chapter 11: Man and monster

Earlier...

As promised, the teenagers were doing their best in the investigations of the two mewman corpses. As if it was an attempt of getting the guilt off of septarians' shoulders, some rumors were spread that the cause of death were most likely random accidents, instead of a murder. The militia begged to differ, however, for the presence of odd marks on the necks of both bodies. This made it seem as if the two victims were very likely strangled to death, likely via hanging.

During the investigations, in spite of all attempts to preserve composure, the young volunteers could barely stand looking at the victims. Even after everything Belos had put them through, seeing two hanged corpses in person felt very different. But they had to remain focused. The cause of death was not what mattered right now. What mattered was finding out who has committed the atrocity and why.

Present...

The battle had already began and Mina was far from showing signs of exhaustion, and neither were the soldiers. Shortly after the combat was initiated, more mewmans emerged, as if out of thin air, showing up right on time to help Mina during the battle. All of them were just like her- specimen, motivated by prejudice and hatred towards not just septarians, but all monsters. From the mewman army's point of view, they were fighting for the justice the two dead priestesses have been alleviated of. For them, that was not just a double murder...it was also blasphemy. Nothing was a bigger sin than that!

Star, Luz and their friends were doing their best to repulse the enemies, but something strange kept distracting them- Belos was completely absent. Where was he? Why was he missing? Was he afraid or maybe he didn't have enough strength at the moment? Was he inventing a different sham now? If so, then what was it? All of those were but assumptions with no response.

The good news was that keeping the small, but resistant mewman army away was not a difficult task, thanks to not just the skilled septarian military, trained by general Toffee himself, but also the skilled group of teenagers. The Clawthorne sisters were not bad either- Eda with her harpy form and Lilith, who counted on the help of both Rajan and Hooty. King had only his powerful cry available, but it was still strong enough to keep adversaries as far away as his capacity of a young titan could allow.

Toffee was, unimpeachably, the one, deserving of the most credit. A blitzkrieg, such as the current one, could easily be summarized as bedlam by some, but for Toffee, this was his everyday life. He managed to both fight an enemy, while drinking the glass of peach-flavoured iced tea, he just ordered, in the interim. It was almost as if he had no worries, whatsoever. At times, it almost seemed as if he was even enjoying himself, such as the instance, when he freely offered one of the mewmans a big mace. Although confused, the mewman took the club and waved it at Toffee numerous times, who easily managed to dodge every single time, until enough was enough, when the septarian grabbed the mace back and hit the man on the head with it, not killing him, but knocking him unconscious instead.

His children were watching him with both amusement and admiration, convinced that they did, indeed, had the coolest dad in Mewni. As for Razzles, contrary to what was expected of her, she, yet again, joined the battle, intending to be of assistance to her dearest parent. Right when a tall muscular man was about to attack her, Toffee was there to protect his daughter from the mewman offender. The father lifted the girl up and kicked the mewman adversary with all the might of his muscular limb, causing immense pain to the man. Then he finished the move by landing a soft gentle kiss on his daughter's cheek. Nobody could go even a milimeter close to his children! This was proven, when Masaru was naively watching the battle, unsuspecting the mewman teenage girl behind him. It didn't seem as if she wanted to cause any physical damage to the monster infant, if the net she was carrying was any indication, but there was still no way in Hell for the child's father to allow anything to happen. The black-haired septarian rushed to his son's help, picking the boy up and facing the girl himself. Luckily for him, he didn't have to do anything this time. His enigmatic presence and determination were enough to scare the teenager off. You see, while nobody was physical or intellectual match to Toffee, protecting those he cares about is where the difficulty was. After all, defending yourself was not as effort-worthy as defending others.

However, Toffee couldn't care less about how difficult it was. He was not the type to give up. The type, who backed down. No! He was both a general and a king. He didn't have only his two precious kids to protect, but also an entire country. A country, which now housed refugees from another dimension. Saying that everybody counted on him, would not be an exaggeration. In spite of the mental cargo, the septarian king strongly believed he could get the job done properly. He was the only one, capable of doing so.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Belos was not really absent from the blitzkrieg. Instead of having a physical role, he observed from the safety of the distance. A decision of pragmatic nature, as due to the recent lack of palisman essence, he could not maintain his body as effectively as he could, while living on that wretched place, known as the Boiling isles. The entire goal of his observations was not witnessing the abilities of either septarians, witches or mewmans. It was not to make sure if Mina Loveberry was a reliable ally or not, which she wasn't. In fact, Belos was ashamed of himself for ever believing she could be of use to him. Sure, she had the physical advantages, but her lack of self control proved her to be way too unpredictable (and frustrating to work with).

His goal was none other than Toffee himself. Ever since the witch hunter first stepped into that hideous perdition, known as Mewni, that black-haired scaly creature has been nothing but trouble. Not only did he stop the human man from finally finishing the Clawthornes for good, but he also proved to be more resistant than a cockroach. A monster, who was immensly strong, surprisingly intelligent, immortal, fearless, with an army of beasts like him by his side, would not be easy to thwart. It almost seemed as if the beast had no weaknesses at all. At least, that was what Belos was convinced of, until today.

While watching the battle, shrouded in the shadows, Belos discovered something truly peculiar in the monster's behaviour. The way Toffee's calm and composed facade seemingly faded away a tad, once someone from his millieu of choice was under attack, namely when he protected his young or some of those hateable witches. Of all the witches, Toffee acted as if he was the most fond of Lilith, for the two often fought together. Could it be that the meddling beast cared about any of them?

Feeling as if he might have ran into "gold", Belos smiled wickedly.

- DOUBLE RAINBOW FIST!- Star quickly said one of her incantations, with which she blasted one of the enemy mewmans away.- Sorry!- as much as it hurt to fight against her own, she didn't have a choice but to protect her friends.

She wiped the sweat of her forehead, feeling quite tired, but she couldn't stop now.

- Guys- she tried to get her friends' attention.- I think we're gonna need a...

Whatever she wanted to say, she didn't have a chance to. Star completely lost control of her own body and was quickly pulled away by something. A strange force probably?

- Star?!- Marco and Toffee said at the same time.

They ran after her, and once they've found her, they saw none other than Belos himself, holding Star a hostage with the artificial magic from his staff.

- Hello, fellow human!- Belos greeted Marco, then turned his gaze to the elegant monster beside the boy.- And hello to you too...monster!

- LET HER GO!- Marco demanded angrily.

The boy was just about to attack, when he felt Toffee's hand on his shoulder, as if the septarian was silently saying "Leave this to me!".

- This is between me and you, Belos!- said Toffee.

- It's "Philip"- the witch hunter corrected him.- but the rest is very much correct.- still refusing to release the girl, Belos revealed his true motivation for his sudden appearance.- You see, I've learned quite a lot about this place, after the villagers took me in. Turns out that despite its heavy resemblance to Earth, it still reeks of magic, albeit to a lesser extent, compared to the Demon realm.- he turned to Toffee again. His wrinkled mouth shifted into a sly and untrustworthy smile.- I also learned a lot about you.

Toffee didn't even bat an eye. He was standing there motionless, waiting for the hideous human to shut his mouth. He couldn't care less about Belos' research, he just wanted to get Star and Marco as far away as possible.

- Let her go!- the septarian demanded, in a cold tone.

- I find your attachment to this child rather ludicrous.- Belos was unfazed.- From what I've understood, she tried to kill you.

- Don't make me say it again!- said Toffee.

- You still think I'm your enemy?- the man raised an eyebrow, his tone indicating arrogance-induced confusion, rather than anything else.- The truth is that as different as we may look, underneath you and I are the same.

- Seriously?- Star joined.- You're going on with that overused cliche? You don't know Toffee!

Annoyed by the teenager's high pitched voice, Belos tightened the grip.

- STOP!- Marco shouted.

- I really didn't want to do this!- Belos continued.- I just wanted to have a peaceful conversation, but you are forcing me to take drastic measures. Monster, all I want is for the two of us to become allies. We can assist each other in that endeavor of releasing the world of magic. Once and for all!

- I'm giving you two options to leave this dimension, Belos. Voluntarily or by force. And unless you have a pair of dimensional scissors hidden between your wrinkles, you better release the girl and surrender.

Toffee's words seemed to have hit a nerve. Belos frowned angrily.

- You did this all to yourself!- the witch hunter added. His voice filled with venom.

He waved his staff with such force, he sent Star to the nearest lake and dropped her there. The blonde girl fell straight into the water, sinking like a rock.

- STAR!- Marco panicked.

Without a second thought, Toffee jumped right after her, attempting to save her.

Once in the water, the septarian swam downwards, where he saw Star sinking deeper and deeper. Despite being capable of swimming, the girl didn't even dare to swim. She was too shocked to think straight. Luckily, Toffee finally reached her and put one arm around her. Holding her close to him, he swam back to surface.

The duo emerged from the lake and found Marco shaking anxiously there. Belos, however, was nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

Toffee got out of the water, carrying the soaked teenage girl in his arms. They were both very cold.

- Star!- Marco ran towards them, feeling a heavy dose of relief to see that his friend is fine.- What happened?- he asked her, very worried.- Are you okay? Why didn't you swim?

- I-I...I don't know.- Star answered her friend's question, but her voice was shaking. She was obviously very scared by what just happened.

Tears fell down her cheeks. Her entire body was shaking. She clenched to Toffee's shirt, like a child to a parent. In response, Toffee patted her head affectionately and whispered to comfort her.

- Shh! Shh! It's okay now!