Where No One Dares

Chapter 4: Guess Who's Back

Hekapoo sighed and rolled her eyes when Star refused to talk alone. "I know it's you, Estella."

Star flinched and gripped Marco's hand tighter, pulling him closer to her. She gave Hekapoo a blank stare.

"I knew your father —your real father. I know you're the crowned princess of the Mariposa Kingdom. And I know that Mewni is in danger."

Star furrowed her eyebrows. "You knew Papa?"

Hekapoo nodded and took a step forward towards her. Star flinched away, shaking her head.

"I can't go...back," she whispered. "...Not now."

"But we need you. Eclipsa may not be there right now to terrorize the citizens, but order needs to be restored. You have to come back!"

Star looked at Moon, who wasn't paying much attention. Toffee pursed his lips, creasing his brows, but in the end, he only shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe this is the way to end the curse," Marco said, voice barely above a whisper.

Star raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"

"The answer to all of this might be at Mewni." His eyes widened. "At the source."

"That doesn't sound like an awful idea," Moon said, snapping her fingers, and surprising Star. "It could help you, Star."

"No," Star said, moving out from behind Marco. She clenched her fists at her side. "I don't want to destroy home too."

A few tears escaped her eyes, and she blinked, a blush tainting her face pink.

"Going home won't destroy anything." Moon walked over and put an arm around Star. "When you were a baby, I made a promise to you. I promised that I would always be there."

Star's eyes widened as more tears tumbled down her cheeks.

"I need to honor that promise," Moon said, "so let me in. Let me help."

"Friends don't lie," Star said through gritted teeth.

Moon averted her eyes. "Please believe me, because I'm not your friend. I care for you as though you were my own child. Believe me as a guardian."

Star pressed her lips into a line and wiped her face, drying her tears. For some reason, she yearned to believe Moon. Because somewhere in her memory, something strong tugged them close. Something bonded them together in a mother-and-daughter way.

"I believe you," she said, wrapping her arms around Moon.

Star let the moment carry on for a bit before she withdrew from the hug.

She turned to the demon. "Hekapoo, tell us about Glossaryck."

______________

"Is she okay?" Marco asked, standing in front of Star's door. '

Star had been shut up in her trailer long after Hekapoo had told her what she needed to. Marco had missed the news due to his mother finding out where he was and not being impressed in the slightest. After a lecture and a promise not to go out at night again, he returned to see how Star was doing.

"She took the news hard, as hard as Moon," Hekapoo said. "Don't... don't take it personally if she doesn't want to talk about it."

"Okay." Marco gulped and opened the door.

The wooden trailer was mostly empty, apart from a small blanket fort in the corner. Consecutive clicks were the only noise Marco heard, and he gathered that they were coming from a torch because of the light that was turned on and off under the blanket tent.