"All I ask  is that you defend me at my hearing. You and I both know that I am innocent. All my life I have been accused of evil doing when I have never done such things. It is an easy task for you, Star Butterfly..."

~•~

Star ran aimlessly. She didn't know where to, all that she knew was that she had to get far away from that place. Her mind was clouded with the events that happened recently. They attacked her from the inside out, and made her heart fill with guilt. The needle was placed on the mental record that she had formed in her mind, and it played again and again on repeat.

"You had lied to our family for generations!"

"...So you're not my great-great-great-great-great grandma."

"No, sweetie. I'm not."

"So that means... We're no more royal than anybody else!"

"You're still a princess, Star."

"No, Mom. We're nobody!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself, letting out a small sob. It was overwhelming for her to think about; The magic high commision had tampered with her entire lineage, and altered it in a dishonest, sinister way. Her mother was the descendant of a peasant, not the true heir and truthfully, she was not supposed to be the queen. Star wasn't a true princess, and not a Butterfly to begin with. For fifteen years, she was lied to, and she felt as if her entire life up to this point was a lie. It was agonizing for her to think about.

Star rammed the door open with her shoulder, and ran inside, her boots tapping against the marble floor. The ruckus was enough to catch the attention of the guards, but she quickly shot past them so they wouldn't catch her tears. She wasn't fast enough to sneak by River, who was in the royal kitchen with the leg of some sort of pheasant in his mouth.

"What's the matter, dear?" River said, his mouth full of poultry as Star came closer into view.

"Just my entire life," she snapped as she hopped up the steps. Her head did not peek up once as she spoke to her father.

The king shrugged, and went back to rummaging in the fridge. "Teenagers."

The blonde reached her room, making the door fly open as she ran inside. She quickly slammed it shut, and her emotions quickly came after. Her sobs grew louder as tears trickled down her cheeks and chin, blinding her line of sight. Star pressed her back to her door, too weak to even go to her bed to cry. She slid down against her door, hugging her knees as her thoughts began to consume her.

Down the rabbit hole her mind went, no end in sight. Inheriting the wand, her mom sending her to earth, attending school on Earth, meeting Marco... it was all... for nothing? She wasn't next in line for the throne, it belonged to Eclipsa and her family. They were robbed of what was rightfully theirs due to full assumptions and accusations. The thought of it made Star grow warm with anger, but it quickly fizzled out with another wave of tears.  It wasn't like her to cry so much, but the revelation was far too much for her to fathom.

Star looked up for a minute, and her eyes wandered to the wand in her hand. It was lilac in coloration, a star-shaped crystal in the center complete with butterfly wings. Why did it look like her? It wasn't hers. It was Eclipsa's. She was nobody.

A sudden burst of fury caused the girl to clench the wand tightly, and throw it across the room. It hit the wall with a 'clank', ricocheted and rolled on the floor. She flinched as she watched it fall face-up a good distance away from her. Soon after, she started to regret doing that, and hope she didn't break it before returning it back to Eclipsa at one point. She wasn't sure when, but down the line she would when the time was right. It wasn't her wand... it was Eclipsa's. She taught Marco how to use it for nothing. Another pointless act, and the more worthless she felt.

Eclipsa...Star thought about the talk that they shared in the rose garden not too long ago.

"Remember to only initiate it if you feel uncertain. It is quite a powerful spell, my dear."

She blinked. She could simply erase her memory, and forget the events that happened today. She wasn't sure it would work if she used it on herself. She wasn't sure if it would work on anyone, she hadn't even thought about it since she talked to the dark queen that day in the garden. There was only one way to find out.

Star looked down at her hand, and concentrated all of her negative energy into the spell. With a slight exhale, she brought her glowing hand up to the side of her head, just as Eclipsa had taught her.  She shut her eyes, her lips quivering. Was she really about to attempt this?

~•~

"Globgore!"

"Glossy, if you would just be patient, I would walk you," Marco said as he raced after the. galloping genie. He was stopped in his tracks as his ears picked up sounds coming from down the hall, down where Star's room was. He scooped Glossaryck up with one arm and walked over to the source of the sound.

"Glob-"

"Shhh!" The boy put his hand over the magical being's mouth, silencing him as he got closer. The sobbing noises only got clearer, and he instantly knew something was wrong. Marco slinked over to the door, which was the source of the sound, made obvious by the soft sobs coming from Star's room. It was Star, and was terribly wrong. It wasn't like her to cry so intensely. He had only heard her cry a handful of times, but this crying wasn't like anything he heard before.

Marco set the genie down, in which he ran down the hall with a chorus of "Globgores". He then pressed his ear against the door, and the crying was loud and clear. Hesitant, he put his fist against the door, and knocked a few times.

"Star, are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine M-Marco..." Her voice was shaky, hesitant.

Marco was not convinced, but it wasn't in his nature force her to open up to him. He didn't want to be intrusive, even if something was really bothering her. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

She wasn't sure, and he knew it. He wanted to break down the door and hug her problems away, but as he learned before with Star, it was best to let her come to him. Anxious, Marco gently sat pretzel-legged on the ground, his back against the door just as Star was on the other side. All he wanted to do right now was to cheer her up the best way he could. It was almost like an instant, and he instinctively knew that what was bothering her was huge, and he was going to find out what that was one way or another. "... Star, I know you're not fine. Come on, what's bothering you?"

"It's nothing, Marco. I'm serious."

Marco sighed, pausing before he spoke again. "...I  can hear you in there. I just want to make sure you're alright."

"I'm fine Marco! Stop asking if I'm alright, because I am," The girl snapped from the other side. He could tell she was getting annoyed, but he wasn't giving up that easily. He was her squire, and he had to make sure she was comfortable at all costs.

"I'm your squire, and it's my royal duty to--"

"YOU ARE NOT MY SQUIRE!"

Marco felt his heart jump out of his chest. Did suddenly hate him again? It couldn't be, as they just had some bonding time a few days ago. Star taught him how to use her wand, which is something he never dreamed of doing. She couldn't still be mad at him, unless something swayed her judgement between now and then. He winced at the tone of her voice, but he tried to speak to her in a calm manner. "W-what do you mean?"

"...I don't deserve a squire. I don't even deserve to know you, let alone have you as a friend."

It was almost like slow motion, and the boy had to double check to make sure he was hearing things correctly. What was Star on about, he thought to himself, why was she saying these things? He swallowed before speaking again, his eyes wandering to the direction of her voice. "Star, what are you talking about? Let me in, you are definitely not okay."

Her voice quivered. "D-don't you get it, Marco? I'm nobody."

She was still beating herself up, and Marco sighed to himself. He had to get her to crack somehow. "Nobody?... Was it that bad? I don't know what exactly happened but... Star, this isn't like you."

"It was... Life-changing actually."

Life-changing? His eyes widened, and he pressed his ear against the door, waiting patiently for her reply. It was a good forty-five seconds before he heard any sort of sound come from inside the room. A sniffle, then a whimper, then, Star spoke.

"...I'm not a princess, Marco. I'm not even SUPPOSED to be royalty. My family isn't supposed to be in power. Eclipsa is... Me?  My mom? We're the descendants of some peasant girl."

"Star, what?"

"I can't tell you... you'd never see me the same way...."

Marco pressed his ear against the door, waiting for Star to speak again, but there was nothing. Seconds tickled by and all he could hear were distant echoes down the castle halls, and Glossaryck's "Globgores". He wanted to break the awkwardness, anything to help her open up, but he was lost for words.

Meanwhile, Star sat with her back against the door, silently crying as tears trickled down her face.The trial and the truth were weighing heavily on her mind, but should she come clean and tell him the truth? He was her best friend after all, and he was the person she trusted most in her life. Her emotions were running wild and constantly contradicting one another She was terrified of telling Marco the truth, but at the same time, she wanted to blurt it out to him. In between tears, the 'princess' peered down at the floor and noticed something that made her feel better. Coming from underneath the doorway was Marco's shadow. A small smile appeared on her face as she took a deep breath and started to come clean about the events that occurred today.

Star was still unsure of herself and didn't know exactly what to say, but she finally gave in and started to tell Marco the details of what had taken place. "It started out as any normal trial would start out, I guess," the girl started to say. Her voice cracking as she went, and tears still trickling down her cheeks.  "Opening statements were made and the rules were explained, before everything got under way.  You want to know something funny? Eclipsa requested a trial by box. That old truth box we played with at my sleepover."  Star left out a soft giggle as the humor made her forget about her troubles for a second.  On the other side of the door, the princess could hear Marco's breathing intensify with the mention of the box.  "Anyways," Star continued, "Things seemed normal enough. I thought they were actually going somewhat well.  The commission was asking questions and Eclipsa was handling them really well, but they didn't want to listen, especially that Hekapoo chick."  Star gave Marco a stern look, even though he couldn't see her, as she thought about Hekapoo and all the times she had tried to steal the boy from Star.  "It seemed like no matter what Eclipsa said, they refused to listen to a word of it.  I was afraid all hope might be lost, and then it came time for me to defend Eclipsa."

"Wait you defended Eclipsa?" Marco interrupted as he got a confused look on his face.  "Star what were you thinking? You can't trust that old queen!"

"I knew what I was doing," Star shot back.  "Eclipsa just fell in love with a monster and followed her heart. Is it really that bad for a girl to follow her heart even if she doesn't pick the person that's expected for her to pick?" Star stopped for a moment, as her own words hit her and sunk in.  It was expected that she would end up with someone like Tom, a prince.  That's what her head kept telling her, and yet her heart would never give in to that idea.  Her heart always seemed to ache for Marco, even when he wasn't around.  No matter where that safe kid was, and even when she dated Tom, her heart still wanted Marco beside her.  The girl couldn't explain it, but she always felt like a piece of her was missing was the boy wasn't around, and that there was a hole inside her that apparently only he seemed to be able to fill.  Her thoughts and emotions were conflicted, as her head and heart disagreed, but Star decided to continue with the story instead of focusing on how she felt.  "I did my best to defend Eclipsa, and I think I actually think I did pretty good if I do say so myself," she added with a slight grin as tears still trickled down.  "None of it mattered, after my speech they still deemed her evil and wouldn't listen to me at all.  Eclipsa thanked me, even though I failed, and then she requested to ask them a question.  Apparently since she's a former queen she still has a seat on the commission and gets a question.  Well she asked about the truth and her daughter, but the commission said nothing.  Then everything went crazy and we all got sucked inside the box, I still hate that place.  The walls just kept closing in on us, and I was afraid we were all going to die as Eclipsa and Hekapoo just argued.  Then suddenly Rhombulus shouted the truth.  Apparently when they crystallized Eclipsa, they gave her daughter away and put some peasant girl on the throne..."

"Do you know what that means Marco?" Star said, as her tone got higher, but her voice got shakier.  "I'm just a peasant.  I'm not royalty, or even a true Butterfly.  I'm just some peasant girl that doesn't deserve anything she's been given."

"Star that's not true," Marco tried to say reassuringly, as he too was surprised by the truth.

"Yes it is!" the princess yelled at him through the door.  "I'm nobody!  I don't deserve to live in this castle, I don't deserve the wand,  I don't even deserve you as my squire let alone my best friend.  Now just get out of here and find someone who deserves you, because I'm just a nobody," Star stated as she buried her head in her knees, her deepest thoughts governing her words.

It was silent again, and it felt as if frost was beginning to creep up the walls. That was until the safe kid spoke once again. "Star, I'm not friends with you because you're a princess. I'm friends with you because you're you, and that won't ever change, princess or not."

Her mind blacked out as she brought her attention to her best friend on the other side, how she wanted to tell him to shut up, to stop lying to make her feel better, but she decided to listen. After all, they have been through so much together, and she had known him long enough to know that most of what he said was honest. "... I just blacked out. You're not just saying that, are you?"

"Star, do you really think some fancy title is what makes you? You're not just a princess, you're... you. When you came into my life, you gave it so much excitement and danger I never know I would crave so much. When we first fought Ludo's monsters, you always had my back, and when Toffee kidnapped me, you literally gave up you wand just to save me. We hadn't even known each other for a year, and for you to do that?  Wow. I know I never brought this up, but ever since then I've been trying to make it up to you ever since. I know nothing I will ever do will equal that, but I won't ever stop trying. You acted like it was a big deal for me to come back when you faced Toffee, but the truth is... I've just been trying to pay you back for all you have given me. Star, because of you I live in another dimension, I've fought monsters and the forces of evil, ridden dragon cycles, started revolutions, and so much more. And Star, I know I don't say this enough.... But I am a better person because of you," the boy said as he got to his feet. He wore a smile on his face as he stood with his forehead against the door, hoping that his words helped her any. "You are still Star Butterfly, and you don't need some fancy title to tell me that because I've seen it with my own eyes and don't regret it. You are my mess up twin, my partner in crime, my best friend, and the coolest girl I've ever met."

The boy's train of thought was interrupted when he felt the motion of the door move his body forward and the warm embrace of his friend pull him close. She hugged him tightly, and the boy couldn't help but hug her back. Star's eyes were welling with tears, but they were not tears of sadness. In fact, they were tears of happiness. In her darkest hours, the safe kid had known just the right things to say to her to life her spirits. In her opinion, Marco was magical in her own unique way. Star loosened her grip, only for the boy to tighten his and softly say, "you are somebody, Star." She rested her chin on his shoulder and smiled, letting out a deep breath as she thought about how much he meant to her. Her feelings were so strong for the boy, and she could no longer deny that it was anything but love. True love. Could she tell him the truth, though? He was accepting of one of her deepest, darkest secrets, but how would he take the fact that she was lying to his face about still dating Tom? Maybe she would come clean one day, if all else failed, she could just erase his mind with the spell that Eclipsa had taught her. Star looked at her hand as the hugged in the silence of her room.