Hello there! This is an AU that I created not too long ago, based on an intriguing idea. We all know that Celena the Shy had demon ancestry, courtesy of her father Lord Roachley. None of her descendants seem to show any demonic traits, though.
But what if one of them did? What if Celena's demonic blood had awakened in one of her descendants, giving a single Butterfly demon traits and fire abilities?
And what if that Butterfly was our very own Star?
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the Demon Star AU! Because why should Marco be the only one to get the demon treatment?
"Nope, nope, nope, and heck no, Tom, " Star said as she pushed her ex-boyfriend out of the school and into the parking lot. She shoved him into the gloomy-looking carriage sitting in a smoking crater. Obviously the work of the demon prince's fire column. "You need to leave. Take your carriage, your fire, your dead horse, and get out of here. Right now."
"Wait, I'm dead?" The horse spoke up, but was promptly ignored.
"Oh, come on, Starship." A small puff of flames pushed Star off her feet, straight into Tom's waiting arms. "It's the Blood Moon Ball."
The prince levitated into the air, pulling her what he must have thought was a romantic dip. "It only happens once every six hundred and sixty-seven years."
Star flipped back to the ground, unimpressed. "We broke up, Tom," she growled, allowing a demonic edge to slip into her voice as her three eyes started to grow warm. "Period."
She bit back a satisfied smirk at Tom's nervous expression. His eyes widened, and he gulped noisily. "O-okay! Okay. I- I get it, you think I'm a total jerk. But I've changed!"
Star raised a skeptical eyebrow as Tom continued. "I've got a life coach, Brian-" A short pudgy man in glasses popped out of the carriage and waved. "He's cool. And a happy bunny-" Brian handed him a fluffy pink bunny. "And-and I have been anger free for fifty-three days. See?" Tom gestured to a button on his jacket to confirm his claim.
"Fifty-three?" Star echoed. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement. Never in a million years would Star have ever thought Tom could change so drastically.
Their relationship had started off friendly enough. After a chance meeting at the Silver Bell Ball, Tom had invited her for cornshakes in the Underworld. On that outing, Star mentioned that she was having trouble with her demon powers. Due to her dilute heritage, Star wasn't all that powerful, but she was more than strong enough to badly burn the curtains and tablecloths... as well as singe the occasional servant. As he was a demon himself, Tom offered to help Star master her fire. As Star's powers grew stronger, so did her feelings toward the demon prince, and the two began dating.
But over time, Tom grew overly protective of Star. She thought nothing of it at first, but when Tom started threatening to roast any male who so much as glanced in her direction, Star was done. She confronted Tom about his possessiveness, they had a fight, and Star ended their relationship on the spot. She felt guilty about the sudden breakup afterwards, but decided it was for the best.
And now, Tom was back, claiming that he had changed. Star didn't quite know what to think about that. He seemed to have changed, but she knew from experience with tempers, Tom's as well as her own, that even the smallest slight could set it off.
"Do you want to pet my bunny?" Tom asked, a hopeful note in his voice.
The pink bunny looked up at Star with a cute grin, and gave her a wink. Star couldn't help but smile; angry ex-boyfriend or not, she always had a soft spot for cute things. "He is pretty adorable."
She reached out toward the bunny-
"Hiii-yah!"
-a familiar red blur dropped in front of her, and Tom's hand- holding the bunny- fell to the ground. Green smoke poured out of the stump left behind at his wrist.
"Back off, creep!" Marco yelled, dropping into one of his karate poses.
"Marco!" Star cried, appalled. Something like that would totally set Tom off.
Sure enough, Tom had blown his cool. He was growling like a feral beast, and his eyes glowed blood-red. Brian took action immediately, grabbing the angry demon's arm and walking him in a circle. Tom's gaze remained fixed on Marco, however, and he was muttering in the demon tongue Star could never get the hang of.
"Uh, you better get behind me," Star told her bestie, grabbing him by his hood and pulling him backwards. There was no way she was going to let Marco get turned into charcoal by her ex.
To her surprise, Tom stopped muttering. "Oh! No-no-no-no," he said, laughing slightly. His voice lost it's demonic growl, and the glow in his eyes dimmed. "No, no. That's why I got my support system. Got the angries out!" His severed hand picked up the bunny and reattached itself to his wrist. "Everything is- whew!- under control," Tom stated as he rubbed the bunny vigorously, causing it's fur to fluff up wildly.
Star was relieved her bestie was going to get barbecued, but now she faced another momentous task: introductions. "Marco, don't karate him," she said with a reluctant sigh. "This is... Tom."
Marco jolted back in surprise. "Angry ex-boyfriend Tom?"
"Nice to, uh, meet you, Marco." Tom said, shaking Marco's hand with his dismembered one. Marco looked incredibly uncomfortable by the levitating hand.
"Whaaaaat is he doing here?" He asked.
"He wants to take me to the Blood Moon Ball," Star answered bluntly.
Marco gave her a sharp glance. "Star, never go with a predator-"
"'To a second location,' I know," the princess cut him off with a grumble, ignoring his proud smile.
"Look, I know I've been a little," Tom hesitated, searching for the right word. "aggro in the past. But I have changed. Remember, I'm not the only one with horns." He gestured to Star's set of impressive curved horns, rising above her spikey blond hair like mountains over the land.
Star scoffed. "Oh, way to play the horn card, Tom. Real smooth." To his credit, Tom had the decency to cringe at Star's scathing sarcasm. Normally, he'd blow up again. Maybe he really had changed.
"Why didn't you tell me I'm dead?" Star turned to see Tom's skeleton horse staring at them. His face was unreadable- probably because he didn't have one in the first place- but the horse sounded like he was having a major identity crisis.
"You, uh, might wanna help him with that," Star said to Tom, feeling a little awkward. She was the one who brought it up, after all.
"Yeah, he's gonna need some therapy," Tom agreed, sighing. "I'm not going to pressure you, Star. If you decide you want to go, just toll this bell." He gave Star an iron bell decorated with rubies, and stepped into his carriage. A column of flames erupted from the ground, but the heat didn't bother her. If it had, though, she was likely too conflicted to notice.
Suddenly, Tom opened a window in the fire column. "Oops, hehe, almost forgot the little hammer." A skull-shaped hammer with a red handle soon joined the bell in Star's hands. "I hope I see you there," he said, before withdrawing his hand and allowing the flames to cover the opening.
The fire died down, leaving only a smoking crater behind. Star watched the crater in silence, slowly smiling as she made her decision.
"You're making a big mistake, Star," Marco protested.
"Maybe," Star replied from inside a clothes rack. She popped out from the row of dresses and grinned at him. "But it could be fun."
"Why don't you just stay here, where it's always fun?" Marco asked, following Star further into her room. "Like, guaranteed."
"Well, this is a different kind of fun," Star replied, pressing a button on her mirror. With a click, the mirror expanded into a divider. "Don't look. I'm gonna change."
Without a second thought, Marco pulled his sombrero in front of his face. "I don't trust Tom. Maybe I should go with you."
"Marco, you weren't invited," Star retorted, but with a light touch of humor. "Besides, you gotta trust me, I can handle him by mySEEEELF!" Even from behind his sombrero, Marco could see the blast of pink energy tinged with magenta flames erupt over the divider.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Star's sudden scream really hadn't helped his nerves.
"Yeah, totally, totally, totally," Star answered, sounding a little numb from the magic blast. "I just gotta stop using magic on... on my face."
Marco was relieved, but there was still the matter of Tom. Star had told him some stories about the Underworld prince and his temper, and how it was worse than hers at times. Marco vividly remembered how Star had literally blown up at the monster who interrupted her phone call with Oskar. And from Tom's near outburst earlier that day... Well, Marco had a hard time believing anything was different from what Star had told him. "All I'm saying is guys like Tom never change."
"Well, there's only one way for me to find out," Star said. There was a slight scraping sound as something was pushed aside. "What do you think?"
Marco slowly lowered the sombrero from his eyes, and his jaw nearly hit the floor. Star was wearing a sleeveless pink and red dress decorated in hearts. Her spiky blond hair was smoothed and styled up in a top knot, situated perfectly behind her pink and black horns. Her third eye, often hidden behind her bangs, was completely visible and sparkled like a sapphire.
"You look... amazing." Marco was taken aback. He had always thought Star was pretty, and he knew from the occasional whisper at school that he wasn't the only one. But right at that moment, Star was absolutely stunning.
"Thanks, Marco," Star beamed at him. Suddenly, Marco had a horrible thought: dressed like that, there's no way Tom wouldn't try to make a move on her.
"Star, are you sure-"
"Yep! I'm totally going!" Star interrupted, striking ruby-encrusted bell. It rang with a deep, resonating toll that shook the house. A column of flames appeared outside Star's room, and a winged demon pulled an elevator up to the balcony. The elevator doors opened with a chime, and a drawbridge extended outward, releasing a wave of smoke into the room. Marco grimaced slightly at the smell of burnt toast; it was the same scent that Star's fire gave off, but it seemed harsher somehow.
Star grinned at her bestie, then made her way to the elevator and climbed in. "Alright, let's go!" she said.
"Which floor, milady?" the demon asked.
The blond princess scowled. "The bottom, and don't call me that."
Thinking quickly (or perhaps not at all), Marco followed after Star to the elevator. "Let me just ride down with you."
"Goodbye, Marco!~" Star said, gently pushing him off the drawbridge with her foot.
As the drawbridge retracted and the elevator descended from the balcony, Star called out to him, "See you after the Blood Moon Ball. Oooooh...~" She slipped into her demon voice for a spooky effect, which Marco had to admit was extremely effective.
The demonic elevator disappeared in a flash of flames, leaving Marco staring at the scorched spot where his best friend had vanished.
The elevator opened with a soft hiss, and a dim cavern greeted Star. It had been a while since she had been in the Underworld, and Star would readily admit she hadn't missed any of it. The heat was still almost unbearable, the constant smell of burning was still annoying, and torches were still the only source of light in the cavern areas.
But there was something that caught her attention: a large building made of brown bricks, with a crescent shaped ruby embedded over the entrance.
"Haven't been here before," Star murmured to herself. Her gaze shifted to a familiar liliac-skinned demon prince in a white suit.
"Star Butterfly," Tom greeted her warmly. "Don't you clean up nice."
"Uh, thank you?" Star replied, unsure if he was being genuine or sarcastic. It was hard to tell with demons sometimes. Something she'd quickly figured out after meeting his Aunt Exasperella, who seemed to enjoy mixing up the two.
"I got you this." Tom held out an unusually-shaped object tied to a very thin string.
"What is it?" Star asked, inspecting the object closely. It almost looked like a spider. A very creepy spider.
"It's a necklace," the demon declared proudly. "I thought you might like it."
In his hands, the necklace seemed to twitch slightly. Was it her imagination, or was the spider- nope, it was definitely alive. "Here let me-"
"How sweet, Tom," Star said, quickly stepping around Tom and as far from the freaky spider necklace as she felt appropriate. "But I have my own thing going on, and I'm pretty happy with it, so let's go have fun now!"
On that note, Star swiftly stepped inside the ruby-marked building, not sparing a single glance back at her ex-boyfriend.
The squeal of feedback from a microphone distracted Star from the demon's weird comment about souls, and she looked up to see another demon in a very official-looking outfit. Clearing his throat, the demon began to speak.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlebremen. It is my pleasure that I request you now to turn your heads skyward."
Lifting her gaze upward, Star saw a skylight with a ruby crescent set into the ceiling. For a moment, she could have sworn the ruby gleam slightly.
"When the light of the blood moon drupples down and selects two lucky souls, binding them together for eternity in its hypnotic, ruby brodum."
As Star watched, the skylight began to glow with an eerie red light. It seemed to call her, almost like a tug at her very soul. "Whooaa," she murmured, entranced.
"Ugh! That's the wrong piece of music!" Tom groaned. Star glanced at him, surprised. There was music playing? And for that matter, had he been standing next to her the whole time? "This is gonna drive me crazy. Alright, don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." And with that, the demon prince ran off.
"Okay," Star replied, directing her attention back to the skylight. Once again, the red glow called to her, pulling at every fiber of her being. And Star followed, her feet guided by that pull.
"Star!"
The princess continued onward, the pull growing stronger. She could almost hear it now, calling her name.
"Star. Star!"
Someone grabbed her hand, and Star was soon face to face with a boy about her height, wearing a decorated skeleton mask, a fancy suit, and a wide red hat. She was about to tell him off when the entire room was suddenly bathed in scarlet light, prompting surprised gasps from everyone in the ballroom.
Then, an organ started to play. It was a slow, somber waltz, similar to the ones Star had danced to a million times at various royal balls, but still somehow different. The song had an unusual, almost supernatural feel to it, as though it were a form of ancient magic.
The masked boy took her hands, and began to lead her in a dance. Star let out a startled cry as she was nearly pulled off her feet, but she soon caught up to the boy's pace. As they danced, the ballroom and other guests all faded away, leaving her alone with the stranger. The music swelled, and Star found herself studying her partner intently. There was something about him that was incredibly familiar, something that made her smile. They circled round and round, the beautiful waltz weaving its notes around them in the hypnotic red glow.
"Star~," the boy crooned lovingly. His voice was a melody in itself, a song Star could listen to for hours. The princess stared deep into the boy's eyes, struck by their beauty and familiarity.
"How did you know my name~," she asked, giddy from their amazing dance. Star wished this moment could last forever, that she could be this happy forever.
"It's me, Marco!" he replied, pulling up his skeleton mask.
"Marco?!" The moment she saw his face, the ballroom rushed back into focus. Star was dancing with her best friend, Marco- who wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. "What are you doing here?"
"Let's get out of here," Marco said, dodging her question. "This place is the worst!"
Star heard a familiar growl, and Marco was violently shoved to the ground by a very angry demon. The music stopped the instant they separated, and Tom stared in horror as the skylight slowly closed. A few seconds, and the mysterious red light was gone.
However, a different red light soon took its place: the blood-red glow of Tom's eyes as demonic rage overtook him.
The demon prince stepped toward Marco, murder quite literally in his eyes. "That dance... was meant... FOR ME!"
Orange and red flames engulfed the ballroom, sending the guests into a panic. A short man ran over to Tom, but was tossed away with a "No, Brian!"
Tom stalked closer and closer to Marco, the terrified boy scrambling backwards along the floor. The demon lifted into the air with a roar, and Marco braced himself for the searing heat sure to come- only to hear Tom slam to the ground, groaning.
Marco looked up to see Star with her hand outstretched, smoke curling off her palm. And she did not look happy. In fact, the last time Marco saw Star this upset was when- oh sweet mama.
"What did you just say?" The princess's voice was dangerously soft, her eyes beginning to take on a horribly familiar pink light. Once again, Marco scrambled away from Tom, but this time for a completely different reason.
Tom's eyes widened, the demonic glow vanishing in an instant. "Star... I-"
"SHUT IT, TOM!" With those words, the ballroom was in flames again, this time in shades of brilliant pink and magenta. "YOU SAID YOU HAD CHANGED!"
"Star, please!" the demon pleaded, a look of pure terror on his face. "I can explain-"
"Explain WHAT?! That you LIED TO ME?!" Star roared, balls of pastel-colored fire forming in her hands. "I TRUSTED you, Tom!"
"S-Star-"
"I TRUSTED you, and you BETRAYED ME!" Suddenly, the flames died away. Marco glanced up to see Star's eyes had returned to their normal blue, and she no longer looked ready to barbecue the demon lying on the floor. However, she didn't seem any happier.
"Star," Tom spoke again, his voice carrying notes of pain and regret. "I'm sorry."
The princess grimaced. "I'm sorry too, Tom," she said, pulling out her wand and firing a beam of magenta at his chest. Tom looked down to see the button on his shirt now read '0 DAYS ANGER FREE.'
"I'm sorry I ever believed a word you said." Tom stared back at Star as though he'd been slapped.
"Come on, Marco. Let's go," Star said, walking briskly toward the exit. As he stood to follow his friend, Marco couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction seeing the demon humbled like that. It was just like he said: people like him never change.
The trip back to Earth was made in silence. Mostly because Star didn't say a single word the entire time, and Marco wanted to make sure Star had cooled down from dealing with Tom.
The elevator opened with a chime, and the princess got out first. "Thanks for the lift!" she called to the winged demon operating the elevator, then climbed down the drawbridge, boots in hand. "Ugh, so infuriating!"
Marco slid down the ramp after her. "You know, Star," he started, "I warned you about Tom."
Star paused in the balcony entrance, waves of heat starting to roll off of her back. Marco instinctively took a step back as she spun on her heel, her eyes glowing pink once more.
"No, YOU! YOU'RE infuriating!" the princess shouted, magenta flames gathering in her hands and lighting her boots on fire. Marco ducked as the smoldering footwear flew over his head.
"M-me?!" Marco cried, taken off guard by Star's outburst. "What did I do?"
"You don't trust me to take care of myself!" Star retorted, her voice full of demonic fury. "I'm FOURTEEN, Marco! I can handle my ex-boyfriend JUST FINE!"
And just like before, the pink glow was gone. Smoke curled off of the blond princess as she walked to the balcony, her face dropping in disappointment. There was a long silence as Star leaned on the siding, her back towards Marco. When she spoke again, her voice was soft.
"I know you're trying to look out for me, but you have to let me do things on my own. I don't need a hero," Star glanced back at him. "I need a friend."
Marco felt horrible. He was only trying to help, yet he had messed everything up. All Star had wanted was for him to trust her, and he couldn't even do that. He had been a terrible friend.
Marco sat next to Star on the balcony. "You're right," he said, taking off his mask. "I should have trusted you. I'm sorry I ruined your night."
"Weeell, it wasn't a total disaster." Marco looked up at Star in surprise- just in time for the princess to playfully steal his sombrero. "Now I know you can dance," she said, flawlessly balancing the wide hat over her tall horns.
Marco smiled at his friend, feeling much better knowing that he hadn't completely messed up. Then, he noticed his hair was now a tangled mess. He chuckled. "Hat hair."
Shortly after the words left his mouth, Marco realized that Star had mirrored him perfectly.
"Whoa, we both said-" Again?
"-the same thing-" Seriously?!
"Okay, stop that!" This was getting kinda freaky.
He leapt backwards, covering his mouth as he stared at Star in shock. She had done the exact same thing that he had. Only Star had also quickly pulled out her wand and pointed it at him defensively. For a second, neither of them moved.
Marco couldn't help it. The situation was too ridiculous not to laugh. And laugh he did. Star quickly joined him, and together they let out great gut-busting guffaws.
"Well, that was new," Star said, still chuckling.
"Yeah," Marco agreed, "weird."
"Now, come on. Let's go make some nachos."
Actually, nachos sounded really good right about then. "Okay. You want to start on the chips, or-"
"Nah, I'll do the cheese."
"Are you sure?"
Star gave him a playful glare. "Marco, I have demon fire powers. I might as well use them."
"Alright. I guess we won't need the oven."
So, what do you think? It's certainly got potential for greater things, but... I think I've got my plate full at the moment (That's why Universal Truths exists in the first place, you know; to give me an outlet for ideas, without making a complete story). I might revisit this at some point, maybe show Demon Star and Marco's first meeting. But for now, the Blood Moon Ball is what we get.
Oh, but don't let that stop you from making your own Demon Star! Seriously, if something here inspires you, go ahead and write it. I won't mind.
And if you have an idea, but don't feel like writing it yourself, feel free to give me a shout. Leave a review, send me a PM, track me down on Reddit (not recommended, by the way)... just give me the word, and I'll look into it. I can't guarantee I'll do it, but I will give it a serious consideration.
Trivia: This piece was my entry for the July 2021 Writing Competition on the SVTFOE subreddit. I may have submitted it a bit too late, though.
Update 7/16/21: Actually, I placed third. But the important thing is that I had fun writing it! Because why do anything for fun if it isn't?