Kingsley
Chapter 11
Kill the Beast
"What a tragedy. Who would've thought Sir Toffee would murder the king and queen and try to take over the kingdom?"
"Only everyone with more than half a brain. The royal family was foolish for trusting him from the start."
"Is there any news of the princess? I've heard whispers of war and she's far too young to lead an army."
"I can only assume she's the queen now. There's been no further news of her condition."
"Poor thing…"
The whole kingdom was in a gossipy buzz after that dreadful night. They hardly mourned the loss, when there was so much more to think about. What would become of Mewni with the death of King Juniper and Queen Willow? Moon was thankfully exempt from hearing such disrespectful talk. She was shut up in the Butterfly castle, dealing with all the aftermath Toffee had left behind. She hadn't the time to be upset about what had happened. As much as she needed to just cry, Moon was expected to bottle up those feelings and be a leader. Even though she'd lost her parents. Even though she'd lost Toffee.
The Magic High Commission had to be assembled for a meeting about a week later to discuss the future of the kingdom and the inevitable hunting down of Toffee. It was obviously a meeting Moon was dreading attending, despite the fact her magic friends had officially joined the commission to aid her. Heckapoo was always fated to join when Moon ascended the throne, however, Rhombulus insisted on also joining to help her out. It was a sweet gesture, but even with her friends there for support, Moon doubted it would help her talk about the situation without wanting to break down in tears.
"Now, that we've all gathered. It's time to discuss what to do about Toffee." Heckapoo stated, on Moon's behalf. Being the only one who knew the truth, she knew to tread very lightly in the oncoming discussion.
"He's evil. He needs to be crystalized!" Rhombulus shouted at once, raising one of his snake fists righteously in the air.
"Rhombulus! You're being too hasty." Heckapoo snapped, harshly. "We don't know what's come over Toffee all a sudden. We can't just freeze him, before we know all the facts."
"What other facts do we need? He murdered the king, the queen, and you, in cold blood. He's a stone-cold killer."
"Well—I—um…"
"It's alright, Heckapoo. I cannot pretend the betrayal of Toffee is a heavy blow towards Mewman and Monster relations and a personal attack towards me and my family. However, it is imperative we act, before he plans his next assault on Mewni." Moon stated, dutifully stepping in. She spoke with such clarity and conviction in her voice that for a moment she even fooled Heckapoo that she was truly undaunted by this horrible incident. "We must ki—"
She couldn't say it. Her voice immedietly left her. Even after everything, Moon couldn't admit the obvious course of action. Her feelings were still too jumbled to begin to figure out. She hated Toffee for what he'd done but couldn't completely snuff out the love she had for him. Moon got up and promptly ran for the door, unable to put on her strong façade of a leader any longer. She was about to crack.
Moon sunk down without her faults and defenses, praying no one would find her, yet not having run far enough away to not be found. She was allowed a couple minutes to cry and be the girl she truly felt inside. Helpless and heartbroken.
"We don't have to kill him, you know." a voice assured her. Heckapoo had come to Moon's aid and somehow managed to find her in one of the many secluded hallways of the castle.
"No, we have to. I know that. I know…" Moon insisted, even in tears. She wiped her eyes at once and attempted to compose herself once more. "I'm sorry. I'll pull myself together and return to the meeting."
"Moon, I want you to be the first to see this, before I have to show the commission. One of the guards found it at the entrance this morning…" Heckapoo added, suddenly, as Moon pulled herself back up. She pulled from her pocket a scroll tied with scarlet red ribbon. "It's from Toffee—"
"I don't want to hear anything he has to say." Moon huffed, bitterly. However, there was a small part that craved to hear his words. Would he apologize to her, or claim an angry demon had taken his form? The curiosity itched. What did he have to say?
"He's planning on storming the castle if you don't surrender the throne to him. He's going to start another Monster War."
"What?" Moon grabbed the scroll at once, untied it feverously, and began to read. It was a cruel messy scrawl that she could somehow still tell was Toffee's, even if it barely resembled his neat script. It said pretty much exactly as Heckapoo had said. "Why does he keep doing this? I don't understand…"
Moon tossed the scroll to the ground, with a frustrated grunt, and blasted it in a smoldering fury with her wand. She huffed a bit in anger-exerted energy, as she gazed at the smoking black mess she'd created, before coming back to her senses again. She soon became embarrassed at her display of rage, not knowing what had come over her all a sudden.
"Moon! Wait—"
She ran all the way to her room to hide, clearly no longer in a fit state to simply return to the meeting. The only short-term solution to cure such pent-up emotions was screaming into a pillow, which Moon did upon collapsing onto her bed. After a good minute scream, she just stuck there, not sure what she should do next. A cold breeze passed through her shoulders and a soothing voice suddenly was heard, cooing softly to her.
"There, there, my darling. Everything will be alright."
The voice sounded vaguely familiar and Moon was instantly comforted, despite the cold fact no one had entered her room. When she realized this terrifying detail, she jumped up immedietly.
"Mother—" However, the voice was different kind of ghost. Eclipsa Butterfly had casually entered. She was already quite at home for someone who was breaking and entering into someone else's mind. "Why are you here?"
"It's not a crime to visit your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter. I wanted to see how you're taking all this dreadfulness, you poor thing." Eclipsa replied. Unlike when she'd first talked to Toffee, she was blatantly trying to come off as a more sympathetic creature towards Moon. "I know how your feeling."
"What was your monster like?" Moon inquired, dropping any sort of suspicion she might've had. Her despair clouded the sensible judgement Toffee had once built up inside her. It was exactly what she had needed to hear. Heckapoo was trying her best, but Eclipsa was possibly the only other who might understand Moon's pain.
"Nothing like yours. He would've killed my hubby in a heartbeat, whether it'd make him the king, or not. Bloodshed was too easy for him."
"It looked pretty easy for Toffee."
"I'm sure that's not true. Woman bring out the beast in men. You should just be happy that you still live to love another day." Eclipsa added, in that same overly sweet and comforting tone. "I guarantee, you'll find someone better in the future."
"They say I need to destroy Toffee and I'm afraid I have no choice." Moon stated, woefully.
"It may seem unavoidable, but ultimately the choice is yours. What do you want to do?" Eclipsa inquired, seemingly curious.
"I honestly don't know." Moon mumbled. "I don't have the strength to kill him, even if I wanted to, and freezing him will solve nothing."
"Well, in my humble opinion, I think he deserves death." Eclipsa admitted, boldly. Moon looked aghast. She'd thought Eclipsa had come here to sooth her worries not just tell her what everyone else was saying. "Something has tainted the love in his heart, and it will only continue to spiral out of control."
"How do I even kill someone like Toffee? He's extremely strong and regenerates faster than it takes to damage him in the first place. I know he doesn't have magic, but—"
"Oh, he's got magic, sweetheart. There's no doubt about that."
"How do you know that?" Moon asked, sounding a little suspicious.
"Just a hunch. I mean, why do you think he killed your parents? Out of mad love?" Eclipsa added, with only slight hesitation. She was almost able to effortlessly cover her tracks. Hopefully, Moon didn't press her any further. She couldn't have Moon knowing that she was the one who had led her monster off his own tracks. "It's plain to see that all he wanted was your mother's magic and your father was simply in the way."
"Why would he do this?" Moon asked again, as if anyone, but Toffee could possibly give her the right answer.
"I hate to tell you this, Moon, but monsters born with love are one in a billion." Eclipsa informed, not sounding the least bit sorry to impart such horrid news. "Odds are, he was playing you this entire time. He was getting close to your family, so he could strike and gain power for the monster race. He's been planning a war since the day you met."
"How do I stop him?" Moon mumbled. The question was mostly a distraction for the sting of burning rage she felt at Toffee. To think he might've been pretending all this time.
"I do know of one spell that might work against him, from my chapter of the spellbook. It'll just require a little dark magic—"
"Why can't I kill him with light magic? My mother always said it was the most powerful form of magic in the world." Moon remarked, uneasily. Her life had taken a dark turn for the worst, but she did not want to let the darkness envelope her. Then, she'd be no better than Toffee.
"Shows what she knows." Eclipsa scoffed. "He's absorbed the light magic from her body, so hitting him with more will only make him stronger. The only way to effectively stop him from absorbing more power is with dark magic."
"Glossaryck won't let me into your chapter of the spellbook, though. He says it's forbidden."
"I can open it up for you, no problem!"
"But you're trapped in Rhombulus's dimension, aren't you? You're not really here."
"You can bust me out, though. I mean, what's the real issue? You know they only imprisoned me for falling in love with a monster. I didn't do anything wrong." Eclipsa reasoned. However, she could sense Moon was still hesitant and had to counter more to her emotions. "Don't you want to have someone around who truly cares for you?"
Moon seriously considered her offer. She did have a point. Not only would she need Eclipsa's help to defeat Toffee, but she was desperate to have a caring mother figure to replace the one she'd lost. Although, Moon missed her real mother dearly, Eclipsa had helped her more in the past few minutes then Queen Willow ever had.
"Okay. I'll break you out."
"Excellent."
As Eclipsa faded away, Moon burst into action. She grabbed her cloak and went to retrieve the spellbook from the deepest vaults in the Butterfly castle. Normally, it would've been right on her desk. However, Heckapoo had suggested she keep the it locked up in case Toffee tried to steal it. Which seemed to be more likely now that she knew he had magic. She hastily made her way down spiral stone steps, in a blue orb of light illuminated by her wand, until she reached the bottom. Moon removed the heart of the wand and jiggled the rod in the lock, like a key. It clicked open a few moments later and she was greeted by Glossaryck's snoring.
"Out of the book, buddy! I need it." she stated, shaking Glossaryck onto the cold stone floor.
"Where are you going? It was on your order that the book stay here, till further notice." Glossaryck replied, drowsily.
"Well, then consider this further notice. The book and I have to go to grandma's house…"
"Your majesty—wait, where are you taking the spellbook? Moon!"
Moon had cut her way to Rhombulus's dimension before she'd even made it halfway up the stone steps. In seconds, she was on the crystal flight of stairs, presented before the Queen of Darkness. She searched the perimeter for Rhombulus and the Chancellor. They were probably still at the meeting, listening to Heckapoo stall for time in her absence. Moon wasted no time melting the crystal around Eclipsa. However, made it a point to only release her upper half and leave her waist downwards still trapped. She wanted to make sure she could trust Eclipsa before releasing her fully. It only took a second for Eclipsa to reanimate back to life. She yawned, shook out her green curls, and stared at Moon, in bafflement. The foolish girl had really done it. However, upon trying to take her first step forward, she realized the job was only half done.
"Moon, what're you doing? Not to be too selfish, but I kind of would like to have feeling in my legs after a few centuries." Eclipsa laughed, trying to be lighthearted.
"I want your word first." Moon bargained.
"I already told you. I was innocent—"
"Then, give me your word and unlock the chapter."
"Very well. Give me your hand." Eclipsa sighed, removing her one of the gloves off her hands.
"You swear to unlock the chapter if I release you." Moon stated, grasping Eclipsa's hand. The moment they touched, both of their hands became enveloped in a black, ink-like substance. Then, it wrapped their arms up in dark ribbons, tying them together. Moon tried to remove her hand, but Eclipsa gripped it tighter.
"Yes. It's a deal—"
A flurry of sharp crystals shot at their wrists and their intertwined hands immedietly broke apart. Rhombulus and the Chancellor came rushing through a new portal and saw her and the half-free Eclipsa.
"Queen Moon stand back! You can't trust her!" Rhombulus shouted. "I know that I'm really hasty at crystalizing people I think are evil. But, if there was anyone who I'm certain is pure evil, it's that witch."
"Stupid blockhead!" Eclipsa shrieked, trying to remove the rest of her body so she could fight. However, Rhombulus jumped up the stairs and placed his hands on the melted crystal. Slowly, the crystal began to reform around her. Eclipsa groaned in frustration. She'd been so close. Before her head was about to freeze over again and she'd lose the power of speech, she turned back towards Moon, "Our agreement still stands, Moon. You will release me one day! No one goes back on deals with me…"
Despite her vicious tone, as the crystal fully formed around her, Eclipsa was soon left with the same soft demure expression she'd had before. The only thing different was the raised arm and blackened ungloved hand.
"Are you alright?" Rhombulus huffed, a little out-of-breath from the adrenaline.
"Thanks, Rhombulus. I feel I was about to make a grave error…" Moon smiled. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and tried to return her reassuring smile without a mouth. They made their way back down the staircase and Rhombulus waved goodbye as she cut herself a new portal.
Moon was back in her room with a sorrowed sigh. She was back to square one, hopelessly unsure what to do…
Well, the first thing she knew she had to do, was wash away this terrible attempt. She set the book down on its usual stand and rushed to the bathroom to wash her blackened hand. However, despite how hard she tried scrubbing it, the marks wouldn't come off. Frustrated, Moon went to the spellbook for a simple stain remover spell. Surely, great-great-great grandma, Helga the Clean, would have something. But, when she opened the book with her blackened hand, the book instantly turned to a chapter wrapped in glowing chains. Eclipsa's chapter. Moon's curiosity suddenly hit upon looking into the dead eyes of the skull lock. If it led her hear, how far would it take her? She touched the lock with her blackened hand, and it clicked. The glowing chain fell away and gave her permission to turn the first page. However, Moon didn't have any interest in reading the whole chapter.
I just need to know the spell that can defeat Toffee…
The book abided, latching onto her vengeful thoughts. It turned to the last page of the chapter and Moon read the spell upon it. 'The Darkest Spell', as it was appropriately titled, was short, but clear. She sat conflicted for the longest time. There it was before her and she no longer had to worry about freeing a bigger evil to access it. If this was the only way to kill Toffee, it was plain she had no choice but to do it.
"I call—"
"Moon, stop!"
Glossaryck had burst in all of a sudden, growing one of his legs just to kick down the door. Odds are he knew everything, like he generally tended to, and was deciding far too late that he should step in and do something about it. She examined his desperateness for a moment, but then turned back to the spellbook.
"You can't order me around, Glossaryck. I'm the queen." Moon mumbled.
"Apologies, your majesty. But, please trust me. This isn't the answer to beat Toffee." Glossaryck reasoned.
"This is the only way I shall have enough power."
"Yes, but it'll crush your heart. You may never be able to properly feel again."
"Has he not already crushed my heart? I don't see what else I have to lose!" she thundered. Moon cleared her voice, in preparation to read the darkest spell. No one would stop her from destroying her greatest foe.
I call the darkness unto me
from deepest depths of Earth and sea
to blackest night I pledge my soul and crush my heart
to summon forth a deathly power
to see my hated foe devoured!
A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks for all your reviews and support of this fic. I've been having it rough lately, but I am determined to finish. The next chapter will be the last and it'll hopefully be released on July 15th (I'm seriously praying that I make the deadline). I really wanted to get my view of what happened before we actually get the real flashbacks (to minimize those nitpickers who are going to complain that I don't spend enough time on the wiki when I'm writing and am horribly wrong) See you lovelies again on the 15th!
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