ACT XIII: Comet, the Underestimated Chapter 24: Pair of Kings

The Past. Castle Globgal. Mewni.

After helping Globgal find the idol to purchase a castle of her own at the edge of the Forest of Certain Death, Eclipsine would frequently visit her to help with renovations. Eventually, several other benevolent monsters heard of the mewman boy who helped a monster, and sought to see it for themselves. While understandably difficult at first, Eclipsine slowly built up a reputation among the other monsters as a kind-hearted prince who wanted nothing but peaceful coexistence.

But this reluctant acceptance was overshadowed by the lack of resources for the group. Most of the edible vegetation and wildlife were controlled by the monstrous crime syndicates, and the monsters who came to live with Globgal couldn't afford their outrageous prices. Eclipsine had once used his scepter to create vegetables for them, but over time, Solarius needed to start borrowing the scepter for the war, and Eclipsine had nothing to channel magic through to help his friends.

One day, he arrived at the castle while Viktor the frog-man and Eijiro the rock-monster were trying their hands at farming corn. Eclipsine's heart sank as he watched them struggle to til the infertile soil and plant dead corn kernels in the dirt. Viktor looked up and smiled in relief once he saw the prince.

"Eclipsine! My children are starving! Globgal went off to hunt animals for food, but she has been gone all day!" The frog-man begged. "Please, use your magic! Grow more food!"

Eclipsine frowned, sadly. "I… I'm sorry, Viktor. But my father took the scepter back for his campaign in the Jaggy Mountains… and I still haven't learned to use Light Magic without it."

"Hey, wait a minute…" Viktor made his way towards the prince with his harvesting scythe. "What you did before with the scepter, could it work with this?"

Eclipsine tilted his head, slightly, as he studied the scythe. "I'm… not sure." He admitted as he glanced down at the dark purple veins growing on his arms. Indexia had been teaching him about Dark Magic ever since he was six years old, due to the fear that he may not be able to dip down just like his father. Even so, he had only scratched the surface of the dark arts, and Indexia had warned him many times about the dangers of over-exerting himself.

But then, he remembered something else Indexia had taught him. He opened his satchel and dug through it until he found a dark indigo crystal similar to the one that adorned his family's scepter. The crystal was a rare substance that acted as a natural conduit for magic, but this piece was specifically used for only one type of magic. This crystal was dark mewtonium.

"It's worth a try." Eclipsine decided, accepting the scythe from Viktor and using a piece of twine to secure the dark mewtonium to the back of the blade. Holding the weapon with both hands, the crown prince made his way towards the dead cornfield and lifted it in the air as a farmer would before reaping fully grown stalks of corn.

"Renascentur plantae!"

Suddenly, the prince's cheek-marks shone with Dark Magic, as did the crystal tied to the scythe. As he swung the blade, a dark-purple wave of energy flew out over the field, sprinkling magic into the soil. Miraculously, dozens of cornstalks burst from the ground, producing tons of healthy vegetables. The monsters gasped in shock and awe at the sight before them while their mewman friend glanced down at his wrists; the dark veins hadn't spread any further.

"Of course!" Eclipsine happily snapped his fingers as he realized his epiphany. "Just because Dark Magic can harm my body doesn't mean I can't eventually tap into it naturally! I simply needed a conduit with which to practice! Viktor, if you allow me to keep this scythe, I promise to keep your crops plentiful for years to come!"

"Thank you, friend." Viktor smiled and patted the prince on the shoulder.

Eclipsine glanced at the frog-man's hand with an unreadable expression. "... strange." He said at last.

Viktor nervously removed his hand away, thinking he had offended the mewman boy somehow. The other monsters were prepared to step in in case the prince tried anything hostile. But the boy merely looked back at Viktor with an innocent gleam in his eyes.

"I have worn many titles, been called a lot of things…" Suddenly, the prince wrapped his arms around the frog-man with a wide smile, surprising him and the others. "But never 'friend.'"

Viktor could only smile as he returned the embrace.

Today. Castle Dragonfly. Mewni.

To say that King Mars was frustrated would be a severe understatement. The looming threat of Eclipsine's freedom had hung over his head ever since he'd made the pact as a teenager. Now that the King of Darkness was free, he had influenced his son and convinced him to hold a trial to prove that the former king was truly evil. He wanted to be happy; the evil monster who had killed his father and robbed his kingdom of its most benevolent kings in history was finally dead. But had he unleashed a much greater evil in the process?

All he could do was hope that this trial would finally put this miserable chapter of his life behind him once and for all. He'd been working with the Magical High Commission to set up the trial in a timely manner, organizing a jury of a few witnesses and preparing the courthouse. And with the Magical High Commission issuing the questions, he had every confidence that Eclipsine would be back in a crystal by the end of the day tomorrow.

He was just carrying a stack of judge box rental forms when he noticed his queen sitting alone in the castle's library with a half-empty bottle of her family's bourbon resting on the nightstand next to her. She angrily scraped her whetstone along the tip of her prized spear as if she were preparing to hunt down someone who had wronged her.

"Uh-oh." Mars set down his stack of paperwork and moved to massage his wife's shoulders. He knew that she only did this whenever she was upset. "What's the matter, dear?"

Lake sighed, exasperated. "Oh, nothing. It's just Comet."

"What about Comet?" Mars asked.

"Well, he, Marcia and I were having a nice lunch, and out of nowhere he started rambling about making peace with the monsters."

Mars blinked in surprise. "Hm. And what did you say?"

"Well, I told him it was impossible, of course." Lake shrugged. "I mean, they've killed so many of our kind, Mars Bar. Who could possibly entertain the idea of making peace with them?"

Mars frowned as only one person came to mind. "Don't worry, dear. I have a feeling that Comet will change his mind after Eclipsine's trial." He assured her, gently.

As he exited the library, he noticed Marcia power-walking towards the room from the other side of the hall, but had no time to stop and speak with her. He made his way to the conference room to discuss the logistics of the trial. But while Mars was determined to be thorough, the MHC started to lose patience.

"Look, all I'm saying is that we just have to confirm that he ate babies!" Rhombulie suggested. "That's definitely reason enough to throw someone into a crystal prison."

Hekapoe sighed. "You're thinking of Bobipsine."

"Really?" Rhombulie scratched her head. "I'm pretty sure it was-"

"No." Omnitraxus interrupted. "Hekapoe's right. But, still, we should already have enough evidence to lock up Eclipsine once again."

"Ugh, this is all a waste of time. We should have just executed him." Hekapoe muttered. "Fucking monsters and practicing Dark Magic is just wrong."

"Not to mention he abandoned his wife and firstborn son." Rhombulie added.

"Alright, that's enough you tw-" Mars blinked in confusion. "'Firstborn?' You mean 'only son,' right?"

"What?"

"Festivio was Eclipsine's only son." Mars explained. "That's what I was taught."

Rhombulie coughed into her snake arm. "Um, yes. Of course. My mistake. I must be thinking of someone else again."

Mars' brow furrowed in doubt, but wisely decided not to press the matter further. "Um… you know, I think we do have enough." He decided, casually packing up his office supplies. "I, um, trust you three are prepared for the trial?"

"Yes, your majesty." Omnitraxus nodded. "The courtroom will be prepared by tomorrow morning."

"And the jury composed of the kingdom's leaders and a few commoners have been subpoenaed." Hekapoe added, earnestly.

"And, of course, I'll be prepared to recrystallize Eclipsine once declared guilty!" Rhombulie finished, excitedly.

"Excellent." Mars nodded, calmly. "Then, I suppose, this meeting is adjourned."

Each member of the MHC bowed in respect before Hekapoe wheeled Omnitraxus' crystal ball out of the room, followed closely by Rhombulie. But Mars decided to linger in the room for a bit to ponder what Rhombulie had just said. For whatever reason, his relief at knowing that Eclipsine would soon be imprisoned again were replaced by a gnawing curiosity about the former king's son.

With his curiosity winning out in the end, Mars walked back to the library in search of a particular book. This time, he saw Lake and Marcia rushing past him to get to the war room, but again he was too caught up in his own thoughts to pay them any mind. Once he found the book he was looking for, he headed to the rose tower where he found Kyle Storkson and Lady Dama dutifully guarding Eclipsine's room.

"Kyle. Dama." Mars greeted, plainly.

"Your majesty." The Solarian trainees bowed, respectfully.

"I need to speak to the prisoner." The king commanded, gently.

"As you wish." Kyle nodded and stepped to the side, allowing his king access to the room.

Mars unlocked the door and stepped inside, only for his eyes to widen in surprise. Eclipsine was dressed in lavender pajama robes and was currently wielding what looked like an animal's skeleton with a six strings tie from the hip bones to the skull. Eclipsine, oblivious to his new guest, was playing a heavy metal riff on the skeleton, drawing the attention of the Solarian trainees as well. At last, the former king felt their gazes upon him, opened his eyes, and immediately stopped playing.

"Oh… Mars." Eclipsine blushed, slightly, from embarrassment. "... how long have you-?"

"The whole time." Mars replied.

"Ahem… right." Eclipsine set his homemade instrument down and invited the king into his room.

"Did you… make a guitar out of a skeleton?"

Eclipsine smiled and shrugged. "I work with what I'm given."

Mars cleared his throat and turned to the Solarian trainees. "Kyle, you and Dama can wait outside and lock the door.

"I'm sorry, King Mars." Kyle apologized as he and Dama stepped in the room and locked the door behind them. The blue-haired woolet lightly stabbed his family sword into the ground to block the doorway. "But the Magical High Commission ordered us to ensure that none of Eclipsine's guests are unsupervised. Even if they are members of the royal family."

Mars sighed in annoyance, but shrugged it off. He turned back to Eclipsine and set the book down on a table in front of him. It was the history of the Dragonfly family, going all the way back to Skywind Dragonfly. "Well, someone said something that contradicts what I was taught about your son. I was hoping you could clear it up for me…"

Eclipsine frowned in sadness as he gazed at the book.

Mars took notice of this. "Is… is something wrong?"

"It's just that… I haven't seen my son in so long." A stray tear slid down his cheek.

"Oh…" Mars internally smacked himself for not realizing how insensitive this was beforehand. He picked up the book again, prepared to leave. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No." Eclipsine shook his head, wiped his eyes, and took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine. I promise. What is it you wanted to know?"

Reluctantly, Mars set the book back on the table and opened it to the page with a picture of King Festivo, the Fun. "Is… is this your son?" He asked.

Eclipsine blinked and arched an eyebrow in confusion. "'Festivio?' No." He shook his head.

Mars, Kyle, and Dama were all shocked. "What?" Mars asked.

Eclipsine made his way to the windowsill to gaze at his garden while the memories of his family came rushing back all at once. "My son was Meteoro." He explained with a sad smile.

Mars shrugged, dismissively. "W-well, the name might have been changed."

"Oh, I'm sure it was. But that's not him." Eclipsine's smile widened as he leaned back against the wall and recollected. "My son had beautiful clover-shaped marks on his cheeks. And the cutest tail in all of Mewni."

Mars gawked. "I-I'm sorry, a tail?"

"He got it from his mommy!" Eclipsine explained, proudly.

"But… I don't understand." Mars declared, glancing back at the book. "How is that possible?"

Eclipsine chuckled and threaded his fingers together. "Well, when a mewman and a monster love each other very much-"

Mars pinched his brow in frustration at Eclipsine's smart remark. "I mean, this is the Dragonfly family's complete history! How could this not be your son?"

Eclipsine's expression grew a bit more serious. "The complete history that the Magical High Commission wrote up." He remarked, pointing to the author's name on the cover of the book; Omnitraxus Prime. "However, the royal mystic archives might have the unabridged history recorded."

"The royal mystic archives?" Dama arched an eyebrow. "That dusty old building stocked with fax paper and office supplies?"

"Don't judge an office by its supplies." Eclipsine smirked. "The royal archives run on a magic loom that is connected to the very lifeforce of everyone who's ever held the scepter. It predates any conventionally transcribed history book. If you really want answers, that's where you'd need to start looking. Perhaps there you'd find out why Meteoro is not in that book. And how this Festivio got in there."

"Don't tell me!" Kyle gasped in faux shock. "It's a conspiracy! And everyone's in on it! Even me!"

Dama laughed. Kyle laughed. Even Eclipsine laughed. But Mars' brow only furrowed even further as he seemed to consider Eclipsine's suggestion. He closed the book once again and made his way towards the door. "Thank you for your time, Eclipsine. I recommend that you get some rest. Your trial begins in the morning."

"If you insist, Mars." Eclipsine shrugged and continued to look out the window towards the garden.

"Kyle, Dama, continue to watch him."

"Yes, your majesty." They bowed in unison and opened the door for their king.

"Mars?" Eclipsine called out one last time, earning the king's attention. "If you do find out what happened, please let me know… I had a son after all… I'd like to know what happened to him… you of all people ought to understand how important that bond is."

Mars felt as if his heart were in a vise. He did indeed understand how important the bond between father and son was. It had been painful enough to have lost his father at such a young age, but when he thought he had also lost his own son before the boy had even had a chance to grow up had nearly broken him. Eclipsine had lost his father as well, but he had no idea what had happened to his son. With a heavy sigh, the undaunted king turned back to Eclipsine and motioned towards the door.

"Ugh… I can't believe I'm doing this." He groaned. "Come on."

Eclipsine smiled, cheekily, as he made his way out of the room. "Think of it as a guy's night out. If that helps."

"It doesn't." Mars replied, flatly.

"My king!" Kyle spluttered. "You can't be serious!"

"I concur!" Dama nodded. "We were given strict orders not to let Eclipsine out of our sight!"

Mars rolled his eyes. "Then you'll just have to come with us."

Seeing no other alternative, the two trainees bound the prisoner's wrists in silver shackles and followed Mars as he led the group through the castle. The royal mystic archives were located in a secluded corner of the castle grounds, detached from the rest of the building. Mars had never been to the archive before, but he'd known about it ever since he was a child. As they walked, the king would occasionally have to explain to the guards that Eclipsine was under his supervision, and ordered them not to inform the MHC.

At last, they arrived at the building and Mars unlocked the door with a simple spell. Once inside, Kyle and Dama marveled at the elegant white marble pillars, the gold-plated mechanisms, and the stained glass windows depicting the previous kings. Mars' gaze sadly lingered on the window of Comet the First before he took a deep breath and turned back to Eclipsine.

"Alright, where does the archive keep its information?"

"I don't know." Eclipsine shrugged.

"What?!" Mars spluttered as Eclipsine studied the golden mechanisms on the ceiling. "You said-!"

"The last time I came here, this building was just a little shed." Eclipsine explained. "The original archive was destroyed alongside the rest of the castle before my grandfather rebuilt it. I had more important things to deal with as king besides renovation. However, if you'll all direct your attention to those mechanisms above us…"

Kyle and Dama aimed their swords at the King of Darkness while they looked up with Mars. The trio squinted as they inspected the whirring machines before noticing a thin, shining thread being pulled along the wheels. Mars could sense the Light Magic radiating from the threads and realized what Eclipsine was implying.

"Those threads feed the archive's loom." Eclipsine elaborated further for the group. "Follow the threads, and we'll find the loom. Find the loom, and we'll find the archived records."

Mars nodded in agreement and silently motioned for the trainees to follow them. As they walked, Mars finally voiced another burning question in his mind. "If you don't mind, Kyle; why were two trainees guarding Eclipsine? I was under the impression that I ordered two Solarians with a bit more experience to guard him."

Kyle cleared his throat. "Well, our C.O. decided that we deserved a chance to earn our stripes. He offered us the job and we gladly accepted for the service of Mewni."

"Oh, come off it, Kyle." Dama scoffed. "Everyone else chickened out so our C.O. strongarmed us into taking the job."

Mars frowned in disappointment, making a mental note to speak with their commanding officer. Suddenly, Eclipsine came to a complete stop, causing the others to bump into him. Looking up, they noticed that the mechanisms stopped at what seemed to be a dead-end. However, upon closer inspection, Mars' gaze matched Eclipsine's and he spotted the thread magically phasing through the wall to the other side.

Eclipsine stroked his goatee as his indigo eyes scanned the cobblestone wall before him. This wall appeared to be similar to the exterior of the building as he remembered it as a child. Gingerly tracing his fingers along the walls until he noticed one of the stones wobbled in place.

Kyle was still unconvinced. "What, no bookshelf with a book that triggers a secret door? Oh, oh! Or maybe there's a peephole that scans your eye! Or maybe-!" The woolet was cut off when Eclipsine flipped the stone upwards, revealing a keypad beneath. "Okay, that is a bit suspicious…"

Mars leaned towards the keypad to inspect it for himself. "Hmm… three digits."

"Try 4-2-0." Eclipsine chuckled.

"Oh, hush!" Mars snapped before considering the real code. "Ah! I've got it. The castle was rebuilt by Skywind, so it's obviously a number associated with him. Perhaps his place in the lineage. 0-2-7."

The keypad flashed red and nothing happened. Mars growled in annoyance as he tried again. "Okay, um… clocks! 0-1-2!" The keypad flashed red again. "Alright! It's not hours! Minutes! 0-6-0!" The keypad flashed red again. "Augh! Days in a year?! 3-6-5!" The keypad flashed red again. "Damn it! What other number works with time?!"

"Are you really this stubborn?" Eclipsine rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"For Jeshica's sake, there are letters on the numbers, Mars! Ugh, move. Let's try this." Eclipsine gently shoved Mars aside and punched in a few numbers. "R-M-A."

The keypad flashed red once again.

"Hmm… 'Skywind, King of Hours?' S-K-H."

Again, the keypad flashed red.

Eclipsine's brow furrowed as he began to lose patience. Only for him to scoff as he entered one last code, disappointed in himself that he hadn't thought of this code first. "M-H-C."

The keypad flashed green as the cobblestones began to retract into the wall and a door opened up.

"I should have expected nothing less." The King of Darkness scowled in disgust.

Thankfully, the code did work, as the group soon found themselves in a hidden room where the mechanisms had led them. The threads were being fed into a gilded loom that stood in the very center of the room, surrounded by stacks of parchment paper that rose all the way to the ceiling. However, the machine appeared to be malfunctioning as it tried to print out two different parchments at once.

Curious, Mars inspected one the two parchment sheets, and his eyes widened in surprise. "'Mars the Undaunted followed Eclipsine into the royal mystic archives with Kyle Storkson of the Aquamarinos and Lady Dama of the Johansen kingdom whereupon they discovered a hidden room where the Loom of Fates is located…'"

Eclipsine smiled and held up the other parchment sheet. "'Eclipsine, King of Darkness, led Mars the Undaunted into the royal mystic archives with Kyle Storkson and Lady Dama whereupon they discovered a hidden room where the Loom of Fates is located.'"

"Why is it printing two stories simultaneously?" Lady Dama asked no one in particular.

"Well, supposedly, this loom is meant to record the lives of Mewni's kings until they pass the crown onto their successor." Eclipsine explained. "But considering that I was trapped in the crystal - and am now up and about while Mars has yet to pass the crown to Comet - the Loom of Fate must be trapped in a paradox. However, I see no reason why that should prevent us from finding the original transcripts of my life."

With that, the group set about digging through the piles of paper, searching for anything about Eclipsine. After accidentally stumbling upon Simon the Shy's parchments, Kyle couldn't help but smile as he read about the timid king's bill that allowed woolets to become citizens of Mewni. Lady Dama frowned upon realizing how small Jeshica's story was, angry at the fact that Skywind circumvented her chance at ruling in favor of Solarius. As for Eclipsine, he put on a sad smile after reading about his mother and father, and how much they loved each other. Mars, on the other hand, sadly skimmed past Comet the First's story and dutifully searched for Eclipsine's.

At last, he discovered the end of Festivio's life and began reading backwards. He called the others over to his location, wanting them all to witness him about to put this mystery to rest. However, once the story aligned with Eclipsine's, the parchment appeared to have been cut off and crudely stitched back together. Even though it technically confirmed that Festivio was Eclipsine's son, it was obvious that the document had been tampered with.

"I don't understand." Mars remarked as he studied the shoddy patchwork. "This material should be almost impossible to cut by any conventional means."

"Perhaps." Eclipsine sneered as he noticed sparks of red magic flicker from the stitches. "But a pair of inter-dimensional scissors is anything but conventional."

Mars folded up the parchment and tucked it into his pocket while scanning the area for prying eyes. "We need to get out of here."

"Your majesty?" Kyle arched an eyebrow. "You're not seriously buying into this conspiracy, are you?"

"I'm not sure, Kyle. But someone tampered with this document." Mars reasoned as he led the group out of the room. Eclipsine closed the secret door behind them and Mars cast an incantation that whisked the group back to the rose tower without being noticed. Kyle and Dama left the room to continue their guarding duties, giving Mars a moment alone with the prisoner.

"I should have extinguished those magical tyrants when I had the chance." Eclipsine fumed as he paced around the room. "If they so much as touched a hair on his head-"

Mars calmly placed his hands on Eclipsine's shoulders and gently pushed him to sit down while looking into his eyes. "Eclipsine, I give you my word - as a father - we will find out what happened to your son."

"Well, what exactly are you planning to do?" Eclipsine snapped. "I mean, do you honestly expect the answer to just burst through that door?"

Just then, Comet barged into the room, looking as if he had something to say. Marcia appeared right behind him, reaching out as if to stop him. But the sight of Comet's father peacefully conversing with the King of Darkness silenced them both. Likewise, the pair of kings were speechless at the sight of the prince's tattered clothes. The trio could only silently stare at each other before Comet finally found his voice.

"... hey." He greeted, plainly.

"Hey." They replied, equally plainly.

To Be Continued!

Author's notes: Y'know the ol' song and dance. Read, review, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm starting to just think nobody cares about this anymore.