Author's Note: First of all, let me just say that for those who were looking forward to the events of Understanding Willow, I'm sorry to say that I am skipping it. It's not personal. I just don't see any way for Stephen to be involved in it. So this chapter is taking place immediately after that.
Secondly, this is an original chapter that I have been brainstorming for months. I hope you all enjoy it. In the next chapter, we will finally get to the Grom story, the one that shook the fanbase forever.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
It has been a long day for the residents of the Owl Sanctum and their friends. Early that day, Amity had accidently burned up Willow's memories, so she and Luz entered the poor girl's mind to fix things. There was a lot of emotional trauma and hard truths admitted, but in the end, Willow's mind was saved and her and Amity's friendship had begun to be repaired.
But the day wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
After leaving the Owl Sanctum, Amity was on her way home when she had come across Clea. Both were surprised to see each other.
"Amity? What are you doing here?" Clea asked.
"Oh. Hey, Clea." Amity greeted nervously. "Willow had a bit of a situation, and I needed Luz and the Owl Lady's help to fix it. What are you doing here so late?"
"I'm looking for Stephen. I couldn't find him at school today for his daily treatment for his hands." Clea answered.
"Well, I haven't seen him in the Owl Sanctum." Amity said. "Then again, I've only gotten so far as the living room, so he might be there."
"Okay. Good speaking with you." Clea said before letting Amity return to her walk home.
When Clea approached the Owl Sanctum, she went past Hooty while he was driving Gus crazy with boring facts about his life. When she entered, she was instantly greeted by the eyes of Eda, King, Luz, and Willow.
"Oh. Hey, kid." Eda said. "What brings you here?"
"I'm looking for Stephen. I couldn't find him today." Clea replied.
"Ooh. Sorry, Clea. Stephen woke up this morning a little under the weather, so he stayed home." Luz explained. "I was going to tell you at lunch, but before I could even see you, that's when Willow had a little situation and we had to come home immediately."
"How under the weather is he?" Clea asked.
"Looks like right now, he's under the boiling rain weather." King answered as they entered the bedroom.
Stephen was halfway in his sleeping bag moving around a lot and sweating. He took heavy rasps as he kept rolling in his bag.
"What's wrong with him?" King asked. "Is he sick or something?"
Clea knelt down over Stephen and placed her hand on his forehead. But the second she did, dark-red smoke erupted from where she touched forcing her to pull her hand back.
"Okay. That's not normal." Clea said.
"A thousand crazy things in the Boiling Isles, and that's not normal?" Luz asked.
Eda knelt down next to Clea to take a better look at Stephen's body. That's when she noticed a red glow coming from the back of his hand. As soon as she saw the symbol, she gasped in terror.
"Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no, no! Oh, my Titan! Not that! Not him!"
"Eda, what's wrong?" Luz asked.
"It's worse than we thought. Much worse." Eda replied ominously. "Luz, I'm afraid your brother is cursed… by Mephisto."
King and Clea both shared shocked and frightened reactions upon hearing that name. Luz, however, was confused.
"Uh, who's Mephisto?" Luz asked.
"Mephisto? Short for Mephistopheles?" Eda asked. "Come on, Luz. I've been to your world. I know even you've heard of the Devil."
Luz' eyes widened full of fright. "Wait, the Devil? As in the Devil, the Devil? He's real?"
"Luz, this is a world full of witches and demons." King reminded. "The Devil shouldn't be that much of a surprise."
"What I don't get is how Mephisto was able to curse Stephen." Eda said. "He shouldn't do that unless Stephen allowed him to do it. Even he has rules."
"What's going to happen to him?" King asked.
Clea lowered her hand slowly to get a red, smoky reaction again to examine it. "I think I read about this type of curse. Yes. It's called the Seed of Discontent. Basically, the curse is making Stephen fixate on his most negative thoughts and feeding off of them. Unless we break his curse, the seed will grow like a wild weed until it envelops Stephen into a permanent, unlively state."
"Oh, no!" Luz gasped.
"AND WE BARELY KNEW HIM!" Hooty cried as he entered.
"How do we break the curse?" Luz asked.
"Well, like any wild weed, the only way to break the curse is to go for the root." Eda said. "Luz, you know that spell I casted to bring you and Amity into Willow's mind. Well, I'm going to have to cast it again for you to go into Stephen's."
"I'm going into Stephen's mind?" Luz asked. "If Stephen's life wasn't in the balance, this would be so awesome."
"I'm going too." Clea said. "I'm basically his health care at this point, so it's the least I can do."
"All right then." Eda said. "Now, listen. Seeds of Discontent are usually rooted in the memory of the moment that they are planted. So you'll have to find the memory of when Mephisto cursed Stephen so you can kill it."
"Got it." Clea said.
"All right, Clea." Luz said. "Let's do what I've never been able to do for the past four years: get in Stephen's head."
"Don't forget this." Eda said before tossing her bell to the girls.
"Are you sure about this, Eda?" Luz asked. "This thing wasn't much luck earlier."
"Trust me. I'll pay attention this time… probably." Eda said. "Anyway, don't forget that if you find the Inner Stephen, he may help you. Byyyyeeeee." With a twirl of her fingers, Luz and Clea disappeared from their current plane and flew right into Stephen's ear.
While Luz and Clea were going around Stephen's head, Eda raced to pull out any potion she could find. She used them to brew up an elixir which she then set beside Stephen's struggling body. The spasms were able to ease up for a bit.
"Is there anything I can do?" King asked.
"Yeah. This soothing potion won't last forever and I don't have enough materials to make another." Eda said. "Go to the Night Market and pick up the following list of ingredients."
After receiving Eda's list and a sack full of money, King raced out of the Owl Sanctum as fast as he could. When he ran, a mysterious figure peeked his head out of the bushes. It was Tibbles who looked surprised.
"Oh, my. Looks like the Devil does work in mysterious ways." Tibbles snickered.
When Luz and Clea were able to see again, they found themselves in a large hallway with portraits along the walls. Along the ceiling, there were black vines slowly creeping into the portraits.
"What is this place?" Clea asked.
"I think this is hospital." Luz said. "Well, Stephen's always wanted to be a doctor."
"I think those vines are from the curse." Clea said as one of the black vines approached her. She shivered and swatted it away. "Maybe if we follow where it comes from, we'll find the root."
"Hold on." Luz said.
She pointed at one of the vines which attached itself to the frame of one of the portrayed portraits. As soon as it did, the picture itself began to darken. Luz gasped and jumped right in disappearing as she leaped through.
"Luz, that's not…" Clea said, but Luz had already disappeared. "Well, this should be fun." She jumped into the same portrait following Luz.
When Clea jumped into the memory, the first thing she noticed was Luz wrestling with the vines that tried to get through her. Clea twirled her finger and released a fire blast to the vines. After they were quickly burned into thin air, the black background lightened up revealing a children's playground.
"Why'd you jump in?" Clea asked.
"I know. I just reacted. It felt like that vine was damaging this memory. Or at leas, darkening it."
"Where are we anyway?" Clea said looking at the environment, especially at the kids that she spotted playing together. "Is this a slayground?"
"No, wait. This is a human playground." Luz said taking a good look around. "I know this place. This is the day that I…"
"Hi there, buddy." Greeted a cute, little girl as she approached a lone boy sitting on a swingset. Luz recognized the little girl as herself and the little boy as a young Stephen.
"Hey." Young Stephen said quietly.
"Are you alone?" Young Luz asked.
"Kinda." Young Stephen said. "I like it though. I'm not interested in kids' games."
"But we are kids." Young Luz reminded. Suddenly, an idea entered her head. She reached behind her back and held up a scaly pelt which scared Young Stephen. "Wanna touch it?"
"Gah!" Young Stephen wretched getting up from the swing and trying to step away. "Is that a snakeskin?"
"I consider them to be a snake's pajamas." Young Luz answered.
"Can't you show off that disgusting thing to your friends?"
"Well… I don't have many friends."
"Shocker."
"What is going on here?" a grown woman asked. Young Stephen looked back and saw a woman who Luz gasped seeing again. Young Stephen rushed over to hug his mom.
"Mommy. That weird girl held a snake skin to my face." Young Stephen said.
"Oh, easy there, Stephen." Beverly said. "I'm sure she has a good reason to…"
"Oh! I am so sorry!" This time, it was Luz' mom who entered the picture with an embarrassed look on his face. "My mija can get a little excited a lot."
"It's no problem." Beverly said. "Say, aren't you that new neighbor who moved here two weeks ago?"
"Si. My name's Camilla Noceda, and this is my little angel, Luz."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Beverly Strange. And you've already met my son, Stephen."
"Strange?" Young Luz asked growing a big smile on her face. "You have the coolest last name ever!"
Watching the memory unfold, Luz couldn't help but smile. That quickly disappeared when Clea shook her by her shoulder.
"Luz, take a trip down memory lane later." Clea said. "We've got the real Stephen to save."
"Right. Sorry." Luz said leaving the memory with Clea.
The two of them returned to the empty hallway they were at before. They looked and saw that there less black vines, but not by much.
"So that's how you and Stephen first met?" Clea asked.
"Yeah. Our moms quickly got along and hung out a lot." Luz said.
The creeping sound caught the girls' attention drawing their eyes to the hallway portraits. They watched as more portraits were being invaded by more black vines.
"If the Seed of Discontent feeds on negativity, maybe these vines somehow feed it." Clea said. "Something in these memories seems to be used to feed the curse."
"But we just came from a memory, and there was nothing negative about what we just saw." Luz said. She then looked and saw a branch enter another memory. "Come on! We can't let any of Stephen's memories get damaged!" She grabbed Clea's arm and headed into the next portrait.
From one memory to another, Luz and Clea saved each memory and destroyed the black plants that threatened to destroy them. All the while, they took the time to observe the memories that they saved. One memory had Luz trying to play with the uninterested Stephen while their moms chatted. Another was a memory of when Stephen reading a textbook while Luz read a Good Witch Azura book aloud annoying the other. There was also a recent memory of Luz asking Stephen about snakes for her book report.
After the latest memory save, Clea and Luz rested for a bit.
"Did you really ask Stephen about snakes for a book report?" Clea asked.
"It was for authenticity." Luz said.
"Well, it looks like we made it." Clea said pointing at one certain memory. The context was mostly obscured by the vines that sprouted from it. "That's the memory that we're looking for."
"Okay. Time to go for the root." Luz said jumping into the portrait. Clea followed right behind her.
Luz and Clea found themselves in the inside of a black tent. There, they found a lone table with a hooded man sitting on one side. Stephen walked into the tent and sat right across the hooded figure.
"Um… Hello." Stephen greeted. "Is this the Veil of Identity?"
"It is." The hooded figure answered. "You can call me… Mr. Fallen."
"That's a weird name." Stephen said. "Then again, I live with a woman named Clawthorn, so what do I know?"
"That must be Mephisto." Clea said. "Now, we have to wait until the moment he curses Stephen. That's when we can destroy it."
"Got it." Luz said watching the conversation unfold in front of her eyes.
"So how does this work?" Stephen asked. "You some kind of fortune teller? Because the last oracle I met tried to drain me of all my magic."
Mephisto chuckled. "No, no, boy. Oracles see the future. I can see what's in your heart. And let me tell you, I see a lot of… frustration and resentment."
"Frustration? Resentment?" Stephen asked before giving a short laugh. "Ha! What could I possibly resent?"
"Not what. Who." Mephisto said. "There is a certain someone in your life who causes you nothing but turmoil. You are not related by blood, but you still call her your sister."
"You mean Luz?" Stephen asked much to Luz' surprise. "I don't resent her. Sure, she annoys me from time to time, but that's basically what siblings do, especially her. I wouldn't exactly call it turmoil."
"You can fool yourself all you like, but even the blind can see the truth." Mephisto said. "You often hate yourself getting involved in situations that she is the cause of. The cannibalistic puppeteer. The walking house. The trials of the Bat Queen."
Stephen looked at Mephisto with a concerned expression. "How do you know all that?"
"I told you. I can see in your heart." Mephisto said. "Tell me. Was it even your idea to stay at the Boiling Isles?"
Stephen's face dropped slowly looking sad. "N-No. It was Luz. And this wasn't even the first time either."
Luz' eyes widened after hearing that. "What?"
"She kept trying to make me play ridiculous games with her. She kept me up reading her book out loud. And the only time I got sent to the principal's office was because she labeled me an accomplice to her book report incident!"
Mephisto let out a small, wicked smile underneath his hood. "That's it, boy. Let it out."
Stephen let out a few deep breaths before growling angrily. "Luz Noceda has caused me nothing but chaos!"
Hearing those words, Luz gasped silently and fell to her knees. Tears began to fill in her eyes as she watched Mephisto reach out his red claw to Stephen.
"Shake my hand. I'll cast a spell on you to ease your pain away. You won't have to worry about it ever again."
Mephisto's red claw suddenly emitted a strange glow from his palm. It was the same mark as on Stephen's hand. It began letting out a black aura.
"That's it! That's the seed!" Clea said. "Luz, it's going to take both of us too… Luz?"
"He thinks I'm a burden. A nuisance." Luz said harshly to herself.
"No! Luz, you know he doesn't!" Clea said. "Mephisto is messing with his head! We've got to save him before…"
It was too late. The moment Stephen shook Mephisto's hand, a bright light flashed letting out a force so strong, it blew Luz and Clea clear out of the memory.
After falling out of the memory, Clea groaned as she got up. She turned and saw Luz staying on the ground looking sad.
"I can't believe he said that." Luz said trying to hold back her tears. "I mean, I know I wasn't the best sister, but…"
"Luz, listen to me!" Clea said grasping at her friend's shoulders. "You are not a burden to Stephen. I know it. You know it. And even he knows it."
"You heard him." Luz said.
"That may have been what the old Stephen thought, but ever since you and he decided to stay at the Boiling Isles, his point of view has changed. We just need to remind him."
Luz sniffled before wiping away her tears. "How?"
Clea did a little thinking before coming up with a quick idea. "The Inner Stephen. We can reach through to him."
"Okay." Luz said standing up. "Let's go."
"Inner Stephen!" Luz cried out. "Inner Stephen!"
"Where are you?!" Clea asked loudly.
After turning around a hallway corner, the girls stopped what they were doing seeing the swirling, black wave in front of them. It looked like a black tornado going in slow motion and staying still. At the center of the tornado was a single teenage boy curled up with his head buried behind his knees.
"Stephen!" Luz cried out as she jumped into the vortex with Clea joining her. Going through the blackness felt mortifying, but only for a quick second and they didn't care. After joining her brother's inner self, Luz touched his shoulder. "Stephen…"
"Go away." Inner Stephen said sadly without lifting his face. "Leave me."
"I'm not doing that, Stephen." Luz said. "I'm you're sister. I have to…"
"No. You're not." Inner Stephen said. "You're just the daughter of my mom's friend who I'm forced to live with."
"You don't mean that, Stephen." Clea said. "That's the curse talking."
"Stephen, I know we're not related by blood," Luz said, "But I'm rushing right into your mind to save you from a deadly curse."
"I didn't ask for it. Just like I didn't ask for any of this." Stephen said. "I didn't ask to stay here at the Boiling Isles, but I couldn't go back to Gravesfield without you. How would I explain that to Camilla? And I didn't ask for you to go to the same summer camp I wanted to go alone, but you had to release those snakes into school. And I certainly didn't ask to live with you and Camilla after my mom…" Stephen let out a tearful choke. "But it happened. I had no control over anything. And it hurts me."
Clea moved in closer to Stephen. "Listen. Do you remember our talk at the Femur, when you told me how hard it was to be in control? Do you remember what I told you after that? I said, you had to roll with it. Life is never going to be what we planned. But maybe all this happened for a reason. I think instead of focusing only on the negative parts of all the chaos in your life, maybe you should think about all the positive parts."
"She's right, Stephen." Luz said. "Just look at everything you accomplished since we got here. You and I got closer than ever before. We made more friends than we ever did in the past. And you can even do magic. Honestly, I'm a little jealous."
Those words made Stephen lift his head up finally. When he did, the black vortex around him began to get thinner.
"What was that?" he asked.
"You heard me." Luz said with an embarrassed smile on her face. "I can only do magic with pen and paper, but you can't just use magic on your own, you can master any spell in one try. You're the most popular guy in school, and you didn't even like fantasy at first. How can I not be jealous? I'm not the one in control of that."
Stephen's small smile made the black vortex thin even more. "Wow. I didn't expect that. I admit, I'm the one who's jealous. I mean, you've still got your mom who loves you so much. And at least you remember your dad."
Luz frowned a bit before picking her face up. "Don't forget. I have a pretty talented brother."
Stephen's smile got a little bigger. "Guess I'm a weirdo just like you, huh?"
"No." Luz answered. "You're just Strange."
That bad joke made all three kids break out into an uncontrollable laughter. The longer they laughed, the more the black vortex got smaller until it completely vanished. Luz and Clea stayed the same, but the Inner Stephen was surrounded by an orange glow all over his body.
Once they stopped laughing, the three stood back up exchanging smiles.
"So what do you say we end this curse?" Clea said.
"I'm in." Luz said.
"So am I.' Stephen said.
The three of them returned to the memory of the Veil of Identity and rewatched the conversation between Stephen and Mephisto. This time, the words didn't bother any of them as they had finally worked it all out. Once the curse began to manifest again, the kids didn't hesitate to grab it. The three of them used all their might to yank it out of Mephisto's hand. Once they did, the root yelled and quickly disintegrated in their hands.
The curse was over and Stephen Strange was saved. Since it was all done, Luz and Clea rang Eda's bell. The Owl Lady pulled them out almost immediately after.
"You kids all right?" Eda asked.
"Yeah. We did it." Clea said.
Immediately after, Stephen groaned as he sat back up. His eyes widened remembering the experience that went on in his head as he turned to face Luz. The two step-siblings locked eyes before she went to hug him.
"I love you, Stephen." Luz said.
"I love you too, Luz." Stephen returned.
"Looks like I missed a lot." Eda said just as the brother and sister broke their hug. "So Stephen, what in the world would make you make a deal with Mephisto?"
"It's a little complicated." Stephen said nervously. "I'll tell you later. By the way, where's King? I thought for sure he'd be here."
Eda looked around curiously. "That's odd. I sent him to pick up some soothing potion ingedients. I wonder where he is now?"
Suddenly, Hooty popped his head out to greet everyone. "Hoot, hoot! Maybe Tibbles knows."
"Tibbles?" Eda asked.
"Yep. I saw him popping out of the bushes earlier and following King with a big net."
"And you're just telling us this now?!" Eda yelled out.
"We gotta go save him!" Stephen declared.
King fought hard to try and escape the net he was entangled in, but Tibbles had him secure as he dragged him up a hill in the forest.
"You fiend!" King cried out. "How dare you entrap the King of Demons with a must deceitful trick?"
"All I said was there was cake here." Tibbles said.
"Chocolate cake! You're a monster!"
Tibbles sighed before reaching the top. He then pulled out the ruby-decorated amulet Mephisto had given him and looked at its back. That's when an inscription appeared in hellish-red letters. He read them aloud.
"'To condemn your target into the fallen one's grasp, imprint the ruby onto his forehead'. Sounds easy enough."
"What?" King pleaded. "Hold it! You can't just…"
"Sorry, bone boy, but this is my last chance." Tibbles said turning the amulet to face King. "Tell me the truth. If our situation was reversed, would you choose you or me?"
"How about I choose this?"
Eda's voice came as a surprise as she flew from above on Owlbert. As she passed, she managed to grab the net holding King and free him. She returned to the kids who confronted Tibbles with her. With a wave of his finger, Stephen yanked the amulet out of Tibbles hands and brough it into his own. Everyone in the gang was left confronting the frightened pig demon.
"No! No, no, no! This can't be happening! Not now!" Tibbles panicked.
"Stephen. You're okay." King cheered.
"No thanks to this creep." Stephen said turning to Tibbles. "It all makes sense now. You told us before that you were in debt to somebody, and on the way here, I realized that it was Mephisto. So you had him curse me so that everyone would be distracted trying to save me and you can take your chance and kidnap King."
"You don't understand! I didn't know it was Mephisto when I made that deal with him!" Tibbles pleaded. "But you have no idea what he's like!"
"All I want to know is why he wants King so much." Eda said.
"I don't know! He never told me!" Tibbles said.
"Wrong answer!" Stephen said. "You better tell us something or… AAAHHH! HAND PAIN!"
The sudden sting from within Stephen's hands acted up forcing him to shoot his arms up in reflex. He accidently released the amulet sending it hurtling high into the air.
"NO!" Tibbles yelled racing to catch it. Eda, Luz, and King went for it to while Clea was tending to Stephen's hands.
Eda caught the amulet first, but threw it up again when Tibbles jumped on her face. Luz managed to get it, but tripped over King. Tibbles managed to grab it, but Eda extended her staff to trip him and make King grab it.
While Eda and King were playing hot potato with Tibbles, Luz looked at a random flower and noticed something strange on its face. In between its pedals, she saw what can only be described as a glyph much like what she used for her light and ice magic. She quickly took out a piece of paper and copied the glyph she saw. She tapped it and let it sprout out a beautiful flower. That's when the idea hit her.
Luz grabbed a stick and traced her newly discovered glyph on the soft dirt around her. When she was done, she whistled for Eda and King to draw the fight to her direction. They listened and lead the fight for the amulet over to where Luz was. That's when the Hispanic girl tapped on the glyph on the ground. After the quick glow, several vines shot up right as the amulet was over it. Tibbles gasped seeing it fly higher than it ever has been.
Tibbles watched as the amulet began its quick descent. With the most frightful panic, he raced over to try and grab it. He even jumped and slid on his belly. He almost caught it by a hair, but he failed. The amulet fell face-first onto a rock shattering it to pieces.
Tibbles yelped trying to scoop up the pieces of the broken amulet. "NO! NO, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I…"
As the mists rolled in. everyone stopped in silence hearing the sound of slow, ominous clapping. Everyone turned to the sound of the clapping to see Mephisto walk on over wearing his red outfit and cloak. As he approached, he locked his eyes on Tibbles' enemies. But when he spotted Clea, his eyes widened and he gave out a most confusing chuckle.
"How interesting." He said before looking at Tibbles. "Oh, poor Tibbles. It looks like you failed to uphold your end of the deal."
"No! No, wait! We don't have to do this!" Tibbles pleaded out of fear. "Look! The demon you want is right there! You can just get him and go!"
Mephisto groaned. "Don't you think that if I could, I would have done so already? I can't lay a finger on his kind. At least, not while he's in this realm. Nor can any one of my agents. Therefore, I needed a sucker like you to deliver him to me. But since you failed to do that…"
"No, please!" Tibbles begged on his knees. "Don't punish me! Just give me more time! I…"
"Calm down, little one." Mephisto said. "I'm not going to send you to the bad place."
Tibbles looked up at him with a flicker of hope in his eyes. "You're not?"
"No." Mephisto answered just as the sound of a motor engine was heard in the distance. "He is."
The mists departed revealing a black motorcycle with burning wheels. Its rider walked off wearing a black leather jacket, heavy, black boots and black, velvet gloves. He carried a fiery chain which he swung around, but the most distinguishing feature was that in place of his head, there was a demonic skull surrounded by fire. He approached the petrified Tibbles slowly while striking the ground beside him with his chain.
"Oh, farts! It's the Ghost Rider!" Eda cried out. "Everyone, stay back! You do NOT want to cross this bad boy!"
"Wait! Don't! Please!" Tibbles begged grasping onto Mephisto's cloak. "Just a little more time! Please! Don't do this!"
The Ghost Rider swung his chain and wrapped it around Tibbles' leg. It squeezed tightly bringing tears to the pig demon's face. The Ghost Rider then sat back on his motorcycle and revved up the handlebars. As he did so, a circular portal opened up in front of him leading to a fiery, burning wasteland. The Ghost Rider drove off into it while the chain was beginning to drag Tibbles across.
"I PROMISE, I'LL PAY YOU BACK! I PROMISE! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tibbles' last beg ended when he was dragged through the portal and it closed afterwards.
Everyone watched with horrified expressions, but they were all startled when Mephisto looked back at them.
"Hold on there, buster!" Eda said holding up her staff. "I don't care if you are the Devil himself! If you come near me or my kids…"
"Relax, Owl Lady. Relax." Mephisto said. "Consider yourselves safe from me. I no longer wish any ill will toward you."
"You don't?" Stephen asked sharing confusion with the others. "How is that possible? Tibbles tried to ruin us because of you. So what brought up this change in pace?"
Mephisto chuckled. "Well, let's just say you all caught my attention. One of you, in particular, at least. You guys might be entertaining, so I'm going to let you all off the hook. Consider yourselves lucky." He turned to leave, but King's voice stopped him.
"Wait. I'm still confused."
Mephisto turned to King. "Kid, I've already decided to stop pursuing you. I wouldn't push it if I were you."
"Tibbles was after me because you wanted me." King said. "Why did you want me?"
"Well, let's just say you were part of another deal I made. But thanks to you all, I'm going to have to change my plan. Oh, well." Mephisto snapped his fingers letting a tornado of fire surround him. "Be entertaining for me!" When the fire stopped, he was no longer there.
Luz' only response was a raspberry blown toward where Mephisto once stood.
"Well, that's going to haunt me for the next thirty years." Clea said.
After bidding Clea a good night and sending her on her way, Eda worked on fortifying the Owl Sanctum. All the while, Stephen and Luz returned to their room and snuggled their way into their sleeping bags.
"Hey, Luz."
"Yeah, Stephen."
"Are you really jealous of me sometimes?"
"Maybe a little." Luz admitted. "But it helps to see how much you enjoy it. If you didn't, I'd be pretty upset, especially since you're so good at it."
Stephen gave Luz a reassured smile. "Thanks. Good night."
"Night to you too."
The two kids closed their eyes and relaxed in their bags. They stayed silent for a whole minute before opening their eyes.
"Mephisto's words keeping you up too?" Stephen asked.
"Oh, yeah." Luz answered.
"Good. I thought it was just me."
From his red and gold throne, Mephisto hovered over his demonic realm which he ruled. The heat was unbearable, but he loved it. After settling down, he traced his claw down in front of him creating a window to the Demon Realm. Bitterhorn's face appeared on the other side. Mephisto told him what had happened and when he was done, Bitterhorn gave a confused look.
"What? You're annulling the deal you made with the Trappers' elder?" Bitterhorn asked. "It was a pretty good deal. I mean, he sold the souls of everyone in his tribe in exchange for us to bring him the furball."
"Yes, I know." Mephisto said. "And while the idea was intoxicating, I decided to settle with the entertainment that is to come."
"What do you mean, boss?" Bitterhorn asked.
"Oh, you'll see." Mephisto said with a mischievous smile. "For now, here's your new task. I want you to take over all of Mr. Grimhammer's businesses in his stead. I have a feeling they're not going to do him any more good. And don't make a move without my say-so."
"Yes, sir." Bitterhorn said before the call ended. Finally alone, Mephisto basked in nothing but his own anticipation.
"So Dormammu's niece is among that little batch of hopefuls. How very interesting. The Trappers can keep their souls. This may prove to be even better." Mephisto snickered wickedly. "I can see it all unfold. The Day of Unity will only play a small part in the events to come. Will Dormammu's master plan succeed, or will these kids manage to best him and leave themselves vulnerable to what comes next. Either way, I'm looking forward to it. After all, even the greatest victories carry the most tragic losses like shadows."
Mephisto stood straight up from his throne and looked on out into the dark horizon. He held out his arms triumphantly.
"Let's see how much madness the Multiverse can handle!"