Toffee stood on the shore, staring into the murky water where the ruins of the magic sanctuary once stood. He'd changed out of the suit ages ago and was currently wearing a sleek one-piece swimsuit. He was taking deep breaths, steadying himself for what he was about to do.
Diving into the dark, cold water, Toffee made it to the ruins,
swimming down the well and into the empty realm of magic.
Last time he'd been here, he hadn't had a body.
The corrupt magic did not feel like water, it was thick and cloying,
like swimming through syrup, and he wondered if he'd ever stop feeling it against his scales.
Toffee scanned the horizen, looking for a blonde head of hair, but, to his sorrow, she was not visible.
He looked down, and his heart seized in his chest.
Floating below him, suspended inches away from a speck of uncorrupted magic, was Star's body.
Toffee immediately dove for her, dragging her, painfully slowly, to the surface.
She was still warm, her small form flopping in her arms like a doll,
and it churned his gut more than it should- Toffee was no stranger to the dead, and he'd sent more than his fair share of mewmen royalty to the grave, but, seeing a child like this... that never got any easier.
He threw her across his back and swam for the exit, carrying her back to Mewni.
If he couldn't bring Moon her daughter, then he could at least give her a body to bury.
Toffee dragged her too dry land, laying her on her back.
He was about to set up camp... but stopped.
She can't have been dead for long.
Maybe there was still time.
He acted quickly, CPR.
One.
Two.
Three.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
One.
Two.
Three.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
After what felt like far too long, Star stirred beneath him.
Her eyes blew wide, and she shoved him off, coughing uncontrollably.
Toffee backed up, moving to stand, and winced as Star tried to stand herself, buckled at the knee, and began vomiting up sticky, green magic.
He stayed back, by the tree line, keeping an eye on the girl, until she eventually stopped throwing up. Star got to her feet properly and faced him, legs shaky and eyes defiant.
"Toffee!" she spat the name like venom on her tongue, "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life" he said.
"Like I'd believe that" she muttered, "What's your game?"
"There is no 'game'" said Toffee, "I made a promise. I intend to keep it."
Star paused, expression falling. She looked around, taking in the ink black sky, awash with stars.
"Wait..." she murmured, "when I went into the realm of magic, it was day, and going by the phases of the moon, I must've been out for-"
"Three days" said Toffee.
"Hey" snapped Star, "You don't get to interrupt me, grandma killer!
You trapped me in the realm of magic!"
Toffee narrowed his eyes. "you trapped yourself" he said.
Star scoffed, "You think I had a choice? You took over the castle!
Sent us on the run! Levitato'd innocent people-"
"Don't" Toffee interrupted, "put that on me. Ludo's the one who went 'wand happy' on your people"
"Yeah. While under your control!"
Toffee sighed, sounding tired, "I swear, no force on Mewni could control that man"
"You know what? I don't have to talk to you" said Star. "I am going back to the Butterfly Kingdom" she turned, trying to walk off into the woods, but after a couple steps she collapsed into a coughing fit.
"I don't like your chances" said Toffee.
"Oh corn" wheezed Star as she recovered, "you're going to kill me.
You've killed my mom, and now you're going to kill me!" she started to hyperventilate, hand going to her forehead. "Well, ha-ha, I'm not going down that easy, Toffee, your reign of terror ends today!" she cried, turning on the lizard and getting into a fighting stance.
"...Moon is alive" said Toffee.
"I don't believe you"
"Believe what you like"
They stared each other down, at an impasse.
"Look" said Toffee, his gaze intense. "You're never going to like me,
and, frankly, I am never going to like you. But right now, we're a long way from the Butterfly castle, and you are in no shape to travel.
Especially not alone. The sooner you accept my help, the sooner we can go back to not knowing each other"
Star continued staring, expression flat.
But soon enough, she threw up her hands. "FINE! I'll accept your help,
or whatever"
Despite Star's protests, Toffee got first watch.
Star, eventually realizing it was futile, settled in to 'sleep',
intending to fake it until the lizard woke her up, and then slip away in the night and find her own way home.
She awoke with a jolt, and then lay still. Crap, crap crap, she'd actually fallen asleep!
Cracking an eye open, she scanned her surroundings.
She was right where she had been last night, and soon spotted Toffee,
looking out over the swamp.
Abruptly, his head jerked to face her, eyes near glowing in the dim light.
He walked over and kneeled next to her, brows drawn tight- had she not known any better, she'd have thought he looked worried.
She shut her eyes, laying still as she could. Eventually, Toffee exhaled softly and walked away.
She awoke to the sun rising over the water, Toffee nowhere to be seen.
Star stretched lazily, before abruptly remembering the events of the past day.
'Oh right" she thought, the coup, the destruction of magic, the Magic High Commission, her mom...
Star got to her feet, took a final look around for Toffee, and than started down the forest path-
And ran into Toffee just as he turned the corner.
Star covered her mouth, biting back a yelp.
"Ah, you're awake" said Toffee cooly.
He'd changed out of his swimsuit and into a tight jacket and pants,
and he was carrying... Several live grubs, almost the size of her head, placidly gnawing on the uprooted saplings he had tied to his pack
"I was going to make breakfast" he said, "but, if you feel up to traveling..."
"oooh, that's breakfast?" Star said to herself, feeling about ready to throw up again.
"Yes" said Toffee, "I got lucky, found some real plump ones this morning"
"No, no breakfast, ha, I'm not even hungry!" she said, and, that wasn't wrong- obviously, the prospect of eating bugs made her sick,
but even the fluffiest of corn pancakes would've turned her stomach at the moment. Her throat felt raw, and her lungs screamed with every breath. As much as she hated to admit it, Toffee had a point; She was in no state to travel.
Not that she was about to tell him that.
Toffee seemed suspicious, but he dropped the issue, sticking only a few steps ahead of her as they set off.
Star watched him intently, holding back her coughs the best she could.
They stopped around noon, having made it a quarter of the way they should've, and Toffee built up a small fire.
Star watched in horror as he killed and gutted one of the grubs. Out of his bag, he pulled a pan and grill, which he placed over the fire.
Next, he took out a jar of lard and assortment of spices, melted a glob of the lard in the pan, and began to grill up the grub, adding spices as it fried.
"Eat" he said, slicing it up and handing her a plate "we've got a long hike ahead of us"
It was all Star could do not to be sick.
She looked over to Toffee, who was delicately tucking into his own serving.
She looked back down at her own plate.
Toffee had prepared the thing right in front of her. Surely, if it was poisoned, he wouldn't eat it himself... right?
Fighting every impulse within her, Star sunk her fork into the concerningly squishy flesh on her plate, sliced off a piece, and put it in her mouth.
She chewed slowly, trying not to think too hard about what she was eating.
To her surprise, it wasn't that bad, not the greatest thing she'd tasted, she certainly wouldn't go out of her way to eat it, but if she was served it again? She wouldn't turn it down.
Star ate lightly, and Toffee ended up stowing the rest of it away.
She still didn't feel good and trailed behind Toffee when they set off.
A few minutes later, he stopped. "Do I have to carry you?" he asked,
his tone giving little away.
Star shook her head. No way.
Toffee nodded curtly and kept walking.
Right when she was about to concede, he stopped again, looking at the position of the sun.
"Now what?" she groused, although she couldn't summon much bite behind the words.
"It isn't wise to travel this far in your condition" he said. "The least we should do is rest"
That sounded better than Star was willing to admit, but she still grumbled out a "Fine." in response.
He sat down under a tree, and she sat down across the path from him,
watching him sharply.
He pulled out a book and a pair of spectacles and began reading,
turning to the middle of the book.
It's title was in a language she didn't recognize, and she had to admit, her curiosity was piqued.
"You can read?" she asked.
Toffee's head shot up with an offended gasp, "of course I can read!"
he snapped, hair ruffling even though there was no wind.
Star felt a wave of embarrassment, realizing she had, perhaps, made an ignorant assumption.
"I-I mean, it's just that, I've met a few monsters, and none of them have been... literate" she trailed off, feeling her cheeks heat up.
Toffee took a moment to respond.
"Well" he finally said, "I haven't met many literate mewmens"
He stuck his nose right back in the book, ignoring her.
"What are you reading?" she asked.
"The Abridged History of the Late Mosasauran Empire" he said, without looking up.
"Huh." was all Star could get out.
She tried to sit quietly for as long as she could, but there just wasn't anything to do!
Star picked up a pinecone and chucked it across the path. Toffee's arm shot out and he snatched it out of the air without looking.
"I would appreciate it' he said "If you wouldn't do that"
Star sighed, "I'm bored!" she said.
"Oh!" said Toffee. He marked his spot, reached into his pack, pulled out another book, and got up to hand it to her.
"Ugh, reading" she muttered, but opened it up to the first page regardless.
Her brow furrowed.
She flipped through the pages, looking for a word or even a letter she recognized, but it was all in vain.
"Hey, what language even is this?" she demanded.
"Archosaurian" he said, "It was among the most widespread languages in Septarsis"
"Well, I can't read it" she said, "didn't you bring anything in mewmen?"
"Nothing you'd be interested in" he said, "although I suppose that wouldn't narrow it down"
"har, har" she growled, "very funny. You're going to make me go on this miserable trek with you, and you couldn't even bring anything I could read?"
The septarian dropped his book and his jaw in tandem, "I saved your life you little brat, do you think I want to be here anymore than you do?"
"I wouldn't even have been in danger if you hadn't attacked my family!"
She could see Toffee's fists clench. "If you knew half of what your family had done you wouldn't say that"
"Oh, severing your poor little finger, you mean?" Star seethed, "You did that to yourself you selfish reptile, if you hadn't killed my grandmother, over a PEACE TREATY, then my mom never would've been forced to make that choice, I don't know what you thought you were doing, but at this point? It's not my family's fault that mewmens and monsters hate each other, it's yours"
Toffee was shaking now, eyes hateful.
"Be grateful I know how stupid you are" he said lowly, "otherwise I'd leave you out here now"
"Well, it's true" said Star.
"Don't. Push it"
Toffee got up.
"If you're well enough to run your mouth, you're well enough to walk."
A heavy silence settled over them as their journey started up again,
both moving at a brisk pace, as though they could reach the ruins of butterfly castle by evening if they moved fast enough.
Alas, that wasn't possible. Even without the few more silent rest stops throughout the afternoon, home was simply too far away.
The two of them set up camp when evening rolled around. Toffee split the leftovers of that afternoon's grub between them. and they ate in silence.
Again, Toffee took first watch. Star couldn't bring herself to protest, simply curling up to sleep under the stars.
Toffee got her up early the next morning. Once again, she noticed,
second watch never seemed to come- did septarians sleep?
She sat quietly by the fire as he fried up another grub.
"I'm sorry" he said, watching the flame.
She cocked her head, "what?"
"I'm sorry" he repeated, "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.
It's not your fault you're ignorant"
"well, thanks" she muttered.
Again, they ate in silence, and again she trailed behind him, but it seemed some of the tension from yesterday had gone.
"Toffee?" she said, maybe an hour after the start of their hike.
"Yes?" he said.
"I keep seeing the words 'septarian' and 'septarsis' come up next to your people, but, I thought monsters were from Mewni?"
"there are a lot of different monsters, Star, not all of us come from the same place" said Toffee.
"So, where is Septarsis? I know it isn't another kingdom, I'd have heard of it"
"Well, it isn't anywhere now. One of your ancestors destroyed it"
"oh" said Star. "I-I'm sorry"
Toffee scoffed, "they said that to us right up until they forgot where we came from" he said "It never brought it back"
"I'm-" Star cut herself off. "What was it like?" she asked instead.
Toffee stopped walking. Star nearly ran into him.
"I never saw it" he said, "I was among the first born on Mewni"
"then why do you want to destroy it?" asked Star.
Toffee rubbed his temples. "I'm not" he ground out.
"Yes you are" Star argued, indignant, "Our whole way of life revolves around magic! It keeps us safe, helps our crops grow, lets us travel-
everything runs on magic! Mewni wouldn't exist without it!"
"If Mewni needs magic to exist, then it doesn't deserve to" said Toffee.
Star gasped, "How could you say that? Mewni's the greatest dimension there is!"
"Oh, well. In that case, who am I to complain. Clearly, you were doing my ancestors a favor" he said, tone biting.
"What, I thought..." Star wrinkled her brow, "wait a second, okay,
that was uncalled for!" she snapped.
Toffee seemed to be about to speak, but kept his mouth shut.
That suited Star just fine.
Star was trailing behind, stewing in her anger, when Toffee stopped.
Star nearly tripped over his tail, and turned to snap at him, "hey,
what's the-"
"Shush" he hissed, head cocked to the side, eyes scanning the trees.
Immediately, Star sobered.
The birdsong and rustling of small animals going about their business that was normally ever present in the Forest of Certain Death had vanished- a sure sign that the 'certain death' part of its name was about to become extremely relevant.
"What-"
"Shush" Toffee's nostrils flared as he spun around, eyes wild.
"Mewmens"
Star relaxed. She was about to be rescued!
She smirked, "well, it's been-"
She didn't get to finish the sentence.
A group of musclebound soldiers burst from the underbrush, a couple she even recognized as members of the royal guard.
Star narrowly dodged a sword one of them swung at Toffee, ducking right into the grasp of another, who waved a knife carelessly in her other hand, "Don't worry, princess!" she said, nearly taking out Star's ear, "we'll rescue you!"
The other two rounded on Toffee, both moving to pounce him, but he slid effortlessly out of the way, hooking one's ankle with his tail on the way out. He stumbled, ramming head-first into his companion's nose, and both slid to the ground, groaning.
Meanwhile, Star's savior was dragging her into the brush, arm across her throat, choking her. Star shoved her own arm under that of her wannabe rescuer, and slid out of her grasp, rolling back to the path.
"Are you crazy? You could've killed me!" she shouted at the women.
Before she could respond, Toffee cracked her over the head.
Star looked around in time to catch the other two retreating into the woods.
"So much for being rescued" she muttered, her face falling.
Toffee frowned, staring at the lady who'd tried to save Star, "With an operation like that, I'd rather take my chances in the wilderness" he said.
Star rubbed the marks on her throat. "Yeah... No one's ever accused the royal guard of being 'cautious'" she admitted with a chuckle.
Toffee laughed, "Well" he said, "I guess some things really do never change"
They walked in uneasy silence until dinnertime, when Toffee would pull out a bizarre string instrument which seemed to be built for someone with a touch more hands than your average mewmen.
He strummed it with his hand and tail, and belted out a folk tune in a language Star didn't speak. His voice was actually quite beautiful,
like the song of a deep-voiced bird, and she found herself humming along.
When he finished the song, Star clapped, "That was amazing!" she said,
"what was the song?"
Toffee quirked a smile, "It's a bit hard to translate into mewnian,
but, roughly, 'the Beheading of Solaria at the hands of Glorious Seth'" he said.
Star shrank back, a wave of nausea washing over her. "What the hell!"
she snapped, "That's my great-great-great ect. grandma! Her death was a national tragedy! We still spend a day mourning her!"
"I know" said Toffee. "we spend that day celebrating"
"What, are you trying to teach me some-some messed up lesson? I get it, my family has been less than perfect these past few centuries, so now you think you can do whatever you want to us because of a few minor atrocities that happened before either of us were even born-"
"I grew up under Solaria"
At those words, Star felt her mouth go dry. She flashed back to everything she'd heard, every glorious story about Solaria's conquests told to her before bed.
And she tried to imagine if she was a monster, facing down a near all-powerful army with weapons of wood and stone.
"Oh" was all she could get out.
Toffee smiled without a hint of humor. "The glory days of the Butterfly Empire" he said.
Star looked at her feet. She couldn't look at him now.
When he told her he'd take watch, she didn't protest, curling up on the thin bedding he'd provided without a word.
She tried not to worry about him killing her in her sleep. At this point, he either planned to wait until her mother could see it, or he wasn't going to hurt her at all.
Morning came, they ate, and they set off.
One thing Star noticed was that she was feeling better. Even with the travel, the burning in her throat and lungs had faded over the past couple days, and it was easier to breathe.
Three days, he'd told her. It'd been three days travel from the Magic Sanctuary to the Butterfly Castle- She knew they wouldn't get there today, but she could recognize the path. Her steps were light as she realized how close she was too home.
On the third day, they didn't rest until lunch.
"You know" said Star, between bites of grub, "this stuff is growing on me"
"Oh? Thanks" said Toffee. He had finished his portion first, and was waiting for her, long face stuffed into a book.
"Pretty good, for monster food."
Toffee scoffed, not looking up. "A lot of 'monster food' is good" he said.
"Toffee?" Star began.
"Yes?"
"Thanks for doing this" she said.
"Oh" said Toffee, briefly lowering his book. He smiled "Don't mention it"
They returned to their travels soon after, and by the time they stopped for the night, Star could see the ruins of Butterfly Castle on the horizon.
Toffee pulled out the mysterious musical instrument again, singing jauntily in mewmen, this time.
Lyrically, this one wasn't near as dark as the song he'd sung earlier.
This was downright cheesy tune about falling in love in the spring,
and Star found herself rolling her eyes.
Gosh, atleast the first was about something cool. Almost. If it wasn't her great-great-great ect. grandmother getting beheaded.
"Gotta say" she said, "I'd never have imagined you liking a song like this"
Toffee stopped singing, looking over at her. "It means a lot to me"
Star laughed, "really? That corny old thing? It's almost as bad as my mom's song day song!"
Toffee cringed. "Do not compare this beautiful septarian tune to that vile propaganda"
That gave Star pause. It was really a terrible song, a waste of talent for everyone involved in its creation, surely, but 'vile propaganda'?
That seemed a strong term for what was ultimately a fairly forgettable tune.
She told him as much, and he only laughed. Waving his at long last intact right hand.
She awoke early the next morning, the sun peaking above the horizon.
Toffee was already up, still reading.
Star wondered if he was absorbed enough in the story that he wouldn't notice her sneaking off, but when she sat up, he closed the book and picked up his pack.
"Ready to set off?" he asked.
"Of course I am!" said Star. The castle was right there! Rising over the trees. Star could practically feel her mother's arms, the safety and security that came with them.
She tried not to think of what she'd do if Toffee had killed her mom after all.
For the first time in their journey, Star ran ahead of Toffee, heart hammering in her chest.
Hope and anxiety buzzed in her stomach and crept into her throat all morning, until they reached the city around the castle.
Star looked for severed mewmen heads on pikes, bodies burning in the streets, children's toys left broken and abandoned, but she saw no such thing. In fact, it didn't seem much different than before, the streets of the city as crowded and noisy and smelly as they'd always been- until she looked closer.
Most of the people she saw were mewmens, but while before any monster spotted in a mewmen city without permission would be driven out, she saw quite a few of them now, moving in groups amongst the throng.
Her heart leapt to her throat when she spotted Rasticore, and nearly crawled out of her mouth when he spotted them and began storming over.
He didn't care about her, though.
"Toffee!" he roared in his gravelly voice. "What the hell have you been doing"
"Keeping my word" he replied simply, "Now, tell me, where is the former Butterfly queen?" he said the word 'former' like it was honey in his throat.
Rasticore paused, mouth agape as he spotted Star. "She couldn't bear to stay in the city. Her and River left not long after you did"
He began to turn away, but paused, eyes lingering on the former princess.
"We need to talk" he said. "Later. When you are alone"
"I get it, Rasticore" said Toffee. "Tell me, can you point me to them?" he asked.
Rasticore scoffed, "damn if I know where they went"
"Thank you anyway" sighed Toffee.
"Well, I guess we'll have to ask around" he said, "Gooday".
He visibly relaxed as they left the city and its noises and smells faded behind them.
Star felt like she was about to cry.
"You're a Butterfly" he said, "Where would you say they've fluttered off too?"
Star responded with a sob.
Toffee blanched, "Hey, now" he patted her shoulder, "it's alright, I'm sure they can't have gotten far"
"They killed them" said Star, "Your monsters killed my parents, and I'm never going to see them again, and-and you're all just lying to me until you get the chance to kill me too!"
"Oh, no Star, I promise, no soldier of mine has touched a hair on their heads" he said, "they'd never go against my orders"
"And why would you care about my parents, huh? My mom told me what happened to your finger! What you did to my grandma! You-You're a murderer!"
"Setting aside how sad it is that all this is apparently new information to you" said Toffee, "I set out to do this with as little suffering as possible. I know what it means to lose a parent at such a young age, Star. I didn't want to do that to another child"
Star didn't answer, only staring him down, gaze venomous through her tears.
"You don't have to believe me" he said. "The city is right over there,
I'm sure you can find someone to care for you"
Star started to turn away.
"Or" Toffee continued, "you can join me, and we can search for your parents"