What Are We? | Chapter 14 : Two-Faced

Hey guys, Starry here. I'm so sorry for the delay with completing this chapter. School started back up for me on Monday and I haven't had the time to finish. But I finally had finished this chapter, so hopefully it makes up for it with its length. Chapter updates will be less frequent due to me having to focus on school as well, but don't worry, I will try to update regularly.

You can read all of my chapters in my Wiki Entry here: What Are We? Chapter List

I also update this story at my Wattpad, which you can check out here: What Are We? Star vs the Forces of Evil

The animation was made by this generous person :star: Star :star: thank you so much for making this for me. :heart:

~•~

"Star," called out a distressed voice as it bounced off of the walls.

The duo had stepped through the portal and were now in the crystal dimension, home to the universe's most sinister villains. It was guarded by Rhombulus, whom of which everyone affectionally called the "Time Out Guy". He was the one who would trap them in crystal, freezing them in stasis for the rest of eternity. Moon was becoming worried, as she didn't see the crystal guy around anywhere.

Her heels clicked on the shiny crystal floor as she walked past the confused Marco. "Come on dear, let's go in check Eclipsa's area."

"Okay, queen," Marco sighed as his faith in finding Star here was quickly diminishing. His mind started to wander as he trailed behind the queen. What if Eclipsa got her hands on Star? What if she was... no, he shouldn't think that so soon in their quest. Besides, this was only the beginning, and this was Star they were talking about. When things looked bleak, she always dug herself out of the situation no matter what. He shouldn't be placing so much doubt on her, but he just couldn't help it. She was his girlfriend now, and he just wanted to make sure she was safe, even if the rebellious girl claimed time and time again that she could handle herself.

The duo had walked along a large slab of crystal, their goal fast approaching as the villains encased in crystal became more and more malicious. Marco could feel the hairs rising on his arms, prompting him to stick behind the queen.

They finally reached the spot where Eclipsa's crystal lay, only to find it shattered, pieces of crystal scattered on the floor like broken tempered glass. Moon's heart jumped into her throat. No Eclipsa was around here.

The queen's eyes were glued to the crystal, but she had seen this coming from a mile away. The deal that they had made. The dark ribbons of magic slowly wrapping around the both of their arms, their cheek marks glowing in unison; it all seemed so soon. She had put her kingdom in danger, all because she wanted to show her hated foe who was boss.

She tried to take a step forward despite the sizzling, pulsating purple veins screaming in protest, but she was stopped when her heel had kicked something hard, making her groan in pain. Her eyes had quickly turned to the source, causing her to gasp at what she had seen.

Rhombulus was on the floor, his crystal a dark purple. He was there unmoving, curled up into a ball. He didn't seem dead, but he had definitely sustained some injuries from his encounter with the queen of darkness.

Moon held a hand to her mouth, Marco observing from behind her. "Rhombulus!" She had kneeled down in front of her, her diamonds glowing as she tried to muster any last bit of healing magic from her body, but she was quickly stopped by an intense pain in her wrists. Her diamonds flickered before turning a putrid violet color. She tried again and again, but to no avail. The magic inside her was disappearing fast, becoming corrupted.

Star's mother winced, hissing as she clenched her wrist in agony. She sighed, she would have to leave him in this state until Eclipsa was defeated. There would be no chance of trapping the evil queen again, as she would just break free since a part of their deal was her getting the freedom she so desperately desired.

Marco gently placed a hand on the queen's shoulder, concerned of her withering condition. "Moon, will you be alright?"

"I don't know, Marco... but we have no time to waste. Eclipsa is out there, and probably is manipulating Star now... we have to find her quickly before she harms her." She stood up straight, her knees trembling.

The boy let out a deep exhale before pulling out his scissors once again. His hope in finding her was leaving quickly, but whatever it took to get Star back, he wholeheartedly accepted. He tore a portal into the air once again, and quickly stepped through it, the queen following close behind.

~•~

"It's alright, granny. Let it out. I'm here."

Star gently patted the back of her sobbing ancestor, who was crying into her shoulder. The two heirs were sharing a bonding moment, chatting about how mistreated and tossed aside the both of them were, which came to a surprise. The young princess was happy to see that the both of them had shared so many similarities, and she didn't seem all that bad. She was just misunderstood, deemed evil by Mewni when in reality she was hurt and betrayed. It all was starting to make sense in Star's mind. If she wasn't so evil, then maybe she could get her to leave her mother alone, and go back home. Everything would be fine and dandy. She was crossing her fingers mentally, hoping that it would be that easy. However in the back of her mind she know that it would not be that easy.

Eclipsa pulled her head away, sniffling as she used her gloved hand to flick away a tear falling from her eye. "I am sorry, darling. I got a little carried away there."

"Don't sweat it, I get carried away all the time," Star waved her hand, offering a reassuring smile to her ancestor.

"It is just... all of this has taken its toll on me," the dark queen said solemnly, fixing her poofy gray hair.

"It would to me too, Eclipsa... I mean... having the whole kingdom call you evil? Losing your kingdom, husband... mother..." Star sighed, understanding her situation, but also having doubts as she thought of her mother and how weak she seemed a few nights before. The queen didn't look all that bad, but then again, she did harm her mother. Star was wary of bringing it up however as she thought about how powerful the queen was, and it would be rude to interrupt her while she was upset. She was rebellious, but she did empathize with Eclipsa.

The queen of darkness nodded her head, picking herself up off of the ground. "I am glad you understand me, Star Butterfly."

The princess' blue eyes wondered to Eclipsa's face, as her lips were slowly twisting into a smile. She only thought of this as her feeling better after she had comforted her. Star was no therapist, but she was glad that she had made her grieving ancestor feel better.

Star's heart jumped as she saw the queen reach out her un-gloved hand to her. It was glowing faintly, the same vile shade of purple as her mother's veins. Eclipsa wore a smirk, her teeth slowly coming into view.

"That is why I want you to me. We can rule Mewni together! We have been mistreated, tossed aside! Nobody cares . It is time for us to take control!"

The blonde's eyes looked at Eclipsa's outstretched hand, then back into her piercing purple eyes. On one hand, being wrongfully accused of being evil was terrible, and she was sorry that this had happened to her granny, but on the other hand, her mother was the queen now. She couldn't just kick her mother from the throne because she wanted it back. That was wrong, not to mention that she herself was next in line for the throne, even though the thought gave her anxiety. Also, she was the one who manipulated her mother into doing the deal.

"What do you say, Star Butterfly? Would you like to make a deal?"

"What? No," Star spat, jumping up from her seat, "I will not you, especially after what you did to my mom! I know about your little deals and how you manipulate people for your benefit, and I won't fall for it!"

Eclipsa looked at the angry Star, the smirk on her face leaving. "Oh yes, Moon Butterfly. I believe I told you about our little pact, hm? I suppose she finally completed it after twenty more years. Now I can finally take back what is mine."

Star closed her eyes, gulping. "No, Eclipsa. It was me. I set you free."

Eclipsa slowly retracted her outstretched hand, distracted by the young princess' statement. She guffawed in amusement. "You? Beating an immortal monster single-handedly? That is humorous. You do realize how difficult it is to defeat one, especially Toffee, the most powerful of his kind. And to think you, Star Butterfly, a princess who uses basic magic all willy-nilly, could defeat one all by herself... hah. It makes me believe that you are lying to me."

"No, I am serious. I did it all by myself," Star said, pulling her wand into view. "One powerful blast from my wand, I blew his flesh off of his skeleton. I'm not sure how, but I was inside my wand, and I went to this place... and Glossaryk was there. I dipped down, and I know it seems stupid, but I stuck my hands into his boiling hot soup, which fixed my wand and I turned into this huge golden butterfly! One blast was all it took to defeat him."

Eclipsa let out a chuckle again, placing her hand over her mouth. "It seems to me that you are not as careless with magic as I previously thought... you are quite powerful, my dear."

Star smiled, happy at the queen's compliment.

"And I would like to thank you for liberating me. You have gave me an opportunity to take back what is rightfully mine. And with you by side, we will be unstoppable." The queen offered her outstretched hand to the princess once again.

The smile on the blonde's face quickly faded once again as she looked at Eclipsa's dark purplish hand. Maybe her first judgements about her were correct, she did seem a little... odd. "No... look, I'm sorry that you were robbed from your kingdom, your husband, your freedom, but you have deeply hurt my mom with your deals and stuff, and I'm sure this wasn't the first deal you have made. And taking over Mewni won't bring him back, and there's nothing I can do to help."

"Hah, and to think you were different. YOUR MOTHER IS A FOOL!" Eclipsa had roared, banging her hands against the table. "... she is an absolute dimwit. She has caused so many monsters heartache with her reign, and Mewmans blindly follow her. They will never ever understand the pain of being feared for being different. She needs to be overthrown for what she has caused by declaring war, and to think that I believed that you understood... idiotic. YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE REST."

The spades on Eclipsa's cheeks started to glow white before she fired a shot of dark magic at the started princess, missing her by a hair.

Star had to act fast, this woman was angry and unstable. She had drawn her wand and stood up, the crystal glowing as it fired up a spell. She was bad at creating spells off the top of her head, so she recalled what she knew. She was ready for battle.

"Dagger crystal heart attack!" Small red blades of magic shot out from her wand towards the queen, seemingly doing damage as Star looked over.

Eclipsa cackled insanely, and with a wave of her hand she reflected the spell back at Star, the heart-shaped blades causing tears in her dress and cuts on her arms. "You think you're so special don't you? Your spells are absolutely pathetic."

Star was getting angry, the queen had betrayed her trust. She had ran over, her anger was rising, boiling to the brim, as reflected by the white-hot glow emanating from her wand.

"YOU ARE PATHETIC. Your magic is amateur, my dear, I think you are lying when you say you defeated Toffee by your lonesome. Hah!" Eclipsa laughed at the angry Star, who was coming for her.

The princess had fired a blast of white magic at the dark queen, who had only absorbed it into her maroon attire. Star's rampage was stopped in its tracks when she felt Eclipsa's hand clamp down on her wand-welding hand.

Star could feel her hand become boiling hot as Eclipsa's magic seeped through her skin. She wasn't prepared for this. She didn't have a plan. She tried desperately to pull her hand away, but it was no use, her grip was too strong, and she could feel her eyes become heavy with tears.

"Where is your mother, Star Butterfly," Eclipsa inquired.

"I don't... I don't know..." she stammered. She looked down at her hand in fear. She was powerless against her ancestor. The color of her skin was slowly becoming dull, the shade crept up her arm like a vine. Her heart-shaped cheek marks felt hot, very hot.

"Where is she," the queen repeated, her creepy magic was becoming more powerful, and Star could feel her body become weaker, her knees were buckling under her weight.

"I don't know!"

Eclipsa smirked, her eyes were glowing white as she stared into the young princess' eyes. "Very well, I'll find her myself. I've took what I needed from you. You are nothing to me now."

She loosened her grip on Star's hand, letting her drop to her knees onto the ground, her wand landing next to her with a 'thump'. Star felt weak, her vision was blurry as her eyes attempted to focus on the dark figure standing before her, but it was useless.

"Maybe if I got a hold of that Marco boy, you will change your mind, hm?"

"N-no..." Star said, her voice cracking. She tried to move, but it was no use. It was like the energy she once wielded was sapped from her cells. How did she even know about Marco? She never mentioned his name when she told Eclipsa about him, so how could she possibly know? It was weird, and creepy. She couldn't let her hurt him, he was everything to her. Her mother, too. Who knows what she could be planning? She could harm everyone she held close if she didn't put a stop to it.

"Well dear, it was nice catching up with you again, but I should be going now," she blinked, her once glowing eyes turning back to normal. "Do not worry your pretty royal head, I will be back so we can play soon enough."

And with that, he queen snapped her fingers, and in a flash, she was gone, leaving the weakened princess on the ground to manifest among herself.

Star had blacked out.

~•~