The Unspoken Thing

Avery: No updates all summer cuz moving sucks and so does adjusting to a new job but everything is really good now and I'm super happy :)

Enjoy!

Star would be lying if she said that she wasn't scared to send Selene back to Mewni. There was something haunting her young daughter, something that was terrorizing her mind and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It completely and utterly broke her heart to witness the pain and anguish that Selene would go through. It ached like someone had stabbed her right in the chest, slowly twisting the knife. She wanted to keep Selene close, but there was nothing she could do. Star was reminded of the days when she had to chase away her baby's nightmares and vanquish the monsters under the bed. Except now the monsters were real, and there was nothing Star could do to rid Selene of the terrible nightmares. Now she knew how Alexander had felt all those years ago, having to worry about his sister's unknown abilities. And even after his twin had died, Alex spent years looking into what hurt his sister. There was nothing worse than the unknown, especially when it came to your baby. Now, all she could do was trust. Trust that Alexander could help them. Trust that Selene could and would resist the entity inside of her. Trust that the advice her daughter had been given was accurate. If what Selene had said was true, and it would be worse to keep her and Leo appart than to keep them together, then, well, she wasn't sure what the best thing to do was. She was a parent. She was supposed to know what was best for her daughter. But neither option seemed like the right option.

So she went with the one that seemed the safest. And that was sending Selene back to Mewni.

The air felt cooler the second the family stepped through the portal that Sunday evening. Star could feel Selene shivering, even in the oversized sweater hanging off her small frame. The sweater was an ugly mustard yellow with some university's name printed on it in big green letters. The sweater fit more like a dress on her, falling so low that it almost covered her shorts. Selene had pulled her hair back into a tight bun on top of her head. Star looked at her daughter, she could tell that the young girl was hesitant, but she was ready. She had forgotten that Mewni was significantly colder than California. Selene would miss that perfect autumn weather, not too hot or too cold. She wondered if it snowed in Mewni. And not the light snowfall she would occasionally see on the coldest of days, but the real heavy snowfall like the ones up north, harsh enough to cancel school and close roads.

Selene felt so small standing in front of the castle. It truly was something to behold, like something out of a fairytale. The princess in a tower. A beautiful cage for a beautiful girl. Except she's cursed and prince charming can't break the curse without killing her or himself. Wait, did she just refer to Leo as Prince Charming? She internally laughed at the concept. He was anything but.

"Selene!" She heard an excited voice call.

Selene looked forward and smiled, dropping her bag as she ran forward. Ellaria, Christine, and Eliot were waiting for her with King Alexander and Queen Emma. The three teens engulfed their friend in the tightest group hug ever, their warm embraces chasing away the cold chill of the evening air. Selene couldn't stop smiling. The past weeks had been terrible, but this right here, being surrounded by love, made it all feel so minor.

Now how did she tell them that she might die? Or that she might have to kill her classmate?

She tried her best to shake such thoughts from her mind, try to focus on her friends. She knew that she had to tell them soon. They didn't have long before something, she wasn't quite sure what, was going to happen.

"I'm glad you're back." Alexander spoke after the teens broke their hug.

He stood in front of Selene, looking regal in his long cloak. Selene tried her best to smile for him, even though something in the deepest corners of her mind was reminding her that she may be forced to kill his son. The thought filled her with guilt, she knew that she couldn't kill, and she hoped she wouldn't. Maybe he knew all of this already. But if that were so, how is he looking at her so calmly if he knows that she's the reason why his only child might die?

"I'm glad that I'm back as well." Selene tried to sound sincere, but she couldn't. If Alexander had noticed, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Come on Sel," Christine smiled and took Selene's hand. "We saved you some cookies from dinner."

Selene was happy that her friends cared so much, they reminded her of the friends that she had on Earth. She wanted so greatly for their circumstances to be different. That they could be carefree teenagers like they should be. But she knew that everything here was a ticking time bomb, counting down to the inevitable storm of destruction. There was nothing that could keep her friends safe.

Once inside the castle, the cold air melted away into a comfortable heat. Selene sighed and pulled her hoodie over her head, tying it around her waist. She immediately felt cold again in just her tee shirt and shorts, but didn't feel like putting her sweater back on. Her parents, along with Alexander and Emma followed the young teens closely, as if watching for the tiniest change in Selene's behaviour. Never had Selene's parents kept such close tabs on her. And now they were eyeing her like a hawk, it made her feel uneasy, or worse, like a villain. She hadn't even thought about that before, was she the true villain in this fairytale? She was far from being the perfect princess. She didn't know which fork was for salad and which spoon was for soup, her posture was atrocious, and she was far from the ethereal talking with birds and bunnies type that existed only in Disney movies. She knew that meant nothing in the long run, but she did have a demon inside of her head with potentially murderous tendencies. That definitely has the workings of a potential villain.

"Selene!" She heard a voice call.

She turned around to see Leo, standing beside one of the grand staircases. He silently waved him over. Selene internally groaned, she hoped that she wouldn't have to see him again this early. She knew that this confrontation was coming, and she sort of hoped that she could wait until the last possible moment before talking to him about the things she'd heard in her dreams. But she knew the type of person that Leo was, he wasn't going to give her time to process the information for herself. She turned to her friends and parents.

"I'll meet you in the dining hall." Selene told them.

"Are you sure?" Eliot asked. "We could wait for you."

Ellaria was grabbing his arm and pulling him down the hallway before he could say anything else. Leaving a very confused Christine. She raised her eyebrows at Selene and began to open her mouth to say something.

"Go with them," Selene interrupted. "I'll explain later, I promise."

Christine nodded begrudgingly and ran off after Ellaria and Eliot. Leo approached her once they were gone, glancing awkwardly between his parents, Selene, and her parents.

"Do you want us to stay too?" Selene heard her father ask. "Or-"

"I think we should get some cookies as well." Star interjected, pulling her husband away.

'This is a conversation they probably want to have alone.'

Selene sighed, at least her mom was still her mom.

Once the adults were gone, Leo offered Selene his arm, a gesture that surprised the young girl to the point where she nearly jumped backwards.

"Sorry." He mumbled. "I thought maybe we could walk and.. uh... kinda silly idea I guess."

"No, no," Selene could feel her face burning. "I guess, it surprised me."

Why was she stammering so much?

The two just nodded awkwardly at each other before continuing down the hallway, their arms hanging limply at their sides. She wasn't sure what to even say or who should talk first. How about 'Hey Leo, I came back because if I stay we die and if I leave we die?' Yup, this was going to be completely awful and awkward. She looked down at the floor, counting marble floor tiles as they walked in silence. Never has the sound of footsteps echoing in a hallway sounded so loud, reverberating back and ringing in her ears as it did. She knew that this had to happen. They had to say something. Selene tried to subtly wipe her sweaty palms on her jeans. How much did she wish that she could just read his mind.

The two teens ended up in the ballroom, the empty room felt so daunting, but at least they wouldn't be bothered. Students weren't allowed in the ballroom without permission. She felt so nervous and dizzy, like someone was spinning her, around and around like that teacup ride at Disneyland.

"So-"

"I thought-"

The teens spoke at the same time, their eyes still glued to their feet and their faces burning as red as tomatoes.

"I.. um.."

"Sorry!"

The two looked up for a split second, brown eyes meeting gold before quickly looking away.

"You go first.." Leo practically squeaked, mentally cursing his overly pale skin for making it impossible to hide a blush as he self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck.

Selene didn't notice. She did notice his hard exterior slowly fading away. There was something warm in his normally cold expression, like he was concerned. Of course, he was scared. She was too. Who wouldn't be in their situation?

"Should we sit?" Selene asked, gesturing to the settee against the wall.

Leo nodded sheepishly, and the two took a seat as far apart as two humans could possibly sit. Sitting this far apart in a room made for dancing gave Selene flashbacks to awkward middle school dances. Except this time she didn't have braces, and Ed Sheeran wasn't being blasted in her ears, and her friends weren't literally pushing her to dance with the boy she liked.

"What did she say to you?" Leo asked. "In your dreams?"

Selene glanced up, looking at him through her eyelashes. She was hesitant, but he deserved the truth.

"We shouldn't be apart," Selene explained. "Our life forces need to feed off the other in order to live. She said that the light in you needs the darkness in me."

Leo stayed silent, nodding his head. He understood, it made sense that the Angel and Demon had to be together in order to survive, otherwise hosts could probably just ignore each other forever and never do the other's bidding. He had to trust her on this, it wasn't like he had a dead entity that visited him in his dreams at night.

"Did she say anything else?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"Not much." Selene continued. "Just that we're dead if we stay together and we're dead if we don't."

"Wonderful." Leo sarcastically spat.

The slow sound of a violin and piano slowly pulled the two teens from their personal bubble. They turned to the source of the noise, a piano sat against the far wall of the room, along with a violin, cello, and harp for live music during festivities. Except nobody was in the room with them. Selene froze, she couldn't even breathe. The instruments were playing by themselves.

"Crap, we woke them up." Leo sighed, standing up from the settee.

"Woke them up?" Selene questioned. "Are your instruments alive?"

"No, they're just charmed to play whenever they hear people." Leo began to sway in time with the music. "Come on, get up."

She thought his urging her to get up was strange.

"Why are you dancing?" She asked.

"It's the only way to get them to stop," Leo responded, simply. "Now, get up."

He reached over and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. His hands felt warm and kind of soft? What was she thinking? Let go of his hands! But she didn't. Instead, she allowed her body to relax and sway with him. His hands slowly moved to her waist and hers travelled up to rest on his shoulders. She had danced with boys before, at middle school dances with some cheesy top 40 hit playing too loudly in the background, but this didn't feel like that. Those felt awkward and weird, and she never once looked in the boy's eyes. But Leo made her almost feel comfortable. Like every single problem they had melted away by whatever was happening between them. She may not have liked him very much when she met him, but they were connected in a way that neither of them could quite comprehend.

Neither of them noticed when the music stopped, neither of them let go. It was as though they were completely enraptured by each other. They were so close, it was like his golden eyes were hypnotizing her. From up close, the boy looked almost ethereal. He really did look like an-

"Angel." Selene gasped, breaking away from Leo's grasp.

"What?" Leo had been taken aback by the sudden rush of emotions that had quickly flown through him.

"She told me about the book." Selene chided excitedly. "She told me that only a chosen Angel could read your father's book, that's why he could never decipher it."

Leo's face crumpled up in confusion before the creases slowly faded, replaced by understanding.

"Maybe," He replied. "I could try to decipher it."

Avery: So we're actually nearing the end of the story soon. I only planned maybe 20 chapters, i might have to stretch it out to 21 or so but this is gonna be wrapped up within the next couple of chapters.

I hope that you enjoyed, keep in mind i'm still trying to get stuff done over here so don't worry if you don't see a new update immediately.

Until next time, my pretties!