Kingsley
Chapter 6
Moon's Mewberty
Toffee had agreed to Moon's proposal of friendship. But, quite honestly, he had no idea what the word really meant. It was not in a monster's nature to have friends. He still tried his very best to humor her, even going as looking up the definition in different dictionaries and reading some of the greatest tales of friendship. However, despite all Toffee's best efforts, it became clear that friendship was not the type of thing he could force himself to learn.
Although, seemingly impossible, Toffee did not give up and at least kept putting in the effort to make it work. Every day, after giving his daily report to the king and queen, Toffee snuck off to meet Moon in her room or the library. With Azkadellia gone, she was allowed to cut down her magic training and spend time with him. It wasn't too different from their lessons, except for the fact he was no longer using her for his own gain. Friendship with the princess didn't have any gain. Instead of Toffee molding her into the person he wanted to be and talking on-and-on about manners and responsibility, it was a more mutual exchange. Sometimes they'd talk about mundane things, like the corn yield, or the weather. However, deeper conversations emerged as the days went on. He was learning a lot about Moon that probably even her parents didn't know about. She told him of her desire to own either a pig-goat, or a warnicorn, as a pet one day. Another time, she talked of how he had inspired her to travel outside of Mewni and the first place she wanted to go was earth. After a while, Toffee slowly began to enjoy their time together and started to think that he might be cut out for friendship after all.
That was until his 'friend' turned into a literal butterfly monster and almost got him killed.
Toffee was late that day. King Juniper was trying to make small talk with him for a change, after years of knowing each other. He was wondering about how long Toffee intended on doing this and if he ever planned on settling down. It was a nice gesture, but it made Toffee realize how little he talked about himself. Which he found odd. When did he start wanting these people to know anything about him? In this particular case, it was because in Mewman years Toffee was only nineteen, four years older than Moon and mentally in his mid-thirties. Mating had not crossed his mind, which was not too absurd considering the lifespan of his species. He still had an obscene amount of time. So, he simply told the king he was focusing on his career and would work for as long as he was granted the permission. Toffee doubted he would understand the Septarin lifespan and he didn't have the time to explain it.
He was trying to look casual as he walked down the hallway to Moon's room. However, it was a bit difficult when he kept nearly getting knocked over by fleets of maids in passing. They seemed to be running away, holding various miscellaneous items from the princess's room. Toffee might've mistook them for thieves if all the objects weren't painted with thousands of little bright blue diamonds.
"What's going on?" Toffee inquired, stopping Sandra. She was Moon's maid, who had once caught him trying to kick down her door, and was one of the few who was aware of their friendship. She was holding a big pile of what looked like blue paint splattered sheets and a lamp that had been destroyed, looking quite flustered.
"Sir Toffee, you must not go see the princess now! She's extremely dangerous and her temper is horribly vexed." Sandra replied. Toffee found her distressed manner very unnerving. Nothing ever bothered her. Not even a vicious monster trying to break down the princess's door.
"Why?"
"I shouldn't say. It's not proper." she mumbled in excuse. "You mustn't see her in such a state, okay? Please return when she is feeling up to it."
Sandra ran off after the other maids without any further explanation. Toffee naturally wasn't about to listen to her vague request, despite how desperate she was. He knew Moon better than anyone and knew there was no way she could ever be dangerous. This was surely just a tantrum, or something else that he could easily remedy. There was nothing suspicious about her door, unlike the rest of the items in her room, it remained untouched by whatever affliction she was supposed to have.
"Moon, are you alright?" Toffee asked, with a soft knock.
"NO! I'M DYING!" Moon yelled back, dramatically.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?"
"Was 'I'M DYING' not clear enough!?"
"Let me in. I'll try to help." he insisted, jiggling the locked handle.
"No! You'll only make it worst." she screamed, between sobs. Moon was crying and Toffee sighed, unsure what could be done about it. He wasn't expecting her to be like this.
"Best leave her be, Toffee."
A dull voice had spoken from behind him. Toffee turned to fine Glossaryck had appeared out of nothing, floating on top of the giant spellbook he resided in.
"Glossaryck, what're you doing out here?" Toffee asked, curiously. Usually he and the book resided in Moon's room, resting on a glittering golden stand. Then again, Toffee had seen one of the maids rushing the stand in pieces down the hallway.
"I made the mistake of pointing out a blue diamond on her forehead and she chucked me and the spellbook out the window," Glossaryck sighed. "Never tell a princess she's going through Mewberty."
"Mewberty? What's Mewberty?" Toffee inquired, immediately. Naturally, as a male Septarian, he'd never heard of such a thing before.
"When a Mewman girl is of a certain age, her body goes through a sort of transformation." Glossaryck explained, simply.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Glossaryck…" Toffee snarled, threating and vicious.
"She should be back to normal by 3:57pm, or she won't." Glossaryck added, hastily.
"Won't what?
"Won't be back to normal."
"Is there anything I can do to help her?" Toffee pleaded. Glossaryck simply shook his head, but Toffee would not simply give up while Moon was suffering all alone. "Let me check the spellbook. Surely, there has to be something she can do with her magic."
Toffee grabbed the book out from under him, unknowingly becoming the book's owner and preventing Glossaryck from stopping him. Although, Glossaryck didn't really feel like stopping him, even if he could have. Why exert the energy? He merely waited for Toffee to sift through pages, knowing he wouldn't find anything and would give simply give the book back when he was done. Toffee was smart, but he didn't know the first thing about magic. However, after a couple hopeless turns, he managed to land on the one page in the book he ought not to have. Several pages were bound together in glowing purple chains with a crude skull-shaped lock sealing away the contents.
"No, no, no." Glossaryck quickly shut himself inside the book, before Toffee inevitably questioned the ominously chained chapter. There was a lot he'd let slide, but the chapter in question was not allowed to be read by anyone. Let alone someone like Toffee. If it could taint even the best of souls, the damage it could do to his battered soul would no doubt be irreversible and horrifying. "That's enough of that now. Sorry, magical princesses only."
"Fine. I'll try something else." Toffee stated, seemingly giving the matter no more thought. Moon was more important right now then some bizarre chapter in a book Glossaryck wouldn't let him read. He thought for another moment, before coming with a rough plan of what to do. Getting the idea from his brief encounter with Sandra, Toffee kicked the door with full force. It took about three kicks to cave in, but he made it through.
"Moon—!" Toffee immediately stopped when he saw her. She was sitting in one of her chairs, a mess of blue diamonds trailing onto the floor in swirling stems, like it was a growing plant. She was staring out the large paneled windows into the distance, looking too unperturbed for someone being consumed by diamonds. "What the—?"
"Toffee, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you." Moon grinned, with a creepy unnatural air. "Such a handsome boy…"
"Listen, Moon, we've got to get you to a doctor or something." he said, at once, knowing something was clearly wrong with her mind if she was calling him 'handsome'.
"Sorry, no can do." she replied, turning back to the window. She was looking at the frame with eyes to eager. Toffee could tell she wanted to jump. "I was thinking about going to see what River and Ponyhead are up to today. Maybe go see Lucifer…"
"No! We're going—" Toffee grabbed her wrist and his hand was instantly enveloped in blue diamonds. He tried to remove it, but it had stuck both of their hands to the table like gum. As soon as he touched her, the symptom seemed to accelerate more rapidly. In seconds, they started filling the space between them until Moon was incased in a glowing pod. Toffee just barely managed to wretch his hand free from the horror cocoon. He decided instantly that brute force was not the right choice in this matter and took a few steps back, trying to figure out what was happening to no avail. It pulsed with a faint heartbeat and Toffee slowly re-approached. He placed a cautious hand back on the pod. It was thankfully solid and not interested in absorbing his hand back inside. Moon put her hand up to his. Then, another and another and another and another and another. Toffee backed away again as six hands had placed themselves against the blue skin of the cocoon. Together they ripped through the shell and Toffee soon saw what Glossaryck had meant by 'transformation'.
The creature had a vague resemblance to Moon. Her face remained for the most part the same, except her skin had been dyed in the same blue as the pod that had grown around her. Her hair color remained unchanged, but was now being kept up to look like a beehive and sported a pair of antennas. Transparent wings had sprouted from her back, completing her small resemblance to a real butterfly. Moon's new wings fluttered with movement and lifted her into the air. Her glowing eyes stared at him, bright and unfeeling, but quickly turned to look back outside. She gave Toffee no more attention, having no more time to waste on pray who would keep on resisting. Her new, hasty, animal-like mind made the decision and she tore right through the window, sending shards of glass everywhere. Toffee had covered his eyes for just a moment, but by the time he reopened them, she was already too far gone.
"I told you." Glossaryck added. He was floating in the door, impassive to the fact the princess had literally just shattered a window and was flying off into the distance. "Good luck trying to stop her now."
"I'm going after her." Toffee stated, finally breaking from his blank stare at the window and jumping into action.
"I wish you wouldn't." Glossaryck sighed. However, Toffee had stopped listening to his pessimistic comments ages ago. He rushed to Moon's mirror still with an unclear plan, but a crazy idea of what he should do next.
"Call Cato of Avarius." he ordered. The mirror repeated his request and began dialing, while Toffee paced around it impatiently. A beaked monster soon became visible in the mirror.
"Toffee! Is everything alright? It's been ages since—"
"I don't have a lot of time to explain. I need you and your wings. How fast can you fly to Mewni?" Toffee exclaimed, before he could get into any sort of small talk.
"Ten minutes, if traffic on the royal mile ain't bad." Cato replied.
"Excellent. Pick me up in the third tower of the Butterfly's castle." Toffee hung up the mirror without any further explanation and began pacing around the broken window. Glossaryck sighed not wanting to intervene in the situation any further, but feeling he simply must.
"Honesty, Toffee, it's not worth the effort going after her. She should be fine." Glossaryck insisted.
"She's barely been out of the castle before. How do you expect her to find her way home?" Toffee argued back. Glossaryck looked at him puzzled and perplexed. Not only did he not have a clever retort, but he was struck by Toffee's manor, as if he had literally just noticed him acting peculiar.
"Huh, intriguing. I've never seen you like this before." Glossaryck stated, with a curious tone. Toffee stopped for a moment to acknowledge the statement, but quickly returned to his pace. "Could it be you care about the princess?"
"Is that a problem?" he mumbled, just loud enough for Glossaryck to hear him. Maybe it was a mistake admitting it, but it was not like it was something Toffee could hide at this point.
"No, no, no, of course not." Glossaryck assured. "Well, it's at least not a problem with me. The king and queen, however, might have quite a few things to say. I'd be very careful, after the whole Eclipsa scandal."
"Who?" Just as Toffee had asked the dreaded question, a figure appeared in the window, blocking the natural light from flooding into the room.
"Alright, Toffee, I'm here." Cato said. Toffee turned to answer him, but quickly turned back to Glossaryck, realizing he had yet to answer the question on a scandalous person named Eclipsa. However, just like Moon, he had used that split-second Toffee was not looking to vanish. "What're you doing?"
"Nothing. Let's go…"
"What exactly are we doing?" Cato bucked up the courage to ask, after several minutes of flying around without any explanation.
"We're looking for a creature that looks like the princess, except she's got six arms and butterfly wings." Toffee answered.
"Of course. Just another one of those." Cato added, with a dry sarcasm. However, something buzzed by in the corner of his eye, that proved his skepticism false. He looked as the creature Toffee had just described was flying high over the village, hundreds of feet away. "There she is!"
"After her!" They flew fast after Moon as she zoomed away. They flew over the village and Toffee suddenly realized she'd already been there for quite a while, leaving a mess in her wake. The village was covered in blue diamonds. Certain boys were practically glued to the ground and crying, River and Ponyhead were amongst them.
"At this rate, she'll be headed straight for the Underworld."
"Lucifer…" Toffee murmured. Moon only knew a handful of boys and Lucifer had to be her next target simply on that fact alone. She was after any boy and she was just quickly going down the list of ones she knew. That was it, or at least that was what he told himself, to fend off an uneasy emotion he'd rather not deal with. "Keep right and we should beat her to the castle."
Cato and Toffee crashed through one of the spiked towers of the Underworld's castle fifteen minutes later, making zero effort to conceal their presence. Lucifer naturally came running in at once and, as Toffee suspected, guard-less. Not only was this his room and didn't have time to grab anymore demons, but he foolishly believed his powers were strong enough to take down anyone.
"Toffee!" Lucifer gasped, in clear surprise to see Toffee and his associate. "You've got some nerve, breaking into my castle."
"I don't have time to deal with you. Moon will be here soon!" Toffee snapped. He suddenly started taking various items from the room to barricade the window they'd just broken through.
"This is a problem, why now? I've been eager to see the princess again—"
"You don't understand! She's not well..." Toffee shouted, trying to give Lucifer as little information as he could. However, it would seem Lucifer wasn't going to simply shut up and go along with what he said. Thankfully, but also unfortunately, a familiar buzz had arrived to back him up. Toffee peered through the designated peephole he'd put in the makeshift barricade. She didn't know where they were yet, which gave him the opportunity to show Lucifer what had become of the princess.
"There."
"I must say, I kind of like her better this way. She makes a cute monster." Lucifer grinned, pushing Toffee aside a little to get a better glimpse at Moon's transformation. "What happened? Did you bite her? Is it permanent?"
"No! It's not permanent." Toffee hissed, through gritted teeth. "It's called Mewberty."
"Never heard of it."
"Typical…"
"You could say that again," a voice replied, haughtily. They turned to find Heckapoo had appeared from a glowing amber portal. She was glaring, looking fed up with them already, even though she'd clearly gotten there just then. "You two are idiots. What do you think you're doing?"
"When did you get here?" Lucifer questioned.
"I called the queen, wondering if I could invite Moon to tea and she tells me Moon is ailing." Heckapoo replied. "I didn't know she'd be here. I came to visit my dear brother instead."
They all looked at her with skeptic, unbelieving stares, clearly not buying it for a second. Even Cato was wondering if she was seriously trying to pass that weak lie off and he didn't even know her.
"Okay, I used a spying spell. I've been following her." she admitted, after a moment. "But, it's not like you boys are able to handle something like this without me."
"What do you know about Mewberty?" Toffee inquired, trying to hide his desperateness for information on Moon's ailment. Glossaryck had not been reassuring that it would ever end at all. He didn't know what he'd do if it really did last forever.
"Demon girls go through something similar. Earthlings too, I think." Heckapoo said. "I have to go through it every sixteen years because of suspended time in my dimension. So, I think I'm your best bet of getting her back to normal."
"I don't remember you turning into something like that when you still lived here." Lucifer protested.
"That's because, in my case, I grew a hundred feet and tossed you into a cliff. You flew all the way to garbage beach— where you belong."
"Bravo, sister!" He slow-clapped with as much hostile sarcasm he could muster in the moment. However, his eyes quickly glowed in anger and, the second he stopped clapping, his hands conjured two fireballs. "I swear, I'm going to—"
"Simmer down, Lucifer." Toffee added, sternly. He literally had to hold Lucifer back by his arms for a minute, until his eyes stopped glowing and he calmed down a little. "Heckapoo, do you think you could open a portal to trap Moon in here?"
"Someone would need to fly me out there. She's moving too fast." Heckapoo replied.
"I think I'm your guy." Cato volunteered. Heckapoo nodded and they began tearing down the barricade together, discussing the plan of action in more intimate details,
"Why can't I just lure her in? Doesn't she want me?" Lucifer reasoned to Toffee, who was also just standing off to the side while they did all the work.
"We can't risk her dragging you off somewhere. Just stay put and let your sister handle this." Toffee answered. As the window reappeared from the heap, Cato and Heckapoo departed towards the creature. Moon noticed them immediately. However, since one was a girl and the other was a monster, she wasn't interested. She zoomed away from this new set of pursuers, but was also intent on stopping them this time. Moon sent several fast shots in their direction and Cato just managed to dodge all of them. He was definitely not at his prime for fighting with someone attached to him and it was unknown how long they'd be able to keep dodging her barrages.
"What time is it?" Toffee asked Lucifer, sharply. He was clearly worried about how long they'd be able to fend her off.
"I don't know, like 4 o'clock. What's it matter?" Lucifer snapped back, still obviously bitter.
"Glossaryck said, if she were to turn back, she would've done it by three fifty-seven." Toffee explained.
"That's oddly specific."
"She has to turn back..." Toffee mumbled.
"Look, that was just my best guess. There still could be time—" he stopped talking as Toffee set a foot on the sill without a companion to fly him out. "What are you doing?"
"I have to talk to her."
Toffee exited from the window and started to climb the castle to its highest point. He was surrounded by a pit of lava, with about a hundred foot drop below him, but he was not perturbed by any of it. He didn't know if he was being crazy, or if something like this would work. Glossaryck may have been right, he might've been making a fool of himself. However, even if it didn't, it was something he felt he must say. He waited for her to flutter by close enough, although she was in the midst of a heated battle and gave him no attention.
"Moon, I don't know if you're still in there, but if you are, I'd wish you'd stop all of this. Try to fight it off. I know you can." Toffee shouted. She gave no indication of hearing him, but he went on regardless. "Please…I don't want my only friend to turn into a monster."
Suddenly, she stopped. Moon acknowledged his presence for the first time after dismissing him as a nuisance in her new objectives. She flew closer to examine his expression. Fear and desperation were not becoming of him, but regardless the creature in her was flooded with remorse. The blue diamonds that had taken over slowly started to peel revealing her pale form. Her hair fell down and she shed her translucent wings, revealing the true Moon once more. Toffee was grateful to see her again, however, was not allowed to savor the moment. The unfortunate thing about transforming in mid-air was now she was falling.
"Moon!" Toffee jumped from the castle just in time to catch her. Although, it didn't do much good, considering now they were both falling.
"Faster, Cato!" Heckapoo exclaimed. They flew recklessly past the falling couple and were thankfully able to pull ahead of them. Heckapoo tore a rip with her scissors for them to fall through. In an instant, they were all piled onto the bed in Lucifer's room. In the midst of the untangling, Moon stirred awake. She looked around at the surroundings with confusion and found Toffee was sitting next to her.
"Toffee? Where am I?"
"The Underworld. We kind of took a surprise trip." Toffee replied, unclearly. He probably should've explained properly what had happened. However, he didn't want to have to admit his true feelings so freely again. He'd opened up his heart too much for one day. "I'm glad you're okay."
Moon hugged him tightly, with a grateful smile and, to show he felt the same, he hugged her back. However, a flutter of something against the palms of his hands objected to this gesture.
"What was that?"
"Ah! My Mewberty wings." she squealed, in excitement. Moon turned around slightly so he could see a tiny set of wings sprouted on her back. "I must've seriously blacked out because I don't remember a thing. I hope I wasn't too much trouble."
"You're real lucky I have such a long lifespan." he sighed, rubbing his temple.
"So, you were worried?" Moon questioned, with a mischievous air. She already knew the answer, but asked the question any way.
"Naturally." Toffee replied, like it was an obvious fact. However, the first time she'd asked him that, his answer had been completely different. "I was afraid you weren't coming back."
"Toffee…"
Lucifer coughed, purely to re-establishing his and everyone else's presence in the room. They broke out of a world of their own and Heckapoo approached them, before her brother got the chance to address the figurative elephant in the room.
"Here Moon. I think you should take these." she stated, presenting Moon with something from her dress pocket. The gift did not need to be opened to notice the scissor shape in the wrappings.
"Dimensional scissors, really?!"
"Any girl that can comeback from something like that is worthy of a pair." Heckapoo grinned. Everyone examined the valuable gift with interest as she unraveled it from the paper. Lucifer seemed especially interested, considering his sister wouldn't give him a pair in a million years. They were the color of the night sky with a small moon connecting both parts together. Her name was engraved in ancient Mewman on the blade. "Besides, how are you going to visit me in my dimension without scissors."
"You want me to visit you?" Moon questioned, sounding too surprised at something that was generally so normal.
"Yeah! We should be friends, while it's not totally weird. Trust me, when you're like forty and I'm still like this it's going to be weird." Heckapoo explained.
"Okay!" Moon grinned. She didn't have any friends that were girls and was very excited to finally make one.
"We should really be getting you home, Moon. Let's go now." Toffee insisted, guiding her towards the door. There was a lot he had to deal with. After returning her to her parents, they'd probably have him conducting a cleanup of the town, fix Moon's window, and make sure she got all her furniture back. It was not technically his job, but he felt responsible enough for her escape and would probably do it all, regardless of whether they asked.
"No fair! I want to be the princess's friend too." Lucifer shouted, suddenly. He'd been simmering and pushed off to the side for far too long. Everyone stared at him and he instantly regretted his childish outburst, shriveling up in utter embarrassment. "If she'll have me, that is…"
"Of course." Moon replied. She was too content to notice such an obvious sign.
"Care for a lift back to the castle, Cato?" Toffee asked him, as Moon cut them a portal with her new scissors.
"That would be welcomed, after dragging me into this." Cato replied, with a tired sigh. They waved farewell to the Lucitors and stepped into the swirling portal.
"Don't act like you didn't enjoy the action." Toffee was saying, as they took their first steps into the Butterfly castle. "How's Lord Brudo treating Avarius?"
"Miserable. Last week—"
"Who's this Toffee? Is he a friend?" Moon asked, suddenly taking more notice of the unfamiliar face then she had before.
"An old comrade." Toffee answered, simply.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Moon Butterfly, crown princess of Mewni." Moon said, with a curtsey, as Toffee had taught her to do.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, princess." Cato smiled back, bowing to her as well. "I hate to rush out, but I ought to get back. One of the Lord's bratty kids has probably set fire to the castle by now."
"Good luck." Moon smiled, as they waved him farewell. He saluted them, before jumping from the nearest window and soaring through the sky. "He's got nice wings. I wonder if mine can do that…"
Moon suddenly jumped up, flapping her tiny little wings as hard as she could. She briefly hovered off the ground in a glimmering hopeful moment, however, she fell to the floor a second later.
"Nope." she frowned, in conclusion. Toffee's impassive expression faltered slightly with a tick. Moon could tell he was holding back. "You know you can laugh, if you want too."
"I'm not laughing." he claimed, unconvincingly.
"Let me guess? Because you don't laugh." Moon mocked, for a matter of fact. Her attitude quickly changed and Toffee saw her form an exciting idea right there. "Looks like I've got a new goal! I'm going to make you laugh so hard, one of these days. You won't be able to stop."
"I look forward to it, Moon..." he replied, with an earnest smile. Toffee extended an arm out for her, to escort her to the billions of duties they both had to face together, "Shall we?"
Moon stuffed the scissors in her pocket and took up his arm. The rest of the day would be filled with nothing but work and obligation. They weren't likely to get anymore adventure in their lives for quite a while. However, she didn't pout about it. She was certain that this was merely the start of many more adventures to come with Toffee.
14