#And blanca is new to the family cause of silent gaze

[chewysgummies]

Damn, I love this family💕

[the-alice-blue-rabbit]

“STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR-”

The excited chanting was the only warning the robot master got just before a very energetic blur collided with him as he ported into the castle. Bituin, bless his galaxy-themed child’s heart, stood there snickering as Leo and Alcor stared at Rhapsody nuzzling the dazed Star.

“H-Hey Rhapsody.” He managed to stutter out, optics wide as he regained his bearings. “You’re certainly excited over something.”

The Elf popped up like a whack-a-mole, eyes glittery with joy. “Star! I met a whole bunch of new offworlders!” He helped Star back to his feet, bouncing in place with glee. “They’re friends of Lord Murkle and Lady Aliblu! There’s an adult and a brood of children!”

“Oh?” Star smiled as he watched his friend; there was just something so infectious about a grin, and Rhapsody’s was just so cheerful! Bituin had Leo in their arms now, Alcor floating near the windows to observe the stained glass pictures moving about. “Well I’m glad you met some more people. It’s about time you got to go somewhere other than the castle.”

Rhapsody was then found clinging to Star’s arm, nuzzling the robot master affectionately. “They can eat metal! And they look really cool, they look like Underlanders just like Lord Murkle!”

“Underlander?” Star repeated the word with a blank confusion.

Luckily, a deep familiar chuckle heralded cold arms sliding around Star’s neck, the cosmic bot glancing upward to see Giaselle grinning. “/He speaks, of course, of my species, Étoile./”

“Lord Murkle!” Rhapsody squeaked, face pinching in surprise as Giaselle’s hair formed a clawed hand which patted him on the head.

The elder Elf cuddle Star to his chest with a purr. “/Now now. Your teacher is my Adora, enough with the ‘My Lord’ schtick. Just ‘Giaselle’ will do./” He assured, snickering at Rhapsody. “/Besides, after all that happened in that place, I don’t think you have any need of formalities./”

The mysterious comment made the younger Elf tinge pepto-pink in the face.

“Well! Hello to you too!” Star smiled, quite used to Giaselle’s clinging by now. “But I thought you were an Elf? What’s ‘Underlander’ mean?” He gave Rhapsody a furrowed brow and pinched mouth, not sure if he should be concerned over the look of embarrassment.

Giaselle shifted forms, a cat now lounging on Star’s shoulders. “/Simply put, Underlander is another term for shadowfolk. Of which I am an example./” He lapped at Star’s cheek with a cold, cold, sticky tongue that made the robot master shudder a bit with a squicked expression. “/Also simply put, Underland is, well, underneath Wonderland. Quite literally, in fact. It’s the area that starts in the caverns below, and it maintains the barrier of Wonderland should the Queen ever fall./”

“Oh wow.” Star and Rhapsody’s eyes were lit with fascination. “I had no idea there was something like that here. It sounds like it’s important to Wonderland just like Aliblu and Skarlette, if it keeps the barrier up I mean.”

Another lick, and Giaselle’s paws started batting at Star’s hair. “/Well, important but certainly not welcomed, so yes, I suppose equating them is accurate./”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Star asked as Rhapsody added himself to the hug, Giaselle slipping back to allow them the space for affection. “I thought that everybody liked them?”

Yet again, a mysterious voice came to the rescue with info. “♫I suppose you also think everyone likes strawberry honey?♫” Mediote strode into sight, Giaselle perking and moving towards his Adora. “♫The Guardians may have been created for the role, but it wasn’t easy to get them into the reins.♫”

“Oh! Hello!” Star waved, Rhapsody purring into his chest. “I’ll take it you feel up to chatting today?”

He was given a dry sightless stare. “♫If only because a book having no pages between the beginning and end is boring.♫” Mediote uttered. Bituin and the Pokemon were led away by a maid, who assured Star she’d look after them, Mediote poorly disguising a sour face. “♫To the tower then, mine is closer. I don’t feel like standing.♫”

The hallways had plants and pillars imitating music scores and notes in shape, and as Star brushed a fern with thick strands, it chimed softly. Mediote’s door was a sliding model, and as he ascended the staircase Star took note that the steps were slanted forward so it was actually hard for one to misstep.

Mediote’s tower was rather plain; a large bed in the very back, a table with chairs to sit at, various cases that held instruments, and a rug covering every inch of the floor with what looked like music notes and magical runes.

Rhapsody sprinted in and lunged, landing on his front with a satisfied sigh. “The carpet is so soft~”

“♫I swear your obsession with rugs.♫“ Mediote shook his head as Giaselle snickered quietly, leading his Adora to sit at the table. “♫Now, let’s start with what you know. Since there ARE secrets they’d prefer not be told.♫“ He bidded to Star to seat himself near them.

Star took a seat next to Rhapsody, finding that despite it being the floor, it felt as though he’d just flopped himself down in a huge fur pelt. “Well, I do recall being told about a trial, and Skarlette’s mentioned a few things here and there, but that’s about it.” He laid back, enjoying the support of the rug fibers. “I know that they’re the protectors of Wonderland. I know people respect them, and that they’re not that fond of the fanfare they get at times.”

Remembering how Skarlette’s face had scrunched up when being called ‘Lady Hope’ kinda still made him snicker from time to time.

“♫Well it’s hardly something to be fond of when less than half a decade ago, there wasn’t a person or creature alive that would’ve hesitated to attack them.♫“

Something about the sheer spite in Mediote’s voice made both Rhapsody and Star pop up in surprise. Mediote’s hand was gripping Giaselle’s, the Shadow Elf looking worriedly at his mate. Mediote noticed the tension of the room, and his scowl relaxed and disappeared into his usual blank expression, and it occurred to Star that it must’ve been hard to withdraw such a strong emotion as that.

“♫...Sorry.♫“

Rhapsody held Star’s arm. “M-Master?”

“♫Come here.♫” He gestured to the rug in front of the table, Giaselle snickering a bit as the young Elf ‘swam’ across the floor on his belly, Star choosing to scoot in a more refined manner. “♫The tale of their beginning wasn’t pleasant. It’s their story to tell if they ever need to. But know this; those rabbits, our Ladies of Hope and Light, they have not always known kindness upon themselves.♫“

Mediote’s eyes were glassy, but Star still felt a chill as the Elf turned his head towards the robot master’s direction.

“♫And for such beings like that, trust is something they do not give freely. You should feel honored and be in awe of their cores as you’re held in such a high place to them. Star-Man.♫”

Star was silent for a moment. “...I do feel honored. But not just because they trust me. Aliblu and Skarlette are my friends, and...honestly, that’s all they need to be. You talk about this ‘honor’ and ‘being in awe’ stuff but you also said yourself that they don’t like it.” Mediote’s focus was entirely on Star. “Well. I don’t care then. I mean, I care about them, I’ll always care about my friends. But...No matter what they’ll end up telling me, or if they tell me all those painful things, it won’t change how I see them.”

The sight of a blue colored blaster aiming for him-

“I’m...The last person who should make any judgement based on the past.” Star gripped the Exhautrite charm around his neck.

Mediote, Giaselle, and Rhapsody were silent, tense. “♫...Then I suppose I can rely on you to be there when they’ll need you. Right?♫” Mediote’s gaze was still icy, but there was a slight gleam. “♫They may trust easily, but I don’t.♫”

"Of course." Star replied without hesitation. "I'll always do my best to stand by the people I care about--friends, family, and anything in between."

Mediote then waved his hand to his Adora. “♫That includes my Snowball and my student.♫” It wasn’t a question.

“Absolutely.” But Star still replied, his determined look fading a little as he glanced at Giaselle. “So, just to make sure I’ve got things right, Underlanders aren’t exactly welcome, right?”

Giaselle’s sheepish smile and nod were his reply. “/Oui oui. Just as humans fear the dark, so do those who live on the surface of this world, but moreso, as they know we lurk in the darkness./” He glanced down as his hand brought something out of his sleeve; a small very fluffy looking black rabbit doll. “/During the War, the Red Queen controlled a vast army of Underlanders, and I’m afraid trust for my kind was severely dwindled by that./”

“...I...don’t know much about the Red Queen. I mean, I’ve heard how she was the cause of this huge war everyone talks about, but...” Star admitted.

Mediote crossed one leg over the other, straightened up, and shut his eyes. “♫In the beginning, when the Elven Race broke free of the oppression of the Trolls, the event known as the Elven Rebellion, two monarchs took charge to lead us. Our beloved Queen Sapphire Immortartal, and equally beloved King Obsidian Immortartal. They were the first King and Queen, and...♫” Mediote’s eyes just barely cracked open to ‘stare’ at Star. “♫The parents of Blanca Immortartal and Ruby Immortartal, the White and Red Queens.♫”

Rhapsody was listening with a blank look on his face. It seemed like he knew this story already.

“♫Sadly, when the Queens, then Princesses, were almost of age, Ruby slaughtered her parents while they slept, and sealed Blanca away in a pocket dimension. She began a reign of violence and terror across all of Wonderland. Friends were turned foe, families ripped apart without mercy, bonds and trust that had only just begun to form torn so easily.♫“

Giaselle squeezed the doll in his hands, looking uneasy.

“♫It was only because of Saint Alice, bless her spirit and may it rest peacefully in the Guardians now, that Ruby was brought to justice. Our world may have magic, Star...But not everything can be fixed by magic.♫“ Mediote tapped his temple, seeming to direct the robot master’s attention to...Mediote’s eyes...

Star could vaguely place the chill that shot through his body at that moment as being the same chill he’d felt months before when he and Aliblu had been staring down a mass of water being thrown at them. Only this time it wasn’t momentary; it was a deep chill that froze the bottom of his stomach, all the circuits around it, his processor feeling like a gust of cold wind was being blown through it. The fighting he’d been through had certainly been terrible, but...The sheer implications of everything Mediote had just told him...

“....T-That was a piece of information I was not expecting.” Star finally uttered.

Mediote actually smirked. “♫Didn’t you learn by now? Expect everything and anything.♫” Giaselle ribbed his Adora with a flat look that made Rhapsody bite back a snort. “♫Ahem. But in seriousness, Star, I don’t tell you our history that easily. Because you are someone who can understand many views in the same story. Someone who can understand that much, I believe, is truly worthy of trust. The Guardians, and my own.♫”

“Aw~ Thanks Mediote-” Star began, feeling warm and fuzzy inside from the words.

However, the blind Elf’s hand on top of his head, squeezing rather tightly, cut him off. “♫I said you may have my trust, Star. But don’t think that means you can be so lax. You’re aware of my Snowball’s recent affliction, yes? I’m placing his well-being in your hands if he leaves this world to visit yours or Lady Aliblu’s, got it?♫” The scary smile he had on was an almost perfect mix of funny and terrifying. “♫The same goes for my student if he follow you around, it’ll be your responsibility to take care of them.♫”

“C-Certainly.” Star managed to utter, wide-eyed at Mediote’s hold.

Giaselle got his Adora to release Star, swatting Mediote’s fluffy hair. “/Stop that, Medi, he’s responsible. And I’m not a child you know, you don’t need to assign me a babysitter./”

“♫If anybody with him would make him a babysitter, isn’t it him?♫“ Mediote responded by pointing to Rhapsody, whose jaw dropped at being called a baby.

Star laughed it off, grooming back his hair. “Well, I feel honored I got to learn so many things today! I’ll do my best then to keep your trust, Mediote. Just you wait and s-” He immediately cut himself off, feeling coolant rushing as Mediote gave him a flat expression.

“♫No no, by all means, go ahead and dig your bed.♫“

Giaselle again swatted his mate. “/Don’t mess with him! You just said you gave him your trust!/”

“♫That’s that, and this is this. I’m playing around Snowball, you get on me about being social after all.♫“ Mediote shrugged.

The Shadow Elf’s hair curled like tentacles. “/Playing around hardly seems fitting a description! Be nicer to him then!/” Rhapsody nudged Star in the arm to get his attention as the two Councilmen bickered.

“This is how you can tell they’re married.” The young Elf whispered, Star sighing and giving a weak chuckle as he nodded.