Episode:
7: The Seal of Arybailos
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The conjuration of the Seal of Arybailos results in disastrous consequences for Adam.

Of course, Adam practiced the conjuration of the Seal of Arybailos at any given opportunity. It was an immense surge of power through every nerve in his body that was difficult to control. He hadn't been expecting his own spell to be so powerful. Then again, the Immortal Flame was known for its burning strength, as well as Arybailos, the wielder. It took several days of sheer concentration for him to acclimate to the new spell and its debilitating side effect.

Having his soul slowly drained did not feel how he expected it would. Adam presumed it would be a slow, mounting pain that would steadily paralyse and kill him. Instead, it felt…strange, like the world was becoming slowly disconnected from him. The dissociative feeling would get worse and worse until he broke the Seal and ended the soul pact.

It was like a fog was descending upon his mind. Everything felt distant and unclear.

If Adam were to hazard a guess, though, these were only the mild effects. Other side effects that may occur, from using the Seal for even longer, remained to be seen. He hoped he would never have to use the Seal for so long that those problems would rear their ugly heads.

The Seal had numerous applications.

He'd been using it to create more powerful offensive spells. He rarely created spells that were not Alteration or Battle magic. There were some of the other types: Illusion and Transmutation. He considered Restoration spells, but they proved to be far more complex than he had expected.

Creation of new spells was oftentimes much harder than casting them. Overcoming that first hurdle was usually the toughest task. Extra magic was always needed to bring the spell into existence. Spells were like algorithms: a set of steps that the mystions took that resulted in the desired effect. Creating that sequence was hard for any non-Butterfly. That first bar was typically set quite high for an untalented magical user.

As Hekapoo never failed to remind him, Adam lacked much talent. She said once that an infant Butterfly would have more instinct in magic than he did.

Nevertheless, Adam was able to create more powerful spells while under the effect of the Seal of Arybailos. The Truth Binding Spell – which had merely been theoretical beforehand –was completed and tested. Eclipsa had volunteered herself to be the target, though Star argued against its existence to begin with. That debate hadn't been fun, but in the end, Adam tested the spell and it was successful.

As its name suggested, the Truth Binding Spell compelled its target to speak the truth – the whole truth – to any given question. When prompted, the target will attempt to respond to the best of their ability, to the extent that they will write it down if they are somehow verbally impaired. The Total Silencing Spell couldn't prevent that.

Additionally, the Truth Binding Spell was a Seal like the Seal of Arybailos. It had permanent effects that could (so far) only be reversed at the caster's whim. It also had an infinite range.

He knew the spell wasn't perfect. It couldn't be. Some of the onus had to be placed on the caster for their inexperienced use of the spell.

If the question asked were too vague, the affected would not be able to give an immediate answer. They would have to answer eventually, but it gave them the option to answer differently, even if they are aware of the answer the caster was expecting. That meant they could easily provide an answer that was deceptive and unclear, bypassing the whole point of the spell.

That and, unsurprisingly, the target couldn't answer a question that they didn't know the answer to. That was something that couldn't be fixed. It just had to be accepted.

There was also another potential problem: it was probably reversible by a particularly skilled spell-caster. It might also be resistible by a particularly strongly willed individual. He hadn't asked Eclipsa to resist the spell during the initial test and now he was scrambling for that bit of information.

That was why he had also made the Dream Entrapment Spell. Thanks to the Seal, it was now also on the cards. His use of selective mystion control meant he could easily combine the Dreamless Sleep and Psionic Wandering Spells to create this effect. For the mindscape that it formed, the Dream Entrapment was classified as a Dark Illusion spell.

He had yet to cast this spell, of course. Few people, not even Eclipsa, would willingly volunteer to be trapped in their worst nightmare. Theoretically, he could make the mindscape to be anything he wanted; the default was their worst nightmare. He hadn't figured that out yet, though, and Adam didn't think Eclipsa would risk trapping herself on a mere hypothesis.

There was some risk with the spell that Adam had calculated. The longer the target remained in the mindscape, the exponentially harder it would be to free them from their nightmare. He was almost scared to find out what would happen when they were trapped in their minds for too long. It could damage their psyche, or their minds could be lost forever.

It was only meant to be a torture tool where the Truth Binding spell failed. Trap a target in their nightmare, enter their mind using Psionic Wandering, and then extract information from the target by coercing them into submission.

If subjected to their worst nightmare, anyone would confess any secret. That was the essence of the spell.

Adam doubted they would have to be in the nightmare world for very long. Perhaps there was even some way to affect their perception of time to make the experience last longer for them. Either way, the possibility of them getting permanently trapped in their mind was low – but not impossible and therefore should not be ignored.

Battle magic seemed to require fewer steps and less thought to it. When he created the Tornado Torpedo spell, it was merely about concentrating on the effect and willing his magic to deploy it. The case had been similar with the Evaporation Matrix spell, which had a simpler effect. It occurred to Adam that this was because Battle magic tended to be much less complex. Pressure Compression – another one he'd recently made – was something he'd devised on a whim, too.

The Seal of Arybailos did not simply heighten magical prowess, either. It bolstered one's physical capabilities, too, granting him more stamina and strength. He could lift nearly three times as much while under its effects. He could run whole marathons without tiring. Adam felt like it even made him think a little faster, though that part remained inconclusive.

Eclipsa had been impressed to know he had finally successfully cast the Seal. So impressed, apparently, that she had asked if she could teach her the spell sometime. Adam hadn't gotten around to doing that yet, but he told that when he had the time, he would teach her how to conjure the Seal of Arybailos. After all, with all that he could achieve with it, what Eclipsa could achieve would be nigh-incomprehensible.

Now that Adam had succeeded in summoning the Seal, he had big ideas in mind for its use. More than just teaching Eclipsa how to cast the spell.

He had been trying to open an intermultiversal portal using his Portal Magic bolstered by the power of the Seal. So far, results had been lacklustre. He had previously thought that, if he couldn't figure out the physics behind travelling between multiverses, he could just wing it and use his portals to try and open one. After all, that was how he got to the Positive Multiverse in the first place.

What he had discovered so far was that he was able to open more portals more quickly with Arybailos's power. He frequently used it to cross dimensions, mainly to see if he could find any knowledge outside of the Butterfly scope. Most dimensions didn't have access to magic, while others simply had different cultures towards it but knowledge that was either equal or behind the Butterflies.

Today, though, Adam wasn't trying to get back home. A rare occurrence, typically, but there were times in his life occupied by other things.

He wanted to see if the Truth Binding Spell could be resisted. Unfortunately, Eclipsa was currently under the surveillance of Queen Moon Butterfly today. Realistically, there was only one option.

'Hold up,' Star stopped him. 'You're telling me…that you want to use me as your guinea pig?'

The two were currently walking through the hallways of Butterfly Castle.

Their destination was the royal hall, where they were supposed to set out plans for the Royal Flower Show happening later that day. [14] Adam would have preferred portalling there, but Moon was strict about "no portalling in the castle". He usually ignored that rule but in daylight hours he had to follow it.

Normally, he'd have thought that Star would be quite laissez-faire towards this rule, but she enforced it. She said it was because she didn't want him to get on Moon's bad side, given she was already upset at him for lying about working with Eclipsa. She was definitely right about that.

Moon hadn't made her annoyances clear, but it was obvious by how she looked at him a few degrees colder than before. Adam didn't really care too much what she thought of him, but it wouldn't be wise to anger the person who happened to be sheltering him.

So here they were, walking towards the hall. Well, since he had told her his request, they had stopped walking.

'If you want to put it that way,' Adam admitted, walking onwards. Star, mouth still agape, hurried after him. 'Look, I just need your help to test it. It's totally harmless.'

'Being forced to tell the truth isn't "harmless"!' Star argued, as they walked through a set of double doors. 'I hate this spell as it is! There's no way I'm helping you with it!'

'I have to know how well this spell works!' he argued. 'Besides, if you're able to throw off its effects, then the spell won't be a problem!'

'Why don't you just ask Eclipsa? You know, since you two seem to be so buddy-buddy recently,' complained Star. Adam folded his arms indifferently.

'Eclipsa's busy with Moon, so you're my only option.'

'Ugh,' she groaned. 'No, Adam.'

'I don't get why you have such a problem with this,' he admitted, scratching his forehead in confusion. 'It's only meant for prisoners. It's an effective way to get information out of them – assuming they can't resist the spell. I don't know until you let me test it on you!'

'That's exactly the problem, Adam!' The princess yelled, almost loud enough to attract the puzzled attention of the guards. 'I don't care who it is, you're forcing someone to do something against their will! Can't you see the problem with that?'

Adam snorted.

'So if this was a prisoner with valuable information, you wouldn't consider it? What if that information could save lives and this was the only way to extract it?'

'If that happened, then we'd find another way,' she disputed, glaring at him defiantly.

'Don't be naïve, Star!' The warlock derided. 'The world isn't so black and white. There isn't going to be a "good" option and an "evil" option.'

'That's not what I said!'

'Sometimes, the only choices you have are bad ones, Star,' he argued. 'You still have to choose!'

'That's your excuse? Seriously?' She criticised. 'Do you have any morals? How would you like to be forced into something against your will?'

Adam didn't respond to that. Instead, he remained silent on the rest of the way to the royal hall. Star waited patiently for several minutes for a counter-argument to her statement, but eventually realised he wasn't going to say anything. Maybe he didn't have a rebuttal for her point, or perhaps he simply didn't care.

Star groaned at his certain stubbornness. He was so comfortable with compromising moral values but didn't care enough to consider what that meant. Or how it might affect someone. It was always about achieving some goal, by virtually any means necessary.

After spending a few months around him, Star could comfortably say this was the one thing she hated most about him.

It wasn't even his vengeful attitude, or persistent desire for revenge. The fiery rage contained within him was manageable, sometimes not even noticeable. Her treatment of her was getting better, so his unfairness was steadily becoming more bearable. Not even her inherent disapproval of his rapidly apparent selfishness topped her frustrations over his questionable moral compass.

Star tolerated him perhaps more than she should.

When any of those things wasn't coming to a head, Adam was a cool, interesting guy with a pretty awesome sense of humour. A sense of humour that rarely reared its head in her presence, but she got to hear it sometimes whenever Janna or Marco was present. He liked to hang out, but not with Star – only Janna and sometimes Marco. Most of his pastimes besides training and practicing magic was playing the guitar or reading Ancient Fairy-tales of the Forgotten Lands (or some other book). Most of his life was intentionally left with little room for hobbies or whimsical superficial activities.

At times like this, Star wondered if Adam even wanted to be there. She supposed it was stupid to assume he did, after all, he ended up here by accident and he had nowhere else to go. He had declined the offer to stay here the first time, not wanting to surround himself with people who didn't want him there either. However, he was ultimately convinced. Star wasn't sure whether or not his stay in the Butterfly Castle was – like everything else, apparently – a means to an end.

If he opened that portal home right now, would he leave without looking back?

Probably. Star didn't know. She felt she was still getting to know him, while Adam was doing everything he could to get back home and execute the Dark Butterflies as soon as possible.

Fifteen minutes or so later, they arrived at the royal hall of the Butterfly Castle. Once they walked in, they were met with a fantastical view.

The hall had been done up with celebrations, party-like in design. Numerous flower wreaths adorned the walls, along with walls of flower heads and bright pink petals. A sachet hung on the wall with the title "ANNUAL ROYAL MEWNI FLOWER DAY" and several drawings of flowers next to them. The floor has been recently polished, so clean you couldn't spot a single speck of dirt on them. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling was lit up brightly, magically magnified in rows of circles. Even Adam had to admit it looked beautiful.

'Ah, Princess Butterfly,' Manfred addressed with a respectful bow. As he saw Adam, his face stiffened and his back pivoted inwards. 'Adam.' His voice was filled with bitterness. 'I am pleased you could make it.'

'Yeah, you sound it,' Adam muttered under his breath.

'We wouldn't miss the Flower Show for the world!' Star exclaimed brightly. 'How can I help you set things up?'

Manfred beckoned them to follow them across the hall.

'Flower stall locations need to be outlined this year due to new district borders,' he explained, gesturing to emphasise his point. 'The flower providers have also changed, so the stalls that we are running need their prices to be marked out. Our budget has been lower this year, so I would recommend slightly higher prices for our bouquets.'

'I'm sorry,' Adam interrupted, 'but aren't economic matters best left to the Queen?'

Manfred glared at him.

'Queen Moon has allocated this responsibility to Princess Butterfly,' he told him gruffly. 'If you believe this decision was erroneous, then I suggest you take it up with the Queen.'

Adam was not intimidated by this veiled threat. He matched Manfred's aggressive glower with equal ferocity.

'Maybe I will.'

Manfred was not impressed.

'Maybe –'

'Anyway,' Star interjected, raising her voice above theirs. 'Please continue, Manfred.'

The manservant glared at Adam for one more second before relenting and nodding at Star's request.

'In order to make up for the financial losses from Toffee's attack several months ago' – Star's breathing hitched at the mention of his name – 'we need to press for a more expensive Flower Show.'

'Are you sure people will be okay with the increased price?' Star enquired worriedly. Manfred waved a hand at her dismissively.

'The Royal Flower Show is an annual tourist event and a famous part of our culture,' he elaborated. 'It encourages financial growth through tourist attraction and flower sales. Chances are people will not notice the prices going up; they will be too invested in the brilliance of the Show to notice.' When Star nodded, he returned to the previous topic. 'Another one of the things we need to discuss is The Rose Buds band. They have signed on for another performance this year, but we must sort out when and where the performance will be taking place.'

Adam really wished something would happen right now. Something that would pull him away from this boring party planning.

'We should have it in the usual place,' Star suggested, placing her hands against her hips. 'The central plaza. Seven PM should do it.'

Manfred nodded.

'Very well. I shall inform The Rose –'

Manfred wasn't able to finish his sentence when the ground beneath their feet shook with violent force. Everyone in the room struggled to maintain their balance, as though somebody had picked up the floor and yanked it around.

'What's going on?!' Star yelled frantically, as the chandelier chain snapped from the ceiling.

The bright chandelier was sent plummeting to the shaky ground, crashing against the floor vociferously. The candles were sent rolling across the floor in tandem with the persistent tremor.

Adam spotted the floor slowly tearing itself apart. A crack began to form in the centre of the room, spitting part of the floor in two. The crack spread from one end to the room to the other with a sickening crunch echoing against the walls. A fiery orange glow emanated from the depths of the impossible crevice, as though it reached down to the mantle itself.

He frowned.

Fine ash particulates rose up out of the magma fissure. Ordinarily, he'd consider that normal, but not this time. The particles of ash rose up into a column of air until it was completely opaque, like a dust devil. As the ground began to stabilise, he heard a deep, booming voice.

'ADAM BUTTERFLY!'

The column of ash was swept away to reveal the owner of that voice. It was a colossal, red-skinned demon, complete with two large horns and grotesque devilish facial features. His eyes were a deep void of blackness, and his yellow teeth were jagged and spiked. There were several skin-mounted spikes running along his body and down his arms. His legs were invisible beneath the glowing crevice the demon was standing in, though the size of his torso was already several times Adam's height. [15]

Adam stared at the huge beast in shock and horror.

'Who the heck are you?!' Star demanded, walking up to beside Adam. 'What do you want?!'

'I am Arybailos,' the demon claimed, his thunderous voice resounding throughout the room. 'I am here to collect Adam Butterfly's soul!'

'There's no Adam Butterfly around here,' Star replied in confusion.

'Explain to me how the magic came from a Butterfly, then!' Arybailos yelled.

'I don't think you understa–'

'Star,' Adam interrupted, instantly silencing her. 'He's talking about me.'

'What?' She scoffed. 'You're not a Butterfly!'

'I know,' the Mewman responded. 'But my magic is Butterfly in origin, so Arybailos must have thought I was a Butterfly.'

'You have some explaining to do,' the princess demanded. 'Why does Arybailos want your soul?!'

'I'd quite like to know that too,' argued Adam, though he already had an idea. He turned to face the blistering hot demon. 'I don't owe you my soul!'

'YES YOU DO!' the Demon King bellowed, smashing his hands against the floor and causing a huge shockwave. 'You promised your soul in compensation for borrowing a fraction of my power! I am here to collect my end of the bargain!'

'Ohhh no…' Adam mused aloud, staggering backwards.

"I pledge my soul to the throes of magic…"

That was the part of the incantation the immortal god was likely referring to. However, Adam thought that meant that he was allowed his soul to be drained away for the time the spell was in effect. Apparently not. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

'What's he talking about, Adam?' Star questioned him prudently.

'I'll explain later,' he dismissed, gingerly approaching the colossal deity. 'Look…Arybailos. I didn't know that the Seal would mean selling my soul to you. Is…there any way I can rescind the deal?'

'NO!' The devil roared. 'Underworld covenants are bound in eternal fire, boy! They cannot be undone!'

Adam wanted to make some joke about Arybailos and his inside voice, but he was too petrified by the vociferous voice of the demon to manage it. He stared up at Arybailos and caught his breath in fright at his power. The Mewman swallowed the air in his throat and spoke up again.

'I guess…do I not have some time first? You know…to say goodbye?'

Adam admitted it was a bit of a ridiculous bluff. Saying goodbyes wasn't really his thing; he tended to live his life moving from one stage to the next. Still, though, he hadn't given any reason for Arybailos to think he didn't care about saying goodbye. Logically, the devil would at least believe he would want that personal time. Nonetheless, the warlock had to find some way to delay this situation.

The Demon King hesitated for a moment before responding.

'Very well,' he agreed reluctantly. 'I shall grant you the customary twelve hours before you must come to my region of the Underworld to provide me your soul as per the agreement.'

'How am I going to get to your domain?' enquired Adam, frowning at him. 'Nobody has ever been able to get there.'

In response, Arybailos raised a crimson hand out flat, palm facing upwards. A chasm of fire swirled from his hand and swept away to reveal a shiny, golden bell. The bell was enveloped in a fiery aura and floated up into the air. It travelled across the hall before coming to a stop in front of Adam. As the aura disappeared, he caught it before it could fall to the ground.

'Ring this bell within the time limit and it will transport you to my dominion within the Underworld,' the deity instructed. When Adam nodded, he leaned in closer to the teenager's face. 'If you don't give me your soul, boy, I will come here and rip it out straight from your chest! Are we clear?!'

Adam gulped.

'Yes…we're clear.'

Arybailos's eyes narrowed at him for a moment. The Mewman felt like he was suffocating under his gaze. Ultimately, the hellish deity relented and drew back from him.

'I will see you within twelve hours.'

A huge column of ashy air spun out of the crevice, rising up to engulf the entire body of the demon. In a one windswept fell swoop, Arybailos had disappeared. The crack in the floor rumbled as it began to close up, stitching itself back together. The only evidence of the incident was the various decorations strewn about the place, and the shattered, bent chandelier resting on the floor at the centre of the room.

Adam breathed a small sigh of relief. As he turned to look at Star, though, he could see she was nowhere near feeling relieved right now. She stared at him, mouth agape in shock.

'You…have some explaining to do,' she repeated to him angrily, glaring at him.

Star could hardly believe what she was hearing.

'You did what?!' the princess screeched. Adam rolled his eyes at her reaction.

'Yes, I created a powerful Seal that sucks away your soul if you use it for too long. What part of that is difficult for you to understand?'

Star could not believe this.

'What were you thinking?!' she yelled, pacing worriedly around her bedroom.

'If I'm ever gonna get home,' he explained, 'or take on the Dark Butterflies, then I need this Seal. Look, I didn't know I was selling my soul to Arybailos.'

'Well you have now!' she retorted, gesturing angrily toward the door.

There was an inexplicable, forceful knock on Star's bedroom door. The two of them immediately snapped to the wooden door.

'Come in,' she granted warily. There was a loud creak as the door opened.

Queen Moon Butterfly stepped into the room with an unsurprisingly serious look on her face.

'I heard about the incident in the royal hall,' Moon told them. Adam supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Word of a demon appearing would get around fast, and the first person it'd be reported to would be the Queen. 'Explain yourself, Adam.'

'Uh, well…' the teenager stammered. 'It was a…misunderstanding.'

'Really?' Moon scoffed, unconvinced. 'Because Arybailos doesn't mistake anyone. What did you do?! Did you make a spell with him?'

'How did you know that?' Adam questioned. 'Have...have you been spying on me?!'

'If you do things like this then I have to!' yelled the queen. 'Now tell me: what did you do?!'

'He made a deal with the Demon King to sell his soul for some of his power!' Star explained angrily. Moon's eyes widened.

'I beg your pardon?!'

'I didn't do it on purpose,' he protested. 'I made a Rune that would…borrow…some of Arybailos's power for a short period of time. I didn't realise I was offering him my soul!'

'What kind of Rune is this?' Moon interrogated angrily. When he hesitated, the Queen simply connected the dots herself. 'It's a Seal, isn't it?! It's Dark magic!'

'Yes!' the young warlock retorted. 'Got a problem with that?'

The Queen sighed exasperatedly.

'You can't be seen casting Dark magic, Adam.'

'Why not?'

Moon was taken aback by his quick, curt response.

'Because…because the Magic High Comm–!'

'Will do what?' Adam interrupted, glaring at her. 'Arrest me? For using Dark magic? Last time I checked, using Dark magic wasn't illegal.'

'Well, it isn't illegal but –'

'Heavily looked down upon?' the Mewman interrupted again. 'That's just superstition. Eclipsa was right – all knowledge is good knowledge. I don't see the problem here.'

'The problem is that you are messing with magic you cannot comprehend!' Moon shouted at him. 'Now you have to give up your soul because of your arrogance!'

'Can't you help him, Mom?' Star asked her, a small element of hope in her voice.

'There's nothing I can do, Star,' she confessed. 'Arybailos is a demon of unknowable power and infinite evil. When you end up in a contract with him, there's little you can do to stop it. The only thing to do is to follow the terms of the deal.'

'And give up my soul,' the Mewman surmised, folding his arms. 'I can't do that.'

'Then figure something out,' Moon ordered him. 'Ever since you got here, you've done nothing but prove the impossible. The only person who could get out of this is you.' Her words were encouraging, but her tone was harsh and bitter. Reluctantly, she turned to leave. 'I have to sort out the Flower Show now that you both will be busy. And someone will have to clean up the hall.'

Hesitantly, the queen left the room, closing the door behind her. Once she was out of sight, the two exchanged a worried look. Adam rubbed his chin in contemplation.

'There has to be some kind of loophole to this,' Adam suggested, rubbing his chin in thought. 'When I made the Seal, it involved temporarily pledging my soul as the cost for its effects. The longer I keep it up, the more your soul is drained.'

Star waited for a second to hear the rest of it. When she didn't, she jerked forward and shook her head in confusion.

'…and?'

'And the incantation states the soul is pledged to magic,' the Mewman specified, folding his arms. 'Not to Arybailos. To magic itself.'

'Whose magic do you think that is, Adam?' she scorned, frowning at him sanctimoniously. 'It's the Immortal Flame you've granted your soul to. Y'know…the eternal, primordial source of power that Arybailos has had complete control over for eons?'

'Since when did you have such extensive knowledge of primeval demons?' the warlock questioned in surprise, jerking his head to his shoulder in confusion.

'Tom's been giving me lessons on ancient Underworld history,' she explained. Her eyes flickered about the room for a few moments, widening in realisation. 'That's it! Tom!'

'What about him?' Adam asked bitterly.

'Tom knows all about this kinda stuff,' Star pointed out. 'He'll know what to do!'

'Do we have to?' the teenager whined. Star glared at him.

'I don't care what problem you have with him! Tom can help us! Unless you actually want to hand your soul over to Arybailos?'

Adam bit his lip and reluctantly remained silent.

'I thought not.'

It only took a few minutes after Star had called Tom that he arrived in her room with his carriage in tow. He spotted Adam standing next to her and instantly looked disappointed. Whether Star didn't notice or didn't care to notice, Adam was unsure. Either way, the magical warrior princess directed them to speak inside Tom's dimension-bending magic carriage.

'So, what's the deal, Star?' asked the Demon Prince, as she stepped into the carriage. She didn't answer, merely storming past him into the room. Tom immediately straightened his back and adopted a stiffer countenance. He eyed Adam as he walked after Star.

'We've got a huge problem,' Star told him, folding her arms and leaning against a wall.

'What is it?' Tom prompted again, frowning.

'What do you know about Arybailos?' enquired Adam, instead of the Butterfly Princess.

Tom's face somehow got even paler. The mere mention of the name silenced him, as his eyes widened, and his jaw fell.

'Um…uh…he-he's an immortal deity from the dawn of time,' he stumbled. 'He…resides in a legendary region in the Underworld called the Immortal Flame. He used the eternal fire to carve it out for himself.'

'Yeah, well, Adam ended up accidentally making a deal with him that involved selling his soul,' Star informed him hastily. 'Any ideas?'

It took a solid few seconds before Tom was able to process what he had just heard. He merely stared at Adam.

'You made a pact with Arybailos?!' Tom gawped loudly. Adam nodded in annoyance. 'I'm not sure there's anything you can do! He's an unstoppable demon. Even my mom, the Queen of the Underworld, is afraid of him.' He looked down regrettably. 'Everyone knows that if you make a deal with Arybailos, there's no coming back. He will come to collect on his side of the bargain by any means necessary.'

'We have twelve hours to figure something out,' Adam told him, taking out the bell from his pocket and showing it to him. When he tried to hand it to Tom, the demon yelped and jumped back from it.

'I've never touched something belonging to Arybailos before,' the prince claimed fearfully, holding his arms flat against his chest in terror.

'Grow up,' spat the Mewman impatiently. 'Tell me: is there anything I could do to maybe change the deal?'

'This pact constitutes a magically binding contract,' he informed him regrettably. 'Its terms can't be changed by the person who signed it…but, I suppose, since Arybailos created the contract, he could change it.'

'How do we convince him to do that?'

'Um…' Tom thought aloud. 'Uh…legends say Arybailos loves a good competition. He can't turn down a wager…so perhaps if you challenge him…to a fight, or something, then he might agree to reverse the terms of the contract.'

'Right…challenge him to a fight,' the Mewman decided rather quickly. 'Got it.'

'Adam!' Star cried in disbelieving shock, nonplussed. 'You can't just fight Arybailos! You'll lose!'

'What other choice do I have?' the warlock pointed out. 'Hand over my soul on a silver platter? I'd definitely take a 0.01% chance of success over 0%, wouldn't you?'

'Don't get mad at me!' Star yelled back. 'You wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't made a deal with a devil behind my back!'

'Yes, I made a mistake, alright?!' Adam shouted. 'Is that what you wanted to hear? I'm not going to waste time dwelling on what I did wrong – I'd rather come up with a solution. I can think about my mistakes later. Even a blind man has hindsight, Star!'

The magical princess sighed and held a hand to her head tiredly. She should have remembered Adam was stubborn and unbearably argumentative at times.

'Fine,' Star conceded, letting her arms fall to her sides. 'But if you get yourself killed, don't blame me!'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' said Adam with a challenging smile.

'Any advice on how to beat this guy, Tom?' Star inquired reluctantly.

'No mere mortal has ever survived Arybailos, much less bested him,' Tom warned him. 'Just put up a good fight. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll be merciful.'

'I have to at least try to win,' the teenager decided, scratching his head. He stared down at the bell. 'Right now, this is the only option.'

Reluctantly, Star bit her lip.

'Well…good luck,' she bid worriedly.

Adam held the bell up to the side of his face and breathed in and out to steady himself. Once he decided he was ready, he shook the bell from side to side. An ordinary ringing sound rang from it for a few seconds before its magic activated.

A wall of infinitely crimson flames engulfed his vision. He clutched his eyes shut at its intense brightness.

It took a few moments before the bright tornado of flames unwrapped itself around Adam's vision. Once he had registered the heat and light had gone, he opened his eyes to survey his new surroundings.

A barren maroon wasteland stretched out for as far as he could see. Pits of fire glowed and flickered at various points across the craggy ground. A few cliff faces stood tall against the rest, complete with bright orange lava waterfalls cascading down and oozing onto the rock below. Several spots of land were cracked open. Every so often spurts of lava would explode from them with a violent rumble, like hellish geysers.

The ground felt uneven beneath his feet, unwelcome and sharp against his black boots. There were a few scarce sparkles of flint spread out across it, mixed within the thin layer of ashy sand dusted across.

Looking up, he stared at the burnt orange sky. Merely looking at it made him sweat bullets from its imposing heat. The lava from the pits and geysers and waterfalls contributed to its blood orange colour, as though they were slowly burning the sky. Instead of clouds, there were plumes of ash floating high above him, like small cockroaches in his vision, or black spots in old video footage. Something about it registered in his mind as satanic.

Everything looked as though life had been sucked out and faded away. The only semblances of life were the various leafless dead bushes that could be seen germinating, seeping through the cracks in the land. They were slender, bony and stalky, like hands reaching out from under the surface. Adam felt one of them tickle the side of his leg, prompting him to instinctively jerk it away. Honestly, he felt as though, if he hadn't, the slender fingers would have reached out and grabbed him.

Or perhaps that was stupid.

'Welcome to my domain, Adam Butterfly.'

He spun around at the loud voice mentioning his name. Of course, Adam wanted to complain about his being referred to as a Butterfly, but now wasn't a good time.

Arybailos sat on a huge demonic throne a great distance away from him. It towered over him, several times his height.

Two smaller thrones sat beside him, the one to his left being larger than the other. In both thrones sat other demons, smaller than Arybailos but nonetheless colossal in size. The one in the second largest seat – whom Adam guessed was the Demon Queen of this dominion – was a dark, purple-skinned devil, looking very similar to Arybailos. The third demon in the room was a paler slate grey demon, around half the height of the queen. Probably the heir to the demon throne, Adam surmised.

'Have you come to volunteer your soul to me?' enquired Arybailos, his deep black eyes narrowing in on him.

'Uh…not quite,' Adam admitted.

The three royal demons responded by screeching at him especially vociferously. The Mewman's hair was instantly swept with intense wind. Any more powerful and he felt his skin could be torn off.

'Okay…inside voices…' he muttered, clutching his ears against their ear-piercing voices.

'DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME, BOY!' Arybailos bellowed at him, leaning forward from his throne. 'HAND ME YOUR SOUL OR I WILL CRUSH YOUR BONES TO DUST!'

'Just hear me out,' he persisted, holding up his hands in surrender. 'I know you can't resist a good challenge, so…' he glanced between the two demons sitting beside the immortal deity. '…I challenge you to a duel!'

There was a pregnant pause for a moment before the three demons erupted into raucous laughter. Their distinct laughs, each of varying pitches, mixed together to create a terrible cacophony horrid to his ears.

'The boy is desperate!' The Demon Queen described in hilarity, glancing at her husband.

'Either you are very brave or very foolish,' Arybailos stated, as his humorous look transitioned to a hard glare.

Adam wiped away the sweat on his brow.

'Is that a yes, or no?'

'You are intending to reverse the contract?'

'Yes,' he concurred. The demon breathed in and out slowly before responding.

'The answer is no.'

'Afraid to lose?' the Mewman taunted with a mischievous grin. Arybailos was not impressed.

'YOU QUESTION MY POWER?!' the devilish entity roared at him, blowing his hair away. 'You will lose against me. You are a mere mortal, whereas I AM A GOD!'

'Wow,' Adam claimed, appearing unimpressed. 'The great Arybailos…is refusing to fight a "mere mortal" – out of fear.'

'Watch your tone, child!' derided his wife. She turned to her king. 'Do not entertain this boy's whimsical challenge.'

'No, Bielza,' Arybailos ignored. Her eyes widened.

'Ary–'

'The Butterfly is right,' the deity interrupted. 'I do enjoy a suitable challenge. Let it be known that Arybailos is not a coward.' He exhaled reluctantly. 'Very well, child. I shall grant you your fight. In the miniscule chance that you succeed, I will rescind the contract.'

'Thank you,' Adam acknowledged. He looked between Bielza and her son. 'Um…so how are we gonna do this? I've never fought a god before.'

'Oh, you won't be fighting me,' chuckled the Demon King.

Before Adam could ask him who he was fighting, a tall ring of fire surrounded him, the radius connecting with the three thrones he had been staring at. The flames grew high, obscuring much of his surroundings, before falling down.

Adam looked around to see he was now encompassed by huge circular walls of maroon stones. Not just any walls, either; they were arena walls. They were angular, leaning back to accommodate rows and rows of seats.

All the seats were occupied by hellish demons of various shapes and sizes, all staring down at him in the centre of the arena. Vociferous cheers reverberated about the stadium, filling his ears with endless white noise. They all watched him with ebullient intent, excited to see the next lamb to the slaughter.

Once Adam recovered from the fact that he now had an audience, he looked back at Arybailos.

His throne, along with the two beside him, was built into the arena, integrated into its walls to join the colossal crowd.

'Well, who am I fighting, then?' asked the warlock, swallowing the lump in his throat.

'You will be fighting my greatest warrior,' Arybailos answered him vaguely. He looked up to address the crowd, stretching out his arms in such a way as to hype them up. 'Demons and devils: give it up for the most decorated knight of the Immortal Army, the Underworld Knight himself…' A pillar of fire spurted out of the ground several feet away from Adam. He spotted a dark figure inside the flames. '…Calysto!'

The audience erupted into even louder cheers and applause as they spotted their most famous hero. The pillar of fire rumbled as it disappeared, and the dark figure was revealed.

It was a humanoid male clad in dark, shiny metal armour. His helmet was pointed at the front, covering his entire face aside from two glowing red eyes. In his right hand was a shiny ruby sword, freshly sharpened and grinded. The obsidian-black cross-guard was encrusted in evil crimson jewels along the crossbar and end piece, while the handle (what little Adam could see of it) was bound with thick leather and ornate gold embroidery. In his left hand was a shiny black shield of the same pigment, rounded with ruby red rivets running along its border.

Calysto geared himself into an attack position, holding his sword horizontally by his side and shield directly pointing at his opponent.

Adam breathed out a worried sigh as he stared at the dark demon knight. He supposed he shouldn't complain. Instead of this paladin, Adam could have been fighting Arybailos himself. For all the hubris he could display, the Mewman knew there was absolutely no way he could defeat the fiery deity. Not a chance.

Okay, the warlock thought. Let's do this.

[14] The Royal Flower Show is essentially a reflection of the Chelsea Flower Show but for Mewni.

[15] In case you were wondering, Adam is 5'10" (178 cm).

I hope you all enjoyed reading this!

While this episode is two chapters long. the next one is going to be four chapters long. This four-episode arc will round off Volume I. Volume II will feature chapters 21-45, and Volume III will feature Chapters 41 to the end. For this website, these will all be separate fics.

As for this chapter, who would've thought that casting the Seal of Arybailos would constitute a magically binding contract of soul betrothal? Well, I did, of course. That was the intent from the start. While I plan on Adam being able to use the spell, the fact that it creates that contract is going to be extremely relevant to the plot in the future, not just right now. It limits the number of people who can use the spell, because I think a spell that provides a huge magical boost, for (essentially) no drawbacks, is too powerful for anybody to just use. If this spell was this easy, destroying Mina Loveberry would have been ten times easier.

I had a few redrafts with this chapter. Moon spying on him was originally going to be revealed to Adam later on, but I decided it was better to do it now, because the next episode wasn't going to feature Moon with much significance. I wouldn't have another opportunity before that episode concludes, and doing it after that episode wouldn't make much sense for reasons you'll see when I actually post it. Besides, I think it works here since this is the point where Moon's animosity towards Adam is at its highest; she just found out he's in league with Eclipsa (and although she's fine with it now, she's still mad about being lied to) and now Adam's gone and made this spell behind her back. Not only does that make her mad for the problems it's caused, but she's also upset that she didn't have enough time to spy on him to discern enough about the spell he had made. She only knew that he had made a new Dark spell, and she simply connected the dots after being told about Arybailos. The Moon and Adam argument, I felt, was a lot of different disagreements and feelings compounding into one big shit show.

I feel like I've mostly been hating on Tom for the majority of this story, so I gave him some appropriate use in this chapter. I think Tom is just a bad boyfriend in Season 3, so I'm glad he becomes a much better character in Season 4. However, Tom at the moment is toxic and in desperate need of an actual redemption arc. He'll get one, don't worry. That one is going to come two episodes after the mid-season finale. Anyway, I think it only made sense for Tom to be the one to advise Adam about Arybailos and provide the exposition on him. Given that Arybailos occupies a caste of the Underworld, a place that Tom is the prince of, then Tom logically should know everything about Arybailos. Even if he's never met him. To Tom's credit, his advice works: challenging Arybailos to a fight did succeed in stalling him. It was just not possible that Adam was ever going to defeat Arybailos, so he's fighting Calysto, who is said to be the best fighter in the multiverse. Yeah, Adam's kinda screwed. Which is the point.

I am not sure whether I want Calysto to reappear, or to be a one-off character. Arybailos is definitely going to return later; I have plans for him in the finale. I am just not sure about Calysto. I'm not sure he'll be interesting enough of a character to warrant a return. We'll see.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the fifteenth chapter of Volume I of the Negative Multiverse. It's awesome to know people are liking this enough to leave reviews! See you in the next chapter!