STLTH 100

15.

She didn't know how to lead, nor how to seem mentally stable. She knew she looked a sight: she'd run full tilt nearly the entire breadth of the eight-mile difference between the Butterfly castle and the settled Monster Temple. She stood before Eclipsa now in the front of the temple, and the woman almost seemed unperturbed by the breathless, sweaty squire who'd screamed for her audience. Eclipsa was still in her bed robe, bed slippers, and head tie, one hand holding Meteora against her hip and the other holding a teacup that she sipped from in regular intervals.

Never mind how casual and domestic the Queen of Mewni was attired and how approachable she looked, Higgs still couldn't get a word out, even after she spent nearly fifteen minutes doubled over trying to catch her breath.

"Manfred?" Eclipsa called. Higgs wondered what was going to happen, only for the royal majordomo to step outside with a teapot, refill the woman's cup with tea, and excused himself from the scene as if the ground was on fire.

The woman was more than ready to wait on her all morning, Higgs realized. She was so out of breath, frightened, and anxious, her mind a runaway horse carriage that had already crashed an hour ago. What to tell Eclipsa? Her ex-boyfriend turned violent stalker was after her? That she knew where Moon was? That Eclipsa's life was at risk? That the person turning the world upside down looked exactly like Marco?

She finally breathed steady, and she phrased her question:

"Have you seen two of the same person? Like… they look the same, do everything the same, but they weren't the same? Two people?" The unreadable look on Eclipsa's face made her feel as if she was mental. "Two different people? They're like twins, but they're not." She trailed off, cringing in embarrassment at how ridiculous she sounded. "Two different people…"

Eclipsa looked about to respond negatively, then hemmed a while in thought. "I have. A long time ago, when I was queen." She tittered. "Back then, centuries ago." She chuckled again, "I mean when I was Queen for the first time," – Higgs nodded expectantly – "I met a double. Funnily enough, her name was Special."

Higgs' jaw dropped. "You have?" Oddly enough, the news didn't make her feel relieved; she wasn't even sure why she asked the question in the first place. "How was her name special?"

Eclipsa's eyebrows lifted in confusion before she understood what the squire was asking. "Her name wasn't special, her name was literally 'Special', the same way my birthname is Eclipsa."

"Special?"

"Yes, Special."

Higgs paused. "Special?"

Eclipsa was patient, giggling now. "Her name was so ironic, and we laughed over it. Imagine, her name is Special! It made us laugh for days." Higgs didn't get the joke, and Eclipsa understood this, and attempted to explain: "How special can you be where there's two of you in the same room?"

Now Higgs really didn't feel like laughing, unable to find humor in the scenario, and certainly not when she was hunted by Rocam. Before she could press any further, she heard a portal open just behind her, and she backpedaled away, frightened. In horror, she watched as Rocam himself stepped out, dragging feet, his dingy sweater bulging in odd places. His eyes, glazed and empty, locked on her. He shuffled over towards her, scissors in his right hand, his left hand reaching forward. She screamed for the queen to stop him before he cut them to pieces, and Meteora hissed like a cat.

"Good morning, Marco," Eclipsa greeted, her voice unsteady. "Are you all right?"

She yelled to the queen that it was Rocam, but the queen didn't understand the danger, not having known enough to infer. She approached and continued to call out to the boy, but he merely walked past her.

"What…" Eclipsa dropped her teacup in shock, ceramic smashing against the stone pathway and tea sinking into the dirt. "Marco…? Are those PANTIES in your shirt? That cannot be sanitary!"

Higgs stared, the unusual circumstance was immediately familiar and bizarrely welcome, a guarantee of the identity of which of the two boys now stood before her. Regardless, she was barely able to confirm that it was Marco until he was in her proximity.

No scar. It wasn't Rocam, it was Marco. His sweater, still bulging, he even had underwear peeking out of his sleeves and bursting out of his collar, and a large dull spot on his belly, looking like a spill. She could smell the stench of alcohol on him. Corn moonshine. "Marco?" she asked hopefully. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. He was within arms reach of her, then he suddenly turned around, walking back to the portal. The queen stood in his way, and she held onto his shoulder and shook him. "Marco? Marco?" The boy didn't answer. Eclipsa squinted unsurely. "Are you dicked in the nob?"(1)

Higgs was wide-eyed now, realizing what was happening. He'd told her that he'd woken up the first night and found himself surrounded by underwear, and both had conjectured what he was doing now. "He's sleepwalking… He's sleepwalking! Sleep-panty-stealing!" Her eyes fell to his left hand that was hanging by his side. Sure enough, her green hipsters were in his hand, along with some white other; Higgs' face flushed in anger and embarrassment. Marco had come and was nearly already gone; he'd stolen both hers and Eclipsa's underwear in under ten seconds and she hadn't even realized until it was too late. "Wake him up! He's got your frillies!"

Meteora started fussing loudly now, and Eclipsa had to hush her. Not missing a beat, the boy walked past her and entered the portal from which he'd earlier emerged, and the portal disappeared. He hadn't even been there for a half minute.

"He had my what?" Eclipsa asked, only just now catching up to what the girl had said. "My what?"

Higgs slapped her forehead. "They were white. He had your frillies in his hand."

"My what?" she repeated, her tone was markedly more concerned, not doubt piqued because of the squire's specific description. Eclipsa felt her waistline through her bedrobe. "Oh dear." She looked at her baby as if for the first time. "Meteora, where's your diaper?"

Higgs just let herself collapse where she stood.

1) Dicked in the nob: Victorian way of asking someone if they're crazy. Suits Eclipsa, a precious old-timey silly aunty.