Star and Marco vs Evil Book 1

XIV

Thirty minutes after discovering MewmonStar's hiding place, three dimensional portals opened simultaneously in the dome of the highest tower of Butterfly Castle, each at one point of the compass. Marco, Janna, and Moon each stepped out of a portal, closing it quickly to prevent Star from using it to escape. They took defensive stances, expecting Star to resist ... but there was no Star challenging them.

"Where is she?" Janna asked.

Marco and Moon had no answer as they investigated the room. Long ago sealed and forgotten, the room was mostly bare, with a few ancient, broken, artifacts here and there. It contained remnants of a meal, the same food that had been served at Marco's intervention, and a nest against the wall.

Marco walked over to examine the nest. He could not believe what he found ... almost a dozen red hoodies, in various states of decay. He held one of the better ones up to Janna. "How?" he asked.

They could find nothing of any use to tell them where Star had gone, or how she had entered and exited in the first place. The techs had expertly narrowed the tramorfidian crystal's field just enough to allow the three to portal into part of the dome, keeping the rest of the dome covered. With the three rifts taking up most of the uncovered space, Star should not have had enough room to open a dimensional portal of her own.

Clearly, Star had been using the dome for some time. Marco looked through the hoodies, finding one he recognized by a tear and a stain, the first to go missing. Indicating the hoodie, Marco said, "This disappeared a year-and-a-half ago." Janna and Moon took the news silently. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself. Oddly, he was proud of MewmonStar's sneakiness.

With a crack, Moon forced open the entryway trapdoor. "Come along," she said, "I don't think there's anything more to find."

The three descended the spiral stairs to another door, Marco forcing it open. On the other side was Eclipsa and several royal guards, plus Sir Darryl, in case Star had tried to escape by that route. Marco wasn't certain what they could have done, but they insisted.

"So?" Eclipsa asked.

Marco and Moon walked past her, giving no answer. Eclipsa sent a questioning look at Janna, who shrugged and said, "She was gone."

Before they could exit the seldom used hallway leading to the staircase, a messenger ran in, handing a message to Sir Darryl.

"If you'll excuse me," Sir Darryl said, "I must go to the rift defenses control room. There was another surge in the tramorfidian crystal around fifteen minutes ago."

"You have your leave," Moon replied. "Marco, Janna, please join me in my office. Eclipsa, if you would excuse us, please."

Several minutes later, Marco and Janna were comfortably seated in the sitting area of Moon's office, while Moon stood, looking out the window.

"This entire time ... this entire time she was right here!" Moon shouted, slamming a fist on the sill. "How did we not know? And how did she get in and out of there undetected?"

"She must have portaled," Marco replied.

"The tramorfidian crystal ..." Moon began.

Marco, remembering what he heard from the royal tech, interrupted, saying, "... has been randomly fritzing ever since the rift defenses went online. I'm guessing the fritzes were the result of Star's portals."

"But how? Only Hekapoo can portal past a tramorfidian crystal."

"Eclipsa says Star's monster form could be enhancing her magic," Janna answered, "or Star is just beast-mode powerful on her own. I'm betting it's the latter, and that's why her transformation was different."