A/N: I have no words to express how sorry I am for not updating this story sooner, but I was having serious writer's block for it and the ton of assignments I had for my classes didn't help the situation. I could go on and on about how sorry I am for such a late update, but I think you all just want to get into reading this so here you go!

Mentions at the bottom, btw.

Disclaimer: I do not claim the right to Star vs. the Forces of Evil or any of the characters in the show. They belong to Disney and the show's creator, Daron Nefcy. I do, however, claim the right to the plot as well as any original characters that may appear in this fic. - Sky

*Menwi: Lycan Guild*

It has been two weeks since Marco's death, but to some, it felt as if months had passed. The entire dimension of Mewni knew something was clearly wrong if the constant gloomy weather was any indication, and rumors of what happened at Butterfly Castle spread like wildfire making the situation worse. However, none knew the truth, besides a select few, of what had transpired thanks to a combined effort of Toffee and Helen in order to keep the peace.

Whatever was left of it, anyway.

After Marco's death, Helen decided to relay the information to Toffee. Why? Because Marco wrote in his 'Emergency Plan' (that was on her desk somehow) that if anything were to happen to him, to let the leader of the monsters know. She couldn't wrap her head around why Marco would want her husband's killer to know such things but decided to put aside her own feelings to grant his last wish since she considered him family.

So Helen delivered the news in person… and now, here she was, staring at the same Lizard and his family which she had talked to weeks prior in the confines of her guild's war room. She was hesitant to allow Toffee and his family to walk into her home but was convinced to do so on the promise of information about Marco's whereabouts. At least, that's what he had told her in the letter.

However…

It was somewhat awkward considering the people that were in the room: Helen, Toffee, Eclipsa, Luna, Star, Higgs, and Jackie. They were all here to discuss the Marco situation but Star was glaring at the supposed murderer of her parents with an intensity that could melt a rock and her anger only escalated by how unfazed Toffee was by it, choosing to look stoic even though he was grieving on the inside. His family didn't look any better, especially his hybrid daughter.

The poor girl looked… gone.

Just like Helen's daughter.

"[Ahem] So where is Marco?" asked Helen, trying to break the tension inside the room and the sad thoughts of her own daughter's condition. Toffee slowly directed his gaze at her and sighed, which she took as a bad sign. "I don't know where he is exactly, or where he will be but I know when he will be back."

Star suddenly shot out of her seat and pulled her magic wand, ready to fire her most destructive spell at the Septarian but was quickly restrained by both Higgs and Jackie. Eclipsa released a sigh, deciding to step in before things escalated and ruined their trip over to the Lycan Gild, especially in such a crucial time. The dark arts user knew that Omnitraxus Prime and his forces would strike soon and both sides, mewmans, and monsters alike, needed to join forces to stop the threat. She also knew that Marco was extremely powerful. Only a fool would think he wasn't, but Omni had 'killed' him… and if Marco couldn't beat him, well…

"What my husband was trying to say is that we partially know where and when Marco will return to Mewni," said Eclipsa in her regal accent, causing everyone to stop what they were doing.

"Wait... are you suggesting that Marco is alive?" asked Helen in disbelief, hands balling up into fists in anger, "Marco was killed. My own daughter saw a magic beam pierce his heart as the life left his eyes so do tell how he is alive." she demanded in a cold daring tone.

Star, Higgs, and Jackie immediately looked down in shame and sadness at the memory of Marco's last moments. In their eyes, he had sacrificed himself in order for them to escape and now he was… gone. The now dressed injuries they were recovering from didn't hold a candle as to how much pain they were currently feeling at the memory of their dark-skinned friend who they deeply cared for.

But none of the girls could possibly imagine what Kelly was feeling. She had seen Marco die right in front of her eyes, witnessing the last moments of the person she loved with all her heart and not being able to do anything about it. When the girls had passed through the portal, it closed and Kelly just… broke. Her screams of anguish echoed throughout the guild as tears cascaded down her tanned face.

She was a mess.

Helen, her mother, was the first to arrive at the scene since she was the closest one to their drop-off point (the kitchen) and tried to console her daughter to no avail. Kelly eventually cried herself to sleep and hasn't left her room since. Once the other girls found out what Kelly had told her mother through her uncontrollable sobbing, they didn't believe it.

They couldn't.

Shortly after that, the girls (excluding Kelly) and Helen went to Butterfly Castle with a quick snip of Helen's dimensional scissors but were confused when they couldn't find Marco's body, only traces of blood that lead nowhere. The crestfallen party searched the entirety of the destroyed throne room, which was fairly easy thanks to Star's wand, to see if they could find any clues as to where his body was but found zilch. Helen eventually concluded that Marco's body was taken by Omnitraxus Prime for psychological warfare and not for other, more gruesome, reasons.

At least that's what she hoped to be the case.

Eclipsa, seeing the state of the girls across from her, looked at her own daughter and gave a sad smile. Her poor baby girl didn't seem to notice or care about what was going on around her. She had become numb to her environment after the news of what happened to Marco reached her ears. Eclipsa and Toffee could still remember the look of utter despair, heartbreak, and, finally, the confusion that their daughter gave them, quickly followed by… nothing.

No facial expressions, no tears, no denial just… nothing. She hasn't spoken a single word since that day, the only action worth mentioning being her staring at the pendant around her neck from time to time.

Eclipsa quickly shared a meaningful look with her husband and gave him a nod, to which he returned, giving her the go-ahead with her "plan." Eclipsa cleared her throat to gain the attention of everyone in the room and took out a letter from under her Victorian hat, which everyone noticed. "This [waves letter] appeared by the door of my daughter's room last night. I'm sure you're all wondering what this piece of paper has anything to do with Marco, well, I'll tell you. [Begins to open letter] There are only a select few who know where the monster stronghold is and even less who know where our castle is, let alone my daughter's room. Not even the guards know where it is, except for Toffee and I, but we did have a visitor in our home not too long ago, isn't that right Queen Star Butterfly?" Eclipsa said with a grin, noticing the look of realization that was spreading across Star's face, then to Jackie, then Higgs'.

"M-Marco," Star whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"That's right! So this letter must have come from or is about Marco since the timing of such a thing can't be a mere coincidence! [Takes letter out of the envelope and opens it] This is the first time this letter has been opened since it came with a note that instructed us to open it once we were in the presence of Helen and her daughter named… "Kels?"

Helen's eyes went wide at Eclipsa's words and, without warning, pushed out of her seat, sprinting out of the room to get the one person absent from the war room that the letter had asked for. While sprinting towards her daughter's room, Helen couldn't help but smile, knowing full well that only two people called her daughter that, and only one of them had met with Eclipsa's family so the sender of that letter had to be…

"Kelly! Open up!" demanded Helen as she pounded on the door of her daughter's room with her fists, but was met with silence. "Dammit, Kelly! Come on out, it's- oh screw this." Helen grabbed the door's handle and pulled the door off its hinges without effort and threw it into the hall as she walked up to her daughter's bed. She could make out an outline of a body under the covers and sighed. "Kelly… come on… you need to come to the war room with me. It's important."

No answer.

Every second of silence was increasing Helen's irritation as she waited for her daughter to do something but she had guests over so she decided to hurry it along. She was an understanding and caring mother, but her daughter's comatose-like state had reached its expiration date in her mind so she scooped Kelly up in her blanket and ran out of the room.

This caused Kelly to react.

She thrashed within Helen's arms but did nothing to slow down her mother's brisk pace towards to war room. "M-om… please leave me alone…" Kelly's voice sounded so defeated, so crushed, so Helen did the only thing any self-respecting mother would do in this situation.

She ignored it and continued on.

Kelly suddenly felt being placed on a hard surface, followed by having the blanket yanked from her face. The sudden exposure to light temporarily blinded the green-haired girl since she hadn't seen light in weeks. It took her a few seconds to register that she was sitting on her blanket but on a chair, in the presence of people she knew and three that she didn't.

The three girls that were sitting near Kelly cringed at the sorry state that their friend was in. The green-bushy haired girl's puffy eyes were sunken and it was obvious she was sleep deprived. Her skin looked wan, a complete contrast from her usually dark skin tone, hair was in disarray, and the blush marks on her cheeks appeared faded. The slouched form she was in spelled out exactly how she was feeling about this whole ordeal… defeated.

Higgs, not being able to bare that look, scooted closer to her childhood friend and embraced her. As if a dam had been broken from the action, sobs began to rack throughout Kelly's body and returned her friend's embrace with a desperate intensity. Higgs' own tears followed shortly after, while Star and Jackie simply looked at the two with equal sadness in their eyes.

Helen let out her own tears at seeing her child drowning in pain and misery, but she had to move this meeting along. The news of Marco's possible whereabouts would certainly lift all of their spirits, after all.

"Sweetie…"

"Wh-What's going on, mom?" asked a confused Kelly as she peeked over Higgs' shoulders and saw hat the three strangers looked sad, except for the monster looking one but she knew that buried under that hard-blank facade was something ready to burst free. Whatever it was appeared to be hanging by a thin, slowly degrading, thread and Kelly would feel sorry for whoever it was going to be directed at.

"Sweetie," Helen repeated as she gestured across the table, "this is Eclipsa Butterfly (Star stiffened), Toffee of Septarsis, and their daughter Luna Butterfly."

Kelly eyed the three for a few more seconds until the name of the girl stopped her train of thought. It sounded familiar…

Kelly slowly wiggled out of Higgs' embrace, confusing the ginger, and made her way over to Luna. The coldness of the floor did nothing but cause her to wake up some more. This girl… it couldn't be… no…

Toffee didn't react to the girl walking up to his daughter at first but, when she sped up, he began to rise from his chair to stand in front of his daughter. However, he didn't get very far in his plan since Eclipsa sat him back down with one hand and her hard stare killed any kind of objection the lizard had. He knew better than to test his wife's anger or patience, but he would spring into his daughter's defense if Helen's kid gave him any indication that she was a threat, to hell with the consequences. Little did Toffee know, his wife was actually watching the scene before her very carefully, but for very different reasons.

Star, Higgs, Jackie, and Helen also watched Kelly with confusion since her behavior had done a complete turnaround from just moments ago at the mere mention of the mewman-monster girl's name. However, Higgs had a feeling it had to do with Marco…

As for how Luna was taking this, she simply turned towards Kelly and her face remained emotionless (like her father's) just like the rest of her pale-scaly body except… for her eyes. Luna's kaleidoscope eyes slowly turned into slits like a lizard and a growl began to form in her throat, growing in intensity as Kelly grew nearer with every step which she was oblivious to. Her tail also showed her quickly rising anger, if the tense-curling motion around the chair was any indication.

Everyone was surprised at Luna's sudden hostile reaction, except for Eclipsa, who couldn't help but grin at her daughter since she could guess the reason why she was acting the way she was. 'She can probably smell some of his scent on her. [Chuckles] That's my girl,' the Queen of Darkness thought with a proud grin on her face, drawing a confused look from her husband until he too realized why his daughter had reacted that way.

He simply sighed.

Kelly stopped in front of Luna and gave her the once over, one word coming to mind: beautiful. She had to admit that the girl looked almost like a normal mewman girl if it weren't for the barely visible porcelain-like scales, tail, and the silver hair. Once Kelly's eyes landed on Luna's, she stopped and stared, until she caught a glimpse of some kind of mark on the girl's neck. It was in the shape of… a swirling spiral.

There was no doubt about it in Kelly's mind now.

This was the girl from Marco's nightmares.

The girl who was supposed to be dead.

"Luna, was it? [Luna growling] Do you happen to have any relation to… Marco Diaz?" Kelly asked in a serious tone but didn't receive an answer. Instead, Luna silently stared daggers into the bushy-haired girl's forehead. "Okay, let's just cut to the chase. [Slams fist onto the table] Why. Are. You. In. Marco's. Nightmares?"

Luna stopped growling and gave the girl in front of her a confused look as she reached into her blouse. She pulled out the wooden pendant Marco had made all those years ago and placed it on the table for everyone to see.

"I'm not the cause of Marco's nightmares if that's what you're trying to insinuate. [Scoffs] Do you even know what we went through? All the pain we had to endure due to the experiments… Want to know what they did to me?"

Kelly opens her mouth but is instantly interrupted by Luna's hollow gaze.

"I was chained against a wall like some kind of rare rabid animal, always having needles stuck inside my body, extracting blood to help create this… 'miracle.' It's what the mewman scientists called it anyway..." Luna said with an empty smile.

Kelly's eyes fell towards the floor, unable to look at Luna's without feeling like a total bitch for multiple reasons, the main one being about causing the poor girl to relive such horrible memories. The second being about not knowing Marco's painful history.

Everyone else in the room simply watched with sadness-filled eyes, but none compared to that of Eclipsa's, whose eyes not only held deep sadness but rage at remembering the first time her daughter told her about the time she spent in that horrible place. Eclipsa and Toffee were so close to just going on a massive massacring spree in the Butterfly Kingdom but were stopped by their daughter's ramblings about the weird little boy with a mole who saved her. They rushed to search the area where they found their daughter to look for the boy but the only thing they managed to find of the camp was the ashen remains that were left from a slowly dwindling fire.

No children were found, only the crispy-contorted remains of adults.

Luna wiped away the tears that were beginning to slide down her pale cheeks and released a shaky sigh. "Because I was essential in helping the experiments, I rarely went outside but the times that I did weren't pleasant. The other kids picked on me for looking different and would constantly beat me until they got tired, probably an experiment to see how much physical pain I could handle I assume… It was like that for a couple of months and things only got worse… but it all changed when a new kid happened to be out in the courtyard at the same time as I was."

A wistful smile graced her tear-stained face, "It was a snowy day like any other. I was let out and I tried, like every other time, to get as far away from the other children as possible but it never worked. They followed me, tore parts of my clothes, and just beat me as I laid on the frigid ground. They wouldn't stop… I remember shutting my eyes and silently praying for someone, something, to come to save me but nothing happened… That's when Marco appeared."

Luna directed her gaze at Kelly and chuckled, the shift in her mood confusing everyone even her parents. She put a hand on the pendant and began to rub it, as if for good luck. "He confronted the ringleader and we managed to make brief eye contact. In that instant, for some reason, I knew that I would be alright so I smiled at him," she said with a smile, but it quickly turned into a frown. "They tried to hurt Marco for sticking up for me, and when I tried to convey how sorry I was for getting him into such a mess, his eyes got darker. Next thing I know, the ringleader disappeared in front of everyone's eyes and reappeared with the sound of someone screaming, then a loud noise… then nothing."

"What happened to the kid?" asked Kelly skeptically.

Luna's wide grin and the way her eyes seemed to gleam unnerved her. "Marco teleported him into the sky and what goes up [points to the ceiling], must come down."

A collective gasp was heard in the war room once Luna's statement was fully digested by those around her. Kelly scoffed and shook her head, not believing the girl's words because the Marco she knew wasn't a killer. He had shown time and time again that killing was something he was not willing to go through with no matter how small the act. He also told her a different version of what had happened to this girl, a version where he thought she was disposed of. The bushy-haired girl chuckled, "You're lying. Marco would never kill someone and he told me something different so you must be lying," she said with steel-like resolve which began to crumble when Luna tilted her head, smiled, and shrugged.

Kelly looked around the room for support to her claim but no one seemed to back her up, not even Higgs. Star and Jackie had seen Marco's combat prowess so they didn't think he was a saint, to begin with. Higgs, like Kelly, knew that Marco despised the idea of killing but knew he was hiding something because he would get the thousand-yard stare when they would overhear the other guild members conversation about killing bandits and whatnot. As for Toffee and Eclipsa, they never really thought about Marco's 'dark' side but didn't really care about the topic since he had earned their respect long ago and didn't appear to be a bad person.

Noticing her daughter's conflicting emotions and thoughts, Helen decided to end the conversation by signaling Eclipsa to read the letter in her hands, which everyone seemed to forget about for some reason.

Once Kelly sat down, looking to be deep in thought, Eclipsa cleared her throat and opened the letter. Everyone unconsciously leaned forward on their seats in anticipation as to what the letter contained.

It said:

To whoever it may concern:

We will be in Mewni a day after this letter is opened. How would we know? Because it's enchanted to send a signal to us once it's opened. Even if it were not to be opened, we would arrive around two weeks after Marco's disappearance as he has chosen. Also, we'll come to you so don't go looking for us and don't worry, Marco is well. However, he can't write the letter himself because his hands are literally busy with... training.

P.S.: To someone named Eclipsa or Toffee; Marco said to gather all your troops at the Lycan Guild. Also, to tell Luna that the pendant will be needed. Next, to someone named Helen, do the same thing as the previous two and Marco will try to explain everything when he arrives.

P.S.S.: Prepare for War.

A heavy silence followed once Eclipsa finished reading the letter, a silence that was broken by Luna's soft giggling. Everyone turned to see what she was giggling about and were confused to find that she was tearing up as a tender smile graced her lips.

"[Giggling] Ahhh, finally," she said blissfully, "Marco might actually want to play seriously now and I can't wait to help him."

Luna stood up from her seat and walked out of the room without uttering a single word, ignoring the odd looks she was getting by doing so. Toffee and Eclipsa exchanged worried looks and followed after their daughter, saying their quick goodbyes to Helen and the girls. They didn't get far since they were stopped by a frowning Queen of Mewni who had run after them.

"How are you alive?" asked Star in a bland tone, but her worried face betrayed her voice.

Eclipsa sighed, knowing this conversation was going to happen, so she told her husband and daughter to go on ahead.

"Star, if there's anything you should know about our people's history especially when it comes to the Queens, it's that the MHC is the puppeteers of our fate. [Chuckles sadly] They brainwashed every single Queen to share their monster hatred and when I confronted them about it, they warned me to look the other way. I obviously ignored them and my progressive plans about monsters were the last straw for them so they imprisoned me in a crystal for about 300 years, preferring to keep me as a trophy rather than to get rid of me. The only reason I managed to escape was due to your mother secretly seeking me for advice about one of my spells to use on Toffee. [Chuckles] The funny thing is that your mother tricked Rhombulus into letting me free in exchange for my help."

"Before I could actually give her the spell, though, Toffee attacked Butterfly Castle so they both left in a hurry to deal with that. I wasn't stupid enough to stay around and wait for them so I escaped using the same portal they used, thanks to Rhombulus' idiocy. I somehow managed to leave with an injured Toffee and the rest is history." Eclipsa finished with a smile.

Star was speechless.

The magical queen had trouble believing her, but why would she lie? After all, she had witnessed first hand Omnitraxus Prime trying to kill her and her friends for the magic wand... If everything Eclipsa had said was true then everything she knew about Mewni was a lie, fabricated and manipulated by the MHC… which her own mother was a part of.

Eclipsa walked up to Star and gave her a loving hug. "By the look on your face, I can tell that you're going to need some time to process it all but I'm afraid that time is something we don't have, dear," she said sadly. "War is coming and it's up to you how you want to lead your people."

Eclipsa released Star from the embrace and began to walk in the direction her family went, but not before giving her an encouraging smile.

Star, now alone, had no clue what the right thing to do was in this situation, but did know one thing…" The Queen of Mewni pulled out her wand from under her tattered gown and inspected the magical object. After a minute of doing so, she materialized her royal crown with the help of the wand and a wistful smile began to grow.

"Oh, mother… how I miss both of you and dad," she said with deep longing and sorrow, slowly clenching the wand in her hands. "But now is not the time to wallow in sadness. Now, I must be the Queen that my people need and the Queen that will make all three of you proud."

Star turned on her heels with new determination flowing through her and headed back to the war room, ready to plan with the girls and Helen of Conquest for the upcoming war and Marco's arrival…

"Maybe things will turn out alright," she whispered to herself once she realized who the people she would be fighting next to were. Her optimism only grew at remembering the brown-haired man she had come to care for and was anxious to find out his thoughts on all of this.

.

.

.

Wait... did the letter say we?

A/N: I'm doing the mentions here for this chapter because there's a few lol. Also, sorry for this chapter not being all actiony but as you all know now, there will be a war so yay! Fighting! Anyways, I'm just starting to get back into the process of things so please have patience with me. I'll get out the updates as soon as I can, which shouldn't be too bad considering I'm on summer break and will have a part-time job (hopefully) so more time to think and write. Thanks for everything! Peaceee!

LucklessBlock86: Sorry for not being able to update this on your birthday. I tried, but school is a real bitch at giving free time so sorry for the long wait.

Not another me: Thanks for the kind words! I try to not make my stories a confusing mess lol. As for who will end up with who, you'll see.

thelegendofstarco: Thanks a bunch for the kind words! And I find writing Kelco to be rather fun, but then again I haven't written other ships but will in the near future, hopefully lol.

The Howling Behemoth: Thanks! Enjoy the update!

DJ Rodriguez: Oh man, what to say to you lol. For starters, thanks for continuing to support my stories with your awesome reviews and feedback. It truly means a lot to me (: I've literally been out of school for like a week, and have barely gotten back to writing since I needed a break from writing in general so I'm catching up with some stuff. I've also noticed you removed your Marco at a Crossroads story? Hope everything is well, and thanks again for everything.

JJmmmmmlol: Nice name lol. I'm glad you like my story enough to miss it and hope that this update is to your liking, even if it is a little lackluster compared to others.