Star and Marco vs Evil Book 1

XIII

Possible spoilers between the ⭐🦋 and 🦋⭐.

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Nine months ago...

"Oh, Globby, what am I going to do?"

Eclipsa sat on the floor of a Monster temple, her back against the giant crystal containing her Monster husband, Globgor, Prince of Darkness.

A journey that could have been completed in a day or so took a full month. Not only did Eclipsa have to travel clandestinely, but she also had to wait out the MHC's and Butterfly King's Guard's searches of the temple.

The going would have been easier with the aid of Glossaryck, but the little blue man stated he had his own quest to fulfill and wanted to say goodbye before he left. Incredulous, given he had spent a year blurting out her husband's name, Eclipsa demanded Glossaryck stay and help, or at least tell her what his quest was.

I don't work for you; goodbye, was Glossaryck's answer before opening a portal and disappearing. While his attitude was quite familiar, the portal he opened was not; Eclipsa had never seen its like before.

Once Eclipsa arrived at the temple, without the aid of magic or Glossaryck it took her several more weeks to find the chamber containing her husband and to break into it. Since that time, she had been searching every nook and cranny of the temple, hoping to find some forgotten artifact to help with Meteora. The MHC had searched the temple several more times and Eclipsa had managed to avoid being found, but she knew it was just a matter of time before they discovered her; her time to find a solution was running out.

"I cannot kill my own daughter, but neither can I let her continue to wreak havoc and turn innocent Mewmins into monsters. I also have to find a way to cure those she's turned, especially Star." Eclipsa turned her head upwards to look at Globgor's frozen, snarling, face. "You'd like Star. She's a lot like me, but far braver and wiser than I was at her age. I think you'd love her like a granddaughter, as I do."

Eclipsa silently cried for a few minutes. With a deep breath, she said, "I just don't know how to fix things. But I did think of a possible way to find out." Failing to find anything of use as she searched the temple, she dwelled more and more on something she was told during her final meeting with the MHC.

"Hekapoo spoke about a legend that copies of the first Book of Spells still exist. I have to believe that the full text contains instructions on how to reverse the spell without killing the spellcaster. The spellcaster would be Mewmin, for corn's sake, and likely a princess or queen, so it has to." Eclipsa sighed, staring at a blank wall. After a few minutes, she finally made up her mind.

Eclipsa stood, resolute. "Good-bye, sweetie. I will return with our daughter and bring Star to meet you as well."

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Nine days ago...

Eclipsa entered the cave. She was gaunt, weary, the months of searching taking its toll. The search had been dangerous and full of hardship, but it had paid off. An old Monster shaman in a nearby village gave Eclipsa the final clue she needed. She had finally found one.

Switching on an LED flashlight, Eclipsa again marveled at the brightness of the Earth technology. As she traveled deeper into the cave, sometimes having to scramble over rockfalls, she began to see remnants of the Monster temple built into the cave itself. At the very back of the cave she found the altar containing an ancient book of Monster magic, or so the legend said. Monsters never having had magic, so far as Eclipsa knew, she figured it was really one of the copies of the Book of Spells.