Sugar and Spice - Chapter VI: The Mewginot Line

Sugar and Spice
Chapter VI: The Mewginot Line

Having left the castle at Moon's request, Marco felt like he had been waiting at the carriage for hours, even though it hadn't really been more than about 15 minutes. Still, for someone who was supposedly in such a hurry, Marco thought the Queen seemed to be taking her time. While he had appreciated the solitude in his room that morning, now he found that he just wanted to get on with whatever came next. As he leaned against the carriage, wondering what that might be taking so long, Marco realized it was a bit odd that there was no driver waiting there for them as there had been with River. He thought Moon might be bringing one with her, but everything else in the carriage looked like it was already fully prepared, with bags full of supplies having been loaded by the time he got there, and even a warnicorn looking ready to go.

He didn't have much more time to contemplate the mystery, as he soon heard footsteps approaching. Marco turned and raised an eyebrow as he noticed the Queen dressed in an unfamiliar set of armor, which he took to be her battle regalia. He also couldn't help but notice that she had come alone. "Queen Moon? Is everything okay?"

"Yes. Well, relatively. Just... a last minute wardrobe adjustment." Something definitely seemed to be bothering Moon. Marco couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he assumed it had something to do with her sudden change in fashion sense.

"Yeah, about that." Marco was slightly afraid to ask, but he figured he might as well get the question out of the way. "I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but based on... certain recent events... I just need to ask up front if you're taking me off somewhere to murder me in cold blood and leave the body for the vultures."

"What? No! Why would you... wait." Moon furrowed her brow as the realization hit her. "River."

"Got it in one." Marco didn't seem particularly surprised at how fast Moon had figured it out.

"He didn't tell you anything about where you were going or why. Of course he didn't." Marco shrugged as the Queen shook her head in disappointment at her husband. "Marco, he wasn't trying to scare you. He just... didn't think."

"I know, I know. It's just... I feel like like nobody wants to tell me what's really happening. I mean... you look like you're loaded for bear, or whatever big scary animals they have in the Forest of Certain Death." Marco then gestured toward the unoccupied carriage, the rising frustration evident in his voice. "And a carriage with no driver? What the heck is going on?

"I'll be driving. As to where we're going... it's a bit difficult to explain, but think of it as a sort of safe house." Moon gave the carriage a quick once over, making sure it was ready for the journey ahead. "I'll tell you the rest when we get there. I promise."

A safe house sounded like as good a place as any to Marco, assuming it was actually safe. But he had his doubts, and he was starting to resent being kept in the dark. At the same time, Marco knew that if there was anyone he could trust with his safety right now, it was Moon. "Well... okay. Let's go, I guess."

"Good. Take some elixir and hop in. We're far enough behind schedule as it is." Moon stepped up to her place in the driver's seat of the carriage, taking the reigns of the waiting warnicorn.

As Marco slid into the back of the carriage, he could feel that he still hadn't had enough time to physically recover. He wondered if taking so much of this medicine might not be good for his body, but at the moment, his current soreness outweighed his long term health concerns. Reaching into his pockets, Marco retrieved a vial of the foul brew, holding his nose before draining it. He leaned back and tried to relax, allowing the medicine to drag him into unconsciousness.



"Marco? Marco!" Marco could hear a familiar voice calling out to him as the light returned to his eyes, the haze of sleep slowly fading from his mind. He wasn't sure exactly how long the elixir had put him out, but it felt like it had been quite a while. "It's time to wake up, dear."

Looking around, Marco was rather surprised to find that he was no longer inside the carriage. As he rose slowly to his feet, he found himself in a great stone chamber. In the center, he saw a large fountain flowing with... well, he wasn't quite sure what the strange golden liquid might be, but it certainly wasn't water. For reasons he didn't understand, the entire room was dotted with giant stone carvings of Glossaryck. In a corner of the room, he found a pile of food and other supplies that he recognized as having been loaded on the carriage. Not too far from him, a small table with two simple chairs had been set up, presumably for himself and the Queen. "What the... where the heck ARE we?"

"This is the Sanctuary of Magic. It's a place of safety and security to be used only in times of great crisis. You're the first one outside the royal family and a few retainers to even set eyes on this place in centuries, much less be allowed inside." Moon looked a bit guilty as she began to explain the situation. "I would've told you sooner, but we're breaking a lot of rules here. Glossaryck is the only one who knows where we are right now, and even then, I told him to stay at the castle unless something happens with Star. I couldn't take the slightest risk of anyone finding out."

Marco stumbled over to the nearby table and slid into one of the chairs, slowly shaking off the fog of the elixir from his system. "What do you mean 'allowed'? You're the queen, right? Can't you do whatever you want?"

Moon laughed darkly, taking her own seat across from him. "It's not quite that simple. There are some things even a queen can't control. There are rules and traditions that bind even me. One of them is that only the Butterfly family and their most trusted advisors are even supposed to know about this place. But... desperate times."

"Wow." Marco was a more than a little surprised to learn that he had become the exception to a rule Moon apparently considered so important. "So... we're getting serious here, aren't we?"

"Deadly." Moon gave a worried sigh, beginning to speak slowly and carefully. "I... talked to Glossaryck after Star flew off yesterday. He has concerns that if this continues, Aphrodisia's hold over Star may become... stronger."

"... stronger?" Marco wasn't sure of all the implications, but he definitely didn't like the sound of it.

"Glossaryck says that the desire tends to increase over time, and may lead to her behaving even more aggressively." Moon stopped to reconsider what she was about to say next. She didn't want to give Marco yet another thing to worry about, but she decided he deserved to know the truth. "... not to mention that all these transformations are physically hard on Star. Too many in too short a time can put a serious strain on the body. Even for someone as strong as her."

Marco nodded, not at all pleased with the new information. Star was already aggressive enough in her new Mewberty form, and he certainly didn't look forward to it getting any worse. Not to mention the fact that she might be in danger as well, which only increased his concern for her. "Does Star know any of this?"

Moon shook her head slowly. "No. I thought about telling her, but... I was afraid it would just put more pressure on her."

"... yeah, okay." Marco wasn't entirely happy with keeping anything from Star at a time like this, but as he thought about it, he decided Moon wasn't wrong. If nothing else, they could tell her afterward, once everything was settled.

Moon watched Marco from across the table, trying to get a sense of his current condition. "So. What about you? How are you feeling?"

Marco laughed quietly to himself, leaning his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands. "Heh. Well, I think I'm up to five nickels now..."

Moon raised an eyebrow, legitimately confused by the response. "I'm... not sure I follow."

"Nothing. I... guess I'm doing okay." He was still unable to settle on a single answer to the recurring question, but that was as close as he could get to one at the moment. Marco sighed deeply and leaned over, just letting his forehead rest on the table and speaking directly into it. "It could be worse. I mean, I'm not dead, right?"

Moon thought Marco wasn't exactly setting the bar very high, and he didn't sound okay, but she was willing to take what she could get under the circumstances. "Was River able to help you?" Moon had already spoken with her husband about his time with Marco, but she wanted to hear it from the boy directly.

"Yeah, some. We talked about a ton of different stuff while we were out camping." Marco straightened back up, looking at Moon once more. "I feel like things are a little better, but I still have a LOT to figure out about all this."

"Understandable." Moon hesitated briefly, not sure how Marco would react to her next question. "Marco, please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, but... have you thought about seeing a professional?"

"You mean like a shrink or something?" Marco actually hadn't thought about it. It didn't seem like such a bad idea, but as he considered it further, he found he had some reservations. "Look, Moon-"

"QUEEN Moon." Moon narrowed her eyes at Marco, suddenly taking on her more usual air of authority.

"Uh... Queen Moon." As informal as the Queen had acted up until that point, Marco was quickly reminded that he wasn't talking to River anymore. He paused briefly to observe Moon's reaction, and she seemed satisfied once he corrected himself. "What I'm trying to say is, we don't have magic like this on earth. What would I even tell them? That Star read a chapter in a spellbook, turned into a giant purple bug in and... jumped me? I don't even know if they have insane asylums anymore, but if not they'd probably build one just for me."

"That may be how magic is seen on earth, but not on Mewni." Moon pulled a business card from one of the pockets on her armor, sliding it across the table to Marco. "Here. This is someone who might be able to help."

Marco picked up the card and turned it over in his hands, thinking the name printed on the front sounded familiar. "Brian? Wait, isn't that the name of Tom's life coach?"

Moon nodded, hoping she could convince Marco to seek some expert advice. "He's not just a life coach. I know his methods may seem unorthodox at times, but he's a serious, professional therapist. He knows all about magic, and he specializes in hard cases."

Marco returned his attention to the card, trying to remember exactly how much he knew about Brian. It wasn't a great deal, beyond occasional encounters with him and Tom. "Did you and King River talk to Brian? Or somebody like him?" He wasn't entirely sure of Brian's age, but Marco didn't think he was old enough to have been working when Moon was young.

"No, but I wish we had. River and I hit a rough patch for a while after I read Aphrodisia's chapter. Even though he didn't blame me for anything, it still wasn't easy. We made it through, but... I think we could've saved ourselves a lot of grief." Moon watched as Marco stared at the card, clearly deep in thought. "Just think about it."

Marco thought it over for a moment before giving a single, slow nod, slipping the card into an inside pocket of his hoodie. "Once things have calmed down... I promise I'll talk to Star about it."

"That's all I ask." Relief was clearly visible on the Queen's face. Even if Marco hadn't fully committed to the idea, he at least seemed open to it. "Is there anything else I can help with in the mean time? You can ask whatever you want."

River had managed to clear up several things for him, but there were still some questions Marco thought Queen Moon might be better positioned to answer. "Yeah, so... River said this is all because of Aphrodisia's chapter, right? What is it really?"

Moon had expected the question, but she still found it a little hard to explain to her present audience, considering Marco didn't know very much about magical theory. "The simplest explanation is that it's a chapter full of magic related to love and passion. It's not inherently evil, not like Eclipsa's chapter, but it can have a similar sort of effect on an unprepared mind. And Star... wasn't prepared."

"Heh. Yeah. I don't think either of us were." As Marco had thought over the events of the past few days, a question had arisen in his mind that he couldn't quite shake. "So if she wasn't prepared, why did she read it?" Marco knew Star had once risked Eclipsa's chapter out of curiosity and sheer boredom, and he wondered if the same might be true here.

Moon was actually a little nervous as she considered the question, unsure if she should really share what Star had told her. "Well..." The Queen paused, drumming her fingers on the table, looking as uncomfortable as Marco had ever seen her, unable to even look him in the eye. "... I think it might be best if you ask her that yourself." She didn't want to keep anything from Marco unless she had to, but Moon felt her daughter had told her certain things in confidence.

"Uh... okay." Marco wasn't sure what to make of the response, but the strange way the Queen was acting was enough to keep him from pressing the issue. "So... you said this happened to you when you were younger, right? What did your parents think?"

"By that time, my parents were already... gone. Because of Toffee." Despite the stoic front, Marco detected a deep sadness underneath the words.

"Oh. Oh wow." Marco felt genuinely guilty for bringing up the topic. Star had never mentioned Moon's parents to him, and now he understood why. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"I know. And thank you. It was a difficult time for me, but I wasn't the only one suffering." Moon smiled sadly at Marco, allowing her mask to slip just briefly. Marco was surprised at seeing Moon so... vulnerable. "Everyone lost something to that war. Glossaryck did what he could for me, and so did the surviving Butterflies. But it's hard to find a substitute for good parents."

Even if Marco hadn't always had the closest relationship with his own parents, he still loved them dearly. He could hardly imagine life without them. Marco quickly decided he didn't want to dwell on that thought any longer than absolutely necessary, and pushed it from his mind.

"So at the risk of opening even more old wounds... what does Aphrodisia's magic actually DO? River said it was sort of like Mewberty?" Marco was sure it would be a difficult discussion for Moon, but she did say he could ask anything, and she didn't seem to have any problem refusing to answer if she didn't want to. "What happened to you back then?"

"There's a great deal of magic in Aphrodisia's chapter, not ALL of it harmful. The curse you're talking about... the details are rather complicated, but it's a bit like Eclipsa's chapter in how the magic influences the reader. It amplifies desire to extreme levels and triggers a variant of Mewberty, along with a complete loss of control and memory while transformed. When it happened to me..." Moon had predicted that the question about her own exposure to Aphrodisia's magic would come sooner or later, but it didn't make the memories any easier.

Marco both noticed and understood the Queen's hesitation. Even if she had allowed him to ask, he didn't want to push her into anything too personal or painful. "If you don't want to talk about it..."

"No. You need to know. All of it." The Queen took a deep breath, thinking back to her own experience with Aphrodisia's chapter. "Star isn't even aware of what she's doing. She'll remember eventually, but she doesn't right now." Marco had been aware that Star's memory of her time transformed was missing, but he was a bit surprised to learn that it might return at some point. "It's horrifying. Like a nightmare that won't end, or being trapped in your own body. So much guilt and shame... Having no control over yourself, no memory of what you've done, no idea if this will be the last time. And when you do finally start to remember, it's almost worse, knowing just how much you hurt someone you care about. Not knowing whether anything will ever be normal again."

Moon stared downward into the table between them, looking lost in her own thoughts for what felt like forever. Marco wasn't sure if he should try to snap her out of it. Just as he was about to say something, she looked back up to him and spoke. "I don't mean to minimize what you've been through yourself. Not in the slightest. But it's not easy being on the other side of things, either." Moon shuddered, clearly speaking out of her own experience. "The worst part is the fear of what the other might think of you. I think... I think that's what worries Star the most. She thinks the world of you, Marco. And she's terrified that you might start to believe she's a monster or a devil..."

"Queen Moon... I don't understand everything about what Aphrodisia's magic did to her, but Star's no devil." Marco looked almost offended by Moon's suggestion, but perked up and smiled warmly with his next words. "She's my best friend."

Moon returned his smile in kind, looking surprisingly pleased with Marco's proclamation. "I'm sure she is."

Marco found nothing but sincerity in Moon's words, yet he felt like she wasn't telling him everything she knew. He was aware Star had told her mother that they were dating, but he wasn't entirely certain whether it was as safe a topic for discussion with Moon as it had been with River. "... but?"

"Marco, it's alright. Star already told me that you've been seeing each other." The Queen sounded almost... amused. "Though to be honest, I had my suspicions. It certainly explains why she's been sneaking out at night." Moon rolled her eyes in mild annoyance.

Marco was relieved that the Queen didn't seem to have a problem with them dating, though he was a little embarrassed that Moon had caught them visiting each other behind her back. "Oh... you knew about that."

"Well." Moon flashed a wicked smile, of a kind Marco hadn't ever expected to see on her. "I do now."

"Hubba-wha." Marco gulped, looking like a deer caught in headlights as he realized he'd fallen right into Moon's trap.

Moon looked just a little bit sympathetic toward Marco. Her own youth hadn't been so different in that regard, and her family had been far less enthusiastic about her relationship with one of their rivals. Not to mention that the same trick had worked on her once during her early relationship with River. "If it makes you feel any better, I probably wouldn't have believed you if you'd tried to deny it."

"Honestly? It totally does." Marco shrugged and smiled, figuring the Queen would have probably found out sooner or later regardless.

"I'd rather you two had said something sooner, but it's not exactly the first secret she's kept from me. Still... she never tried to hide anything when she was with Tom." Marco detected something unfamiliar behind Moon's words. He decided not to respond yet, sensing she had more to say. "Marco, I need to ask you a rather sensitive question. I haven't talked to Star about this, and I won't force you to answer if you're not comfortable with it, but... was Star afraid I wouldn't approve?"

"... do you?" Considering Moon's reaction so far, he was fairly sure she did, but under the circumstances he wanted to be absolutely certain.

"That's not the reason I've been keeping you apart, if that's what you're asking. I'm trying to minimize the temptation from Aphrodisia's magic, that's all. Present circumstances aside, I have no objection to you spending time with my daughter." Marco was quite happy to hear it, and figured that was high praise coming from the reserved Moon.

Moon let the silence hang in the air, which Marco took to be her waiting for an answer to her previous question. "... she wasn't worried you'd try to split us up, or at least she never said anything like that to me. We just weren't really sure how to tell you. I swear we were planning to, but we didn't get the chance before... all this. We wanted to start with my parents and see how it went." Moon gestured for the boy to continue. "Then... I was thinking maybe we'd try King River next, at least if he promised to act surprised when we told the two of you together..."

"Hah!" The Queen shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "River isn't nearly as good at keeping secrets as he thinks he is." Moon muttered something just barely loud enough for Marco to hear. "Must run in the family..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Marco raised an eyebrow, not sure if he'd heard right, and even if he had, what it had to do with anything.

"Hm." Moon leaned over the table, resting her elbows on it and tenting her hands together, now with a more familiar expression of cold judgment as she stared daggers into Marco's very soul. "What's all this about Star... taking her clothes off for you?"

Marco immediately saw his life flashing before his eyes. It had happened to him so many times in the past few days that he was starting to see repeats. He swallowed hard, not exactly sure how much Moon knew. He was determined not repeat his earlier mistake by tipping his hand, but what could he say? If Moon really did know something, he was sure he'd be in even more trouble if he lied. The whole thing had been a hard sell with his own parents, and the Queen was far sharper and less forgiving than they were. Not to mention his previous promise to be absolutely honest with her, no matter what. After a long, tense silence, Marco finally started to speak. "... so here's the thing about that."

Moon let out a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose and tilting her head up, leaning back in her seat as she felt her earlier headache returning with a vengeance. "Was it above the waist?"

As scared as Marco had been of River at first, Moon terrified him a thousand times more. River would have at least made it a quick death. He suspected Moon would make him suffer. Still, realizing he didn't really have any way out, Marco nodded slowly, which Moon caught out of the corner of her eye.

The Queen slammed her hands flat on the table, leaning over it as far as she could, now just inches from Marco's face, close enough that he could feel her breath as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. "Keep it that way."

As she backed off slowly, Marco just felt lucky to be alive. He thought his best chance of continued survival would be to get on another topic as soon as possible. "Heh... so... in the spirit of everybody keeping their clothes on, what do we do if Star finds me here?"

"More like when. Sooner or later, she'll find you. What I'm hoping is that we can keep her out. The Sanctuary is well protected and sealed under a lake. Even if Star tracks you here, she doesn't know how to open it." Moon rose from her seat, surveying the walls of the Sanctuary. "This place has survived wars, monster raids, magical disasters, and far more besides. The whole structure is warded against magic and heavily fortified against physical attack, and there's a small Tramorfidian crystal to keep out dimensional rifts from scissors. And if all that fails..." Moon clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "I won't."

"What do you mean by- wait..." Marco suddenly realized why Moon had come in full battle dress, and what she was planning to do. Marco sprung to his feet, hoping he was wrong in his suspicions. "Are you... are you serious? You'd fight your own daughter just to keep me safe?"

Moon laughed darkly, reaching a hand out to rest on Marco's shoulder. "Marco. I've spent the better part of fourteen years fighting my daughter to keep everyone safe."

"Yeah, but like... metaphorically, right?" Marco was starting to get a little worried about Moon's strategy, not at all liking where it was going. "This would be, you know, actually FIGHTING her."

"I know. But all I have to do is keep her away from you until the Aphrodisia's magic subsides." Moon let out a resigned sigh, clearly unhappy with her own plan. "Believe me, I don't like this any more than you do. But we're running out of options."

The two stood in foreboding silence, unsure what more they could say to each other. Marco could understand what the Queen was trying to accomplish, but it just didn't sit right with him. Although it made practical sense, he couldn't stand the thought of Star suffering for his sake. "Queen Moon. I need you to promise me something..." He took a deep breath, hoping the choice he was about to make was the right one. "No matter what happens to me, don't do anything to Star. I'll... I'll be okay. I survived this long, right? So just... please, don't fight her. Don't let her get hurt because of me."

The Queen was nearly overwhelmed by his sacrificial offer. Even if it wasn't much of a plan, Moon couldn't help but be moved by how far Marco was willing to go in protecting her daughter. "Marco... you dear, sweet boy." Moon leaned down, pulling him into a motherly hug. "I'm sorry, but I can't promise you that."

As if Marco hadn't been surprised enough by a hug from the Queen, he was even more shocked to hear her refuse his request. "Wh- what? Why?"

"Because." Moon pulled back slightly, a bittersweet smile on her face as she spoke. "I already promised Star I would protect you."

Marco blinked in surprise. Even though the thought of seeing Star hurt made him sick, he was touched that she had been equally willing to risk herself for his safety. He gave a defeated sigh, nodding. If Moon had made a promise to protect him, he wouldn't ask her to break it. He resigned himself to Moon's plan, not feeling he had much of a choice, but he still couldn't let go of his concern for Star. "... you're sure she'll be alright?"

"Don't worry. I would never do anything that would cause serious damage. I love her too, you know." Moon gave Marco a comforting smile as she rose back up. Marco started to look a little nervous, and Moon reconsidered her choice of words. "Well, you know what I mean. I know you care about her."

"Yeah." Marco smiled warmly to the Queen, but backed up once he fully realized what Moon had said. He couldn't ever remember the Queen saying that she loved her daughter. He had no doubt that it was true, but he'd never heard it out loud. "Queen Moon, don't take this the wrong way, but since this whole thing started, you seem kinda... different. Less... Queen-ish?" Marco couldn't exactly find the right words, but he hoped he'd gotten his point across.

"Yes, well... it's not easy being both a leader and a mother. I know that I can sometimes seem... distant. Especially with Star. But I really am proud of her, and I do love her. And... maybe I should say that to her more often." Moon had a far away look in her eyes as she spoke, but she quickly snapped back to reality. "But enough about that. I think it's time for me to show you where you'll be staying." The Queen walked over to one of the nearby Glossaryck statues and gripped the nose, pulling down a camouflaged lever hidden within. A nearby wall slid open, revealing a staircase spiraling downward, deeper into the Sanctuary. "This way."

The false wall closed behind them as they descended. At the bottom of the staircase laid a short hallway leading to a large metal door. Moon pulled a small key from a pocket in her armor, turning it in the lock. As heavy as it was, the door swung open smoothly, but slowly. It might not have looked as strong as modern earth construction, but Marco thought the door was probably enough to stop anything short of a cannonball.

"Welcome to the vault. I had it redecorated just for the occasion." She reached out and took Marco's hand, turning over the vault key to him. "For the time being, this is yours."

Stepping inside, Marco surveyed a small, sparsely furnished room with a wardrobe, a few wall torches, a pack full of food in the corner, and a lone, oddly familiar bed. It had obviously been cleaned since his last encounter with it, but despite that, he was able to place it fairly quickly. "... is that the bed from the Forest of Inevitable Relaxation?"

Moon let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head in frustration. "My husband insisted."

"How did that even GET here?" Marco assumed it had been set up while he was sleeping, but considering it was much too large to have been on the carriage without him noticing, he had no idea HOW.

"Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand." Moon stated plainly. She heard no response from Marco, but caught his surprised expression out of the corner of her eye. "What? You thought Star invented ALL her own spells?" Moon snapped her fingers, setting off a small spark of magical energy, looking rather proud of herself. "This old gal has a few tricks up her sleeve." Moon quickly cleared her throat, resuming her serious posture. "I know it's not much, but we shouldn't need to be here for more than a day or two. Still, I brought plenty of supplies, just in case."

Marco didn't really mind the simple accommodations, especially for such a short time, and he felt it would definitely be worth it to end all this. Still, he couldn't help but notice there was only a single bed. "What about you? Do you have a place to sleep?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll manage. I have a bed roll upstairs." They weren't exactly the most pleasant conditions Moon had ever slept in, but compared to some of River's "family vacations", they were far from the worst.

Marco felt a little guilty about the Queen sleeping on a bed roll while he had an actual bed, but she didn't seem especially bothered by the prospect. Plus he figured it was her choice, since she was the one who set up the sleeping arrangements in the first place. "So what do we do until... whenever?"

Moon gave Marco a small shrug. "Well, that's mainly up to you. You're certainly welcome to rest if you feel the need."

Though Marco still felt physically drained, he was started to get tired of all the resting he had been doing lately. "Thanks, but no. I feel like I should be doing SOMETHING." Marco dragged his hands down his face, frustrated. "Uggggggggh, I dunno... I hate just waiting here for something to happen."

"I thought you might." Moon felt the same way, but she knew there wasn't much else to do for the time being. Still, she thought she might at least be able to help Marco take his mind off things. "In that case, would you like to learn some meditation techniques? They can help focus the mind during times of stress and conflict, internal or external. Some of the stretching might help your soreness, too."

"Huh... I guess that sounds alright." Given the amount of stress and conflict he had endured over the past few days, Marco thought he wouldn't mind having a better way to deal with them. And if nothing else, it would give him something to do while they waited. "Now that you mention it, I could probably use something to help clear my head."

"Well then, let's get to work." Moon pulled a nearby lever and reopened the stairway, leading Marco back up the stairs to the main room of the sanctuary.

The Queen pulled a large mat from a supply bag in the corner and laid it out on the ground, motioning for Marco to sit with her as she settled into a meditative posture. Marco joined her, copying the pose as best he could and waiting for her instructions. "We're going to start with some basic deep breathing. Now, close your eyes. Relax, and let the air fill your lungs." Moon sucked in a breath, holding it for a moment. "Then let it out, clearing your mind of all thoughts..."

Marco tried to follow along with Moon. He sat with the Queen, repeating as she did, gradually beginning to banish his worries from his mind. As Marco continued the exercise, he felt his conscious mind slowly slipping away. Marco's awareness of the world started to fade as he settled in for a long few days at the Sanctuary of Magic.