Author's Note: This would have been longer and more from Eclipsa's view, but it seems I accidentally closed the doc before saving. I had to rewrite everything! Oh well, here's the next chapter.

GEGEGEG

Star Detectives

The dark-haired queen had watched from the shadows as Star was faced with disbelieving friends and family, as well as taking the Commission head on before being completely ignored. It seems, the former queen thought, that things have really fallen apart since I was on the throne. After seeing the blonde teen storm out of the dining hall for the second time that day, Eclipsa used her tunnels to reach Star's room before the teen could.

She felt sorry for the young girl. She really was trying her hardest to be a great ruler. Unfortunately, her subjects were far from compliant, creating more stress for the developing woman than need be. Eclipsa walked quietly through the dark and sat on the edge of Star's bed. She could already hear the heavy footsteps of the depressed teen as she approached her sanctuary. Fluffing a nearby pillow, Eclipsa waited as Star dejectedly opened the door to her room and slammed it shut, turning her light on in the process.

"Everything alright, dear?" She motioned for Star to sit next to her and held out the pillow. Gratefully, the blonde accepted the comforting object and sat down with a sigh.

"Do you think I'm a terrible queen," Star asked as she hugged the pillow, her eyes filled with worry and sadness.

"Have you abandoned your kingdom to marry a monster?"

"…No." Star looked confused at the questioned, but then realized it was a joke, and not a very good one at that. She looked sideways at the former queen, hoping for her to elaborate on her answer.

"Well, then I think you're a swell queen. Much better than I was according to Mewman history," she reasoned with a twinge of sass. "Besides, ruling was never easy, even for me."

"It just…feels like no one believes in me. I feel like such a disappointment to my family."

"What about Marco? How do you feel about him?"

"I don't know anymore. Ever since he told my parents about our little agreement, I don't feel like I can trust him. I know that's why I haven't seen much of him lately and why he's been working his butt off, but…," Star sighed into her pillow, her shoulders sagging like the tired branches of a tree. "Have you found anything out about your family?"

"No, I was hoping the Commission would say something before you met with them, but they just sat there like lumps of dirt. Whatever they know, they're hiding it very well." Eclipsa moved closer to wrap an arm around her adopted many-greats-granddaughter.

"So, you heard my meeting too?" The teen slumped into the woman's embrace, tired from the day she'd had. Eclipsa's hug was different from her mother's, she couldn't explain it, but she could tell there was a difference. Neither was better than the other, it just felt like acceptance while her mother's hug was made from love.

"Yes, but don't worry dear. If you weren't acting queen already, I would have taken away your mother's title and given it to you. One must know and accept their weaknesses to become stronger and closer to reaching their full potential. Remember, 'all knowledge is good knowledge'," Eclipsa reminded. Star nodded with a small smile. She knew that Eclipsa would understand and speak to her like an adult, unlike her mother who only wanted to coddle her like a child.

"Alright, let's look at what we know. First, Ms. Heinous was sucking the souls out of young princesses to retain her youth. Second, she traveled to an old monster temple and the Commission panicked. Third, they don't want us to interfere with whatever it is that Ms. Heinous is involved in. Fourth, someone's tampered with our family tree and I might not be related to you."

"What 'old monster temple', I didn't hear anything about that," the former queen questioned. She felt a twinge at the mention of such a place, reminding her of the place her and her family had chosen to hide out at.

"There's this weird temple in the mountains that has all these drawings of monsters. Ludo, and Toffee I guess, used it as a hide out. There's like, red pillars and stuff," Star explained as she used her hands to try and depict what she was describing.

"Do you…do you think you could take me there? You know, so we can look for signs of what the Commission's hiding," Eclipsa asked. Star's eyes lit up as she threw her pillow behind her.

"Like cops!?" The teen jumped up as she made a finger gun at the nearest wall.

"Uh, I don't know what you mean."

"Detectives, investigators, people who look for clues to solve a mystery. We can be secret detectives like the Mystery Gang from this cool show Marco showed me. There's like, four of them and this talking dog that solve mysteries but aren't legally allowed to, so they do it secretly," the teen began to ramble about cops and other things as she began to change her outfit to a black suit with a matching cap and gloves. Eclipsa shrugged and waited for the teen to calm down.

"So, we can go?"

"Yeah, you want a matching suit?"

"No thanks, I like my outfit the way it is. How are we going to get there?" The former queen looked around for a means of transportation. The teen instantly deflated and stopped smiling at the question.

"Oh, I didn't think about that. Marco's the one with the dimensional scissors and my parents would know if I used the royal scissors. Do you have any ideas?"

"Hm, how about we…steal the scissors? No one would know if we left quickly and returned them before morning. It's late, so no one should need them, right?"

"Oh, that's a great idea! I know where Manfred keeps them," Star said excitedly.

"I can get them in a jiffy, so wait here for me," the dark-haired woman said as she crawled into her tunnel. Star sat on her bed and swung her legs as she waited for the queen to return. Several minutes later, a portal opened into her room as Eclipsa stepped out, scissors in hand. "All aboard."

Star took the scissors and opened a portal to the monster temple Eclipsa wanted to see. Immediately after stepping out, the two heard voices and moved to hide behind a wall. Eclipsa cautiously stuck her head out to see who was in the building with them. She frowned when she saw the red dress of Heckapoo and part of Rhombulus' body.

"It's the Commission," she whispered to Star. The teen opened her mouth in silent shock and strained her ears to hear what the two members were saying.

"Are you sure that no one messed with it," Heckapoo whined as they neared the wall the two females were hiding behind.

"I'm absolutely sure. Plus, I don't even think Ms. Heinous really remembers this place," Rhombulus said as he trudged by. "I'm sure Mina would have noticed by now if she had. I mean, she lives here to make sure no one messes with it."

"With how serious Ms. Heinous is becoming, I wouldn't be surprised if she took down Mina. She's not exactly as strong as she used to be."

"I don't know, I'm tired of hiding this whole ordeal and it's giving me a headache."

"Whatever, let's go check up on Moon and the others. I don't want them left open to any attacks," Heckapoo said. The sound of tearing fabric could be heard as the room lit up. Not long after, the portal closed and the two were surrounded by silence and darkness once again. Eclipsa stepped out and gasped at the room before her.

"It's been so long," she said with tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean," Star asked, confused at her reaction to the decrepit temple.

"This used to be where me and Globgor lived with my daughter," the queen informed a shocked Star. The teen was about to say something when a hand reached out and shoved her away from Eclipsa, knocking her to the ground.

GEGEGEG

Author's Note: Dun dun dunnnnnn! The plot thickens. : ]

Hope you enjoyed!