Well, here it is. Chapter 8. Many thanks to my readers/followers/favouriters/reviewers for their continued support!

"Mom! Gimme five more minutes!" Angie Diaz was an experienced mother of seven, and even in her current state, she was still able to muster enough motherly powers to rouse her son from the land of the dead. She chuckled at Marco, who was sprawled awkwardly on the bed of leaves, moaning about how exhausted he was and how getting up would impact his health.

"I gave you five more minutes a half hour ago, lazybones. Now get up or else!" She didn't raise her voice at him, but rather imbued it with a firmness that can only come from mothers. Marco rolled his eyes, but managed to drag himself to the chest that served as his closet and picked out a tunic and pants that probably matched. He was too tired to care. By the time he staggered into the kitchen, Alanus had already prepared a breakfast of corn toast, Megafowl eggs, and coffee. Ignoring the food completely, Marco made a mad dash for the coffee, and before it could cool even one degree, it had disappeared down his throat. Angie chuckled again, this time at her son's caffeine-doped expression. Alanus's ears pricked up, and he motioned her over, handing her yet another bottle of the disgusting yellow syrup that would supposedly help her get better. She downed it, knowing fully that it was only a matter of time, and she would still die no matter how much medicine and ancient rituals Alanus threw at her.

"Are you feeling any better today, Mrs. Diaz?" The lion whispered, so as not to upset Marco, who was scarfing corn toast nearby. Angie shook her head.

"I appreciate your efforts, Alanus, but it's not working. I mean, I'd much rather have this than Mewnie's version of healing-" She stopped abruptly and coughed into her hand, her whole body shaking as she hacked and wheezed. Marco rushed over and held her away from the table, so as to keep her from hitting her head against the wood. The coughing fit continued for a few minutes until she finally finished. She pulled her hand from her mouth and quickly wiped the blood away, for fear that Marco would see and worry. He still looked concerned.

"Are you okay, Mom?"

Angie smiled weakly, putting on a brave facade for her son.

"I'm fine, honey. Now go and get your books. Class starts in-" She checked her watch- "five minutes."

Alanus stood up.

"Well in that case, I'd better get going myself. Can't leave the kids waiting."

Angie had always admired Alanus, who not only cared for anyone that showed up at his doorstep, but ran a small school for monster children out of his living room. He had graciously agreed to teach Marco as well, so that the boy could keep up with his studies while they stayed here. With Raphael away fighting in some war, and their family nanny watching over the six girls at home, education would have been impossible without him. Marco ran back to his room and retrieved a sizeable stack of books, most about history and- his favorite subject- ancient martial arts. Soon, the sounds of children talking and pages fluttering filled the house with a pleasant din. Angie sat back in her chair and sighed. It sounded like home. All she needed was for Raphael to come and wrap her up in one of his legendary hugs, and it would be perfect, but she didn't need perfection. If she were to die right now, she would be die happy.

Marco stared at the wall in front of him as it played back crystallizing moments from his childhood. One moment, he was a small tyke in diapers, begging his mother for a bite of the cake batter that she was preparing, the next, he was training with his dad, getting his butt kicked every time. A sense of loathing seized his mind as he watched his life in the third person. He found himself wondering why he didn't dodge that sword blow, or how he didn't see the obvious stupidity of that plan to rehabilitate a crippled bird. After a time, he stopped caring. The person on the screen wasn't him. It never was. No, this was a different person entirely, one who did stupid things without thinking, an inferior mewman being. He was so focused on what the character in front of him was doing that he failed to notice someone sitting down beside him.

"You were cute as a little kid." He turned his head, seeing, for the first time, who was next to him. Star Butterfly had taken a seat on the floor to his right, and was munching on a bag of popcorn. She held out the snack to him.

"Want some? The chefs here are really good." Marco accepted the popcorn.

"Where are we?" He asked the only logical question, because wherever he was certainly didn't look like Mewnie. Star furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Umm... I think we're in your mind. Mom said that I'd end up here if I cast this Commuinicaticus Teleportius something-or-other spell, and well- here I am." Marco nearly choked on his food.

"Wait! You've been walking around in my head?" Star nodded. "You didn't touch anything, did you?"

"What! No! I'd never- maaaaybe?" Marco wiped his eyes. "Look, I'll show you what I messed with. It's nothing serious, I swear!"

Star stood up and dragged Marco through a huge arch at the back of the room. The doorway led to a long hall that was decorated with statues of people, more specifically, people that were memorable to Marco.

"I touched a few of these and saw some of your memories, I think." Star stated. "Oh look! There's me!" She reached out to touch a marble statue of herself, and Marco got nervous.

"No Star don't-" Too late. Marco's memories of the princess filled both of their eyes for a split second, then dissipated, leaving Star stunned.

"So you don't totally hate me." She was amazed. He cared for her as a fellow Mewman, which was honestly more than she had expected.

Marco looked at the ground, unsure of how to respond.

"What makes you think that I hate you?"

"Well, you seemed annoyed with me in the memories, you said repeatedly that I was a duty, and you didn't want to be my friend even though I want you to-." Marco cut her off.

"Wait, what?" He was confused. Weren't royalty supposed to be stuck up and not friendly to the guards?

"I said that you think I'm a duty."

"No, no, after that. You said something about being friends?"

A cloud of embarrassment settled over the princess.

"Umm… yeah. I'd like you to be my friend-"

"Sure."

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but-" Marco placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I said that I would."

Star stood stock still for about two seconds before scooping Marco up in one of her signature bearhugs. He paused for a moment before finding that he actually enjoyed the affection. It had been missing from his life for far too long. So he didn't pull away or freak out, in fact, he did quite the opposite. Marco Diaz, stoic guard extraordinaire, hugged her back.

"So, how do we get out of here?" Marco and Star walked through yet another corridor, this one filled with paintings of places that he had been.

"Mom said that we had to find the thing that didn't belong." Star squinted at a painting of Daybreak Hall, seat of the Diaz family. "Your house is as nice as mine. Why'd you leave?" Marco jumped in his skin. That was a thing he kept close to his chest. However, he could give her the condensed version.

"I went on an adventure, but it didn't turn out well." Star decided not to press further. It would be inconsiderate.

They left the painting room and were headed down a long hallway when Star stopped dead. Marco shot her a look of confusion, but she was busy staring up at the ceiling. He looked upward, and then froze. Hanging from the rafters was a giant green blob. Tendrils snaked from the mass, oozing darkness into anything they touched. The thing shuddered and expanded, corroding the roof as it grew. Both of them felt sick.

"I think that's what we're looking for." Star was a master of stating the obvious.

"Yeah, but what do we do now that we've found it?" Marco bit his lip, deep in thought. "Touching it would be a bad idea."

Star whipped out her wand.

"Who says we have to touch it?"

Moon was asleep in her chair when it happened. She had been tirelessly monitoring the boy for hours on end with no sign from her daugher. Eventually, sleep had taken her, despite the countless mugs of coffee that she had downed to counteract it. One second she was peacefully dreaming of Mewnian sheep, the next, a huge weight landed on her, shaking her awake. To her surprise, her daughter was sitting on her lap, covered in green slime and grinning like an idiot.

"Hi mom!" Star hopped off of the Queen's lap and brushed the goo off of her dress. "Ta-da! We're alive!" Marco had sat up in his bed and was rubbing his temples. A flood of relief washed over Moon. They were both safe.

"Good job, Star." The rare nugget of praise filled Star with happiness. Her mom never ever, ever acknowledged that she did anything right, but here she was, praising her. "Now go wait outside. I have some things I would like to discuss with Sir Diaz. Privately." Star nodded, leaving the room and quietly shutting the door behind her. She knew better than to openly cross her mother. Moon took a seat on the bed next to Marco, who appeared thoroughly intimidated by her. The queen sighed internally. This is what came from years of pretending to be the perfect Butterfly. She had succeeded in creating an icy wall between herself and society, just like she wanted. Moon took a deep breath.

"Marco, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Leave nothing out."

His finger twitched, a fact that did not escape Moon's watchful eyes.

"Yes, Your Honor. We found the thing that didn't belong, which happened to be a giant ball of green slime, but when we attempted to remove it, we were returned here. It didn't seem to want to be destroyed. " Moon clenched her teeth. This was exactly what she had feared. She had heard of this once before. Queen Eclipsa had used dark magic to forcibly take control of her husband, allowing her to escape the kingdom with little resistance. The symptoms were exactly the same: a mild cough here, a random twitch there, and the next thing you knew, your body was no longer yours. Moon rose from the bed, mentally adding this to her never-ending list of troubles.

"Thank you, Marco. I advise you to get some rest- you're back on duty for an important event tomorrow." She swished her dress behind her and turned on her heel, ready to face the next problem in the que- her rebellious daughter.

Star sat on a bench outside the infirmary, perfectly still for the first time in days. Deep inside, she knew that her good luck with her mother wouldn't last for long- no doubt she was cooking up some horrendous future queen training plan right now. The princess pulled out her wand and examined it. Ever since the fight- well, encounter, actually- with the blob thing, the black hollow where the missing half of the star should have been was glowing a bright green. That was no longer the case. The light had been extinguished. Star breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she hated to admit it, the green glow had scared her. How would she explain that one to her mom?

"I know how you lost the crystal, Star." Star turned her head slowly, revealing an impassive Queen Moon standing behind her. "I was young and in love once, too. But feelings for another should not come before the safety of an entire kingdom." Star entered full panic mode. How did she know? Did Marco tell her?

"Mom! I can explain-" Moon shushed her daughter.

"I would advise that you break things off with the Lucitor boy, sooner rather than later. ." Her tone made it clear that this was not a suggestion. "If I find that you have not, there will be consequences." Moon pulled Star to her feet.

"Mom!"

"What?" Moon was thoroughly exasperated by this point.

Star lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Did he tell you?" She jerked her thumb at the door behind her. Moon shook her head.

"No. Now come along, Star. We have work to do."

Star was bewildered, sure that her mother would be dragging her off to further lecture her on how she had failed as a future queen of Mewnie, but much to her surprise they took a left instead of a right and ended up in the armory. Moon left Star in the doorway while she selected a set of armor and a sword.

"What are you doing?" Curiosity dug its claws into the princess. Her mom never fought with a sword.

Moon finished buckling on the armor and looked up at Star.

"I'm giving you some extra training on how to fight a melee oriented opponent." She said, like it was the most obvious thing ever. "Follow me." Together, they entered the Cloud Arena, an area of Castle Ponyhead devoted entirely to battling and training. Moon assumed a fighting stance across from Star. Star responded by readying her wand. Moon nodded and raised her hand.

The fight was on.

"Narwhal Blast!" Star didn't hold back. Her mom was practically unhittable, especially in armor. Moon dodged easily and dashed forward, smacking Star in the chest with the flat of her blade.

"Dead." The Queen stood over her daughter, a grim look on her face. "Keep moving, Star. One hit is all it takes to defeat you, no matter how much magic you use. Again."

Star got back on her feet. She was nothing if not determined. This time, she decided to fight fire with fire.

"Flaming Sword Transform!" Her wand became a giant sword in her hands, but the weight felt off. She ran at Moon, who blocked her initial blow and threw the sword back at Star. The princess barely managed to keep the blade from flying across the room, and in the split second that she was exposed, Moon pinned her to a wall, her half-melted sword across Star's throat.

"Again." Moon cast her ruined sword aside and summoned a new one out of thin air.

Star spun her wand in her hand. She could feel the magic coursing through her veins. This time, she wouldn't be defeated so easily.

"Warnicorn Stampede!" The crazed unicorns exploded from her wand, tearing up the floor as they charged toward Moon. Star swung herself over the back of one of the beasts and fired a slew of spells at her opponent, but Moon rolled out of the way of the stampede and caught the horn of Star's warnicorn with the crossguard of her blade. A swift blow to the neck and the horse poofed out of existence. Star was back on the ground, defenseless and drained, but not defeated. Her mom was good, that's for sure, but there had to be a hole in her game somewhere. Moon's sword slashed the air next to her head, and Star saw her chance. Her mom had overextended, leaving her arm exposed.

"Caramel Sticky Blast!" Caramel oozed into the gaps in Moon's armplates, hardening into sticky blocks that prevented any movement of her arm. Star snatched the sword away and leaned on it, triumphant.

"Gotcha!" She beamed. She had finally outfoxed her mother. Moon began unbuckling her armor with her one good hand.

"Yes, good." The queen waved away Star's small victory. "Now hurry along Star. We have a dress-fitting appointment in half an hour and it wouldn't do to be late."

Star dropped the sword to the ground.

"Dress fitting? Why?" If there was one thing Star hated more than being locked up it was dress-fitting. "I have enough clothes to last years. I really, really, really don't need more."

Moon smoothed her gown, which had somehow escaped the fight with only a few wrinkles.

"Have you forgotten?" Star was puzzled. What did she forget? "Your sixteenth birthday ball is tomorrow."

For the second time that day, Star had to pick her jaw up off the floor.

"I'll be taking that," Glossaryck declared, replaced Toffee's bishop with his knight. The lizard scowled. It wasn't easy being in two places at once, but even that didn't justify his inability to win even once against the infuriating blue creature. He rose from his seat and made his way over to the wide pair of windows that, until recently, had been closed. Glossaryck raised an eyebrow.

"Our game isn't finished."

The blue man turned his back to the chessboard, knowing full well what would happen. Toffee returned to his seat and rearranged the pieces into a more favorable position. He tapped Glossaryck on the shoulder.

"No it is not."

Toffee's knight sat one move away from Glossaryck's queen.