Disclaimer: I do not own The Owl House or any of its characters. Oh, how I love this twisted ship. That, and I wanted to give my fav evil gorl some more love.
Here in My Garden of Shadows
Blue fire, typical of the magic fire used to light the castle's torches, painted long shadows against the golden walls. Guards slept on, basking in the night's peaceful hour. Soft churns and clicks from the mechanical gears in the castle created a twisted lullaby for the fortress' occupants.
For the second hour of the new day, it was a time when the world froze and became a separate reality.
It was not unusual for him to be up at this hour. With his own curse to handle, and the effects of staying for far too long in this reality, his body was unable to get the rest it needed. But it wouldn't matter soon. Soon, it would all be over, and he would finally return back to the human realm.
Until then, he would settle for finding minor distractions to help him forget the crumbling body beneath him.
His snow-white cloak swirled around him, hiding the majority of his body and heightening the ghostly illusion his form gave off. Behind his mask, blue eyes roamed over the sleeping guards, taking note of the offenders.
It was possible that they were slacking on the job. The night always created a sense of inactivity that never happened during the day, and the lack of stimulation was more than enough to make even the strongest creature fight off a doze.
Then again, Kikimora's garden was… exotic with its plants.
A guard murmured something as Belos stepped past them. It was a fragment of speech, barely audible under the lull of the gears, but one the emperor could tell was made out of pure fright.
He paused, turning around to look back at the hallway of sleeping guards.
The little details began to stick out. One guard was furiously flicking their fingers, muttering something under their breath. Another guard had a hand slightly raised, as if they were just starting to move their hand to cover their head. Other guards twitched and flinched softly. The actions were barely noticeable, but if any of the guards had come in contact with some select plants in her garden…
Belos barely made a sound as he turned back around and continued his path to the garden. He would need to talk to Kikimora about luring in guards to the garden.
The rest of the walk was a short one. A few more turns throughout the castle's broad hallways, and the large door to the indoor atrium rose up.
He slowed, taking care to not announce his presence with his footsteps. A hand lifted, and his cloak parted to let the metal-clad fingers rise to the dark wood of the right door.
Slow knocks, tapped out in a code that let Kikimora know who was outside the garden's doors, echoed throughout the long hallway. Purple magic swirled around the door, and without a word, it opened. Belos stepped inside, shutting the door behind him with a firm push of his hand. The light from the hallway cut out, and he froze, waiting until his eyes adjusted to the darkness the garden lived in.
Thick shadows hung over every bit of space. It was a dark that didn't allow light to pierce it, but was magically enchanted to adjust under the eyes of an occupant. When the darkness in the room matched the amount of light his pupils could take in, shapes became clear.
A stone pathway—organized, but not enough that the thistleweed grass couldn't grow through the spaces between the set rocks—branched out into the inner sanctum of the garden. Trickling water and a few chirps from the insects the garden attracted kept the area from total silence. Tiny, floating lights that resembled what Belos knew as fireflies hovered in the air, twinkling and emanating the only dim light in the atrium. Plants, ones that only grew under the extreme darkness, grew tall over Belos' head, baring striking similarities to monsters only found in night terrors.
One could say it was peaceful in a creepy way, if Belos hadn't already known that most Boiling Isles residents would be unnerved the moment they stepped into the atrium.
"'Come, little children… The time's come to play~'"
Soft singing—in tune, but eerily pitched—reached Belos' hearing. Its cheery tone matched the one of a child's, but deceit lurked behind the words.
The bit of pollen in the air and the total darkness put the emperor at ease, and much to his joy, his eyelids began to feel heavy.
He swept forward. Firm footsteps clicked against the stone path, guiding him to Kikimora. His eyes kept watch over the plants surrounding the pathway, studying the movements and staying cautious from their murderous and sometimes cannibalistic nature. Meat and fresh vegetables were just as valued as fertilizer.
Kikimora's singing trailed away as he got closer to where she was.
Finally, the pathway broadened, and Belos reached the center of the garden.
His assistant stood on a warped version of what could have been a stone water fountain. Instead of water, enormous plants stretched out towards the ceiling, hanging high above their heads. Their stalks were bone, long spinal cords curved near the muscle-and-vein bud of the plant. Long fangs sprouted from the lips of the bud. A Venus flytrap, only, if it had been made of flesh and bone.
And at the base, gently petting the thick blue veins of one of the numerous buds and feeding it fresh meat with her other hand, was Kikimora. "You should not be up at this time, Emperor Belos."
"You shouldn't either, my dear, but here we are."
A loving coo left the little demon as she waved away the carnivorous bud and made room for another. Liquid dripped from the thick cut of meat Kikimora lifted from the tin bucket beside her. "I am here because I have been negligent with taking care of my plants," she stated in the matter-of-fact tone she tended to take on. "With all the missions I have been on—not that I don't enjoy going on them—I have had less time to tend to my darling garden. What's your excuse?"
Belos took a few steps forward, drawing himself close to the side of the warped fountain. "The usual. The effects the Boiling Isles has over my body is keeping me from rest yet again."
"And I assume you're here to gather Sleeping Nettle from me? Our Captain of the Guard, Stephanie—you know her—has been growing a small patch on her balcony. The only thing I have here is Nightmare Pollen, Temporal Mori, and Titan's Sleep. The Nightmare Pollen was only recently planted here however."
A hum left his form. "I noticed. I request that you do not use the night-shift guards to carry and install your plants. They're needed to protect the fortress, and sleeping on the job is, as you know, unacceptable."
"The shipment for my Nightmare Pollen plants arrived at nine o'clock this evening. All of the day-shift guards were already asleep." Kikimora didn't turn from her plant, letting out another caring coo before wiping away the softness in her voice. "What was I supposed to do? Carry the supplies up here myself? The guards were more than capable," she threw out, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "They will not die, and if pollen still resides on their clothing, then any intruders will meet the same fate."
Light radiated from behind Belos' golden mask, lining his eyes with a blue glow. "I should destroy you for the way you talk to me."
"We are alone in this garden, and-" she turned as the bud pulled away, letting the evil glint in her left eye twinkle "-if you are more than happy to kill me, then do as you wish. Then again, I do aid you in helping you sleep, and no one knows more about the Boiling Isles than I do…"
Belos stayed quiet, but the light behind his eyes began to fade.
Kikimora clicked her taloned feet against the stone, stepping toe-to-heel as she closed the distance between her and her emperor. "I know that I am important at the very least to you, and you wouldn't be here right now if you didn't need me for something."
Her collar didn't need to lower for Belos to know that she was wearing a twisted smile.
"Now, my lord, down to business." She stopped in front of him, looking up to meet his gaze. "You mentioned that you've been having trouble falling asleep." A tease, one that held more dark than light humor, slipped into the tone of her voice. "Shall I get the Titan's Sleep? Surely that shall give you the deep sleep you need…"
A humorless laugh left Belos. "I have been here long enough to know of the poison, Kikimora," he hummed, shifting his position to kneel down in front of her. On one knee, the two of them reached eye level. "You wouldn't be planning to kill me in my sleep, hm?"
He lifted a hand, and Kikimora draped her right-hand's claws over the gilded index finger. "My lord," she said, tucking her free hand behind her back and narrowing her visible eye. "If I wanted to kill you in your sleep, I would have done it long before we would have reached this point…"
His thumb caressed the backs of her knuckles. Belos tucked his free hand behind his back, bowing to the little demon. "What would I do without you, my dear?"
"Live, perhaps. Maybe die. We would never know, now would we?"
The dry laughter that left them mixed together, floating with the dim lights that inhabited the garden.
Belos lifted from his bow, but held onto Kikimora's hand. "I will take the Nightmare Pollen."
Her eyebrow raised. "You are aware that it does its namesake… causing nightmares and night terrors…?"
The golden mask over his face covered the roll of his eyes. "I don't care about nightmares. I've had so many at this point that they do not cause fear, only annoyance. You may give me the pollen."
Mischief shone in the reflected lens of her eyes. "Of course, Emperor Belos…"
She turned, and with a wave of her hand, one of the Venus flytrap-like plants whirled and stretched out to a far-off corner of the garden. "Come now, gather Nightmare Pollen for me, my darlings~! It's time to make use of our new friends!"
Leaves rustled and bones clicked together. Within a moment, the flytrap pulled back to the center of the garden, its mouth closed. It leaned over, and as sharp fangs parted, several flowers fell out of a drooling maw.
Kikimora caught the flowers with a swift hand, handing them to her ruler. "One batch of Nightmare Pollen, my lord. One long sniff of this, and it should put you to sleep within half of the current hour." Her hand lifted from his. "You may sleep at the base of my Neurosis Fairy-traps for safety and comfort."
The plants above their heads hissed and swayed, as if agreeing to her words.
Belos lifted his right hand, pulling the golden mask away from his face. Humid air rushed into his nose, different spores and pollens sticking to the scarred parts of his face. The acid-green flowers in his hands, puffy with unshed pollen and familiar to what he remembered as dandelions, moved with a mind of their own, curling around his fingers.
He lifted the small bouquet of flowers to his nose, closed his eyes, and breathed in.
Immediately, sleep began to pull at his eyes. Fatigue swamped his body. His hand dropped back to his side, opening his fingers and letting the flowers fall to the floor. Soft hums burned in his throat, and he stepped onto the stone fountain.
The plants above him swarmed around him in a cocoon once he curled up at their base. His back pressed against the comfortable dirt. One root acted as a pillow, and guarded fingers reached up to curl in Belos' hair and hold up his head. Boney stalks clicked, and Belos breathed in the bitter iron scent they gave off.
Talons nudged his left elbow.
His head turned and looked up, meeting Kikimora's gaze. A pinch of Sleeping Nettle sat pinched between the pad of her fingers. With ease, the little demon pinched her high collar, pulled it down, and licked the nettle from her hanging fingers.
Belos scoffed, narrowing his eyes. "Liar," he huffed softly.
"I tend to withhold information if it is a benefit for me."
"Makes me wonder what other secrets you may be hiding from me…"
Kikimora settled down next to him, kicking up one of her feet onto her other leg. "I have none that you don't already know, my lord." She turned her head, and with the falling of her bangs, Belos saw a wicked glint flash in both of her eyes. "At least, none that I don't already let you know…"
Belos hummed, closing his eyes and opening them when they stared at the boney ceiling above them. "I shall make sure to check your closets, my dear. Skeletons tend to make such a mess when you don't let them out..."
"Hm. I shall consider it." Her voice turned sleepy, and even Belos felt his fatigue start to better him. "Come now, my lord. It is frightfully late, and we are in need of some sleep before tomorrow."
Without any hint of good-nature, Belos nodded his head toward the little demon. "Pleasant dreams, Kikimora."
"And wonderful nightmares to you, sire. Do let me know if I'm in them. I take joy in hearing whatever part I play in nightmares, be it the predator or the prey."
He rolled his eyes under his eyelids, but the ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Belos breathed in again, taking in the atmosphere of the garden. Shadows blanketed him in a comforting way, hiding him away from the rest of the hellscape he had come to rule. Chirps and clicks echoed in his ear, playing a perfect lullaby for sleep. His muscles relaxed completely against the soil, and as the first hint of an oncoming nightmare touched his consciousness, Belos felt a sense of eerie serenity settle over him.
He was infinitely glad Kikimora had agreed to join at his side.
Song Inspo: "Come, Little Children" by Clovet Mae.
There are some bits that I ignored from canon (like making Kiki more important to Belos and her being a little creepier), but for the most part, I tried to keep them both in character. It's going to take me some time to figure out how I want to write them, but I hope you enjoyed this story nonetheless! :) I have fun writing TOH stories, even if I haven't written that much of them.
Thank you for reading and supporting! :D
