In the middle of the boiling rain, someone ran past a creature, panting. She was wearing a cloak and holding a staff. She then ran past a symbol on a wall, entering inside what looked to be a cave. Removing the cloak, it was actually Eda who had been running. Her hair was short, with white streaks in it thanks to her curse. She glanced behind her and held up her cloak, which had holes in it thanks to the weather. She stepped inside, yellow eyes hiding from one of the rocks she went over.
Looking around, she saw a bunch of rocks stacked up, a shadow running past. She flinched as she heard it. "Who's there? Reveal yourself!" She ordered, and then whoever was sneaking up came in from behind. She gasped sharply, turning around.
Luz was looking down at her notebook, which had drawings of glyphs on it, as she had been doing more research on them as of late. She drew a circle and then split it before crossing it out. She grunted in frustration, taking another paper as she was surrounded by books.
"Luz!" King suddenly jumped in front of her. "I need your help. I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion," He pointed at his stuffed rabbit, who had a bunch of stuffed animals surrounding it. And then a knife fell behind it, which put Luz off just a little bit.
"In a minute, King. I'm getting so close to figuring out this glyph combo," She continued drawing.
"it's always glyphs and portals with you these days," King complained at the girl. "What about King?"
"Why don't you ask Lilith or Lucila for help?" She pointed at the two. "Lilith was in the Emperor's Coven. She has more experience with unruly mobs than anyone, and Lucila used to pretend that she was a fortress when I played with her. She always won because she knew my tickle spots," Luz grinned a little at the memory.
However, Lilith seemed...busy as she was staring at a paper, drawing something very slowly. Her hair looked like a mess and she giggled. "Watching the ink dry is the best part," She stated with a wide smile.
King groaned at this, feeling more creeped out than seeing Francois with a knife. Hooty floated in, handing Lilith a cup. "A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu."
Her eyes widened as she straightened her hair. "Well, Hootsifer, you truly are a gem," She smiled, patting him on the head. "How do you always know what to do?"
"What's going on?" King whispered to Luz. "Is Hooty blackmailing her?"
"Oh, I think they're actually friends," She looked up, smiling. "Isn't that nice?"
Meanwhile, Lucila was sitting at a desk in front of the window. She couldn't use her headphones to listen to her song because there was no electricity to power them through her laptop. And when she played her guitar, Luz liked to invite everyone into her room to hear her, and that really ruined the effect of song writing because she wasn't alone. So her Bard teacher had given her these weird horns to wear over her ears that acted as a sound conductor...she didn't even know how to describe it, it felt weird. But they worked great, and she was listening to the melody of her current song over and over.
"Luci!" He ran up to her, tugging at her sleeve. She took off a horn and glanced down at him. "Francois is about to declare war!"
She glanced at the army of stuffed animals. "Did you make them come to life again? I thought Eda told you not to do that anymore," She raised a brow at him.
"No! What are you doing, anyway?"
"Writing my song," She bit the tip of her pencil in thought. "It's getting to be a little harder than I thought to finish it up."
"You've been writing that song for over a week," He protested and she looked back at King.
"Well, I've been stuck on this one verse," She shrugged at him. "Song writing takes a lot of decision-making, and I keep doubting that it's good."
"Okay, this'll work for sure," Luz stated, getting their attention as she held up a glyph combo. "Now you see me..." She placed it over herself and she turned invisible! King gasped sharply, Lucila dropping her pencil in shock. Lilith looked up and saw that she was gone. Luz suddenly reappeared behind her sister. "Now you don't!"
"Aah!" Lucila screamed in alarm, whipping around to her sister.
"Oh. I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath. Still pretty cool, huh?"
"Don't ever do that again!" King hugged her leg.
"I second that. But it might be a human thing," Lucila crossed her arms. Another reason why she had been taking so long to finish her song was because she also had to make sure Luz didn't end up dead practicing the glyphs.
"Do that again," Lilith stood up, amazed. "How ever did you accomplish it?"
"Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs, I've been experimenting," Luz explained, trying to keep herself steady with one leg. "I got the invisibility idea from your history books, Lilith," She finally got her leg free. "I'm totally gonna use it to play pranks on my big sis."
"Hey, if you totally do that, I'm gonna ground you for a week," Lucila smirked up at her, Luz chuckling nervously.
"Fascinating!" Lilith pressed her hands together. "As the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, my aid could be very helpful in-" She then tripped over the dozens of stuffed animals.
"An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!" King threw a stuffed animal at Lilith, Hooty diving in and dodging it. He then pretended to die in Lilith's arms.
"I'm done for, Lulu!" He looked up at her in agony.
"Hootsifer, this is make-believe," She deadpanned at him.
"Ah, to die in your arms. Avenge me...Bleh," He then fell over with his tongue sticking out. Lucila rolled her eyes, taking off her horns. Well, it was clear that she wasn't gonna finish her song with that many distractions around her. King threw another stuffed animal at Lilith, who could care less.
"The King of Demons yields to no one!"
"Historically, demons have never been united under a single rule until Belos," She explained to him. "There's no such thing as a King of Demons." In return, she got another stuffed animal thrown...
"Blasphemy! Clearly you know nothing of my reign of terror," He protested angrily. "Allow me to tell you. I was once the mighty King of Demons. I was beloved almost as much as I was feared. But one dark day, an evil spell was cast, transforming me into this!" He then kneeled for effect.
"Oh? What happened to your crown of power?" Hooty teased, lifting himself up.
"A trifle! That was just to test Eda, Luci, and Luz's dedication to me. They passed. My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh, fuzzy." Luz bent down to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story."
Hooty laughed at this. "Nice one, Lulu! Up top!" She held up her hand and then slapped it against his face, which he didn't seem to mind.
"Hey, I remember plenty!" King argued back. "I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts, and falling from a massive height as that evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place and all shall fear me!"
"Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant," Luz cooed, grabbing King and tickling him. "Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?"
"Me!" He giggled cheerfully. "It's me!"
Lucila just smiled at the two. "Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it weren't so sad," Lilith commented to them, the girl then wincing.
"Don't blame me for your ignorance," He jumped out of Luz's arms. He then stomped off into the hallway. "I'm not a liar, and I can prove it!"
Lilith scoffed at this. "He called me ignorant. Me!" Hooty just shook his head sadly.
"Stop it, you guys," Luz told them, standing up. "This story is really important to him," She picked up two stuffed plushies. "So the least we can do is play along."
"You mean indulge his silly fantasy?" Lilith scoffed, hands on her hips.
"Yeah! I'm a house of principles!" Hooty agreed with her. "You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous!"
"You've had, what, years of listening to this?" Lucila threw up her arms at Hooty. "Even Eda seems to believe him."
"You do?" Lilith asked the girl in disbelief.
"I mean, I read about demons a few weeks ago, and there's been nothing I've seen that could explain all this. But I can't believe everything I read, so it might be true?" As far as she knew, there had been nothing to prove or disprove King's story. Then again, she had stretched the truth sometimes when reading Azura books to Luz...
"Could you please just go with it?" Luz pleaded with them. "For his sake?"
Before they could answer, King came in trying to get Lilith and Eda's staffs into the living room. He fell backwards and then held them up straight, stepping inside. "Alright, you two shall regret ever doubting me. We're going to my castle!" He slammed the staffs firmly.
"Uh..." Luz looked a loss for words, since she didn't think he'd go this far.
"What's wrong, Luz?" Hooty slithered behind her. "I thought you said we should just go-"
"Go with him," She interrupted with a wide smile. "I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?" She took Eda's staff, Lilith walking over.
"My historical expertise is being questioned, and I will not allow it," She defended herself. "Hooty, would you like to accompany us?"
He gasped sharply at finally being able to be a part of something. "I'll get ready!" He rushed to the door, and...well, the process afterwards looked very disgusting. They gave uncomfortable looks, unable to look away. They gasped, and...and organs were floating where Hooty used to be. He was sitting in front of the door, somehow a birdhouse now. "Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!"
Luz and Lucila tried not to be sick from what they just saw, tears coming from King's eyes in horror. "That's the most disgusting thing I've seen since I've been here..." Lucila murmured in dismay, wishing she could UNSEE it. As soon as Lilith took Hooty, and they opened the door, they came across Edric, who was about to knock.
"Huh? Ed, what are you doing here?" She questioned in surprise, Luz grinning knowingly.
"I wanted to check up on you after Mom tried to get you expelled...you okay?" He smiled sheepishly, rubbing his arm.
"That's sweet," She smiled at him. "I'm fine. But you could've just called me, you didn't have to come all the way down here..."
"I...wanted to see you in person," He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully and she grinned.
"Perfect timing! You'll be a witness to this too!" King pointed up at him and he looked confused.
"King!" Lucila hissed at him.
"W-Witness to what?"
She sighed, turning to the boy. "I'm sorry about this, but he wants to prove he's King of Demons to Lilith and Hooty, so we're going to his castle to see for ourselves."
He perked up at this, as he thought maybe he could finally get an answer from asking her out. "Of course! King's my friend too, so why not?"
Eda stepped out of her shower, with the group of six flying off. She stepped into the living room, adjusting her hair underneath the towel. "Hm? Where'd everyone go?" She asked in confusion. "Man, they made a mess in here. Oh, well, it's been a while since I had room to put my feet up," She jumped onto the couch back first, her legs separating from her body. She then opened her eyes, surprised to see a note from King.
Off to my real castle! Don't wait up! Love, your favorite Demon Overlord
She sat up with panicked eyes. "Oh no. Not again!" She was about to run to change when she remembered her legs were detached...
Once she changed, she hopped out of the house while putting on her boot. She ran into the shed, flying off in a bathtub with a motor attached.
The six were still in the air, as they hadn't arrived yet. King was keeping an eye out in front of Luz, with her sister behind her. Edric was behind Lilith, staring at the back of Lucila's head with a small smile forming. Both Nocedas were wearing their cloaks.
"Are we still flying?" Hooty suddenly asked. "It's been hours!"
"Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night?" She giggled at her joke, Lucila rolling her eyes to herself. "Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious."
"Please tell me we've made it," Lucila said with wide eyes, as she didn't want Hooty infecting anyone.
"There it is!" King pointed downwards to what looked like an island surrounded by smoke. It looked like a broken cylinder. The two groups dived down, and once they got closer, there was a building that was a tower, some of it broken off.
"This island shouldn't be here! It's not on any of the maps," Lilith stated in disbelief.
"It's always been there when I looked for it," King bragged, feeling a little satisfied.
They landed at the beach, all of them jumping off the two staffs. They started walking towards the forest. "After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away," King explained to them. "Like a wittle baby."
"Aww," Luz cooed, a hand on her cheek. She grumbled at the others to follow suit.
"Fine!" Lilith grunted in defeat. "Aw."
"I mean, you kinda still are a wittle baby," Edric teased, Lucila snickering at this.
"I am not a little baby!" King pointed up at him.
Hooty gasped at something up ahead. "Look!"
They saw the huge tower up ahead, the others besides King shocked. "Ah, home sweet home."
He took the lead through the island, and they stepped over some tree roots, which were overgrown. "That tower is certainly intriguing, but—oh!" Lilith tripped over the root, Hooty stopping her by extending to the tree. "Thank you, Hootsifer."
"My pleasure!"
"Hootsifer?" Edric whispered to Lucila.
"Don't ask, I-I don't know," She waved a hand.
"But couldn't we have landed a bit closer?" Lilith continued her question.
"The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in," King pointed to the sky, as the tree branches were so long, they couldn't even see the stars. "Plus..." He rubbed his hands together. "Now I can dramatically do...this!" He moved away a bush to reveal a large keyhole-shaped entry.
"Ooh. A door fit for a tyrant," Luz joked, smiling down at him.
He giggled, hands on his cheeks. "That's me!"
They continued walking forward, Lucila scoping the area with her eyes. Well, she definitely had never seen anything like this before, so King had to be right...though she wondered why no one knew about this place, or how he came across Eda.
The door was blocked by a cave-in, so they couldn't get through. "I'll find you guys another way in!" King offered, climbing through a small hole. "Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle." Lilith then noticed the symbol nearby on the edge of the door. It looked like a bullseye of some sort.
"Huh. What a strange material," She lightly touched it. "And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this."
"Ha! I've seen better graffiti," Hooty leaned in to get a better look. "I've got better graffiti on me," He showed off Luz's name, as well three S's.
"Luz, Luci, Blight boy, look! This predates any language I know," They took a good look at it.
"And my name's Edric," He pouted up at her.
"Whatever! King's story may be a fake, but these ruins are a history mystery," She giggled in excitement, jumping up and down.
"I wonder what they mean," Lucila murmured before the rocks came tumbling down behind them. King popped up out of the pile.
"Eh? What's a mystery?" He asked curiously.
"Ha ha ha! The only mystery is how Lilith can be so smart and so wrong at the same time." Lilith looked down at her, annoyed. "Academics, am I right?" Lucila didn't look so amused by it either.
"You so are! Come on in," He waved them forward, crawling inside. Luz glanced up to see Lilith's dirty look.
"Luz...you know, we can't keep up this charade forever," Lucila pinched her nose. "I don't like lying to King if he's gonna be this insistent about it."
"Please, hermana, he's really hung up about this," She gestured to the entrance, earning a groan.
"Okay...but you're gonna tell him eventually," Lucila took the lead, the others crawling after her. Because it was so dark, the girls used their light glyphs to light the way. Rocks were everywhere, and they all looked the same of two rocks and a crescent-shaped one on top.
"Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes," King told them. "The taste was cold and bitter, but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz. And yours too, Luci."
"With all the sugar we eat, we better be," Luz replied playfully, Lucila earning a surprised look from Edric.
"What? I've got a sweet tooth," She smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. They continued forward, seeing that the rocks had grown moss over them due to the passage of time. A shadow moved right past them and Luz gasped, turning around to see nothing.
King suddenly appeared on Luz's shoulder. "Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect."
"Yeah," Luz chuckled nervously at him. "So much wonder..." She decided to continue walking so that she could distract herself, but she was hesitant...
Hooty then gasped at something, moving around Lilith. "Are you seein' what I'm seein'?" She walked towards a wall and saw murals.
"These carvings, they're ancient!"
"Wh-What does that mean?" Hooty asked cautiously.
"Well, if I've never heard about this ruin, let alone this entire island, who knows what other parts of history we scholars have missed?" Hooty got another look at the mural, as the creature from it looked a lot like King.
"Are you saying..."
"That he may actually have been..."
"The King of Demons?" Hooty and Lilith said in unison, staring at him. And he was standing on top of a pile of rocks too, further emphasizing the point.
"Ah, my kingdom. I, uh..." He wiped away a stray tear. "I got some bone dust in my eye..."
"What was up there?" Luz stepped further, indicating to the ceiling, where it was blocked off by rocks.
"I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar. Probably some minion praising my name."
"Well, uh, wanna head back?" She smiled up at him, as the shadow from earlier made her a little wary. "This is all so cool, but...Eda's probably on her third cup of apple blood by now, and the last time, it was real hard getting her off the roof."
Hooty suddenly pushed her out of the way. "Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was just messin' around with you the whole time, right?"
Luz sat up, confused. Lucila just raised a brow at him. "Your Majesty?" Then she was pushed away by Lilith.
"It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value. Perhaps you could tell me more about them?"
King laughed while Lucila and Edric helped up King. Unlike the other two, they weren't really praising King. "I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales."
"Oh boy," Edric rolled his eyes while Luz heard a hissing sound, glancing behind her.
"Am I using that word right? Regale?" King wondered as Luz entered another room. She gasped as that's where the noise was coming from.
"Uh, guys, are you hearing this?"
"I'll show you where my throne used to be," King stated when she glanced back, Lucila and Edric taking another look around the room. "It was made from the teeth of my enemies and...heh heh, was it awkward to sit in."
She decided to continue on without them, stepping further. "What are these things?" She wondered as the walls were lined with...things she didn't even know what. They looked like the rocks from the other room, but with limbs. As she kept walking, she groaned in a bit of disgust of one nearby, the hand held out. She then came back. "Just kidding. I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy," She high-fived it, only for the thing to fall on her. She pushed it off and then looked up to see that other figures were in the ceiling as well. She slowly stood up, and when she did, she realized that one of the storage units was empty. Then she heard another hiss, turning around to see the shadow run off. She then chased after it.
King was showing off the various murals. "And that's how I would annihilate my enemies," He stated cheerfully. "Who needs due process, am I right?"
"What does this image represent, my lord?" Lilith stopped in front of another one of a demon with a spear in hand.
"Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"
Meanwhile, Lucila and Edric were just watching the three. "Weird how one place could change Lilith's opinion on a dime," She murmured at her and Hooty.
"So...Luci, about that date-"
"Mm? Uh," She coughed awkwardly. "We're kind of in the middle of something, remember?"
"I know, but you never answered back..."
She ran a hand through her hair upon seeing his frown. "I didn't mean to leave you hanging. It's just that...I've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately, and I...I haven't even thought about it. I mean, there was Eda getting captured, she lost her magic, I almost got expelled, I'm writing a new song, and..." She bit her lip from mentioning what happened with the Golden Guard. She wasn't even supposed to be thinking about him!
"And what?" He noticed her hesitance and looked away. "...Your studies, right? I heard from my parents that this Golden Guard guy bought their stuff, and he put in an order to get you back into school." Her eyes widened at that, dumbfounded by that revelation. The Golden Guard was the reason behind her being reinstated into Hexside? Even after all she said to him? "How would he know you by name to do that?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
She slowly turned away and his mouth got into a thin line. "...Unless he was your teacher...it all makes sense now. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't exactly make it public!" She whipped around to him. "I thought you wouldn't understand."
"Luci, there's a lot of things about you I don't understand right now. Why would you even let yourself be his student?" He asked before flinching. "...Are you...are you in love with him?"
Her eyes widened at that question, remembering their lessons that she had with him, how betrayed she felt when she saw the Scouts and Lilith, and how he finished her song for her, she could never forget that. And then she recalled dancing with Edric at Grom, them patching things up after the whole library thing, and him giving her those flowers. She didn't know how to react because she was floored...
Because she knew that she had feelings for him and Edric...
She was about to answer when Luz came running in. "Tour's over. We gotta go, now!" She said urgently, Edric crossing his arms and looking away with a glare.
"But there's so much to learn," Lilith protested to the girl.
"This environment is not conducive to learning," Luz argued back, fear in her voice. "It's conducive to death."
"Okay, hermana," Lucila stood in front of her. "How about you rewind and let us know why you want us to leave so bad?"
"Ah," King jumped down from Lilith's shoulder. "You saw the horrifying monstrosity room. Don't worry, they can't hurt you." He glanced to the side and a rattling noise was heard. Lucila used her light orb to get a good look at it, and they finally saw the creature crawling on the ceiling. It turned its head around in a creepy way.
"What were you saying?" Edric glanced down at King.
"That one can. Let's go!" Luz grabbed King and ran off. The creature jumped and landed in front of the two, crawling forward. Luz took a few steps back, and it towered over them, opening up its hand. It swung forward and Luz ducked, falling onto the ground. Lilith, Lucila, and Edric prepared themselves. The woman threw three ice glyphs, and they formed into icicles, pinning the thing to the wall. Lucila slammed down her plant glyph to wrap vines around it. And finally, Edric threw a coil around the thing, just to ensure that it couldn't break free.
"Dang, girl, you've been practicing," Luz commented to Lilith as she helped her up.
"You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive," She stated as they ran past the creature. However, it managed to break free by simply slipping through everything, going on all fours while chasing after them.
They panted while running, the creature crawling on the ceiling to catch up. It then jumped and landed in front of them. It slowly stood up, tilting its head and then pulling out an axe. An explosion suddenly occurred behind it, knocking it to the ground. The creature glanced over his shoulder as Eda jumped in, sliding to a stop. She had her potions around her body, looking up at the others.
"Get out of here," She ordered them. "I'll hold it back and meet you outside."
"Eda!" Luz called out as Eda threw her potion at the creature. "We can fight it together!"
"You can't beat this thing," She replied back, confusing Lucila as she wondered how Eda knew that. "Go."
The others glanced at each other and then went for the exit. Eda smiled confidently at the creature in front of her. "It's been a while. Miss me?"
It then lunged forward at her.
The others ran down the steps, looking back in worry for Eda. "More running, less stopping!" Hooty urged them.
"Edalyn said to wait here," Lilith argued back.
"We can't let her fight it alone," Luz gestured to the exit, concerned since Eda didn't have her magic. "We have to go back!"
"This is Eda we're talking about," Edric told her, crossing his arms. "She's got this."
"He's right, I've seen Eda fight much worse," Lucila agreed with him, and he shook his head.
"Still mad at you, Luci."
"I figured as much..." She murmured awkwardly, confusing the others. Suddenly crashing noises occurred from the building, and they looked terrified at the possible outcomes...but then Eda stepped out of the darkness, clutching her arm.
"Edalyn!" Lilith ran over to her. Eda groaned a bit, looking exhausted. Lilith helped her up a bit. "You're hurt! What of that horrible creature?"
As soon as she asked, the thing stepped out of the darkness, holding up the axe. Lilith gasped, bracing herself, while Eda didn't look that scared. When it swung, the thing couldn't get that far because there was a forcefield between the two Clawthornes and the entrance.
"It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now."
"That thing must be guarding this place against intruders," Luz guessed correctly.
"But it's my castle. How could we be intruders?" King was confused as he jumped down from the girl's shoulder.
"Uhh...u-um..." Luz stammered, and he realized something looking at her.
"You don't believe this is my castle." She glanced away, sweating a little. She took a look at her sister, who bit her lip. King glanced between them and that was when he knew that Lucila was in on it too. Guys, you think I would lie to you?"
"King, I-"
"You aren't lying," Eda interrupted her. "You just don't know the truth." She sighed, sitting down. Lilith started to tend to her, while Lucila stared at the Owl Lady, wondering what she had to do with all of this. "It's time for me to tell you how we really met."
"Eight years ago, I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven." Eda flew through the boiling rain, stumbling across the island somehow. "I never knew this place existed, and it just...appeared out of the mist." She landed safely on the grass. "So, I landed. Now, I was one hot tamale, but the Boiling Rains were even hotter. I needed shelter, but when I found it..." She ran through the entrance, looking at all the rocks. "I wasn't alone."
A shadow ran past, alerting her. "Who's there?! Reveal yourself," She demanded, and whatever it was scurried up to her. She turned around and gasped sharply, seeing a baby...puppy with a horned cap, she had no idea what he was. He wagged his tail and she glanced down at him. She watched the creature pick up a rock and walk on its own two feet, finishing the little sculpture. She bent down to him.
"Did you make all these?" She asked, scratching his cheek, which he responded to by wagging his tail. "What are you?"
"I assumed you were just some stray dog, but then..." She turned around and saw the creature looking right at them. "That thing was gonna kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced." She quickly grabbed King and they flew off on her staff. They went out the exit, with the creature preparing a crossbow. He shot the arrow through the forcefield, and it managed to not only break off one of the puppy's horns, but also knock them off the staff. Eda grabbed him and the horn before escaping. "Against my better judgment, I took you home with me."
She peeked behind the archway, watching her new friend. "I had gotten you the collar cause...well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then..." He was stacking up some of her things to make them look like subjects, standing up proudly with his hands on his hips.
She chuckled, making her presence known as she leaned against the archway. "Oh, look at you. A king amongst his subjects."
"King. King!" He then fell backwards onto the floor. She blinked in shock; this was the first time she had ever hear him talk.
"It spoke. Yeah, that's right, a king," She then sat down in front of him. "You know what else kings do? They command armies and eat delicious feasts."
He seemed happy learning this and listened attentively to her story. "And that's how you got the idea that you were some despotic overlord."
"Oh, but you were finally happy, so I kept playing with it," Eda shrugged a bit.
King shook a little bit, glaring angrily. "Y-you're lying!"
"I'm not," She dug into her hair, pulling out the broken horn. His eyes widened and he looked hesitant taking it. He then gasped as he started remembering.
"My army...my feasts...my life...!"
"King..." Lucila stepped forward with soft eyes, holding out a hand as she wanted to comfort him.
"Ah, NO!" He threw the horn at her feet. "Keep that thing away from me. It's messing with my head!"
She frowned sadly, Edric placing a hand on her shoulder in sympathy. "King, it's gonna be okay," Luz tried to assure him, but it didn't work.
"Y-You're all just making fun of me like usual, right?" He started wheezing as he felt like his whole life crumbled down into bits. "No. No, no, no, no," He sniffled as they all looked sad for him. "No, no, no, no, no." He then ran off crying. "No!"
"KING!" Luz cried out to him.
"King! King!" She called out as they were searching for him. "Please come back!"
"I can't fly," Lilith shook her head. "The tree cover is too dense. I regret ever playing a part in this." If she hadn't doubted him, maybe they wouldn't have come here, and he wouldn't had to find out the hard truth.
Hooty then started sobbing. "Is this what regret feels like? I hate it!" He landed on Lilith's shoulder, who patted him.
"This is what you were trying to tell me," Luz glanced up at her sister, who bit her lip. "I lied to him, even though I knew he trusted me," She sat down on a rock. "Now he's all alone."
"Now I know how Mittens felt when Em and I tried to send her diary to everyone..." Edric frowned deeply.
Lucila walked forward, bending down in front of her sister. "Luz...you just wanted the best for him," She placed a hand on her shoulder. "And I shouldn't have gone along with the lie either. But I know that you'll make it right, like you always do. That's one of your best qualities."
Luz sniffled, looking up at her sister with tears in her eyes. Lucila pulled her forward into a comforting hug, which her sister returned.
"For now, let's split up. The island is small, and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far," Eda explained to everyone. Lilith turned around and ran off. Eda placed a hand on Luz's back. "Don't worry. We'll find him."
Eda then ran off, Lucila looking down at her sister. She wiped her tears for her, Luz chuckling and pushing her away a bit. "Stop, I'm not a baby anymore..."
The older girl just smiled at her. "Then I guess this doesn't work anymore?" She started kissing Luz all over her face, which she used to do when Luz was sad, making her laugh.
"Okay, okay! Stop!" She protested, Edric looking on with a small smile. Lucila pulled away, chuckling at the girl.
"Can you come with me?" Luz looked up at her. "I think it's better if both of us find him together, and...I need your support."
"Of course, hermana," Lucila nodded at her, helping her sister up. "Edric, do you mind?"
"No, go ahead," He shook his head in understanding, running a little bit towards the left. The two sisters ran forward.
"King! King?!" The two Nocedas called out. Through all the fog, it was hard to see anything. They stepped out of the jungle, finding him at the beach sitting on a log. Their eyes saddened as they felt for him...after all, he was lied to about his entire life. They stepped forward and sat on opposite sides of him.
"Eda was right, wasn't she? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody."
"That's not true," Lucila told him softly.
"You are somebody, and we love that somebody very much. We're sorry we lied about what we believed."
"Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it!" He started crying again. "I don't know what to do, guys. I can't tell what's real and what's fake," He held his head, Luz biting her lip as she looked up at her sister. Both of them felt awful about lying to him when they shouldn't have...and now knowing the truth of his past, that made it even worse.
Luz glanced behind her at the two. "Something's not adding up," She looked specifically at the hole. "One of your memories is falling, right?"
Lucila saw what she was looking at, gasping. "Probably another stupid thing I made up," King wiped hos tears with his arm.
"No. What if that's a real memory?" She stood up, getting his attention.
"Why does it matter?" He asked in lament.
"You said you remember a roar from up in that shaft," Luz started off. "Maybe that's where you fell from. Eda found you in those ruins. There's gotta be a clue in there about where you came from."
"Yeah! Like maybe a letter or something," Lucila suggested, pointing up at her.
He looked away hesitantly. "...I don't know, guys. What if the story gets worse?"
"You might have been alone before, but you have us now," Luz gestured to herself and her sister. "Whatever we find up there won't change that."
Lucila placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no harm in looking, right?"
"So, what do you say?" Luz held out her hand. King stood up and took it.
"Okay..."
The trio arrived back at the meeting point, coming across both Clawthornes and Edric. "King! You're all right," Eda ran up to him, and noticed the look on his face, sighing. "You're made at me. I get it. I would be too," She bent down to him. "I'm so sorry, King," She looked away sadly for putting all those ideas in his head.
"Boop," He tapped her cheek and she looked down at him. "No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me."
"Only truths. I promise," She smiled at him.
"Great. Now, before we leave, we have one more thing to check out," Luz pointed at the tower.
"Come on, we'll fill you in on the way," Lucila waved them forward, taking the lead.
The creature was rearranging the little statues when it turned around, eyeing the entrance. Suddenly one of Eda's potions was thrown and the concoction hit it in the face. Lilith, Hooty, and Edric flew in on the staff.
"Special delivery: pain!" Hooty spit a potion out of his mouth, and it exploded onto the creature's face. Something invisible flew past, which was actually the two Nocedas, King, and Eda having used an invisibility glyph on themselves. They all inhaled, Eda glancing at Luz.
"You sure they'll be alright?" Eda came to a stop, the two humans getting off.
"Hooty knows what to do."
"And Edric's gotten through worse," Lucila shrugged, running after her sister and King. Hooty was firing like a bazooka while Edric pointed his finger, drawing a spell circle. He fired a bomb and it landed in the creature's hand. Then suddenly Hooty blasted another potion into its face.
"You sure they'll be alright?" She asked again as she took flight. Hooty and Edric were still fighting back while Eda flew up to the ceiling. She planted a potion there, landing next to Luz. "Ready?" She asked with a smirk.
"I've always wanted to do something like this," Luz answered excitedly, holding up a fire glyph. The others glanced back at them.
"They're in place!" Hooty reported to them.
"Hold your breath!" Lilith ordered, and placed the invisibility glyph on all of them. The creature looked confused before getting hit repeatedly. Luz aimed for the potion, the creature grabbing Lilith and making her visible. Edric fell onto the ground.
"Luz!" He called out and she made the glyph a fireball, flicking it towards the potion. It exploded and it destroyed the blocked hole in the ceiling. Hooty struck a hit on the creature, Lilith grabbing her staff. She flew forward, grabbing Edric along the way.
"Fly, fly, fly!" She urged as all of them flew into the hole. The creature chased after them, Lilith using a light glyph to guide them. They reached the end. "There's..."
"There's..."
"Nothing here," Eda finished for them as there was nothing in the room but webs and weird symbols on the walls. They dismounted the staffs, King hearing the hissing again. He glanced down the hole to see the creature arriving.
"It's coming!" He whimpered, jumping up and running over to them. As they backed away, King touched the back of the wall, and it had a reaction. "Huh?" The door suddenly opened and they dived into the room, closing the door as the creature reached out. Its hand got cut off and they all sighed in relief.
"Well, I think we're safe...for now. But how did we get the door open?" Eda looked up in confusion.
"Huh?" King looked down at his hand in confusion.
"This room is old," Lilith stepped forward, as there was a skylight in the ceiling with decaying plants. "Very old." The skylight fell on a golden pedestal.
"My mom would kill for that," Edric snorted at it and they explored the room. King walked towards the pedestal, and it had broken pieces of an eggshell laying on it.
"I knew there was something up here!" Luz suddenly exclaimed happily. "I'm like the mystery whisperer. The butler did it. Magnifying glass. Secret door."
"I've been reading way too many mystery books to you," Lucila rolled her eyes in amusement, her sister hugging her
"But it helped me with my book reports, so I call that a win-win!"
"It looks like that creature was made to guard whatever was in here," Lilith stated, lightly touching a mural on the wall.
"So there was something here...the question is, how did it break out?" Lucila glanced around.
"King," Luz looked down at him. "Does any of this feel familiar to you?"
"I'm not sure, but I think I know how to job my memory," King stepped forward, looking up at the Owl Lady. "Eda, I'm ready," He held out his hand and she gave a concerned look.
"Are you sure?" She asked carefully.
"I am..."
She took out the broken horn and gave it to him. He placed it on his head, and it felt like everything was flooding back to him.
"I remember a deep roar..." A baby King was in the egg, and he heard the roar. "And then something happened." There was a crash and he reacted by waking up. "But I was too small to do anything. So I went back to sleep..."
Suddenly, he had grown a little bigger. "And the next time I woke up..." A crack occurred and a small instance of light appeared. King hatched out of the egg, falling onto the ground. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing a symbol from the ceiling. He then crawled forward to the door, tapping it with his head. He touched it with his paw, and it opened. The creature was standing right there behind the door. King cooed and it picked him up in its hands, walking off. It jumped towards the hole, King reaching out as the light disappeared.
He blinked, taking the horn off. "King..." Luz stepped forward and he turned around.
"That roar, it meant 'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son," He hugged the horn, facing the two sisters fully. "Luz, Luci, I think it was my dad."
"King, that's great!" Lucila smiled at him encouragingly.
"Maybe that was him in all those wall carvings," Luz suggested to the little demon. Suddenly the wall behind her broke open by the creature. She whipped around, watching as it raised the axe above her.
"Luz!" Lucila grabbed her arm, standing in front of her sister with a fire glyph ready. King held up a hand.
"Stop!"
To their surprise, the creature actually obeyed him. "That thing was defending King from us this whole time?" Eda wondered, hand on her hip. "Huh. Alright." A flash occurred nearby and they looked to see Lilith had been taking pictures of the murals.
"Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll-" She cleared her throat, hiding the camera behind her. "I'll just do this later." Hooty then ate the camera and she hid the photo behind her back.
"Well, nice to see that some people are honest," Edric remarked and Lucila pinched her nose.
"Maybe you weren't exactly the King of Demons, but-"
"I was important to someone," King interrupted Luz. "I-If he's out there, I wanna find him!" He looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "I'm not that old. It could be possible," He sniffled a little. "Would you two help me?"
"We'd do anything for you, buddy."
"Yeah," Lucila smiled down at him.
"Then can we keep him?" King pointed at the creature.
"No," Everyone except Edric answered.
"Maybe it could replace that bat I wanted," He rubbed his chin.
"Yeeees!" Hooty wrapped himself around the four.
"No one's keeping him!" Lucila emphasized; the thing was creepy and it kept attacking them.
King was carving something on his collar's tag in Luz's room, it was the symbol he saw when he fell. "Whatcha doing there, King?"
"This symbol was all over that tower," He explained as she put glue on his broken horn. "What if it's my name?" She placed the broken horn over the glue and he flinched. "Gooey..." She scraped the glue off of him. "It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion."
"Yeah..." Luz glanced at Jean-Luc, who was only alive because of the magic in the ruin. She didn't know why King couldn't put it in Lucila's room, since it creeped her out that he was right there.
"Luz, is it okay to still call me King? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything," He confessed to her.
"Well, you'll always be king of my heart," She tapped his cheek with her fist. "That's good enough, right?"
"...Yeah. Good night, Luz," He went to sleep with a smile on his face, Luz kissing his cheek. "And Francois," He held up his stuffed bunny, and she kissed that too. "Now Jean-Luc." Yeah, she wasn't doing that... "Bummer, looks like I'm all out of kisses. Maybe next time. Good night!" She quickly left the room.
"I've never seen markings like this," Eda and Lilith looked at the pictures taken. "Hmm. Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?" She wondered as Luz and Lucila arrived. She was helping Edric pack up before he left in the kitchen.
"And those old carvings, who were they depicting?" Lilith wondered curiously, flipping through a book.
"Any ideas, mystery whisperer?" Eda asked the girls.
"I don't know, but whatever we discover, we'll be there for King. No matter what," She smiled at the photo of the mural.
"Well, we've got a lot of research and clues to find, that's for sure..." Lucila murmured just as Edric walked past them.
"Thanks for inviting me. I'll see you at school, Luz."
"Bye," She waved to him and Lucila stood up with a sigh.
"Look, can we talk?"
"About?" He glanced over her shoulder and she led him outside, closing the door. Eda and Luz glanced at each other, wondering what exactly happened back there. Lucila faced him while leaning against the door so Hooty wouldn't interrupt.
"Ed, I know that today was a lot, and...I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings. It's not that I'm in love with the Golden Guard," She bit her lip at the blatant lie, Edric raising a skeptical brow. "But...well, when I rejected my best friend, Will, I kept trying to keep away from stuff like this because I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially you, and that's why I haven't answered your question. I promise that I'll sit down and think about it, okay?"
He sighed, dropping his skeptical look. "Nah...take your time. I'll wait forever for the coolest human I know," He winked at her with a small smile. He just couldn't stay mad at her for very long, because...she had inspired him to improve his relationship with Amity. And to stand up to his mother without her knowing about it.
She smiled softly, blushing at him. As he walked away, she sighed deeply, running a stressed hand through her hair. Now she had a new dilemma on her hands...
She opened the door, Eda and Luz falling to the ground in front of her as they had been listening in. She crossed her arms at him and they smiled sheepishly.
"Luci...hey..." Luz greeted, waving a nervous hand.
"Wanna give us all the details?" Eda wondered and Lucila rolled her eyes.
"Typical..."