Chapter 16: Comeuppance

Solomon moved through the familiar streets of the isle. It was quite late at night and few people dared to stay out this late. Those who did, quickly scurried away in a dark corner when he approached. Solomon enjoyed it, it felt good to be able to walk the land freely again and have those you meet fear you.

He walked until he stood in front of his father's house. He noticed several windows had been smashed and garbage was piling up near the door, he saw no light burning inside. As he approached the door, some rats spilled from the garbage and hastily dashed away. Solomon pulled his nose at this and placed his hand on the door, which flung open without any resistance.

It was dark in the hallway, but Solomon could still see something was off. Before he had left, their house had been packed with cabinets, books and all sorts of trinkets, now all he could see was literal garbage. He walked through the hallway towards the living room, his entire path covered with moldy food, scraps of wood and loose papers all covered in a layer of dust. The living room was mostly empty, with only a broken chair and cabinet remaining and a corner of the room covered in scorch marks. As he moved to the stairs, he saw that those were covered in garbage to.

"Father?" he said loudly. No response. This slightly panicked him. Surely no one had come in here and killed his father during his absence? The place did look like it had been ransacked, but surely his father was still alive.

It took him some trouble to get up the stairs, since it was overflowing with garbage. When he reached the upper floor, he saw that it was covered in garbage as well and most of the furniture he had known had been removed. Most of the glass in the doors to the balcony was shattered and a part of the roof had collapsed, meaning there was now a sizable hole above him. In the corner, he saw the flickering light of a single candle and what he believed to be a figure sitting in a chair.

"Father?" he asked again as he approached the figure in the chair.

An old man looked up at him. Solomon was shocked, his father looked even more old and frail than when he had left to search for the cauldron. His hair was long, thin and unwashed, as was his beard. His face was emaciated and dirty and his eyes were hollow and glossy. Solomon looked at his father's hands, which might as well have been the hands of a skeleton, bony and thin. Along with his appearance, his father stank, as if he had given up on bathing and hygiene all together. The ground near his chair was covered with bottles of strong liquor. All together it made for one hell of a disgusting picture.

"You!" his father said in a raspy voice, as if he hadn't used it in years. "YOU!"

Solomon stepped back a bit as his father dropped his latest bottle and raised a claw like hand at him. "Yes father. It's me."

"Y-you have some nerve to come back here, some nerve yes." He said slurring as he looked at his son with a drunken grimace.

"What happened to you father?" Solomon said, trying to mask the disgust in his voice.

"How long has it been, eh? How long?" his father said, not even acknowledging his question.

"Just over seven months, father. It has been just over seven months since you send me away." Solomon replied.

The horned king scoffed at him. "I surely thought you would have joined up with those prissy Auradonians by now."

"Why would I do that?" Solomon said as he balled his fists.

The horned king shrugged. "Seems like that's what they all do nowadays. Maleficent's daughter, Jafar's son and now apparently Ursula's daughter has crossed the barrier as well."

"Uma helped me get back here, father. We are making plans to wage war on Auradon." He said.

His father didn't listen. "I was sure you would change your ways once you'd cross the barrier. Would be typical. Always coming up short."

"Father!" Solomon now yelled. Which made the horned king look up at him again. "What happened to you, what is all this?" Solomon gestured to all the bottles and garbage around him.

"You did not come back." The horned king said. "Nothing changed outside. I was sure that you had failed or that you betrayed me. A disappointment in any case."

"I have the cauldron, father." Solomon said coolly. He was honestly disgusted with what his father had become.

"Took you long enough." His father said with biting sarcasm. "So? Why is Auradon not burning? Why are we still surrounded by that pesky barrier?"

Solomon tried to calm himself down. "I only said that I've found it! I found it and brought it back with me. Your journal said nothing about how to use the cauldron."

The horned king stared at his son with what Solomon thought was disbelief. "How to use it!?" His father rasped. "How to use it!? What do you mean, how to use it!?"

"Just as I am saying." Solomon replied. "I found the cauldron but don't know how to use it. Your journal mentioned nothing of-." He said before his father interrupted him.

"What was it supposed to have said, eh? A spoonful of herbs and some pigeon's blood!? NO! Only those with the necessary power and will can even hope to wield the power of the cauldron. You say that you could not activate it?" His father slurred on.

"No." Solomon said with clenched teeth. "I tried everything, every spell, every type of magic I know about! What more is there?"

Only now did the horned king look at Solomon with both disappointment and disgust. "Spells? Spells! The cauldron is not some simple trinket to be activated by just anyone!"

"So how did you do it?" Solomon asked agitated.

The horned king simply spat on the floor in response to Solomon's question. "You are a failure! You failed me! You disappointed me!"

Solomon kicked the table with the candle, smashing it to pieces against the wall and abruptly covering them in complete darkness. He conjured up a ball of green flames in his hand and watched as it illuminated the deep lines in his father's face and the milky pupils in his hollow eyes. "I have travelled for over half a year. I have stolen! I have killed! All to do what you told me to do! And I gave up my own blood to so! And now you say that because I was not able to use the cauldron, a powerful magical relic I have absolutely no prior knowledge about, everything was a failure?"

The horned king still looked at the flame in Solomon's hand before slowly looking into his eyes again. "You know nothing of pain or suffering, boy! You come here crying like a child because you can't do the one thing I asked you to do! I told you to rain down evil on Auradon in my stead! To finish what I had started!"

Solomon threw his ball of fire at some candle stubs on a nearby shelf, so he did not have to keep his flame conjured up all the time. "Tell me now! Tell me how to activate the cauldron and I will burn it all! I will kill everyone that stands in my way! TELL ME!" he yelled at his father.

The horned king looked at his son with nothing but contempt. "You are worthless. You do not know what to do so you come crawling back to me. I can't help you with anything. You are a disgrace!"

Solomon turned his back on his father, angrily trying to hold back the tears of rage which were boiling up inside him. "I am your son. Your only son. And you willingly sent me on a journey which could have so easily been the death of me." He said as he looked at his father again. "How would you have felt? If you realized the journey you sent me on got your only son killed?"

The horned king swallowed. "I have no son! Only failures."

Solomon unsheathed his sword lightning fast and swung at his father. The blood splattered over the wall as the blade went through his throat.

The horned king looked at Solomon with wide, shocked eyes for a brief moment and tried to gurgle something before his head fell on his chest and he did not move anymore.

Solomon still stood in the middle of the room, breathing heavily, staring at his father's corpse. As with his previous murders he did not feel remorse, a whole plethora of other emotions was buzzing through his head. He felt anger at his father for refusing to help him. He felt confusion over what to do now. But one emotion that won over the others was triumph. Triumph, over having finally rid himself of the father that had never given him love or affection.

Solomon sheathed his sword again and ran his hands through his hair. He slowly breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down. Before he had come here, he had convinced himself that his father would willingly help him in trying to activate the cauldron, but not only had his father not done so, he had not let a single useful thing slip regarding the use of the cauldron. Solomon thought, only the comment about 'those with the necessary will and power can even hope to wield the power of the cauldron' helped a little. When his father had activated the cauldron all those years back, he had been at the peak of his magical prowess and hell-bent on the destruction of the world.

Maybe because Solomon simply sought the cauldron to please a father he had never loved was enough reason for him to not be worthy enough to wield it. Now that he had taken care of that problem by killing his father however, the cauldron might deem him worthy. Even though his initial motivation behind finding and using the cauldron was his father, he now felt more motivated than ever to bring destruction and doom to Auradon, simply because he craved vengeance.

He was now eager to try and activate the cauldron again, but before he headed out, he searched his father's house more thoroughly. He knew that his father had several things hidden more discretely around the house, in places the burglars probably have not looked. He was thus quite disappointed when he found out that the burglars had been able to find most hidden items he knew of as well, but he was still able to find some rare potion ingredients, another spell book and another interesting item he had not expected to find, an amulet which would disturb the wearer's magical abilities. Within the barrier it was of course useless because no one, apart from him, was even able to perform any magic, but outside it might prove to be useful.

He stuffed all the items he had found in a small bag and prepared to head out. He took one more look at his father, drenched in his own blood and unmoving. He barely looked any worse than when he had still been alive. Again, he felt absolutely no remorse, no regret.

Solomon did not linger on him too long before heading out the door. When he stood outside his former home, he conjured up another ball of fire and threw it inside. A large part of the ground floor spontaneously busted into flames and Solomon heard the few items still remaining inside quickly being swallowed by the ever-growing fire. Solomon kept watching as numerous people from nearby houses came outside looking at the commotion. Some of them started shouting and buckets filled with water were quickly brought in in an attempt to douse the flames. Their efforts were quite useless as Solomon saw with glee how the fire spread upstairs, probably turning his father's corpse into ash already.

As the group in front of the burning house kept growing, Solomon silently slipped away.

Solomon's band of thieves had chosen a fairly large abandoned warehouse they called the den as their main base of operations when they first started out. Throughout the years, they had patched up holes in the walls and reinforced it so that it could be defended during a possible attack from other gangs.

The warehouse had two entrances, the main one at the front, guarded by spikes and look-outs from which arrows could be fired, consisted of two heavy iron doors. The back entrance, which also served as an emergency exit, was a simple door which could only be accessed by lowering a fire escape from the inside.

Inside the hideout, the gang had divided the living space into four separate rooms. One room was filled with hammocks, couches and matrasses and was meant for sleeping, Solomon had a personal corner separated from his subordinates. Another room was meant as a storage space for items they had stolen. The third room was a combined dining hall and living room, which was also used for any conferences or talks the gang had to have. The last room was more of an arena, which served both for practice among the gang members and occasionally letting off steam.

Solomon watched in approval as he approached the main entrance of the hideout. During his absence, they had improved on the defenses. His subordinates let him in and he walked straight to his corner. Zevon almost bumped into him when he left the sleeping quarters with a large box.

"Oh, excuse me Solomon." He said with his sneaky voice. "I didn't see you after the meeting. What's the plan now?"

"Plans on the enhanced production of weapons as a start. We can't confront Auradon's army with blunt swords and rusty arrows." Solomon replied.

"Right as always." Zevon said with a slight bow.

Solomon scoffed at him. He disliked Zevon's sneaky and unreliable character. He was definitely not someone you would want to have next to you during a war, as he would certainly choose to save himself before helping anyone else. He also had a tendency to betray anyone's trust in order to come out better, Zevon had been a part of nearly every gang on the island and had betrayed them all. Solomon only tolerated him because Zevon's affinity towards potions. He was arguably the best on the isle when it came to potions and even Solomon had to admit that it was good to have him on his side.

"Have the cauldron and its contents been brought here as I commanded?" he asked Zevon.

"Yes, my lord, it's in the arena." He said with a bow.

Solomon nodded. "Here." He said as he passed the rare potion ingredients to Zevon.

"Oh, my lord, these are fantastic." Zevon said as he admired an herb Solomon recognized as wolfsbane.

"Use them for powerful potions useful in war. Take some part of the kitchen as your lab if you have to." Solomon said as he walked towards the arena.

Zevon's mumbles of gratitude died away as Solomon set foot in the arena. The cauldron stood in the middle, surrounded by excited members of his gang. They dispersed when they saw him coming and only Mad Maddy and Ginny Gothel remained to talk to him.

"It's amazing Solomon." Ginny said before Solomon could speak as she admired the cauldron.

Solomon gave her no mind and directed his attention to Maddy. "Have the contents been stored?"

"Yeah, the potions and all have been put in the storage and your personal items are in your room." She replied.

"Good. I want to try something new with the cauldron. For now, I'll only need you Maddy." Solomon said.

"Did your father give you some answers?" Maddy asked.

"You could say that." Solomon replied darkly.

The news that Solomon would try something with the cauldron spread quickly around the facility, so when Solomon did eventually step to the cauldron, he was surrounded by nearly his entire gang.

Solomon slowly breathed in and out as he moved his hand over the cauldron. He immediately felt something different, it was as if he had finetuned his senses or something. A greenish smoke slowly emerged from his hand and made ingenious shapes in the cauldron, where they would then disappear. Solomon tried his hardest to focus and the sweat slowly built on his forehead.

"Maddy!" he yelled, "Come here! Try to focus your magic on the cauldron."

Maddy obeyed, standing next to Solomon and waved her hand above the cauldron in a similar way. Her hand did not conjure up any smoke, but Solomon did feel as if it became easier to focus his magic. It took about a minute more before a soft and flickering green light started to emerge from the cauldron. Solomon eagerly stared at it, when Maddy suddenly fell to her knees beside him, seemingly having succumbed to the power of the magic required.

Solomon desperately tried to keep the aura around the cauldron intact, but soon found himself overwhelmed as well and separated himself from the cauldron with a yell.

While most of his gang members kept their distance with both fear and confusion in their eyes, Zevon and Ginny hastily made their way to them. Zevon moved towards Maddy and helped her get up, while Ginny regarded Solomon.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, "What happened?"

"It is as I suspected." Solomon said breathing heavily. "We need a more powerful magic source in order to activate the cauldron. Only then will we be able to use it." He looked over at Maddy. "She wasn't powerful enough. Take her away, to rest." He commanded Zevon, who bowed before letting Maddy put an arm around his shoulder and taking her to the sleeping quarters.

"Uma has magic to, doesn't she? Will it work if she helps as well?" Ginny asked.

"I doubt it. I still felt a lot of resistance. I fear that we'll first have to bring down the barrier to amplify our own abilities, and if that doesn't work, we'll have to look for even more magic sources." He told her. "I want you to find every magic wielder on the isle and bring them here, whether they want to or not. Also make a list of every magic wielding villain kid that has been taken to Auradon, I refuse to believe that they all want to be on their side."

"Right away." Ginny said with much admiration.

Solomon grabbed her upper arm before she could turn around and stared at her with his dark eyes. "Don't fail me."

Ginny grinned. "I wouldn't dare to."

Solomon stared at the rest of his gang. "Don't you all have a job to do!? Come on! Back to work!" he yelled, and everyone hastily headed for the exit while Solomon bent down over the cauldron again.

He had been right. The cauldron allowed him to try and activate it now that he had shifted his goals. His guess that he would need more magic to operate it had been right. He frowned at this thought though. In his gang there were only him and Maddy who could wield magic. From the other gangs there was only Uma. There were some minor magic wielders on the rest of the isle, nothing that could really help them forward, but enough to take into consideration. He then thought about everyone in Auradon. Out of the VK's with magical abilities two stood out, Freddie Facilier and Mal.

Solomon knew that Mal had definitely joined up with Auradon, so the only way of using her was to force her to cooperate should he need her. He did not know that much about Freddie's situation. He knew that on the isle she would mostly hang out with CJ Hook, but had no idea how she was faring in Auradon, maybe she would willingly join him if he asked? And if not, he had other ways of persuading her. He suddenly realized that CJ could probably play a bigger role in his scheme than he had previously thought. He would go and visit her again, for information and maybe some other purposes.