Monsters. They were everything that was wrong with Mewni, all of its faults and hardships wrapped up into one easy scapegoat. Monsters, the less intelligent species that was both frightening in appearance and horribly violent in nature. Monsters, the beasts that mewmans celebrated their independence and freedom from every year. The murderers and rapists of Mewni's past, the creatures their ancestors brought justice to all those generations ago.
Monsters, the vile species that poisoned these lands before the humble mewmans arrived and saved it. Monsters, the vicious creatures that our ancestors defeated and drove back into the forests in exile. Monsters, they were the villains of ever story told to us as children. They were vicious and uncaring creatures of the night, relying on darkness and the flesh of innocent mewman children to survive.
Monsters were evil.
Mewmans. They were everything that was wrong with their planet, all of its anger and suffering derived from one people. Mewmans, the more advanced species that was both frightening in appearance and horribly violent in nature. Mewmans, the beasts that taunt them with their annual celebration of the monsters greatest shame, the day their homes were stripped from them.
Mewmans, the cruel species that took their great land and destroyed it, tearing down forests for their castles and riddling fields with destruction and death. Mewmans, the fiendish species that decimated their ancestors, tearing apart their families and taking their lives. Mewmans, they were the villainous tyrants of every tale that monsters told their children. They were cruel, without moral or mercy relying on their magic and the flesh of innocent monster children to survive.
Mewmans were evil.
Evil, it was such a definitive term with such a flexible concept. A being was evil if it was immoral and wicked, cruel and unjust, but morals and justice was determined by those in power to do so. What was wicked and cruel had always been decided by those making the rules.
Good and evil, it was merely a matter of perspective, it was never set and stone like a wheel forever in motion. This race on top, then that one, then this one again and on and on and on it goes, one party always crushing those below them. Everybody's time on top was limited but always devastating.
You see, no being was ever born evil. No child is cruel and wicked until they have cruelty and wickedness thrust onto them. No man or woman is immoral or unjust because they were born that they, they had immorality and unjustness done onto them. No being, of any race was evil, until we made them that way.
The monsters were not a vile, savage race like the mewmans thought, nor were the mewmans a tyrannical, unfeeling race as the monsters believed. This was the truth and both sides had been too ignorant for too long to see beyond the lie they had created for themselves.
If only the two species had been capable of more than petty violence all those centuries ago. If only the two had been able to overcome their differences. If only the ruling parties on either side had been able to avoid genocide. If only families had not been separated by imprisonment or death. If only a peace had been cultivated between monster and mewman. If only If they had then millions of innocent lives may have been spared and generations worth of conflict and hatred avoided.
If only.
-Line Break-
It was a beautiful evening. The stars were bright and plentiful and the kingdom itself seemed more peaceful than ever. One would be forgiven for thinking that it was a perfect evening and that the mewmans living within the kingdoms walls were happy and resting. One would also be forgiven for thinking that there wasn't an army being prepped beyond those walls and that the people inside were not in fat gearing up themselves.
If only.
No, instead of the perfect night it should have been, the people of Mewni were up and busy preparing for war and mourning the death of their late Queen Aurora Butterfly. Not a soul was not saddened and not a man women or child was not mourning, every person within the walls falling to grief over the Queens death. All surrounded themselves with friends and family to get through the tough times. All except one.
Alone in the highest tower of Butterfly Castle was Moon, daughter of the late Aurora Butterfly and now the youngest queen in mewman history. She stood in silence, no father, no siblings and no friends to support her. Moon stood in her childhood room gazing down at the small painting in her hands, a portrait of her and her mother together in a gentle, loving hug. Her mother's faces was imbued with energy and alight with joy, a joy Moon hadn't seen since.
The tower had been her childhood room, furnished with the finest of items. There was a massive bed with silken sheets and blood wood frames from the bleeding tree, dresses of incredible value woven from the finest of materials and crafted by the most talented designers in all of Mewni. She had a great library filled with any and every book that had interested her, containing topics ranging from warnicorn breeding and care to various fairy tales and other stories for children.
She was surrounded by her belongings yet found that nothing mattered to her any more. There was no fun to be had in her toys or joy to be gained from her stories. All that mattered was her and her mother, after her father's death it was all that had mattered to her. As princess to Mewni she had lacked the freedom to do as she pleased. She couldn't meet people like other lords or ladies and certainly not like commoners. She couldn't do as she wished, her magic lessons and royal duties consumed every waking moment. All she ever needed was her mother's love, it was all she ever had. Not anymore.
Tears streamed down Moons face not for the first time since receiving the news of her mother's death, the pain hadn't truly eased yet, she wasn't sure it ever would. She studied her mother's face one last time, the light blue hair so similar to her own done up in a regal heart pattern, her beautiful amber shaded eyes, her gentle smile and her perfect cheek marks, blue butterflies.
Moon smiled down at her mother's image for the last time before placing the painting face down on a nearby table and staring out the bedroom window into the land beyond. Moon felt her sadness turn to fear as she looked beyond her palace walls to see the armies beyond. Their camps spread around the castle and their men occupied the tents and machineries. Monsters could be seen sharpening swords and lances, practicing archery and feasting on the raw flesh of animals from the woods beyond.
What had started as small fights against the mewmans had turned into a full rebellion against the crown faster than they could have realised. Nobody had expected the monsters to be able to group up and organize themselves in such a way, let alone lead a successful battle against trained mewman soldiers. And yet it had happened and their lack of preparation had resulted in the death of the Queen, her mother.
Moon was scared. She was the queen of a kingdom at war against an enemy force that outnumbered her own men three to one. Her people were nearly starving, their homes in ruins and their castle surrounded by monsters. And, for the first time in her life she found herself on her own, completely and utterly alone. She didn't have her mother to help her anymore. She was all Mewni had left, as its ruler and as its protector, and it terrified her.
"Your Highness, are you quite alright?"
It was Lord Mildrew, high lord of the court and member of Mewni's war council. Mildrew was a regal man, strict on rules and often very stubborn. He was dressed in light combat gear over his royal war robes, the chain mail fitting tightly around his dark blue attire. He carried a helmet under his left arm and had his right hand holding onto the handle of his still sheathed sword. He was ready for battle and he looked it.
All together Mildrew was an imposing figure, his dark clothing and armour looking quite intimidating on his tall figure despite his more wiry build. His light skin had war paint all along it and his blonde hair had been tied back to keep it out of his eyes during combat.
"Oh, Lord Mildrew. Thank you, but I'm afraid I need a bit more time alone at the moment. I'm still coming to terms with it all really."
"I'm very sorry to hear that your grace, but your presence is needed in the War Room. There is an urgent matter we need you to rule on."
Moon knew what they wanted to talk about. Now that the queen had died and a new one had taken the mantle the war council needed to know what the plan was and if it had changed under their new leadership. Moon stood straight as she could and held her hands behind her back. She needed to look strong and confident right now and shaking limbs wouldn't help in the slightest. She took a deep breath.
"Thank you but I will follow shortly, I need just a moment longer-"
"My queen, I'm afraid I must insist. You should really just come with me now. It's very important."
"I understand Lord Mildrew, but I really do need a moment longer. I shall be along shortly."
Mildrew locked eyes with the Queen and saw the determination in them. Realizing that he would win no favour here by forcing her to accompany him Mildrew sighs in thinly veiled frustration before giving Moon a slight nod and leaving her chambers for the War Room.
Moon knew she had angered the man but found that she didn't much care at the moment, more important things were weighing down on her. She turned around and went to pick up the photo of her mother only to stop about halfway. Even though she so desperately wanted to see her mother again, she knew that if she held the photo again she wouldn't leave the room. She was lucky enough to get Lord Mildrew to leave when he did, she wouldn't be able to do it again.
Instead she took one last look around her childhood room. She let her gaze sweep over the entire room, her toys, her books, her dresses. She knew that this would be the last time she was in this room like this. Once she left this room and walked through the doors to the war room it would all change. She wasn't a princess anymore, she was queen now and she'd have to act like it.
Moon's eyes drifted down to the wand she held in her hands. The Butterfly families magical heirloom was light blue with large dark blue wings attached to the grip. The tip of the wand had golden antenna erecting from it making the wand look like a butterfly. Finally between the wings and below the antenna was a diamond jewel in the shape of a moon, the wands heart and source of power.
It had changed shape when she took it from her mom on her fourteenth birthday, the wands ambient magic forming a new appearance to suit the wielder or something like that. It had always made her feel special, knowing that even though every part of her life had been planned before she'd even had the chance to live it, she was different. All the queens before her had such boring and regal wands, all of them being similar to each other despite their differences.
So even if she was to become the queen to early and lead her people through a war, she was her own person. Even though as queen her life was predetermined since birth and most of her choices were made for her before time, Queen Moon of Mewni was unique. She was special.
So with wand in hand and head held high Moon left her room taking the first steps towards her future as ruler of Mewni.
'I'll do you proud mom, I promise.'
-Line Break-
"It wasn't under my orders I swear."
Wack!
"Please you have to believe me, I didn't give the order. It wasn't my f-"
Bang!
"Shut it bub! Save it for your confession."
It was this scene that Moon walked in on. Mina Loveberry, General of Mewni's armies, was standing beside the captured King of Monsters, her fists raised and her eyes furious.
"Mina, what is happening here?"
Mina and all the other war council members turned to her at once, Lord Mildrew, Heckapoo, Rhombulus, Lekmet, Omnitraxus Prime in his crystal ball, Lord Dune and Lord Johansson. Each of the members was sitting around a large wooden table in the centre of the room. At the very end of the table was King Argus, Ruler of the Monsters of Mewni.
"Oh, welcome your majesty. You see we were just 'questioning' King Argus here about what happened with your well, your mom. Uh, my condolences my Queen."
Moon walked towards the group and sat at the head of the table.
"It's quite alright Mina, but what is going on, are you the one responsible for my mothe- the Queens death."
"No your highness. It wasn't on, my orders I swear."
The Monster King plead his innocence to Moon as best he could given his current position. Argus' toad like body had been strapped down to the chair opposite the queen at the far end of the table and his hands chained together with heavy iron shackles. His physical condition wasn't great either, clearly Mina had gotten quite aggressive in her absence, the interrogation resulting in a great many wounds, some of which had clearly been bleeding, some of them still were.
Moon stared him down trying to decide whether or not to believe the captured ruler. She knew it wasn't right but when she looked at him she saw her mother's killer. She saw his injuries and did not feel guilt or sympathy, just the wish that she'd done them herself. She saw his tattered clothes from his capture only regretted not being there to help out. She wanted to hurt him for the death of her mom, she wanted to cause him pain, she wanted to watch him suffer.
Moon felt anger and sorrow bubbling to the surface trying to break free from what little control she had over them. Even so, Moon knew that in the company of the war council on the eve of one of Mewni's greatest battles, the new Queen striking a prisoner without due cause would not have been worth the gratification. So it was with no small amount of difficulty that the queen forced down her own emotions and allowed their prisoner to speak.
"Very well Argus, if not you then who else? What happened to my mother?"
"Oh thank you Queen Moon, thank you so much. As you know Queen Aurora and I had been meeting to discuss peace terms. In exchange for moderate increases in land and minor support from mewman farms and military we would end hostilities with you people. It was mostly set when I announced it to my people, many of which were displeased with the peaceful resolution. Even so it was of great shock to everyone when one of my generals went rogue and attacked the Queen, killing her. I never wanted this Queen Moon, you must believe me. I wanted a peaceful end to this mess I swear it."
With a labored breath Moon sighed before asking as to the identity of her mother's killer.
"Well you see, nobody really knows his name, everyone just refers to him as 'The Lizard'."
The war council turned from the prisoner and looked at each other before many erupted into laughter, the only ones who didn't were Moon, Hekapoo Omnitraxus Prime and Lord Johansson.
"The Lizard? What kind of a name is that."
"This is the creature that overthrew you, you must be joking."
"ENOUGH!" Heckapoo interrupted the laughter with a mighty yell and suddenly there was silence, the mood calmed and the men sobered realising what they had just done.
Before they could start throwing around apologies the queen continued.
"Is there anything you can tell us about 'the Lizard'?"
"I hear he was…" Argus leaned in at this point as if he was scared that the Lizard himself would hear him. "Septarsian."
The room erupted again, only this time in shouts of fear, the Septarsian race being an infamous one.
"If this is true then he can't be killed."
"We can't defeat an immortal, let alone the army."
"This settles it, we must push for a peace treaty. Offer them anything they want short of the castle and be done with it. We can't win in any other way."
"No! We do that and we'll be destroyed. They'll see it as weakness and they'll attack us all the same. They did it before, who's to say that they wouldn't do it again."
"It doesn't matter, we'll offer them a deal so good they'll have to take it."
"And then what? We let them take our homes, our kingdom. We can't just give up everything without a fight."
"A fight we can't win. You'll doom us all."
"We must try."
"Not if it'll just mean avoidable deaths."
Moon just watched as every member argued back and forth, no one able to come to an agreement. The room was split, half were for peace and half were for war. Moon was overwhelmed, every time she went to speak up and regain control of the room the yelling seemed to get louder and more aggressive.
Moon felt way out of her depth and her thoughts wandered back to her mother. Queen Aurora would have kept control of the room with nothing but a gaze, Moon couldn't seem to do it at all. Just as she was about to give up she heard a small voice from the far side of the room.
"Umm, maybe we should let Moon decide, she is the Queen?"
It was Lord Mildrew who was first to speak up.
"Are you kidding River? Moon is in no position to make a decision this big. Her mother has just died and she is too young to make the right choice here. We must look for peace, it's the only way. Queen Moon cannot be the one to make this choice, she's too young, she's not ready."
All the other war council members were stunned at this, though as Moon looked around for support not a single one of them could meet her eyes. They don't think I'm ready. Maybe you're not? I have to be. But you aren't?
Moon knew she needed to do something now or else risk losing the faith of her people, whatever small amount of it she had anyway.
"Actually my Lord, River is right, I am the Queen and as the Queen it is my decision that" both sides looked at Moon expectantly each non-verbally begging her to choose them, make peace or fight. "My decision is that… I will make my decision in the morning."
With that the war council disbanded and the now former monster king was taken down to the dungeons and provided with decent clothes and a good meal. Moon began the long walk to her new chambers, her mother's old room that had already been stripped of all her belongins and set up for Moon to stay in.
"Ughh, that was awful. They probably think I'm a joke, the kid Queen not able to command a small group let alone rule an entire kingdom."
"Umm, your highness."
Moon stopped mid step and turned around to greet the Lord who had followed her.
"Yes Lord Johansson."
"It's just River to you Queen Moon, I mean umm you can call me River if you want to, it's what my friends call me, not that were close friends I mean you're the Queen and I'm just a lord an-"
Moon stifled a small giggle at the shorter blonde man's rambling. "Thank you River, I really appreciate you standing up for me in there today. I really needed it and I can't thank you enough for it."
"Oh it was my honour Queen Moon. Ah before you go, I have something I wanted to give to you." River reached into a sack he had wrapped around his wasted and pulled out a griffon leg with the word sorry scratched into its front.
"Umm, River, what is this?" The queens confusion was clear though River could tell she was not disgusted or insulted by the presentation of meat like some would be, simply curious.
"It's apology meat my Queen. It is tradition that a Johansson would present this to anyone he offended. I know that I didn't do anything to upset you, but I thought I could give this to you on behalf of the war council. I hope it's alright." Moon grabbed the meat from him and held delicately in her hands.
"Well thank you River, thank you so much really. And if you wouldn't mind, it's just Moon to you, at least in private." She finished with a smile and a small courtesy to the blushing lord.
River began backing away from the Queen, clearly flustered and slightly sweating while trying his best to fight down the blush on his cheeks. "Oh ah, don't worry about it you know. Any time pal."
River turned around now and began to walk quickly away from Moon muttering under his breath. "Oh my gosh, did I just call the Queen pal?"
Moon did giggle at this point finding it hard to contain herself at the lor'ds antics. The Johansson's were an odd lot but they wore their hearts on their sleeves and were incredibly sincere. It made River's words all the more meaningful to the distressed Queen and allowed her a moment of levity in an otherwise traumatic day.
Moon wore a smile on her face all the way back to her new quarters, still thinking about River and how he supported her. She remembered the way his eyes lit up when she accepted his gift and the way he played with his hands when she told him to call her by her first name. All in all he found the young man incredibly cute.
It was these thoughts that dominated her mind even as she walked into her room and fell onto her bed, the war forgotten and her troubles eased. She would have fallen asleep atop of her bed if she hadn't heard the odd, distant sound of crying from the far corner of her room.
Getting up to investigate Moon wondered towards the noise until she recognized the source, 'The Book of Spells.' This meant that the one crying had to be…
"Glossaryk, what's wrong."
The book threw itself open and the pages flickered across from one side to the other until it revealed the little blue magic man at its centre. His tears had pooled up and were now rushing out of the book like a stream dripping onto her bedroom floor before disappearing as if they had never existed at all.
"What do you mean what's wrong. Your mother is dead!"
Moons smile changed into a frown in an instant, all her worries and grief piled back onto her shoulders just as quickly until it felt like they had never left her at all.
"I… I know Glossaryk. But there's nothing we can do for her now. We can only carry on in the way she would want us to."
"Oh I know *sniff* but I really liked her. She didn't deserve to die."
"I know that too Glossaryk, mom deserved a long and happy life. She can't have that now because her future was taken from her buy those monsters that stand at our gates. I need your help to defeat them, for my kingdom and for mom."
"What is *sniff* the problem, why can't your armies take them. They're trained for this you know."
"Well if King Argus is to be believed, then they have at least one Septarsian among them, he's leader now and he's the one that killed mom."
Glossaryk calmed down at this news, his crying mostly stopped and attitude became more civil. "Septarsian, well that is a problem. How did the war council decide to proceed?"
"Well I told them that as Queen I would make the final decision and that I would tell them in the morning."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I… I don't know Glossaryk, my mom couldn't beat him in combat so how could I? I don't know if we can fight him off but I'm not sure that they'll leave us alone if we surrender either."
"Well, I'm afraid that I don't know how to kill this Septarsian," Moons face fell when she heard this and tears threatened to leak from her own eyes.
"But there is someone who might and you're not going to like it."
-Line Break-
"She's been frozen for thousands of years, I have no idea what's gonna happen once I let her out"
Rhombulus and Moon walked through the crystal caverns of Mewni's highest security prison created and maintained by the man walking beside the queen. They had been walking for just over an hour into the deepest depths of the caverns where the most dangerous prisoner was being held, the traitorous past ruler of Mewni and Queen of Darkness, Eclipsa the monster lover.
"It doesn't matter Rhombulus, I've gotta do this either way, I can handle this. I have to."
"Alright your highness."
The two continued their walk in silence until they reached a particularly dark area of the prison.
"Rhombulus where are we, I can barely see."
"That means we're here your majesty."
With a flick of his wrist Rhombulus activated the cavern lights, illuminating the room just enough for Moon to see what lay before her. The room was largely a pit, the only ground being a long winding stairway leading to the center of the room. Moon looked down towards the bottom of the cavern but found that she could not see the cave floor. In the center of the room however was their reason for coming, the prisoner they sought.
It was a large pillar of crystal which at the very top stored the evil queen frozen in place and time. Eclipsa hadn't aged a day. Her skin was pale and smooth, her teal hair was still done up in its poofy fashion and her clothes were still immaculate. The only thing missing was her large umbrella wand, it having been confiscated from her once imprisoned.
The two walked the winding path until they reached the pillar, upon which Moon gave Rhombulus the word and he began to free Eclipsa's face and neck allowing her to speak while still heavily restricting her movements. Moon stepped forward once more and, seeing that he was no longer needed, Rhombulus quickly ran from the room, terrified of speaking to the evil woman.
Eclipsa stayed perfectly still before almost five whole minutes and it got to a point where Moon began to think that it hadn't worked and that the woman had somehow died during her imprisonment. Just as Moon went to turn away, the woman before her blinked. It was such a quick movement that she wasn't entirely sure she'd actually seen it.
Then Eclipsa blinked again, more slowly this time, followed by a slight turn of the head and then a large gasp of air. It occurred to Moon that Eclipsa must not have been able to breathe in there. Suddenly the woman started making more frantic movements, her chest was heaving her eyes were darting all over the place and her head was turning to and fro.
It took a moment for Eclipsa to come to her senses, but once she had the difference was spectacular. The woman's back straightened and her face became that classic emotionless mask that many rulers had donned over the centuries. She looked around the cavern before looking down at her own prison. She tried to pull her arms from the crystal but even with her great mewman strength the pillar held strong, only allowing her right hand to be pulled free even if her shoulder length glove stayed in place
Realizing that she would not escape from her 'cell' through brute force she looked straight ahead, finally noticing girl before her for the first time. She noticed the crown on her head and the diamond cheek marks on her face.
"Ahh, my first visitor, and the Queen as well, lucky me." Eclipsa's tone was soft and sweet.
Eclipsa then noticed the bags beneath the girl's eyes, the young features of her face and body and finally the form of her wand. It struck her odd for the Queen to be so youthful…
"But your much too young to be Queen, barely a woman and already possessing the crown, why back in my day that could only mean… Oh no."
It was when Eclipsa looked again, properly this time that she noticed the tear stains on her cheeks, the attempt at a calm facade the girl was putting up, admirable but unsuccessful. She noticed the way that even as she stood tall and strong her wand shook in her hands.
"Oh my dear, your mother is she…"
"My mother is dead. I am the queen now."
"Oh my dear, I am so sorry." Eclipsa felt genuine grief for the girl before her, knowing what it felt like to have lost a mother at such a young age.
"I lost my mother to when I was not much older than you."
"Thank you for that Eclipsa, but I'm here for something. I need your help."
"Anything dear, just tell me what you need."
"The beast that killed my mom, he's leading an army against the kingdom and I have no idea what to do. I have little experience leading and no experience with war. I need to do something now or my kingdom will fall and our people with it. I need you to tell me how to kill something… immortal."
"My dear, are you sure that's what you want? It is very dangerous and dark magic that you seek. This decision is not to be taken lightly."
Moon watched as the woman's face before her changed from a peaceful if somewhat saddened expression to cold and serious in a matter of moments. It was enough to make Moon consider her warning and rethink her plan, but still Moon continued knowing that there was no other conceivable way.
There was no peaceful solution and war would not help them either. They had no allies that were willing to help or that were close enough to help them in time. She needed to take out their leader, remove their spearhead and let the rest of the monsters scatter. She had to kill the Lizard, there was no other way.
Gathering her courage, Moon nodded her head "It must be done, this is what I want. It's what I need to do, regardless of the consequences."
"Very well, but what you want is very powerful magic. It requires a magical contract, one that states that one you this foe is dead, I will receive something in return."
"Alright Eclipsa, what do you want?"
"I want my freedom."
"What, I can't do that. There's no way the other Lords and Ladies would be okay with this."
"Hush my girl, they don't need to know."
"But you're evil, I can't let you free."
"I don't want to cause trouble, truly. All I want is my own freedom, the ability to live out the rest of my life in peace before dying a happy woman. Besides I don't have my wand anymore, it's yours so what trouble could I really cause. And even if I did become a problem well I've been captured before, how hard would it be to catch me again. You could put me right back."
"Well I suppose so but how do I get you out of here without Rhombulus, this crystal is super hard and I'm not sure I can break it without harming you."
"Don't you worry about that, a magical contract between two queens is stronger than any crystal."
Moon knew she had no choice, but even so she couldn't help but wonder whether or not releasing promising Eclipsa's release was such a good idea. Then again she made some good points and she had been nothing but helpful and kind thus far.
"Alright Eclipsa, it's a deal. So how does this work?"
Eclipsa raised her hand to Moons.
"Just shake my hand young Queen and it will done."
Moon hesitated one more time, looking down at the dainty hand before her and the pleasant, smiling face of the woman offering it. Swallowing the fear that was rising in her gut and the odd feeling she felt in her heart, she to raised her hand and grabbed Eclipsa's in her best attempt at a strong grip.
"Yes! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Eclipsa's face changed in an instant, the small smile replace by a mad one and the kindness in her eyes replaced with a fire Moon had not ever seen before.
Then she felt the magic, the pure unbridled power. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, greater than any magic even her mother had ever accomplished. The room lit up in the dark purple glow of the aura now emanating from the prisoner and for the first time since getting here Moon felt genuinely terrified.
Then Moon felt it, the knowledge being imparted into her head. It was weird, feeling more like an instinct than a learnt skill or spell, and yet she knew what she had to do.
The purple light shone so bright that Moon had to close her eyes or else risk going blind and when opened them, all was as it was before. The crystal was frozen over and its prisoner was back in position as if never having been moved.
Despite being incredibly unsettled, Moon left without a word, her mind focused solely on the task to come.
-Line Break-
The air was cold against her skin as she rode beyond the castle gates and to the monsters camps beyond. Despite her armored dress Moon felt incredibly vulnerable as she rode out and into the depths of the enemy ranks. She rode alone, not doing so much as informing the others of her decisions, though she was sure they had seen her leave and were watching her now. It was a miracle that they'd decided not to interfere.
She carried with her only her butterfly wand for protection and a small basket of belongings. She wish she could have taken Glossaryk with her but she knew that he couldn't be with her for this. If she was to gain any respect from her people, the people who doubted her abilities as a monarch and right as a leader. She was the youngest Queen in history and she knew that people would never trust her because of this, not unless she did something drastic to prove her worth.
She and her pig-goat, a magnificent beast and companion that Moon had named Lil' Chauncey, continued beyond the first row of tents and campfires into the depths of the encampment. She kept her eyes looking straight forward and her lips tight even as she passed rack after rack of brutish weapons, a great many of which were stained with red. She passed monster after monster until she reached a point where the monsters had surrounded her, though they gave her a wide berth.
Knowing that she'd make no more progress, Moon stopped Lil' Chauncey and hopped off of his back. She reached into her basket and took out a rug, laying it out evenly on the ground with but a throw. She then grabbed a simple white plate and a knife and fork placing them perfectly on the rug. Finally she grabbed out the apology meat given to her by River, placing it nicely on the plate, sat down and began eating.
"Umm, can we help you?"
Moon took a bite out of the meat, allowing herself one last moment to collect herself, knowing that if she messed up now it was over. The monsters had surrounded her and were clearly wanting blood, the only thing stopping them for the moment was their curiosity.
"I'm here to see your General."
All the monsters gathered began laughing allowed at this. "The General? Ha ha ha ha ha."
Moon kept a perfectly calm face throughout despite the mocking laughter of the army around her. Just as the laughter was beginning to die down and as she was beginning to think she'd made a big mistake, she heard it.
"Silence." The voice was calm and quite but carried over the crowd all the same.
All the monsters turned to the largest tent at the back, a dark grey and brown canvas with skins, horns and bones decorating the outside. The source of the noise revealed itself, pushing apart the curtains to his tent that were, to Moons disgust and horror, made not of cloth but of mewman skulls.
The monster walked towards the center of the group where Moon sat, the crowds making way for their leader as he passed through. His attire was downright intimidating. It was an all black leather with red highlights around the collar and sleeves. He wore thick combat boots and iron gauntlets. Finishing off his armor were shoulder and knee guards made from the bones of poor creatures that had fallen prey to the beast and his armies.
The reptilian monster was intimidating very in his own right, his green skin and incredibly muscled body matched with his perfect posture, well-kept black hair and cold, calculating eyes gave the beast a troubling and frankly scary contrast. It was clear this was no mindless beast but an intelligent being, perhaps more intelligent than herself. This was her mom's killer she was coming face to face with, she would have to be strong.
Throughout all of this Moon just kept eating her meat, doing her best not to give any outward appearance of fear. Judging by the slightly disappointed look the monsters had upon seeing Moon's reaction, she believed she was succeeding.
When the Lizard reached the edge of the group and entered the circle he gave a deep bow, his only words being, "Hello Princess."
Moon disregarded the likely intentional mistake as to her title, believing it best to get straight to the point.
"I presume you're the one they call 'The Lizard.' "
"Yes but you may call me Toffee."
"Toffee? How is that any better?"
Toffee's face looked disappointed by her reaction, likely expecting something more dramatic. Moon refused to oblige him.
"What do you want?"
"I want you and your entire army to leave, or face the consequences." Her tone was harsh and strong, making Moon internally jump at the way she was coming across thus far.
One of Toffee's supporters, a monster that looked alarmingly similar to the leader smirked at this. "Your mom couldn't defeat us and neither can you."
Moon closed her eyes in concentration. "I was hoping you'd say that." She stood up from the ground before grabbing her Butterfly wand and lifting it in front of her opening her eyes ready to cat the spell.
The supporter spoke up again. "Ha ha, pathetic girl. Your weak magic cannot harm us we are immortal," more Septarsians, "watch this."
"No wait, I already know about the-"
Said monster took the sword from his waist and held out his arm chopping it off in one fowl sweep. The discarded limb fell to the ground leaking great amounts of blood. The stump on the other hand immediately started repairing itself and before Moon's eyes bone, muscle and flesh regrew, knitting together until his arm reformed good as knew.
All the monsters cheered at this, their confidence in their leaders and in turn their victory growing by the second.
Moon just stood still a prepared herself. This was the moment that she proved herself worthy. This was the moment where, whether she wanted to or not she would cast away her childhood dreams and desires for the responsibility of being Queen. No longer would she be free to do as she wished, from this point on she would prove herself the rightful Queen of Mewni.
She would give up her freedom for that of her people, so that mewman soldiers would keep their lives and mewman families would keep their homes. This was it, this was her moment, she was ready. Closing her eyes, Moon began.
"I call the darkness unto me, from deepest depths of Earth and Sea." A purple glow formed around Moon's wand while wind began to blow across the open field, softly at first but continued to grow in strength the longer she spoke.
"From ancient evils unawoken, break the one that can't be broken." A dark purple fog appeared before getting caught in the wind and swirling about in the air until it covered everything like an ominous cloud.
"Too Blackest Knight I pledge my soul, and crush my heart to burning coal." This was where the largest change occurred. As Moon felt the magic being pulled from her body and into the wand she also felt a heavy constricting feeling form over her arms starting at her wrists and creeping up to her elbows.
"Too summon forth a deathly power, to see my hate and foe devoured." This was it, the spell was done and her target was in sight.
Toffee, unaware of what was going on, had grown tired during her little display of magic and went to take the wand from the young girl raising his right hand towards the now violently glowing object. "Enough of this."
The spell was complete but just as she went to cast it, Moon opened her eyes and saw what had happened to her arms. The veins had swollen and turned a dark purple as if corrupted. This revelation shocked Moon to her core and when the spell fired she wasn't properly ready for the recoil she would experience.
This meant that when the spell fired it didn't hit Toffee in the heart as intended, instead it angled and hit his finger, severing it from his hand. After this the wind, the mist and the wands glow disappeared in an instant as if never having existed at all.
Toffee looked from the queen to his hand now less a single finger and smirked. "Have you learned nothing?"
All those gathered, Moon and monster alike watched as Toffee focused on his finger re-growing half of the digit before it turned black and fell off again.
Then there was chaos. All the monsters started screaming at the result of the attack on their leader. They had gathered behind him under the impression that he was immortal, but here was proof that he could be defeated and killed as easily as any of them.
It took only a matter of minutes for the once packed camps to clear out leaving behind everything but the men. The tents the fires and the weapons still present, but the people now deserted. Toffee looked at Moon in shock, then looked back at his hand and frowning. He dusted himself off before sending Moon one last glare and leaving the camp.
The monsters were gone.
"Moon, you did it."
Moon turned around to see River running towards her only to throw his arms around her in a great hug as soon as he was within reach.
"Oh my gosh River, thank you." The two reveled in the simple contact t=with one another, Moon finding herself smiling profusely whilst they held each other.
"What did you just do?" Moon looked up to see the gathered members of the war council, all glaring at her. Moon separated herself from River before standing straight to address them.
"I did my job. And as your Queen I will continue to do my job of protecting this kingdom, I will hunt down the remains of the monster army and scatter them without country or leadership." All those present simply stared at the girl before them, shocked at the power and confidence she was displaying given her age.
"Now, are there any questions?" Not a single person spoke against her. "I didn't think so." Moon walked back towards the castle through the group as the war council members stepped aside and bowed their heads towards their Queen, knowing that she had truly taken charge.
It wouldn't be until weeks later when Moon noticed that during the whole ordeal her wands form, once her greatest hope and source of pride to its uniqueness had changed shape to suit its owner. Gone was the dainty butterfly wand with its pretty wings and bright colors, in its place was a short golden wand with a large diamond on the end of it. A proper adult wand just like all the others, Moon's the Girl Queen was gone. Moon the Undaunted had been born.
Hey readers. If you've gotten this far you can probably tell by now the angle I'm trying to take with this. Thus far not much has been changed if anything at all but within the ext couple chapters some large alterations will become evident. Don't worry.
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