A Dance with Destiny
Chapter Ten: The Battle for Mewni
Griff's victory over Mercury Dragonfly had won him fame across the land—and it was starting to grate on him.
Whenever he went down to the training yard or the mess hall, knights and their squires would shout out to him.
"Hail, Brightflame!" they'd say, or, "Burning Boy!" or "Look, it's the boy with the flaming sword!" It was nice…for the first three or four times, but after four dozen? Not so much.
Higgs was the worst.
She'd bow low and say, "Pardons, knight with the burning blade," and rise with a smirk so arrogant Griff was unsure how the room could contain her ego. Whenever they entered a new room, she'd shout out: "All rise, for Sir Griff the Brightflame, vanquisher of the evil Dragonflies!" and all the assembled knights or staff would burst out laughing and slam their feet on the ground, shouting, "Griff, Griff, Griff, Griff!"
"Will you stop that!" he'd whisper to her. "I'm not even a knight!"
She'd giggle and put a hand on her hip. "So? Just you wait, Griffy, once Baby Man and I come up with some good lyrics, we'll have a song for you and everything!"
He slapped himself. "Ugh! Please don't."
"Too late; we've already got the first verse down. Wanna hear it?"
"NO!"
She shook her head. "You're right. We can't spoil the song until it's done."
Griff groaned again and looked up at the sky. It was nearing late morning, and the king had yet to make an appearance. I should go wake him. After giving Higgs a quick farewell, Griff made his way through the castle, all the way up to the king's chambers.
Now that I think about it, he thought, the queen hasn't been seen around yet, either. I hope everything's alright.
In the weeks since the tournament, the queen seemed more and more occupied, most likely dealing with the "fritz" that the king had spoken of. The king's research hadn't yielded any information on the old ones, either, but Griff could only deal with so many things at a time.
The king was still asleep, head buried in his pillow, facedown. That can't be good, Griff thought. Walking over to the side of the bed, Griff saw that the mattress was covered in filth and grime. Wincing, Griff put a hand on the king's shoulder and shook.
"Your Grace," he said, "wake up." The queen's absence had affected the king in a great many ways. For one, he was able to do whatever he wanted without fear of his wife's watchful eye, which meant he did his favorite things: partying, dancing, eating, and fighting a monkey. For three days Griff had tried to reign him in, but to no avail—the king was simply too wild to listen to his squire.
The king gasped and sat up, throwing what looked like a giant mascot head out the window. Griff thought he heard the screech of a monkey, but that was likely just his imagination.
"Oh, no," the king said, looking out the open window, where there was, indeed, a white money scampering across the roof. Gosh dang it. "Well, you're free now, little monkey." He looked over. "Griff! How good to see you. What say we get some music?"
"Actually, Your Grace, I don't think—"
The king reached over the bed toward his gramophone but saw that it was covered in corn and spilled drink. Grimacing for a second, the king tried to start the machine, only for it to let out a hissing sound and turn uselessly, taking the food and drink along for the ride.
"Uh, can you come fix my thing?"
Griff sighed and shook his head. "No, Your Grace, but maybe we should—"
"Looks like I've got to go wake somebody up." Crawling off the bed, Griff was disturbed to see that the king was in little more than his underwear.
"Maybe you should get some pants on before—"
"Foolduke! Wake up!"
"He's not even listening to me," Griff muttered. "Don't know why I bother."
Foolduke was lying on the ground, legs spread wide. When the king shouted again, she woke up with a "Ug-huh," spit coming from the side of her mouth in a line.
"Ah, Foolduke. Ha! My music thing isn't working. I need you to take a look at it."
"Where's my monkey?" Foolduke demanded, eyes wide and bloodshot.
The king shrugged on a blue robe and placed his crown on his head. "Oh. Oh. That was your monkey? Can't say that I've seen him. Not to be rude, but there are more pressing matters, you see—"
There was a sound of fabric ripping and a blue swirling vortex opened up in the middle of the room. The king looked on, unconcerned. A boy with tan skin, brown eyes, and brown hair poked a head through the portal. He seemed to be wearing a sort of red tunic over a white shirt, and he had a mole on his cheek.
"Uh, Star? Wow, this place is a mess," the stranger said, stepping out of the portal and carrying a rectangular blue box.
"Marco!" the king cried, running at the boy and crushing him in a hug. Griff heard a soft crunch and knew that the stranger's box had been crushed.
"Oh, hey, River," the boy—Marco—said.
Griff raised an eyebrow. Who is this, and why is he addressing the king so informally? It was true that the king wasn't a stickler about formality, but there was a difference between being informal and being disrespectful.
The king didn't seem to care, though, content with squeezing Marco even tighter. "Marco, my boy! I can't believe you're here! Have you seen Foolduke's monkey?" He whispered the last part.
"Uh…no."
The king separated from Marco. "Well, we'd better keep an eye out. I threw him—Uh?" Looking down, the king noticed the crushed box of what looked like dried flakes of corn. "Well, what's this?"
"Oh, well, they were Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds. It's, uh, Star's favorite cereal. You can't get them on Mewni, so I brought her a box."
Pointing, the king said, "Marco, you're not giving that to my daughter. It's all smashed. Probably a good thing she's not here." He walked away.
Marco let out a low groan, then seemed to take notice of Griff. "Uh…who are you?"
He offered a hand. "I'm Griff, King River's squire. Pleasure." Griff was a few inches taller than Marco, with a deeper voice and lighter skin tone.
"Uh, you too," Marco said, taking the offered hand.
"Look," Griff whispered, "I hate to ask—I mean, we just met—but can you, I don't know, talk to him? He's been a bit crazy lately and I don't know how much more the castle can take."
Marco looked over Griff's shoulder. Across the room, the king was wiggling his fingers at one of the stereos, saying, "Now there must be some other way to summon forth the music. We will rock at you!"
The earthling looked back with a resigned face. "Fine," he sighed.
"Thank you," Griff whispered.
"Look, River, I gotta say I'm pretty worried about Star. She left Earth in kind of a hurry. She's not in trouble or anything, right?"
The king whirled around, aghast. "No, not at all! She and her mother just took a little trip, and Moon Pie asked me to keep up morale in the kingdom until they get back. So we've been rippin' it nonstop for days!"
"I-I don't know, man. Have you looked outside?" Marco walked over to one of the large castle balconies and stood by a railing.
Following, the king said, "What do you mean, 'Have I looked outside?'"
"What I mean is morale doesn't look so high to me."
Down below, Mewmans were running around, screaming in pure terror. Buildings were on fire, and corn carts had been thrown on their sides.
"It's been like this since the queen left, Your Grace," Griff said. "Maybe you should do something."
The king, to his credit, didn't look surprised or worried. "What are you talking about, Marco? The people are happy if their king is happy. Let me show you." He climbed onto the railing. "Greetings, my gleeful subjects!" The Mewmans stopped screaming and looked up. "Ah! Funny story! My know-it-all friend Marco Diaz here seems to think you're not having a good time. And I said, 'That's impossible!' Of course you're having a good time with all these good times I'm having. So tell me, are you not lifted?!"
Someone in the back yelled, "Whoo!" but a raggedy man next to a small stream said, "How's about you lift some of this garbage out of the streets?!"
"Huh? Is that what that stuff is? I thought you were all having a garage sale."
"What are you gonna do about the burning building?!"
"Ah, you have to let one burn every once in a while. How else will you have room for a new one?"
"Well, what about the monster in the cornfield?"
King River looked confused. "There's no monster in the corn—" A loud grumble stopped his sentence. Outside the castle walls, a giant blue-green monster was hunched over, munching on corn.
"That's new," Griff muttered.
The king swallowed. Next to him, Marco's eyes were wide. "Huh. Well, I'll be dipped. Well, I should be able to take care of that." He cracked his knuckles and cried, "Hey, you there! Move along! Scram! Get out!"
The monster stopped eating, looked over, and stood up. Then, lifting a giant clawed foot up, began to march toward the city. People began to mutter and whisper to each other in a panic.
"Don't worry!" the king said. "She'll never make it past the magic shield!"
The monster stepped over the shield. More people screamed.
"There's still the moat! Yes. She'll never make it across the magic moat!"
The monster stepped over the moat. More people screamed.
"The magic traffic cones?"
The monster stepped across the traffic cones. From down below someone yelled, "We're about to die, y'all! Run!" The rest of them took his lead and began a mass panic.
"Hey! Thanks for partyin' us all to our deaths!" an old woman yelled.
The king sniffled, and Griff noticed there were tears in his eyes. "She's right. I'm not fit to rule." He handed Marco the crown and walked back into the castle, closing the door behind him.
"Uh, Your Grace, what should we do about the—" The door slammed before Griff could finish his sentence.
"Hey!" Marco cried.
A metallic clicking sound let them know the king had locked the door.
"You locked us out!"
"Oh, no. Now I've locked you two on the balcony."
"It's okay," Marco said, poking his head through one of the nearby windows. "Just unlock the door."
The sound of sobbing increased. "I can't do anything right!" River shrieked. "I can't do anything right."
"Pathetic," Griff sneered. To think, he was related to this? "We have to do something. Here"—he crouched down and linked his hands together—"I'll give you a boost."
A moment later, Marco managed to fit through the window and unlocked the castle balcony, letting Griff enter.
"Hey, pull yourself together, man!" Marco said, walking to where the king was sitting.
"The monster is almost here, Your Grace," Griff said, not far behind Marco.
"Moon should never have left me in charge," the king was saying. "'The people love you,' she said. 'Keep them happy and safe,' she said. And now, because of me, the kingdom is defenseless!" Across the room, a knight blew a party horn. "Moon didn't even tell me where she was taking Star. What if something happened to them? No wonder I want to party all the time. I'm worried sick!"
"I'm worried, too," said Marco. "Star just... left. Do you have any idea when she'll be back?"
"It's funny you should ask, Marco. Let me show you something. Whenever Moon goes away, she always puts together a few outfits for me, so I know what to wear while she's gone. But... But look at this!" He pointed to a large closet that was full of outfits identical to the one he was wearing now. "She's got them piled up all the way to the top of the room. So it's probably she's not coming back..." He started crying again. "...anytime soon, is she, Marco?"
"I don't know. But they can't ever come home if they don't have a home to come home to."
Outside, the monster growled. The ground was starting to shake from the impact of the footprints.
This has to end soon, Griff thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Gods have mercy.
He took three steps, grabbed the blue robe of the king, hauled him to his feet…
…and punched him as hard as he could across the cheek.
The king fell to the floor with a grunt. Normally, to strike a royal family member would cost whichever appendage had struck the blow, so Griff could kiss his hand goodbye; but there was a chance that wouldn't matter soon.
The king looked flabbergasted. "Wha—You…you just—"
"Get a hold of yourself!" Griff screamed. "There's a monster outside! Defend your kingdom, rally your people!"
"But they hate me! They've never hated me before."
"That doesn't matter," Marco said, giving River his crown. "You're the only king they have."
River chuckled. "You sound just like my wife. And that's what I need!" He put on his crown and walked out onto the balcony. "My people! Please, listen!" When nobody answered, he spoke louder. "We all"—a corn ear hit him in the head—"Ow! Okay, I deserved that. Look, if the queen were here, she'd fix all this with her magic! Well, she's not here! But that doesn't mean we should cower in fear. We still have each other, and together, we can defeat this monster!"
"No offense, King, but you're a terrible king!" a woman screamed.
That seems to be a trend among the Butterflys.
"You're right. I stink at this. But right now, I'm all you've got and you're all I've got."
"We can't do anything!" someone cried.
"We don't have any weapons or magic!" said another.
"We don't need magic to do extraordinary things," the king implored. "Dentist! Construction worker! Remember when you two worked together to dislodge that tooth-shaped rock in the road? Blacksmith! You worked with the turtle sanctuary to make iron shells for the turtles in need! And you two weirdos hold the record for the longest staring contest!" From the crowd, the two having a staring contest lost concentration and one blinked. The other hooted and started jumping up and down. "We all can do something unique and helpful, and that's Mewni's greatest strength! And it's what Queen Moon loves the most about all of you!"
"Yeah, we are pretty good!" someone said from the crowd.
The monster was getting closer. Mewmans began to cheer, their firsts pumping.
"So what do you say? Let's show that monster what happens when it messes with Mewmans!"
There was more cheering.
"Huh! Foolduke, fetch us our loincloths!"
"What?" both Griff and Marco said, looking at each other for confirmation.
Ten minutes later, the king, Marco, Griff (dressed in green grassy loincloths), and all the townsfolk charged out the gates of the Butterfly Kingdom, yelling bloody murder.
The king bent down and licked the ground. "He's near."
Marco pointed. "Yeah, he's right there."
The king climbed onto a small hill. "Hey, monster!" The monster turned. "Go away!"
The monster growled and stepped closer, until he was right in front of the king. "Go away? But you're the one who called me over," the monster said, voice low and grumbly.
"What? I didn't call you over," the king said, looking confused.
"Yes, you did. You kept motioning, 'Come here, come here.'"
"Oh, no, I was motioning, 'Go away, go away!'"
"Oh, no. That's, 'Come here, come here.'"
"No, it's, 'Go away, go away!'"
The monster sighed. "Ugh. So you're telling me I came all this way for nothing? I got, like, a thousand splinters on this foot." He lifted his foot, and Griff winced when he saw a Mewman peasant squished under the heel.
"Help me," he begged.
"You might consider widening the streets a little," the monster said, holding his hands out for emphasis. "Ugh. What a waste of my day." He walked away, grumbling.
The Mewmans were quiet for a second, but then they erupted into loud cheers. "We did it!" King River cried. "Everyone, I'm holding one final off-the-chain party at the castle in honor of all of you!"
"Three cheers for King River!" the blacksmith shouted.
"Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!"
Well done, Your Grace, Griff thought, smiling.
"Hip, hip—" they were cut off by a raspy voice cheering above them. Griff looked over.
A small green bearded thing with a beak and yellow eyes was standing on a giant gray spider with beady red eyes. Next to them was a large bald eagle. The green thing was dressed in a yellow chip bag, and he was smiling.
"Hip, hip, hooray," the green thing said. He raised a hand and opened his palm. He only had two fingers, a thumb, and a tiny stump where his middle finger had been. A green crystal in the middle of his palm began to glow, and an army of rats appeared on top of every building around them.
Before Griff or the king or Marco could respond, the rats charged.
-o-
The dungeons were cramped, damp, and gloomy. Griff, Marco, and King River were confined to a small cell, chained by their wrists to the wall. They had no idea how long they had been there, but Griff guessed it was a few days, at least. The king was doing his best to keep morale up, but there wasn't much he could do. Right now, he was playing chess with Marco, using dead beetles and tiny stones.
"Checkmate," the king said, placing a bug with his foot.
Marco sighed. "I'm bad at everything."
"First rule of chess, Marco: you must always protect your king."
The metal door began to jangle, and the king knocked the board away with his foot. The green thing—Ludo, Marco had called him—stood in the middle of the door, two rats at his side. He was dressed in the king's robes and was wearing the king's golden crown.
Little monster stole that crown, Griff thought. My crown.
"What do you want?" King River demanded, looking angry.
"You're coming with me," Ludo said.
The king shook his head. "No way. I'm not going anywhere with you."
"That's too bad. It's urgent royal business." He walked into the cell and unlocked River's chains. "I need you to command the people to like me."
The king laughed. "Why would I do that? I don't even like you. Shuffling about and talking to that wand hand of yours. It's weird."
Ludo growled. "Fine! If you won't help me, then you can just rot in this cell! Say good-bye to your freedom!" He tried to force the key string onto his neck, but it got stuck on his massive head.
The king was stifling laughter. Marco said, "Oh, Ludo," and Griff snickered, "Behold, the mighty king."
"Butter," Ludo said. One of the rats handed him a stick of butter, which he lathered on his head, causing the key to slide onto his head. "Change of plan. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to figure out a way to make the people of Mewni like me, or I'll... I'll Levitato you into the sky forever!"
"Ooh, I'm so scared," the king said sarcastically.
"Twenty-four hours," Ludo said again. He exited shortly thereafter, taking his guards with him.
"Dude, Ludo's gone completely nuts," Marco said.
"You're telling me. He left behind a perfectly good stick of butter!" The king reached for it with his foots. "Oh, I can…almost taste it."
"Your Grace, now isn't the time for…" Griff gasped. "Butter!" From the looks of it, Marco had the same idea. Marco squeezed out of one of his shoes and began to reach for one of the shoes.
The king, noticing, said, "Yes, yes! You're young and limber. Reach out for it, boy." When the boy reached it, the king gave a triumphant laugh and said, "Excellent! Ha-ha!"
Marco passed the butter to his arm and lathered up his wrists, sliding out of his chains.
"Nice work, Marco," the king complimented.
"Here. Butter yourself up, and I'll see if I can figure a way out of here."
"Try the AC vent."
Marco looked at the metal grate in the corner of the room. "The dungeon has air conditioning?"
The king waved a hand. "It's a dungeon, not a torture chamber."
Marco opened the vent. "Nice! How are those shackles coming?"
River had a suspicious yellow liquid on his lips. "I don't think this is going to work."
"Your Grace!" Griff yelled.
"River! Did you eat the butter, River?" Marco asked.
"...I used to be king," River muttered.
"Okay, okay. I'll go steal that key from Ludo, and then we'll all get out of here."
"You should just go. This isn't your fight," the king said, dejectedly.
"Uh, no, you shouldn't," Griff said. "Get me out of here!"
Marco climbed into the air conditioning vent and began to crawl down the vent.
"Marco, listen to your king!" River whispered.
"Marco, get me out of here!" Griff said.
Marco appeared ten minutes later, crawling out of the sewer entrance in the center of the room with Foolduke, a singer, and the castle mime.
"Ah! Marco!" River said, surprised.
"Hey, king, we're busting you two out of here," he said, unlocking the king's shackles. The king then reshackled himself. "Uh, what are you doing?" Marco asked.
"I won't abandon my people," the king said.
"What?!"
"Sometimes, you've got to let the king go."
Outside the door, Ludo's humming floated into the room. Marco's companions fled down the sewer, and Marco pretended to shackle himself back to the wall.
Ludo pushed the door open and walked into the cell. "Time's up. So, um... ready to... Wait. Wait. Where's my key?" He looked down and saw the key. "I must've dropped my key right in front of you, and you didn't even notice. What?! You could have been running free by now, prancing in the fields! Must make you feel pretty silly." He laughed, then yelled, "Spider!" The spider picked Ludo up. "So are you going to force everyone to like me, or is it Levitato time?"
"You may have the crown, but you will never be king," River said.
"We'll see how you feel once you've been Levitato'd."
Ludo, the eagle, and the spider dragged River away and closed the door.
"No! River!" Marco cried.
"Get me out of here, quick!" Griff said.
Marco unlocked the shackles and pulled Griff into the sewers with him. "Come on!"
A nearby drainage grate gave them a view of the castle courtyard. The king was standing on a wooden platform, surrounded by small folk and flags showing a green half-star on a blue-green field.
"Welcome to the reign of King Ludo!" Ludo said. He gestured to River. "This is what happens to anyone who doesn't show respect and adoration for their king! Do you have any last words?" he asked the king.
"People of Mewni!" River shouted. "I am not afraid—"
"Blah-blah-blah. Levitato." Ludo extended his hand, and a green aura enveloped the king.
"—and neither should yoooooooouuuuuuu!" he screamed as he was pulled into the sky. The peasants began to scream and gasp.
"What are we gonna do now?" Foolduke asked.
Griff and Marco shared a look. "Now," Marco said, "we fight." He wiped brown stuff across his cheeks.
"Uh, you know that's not mud, right?"
Gross, Griff thought.
-o-
The next morning, they received some surprising news: the princess had been captured by Ludo and his minions.
In response, Marco had planned a rescue mission. It was simple: Marco would disguise himself as a rat, free the princess, and call for backup when she was free.
That was how Griff found himself crawling through the rafters of the castle dungeons behind Ruberiot. The group stopped over a large grate. Below, Griff could see Marco speaking with a girl with blonde hair and a green dress.
The princess.
She looks just like me, Griff thought with wonder. My baby sister. He had been the youngest child back home; all of his siblings were girls and all of them older. It had caused him no short amount of irritation. But now, looking at Princess Star, he could say he had found another piece of his family.
The final piece.
Below him, Marco let out a tiny whistle.
"Is that the signal?"
"It doesn't sound like a dove," Ruberiot said.
Marco whistled again. "Morning dove!" he said when nobody answered.
"That's not what a dove sounds like on Mewni," Foolduke called down.
Marco slapped his forehead. "Ugh; just get down here!"
Griff kicked open the grate and hopped down, striking a heroic pose. The other three followed suit, righteous music (courtesy of Ruberiot) following their grand entrance.
"Star, allow me to introduce you to"—Marco put on a blue beret—"La Resistance!" He unfolded a map and everyone crouched down around it to get a better look. "The easiest way to depose a ruler is to destroy his credibility. So, this virtual pet will represent Ludo. And this 650 dollars is us. And this feather is bird and spider. Normally, they're always with him or nearby, except bird and spider break to feed every five hours. When he's alone, we take this air duct to the throne room. And that's when Foolduke hits him with..."
"…rubber chicken!" Foolduke cried, holding out a yellow chicken.
"Nope," Marco said.
"Uh, how about whoopee cushion?"
"No, we talked about this before. Ruberiot?"
"I have a ripping parody song I've been working on."
The princess did not sound amused. "He is great at ruining people's lives with songs. Marco, it seems like you guys are just kinda playing pranks."
"Yeah, we're still working on that payoff part," Marco said sheepishly.
"Okay, look, what you're doing here is, like, totally super-admirable, and Marco, you've never looked cuter in that beret, but Ludo is not the problem here. Toffee is controlling him. And I don't think a song is gonna fix things—"
Ludo suddenly burst in, carrying a tray of tea. "Actually, Star, I was thinking ab—" He stopped when he saw them, dropped his tea, and called, "Guards!"
Less than a minute later, all five of the resistance members were chained to the wall, though Star was still free.
"You'll never silence the resistance!" Ruberiot shouted.
"You!" Ludo said, pointing at Star. "You're coming with me. Levitato!"
A green aura covered the princess—the same aura that covered the king before he was…
"Whoaaah! What the heck?" Star began to struggle against the magic of Ludo's wand. "Oh, of course."
As she was carried out, Griff shouted, "Let her go! Leave her alone!" but he was ignored. The door slammed behind the disgusting green beast.
"We have to get out of here!" Griff said, struggling against his chains. "We need to help the princess."
Marco said, "Griff, Griff, Griff! You need to calm down."
"But—"
"We can't help Star until we figure out a plan. And I think I've got one." He glanced at all of them. "Follow my lead." He sucked in a deep breath and screamed, "We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent!"
"Uh, what are you doing?" Foolduke asked.
"Trying to get some attention, now come on! We are the resistance! We remain insistent!"
Griff shrugged and took up the call: "We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent!"
Pretty soon all of them—except the mime—were saying the words:
"We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent! We are the resistance! We remain insistent!"
Two rat guards opened the door, armed with spears. One of them was wearing Marco's hat.
"You can't silence the resistance! And gimme back my beret," Marco said.
The rats ignored him, instead walking right up to him, putting their spears under his chin.
"Wait, why are you...? Actually, the resistance can be quieter."
Only Griff stopped chanting. The others kept it up.
"Be brave, Marco!" Ruberiot said. "You may fall, but the resistance lives on!"
"What?!" One of the rats pushed the spearpoint to his skin. "Wait, why just me?"
A large shadow covered one of the rats, was suddenly thrown against a wall. The other one was slapped aside and hit the floor with a large thud. Where they had been, a large frog with pointed ears and a green jerkin stood, grinning. "Karate boy," he said.
"Buff Frog!" Marco cried happily.
"And…" The green frog stood aside, and there, wearing dusty and beautiful armor, stood the queen herself.
"Marco! Griff!"
"Queen Moon!" they both cried.
She ran at them, cheeks glowing, and cut their chains off.
"Where's Star?" the queen demanded.
"She's gone!" Griff said.
"Ludo took her," Marco said. "We have to find her…"
"…before something awful happens!"
The Buff Frog spoke next: "What about the"—he gestured to the chained Mewmans—"arts-and-crafts friends?"
Marco glared at them. "The resistance will live on without me."
The resistance groaned and looked sad, but they were ignored. Buff Frog punched a hole in the wall and they made their escape through there. Buff Frog hoisted them up and began to jump from balcony to balcony. He almost missed one and had to hold on with one hand to avoid falling. "Star!" the queen called, pulling herself up. Marco and Griff followed closely behind.
Across the yard, on another balcony, stood Star and Ludo. "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Marco. Hi…uh…"
"Griff!" the squire called. "I'm Griff."
"Hi, Griff." A tiny green horse made of misted floated up next to the princess. She looked rueful. "I, uh... I'm sorry, you guys." The horse nickered and evaporated.
Moon was tearing up. "The... The Whispering Spell." She slammed her fists on the railing. "No! Star! You get... you get away! You run away from there!"
It's too late, Mom," Star said.
Ludo stood next to the princess. "So does this mean that everything's back to normal?"
"It's not over yet."
"What do you mean it's not—" A green light exploded on the balcony, lightning and crackling air almost blinded everyone. When the light faded, the tower was completely gone.
"No!"
"Star!"
"Buff Frog, we have to go now!" Buff Frog nodded and scooped them up once again, jumping down to the crater that had once been the tower. Moon shoved aside some of the rubble and pulling out Ludo's unconscious body, shaking it. "Ludo, where's Star?"
The green creature's eyes opened, and they were pink—no iris, no pupil, no nothing. Just pink.
"Where's my daughter?" Moon demanded.
When Ludo spoke, he talked with the princess's voice: "Mom! Mom, Mom! I'm in here!"
Griff flinched. What magic is this?
"Star, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me!"
The queen hugged Ludo tight. "Oh, thank goodness! Oh!" She kissed Ludo's face.
"Mom, stop it," the princess muttered, pushing at her face.
"Oh, Star! Where are you?"
"Well, I-I'm totally fine, but, uh, but, ah... I don't exactly know where I am."
"That's okay, sweetie. The important thing is, you're safe. Just stay right there. [starts breaking up] And no matter where you are, we'll find you. We just need to know where you are."
Ludo's eyes closed.
"Star, are you still there?" Moon asked, panic obvious.
Ludo's eyes were quiet for a long while, but when they opened, they were green, not pink. "Hello, Moon." This voice was different: deeper, and more confident. Almost friendly.
"Toffee," Moon said, and Marco and Buff Frog gasped. Griff knew who Toffee was. Father had told him all about the Lizard. He had killed Cosmos's grandmother, Queen Comet, before he was born.
The little green bird-thing began to float in midair.
"Give us back Star," Moon demanded.
Ludo/Toffee smiled. "Oh, of course. But I'd like something from you first. Something that belongs to me." He held out his hand—the one with the missing finger.
Queen Moon reached into her tunic and pulled out a glass jar with a cork in the top. "Take it," she said, holding it out for him.
"Poor little Butterfly," mused Toffee, "you've lost your wings. Now, Your Majesty, do we have a deal?"
Moon uncorked the jar and dumped the green finger in his open palm. When he closed his fist, the finger began to reattach itself. Ludo's eyes went dark; then his hand stuck out, and the skin on his finger began to cover the rest of himself, forming a sort of coating over Ludo's body, forming a skeleton, muscle, skin, clothing, until he now looked like a tall, handsome, suited lizard with dark, neat hair. He doubled over, vomiting out Ludo, covered in green slime, with a "Yeech."
Toffee straightened back up, held out his hand, and showed off the green stone in his hand.
"Where's my daughter? Moon demanded.
"Where'd Star?" asked Marco.
Toffee closed his fist, crushing the green gem into dust. "She's gone." Then he began walking away.
Marco, Buff Frog, and Griff gasped. Moon stood still as a statue, eyes filling with tears. Purple veins began to spread along her arms, and she began to run at Toffee. With a wail, she threw a punch, but Toffee knocked it aside. She threw another punch, and another, but Toffee caught both her hands with his. She wrenched her hands free and brought out the wand, pressing it to Toffee's chest, right where his heart was. "I call the darkness onto me," she began to recite, "from deepest depths of Earth and sea! From ancient evils unawoken, break the one who can't be broken! From blackest night I pledge my soul and crush my heart to burning coal! To summon forth the deadly power to see my hated foe devoured!"
They stood there in silence, Moon sobbing softly. Then Toffee grabbed her wrist and asked, "Are you finished?"
Marco, in response, punched a whole through his chest. Both Moon and Toffee looked surprised. Toffee threw Marco against a wall of debris, cracking the stone. Marco slumped to the ground, Buff Frog rushing over to him. Toffee grabbed Moon by the shoulders and shoved her back, forcing her legs into the ground until she was buried waist-high. He began to walk away again.
Something in Griff—no, Cosmos's chest stirred, something dark and malicious, braying out for lizard blood. Before he could think about what he was doing, he had taken less than a dozen steps, wrenched the ugly bastard around by his shoulder, and punched him as hard as he could across the jaw.
Toffee staggered, then recovered, grabbing Griff by the neck. He hauled the struggling boy up, choking him. "You look familiar," he said. "Have we met?"
"Sod off," Griff said through choked breaths.
"Hmm. Oh, well." Toffee spun and threw the squire across the crater. He bounced one, twice, thrice, then came to a stop, hitting his head off of a rock.
When he came to, the queen was hunched over the wand, uselessly trying to fit the broken pieces back together. There were tears running down her cheeks, and Toffee was nowhere to be found. It was over. Star was dead. They had lost…
…at least until the ground began to shake and the wand started glowing. Taking to the air, a purple aura covered the wand, which began to repair itself slowly. A tear opened in reality, and a familiar figure stepped through, taking a hold of the wand with one hand. Star began to change; her skin was gold, her horns grew longer, she got more arms, and four large golden wings.
"Star!" Moon gasped, tears in her eyes.
"Hi, Mom!" Star said, voice distorted.
"Hi, sweetie. Don't you look lovely."
"Where's Toffee?"
Moon pointed. Star raised the wand and blasted Toffee with a large concentration of golden magic. The monster screamed and was left as a corpse of black goop and sinew, barely alive.
Star fell to the ground, her wings slowing her descent so she floated to the floor, facedown. She gasped and opened her eyes, breathing heavily.
"Star!" everyone said. They all tackled her with hugs. Griff supposed he looked strange, hugging a girl he barely knew, but he didn't care. His baby sister was alive. All was right with the world.
"Oh, my baby!" Moon said.
"Hi," Star said.
"Hi," said everyone.
There was a squishing sound, and Toffee raised his head, all black goop and two yellow eyes. "You think you've won? Ha! You don't make the plans! I do! Me! Only I know how this all turns out!" A tower crushed him.
"It turns out you're dead," Ludo said, grinning. "That's what you get! Hey! Look! Look what I did! All by myself!" He picked up Toffee's eyes and began squeezing it. "'Oh, no! I can't see a thing!' Ha-ha!"
"Do you think he's really gone?" Marco asked.
Buff Frog said, "Looks pretty gone to me."
"Can't get more gone than that!" Ludo said.
"Definitely gone," Griff said.
Marco turned to the princess. "Star, I've never seen you do a spell like that before."
"Yeah, I'm not sure what that was," she confessed.
Ludo cleared his throat. "Okay, princess. I think we can both agree that I've got some stuff to work on." He held out his pair of dimensional scissors.
"You want me to cut off the beard?"
"No! Throw me back in the void. I need... to find myself."
Star opened a portal. Ludo threw himself into her arms. "I'm ready," he said.
"Do you, uh, need a minute with them?"
The spider and eagle had appeared. Ludo began to tear up. "What, them? I'm sorry. I have intimacy issues. Try to move on."
"Okay. Well, here goes." Star tossed him in, summoned a bag of chips, and threw those in too. "Good luck."
Above, they could hear what sounded like a choir singing. "An army of eagles with he at the helm/Rescued the children and brought us all home." The clouds opened, and they saw King River sitting on a giant eagle, whooping. "Handsome and fearless, valiant and strong," the children sang, atop their own eagle, "Our dearest King River we praise him in song."
"Papa!" Star cried.
"Your Grace!"
The king landed, and Star and Griff rushed to embrace him. Marco came running over, saying, "That was amazing!"
The king laughed. "Ever since Ludo Levitato'd me, I've been living among the eagles. They made me their king, too! Where is Moon Pie?"
"I don't know," Star said. "She was just here."
The king waved a hand. "I'm sure she's alright. Now, what's say we head back to the castle, and have the greatest party Mewni has ever seen!"
The king hoisted Star and Griff onto his shoulders, and Buff Frog grabbed Marco. Star was laughing, and Griff was smiling despite himself.
This family is freaking crazy, he thought, and I love it.
-o-
It was indeed, the greatest party Mewni had ever seen. The queen had returned, and all was right in the world. The resistance had been freed, and Griff could have sworn he saw Ruberiot and Foolduke heading toward one of the castle broom closets. The mime gave him a "no telling" gesture, and Griff gave her a "lips are sealed" sign.
There was dancing, music, food, fighting, drinking, and basically any form of chaotic revelry. Star and Marco were talking in one of the corners, and it seemed only right to leave them be.
"Griff!"
Turning, he saw Higgs running at him. She tackled him with a hug.
"Oh, you idiot!" she said, laughing. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?"
He laughed and hugged her. "I guess not."
"Oh, you're filthy. What happened?"
"Believe it or not, it actually…"
There was a loud banging sound. The music went quiet, and everyone stopped talking. The king was standing in front of the dais, banging on a cup with a fork.
"Attention, everyone," he called. "I'm sorry about the music, but before we continue, there is an urgent matter I must deal with." He leveled his gaze with his squire. "Griff, come here."
All eyes were on him as he walked through the heavy crowd and stood before the king. "Your Grace?"
"Before my brief usurpation," the king said, "my squire helped me overcome my own self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy." When people began to clap, he held up a hand. "However, he also struck me across the face with his hand. Right here," he said, pointing to his cheek. There were gasps from the crowd, and Griff felt something harden in his throat. So much for forgiveness.
"You know the punishment, Griff," he said. "There's only one proper way to deal with this. Kneel."
Griff wanted to cry, but he knelt, head down, black hair blocking his face.
There was a light sigh as the king pulled a sword from its scabbard. He's going to kill me, Griff realized. I tried to help and he—he's going to kill me!
"Stop!" Marco cried. "He was only trying to help!"
"That may be so," the king said, "but I can't let this go without giving my squire what he deserves."
"But—"
"No, Marco," Griff said, sniffling. "It's okay. Just, make it quick. Please…"
The king grunted. "Very well." He raised the sword…
…and tapped it thrice; once against Griff's right shoulder, then the left, then the right. The boy looked up, tears welling up.
"Griff of Squalor's Hook," the king said, voice carrying across the room, "you struck a royal family member, yes; but you also fought to keep me safe, helped me get over my own faults, staged a resistance against a would-be conqueror, and bested a Dragonfly pretender in defense of this kingdom. There is nobody more deserving that you for this. I name you Sir Griff, and rasie you to knighthood."
This time the king could not stop the cheers. Higgs was crying, though she was fighting to stop it. Marco was whooping, and Star was clapping and whooping.
"Rise, sir," King River said, holding out a hand. Griff took it gratefully. "For you," he said, holding out the sword. When Griff took it, a long orange flame flickered down the blade.
"BRIGHTFLAME! BRIGHTFLAME! BRIGHTFLAME!" everyone cried. The steel was cool; Griff could hardly feel the flames.
"Enchanted with magic fire," Queen Moon said when the cheering died down. "Wouldn't want you burning yourself, would we?" She winked and said, "It was my idea."
"T-Thank you, Your Grace."
The king cleared his throat. "Yes, well, now that that's out of the way, I think it's time I give you your first knightly task."
Griff knelt and laid the sword at the king's feet. When his hand left it, the flame went out. I'll call it Brightflame, he thought giddily. What better name for my sword?
"I, King River Butterfly, charge you, Sir Griff, to act as my daughter, Princess Star Butterfly's sworn shield. You will accompany her wherever she goes, keep her safe, and protect her at all costs, from this day, until she comes of age."
"Thank you, Your—wait, what?"
A/N: Okay everyone, what'd you think? A lot happened this chapter, so let me know what you thought either in a review or a PM. Follow if you want to be alerted to when I update, and favorite to show me you enjoy the story so far. Before I go, I have a question I ask you.
Should Cosmos become romantically involved with anyone?
Since he'll be journeying to Earth with Star and meeting a lot of lovely ladies, should he get with any of them or should he remain a bachelor? I only ask because every king needs a queen, and I want to be able to write a convincing courtship over the course of Cosmos's time on Earth or on Mewni. Let me know in either a review or a PM, and I'll pick the most popular one.
Bye!