Kingsley

Chapter 5

Flags and Fortune

"She's just heinous!"

Moon was currently storming her room in an angry huff, complaining to the only person that understood how she was feeling and would actually listen. Her parents would simply tell her she was being silly, or unreasonable, and River wasn't exactly good at throwing shade. He was a sweet, docile boy. However, Toffee was different from all of them. He didn't say it out loud, but she knew he felt the same way about her cousin that she did.

The ball had been several days ago, but Azkadellia Butterfly had come to stay at the castle. The king and queen, unfortunately, didn't see through her charming façade and invited her to stay for a while. They had probably heard the news, considering it was in a buzz around the entire kingdom, but hadn't officially commented on it. Moon's parents either believed that there was no way she could beat their daughter, or that it might be more practical to have another option available for the kingdom. The latter was sadly the more likely option considering, despite Moon's progress, she still wasn't on par with Azkadellia. Manners and grace were something she came prepackaged with, while Moon was still learning to control herself. They were tested on many aspects of queenship, since Azkadellia's arrival, and Moon barely managed to secure the wins that she had. The score was currently tied, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"You'll get the better of her, Moon. I am sure of it." Toffee replied, after Moon finished yelling and collapsed back into her seat.

"I can't deal with her any longer. She's a proper nightmare." Moon grumbled, sinking her face into the table. She'd never been so tired. "I just wish there was a test to end it all."

"If there really were a showdown-type test, are you certain you would be able to beat her?"

"Are you siding with her now?"

"Certainly not. That fascist little girl will be queen over my dead body." he answered, with a note of sharp grit in his smooth voice. "I'm just saying you may not be ready for an all-or-nothing battle. Azkadellia's greatest strength is her power of manipulation, that she passes off as manners—"

"You got that right." she grumbled. "How do I beat a total kiss ass—"

"Manners are only one part of being queen. The main prospect will always be magical power, which will be your best chance to beat her."

"Maybe not." Moon sighed. Toffee had thankfully not seen Azkadellia's brief ownership of the precious Butterfly heirloom. She knew that if he had, he might really reconsider staying with her. "She only had the wand for a split second, but she was so much better than me."

"Which is why I've been thinking of abandoning your lessons with me." Toffee added, suddenly. Moon froze at the unexpecting announcement. He couldn't be serious about abandoning her at a time so crucial. "Well, I say thinking, but I've already discussed it with the king and queen. It's been decided that starting Monday, you'll be back to training exclusively with Glossaryck and I'll be leaving."

"But, Toffee—"

"Moon, please don't argue with me. You've got to do this." he added, sharply. Toffee got up to leave and Moon panicked. She did not realize how immediately he meant to go and how long it would be. What if she never saw him again. For some reason, the thought was so unbearable. Moon was not ready and she clung onto one of his sleeves in a childish desperation not to let him leave.

"I still need you, though…" Moon mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to go." Toffee replied, simply removing her grasp of his sleeve like he was picking off a fly. He didn't look back, but not because he didn't want too. There was a horrible urge inside him that yelled at him to look back at her and at least say goodbye properly. However, he knew she'd toss out puppy dog eyes, trick him into staying somehow. It wouldn't take much effort. If he wanted what was best for both of them, he'd keep his gaze straight and leave. Toffee just silently prayed she understood.

That was the last of their lessons and he was gone by the following Monday. Although, she wanted to, Moon did not see him off. She never said a proper goodbye. It would've been too heartbreaking and it was not the image of a queen to cry in front of anyone. She had really come to like him. Instead she held back, grabbed her spellbook, and began to throw herself into practice.

"Okay, what's next?" she asked Glossaryck, after performing another spell with perfection.

"You're working diligently today. I thought for sure the new training schedule would bother you." Glossaryck added, looking baffled at Moon's change in attitude. He'd never seen her so diligent and motivated.

"I've decided to be better for someone. I need to work hard, for their sake." Moon reported, with a hint of a smile.

"My, my, it sounds a lot like love. Have you started seeing someone, Moon?" Glossaryck implied, suddenly. Of course, she grew red at the bold insinuation.

"What—no, no, no. It's nothing—Oh, my…"

"Apologies, your highness. Shall we continue?"

"Yes..."

Months went by in the castle. Moon's magic steadily grew better, but unfortunately it was not powerful enough to eject her cousin from the running. Azkadellia remained in the castle and Moon no longer had anyone to vent her true feelings with. Thankfully, it did not bother her too much. Although, Toffee was gone he still was constantly in Moon's thoughts and she had a feeling he had not forgotten her either.

When Moon turned fifteen, she had a more refined ball to celebrate it under the king and queen's guidance this time. She was showered with several things she already owned, by people she didn't know, and was expected to be grateful. However, the only thing she found worthy on a table full of presents, was a small handwritten, birthday card. The mysterious birthday card merely said, 'Happy Birthday Moon', and nothing else. But, she knew Toffee had sent it from the way the 'M' in Moon swirled elegantly, as it did in his writing, and how he had not called her princess. It was the only thing worth saving. Moon gave everything else to the village, which gave her image a charitable tone, she naturally used in the battle against her cousin.

Moon sat in the library, on a break from her lessons with Glossaryck, catching up on a book she was reading. A free moment was rare, so she read as fast as she could as she could in five minutes. Her only birthday request of the king and queen was more books about earth be added to the library. She'd wanted more books on where he was from, but apparently books on Septarsis weren't a thing. Earth wasn't a bad second choice, though. She really liked the fashion of the dimension and was currently reading a book about the history of earthling fashion. They used to dress like Mewmans, but had somehow evolved into wearing bright neon colors and tight fabrics. She had just finished another chapter of her book, when someone entered the room. Moon looked up to find a servant. He immediately bowed and told her the reason he'd been sent to her,

"Princess, the king and queen are requesting you and Lady Azkadellia's presence in the throne room."

"If this is another throne posture test, I swear to god..."

She arrived in the throne room a few minutes later. Azkadellia and her parents were already waiting there. Moon curtsied to the room and took her place besides her cousin.

"You wanted to see us?"

"We have called you both here to inform you that we're going to be reinstating the Butterfly family reunion." King Juniper announced.

"A reunion?" Moon and Azkadellia stated, simultaneously, with matching tones of curiosity. They barely held back vicious glares at one another, as the king continued on elaborating.

"Yes, seeing you two girls together we've realized that it has been far too long since we got the families together, so we're planning a little something for next weekend." King Juniper explained.

"Sounds utterly delightful, don't you agree, Moon?" Azkadellia added, with a bubbly smile that only Moon could tell was completely fake.

"Of course." Moon replied, with a deadly fake smile of her own.

"Glad to see you both so enthusiastic about this." the king grinned. "Since you've have been having all those cute little competitions, I also thought it'd be a fun to play Solaria's old game: Flags!"

"Really? They're finally going to remove that musty flag from the hill?" Moon inquired. For as long as she could remember, a flag had remained on the top of the famous Mewni hill behind their castle and that was the reason no one could play Flags. It was an old rusty thing now, but still had a sinister purple eye that haunted whoever gazed upon it.

"Well, we've finally figured out how. The queen that stuck it there infused it with powerful magic that made it nearly impossible to remove."

"Which queen?"

"That's not important. It's gone now, which means you girls are going to get a shot at making flags and sticking them at the top of the hill."

"Excellent news, father. May we depart now?" Moon stated, assuming that was all the news they had. It was a little too impatient and came off rude in manor, but she was already ten minutes late to reconvene her lesson with Glossaryck and simply could not afford to miss a minute longer.

"You may. Good luck girls!"

They curtsied together in respectful departure and briskly walked side-by-side towards the hall. Moon tried to walk faster, in attempt to shake Azkadellia and get to her lesson before she inevitably started talking about the most recent news. She didn't want to hear it and she didn't have the time for it. However, Azkadellia was determined to get in Moon's head.

"If I were you, I wouldn't even bother making a flag. I mean, what's the point—"

"Not only am I going to make a flag, but you're going to have to look at it sit at the top of the hill for years!" Moon shouted, suddenly, furious.

"You can't beat me, Moon. Everyone knows it."

"Then, how about a wager? If I beat you, you stop trying to dethrone me and get out of here." Moon snapped back. Azkadellia's eyes widened and Moon covered her mouth. She had not meant to say it out loud. It was not becoming of a princess to say what she truly meant. Also, not to bet her legacy on a simple game. However, Moon didn't take it back. She was too tired and aggravated.

"And, when I win?"

"Whatever you want."

"Fine. It's a deal..."

The day of the reunion soon arrived and castle was littered with the members of the Butterfly family and the Lowmores, King Juniper's side of the family. The official spot they were all cultivating around was a small picnic feast of corn at the bottom of Mewni's famous hill. What made it so peculiar from all the other hills was the fact that it had been enchanted long ago to contain every sort of natural obstacle. One section of the hill had harsh rains and stormy wind, another had a moat of lava and fire spitting up all around it. Needless to say, the hill had enough obstacles already without the royal family trying to tear each other apart to get to the top.

Moon sat nervously clutching her pale blue flag, her plate of corn untouched. Unlike her relatives, she had not used magic, but had sewed the entire thing by herself. The center of the flag had her classic blue crystal heart from her wand and the bottom had 'Princess Moon' embordered in gold lettering. It was a pretty thing and normally she would be certain it would be the one to reach the top, but she feared she had made a grave mistake challenging Azkadellia. There was so much to lose.

"We'll be starting the game in ten minutes!" a voice shouted, suddenly.

"Moon, are you ready?" Queen Willow asked, noticing her daughter's odd behavior for once. The Moon she knew would have polished off five cobs of corn and already be over by her father's family throwing down smack talk.

"Yeah. I just have some business—over there." Moon replied, pointing in a random direction. She followed, walking casually at first, but gradually getting a little faster with every step. When suddenly, paying too much attention to her feet on the ground, she bumped into something. Moon would've been knocked over from impact if the figure had not grabbed her shoulders. Her gaze lingered only for a moment on the familiar claw-like hands, before she grew a bright, excited smile.

"Less haste, princess. You nearly knocked me off my feet." Toffee stated. He released her shoulders and, instead of stepping back, she embraced him.

"Toffee! You're back!" Moon exclaimed, in joy. It may have been premature thinking, but she was certain she would never see Toffee again and here he was. He was frozen by the surprise attack, but quickly regained his senses after seeing the royals not too far away. He didn't remove her, however, kept his peripheries on the crowd.

"I never left, Moon. I may have stopped being your teacher, but I'm still one of your parent's advisors." he answered.

"I still missed you." she glowed, looking up at him with a glittering grateful expression. A look of innocence his cold heart could simply not handle. Toffee quickly removed her arms, realizing she had no intention of removing them herself.

"Where's the king? He insisted I bring these documents over today." Toffee inquired, referring to a set of scrolls on the ground that he may, or may not, have dropped in his collision with Moon.

"He must've forgot about them. Father tends to space out about things when he's got something on his mind." Moon replied, pointing over to her father and the rest of the Lowmores. Normally, a refined set of royals from 389th dimension had become ravenous creatures at the prospect of a vicious game ahead of them. "He's really excited to play Flags."

"Flags?" he inquired.

"It's an old family game. The only objective is to make it to the top of the hill." she explained. "Other than that, there are no rules."

"It sounds intriguing."

"You should stay and play! It'll be way more fun if you're in it."

"I doubt your family wants someone like me competing." Toffee mumbled, eying the distant crowd again.

"I don't care though. There are no rules and I'm inviting you." she replied, clearly not seeing the problem.

"I don't even have a flag." he reasoned.

"You can be on my team." Moon insisted. She pointed her wand at the flag and it changed in a puff of smoke. Two dot eyed faces had appeared besides the crystal heart. Moon's on the left and Toffee's on the right. The golden script at the bottom had also changed from 'Princess Moon' to 'Team MoonToffee'.

"Moon, I don't think—"

"Competitors to the starting line!"

"Come on, let's go!" Moon exclaimed, eagerly, pulling Toffee's arm towards the starting line. Seemingly having no say in the matter, he lined up beside Moon at a bright white line. Everything about them attracted stares. From their flag, to their team in a solo bloodshed competition, they were a sight to behold. For a brief moment, absolutely no one was focused on the top of the hill. Moon didn't seem effected by the stares, despite the fact her father and Azkadellia were amongst them. Although, it might've been a good idea to tell Toffee something before they had a bunch of people staring at them. She leaned in and whispered in the general area of where Toffee's ears would've been if he had any, "By the way, I made a bet with Azkadellia that the winner would get to be queen. So, it's kind of important for us to win."

"Moon—!"

"Ready. Set…Flags!"

It was a little of a delayed reaction because of their lost focus, but the two families quickly recovered at the sound of the starting gunshot. In a roar of battle, they all took off to the rocky bottom of the steep hill, even Toffee. Although, he should've been stunned and utterly frozen by Moon's truth bomb, he started running up the hill, determined to be ahead of everyone else. As a monster, he was much faster than everyone. Unfortunately, he was attached to Moon, a slow Mewman girl who was horribly unfit and dressed in the wrong attire. Her older female relatives managed to hike up their skirts and climb the rocks, however, Moon was finding it a struggle to manage her dress, her wand, and the flag all at once.

"Keep up, Moon! We can't afford to lose." Toffee scolded, lifting her up from the last bit of the rocky section without breaking a sweat.

"When did you get so physically fit?" Moon huffed, obviously out-of-breath.

"I was born for battle." he answered. However, it didn't feel that way to Moon. If she were to immortalize him in her memories, she'd always see him pouring over piles of papers, or sitting quietly reading a book in the library. It was hard to imagine him as a soldier. Although, now that he mentioned it, she did remember Toffee exhibiting immense strength before. He'd ripped apart a man-eating plant with his bare arms to rescue her.

Moon was about to question him more about what exactly he meant, when he was hit by their first attacker. Moon's aunt, Etheria, had stabbed her flag into the ground and the ground between them began to tremor and break apart.

"It was just as my daughter said. My dear niece is following in the same path as her." Etheria scoffed, her plump star cheeks high and mighty. Before they could even question the mad woman's rantings, she removed her sharp flag and glared over at Moon with vicious eyes, "I'll end you right now and save the family another scandal!"

Moon didn't react fast enough and Toffee had to do something. Etheria ended up stabbing her flag right through his left arm instead of her niece's head. He winced for a moment in pain, however, he simply ripped it out and tossed it into the new abyss she had created. He lunged at her trying to toss her down there with it, but she threw what appeared to just be normal seeds at his wounded arm. They burned upon contact and magically grew out of his wound into thick thorny vines, tying tightly around him. After that, it only took her one touch to knock him down and, knowing her niece would not continue without her beast, continued to make her way up the hill.

"Toffee!" Moon yelled into the cavern, praying he was still alive.

"Leave me! Keep going." Toffee commanded. Moon frowned at the order and wasn't about to follow it.

"Rainbow rescue!" A beam of multicolor light radiated from her wand and lifted Toffee up like a conveyer belt and set him softly back on the ground. She began to unravel the vines around him with a frustrated expression. How did he expect her to go on without him? "We're in this together, alright?"

"Get on my back. You're too slow." Toffee stated.

"You literally have a hole in your arm. You need to regenerate."

"There's no time. We've already lost a lot of ground."

Moon let him pick her up without further argument and together they went on. They were definitely a lot faster. Moon could shoot spells at people that were either staring at them, or too locked in battle to stare at them. It was a better system, even if it was a little embarrassing. They made their way through the rain zone, up the snowy section, and were nearly through the fiery lava pit surrounding the peak. They were on the edge on a rock, surrounded by lava and thinking of where to jump next, when a green force knocked Moon right off Toffee's back. She would've fell in, if Toffee hadn't had amazingly fast reflexes. He turned to catch her and they landed haphazardly on another floating rock a few feet away.

"Darn! It would've been a great achievement to kill a Septarian..." a familiar voice pouted. They looked up to see Azkadellia was standing on a nearby rock in the inferno, scowling at them with disgust. It figured she would be their final foe and when they met her she'd be playing it all up too seriously, "Nice creativity, Moon. Getting your filthy lizard servant to do all the work for you."

"Azkadellia, you could've killed us!" Moon shouted.

"That's the whole point of the game. Do whatever it takes to win."

"I'll hold her off. You just make it to the top." Toffee added. He shoved the flag into her hands, expecting her to run along with it. However, she just stared up at him with the same frustrated expression she had before.

"No!" she shouted. "I didn't invite you here to fight my battles."

Moon shoved the flag back into Toffee's arms and glowered at Azkadellia. It must've been some kind of special rage because Moon's eye began to glaze over with an ominous glow. She raised her wand and sent a large blast at Azkadellia. She nearly avoided the beam by inches and fell back on her rock. She tried retaliating with magic of her own, shooting fast beams at her, but whatever had come over Moon would not be stopped with such weak magic. Moon shot another powerful blast and Azkadellia was overwhelmed. She got hit full force and was knocked towards the lava, except she didn't have a Toffee to save her from falling in. There was luckily a rock across from her she could barely reach her arms on.

"Help me!" she whimpered, hanging on for dear life, sucking in her stomach as it hovered as a bridge between the two patches of rock. Moon's eyes returned to normal and she rushed over to her cousin in distress. However, she had not come to help her.

"After me and Toffee win, I might consider it." Moon stated, coldly. Toffee came over as well, to see the verdict. She whispered something to him and, with a thoroughly confused expression, he picked up Azkadellia and tossed her to solid ground. Moon's wand materialized some rope and they wrapped around Azkadellia's hands automatically. Moon turned away, stashing her wand in her pocket, and taking back the flag from Toffee, "Any last words for her, Toffee? She may not be dead, but she won't be coming back to Mewni. Ever."

"Perhaps, this will teach you a thing or two about manners." Toffee sneered. Moon was certainly more merciful then him. He would've let her fall. She'd evolved into a better person then even he could produce. "You will never be queen, you heinous little girl."

They ran together out of the spitting fire, past the other fighting relatives, and right through to the very brief normal section of hill that was the top. Before anyone else could stop them, they had stuck their flag into the soft soil. The mad bloodshed suddenly stopped and they were all forced to clap for the winner, as tradition required. Or, in this very rare case, winners.

"We rule the hill and nothing crushes us!" Moon announced to the crowd, holding Toffee's hand and raising it up as far as she could considering his arms were twice as long as hers. Everyone mumbled in bitter anger, as they made their way down, leaving Toffee and Moon at the peak alone to revel in their small victory. "Please come back…If not to teach me, then just as a friend."

"A friend?" he questioned. What the heck was that?

"After everything, that is what we are now, isn't it?" she said. "Don't you like me?"

"Of course." Toffee confessed, being more honest then he'd probably ever been before. She smiled, having won a much bigger victory then the hill. Moon had successfully found something Toffee genuinely liked and it was her. Toffee noticed it too and smiled off his defeat,

"Very well. Friends..."

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