Starnapped: A SVTFOE Story

Starnapped: Chapter 6 - The Aftermath

Tears began to fall from Marco's eyes as he watched Star fall to the ground, her wonderful glow fading fast. "Was she going to be ok? How did Eclipsa do that? Was Star dead?" Marco was in a state of panic, and Moon was not much better. Her hands trembled with shock, feeling as if this entire ordeal was her fault. She was the reason that Eclipsa was free in the first place. Moon prayed that her daughter was still alive, that she was still safe. Although the sky was dark, Star's defeat was in plain view, her bright glow highlighting the tragic events as they occurred.

Moon was brought out from her grief with a sharp pain in her wrists. The suffering had returned. Moon attempted to endure the agony, but failed miserably, collapsing onto the ground. Marco heard the whimper of the woman as she hit the forest floor, causing him to snap out of his own guilt. "Queen, are you alright? What is wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?" Moon now saw why Star liked this boy in the first place.

"Well, at the moment I am fine, thank you. But the pain, it's just so..." she was interrupted by another burst of anguish, causing her to scream in agony, gripping her wrist. It was blatantly obvious the Queen was not fine.

Marco reached over to Moon's arm gently and pulled away her hand, revealing a slightly violet glow emitting from her glove. Suddenly flooded with curiosity, he pulled the glove back, only to be petrified with fear. The area previously concealed by the glove was covered in pulsing purple veins, emitting the same light he had seen before. Glancing over at the other arm, he now noticed the same veins climbing up her arm. Seeing the horror on his face, Moon placed her gloved hand on Marco's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Through gritted teeth, Moon said a single word. "Eclipsa."

Marco's face suddenly turned to confusion. How did she have to do with any of this? How could she cause such pain in the Queen of Mewni? Moon began to study his expression once again, and propped herself back up against the log so she could explain. "Well Marco, as you may or may not know, Eclipsa was captured in crystal 300 years ago by Romulus, because he believed she was evil. She then sat in that crystal undisturbed until more close to present day, when I was a child. "

Marco, trying to immerse into the story, sat down on the log next to the Queen, observing her arm as she continued. "I lost my mother when I was quite young, around Star's age actually. This obviously made me queen at that age as well." The mention of her mother was causing Moon to tear up, but she forced herself to continue. "At the time of my rule, a war had broken out between the Mewmans and the Monsters. More specifically, the Lizards." Just the mention of that name sent shivers down her spine, memories popping up of the day her daughter nearly died at the hands of their general. But she needed to continue her tale.

"Everybody wanted me to make all these big decisions, and I was just a kid! I needed to decide between signing a peace treaty, and waging a war. And Glossaryc was no help, he was still grieving. I knew what I had to do, but I needed some help first. So I decided to go to Eclipsa for guidance." Marco had been taking a sip from the flask of water he had brought with him, but when he heard that name he spit out the contents he was drinking in shock. "Eclipsa? But she's evil! Surely you knew that, even I know that, and I'm not even from Mewni!"

"Yes Marco, I know, but hear me out. I told Romulus to unfreeze her so I could learn a spell from her "Forbidden Chapter". I would have asked Glossaryc, but he was so distraught about my mother, I couldn't get anything out of him! Therefore, I made a deal with the woman. She would teach me the spell so I could kill their general, and she would get her freedom. I know, I was stupid to accept, but I had no choice. So I shook her hand and the pact was made. I then used the spell to intimidate the monsters out of our land, but to my own cost. Eclipsa's dark magic had corrupted me." Moon finished, gesturing to her veins as she ended her story.

"So these weird, purple veins are magical corruption?" Marco asked, suddenly retracting from the arm in fear. He was not ready to be corrupted.

"Well, yes. After I casted the spell upon the Lizard's general, these veins appeared on my arms and haven't left since. I think you may better know him as Toffee."

Just the mention of that name brought back terrible memories. Memories of kidnapping, mind control, destruction, and most of all, death. That ghastly creature had almost killed his best friend, and even after he has finally dead, Marco was not ready to forget his grudge. Toffee deserved more punishment for his actions, even if Star had killed him with the use of her own magic. Nobody was allowed to hurt Star when he was there, or any time in between. Which was why the idea of Eclipsa hurting the Queen just made him even more angry. Realising the silence, Marco remarked through gritted teeth, "Yeah, I remember him."

"Well, because of the pact I made with Eclipsa in my youth, upon Toffee's death she was released. And I believe you know what happened from there."

Marco nodded, remembering the task at hand. They needed to find Star. Time was running out fast. "So what does all of this have to do with Star? Why now?"

"Well, throughout this adventure of ours, I have been trying to figure that out. I believe I finally have an answer. Here, watch the shade of my veins very closely." Moon stated, standing up and twirling her arms around slowly in sync. As she moved her arms around, the light began to dim and brighten, each direction causing a new result. Moon smiled as Marco watched in awe, trying to figure out the pattern.

"Now Marco, I have a hunch. What if the light is like a compass, and the shade is like a game of "hot-and-cold"? Pointing north, the light is dull, west, slightly brighter. Southwest, it gets brighter still, and it peaks at southeast, shining brightly like a star. I believe that these shining veins will lead us right to the source. What do you think?" Moon suggested, rather proud of her theory.

Marco's eyes lit up with excitement. "The theory seems rather smart indeed. In any other occasion, I would say to look for more evidence. But at the moment, I'm desperate, and I know you are too. Now let's follow your glowing arms back to Star!" And with that, Moon stomped out the fire and begin to lead the trek through the wood once again.

Star moaned in pain, every muscle and bone aching from earlier in the night. Eclipsa had beaten her, and had beaten her bad. Her body screamed in protest as she sat up, eager to observe her surroundings. All around her stood the same wooden walls of her captor's shack, with a now fixed roof and flooring. The shack was certainly nothing special, but anything was better than the dark and ominous landscape of the outdoors.

"I see you are awake. That's good. You took quite a beating earlier." spoke a familiar voice, its source suddenly appearing behind her. She was getting better at making her magic more quiet.

"I know I stand no chance at fighting you, I know that now. But please, tell me why you want our kingdom. If you are going to kill me at least tell me the truth." It pained Star to say that, but it was all true. Star was too weak to fight, so she may as well get some information out of her before she... died.

"Are you Butterflys really that clueless these days? You think I can wake up from a crystal after 300 years, and just forget about my old life? Everything I missed? But after all, I'm just an evil queen, a villain, with no feelings. Right?" Eclipsa spat, tears beginning to form in her violet eyes. "I miss my husband."

Star couldn't help but feel bad for the woman. Nobody deserved to have that happen to them, no matter how evil. She had been torn straight out of her life without an explanation, and was called names in her absence and replaced. Monster lover. Evil queen. Wicked. A disgrace. Eclipsa didn't deserve to have that happen to her. Maybe she did have a good reason to hate the royals.

"I feel your pain, sorta. People reject me for how I am too. I'm just too reckless, and emotionally driven. Nobody wants to have to deal with that. So they tossed me off to another dimension, just to get me out of their poofy, royal hair. It may not be crystal, but it sure was isolation." Star gingerly explained, attempting to sympathize with the now weeping queen.

"I used to be more like you you know. I was reckless, but respectful. Determined , but kind. But my entire life ended after I met that monster. I fell in love, but everyone else developed hatred. Towards me and my husband. They called me a disgrace. A joke. A curse on the family name. My kindness turned to hate, my respect to disdain. So I wrote my spells. Wrote my pains and anguish into hate-filled sorcery. No wonder I was considered evil. They turned me to darkness." she finally finished her story, tears leaking from her eyes.

Maybe Eclipsa wasn't so bad after all.