Chapter 75: We Don’t Come Together Easily

Summary: The kids go to war

"And that was the last time I spoke to your mother." Steven listened to the story. "Full of anger, disagreement, and words I wish I could take back if I knew she would never come back …" Tears dripped down her face. "At first it wasn't just Star bonding … I felt like I could atone for something by taking you in … keeping you safe."

"Mom.." Steven was feeling a lot right now, but at the moment, the biggest feeling was the urge to hug the woman that had raised him. "I'm sorry you never got to see her again..I'm sorry you went through all that.."

"So this is happening because you didn't kill Toffee." Star said with a blank expression, one that he could tell was struggling just as hard as him to figure out how to digest the full story.

"In essence, yes." Mom sighed. "He somehow knew about Rose having a child, he confessed to bringing her to Mewni as she was about to give birth to Quartz, he's exploited the bond that links the two of you together to spread the fritz into gem corruption."

That part was just…a lot to take in. One that made him question his existence a whole lot more than Glossaryck ever could, but there was one detail about his mom's story he didn't quite get. "Why did you back out on your deal with Eclipsa? If you wanted Toffee dead, why didn't you do it?"

"I … I was a coward." She admitted. "I was young back then, I didn't have the heart to go through with murder, or to free a queen everyone but Rose said was evil …"

"Is liking a monster really seen as that evil?" He asked. "Toffee is one thing…but your the one who keeps saying how bad the commission is..don't you think what they believe is just….screwed up?"

"I used to think they were fine but … one bad cornel ruins the bunch I suppose." She let out a humorless chuckle. "I haven't been able to see them as anything but another Toffee in the making whenever I saw them."

"Yeah…I've been swept in that crap too." Star signed with an equally hollow laugh. "Every monster was as greedy and stupid as Ludo…heck, I still have a hard time trusting gems that aren't the CG's."

"I guess I'm a moron for trusting everyone then." Steven let out his own empty giggle. "So now we're all being corrupted … you know how to stop it?"

"I…I can't say.."

"Mom, we just agreed about being fully honest." Star interrupted. "Don't back peddle now."

Mom stared at them both, before looking down. "Either we fix magic at the source … a place not even dimensional scissors can reach … or one of you leaves this mortal realm."

"…." Star and Steven looked at each other, and they both knew the other had the exact same thought. " You're not going to sacrifice yourself." They both said at the same time.

"Oh stars, I have the most caring and most troublesome children in the universe." Their mom sighed, giving them a hug. "We can't can't stay here long now. With the magic well infected, it's only a matter of time before Toffee realizes he can locate us here."

"Right, we need to hide somewhere even more remote, somewhere no one will think to find us." Star looked at a random frog that hopped inside. "And I think I have just the place."

"You sure we should go to buff frog? He does have a family too, and mom's not exactly.." he looked at her. "..tolerable."

"If it's for you two I can … repress it for a few days." She spoke uneasily.

"Alright, guess we're heading to Buff Frog's then." Steven sighed. How did it get to the point where he actually preferred if someone he loved actually killed someone else? 

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Kelly landed on the stone castle wall. "Okay, status report." She looked around … seeing multiple walls broken and on fire. "Wow, right on the money."

"And that means Toffee is here." Marco cracked his knuckles. "Let's put an end to him, once and for all."

"Finally, we're on the same page about destruction." Peridot smiled. "Common sense, how I have missed you."

"That's mainly because we know for a fact talking to this guy is pointless." Kelly cracked her neck and got her sword out. "Last time, we came to him on his turf. We need something to get him to come to us now."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Marco spoke up.

"Why's that?" Kelly turned to face him … and the Omnitraxus sized purple canine staring at both of them with sharp teeth and drool coming out of its mouth. "Oh..so this is what Amethyst looks like corrupted… could've gone my whole life without knowing that."

"Raaaaaaaar!" The former crystal gem roared out to them.

"Aggh!" Peridot held her head. "I can … understand the crazy thing somehow!" Peridot shouted. "Like I can hear her instincts or something!"

"Steven was able to do the same thing with a Centipeetle before…can you tell us what she's thinking!? Maybe we can pacify her somehow." Marco suggested.

"Ragh! Ragh!" The corrupted gem shouted as it tried to spin dash over to them.

"She's got orders, but apparently taking a 'lunch break'!" … The implication was them being lunch, wasn't it?

"Really sorry I have to do this to you Amethyst! You are the most fun out of the Crystal Gems!" Kelly got her stance ready and began striking at the purple beast, while ducking under all its slashes. 

"I'll get some help-" Marco was cut off by a stream of fire.

"Hisss." "Grrr." A two headed hydra, one having a blue cyclone like slit eye, another having two scared red eyes, crawled from the wall, glaring at the boy.

"So that's Garnet corrupted …" Marco muttered. "You know, it's kinda sweet they're still fused even when mindless-JESUS!" He had to dodge a stream of ice.

"Yes, nice to appreciate the sentimentality as they rip us apart piece by piece!" Peridot jumped out of the way of a blue stream of fire. "Nice to know the permafusion at least has company when they're standing over our corpses!"

"It's okay!" Kelly spoke. "We fight corrupted gems all the time, two isn't an issue!" She shouted as she tried fending off the aggressive Amethyst.

"What about three!?" Marco pointed to the sky. "Duck!"

"Are you sure, that looks closer to that of a swan, and it's larger than the semi aquatic-" The gem was taken out of her rand when the bird slashed her backside with razor sharp talons.

"Damn it Marco, you know she doesn't have expressions down!" Kelly shouted to the boy. "Okay, three corrupted cgs vs two fighters and a space nerd…still not the worst odds we've faced, right!?" She used her sword to block Garnet's tail from striking her.

"Graaahhh!" A giant blue siren carried by a body of water floated next to them, Ludo riding on top.

"… Wow, tempting fate really is a thing." Peridot muttered. "I thought that was just earth television."

"No, usually Steven says something that gets the ball rolling." Kelly sighed. She really wanted him by her side right now.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Ludo hopped off. "Prepare yourself, Star …" He paused. "Where's the important ones?"

"Rude! I happen to be a very big deal where I come from!" Peridot ranted. "Who else could stay sane around these clods!?"

"Oh, another rock lady!" He shouted with glee. "Yet another soldier for the army. Do your thing wand!" He held up the boney rock, a sick green glow emanating.

"Oh please, my intellect is far too advanced for me to just change sides at the drop of a.." Peridot's body began shaking. "Who's there!? No, no, get out of my head!" The horns got larger as she was forced on all fours, her green skin growing more furry. Sharp teeth formed as two buck ones became prominent.

"Peridot, resist it, I know you-" Marco was cut off as water washed over him, being frozen over by Garnet as he became a human icicle.

"Damn it. Why am I always getting overwhelmed whenever a big event starts occurring!?" Kelly cursed as Amethyst pinned her back from behind.

"Look, normally I'd let you and the human be lunch for my army, but Star Butterfly happens to care about you two, and the more leverage I have, the easier it's going to be to defeat her."

"Oh, looks like someone found a brain as well as a wand." Kelly grumbled. "None of this is your doing, just fyi! You're just a puppet for Toffee!"

"What … no." The kappa shook his head. "Toffee is dead, gone."

"Look at the bone on your wand, how many fingers!?"

"It can't…Lies! It's all lies!" Ludo cried out. "The wand is my friend! It wouldn't lie to me like that!"

"Does the wand sound like Toffee?" She asked, distracted as Amethyst knocked her down, pinning her under a paw. "Fuck."

"New girl, Dog lady, take them to the holding cells! I'll deal with them later." Ludo commanded. "Now that I've established who's clearly the most powerful, the people will have no choice but to love me!"

"Dude…that's why you're doing this!?!" Kelly knew he was insecure, but she didn't know it was that bad. "No one's going to like you after you just trashed their home!"

"But they will, or else I'll fling them into the sky and make them fall to their deaths."

"That's another reason they won't like you!" She shouted as she was dragged. Marco would probably agree, if he wasn't frozen in a block of ice.

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"Star! Steven, welcome!" Buff frog, Yvgeny to few, greeted as he let the guest in. "I am concerned for your safety with the castle under attack."

"The castle's being attacked!?" The young boy shouted with concern. He looked slightly more spikey then the last time he saw him. The tail was a good look on him.

"Yes, Ludo moves with his rat army, his two animal generals, and four colorful monsters … now five actually." Buff Frog told the trio.

"I guess that means we can't count on Lapis to swoop in and save us again." Star sighed. "I know this is sudden, but we're trying to stay on the downlow for a while.

"After what you have done for my little tadpoles, stay as long as you need." He gestured them in, turning to the mother. "If she can hold herself back."

The Queen huffed, likely to retort in a haughty manner before Steven got between them. "Right, Mom, we've never formally introduced you two. Buff Frog, Moon Butterfly. Mom, Buff Frog."

"Is your name really 'Buff Frog'?" She asked incredulously. "That's almost as bad as Toffee."

"My real name is Yvgeny Bulgolyubov, people call me Buff Frog out of convenience." He answered.

She merely hummed, taking a seat near a rocking chair. "Your home is very.." She stared down at the floor, which was the typical swamp water that most monsters lived in. "Muddy."

"Thank you, I just tidied up, so please watch your step." He was lucky he could get it done before house guests, usually it was a mess. 

"Baby's!" The adults turned their heads towards the voice of Star, who pounced on her with their newly sprouted legs. "Aw, they're growing so fast!"

"Soon they'll have their own arms and lose their tails." Buff Frog let out a tear. "It makes a parent proud to see their children grow into such incredible things."

"Yes, it does fill one up with pride." The Queen said with a slight fondness in her tone, though it turned sad upon looking at her own son. "So..how exactly do you two know Mr…Bulgolyubov?"

"He used to work for Ludo, got kicked out when Toffee took over, we offered him corn for his children if he helped us in the castle, now we babysit the kids on occasion." The prince answered. "So, Ludo already took down the castle, meaning we have no knights for help, and the commission is down with the gems. Reinforcements … we could get Ponyhead and Tom to rally their kingdoms."

"No, that's not going to work either." The Queen sighed. "They're creatures that exist due to magic. At this point, the Ponyhead's have probably lost their ability to float and the Lucitor's most likely can't leave the underworld now."

"Then that's all the more reason to go now." The princess spoke. "While we sit around everyone just gets worse, and who knows what Toffee and Ludo will do to draw us out?"

"According to spies from the resistance … they're holding Marco and Kelly hostage." Buff frog said.

"WHAT!?" Young Steven shouted, growing fangs within his mouth. "That no good son of a …"

"Quartz! I know times are stressful, but I still expect you to refrain from foul language, or so help me I will get the soap…or whatever the equivalent monster's use around here." Moon chastised.

"Still soap, but made from slime." Buff Frog answered.

"If Marco and Kelly really are there, then we have to go get them! Heck! We should get dad and actually plan this out as a whole family!" Star argued.

"Not to rain on parade, but Young Butterfly children do not have best track record with plan making." Buff Frog pointed out the sad truth.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me." Moon smiled. "You know, if I had met you before Toffee, I might not have pushed monsters back as far as I did." The woman really didn't know how to hold back her intolerance even when being nice.

"It's alright, Toffee leaves bad taste in mouth for me as well." He pushed aside the slight irritation for the sake of her two children. "We don't make move until concrete plan is made."

"We can't plan." Steven spoke. "I mean that literally, any time we try and plan it somehow ends up worse than it did before."

"You only prove Mr Bulgolyubov right. We're staying even if it takes months to form a plan."

"We don't HAVE months!" Hearing the babies cry, Star went to console them, speaking quieter. "Steven is gonna be corrupted completely soon and Marco and Kelly are probably going to be executed within a week."

"I'm truly sorry, Star, but we also can't afford to go off on a half baked plan either!" Moon shouted her whisper. "Being a Princess, being a Queen, a Butterfly means we have to make tough choices…even if you have to live in regret."

"Well maybe the tough choice isn't the right one." She argued back, the wand in her grip starting to glow green. "The entire past year has been filled with tough choices, and look where we are now. Me and Steven literally just stopped a planet from blowing up, just let us…!"

"Agh!" Steven's body flashed pink as he clutched his chest, the spikes becoming more curvy and sharp on his back. He fell to the mud ground as Moon did her best to keep him upright.

"Quartz!" The mother cried out in worry. "Star, please step aside for a moment. We'll finish this conversation later." The girl nodded as she took the boy to a room, the young Butterfly gripping her hand tightly. "Enjoy your children while they're young and can't talk back. Those will be the days you become nostalgic for." He was sad that she may have had a point.nt.

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Yellow Diamond stared at her spike, hand, once more pushing against it as lightning sparked and the marks vanished. It had been an epidemic, all of gem kind have conducted some sort of virus. At first they tried to contain it, but the problem soon became apparent that wasn't an option. They just … became mindless monsters.

Only White was truly unaffected. Yellow was able to stave it off as long as she kept concentration whenever it popped up. Like now, as she pushed more and more into her deformed leg.

Blue … poor blue. Those that stayed around her were cured, but in return the diamond became more monstrous than anyone else. Whatever this virus was, it had a particular nature to the Diamond's power, a nature that she's only bore witness to a select few times in a milenia.

'Magic', as some organic lifeform culture's described it. Mysterious at its best and unruly chaotic at its worst. A form of energy that was capable of outstanding and 'fantastical' feats that seemingly defied all common and basic logic.

She personally believed it to be a form of highly advanced technology, but Blue seemed to think it was genuine thought come to life. White…she was closed off as usual, usually laughing whenever the subject was brought up. The only thing White was willing to say on it was that it was the purpose of the Diamonds to 'balance the scales', or so it was. She could be so annoying when she was being cryptic.

Pink…when she was around, was in the same vein of thought as Blue. More than that, she was eager to work with it, to discover and use it. She was such an overeager child, begging for her own colony day by day for centuries. She recalled finally agreeing when she just couldn't take the complaining anymore

…That was Yellow's biggest mistake, her biggest blunder, one she couldn't make up for no matter how many colonies she made across the galaxy. But it would be fine. As soon as earth was vanquished, the world that destroyed Pink would be gone for good. The only true satisfaction she could get was if they managed to capture Rose Quartz, but it's not like she was still around.

She growled as she had to force her eye back into shape. She wouldn't lose form, she could beat this. Poor Yellow, I didn't take you to be as naive as Pink. Centuries will dull the gleam of any gem I suppose.

"Who's there!?" She shouted out loud, readying her powers to shatter the enemy that would dare to face her. "Show yourself, foe!" So much power, so much strength on the outside, but you've become so brittle and weak on the inside.

"Says the coward hiding in my head …" She felt for the presence's location. I'm not hiding. I'm everywhere and nowhere at once. I am both the end and the beginning. The rise and the fall. You can put on the facade all you want, it won't change the fact you're a complete failure.

"Then you'll suffer all the same!" She shot her energy into the space she was hearing the voice, letting it spark all around her, the room trembling. "You will never take me on, you know not what you're dealing with!" You're the one who doesn't know anything. Then again, I suppose I should be thanking you in a way. All of this was made possible due to your bumbling with that pink brat.

She sparked harder, striking hard against the force of the voice, the force of this change, destroying and Anianialite, eradicating with hate, being a sword that can cut through all.

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Star stared at the roof of this hut in silence, thinking over everything that has happened in her life, and over the past few months, and especially today. "… Too many people get into risks around me." She looked to her brother, having fallen asleep, and she couldn't blame him. It couldn't have been easy to fall asleep when you could wake up more mindless than a wild warnicorn.

"How many risks have you made for me?" She asks him rhetorically, since he was asleep. Covering for her when she snuck out of the castle, the monster fighting with Ludo, Mewberty, the first fight with Toffee…each time she made a big decision, he was there to back her up.

"I'm supposed to be the older sister right?" She asked the tadpoles, not expecting an answer. "That means I'm supposed to protect him … but that hasn't happened much, has it?" Every decision she made only seemed to put him in danger, and that was even before magic entered the picture.

If he got closer to Toffee he would be corrupted faster, and the only two ways to cure it would be fixing magic or destroying one of them … and mom wanted to wait around … "You guys have paper and crayons?"

"Yep." The big eyed tadpole, Katrina, the only one that didn't have legs, responded.

"...YOU CAN TALK?!" She yelled, but slapped her mouth shut the moment she finished. Luckily, Steven seemed to be too knocked out to have heard her. "You can talk?!" She repeated in a whisper.

"Yeah. Rather not tell dad though. Kinda want to keep it a surprise, and learn to be as stealthy and evasive as him someday." Katrina responded.

"Aww … you guys grow up so fast." She said with sparkly eyes. "Gonna make me proud as an aunt …" She shook her head. "Focus Star, make the note." She grabbed paper and crayons, sitting down and getting to work.

"I've thought it through, I'm taking Toffee on my own. Don't let Steven come after me, no matter what. When all is said and done, I'll come back." She finished.

"You do actually have a plan, right?" Katrina asked her.

Star laughed. "It's like he said … we suck and fail whenever we plan something … but we rule at winging it." After all, that's how they beat Malachite and the Cluster at the same time. "I just need to get close to Ludo's wand and the rest will work itself out."

"You're a very stupid lady." Well that hurts. "We also have a window you can use to get out."

"Great …" She folded up the paper. "Give this to your dad when everyone notices I'm gone, Steven would probably just hide it." She couldn't let him get hurt again just for her. "Don't worry bro, I promise that everything will be better for you when you wake up." She got out the window, and quickly made her way through the woods, her many, MANY visits through it basically making her a master of navigating it.

She would make it right for everyone, for her Parents, for her friends, and for her brother…even if she couldn't join them in the end.