and we will talk.