Author's Note: Oh boy! We've been AU with this story, but more so now that I'm kinda just letting it run a natural course. I'm still going to include major events because they help move the plot along. Let me know in the comments if anyone wants me to work on that M-rated Moon X River fanfic. If I get 5 or more comments calling for it, I'll write it.

GEGEGEGEG

Diverging Paths

To say that the people of Mewni were angry about Star handing the wand over to the 'Queen of Darkness' and 'Monster Lover' was a serious understatement. The Mewmans were livid with the acting queen's decision are filled the streets with some not-very-nice posters defaming her. The worst part, this had all occurred one hour after she had done the deed. If it hadn't been for their great respect for Queen Moon, they would have tossed the young teen out for such an action. While Moon talked the angry mob down, Star was escorted by the Magical High Commission to a part of the castle that had survived during the attack. Star was no fool, she knew that her mother was going to give her the lecture of a lifetime. Unfortunately for Moon, Star was prepared to stick up for herself this go around.

Star jumped as the door was thrust open. An angry Moon marched in, followed by Rhombulus and Heckapoo. Well, to Star, perhaps angry didn't quite fit the look of absolute rage and disappointment lining the face of the once stoic queen. Her instincts yelled 'danger' with each approaching step, but Star knew better than do back down now. Hadn't her parents always taught her to be sure of something and then commit to it if it was the right thing to do? Swallowing her fear down, Star faced her mother head on, her glare matching her mother's. Moon motioned for the Commission members to leave, but they ignored that order and merely crossed their arms.

"I don't think so, Moon," Heckapoo voiced lowly. "Star might be tainted after all. We'll need to do some thorough testing before we leave her alone with you."

Before Moon could argue with the other woman, Star jumped to her defense. "I'm not tainted you guys!"

"Sounds like something a person who's been tainted would say," Rhombulus retorted.

"Ugh," Star screeched, dragging her hands across her face. "You guys are seriously gonna stand there and judge me when you're the corrupt ones!"

"Let's just get to the point," Moon interrupted. "You gave the wand, and essentially, the throne, to Eclipsa. Do you know what you've done?"

"I mean, you just said what I did," Star grumbled. She crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. "And, of course, I know what I've done. I've been thinking about it for some time now. The throne doesn't belong to us; it belongs to Eclipsa Butterfly."

The three gasped, Moon's shoulders sagging. "You can't be serious, Star!"

"I have never been more sure or serious in my life," Star said, her voice raising slightly. "When are you going to trust my judgement? Huh? Or, would you rather have Marco rule instead?"

"Star, you've handed Mewni's greatest enemy the most powerful weapon in all the dimension. Now is not the time to be petty. I don't see what this has to do with Marco. He didn't tell you to hand the wand over, nor did he tell you to let them escape. In case you've forgotten, Eclipsa tried to kill me two months ago!" Moon marched up, looking down at her daughter. Why the teen was so stubborn, she'd never understand.

"For the last time, Eclipsa isn't EVIL!" Star shouted. She did not enjoy having her mother look done on her like she'd done something wrong. Star knew she did the right thing and she'd make them understand one way or another. "Oh, and Marco. Yeah, I saw you getting chummy with him. Laughing at his stupid, cute little face, you didn't think I'd check in on you. And Eclipsa only attacked you because she thought you had something to do with her family's disappearance. But those two," Star said, pointing towards the Commission members, "they did that and not us. Eclipsa already apologized to me about that and explained why. The Commission lied to us but you're too stubborn to see that."

"DON'T-," Moon took a deep breath before continuing, "Don't tell me that I'm stubborn, young lady. You're the one going around and handing things over to evil queens. The Commission are here to maintain order. They would never do anything to endanger the Butterfly family."

"Have you asked them? 'Cause I will if you're too scared to." Star turned away from her mother and crossed her arms. "Well, did you switch Eclipsa daughter with Festivia?"

Heckapoo gasped and Rhombulus sputtered. He looked between the teen and his senior member. Heckapoo quickly closed her mouth, grunting at the teen. "Of course we didn't. Eclipsa's daughter is Festivia."

"No she isn't," Star argued. She uncrossed her arms to clench her hands into fists. "Eclipsa said that wasn't her daughter. Her child is Meteora, who became known as Ms. Heinous. I don't know how, but I'll prove it and clear her name."

"Even if that were true, which it isn't," Heckapoo denied, "Eclipsa is still evil and cannot reclaim the throne."

"Yes she can because I say so," Star said, pointing to herself. "I was acting queen and made the decision which means Eclipsa has to abdicate in order for me or my mother to reclaim the throne."

"Unbelievable!" Heckapoo grumbled. "Things would have run far more smoothly if we had just left Moon in charge and had River do everything else. Children shouldn't be allowed to rule, ever!"

Star growled at the other woman. "So what? I've proven your point that I'm not a good queen in your eyes. I know what I'm doing, and that's the best thing for Mewni's inhabitants, not just the royal family. I am the only one who is looking at all the facts while the rest of you continue to hate monsters. You can't stand the thought of someone even half monster taking the throne, can you?"

The three remained silent, considering their next course of action against the rebellious teen. Heckapoo finally spoke up. "Moon, get your kid under control. Rhombulus and I are going to track down Eclipsa and refreeze her. I suggest keeping Star under heavy surveillance; can't have her screwing anything else up." Rhombulus sighed but nodded in agreement. "Come on Rhombulus, let's go freeze us an evil queen."

"She isn't guilty of anything but being in love," Star shouted at the pair as they left. She turned back to her mother. "You're just gonna let them wrongfully imprison her?"

"Star, she's evil. She's not some innocent victim in a story. I don't know how else to make you understand," Moon sighed. She looked tired. Her clothes were dirty, her armor scratched and dented, and her hair was a mess.

"Whatever," Star mumbled, crossing her arms once more. "You don't care about the truth, you're just like the rest of them, a monster hater. I don't have time for this. I'm gonna go find a way to free Eclipsa from your reign of terror." Star started walking towards the door when she felt Moon's hand on her shoulder.

"Star…I…I can't let you just run off again. Every time I leave you alone, trouble follows you back here. People have lost their home and nearly died because of Ms. Heinous. This isn't a game, it's real life. It's time for you to grow up and see that."

Star sucked in a sharp breath, tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly, the thought of being stuck in a realm with gumbo and Glossaryck didn't seem so bad. At least, when she was dead, everyone believed in her. Star pulled away from her mother, choking back the sobs that were beginning to take control. She ran away from the room, ran until she found what remained of her and collapsed on the floor to cry. Confessing to Marco didn't hurt this bad. Dying hadn't hurt this bad. What was the point of family if they didn't believe in you? She hugged herself, hoping that her mother would come over and say it was all a ploy to trick the Commission. That Moon had been on her side the entire time. But her mother never came looking for her, nor her father.

There was a knock on the wall by the doorway. Star turned to face a disheveled Marco who offered her a small smile. "Hey," he said, stepping over her fallen door and into the room. "Uh, I don't mean to interrupt, but I don't really think it's safe to be on this side of the castle. I'm surprised the floor hasn't collapsed underneath you already." The boy chuckled nervously. "Your, uh, your parents asked me to get you for supper…and to have a doctor look at you."

"I'm not hungry," Star answered dejectedly. She moved her gaze to the floor.

"I'm really sorry about all of this…," Marco said, holding his hand out towards her.

"I thought you were friend, Marco."

His hand dropped at the comment. "We are friends. Why wouldn't we be?"

"You haven't been on my side this entire time. You don't trust me anymore. What happened to you being there for me?" Star looked up from the floor, a glare beginning to form on her face. "I needed you to back me up, but instead, you went running to my parents."

"Star," Marco said, stepping forward. "Look, your parents are waiting for us."

"I'm not hungry," the teen repeated.

"Star, they want you down there with them-," Star cut him off.

"They want me down there so they can keep an eye on me. They want to trap me for doing something good. For once, I don't want to be selfish and do what I want to do, I'm doing this for Eclipsa and her family."

"They don't-."

"Yes, they do, Marco. I'm their prisoner know, not their daughter. I'm just like Eclipsa now."

"You didn't try to kill your mother," Marco offered.

"That was an accident."

"How do you accidentally aim a fireball at the Queen of Mewni?"

"She thought mother was bad, and you know what? She was kinda right. Mom is a terrible person for not helping the monsters of Mewni," Star argued.

"Star, your mother and father love you. What about them makes them terrible people?"

"You wouldn't understand Marco, they've pulled you in with their orderly lives. A nice little family of the 'Safe Kids' to make you feel like you fit in."

"Hey now!"

"Marco just go away!"

"No, you're coming down to eat and get checked by doctor." He stepped in and grabbed her arm to drag her downstairs. "If you think about it, I'm a much better spy for your parents and the Commission than any other person on Mewni." Star decided to go limp in his grasp, making him have to half carry, half drag the teen all the way down the five flights of stairs and into the remains of the dining hall. He was out of breath and sweating heavily as River ran over to Star.

"Oh my little girl," the king shouted as he pulled her into a hug. "I've heard such terrible things about how you've been tainted, my dear," he whispered in her ear. "Blink once if you need help and we'll take that terrible queen down."

Star pushed him away and turned her back on them.

"No!" River shouted dramatically. "How will I be able to tell if my little shooting star has been brainwashed." He knelt in anguish as he tore his shirt to pieces.

"River, cut it out," Moon chastised. She turned to their daughter. "Star, come and eat."

Star refused to turn around.

"Star," Moon warned, voice lowering. "Eat."

"No."

"Moon, whatever shall we do? We've lost our daughter to that despicable monster lover," River cried, tugging at the hem of his wife's dress. "Marco, my boy, save Star from that wretched woman."

"Ugh, you guys are the worst," Star said. She skirted around the group and grabbed a leg of meat and began to angrily chew. "You don't listen to me, you don't support me, and now you're patronizing me by acting as though I'm a child under the control of somebody evil. Which, again, Eclipsa is not!" She chugged a goblet before slamming it back down on the table.

Everyone watched as Star began to pace back in forth in front of the fireplace, seething and gritting her teeth. A doctor scurried in and merely bowed to the princess. Thankfully, she simply stood still as she examined the teen. Nothing was said between the two. The doctor rubbed a cream on some sore spots and cuts before leaving her. It seemed no one would be questioning her decision until the teen had calmed down some more. Unfortunately, Moon just didn't know when to quit.

"Star, you need to change."

The princess glared at her mother, then began to stomp out of the room. She could faintly hear her mother questioning Marco about her previous behavior as she walked back to her room. She spotted one of the secret entrances and smiled. Star would still be able to sneak out when she needed to, but she needed to get ahold of her own pair of scissors before she left the castle. First, she was going to change because her clothes were indeed dirty from trekking in the forest for so long. Using the little magic she had regained since the fight; Star fixed her room so that she wouldn't have to worry about intruders. Then she changed into a new outfit with cactuses. (Hey, she was feeling a bit prickly with all the 'adults' telling her what was 'right' and 'wrong.') Checking the corridor for any guards, Star closed the door and looked for the hidden passage Eclipsa had used. To her delight, she found the tunnel still intact and hidden from unsuspecting castle dwellers.

"Hm," Star hummed to herself, "it's gonna be a bit lonelier without Eclipsa here to cheer me up when the others jump on my case." She slammed her fist onto her open palm. "I can do this. I don't need them to prove her innocence. I just need to think of where to look to prove that the Commission's been lying to us." Star looked around her room and found a picture she'd taken of her, Pony Head, and Princess Marco the night they overthrew Ms. Heinous. It felt like something was calling to her about it. Then it clicked. "I have to go back to St. Olga's and find out Ms. Heinous' past!"

GEGEGEGEG

Eclipsa returned to Monster Temple, opening the hidden door that led to Meteora's nursery. Handing the babbling child her discarded Bobo, Eclipsa turned to the wall where Omnitraxus Prime confessed to hiding the crystalized form of her husband. True to his word, Globgor was indeed crystallized behind the wall and he looked pretty angry. Baby Meteora cooed at the image of her father, trying to hug him through the thick crystal.

"I'm very sorry, little one. He can't feel you through the crystal," she informed with a sigh. Settling Meteora in for the night, she decided to spy on Star and see just how much trouble the poor teen found herself in.

The image before her made her heart clench in pity. Star lay on the bed as she her mother and a young boy tried to 'talk some sense' into her. Just as stubborn as her mother, Star remained quiet and ignored the two as they questioned her for information. Poor girl looked ready to throw in the towel, but she remained calm as her two intruders talked until they were blue in the face. At one point, Star rolled over and feigned sleep and pulled the covers over her head. Eventually, the two gave up and left the room. Following Moon, Eclipsa watched as guards were posted around the teen's door. Shifting back to Star with a yawn, Eclipsa was surprised to see Heckapoo appear in the young girl's room.

"Alright, spill it Star, where did Eclipsa go?" Heckapoo questioned without restraint.

"I don't know. Geez!"

"Rhombulus, do your thing," Heckapoo ordered. "We'll take her back with us and question her without having to worry Moon finding out."

"Uh…," Rhombulus scratched his head. "I don't know."

Eclipsa wasted no time as she left to defend Star. She raced quickly to the only intact room above the ruins and used one of the secret entrances to get to the tunnel in Star's room. The two seemed to be chasing Star as she avoided crystallizing blasts. Carefully slipping out, Eclipsa filled the room with a heavy mist and pulled the girl through the tunnel. The two rushed out the way the queen had entered. Holding tight to each other, the green-haired woman carried them back to Monster Temple where a sleeping Meteora barely stirred at the sound of them coming in.

"How did you know to come and rescue me?" Star asked gratefully. She hugged the older woman tighter.

"I saw them through the All-Seeing Eye. I couldn't let them crystallize you like they crystallized me." She returned the hug before stealing a glance at her baby.

"Whoa, is that…," Star stopped to point at the giant crystal.

"Yes, it is. Star, meet Globgor." The queen smiled proudly at her husband before it began to shrink on her face. "You wouldn't happen to know how to break Rhombulus' crystals, would you?"

"Afraid not," Star responded in awe. "How did you know where to find him?"

"I had Omni tell me, though it took a lot of convincing."

"Oh…yeah?"

"Nothing terrible, I promise."

Star nodded before lowering herself to the ground. "I shouldn't be surprised that the Commission turned on me, but I am a bit." She sighed before laying flat on her back as she stared at the ceiling. "I'm just so tired of it. I never wanted to be queen, but I want to help fix Mewni."

"Star, you've done more for Mewni than any other queen, and my mother slayed monsters." Eclipsa frowned. "You can take the wand back to your mother, if you want."

"What?" Star asked, sitting up. "No, it belongs to you and the true Butterflies. We're just, we're just a bunch of nobodies. What needs to happen is people accepting you as queen. First, we gotta depose the Commission. Everyone already sees my actions as final, but the Commission will take the throne back by force if we can't prove that you're the only remaining Butterfly fit to rule."

"But how are we going to do that? I've been gone for three hundred years, Star. I know you want to help me, but this is a losing battle. I don't want to see another family fall apart because of the monarchy," Eclipsa admitted.

Star shook her head. "I know how to prove your innocence, but it requires you going on trial and I would need my mother's help. For now, we need to find evidence to convince her that we're telling her the truth."

"Okay, how do we do that?"

"We go to St. Olga's and find information about Meteora and how she got there. If it's enough to convince her to help us with the trial, we can set a trap to catch the Commission in a lie."

"If you want records on Meteora being switched, we can take your mother to the Royal Archives and show her my scroll."

"Ooh, that'll work too," Star added excitedly. "Come on, let's plan how this is all gonna go down to make this as swift as possible." She pulled the older queen down and began to lay out their plan in detail. After they finished planning, Star conjured up a sleeping bag for the two and went to sleep. In the morning, Eclipsa would free Omni before they left for St. Olga's to ensure good faith in the current royal family. Star just hoped it would be enough to convince her mother and Marco.

GEGEGEGEGEG

Author's Note: I'll post the next chapter tomorrow before I leave out of town. If I get back in early enough Sunday, I'll post a chapter then too. I hope all of you are enjoying so far!