It was the moment he had been waiting for as long as he could remember. The King of Demons was about to achieve his destiny. Right now, a gigantic crowd was gathered to watch his coronation. Oh, how people had mocked King for having such a goal. They had all laughed at him, just because his army of darkness was presently comprised of stuffed animals. In time, he would acquire a stronger one. The journey of a thousand miles began with a single step.

Ah, but now the shoe was truly on the other paw. King was about to be crowned king of the Boiling Isles. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a delusion. He was in the palace that was now his residence (though, of course, he'd still be living in the Owl House), and all he had to do was step outside onto the balcony and he'd be greeted by a real, adoring crowd.

A crowd that would be looking at him. That'd pounce on the slightest sign of weakness or nervousness. Their last sovereign was Belos, for the Titan's sake! How could he compare? They'd laugh at him! They'd all laugh at him. Everyone had, and everyone would.

King may have been naïve at times, and self-centered, and sometimes willfully ignorant, but he wasn't dumb. He knew that he wasn't really being gifted with power. Eda, as the newly chosen prime minister of the Boiling Kingdom, would truly be the power behind the throne. King was just a prop to make it look like she served a higher being, a higher cause. And, worse, she was being extraordinarily kind by doing so. King wasn't powerful, and he didn't deserve respect. Some days, he thought he didn't deserve much at all.

If only Luz was around. But Luz was stuck on Earth, forbidden from attending the coronation by her mother, who had grounded her for lying about the Isles. Oh, the coronation was being recorded and she'd be watching…and everyone else would be watching. Including Eda. And Lilith. And even Hooty! Titan, King's stage fright must have been getting really bad if he was starting to get nervous about Hooty.

"Your Majesty?" a courtier asked him, her face filled with concern. "Is everything all right? Perhaps we could get you a glass of water?"

"Um, you know, what I really need is some fresh air," King said with a hilariously fake grin.

"But the coronation begins in five minutes time, sire!" the courtier protested.

King put up his middle finger, a human gesture that Luz had taught him. She had made him swear on the Earth equivalent of an Everlasting Oath, a pinky promise, not to tell anyone that she had done so. "The coronation begins when I say it begins, for I am the mighty and all powerful King of Demons!"

The courtier's face paled, and King suddenly felt bad. She looked like she had barely graduated from school. "Seriously, just give me ten minutes here. You won't get fired. Okay, thanks, bye!" he said, and then rushed out of the room, letting out a screech of panic as he did so.

King didn't know where he was going, but if his objective had indeed been fresh air like he had claimed that it was, he was utterly failing in it. With Belos dead, the imperial palace had become the royal palace, and it was a very confusing labyrinth, the layout of which made King dizzy to even think about. With his luck, he was going to become hopelessly lost, and the sensible approach was to turn around and retrace his steps, so naturally he kept running.

Maybe he could give the throne to someone else. Seriously, it's not like it was a difficult job. And they didn't even need to have a king now that he thought about it. Luz's country never had one, and it seemed to be doing more or less okay, although given the scowling that Luz kept doing whenever she talked about the politics of her realm, that may not have been as accurate an assumption as King had first thought.

He went into room after room, not sure at all what he was looking for, but only knowing that he'd know it when he found it. Maybe he could give the throne to Amity. But no. That wouldn't do at all. Amity stepped on his cupcake once, and that could never be forgiven. Ever. The fact that she made Luz happy was the only thing saving her from a horrible fate. Giving it to Luz was out of the question, of course. A human could not rule the Boiling Isles. Though she'd be a pretty awesome ruler.

Well, he certainly wasn't going to give it to Hooty. Even the very thought of Hooty being king made him shudder in fear. And he couldn't give it to Eda or Lilith, because they were already prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively. Maybe Willow or Gus would like it? But, no, that'd interfere with their studies. Ugh. He really thought he had more friends than that.

The next room that he came across was a cloakroom, and it was the perfect place to hide from the future that awaited him. Unfortunately, someone already had that idea. A mint green haired witch was sitting on the floor, looking petrified, and rocking back and forth.

"I know you," King said. The witch was Raine Whispers, Eda's friend and leader of the Bard Coven. "Aren't you supposed to be running the musical program at my coronation?"

Raine looked at him with that wry, embarrassed expression that seemed to make Eda a confused mess on a worryingly frequent basis. "Um, yes. Aren't you supposed to be being coronated, like, right now?"

King looked around him, trying to figure out an excuse that wasn't horrendously humiliating. "Yes, I am, but…Eda sent me! Yes! She totally heard that you were freaking out and sent me to support you."

A tear formed in the corner of Raine's eye. "That is so sweet of her. She's truly an amazing witch, isn't she, King?"

King always hated mushy romantic stuff. It was bad enough watching Luz and Amity dance around their feelings, but at least they had the excuse of being teenagers. Raine and Eda were adults. They should have come to terms with their obvious mutual feelings for each other a long time ago. "Yeah, but we're not here to talk about her. We're here to talk about you."

Raine wringed their hands together. "It's…well, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Would it help if I made it a royal command?" King asked.

"Um…no? I don't really understand why you'd think it would. But…yeah, I should probably tell someone anyway. I…I get stage fright."

"So do I!" King shouted, and then clapped his hands over his mouth before it could betray him further. This witch was a total stranger! They had spoken maybe half a dozen times at most. And suddenly King was trusting them with his greatest secrets, just like that? Seriously, what was up with that?

Raine's eyes widened in shock. "You do? But you're the King of Demons!"

King sat down next to Raine. If they were going to sulk, then King would sulk with them. "Some King of Demons I am. I'm a laughingstock. I don't even know why anyone would want me as their king."

Raine looked positively bewildered by his words. "But, King, you're a hero! You sneaked through the vents of this very palace to rescue me from being sacrificed by the emperor! Without you, his Day of Unity would have succeeded! You saved me! You saved the Human Realm! Why wouldn't we want to honor that?"

King had never thought of himself that way, as a hero. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have assumed that Raine was just trying to flatter him, but the bard was always incredibly honest in their words. Well, honest in the sense that they didn't lie. They certainly didn't tell the truth about, for example, being head over heels with Eda. "A hero? Me? But there are so many people who helped out in that mission. Why aren't any of them being crowned king?"

"Eda chose you for the job because she knew your heart, King," Raine explained. "That's what she told me. You're good at the core. Oh, you talk about filling the world with darkness and bringing chaos and a toad of blood –"

"That's a tide of blood!"

"That does make a lot more sense," Raine conceded. "But at the end of the day, you're the sort of demon who always is there for his friends and family. Being king's not just about rubber stamping legislation or waving at people regally. It's about setting an example for the Demon Realm. It's about saying that the Boiling Kingdom's values are aligned with its leader – a kind, wise, and selfless individual."

King promised himself that he wouldn't cry, and then he broke that promise not one second later. "She really said all that?"

"Well, no," Raine admitted. "She just said that you'd do a good job. I sort of…"

"Lied?" King suggested.

"Took her statement to its logical conclusion," Raine said. "Yeah, okay, I lied."

"You're bad at it."

Raine laughed. "I know."

There was silence in the room for a few moments. "I miss Luz," King admitted. "I love her a lot. She's the big sister I've never had. I wish that we could delay the ceremony until she could attend. But she wouldn't want that, so I won't. Knowing she's watching helps, but…it's not fair. I tried to convince her mom to let her attend, but she wouldn't budge, no matter how many adorable faces I made."

Raine looked exceptionally impressed. "That woman must have a will of iron."

"Yeah! Just like her daughter." King reached out and squeezed Raine's hand. "Okay, you helped me, and now I'm going to help you. What's got you freaked out and how can I solve it?"

They frowned, looking very much like they didn't want to say anything. But at the end of the day, they were just too kind and friendly not to respond to a genuine offer for help. "This is a momentous occasion. A historical moment. Everyone will be judging me. This will define my entire career. If I screw up…it'd be horrible!"

"Would it be better for your legacy if you just ditched the event?" King wasn't asking the question rhetorically; he was genuinely curious about the answer.

Raine sighed. "I guess you got a point there, King. I guess you've got a point. But still, I just think about going out there among all those people, and it just makes me freeze."

At that point, King had an absolutely brilliant idea. "Well, what if we go out there together? Yeah! That way, we can support each other!" Raine seemed to appreciate that idea. "And…I've got a special surprise for you. I'm making you the leader of the Bard Coven!"

"But…I already am leader of the Bard Coven, King," Raine said gently.

"Oh." How could he reward Raine for their truly kind words and willingness to help King out in his time of need? Oh! He knew the answer to that. "Okay, don't tell anyone I said this, but I have it under good authority that Eda likes you!"

Raine smiled gently. "Yeah, I like her too. She's such a great person. Yeah, she's prickly on the outside, but she truly has a heart of gold inside." Wow, they had it so bad that even King could see it.

"No, no, I don't think you understand. She like likes you."

"I don't know what that means," Raine said.

"It means that she likes you in a smoochy-smoochy kind of way!" King said in a sing-song tone, and watched with satisfaction as Raine blushed so violently that King was actually worried they'd pass out for a moment.

"That…can't be true," Raine said. "Can it?"

King shrugged. All he knew was that Eda was often blushing herself when she spoke of Raine, and that, to him, suggested that the odds were good that Raine's obvious crush was reciprocated. "Well, why don't you ask her out and find out for yourself?"

He pointed a claw at Raine's face. "But I warn you: I may not have the legal authority to get you eaten by the Hecatoncheires, but if you ever hurt Eda, I'm going to do it anyway, law be damned! You got that?!"

Raine nodded so much that King was worried that their head might fall off. "Hey, don't worry about it!" King said. "I'm a great judge of personality. I'm sure the two of you will be great together! Now, if you'd care to escort your ruler to the main event…?"

Raine scooped King into their hand. "It would be my distinct pleasure, Your Majesty."

So Raine brought King back to the room where he had been in before and the two of them stood before the balcony door, dreading the future that was literally in front of them as they spoke. Luz wouldn't be afraid, a voice whispered in King's head, and with that, King jumped over to the doorknob, turned it, and fell on the floor with a loud squeak. Recovering what remained of his dignity, he pushed Raine out onto the balcony…

…to the sound of cheering! The entire crowd was cheering! And not just the crowd in the palace courtyard! The crowd seemed to stretch endlessly. Hundreds of thousands of witches and demons had gathered to support him. They believed in him.

"Ah, I had a feeling you two troublemakers would find each other," Eda said. The crown that would mark King as ruler was in her hand. She smiled at Raine. The two of them blushed. Yeah, King really had to do something about that, if only because it would get old fast.

"His Majesty is ready to begin the ceremony," Raine said. King was touched. They could have easily ratted King out, but they didn't.

Eda smirked, probably having guessed what Raine was doing herself, but even if that was so, King's lips would remain sealed. "King of Demons, do you accept the title of King of the Boiling Isles, pledging yourself to exercise your power in the manner outlined in the constitution?"

"I do," King said without a second of hesitation. She placed the crown on his head. It may have had just as much magical power as the crown they had stolen from the Conformatorium, namely none at all, but it still felt far, far more powerful.

"Okay, well, I've never been one for ceremony, so you're king now. Congratulations. Now let's go eat!" There was a huge cheer from the crowd. Hopefully they were cheering for the king part and not the eating part. Though he could certainly sympathize with cheering for that.

King noticed that Raine was torn between wanting to ask Eda something and wanting to leave, so he solved the problem by closing the doors to the balcony and shoving them forward. They'd thank him later, no doubt.

"Raine?" Eda said, sounding worried.

"I…was wondering if you and I could maybe eat!" Raine said, talking fast and in a much higher pitched tone than they usually used. "I mean, together! Not each other! On a…you know, a date?"

Eda smiled and smiled, and then she opened the doors to the palace and ran for it.

Oh, well. The two of them would get their act together eventually. And in the meantime, King would have fun teasing them. He'd have ample opportunity to do so, too. A king had to have regular meetings with their prime minister, didn't he?

Yes, it was good to be the king.