Okay, for some reason I have this labeled as chapter 10. I don't want to know where chapter nine up and went, so I'm gonna have to figure that out. Please enjoy!

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"Star, are you paying attention?"

Star was snapped back to reality by this question. She turned to see Celena looking at her, her one visible eye staring at her with slight disapproval. "I know that potion-brewing might not be as exciting as cutting your enemies down to the ground," the woman uttered sarcastically. She didn't seem mad, though she was sure to make her displeasure known. "But some of these potions could save your life one day."

The blond flush guiltily; she hadn't meant to doze off, but Celena's lesson was just like her chapter- boring! There were no cosmic mysteries like her royal family inscription stated, only potions! How was she supposed to pay attention to something as tedious as that?

Still, this was her great-great-grandmother and Star wanted to show her the utmost respect. "Sorry," she apologized. "Please continue."

Celena sighed. "As I was saying," she continued as she placed the ingredients down in front of her. "You will need the drawstring bag- in purple, blue or black- dried cinnamon sticks in halves or thirds, dried star anise seed pods, and a small cat's-eye crystal." She placed all the ingredients into her drawstring back- purple was her selection- and closed it shut. She then placed it around the blond's neck. "This will protect you from evil."

She didn't know how much of that she believed but thanked her great-great-grandmother anyway.

Celena took a green vial from the inside of her robes. "Use this whenever you need help," she instructed, placing it into her hands.

Star studied the vial. "What is it?" she asked curiously. The cream-colored label read 'Spirit Attraction Potion' and had a little picture of a black skull on it.

"You can use it to call one of us," the strawberry blond woman elaborated. "Or anyone else who's passed on. This is all I have on me, so unless you have the Book of Spells on hand, I suggest using it sparingly."

Star nodded, putting it into her purse. "I will," she agreed. "Anything else you need to teach me?"

Celena grinned. "My dear girl, we've only just begun."

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"You're faced with a battalion of Solarian soldiers," Celena detailed from the sidelines. Her voice was uncharacteristically harsh and sharp as she explained the situation. "Your wand's almost dead, your own energy is low, and your allies have fallen. You are in the middle of the Forest of Certain Death. What do you do?"

"I..." began Star, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead as her eyes darted around in thought. "I would take a red solanaceae-" she began tentatively, reaching down to pick one up. Even though the Solaria Warriors creeping toward her were only simulations, she still felt like throwing up at the sight of them. "-a three-pointed evergreen leaf, and a pinch of magic root dust." She gathered both of those things as quickly as she could, lest the warriors come any closer.

Celena raised an eyebrow. "And?" she prompted.

The blond bit her lip. "And I sprinkle the root dust onto the leaf," she proceeded, doing her best to recall her knowledge from her earlier lessons. "Then, I crush the red solanaceae juice onto the leaf as well."

"Good," the strawberry blond remarked with a nod. "Then what?"

"I stuff the leaf into what's left of the red solanaceae," Star progressed, her actions mirroring her words.

"And what does that do?"

The blond finally grinned, leaping into the air as her uneasiness was erased. She had done it, she could finish the job. "It creates a SUPER AWESOME SMOKE BOMB!" she announced, launching it towards the Solarian Warriors. It landed on the ground in front of them. Immediately, a layer of smoke engulfed the forest, giving Star a clear escape.

"Very good," Celena praised as the smoke lifted. The simulation ended, returning the ballroom to its former state. "But do you know why this works?"

Star resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I know how to make it," she reminded her. "Isn't that all that matters?" She didn't need to know how things worked, she just did them. She wasn't interested in learning the theory behind magic or anything like that; what was the point if she could just do it easily?

Celena raised a single eyebrow (really, her only eyebrow) at her. "Star, how do you think magic came to be in the first place?" she questioned incredulously. "People learned, people discovered. We need to know how things work to use them effectively."

A red solanaceae, a leaf, and a bit of magic root dust appeared in front of them. Celena knelt down to the ground and gestured for her great-great-granddaughter to do the same. "You see," she explained. "the magic root is magic, but not until it's drenched in the red solanaceae juice. That's when its magical properties are activated. And the leaf- an extension of Mother Nature herself- helps to stabilize it. Without the leaf, we wouldn't get smoke; just a bunch of fire. Do you want to set everything on fire?"

Star sighed. "No..." she admitted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Celena smiled. "Good girl," she cooed, patting her on the head. "Now, do you think you can make me a Healing Draught?"

Star immediately perked up; finally something she would really need. "Yeah!" she assured her. She immediately sprung up off the ground, ready to brew the draught.

Celena simply chuckled at her.

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'I am at the end of time and space and at the beginning of the end. What am I?'

Star groaned as she stared at the riddle. What was this riddle going to help her with later in life? No, she didn't think it was. So why was this woman trying to make her solve this? So far, Rhina was proving to be her most frustrating grandmother; everything just seemed to be so complicated with her.

Behind her, Rhina the Riddled chortled. "You're thinking too hard," she remarked. "Just look at the words. You're a smart girl, you can figure this out."

The blond felt like tearing out her hair. "No, I can't!" she insisted. She had never been good at using logic in, well, any situation. She had already known that Rhina's training would be the most difficult for her because it required using her head, not her hands.

Rhina sighed. "Child, you may not see the value of riddles know," she began. "but I promise they'll help later in life."

"And how is that?" snapped Star. She didn't mean to be so testy with her great-great-great-grandmother, but Rhina was frustrating her.

"I will explain after you complete this riddle," the redhead maintained.

Star groaned but said no more about it as her eyes settled on the riddle once more. However, try as she might, she couldn't seem to concentrate. What was at the beginning of the end? What was at the end of space and time? She didn't know. In fact, no one could know except for Glossaryck, Father Time, and maybe Skywynne. So, how would Rhina know?

She looked up at the woman- who was peering down at her through her glasses- and came to a startling realization.

Rhina didn't know what is at the end of space and time or the beginning of the end. At least, not literally. She was right; it was all about the wording. Star looked back at the riddle and the answer popped into her head.

"The letter 'e,'" she said aloud. "That's the answer."

Rhina smiled at her. "Very good. Now, come along. Your real training starts now."

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"Riddles may be all fun and games to you, child," began Rhina, waving the wand in her hands. "But they can, in fact, be very useful especially during battle."

Star titled her head. "How's that?" she asked. She didn't know if she believed it- whoever heard or riddles during battle?- but she had learned to keep an open mind when dealing with her grandmas, so she supposed she could extend the same courtesy to Rhina. So, she patiently waited for the redhead to explain things to her properly.

Rhina grinned. "Why, for secret codes, of course!" she clarified. "Say, for instance, that you took down Mina, but the other Solarian Warriors were still at large. You could say, 'Mother hen has left her nest.' This way, you can alert your team that Mina is down, but not alert the other side."

She found it strange, but not entirely without merit. She knew that a lot of soldiers developed secret codes to communicate without alerting their enemies. Still, did they need to be riddles? Couldn't they just make up code names or something?

The redhead clapped her hands together and the room around them began to change. They were now in the Forest of Certain Death and looming over her was a Solarian Warrior. Star flinched back but quickly recovered as she morphed into her Butterfly Form. "Narwhal Blast!" she shouted. However, the narwhals just bounced off the warrior's armor.

"Blueberry Cupcake Bazooka!" she tried again. She held the bazooka in her and fired it at the towering figure. He staggered for a moment but continued his stride toward her.

"Star, use your head!" instructed Rhina. "Solarian Warriors may be strong, but they lack something else!"

Well, duh; the Solarian Warriors were slow as hell. But how could she- oh. Oh. "Raspberry Ribbon Lasso!" Pink lassos shot out from her hands and wrapped around the warrior's ankles. "The biggest tree falls the hardest!"

Rhina smirked. "Got it." She shot a spell at the warrior, knocking it down to the ground. Star quickly flew out of the way and landed right next to the redhead. "Excellent work, dear. Though, your riddle-work could use some practice." She beamed, taking out a list. "Why don't we sit down and go over my nine-step riddle procedure?"

Star stared at the list with wide eyes before dashing off toward the door. "Sorry, Rhina, I need a break!" she called over her shoulder. "Maybe another time!"

That was a close one.

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Alright, next was Crescenta.

To say that Crescenta was her least favorite grandma would be an understatement. She knew that there had been something wrong with the woman, her over-eagerness to prove herself had proved to be dangerous to the people around her- especially the monsters. She had been dreading this lesson since she had first started with Comet.

Besides, it was more than clear that the feeling was mutual. Crescenta seemed to look down on her, seeing her as a disgrace to the Butterfly legacy. And, alright, some of that may have been true, but she thought that she had done much better as Queen in those four days than Crescenta had in her entire reign.

"Well, I hope you didn't think that this was a time for lounging."

Star jumped, spinning around to see the woman in question. Her arms were crossed and she was wearing a thoroughly unimpressed look on her face. "Crescenta!" she exclaimed. "How long have you been staring there?"

Crescenta leveled her with a glare. "Long enough to know that Skywynne and Comet were exaggerating when it came to you," she snapped. "You aren't worth my valuable and precious time, but I don't want to have to hear it later from both of them. Let's go!"

Star glared after her, but bit down the retort sizzling on her tongue; she didn't want to anger the sociopath. Who knew what she was capable of?

But she was going to make sure to keep her guard up with Crescenta. No other queen- not even Solaria- had ever disturbed her more. While Solaria had made her hatred for monsters clear by brutally murdering them, Crescenta had used dirty, underhanded politically tactics to keep the monsters under her control. A part of her felt like that was worse.

Nevertheless, Star- against her better judgment- followed the woman into the training room.

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