Rifts

Part 20~Turned Tables

The council laughed at Eclipsa's request as Star popped up. "She can! She gets a question! Mum said so! She said it in the rules!"

Moon frowned. "Technically, since Eclipsa was once a queen of Mewni, she is still a member of the Magical High Commission, and every member gets to ask one question."

Eclipsa stood up, taking in a deep breath. "What did you do with my daughter?"

The Box spun, glowing a light on the commission as they began to panic, claiming they did not know. The Box turned red, levitating higher in the air. "Everyone lied!" The Box expanded, trapping them inside.

"What's happening? We told the truth!" Rhombulus looked around in fear.

"Are you sure about that?" The Box grew smaller as Star leaned against the wall, trying to stop it.

"We didn't do anything wrong!" Hekapoo waved her arms about as Marco rushed to the other side, trying to stop the walls from shrinking even more.

"Hekapoo now is not the time. Just tell the Box the truth!"

"We aren't the ones on trial," Omnitraxus screeched.

The Box floated down, circling him. "If you'd rather get to the truth more quickly, I can work with that."

The walls continued to shrink, closing in on the commission. Rhombulus created crystals to try and slow the ceiling while a swarm of Hekapoos ran at the wall.

"Moon, please shut it off," Omnitraxus begged as she shook her head.

"I can't do that. We all took the oath!"

The crystals broke, and Hekapoo's clones disappeared in a poof of smoke. "We're gonna be crushed!"

"You know, this is so unfair! You enforce the laws of magic on everyone around you. And yet, for some reason, you can lie to us? How does this make you any different than the villain you say Eclipsa is?" Star glared at the commission as they were pushed together.

Rhombulus finally cracked. "We got rid of your daughter, sorry." The Box disappeared, dropping the group back in the courtroom as they returned to their seats. Hekapoo screamed, glaring at Rhombulus. "I'm sorry, I'm tired of keeping it a secret."

Marco gave Hekapoo a look, one she remembered. "What did you do?"

Hekapoo sighed, groaning into her hand. "Fine. King Shastakan didn't want anything to do with the half-monster child, so we swapped her out with a peasant girl."

Eclipsa gasped as the Box showed her projected images of her child.

"We gave her the Royal Magic Wand, and she became the next Queen of Mewni."

The Box stopped, turning to the commission. "Eclipsa has been found guilty of crimes against Mewmanity. However, the Magical High Commission has also been found guilty of tampering with Mewni's history and omitting the truth from the Butterfly family for generations."

The Box looked each member in the eyes as they fidgeted, growing self-conscious.

"This concludes the trial. Although, if we're all being honest here, it seems like y'all still have some issues to deal with." The Box turned off, dropping into Moon's hands.

"So, it was just as we suspected." Moon walked away as the commission stared at her. "We knew there was something missing from our family's history. Eclipsa's daughter should be recorded here in the royal archives, but she's gone." Moon pulled out a scroll, holding it up for the commission to see.

"Wait a minute. This whole trial was a set-up?!" Rhombulus shook his head as the commission grew agitated.

Hekapoo glared at the queens. "You planned this all along!"

"Actually, we all planned this." Star stepped out, pausing as she watched Marco take place next to her.

Hekapoo gasped. "Marco? You betrayed me?!"

"You said you wouldn't hide anything from me, but you hid this."

"This is different. And it's not like you tell me everything."

"Excuse me?! The stuff I hide from is like embarrassing memories from my childhood, not a mass conspiracy!"

Marco met Hekapoo's sharp glare as Moon rolled up her scroll. "We thought you might be hiding something. And it turns out we were right."

Star pointed her finger as she spoke. "You lied to our family for generations."

"We had to," Hekapoo tried to defend as Omnitraxus spoke up.

"Can you imagine if the power of magic fell into the hands of a monster?"

Star shook her head. "You let us live a lie. We shouldn't even have the throne. Eclipsa isn't even... wait. You aren't actually my great-great-great-great-something-grandma." Star turned to Eclipsa, a sad look on her face.

"No, sweetie, I'm not."

"Then, that means we're no more royal than anybody else." Star pulled out her wand as Moon stepped closer.

"You're still a princess, Star."

"No, mum, we're nobody." Star held up her wand, breaking off Eclipsa's chains before she stormed out. Moon called out, but her voice fell on deaf ears.

Marco sighed. "I'm going home. You need a lift?" Marco looked at Eclipsa as she smiled, following Marco out.

~~~

Stepping out of the portal, Marco looked around his room. Tom was singing under his breath, reading a book of some kind as Marco sighed, collapsing onto the sofa beside him. Neither said anything as Marco joined in the song, taking a moment to relax.

Eclipsa smiled, taking a seat in the chair nearby.

"Marco, you're back!" Solar grinned as he bounced out of the kitchen, holding a mug of hot chocolate. His hair was platted with little hair, creating skulls that only Tom knew how to make. "What- what happened?"

"You do not have to worry. I am free."

Solar sighed, looking at Eclipsa. "I'm glad. How did Hekapoo take it?"

"I don't think we're talking right now." Marco sighed, leaning against Tom as he brought him into a hug. "Could you imagine, in a different life, Solar would be living in a castle."

"And you would still be a peasant," Tom answered as Marco gaped in offence.

"Lies. I would be his champion."

Solar chuckled. "I think Moc would disagree."

Marco huffed, giving Solar a glare. "Now, that's just rude."

Tom smiled, running his fingers through Marco's hair. "You can be my champion."

"Especially his," Solar agreed. "Tom can't fight."

"I can!"

"No, you can't," Marco and Solar responded together before Marco hummed. "Want to learn? We can train while Solar's learning magic." Marco grinned, tilting up his head to look at Tom.

"Yeah, I- I can do that." Tom looked away, having a take a deep breath. Yeah, he can take a few hours of training with Marco. He was going to be fine.

Marco cheered, unaware of Tom's internal struggle.