Kingsley

Chapter 9

Long Live the Queen

It was a surprise, but Toffee and Moon's new relationship was as easily concealed as their friendship was. They were able to hide it for months. Although, not a lot changed going from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. Toffee still went through his daily reports with the king and queen and had secret rendezvous with Moon in her room later. They weren't allowed outside, but they still managed to have an enjoyable time. It didn't really matter they couldn't go anywhere. They were just happy to be together and that was all that mattered at the moment.

It was almost February in Mewni and the whole kingdom was covered in a deep blanket of snow. The royal gardens were vacant and untouched from their brief dead, ugly appearance, which ensured two lovers meeting there that they would not be seen by anyone.

"Why'd you want to meet me in the garden today? I thought even garden walks were risky." Moon questioned, upon her arrival. Toffee was wrapped up in a heavy cloak and any other article of clothing he could find to protect him from the cold. He did not do cold weather well, yet had insisted meeting Moon outside that day.

"You worry too much, Moon." Toffee exclaimed, sarcastically. She looked at him and his adorable smugness, until he admitted the real reason he brought her out there. "Alright, I may have had ulterior motives for taking you outside. There's a surprise waiting in your room."

"Is it a dead bird?" she asked, jokingly, as if he were a feral cat.

"You'll see have to go see for yourself." he replied, mischievously. Moon ran hastily back towards the castle doors, without warning. "I didn't mean right now! Wait a minute."

Toffee chased after her, but Moon had gotten too much of a head start. Also, she had a magical boost from her wand that jetted her forward. When Moon burst the door of her room open, she instantly saw there was something new sitting on her bed. A little creature with purple fur and pink cloven hooves was chewing on her bed sheets. He addressed her presence with his dark red eyes for a second, before continuing with his meal. Moon shrieked with delight and ran to hug the precious babe. Toffee appeared in the doorway, out-of-breath, and begun shedding his many layers so he would not suffocate.

"A pig-goat! Is he for me?" Moon exclaimed, squishing the cheeks of the creature with delight. She'd always wanted one, but her parents did not think pig-goats were a proper pet. They were dirty and rolled around in mud. It was one of the only things in her pampered life she'd asked for and had never received.

"Of course! I didn't just put a pig-goat in your room for no reason." Toffee stated, finally regaining his composure and the ability to breath properly.

"What's the occasion then?" she asked, even though she already knew quite well.

"I believe it's one of our anniversaries." he answered, closing the door so they had a little more privacy.

"You remembered!"

"You've been dropping hints every other day. It was impossible not to remember."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Moon beamed, excitedly, releasing the pig-goat to hug Toffee. "I think I'll name him Lil' Chauncey because he kind of reminds me of the Chancellor."

"They look nothing—"

"Moon, are you in there?"

It wasn't Moon's maid, who was one of the few who knew of her and Toffee's torrid affair, but her mother. The queen hardly ever came to see Moon, usually she was called to her parent's audience. Although, she was curious as to the occasion for this visit, Moon was more concerned of the fact she was alone with Toffee in her room. Also, had a pig-goat just nonchalantly lying on her bed. Her mother would have a heart attack if she saw any of this.

"Oh no…Quickly!" Moon gasped, in a hushed whisper. She retrieved her dimensional scissors from her desk drawer, tore a portal, and shoved Toffee through without hesitation. However, after realizing she had no idea where she sent him and wouldn't have a way to get him back, jumped through the portal herself.

Toffee didn't travel far. It turns out Moon had kept him in Butterfly castle and just sent him to a different room. However, he could not begin to figure out which of the hundred rooms she'd sent him to. It was not like he'd had the opportunity to go through all of them. Moon skidded out of the portal behind him, before Toffee was even able to take in his surroundings.

"Where are we?" Toffee asked, assuming she knew. He looked around more and found they were not alone. Queen Willow stared down at them, as well as Queen Solaria, and Queen Celena. They were in a large circular room surrounded by the symbols of the Butterfly family from the painting on the doors, to the carvings on the ceiling.

"Woah! I think we're in the grandma room!" she gaped, taking in the surroundings with a new sense of exhilarated excitement.

"What's the grandma room?" he questioned, curiously.

"It holds the tapestries of all the past queens of Mewni. My mom told me about it. I'm not really allowed in, till I become queen myself." Moon explained, looking around with piqued interest. "See, there's Celena and Solaria and—"

She stopped at the picture of a queen with poofy dark green hair, a giant feathered sunhat, and bright red spades emblazoned on her round cheeks. Her eyes were piercing and, even in a picture, she gave off the intimidating presence of a powerful queen.

"That's odd. I don't recognize her." Moon reported, examining the queen's face with more intensity, trying to see if it would ring any bells. "We did go over all the former queens of Mewni, didn't we, Toffee?"

"Yes, I remember spending a good two weeks on them. I can't recall her either..." Toffee added. It made a little sense that Moon could not remember. It was not as important to focus on the other queens as it was to work on herself as a future queen. However, for Toffee, the mystery queen concerned him gravely. His knowledge of the history of Mewni was exemplary. He approached the tapestry and a triangular stone tablet raised from the ground. It glowed purple and Toffee read the name of the mystery queen upon it. "Eclipsa, Queen of Darkness…I think I've heard Glossaryck mention her before."

"And my aunt, when we played Flags. She was comparing us to an Eclipsa, remember? She obviously meant her." Moon speculated. While Toffee had gone forward, Moon stepped back. Upon stepping back and examining the piece as a whole, she saw that Queen Eclipsa was not perched on a thick tree branch, but on the muscular arm of a three-eyed monster with a taut, wicked grin.

"I can see why…" Toffee remarked, continuing on with the rest of the words inscribed on the stone tablet, "Eclipsa Queen of Mewni to a Mewmen King was wed, but took a monster for her love, and away from Mewni fled."

"She ran away from Mewni to be with a monster..."

"When Glossaryck said scandal, he wasn't kidding. No wonder the kingdom has blasted her out of history."

"I can't believe Glossaryck knew about her all this time and didn't tell me! He knows about us." Moon snapped, glaring at the little image of Glossaryck hovering at Eclipsa's side. Although, Toffee held most of the concern about their relationship, she still had her worries. She'd confided in Glossaryck and, in return, he gave no opinion on the matter, as he always did. According to him, Moon was allowed to live by her own rules. But, that was clearly not the case.

"You know how he is, though. He was probably sworn to secrecy ages ago." Toffee reasoned.

"They'd sooner chase me away from Mewni, then let me be with you..." she mumbled, quietly. As much as Moon wanted to believe that, if she went public with her relationship with a monster, everyone would understand, Eclipsa was a clear example that no one would ever allow it to happen. "Let's run away too!"

"Moon—"

"I'm serious, Toffee. You were right all along. There's no place for us here." Moon cried, hysterically. "We've got to get out of here, before they find out."

"This room, maybe, but the entire kingdom. That's insane. Where would we go?"

"Wherever she went. Glossaryck!"

She whistled with her fingers and the spellbook zoomed down through the star shaped skylight. It rolled onto the ground and Glossaryck tumbled out.

"What're you doing in here, Moon?" Glossaryck asked, looking somewhat surprised.

"We accidently broke in." Moon answered.

"I see." Glossaryck acknowledged. He looked to Moon, then towards Toffee and the glowing stone of the dark queen. "So, you've met your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma. Perfect. There goes my head."

"What happened to her? Where did she go to escape Mewni?" Moon inquired.

"She didn't escape."

"Did they kill her?"

"No." Glossaryck stated, trying to give them as little information as he could. However, it was clear that his simple answer would suffice and it was too late to hold back their need for information. He held out his hand, gesturing for Moon's scissors, "Here, it'd probably be better if I showed you…"

"What about the secret?" Toffee added, clearly suspicious on how fast he'd turned over.

"Well, it's out now. Might as well keep rolling with it. Come on!"

Glossaryck cut them a new portal and they were taken to another dimension. The new dimension was shiny, covered head-to-toe in iridescent crystals. Glossaryck began to lead them up a long set of stairs in the middle of the crystal maze, while Moon and Toffee took in more of their surroundings. Moon though there was something eerily familiar about the dimension. Then, she suddenly saw a sharp-toothed monster, bound to attack her. She drew her wand, but soon realized the monster was also enclosed in the crystal seconds later.

"This is Rhombulus's work." she gasped, realizing who had a similar power and motive to encase the forces of evil in crystal.

"Rhombulus and the Chancellor shouldn't be back for a while, but we still ought to be hasty." Glossaryck added. He suddenly stopped at a particular section of crystals and pointed to one in particular. If Glossaryck hadn't pointed her out, Moon and Toffee probably would've never seen her. The woman they'd seen in the tapestry was buried amongst the monsters, looking minutely harmless in comparison. She didn't even look like she put up a fight, with her arms posed out, like a fancy porcelain doll. "There, she is. The former queen lives, but frozen in crystal for all eternity."

"Why did they do that? They should have just killed her and saved themselves from a possible catastrophe down the road." Toffee noted, sensibly. "If she somehow ever manages to escape, Mewni will have a real problem."

"They can't kill her. It's not possible anymore." Glossaryck stated, not taking his eyes off Eclipsa to address Toffee. He was fixed on her with an unnerving intensity, as if he was afraid she'd start moving if he looked away for just one second. "She'd always been a disturbed little princess. But, after she met her monster lover, she began playing with darker magic, leading to her most powerful discovery. Immortality…"

"My mom said nothing is immortal. Immortality is something countless magic users have tried for centuries, but none have ever managed to cheat death. It's impossible." Moon added.

"Look, I saw it with my own eyes. She's created a way."

"What is it?" Toffee asked, maybe a bit too eagerly. It was obviously an incredible discovery the dark queen had made. Why was she not being celebrated for such an accomplishment? A discovery like this could make Mewni even greater than it already was.

"I'm not about to tell you. I wasn't even supposed to tell Moon about Eclipsa, until she came of age and ascended the throne." Glossaryck said, dodging Toffee's question. "You've seen why this thing going on between you is dangerous and, I'm not going to tell you to stop, just bare this all in mind. I really don't want to have to go through this again…"

They said nothing. What possibly could be said of yet another reason they should not be together, that hadn't already been said? Regardless of the new risks and discovery of Eclipsa, Toffee held onto Moon's hand as they descended the stairs behind Glossaryck. He ripped another portal for them to leave through. Toffee was right about to walk through, together with Moon, when suddenly a voice pierced him.

"You really want to know my methods? I can tell you, Toffee…"

"Moon, did you say something?" Toffee questioned. The voice had sounded a lot like Moon, however, it didn't really sound like something she'd say.

"No." Moon replied, looking at him oddly. Why would he think she had said something? She hadn't even opened her mouth.

"I could've swore—"

"Hold it right there!" another more familiar voice barked from behind them. They did not even turn back to see that Rhombulus had returned. However, Toffee and Moon were through the portal and back in the grandma room before he could even recognize their figures.

"That was a close one…" Moon breathed, in a brief moment of relief. However, brief was an understatement of how short this peace would last.

"I'll say." a fourth voice had added, in Toffee's place. Queen Willow Butterfly had appeared out of the shadows, glaring at them with outrage.

"Mom!"

"Where have you three been? Answer me quickly and don't even think about lying!" she shouted, impatiently.

"We went to see Eclipsa. I made Glossaryck take us there." Moon replied, obediently. It was not necessarily the truth, but she knew it would divert her mother's anger towards her, rather than lashing out at Toffee and Glossaryck.

"I should've expected you'd find out sooner or later, considering you and Toffee's relationship..."

"You've known?" Moon questioned. Her mother had made no notion of ever knowing of their bond before.

"Of course, I've known, Moon. I'm not as blind as your father to these things." the queen argued. "You think I didn't watch you two playing Flags together, or notice you both disappear on Song Day. I would've been a fool not to expect something was going on."

"We've been hiding it pretty well."

"No, you haven't, sweetie. I just found a pile of men's clothes outside your room. No, you haven't."

"If you've always known, why haven't you ever done anything?"

"I didn't have concrete proof." Queen Willow claimed. Although, Moon expected it was something different. She didn't think it was going to last. It would just be another phase in Moon's rebellious life and it would soon pass. "Glossaryck, escort Moon back to her room. Toffee and I have much to discuss."

Moon and Glossaryck obeyed without much choice. As for going back to Moon's room, they allowed themselves to break that so they could spy from outside. Unfortunately, the queen cast an anti-spying spell over the room, so even her massive stentorian yells would not be heard by anyone else but Toffee.

"Queen, I am—"

"Save your breath, monster." Queen Willow seethed, in even more vicious anger. "I let you into my home, I gave you responsibility and duty, a chance to fix what was broken between our races, and this is how you repay all my generosity. The king and I trusted you, Toffee."

"I know. I can't make any excuses for my actions, but you should know how deeply I care about Moon." Toffee claimed, earnestly. However, the queen would not be swayed so easily.

"You can't care for anyone, but yourself. Whatever you think you feel for my daughter is false. A creature like you cannot possibly love." Queen Willow sneered, cruelly. "Toffee of Septarsis, you are hereby stripped of your title and permanently banned from Mewni. I want you out of my kingdom immedietly."

"No, please! You can't do this." he begged, desperately sinking down to the ground. Without Moon and his position in the castle, he had absolutely nothing. All the hard work he'd put into keeping peace between the monsters and the Mewman over the years would be gone, just like that. He'd never see the only person who could ever love him again. Moon would be forced to go on without him and, without any prospects, he'd slowly wither away into the filth he was born from.

"Be lucky I'm not having you encased in crystal too, or calling war upon your entire race, for this type of treachery." the queen snapped, shaking him off the hem of her gown. "Now, get out of my sight, before I call the guards."

The large doors opened and only Toffee exited, dazed and numb. Moon rushed to him immedietly. However, he still did not shake from his lifeless gaze at her approach.

"Toffee, what did she say? Is everything alright?" she asked, innocently, not knowing what catastrophe had just happened. He had no heart to tell her such a horrible thing. Toffee merely wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Do not forget me."

"What do you mean? Where are you going? Toffee!" she questioned, rapidly as he released her and continued to run away. Moon screamed after him, but he didn't look back. Queen Willow exited the room soon after, looking too unperturbed by what was happening. "What have you done?"

"I did what I needed too."

It was vague, but still told Moon everything she needed to know. She looked horrified at her mother. How could she have done something so wretched? Moon ran back to her room, as fast as she could, to shut out such a cruel unfair world. The queen caught up several minutes later, giving Moon a little time to just cry it out.

"Moon, please let me in." Queen Willow pleaded, with a knock on the door. This was an expected reaction, but she had to do what she could to try and fix things between her and her daughter. "I know that you're upset, but I did it because I love you. Surely, you must know that."

Moon did not answer.

"It was for both of your own good. They executed Eclipsa's lover. Would you really have wanted Toffee dead, rather than banished?" the queen reasoned, hopelessly. It may not have seemed like it after what she'd just done, but she really did like Toffee. She might've seen how happy he made Moon and kept quiet till the last possible second. She didn't want to burst their bubble of happiness, until she had to.

"No! I would've rather these stupid laws be changed and have you let me be in love with whoever I want to." Moon shrieked back, at her mother's feeble excuse.

"He didn't love you." Queen Willow stated, coldly. Although, she could not be certain of Toffee's true emotions, it was the message she needed to instill in her daughter. She would move on from him eventually, if she just kept telling her that it was not in a monster's biology to have such an emotion. The evidence disproving this ideal would soon fade and Moon would realize she only felt this way was because Toffee pretended he was a Mewman. "I hope you'll realize that one day."

Toffee was back home in Septarsis, mindlessly chugging down swamp water without much purpose. He had no future except a grim one at the end of the bottle. Might as well start early. This was not imagined his life ending, after all he had built for himself. He was to die reckless, worthless, and dumb. He sunk his face into a pillow and gave up even drinking. Nothing was left.

Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Toffee looked up to see a woman with familiar red spades was staring back at him.

"Hiya, handsome." she grinned, confidently. She sounded so much like Moon it physically hurt him. "I'm Queen Eclipsa. Nice to meet you."

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