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Chapter Text

(Twenty-Three Years before Present Day)

The wind flowed smoothly both under and over her beating wings, blowing through her hair. The birds' sweet singing travelled on the air and the heat of the sun beamed on her back. All of this would have usually brought the demon comfort, for she loved the surface, perhaps more than she ever should have allowed herself to. After all, a demon belonged only in the Underworld.

Yet, in the moment, none of that mattered now— not when her life was bleeding away through a deep, agonising gash on her side. Her blood, crimson red, blended with the shimmering golden ichor that belonged to a dragon, now slain, and stained her hands and armour.

She was running out of time. The shadows of two Butterflies— hot on her trail but not quite able to keep up— cast upon the ground beneath her served as a reminder of why she was pushing herself to move faster despite the pain.

She was carrying precious cargo, after all.

Cradled gently in her arms was a breathtaking orb of light, swirling with various shades of gold, red, teal, and so much more. A soul, now without a life, a body, to take root within. A very special soul, in fact. One that, if successfully snuffed out, could very well spell the end for so many of Mewni's people.

The last one.

Their last chance.

The Hell Gate was in view now; so close, although she didn't dare slow down yet. She wasn't safe until she was through it—until Hekapoo met her on the other side. The gates were discreet, so much so that they were almost impossible to find if you weren't already aware of them. They were permanent portals to the Underworld disguised as giant cracked and rotting tree stumps, or unsuspecting animal dens.

They'd been set up by Hekapoo herself over a thousand years ago, as a way for demon forces to more easily access the surface. Her mother had them repurposed for refugee monsters to seek safety in the Underworld for the first time in… well, ever. It functioned a lot better in theory than practice. Most monsters didn't want anything to do with demons, only the truly desperate ever made use of them. And, as much as she hated it, her people were never very welcoming to outsiders.

So, essentially, now they were mostly useless gateways she used to venture up to the surface whenever she pleased. And, right now, they were about to be the only reason this soul ever made it to safety.

A Butterfly couldn't follow her down there, not to the Underworld. That was Hekapoo's domain. She'd torn the wings from one of their kind before, and she certainly would again.

There was a burst of light behind her and she barely managed to twist herself out of the way of the beam of magic that shot by. She took the opportunity to change direction, diving down towards the gateway, this one disguised by a roaring waterfall nestled against a cliff side. The burst of freezing cold water did nothing to help her poor condition, only felt like millions of tiny knives against her skin. By the time she passed through into the sweltering heat of Hell, the last of her dwindling energy was gone.

She crashed against the hard rock floor, her armour the only thing protecting her skin from being torn apart by the gravel. And, if she had it her way, she'd have stayed there until her own soul finally gave in. Unfortunately, fate wasn't so kind, not yet.

"Get up, Wrathmelior."

The voice that spoke wasn't kind, or pitying. It was cold, void of emotion; a voice she knew well. Cracking open her eyes, Wrathmelior found her gaze returned by a dragon, one that could tower over most structures with stark white scales and blazing red eyes. Its wings were shaped very similarly to a butterfly's— as were all dragons' wings— and they were a mix of reds and oranges that almost resembled flames. She had three pale yellow horns, one small at the tip of her nose and two very large, curved and jagged, atop her head.

Hekapoo.

"I can't," Wrathmelior insisted, but Hekapoo was having none of it. She leaned down to try and nudge her upright, eventually simply lifting her by the back of her armour with a frustrated huff to set her on her feet.

Wrathmelior stumbled, keeping herself upright only by leaning against Hekapoo's snout. She was careful not to drop the soul even now, trying her best to steady her breaths. "I'm dying."

"I'm aware." Hekapoo leaned down further, an invitation for Wrathmelior to climb onto her neck, and she did just that with a great deal of difficulty, collapsing against her the moment she was in place.

"We need to transport the soul to the rebirth pool, then you are very welcome to die. I cannot hold onto souls, not in this form. So you need to finish this, there is no other way."

Hekapoo was right, even if the way she spoke of the matter seemed unbelievably cruel. She was the only one who could make sure this soul was placed somewhere safe. What she didn't understand was why Hekapoo had mentioned the rebirth pool. It was for everyday souls, a blend of the dead across hundreds of dimensions all waiting to be randomly tossed into their next life, wherever that may be. Souls like this one were typically hand delivered, to ensure they ended up in a body befitting them.

"I don't understand…the rebirth pool? She could be reborn as anything. We'd never find her…" She clung to Hekapoo as best she could as the dragon launched herself into the air, setting off towards the pool.

"I will find her, trust me. In the end, I will. But tossed into a game of random chance, they will not. That is what matters most."

She really had thought this through. But then again, when had Hekapoo ever acted on impulse alone? She was as calculated as they came.

The Underworld was beautiful tonight, with its rocky cliff faces and deep caverns, everything illuminated by a distant sea of magma and the soft glow of the Amra Moon strung high above the underground civilisations. It was odd how an exhaustion so deep it melted away any lingering fears or anxieties could offer a new perspective on her home land. Because when had the darkness of the Underworld ever felt beautiful to her?

"Can I ask you something, a favour?" Wrathmelior breathed.

"I think you will either way."

"I need you to take care of Tom, please. I know you aren't—"

"Won't your family take him?" Hekapoo interrupted. She already sounded far less than pleased at the mere suggestion of having a baby dumped into her care.

"He's a half-breed; they won't want anything to do with him."

"And the father?"

"He doesn't even know, and Tom's far too… demon to live amongst them."

"Too demon for the surface and too Mewman for the Underworld." Hekapoo hummed, silent for a moment, thinking it over. Perhaps weighing her remaining options.

"I will raise him," She finally relented. Wrathmelior smiled, because for all the times Hekapoo insisted she knew nothing but cruelty, she could be kind when it was needed. She had been kind when her own mother had died, leaving her with the throne when she was hardly seven years old. And she was kind even now. She had the option to let Tom be overthrown, to allow some other high ranking demon to take the throne in his place, as was their ways. But she did not. Even she, apparently, couldn't bare to crush a child.

"Thank you."

Hekapoo glided down towards the ground now that they had reached the soul pools, landing with far more delicacy than was typical for such a hefty dragon. Wrathmelior appreciated her attempt at not jostling her around more than she needed to.

She slid off, her legs buckling and sending her down to her knees as she made contact with the ground. Hekapoo leaned down to lift her once more by the back of her armour, setting her down very carefully in front of the pool.

It had always been a beautiful sight, a bright white base of almost fog-like liquid with thousands of colourful orbs gliding throughout it. The pool itself wasn't particularly large, more of a small lake, but it was incomprehensibly deep. Wrath took one last look at the soul in her arms.

She felt almost bad letting her fate by decided by random chance. She could only hope that she turned up somewhere kind.

"Good luck, Marlician."

With that, she gently placed the soul into the pool, watching as it swam off to dance amongst the others. She sat there by the pools edge soaking in the peace, and as Hekapoo settled down beside her, allowing her to lean her head against her side, she felt content.

"And good luck to you too, Wrathmelior. May the fates be kind." Wrath swore there was a crack in her voice, a deep sadness the demon had never witnessed from Hekapoo before. And as a tear rolled off the dragons cheek, steaming as it hit the rocks, Wrath realised she must be crying.

"May the fates be kind," she echoed, her own voice weak, barely above a whisper.

(Present Day)

It was a beautiful early morning, the sun nestled in the soft pink of Mewni’s Sky as it rose over the distant mountains. There were few clouds in the sky, all thin and wispy. Every so often, a gentle breeze blew through and rustled the trees' leaves. A very beautiful morning, indeed.

A beautiful morning for monster hunting.

Star clutched the battle-worn axe in her hands with her body crouched low to the ground. Her target was in sight now and— as far as she was aware— she was the first one to catch up to it so far. The thought alone was enough to have the corners of her lips curling up into a cheeky grin. After all, she'd been training to fight since the day she was old enough to hold a weapon, working her way towards full respect from the Butterfly Kingdom's royal guards. She was good, she wasn't afraid to claim that much (nor was she humble enough to pretend she was just as average as anyone else). She was just never quite good enough to out perform General Hult. Not until today.

There'd been a sighting of a monster east of their kingdom's borders, specifically a Size-Shifter. They were monsters with colourful skin, typically reds or purples in deep shades, with stripes along the sides of their bodies. All Size-Shifters had horns of varying size and shapes, large pointed ears, and long flexible tails with tufts of hair at the end. Indicative by their name, these creatures could change their size at will, becoming significantly bigger or smaller.

It certainly wasn't your average monster; it was a lot tougher and supposedly a hell of a lot more aggressive. Star, however, had been working for this since she first started joining these purging hunts with the Royal Guard many years ago. Securing a threat like this was going to prove to everyone just how far she'd come. If she was lucky, this would prove she was worthy of a secure spot amongst the Guards, as one of them.

Sure, technically she was the royalty they were supposed to protect and it wasn't exactly customary for a princess to also be a knight. She was supposed to inherit the wand from her mother, become some benevolent picture of perfection that overlooked her kingdom and the entirety of Mewni, to protect her people from danger and evil. These were all responsibilities she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread about when she thought of them.

She believed she could maintain all of those responsibilities expected of her and take a more active role in her kingdom's defence. Queen Solaria had managed it generations ago— she had lead the Royal Guard herself— so there was no reason why Star couldn't do the same.

She just wished her mother agreed.

A shift of movement ahead of her had Star's breath catching in her throat in anticipation, her grip on the axe tightening. She edged forward, eyes trained on the beast up ahead. The Shifter looked dishevelled; its hair was a tangled mess with twigs and leaves embedded in the knots, shallow cuts across its arms and legs from running through the underbrush to escape. Its chest heaved with the difficulty of trying to remain calm enough to breathe, its eyes wide, as it paced the clearing in the trees. It was frantic, nothing more than a cornered animal looking for a place to hide.

This Size-Shifter wasn't stupid. It had been evading them all night and well into the sunrise of the morning and it knew what was coming. Yet, even when it was panicked and cornered, Star knew better than to rush this. If it was any other monster, any weaker or smaller kind of creature, maybe she could out muscle the thing. With monsters like these you had to be quick, precise. If she jumped in there and didn't finish it off before it realised what was going on, she'd probably end up being the one to die.

For a while, Star simply stayed poised behind thick foliage, her eyes trained on the monster. It was exhausted, it seemed, unable to continue running away from the Guards. All it could do was scurry around the base of trees, scouring for any hole it could fit in or a tree with thick enough leaves to hide it in its entirety. Nothing seemed to appear safe enough for the Size-Shifter.

It finally turned its back to Star to wrap its arms around itself, murmuring something so softly Star couldn't quite make out what it was. It didn't quite matter, anyhow; this was the opening she'd been waiting so patiently for. She immediately lunged from the underbrush she'd been poised and coiled to pounce within, all but throwing herself towards the beast.

It hadn't gotten the chance to turn around, barely able to even turn its head, before Star had lifted her axe high above her head and swung. The sharp blade wedged itself into the flesh of the Size-Shifter's shoulder, cleaving the muscles and tendons apart. It had let out a scream so loud and so shrill, Star's ears were left ringing, but it wasn't enough to deter her. She had to be quick and she'd already wasted enough time.

She pulled the heavy axe from the beast's shoulder to raise it once more. Star only briefly registered the panicked pleas of the creature as it crumbled, trying to scurry away on all fours, to escape. Its blood, such a deep red it was nearly brown, was spilling into the lush green grass underneath them. More of it splattered as Star drove the axe down a second time before the monster could get away or fight back, this time with the blade angled more towards its neck.

The silence that fell over them was immediate, the Shifter left limp underneath her. Star stumbled a few steps back from her kill, leaning against the first tree she felt to catch her breath. Her body trembled, chest feeling tight, even as she lowered her axe to rest its head against the grass.

It hadn't exactly been much of a fight but adrenaline was still coursing quickly through her veins. She got the impression that, when it came to stronger monsters like this one, it was more about the chase than the climax, although she'd enjoyed both.

"Princess? Call out! I heard screaming."

Star turned towards the voice and immediately broke out in a grin. She used her axe to steady herself as she pushed away from the tree. "I'm here! I wasn't the one screaming."

"Are you hurt?"

The woman that shoved through the underbrush was about as battle worn as one woman could be, covered from head to toe in scars and sporting a magical prosthetic arm. She was wearing a suit of armour with the Butterfly kingdom's crest and she sheathed her sword as she approached. The first thing she did was check over Star for injuries or fear.

"Stop it, I'm fine. Look." Star stepped away from the general to instead gesture towards the Size-Shifter, entirely unmoving. "I finished the job for you!"

The knight turned to follow Star's gaze, her eyes landing on the fallen beast. It seemed much larger this close up, and yet Star had seemed to handle it with ease. "I'll be damned…" she murmured as she crossed her strong arms over her chest. "You really killed it all on your own."

"What was it you told me?" Star moved closer to nudge the shifter with her foot. Just a precaution, only entirely satisfied once it didn't so much as twitch. "You'll never catch this shifter, Star. You're gonna get yourself killed and then I'll have to explain to your mother why I let you out in the first place."

"I do not sound like that," The woman protested, shooting Star a playful glare. She had tried to be formal with the younger girl, as a knight should with their princess, but it was hard to remain formal with someone like Star who was anything but. "I simply didn't want you facing the beast alone, if anything went wrong. But I'll admit, this is some nice work."

"Puh-lease, I can handle myself. I've only been fighting since I was a baby. I've spent my entire life training for this." Star rested her axe over her shoulder, her eyes remaining fixed on the general. She just wanted any sort of praise or congratulations for what she'd done, that was all. She had to make sure she'd proven her strength and her worth.

"Yes, a rather short life thus far, indeed." The general snickered softly to herself as she clapped a hand over Star's shoulder, watching the way the princess winced. She squeezed to reassure her before she passed by. "I bet your father will get a kick out of hearing of your accomplishment.

"Short life…" Star grumbled to herself. She kicked at a twig that had been at her feet and watched as it skittered across the grass. She had just turned twenty one, that wasn't exactly the most short life. She wasn't a child.

The general hoisted the Shifter off the ground with a grunt, tossing the body over her shoulder. It would be disposed of like any monster body, per the regulations of the Magical High Commission. "Come on, princess. We will head back to the castle and inform the others that the threat has been neutralised."

"You do know you can call me Star, right?"

The woman simply snorted before she rolled her eyes. "I’ll call you Star the day I let you start calling me Timothy."

Star could only inhale sharply through her teeth almost like a hiss. "Actually, nevermind. I prefer General Hult anyway."

"There is my little monster slayer!"

King River stood in the entrance hall of the barracks, awaiting Star's return in earnest. Of course he knew that she had tagged along with the knights that had been dispatched after the Size Shifter was spotted near their borders; his daughter wouldn't have been anywhere else if she could help it. So, naturally, he'd come to greet her at her return.

General Hult, who was trailing along a few steps behind the eager princess, couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Monster hunter indeed," she said as she jerked her head towards the limp monster body draped over her shoulder. "She took this one down all on her own."

She didn't linger to continue chatting with the king and his daughter, however. She had paperwork to attend to, a monster body to process. (The side of the job that Star was really quite thankful to avoid). So General Hult bowed her head to King River, about as much as she could do for any sort of bow with a monster over her shoulder, before she headed for the large wooden doors down to the dungeon where her office was housed.

With General Hult gone, Star smiled at her father's words with with warm, flushed cheeks. She pulled River into a hug even despite the mud and the blood she was covered in so she could give her father an earnest squeeze that stole the air from his lungs. As much as he loved to embarrass her in front of the royal guards, she loved him and that would never change. He'd been her biggest supporter when it came to learning to fight and hunt from the very beginning.

"I can't believe it!" River exclaimed. He looked as joyous as he sounded. "My little girl, hunting Size Shifters! I didn't take down anything nearly as impressive until I was almost twice your age!"

"I bet you would have, if you had the chance. I just got lucky." Star dismissed.

Her father was a short and stout man, who barely reached her chest in height. Compared to his wife, who was a few inches taller than Star, he was even smaller than that. Nonetheless, he was quite the fighter; he had to be, coming from the Johansen family line. She admired him a great deal for how well he could handle a weapon.

Her admiration for his tact and skill with blades had been a large reason why she'd wanted to learn to fight as a kid, why she had always been so eager to join the Royal Guards. Out of everyone she had learned from, he'd always been her favourite teacher.

"Nonsense! Do not undersell yourself, my dear." River exclaimed as he pulled away from her embrace. He held out his hands afterwards, palms up, looking towards his daughter expectantly. "Hand over that axe of yours. Let me get a look at the old thing."

Star raised an eyebrow, wondering for a moment why he was suddenly interested in her weapon. It was unusual, but didn't raise any immediate red flags, so she unclipped her axe from its sheath to toss it down to him. It was worn, but it was hers, a gift from River over a decade ago. Not that Moon had been very ecstatic about her eight-year-old daughter receiving a weapon for her birthday. Her first very own weapon that belonged to her, not one of her father's that she borrowed for training.

She watched as River turned it in his hands and let out a soft hum of acknowledgement. Then, before Star could even protest, he brought the handle down over his leg with all the force he could muster to snap it right in two.

Star could only gape, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water and struggling to breathe, entirely at a loss of words initially. He knew how special that axe was to her, so it didn't make any sense why he'd ruin it in such a way. Especially not on her birthday. When the gears finally started to turn once more in her brain, once the initial shock had started to gradually ebb away, she snatched the two halves of her weapon to cradle them delicately to her chest. He'd gone insane, that had to be it. "Dad! What the hell was that for?!"

"Nothing, my dear! I was simply… disposing of an old, useless weapon, that's all. Look at this."

River gestured towards a servant standing off to the side then clasped his hands together in eager anticipation. The servant crossed the room with long, graceful strides. He dipped forward in a subtle bow, as you were supposed to before interacting so closely with any of the royal families. In his hands was a wooden box, carved from a lovely purple tree that existed in Mewni and finished with a gloss.

Star stared at the box for a few short moments, confused and curious. When she looked to her father as though for either encouragement or approval— she wasn't entirely sure which— he nodded eagerly. So she reached out to carefully lift its lid and reveal its contents.

Inside the beautiful box was delicate velvet padding in her favourite shade of pink and a gift nestled within that velvet. A glorious looking battle axe, with a golden ribbon of silk tied into a bow around its handle.

She recognised this axe immediately as the family heirloom that had been gifted between generations of the Johansen family line for generations. It had a handle like ivory that was carved from a dragon's bone, a material that was extremely sturdy and nigh impossible to break. Its blade was crafted from the strongest metals and infused with dragon's blood, forged in Hell fire.

This axe was infamous. All of the strongest Johansens had wielded this axe at some point in their lives. For the past few decades, it had belonged to her father.

Star felt like she could cry on the spot, peering down at an axe like this. An axe that was very clearly being gifted to her. She almost didn't believe it. Her gaze shifted to her father for confirmation, to settle her heart that was pounding in anticipation. She needed to know if it was truly becoming hers or not.

"Are you…?"

"Happy birthday, my darling," River answered. He was grinning so widely it appeared as though it was his birthday and he were the one excited for a very important, very special gift. "You're twenty-one now, Star. I know there’s no way I could outdo the wand your mother is passing down to you, but— just in case the magic ever lets you down— I figured you'd want to have something you can fall back on. Something more befitting a princess like yourself."

"I love it!" Star cradled the axe to her chest like it was something fragile, breakable, despite knowing that it was quite the opposite. Her worn leather sheath had done the job when it came to her old axe, but she'd have to ask for something more special to be crafted for a weapon such as this. It was still in impeccable condition despite its age and she didn't want to be the one to ruin that. "And, between you and me, I'd take this over the wand any day."

"Star…" River's reaction was immediate, his expression shifting into that all-too-familiar look he always gave her when she said something she really shouldn't have; disappointment in his eyes, a subtle scolding frown. He heaved a sigh before he offered his elbow to her to hold. Once she looped her arm around his, albeit rather awkwardly considering their height difference, he began to lead the way.

"You know that wand is your legacy. Just as it was your mother's, and her mother's before her. Your mother is already stressed out over this ceremony, so you better not go saying things like that around her. You know as well as I do how poorly she would react."

"I wasn't planning on it," Star muttered. As she walked, she carefully rested her new axe on her shoulder so she could stick close to her father's side. There was never any talk about this stuff with her mother anyway; Moon was all about tradition and royal duty. She certainly couldn't understand Star's longstanding fascination with the Royal Guards, and she absolutely would never understand her hesitation to take on the wand.

The Butterfly wand was a beacon for hope amongst their people, serving as a symbol of freedom and safety and protection. Its holder was expected to carry themself with the utmost discipline. 

Discipline that Star lacked, to say the very least. 

The passing of the wand was no small event; it always had been and always would be the most important moment in the life of any Butterfly queen. So, of course, this had to be perfect but perfection wasn't her speciality. So yeah, she wasn't exactly excited about the fact the date of the Wand Ceremony was very rapidly approaching. She was even less excited to have to stand before the High Commission to take her vows.

Star walked with her father through the barracks and up the staircase that lead to the doorway which conjoined the building to the palace. The pair of guards standing post at the door were quick to open it for them, and she nodded politely back to their polite bows as they passed through into the hall.

"You'll settle into the role just fine, dear. Trust me. You have all the passion needed to protect your kingdom already. Just think of the wand as another sword in your arsenal." River assured her.

"I already have plenty of swords in my arsenal." Star grumbled. She shot the servant that trudged past them to clean the trail of muddy bootprints she'd left behind a sympathetic glance. She and her clothes probably needed a deep, deep clean after the night she'd had.

They had barely made it to the end of the hall before Star was stopping in her tracks to eye her father rather suspiciously. A sinking feeling had washed over her, a nausea from anxiety settling into the pit of her stomach. "Where are we going?"

River chewed on the inside of his cheek, looking as though he anticipated her reaction to be less than pleased. "To your mother's office. She wanted to be made aware of your return so that she could speak with you about all this Wand Ceremony business."

"Oh, no. No, no, no." Star shook her head, pulling her arm from his and taking a few steps back. "I'm exhausted! Can't she wait to talk about all this tomorrow?" she complained as she threw her free hand up in exasperation. The last thing she truly wanted right now was to talk to her mother of all people. She loved her mother— of course she did— but she was not in the mood to think about the ceremony right now.

"Oh, come now, darling." River shook his head. "She just wants to make sure you're prepared. The ceremony is only a week away and there's a lot left to be done. Your life can't be all play and no work. You still have to fulfill your duties as heir."

"I'm tired." Star reiterated. River's expression softened into something far more sympathetic, but even then he didn't relent. It wasn't really as though he had a choice, she knew that. She'd still hoped he'd bend the rules for her, just a little. It was just his wife after all.

"Well then, perhaps your mother will keep it short if you're lucky. Even if you run off to crawl into bed— which I suspect you are already thinking of doing— you know just as well as I do that she'll drag you right back out to have the conversation anyway."

With an exasperated groan, Star trudged forward down the hall towards Moon's office. As much as she hated to admit it, her father was right; there was no avoiding her mother if she wanted to talk. She'd just have to get this over with.

River trailed along behind her, though he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her at her less than enthusiastic demeanour. Once they arrived at the door of her mother's office, he gave her a firm pat on the back in an attempt at being encouraging. "I'll leave you to it, then."

Star stood staring at the door in front of her a little longer than she really needed to, letting out a defeated sigh as she finally reached out to pull it open.

The office was a very spacious room that extended up to a mezzanine. The walls were lined with beautiful wooden bookshelves with butterflies carved into each of the front edges. The shelves were packed full of books, though most were left untouched for years, if not decades. Star supposed most of them were just for decoration anyway.

In the centre of the room, sitting at a large desk and in very regal looking chair that could certainly pass as a throne, was Queen Moon who was busy sorting through a stack of papers with quill in hand. She glanced up when she noticed Star enter, immediately setting her quill back down into the jar of ink to give her daughter her full attention. "I've been trying to find you all morning."

"I was… out. Busy. With General Hult," Star explained. She began making her way over to one of the chairs in a sitting area near the bookshelves, but Moon immediately let out a sharp noise of protest.

"You are not touching a single thing in this room, as filthy as you are. Honestly, Star, have you been participating in hunts again?" Moon questioned.

Star immediately let out a scoff in return. She approached the desk instead of sitting, hand on her hip as she stood before her mother. "You'd think that you would be proud of me— defending our kingdom. Aren't you the one always going on about duty and responsibility?"

"The responsibilities of a princess are vastly different from those of a knight, Star. You know that very well." Moon sighed. She rested her head in her hands, like she was already frustrated with the conversation, tired of it all. "The Wand Ceremony is hardly a week away. All of your focus should be on preparing yourself for the wand, not this… monster killing nonsense. The Royal Guards already take care of that for us well enough."

"I can do both!" Star shifted her gaze down to the floor and carded her fingers through her hair, mindlessly freeing a few leaves that had been tangled in the strands. "Besides… I mean, can't we postpone the Wand Ceremony another year or two anyway…?"

Part of her knew that saying something like this wouldn't go down well with her mother, but she really didn't want this wand. It was no use to her, just another responsibility piled onto her shoulders alongside the knowledge that she'd one day be queen. The fact which meant her mother was most likely gone and she'd have to figure it all out on her own.

"Star!" Moon scolded, abruptly standing the moment the words left her daughter's mouth. "Being the wand's holder is a great honour. To refuse to take it is unheard of, and certainly disrespectful to our ancestors, to say the least! This ceremony is happening as planned, and that is final!"

"You never let me decide on anything for myself!"

Moon narrowed her eyes into a glare. "I give you a choice with plenty of aspects of your life, far more than many of the previous queens would have given you. But there are some things you can't avoid, Star. The wand is one of them. When I was your age—"

"Oh don't start with that," Star interrupted. She'd heard this speech a thousand times at this point; Moon had lost her own mother when she was around Star's age, she'd taken on the wand two years earlier than was typical and ran the kingdom in the midst of war threats while learning how to handle it. Impressive, but Star wasn't her mother. She never would be.

"All I'm trying to say is that it could be far worse than it is, dear. The fact you have such a strong support system around you is a blessing. This whole wand business isn't going to break you. You'll take to it just as quickly as I did."

"What did you want me for, anyway? Dad said you needed me." Star asked. She had to change the topic before her mother's disregard for her feelings could frustrate her anymore than it already had. After all, she'd hoped her mother would have understood her stress a little bit more.

"I simply wanted to make sure you were on track to memorise your vow, and to check that you've actually allowed poor Wendy to measure you for your new dress."

"Okay, first off, I always let Wendy do whatever it is she needs me to do because she makes me look good at any event. So, yes, that's done. And second, of course I've learnt my vow."

"Alright, recite it back to me now."

Star blanked, only able to stare over at her mother like a deer in headlights. It was as though she'd just forgotten to learn them or that she didn't care; she'd tried. But every time she started practising, she started to think about being in front of everyone at the Wand Ceremony and it filled her with a sense of dread so deep she had to stop immediately.

She cleared her throat and shuffled from foot to foot. "I will learn them in time. I promise."

"Star!" Moon groaned, slumping back down into her chair. "Learn them by Tuesday, please. I will check that you have, because this is important. Probably the most important part of the entire ceremony."

"I know! I'm gonna get it done. By Tuesday. I'll know it off by heart, I swear it to you. But, uh…" Star trailed off, her gaze shifting to the doorway. Moon simply sighed in defeat before gesturing for her to go.

"Oh, go ahead then. Go clean yourself up and rest. You look like you haven't slept a wink."

"Thanks, mum!"

Star practically booked it for the door the moment she had her mother's permission to leave, worried that if she took too long, Moon would find something else to say and keep her longer. That conversation had already taken as long as it possibly could have, in her mind. By the time she'd made it out into the hall and the office door was safely shut to close her off from her mother, she was dragging her feet. The exhaustion of staying up the entire night to roam the woods had well and truly settled in now, and she was realising that her entire body hurt like hell.

She shoved open the door to her room the moment she reached it after a short trek through the palace, already kicking off her boots with the idea of a hot bath and a long nap in mind.

"Surprise!"

Star screeched, immediately raising her axe above her head to swing.

The intruder screamed back in return and cowered away. "Star! Lower your damn weapon, girl! It's me!"

It took Star a moment to actually process whose voice she'd heard, staring down at the Pegasus now pressed against the side of her bed. Her scowl immediately softened into a giddy smile.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She reached down to scoop the Pegasus up like she typically would, although Pony— as she was very elegantly nicknamed— quickly bounced away from her.

She, like all Pegasi, was rather small in stature. Her body-shape resembled more of a large, fluffy dog— yet her long, hoofed legs and her head were very clearly equid. Her tail was long, almost like a cat’s, with a tuft of hair at the end that matched the same darker pink of her mane, while the rest of her body was a soft teal of sorts. Of course, there was the single curved horn nestled in the centre of her forehead; the source of her powers.

"Do not touch me with those hands. You are filthy right now! I was trying to surprise you since, you know, it's the day after your literal twenty-first birthday!"

"I was hunting." Star explained with a simple shrugging of her shoulders, though Pony's expression immediately twisted into grimace as she made a soft noise of disgust. She had never liked the mention of her hunts, not that Star blamed her. Not everyone had the stomach for it. "But thank you, really. It's nice to see you. I'm just… tired."

"Of course! You know I wasn't gonna leave my bestie hanging on her own during her special day. I mean, I had plans for us. But those can wait until after you… bathe… and nap. But especially bathe."

Star snickered in amusement, mostly because she knew just how filthy she was. There was dirt and mud caked into her clothes, sticks and leaves tangled into her blonde hair. Monster blood had since dried on her hands and arms from where it had splattered onto her.

She teasingly reached out a hand to Pony as she passed by her to head for the bathroom. Pony immediately leaned away, much like she had before when Star had went to touch her, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

"I'll take a bath right now, okay?" Star said. "Just make yourself comfortable."

"When I am ever not comfortable in your bedroom, girl?" Pony answered as she slowly lowered herself down onto the centre of the bed with her legs folded underneath her. She tilted her head as Star set her axe down by the en suite door before entering, the weapon having caught her attention.

"Did you replace your old axe?" She questioned, and Star let out a soft hum of acknowledgement from inside the bathroom.

"Yeah! The new one's a birthday gift from dad! He literally snapped the old one in half right in front of me first! I don't mind though; this axe is like an heirloom! A really badass one! It has a bunch of history."

If Pony had any sort of opinion on the new axe, she didn't make it known. Star took the silence as her signal to start the water so she could fill the old ceramic tub. It had a single handle that cut hot water off or let it flow, the pipework all rather primitive. Not that she knew that anything more sophisticated could possibly exist out there.

She began to unstrap the various pieces protective gear she'd been wearing— a pair of leather bracers and a leather chest-plate, most notably. Nothing crazy, since she wasn't much of a fan of the full metal armour sets most guards wore. Too much trouble to get in and out of, not to mention it limited her movement, and it wasn't exactly quiet enough for sneaking around. Just inconvenient all around.

Soon enough, her clothes were tossed haphazardly on the floor and Star was turning the handle to shut off the water now that the tub was full. She let out a shaky breath of relief as she sank down into the water. The heat soaked into her, easing the aching of her muscles just enough to bring her some temporary relief. It was glorious, and her eyes fluttered closed to simply relish in it.

The creak of the door mere moments later had Star opening her eyes. As she turned towards the sound, all she could do was snort in amusement at the sight of Pony's muzzle sticking through the gap in the door, a crack barely wide enough to fit just her nose.

"There's something on your mind." Star spoke up, though it was more of an acknowledgement than a question. Pony was only ever this clingy if she had something she was desperate to unload on her.

"You know, it's creepy how you read minds like that." Pony sighed.

Star leaned over the edge of the tub to rest her head on her arms. "Lay it on me. You know I don't mind talking about shit that's bothering you."

"It's just some Pegasus thing," Pony relented. "I've always been a princess, so I'm used to that responsibility, you know? I'm the heir to my kingdom and all that. But you know that magic test I was telling you about? The one where they measure our innate ability or whatever?"

Star nodded. "Yeah. That's what you were calling me nervous out of your mind over last week wasn't it? Did it go poorly or something?"

Pony groaned and a a thump against the ground from the other side of the door indicated that she'd settled herself down on the ground. "No. It went spectacularly, actually. They said they haven't seen magic like mine in, like, centuries or something."

"Why is that an issue? Sounds like a good thing." Star raised an eyebrow. She couldn't really imagine off the top of her head why Pony would have been so upset about it. It sounded like something any Pegasus would have been ecstatic to be told.

"The same reason the wand ain't a good thing for you, girl!" Pony exclaimed and Star immediately grimaced at the mention of the wand. "I don't want to be special! That's just more responsibility. I just… I want to be average, like everyone else. That so much to ask for?"

"Around here? Yeah. We're heirs. Unfortunately. Life finds a way to pile more responsibility on us, even past the point of all the stupid ruling our kingdoms crap."

"Are you still nervous about getting the wand?"

"I'm— Fuck. Yeah, of course I am. The wand isn't just something important to my kingdom; I'll essentially be the protector of the entirety of our dimension. That's a lot of pressure. A lot. I don't even know if I'll be any good with the magic yet." Star groaned, dragging both her wet hands down her face. They were comfortably warm from the bath water and wiped away a bit of caked on dirt, but that did little to soothe her nerves in the moment. "What if I can't even cast a basic spell?"

"There's never been a Butterfly who couldn't, Star," Pony reminded her, tone softening. "You'll get it. I know you will."

"Guess we're both about to get a bunch of work dumped on our shoulders." Star muttered which, at the very least, earned a chuckle from Pony. That was enough to make her feel just a little better.

"Well, we'll just have to enjoy the time we have left then. I don't have anywhere I need to be. Sleepover?"

"Sounds perfect." Star smiled. She had figured Pony would ask at some point; she always did. There was hardly ever a time where Pony came to visit in person that they didn't end up passed out in her bed at some point along the line. It had been this way since they'd first became friends, back when she was barely ten.

The bath took longer than Star would have liked it to, but scrubbing dirt and dried blood out from under your nails took some decent effort. The water was a very unappealing murky brown by the time she stepped out to drain the water. She had Pony toss a nightgown in the door, pulling it on over her head before she headed back out to her friend.

Pony was settled back down on the bed, fussing around with a pink-wrapped box as she attempted to adjust its golden ribbon. Star rolled her eyes, throwing herself down on the bed beside her and startling Pony out of her concentration. "That better not be a gift for me."

Pony huffed, and if she wasn't covered with fur, Star was sure she'd be blushing. "It's the day after your birthday, Star. Yes, I got you a gift. We don't have to act like this is some shocking revelation."

"I'm surprised you managed to hold yourself back from giving this to me yesterday," Star remarked, though a small smile tugged at her lips. She never actually celebrated on the day of her birthday. It fell on Stump Day, a day meant to worship the god of mercy, the creator of the wand. It was disrespectful to celebrate yourself on his day.

"Oh, haha, I do have some self control. Shut up and open it." Pony nudged the box closer with her nose, and Star happily pulled it in front of her to carefully untie the ribbon. She'd keep it, since it might be good for crafts. She ripped away the wrapping, pulling open the small white box inside to reveal a beautiful golden locket.

The gasp that left her was immediate, and she sat upright to carefully remove it from the silk it was rested upon. It was shaped like a heart and engraved with a Pegasus rearing up rather majestically. Upon clicking it open, she was greeted by a picture of herself with her arm around Pony, the pair pressed together and grinning for the picture. Well, she was grinning, and Pony was doing the best a Pegasus could; with her lips pulled back to reveal her front pearly white teeth. Star rather quickly recognised it as one they'd taken while out clubbing at the Bounce Lounge together.

"Gods, Pony. You didn't have to get me something so…" Star trailed off, nibbling at her bottom lip as she tried to think of how to say it. Honestly, she was at a loss for words. She hadn't expected anything nearly as thoughtful or as expensive as this. "Its just… beautiful."

Pony let out a flattered giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "Oh, girl. It's nothing. I just thought you might like something to remember me by whenever I'm busy, since we'll both be busy soon…"

Star unlatched the chain, reaching back to secure the locket around her neck. "I'll never take it off."

Pony leaned over to nudge Star's shoulder with her head as she let out another giggle. "You big softy. Get into bed. You look like you're hardly keeping yourself upright."

Star was hardly keeping herself upright, her eyes half-lidded as she struggled to keep them open. She wasn't exactly the best at pulling all-nighters and still appearing as awake and elegant as was expected of her. Not like Pony. That girl could be up for days and still look as bright as ever.

Star crawled to the top of the bed, pulling back the covers on Pony's side so that the Pegasus could settle in, while she curled up on her own side under the sheets. She let out a huff the moment her head hit the pillow, adjusting the blankets over Pony once she had gotten herself comfortable. The exhaustion was quickly catching up to her now, unable to hold back her yawn.

"Wish I didn't have to take this stupid wand."

"I know," Pony murmured, scooting closer to rest her chin on Star's head. "I wish you didn't have to, either…"

There was something painfully sad in the way she spoke. She had uttered the words with such fear that Star might have been worried if she wasn't already drifting off beneath her.

The sun hung high, casting an amber glow across the grand courtyard of Butterfly Castle. Teal and gold coloured flags lined every wall and every rooftop, the sigil of the Butterfly house very appropriate decoration indeed for an event such as this.

Hundreds of citizens from all corners of Mewni had gathered, filling the sprawling courtyard below the castle steps. The commoners stood pressed together with barely enough room left to breathe, let alone move but, in the eyes of these people, any discomfort was worth the chance to catch a glimpse of the wand. All of their differences were forgotten for this one rare moment of celebration. The nobles, on the other hand, had of course been provided with proper seating on the castle balconies up above.

Star had tucked herself just out of view inside the castle doors to allow her lady-in-waiting, Urnva, to adjust her gown for the hundredth time that day. It was beautiful, made with shimmering golden fabrics that practically sparkled when caught in the sunlight. The color was customary for any Butterfly princess receiving the wand. She thought she looked amazing in it; just enough to leave her subjects envious but she couldn't possibly be accused of immodesty, either.

Her mother stood just out of earshot, lost in conversation with Valfina, who was the high priestess of their church. Most of her duties revolved around worship and ceremonies, but she was also an advisor to the Butterfly family to a certain extent. It made sense to Star; she was hundreds of years old, granted immortality by the very god she served. She'd seen many queens come and go, and she had been officiating the Wand Exchange Ceremony for generations. Her mother held the woman in high regard, and it was easy to understand why. Valfina had guided her out of an impossible situation after Queen Comet passed.

Valfina was beautiful, with long ginger hair that lay over her shoulders in tight ringlets and bright amber eyes. Her skin was fair and covered with freckles. Star wasn't sure if she was attracted to the priestess or just simply envied her looks. Either way, the woman always drew her attention. Unfortunately for her, she was a few hundred years out of her age range.

"And…there! Now you truly are perfect, my lady."

Star glanced back at Urnva when she spoke, offering her a fond smile. The woman wasn't much older than she was, born into servant's work. Her mother had served Queen Moon, and her mother before her had seen to Queen Comet. She was sure their families service could be traced back even further than that, too.

"Thank you… Although, 'perfect' is hardly the word I'd use."

"Oh, nonsense!" Urnva scolded, playfully slapping at Stars hand. "You, my lady, are perfect. Just as your mother is. Don't let no one tell you otherwise. Not even Queen Moon herself, alright?"

Star didn't have much of a chance to answer as her attention was pulled back to her mother, who called over to the pair. She drew in a deep breath before she crossed the room towards them.

This was fine. It would all go fine. All she had to do was accept the wand and give a speech…

Then take on the role as the defender of the entirety of Mewni.

So yeah. No pressure. 

Valfina smiled as she met Star's eyes, bowing her head just as she had for Moon when she'd first approached the queen. "Star, a pleasure as always. You have gotten so big in recent years, I still remember when you barely reached my waist. Now here you are, towering over me and of age to take on the wand."

Star flushed, reaching up to rub at the back of her neck. "Yeah… A pleasure to see you, too, Valfina." The priestess always held herself with such grace and formality that Star felt almost out of place beside her, even though she herself was a princess. Valfina outshone even her mother at times.

Moon stood with all six of her arms folded neatly in front of her, each set of hands above the next. There were plenty of people who found the physical changes that were caused by wielding the wand's magic to be… unsettling. But Star, perhaps largely due to her mother, had always thought they were beautiful.

Three pairs of arms and magnificent butterfly-like wings. Her mother had always told her that no two sets of wings were the same; each was unique in its colour and pattern, as individual as the holders themselves.

Moon's wings were hidden away by magic, moulded into her back. She only ever took them out in matters of great urgency. The arms never went away, however, and Star wondered if they couldn't, or if her mother just found it more convenient to keep them.

"Are you ready?" Valfina asked. Her voice was just as authoritative and as smooth as ever.

Star wanted to shake her head, to insist that she wasn't meant for this, and to march right back out of there. Instead, she uttered a quiet, "Of course." She didn't really have any other choice.

“Nervous?” Valfina pressed with a knowing smile, and Star let out a soft deflated sigh.

“Terrified.”

“Every princess is when they receive the wand, Star. There’s no shame in it. Fear is good; I’d be more concerned if you weren’t worried at all.”

Their conversation was cut short as a Guard approached, bowing his head to the three women before him before he spoke. "Queen Moon, Hekapoo is in attendance."

Moon let out a low groan that seemed more befitting the news of pests infesting the castle's food stock than the arrival of a member of the High Commission. For a moment she simply stood with her eyes squeezed shut as she contemplated over it. When she opened them again, it was with a small sigh.

"Leave her be. It would be far more trouble than it's worth to try and dispel her. I want the guards' focus to remain on myself and princess Star."

"Yes, Your Majesty, of course." With another bow of his head, the guard turned on his heel to walk away. After all, he'd have to communicate Moon's decision to ignore Hekapoo.

Star didn't blame her mother for her lack of initiative to actually do anything about their uninvited guest. Hekapoo, at least as far as Star was aware, had always been far more of an annoyance than any real threat. It wouldn't be the first time she'd shown up to stand by and watch events such as these.

"Come now, Your Highness. It is time." Valfina had been staring past the doors at the sky outside, as though watching for some sort of omen. Whatever she'd been waiting for, it seemed that she had found it. The priestess gestured for Star and her mother to follow before she began making her way out into the courtyard.

The almost deafening chatter from the crowd outside began to dull the moment they stepped into view, all eyes falling on Star while she took position beside her mother. Her gaze immediately shifted up to the balconies, to their more important guests.

There were three Magical High Commission members in attendance today— five, if you included her mother and Valfina. And, of course, Hekapoo was the first to catch her eye.

Her fire puppet laid over the edge of one of the the castle's rooftops in the form of a wolf, watching, judging. Its form flickered as the flames it was made of licked at the stone beneath it. She wasn't invited, and yet it was clear that she was well aware there was little the guards could do to dismiss her. It was a little difficult to tell a puppet made of pure fire to get out. You couldn't exactly brute force it, and it would only reappear if extinguished. Hekapoo herself never attended in person, always watching through her puppets. She couldn't attend herself even if she wanted to; she'd been sealed away in the Underworld centuries ago, apparently. Star only ever vaguely paid attention to the story whenever her mother explained it all to her.

The two demigod brothers of the Commission were also in attendance, of course. Their father was the creator of the wand, after all.

There was Lekmet, a goat, to put it plainly. A Mewman sized goat that walked upright on two feet— two hooves— with stark white fur that he always kept in impeccable condition. He was busy discussing something Star couldn't quite make out, giving very animated gestures as he spoke. There had always been a but of a language barrier between herself and Lekmet but, then again, she could count the amount of people who could understand him on one hand.

His brother, Rhombulus, was one of those few. He had always seemed as though he appeared more of monster than a Mewman to Star, with three heads— one of which was a giant crystal, and two snakes that coiled around the crystal head in question. Not to mention, he was entirely green in colour. She supposed the fact that he, too, was a creation of the god of magic elevated him out of being categorised as a monster. He and Lekmet were never seen without one another. Though, it made sense, considering the fact Lekmet had practically raised the guy.

Valfina stepped forward, gesturing to Star as she began. “As you are all well aware, Princess Star has recently celebrated her twenty-first year of life. So, as is tradition, it is now her time to take on the wand, to serve as its guardian and as our protector.” 

Moon reached down to unclasp the sheath that was strapped to her hip, pulling out the wand in one swift motion to hold it high above her head for the crowd to see. Eyes were locked onto the wand immediately, staring with a mix of awe and giddy excitement. It wasn’t often that anyone aside from the Butterfly family and their servants would see it in such close proximity. 

Star found that even she couldn’t quite take her eyes off of it. She could hardly believe she used to dream of the day she could finally hold it in her hands, but now she'd do anything to keep it under her mothers care.

Still, she held her head high, forcing down her anxiety. She couldn’t seem nervous, not with everyone watching. She had to look ready, even if she felt the furthest thing from it.

She had to seem perfect.

Valfina turned to Star to reach out her hand and Star, just as they’d practised, held out her own with her palm facing up for the priestess to take. Valfina reached into her sleeve to retrieve a beautiful, ornate dagger before she clasped the princess's hand in her own.

“Star Butterfly, do you promise to always follow the values of the Butterfly Kingdom, and to use the magic of this wand to protect and uphold them?”

“I promise,” Star answered, though the words came out in a such small breath. The wand just seemed to radiate so much power, being so close to it and knowing that it would be hers to wield in mere moments. But this promise wasn’t just for Valfina; she knew this promise had to be made for everyone to hear. So she quickly cleared her throat, raising her voice for the crowd. 

“Yes, I promise.”

“And do you promise to always uplift the weak, to come to their aid when they cannot aid themselves?” Valfina continued. Unlike Star, her voice never wavered.

“Yes. I— I promise.” 

“Then, with my authority as Priestess of the god of magic and of mercy, I relinquish Queen Moon's position as the guardian of the wand on this day and I crown Star Butterfly to take her place.” 

Star grimaced in pain as Valfina lifted her hand to make a shallow cut along her palm. She turned to her mother now to offer her hand, blood already seeping from the fresh cut.

Moon placed the wand, a blue crystal heart with a handle of pure gold, into Star's outstretched palm. The shift was instant, the wand wrapped in a bright golden light as it began to shift. A more circular, vibrant purple wand took the place of the blue crystal heart, with little white feathered wings extending from each side. In the centre was a star, which seemed very fitting, and a small butterfly where the handle met the head of the wand. 

It wasn’t exactly elegant like Moon's, but she couldn’t deny it was very… her.

For a moment, all Star could do was stare, because she hadn’t expected the change to happen so quickly. Her hands trembled as she finally closed her fingers around the handle, her other hand coming up to cradle it like something fragile. 

She found herself looking to Moon first, more anxious for her mother’s approval than anything else. The queen’s eyes softened as she met her gaze, filled with warmth and unmistakable pride.

Star slowly turned to look back out over the crowd. Even despite all the practice they’d done, the nerves from the exchange had her brain lagging, and she was temporarily at a loss over the next step. She felt a little foolish just standing there while she tried to remember, but she was thankful no one said a word. 

Finally, with her heart pounding, Star lifted the wand above her head for the crowd to see, just as Moon had done before the exchange. The reaction was instant, the crowd bursting out into a mix of enthusiastic clapping and cheers.

“I, Star Butterfly, swear to—”

There was a sharp gasp from her mother and a burst of horrified screams and shouts from the crowd. Star grunted, nearly dropping the wand as her mother tackled her to the ground, lifting her hand to form a protective ward around them. 

Valfina let out a startled gasp behind them, briefly losing her composure for the first time since Star had known her. She stumbled back and gripped the pendant around her neck.

The courtyard exploded into chaos. Screams echoed off the castle walls as guests pushed past one another in a frantic dash for the exits. Guards barked orders, trying fruitlessly to regain control. It wasn’t until Moon moved to pull them both up off the floor that Star realised what was happening. There was an arrow sticking out from the wall behind them, shot with such force it had lodged into the stone. And it had been aimed right where she’d stood a moment prior. 

It would have pierced right through her skull, easily. 

Star's gaze shifted back to the chaos of the crowd, watching as guards shoved through her people towards a man wielding a bow. But he wasn't the only one, no, another arrow shattering against her mother's ward drew her attention to yet another marksman. Soon enough, it dawned on her there had to be more than a dozen throughout the crowd. None of them monsters.

All Mewman. Her own people.

"Why?" She choked, looking to her mother as Moon practically dragged her back towards the doors of the castle, guards flanking behind them to provide cover. "Why?! Why do they want me dead?! I haven't—"

"I don't know!" Moon finally barked out in response. Her chest was heaving, eyes wide and pupils blown. She reluctantly dropped the ward only once the doors to the castle had been barred, but even then she never loosened her grip on her daughter's arm.

Valfina's face softened, her eyes filled with a quiet sympathy as she drew closer, placing a hand on Moon's shoulder. Moon flinched, immediately raising a hand as though to strike her, only to relax when she realised just who was touching her.

"You need to tell her, Moon."

The words rang in Star's mind, bringing nothing but confusion initially— although that confusion quickly warped into frustration as they settled in her mind, as she truly processed what they meant, becoming heavy with her anger. Her mother was hiding something from her, something she was sure she should have been told long before any of this.

"Tell me what?" Star demanded, yanking her arm back from her mother to cradle it to her chest. "What's she talking about?"

Moon opened her mouth to answer, although the words seemed stuck in her throat. She glanced back at Valfina, pleading for an out, one that Valfina seemed less than willing to provide. And, for once in her life, Moon seemed far more like a lost child than a queen or a mother. She let out a defeated sigh, gesturing for Star to follow.

"We will get you to safety, and only then will we talk." She decided. Star narrowed her eyes, stepping forward to follow despite the temptation to refuse. Her father would meet them in the panic room, no doubt, which would be a blessing. Star had a feeling she'd want him for this conversation. He'd been watching the ceremony from one of the balconies, along with his mother and brothers, and a few of her cousins. Who, now that she thought about it, would likely be joining them too. Great.

Her suspicions were confirmed the moment they reached the stairway deeper inside the palace that lead down into the panic room. She could already hear the chattering of her father's side of the family. Moon seemed less than excited, muttering something rather exasperated under her breath that Star didn't quite catch, as she followed her down the steps.

"Star!" Her father was the first to greet her as the guards granted them access through the door, his arms outstretched. Star hurried to throw herself into the embrace, clutching the back of his shirt like a lifeline. He pulled away to instead reach up and cup her cheeks, brushing his thumb under her eye to wipe away the tears she hadn't even noticed had spilled over. "It's no trouble, my Starlight. People try and assassinate monarchs all the time."

"I've had two attempts on my life." Her grandmother chimed in, nodding along. "One of them almost got me too, but I'm as spiteful as a demon, nothing can kill me but Father Time himself."

"They're delusional, is what they are," her uncle Ailmar spoke up. He was stocky man with braided long blonde hair and a beard to rival her fathers. The eldest of River's brothers. "They believe in fairytales spun more than a thousand years ago. Enough to betray their monarchy. They've no honour. Cowards, every one of them."

Stars brows furrowed, immediately looking back to her mother. There it was again, that hint that this was something deeper than some random assassination attempt. "Mum."

"Can't really call them cowards when we're holed up in here, letting the guards take care of it." Another of her uncles pointed out. He was the tallest of the bunch by far, yet rather ironically the youngest. "They attacked our niece."

"And she needs us in here to—"

"Stop it!" Moon exclaimed. All eyes were on her in an instant. She looked a wreck, tapping her foot against the floor in a clear struggle to keep still through her adrenaline. She dragged a hand down her face as she sucked in a deep breath. "Just… stop. I have enough on my mind without you all starting with this."

"What fairytale?" Star pressed. In any other circumstance she wouldn't poke the bear, but she wasn't much in the mood to have the subject danced around after she'd nearly died. "What's happening?"

"You haven't told her." Ailmar sighed, more of a statement than a question. The disappointment was evident in his tone, and Moon shifted her gaze to the floor.

River let out a sigh of his own, reaching out to take Moon's hand, gently brushing his thumb along her knuckles. "We haven't told her," he corrected. "It was a joint decision."

"Haven't told me what?!" Star exclaimed, slamming her fist against the wall beside her. She was twenty one, and yet she felt like she was nothing more than a child to everyone in this room. She deserved to know whatever the hell this 'fairytale' happened to be. "This is my life being threatened. And no one will so much as explain to me what the hell is happening!"

River grimaced, meeting Moon's eyes for a brief moment. Yet neither of them spoke. It was Ailmar that finally broke the silence. "You know of princess Syllia?" He asked, and Stars confusion only deepened.

"The prophet girl?" Star had heard her mentioned on a few occasions before; she was a great tragedy in her family line. The firstborn daughter to the very first Queen of Mewni. She'd been born with the gift of a prophet, though her life was cut short at the barely the age of ten when her own mother sent her to execution.

"You ever wonder what prophecy she could have delivered that had her own mother send her to have her head lopped off?" He continued, ignoring the swift slap to the arm he received from his mother for putting the matter so bluntly.

"Something about the fall of the kingdom." Star recalled. "But her mother was insane. What does this have to do with me?"

"She walked right up to her mother, and told her that the kingdom had an expiration date. More or less. That the thirty seventh Queen to take rule would marry. A demon, no less. And that demon would cause the entire kingdom to crumble. They'd end the Butterfly reign for good."

Star simply stared, her thoughts running too fast to find any appropriate way to respond. Because she would be the thirty seventh Queen to take reign, when it was her time. This prophecy, it was about her.

Such a horrible prophecy, such a heavy weight to bear, and they hadn't even thought to tell her. To warn her.

The wand felt like a heavy weight in her hand, dragging her down and making it impossible to move, to feel anything else. So many responsibilities were being piled on top of one another, on top of her. The wand, eventually becoming queen, apparently being the one responsible for ending their entire kingdom even though she was supposed to be the one to protect it and all of it's people so long as she had her magic.

"How…" Star trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. "How could you keep this from me? All of you."

"I didn't want to put you under any more stress," Moon insisted, gripping Rivers hand that little bit tighter. "You were too young— and then you had so much on your plate. Not to mention, that entire fiasco with the Underworld's king. There was never a good time."

"I'm not a child! I should have been told about this years ago!" Star snapped, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. The tension in the room was thick. Her grandmother and uncles shifted uncomfortably where they stood. Her cousin, Rock, was the only one who seemed entirely unaffected by the outburst, busy scraping his name into the stone wall beside him with the dagger he always kept on his person. He was only thirteen, not that it was anything unusual for a Johansen to be armed at such an age.

"I know, my Starlight. I know… But these prophecies. They're complicated, the predictions aren't even entirely confirmed to be accurate," River began. "But you know how people can be. Fear drives their minds. They do irrational things all over superstition."

"I don't care if it's— agh!" Star felt like she was losing her mind. Prophecies were more so considered mythology than anything truly recognised and respected, she'd give them that. But that didn't mean it wouldn't affect her life. Her rule. How was she supposed to lead her people if they didn't trust her not to run off with some beast? How was she supposed to be their protector as the wand's holder?

"I think she should come back to the Johansen Kingdom." Ailmar seemed confident in his words, even as both Moon and Star let out a sound of protest. "It'll be safer, at least while she gets a grasp on the wand."

"She isn't going anywhere!" Moon attempted to take a step towards Ailmar with narrowed eyes, only to be held in place by her husband.

"Now, Mooncake… Ailmar and I were discussing it earlier and I—"

"You were discussing shipping our daughter off to another kingdom without so much as consulting me first?" Moon yanked her arm back from River, the look in her eyes enough to wither any man.

"That isn't at all what I was expressing!" River insisted.

"Well, she doesn't exactly have a history of being very reasonable," Star's grandmother pointed out. Rock let out a snicker, finally turning his attention back to the chaos now that it was really starting to pick up.

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm not going," Star interrupted, shooting her grandmother a glare. She may not agree with almost anything that came out of her mother's mouth, but she wouldn't stand to see her disrespected either. "And, might I remind you, you're in house Butterfly territory. Under my mother's authority."

Moon stood by her side with her head held high, staring down the woman before them alongside Star. She broke their stalemate only when Stars grandmother turned her head away, muttering some disingenuous apology.

"You have to understand, Star. This attack won't won't be isolated. It isn't even the first," Ailmar insisted.

Stars brows furrowed, the gears in her head turning immediately. Not the first? She couldn't recall any other attempts on her life, and it certainly hadn't been mentioned to her if it had happened when she was young. But, then again, it seemed there was a lot her parents had kept from her.

"They tried to get rid of you, when you were born. When they realised the kingdom had a female heir." Ailmar continued, River promptly raising his hand to hush the man.

"That's enough, Ailmar!" River thundered, and his brother immediately scowled down at him. "You have no right to speak on how we protect our own daughter."

"You agree she isn't safe here, you admitted it yourself! And now look what's happened! They want her dead, River!"

"And if she isn't safe, we will handle it!" River snapped, returning the scowl with just as much passion. "I suggested your kingdom might be a more secure place for her to train with the wand, but no decision was made. What we choose for Star is between myself and my wife."

"I'd appreciate it if we didn't speak of me like I wasn't standing right here," Star muttered, clenching her hand into a fist in an attempt to hide the way they trembled. She could handle yelling and arguments, she was well accustomed to it with a family like her own. What she couldn't handle was having her life debated over like she had no say in the outcome. It felt as though her entire life had been this way.

"Your majesty." Moons attention was pulled away from the conversation as a guard peered their head through the doorway of the chamber. "We've been given an all clear. The threat is neutralised and the public under control. No threat of riot."

"Thank you." Moon let out a breath of relief, and Star couldn't blame her. She wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being trapped in a room with these people any longer, either. She turned for the door and immediately shoved it open, shoving the poor guard back in the process, so she could hike up her dress to stalk up the narrow stairway. Her mother followed close behind, content with the silence between them.

"We wouldn't just…send you away, Star. Not there." She whispered, and Star let out a less than convinced huff in response.

"It's not being sent away I'm worried about. It's everything you're still keeping from me."

Moon didn't answer, and Star didn't bother to so much as glance back at her. She had expected as much. She had a feeling no matter how insistent her mother was over the trust she held for her, that she'd never find answers about any of this. Not from her, at least.

Star slowly raised the cup of hot milk to her lips, softly blowing on the drink to cool it off enough to sip. She was making a firm effort at avoiding looking at either of her parents. Needless to say, she hadn't quite managed to cool her frustrations over everything she'd learnt on the day of the Wand Exchange Ceremony. Which was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the biggest failure of a ceremony since princess Eclipsa.

At the very least, Valfina had used her authority to authorise the completion of the entire exchange after the fact, even despite the interruption of her vows. It avoided another ceremony having to be held, thank the gods.

There was a soft, almost pained sound from her father, and Star had to bite back a snicker after she'd lifted her head to look at him. He had that constipated look on his face that he always got when he was trying to keep something to himself. Always so obvious.

"Alright, I'll bite. Why does dad look like he's about to explode?" Star questioned, raising her eyebrow in her mother's direction. Moon sighed, setting her fork down to give Star her full attention.

"Because we have something very important to discuss with you. Something we both decided on together," Moon answered, her tone even, without a hint of the anger she'd been carrying the past few days since the botched ceremony. She'd been upset enough to confine Star to the castle since then, with the guards under strict orders to make sure she didn't try and slip out.

It was hell. She'd spent most of that time just messing around with the wand—bored out of her mind and festering over her own anger.

"We're sending you to Earth!" River blurted out, slamming his hands down on the table. He deflated the moment he blurted it out, like it was a heavy weight that had been finally taken off of his shoulders.

“Earth? I’ve never even heard of Earth. I don’t get it; why exactly am I being kicked out of the palace? Wasn't it you who said you wouldn't send me away?"

“You aren’t being kicked out, Star! For goodness sake, we’re just sending you somewhere a little…” Moon winced, gesturing aimlessly with her hand like that would help her finish the sentence. “…Safer. Only until you're more practised with your magic."

"Safer,” Star repeated, setting her mug down to lean back in her chair. “So you agree with uncle Ailmar, then? You don't think I can handle myself here?"

“Oh, Star, don’t put words in my mouth.” Moon waved her hand dismissively before she folded it amongst the many others in her lap. “You know I don’t think that. But training on Earth will remove any distractions, and I think a change of scenery could be good for you.” 

“Mum, I’m not stupid! I’d be the only princess in all of Mewni’s history who didn’t train here!” Star exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. Yet another decision that had been made for her, without any care of what she wanted. “I don’t want to go! What, you want me to pack up my whole life and move to some random dimension no one’s even heard of— just so you can sleep better?”

Moon reached up to drag a hand down her face, letting out an exasperated sigh. “River, care to contribute?” 

River glanced up from the food he’d been busy tearing into to stare between the two of them like a deer in headlights. 

“Uh, it’s not so bad. We’ll be sending you to a training academy of sorts, your mother made all the arrangements. I think you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you’ll make a friend.” He didn’t bother to finish his mouthful as he spoke, much to Moon's displeasure. 

"I have friends! Pony, and uh… What’s that one guard's name…?” 

"Sir Henry?” River offered before tearing another chunk from the drumstick in his hand.

“Yes, Sir Henry!”

“Star." Moon sighed, looking visibly drained. “You’re going and that’s final. You’ll pack your bags this evening and we will see you off early tomorrow morning. Is that understood?”

Star slammed her hands down on the table, her chair screeching against the floor as she abruptly stood to turn on her heels and stalk from the room. She made a show of slamming the door behind her, letting out a frustrated groan the moment she was out of earshot. 

She was comfortable in Mewni, training alongside her father and shoving in the occasional wand lesson in her down time. She’d only had this wand for a week and already it felt like her mother had no trust in her to protect it. 

There had been one attempt on her life. One. And it hardly amounted to anything but a few dead peasants.

It was customary for her to train here in Mewni, to help fend off any monsters as she learnt to master her magic. How the hell was she supposed to be any use to her kingdom on Earth? 

What kind of name for a dimension was that anyway? Earth.

She threw open her bedroom door, stalking straight for her bed to collapse face first into the covers with another heavy, frustrated sigh. She’d have to pack eventually. At the end of the day, her mother's word was law around here. Quite literally, in some cases, since she was the queen. But right now, Star just wanted to mope, at least for a little while. 

Unfortunately, the moping only managed to go interrupted for all of ten minutes before her mirror burst to life, playing some pop rock song Star immediately recognised as the custom ringtone she’d set for Pony.

She ignored it. It rang again, then once more when she didn’t bother to pick up that time either. 

She let out something between a whine and a groan as she slid off of the bed to trudge her way over. If Pony was spamming her like this, then clearly it was important. At least by Pony’s standards. 

"Pony, I'm sort of—” 

“Okay, so like, do you remember how I told you about everything going on with my… uh…” Pony was floating upside down in front of her mirror, gesturing with her legs as she spoke. She trailed off as her eyes finally locked onto Star, letting out a soft hum of concern. 

“Okay, girl, you look royally peeved right now. Something has happened. I know that expression.” 

Star huffed, reaching up to grip her hair as she began to pace. “I just— My mother doesn’t—”

“Oh no,” Pony interrupted, leaning in closer to the mirror. “Please tell me someone didn’t try to shoot you in the head again?”

“What? No! And that’s the entire issue!” Star exclaimed, “Ever since that mess of a ceremony— this prophecy— I feel like nobody is treating me like I can defend myself! Fuck, I could defend myself even without this wand.” 

Star stuck out her hand to gesture to the beaded bracelet she wore around her wrist. It was a blend of purple and pink, a larger yellow star bead nestled in the centre. The star glowed, morphing in shape until the bracelet was replaced by none other than the wand itself nestled in her hand. She glared pointedly at the thing for a moment before chucking it aside onto her bed. 

“Okay, but uh…” Pony let out a nervous chuckle, averting her gaze. “Hear me out here, what if it is maybe just a little bit of a good idea to take some extra precautions with this?”

Star gasped, crossing her arms over her chest. “Pony! You too?!”

“I just don’t want your pretty head lopped off and mounted on a spike!” Pony whined, letting out an exaggerated sob that had Star rolling her eyes. 

“I’m not gonna get decapitated, Pony. Besides, I’m being sent to Earth. Not the Johansen Kingdom with my Grandmother or uncles. Some random realm!" Star muttered. She scowled as she turned to take a seat on the edge of her bed, practically curling into herself from the weight of it all. “She wants me to complete my training with the wand there, away from any of the distractions on Mewni.” 

“Earth? That’s what you’re so worked up over?” Pony snorted, raising one leg to try and cover her mouth and stifle the giggles. 

“Why is that so funny?”

“Girl, it’s funny because you’re missing the point here.” Pony insisted. “You’ll be living in a dimension with no guards, no parents, no supervisors, and basically no expectations. I envy you, in all honesty. I wish my dad would let me live outside the Cloud Kingdom. No chance of that with all this all powerful healer business I've been wrapped into."

Star dragged her hands down her face before dropping them into her lap, shrugging her shoulders. “I guess, but I’d be the first princess in history not to complete my training on Mewni.”

“So? Since when do you ever give a crap about tradition?”

Star opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again when no words seemed to form, because honestly, she didn’t really have a good answer. Pony was right, she’d never particularly cared much about tradition past keeping up appearances to the public. It wasn’t like training on Earth was going to drag her name through the mud. As far as she was aware, her mother didn’t even plan to make it known she was leaving.

Maybe she wasn’t really mad about the break in tradition, maybe she was just… scared. She’d never lived anywhere aside from the palace. Hell, she’d hardly even left the kingdom aside from hunting trips with her father or outings with Pony. 

It had always been easier with Pony. She was the one who showed Star what the world outside the palace walls were like. She had been her guide for as long as she could remember. But she couldn’t take Pony to Earth with her. 

“I… I guess I’ll just miss home. And you,” Star admitted, hugging her legs to her chest. 

“Awe, baby… I’ll be around. I've got my horn, so I can open a portal anytime I want. I’ll still stop by to spend time with you. Look."

As though to prove a point, the call abruptly ended and a portal opened near her bed only a moment later. Pony glided through, immediately settling down beside her. 

"Besides, Earth isn’t so bad. I've been there plenty of times. It’s only intelligent species are humans, but don’t worry, they won’t cause you any trouble. They're, like... really small."

Star draped her arm over Pony’s neck, fighting the urge to grin. "Tiny? Like fairies?"

"Oh no, more like..." Pony pressed her hoof into Star’s side, earning a soft squeal from the princess before she swatted it away. "That tall."

"Pony, stop! That tickles!" Star laughed.

"Ohh, but I got you to smile," Pony teased, her voice laced with amusement as she leaned her head against Star’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess you did.”

Pony let her tail fall over Star's lap, sighing as she relaxed into the moment. "Look, Earth’s probably gonna be good for you. Getting out of the kingdom for a bit, I think that’s what you need. Just give it a try, alright?"

Star squeezed her eyes closed as she let out a breath, nodding her head after a brief pause. “I’ll try.” 

Chapter Text

The carriage rolled over the cobblestone path, crunching debris beneath its wheels as it entered a broad courtyard of sorts, enclosed on all sides by towering stone buildings. It was far larger than any structure Star had seen in the Butterfly Kingdom— excluding the palace, of course, but lacked its colour and ornate flourishes. Still, it wasn’t entirely without detail. Old pillars lined the main building and the trim clearly had careful thought put into it. Flags were strung about, perhaps once a vibrant yellow, although they were now noticeably faded, each bearing the red silhouette of some creature Star certainly didn't recognise.

As it came to a stop, Moon stepped out of the carriage first, immediately hiking up her dress as though the ground was filthy. She was making that face, the one she always wore when she was forced out of the comfort of her palace, with her eyebrows furrowed and the bridge of her nose ever-so-slightly scrunched. She hardly tolerated even the neighbouring Mewman kingdoms without sticking up her nose, so it was no surprise she thought humans beneath her.

“Come along, then. We’ll ensure that you’re going to be properly settled in before we head off,” Moon said, already starting towards the campus office.

“Do they know I’m coming?” Star grumbled, slipping out of the carriage behind her. Her mother had let her get away with dressing casual for once, even despite the fact she was leaving the palace. Her lenience was likely also due to her disregard for humanity, which was awfully convenient for Star. 

Even then, her casual wasn't exactly all that casual. She had on a simple teal dress that reached down just below her knees, and pair of striped orange and magenta leggings, of course; her mother wouldn't have let her leave the house showing so much skin. Her boots of choice were tall, with a hilarious little monster face printed over them. Her mother hated them. And, of course, she was wearing Pony's locket around her neck.

"Of course they do, darling. We sent word to them days ago to be sure they’d take you. It just took a little convincing,” Moon assured her.

“Convincing?” River laughed, stumbling out of the carriage and hurrying forward to match pace with his wife. “To be quite honest with you, dear, we just dumped a bucket of gold at their feet.” 

“River!” Moon scolded, turning back to glare.

“What? It’s true!” 

Star rolled her eyes, not bothering with a response. At this point, their arguing was practically background noise to her. She was dragging her feet as they walked, her expression fixed in a very displeased scowl. She hadn't been able to shake her bad mood that morning, still less than pleased with her temporary relocation. At the very least, the humans were just as adorable as Pony had assured her. She dwarfed most of them, at least from what she could see of the students wandering about around them.

Moon let out a displeased scoff at the fact she had to duck down to fit inside the doorway and Star ducked down to follow her inside as Moon made her way over to the older woman working the registry desk. It was quiet inside, the handful of students sitting around in the waiting area near the desk keeping to themselves. The woman behind the counter almost dropped the files she’d been sorting through as she glanced up from her work.

“Oh! You, um— Well, you must be the Butterfly’s, I’d assume.” She looked awfully anxious as she set the files aside to give them her full attention, and Star figured she probably just wasn't used to Mewmans. Apparently this dimension didn't get much inter-dimensional traffic, which was exactly why her mother had picked it.

Moon nodded, stepping aside to gesture back towards Star. “This is my daughter, Star Butterfly." Star didn't immediately answer, too busy looking over the registry office and attempting to blatantly ignore the situation she found herself in. At least until Moon cleared her throat, the same disappointed way she always had to grab her attention when she failed to greet others.

Star let out a disgruntled huff as she crossed her arms over her chest, grumbling a brief, "Pleasure to meet you." Her mother shook her head in disapproval, but she didn't pick at fight over her less than enthusiastic delivery.

“Oh, yes!” The woman immediately gestured over to a boy who was seated in one of the waiting room chairs, staring between Star and Moon with a rather bewildered expression. When he noticed the group turn to look at him he very promptly scrambled to his feet, shuffling over with an awkward smile. 

“This here is Marco Diaz. We arranged for him to help you settle in for the day. He'll take good care of you."

Marco was barely tall enough to reach her shoulders, as were most other humans she’d seen so far. His skin was dark, with short brown hair that had a slight curl at the ends and soft brown eyes. He stuck his hand out to her, and Star couldn't for the life of her figure out what the gesture was supposed to mean. Maybe it was a human thing? She reached out to take his hand, holding it for a moment before Marco slowly pulled his back to his chest.

Moon was staring at them both with an equally as perplexed expression, before she clasped all three pairs of her hands together. “Well then… I suppose we should take our leave.” She spoke up, breaking the awkward silence— which Star was more than grateful for. She offered Star a sad smile as she turned to her. “You’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be fine," Star dismissed, flushing as Moon pulled her into a tight hug. River reached up to wipe a tear from his cheek before stepping forward to join them, lifting both his wife and daughter briefly off the ground.

“Stay safe, my Starlight." River hand lingered on Star's arm, even after he'd set both of them back on their feet. "This won't be for long, I assure you. But I'll miss you every moment we're apart. You'll call, won't you?"

"Don't get sappy on me." Star couldn't help the fond smile that tugged at her lips, though, even despite her best effort to retain her bad mood. "I'll call. I promise."

River smiled and reached up (with some difficulty) to ruffle her hair, earning a sharp squeal of protest from his daughter. She shot him a glare, but River only chuckled, turning to take Moon's hand as they headed for the exit.

“We love you very much,” Moon added, turning back to wave the moment she'd stepped foot out the door. "Behave yourself!"

“Yeah, yeah, I love you, too. Both of you,” Star called after them. Only once her parents were out the doors did she drop her hand down to her side, letting out an exasperated huff. She shifted her attention back down to Marco, who was picking at the fabric of his red hoodie while he stared off into space. Star wasn’t sure if he was nervous or if awkward silence was just his default setting. She cleared her throat, reaching up to rub at the back of her neck. "So…"

Marco blinked, attention visibly snapping back into this reality. “Sorry. Yeah… Uh, we can grab your student ID first, assuming all the paperwork is in order. Then I'll show you around.” His voice was soft, uncertain, it was the first time he'd actually spoken since they'd met. She assumed he wasn't much of a talker.

The woman behind the desk was already on it, rummaging around through a file cabinet nestled down under the desk. She eventually slid a card across the desk towards Star, offering her an encouraging smile. "This here is yours, darling. You're all set."

Star squinted as she picked up the ID, turning it in her hand. It had her name, the word "Student" in bold letters, that same strange creature from the banners outside in what seemed to be an institute name and logo, and a bunch of numbers she didn't recognise. Not to mention, that terrible picture of her at the Century Ball the previous year. She grimaced, immediately tucking it away in the pocket of her dress, hoping to never see it again. "So what is this for exactly?"

"It just proves you're a student. You need it to get into the dorms, to pay for your food if your tuition covers the meal plans from the cafeteria, and you can get discounts at stores sometimes." Marco answered, turning to head for the doors. "Come on, I'll give you a tour of the campus."

Star nodded, hurrying forward to keep pace beside him as he walked. He had his gaze fixed ahead of him, gripping at the fabric of his sleeves, arms folded around himself. She couldn't for the life of her gather if she was freaking him out or if this was just… Marco.

“Hey, are you—”

“Wait!” Marco stopped dead in his tracks, startling her as she came to an equally abrupt stop behind him. He held out his arm, like he'd have to stop her if she kept walking, before he glanced back at her. She raised an eyebrow, but he simply gestured to the doorway.

“Watch your head. You’re uh… taller than most of the doors here.”

Star let out an amused snort, finding it honestly rather endearing how much he cared. Not that she particularly needed the warning. She wasn't that oblivious.

"Thank you, Marco. That was your name, right?" She ducked down to step through the doorway, pausing to let Marco catch up.

"Yeah, and yours is Star? Where are you from? They told me you were from out of the country, an international student. But you don't look…" Marco trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

He was the complete opposite of the sort of people Star was used to speaking with. All royalty or nobles that had learnt to carry themselves with confidence and grace from the moment they learnt to speak. "I'm from Mewni, from the Butterfly Kingdom specifically. It's not in this dimension, I doubt you'd have heard of it."

"Yeah... I tend to stick to my own dimension."

Marco led them back through the main car park, crossing into a concrete clearing filled with even more students all crowded around food trucks or tables.

"This is the concourse, it's the centre hub of the campus. The food trucks always park out here—and there's plenty of seating. It's a nice place to study depending on the time of day. If you like fresh air." Marco explained, gesturing around them as he spoke. Star nodded along, her gaze fixed on one of the food trucks he'd mentioned. She'd never seen anything like it back on Mewni, neither the vehicle nor the food, and gods, it smelt good.

He continued onwards, pulling the lanyard from around his neck as they reached the locked door of one of the larger structures. "This is the dorm building. It's always locked, so you have to make sure to carry your ID around. If you do lock yourself out, usually someone is nice enough to let you back in, though."

He held his ID up to the scanner until it let out a soft beep and the door clicked, Marco pulling it open for her. Star stared, stunned. If her mother hadn't been insistent on the fact Earth didn't have any magic, she would have assumed it was some sort of spell at work.

"Oh, yeah, and watch your head. Again."

Star wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when she stepped through the door, but a quiet hallway lined with doors and painted a neutral grey certainly wasn't it. It was completely void of any personality, bland and without any of the colour she was used to back in the palace. Then again, this was in line with the rest of the place so far. She'd just hoped that the design choices didn't extend to every section of the university.

"Your dorm is this way. They put you with Janna." Marco groaned, muttering something under his breath that Star didn't quite catch. "Once you're settled I'll show you where the kitchen and bathrooms are, things like that." He paused in front of a door with a handful of band posters taped over it, someone had scribbled 'beware' over one in red marker. Marco grimaced, slowly reaching one hand out to knock. There was no answer at first, but as Marco went to knock again the lock to the door clicked open.

There was a strong smell that wafted from the dorm, one that could only be described as herbal. The woman now leaned against the doorframe reeked of whatever it was. She had unkept black hair cut down to bob length that she'd mostly just thrown inside a green beanie to keep it out of her face and brown eyes that seemed far too distant for her to be all there, with some relatively deep bags underneath them.

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but Marco immediately held up a hand to cut her off. "This is Star. She's gonna be your new roommate." He narrowed his eyes, jabbing a finger into her chest. "Be nice."

"Well, hello to you too, Diaz." Her gaze shifted from Marco to Star, narrowing as she looked her up and down. "When am I ever not nice? What's mine is hers, and all that jazz."

Marco only narrowed his eyes further, clearly unconvinced. Star was under the impression that these two had history in some regard. Marco certainly seemed a lot more relaxed speaking to Janna, even if he did look significantly more grumpy.

Star's first impressions of the dorm was certainly… Well, it had character. There were piles of clothes littering the floor and bed, empty cans and wrappers scattered around amongst them. Various crystals had been stacked in front of a shrine of sorts set up on one of the two desks, and Star swore there was actual dead animals in the jars on the shelving above her bed.

"Have you been smoking in here again?" Marco was already navigating his way through the trash to yank open the curtains. Janna hissed rather dramatically, throwing her hands over her face like a vampire caught in sunlight.

"I didn't know I was getting a roommate, in my defence," She muttered, avoiding the question. Marco let out an exasperated sigh as he unlatched both of the windows to let in some air.

"I told you yesterday, and the school warned you before that. You promised me you'd clean up."

Janna very reluctantly pulled her hands back, blinking owlishly against the sunlight until her eyes adjusted. She huffed, turning to grin sideways at Star as she leaned back against the doorframe. "Don't listen to him, I think he's going insane."

"Janna!" Marco snapped, turning back to glare at her. "Don't mess around, I'm serious. Star can't move in here with it trashed!"

The dorm wasn't exactly what Star was used to back in the castle, but she couldn't deny that at the very least the mess was familiar. She didn't much mind it really, but she could gather that Marco was stressing about this, and something about his face when he was fretting left her feeling deeply unsettled. "Hey, It's okay! I mean, I can work with this."

The bracelet around her wrist glowed, taking the form of her wand as she aimed it at the far wall, gesturing for Marco to move out of the way. He certainly didn't need to be told twice, especially once the wand started to glow. He was booking it away from the window by time she'd come up with the words for a spell.

"Glitter bomb expansion!"

The room exploded into a confusing mess of pink glitter, briefly blinding all three of them. Marco had taken cover behind the bed while Janna didn't bother to move at all, raising an eyebrow as the glitter began to clear. She seemed impressed, and amused.

The far wall had been expanded out into an almost exact replica of her room back in the palace, which was shockingly exactly what she'd wanted, a miracle really compared with how terribly her casting usually worked out. And she hadn't even set anything on fire this time.

Janna was the one to finally break the shocked silence that had fallen between the three of them, a laugh tearing through the silence. "Woah! Dude, I think we're gonna get along great. Can you clean my side of the room with that thing, by chance?"

"Yeah!" Star turned to point her wand down at the mess, narrowing her eyes to try her best to focus. She hadn't really practised a spell like this before but, then again, how hard could it be in comparison to transforming an entire room?

"Cleansing room suck transform!"

Her gaze shifted to Marco a second too late as he reached up to grip the bed frame, frantically shaking his head. She took a step towards him, brows furrowed. But any chance of asking what was bothering him was cut short by the spinning vortex that tore open in the centre of the room.

Star immediately threw herself towards the open door, gripping onto the doorframe to keep from being pulled inside along with the majority of Janna's belongings. Janna herself was smart enough to do the same. Marco, on the other hand, didn't seem to be having quite as much luck. He let out a exasperated cry as the cheap bed he was clinging was slowly but surely pulled towards the vortex.

"Star!" He pleaded, digging his heels into the floor like that might help his case.

"Ah! I'm trying!" Star exclaimed, although honestly in the moment her mind was blanking. She hadn't exactly excelled in reversing spells whenever she did practice.

Janna's nonchalant demeanour had dropped, she immediately reached an arm, straining to grab him. "Marco! Hold on!"

Marco outstretched his hand, hardly an inch short of reaching her. Janna adjusted her grip on the doorframe, straining to reach further and just barely managing to grab Marco by his wrist to pull him in as the bed disappeared inside the vortex.

With the immediate danger of Marco being sucked into a location-less void resolved, Star held out her wand, sucking in a deep breath to find her focus.

"Uh— Mystical sealing blast!"

The void began to shrink, slowly but surely, until finally it had sealed shut, leaving Janna's room practically barren in its wake.

"Well, my dorm is clean…" Janna spoke up, breathless from the chaos as she looked over the damage. She was surprisingly calm for a woman who'd just had all her earthly belongings sucked into a hole. "Thanks?"

"Why was the word suck in that spell?!" Marco interrupted, still gripping into Janna's jacket like his life depended on it. Poor guy looked a bit ruffled; his hair was a mess and he was missing both his shoes, probably victims of the hole.

"I-It just came out that way!" Star insisted. This spell casting business was still a lot more instinct than method for her. And this was one of the better outcomes to her casting so far. She still hadn't set anything on fire.

"I'm sorry, genuinely! I'll make it up to you! Let's just finish the tour thingy. Please? No more magic, I swear." She felt horrible, to say the least. Marco was staring at her like some kind of monster. Ironic, really.

"Oh, no. No, no!" Marco reached up to comb a hand through his hair, still shaking as he pulled himself away from Janna to immediately stalk out the door and start down the hall, his breathing heavy like he was struggling to catch his breath. "Janna can show you around. I'm done. I didn't sign up for this! I only volunteered to be nice! I don't even have to be here!"

"Marco..." Star turned to follow, but Janna was quick to grab her by the back of her shirt, stopping her in her tracks.

"Leave him be. No offence, but I think he deserves the chance to skip out on the tour after all that." She spoke, glancing back at Star when she let out a particularly defeated whine. "Hey, no biggie. Marco's fine, I promise. You just scared him senseless. And he can be a bit dramatic."

Star wasn't so sure 'dramatic' was the word she'd have used. He was more justifiably terrified than just a little dramatic. She reached up to tug at her hair, turning back inside the dorm as she began to pace. "He's never going to speak me again."

"Nah, he'll forget about it in a few days." Janna assured her, kicking at an old can that had survived the vortex purge. "Trust me, he's a lot more forgiving than he looks. You should have seen the shit I put him through in high school. And we're still friends."

"I just— I dunno, I was hoping for a decent first impression here. And he's so…" Star trailed off, dropping her hands down to her side. She wasn't even sure how she intended to end the sentence. So what? Pathetic? Small and nervous, like some rabbit? All of it seemed cruel to speak aloud. It wasn't like she disliked the guy, that wasn't it. It just felt… shitty, scaring someone off the moment she arrived.

"Seriously, I've been friends with Marco since we were kids. He'll come around if you're that determined to make it up to him." Janna pursed her lips, hand on her hip as she stepped back to look over her glaringly empty side of the dorm. "Uh… How possible is it you'd be able to spit my stuff back out of that vortex?"

Star let out a nervous laugh, nudging Janna back out into the hall as she raised her wand. "Well, there's only one way to find out."

One slightly more thoughtfully-worded spell later and Janna's belongings, trash included, were unceremoniously dumped back in the centre of her side of the dorm. Star was beyond grateful that Janna seemed to have the patience of a saint, letting out an amused snort as she approached to nudge the pile with her boot.

"So, you're a witch or something?" Janna asked, abandoning the pile to instead wander through to the dorm's new extension. Which was more than triple the size of the dorm itself. "An elf? You've got pointy ears like one."

Stars furrowed her brows in confusion, her gaze narrowing as she glanced at Janna. "I don't know what either of those things are," she confessed. "I'm Mewman. From the Butterfly Kingdom."

"Mewman." Janna hummed, pulling open Stars bedroom closet and immediately raising an eyebrow. "Wow, you've got a lot a shit in here."

"What— Oh! Fuck." Star rushed forward, immediately yanking Janna back by the hood of her Jacket to slam the closet door closed. "I thought I was just making a replica of my room back home, not moving my entire bedroom to Earth… Don't touch my closet."

Janna readjusted her coat the moment Star released her, shooting her a glare that Star simply ignored. "So, what? All Mewmans can cast spells? Home must be pretty chaotic."

Star snickered, shaking her head as she held up her wand, allowing it to retract back into its bracelet form. "No. Only wand holders. It's an heirloom, technically; there's only one in existence. I was sent here to learn how to use it."

"To Earth? California? Why? I couldn't imagine this is the most convenient place to learn magic."

Star groaned. "Yeah, it's a long story. All political, all boring." She dismissed. She wasn't in the mood to admit she'd been sent away in some pointless attempt to protect her, that really California was the last place any queen should be training. Whatever the hell the California was. The kingdom she'd been dropped into she supposed.

"Fair enough."

Janna didn't push any further, and for that Star was thankful. Instead, she turned her attention back to exploring the rest of her bedroom. "Your bedroom is bigger than any bedroom I've ever seen, you must be loaded. My room back home is smaller than a dorm by like… half."

"I'm a princess." Star admitted, albeit very reluctantly. She didn't want any special treatment. Not here, she didn't think it was necessary to consider her royalty in a place she had zero political standing.

"Cool." Janna hardly looked up from the small Pegasus sculpture she had resting on her bedside table. A gift from Pony made out of some kind of crystal that was supposed to bring good luck. "Can I have this?"

"No," Star answered without hesitation, grabbing it from her bedside table to set it inside the drawer instead. "It's from a friend. But, uh…" Star trailed off, making her way over to her dresser to grab the smaller of her two jewellery boxes. She held it out to Janna, who very happily took it off her hands. "Have at it. You can keep anything you find in that one. Just don't touch my other jewellery box. That's all heirlooms, and stuff I actually like. Consider it payment for trashing your things."

"Sweet!" Janna immediately retreated to her side of the dorm with the box, dragging her mattress out of the pile so she could settle down on it while she sorted through the offering. Star smiled, rolling her eyes as he watched her. Maybe she wouldn't mind Earth or the humans that lived here quite as much as she had anticipated.

Star leaned down until she was eye level with the picnic table, squinting at the plastic container of food in front of her. She wasn't opposed to trying anything once, but this was certainly the weirdest looking dish Janna had treated her to all week.

Janna had already finished half of hers, staring over at Star with clear amusement while she inspected the food like it was some kind of bio-hazard.

"What is this again?" Star questioned, sitting upright with furrowed brows. It smelt… distinct.

Janna snickered, setting her elbows on the table so she could rest her head in her hands, "It's sushi, Star. Fish and rice. It's not gonna bite."

Star let out a small hum of acknowledgement, reluctantly stabbing her fork into the so called sushi, Janna immediately shot her a repulsed look.

"I think eating it with a fork might as well be some kind of crime. Just pick it up with your hands, woman."

Star huffed, dropping the fork to instead grab the piece with her hand, grumbling to herself as she shoved it in her mouth. She chewed for a moment, her face scrunching up in disgust. It was probably the worst thing she'd put in her mouth in her twenty one years of life so far. She glanced up at Janna, her expression one of betrayal and desperation, Janna only snickered in response.

"Is it good?" She teased, and Star immediately reached over to yank her beanie down over her face, prompting a whine of protest from Janna.

A shiver ran down her spine as she finally managed to swallow the bite, immediately shoving the rest of the sushi in Janna's direction. She wasn't a masochist. One piece was plenty. "Here, you can have the rest."

Janna shrugged, pulling the container closer. "More for me. I won't complain."

"Hey, who's this loser?"

Star practically bristled at the voice, turning to shoot a glare over her shoulder. She wasn't sure if the comment was directed at her or Janna, but either way she wasn't going to let it slide. Her gaze softened the moment she caught sight of the girl approaching, the fight quickly leaving her. She had a fond smile on her face, and a not so much as a hint of bad intention in her eyes. Not to mention teal-blue skateboard she carried under her arm was enough to tip Star off on who this might be, especially so when she walked right past her to slip into the spot beside Janna.

Janna simply rolled her eyes, making a show of scooting further away from her. "If anyone's a loser, it's you. You still wear denim jackets."

Star squinted. "Are you… Jackie?" She'd heard the name plenty of times before. She, Janna, and Marco apparently all came from the same hometown. They were a close trio, always had been. Janna and Jackie had some kind of band together and that Marco managed gigs for. So, needless to say, she'd heard plenty about Jackie too.

"Oh, Hi! Guilty." Jackie chuckled, giving Star a smile. "Sorry, you're Star right? I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you. You look exactly how I imagined you."

Star nodded, "Yeah! It's a pleasure you too. I uh, hope that's a good thing."

"Do you want sushi?" Janna interrupted, sliding Star's unfinished container of food in Jackie's direction.

"What'd you do to it, Janna?" Jackie questioned, immediately sliding it back.

Janna gasped and slapped a hand over her heart in mock offence. "I did nothing to it! I bought it for Star and she didn't want it. Can't believe you'd accuse me of tampering with your food. I'm trying to be nice."

Jackie rolled her eyes, snickering as she slipped her bag off of her shoulder to set it down beside her. "You know exactly why I'm asking."

"You see how these people treat me, Star?" Janna retorted, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "This is why you're my favourite."

Star smiled because, honestly, their friendship reminded her a lot of her and Pony, with the teasing and inside jokes. Pony had called her plenty since she'd left, but they hadn't managed to find the time to properly hang out. Janna was great, she'd been a life saver while getting used to Earth, but she was really missing her own bestie.

"How have you been settling in?" Jackie asked. She was pretty, that was Star's first impression. Her face was soft, she had blonde hair with a single streak of blue, freckles that covered almost every inch of skin visible to Star and gorgeous teal eyes.

Star sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Earth wasn't terrible, but it was a lot to wrap her head around. So many new customs and foods. She'd definitely pissed off more than just Marco over the week she'd been here so far. And yet, Marco being angry bothered her so much more than the others, maybe it was the fact he was so close to Janna. She couldn't come up with any other reason he got under her skin so easily. "It's… an adjustment."

"That bad huh?" Jackie asked. "What's your major?"

"Business." Star huffed. She wasn't the one who had picked it, clearly. Her mother had prearranged everything. She spent most of her lectures doodling puppies over her notebooks rather than actually paying attention, but even then, it was unbelievably boring.

"Rough, my degree's in education. I swear, I'm swamped with work no matter how much time I spend studying. I have no clue how Marco's always so on top of his assignments." Jackie complained, she pulled her lunchbox from her backpack to set it out in front of her, an assortment of sandwiches she'd made herself. "Did you wanna tag along to band practice? Me and Janna were gonna head out after lunch."

"Band practice…" Star repeated, Janna had mentioned this band of theirs a few times. Even shown her a few of their songs. They weren't like anything Star had ever heard back on Mewni, she liked it. And admittedly she didn't exactly have anything to do on her own without Janna anyway. "Yeah! Sounds like fun."

"Great! I'll text Marco and let him know you're coming. He wanted a ride so he could tag along, but…" Jackie trailed off into an awkward chuckle. "Well, he's a little nervous around you."

Star once again buried her face in her hands, letting out a long, muffled groan. He was a little nervous alright, nervous enough to have very effectively avoided her so far. And apparently nervous enough to possibly bail on a ride if she was tagging along.

"It's a sore subject." Janna chimed in, Jackie humming in acknowledgement beside her.

"He's had a rough couple years," Jackie started, watching Star with a mix of sympathy and amusement. "He's weird about new people, too. You can't brute force a friendship with him, so don't feel bad if he's not eager on you right now."

"I saw him in the hallway yesterday. He ran from me, literally ran," Star retorted, earning a grimace from Jackie.

"Yeah…sounds like Marco." Jackie pulled her phone from her pocket, it had a bright teal case and a cute little seashell charm Star figured must be hand made by the look of it.

"He's cool with it." Jackie assured her after a few minutes of tapping away at the screen. And Star couldn't help the surprise she felt over the fact Marco had agreed at all.

"Wait, really?" Star pressed, her scepticism evident in her tone.

"Yeah! Don't look so surprised. He's not that freaked out by you. Like I said, he just doesn't vibe with strangers... Or, you know, being sucked into a magical vortex… What was that all about, anyway?" Jackie asked, Janna letting out a chuckle beside her.

Star held out her hand, her bracelet shifting to its wand form as she dumped it rather unceremoniously onto the table. "I'm training to cast magic through my wand. I uh… I make a few mistakes with my spells sometimes. It was an accident."

Jackie gasped, staring down at the wand with with clear fascination. "Its so… strangely cute." She reached down to touch, her fingers hovering just above it. She looked back at Star, brows furrowed. "Is it safe to touch it?"

Star shrugged her shoulders, nudging the wand closer. "Just don't cast a spell, you'll be fine. Janna's touched it a bunch already and she's not dead yet."

"I don't think we have to worry about me casting a spell." Jackie snickered, lifting the wand to turn it in her hands, admiring every little detail. A flicker of light flowed over the wand like a wave, then another, and soon it was glowing a bright blue, its form shifting. Jackie let out a startled cry, immediately dropping it back down on the table.

It had shifted into a small trident of sorts, although not quite as long as one would typically expect from such a weapon, and a teal blue in colour. The gemstone, usually in the shape of a star in her wand, had shifted into a sandy yellow seashell.

"Hey! It's okay!" Star immediately reached out to grab the wand back, holding it up for Jackie to see as it transformed back to its usual state. "It does that, it's normal. It reads your soul… or something. And reflects that in appearance."

Jackie placed a hand over her chest, sucking in a deep breath that immediately dissolved into a nervous giggle. "I thought I cast a spell."

"If you had, maybe I'd let you keep the thing. Never heard of anyone casting something without saying a word like that. Well, not without any practice." Star giggled along with her. "God knows I don't want this thing anyway…"

"I'll take it off your hands." Janna chimed in, leaning her head in her hands as she watched the pair. She smiled at Jackie, showing her teeth. "My wands a sick skull staff."

"What does that say about your soul?" Jackie teased, "I don't know if we should let you of all people possess some untold power."

"Oh! We gotta let Marco touch it when we meet him at the car!" Janna exclaimed, her face lighting up at the thought. "I wanna see that boy's soul."

"I doubt you could convince him to touch that thing."

Star stared down at the wand in her hands. She wouldn't mind seeing the form it would take for Marco either. Not that she was really supposed to be handing it around like a personality test. Her mother would kill her if she knew she'd let anyone else so much as hold it. But hey, what she'd never know wouldn't hurt her.

"Marco!"

Marco looked visibly exasperated the moment he heard Janna's voice, turning away from his conversation with some raven-haired girl to shoot a glare in her direction. Janna hurried ahead of both Star and Jackie, sprinting across the parking lot even despite the guitar slung over her shoulder to tackle Marco into a hug.

Marco didn't really return it, standing stiff in her arms and trying his best to ignore her so he could say goodbye to the girl he'd been standing with. Star had a feeling by the way Jackie hardly reacted that this was normal for them.

The girl rolled her eyes at the pair, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned to leave. "I'll see you at practice, Diaz!"

"Yeah, see you— Janna, get off!" Marco huffed, shoving Janna back with some effort to brush himself off while Janna snickered to herself all the while. He was still wearing the same red hoodie he had been the last time she'd spotted him, and the time before that. Apparently he didn't have much variety in his wardrobe.

"Hey, you should hold Star's wand."

"I think I'd rather not," Marco answered without an ounce of hesitation, shooting her a look.

"Why not—"

"Alright, get in the car, both of you." Jackie interrupted, pulling something from her pocket and holding it out in front of her. There was a beep from behind Marco and Janna, one of the the strange horseless carriages Star had seen around the place lighting up in sync with the sound.

"I call shotgun!" Janna exclaimed, booking it for the front door before Marco could protest, and he did indeed protest. He took off after her the moment she started towards it, and after a brief struggle over who could climb into the seat the moment the door was yanked open Janna inevitably came out victorious, leaning her guitar case up against her legs.

Marco stuck his tongue out at Janna as he made the walk of shame to the back door.

"You can sit in the back with Marco, hun." Jackie spoke up, pulling Stars attention away from the seat feud currently going down. "Do they have cars in your… uh, dimension?

Star shook her head. "No, nothing like this. Just warnicorns and carriages. How… exactly does this thing move?"

"Oh, uh." Jackie let out an awkward chuckle, shrugging her shoulders. "That's a bit out of my expertise, actually. It's all mechanical, a little too complicated to explain. But it's safe, don't worry."

Star wasn't a coward, so she didn't really particularly care how safe it was. She just wanted to know how it moved around without any warnicorns or magic. She shrugged her shoulders, heading for the back door of the deep blue car. It was small, and honestly Star was a little concerned she might not fit very comfortably inside as tall as she was.

Marco must have noticed her staring blankly at the door handle, because he leaned over his seat to open it for her, offering up an awkward smile. "You just… have to pull it."

"Oh, Thanks!" She managed to climb inside without smacking her head against the roof, but just as she'd expected she had stay leaned down once she was in to avoid just that.

"Oh… Sorry, Star. It's not a long drive. Like, fifteen minutes tops." Jackie apologised, glancing back at her through the rear view mirror. She must have looked exactly as uncomfortable as she felt.

"I'll be fine," Star assured her, sinking down further in the seat so she didn't have strain herself leaning over. "I've had less comfortable seating arrangements than this in my lifetime."

"Seatbelt."

"What?" Star glanced over at Marco, who was staring at her with an almost unnerving intensity. "Did you… say something?"

"You have to wear a seatbelt." Marco repeated, when the only response she gave him was a blank stare he immediately scooted closer, reaching over her to grab what was apparently the seatbelt in question. Stars face flushed, painfully aware of the fact he was quite literally draped over her to grab it. He pulled back to click it in place over her, shifting back to his own seat to do the same.

"If you don't wear it and we crash, you'll go straight through the windshield, probably die, or worse." He sounded dead serious, too.

Star blinked, bewildered by the sudden shift in tone. "Thanks?"

"Marco, don't scare her." Jackie scolded, the car bursting to life with a deep rumble. "It's fine, Star. We won't crash. Marco's just… passionate about car safety."

"Of course I'm passionate, I'm generally passionate about things that keep me from dying, as all humans with basic self preservation should be." Marco retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Star could hear Janna snickering from the seat in front of her.

Star couldn't help it, a small snicker of her own escaped her despite her best efforts to hold it back. She slapped a hand over her mouth, turning away from Marco in an attempt to hide her expression. If Marco noticed, he didn't mention it.

The car ride was painfully uneventful, as much as Star enjoyed staring out the window to watch how fast the scenery passed her by, there wasn't really much else to do in a car aside from that. Star was practically bouncing in the her seat by the time they arrived, hands pressed against the window as they pulled up the driveway of the blue suburban home. There was a flag Star didn't quite recognise held up by a thin pole attacked to the homes porch. She assumed it must be a family crest or something, but then again she'd seen it on a few homes down this street.

"My uncle is on a work trip, and my aunt is helping host some church event until later tonight, so we have the house to ourselves. We just can't piss off the neighbours." Jackie was already stepping out of the car, circling around to Stars door to open it for her. Star certainly wasn't going to complain about the help, especially not when Jackie reached over to free her from the seatbelt she still had no clue how to release on her own.

"Right." Star nodded her head like she had a single clue what Jackie was talking about, swinging her arms absentmindedly as she followed along behind her. The moment Jackie had the front door open Janna was shoving past them to slip inside, setting her guitar case down against the wall and immediately booking it through the living room towards the kitchen.

The home was spacious, at least by humans' standards. And it seemed the ocean themes that carried through Jackie's outfit extended to her home too. The front door opened up into a living room, a creamy white sofa sat against the far wall of the room, lined with blue and white patterned pillows. Above it, a collection of vintage whale and sailboat prints, along with a weathered wooden oar. There were whales everywhere, in fact, lining shelves and sitting nestled on the coffee table. A creature Star only recognised due to the little whale charm Janna carried around on her bag. Which was, to be fair, very fittingly a gift from Jackie anyway. From what Star could see of the kitchen, it seemed like the themed decor didn't stop in just the living room either.

"My aunt really likes the ocean. She's a marine biologist." Jackie explained, as though reading her mind through expression alone. Stars brows furrowed. What the hell was a marine biologist exactly?

"It means she studies marine life, things that live in sea." Marco elaborated, Star let out a hum of acknowledgement.

"Right. Fish."

Jackie raised an eyebrow as Janna shouted something about lasagna from the kitchen, shaking her head with a soft snicker. "It's for you! Aunt Mirabel made two last night, she knows you like them!" She called back. Even Star snickered at the exclamation of pure joy Janna gave her in return.

"You just ate lunch, why don't you save it for later?" Jackie suggested, disappearing into the kitchen herself.

That left just Star and Marco. He glanced toward the kitchen, clearly debating whether to follow, before eventually slipping through a doorway just right of them instead. Despite her better judgment, Star followed him instead of heading back to Janna.

She wasn't sure what exactly she'd expected to be through the door, but this certainly wasn't it. The walls were covered with some kind of strange foam, a smaller sofa and coffee table was nestled in the corner, and most of the space taken up by what seemed to be a large instrument of sorts, or perhaps it was some kind of earth technology? Whatever it was, they certainly didn't have anything like it on Mewni.

Marco beelined straight for the sofa, setting his bag down beside him to pull out a laptop and a few textbooks. He glanced up at her briefly, before returning his attention to his things.

Star leaned back to rest against the wall, shifting awkwardly in the silence. "What's your, uh… You know, what do you learn about at college?" She finally asked, trying to make conversation. Although the proper term for it escaped her right now.

"Psychology."

"Oh, right. Yeah. Sounds… fun." Stars face flushed because, for once in her life, she was feeling strikingly uncool. Something about this guy just stole away any of her usual unwavering confidence. It left her feeling unbearably self conscious. Maybe it was the fact people on Mewni usually spoke to her with clear respect if they weren't a friend. Janna and Jackie had both been so easy, so friendly. They kept conversations lively, were willing to work around her lack of knowledge about human culture. Marco, on the other hand… She felt like she was burdening him just by standing in the same room.

As the door clicked open Star tried not to make her relief too obvious the moment Jackie stepped into the room, Janna trailing along behind her. The pout on her face suggested Jackie had triumphed in the debate over wether or not to eat the lasagna now or later. The shift in Marco's demeanour was immediate, though, his shoulders relaxing and his hardened expression easing into something softer.

"You can sit down, Star. Make yourself comfortable." Jackie made her way over to the seat nestled behind that strange instrument Star had noticed earlier, settling down into it. "We're just waiting for Ingrid. Has Janna introduced you two before?"

"Nope." Janna answered before Star could even process the question, setting her guitar case down on the floor to clip it open. "I haven't really had a chance."

"You'll like her. She can be a lot but… I mean you like Janna, and you can't really get more extra than Janna." Jackie said, and Marco snickered to himself over the comment from behind his laptop.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Janna decided, pulling her guitar from its case. It was pitch black and covered in stickers, much like it's case. All skulls or colourful flags Star didn't recognise. The shape was bold, aggressive. Its sharp edges almost reminded Star of the sort of decor you'd find in the Underworld.

She glanced over at the sofa Marco had all but claimed, letting out a soft sigh, reluctantly so she decided to take Jackie up on her offer to get comfortable, settling down on the opposite end and trying her best not to invade Marco's space. Difficult when the sofa wasn't all that big to begin with. He didn't so much as spare her a glance.

"She's an international student," Jackie continued. "From Germany. She had some crazy culture shock her first year in America. Maybe you two can bond over that."

Star shrugged. She doubted this Germany was anything like Mewni, but admittedly, speaking to someone else who'd had trouble adjusting didn't sound terrible. There was only so much she could get from venting to Janna of all people.

"What's that you're sitting in front of, anyway?" She asked, Jackie's gaze following hers before she let out a sound of acknowledgement.

"It's a drum set. Uh, an instrument." Jackie explained. Star couldn't help but feel vindicated, she'd called it. So it was something music related then.

"I've been playing since I was like…" She trailed off, brows furrowed.

"Twelve." Marco chimed in, glancing up at her only briefly. Jackie clicked her fingers, nodding her head.

"Yes, twelve! Thank you, Marco."

Jackie grabbed a pair of wooden sticks, spinning one in her hand before beginning to play. Now that she was watching how it worked, listening to its sound, Star realised they did in fact have a similar instrument on Mewni, although the name escaped her. It was loud, but not in a bad way. Star found herself tapping her finger along to the beat. Jackie seemed so full of energy while she played, putting her whole body into each motion. It was infectious, even Star felt pumped by the time Jackie had finished.

"Show off," Janna teased, busy plugging her guitar into some box, which was plugged into the wall (not that Star could even imagine why). Jackie shot her playful glare, chucking one of her sticks in Janna's direction. Unfortunately, she'd looked up just in time for it to smack her in the forehead, letting out a bewildered gasp.

"Jesus. We haven't even started, and you two are already beating each other up."

Star turned her attention to the door at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and her face flushed as she took in the woman who had just stepped into the room, who was setting down what seemed to be another guitar case. Her makeup was heavy, and far more elaborate than anything she'd seen Janna wear. It was very… monochrome. In fact, everything about this girl was. If Janna's fashion came off as intimidating, then this girl was on a whole other level; heavy black boots, fishnets and leather pleated skirt. Her shirt was low cut, and very form fitting. There was artwork down both her arms, seemingly engraved right into the skin.

"Ingrid, hey! Meet Star." Jackie was immediately setting down her remaining drumstick and pulling herself to her feet, striding over to pull Ingrid into a brief hug. Janna was less affectionate, simply nodding her head in greeting.

"Star?" Ingrid's accent was thick, in a way that was even more striking than Janna or Jackie's. Star had been told her own Mewni accent made her sound British, whatever that meant. "Oh! Hey, Star, that's a sick name."

Star managed a smile the moment she remembered her manners and shook off the initial shock over Ingrid's appearance. "Hey." She leaned back against the sofa, admittedly trying a little too hard to seem nonchalant about everything. "And uh, thanks. Ingrid is cool too."

"It's basic, really. But I appreciate the compliment." She flashed Marco a smile, not that he noticed with his nose still buried in the laptop. "And, hello to you, too, Marco."

"Hey."

Well, at the very least now, it was clear to Star that she wasn't the only one Marco was less than talkative with. That was something.

"Ignore him, he's got an essay due in like, a couple weeks. But he's powering through it now so he can submit it within the first few days the assignment opened, like a freak," Janna spoke up, shaking her head. "He's in work mode."

"Sorry I don't drink six cans of Monsters then drag myself through an entire essay two days before the deadline. Unlike you, I don't thrive in chaos," Marco retorted.

"Why are you writing an essay in the same room as a band in the middle of practice?" Ingrid chuckled, hand on her hip. "Doesn't seem the most productive study location."

Marco shrugged, "I like the company."

Ingrid seemed to accept the answer, turning her attention back to Star. "You are… very tall." She acknowledged. "Where are you from?"

"Oh, Mewni! It's in another dimension. Long story. But I'm not human, that's why I'm tall— well, I'm not really. Not by Mewman standards. Humans are just short."

"Ah, so your pointed ears are real? I thought it was a body mod or something. That's sick. You look like an elf!" Ingrid exclaimed, barely disguising her excitement.

"A what?" Really, was anyone gonna explain to her what on Mewni an 'elf' was? She'd heard the word thrown around twice already.

"Nevermind." Ingrid waved her off. "I forget you won't have a clue what I'm on about."

Marco didn't much like chaos, yet chaos was all life ever threw at him. There was the house fire when he was barely seven that entirely destroyed the only home he'd known up until that point. There was car accident that had taken away his mother. Not to mention his scarily close call with death just last year and now—apparently— a magical princess from another dimension.

A princess that, despite his best efforts to avoid her, had gotten herself tangled up with Janna. Once someone was friends with Janna, it was hard to really bar them from his life. He and Janna spent a good portion of their free time together. She was, albeit not by blood, his sister. They'd been raised alongside each other, since their mothers were— had been— best friends.

So here he was, sitting on Jackie's aunts sofa at eleven at night, despite knowing full and well that he'd have to get up for lectures the next morning, right across from the woman he'd made a very strong mental note to never so much as look at, let alone speak to.

Ingrid had headed back home after band practice, which was unsurprising; she didn't usually stick around for dinner if they ate together. She had a boyfriend she'd much rather spend her time with outside of practice. So that just left Jackie, Janna, and of course, Star.

Who names their kid Star, anyway?

"And you get like, taken to a dungeon if you kill one?"

Marco shifted his attention back to the conversation, immediately raising his eyebrow. Dungeon? The dimension she came from really was… medieval.

"I guess it— Wait, dungeon? You have dungeons back home?" Jackie laughed. She'd been trying to explain the concept of an endangered species to Star for the past ten minutes after falling into a conversation about her aunt's conservation work.

"You don't?" Star questioned, looking to Janna like the woman might tell her they were just messing around, but Janna only snickered along with Jackie.

"We have jail, which is maybe worse, maybe better. Depends what your dungeon has going on," Janna explained.

As bad as landing yourself in jail was here, Marco had a feeling whatever the fuck the dungeon entailed was probably worse.

"The dungeon isn't supposed to be good, it's supposed to be a dungeon," Star insisted, sounding almost offended.

Yeah, that pretty much answered any questions he had.

Star was obnoxious, to put it lightly. She didn't seem to care about an entire species dying off when Jackie had briefly explained the concept to her, even mentioned how her people saw it as a great victory. Lovely. She was loud, she didn't wait her turn to speak—constantly cutting people off— she chewed in a way that just really irked him, and she was constantly bragging about her hunting skills or something. He was only half paying attention.

He could go on, but the point was that she had the personality of an annoying frat boy trapped in a deceptively bright and colourfully dressed princess' body. And she had a way of creating chaos wherever she went, it seemed, at least judging by the stories she'd shared. He did not need any more of that.

"Hey, Marco!"

Marco glanced over at Star to show he'd heard her, not bothering to so much as grace her with a verbal response. She was smiling at him, showing her teeth…which were oddly sharp, more like a dog's than a human's. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"You haven't spoken in ages," she continued. "Sometimes I forget you can actually talk."

He grimaced, shrugging his shoulders. He couldn't tell if it was meant as an observation or a tease, but either way, he didn't like how she had said it like it was something to be amused about.

"Maybe I just don't want to talk to you," Marco retorted. The words felt venomous even as they left his mouth, and he regretted it the moment he watched that smile fall from her face, replaced by something far more fragile. He shrank down in his seat, turning his head away. He did this more often than he'd like to admit when it came to people outside of his usual circle of friends.

"Marco," Jackie scolded, and he could tell from her tone she was shooting him an absolutely withering look.

He could feel everyone's eyes on him, and it was suffocating.

"I'm just going to wait in the car. Can I have the keys?" He asked, abruptly standing from his spot on the sofa beside Janna. She immediately reached out to grab his wrist, but Marco just as promptly yanked it away from her.

"Come on, Marco. It might be another hour before we leave. It's dark. Just sit down; no one's gonna bother you while you're in a mood."

"Don't touch me. I'm not in a mood." She did have a point, though. He didn't like sitting outside in the dark on his own. He didn't really like being out in the dark at all. He didn't wait around for Janna to speak again before storming off to his second best option for privacy, the bathroom.

Even with the door shut and locked behind him he could hear everyone's muffles voices, just barely make out Janna assuring Star that he just 'got like this sometimes.'

He huffed, sinking down against the door to pull his legs to his chest. She wasn't wrong, so he couldn't really be mad about the comment even if he wanted to be. He did get like this sometimes.

The psychology major side of him was self aware that his social anxiety was a good chunk of the reason, combined with a lot of built up trauma and a healthy dose of control issues. But understanding something and actually being able to regulate it were two entirely different ball games.

Right now, with the panic easing, he was just embarrassed. Embarrassed and anxious about how everyone would react to him just… wandering back in like nothing happened to sit back down. So he'd stay on the floor, he supposed. Until it was time to leave and Janna turned up to herd him back to the car.

Fortunately, his moping lasted hardly a quarter of an hour before he heard something slide along the floor beside him. It was a piece of paper. He tilted his head, sliding it closer to read what was scribbled over the front.

'I'm sorry if I upset you, I think you're nice. —Star'

Beside it, Star had doodled a picture of herself looking particularly sad and droopy. It pulled a soft snicker from him despite his best efforts to keep quiet. God, why was she apologising to him? It should be the other way around.

"No, I'm sorry…" He spoke up, hugging his legs closer to his chest. "I really do just… get like this. You didn't upset me. I just upset myself."

"I'm sorry anyway… For a lot of things, really. Especially for almost sucking you through a vortex." He could hear Star shuffling to sit down behind the door. "I guess I just get like that, too. Impulsive, I mean. I felt really bad for scaring you away."

She sounded so genuine, Marco couldn't help but feel maybe the way he'd been picking her apart in his head was just him trying to find reasons to justify keeping her at arm's length. Because she was chaotic, but she was also kind of nice. And she laughed at all his jokes, listened so intently to him the few times he spoke, even if she had a habit of interrupting everyone else.

She was trying, was the point. Trying her best to make him comfortable despite her quirks, and he… was kind of an asshole.

"I scare easily. I don't think it was that bad… Well… Okay, the vortex was kinda bad. Just don't almost kill me with magic again and I think I can let it slide…"

Star laughed, a noise he found surprisingly melodic considering the rest of her. It was soft, genuine. "Deal. No more dangerous magic around you. I promise. I'll stick to the harmless stuff."

"Deal."

"Can we be friends, then?" Star asked, her voice lowering into something more tentative, almost nervous.

Marco felt a smile tugging the corners of his lips upwards. "Yeah, we can be friends."

Chapter Text

Finding the Butterfly princess had proven far easier said than done. The folder of intel that this mysterious Septarian client of theirs had dumped at their feet— along with the promise of a hefty payout— was detailed, scarily so. The client had already done most of the heavy lifting, to; he'd figured out what dimension the princess had been relocated to and had given them a rough location to search within that dimension. Yvgeny wasn't sure how he had gotten his hands on this information, especially this quickly, and quite frankly he didn't care to know. He hadn't even been aware the princess had left her kingdom until he'd accepted this job, but supposedly she had been off Mewni for nearly two weeks. Only two weeks, and their client had found nearly her exact location.

You'd think spotting a Mewman amongst humans would be simple. They were far taller, for one. Yet it had taken Yvgeny days of scouring through the list of locations— or campuses, as their client had put it— to finally catch sight of her. He'd learnt the hard way during his search that humans tended to be a little skittish around him. The running and screaming kind of skittish. So, as always, stealth was his friend when it came to pulling this off. Especially so now that he was tailing the princess.

'The Druline Butterfly', as the monsters called her. She was impulsive, driven by the instinct to kill that every Butterfly seemed to share. Yet, after training alongside that butcher of a father within the ranks of the Butterfly kingdom's royal guards, she was quickly gearing up to send monsters into another age of fear. She knew how to stalk, how to wear her target down, and she had the stamina to tail them across half of Mewni if she needed to. She hunted just like a Druline: fierce dog-like predators native to Mewni's deserts. So, needless to say, Yvgeny was working with caution at the forefront of his mind.

He stiffened at the sound of a door clicking open, crouching down lower into the underbrush that he'd been camped out in for the past few hours. His skin naturally adjusted to the tone of the leaves and twigs, one of the many reasons his kind excelled in stealth. It certainly helped that it was dark out by this point, too. Even the moonlight was stifled by the clouds in the sky.

The door to the home the princess has been tucked away in was pushed open, laughter immediately erupting from within. The Druline princess stepped out first, followed by that same group of three humans she'd entered with. They hardly seemed to be much a threat from what he'd observed thus far; they were small, with no claws or fangs or strange powers to defend themselves. Helpless, really.

The princess was engrossed in conversation as the group headed for the 'car', a word Yvgeny had been entirely unfamiliar with before his time on Earth. It was strange, seeing a Butterfly being so friendly with someone that wasn't Mewman. Then again, they'd always been strangely tolerant of species that came from outside their home dimension. No longer a threat to their land, in that case, he supposed.

She seemed fond of these humans in particular, and perhaps that could be used against her. But relying on taking a hostage as leverage wouldn't exactly be the most foolproof way to approach this. There was far too much that could go wrong. Too much room for error. No, he and the rest of the gang would have to overpower her. And given what he'd observed thus far it might not be impossible. She was sloppy with her wand, couldn't consistently cast a spell. She'd fall back on her hand to hand, and she was without that battle axe of hers more often than not. To his surprise, this job actually felt like it may be achievable, and that was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

The goal was very simple: get the wand, get out, hand it over to the strange Septarian that had asked for it. Then get paid, afford proper medicinal care for poor Ludo, and real substantial meals for the gang.

He was so absorbed in the flurry of plans racing through his mind that the sudden flash of light in his eyes startled him so badly he stumbled deeper into the bushes. The light returned to him in an instant, tracking his every move. He squinted against the brightness until his eyes adjusted enough to realise that the shortest of the three humans stood a distance from the bushes, squinting right back in his direction. She held something flat and rectangular in her hand, where the light seemed to pour from the corner of it. He hadn't expected her to start approaching, getting even closer to where he hid.

"Janna! What if it's like— a raccoon with rabies!" Another of the humans called to her, glancing anxiously between his friend and the bushes.

"It's too big to be a raccoon!" She called back.

His gaze shifted to the princess, his blood running cold the moment they locked eyes. It hardly seemed to take her more than a second before recognition sparked, and she jumped into action immediately.

"Janna. Get back behind me." Her tone was just as cold as her expression, fear striking daggers into his heart as her wand formed in her hand. It was enough to freeze the approaching human in place, the girl very hesitantly taking a few steps back towards the car.

"Hey. Star, Marco's right, I think it's just a weird animal. Don't go blowing it up."

"No. No, it's not an animal."

Yvgeny finally had the sense to pull his gaze away from her, fumbling for the dimensional dagger that had been so kindly lent to them by their client. He hated the blasted things, but there was no other way to travel between dimensions unless you has access to a living Pegasus. Not that using the detached horn of a dead one carved into a blade was the alternative he preferred.

He sliced through the air the moment his hand gripped the handle, throwing himself through the resulting portal the instant it opened in front of him. He only remembered to breathe once it had closed behind him, and he reached up to place a hand over his heart. "By the gods…"

"You alright over there, Buff Frog?"

Yvgeny slipped the dimensional dagger back in its sheath, raising his head to find none other than Petren heading his way, whose expression was one of concern. It seemed he'd managed to open the portal just outside of camp for once, which meant he was getting more accurate with it. It was all the practice, he supposed.

"I am fine," Yvgeny assured him, letting out a breathless chuckle. "The princess saw me, I suppose I panicked."

Petren was a very rough-around-the-edges man, who was a soft grey in colour and had a rather impressive set on antlers on his head that he certainly knew how to utilise in a fight. He reached over to give Yvgeny a hearty pat on the back as they both started towards the ruins that contained the camp.

They'd done a great deal of renovating at this point, setting up more permanent sleeping arrangements within the remaining mostly-intact portions of the old castle— building onto it with any wood and cloth they could scavenge up. It wasn't the prettiest, but it was home, and it worked for providing shelter to the gang.

Yvgeny could still recall the days they used to travel around like it was yesterday. They'd wander from location to location looking for work, on occasion picking up someone new to join their odd little misfit family. Then came Ludo, and a lot of things had changed after he'd been dropped into their lives. For better or for worse, Yvgeny wouldn't have it any other way.

"How's the wand situation looking?"

"It is… promising. I cannot say it will not be tough, but I believe we can pull it off without losing anyone. It will just take planning, as anything with such danger does," Yvgeny answered. "Even now that she is aware of me watching her, I doubt she will call it to her mother's attention. So she remains unguarded. Hopefully."

Petren seemed unconvinced, unable to meet Yvgeny's eyes as they walked. The silence dragged on for far longer than was comfortable before he spoke again.

"She still has the wand, she's still a butterfly. Even if we catch her by surprise, I don't—"

"She's sloppy with her magic. We can do this, Petren. Have trust in me." Yvgeny urged as he reached up to squeeze his shoulder, offering a smile. He could understand Petren's hesitation, but the payout for this was far too good to turn down.

Petren sighed, shaking his head. "I know everyone's hungry, Yvgeny. And I know better than anyone here that we need medical supplies. I have a daughter here, of course I know. But this money is no use to us if it gets people killed."

"I know." The smile that Yvgeny's had been trying to maintain, to keep tension from the air, dropped from his face at the thought. He wasn't naive to the fact this was risky, but he'd finish the job himself if it was what he had to do. He was their leader, and he'd make sure they were taken care of no matter what he needed to happen to get it done.

"No one will die. I would never let that happen under my watch. But that is why we must do this. We cannot travel with Ludo, but that makes work scarce. We need this gold."

"I still think we should start sending out smaller groups to go find work further out. Safer work. And—"

"Yvgeny!"

Petren was interrupted by the call and, upon recognising Faro’s voice, Yvgeny quickly pulled his hand away. "We will talk more on this, I promise. Later tonight."

Petren responded with nothing but a weary sigh.

Faro looked more than a little exasperated, scurrying along to meet them at the outskirts of the ruins. She was an Arachnid, an umbrella term used for all the spider species. Her lower body was that of a sleek, solid-black spider, but above the waist, she took on a far more humanoid form. A messy braid kept her raven hair out of her face, and her four eyes glowed a deep, vivid red. Yvgeny could tell he was in for a lecture before he even reached her.

"You said two hours. Maybe three tops. And how long are you gone for? Eight hours, Yvgeny!" She snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm not your free childcare, I have shit to do! I have my own work I gotta get done!"

"Yes, hello to you, too, Faro. How is Ludo?"

Faro rolled her eyes and levelled a tired, unamused stare in his direction. "Ludo is asleep, and I am going to go start the work I should have started three hours ago." She muttered, her tone laced with irritation.

"Ah, off you go. My bad for turning up so late," Yvgeny halfheartedly apologised, waving her off. She certainly didn't need to be told twice, smacking at his arm as she passed by to head out and do god knows what. He wasn't exactly sure where she was finding all this work, or what the work entailed, but he knew better than to press her for any details. She was one of the only things keeping them afloat right now. She was the one to bring in the client that had offered them a job stealing the wand, too. So, needless to say, he appreciated her efforts and he trusted her to handle herself.

There was a handful of greetings tossed his way from those lingering near the freshly lit fire pit as he passed through the entrance gate of their camp. The entire ruin was surrounded by a makeshift wooden wall, one that was hastily built, yet solid enough to do its job. The local wildlife had become more of a threat than anyone had anticipated, and the wall was their band-aid solution to the issue for now.

"Buff frog! I thought the princess probably got you."

A hand tugged at his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. He snickered at the comment, smiling down at the little fawn staring up at him. It was Daethie, Petren's aforementioned daughter and one of the few children in their camp. She was hardly ten years of age at this point and she looked a lot like her mother, he was told, with her unkept mousey brown hair and striking green eyes. She was still young enough to be covered in fawn spots, which were scattered up her nose and along her forehead much like freckles.

"No, she could never. I am simply too quick. Too strong." He reached down to ruffle her hair, earning a giggle from the girl. "Scouting takes time, that is all."

"You were gone forever!"

"How can I be gone forever when I am here now, hm?" Yvgeny retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Daethie seemed at a loss, simply shrugging her shoulders. She kicked at a small pebble that rested beside her hoof, cloven and sturdy enough to have no need for any shoes. It was a blessing when a good pair was so hard to come by; the less monsters he had to source them for, the better. Especially because he knew he would never let a child go without them.

"I'm glad though, that you ain't dead. I was hoping you wouldn't be. Dad tells me not to worry, but I do." She stepped closer to wrap her arms around his leg in a brief hug, Yvgeny resting a hand on her back.

"Your father is wise to tell you not to fuss over such things. There is no need,I can promise you that." There was, admittedly, a lot of reason to worry but a child like Daethie didn't need that on her mind. It wasn't her job to worry over her elders.

"Dae, don't bother Buff! He's probably tired!" Right on cue, Petren was returning through the gate with a hefty pile of dry branches under his arms for the fire pit. The reason he'd been wandering outside of camp in the first place, it seemed.

"Ludo wouldn't play today. He isn't feeling well, and he hasn't left bed." Daethie blurted out in a hurry, before her father could shoo her away. "Is he dying? He sure looks like he's caught his death. I asked Faro and all she said is that I shouldn't be asking folks things like that."

Yvgeny drew in a sharp breath, his words caught in his throat. He didn't blame her for asking— she had all the curiosity to be expected from a child her age— but that didn't mean the subject coming up so abruptly didn't catch him off guard. Perhaps the worst part of it all was the fact she was right. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, Ludo hadn't been well since the day they'd pulled him from the charred remains of his family's castle.

It was yet another reason why the gold from this job was so important to him. Without it to afford medicine and care, Ludo very likely would die.

"Dae!" Petren exclaimed, setting the branches down so he could scoop her up in his arms the moment he reached them. "Faro is right, you don't go gossiping about things so dark. May the gods clean your mind, child."

Daethie let out an exasperated huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He… No, he has not caught his death. Not yet. But his sickness is complicated, it rises and falls. That's all." Yvgeny ignored the pitying stare Petren was giving him, clearing his throat and turning to head for the main building in the centre of camp instead. Neither Petren nor his daughter followed or called after him.

The interior of the building was modest, made of stone walls where the ruins remained intact. Any holes or gaps or missing walls were constructed from simple, unadorned wood. The beds that lined the walls were all handmade wooden bases, with bedding made from cloth stuffed full of dried moss, feathers, and anything else soft they could scavenge up. There were a few long tables cut from logs filling space in the centre with chairs just as simple in design. And, of course, plenty of hides draped over the floor in an attempt to make the space a little more comfortable, to keep the cold ground at bay.

Yvgeny headed straight for the only bed piled up with extra bedding, as fluffed up as possible and formed into a mound. A bowl of crushed herbs and twine rested on a small bedside table beside it, a few loose leaves from the Bitterweed trees scattered about on the floor. They often used them as makeshift bandages, as they were good for soaking up blood and tended to keep infections at bay. Although, in Ludo's case, they were instead used for keeping the herbal remedies in place over his burns.

"Ludo," Yvgeny hummed softly, reaching down to peel back the layers of bedding until the little owlet was revealed, curled up on his side with his head tucked into his wing.

Usually an Avian of Ludo's age would be an adorable bundle of downy feathers and fluff which, perhaps Ludo once was, before his kingdom had been raided. His homeland had been claimed in the aftermath to expand out the Butterfly Kingdom's territory. He had survived, but at the cost of most of his feathers and some very nasty burns. What remained of his previously snow-white feathers were stained an unpleasant shade of green, which meant he fell somewhat short of society’s definition of adorable.

Though, to Yvgeny, he would always be the most precious child he'd laid eyes on. Ludo was his, how could he look at him any other way?

Ludo let out a displeased whine at the loss of his blankets, lifting his head and squinting against the darkness. The moment his large eyes had adjusted to the lack of light and he recognised who had stirred him, his face had lit up with both relief and excitement. He was quick to start sitting upright, practically dragging his body to do what he wanted through the clear discomfort that moving around brought him.

"You said—"

"I know, I know. I said at most three hours. Faro has already scolded me plenty," Yvgeny interrupted, taking the opportunity to look Ludo over. Most of his burns were already freshly wrapped; it would have been Faro's doing, he supposed. She always took such good care of him, no matter how much she complained over being saddled with babysitting. He'd have to pay her back for it somehow.

"I just wish you wouldn't be gone so long… Faro is grumpy, and everyone bothers me a whole lot more!" Ludo answered with a huff in his tone

"They do not bother, they worry." Yvgeny couldn't help but frown at the way Ludo pouted, sinking back down into bed. The poor thing did seem exhausted despite the sleep he'd gotten, much like the others had said.

"Ah! I brought you something." He clipped open the pack strapped to his side, rifling through it until he found the small ceramic cat he'd snatched on Earth. Humans had so many of these simply laying around outside their homes, so he figured they wouldn't miss just one. And the little cat just happened to be the only one he could actually fit in his pack.

Ludo let out a gasp, pulling it closer to turn it in his hands as Yvgeny set it down beside him. He handled it like it was the most fragile thing on Mewni. "Is it from that dimension, uh…"

"Earth." Yvgeny nodded his head. "It is. They are everywhere, the humans use them as… decoration, I suppose. Around their homes. Like Avians weave forest creatures to decorate nests. I cannot weave for you, but this is just as good, eh?"

"I think I like it better than the weaving; it's got lots of colours. I like colours." Ludo set the cat down in the corner of his bed, taking extra care to position it exactly how he wanted it. "My mother never weaved cats, but she would weave me many bugs. I liked to learn about them— the bugs. Although, father always scolded me, said it wasn't very becoming of a prince to dig in the mud and drag bugs inside."

"What a fool he was, then. Who says a prince cannot love bugs? They were in your kingdom, so they were your subjects, and a prince loves all his subjects."

The fact Ludo was, by birthright, a prince would sometimes strike Yvgeny like a punch to the gut. It was far too easy to forget that fact when he acted no different from any other eight year old boy. Of course, being the last remaining heir to a kingdom levelled by war wasn't exactly a privilege. He'd lost his chance at lavish upper-class life the moment his parents died. There was nothing to be done about that. Still, Ludo insisted on retaining his title of prince around camp, and Yvgeny didn't have the heart to refuse him that. No matter how much it got on people's nerves.

It had almost a year since they'd first taken him in, he often couldn't believe it hadn't been longer. He felt like he'd known this kid forever.

"I don't know… I suppose. I don't think bugs really need a prince, though. They aren't very… um… polipacol"

"Political? I suppose not." Yvgeny chuckled. He draped the bedding back over the prince, taking care to tuck him in. "Why don't you rest more, hm? I will be here in the morning, and I do not leave again until afternoon."

"Alright… and we spend the whole morning together, no running off?" Ludo asked, immediately tucking his head back under his wing, peering up at Yvgeny through his few remaining flight feathers.

"Of course. No running off, you have my word."

Ludo, content with his answer, allowed his tired green eyes to drift closed. Even tucked up like this, there was pain lingering in the poor boy's expression. It left Yvgeny's heart aching.

Gods, he couldn't lose this kid, his kid. They needed the money they'd get from stealing that wand and he'd make sure they succeeded.

Laptop, check. Pencil case, yep. Marco had already preemptively counted to make sure he hadn't lost a pen, too. He had the two notebooks he needed, and the textbook for his cognitive psychology class at eleven. Everything was packed exactly where it belonged in his soft red (Not pink, Janna. Red.) backpack.

Taking a brief glance at his watch, he was glad to see he was still running exactly on time. Just like every morning. He planned each day out meticulously from the moment he'd wake to the moment he fell asleep. And, although he'd be the first to admit it was a little excessive, it kept things in routine, familiar.

Today was mostly attending lectures and keeping up with study; slow and quiet like any other Thursday. He wasn't really expecting anything exciting until the band gig on Saturday. He had that all planned out too, of course. As much as he could plan it, anyway, because he wasn't naive to the fact there would always be things he couldn't control.

He set his backpack aside so he could lay out a set of more comfortable clothes for when he returned to his dorm that evening, his current outfit was no different from what he always wore: jeans, a white button up and his favourite hoodie. Contrary to what Janna would have people believe, he didn't wear the same unwashed hoodie every single day. He had multiple, thank you very much.

The dorm itself was as tidy as you'd expect, everything strategically organised, at least on his side. Despite that, it was hardly void of personality. The walls covered with Love sentence posters and Polaroid pictures of various things, including plenty of his friends. There were a few Mackie Hand figures arranged on his desk, poised beside the complete box set of his films.

Everything was well thought out from the way he arranged the photos on the wall to the colours of his bedspread and throw pillows. The dorm had a very red and teal theme that extended even to his roommate, Jeremy Birnbaum's, side. Jeremy wasn't messy, thank god, just disorganised, but that wasn't exactly Marcos business. And he had agreed to buy everything in red to keep the place colour coordinated, which Marco appreciated, even if the guy was unbelievably annoying.

Speaking of.

Marco set the clothes down on his bed, grabbing his backpack to pull it over his shoulder. He did one quick checklist in his head, yet again, before he was satisfied, stalking over to the light switch to flick it on. The reaction was immediate, an exasperated groan pouring from Jeremy's mouth where he lay bundled under the covers.

"Mar…"

"It's time to go. You always walk me to my first lecture on Thursdays." Marco immediately demanded, crossing his arms as he glared down at him. It was still dark out when he headed to his first lectures around this time of the year; he wasn't a fan of walking in the dark.

"Jesus." Jeremy dragged a hand down his face, squinting against the light. "My lecture was cancelled, can I not sleep in? I only walk you cause I'm already heading that way."

Marco tapped a foot against the ground, feeling the anxiety rising the surface already. He didn't walk alone, that's just not what he did. Jeremy always walked him on Thursday. Always.

"Well—I can't walk by myself."

"Can't someone else take you?" Jeremy grumbled, rolling over to pull the pillow over his head.

"No. Jackie and Janna are in lectures already, and Brittney doesn't have a lecture until noon, so she'll be impossible to wake up." Marco insisted.

"Look, Marco. There's gonna be plenty of people around, nothing will happen. Walk by yourself. Probably good for you to, you know, mix it up a little."

Marco gripped at the fabric of his hoodie, lingering for a moment longer like Jeremy might suddenly change his mind, but another glance at his watch told him he didn't really have the time to stay and convince him anyway.

"Fine." He was courteous enough to flick back off the light before he left, figured Jeremy deserved that much for putting up with him. Even if he was a little peeved he hadn't informed him of the change of plans before the morning of.

He drew in a sharp breath, bracing himself as his eyes lingered on the door. He could do this, it was just a walk through campus. There would be students everywhere, and Jeremy was right, no one just… randomly jumped people in the middle of campus. Not usually anyway. Oh, god.

Marco missed the carefree days he could walk without this unbearable lingering fear. He had good days, of course, days where situations like this would hardly bother him. But his plans had changed, the uncertainty of it all mixing with the fear he was already struggling to avoid. Maybe that was why he felt like a ticking time bomb.

He should probably call Janna, even if she was in the middle of a lecture. It just always felt so embarrassing to pull her away from something over this.

He shoved down the rising panic, stepping out the door and into the hall. The click of the door locking behind him echoed so much louder than he remembered. It kept him frozen in place for a moment, feeling as though his heart had stopped beating, just waiting for something to happen.

As Marco finally pushed himself away from the door to start walking, it was like his consciousness had been left that little bit behind his body as it moved. He felt like he was watching himself from over his shoulder, trailing airily behind, not entirely in control. Even as he tried to focus on his footsteps or to count the corners of all the doorways he passed— even as he tried all of the grounding techniques his therapist had suggested— nothing changed. It was always a little too late for them, once he was this freaked out.

"Ma…co. Whe…"

The voice that played in his head like a broken record was familiar, always repeating that same phrase. It was always distant at first, broken and quiet. The memory was scattered and nonsensical, and he could never quite put a face to who was speaking. Just a hovering figure.

"Where are yo…"

Suddenly, he was running. His breathing was laboured and panicked. It felt like there was someone behind him, a heavy lingering presence, but he couldn't turn around even if he wanted to. The world around him was dark, and he was left with no sense of where he was or what he was so afraid of. All his brain seemed to be focused on was that voice, the heavy weight of whatever lurked just behind him.

"…are you running off to?"

There was that impact, stealing the breath from his lungs. And then—

"Marco?"

Marco flinched, letting out a brief, frightened scream. He thrashed against the hands gripping his shoulders, and they let him go immediately. He could only vaguely register that whoever it was had taken a step away from him.

"Marco, what's wrong?"

The void of black around him gave way to murky grey sky, his senses all flooding back to him. He felt like his consciousness had finally returned to reside in his body again, too. He could register that he was outside, but he wasn't exactly sure when he'd even left the dorm building. The last thing he remembered was the hallway that seemed to be increasingly narrowing in on him.

In front of him stood none other than Star Butterfly, staring down at him with an expression that was a mix of concern and something he assumed was protectiveness. It wasn't necessarily a warm or comforting expression, though; if it hadn't been for the time they'd spent together during the latest band practice, the look on her face might have sent him running all over again.

It took Marco a shamefully long moment to even begin gathering his bearings, meekly gesturing to the closest bench just a short few feet away from them. He was grateful that Star seemed to take the hint, when she slid a careful arm around him to place it on his middle back and guide him towards the bench to sit.

Star wasn't his first choice to seek comfort from after a panic attack, nor was she his second or third, but he could acknowledge that he probably did need a little bit of help right now.

She didn't sit at first, staring back the way he'd came with narrowed eyes. Her shoulders were tense and it was clear she was on high alert. This, combined with the fact she'd almost wand-blasted a raccoon last night, gave Marco the impression that maybe her home dimension was a little more inhospitable than Earth.

"Nothing's coming, Star. You can relax. I just— I panicked."

Star huffed through her nose, lingering in that defensive stance for a moment longer. Then her shoulders slumped and her wand returned back to its bracelet form. "You were running like something wanted you dead. I thought maybe…"

"Are you still caught up about that animal in the bushes last night?" He asked, jumping at the chance to avoid talking about his own issues. He was finally starting to catch his breath now, at least.

"It wasn't an animal!" Star exclaimed, practically throwing herself down onto the bench beside him and slumping down as far down as she feasibly could without sliding off entirely. For a princess, she had terrible posture. Hell, even for non-royalty. Just watching her sometimes made his back hurt.

"But yeah… I guess so. I'll get over it. I'm more worried for your sake than mine. Janna and Jackie's, too…"

That was concerning; he'd add it to the list of reasons to be unsettled going anywhere on his own, he supposed. Star must have noticed his discomfort, because she immediately reached over to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't let any monsters eat you."

Great. Very reassuring. "Uh, thanks."

"So… what was the screaming and the running about? You said you panicked... What about?"

Marco grimaced as the focus of their conversation was drawn back to what he was so desperately trying to avoid talking about. But he had been awfully obvious, so he supposed she deserved an answer. One as vague as he could possibly make it, anyway.

"Just… got caught up in a… It was just like a bad memory. I panicked over it. It's nothing."

Star hummed softly, like she was thinking over something to herself. When her words seemed to find her after, she snapped her fingers before pointing one in Marco;s direction.

"Oh! One time, as a kid, my dad got lost in the woods and almost died. Had to live off of Overa Berries. Now, whenever the servants serve them in pies or desserts, he crawls onto the ground and curls up in a ball." Star narrated with her hands as she spoke, something Marco was becoming acutely aware of. "Not even mum can get him up, so usually they have to just drag him off to bed and hope he's fine by morning. Is it like that?"

"I guess so?" She was essentially right, but sounded like her father had some issues, too. Poor guy. Judging by the way Star spoke about it, Marco wasn't confident they had good therapy on Mewni.

"What's your Overa Berry, then?" Star asked, with a tilt of her head. Marco's brows furrowed, the question not quite clicking at first. "What sets you off?" She elaborated, and Marco made a small noise in acknowledgement.

"I just don't like walking alone when it's still dark out." He admitted.

"Well, where are you trying to go? I'll take you." Star was on her feet in an instant, hand on her hip as she grinned down at him. It was infectious. He couldn't help but smile back.

"To my lecture, but I'm pretty sure it's on an entirely different side of campus from any of yours."

"Ah, I'm always late anyway. Who cares." Star dismissed with a wave of her hands. She reached out to help him up, which Marco gladly accepted.

"When does your lecture start?"

"Seven."

"Star, that was almost an hour ago." He snickered, the girl simply shrugged her shoulders. Well, all the more reason she had the time to walk him, he supposed.

The Apple Corner Bar was a small and decently cosy establishment, nestled on the corner of a quiet street surrounded mostly by takeout food and a few thrift stores. The usual crowd of older men looking to avoid returning home for just a few more hours after work had taken refuge in the corner booths. They nursed their drinks and tried to avoid the influx of college-aged kids as best they could.

Marco had laid claim to the table closest to the small stage nestled at the back of the bar, with Brittney and a few of the other cheerleaders seated around him. They'd all driven in together. There was Sabrina, the brunette and the tallest of the girls, who served as their sober driver. Then Andrea and Megan but really he wasn't all that close to any of them aside from Brittney. There just seemed to be some unspoken solidarity between all the cheerleaders wether they spoke much or not. So they hung out, when they could.

Brittney was wearing a form fitting black dress with a V-shaped neckline that just barely covered her butt, and a matching pair of stiletto heels. Her makeup was elaborate and, honestly, she looked gorgeous. He'd told her as much when she'd first come to grab him from his dorm so they could leave. He was envious of her confidence, the way she could show herself off without an ounce of shame.

He wasn't blind to the fact she always seemed to pull out all the stops with her outfit whenever Janna was involved in their outings, though. But he knew better than to poke the bear on that subject.

His outfit was far less eye-catching than Brittney's, opting more for comfort than anything else. It was a black turtleneck sweater tucked into a pair of black dress pants, topped with a very loose cardigan in the same kind of candy red as his usual hoodies. The most accessories he'd opted for was a simple gold chain on top of the sweater and his deep maroon belt.

"You know that tall blonde girl, right? She's always hanging around Janna, so she has to have introduced you."

Marco followed Brittney's gaze to Star, who was busy helping Jackie and Janna set things up. Well, more so loitering on stage than helping. She had apparently hijacked Janna's leather bomber jacket at some point, it wasn't surprising it fit her just fine when it was as baggy as it was on Janna.

"Star? Yeah, we've been introduced. Why?"

"Star," Brittney repeated, looking the poor girl up and down with clear judgement before she spoke again. "I don't like her; I've got that feeling in my gut, and the gut never lies."

"Are you sure that feeling isn't jealousy?" Sabrina teased, flashing her a grin. "She seems pretty close to Janna."

Brittney scoffed, shooting Sabrina a glare so venomous Marco was surprised Sabrina could even meet her gaze. "I'm sure, Sabrina."

"Janna's not into her, trust me." Marco chimed in. "I mean, they're friends. But Star isn't really… her type of woman, I guess."

"And why would I care what she's into, Marco?" Brittney hissed. Marco held up his hands in defeat.

"I don't know, but she's nice enough. Maybe your gut's wrong."

Speak of the devil; Janna waved to the group as she slipped off the stage. She was in her usual outfit choice for gigs like this: black cargo pants, a green crop top tee and heavy makeup that gave off a sort of grunge vibe. Matched with the (in Marco's opinion) unreasonable amount of piercings she'd given herself over the years, it was quite the look. Without her jacket on, her tattoo sleeves were on full display, too. Lots of skulls, a bat or two, some moths, a large snake centrepiece, that sort of thing.

There was a small crescent moon tattoo visible right in the centre of her chest. One of the only pieces that wasn't apart of her sleeves. That was the result of a childhood pledge, and Marco had a similarly styled sun right in that same spot. Matching tattoos was never exactly a wise idea, but he hadn't regretted it yet. Not when it was with Janna.

Star trailed along behind Janna, following her over to the table and immediately pulling out the chair beside Andrea to sit.

"Hey, you can keep an eye on Star tonight, right? I'll be busy, and she isn't really used to… you know, being on Earth yet." Janna leaned up against the table as she spoke, and Marco could practically hear Brittney's heart pounding.

"Yeah, 'course." Marco agreed, Star couldn't be that much trouble anyway. And, honestly, she wasn't bad company by any means. So long as Brittney didn't decide to ice her out all night, she'd probably fit in with his group well enough.

"Are you drinking tonight?" Janna questioned.

Marco rolled his eyes, an automatic response. For someone as chill as Janna, she sure had turned into an overbearing pain in the ass since the… incident he'd had. "Yes, I am. Because I'm twenty two, and I can make my own choices."

"I'm not saying you can't!" Janna immediately protested. "I just wanted to know who's taking you home. Jeez."

"We've got him covered, Janna. I'll even walk him to his dorm if he wants, I don't mind," Sabrina spoke up.

"I can walk him in," Star interrupted, glancing between Sabrina and Marco. "I don't mind either. Consider it pay back for watching out for me tonight."

"Sweet, Sabrina's driving and Star will walk you in. Text me if you need me." Janna reached out to attempt to ruffle his hair, Marco immediately slapping her hand away. She only snickered in response, turning to head back for the stage.

"She still does that, by the way, every single time I go out," Marco complained. Brittney blinked back into reality, suddenly recalling the fact she could breathe now that there was space between her and Janna.

"So? You're bothered that she cares?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Fuck, Marco. What happened was brutal. And she was beside herself the whole time. You're not the only one messed up about it, let her fuss over you a little."

"Something happened?" Star questioned, glancing between the pair. Marco immediately shook his head. Star was nice, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get into the whole ordeal with her. She was one of the only people who didn't know about it all at this point, a benefit of her coming from another dimension he supposed.

"It's nothing, it was almost a year ago."

Brittney looked like she wanted to protest, but she didn't open her mouth. He was thankful that, at the end of the day, people still let him decide if he wanted to talk about it. That was something, at least.

He was equally as thankful that Star was willing to drop the subject. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Brittney, as expected, was refusing to so much as look at Star and the other girls just seemed awkward. That left him to pick up the slack when it came to conversation, he supposed.

"Have you… tried any alcohol yet? Do you have that on Mewni?" He spoke up, struggling to think of anything else to talk about.

"Yeah, we have fermented drinks that function essentially the same. I haven't tried anything more than a can of beer here, though." Star set her arm on the table so she could rest her head in her hand. "Why? You gonna buy me a drink?"

"I, uh. I was gonna head up the bar and order something for myself. I can get you something too." Marco wasn't sure how he had suddenly been wrapped into paying for someone else's drinks, but he felt bad refusing her at this point. Brittney scoffed beside him, and he didn't need to look over at her to know she was probably rolling her eyes.

"Do you also want a drink, Brittney?" He cooed, reaching over to poke at her side. "I can buy you one, too."

She slapped away his arm, shooting him a halfhearted glare. "Get me my usual, and I'll forgive you for that."

Marco snickered, sliding his chair back so he could get to his feet. "Come on, Star. Come up with me and we can figure out what you'll like."

Marco, in the short span of only two hours, had learnt more about Star than he'd ever thought possible in such a loud and distracting place. The two things weighing most on his mind were as followed: one, Star could drink a lot of earth alcohol before she was so much as buzzed, and two, she never stopped talking once she was.

"—And then I told him, if he thinks his Warnicorn is gonna disrespect me like that, he better hope he can run as fast as one, too. And he's like, freaking out, right?"

"Um, what's a Warnicorn exactly?" Sabrina interrupted. Star had all three of the girls invested in her story at this point (although Brittney was trying her best to pretend she wasn't), and even Marco was at the very least intrigued.

Star set her glass down after downing the rest of her drink, brows furrowed in thought. "Does anyone have ink and paper? Or— a pen. Whatever."

Marco pulled his purse hanging over the back of the chair into his lap, grabbing out the little notepad and pen he always kept in there to slide it across the table. Jackie had brought it for his birthday; the purse, not the notepad.

Star got to work immediately, scribbling something down with with as much focus as she could scrape up after so much alcohol. She slid the notepad to the centre of the table once she was finished. "This is a Warnicorn."

The drawing mostly just looked like a child's attempt at a unicorn, but with long canine teeth that almost resembled that of a sabre cat.

"Awe, they're cute." Sabrina cooed, pulling the drawing closer. The others all hummed in agreement.

"I have one back home; her name's Snowreaper… God, I miss Snow." Star visibly deflated, slumping down in her seat. All of her previous energy disappearing, for all of five seconds at least. Her face lit up the moment she recalled the story she was in the middle of telling, diving straight back into it.

Behind them, Jackie, Janna, and of course Ingrid were all still busy packing up, they'd probably stick around for a long while yet, though, to drink and mingle. He, on the other hand, was starting to feel the social burn out. And he knew for a fact the girls had some sorority charity fundraiser in the morning, so it was probably best they start heading home.

Sometimes he was more than a little jealous he wasn't able to join in with Brittney's sorority. But, unfortunately, girls only. And he was guy, he supposed. Sometimes it felt like he wasn't meant to be. But those were the kind of thoughts he really didn't want to unpack sitting in a bar.

He let Star finish her story, which was a little more horrifying than initially suspected, before he started gathering his things. "We should probably start heading out. It's almost midnight."

"Don't have to tell me twice; I have to be up at six." Brittney huffed, finishing the last of her drink so she, too, could throw on her coat. The other girls followed her lead. Star was the only one who seemed less than thrilled, pouting in her seat.

"Hey!" Marco waved Janna from where she stood gossiping with the bar manager on stage. She raised an eyebrow, jumping down to wander over.

"You heading home?" She questioned, humming in acknowledgement when he nodded his head. "Alright, text me. Or Jackie, I guess, but I'll be offended if it isn't me."

Marco snorted with a soft, "Okay." When he turned back to Star, he gestured to Janna. "You can stay here, if you want. Brittney can walk me in." Star would be fine lingering back now that Janna wasn't preforming anyway.

Star narrowed her eyes, standing from the table with a small huff. "No, I'm coming. No offence, to both of you, but if there is anything dangerous out there, you'd barely last two seconds in a fight."

"Um, full offence taken," Brittney immediately spoke up, both she and Marco shooting Star a glare.

"Now you've got them started." Janna snickered.

Just because they weren't quite as visibly capable as Star was didn't mean they hopeless. "I can fight, I take self defence classes… and I was learning karate in high school for a while," Marco said.

"We both take the self defence classes, thank you. And we could kick ass if we needed to," Brittney added, grumbling something under her breath that Star didn't quite seem to catch.

Star held her hands up in defeat. "Alright, if you say so. I'll still come along, but only because I'm getting bored. This place isn't very… I dunno." She gave a shrug.

"Okay, ouch. Don't hang out with me then." Janna teased. "I'll see you later, both of you. Stay safe."

"Always do." Marco assured her, turning to head for the exit. Star nudged the door open once they reached it, lingering just long enough to hold it open for the others.

The car ride was uneventful, with Star in the front seat while Marco piled awkwardly into the back with the others, somehow managing to get everyone under a seatbelt despite there being one more girl than there were seats. Star, of course, filled most of the silence, rambling on about whatever came to her mind. By the time Sabrina pulled into the campus parking lot to drop off Star and him, poor Brittney looked like she was about to explode. He'd have to make a mental note not to hang out with Star when he was already hanging out with Brittney.

They said their goodbyes, and then it was just him and Star. She was noticeably more quiet now that she wasn't around the others, staring off at nothing in particular while she walked beside him. The night was silent in an almost airy way, yet it was undeniably beautiful. A full moon hung in the cloudless sky, bathing the campus in light. He wished he had brought his camera; the shots would’ve been breathtaking.

He'd been so wrapped up in admiring the moon he almost didn't notice the fact Star was stood still until she reached out to grab his arm, stopping him in his tracks too.

"What—"

Stars wand formed in her free hand. "Don't run."

The words sent a shiver down his spine, he let out a nervous laugh as he attempted to shake her grip. God, this woman could be unsettling when she wanted to be. She was staring off at something in the distance but, even following her gaze, he couldn't figure out what had her acting so…weird.

"You're freaking me out; don't tease me."

"Just stay by me, if you run then we're separated. Trust me, you're gonna wanna run, but don't. Run." Her voice was lowered to a whisper now, like there was something out there she didn't want to overhear them.

"Why the hell am I gonna want to run? What am I running from?" Marco whispered back, his urgency clear in his tone. He could already feel his heart pounding, his breathing picking up.

"Don't panic," Star urged, her voice low but firm. She slung an arm over his shoulder as she steered him toward the closest building. The library. She gave the door a shove, cursing under her breath when it didn't budge. With everything going on, it hadn't even occurred to him that the building would be locked up at this hour.

"What's happening?" Marco asked again, desperate for even a hint as to what they were running from. He could feel himself shaking, shaking so hard that it was almost embarrassing.

"On Mewni, there's my people, Mewmans. And then there's monsters." Star let go of him to take a few steps back, running shoulder first at the door. It gave way immediately, Star just barely finding her footing as she stumbled inside. "The monsters, they're… violent. They enjoy causing harm. The only thing stopping them from slaughtering our settlements is this wand."

"What does that have to do with this? They're here?" Marco was quick to follow her in, immediately pulling the door closed behind them. Well, as closed as it could be when Star had just thrown herself into it.

"They want the wand," Star continued, "And I haven't spotted them yet, but I know they're here. Butterflies have a sort of… sense, I guess. It's hard to describe."

Star looked so different whenever she got like this. It was like that energetic, bubbly girl who couldn't stop talking was replaced by some hardened war veteran. Suddenly she was so serious, so calculated. It was oddly comforting in a situation like this, he supposed. At least one of them knew what they were supposed to do here.

She was already scouring the room, yanking open a cabinet and hauling the old printer parts stored inside onto a nearby table. "Come on, sit in here. I'll get you out once it's clear."

Marco sucked in a sharp breath. He, personally, hadn't actually seen proof of these monsters and he was sceptical there was really anything outside at all. But did he really want to test that theory? He relented and made his way over, ducking down to squeeze himself into the cabinet. It took some effort, at 6'1" he wasn’t exactly built for tight spaces but he managed, curling up with his knees drawn to his chest.

"Wait, I— I don't like the dark," He whispered, right as Star reached down to close him in.

She paused, at first looking towards the door like she was making sure the coast was clear. Then she crouched down and lifted her wand to her open palm. She murmured, "Warnicorn dream light," and her wand burst to life, streams of golden light forming together from within its centrepiece star until a small golden unicorn— or Warnicorn, he supposed— was resting in her hand. It let off a warm glow that illuminated the space around them.

"My mother used to cast this for me all the time," Star admitted, letting the little Warnicorn prance from her hand and through the air into the cabinet to settle down on his chest. It seemed content to rest over his heart, letting out the tiniest of nickers. He wasn't sure how, considering it was made of light, but he guessed he didn't really understand magic yet either.

"I’ll be back. I promise," She reiterated as she rose to her feet. With that, she closed the cabinet door.

Star didn't wander far. She'd killed monsters before, plenty of them. She was confident that, at the very least, she'd give whatever was here one hell of a fight. Quite frankly, she'd be tracking it down right this moment if it wasn't for one glaring issue.

Marco.

A horrible sense of unease had solidified in the pit of her stomach, weighing her down. It was wholly unfamiliar to her, foreign, entirely unexplored. She'd never had a reason to feel such unease before, not when hunting monsters for duty, nor when she hunted them for sport.

The difference was that, now, she was fighting to protect someone. Someone personal, someone she cared about. A friend.

Needless to say, she was hesitant to leave Marco unguarded for too long; so she'd linger, allow the prey to come to her rather than the other way around. She was confident that it would take the bait. After all, there was only two reasons why there would be monsters on Earth: either they had come to kill her, or they wanted her wand. Maybe both. Either way, there was no chance of achieving either goal without showing themselves.

The clock that hung on the wall ticked softly with the seconds that passed, providing the only sound breaking the silence of the library. It didn't help that the place was so dark at this time of night. She almost didn't notice the shift of movement to her left and, by the time she processed that something was in fact moving, it was already too late to make the first move.

She inhaled sharply through her teeth, jumping back in time to barely dodge the punch thrown her way. Her opponent was certainly there, but it was difficult to make him out; every part of him aside from his clothing blended into the darkness. A frogman, she recognised. He seemed to know how to fight, but she'd expected as much, and one frogman would still be easy enough to deal with.

She was unarmed, without her war axe that her dad had gifted her (which sucked), but she did have her wand. She hadn't been given the chance to use it for its intended purpose until now, so maybe should could consider this an opportunity for practice.

The monster threw another punch, and Star dodged it with ease. She threw herself forward while he was recovering from the swing, seizing him by his extended arm and using the momentum to throw him to the ground. She immediately raised her wand, her mind racing for a spell that was appropriate for such close range.

Ah, screw it. A rainbow scourge blast was technically still appropriate if you didn't care about making a mess. (The rainbow portion of the spell was her own touch; she liked the fun colours. She'd found recently that you could add all sorts of words to spells without ruining their effect.)

Unfortunately, she didn't have the opportunity to finish the frogman off. Instead, she was tackled off of him with such force it sent her and the monster that had thrown themselves at her sliding across the floor.

She drove her elbow into the monster’s ribs with all the strength she had, scrambling upright the second its grip loosened from the loss of air. It was some sort of reptilian and, unfortunately, not the only new arrival to this fight. Reinforcements had arrived— she was surrounded by roughly seven monsters, rather than or one or two she'd expected.

It was less than ideal and, admittedly, even her confidence was wavering. But she had the wand and she was a goddamn Butterfly. She'd manage. Hopefully.

"We don't have to kill you, we just need the wand. That is all."

It was the frogman who spoke, and Star couldn't help but scoff. She wasn't stupid. She knew they wouldn't spare her even if she did hand it over. And, quite frankly, if a monster ever touched this wand, it would be over her dead body.

"First of all, fuck you. Secondly, Warnicorn stampede!"

A herd of ten or so Warnicorns emerged from her wand, more like silhouettes than the real animals and made of a pure golden light, similar to the little guy she'd left with Marco— although much, much larger and certainly more fierce. They dove towards her attackers, and they certainly did their job preoccupying them; most were now busy trying to evade the rampaging beasts. It gave her a moment to breathe, at least, to think.

None of these monsters were anything particularly dangerous on their own, all kinds of beasts that could be easily defeated. Well, the lizard that had tackled her was certainly a one of those regenerating bastards, but she was small, likely a mix of more than just Septarian. And she didn't seem any more competent with her fighting than the others.

It would be manageable to get out of this relatively unscathed, as long as she focused. Which was far easier said than done when she'd spent most the night indulging herself in Earthen drinks of alcohol. Her movements were just that little bit more sluggish, her mind lagging two steps behind, and that slither of difference might just seal her fate in a fight like this.

The group was starting to recover from the Warnicorns, many of them already dispelled now, and Star quickly realised she'd run out of time to come up with a plan.

"Uh— Dagger heart blast!"

The wand glowed again, a blast of cute little red hearts with dangerously sharp edges spraying out over the monsters like shrapnel. A few managed to dive out of the way, others weren't so lucky. Unfortunately, she noticed none of them came out of it with injuries severe enough to keep them down.

They descended upon her as quickly as the pack of animals that they were, and that heavy sense of unease only grew heavier. She would have been done with this by now if she'd had her axe, but she hadn't been prepared.

She fought, conjured every bit of ferocity a Butterfly heir had within them, thrashing and turning and twisting as she tried to think of even a single spell that she could use to buy her more time. But she wasn't practice with this wand, she was tipsy, and there were far too many of them.

It didn't take them long to overpower her and force her to the ground. It took a handful of them to even hold her down, and she still continued to thrash under their grips. The Frogman loomed over her with an expression of pity, which was only fuel to the fire of Star's rage.

She did not need his pity.

He yanked the wand from her hand with great difficulty, two others having to pry her fingers open before he could actually get it away from her. Watching a monster touch such a precious heirloom, watching it transform in his hands, was enough to tear a gut wrenching scream from her throat, one more of anger and a deep fiery hate than fear or sadness.

"What do we do with her?"

"We have to kill her."

"We can't just—"

"She could hurt someone if we don't take her out while she's restrained! She wouldn't give us mercy, so why should we spare her?"

Star squirmed under them, jerked and yanked against clammy hands while they debated over her life. Finally she managed to twist herself into an angle where she could sink her teeth into the arm of the nearest monster— that same lizard that had tackled her before. It grimaced, but it didn't let go, spitting a curse under its breath.

"Can we hurry up with the decision?" It pleaded.

Stars attention was pulled away from the argument as something caught her eye across the room, she released that lizard (as much as she didn't want to) to turn towards it, and immediately her stomach dropped. Settled on one of the front desks was the little Warnicorn she'd left in Marco's care, staring her down with a mostly blank expression.

If it was here, then… no. Surely not. She'd told him to—

Marco peaked his head around the side of the desk, clearly huddled behind it, before she could so much as finish the thought.

Well, fuck. Things just kept getting worse, it seemed.

As much as she wanted to call out, to shake her head, to give him some kind of signal, she knew better than to draw attention to him. If she couldn't handle these monsters, Marco absolutely couldn't. And she didn't exactly want him involved in the debate over whether they planned to kill or spare them.

Even from here, she could see how terrified the poor human was, he was still visibly trembling, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. He seemed to be trying to hold his breath, as though the monsters would hear it over their bickering.

Come on, Marco. Just Leave.

The frogman let out a defeated sigh, stepping out of the way to let a satyr take his place over her, axe in hand. It seemed like a decision had been made, not that she'd been paying attention. Ironic, she thought, that she'd die to the sort of weapon she'd always admired most.

Marco still watched from behind the desk, unmoving until the axe was raised. Then he stood, stumbled a few panicked steps forward, and all Star could do was hold her breath.

Don't do it. Just leave! Damn it!

For a heartbeat, he froze, as though maybe he finally grasped the absurdity of what he was about to do. But then his eyes locked onto the wand in the frogman’s hand. Without another thought, he lunged forward, sprinting straight for it.

The monsters all turned to face him, even the Satyr, poised to drive that axe right into her throat, turned to see what was going on behind him.

"A human?" The frogman seemed far more perplexed than afraid, not that Star could blame it. Humans weren't the most… intimidating of creatures. And Marco may be tall for a human, but he was small for…anything on Mewni, really.

She struggled harder, her panic bubbling over into pure terror. She was going to watch him die, and it was going to be all her fault.

"Marco, don't!"

The little Warnicorn trailed along behind him, her own panic reflected in its expression. Apparently that little guy wasn't very on board with this plan either.

Marco let out a cry as he reached the frogman, throwing a punch right to his gut. The monster hardly even flinched, staring down at him. Marco stared back, apparently just as bewildered. Star felt like she might throw up. In a moment of panic, he reached out for the wand, attempting to yank it right out of the monsters hand. Although, unsurprisingly, that wasn't particularly effective either.

"Agh, somebody take the human elsewhere," The frogman spoke up, shaking its head. "Next thing you know, they throw themselves in front of axe, or something else crazy!"

Marco was tearing up, refusing to let go of the wand even as the frogman tried to shake him off of it. One of the others, an avian of sorts, went to try and pick him up only to receive a swift kick in the gut that this time, unfortunately for the avian, did seem to knock the wind out of them.

"That is enough now, your friend is not some innocent. This wand will be in far… better hands. You, however, are innocent. Should not be involved."

The wand began to glow, gradually at first until it was brighter than Star had ever seen it. No spell she or her mother had ever cast had illuminated it like this. The wand wasn't the only thing glowing; crescent moons were gradually carving themselves onto Marco's cheeks. Much like the wand, they were glowing a bright gold.

The frogman let out a hiss of pain, immediately releasing it to clutch at his now burnt hand. In an instant, the wand had changed again, Marco still clutching the heirloom even as it began to spark.

The wand was a dark teal in colour, with a pointed red crystal at the top that seemed more decorative than serving any real purpose. The centrepiece gemstone was in the shape of a crescent moon, in a similar shade of red. It was encircled by four other crescent moons as teal as the rest of the wand, with a pair of wings much like the ones on her own. While hers were white, rounded, feathery, his were sharp and leathery, almost demonic in shape.

The sparking only continued, and Star very quickly realised this was far from normal.

"Marco! Let go of the—"

There was a deafening buzz of energy as whatever the wand had been building up finally released, a giant beam of light bursting out from the centre stone and slicing clean through the libraries wall where Marco had it aimed, just barely missing one of the monsters standing off to the side. He panicked, turning to point it well away from her and the monsters and only causing more destruction in the process. It sliced through more walls, and then part of the ceiling when he settled on pointing it up.

"How do I stop?!" He cried.

"I don't even know what spell you're casting!" Star exclaimed.

"Well, neither do I!"

In the chaos, Star finally managed to pull an arm free of the monsters holding her down, throwing another off of her and thrashing out of the grip of the weird-looking one holding her legs in place. She scrambled away from them to pull herself to her feet, grabbing a plank of wood displaced from the roof by Marco's casting to use as a bludgeon.

The frogman was still nursing its burnt hand, so badly charred a portion of the skin had been pulled away when it flinched back from the wand. The injury raised further concern over Marco, but right now she had to focus on getting these monsters away from them. The blast from that wand was their only hope.

"Aim the beam at the monsters!" She spoke up, glancing back at a still very panicked Marco.

"What? It'll cut straight through them!" He protested.

"Exactly!" She wasn't sure what part of this wasn't clicking for him. Maybe he was squeamish with the idea of death. Either way, Marco seemed less than keen on playing into her plan. Fortunately the monsters didn't seem like they wanted to take the chance on that.

Even if they did, the structural integrity of the library was quickly waning under the power of whatever the hell it was Marco was casting.

"We must go!" It was the frogman that made the call, their leader it seemed. It pulled a dagger from the sheath strapped to its side, seemingly slicing open the very fabric of the dimension. A portal was left in its wake, and Star's anger flared the moment she realised it.

These bastards had a dimensional dagger. The corpse of some poor Pegasus, crafted down into nothing but a tool. Her thoughts drifted to Pony, of the still very prevalent poaching issue even within Butterfly territory. God, if she ever lost her to something like this…

Star rushed forward, gripping the plank in her hand so tightly her knuckles turned white. She swung at the first monster she reached, just barely missing as they were tugged out of the way by another.

"Star!" Marco's cry pulled her out of her blinding anger, enough for her to realise that they were in a bad position themselves. That ceiling was certainly about to come down, and Marco couldn't stop whatever spell was causing it. With a frustrated sigh, she turned to hurry back to his side, dropping the plank down by her feet.

"What did you do? Before the wand started glowing, did you say something?"

Marco shook his head, the poor guy looked absolutely drained—barely staying upright at this point. She couldn't tell if it was stress or something caused by this spell. He shouldn't be able to cast at all without training, certainly not to this extent.

Star grimaced; there was only really one thing she could think of to make it stop and, judging by that frogman's hand, she wasn't gonna enjoy it.

She drew a shaky breath, steadying herself before reaching for the wand. The moment her fingers touched it, pain exploded, white-hot and merciless, every nerve ending in her body screaming at her to let go.

"Star! Its—"

"Just let go!" Star interrupted, perhaps a little more harshly than she'd intended. Marco pulled his hand away in an instant, taking an unsteady step backwards before he crumbled down to his knees. The little warnicorn drifted down to hover in front of him the moment he did, nudging at his cheek with a concerned nicker.

The spell stopped the moment he let go, fizzling out into nothing. The moment it did, Star let the wand tumble to the floor, her hand trembling as she turned it to access the damage. The burns were nasty, raw and painful, but she'd expected that much. She'd have a nasty scar even after this all healed.

"You," She breathed, barely able to catch her breath through the pain, "are not allowed to hold the wand." She let out a half-hearted chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

The monsters had all cleared out and the portal long since closed. There was no chance of catching up to them now and she hadn't managed to kill a single one. Quite frankly, it was embarrassing.

The Warnicorn let out another nicker, this one more urgent, and Star's gaze was pulled to them immediately. Marco had moved to lay on his side at some point, he acknowledged neither the Warnicorn nor her. His eyes were still open, glossy and glazed over.

"Marco?"

A sharp crack of splintering wood echoed above their heads, their cue to leave immediately. Star didn't have time to check if Marco was breathing before she grabbed the wand— now merely warm instead of searing— and allowed it to return to its bracelet form so she could use her one good hand to haul Marco up over her shoulder.

He didn't move, even as she jostled him around in her rush to flee the building before it collapsed. She felt as though her heart was in her throat, suffocating her. What had caused this? She was left dreading what the answer may be. Surely it hadn't been the wand; it wasn't supposed to be harmful to its holder. Then again, Marco was merely human and only a Butterfly had ever wielded it before now, always Mewman. No human had ever cast a spell before.

"Hold on, Marco… You're alright. You're okay."

Star's voice trembled with the worry and fear that made her throat feel so swollen and closed off. If anything happened to Marco, Janna would kill her, Jackie too. And Brittney, or whatever her name had been. She cared a little less about Brittney hating her, but that wasn't the point.

The point was they'd be justified in hating her. She'd failed at the one thing she was supposed to be good at: the role of protector that she was quite literally training to fulfill.

Star hurried for one of the holes that had been torn in the wall by the wand. It was the quickest way out, as far as she could gather, and the ceiling was collapsing in behind him. With it, like some kind of domino effect, tumbled down a good portion of the rest of the building.

Star grimaced, carefully setting Marco down in the grass as she watched it all crumble to pieces. She could hear some kind of siren drawing closer in the distance. From what Janna had explained to her, it was the human equivalent of Mewni's royal guards, likely drawn in by the destruction.

Not that she cared, not right now.

As she rolled Marco onto his back as gently as should could, there was only one thing on her mind. Even now he still had those same crescent moon marks, the kind that she wasn't used to seeing on anyone outside of her bloodline. They were a dusty gold now that they weren't glowing. She scrambled to press her head against his chest, holding her breath, listening for anything. Then she heard it. A heartbeat, a steady one. She felt the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

He was alive.

"You are sure this is the place?" Yvgeny asked.

He, personally, had no difficulty trudging through the knee-deep mud. In fact, if anything, it was good for his skin. Faro, on the other hand, however…

"I think I'd remember wether or not I had to bathe in mud to reach the guy." She hissed. She was having far less of an enjoyable time; her body wasn't exactly made for swampland. Thankfully, according to her own estimation, they were almost there.

He pulled himself up out of the mud onto a patch of more solid ground, reaching out a hand to help pull Faro out with some effort. She scrunched up her face, muttering under her breath as they continued on.

Not many dared to try and set up camp in this neck of woods; the ground was softer and less predictable for farming, the air more humid, and the wildlife far more dangerous. Then again, he supposed none of that particularly bothered a Septarian. Especially one that apparently didn't enjoy being bothered.

He'd met Toffee once, to agree to the job, but Toffee had come to them on that occasion. The man dressed like a nobleman despite the fact he apparently was no more than a wanderer like he and his gang, and he ad reeked of whisky. But if he was a drunk, he was a very functional one. He spoke eloquently, never tripping over his words or crumbling under questioning. And he carried himself with an air of grace that matched his high class clothes.

Not to mention, he'd promised them a suspiciously large amount of gold for the job. An amount that hardly seemed normal for any run-of-the-mill wanderer. A shame, considering the whole purpose of their sudden visit was to turn down that very offer.

After the mess of a first attempt they'd had obtaining the wand, it had been put to a vote whether or not they'd try again. It was a very unanimous no, despite his best attempts to convince the others to reconsider. Not that he blamed them; there'd been plenty of injury, his hand included. It still stung like hell even despite the herbal balm and wrap.

It was no wonder why Ludo's health occasionally waned, with all the nasty burns he had on his body, with only the same herbal balms and wraps that Yvgeny was using on his hand— the ones that only seemed to help a little.

Faro trudged towards a very decently large tent, nestled underneath one of the older wetland trees that reached high into the forest's canopy. He almost didn't spot it at first, with the impressive job that Toffee had done camouflaging the fabric with leaves and branches.

There was a fire pit beside the tent, on that was cold and long since extinguished. It seemed like he hadn't used it in a few days. That didn't bode well for them, because it meant he might not even be home. Yvgeny didn't exactly want to have to make the trip all over again another day, not when it had been such a chore to get here this time.

"That bastard better be here." Faro muttered. It seemed she had noticed too. She was far less courteous than he intended to be, heading straight for the tent to push her way inside.

"I can't believe he— agh! What could he possibly be doing? I'm not coming back here; you can show up on your own next time."

Well, that answered his question: Toffee wasn't home.

"I don't believe there'll be need for that, Faro."

Yvgeny flinched, spinning around to face the eight foot lizard that had somehow managed to approach so silently that neither he nor Faro heard him. He carried a deer over his shoulder, ready to be butchered.

Toffee was a very typical looking Septarian, with light grey skin and curly black hair that reflected almost violet in the sun. It was pulled up into a bun to keep it out of his eyes. His eyes that were likely the most striking feature of his, coloured deep gold.

The clothing he wore now was much more rugged than the fancy noble-like attire he had worn to meet them. Nothing more than brown canvas pants, a rather baggy white tunic tucked into them and a simple pair of dark brown leather boots. He was adorned with a deep blue cape that was longer on one side than the other to cover one arm. On his leg, a dagger was strapped, and on his hip was a sheath with a sword. A sword, very uniquely, with a snake coiled around the handle.

"And, for the record, I was hunting. To what do I owe the visit?"

Faro stuck her head back out from the tent, rolling her eyes at the sight of him. Toffee had a sort of aura about him that many Septarians shared, a heavy one that demanded respect and attention. But Faro… well, there was very little she respected, and Toffee was certainly not included on that list.

"We're turning down the job. It's too dangerous and we don't have a policy of letting our people die for money," She answered as she slipped the rest of the way out of the tent. "Robbing that money straight from your campsite would be easier than getting that wand."

"That's a shame." Toffee seemed surprisingly unbothered by the news, busy setting the deer down beside the fire pit. He brushed past Faro to slip inside and Yvgeny was left waiting, expecting more. Surely that wasn't all he had to say on the matter?

Even Faro seemed baffled.

Toffee returned with a large leather pouch in hand, tossing it down at Yvgeny's feet. "It'll take me some time to pack, so expect me in a few days' time. I'll be joining you in your camp for a handful of months."

Yvgeny bent to grab the bag, although his hand paused when Toffee spoke, immediately shaking his head. "Oh, no. No, you cannot. It is… not place for you."

"Not place for me?" Toffee mocked, tilting his head. "You are Yvgeny, are you not? Known widely for taking in strays, monsters who don't fit in with their own kind. I'd consider myself applicable."

"You are a Septarian, one who passes as full-blooded even if you are not. There is little you would get from my gang. We cannot offer you any protection you don't already offer yourself," Yvgeny insisted.

"He's right. Why the hell would you wanna hang around with us?" Faro chimed in, sounding just as off put as Yvgeny himself felt.

"I'll pay board."

Toffee gestured down to the leather bag, which Yvgeny was very reluctantly untying the draw string of to pull it open. Inside, at merely first glance, seemed to be at least half of the payment of gold they'd been offered for this wand-stealing job. His breath seemed stuck in his throat and he could only clear his throat to try and cover it up.

He could finally take care of Ludo with this.

"We will expect you in a few days, then."

Chapter Text

"Do you actually think she'll like them, or are they just going to rot away in your dorm and make a mess?"

Marco stared down at the bouquet in his hands; it was gorgeous. He'd had some eccentric woman at the local florist help him pick out the perfect combination to express gratitude. Every flower had a specific meaning to convey just that— he knew because that same lady had rambled on for almost an hour about each one. They were for Star, as thank you for insisting she was the one who had destroyed the library the night they were attacked. Not that she faced any consequences in the end. As far as he'd heard, the school had received a hefty anonymous donation to sweep everything under the rug.

"I dunno, I think she'll just be happy to see you. You didn't have to spend so much money on that thing." Janna walked alongside him, hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket. She'd been tagging along while he was out shopping, mostly due to the fact he wasn't cleared to drive on his own again yet.

Almost a full week was how long he'd been out in the hospital after the incident. Not a single doctor could find a reason why he wouldn't wake up. Supposedly every test they ran suggested he was perfectly healthy. They'd really been starting to panic near the end, then he just… woke up on his own and been feeling perfectly normal since. A good thing too, since apparently Star was starting to consider dragging him off to her home dimension to figure out if it was something magic related.

He'd touched the wand, according to what Star had told Janna. He didn't really remember anything past climbing into Sabrina's car to head home from the bar. He certainly wouldn't be touching it again, though, not if he could help it.

Firefly— the little Warnicorn made of pure magic that had apparently been a creation of Star's that night— glided along behind them. She'd grown attached to him and supposedly Star hadn't been able to convince her to leave his side while he was in the hospital. Star had also felt far too terrible to just cast her back out of existence. So he had a pet now, he supposed. And he'd named her accordingly. At least he'd taken to calling it a her. She didn't really have a gender, she was just a physical manifestation of magic, but she was graceful and ethereal. She deserved to be a her, rather than an it.

Janna stepped ahead of him to unlock her dorm, holding open the door so he didn't have to struggle with his hands full. He could hear Star rambling away to someone already, which felt odd considering she didn't exactly have a whole lot of friends on earth. At least not yet.

"Star? It's Marco. And Janna, I guess."

"Man, I should have shut the door in your face," Janna muttered.

"Marco!" Star had launched herself off the bed where she was lounging, crossing the room with alarming speed. Her hand was still bandaged up, and it would have to stay that way for a while after the skin graft they'd given her. Speaking of—

"You are not supposed to be running," Marco scolded, narrowing his eyes at her over the bouquet of flowers. "Get back to bed and sit down. I'm coming."

"Yes! Tell her Earth girl. That's exactly what I have been saying like—the past hour. She does not sit still."

Marco froze mid-step, his eyes snapping to the source of the voice. There, settled down on Star's bed with her legs folded neatly underneath her, was a… unicorn? Or maybe a Pegasus, if he took into account her wings? Yet she seemed far too small to be either, at least by Earth standards. Her eyes were frankly huge, to the point that they reminded him of a deer or maybe even a bug, and they were staring right into his soul now that he'd made eye contact.

"Who is—"

"Oh! This is Lilacia! Or Pony, if you'd prefer. Pony, this is Janna and Marco." Star gestured to each of them as she introduced everyone, grinning so wide she was showing off those scarily sharp canines of hers. She seemed excited to be introducing her friend, which he found oddly endearing.

"Pony? I've heard a lot about you. I thought you were too busy to visit or something?" Janna spoke up.

Pony raised an eyebrow, before promptly ignoring the comment entirely. "Yes! Star has talked so much about you, Marley!"

"Marco," Star corrected and Pony ignored that too. She moved to get up, although instead of standing on her legs like Marco had very reasonably expected, she hovered just above the bed. Without using her wings either, mind you. She glided down towards them like she was riding the air itself. It reminded him a lot of Firefly, who was watching Pony very warily from over his shoulder.

Marco shrunk further back behind the bouquet the closer she hovered, she was staring him down like he was prey.

"Wow, you are so pretty. Star said you were pretty but I didn't realise you were like, actually cute outside of her terrible standards, you know?"

That was… oddly flattering, albeit a little insulting to Star. Marco's face flushed, unsure of how to answer and what to say. It didn't help that he could hear Janna snickering to herself behind him. Asshole.

"I never said that!" Star immediately blurted out. She was just as flushed as he was while she reached out to slap a hand over Pony's mouth (which he hadn't expected to work for a horse face), ushering her back towards the bed. Pony seemed less than pleased.

He trailed along behind them, contemplating wether or not he should just hand over the flowers and make some excuse to leave. He didn't really want to hang out with Star while she was preoccupied with her friend— but he hadn't had much of a chance to see her since being discharged from the hospital. He'd spent the first few days at home with his dad and Mariposa. He just…didn't really like having new people dropped on him without warning.

Star pulled her hand away from Pony once they'd reached her bed, wiping it against her shirt with an appalled expression that suggested Pony had absolutely licked it. Probably served her right for dragging the poor girl around.

"I, uh, the flowers are for you. By the way," Marco spoke up, holding them out to Star who very tenderly took the bouquet in her arms. "They're a 'thank you' for covering for me."

"Awe, you gave me plants." She sounded genuinely appreciative, admiring them for a moment before adding, "What do I do with them?"

"It's a human thing, you keep them in your room and watch them die." Pony answered, gliding closer so she could shove her nose…or…snout? Into the flowers.

"Oh…"

"No, you don't watch them die, Star. Well— Okay, they do die. But they're meant to be pretty, you keep them in water so they last longer." Marco corrected. Maybe flowers weren't the best choice of gift for her, now that he was really thinking about it. But, in his defence, he thought appreciating flowers would be universal between dimensions. And Janna's suggestion had been to buy her a slinky.

"I love them, Marco. Thank you!"

Her wand formed in her hand, and Marco took an immediate step back. "Oh, Star. I don't think—"

"Rejuvenating water blast!"

A jet of water burst out of her wand, hitting Janna square in the face where she stood across the room. It only lasted a few seconds, but Janna looked absolutely drenched by the end of it. Her beanie had fallen down over her eyes, still dripping water, her hair and clothes soaked.

"Oh, sorry Janna," Star apologised, she looked as sheepish as she sounded.

"B-fly, I love you, but why did you create the water without anything to like…put the water in?" Pony questioned.

"Woah," Janna murmured, mostly to herself. She'd pulled the beanie from her head, staring at it in a mix of fascination and bewilderment. "My hat is so clean."

"I, uh, I dunno. I just cast before I think." Star sounded dismissive, waving Pony away with one hand. She set the bouquet very gently on her bed before crossing the room to grab an empty ceramic pot— one that she had sitting as decoration in the corner— which she hurriedly carried over to Janna to set it down in front of her. "Here, drip into this. I need that water for my flowers."

Janna stared at the pot in confusion for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed. Then (when she seemed to stop trying to rationalise Star's requests, Marco assumed), she started to wring her beanie out into it.

"I feel, like… I just had a really nice spa day. I feel so smooth."

"Why doesn't she just like… make more water?" Pony questioned, leaning in closer to Marco so she could whisper it under her breath.

"I don't know…"

He'd only known Star for a short while, but she'd always been like this. Taking weird shortcuts that weren't even really shortcuts at all. It was like she didn't understand there were far easier non magic methods to get things done. He couldn't even blame it on being raised with the wand, since she'd apparently only had the thing since her most recent birthday.

"So…" He trailed off, but the silence was getting awkward. "What brings you to this dimension anyway? Visiting Star?"

"Actually, I'm here on business. Stupid magic business I can't talk about." Pony huffed, her ears pinning back against her head as her face scrunched up into something as close to a pout as a horse could get. "The fact I get to see Star is really just a bonus."

Magic business, of course. He should have guessed.

"Right…"

Silence fell over them again, and Pony seemed content to leave it that way for all of ten seconds. Her gaze shifted to the window, and Marco swore he saw a hint of panic in her eyes before she spoke. Not that he had a chance to see what she was looking at before her horn glowed, and the curtains were yanked shut by seemingly nothing.

"Hey! Let's take Marley to the Bounce Lounge! He'd love that place!"

Still not Marley, but whatever.

"What?" Star paused what she was doing— which was mostly just assisting Janna in wringing out her jacket— to stare over at the pair with furrowed brows. "Marco's never been out of this dimension before. I don't know…"

"Yeah, woah. He's supposed to be resting; the doctors said—"

"He'll be fine!" Pony insisted, cutting Janna off. She was antsy, glancing back at the window again. Marco followed her gaze to try and figure out what kept drawing her attention, but she'd hurriedly drawn the curtains before, so there was nothing to be seen. He could only assume it was just students out and about, walking between lectures or their dorms.

Star frowned, "No, if the doctors—"

"Okay well, we're going now! You can stay here or you can come, up to you!" Pony was almost frantic as she sliced through the air with her horn, splitting the very fabric of their dimension open into a swirling portal coloured a bright purple. Before he could so much as protest, Pony was shoving him straight through it with such force he stumbled over onto the surprisingly soft ground.

It seemed like the ground in this dimension was made out of something that resembled clouds, although far more solid. Still, it was bouncy and soft to the touch, like a pile of bedding.

Had he just been inter-dimensionally kidnapped? This was not how he'd planned for his night to go, but he was starting to realise that hardly anything ever went as planned when Star was around. He took a deep breath, steadying his rising nerves. It certainly helped that Firefly had followed them through. She hovered near his face, nudging at his cheek. Having her nearby always provoked a strange sense of warmth and calm, and sometimes he wondered if maybe it was one of her magical properties.

"Pony. I didn't agree to this," He hissed, glaring up at her. She was hovering above him, staring back at the portal whilst ignoring him entirely. She seemed alert, almost nervous. It was freaking him out a little.

Then the portal rippled, and both he and Pony tensed— at least until Star stepped through. She seemed frustrated; it didn't take a genius to guess why.

"Pony, no. We're going—"

"Oops, portals closed." Pony hummed innocently. She really seemed to like cutting people off. On cue, the portal began to flicker before fading out entirely. "Well, while we're here why don't we show Marley around? Have some fun!"

"Star's also supposed to be resting," Marco pointed out. He took Stars uninjured hand when she offered it to him, allowing her to pull him to his feet. There was music playing in the distance, something lively. This really didn't seem like the sort of place you could kick back and take it easy. "She had a surgery, she should be home."

"Marley, I'm a healer or whatever. I'm sure I can figure something out if one of you starts dying," Pony assured him.

"That's not-"

Pony pressed a hoof against his mouth, cutting him short. "It's fine. Everything's fine."

Star let out a frustrated groan, dragging a hand down her face. "Okay, fine. I'll hang out with you, but only for an hour. And you have to take Marco home first, Deal?"

Pony grimaced. "A deal on the hour, a no deal on the taking anyone home…sorry…" She avoided meeting Stars eyes as she flashed her a sheepish grin, slowly drifting off in the direction of the music.

"Pony! You can't just—agh!" Pony was already out of earshot at this point.

"She's not usually like this," Star apologised. "I don't know what's going on with her." She walked over the cloud-like material with practised ease as she started towards the music. Marco, on the other hand, wasn't have quite as easy of a time.

It was like trudging through thick snow, but worse. And the feeling of it compacting under his shoes sent a shiver up his spine. He hated everything about this. Star seemed to notice his struggle, pausing to turn around and scoop him up with one arm, hauling him over her shoulder with so little effort that it was frankly impressive.

He lay dangling like a sack of potatoes, accepting his fate. "It's alright. What is this, a club or something? We can probably just sit and drink. Hang out. Let her do her thing."

"Alright," Star sighed. "But only something that isn't fermented. The stuff here is a lot stronger than what you have on earth."

"Fermented? Oh! Yeah… not in the mood to get drunk anyway."

The louder the music grew, the more the cloud thinned out, until eventually it gave way to a lavender and white checkered floor. There was flashing neon lights around them, and the chatter of people that had previously been drowned out by the music.

Star set him down on his feet, and only then did he really get a good look at the place. The Bounce Lounge wasn't exactly indoors like he'd expected.

There was a vast starry sky above them, void of clouds and somehow unaffected by the light pollution, yet no moon to be seen. It seemed the entire club was suspended on that odd cloud material, floating in some kind of void.

There was a huge purple stained glass ball that the club seemed to be using as a disco ball of sorts, although it seemed to be producing its own light rather than reflecting it. The main area was huge, with a vast dance floor already packed with people, and the outskirts of which was lined with hundreds of very comfortable looking beanbags—or maybe they were just oddly shaped sofas? They seemed a lot more solid. They were all organised around short rounded tables for guests to set their drinks.

There were a few cloud staircases leading up to other smaller islands, such as the one that contained a sort of DJ booth, another being what he assumed must be some kind of bathroom—thankfully that at least was actually enclosed in a building. There was also one solitary photo booth nestled in the corner. Maybe he'd have to give it a go— he liked photos.

The people here all resembled fish of some sort, with tails of varying shapes and lengths instead of legs, they hovered above the ground much like Pony, seemingly swimming through the air. They were like strange mermaids, just…without any water.

He felt a little underdressed for something like this. He was in his usual red hoodie, nothing special. Star wasn't much better suited, in a pair of grey sweatpants and an obnoxiously colourful rainbow hoodie. Pony must have braided a few sections of her hair with little ribbon clips of various colours throughout. Not that it did much to tame her very unruly loose curls. She looked sorta like a unicorn had thrown up over her. Very…Star.

Pony had already claimed a table near the entrance, gesturing them over with her wing. "Come sit your fragile butts down here!"

Star exhaled sharply through her nose, grabbing him by the wrist to tug him over to the table. She let go to drop down into one of the seats with a huff. Practically pouting, at this point. Marco settled down beside her, biting back a giggle. It really wasn't that bad. Extremely inconsiderate, sure, but it wasn't like it would kill them; it was only for an hour. And, honestly, it was kinda amazing here. He'd never seen anything like it, probably because this wasn't his dimension. He could just… go with the flow for a little while, so to speak. Especially with Firefly here with him.

"Are you mad at me, B-fly?" Pony complained, her own pout was beginning to rival Stars.

"I'm not mad," Star answered with a sigh. "I just don't understand why you're being so…" She trailed off, gesturing with her hands. "You know, pushy."

"Aren't I allowed to wanna spend some time with my best buddy?" Pony whined.

"With me? Sure! But you can't just drag Marco between dimensions, you only just met him! He isn't used to magic or portals."

"Yet you have no issue using your wand around him even after it almost killed him?" Pony challenged, raising an eyebrow. Or, the area above her eye that would have been an eyebrow, if horses had them.

"What? That's different! It's not gonna do anything unless he holds it!"

This was starting to get very awkward, and quite frankly it seemed like a conversation they should probably be having alone. He scanned the Bounce Lounge for some sort of out, his attention landing on that oddly earth looking Photo Booth.

"Hey, why don't we go take pictures?" He suggested, cutting into their conversation. Pony jumped at the excuse, eagerly nodding her head. She was already jumping up from the chair to glide towards it.

"Yes! That is actually a great idea! Let's go take pictures, B-fly!"

Star blew a strand of hair from her face, glaring at nothing in particular as she stood, lifting Marco by the back of his hoodie to set him on his feet. He really needed to talk to her about boundaries when it came to manhandling him like this.

"Come on, Star. Photo booths seem right up your alley. I don't like having plans dropped on me either, but if we're here for an hour, why not try and have some fun? It's cool here." He suggested, offering a smile with far too much teeth to look natural.

Star sighed. "It is cool here," She agreed, "Pony and I have been visiting since we were thirteen. I'm not trying to be lame about this. She's just so… inconsiderate sometimes when it comes to my feelings. It's all about her, you know?"

Actually, he did know. Janna hadn't always been the best with taking others into consideration either. His entire teenage years had been spent getting dragged into shitty situations by that girl. They'd stopped speaking over it briefly, back when they were fifteen. Although obviously that didn't last.

"Just try and enjoy it while we're here. You two can talk it out once we're back on Earth, and you won't have had as much of a shitty evening. You guys aren't gonna work anything out arguing in the middle of a club."

"Yeah… You know, you're smart sometimes." Star hummed.

"Thanks?"

Pony was holding the curtain open for them by the time they reached the booth, practically bouncing where she hovered. Even despite their talk, Star looked less than enthusiastic as she pushed past her to get inside, Marco following suit.

The typically dark booth had been illuminated by Firefly, still hovering over his shoulder. It was about what you'd expect, a glass square separating the camera from the party goers and a very worn out sticker with arrows directing you where to look. This thing was probably ancient, and didn't look like it ever got that much maintenance either. Marco could only hope it was cleaned on occasion.

It probably would have been pretty cramped in there if Pony wasn't so small, but as things were, the three of them fit comfortably. Well, poor Star still had to lean down to keep from smacking her head.

There was some kind of slot that seemed to accept both notes and coins, but Marco couldn't imagine it would take Earth money. A small, pocket sized portal opened in front of Pony. She stuck her head through only to pull it back out with a few crumbled up ten dollar bills in her mouth. American ten dollar bills at that.

Huh, so this Photo Booth was from Earth? That explained why it wasn't very… tall people friendly.

"Uh, does this dimension also use American currency?" He questioned, and Pony looked at him like he'd just said something mindbogglingly stupid.

"Of course not," She dismissed. "Not everything revolves around Earth, Marley. The Bounce Lounge just trades stupid Earth paper for actual gold so you can go take pictures."

"Right…of course."

"Not that I ever pay, I get all my Earth paper from Earth."

Who was Pony stealing from to get this money? Because she sure as hell wasn't earning it honestly. He supposed it was none of his business really.

Pony jammed her snout against the slot until Star finally took mercy on her and plucked a note from her mouth, smoothing it out to slot it in for her. Pony immediately dropped the remainder of the notes, giggling to herself in anticipation. "Okay, wait, everyone lean in and look happy to be here."

Star managed a smile, and Marco struck the most over the top, hand on hip pose he could muster up. He knew how to look good in pictures; he had to know when he was friends with Brittney. That woman was chronic about getting pictures together for her socials, and he was not about to look any less than photogenic in front of her ten thousand or so followers. Firefly watched him for a moment before she followed suit, rearing up and turning her head to the camera.

Pony leaned in over Star's shoulder, putting on her best attempt at a smile too. The camera flashed, and of course he switched poses for each photo the booth took— four in total— because he wasn't a square.

"I wanna go see how they turned out," Marco gushed. He went to book it out of the booth only to find himself snagged by the back of his hoodie. Pony only let him go once he'd turned around to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, actually, I want to take more photos! Mhm, just us two. Mark the occasion we became friends and all that. Star can go wait outside with the pictures." Pony was already shoving Star towards the curtain, Star letting out a sound of protest.

Not that she really had much room to say no when she was already evicted from the booth at this point. Honestly, it was impressive Pony could shove her at all. Apparently she was stronger than she looked.

Pony watched the curtain, waiting for something. Only when Star could be heard wandering around the side of the booth to wait for them did she speak again, her usual carefree expression dropping into something far more serious, something that seemed… worried?

"I need you to help me with this, Marley. Okay? Because I really cannot stand Star giving me that look." She immediately whined. "I mean, yes I kidnapped you. Yes, I'm refusing to take any of you home. But I actually have a very good reason."

"Like what?"

"Secret magic business, Marley. You know I'm here on work. Just cover for me, pretend to be having a good time until it's done so Star doesn't look so…" She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders, a strange jerky movement around her withers.

"Mad? She's justified in being mad, Pony. I'm not gonna—"

Pony turned away to grab one of the ten dollar bills off the floor, resuming her attempts at jamming it in the slot.

"Okay, thank you! I knew you'd understand."

Before he could protest further Pony finally found the angle for the booth to accept the bill. There was a brief pause before the camera flashed, catching him entirely off guard. Then again, and again. It was only by the final picture that he'd collected his thoughts enough to smile. Firefly seemed to reflect his feelings, ears pinned back as she glared in Pony's direction.

God, this girl was really good at being frustrating. He turned to yank back the curtain, stepping out just in time to see Star in the process of collecting the new set of photos, the first batch already in her hand. She seemed confused as she looked them over. "Why does Marco look so bewildered?"

"She paid for the pictures before I was ready." Marco dismissed, leaning in to get a look. He did look sort of bewildered.

"Awe, look at us! These are cute! Well, I mean, Marley kinda looks lost, but memories are still memories even if they are kinda ugly. I look good though, and that's what matters most, mhm." Pony beamed, having glided over to Star to get a look at the pictures from over her shoulder.

"Don't be mean," Star scolded, rolling her eyes at the comment. Marco appreciated the backup, even if he didn't particularly care how good Pony thought he looked. He didn't care much for her in general.

The music was still blaring, lights still flashing and people still chatting and laughing. He hadn't realised quite how much he was appreciating the repose of the Photo Booth until he had to step out of it. He didn't mind music if he could dance, but neither he nor Star were in much of a condition to even think about that.

Quite frankly, the idea of sitting and doing nothing at this club for an hour was quickly starting to loose its charm. Why had Pony picked here of all places?

"Isn't there somewhere a little more…entertaining we can hang out?" He voiced aloud, hoping maybe it would help with Star's deflated mood too.

Pony huffed like the question was just more work for her. Pursing her lips as she thought it over. "I guess there's the Amethyst Arcade. We can all stand around and play, or I mean—I can watch Star play. It is very hard to work those machines with hooves."

"Oh! I can show Marco my high score on Cavern Invasion!" Star beamed, clasping her hands together in excitement. Apparently she forgot she was hurt, immediately cradling her injured hand to her chest with a wince.

"Need to not do that… Anyway, to the arcade!"

"Oh yeah! There's that enthusiasm girl! To the arcade!" Pony seemed thrilled that Star was actually showing interest in doing something together, and she quickly cut open a portal for the group—this one an icy blue in colour.

He wasn't much of a fan of stepping through one of these things again, but hey, an arcade did sound like a fun way to pass the time. He'd been to the arcade back on earth plenty of times before, usually with Janna. He like the rhythm games, he was good at them too. Unfortunately, that just meant Janna forced him to play them over and over again so she could commandeer his tickets.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Star took his hand, tugging him through the portal behind her. She let him go the moment they were through, which he certainly appreciated. Again, he'd really have to talk to her about boundaries when it came to hauling him around like that.

The arcade was huge, far larger than he had anticipated. There were rows upon rows of games all of various shapes and origins, he swore he could spot a few from where they stood that he recognised from Earth. The entire arcade seemed to be in some sort of cavern, the rocks were tinted slightly purple, and there were bright glowing gemstones of various colours incorporated within what served as the lights in this place it seemed. At the centre of it all, up a staircase to a large raised platform, looked like some kind of prize collection. It was packed full of all sorts of trinkets and toys he didn't recognise.

But, more strange than the arcade itself was the people currently wandering about, one of which he almost trampled upon taking a step forward. They were…shapes? Two dimensional shapes with little arms and legs and various numbers of eyes in positions that didn't seem natural. It was unsettling, to be frank, but he tried his best not to stare.

Star was already booking it for one game in particular, he and Pony simply tagging along behind. He'd have a look at this high score of hers then try and figure out how to get some tokens to go play a few games himself. There were plenty he wanted to try, so many games he'd never seen before. It certainly beat the same old twenty or so games at the arcane back on Earth.

"Pony, token." Star held out her hand in anticipation, Pony rolling her eyes at the demanding tone. She opened that same little pocket sized portal she had earlier directly above Star. Instead of landing in her hand, however, a large satchel that Marco assumed to be full of arcade tokens dropped right on her head. Star let out a startled yelp.

Pony snickered when Star shot her a glare, snatching up the satchel off the ground. Marco barely stifled a laugh, and even Firefly let out a sound that sounded awfully like a laugh.

Star grumbled to herself, setting the satchel on the machine beside her while she navigated to the leaderboard. She turned to beam at him the moment it was open, gesturing to the screen with such a strong sense of pride that it almost seemed a little over the top for an arcade game.

Marco squinted, because of all the three letter combos she could have picked for her name this really wasn't what he'd expected.

"Tom." He read aloud, "Why'd you pick Tom?"

"What?"

Star spun back around in such a panic it suggested that she had, in fact, never picked Tom at all. She stared at the screen like she couldn't quite believe it before letting out a wail so mournful you'd think she'd just been told her first born child was killed. Passersby all stopped to stare, and Marco awkwardly waved them off.

"Oh no…" Pony murmured, immediately gliding over to rest her head on Stars shoulder. "Come on girl! It's okay! You can just set a new high score!"

It was unclear by how much Tom had beat her when the entire scoreboard was his name at this point, but he prayed for Star's sake the difference wasn't too atrocious. He felt bad for her, it was hard not to when she was acting like the world had ended.

Star buried her face in her arms as she leaned against the arcade game, screaming into the fabric of her hoodie. She stayed there for a brief moment before she finally pulled herself together, lifting her head with narrowed eyes.

"You're right, I can kick this guy's ass. I beat my own score all the time!"

She pulled open the satchel, grabbing a token with renewed determination. Marco was pretty sure Pony wouldn't have to worry about her complaining they were out here for over the designated hour anymore. In fact, he was a little worried they wouldn't be able to get her to leave…

"You wanna watch, Marco?" Star asked, but she didn't take her eyes off the screen. As fun as it sounded standing here doing nothing but watching Star get pissed off at this arcade game, he was pretty sure he'd rather walk around.

"No, but you have fun. I'm gonna walk around with Firefly." He had been about to turn away before he realised he didn't have a single token to play with. "Can I have some of those tokens?"

"Have at it." Pony answered, grabbing the bag in her mouth to hold it out. He grabbed a handful, since figured he could always come back for more if he needed them.

"Don't get lost!" Star added, which quite frankly might be a genuine concern in this place. He'd try his best.

Pony glanced between him and Star. She looked conflicted, and if he had to guess, it was probably because she was meant to be keeping an eye on him. He sighed, giving her a thumbs up. He'd be fine. She returned the gesture with a nervous smile.

"Okay and if you get yourself in trouble just scream really loud. I think I'll recognise your voice; it's very annoying."

Marco didn't even bother gracing that with a response.

He took to wandering at first— this was a brand new dimension after all, and there was so much to look at even just contained within this one Arcade. That and he couldn't quite make up his mind on what to play first. That was the burden of too many options, he supposed.

He'd been so preoccupied taking everything in he hadn't noticed the bucket of water in his way until he'd already toppled it over right in front of the poor little yellow triangle janitor busy trying to get through mopping this section of the arcade.

He winced, making brief eye contact with the guy, who was somehow scowling without mouth. He looked absolutely done with life, not that Marco could blame him.

"Sorry…" He trailed off, squinting at the name tag, "…Bill?" An oddly human name for a two dimensional shape, but then again, so was the name Tom.

Bill didn't answer him, begrudgingly picking up his bucket. Marco took that as his cue to leave him to his work. Admittedly he was just happy his shoes hadn't gotten soaked. Wet socks were no joke, he would rather go without shoes and socks at all if it came down to that.

He'd barely walked much further when something caught his eyes, a crowd of people all gathered around what looked to be a game of Dance Dance Revolution between a circle person and a… Well, Marco wasn't sure what this other guy was, but he definitely wasn't a local.

He was far more humanoid, with purple skin and deep rose-pink hair that was swooped rather comedically to one side. It made him look wind swept. Nestled within the wavy hair were a pair of curved tan horns. His ears screamed bat, which gave off vampire energy, in his opinion. Marco might have assumed he quite literally was one if it weren't for his long tail with a pointed end. He looked strikingly similar to some human depictions of demons. And he dressed very…human, too. In fact Marco was quite sure the clothes had to be from Earth.

He wore a pair of jeans, ripped and black with chains dangling from the belt he wore with it. His pants were tucked into a pair of combat boots, the kind with an impossibly thick sole to add height without quite being tall enough to be considered a platform. Even worse, in Marco's opinion, was the heavy leather jacket he wore over everything.

And yet, under it, this demon wore what could only be described as a band shirt. A band he recognised, seeing as it was one of his favourites; Love Sentence. Marco knew for a fact it was custom, though, because he knew of arguably every piece of Love Sentence merchandise to exist.

It was black, album art plastered on the front in different shades of red and some purple. It was a real album he recognised, but all the colours had been changed to match his aesthetic.

To top it all off, he had a plain black bandana tied around the lower half of his face. It was like he was trying to be some stupid, edgy biker guy.

Marco moved to join the crowd, taking extra caution not to step on any of the shapes gathered around. He'd already bothered enough of these poor people. The demon was really going at it, the poor guy he was up against didn't stand a chance…especially considering this was definitely Dance Dance Revolution, from Earth. It was made for humans, and none of these shapes had legs long enough for it not to be a major workout. Really, this was never a fair match in the first place.

"Why's everyone so invested?" Marco asked, crouching down to speak with the hexagon standing beside him. It wasn't exactly a very riveting thing to watch on its own.

"That guy is offering up over ten thousand tickets to anyone that can beat him, but if you loose you gotta give him all of yours," they briefly explained. Judging by the handful of tickets they had clutched in their hand they were planning to give it a shot as soon as they had the chance. The poor thing barely sounded like they could be any older than thirteen, or at least the shape equivalent of it. He… wasn't sure how their aging worked.

Firefly scrunched up her nose, and Marco was sure she was thinking exactly the same thing he was.

"He's scamming you," Marco stated very matter-of-factly, "There's no way any of you can win against him, its probably how he's been getting all these tickets in the first place."

"Well, maybe. But even on the off chance, could you imagine what that many tickets could buy you?"

Probably like, one or two decent items. Arcade prizes were expensive, at least on earth anyway. But Marco didn't want to burst this kid's bubble on that front.

A burst of disappointed groans and a few boos from the crowd pulled Marco's attention back to the game, where it seemed like the demon had just claimed himself even more tickets. The shape that had been taking a shot at beating him looking very dejected while he dumped a small stack of tickets into his hand.

Alright, he couldn't take this. It was just plain sad.

"Hey!"

The demons turned to look at him. He seemed surprised for a moment before quickly shaking off the shocked expression.

"A human? Who let you out of your dimension?" The demon questioned, although the stupid smirk on his face suggested he was just trying to be a dick.

"I let myself out." He did not. But saying that sounded way cooler than admitting his magical pony friend opened him a portal. Kidnapped him through a portal, technically, which was probably worse.

He weaved through the crowd, pulling a token from his pocket to slot it into the machine. It was only then he realised he didn't exactly have any tickets to gamble with. Not that this dude was aware of that; it was probably better that way if he did lose.

"Oh, you wanna play?" The demon acknowledged. "Alright, we can play. But, just so you're aware, you just cut past a line of like… ten people."

Whoops. He glanced behind him and sure enough there were plenty of less than pleased faces.

The demon held out his hand. "Token?"

"Why do I have to cover your side?" Marco complained, grabbing another from his pocket to chuck it in Tom's direction rather than placing it in his hand. He had to scramble to catch it before it hit the ground and rolled away. He shot Marco a glare before he inserted it.

All things considered, Marco was actually decently confident he might have a chance to win this, then maybe he could go buy himself some weird alternate dimension arcade prize. He was good at these games, and the demon was probably at least a little tired at this point. He, on the other hand, was fresh and full of energy. As much energy as someone who had recently come out of a short coma could be.

Oh, yeah. He definitely wasn't supposed to be challenging people to Dance Dance Revolution games while on bed rest.

"I'm Marco, by the way."

"Tom, pleasure to meet you." His voice was smooth, in an obnoxious sort of way. Like a teenage boy trying to make himself sound hot by lowering it a few notches. It irked Marco to no end already.

Tom? Wasn't that the name listed on the leaderboard that Star was losing her mind over?

"You don't look like you belong in this dimension." Marco acknowledged, letting Tom work on selecting a song, he didn't really care what they danced to in all honesty, and Tom seemed to have something in mind.

"Probably because I don't. But I get around, I like to travel. I'm from Mewni, uh, dimension number… something, I don't remember."

The exact same realm that Star was from, what were the chances of that? Small world, or dimension, he supposed. That familiar 'let's go!' flashed over the screen, some pop song he didn't quite recognise beginning to play. He kept his gaze fixed on the screen as they started, seemed Tom had set the difficulty as high as he could.

"You seem to know where I'm from already," Marco noted.

"Been to Earth plenty of times, it's one of my favourite dimensions."

Yeah, he'd gathered that much by the way this guy dressed.

He heard Tom curse under his breath as he missed a step. But really they were decently evenly matched at least from what Marco could gather. He didn't exactly have much of a chance to look over.

"What's so great about Earth? It's kinda boring compared to everything else, isn't it?" Marco asked, the arrows were quickly starting to blur together at this point, his body felt like it was moving an auto pilot, as it always did with games like this. Yet he barely missed more than one step.

"It's only boring to you because you're used to it. Mewni's boring, in my eyes, but it would probably blow your mind. "

The pop song hit its chorus, the speed picking up the moment it did. Marco risked a glance over at Tom, his jaw was tight, eyes narrowed. He seemed agitated that Marco was actually putting up a decent fight.

Firefly was really getting into it, too; she wasn't playing, she couldn't, but she was spinning in eager circles beside him like a BeyBlade. He couldn't tell if it was her attempt to cheer him on or if she was just getting her boogie on.

"You’ve definitely played this before," Marco called over the music, not breaking stride.

"I've been playing this since I was a preteen, I've practically mastered it," Tom retorted.

Marco arched an eyebrow. "Funny. It says you just missed three in a row."

Tom growled under his breath, tail flicking with irritation. He stomped harder, as if trying to force the machine to give him a perfect out of sheer intimidation.

Marco saw an opportunity when he noticed Tom was about to miss yet another step, and even well aware it was a childish move he quickly jumped to press the arrow for him.

"Figured you might need the help," He said, unable to wipe the grin off his face as he turned back to the screen.

Tom let out a short laugh, sharp and just a little too loud. "That's hilarious, very funny."

Marco barely bit back a laugh, he was more amused over how clearly peeved Tom seemed to be about being outplayed than the joke itself.

A silence fell over them, not that Marco had ever found silence uncomfortable. Especially not with the pop music acting as background noise. He was having fun, a lot of fun. So much so he almost didn't mind the fact Pony had technically kidnapped him earlier. He was really in the rhythm now, hitting almost every step as a 'perfect' on screen.

He was so in the zone that the sudden heat that crept up his leg didn't strike him as odd until Firefly let out a startled cry and the smell of smoke finally hit him. His leg was on fire.

He let out— in his opinion— a very justified scream, immediately stumbling his way to the floor. He knew logically he should start rolling, but in the panic of the moment all he could think to do was frantically slap at the flames with his hands. The shapes around him all seemed equally as panicked, speaking frantically amongst themselves in a language he didn't understand. Strange considering he'd just spoken English to one of them—why did they speak English?

Firefly wasn't much help, watching by his side in equal panic. Then again what would she ever be able to do about it in the first place? She'd never shown any sign of magic, even if she was made out of it.

The chaos only stopped as someone tossed an entire bucket of water over him— it looked like it had been commandeered from Bill, sorry Bill— completely drenching him. It stank like cleaning chemicals, but at least he wasn't on fire, and he knew it would have been diluted. He stared down at his now-scorched jeans with shaking hands. There was no way he was unharmed under that mess, yet he didn't really feel any pain.

His gaze shifted back to Tom, still playing, entirely unbothered. And the realisation of who had caused this hit him immediately. He'd really set him on fire to win a game.

"Holy shit, you're fucking crazy!"

"That's your opinion," Tom dismissed, as though he hadn't just physically-magically assaulted him. The music stopped and Marco didn't have to get up and look at the scores to know he'd probably lost the game at this point. Asshole.

"And you cheated," Marco muttered, wincing more out of habit than pain as he hesitantly prodded at the exposed skin of his calf. It was— extremely surprisingly— intact. In fact it looked perfectly fine. It was like he hadn't been on fire at all. Well, if you ignored his ruined jeans.

Maybe the fire was magical, like everything else in these stupid alternate dimensions. Maybe it wasn't a threat to him in the first place, only his clothes. That didn't mean he wasn't still upset about having a perfectly good pair of jeans and the sanctity of dance dance revolution ruined all at once.

"I didn’t—" Tom stopped short, exhaling sharply.

Marco glanced up from his leg as the demon dragged his hands down his face, careful not to shift the bandana he wore even then. He held all the shame of a man who’d just realised the weight of what he'd done.

"I'm sorry," Tom continued, practically forcing the apology through his teeth. It didn't seem like he had much practice with apologising. He shoved his hands in his pockets, making his way over with as much concern as you could expect from a demon who was willing to set you on fire just to win an arcade game. "How bad is it?"

It dawned on Marco that Tom was not aware of the fact his fire hadn't burnt him, which meant he'd probably intended it to do so. If he wasn't offended before, he certainly was now.

"How bad— Why would you light me on fire at all?! Why was that your first response to the situation?! You could have shoved me, literally anything else!" Marco snapped, and Tom's guilt was quickly replaced with that all too familiar frustration.

"It was an accident!" He insisted.

"Bullshit, how do you accidentally light someone on fire?!"

"It was an accident!" Tom repeated, his voice dropping into a tone that rather ironically could only be described as demonic. It was loud, so loud it shook the walls of the arcade. Tom's hair engulfed in flames in the same moment, as did his tail and hands, and all three of his eyes glowed a bright red. He looked terrifying and, needless to say, it sure shut Marco up.

He stared up at Tom, frozen in place, and apparently his fear was evident in his expression, because Tom immediately murmured out another half-hearted apology. Slowly, he forced his clenched hands to relax, sucking in a shaky breath. The flames slowly faded to smoke as he let it out, his eyes losing their glow.

"Alright, look—" Tom began, but the words had barely left his mouth before he was yanked into the air by some invisible force, letting out a startled scream. He was glowing—literally glowing. There was some kind of gold aura encasing him.

Marco would have laughed in his face if he wasn't so confused. Especially since Tom was squirming like a toddler throwing a tantrum; he looked ridiculous. Served him right.

"Okay. Simmer down, Lucitor!"

Marco groaned, because he definitely recognised that voice.

Sure enough, prancing over the rows of arcade machines towards them was Pony, looking very proud of herself indeed.

"Wha—Lilacia! Put me down!" Tom hissed, and there was that voice again. The flames practically engulfed his entire body this time around. It was almost impressive how quickly Pony was able to rile him up. Although, then again, she seemed to be a natural at frustrating everyone who spoke to her, and Tom wasn't exactly a shining example of patience.

"Nuh-uh, not happening. Why on Mewni is Marley on the ground looking sad and wet?" Pony snapped. Tom let out an exaggerated groan, growling something in a language Marco didn't recognise. Pony rolled her eyes, responding with just as much venom in that same strange language.

Whatever it was she said, it seemed to startle Tom out of his tantrum, the fury in his eyes fading into something more nervous.

"What did you tell him?" Marco looked up as Pony finally reached him. Her eyes immediately dropped to his scorched jeans.

"He isn't allowed to leave the Underworld, so I told him if he keeps pushing me, I'm gonna tell his mom he's been sneaking out. It always shuts him up." She leaned in closer, "Did he actually hurt you? Because I'm not playing, I'll chuck him right back home to his mother."

"I can hear you!" Tom called down to them, arms crossed tightly over his chest. He was up there pouting over it now, it seemed.

"That's the point, Thomas!" Pony called back. Tom immediately cringed at the use of his full name. Which was hilarious, by the way. Thomas Lucitor sounded stupidly posh.

"You know him?" Marco asked, watching the way Pony's horn began to illuminate a bright gold, she rested it gently against his leg only to seem confused, the glow fading.

"Oh, yeah. Our kingdoms have some age-old alliance. So I have to be polite and dance with him at balls… that kinda thing."

So Tom was a noble of some sort? He was probably the last person he'd suspect to hold any importance. But, he certainly had the mindset of someone used to getting things handed to him on a silver platter, so he supposed part of it made sense.

"I thought you were like, burnt or something," Pony added, interrupting the thought.

"Oh, no. I guess it didn't burn through my jeans as much as I thought it did." It was the only reason he could come up with as to how he was entirely unscathed.

"Well, why are you still on the ground then?"

"I— Give me one second! Jesus. I just got set on fire, forgive me for being a little frazzled," Marco grumbled, shifting to his knees so he could stand. And wow, moving around in wet jeans might as well be a form of torture. It was almost as bad as wet socks which— for the most part— his shoes seemed to have protected him from.

"Looks like you're off the hook," Pony called up to her captive, the glow around Tom faded and he fell the ground with a very unceremonious thud. Firefly seemed pleased, lifting her legs to her mouth to hide her amusement. Marco didn't bother hiding his own, snickering under his breath.

"I have never met another person who knows my title and still is this disrespectful to me almost every time we interact," Tom muttered, wincing as he stumbled to his feet and clearly trying his best to play off the obvious limp he now walked with.

"Star—" Pony began.

"Other than the Butterflies!"

"Alright, seriously though, Star is here. She's just hyper focused on replacing a high score you took from her. So trot off before she realises there's a demon in this dimension." Pony grumbled.

Tom laughed, loosening up at the mention of his stupid high score. "Oh yeah, I forgot I did that."

"What happens if she knows there's a demon?" Marco interrupted. He couldn't see why it would matter to Star. Well— aside from the fact this particular demon had briefly lit one of her friends on fire. She would probably be pretty understandably peeved about that.

"Oh… You know…" Pony trailed off, making an effort not to look him in the eyes. "Let's all say goodbye to Tom! Bye Tom!"

"What? Lilacia don't open—" Tom was gone in an instant, disappearing through the portal that tore open under his feet with a rather hilariously timed and abruptly cut off scream.

"That guy was kind of jerk," Marco muttered and Pony nodded in agreement.

"'Kind of' is putting it lightly." She replied, "Come on, let's go watch Star fail at beating his high score for another few hours."

"What? I'm walking around!" Marco protested.

"Yeah… no. You lost walking around privileges when you immediately went and got yourself set on fire."

Marco huffed— so much for trying out the arcade games. Was it too late to ask to head back to the Bounce Lounge?

"Can I at least go home and change my pants?" He pleaded. They were already driving him crazy.

"No. No, you cannot."

Marco was well and truly fed up with that stupid Cavern Invasion arcade game by the time Pony finally decided to let him head home. He'd stood watching Star fail for almost three hours, with his jeans soaking wet for two of them. His social battery was drained dry and, quite frankly, he was nearing his breaking point with even Star near the end of it.

He had no clue what Pony's issue was She'd dodged any request to head home earlier, and she'd disappeared for the last hour before she finally turned up again to open him a portal.

Star didn't come with him, of course not. Cavern Invasion had her in a choke hold right now and Pony wanted to stay and hang with her for a while longer. So it was just him and Firefly, not that he minded; she was currently fast asleep in his hoodie pocket. He just wanted to take a hot shower and get comfortable in bed before it was too late to get through his nighttime routine.

The portal had opened in Janna and Star's dorm. It was oddly quiet when he stepped through. The first thing to catch his eye was the vase Star had grabbed earlier, now shattered over the floor, pieces spread around the room. In fact, the entire dorm seemed trashed.

To be fair it was always sort of trashed anyway— its residents weren't exactly tidy people— but this was something further than just mess.

There was furniture laying on its side, stuff tossed about the room, like a hurricane had hit. He took a hesitant step away from the portal, which slowly shrank closed before he could change his mind and return to Pony for backup.

It was only then that he noticed the duvet from Star's bed laying on the floor in front of him. It was torn open, like some kind of animal had gotten its hands on it.

"Marco."

He flinched, whipping his head around towards the sound only to be met by none other than Janna. She was sitting cross legged on top of Star's bookshelf, the pocket knife that she always kept on her was out and open. She looked rough, covered in small cuts and scrapes.

"What happened?" He asked, keeping his voice just as hushed as hers. "Why does it look like you let a wild dog loose in your bedroom?"

"Climb up, I'll tell you," Janna beckoned, holding out a hand to him. He didn't exactly trust the bookshelf not to tip over if he tried, but it seemed a lot more preferable to be on high ground when he had no explanation of what caused this.

"Fine."

He caught something move out of the corner of his eye when he stepped towards her—a vine? It slithered from beneath Star’s bed, followed by a flower, then more vines. The mass slowly took shape, almost feline in form, and he quickly realised that it was made entirely from the bouquet he’d brought her.

He froze, locking eyes with the creature. It stared back, unblinking, with eyes made from a pair of daisies. They made the creature look awfully beady. It was... strangely cute. But he could put two and two together, he knew this thing was probably a lot less than friendly.

It crept between Marco and the bookshelf like it knew exactly where he wanted to go. He took a cautious step back, then another.

“Huh. That's where that went. Uh, Don’t blink,” Janna warned. "Trust me, it likes to jump you when you aren't looking."

"Great. Thanks," He muttered, tone dripping with sarcasm. How did he keep getting himself into these situations? He was supposed to be resting, not being set on fire and sliced to pieces by a sentient bouquet. Served him right for stopping by to thank Star in the first place, he supposed.

"What's got you so grumpy? It's not my fault your overpriced flowers gained sentience."

"What's got me—I'm being attacked by flowers, Janna! A little help?"

The creature let out a shrill hiss, tail lashing behind it. Marco stumbled, nearly tripping over Star’s backpack in his scramble to back away, which he immediately snatched it off the ground to hug it to his chest. It was better protection than nothing at all and he certainly wasn't afraid to wack this thing with it if he had to.

Janna let out an exaggerated sigh. "Alright, hold your horses." She vaulted off of the bookshelf, pocket knife still clutched in her hand. She landed on the ground with a thud, the creatures head snapped towards her to bare its teeth, which seemed to be made entirely out of thorns. It's interest in Marco was dropped entirely in favour of Janna.

"Jesus, it hates you." Marco crept forward, taking advantage of the fact it had turned its back to him. The backpack remained clutched tightly in his arms.

"I've been trying to catch this thing for hours. Stars water gave it life or something. I think we're like, arch enemies at this point." The brief exchange of eye contact was all it took for Janna to catch onto his plan. She held her ground even as the bouquet poised itself to pounce.

Marco lunged forward, slamming the heavy backpack onto the creature’s back. He pressed his full weight onto it, pinning it down to the floor. The creature let out a furious screech, thrashing underneath him. In the struggle it managed to whip its tail against his leg. He let out a pained hiss, the thorns jutting out of its tail digging through into into thigh. It wasn’t anything more than a few shallow cuts, but it still hurt like hell.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to hold the thing down for long—Janna was fast. The moment it hit the ground, she lunged forward to thrust the knife into the plant’s neck. The sound it made— a wet, sickening crunch— had Marco gagging. He turned away, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I can't look."

He'd never enjoyed watching things die— he couldn't even stomach those animal documentaries. This was no different, at least not in his mind. There was something deeply unsettling about the way the flower monster gradually stopped struggling under the backpack.

"Sheesh, that was an ordeal," Janna huffed.

Marco cracked an eye open to peer over at her. She shoved the pocket knife into her jacket pocket as she stood, extending a hand. He took it without hesitation, trying his best not to glance back at the now motionless pile of flowers. He realised something, his breath hitching and he only relaxed after frantically feeling around in his pocket for Firefly. She let out a tired and very displeased sound. He had no clue how she slept through all that.

"Sorry, Firefly. Go back to sleep."

"You look like shit, by the way. I'm taking you back to your dorm. You're supposed to be taking it easy."

"Says you," Marco retorted with a laugh. "Have you looked at yourself?"

"I'm allowed to get beat up, I wasn't recently discharged from hospital," Janna shot back.

A silence fell over them, one that wasn't exactly comfortable. It wasn’t that he minded the quiet— he just knew Janna well enough to know she was holding back something she wanted to say.

Their steps echoed through the hall as they stepped out of the dorm. He figured it must be decently late at this point; he'd been gone for hours.

"You're allowed to be freaked out you know. About the hospital stuff." Marco spoke.

Janna shoved her hands in his pockets, she didn’t show a flicker of emotion but that was just Janna for you. She was difficult to read, but it didn't mean she was void of any feelings.

"I think I was most freaked out pulling up on campus to all the sirens and shit. And I kept reminding myself it probably wasn't you. That it's just me freaking myself out because of the last time." Janna sucked in a sharp breath, "Then it was you. And now all the paranoia feels justified, and it's just… stressful."

"I get it… Dad was freaked out too. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I really think therapy would—"

"Not going," Janna immediately dismissed, shaking her head. "When you get your degree maybe I'll let you dig around in my head if you want, but I'm not talking feelings with a stranger."

Marco didn't press it, mostly because this conversation never went anywhere. He'd tried to convince her plenty of times before. Instead he reached out to take her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"I'm not going anywhere. Who else would subject you to the sibling treatment? You'd end up with only child syndrome or something."

Janna scoffed, but he could see the tension in her shoulders less slightly. "Guess I'd have to start bothering Mariposa."

"She'd wear you down within a day. She's going through her chaos phase."

"Isn't every phase her chaos phase?" Janna snickered.

"Oh yeah. She was born into it."

"Hey, by the way, why does it look like you set your jeans on fire?"

Marco could only let out a groan. "I'll fill you in after I've slept." Interdimensional travel really took it out of you.