Episode:
14: Warpshift

Adam and Star settle into the town of Polaria, and meet someone awfully familiar. Shock and awe entails.

As the two would-be siblings walked towards the entrance to the town, things remained extremely quiet. This did not surprise Adam, who was well-versed in understanding the danger of making too much noise around here. Or being too bright. Star was rather hoping they hadn't walked into an abandoned ghost town populated by echoes of the long-deceased.

Creaking noises echoed through Adam's ears. He turned and noticed a metal sign hanging by a thread on the big wooden post that constituted the town entrance. The word "POLARIA" was scribbled across it in worn white paint. It swung and wavered in the wind. Adam grimaced, unimpressed.

'Where is everyone?' asked Star curiously, looking around at the shanty buildings standing around them. 'Hellooooo? Anybody about?'

'Star, keep your voice down!' he warned, keeping his voice at a harried whisper. 'People around here don't like to make too much noise.'

'Welcome!'

Instantly, the two spun around to see a woman approaching them from a nearby farmhouse. She was wearing a typical harvester's uniform, which Adam supposed made sense given it was harvest season on Mewni at the moment. He wondered why she had vacated her home to greet them; most individuals living in any settlement would not risk meeting strangers. Adam opened his mouth almost involuntarily.

'Uh, hi.'

'Hello!' Star added exuberantly.

'Travellers, I assume?' she asked brightly. 'Come to seek refuge?'

'Yes, we have,' he replied, still slightly unsure of the situation. 'We're sorta just…hermits, looking for a place to stay until the Storm passes.'

'Well, I'm sure we'd be happy to help,' she responded welcomingly. 'But you'll have to speak to the Meriff about it.'

'"Meriff"?' Star parroted. 'What's a meriff?'

'It's "mayor" and "sheriff" put together,' answered the farmer, giggling at the thought. 'He couldn't decide which one he preferred, so he went with both.'

Adam frowned. 'Alright…little weird, but alright.'

He began to walk away but Star stopped him.

'Sorry, we didn't catch your name!'

'It's Delia,' answered Delia. 'And who might you be?'

'Oh, uh…it's…Estrella,' Star lied, before looking over expectantly at Adam. He sighed.

He folded his arms. 'Adam.'

'Do you know where the Meriff is?' Star asked quickly, before Adam could arrogantly and reservedly walk off.

'He'll be at the Offices, of course.' Delia stepped aside and raised an arm away from them. 'Just down the road, it's the big wooden house at the first crossroad. You can't miss it!'

'Thanks!' Star gave her an ebullient wave to accompany her acknowledged, practically skipping in the direction she had indicated. Adam caught up to her and slowed her down. He raised an eyebrow.

'"Estrella"?'

'It's Spanish for Star,' she explained. 'Marco called me that, once. Also, I think my great-great-great grandmother was called Estrella, but I dunno.'

Hopefully, it wasn't too on the nose. Not that she really expected anybody around here to know Spanish, or to recognise the significance of the name anyway. Not like Star Butterfly was the only person ever to have a name meaning star. Adam didn't seem too judgemental on the matter.

The two of them made their way through the town of Polaria towards the Meriff's office. Adam was able to identify it not too far in the distance; it was indeed the building in between a split in the road. From the outside, Adam could see the shiny, polished chestnut wood it was constructed from, which made him grimace. The building had two verandas out front on either side of a set of steps leading up to a set of double doors. There were even frosted windows on the sides of the building, which Adam instantly distrusted.

Why have frosted windows unless you have something to hide?

Star would probably assume he was being paranoid. Maybe he was. It still didn't explain how the office looked so much nicer than the rest of the town. Whoever this "Meriff" guy was, it didn't seem like he had his priorities in check.

'You know what kinda guy calls himself a mayor and a sheriff?' Adam thought aloud, as they walked into the building. 'A lunatic with a power complex, that's what.'

'C'mon, Adam, you haven't even met him yet.' They walked through the building past some of the secretarial offices.

'Star, you need to understand something about this reality,' he said, glaring at the double doors of the Meriff's office towards the end of the hallway. 'You can't trust anybody. Everyone has their own agendas. Their own secrets.'

'We have to give him a chance, at least,' she replied, tentatively clasping her hands together and smiling at him hopefully. 'Please?' Adam rolled his eyes.

'Star –'

'Pretty please?'

'Ugh, for corn's sake…' he groaned, as they stopped outside the office doors. 'Fine. But just…keep your wits about you, okay? Around here, you find that the brightest smiles hide the darkest secrets.'

Star only had the time to give a feeble nod before Adam pushed open the doors and entered the room.

The office was even better maintained than the exterior of the building itself. It was a wide, rectangular room, decorated with a clean, royal red carpet without so much as a blemish upon it. The walls were painted clean and white, although they appeared orange with glow of the morning light through the frosted windows. The windows themselves were obscured by freshly dry-cleaned white curtains, burning orange in the sunlight.

What intrigued them the most was the decorations. Two large potted plants rested in the corners of the room to their left and right, somehow completely real and spritely. Several extravagant paintings were fitted on the wall, multiple of which Star identified were expensive antiques in her world. Adam probably didn't know the value of those paintings, but the surprised look on his face told her that he was not expecting to see them either.

Despite the Meriff's office being of only relative size, there was still a sizeable chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the room. It was exceptionally difficult to miss, and the refractive glint in its crystals indicated it was likely real gemstone, not some cheap plastic knock-off.

The wide wooden desk at the back of the room was not left without decoration, either. Several paperweights, precious jewels, and all manner of trinkets were dotted across it. A large hourglass rested on the table in the corner, about ten minutes from running out. A small desk lamp hung over a blank portion of this desk, which Adam would have expected to have documents on it.

In the centre of the desk, there was a golden plaque with only the words "THE MERIFF" on it, without any indication of his actual name.

'This "Meriff" guy lives quite the lavish lifestyle,' he remarked, inspecting one of the paintings. For what little he knew about art, he could figure out it was probably quite valuable.

'Yeah…I wonder how he affords all this stuff,' said Star, bending down to examine a jewel paperweight. She flicked the jewel idly, emitting a shrilling noise.

This proved to be mistake, because the second she did, the doors at the back of the room burst open.

'I knew someone was trying to get their paws on my possessions.'

The pair of them spun around to be met with a tall, gaunt man standing at the back of the room. His wrinkly skin sagged around his face, almost like foam clinging to a face. He was clad in an expensive business suit, freshly printed and washed, with a blue chequered tie and a blue dress shirt. His hair was visibly greying but slicked over with black hair dye and shiny hair gel. He wore a brass pince-nez over his green eyes, perfectly flush against the bridge of his nose without the need for a suspension chain.

He hobbled towards them with an ornate wooden walking stick with a marble ball tip.

'The Meriff, I presume,' said Adam, eyeing him top to bottom.

'Meriff Draper, at your service,' the man greeted, moving over to his desk. He let out a groan as he collapsed onto his chair. 'I apologise for my…less-than-respectable appearance. I get terrible vertigo. How can I help you?'

'We're just simple travellers,' Star answered nervously. 'We need somewhere to stay for a few days.'

'Yeah,' Adam bolstered, still inspecting the Meriff. 'We didn't realise the Storm changed its weather patterns; it's blocking the way through the forest.'

'Hmm…' Draper eyed them suspiciously. 'The Storm started changing patterns months ago. I am surprised that travellers such as yourselves would be ignorant to that fact.'

'That's because we haven't been on this side for Mewni for years,' Adam lied, not even flinching at his own deception. 'We've been on the other side of Mewni, the Scorched Plains. The Storm still doesn't touch there. We had to get on the move ever since the Empire started increasing their taxes.'

'Yes, the Empire loves their taxes,' the Meriff muttered, nodding, before returning to the matter at hand. 'In recent months, the Storm has become more severe. It destroyed our previous town, but since the Storm no longer covers Lake Polaris, we moved here instead.'

'I'm really sorry to hear that,' Star sympathised, her brow deepening in concern. 'We won't get in your way. Promise!'

'Yeah, a few days and we'll be out of your hair,' concurred Adam, exchanging a wary glance with Star.

'It's fine,' Meriff Draper dismissed with a wave of his hand. 'The local inn on the far eastern side should have a room available for you.'

'Thank you.'

Right as he turned to leave, however, Draper spoke up again.

'But.'

The pair froze in place. Adam sighed to himself and reluctantly turned around to face him. The Meriff took out a thick red leather book from the drawer and opened it from the ribbon bookmark.

'First, I'm going to have to keep a record of your arrival here for my log. It's standard procedure around here to keep everyone safe.'

Adam groaned internally but reluctantly nodded, whilst Star was perhaps more eager.

'Sure!' she exclaimed, beaming at him. 'I'm Estrella, and this is my brother, Adam.'

'Adam…and…Estrella…' Draper said aloud, as he scribbled down their names in his logbook. '…lovely name, by the way.'

'Thank you!' she said happily, walking out his office with a smile on her face. Adam kept his eyes trained on Draper for a moment, before following Star out of his office.

As they were walking through the building towards the exit, Star turned to him and smiled.

'He didn't seem so bad,' she replied, shrugging her shoulder. Adam frowned at her dubiously.

'He seemed excessively vain to me,' he dismissed irascibly. 'And obviously wary of us. I'm not buying the "frail old man" routine he's got going on.'

Star rolled her eyes. 'You're being way too paranoid.'

'I'm being a survivor,' corrected Adam angrily, as they stepped out onto the street.

'He seemed like a really nice guy to me,' the princess persisted, shrugging her shoulders.

'Never trust a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.'

'That how you got to be all sunshine and roses?'

'I just don't trust him.'

'You don't seem to trust anybody around here.'

'No, I don't!' Adam snapped, groaning in frustration. He sighed as he recomposed himself. 'Star, I admire your ability to see the best in people, but in this place, the only person you can trust is yourself. The sooner you understand that, the better.'

Star didn't say anything; she merely looked away with a silently indignant look on her face. She should have known better than to try and change Adam's mind on anything. In the past day alone, he had already reverted to survival mode without any sense for the lessons he had learned before that.

As they trudged through the town, Star could not help but notice how dilapidated everything seemed. Despite the town being relatively young, the materials used to construct it were old, worn and rotting. No doubt it was a product of the lake nearby and the saturated, watery soil. The building materials were haphazardly cut, put together ineffectively, like an amateur's attempt to construct a house of cards.

They encountered few people on the streets of Polaria. The town seemed mostly barren from the outside. People probably didn't want to risk drawing the attention of the deathmoths at night, who were attracted to light, or the murdercrows by day, who were attracted to sound. It was a wonder how they managed to survive for this long, but then again, Star understood little about daily life for the average Negative Mewni denizen.

As they turned a corner, Star felt something yank on her tunic. She yelped in surprise and looked down.

'Could I trouble you for a coin?' asked a ragged, homeless beggar desperately, holding up her hands like a dish platter. 'Please…I'm so hungry…'

Star's eyes dilated in concern, and she reached into her purse. She produced two shiny golden coins.

'Here,' the princess offered, dropping the pair of them into her hands. 'Have two.'

'Oh, thank you!' she exclaimed graciously, admiring the sheen of the shimmering coin. 'The divines bless your kind heart!'

'No problem!' Star replied ecstatically. She turned away from her to see Adam leaning on the wall of a house with a disgruntled look on his face. 'What?'

Instead of saying anything, he merely shrugged off of the wall and beckoned for her to follow. Star ran over to him to walk at the same speed as him.

'I admire your charity, Star, but you can't go giving all our money away. We're on a limited budget here. We need to keep it for ourselves.'

'Other people need it too!' she protested passionately. 'We can't afford to be selfish.'

'We can't afford not to be selfish,' argued Adam matter-of-factly. 'We need all the money we've got if we want to stand a chance of surviving in this world. We need to ration our expenditures.'

'I don't understand how you can just turn a blind eye to the suffering of these people.'

'We've all suffered, Star. If we spend all our time trying to help every lost and lonely soul we find, we'll never get home.'

'Seriously? You can't even spare them a coin? Just so they can see the light of tomorrow?'

'No.'

They made their way down the street towards the town inn. Adam bit his lip.

'We need it. The inn is going to cost us money, you know? Besides, you give these beggars money and they're likely just gonna spend it on spice and drugs.'

Star opened her mouth to object, but found no words came out. No words to object his claim, and no words to properly describe her frustration with him right now. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Her mother had many times shared with her the adage that the homeless should be given food and not money, for concern of what they may do with the freedom of currency. Adam clearly was not about to donate his food, despite having a sizeable sack of those wumpafruits in his backpack.

Perhaps as an act of defiance, or simply because she was too speechless to say anything, Star remained silent on the rest of their way to the town inn.

Adam didn't seem to care; his mind was not going to ponder on the possibility that his survivalism ideals and adages were wrong. After all, he'd seen it. He'd experienced the first seventeen years of his life in this hellish place. Whatever he had learnt here was never going to change, no matter how passionately Star denounced it.

Stubbornness. A trait Adam possessed in droves.

By the time they got to the inn, the princess was still lost in her own frustrated thoughts. It was only when Adam alerted her that they were here that she pulled herself away from the confines of her thoughts. As they walked in, she looked around the wooden inn with mild interest. The inn was square-shaped, with doors lining the walls. A second floor, which was more like a balcony tracing the perimeter of the inn, hung above the doors, supported by wooden poles that struck Star as looking more like haphazard scaffolding. The room was illuminated with soft orange light from candlelit lamplights attached to the walls. It almost looked like the entire inn was on fire. [37]

Star followed behind Adam as he approached the reception desk in the centre of the room with a surprising amount of confidence.

'Excuse me,' he called, leaning on the desk. No response. Confused, he looked about the inn. 'Uh…hello…?' Adam was about to call again, but his eyes fell on a golden bell on the desk. A small note was attached to it, with the words, "RING THE BELL, DUMMY" written on it. 'Okay, that's…different.' The Mewman did as it instructed and rang the bell.

'Hi, can I help you?' a voice inquired hastily. The innkeeper jumped up from under the desk and made Adam jump.

Meanwhile, Star heard the voice and reacted differently. Because she recognised that voice. She'd know it anywhere, and Adam should have recognised it too!

Star looked up and realised that the inn's keeper was none other than Kelly.

Indeed, the Woolett girl was standing attentively behind the desk, not a hint of recognition in her eyes. Only a tiny part of Star hoped that Negative Kelly would somehow recognise them, somehow remember them, somehow provide them a bit of familiarity in this otherwise alien place, but she of course did not.

Negative Kelly looked quite different from her alternate counterpart. Her long, woolly hair was now a dark teal shade of green. Her clothes were mostly the same, but a different colour. Her sweater alternated between navy blue and admiral blue stripes, with a light blue shirt underneath. While Star's Kelly typically wore only shorts, this version wore padded tights with the same striped design as her sweater. They looked reinforced but still fashionable. Star could not see her boots from here, but she guessed they were probably a shade of blue as well.

'Kel–' she began, but Adam quickly pinched her to shut her up.

'We'd like to have two rooms, please,' the warlock requested, nodding politely. Kelly grimaced slightly.

'I'm afraid we've only got one room free,' she informed him reproachfully. 'Either you're gonna have to share a room together or come back later.'

'We'll share,' Adam decided, not bothering to consult Star. 'It's fine.'

'Alright, well, it's two-fifty gold a night.'

Adam nodded, but Star's eyes widened.

'Two-hundred and fifty?!' she squawked. 'That's way too –'

'Shut it,' whispered Adam. 'Just hand her the money and get over it.'

Rolling her eyes, the princess reached into her purse and counted out 250 coins. Kelly was impassive, surprisingly not fazed by Star's blatant disapproval. She merely kept her eyes trained on the coins as the girl in front of her counted them out. Upon receiving the money, the Woollett nodded appreciatively.

'Alright, you're in Room 101,' she informed them, presenting them a key on the desk. She indicated towards the stairs behind her. 'Just up those stairs. It's the third door on the right.'

'Great, thanks,' Adam replied, swiping the key off the counter. When he saw that Star still remained, staring blankly at Kelly, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in his direction. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves.

As they set off towards their room, Star's gaze still lingered on Kelly by the reception desk.

Working as an innkeeper was the very last thing Star would have expected any version of Kelly to be doing. If the swords and armour hung up on the walls were anything to go by, this Kelly still relished in the art of battle like their counterpart. So why would she opt to become something as innocuous as a mild-mannered innkeeper?

Still, Adam insisted on carrying everything himself. He'd been carrying his backpack, his small sack of wumpafruits, and all his ingredients, whilst still wearing that ridiculous leaf hat. Sure, Star understood Adam, as a Mewman, possessed enhanced muscular density that meant carrying heavy things proved less of an issue for him, but Star always learnt that it is often best to accept help when it is offered. Especially when it came to carrying things.

Adam held the door open for her and the pair of them walked into their new, temporary room. Star practically sweatdropped.

There wasn't much in the way of room. Just under a third of it was taken up by the cheap bed, which itself was not particularly large. It was made of sawdust-coloured wood, dense with creaks and moans. It looked as though it was constructed from the cheapest material imaginable. The walls were about as clean as they expected, not caked in mud and dirt, but not sparse with cobwebs and dust. At the back of the room, there was a round table with two bare wooden chairs placed around it.

'This room is way too small,' complained Star, making a face as she inspected the corners of the room, whilst Adam set down his stuff on the small table. She found numerous cobwebs, bugs, lint and even the odd frayed hair strewn about the room. Dissatisfied, the princess took out her wand. 'Sparkle Glitter –'

'Star!' Adam yelled in protest, seizing her by the wrist. 'What did I say about keeping a low profile?!' He lowered his voice to a mutter. 'Besides, I doubt you could cast that spell while on low power…'

'Oh, right,' she acquiesced, putting away her wand abashedly. She sighed and sank onto the creaky egg crate bed. 'So…Kelly's an innkeeper in this multiverse? Weird. Wonder what she's doing here, instead of Woolandia?'

'I don't know, Star,' he muttered perfunctorily, zipping open his backpack. The princess hummed in thought. 'It's really not important, so just keep quiet.'

'Maybe–OW! AAAAH! UGHHH!'

Adam's eyes flew up and he instantly shot out of his chair. In moments, he was at her side, whilst Star was clutching her shoulder and crying in pain. Adam pried off her hands and lifted up her sleeve. The inky green burn mark was intensifying, spreading across her skin in dark veiny lines. Eyes widening, Adam fumbled for a pillow and handed it to her.

'Bite down on this when it hurts.'

Star snatched the pillow and chomped into it with full force. The warlock could hear her screams through the material, but it muffled it well enough.

Adam skidded over to his backpack and swiped the alchemical ingredients he had picked up earlier. He sat down on at the table and hastily conjured a mortar and pestle for him to use.

'What are you…ugh…doing?' Star enquired, scooting across the bed closer towards him.

'Making a regenerative antacid.' He threw together various berries, herbs, flowers and mushrooms and grinding them with his pestle. 'It's a good thing I used a Glamour that stays visible even when in physical contact with something. Or else that beggar would have revealed your disguise.'

'I dunno,' she admitted, letting out a breath as her burn subsided to a dull pain again. 'Mom never taught me about Glamours. And, well, with the Magic Instruction Book destroyed…I guess I never will.'

'Aquagenesis,' he muttered, conjuring a jet of clear water to mix his ingredients. 'You're forgetting about my Magic Instruction Book. It's still back home, in my room. You know you can read it anytime you like, right?'

'I do, and I tried,' protested the princess, groaning exasperatedly. 'But whenever I try, Red Glossaryck just tells me to go away and won't let me use it!'

Adam moved over to her with a wet cloth and his mortar full of the lotion.

'Now, this is gonna sting a little, but it's a thousand times better than being burnt,' he warned her, shuffling next to her on the bed. Star nodded, and Adam began to apply the lotion. She tensed up instantly.

'Cold…' she seethed. 'Ugh…it's not fair! Red Glossaryck doesn't even know me, but he won't give me a chance!'

'Yeah, he still thinks you're gonna turn into Dark Star at some point.'

'How do I change his mind?'

'You can't,' Adam told her flatly. 'Just ignore him. I'm his liege, and I commanded him to do anything you tell him to do. Unless I say otherwise, obviously. He can be paranoid about you all he wants; it won't change anything.'

'I know, I know…' murmured Star, glancing down at the floor. 'It's just frustrating. And…it scares me. It makes me think…if a cosmic entity starts getting judgy, you should probably listen. That fact he thinks I'm just gonna be like Dark Star…it makes me scared that I actually will.'

'Star, you and Dark Star are completely different people,' he said, as he spread the lotion across her shoulder. She felt the pain die down. 'You share the same blood, but that's about it. Your upbringing was completely different, your history was completely different, so you are completely different. Dark Star is cruel, megalomaniacal and insane. Being like her…it's just not in your nature. If you keep on being the person you are – kind, compassionate and brave – then you're not gonna end up like her.'

'Thanks, Adam.'

He smiled.

'Don't mention it.' He leaned back and inspected the deed. The burn was steadily retreating into nothingness. 'Alright. I'm done with your treatment. I just need to apply the bandages.'

Star nodded, as Adam steadily wrapped a bandage around her shoulder. He severed the roll with magic and used a simple adhesive spell to keep the bandages together. Adam admired his handiwork for a moment.

'Perfect. You might wanna rest for an hour or two, to really maximise the regenerative effects. And you'll need to keep the bandages on for a few days, minimum.'

'Okay, thank you, Adam. Really. Thanks.' He smiled back at her whilst putting away his stuff. Star laid down on the bed. 'Underneath all that ice, you're a good guy.'

Adam opted not to say anything to that. He didn't know what to say anyway, but it certainly wasn't anything in the realm of agreement. Not like the warlock could bring himself to agree with the possibility of being anything other than pragmatic. Pragmatism kept you alive; kindness got you killed. Around here, that is – the case was obviously different in the Positive Multiverse.

The thought briefly crossed him about why he had forgotten that. He wondered, perhaps only for a second, why he was suddenly sticking to survival adages that only held true in the Negative Multiverse, when his intention was to get back to the Positive Multiverse. Sure, he needed to keep Star and himself alive, and remembering those rules helped, but he almost seemed to be forgetting that it was only a temporary mindset.

Whatever. It didn't matter. What mattered was figuring out how to get back. That was something he had not figured out yet. They needed to keep moving; he knew that for a fact. They could not afford to stay in Polaria for too long. Mewman Knights might come along at any moment to collect their "protection tax", and he did not want to risk drawing their attention.

Unfortunately, his control over multiversal travel was not yet perfected. He knew most of it by now…but not enough to do it at will. In order to open multiversal portals, he required a space-time fracture like the one in the Butterfly crypt. Whilst the Dark Butterflies regularly caused warps in space-time, they never actually broke it (that he was aware of), so finding a space-time fracture would prove to be next to impossible.

Contemplative, Adam conjured an image of the geography of Mewni in his head. They were on the other side of the Forest of Certain Death. Ideally, they wanted to avoid the Butterfly Castle to the southwest. If worst came to worst, Adam could try to get in contact with his old ally Lilacia in the Cloud Kingdom to provide some protection until they could get home.

The Cloud Kingdom was the only kingdom in all of Negative Mewni that the Dark Butterflies had never subjugated. Lilacia told him once that it was because attempting to go to war with them risked bringing the Cloud Castle crashing down to Mewni, which would destroy Butterfly Castle. Attempting a coup would result in the same effect; it was the Pony Head's magic that allowed the castle to float above Mewni, shielding it even from the Great Solarian Storm. Without the Pony Heads, the kingdom would crash into Mewni and destroy the Dark Butterflies' ancestral headquarters.

As a result, the Butterfly Empire and the Cloud Kingdom entered some sort of uneasy alliance, although King Pony Head was best friends with River Butterfly, and they loved to go on hunts together. It was largely why Moon the Malevolent thinned her definition of "Monster" to exclude the Pony Heads, as well as Woolletts, who were common traders with the Cloud Kingdom.

Adam glanced over at Star. She was laying on her side, eyes shut and breathing steadily. The lotion he had concocted seemed to have done the trick; she was no longer crying in agony, at least. A few more hours, and she would be fully recovered.

If she only could comprehend the gravity of the situation that they were in. This wasn't all fun and games. It wasn't all "let's go clubbing at the best nightclub in the multiverse with my best friends Karate Kid and Pony Head". This was the Negative Multiverse. Where dreams came to die.

Literally. The Gates of Elysium in the far north were said to contain the most twisted nightmares and most horrid creations of every Butterfly to have ever lived. Not that Adam really wanted to go there.

What mattered now was navigating through Negative Mewni, and Star was clearly not taking it seriously. If Star made a single mistake, one slip, one misstep, she could easily die. And if she died, that was on him. It was on him, for allowing yet another person he cared about to die in this armpit of creation, the Negative Multiverse.

Adam couldn't risk it. He needed Star understand the gravity of the situation they were in. Knowing Star, she was probably going to mingle with the locals and get her nose stuck in their business. Fortunately, the warlock knew better. Getting involved in others' business was really the best way to get yourself killed. Nobody likes a nosy parker.

In his experience, helping people just made them more suspicious of you. Why would you help someone with something that wasn't your problem? Naturally, they were quick to assume you wanted something out of it, some kind of ulterior motive. As a matter of fact, even Adam was naturally suspicious of someone offering their help for no apparent reason. Star was the first person he ever met who genuinely just helped people because she wanted to, not because she wanted something in return.

Even Janna – his Janna – had ulterior motives for helping him. Little of what they did together didn't involve some kind of repayment. Helped Janna collect some occult objects? In return, she helped him get past a Mewman Knight patrol. Nothing came without an exchange, or trade. Star likely didn't understand that. If Adam were lucky, perhaps he could get her to see it his way.

He shrugged and went back to figuring out a way back home.

Meanwhile, Star let herself fall to the lull of sleep. She allowed her worries and concerns to fade away, as her fatigue took hold. She'd only been awake for a couple hours, and still she was entirely exhausted. That burn mark had severely drained her of her energy; it made her weaker and more tired. She sensed weakness in her muscles, although the tension began to fade as she soothed her troubled mind.

Adam was adamant on figuring out a way back home. He cared little for much else. The entire town could burn to the ground, and he still wouldn't notice. What was his problem, anyway? First, he tells her off for helping people, then tells her off for complaining about the price of the room, then denounces her for being curious about Kelly.

Still, Star really couldn't bring herself to be mad at him right now. He went through the effort of getting her food to eat – the good kind, from what he had told her. She wasn't feeling hungry right now, but she bet she would later, and those fruits were packed with nutrients. Adam also made her an antacid for the burn she got, when he easily could have just ignored it. Thanks to him, she most likely wasn't going to die in the Negative Multiverse on her second day living there. Additionally, he also gave her some advice about her mounting fear over Dark Star, which was not something he had to do.

His commitment to finding a way back was eerily familiar. If only Adam could be clearer about what they were going to do. What even was the plan for them, anyway?

All that Adam had made clear was they needed to keep moving. He didn't make it clear why. He didn't say where they were going, only that it was somewhere west, where the Great Solarian Storm was currently passing over. Why couldn't they stay here? It seemed relatively quiet, and out of trouble, with few connections to the godforsaken Butterfly Empire. Many people seemed to rely on Polaria as their safe haven, so why should they be any different?

Maybe there was something Adam wasn't telling her. Maybe he was trying to hide the fact that he hates being around other people. Star wasn't sure why that would be the case. After all, it's not like Adam was one to hide his thoughts on situations, especially when it came to criticising everyone and everything that happened to be in front of him.

In truth, Star always considered herself a people-person. She loved being around people, and she loved conversing with them and learning about their daily lives and common struggles. However, what Star did not consider herself to be was an Adam-person. She didn't think even Adam himself had quite managed that. Every time the princess thought she had him figured out, some other aspect of his personality came roaring to life from out of nowhere.

Even Janna had confessed that Adam was an enigma. He spoke little of his past, little of his time surviving in the Negative Multiverse. Most of the time, Star could say with confidence that she trusted him. Most of the time. Every now and again, though…there was this glint in his eyes…a shadow of something darker, hidden within the depths of his soul.

Star's mind practically shivered. That was enough depressing thoughts for today. She was tired and she needed to rest.

A couple hours. That was all. Star could say with confidence that all was well in Polaria.

For now.

[37] Think like the inns from Skyrim. That's pretty much how it looks.

Hello, my faithful readers! Here's another chapter. It's been ages since I last updated the story on this website. Sorry. I completely forgot I posted it on here.

I'm afraid this chapter's a shorter one and not much really happens besides character development. It's setting up the next episode I suppose. This is the end of Episode 14. Episode 15 begins in the next chapter, with the first chapter being eponymous to the episode title, "Elementary".

Not that I didn't enjoy writing this chapter. The highlight was Negative Kelly, who in this universe is an innkeeper. She will have a role to play in the next episode, of course, so she isn't here purely for a cameo. You might be wondering how it is she ended up here, and well, I'll probably leave that up to speculation. Better than giving an answer, hm?

As always, I'm still building up the tension between Adam and Star. Star naturally would think the best of Draper, whilst Adam would assume the worst. Neither of them seem particularly compelled to agree on anything at the moment. I'm doing my best to highlight the conflictions in their personalities that lead to arguments and confrontations. All I'm saying is, it's going to reach its boiling point. Very soon.

Anyways, as always thanks for the support!