There are lands stripped of any and all life and vegetation; vast wastelands devoid of the comforting color provided by grass beneath one's feet. There are natural landscapes dotted modestly with bushes and trees; places habitable and perhaps homey. Then, there are dark and thick forests; places as infamous and unnerving as Mewni's own Forest of Certain Death. Having faced many such places as these, there is a sense of comfort in knowing that you understand the terrors that await you out in the wild. But all of that knowledge could not have prepared them for what they were looking at right now. They didn't think such a thing could even exist: a place more horrifying than the Forest. And yet, here they were.

Star, Pony Head, Janna, and Tom paced forward ever so slowly, each looking through the trees which were arbitrarily strewn about and proceeded into the darkness, going on seemingly without end. None of them could squeeze out a single syllable. There wasn't a word or phrase that could capture the essence of this place. It wasn't the forest itself that caught them off guard; the place actually looked like an ordinary forest would anywhere else in the world. What was really unnerving was the feelings of dread inexplicably trickling down their spines. Logic dictates that roaming woods at night in storm is what pushes one's fears to their limit. But now they learned that the perfectly calm scenery has not only the same effect, but rather perhaps an even greater impact on their psyches. The stillness of lurking death hung over every inch of their surroundings.

"Uhm, maybe we should go back," said Pony Head with a shivering voice.

Star didn't want to admit it, but the thought did cross her mind. "No. I came her for Marco and I'm not going back without him."

"Girl, all of us might not make it back! This place is making me nervous. I don't like being nervous! It's ruining my beautiful young skin."

Star turned to Pony Head. "Are we friends, Pony?"

"Wha?"

"Are we still friends?"

"Yeah. Yes, of course."

"Then as a friend I'm asking you to help me find him."

"I would love to, but-"

"I love him. You might not know how it feels, but I can't lose him. I was so close to-" Star suddenly silenced her voice, revealing a faint tear in her eye.

"What's wrong, Star?" asked Tom.

After a few seconds she shook her head and wiped away the tear. She had a reputation to uphold - a rebel princess. And people like her don't cry; they take action first, and do whatever reckless things they have to, consequences be damned. She raised her body confidently to convince herself and the others that she wouldn't turn back for anything. "I wanted to propose to him."

The biggest reaction came, as usual, from Pony Head. "You whaaaaaaa?!"

Tom was more calm, although not necessarily stoic. "Don't you think that is a bit much?"

"I had a ring prepared."

"A ring?" wonderred Tom. "What for?"

"It's a custom on Earth. You are supposed to give a ring to the person you wish to spend the rest of your life with."

She pulled a tiny black box out of her pocket. When she opened it they could see a small ring with several small, shiny rocks.

Pony Head studied it with great disappointment. "This looks underwhelming." She turned to Janna. "Is this really how you humans handle this kinda stuff?"

"Oh yes," she agreed. She came closer to Star to patted her on her shoulder. "You should definitely give him the ring. He'll be thrilled."

Janna smiled at her, which would normally make Star question her motives, but right now she was too worried about missing the opportunity of her lifetime.

"But we need to find him first, and in one piece."

"Maybe we can be of assistance."

They all got so caught up in their discussions that they forgot the place surrounding them. The crippling anxiety settled back into their minds and this time it manifested itself into a voice. It was no longer a mere feeling haunting their thoughts.

"Who said that?!" Pony Head shivered. She was furiously searching for the source of the voice, but all she could see were trees. "Wait a minute." There really were a lot of trees. "Were there so many trees before?"

Tom was also worried, though he wasn't panicking. "I don't think so. Something is afoot here."

"Afoot? That's a funny sounding word."

The sound of a new voice was crystal clear and apparently coming from somewhere right by them. But none of them could find the source.

Star raised her wand into the air and it started to glow. "Show yourself!"

"Whoa there, young lady! No need to get violent. I'm right here."

All of them were trying to figure out where that "here" was, fruitlessly.

"Behind you."

All together they immediately spun around and saw… a tree.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" asked Pony Head.

"No joke, floating grasshopper, I can assure you."

She looked at Star, then at Tom. They both had the same expression on their faces.

"You both heard it, right? It came from the tree, right? I'm not going crazy, right?"

"Indeed." The tree in question popped out two googly eyes and what appeared to be a mouth. It now had a face. Not one that seemed to display a wide variety of emotions, but a face nonetheless. It was curiously viewing the little figures standing in front of it. All of them were in shock, except for one. "How come you're so content?"

Janna could barely hold her excitement. "A talking tree!"

"Yes, that's a simple way to put it. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is-"

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…"

The tree suspiciously looked down at Star, whose lips were erratically closing and opening in attempt to release a comprehensible word. "No, young one, that is not my name. My name is-"

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…"

"Hmm. You know, others might have found this rude. It's not nice to interrupt others while they talk."

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…"

"Oh boy."

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eeeent!"

That caught the tree by surprise. "You know our species? Interesting. I assumed we were just part of Mewni myths and legends now."

Janna's excitement grew even stronger. "You're one of those slowly walking, slowly talking trees!"

"Hmpf! I'm surely not slow in any of those disciplines."

"Do you have two small people hidden up in your crown?"

"Little people? Like you?"

"Uhm."

"Talking really fast?"

"You have them! I knew it!"

"No, I don't. Sorry."

"Oh. A white wizard then?"

"I'm afraid the answer is still no. But there is a witch living not far away."

"A witch, you say? Hmm. Wait! Star! Did you hear it? A witch. That has to be Eclipsa!"

But her royal friend wasn't paying any attention to her. Nor was Pony Head or Tom. They were all fixed on that talking tree towering high above them.

"ENT!"

"What's got into you?! We are talking to a tree. And it actually talks back!"

"ENT!"

The fear in Star's eyes was palpable. And it wasn't only her that was shaking from the creature before their eyes. All of them were scared to death. Janna couldn't understand why.

"Oh yes," reacted the tree. "I can explain it. This is a result of a rather sad history I'm afraid. Back then our race was known for killing mewmans."

After it laid down the info, Janna began to question if it was wise to stand so close to a being that basically admitted its ancestors were killing machines..

"In massive amounts."

Yep, definitely a bad idea.

"For their juices."

Everyone took a step back. They were starting to feel like a school of fish circling trepidatiously around a shark, afraid to make a break for it.

The tree laughed. "But that is ancient history! We've changed! We're now just peacefully roaming the woods, seeking companionship and good conversation. You don't need to worry about me. Or us."

Star held her breath. "U-Us?!" She slowly turned her head. There were dozens of ents just standing by and staring at them.

"As I said, we're not soaking in Mewman blood anymore."

Even though Tom always presented himself as a wall of confidence, even he couldn't completely mask the unnerved feeling in his chest. "How the heck are you even here?" he asked, hoping his voice wasn't cracking up. "You were wiped out centuries ago!"

"Ah yes, that 'unfortunate event'. No, we weren't wiped out. You see, when my ancestors saw that the cost of hunting Mewmans was too high, they simply went into hiding."

"Hiding?"

"Of course! You can't tell a simple tree apart from an actual ent, now can you?"

This realization was something he did not want to know. None of them for that matter found this news particularly comforting.

"So you're not going to, uhm, drink our juices?" she asked.

"Oh no, nothing like that. As I said, we stopped doing that a long time ago."

Even though she was still frightened, her curiosity was getting stronger each second and her fear was getting a bit weaker.

"So we're cool then?"

"Yeah, about that…"

She noticed that the other ents starting to come closer.

"Look, personally, I find you interesting and under normal circumstances we could even be friends. However…" the creature's leaves started to line up. "That being said, we're under the watchful eye of the witch and she gave us exact and strict instructions for what to do in case anyone were to come through here."

"And what would that be?" Janna didn't really know why she asked that, as the outcome was obvious to pretty much to everyone at that point.

The ent raised its bough into the air. "To smash them." It swiftly swung directly at her with intent to cut her in half. After it hit the ground, a cloud of dust kicked up, obscuring the view at the point of impact. When it lifted back up, the dust swirled along with it. But where it expected to find Janna's chopped body was only a mark on the ground from its leaves. The ent was visibly surprised. "What the- Where did you go?" It didn't take long for it to find her laying on ground. But it also noticed something else - a colorful glow in the opposite direction.

Star was firmly holding her wand, which was now pointing directly at the perplexed ent.

"Why would you do that?! I explained to you the reason why we need to do that!"

"Are you serious right now?"

"Of course I am! This is not a joking matter. We simply need to kill you. But it's nothing personal."

"Is that suppose to make it better?"

"Well, yes, I was hoping that a reasonable explanation would be sufficient and that you'd be content with being killed."

While fear was driving her impulses before, now it was anger with a pint of confusion. "Oh you-"

"STAR, WATCH OUT!" Tom pushed her away just in time before being hit by another ent that sneaked up on her from behind. Unfortunately for him it didn't plan to stop just because she wasn't there; he was as good target as any. He noticed it just a second before it hit him. Being a half demon helped him to stop the ent, but nothing else beyond that.

As Star hit the ground, she could only hear the branch smashing the place from which Tom pushed her away. "TOM!" she yelled instinctively. She saw him pushing back the ent, which bought her some time to take a stance, point her wand and…

Tom was using all his strength to stop the bough from splitting him in two. He pondered how he might be able to use Star's magic to his advantage in their situation, but was interrupted abruptly. The ent didn't have just one branch, and there wasn't just one ent.

Star witnessed as another extremity came from out of the blue and took a swing at her friend which sent him barreling way deeper into the dark forest, where there were assured to be more ents waiting for him. "Tom, no!" Both anger and sadness were fueling her drive to go there and pick him up.

Amidst all the mess, Pony Head, unsurprisingly, was actually having fun.

Up. "Ha, missed me!"

Down. "No no."

Left. "Heh, nope."

And right. "Oh come on! You didn't even try to hit me."

No matter how dangerous the situation was, Pony was always on top of things. While others might have been worrying about their precious lives, she tried to make the best out of it. However, just like everyone and everything, there is a limit. And her situation was escalating to a point where she could no longer deny the very real danger of losing her life.

Several branches reached out to her and, she had just narrowly managed to avoid them all at once. "Whoa there, fellas! I know you like what you see, but this girl ain't ready for a serious commitment; don't get too attached."

They didn't seem to get the memo. One-two-three-four-miss. Six-seven-eight-bullseye.

"HEY! Let me go!" Pony Head was trying hard to break free, but the ent's grip was too tight. However sound her reasoning may have been, the ent that was successful in capturing her didn't seem to care. The only thing it was interested in was the tasty juice coursing through her veins. "Uhm, Star? Little help here!"

Even though Tom was so easily snatched away just before her eyes, Star couldn't afford to hesitate, unless she wanted herself and the others to fall prey too. And Pony Head was quite close to it, as she was being squeezed into a bloody cocktail. Ent, or no ent, she had to try something. She raised her wand and took aim at the creature's largest limb.

"Rainbow Fist Punch!"

The impact of the spell wouldn't be able to damage the ent, or break through the bough, but it was able to create enough of a recoil to loosen its grip, allowing Pony Head to break free.

"Finally. Now let's scram!"

More ents were gathering to their position. A feast awaited them.

"We need to go after Tom," suggested Star.

"He can take care of himself. We need to go. NOW!"

"Uhm, guys?"

Janna, although visibly shaken by the display of violence, fortunately did not have a single scratch on her. She was pointing to the place from which they came through. Pony Head couldn't believe her own eyes.

"What the…?! The Well!"

"It's gone," added Star.

"No. No no no no nooooooo!"

While the two were focused on lamenting what used to be their escape route, Janna was nervously observing the approach of a dozen more ents from the thick black woods. She tapped on Star's shoulders to get her attention and pointed toward imminent death.

Even though ents have a very limited palette of emotions, one could hear an eerie excitement in its voice. "We are coming. We are hungry."

The loss of both Tom and The Well pissed Star off. She had had enough and set out to take charge of the situation.

"Alright, we are leaving NOW. Summoning Cloudy Charm!" A happy pink cloud poofed up in front of the girls. "Exit, straight up." They all jumped on with great haste, and, without further delay, Star took it up into the air and hit turbo.

The wind blasted toward them at an incredibly high speed, blowing back hair and pressing against their skin. They were moving so fast, that it started to feel like they were in a wind tunnel, and it was actually getting difficult to breathe.

"Slow- Down!" Pony Head was trying to yell.

"They're on- onto us!" replied Star.

"We- Need to go up, not- Not faster!"

Janna was instinctively clutching her chest while desperately trying to fill her lungs with air. As Cloudy reached a safe altitude and decelerated to a more manageable pace, inhaling became manageable again. "Finally, I huff m-missed oxygen."

"So what about Tom?" asked Janna.

"I don't know if we're going to be able to go back for him" replied Star.

"Say what?"

"Well, I don't even know where we are anymore. And he should be able to handle himself without having to worry about us, right?"

Janna sighed. "I guess we don't have much of a choice."

Janna was actually a little surprised by the decision given Star's heartful nature and general unwillingness to hurt even a bunny. Unless, of course, that bunny was two stores tall and wanted to impale her with giant carrots. Nonetheless, she was reminded of their situation quickly when a visible explosion happened some distance away deeper within the forest.

"Right," she concluded. "So what's the plan, Star?"

"We pay the witch a visit."

"Not that I complain about kicking someone's ass, but we just barely made it out of there alive. What makes you think we will stand a chance against Eclipsa?" asked Pony Head.

The looks on Star's and Janna's faces suggested that perhaps this wasn't the reaction they expected from her.

"Do you feel alright?" asked Janna suspisciously.

"Yeah," Star concurred. "You always enjoy, uhm, solving problems your own way."

"I do. But do you know what I enjoy even more? Living. And I'm sorry to say, B-Fly, but if your magic didn't put a dent in them, what is it going to do against Eclipsa?"

"We will cross that bridge when get there. Now, get ready, because we are getting close."

"How do you know?"

She turned Pony Head around and pointed to the imposing manor, neatly placed between the trees.

"Oh."

Janna had her doubts, though. "What makes you think she's in there?"

"Look around you, Janna. Nothing but thick forest as far as the eye can see. And out of nowhere a big, fancy-looking house in perfect shape? No, she's in there. I can feel it. Cloudy! Onwards!"

"It could be a pretty obvious trap though," she replied.

"Maybe it is, but I'd rather check the trap than go back into the woods. Let's just go."

The fluffy little cloud was more than happy to oblige and brought them right to the front doors. Along the way, Star noticed unusual objects along the ground, holding her attention for a moment. Janna turned her attention downward as well when she Star focusing her attention.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll take us down at the outskirts of the forest, just to be safe. After all, this is a rescue mission, not a suicide mission. Anyway, we'll go on foot from here and if those things we saw from above turn out to be harmless, then we'll just swoop in." She tried to sound confident about the whole situation, but deep down she doubted this would be anything but unsafe.

The moment they set foot outside the forest, she realized that she was, unfortunately, correct. From above they all looked like weird looking spikes or something akin to it. But upon closer inspection she knew exactly what they were, as did Pony Head.

They both froze in place, completely locked in what could be described only as a sudden acceptance of sudden death. Janna, of course, was oblivious to the whole situation.

"What are tho-mmphd-" She wanted to ask them about the strange objects, but Star covered her mouth with a near-lightning reflex to silence her.

"Shhhhhhh! Do NOT make any loud noises!" She then slowly and carefully took her hand down, as if Janna's head would explode otherwise.

"Why?" she whispered. "They look harmless."

Indeed. All that was visible were cones. Lots of cones, spreading for tens of meters in every direction between them and the manor. The most fascinating thing about them was their color - it was changing! Looking almost like a lava lamp, the colors were slowly, but smoothly transitioning from one to another, creating a mesmerizing scene before them. The source of Janna's confusion was between that view and the worried faces of her friends. She knew something about this situation was bad news.

"Those things are actually the heads of Rainbow Gnomes." Janna's unchanged confusion suggested that perhaps this wasn't the explanation she was looking for. "The reason," Star continued explaining, "for their name is not because they make rainbows. At least not the kind of rainbows you think. Their name stems from their hobby of digging eyes."

"So? They like eyes?" Her eyebrows furrowed quizocaly.

"I meant it literally: they dig out the eyes of their victims."

It took her a moment to process this information. "What is wrong with your kingdom?!"

Star took her remark a bit personally. "Hey, we thought they were extinct!"

"Oh, you mean like those ents back there?"

"Quiet you two!" Pony's voice, even though surprisingly silent, was intense enough to make them both stop talking. "Look."

A few of the gnomes were beginning to react to their 'subtle' bickering by deeping in saturation and increasing the speed of their cones' shifting colors. All three of them stopped breathing until the cones dimmed back down.

"We need to go back!" Pony declared resolutely.

"Back to where, Pony?" asked Star. "The Well is gone and I'm sure the ents didn't forget about us."

"But-"

"Look, we're close now. All we have to do is to cross this field."

"You do realize that this field can kill us?"

"When did the threat of death ever stop us before?" she smiled.

"Good point."

"So how do we proceed?" asked Janna.

"On foot," replied Star. "I can't use magic in here. They feed on it. So we'll need to be stealthy. Like a mouse."

"Couldn't we just fly over with Pony's help like before?"

"No, because my back still hurts from trying to keep your fat butt alive." responded Pony.

Star looked at the manor a short distance away. "Alright. Let's do this. Stay behind me, follow my steps and do not, under any circumstance, touch those things."

Pony Head looked at Star triumphantly. "Or you can just fly over, like this." Full of confidence and swelling with a bit of pride, she began to fly in and… was immediately pulled back in.

"Hey!"

"Shhhhh!" Star and Janna shushed her desperately and pointed to the few cones she was about to fly over. They were lighting up and seemingly beginning to stir. "You almost woke them."

"Nonsense! I was nowhere near them!"

"No, but… You know, your… That is, it is your…"

"My what? Speak up, girl!"

What Star found awkward to talk about, Janna had no problem being painfully direct. "It's the sparkles coming out of your butt." It was uncertain who of those two felt more uncomfortable by her comment.

"What did you just say?!"

"Pony-"

"No Star! She made a comment about my butt. No one makes comment about my butt!"

Star covered Pony Head's mouth again and tried to stop her from being riled up again. "Listen, Janna is right. These creatures are extremely sensitive to any kind of magic. And you're flying thanks to magic. I'm sorry to say this, but… Janna will have to carry you."

Pony knew she wouldn't be able to reply calmly, so she conjured her emotional reaction through her expression. It was uncertain what she was more bothered by, the fact that she would have to be carried around by somebody, or the fact that Janna would be the one doing it.

"Look, it is the only way. We have to get into the manor and with you sparkling around… Well…"

She could see defeat creeping up into Pony Head's eyes, but before she finally gave in, she asked this: "Why don't you carry me?"

"Because…" she reached for her wand, "I have to carry this."

"Didn't you just say we can't use magic?"

"I'll just have my wand at the ready in case of an emergency."

"Do you really think it will help us?"

Star didn't respond and just silently turned around, now facing the manor. Pony Head of course knew why and she also knew that talking her out of it would be pointless. She looked at Janna and sighed. "You'd better not ruin my hair."

With Pony Head being locked safely in Janna's hands, Star could now focus on staying alive while trying to get across the garden of death. She took the first careful step between the sleeping gnomes in hopes that she wouldn't disturb them. And she didn't; there wasn't a single reaction from any of them. Encouraged by her initial success, she took the second step. No reaction whatsoever. Maybe, she thought, this wouldn't be so hard.

"Janna, how are you?"

"Following you."

"Do the gnomes around you react to you?"

"Not that I can see."

"Great."

Step - step - step - stop. Step - step - step - stop. Step - step - step - stop. Rinse and repeat. Centimeter by centimeter, she was carefully picking the right spots to move to, getting closer to the manor - to Marco. After a while, this dangerous task became like second nature to her. None of the gnomes ever did anything to suggest that they were aware of their presence. They were sleeping, buried inside the ground, with their cones remaining calm. Right or left, direct or by sides, her goal was getting closer.

Perhaps it was the suspiciously easy progress that should have alerted any of the girls, but it started to seem fishy once they had reached the center of the rainbow gnome-minefield. It was a bit pessimistic, but there was something unnerving about making it through this situation without a hitch. These thoughts were running through Star's head when they all began to hear new sounds. What could be heard was a strange mixture of sounds. Like that of grinding and of a yawning baby. It was unnerving and made her realize that maybe the reason why this felt like a walk in the park was because the gnomes were simply allowing them to pass.

It was a trap.

In the middle of the field, they froze stiff hearing one of the gnomes waking up. And then the footsteps. Barely audible, almost harrowingly so, and clearly approaching from behind. None of them dared to move. Not even a breath escaped their lips. They couldn't even dare to look back and check if it was really one of the gnomes. They just stood there, locked in fear, hoping the sounds would just go away.

Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap. It stopped moving. And then…

"Hello!"

Reluctantly, Star looked down. Nothing could prepare her for the thing that she saw with her own eyes. Young, healthy, tasty eyes. She was the first Mewman in ages to see a living and breathing Rainbow Gnome. The cone now had this mellow, almost dreamlike quality to it and the creature wearing it was disproportionately small and kind of cute.

"Hi there!" Star covered her mouth in shock.

"B-fly, are you crazy?!" said Pony Head from behind her back. "Stop talking to it!"

The little fella didn't seem to mind Pony's comment. "Did you come here for a visit?"

It was as if his voice was forcing her to respond in similarly adorable fashion. "I came here to find a friend."

"Star, snap out of it!"

"I- Can't- Help it-" Star's voice was now different. It was smooth, tender, almost fluffy. As was her face. And when that happens, one's eyes are gazing intensely with affection.

The little creature was eager to see that. Motivated by hunger, it pushed forward for the last step. "Would you like a hug?"

Maybe there was some voice of reason inside Star's head to tell her to stop. But it was lost among the voices telling her to embrace the cute little gnome. Seconds ago she wanted to turn over and bring up her wand to blast the vile creature away, but now she wanted heartfully to scoop the little thing up in a big hug.

She leaned toward him, opening her arms. "Aww!" The gnome had begun to bear its sharp teeth and was ready to scoop out Star's eyes.

"Ouch!"

Star stopped immediately, jolting back with pain. Pony Head poked her horn at Star to break her out of the trance.

Because she had completely lost touch with reality, her reaction was loud. Really loud. "PONY, WHAT THE HECK?!" she yelled loudly.

Pony Head felt her blood run cold immediately. "Star, shut up! Look around you!"

"What are you-" Even though she was still mad at her for sticking her pointy horn into her back, something told her to check her surroundings. And what she saw snapped her back into reality so hard she was starting to feel whiplash from the rapid-fire range of emotions she had just experienced.

"Oh."

Most of the cones surrounding them had loosened themselves from the ground. There was an army of gnomes surrounding them, glowing and smiling as they paced toward them from all sides. They were up against impossible odds, armed with only a single weapon of questionable efficacy. It was a situation that was like countless others they have been in before, with the exception that, unlike in those other situations, Star's wand may not be able to diffuse the situation, or wreak enough havoc to create an opening for them.

"Now what?" asked Janna.

"Uhm…" Star wasn't really sure. Her instincts were telling her to use the wand and blast them, but she knew doing just attacking them might be a recipe for disaster. "I'm not sure."

United, all the gnomes made a step closer to the girls.

"WE SEE THEM!"

And another one.

"WE NEED THEM!"

Now the distance between them was inducing a panic in their minds.

"WE SHALL HAVE THEM!"

It's now or never, Star thought. "Girls, get close to me!"

"What are you going to do?!" asked Pony Head with a bit of concern.

In her panic, Star's resolve to stay alive gave her a fresh idea for a new spell. She raised her wand over her head, firmly holding it up with both arms, closed her eyes, focused and took a deep breath. "VANILLA HURRICANE EXPLOSION!"

To both of her friends' shock, she let the wand go. And despite expectations, it ignored the laws of gravity and stubbornly kept floating in the air.

"Get down!" Star grabbed Janna, who was still holding Pony Head, and pushed her down to the ground.

While they couldn't see what was going on above them, they were able to hear it. First, there was a rising, high-pitched noise coming from the wand, to which the gnomes reacted in similar fashion. Shortly after reaching a certain frequency, there was a loud, but muffled explosion. As if the bag of a vacuum cleaner had just exploded in another room. Following this they could only hear a confusing mix of screeching, yelping, and strong wind circling all around them. But, the sounds were getting farther away from them, until they could barely hear it all somewhere up above them.

Star dared to open her eyes first. The wand was laying next to her in the dirt. She saw a mess around her, but thankfully no gnomes. Did her impromptu spell really work? She looked up and breathed a momentary sigh of relief.

She didn't try to explain what she did. Instead she just bumped into Janna to get her attention. When Janna raised her eyes, Star just pointed up toward the sky. With concern and curiosity both, Janna inspected the air above.

"Are those…"

"Yes," replied Star curtly.

"And they are just…"

"Yep."

"But aren't they absorbing-"

"Uhm."

Janna couldn't believe her eyes. All the gnomes that were sharpening their teeth to feast on their eyes moments ago were now violently floating in the air, bound together by a weird clump of light strings. As the spell was trying to keep the gnomes restrained, they were absorbing more and more of the magical energy from it. What was a ball of hungry gnomes just moments before, was now a light bulb growing rapidly more and more brilliant.

Pony Head was up until this point completely silent, as she too was mesmerized by the show above. But she couldn't ignore the imminent conclusion to this bright spectacle.

"Say, Star, they are gonna explode, aren't they?"

"I think so, yes."

"So, in that case I'd like to make a suggestion." She kicked her sparkling motor, flew up and with the frantic voice of a person that deeply cherish life she yelled, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Without any hesitation she fired straight for the manor. After a brief exchange of glances, Star and Janna followed after Pony Head.

"This was your helpful idea?!" Pony Head yelled as she motioned back toward the glowing deathball.

"We have our eyes, don't we?"

"-which won't do us much good if we're burned into ashes!"

"Just get to the manor!"

The remaining distance to the entrance was fortunately quite short, and within 15 seconds they were upon it and attempting to open the massive doors but to no avail.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" yelled Pony Head as she watched Star's futile attempts to open them. Out of frustration she tried to use her horn to drill through, but they refused to budge. "Open up, you stupid piece of wood!"

Janna made the mistake of turning back to check on the spell. The light bulb was now a mini sun and was beginning to explode.

"Guys, it's going critical!"

And just like that, the doors opened themselves inexplicably. They looked at each other nervously for a moment. It was the sound of the detonation of magic behind them that spurred them to leap for the now accessible entrance, allowing them to practically tumble and roll through it. Pony Head swiftly turned around and she slammed the doors shut.

Suddenly the air had grown still and quiet once again. Only the sound of their heavy breathing echoed throughout the foyer. Looking at each other, they realized that they had been holding in the air in their lungs for some time. They survived what could be best described as the threat of a magical supernova. Another wave of relief washed over them, allowing to feel as though they've earned this moment's respite.

"We did it," noted Janna in between gasps for air. "We did it."

Star smiled at her. "Yeah…"

"So Marco is supposed to be in here, huh?"

"Yes. I mean, he has to be here."

"Where else would he be?" agreed Pony.

"Yeah, where else…" uttered Star in a low, almost silent voice.

Where else indeed. She hadn't allowed herself to think about the possibility, but now that she reached this place, she couldn't help but wonder if she was on the right track after all. On the one hand, her logic was sound: her path led directly here and the horrifying monsters they've dealt with all along the way were, if nothing else, a hint. She couldn't help but assume that they wouldn't be here unless they were protecting something; or someone. But on the other hand, straight-forward logic doesn't really apply in this place. She also didn't hold all the cards. Maybe these creatures are really all over the place when you're in this deep. Maybe it was a big distraction and she was just choosing to be convinced by it. Maybe she was just losing her mind. It was hard to tell at this point for her.

Star took a moment and just looked around her. This was a manor all right. Majestic, luxurious, and spacious; almost everything about this place screamed wealth. That said, there were a number of more modest details about the house that made it feel more liveable and even meager. The lighting was a bit dim, perhaps to set ambience, but almost seeming to betray a desire to save candles. The carpeting was breathtaking, but it was also not perfectly kept and deviated from the bright flush of familiar sights like hers and Pony Head's castles. Some parts of the manor could almost rival the fanciness of Mewni's Royal Castle, but the whole thing remained down to earth. The colors were a little less regal, opting out of the strong purples and reds and going for a darker maroon and other wooded colors, perhaps intentionally seeking to stand out. The manor seemed to speak out to her as if to say "Something's off about the details, but it is better this way." Without even realizing it, she began to kind of adore this place.

Janna's voice pulled her back out of her thoughts. "Well, it's great that we are here and not out there, dead, but I don't think sight-seeing is why we went to all the trouble."

Star looked over and studied Janna's features. She found in her eyes her typical, calm expression, if a bit tainted by a hint of worry. She wasn't exactly sure which of those two elements made her more uncomfortable.

"You're right. This is-" She looked around searching for at least a hint of confirmation that she was right. "-hopefully the correct place." Sadly, the interior didn't reveal any clues.

Pony Head decided that she needed a give a gentle nudge to move along the search. "Maybe what we need is to split up and start searching this… this…"

"Pony, it's not that easy," Star tried to argue.

"Wait!"

Pony's sudden, dramatic reaction made Star jumpy. She raised her wand and started randomly pointing it around her. "What? Who? Where? Is it Eclipsa?! I'll blast her, just show me where to shoot!"

But her friend wasn't paying attention to her at all. Something else captured her full, undivided attention. "sniff" A smell. sniff-sniff. "Where is that coming from?" It was a very distinct, rather pleasant aroma.

"I smell nothing," answered Star.

"Neither do I," concurred Janna.

"No, it is here, somewhere. I just-" sniiiiiiiiiiiif! "Oh yeah, they're close."

Star looked at her, perplexed. "What is?" The last time she saw her this riled up over a smell was when they broke into castle's kitchen and they first smelled...

"... VANILLA COOKIES!" And just like that, she flew away in search for the source of this delicious aroma.

Star didn't even had the chance to react. "Wait, what? What smell? Hey! Pony Head, come back!"

Janna was equally confused, but for a different reason. "Vanilla cookies? What's that about?"

"It- Sigh! It's a long story. Come on, we need to catch her before she does something hasty."

"You mean before she does something to us."

"Yeah, with Pony it usually ends that way."

Thankfully the way in which she disappeared was pretty much straightforward. The hallway did contain a few doors on both sides, but nothing suggested that a crazed Pony Head went through any of them. And then there was this odd smacking sound coming from not too far off down the hall.

It led them into a neatly designed kitchen connected to a living space. The connecting room was empty and dark, but the kitchen itself was lit up. It was not much light, but there was just enough for them to notice a table in the middle, with small drops all over it. They looked behind it.

"Pony?" asked Star in surprise.

She was still gorging herself with cookies. Pony looked up at the faces of her friends. "Don't judge me, Star. You know I can't resist them."

But Star had very little understanding for her cookie passion. "Don't you realize where we are?!"

"They're delicious!"

"They're probably a trap!"

Pony stopped eating for a while, as if she was waiting for something to happen. Deep silence surrounded them, but other than that nothing suggested that anything sinister was about to happen.

"Nah, I'm good!" she smiled and continued to finish the last plate of vanilla cookies. When she finished it, she just sat down with pure satisfaction on her face. "Wow!" burp "Those had to be the best vanilla cookies I've ever had!"

"Damn it, Pony!"

"Hey! I tend to binge eat when I'm under stress. You know that."

"Did you forget where we are and what's going on right now?!"

"Huuuuuuge stress."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, but I think I'm just getting too tired to pay attention." Pony Head yawned and her eyes began to droop.

"Are you for real right now?!"

"Yep, this place is a perfect spot. I'll just-" zzzzz.

"Unbelievable!"

This was too weird even for Janna. "She really just did that, didn't she?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Now what?"

"Well, we can't leave her here."

"I'll take her."

Star looked at Janna with mild suspicion. "That's… uncharacteristically kind of you."

"It's purely practical: the only thing between Eclipsa and us is you and your wand."

"Riiight."

Janna bent over to pick Pony up off the ground. "UGH! What the heck? Did those cookies have lead in them or something?"

"That's weird," said a surprised Star. "She isn't supposed to be THAT heavy. Let me try." She grabbed the sleeping Pony Head and tried to pick her up as well, but similar to Janna she failed. "What on Mewni…? What was in those cookies anyway?"

They both kept staring at her, trying to think of a solution. Star was the first to have one.

"Maybe if we-"

She didn't have the chance to finish her thought, because shortly after she started talking a weird noise started to come out of Pony Head.

"The heck is that?!" asked Janna in shaking voice.

She got her answer when several small tentacles came out of Pony's bottom. At first they were just crawling senselessly around, but after a few seconds they somehow managed to attach themselves to the floor and began to drag her body under the sink. It was quite the horrific spectacle seeing her head being compressed so that it could fit through the tight space. The noises it started to emanate once it hid itself from their sights were even more downright disturbing.

"Yeah," noted Janna, "we're definitely not in Kansas anymore."

The noises were getting louder and there was some ugly goo coming out from below the sink, which was now shaking a little. They both exchanged looks and silently agreed that it was time to leave. They backed away slowly and then made a break for the entrance. If they could only reach the lobby...

They were stopped by the sudden reappearance of Pony Head in front of them.

"Bah!" yelled Star. "Get back!"

"Guys, what's wrong?" asked a sleepy Pony Head. "What, were you gonna just leave me there?"

Tense and weary, Star aimed her wand ahead defensively. "Who or what are you?"

"What do you mean? It's me: Pony Head."

"We saw what those cookies did to you."

"Oh yeah, they totally knocked me out. I fell asleep almost immediately. I must have had too many of them I guess, hahahaha."

"What? But what… How did you… And then…"

"What are you mumbling about, B-fly?"

Star looked at Janna for assurance that she wasn't losing her mind. She, too remained unconvinced.

"I've watched enough horror movies to know where this is going. You aren't fooling us with your pretense."

Pony Head held the sleepy and mellow look on her face for just a few moments longer, perhaps thinking of another convincing explanation.

"Oh well."

Pony Head's smile contorted into a more devilish grin, and the facade shattered completely.

What followed would haunt Star forever. In a swift and clean manner, Pony Head opened her mouth to size that no Pony Head should be capable of, chomped down on Janna's head and ate it. A mere 3 seconds were needed for the whole moment to play out. Star couldn't move a single muscle or do anything to stop it.

"Wha- wha- wha-"

Janna's headless body went down almost instantly.

"Yummy." Pony's response was cold and lifeless, which only strengthened Star's fear. "You're next, princess." She took her time to fully unhinge her huge mouth, revealing several tentacles moving inside.

Maybe it was pure despair that finally took hold of her. Maybe it was frustration from not seeming to get any closer to Marco while losing all of her friends along the way. But at that moment an adrenaline rush gave her a much needed moment of lucidity and her second wind.

She grabbed her wand tightly, leapt backwards, performed a pirouette and angrily shouted "SPARKLING WHIRLWIND LASSO!" Her wand transformed into a fancy looking whip and captured Pony into its firm grasp.

Star looked into Pony Head's surprised eyes and whispered: "I think this place needs a little redecorating, how about you?" Her words were twisted, cold, and seemed to lack all restraint. She let herself go, with all of her rage releasing in violent bursts. Each one gave her the strength to smash the possessed Pony Head in to the ground, the walls, and the ceiling, sometimes breaking through parts of the structure. Each time she struck Pony Head against a surface, a few colorful sparks were released.

"YOU LIKE THAT?!"

And she wasn't stopping. She didn't want to stop. It felt so relieving to be able to let her impulsive take control again. To do what she desired deep inside her to do ever since she lost Marco: to smack that witch against the rocks.

After only a minute, the place was pretty much in ruins. Nothing suggested that this was the same lobby of the fancy manor that they were standing in before. Now there was only dust, rubble and a seriously angry if somewhat exhausted princess. Pony Head was, after all the smashing, essentially done for; it was no longer just her voice that registered as lifeless.

Heavily breathing, furiously looking around, Star returned her wand back to its original form. After calming down, she saw the result of her rampage. She also realized something else, a fact that she was pushing back to her mind so she wouldn't have to deal with it. Pony Head's and Janna's bodies, nonetheless, were a painful reminder to her of all that she had lost. And, so far, that there was nothing she gained from this crusade.

Still, she couldn't afford to mourn. Yes, she could just give up, sit down and let the inevitable run over her. But that would make the losses pointless, without reason. That was a reality she simply could not accept.

"ECLIPSA!" she yelled from her diaphragm. "I'm still standing! Now, you either give me Marco, or I'll turn this whole place into a crater!" She waited for a while, but received no response. "I have nothing else to lose! Give him up or face the consequences!"

She waited some more until, eventually, she had her answer. The surroundings subsided into pitch black until there was nothing else. She found herself standing in perpetual darkness. It was quiet at first, but that silence lasted for only a few seconds.

"I must say, that was quite the performance."

"Eclipsa!" She couldn't see her, but she could clearly hear her voice coming from all sides.

"Of course, were you expecting someone else?"

"Where is Marco?!"

"Safe." Eclipsa made a dramatic pause to let Star's frustration brew inside her. "With me."

After all the things the young princess had gone through, she really didn't have the patience for anymore games, so she just pointed her wand at random target and released a magical blast. It didn't hit anything.

"Hmpf." Even though Star couldn't see the woman, she could still hear all the sarcasm and contempt in her voice. "You know, back at the castle, I thought you were just a spoiled brat."

She let out a brief, nerve-plucking chuckle and paused once again before letting her tone change to one of stern disregard.

"But now I see that you're an entitled, spoiled brat."

"I WANT HIM BACK!"

"I hate brats who behave like you," continued Eclipsa, ignoring Star's demand. "I was keen on teaching that to my ungrateful daughter, but recently I realized my efforts weren't enough." She went silent again, leaving Star alone with her own anger.

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

"But that is ancient history now. Let's talk about the future." She stepped out of the darkness right behind Star's back. She let out a light, chilling whisper that resounded directly in her ear "I am right here."

Star jumped and reflexively spun around, taking a step back and raising her wand without hesitation. She tried to blast her away, but Eclipsa was prepared and she deflected the blast with her own wand.

"You really should learn to respect your elders."

"You are NOT my-" The moment Star layed her eyes on Eclipsa, she froze in place. "Wha-" Her hands began to shake. As much as she didn't want to believe her own eyes, she couldn't just ignore the apparent change in Eclipsa's shape.

"Oh, you mean this?" she smiled and put her hand on her rather large belly. "You can call it a... happy little accident."

All of the time Star was forced to dedicate to prepare herself for this encounter and even the terrors along the way couldn't dampen her determination. But this revelation did something that none of the previous trials had managed to do to her before in her life: it made her feel utterly defeated.

"I guess I don't really have to tell you who the happy father is, but just to be sure there are no misunderstandings between us: it's Marco. Oh!" she gasped. "The night when he came after me… He was so full of passion! There were moments where I thought I wouldn't able to keep up with him! Until recently I wasn't even aware of the existence of humans, but having Marco in my bed made the 300-year-long imprisonment worthwhile." She wasn't simply telling her what happened. Every word that came out of her mouth was dripping with her deepest emotions, feelings flowing out just to let Star feel what happened that night. "Oh, dear, why such a sad face? You didn't really think he would come back to you after tasting me, now did you?"

Defeated without a single shot fired her way, with mere words; Star felt sick to her stomach. She thought that just losing Marco to Eclipsa was the worst feeling she had ever beared in her life, but she was now learning that there were emotions far worse than that.

"You're just a girl. I am a woman. There was never even a competition. What did you give him? Hugs and kisses? Please! I made him experience things you couldn't even imagine." Every word was impacting Star like a huge boulder crushing her heart. It hurt in ways she couldn't even begin to express.

It was immeasurably enjoyable for Eclipsa to watch her adversary break down. But there was still one more ace up her sleeves that she could use to finish the girl off. "Oh, you don't believe me? Maybe you would want to hear it from the young man himself. Dear, please, step forward."

Right next to Eclipsa, a younger, more familiar person emerged from the darkness that surrounded this place. Star expected to see a red hoodie, but instead she saw clothing not much different from Eclipsa's. This would normally make her uneasy, however at this point she was emotionally dead inside, devoid of emotion. It soon became apparent that Marco's face, too shared the same feature.

"Marco, sweetheart, would you kindly explain to this young lady what happened that night?" It was apparent that she expected an immediate answer that just wasn't coming at all. She didn't like that one bit. "I said, would you kindly describe what happened during our first night together?" She tried to sound as arrogant as before, but Marco's reluctance to comply made her a bit angry.

This time Marco did reply. "It was the best night of my life." His handler was obviously satisfied with his answer, which was shown by a gentle caress on the head.

The words were there, but emotions were not, and Star picked up on this. Even though it was still painful for her to accept that she had lost that special night with him, with permanent repercussions no less, his lifeless reaction gave her a small hope that maybe she still might have a chance to get him back. But even if this was true, she would still need to figure out how to get them out of this situation. And she was sorry to admit that she didn't have the foggiest idea how.

"Good boy." Eclipsa's proudness in Marco's answer was painfully obvious, almost as if he was her puppy. This resurgence of her confidence in his compliance not only fortified her position in this situation over Star, but strengthened her resolve enough to come down on her even harder. She stood up and with the wand in her hand and with the grace of woman four months pregnant, she went up toward Star. "I'm feeling generous. Therefore I'm giving you a choice: stay here and I will make your life a living hell, or return home, forget about Marco, and never return. It all boils down to how much you desire to keep living."

Star's emotional display didn't change after her offer… much. Before gazing toward the floor in total defeat, she fleetingly checked Marco's stone-like face just in time to see his lips moving.

"Well? What would it be?" Eclipsa demanded an answer.

"You are right," Star said. "You could make my life a living hell. However," she raised her head and looked into Eclipsa's eyes with a newfound determination, "you already did that when took Marco from me." Before the witch could properly react to her stubbornness, Star swiftly pulled up her wand, aimed it at her chest and screamed "NARWHAL BLAST!".

Eclipsa tried to deflect her attack by opening her wand, but she was simply too close to react quickly enough. She took the full brunt of the blast and got shoved quite a distance from Star. And it was she who had the upper hand now.

"Don't make threats to a person who has nothing else to lose!"

Now free of both Butterfly royals attention, Marco was suddenly able to move freely when Eclipsa hit the floor.

Eclipsa's first reaction was a physical check of her belly in panic. After reaching a conclusion that everything was alright, she gazed piercingly at Star with pure hatred in her eyes, entirely ignoring the fact that Marco was attempting to communicate with her.

"If you are so keen on losing your life, I will end it for you right her and right now!" She stood back up on her feet and pointed her wand on Star. "That was the last time you will ever threaten me or my child!"

Star wasn't scared one bit. "Bring it on, grandma!"

Both were prepared to blow a hole clean through one another and taking into account the events so far, Star would most probably fail miserably. That is if it wasn't for the third participant that, somehow, had been left forgotten in this whole mess.

"GUYS, STOP!" Marco placed himself right in the middle between two angry royals that were about to cut each other's throats. "Don't do this!"

Both Star and Eclipsa were shocked by his interruption, albeit for completely different reasons.

"Marco?! What are you doing? How can you defend her after what she has done to you?!"

"Marco, get behind me this instant! I won't allow my child to be raised without its father! Not again!"

He did plan to stop them, but he didn't think far enough ahead as to how. His only chance was to improvise. Despite this, he started to realize that even reasoning with Star would be very difficult because he knew she was right about Eclipsa; even he himself wasn't able to forgive her to any degree. He was used and abused to a degree that will leave a lifelong mark on him. You just don't walk away from that as if nothing happened. But he also couldn't force himself to feel anything else but pity for the unborn child. His child. He simply wasn't ready to accept the responsibilities of fatherhood. And even though he did take pride in his personal growth during the last year, he was still much too far away from being confident in and comfortable with the idea of having to watch a little copy of himself. Despite all of this, he couldn't just hold the child responsible for the actions of its mother. He wouldn't be any better than her.

But how he could go about reaching a compromise between those two women when he wasn't even able to find it within himself, he did not know. Whatever plan was slowly brewing in his mind, it didn't matter, because the universe didn't give him the chance to implement it; it was too busy falling apart.

It started as a sudden and strong nausea in both Star and Eclipsa. He could understand such behaviour in Eclipsa considering her pregnancy, but Star seemed healthy. And the fact that they both went to the ground simultaneously was even weirder.

"Uhm, are you both okay?"

"What did you do?!" Eclipsa demanded an explanation.

"Me?! You're the one threatening my life!"

"Don't pretend to be stupid, girl! I know-".

There was it again. But while before it looked unpleasant, now he could see pain on their faces. He wasn't really sure who to comfort first at first, though the longing to be with Star eventually won over his sense of responsibility. When he touched her to check if she was alright, he once again felt the rush he experienced every time he was near here. Whatever his rational mind might have been trying to convey, his heart made him feel comfortable in his choice.

"Star, are you alright?"

"Marco…" She was finally back with him, but because of the pain she wasn't able to fully appreciate it. "It hurts."

"What is happening to you?"

"I don't know! It feels like… I'm going away."

Marco was shocked by her answer. "You mean you're dying?!"

"I don't kn- AAA!"

Marco watched as the pain grew visibly stronger in both of them.

"Marco!" Eclipsa was desperately trying to reach out to him. "Help me!"

Now this situation did raise some serious moral questions inside him. It was one thing to comfortably believe that being with the girl he loves takes priority over woman expecting his child, when there was a mere discomfort. It was something different entirely when said woman is laying on the ground, begging for his help in fear of losing that child. But had no desire to abandon Star either.

He was alone and confused. "I don't know what to do! I'm not prepared for all of this!"

Although he did feel conflicted and horrible for even having such feelings in the face this situation, the universe made him face an even bigger threat. Whatever this place was that Eclipsa had created, it started to break down. It started with cracks, pure white in color, that were running along the edges of the place. Shortly after that they began to break down, revealing holes back to the outside world. Most of them weren't showing anything interesting, but some did let in rays of bright, white light.

And still it wasn't everything. The pieces from the walls and ceiling weren't falling down onto them. They were simply vanishing, as if they were never there in the first place. Piece by piece, the place was going into oblivion right before his eyes. Star and Eclipsa didn't pay any attention to anything happening around, as they were too busy wallowing in agony. Marco was powerless and clueless.

Thinking nothing worse could happen in this bizarre situation, he was proven wrong when he started to hear screams. Loud and intense voices screamed in fear. It didn't take long until the whole place was simply gone and he was sitting in the middle of the garden, allowing him to see in the distance through holes the Mewni castle meeting its same demise. Despite the distance, he felt as if those people were running around him. He checked on both girls and noticed that they stopped shaking from pain and fell unconscious. She took Star to his arms and moved her next to Eclipsa so that he could have both of them near him.

But it wasn't just objects going away. The sky was turning white and, to his horror, the ground as well. Whatever was happening, it was obvious that the entire dimension seemed to be turning in on itself and allowing everything to just go away. He realized there was nothing he could do and so he just hugged tightly to both Butterflies and waited for the inevitable.

"There you are."

He didn't expect to hear anyone's voice beside the screaming in the background, so he was genuinely shocked to see a familiar little blue man floating above them.

"Glossaryck!"

"It took me a while to find you."

"What is happening? Where is everyone? How do we stop it? Where do we go?"

"Whoa there! Calm down."

"Calm down?! The whole world is disappearing!"

"Yes, I've noticed."

"Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"No, not really."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

"Look, Marco, you can keep yelling at me until we all vanish. Or you can listen to what I have to say before that happens."

"What difference would that make?"

"The difference between life and death, my boy. So, what will it be?"

Marco looked at the havoc all around. "Sure, what else do I have to lose?"

"Now, listen to me carefully. A few days ago, did you happen to stumble upon an unfinished tapestry of an unknown queen?"

"I'm not that familiar with royal family's lineage, but we did find something like that tapestry."

"And did this tapestry try to persuade you to find its missing pieces?"

"I'm not sure."

"Think! It's important!"

"No! I don't believe we did. Just… something weird happened, I'm not even sure what exactly anymore. All I know is that me and Star became closer."

This information made Glossaryck perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I realized how much I care about Star and that I love her."

"That… shouldn't have happened."

"I don't know what was suppose to happen. All I know I wanted to be with Star. Until this crazy old witch kidnapped me and turned me into her personal puppet. And," he touched Eclipsa's belly, "something more. But why does it matter? We're going to die anyway, aren't we?"

Glossaryck wasn't paying attention to him anymore. "Could it be? Could she still after all this time…?"

"What are you on about?"

Marco was so caught up in the discussion that he didn't realize that most of the world was now a plain white space. Only a few square meters of the world around him were still intact. And even that was quickly shrinking.

"Glossaryck! Can you help or not?!"

"Marco, listen carefully! Did anything else happened besides the thing with that tapestry? Anything unusual since you've met with Star?"

"This is unbelievable! How can you still be so cryptic even in the face of imminent death?!"

"This is important! There still might be a chance!"

Eclipsa suddenly started to slip away from Marco's hold. He didn't notice the ground below her feet just went puff. It took him some trying, but he managed to keep her with him. However even that wasn't enough to keep her safe some few moments more, because she too began to vanish; he could see his own hand through her increasingly incorporeal form. To his dismay the same thing was beginning to happen to Star. He looked up with contempt in his eyes.

"Do you know what I hate about this? That I had to spent my last few breaths on you instead of ta- Wait, what's this?"

"Is something happening?" asked Glossaryck with hope in his voice.

"There is a red light around me. And Star and Eclipsa are solid again! What did you do?"

"Fascinating. What do you see above you?"

"Above me? Nothing, just white."

"Look closely."

"I- Wait, no. Behind me. There is… I've seen this before."

"It's Blood Moon, isn't it?"

Marco didn't answer. He was hypnotized by the brooding red light shining over him, completely ignoring not only Glossaryck, but also the fastly shrinking island beneath him. There was nothing else around, except for the last piece of sky above and the little blue man hovering next to him.

"Hmm. Maybe you can pull th-" his voice was abruptly silenced.

Surprisingly enough, Marco didn't feel fear anymore. Whatever his worries might have been just a few moments ago, they were washed away by the red shimmering light covering their entire bodies. He closed his eyes and let the universe to take him away along with the last fragments of reality as they knew it.

To be continued in Pillars of Magic...

Chapter 17 was written by Terepin.