Prologue
A/N: Hey everyone, welcome to my new story. I know I have other stories I should be working on…but, this was just one of many other ideas living in my head that I had to write down. Mostly because I hadn't really seen a story with this idea yet.
Remember, I don't own the Owl House, if I did, it wouldn't have ended to soon.
The sound of footsteps echoed down the quiet halls as a golden clad form strode down, white cape billowing out behind him. Despite his confident stride, Jasper still felt his pounding in his chest. Magenta eyes flickering anxiously down each shadowy corridor as he passed.
He knew he shouldn't be nervous. For the past several days he'd made it a point to behave as normally as possible. To follow his routine to the letter. To make as few mistakes as possible to avoid arousing suspicion.
It seemed to be working. No one had made any comment about him acting different—well, except Darius. The assistant to the Abomination Coven Head had asked if he was alright a couple times today, but Jasper had been able to brush off his friend's concern.
Besides, he couldn't involve him in this. Darius had worked too hard to risk everything he'd worked for on Jasper's plan. Because if it failed, then being petrified for treason would be a mercy.
Stepping into his room, Jasper discarded his mask, lowering his hood to run his hands through his hair. Titan, he couldn't believe he was actually doing this. He was actually committing treason. He was betraying the man who had given him everything. The man who clothed him, fed him, put a roof over his head. The man who gave him a purpose.
And he was going to be going to go directly against his orders and committing sacrilege. He was going to be defiling holy ground.
But he didn't have a choice. Eclipse Lake had run dry Titan only knew how long ago. He had already failed the Emperor by being unable to bring back the one thing his Majesty needed more than anything for the Day of Unity. And the head was the only place where there could be some left. It was sacred ground, even to Wild Witches. No one would dare step foot there. There had to be some Titan's blood left there.
Jasper couldn't come back empty handed. He couldn't fail the Emperor. Not again.
He didn't want to be replaced.
Discarding his uniform, the dirty-blonde changed into something more…casual. Something the Golden Guard wouldn't be caught dead in. Because if this mission was going to succeed, he couldn't afford to be recognized.
However, he would still need to be careful. Walking up to the head would be suicide. So, he would have to use his staff to get there. Which sucked because it was a very identifiable staff.
He would have to find a way to disguise it.
Almost automatically, his gaze landed on a worn pink frog plush.
He wasn't that desperate.
-.-
Jasper made a point of ignoring the flailing plush at the end of his staff as he flew towards the head.
It, unfortunately, was the only thing that could pass as a wild witch's palisman he had. Still, it gave him another reason to not get caught. If Belos didn't kill him for this, the embarrassment of getting caught with a stuffed toy tied to the end of his staff would.
Thankfully, his odds of getting caught were low as distantly he could see storm clouds rolling in from the knee. Boiling rains were one of the few things that the Emperor allowed his men to retreat from their posts for. Mostly because virtually everyone hid from the searing precipitation. Hopefully it would clear up by the time he was done with his search. But if he had to fly back to the palace in the rain, he would.
Wouldn't be the first time.
Flying into the eye of the skull, Jasper slowly came to a stop, hovering over the sacred ground. Hesitantly, he slid off his staff, grimacing as his boots came into contact with the glossy silver-blue floors. He hadn't really known what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't…this.
Elegant carvings adorned the walls of the passageways stretching out before him, leading deeper into the great Titan's skull. Pillars gleaming in the light from the dim glow of fool's blood arching along the cavern ceiling. It was beautiful.
But, still, despite the otherworldly beauty, Jasper couldn't help the pit that formed in his stomach. The carvings, the hallways, the stairs, the doors and pillars, all were signs of civilization. Maybe they were relics of the Savage Ages. Back when the people had been too foolish to properly follow the ways of the Titan and would have little issue defiling the sacred site. But it didn't matter, all that it meant was that at one point or another, there were people here.
People who would have had taken the blood he needed.
He was going to fail the emperor.
Heart pounding in his chest, Jasper ran down the nearest set of stairs. There had to be some blood left. It couldn't be all gone. He would search the entire skull if he had to. From the largest chambers to the narrowest nooks and crannies. Somewhere in this skull, there was Titan's blood left.
He couldn't fail the emperor.
The shadows grew longer as he descended into the skull, leaving the soft light of the fool's blood to the harsh scarlet of his staff. His footsteps echoed loudly in the maze of halls and stairs. Reminding him of the fact he was committing a mortal sin with every step he took. Still, surely the Titan would understand. That he needed to do this for his chosen prophet to help carry out his will. And that he would pray every day and do everything in his power to earn forgiveness for committing such sacrilege.
Picking a chamber, he raced in, hoping to see even the tiniest puddle of the precious azure liquid. Instead, he heard something crunch underfoot.
Jasper cursed to himself. He needed to be more careful. If people had desecrated this ground before, then there was a chance that they had left traps behind. To keep others from stealing whatever magical amplifiers remained.
Raising his staff, he prepared himself for whatever monstrosity he just inadvertently unleashed. However, instead of seeing swinging axes, or poison darts, or even a giant wild demon ready to swallow him whole, all he saw was bones.
The entire room was covered in bones. Skeletons of people just tossed aside and forgotten. Some so entangled it was hard to tell where one ended and another began.
However, that was not what got his attention. Because crunched under his foot, was a golden mask.
One that was just like his.
Stumbling back, Jasper stared down at the broken mask, his gaze slowly trailed to the skeleton it came from. Heart pounding in his chest as he realized that it wore a familiar uniform. It had been ruined by exposure and decay. The once pristine white cloak stained a reddish brown, torn from what appeared to be massive claws. Golden armor broken and rusted.
This…this was a Golden Guard. This was one of his predecessors.
He knew when he'd been given this position that it was dangerous. Many of the Guards before him had perished in the line of duty. Only one or two had been executed as traitors. Their bodies turned to stone in petrification ceremonies. But this man…he should've been buried with honors. So, what was he doing here? Why was he here?
Maybe…maybe this was one of the ones who disappeared on a mission.
Increasing the power of his staff, scarlet light fully illuminated the room. And, to his horror, the empty gazes of more broken masks stared back at him.
These people…all of them were Golden Guards.
What were they doing here? They should've been in a proper tomb. Remembered with honor. Why were they here? Forgotten in a hole. Cast aside as if their hard work and sacrifice in the name of the Empire didn't matter.
There were dozens of them. Maybe more. He couldn't tell with how entangled some of them were. And, more importantly, some of them were small. Too small for them to be an adult. One too tiny frame was curled up in the corner, a stuffed frog that looked just like the one tied to his staff in hand, hiding under a massive cloak like it was a blanket.
Why? Why were there children here? Why were they in Golden Guard uniforms? The Emperor's Coven didn't even let people begin scout's training until after they've officially graduated from school. Why were these kids here? Where were their families? Was there someone looking for them?
Spotting a set of stairs on the far side of the room, Jasper flash-stepped across the chamber. Making sure to avoid the bodies of his predecessors. There had to be answers. Something that explained what was going on. Something that gave a reasonable explanation as to why soldiers and children were lying in a pit on sacred grounds, left to be forgotten.
Getting to the top of the stairs, he found himself standing in a massive chamber. On the other side of a bridge overhanging the abyss he just emerged from, leading to a massive set of double doors. Teleporting across the bridge, Jasper forced the doors open, hoping that somehow there would be answers on the other side.
And it appeared that the Titan had heard his prayers.
-.-
It was a lie.
Everything he had been told was a lie.
Who he was. His purpose. The Day of Unity. All of it had been a lie.
His Emperor, the man he had given his entire life to, the man he would've died to protect, had lied to him for his entire life.
He wasn't Belos's distant cousin. He hadn't been injured in a severe accident that had killed his family. He never had a mother who loved sewing. Or a father who had shown him how to cast his first spell. He'd never even been born, he had been grown.
Why had he been grown and not born? Because he was a Grimwalker. He was a monster people told their children about at night. A creature born of some of the darkest wild magic.
Jasper wasn't a witch. He was created from a hodgepodge of extremely rare ingredients fifteen years ago. To replace someone Belos—Philip—Philos—whatever his name was, had murdered. One in a long line of them.
One that the man he had considered a brother was already preparing to replace.
Just like he had replaced the one before him.
Because all of his fellow Golden Guards had been like him. They had been created as a replacement for someone that had been close to Belos. And when they inevitably disappointed him for not being the perfect copy he wanted, for not being a memory of someone else, he killed them. He murdered them for not being someone else. He hurt them, tortured them, slaughtered them, and tossed them aside like trash.
They all had loved Belos. But Belos had never loved them.
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
The Day of Unity. The day Jasper had spent every waking moment helping the Emperor prepare for. It was a lie.
It wasn't going to bring about a eutopia. It wasn't going to help people and save them from the dangers of wild magic. No. It was going to kill them. Emperor Belos was planning on murdering the entirety of the Boiling Isles and just leaving. Abandoning them all to their fates as he escaped the consequences of his actions back in the human realm.
Because he already had the Titan blood. He had a vial of Titan's blood right here. Sitting in a vial on his desk. Taunting each and every one of his brothers who had been killed for failing to find something that their creator had already had.
The Emperor had sent them on a wild possum chase just to find another excuse to dispose of them.
Belos was no prophet. He was a monster. He was a hypocrite.
A monster who ruled the Boiling Isles with an iron fist for years. A monster that the people adored. A hypocrite that claimed to loathe wild magic with every fiber of his being. A hypocrite that used that same wild magic to create him and the others.
Was wild magic even evil? Or was that just another lie?
But would the truth even matter? If Jasper came forwards, if he revealed his identity as the Golden Guard, would anyone believe him?
Because if he hadn't seen all this for himself, Jasper personally would've executed whoever dared to spew such heresy.
No one would believe that Belos had any other intentions than good for them. The people would willingly follow a man who only wished them harm to their deaths. And there was nothing he could do to stop him.
Unless…unless he stopped him from making anymore progress. By destroying everything he had made.
He would have plenty of time. After all, he could still hear the storm raging from outside the skull. Even if Belos wanted to stop him, there was no way to do so, not without melting in the boiling rain first.
But, there was something else he had to do first. Grabbing his staff, Jasper strode towards an alcove that had vines growing from it. Slowly stepping into the room, his gaze landed on the rows of dirt-filled boxes lining the walls.
Which one had he come from?
Shaking the thought aside, Jasper stepped towards a table. Staring at the skeleton lying on it. His ortet. The original person Belos had killed. The one he had wanted back. Most of his bones were missing. No doubt used to make him and the others.
He wondered which one was used to make him.
He wondered which one was used to make his replacement.
Raising his staff, Jasper couldn't bring himself to speak, to apologize for what was about to happen. Hopefully, whoever this was, he would appreciate that after this, his body could no longer be desecrated. That those created from him would no longer be forced to suffer at the hands of his murderer.
Because, once he was done, Belos wouldn't be able to create a Grimwalker again. Sure, he had his ways of obtaining all those impossibly rare materials needed. But it would all be for naught if there wasn't an ortet to harvest.
A red glow engulfed the bones, lifting them into the air. Letting them hover above the table as they slowly burned to ash. Scattering the ashes of his ortet to never be reassembled. Finally, the man, whomever he was, could rest.
For a moment, he swore he saw a softly smiling figure standing over by a box in the corner.
Now, he just needed find his replacement.
Because he wasn't going to leave him to go through the same hell he went through.
-.-
After what seemed like hours of digging, Jasper finally found his replacement.
He hadn't known what he'd been expecting. Belos's notes had stated that Grimwalkers could be grown to a variety of ages. But most of the time they'd been adults…or at least close to adults. Jasper himself had been about seventeen when he'd been harvested.
Needless to say, he hadn't been expecting to find an infant.
He was in a small box in the corner. Almost like he'd been pushed aside and discarded before he'd even had the chance to live.
But he wanted to live. The elder could tell by how that tiny hand had practically taken his finger in an iron grip, refusing to let go. Even after swaddling him in the cloak of one of their fallen predecessors the child had refused to let go. It had taken giving him the old stuffed animal tied to the end of his staff to finally calm the frightened newborn.
At least long enough for him to go grab the Titan's blood.
Jasper wasn't stupid. Despite all the times Belos had sneered otherwise. He wouldn't have survived as long as he had as the Golden Guard if he was. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Emperor knew of his treason. And he personally had led enough witch hunts to know that the man refused to give up when he'd believed someone had wronged him. Regardless if someone had or not.
Titan, how many times had he had a hand in executing people who'd been wrongly accused of slighting the Emperor? How many of them had been innocent of their crimes? How many of them had simply been wanting to live their own lives in peace?
It was an answer he probably would never receive. And it would be something he would have to live with. Because the cracks of thunder reverberating throughout the skull had finally gone silent.
The storm was dying down. Now, it was only a matter of time before his absence was discovered. Before he was exposed as a traitor and the baby in his arms would be forced to take his place. Pushed into a role he never should've been forced to take.
He couldn't let that happen.
He wasn't going to let that happen.
He wasn't going to let this child go through the hell he lived through.
Raising his staff, Jasper slammed it on the floor, smirking as wave of magic erupted from the impact. Cascading over the room and immediately igniting Belos's precious research. The skull was dry. There was nothing to stop the flames from consuming everything in sight.
By the time the Emperor even figured out something was wrong, it would all be destroyed and they would be long gone.
After all, there was one place Belos had no power. It was almost a wonder as to why he was so desperate to get back to it.