Chapter 18 Demon Hunt

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ludwig nodded as he wiped down the jasper button of his cloak with a cleaning wipe. "I agreed to it. And hey, someone has to keep Aria safe from all the demons she could run across."

Lemmy's brow refused to unfurrow. "Yeah, but… but who's gonna keep you safe? Demons are pretty powerful beings Ludwig; it's possible that you might not have the strength to fight against them. Even with your powers."

Ludwig felt uneasy, but tried to cover it up with a snicker. "I think I'll be fine." Sure, what Lemmy said was a valid argument. But still, Ludwig wasn't going to change his mind.

Possibly because he realized this, Lemmy let out a sigh. "Well… okay. As long as you know what you're doing… I don't see any reason to keep you from doing this."

"Thanks Lems." Ludwig telekinetically threw the wet wipe in the trash, beaming at how shiny and glittery the jasper now appeared. "Well, I'm off." He made his way toward the door. "Hold down the fort for me while I'm gone, okay Lemmy?"

"Yep." Man, the amount of uncertainty in his voice was very strong. Ludwig tried to brush it off, telling himself that this would be okay. Technically, he had run into a kind of demon before. That being the Shadowlings (and hey, duplighosts could kind of count too). Sure, they were formidable enemies, but Ludwig and his siblings had ended up defeating them. And those were pretty strong demons to boot. If he and Aria came across demons that were considerably weaker, then he could rest assured that they would be able to handle it. So, he wasn't going to worry. He was actively going to keep his stupid little lizard brain from worrying.

With that, he closed the door behind him and started on his journey.

…

He managed to get to Aria's house before twilight even set on the Koopa Kingdom, a fact that delighted him. He wasn't particularly a fan of going off on a demon hunt while the only light major light source was the moon. It would provide a major roadblock, and besides, demons were famous for being stronger in the dark. So yeah, the fact that it was still daytime came as a relief to him. He had a feeling that the hunt would be a lot less dangerous, a hunch that helped his heart slow down to a more manageable beat.

Ludwig landed down in front of Aria's door and knocked. As he waited for her to answer, he thought of the stories he had heard about demons. Some had very powerful magical abilities, abilities that were borderline strong enough to tear apart the very fabric of reality. Of course, those were upper tier demons; lower tier demons had magic that was strong, but nowhere near that strong. The most lower tier demons could do was physically alter your body with a spell, or put one into a coma for the next few months. Ludwig hoped that it would be mostly lower tier demons encountered on the hunt, as he was pretty confident that his powers would be more than enough to fight back against those little devils (no pun intended).

Before long, Aria did come to the door. She didn't set eyes on Ludwig right away though. Instead, she looked at a device that Ludwig recognized as a dark magic tracker. The thing beeped a little bit, which made Ludwig recall when Aria said that Sparkville was situated right on the sight of an ancient dark magic site. This did make him squirm a little (again, that fact would make coming to Sparksville a lot more… different than it was before). His stomach churned even as Aria put the tracker away and smiled at him.

"Good. You came." She welcomed him inside, allowing Ludwig to see the interior of her house for the first time.

"Nice place," Ludwig said.

"Thanks." Aria scratched the back of her head. "Again, I might have to relocate sometime in the future."

Ludwig nodded. Honestly, if that was the case, he felt kind of bad for Aria. The house she lived in looked like a very pleasant place; from the blue walls to the shiny hardwood floors, it was very easy on the eyes in terms of aesthetic. Ludwig recalled how Roy had lent Celia and her family some money in the past, making him consider the idea of doing the same for Aria so she wouldn't have to leave this dreamhouse.

"Who's that, Aria?" a voice called out from upstairs. Ludwig felt a little pang over the fact that the voice was male.

"You'll see!" Aria gestured for Ludwig to follow her. "Come with me upstairs."

So, Ludwig followed her. As he did, a million thoughts ran through his head over the fact that another man was in Aria's house. What was he doing here? Why was he hanging around with Aria? If Ludwig had the right, he would…

Wait. Was… was this jealousy? Why… why was Ludwig feeling jealous? He had no right to! Aria wasn't his girlfriend, so she had the right to see and date any other guy that she wanted. The fact that Ludwig felt jealous feelings surrounding a girl who wasn't even his girlfriend… it honestly confused him. What should he do with all of these feelings? What did these feelings mean in the long run? He hoped that the answer was nothing… but he wasn't really sure. He wasn't even sure if he could be sure.

Thankfully, he found the perfect excuse to not think too deeply about this when he and Aria arrived in the computer room on the second floor. At the computer sat a dragon koopa man. Both his mullet hair (which honestly made Ludwig mourn the death of this man's fashion sense) and his shell were yellow in color, with green rings encircling the spikes (nowhere near as visually appealing as the purple rings Aria had on her sky blue shell, at least in Ludwig's opinion). He kept his forest on the computer screen, which Ludwig noticed displayed a sight of varying shades of purple.

"Ludwig, this is Jarod," Aria said. "He's a coworker of mine." This statement helped Ludwig feel a little better (not that he should be feeling jealous in the first place, but whatever). She turned toward Jarod. "Jarod, this is Ludwig. He's going to be joining us on the hunt."

It took a minute for Jarod to turn away from the screen. He finally did after jotting something down on a notepad, and when he did, he looked with Ludwig with a raised eyebrow. "This guy?" He looked at Aria. "Are you sure about this, Aria? I mean, is he even a demon hunter?"

Aria looked over at Ludwig with hesitant eyes. "Well… no, he's not." She put on a smile. "But he is a special."

Jarod's eyes grew wide. "A special?" He grinned as he looked at Ludwig. "Now that's something I want to see. Can you show me your powers?"

Ludwig hesitated for a second. "Uh… sure." He turned and pointed to a chair situated next to Jarod, causing it to rise into the air. Jarod's jaw dropped as he watched this display.

"Wow, telekinesis!" He turned back to Ludwig as the Koopaling set the chair back on the ground. "That can be useful."

"It most certainly can," Aria said. She looked back at Ludwig. "Even still, I plan on equipping him with all the materials we use. As useful as his powers might be, I want to go down the 'better safe than sorry' route."

"Makes sense." Jarod got up from the computer. He turned to Ludwig with a playful glimmer in his eyes. "So Ludwig, are you ready to track down and face some of the most wicked creatures known to this world?"

Ludwig felt uneasy for a split second but pushed it away and grinned. "Those bastards won't even know what hit them."

Both Aria and Jarod's faces rose. "Love the enthusiasm," Jarod said.

"Me too." Aria gestured for her to follow him. "Now, for that gear…" Ludwig followed her to the closest, which she pulled various objects of various shapes out of. "We have a dark magic tracker…" she put that in his hammerspace… "some special bandages in case demons cut your skin…. A vaccine to combat any demonic illnesses…. A flashlight… A walkie-talkie so you can easily reach Jarod and me… and last but not least, water." She chuckled as she turned to him with a water bottle. "You can never have too much water, honestly."

Ludwig nodded and allowed her to put all those things in his hammerspace. He had to admit, being equipped with all these materials made this experience feel more serious and real. And sure, that realization came with the downside of feeling much more nervous and apprehensive. But again, Ludwig wasn't going to let any negative emotions bother him. This whole experience was exciting, not scary! He could definitely handle this! With Aria by his side, he felt like he could handle anything.

He held onto this feeling as Aria and Jarod put the same type of equipment into their own hammerspaces, along with what looked like magic wands. Ludwig reasoned that those were going to be used as weapons; purification spells produced by magic were a great way to battle and defeat demons after all (a fact that Ludwig had learned through experience). He puffed out his chest as Aria and Jarod finished and turned to face him again.

"So we're already," Ludwig said. "Are we going to be exploring underneath Sparksville, by any chance?"

To his surprise, Aria shook her head. "No, not today. The main sight I want to explore is a cave on the Mushroom Kingdom's border with the Mushroom Sea. Jarod and I have been seeing a lot of activity there recently, so we really want to check it out."

Ludwig's confidence went down a little bit. "The Mushroom Kingdom?" There were many things he saw wrong with that statement, but one that really stood out among the rest. "But… that's pretty far away! We'll probably get there after sunset…"

Jarod nodded. "That's pretty much a guarantee."

"Why do you think I gave you the flashlight?" Aria asked.

Ludwig's insides squirmed. "Is… don't demons become more powerful in the dark? Won't they be more difficult to find and defeat?"

Jarod bit his lip. "That is a possibility, yes. But I wouldn't worry about it. We have more than enough manpower to fight off against those nasty beasts."

"Besides," Aria cut in, "there isn't even that much of a guarantee that we'll even encounter any demons. It's possible that the cave will be empty and we'll just find some dark magic residue in there." She smiled. "The materials I gave you are just a precaution."

While Ludwig did still feel a little squirmy, those words did help him feel a little better. "O… okay then." He puffed out his chest and put his smile back on. "You're probably right; there's no reason to worry about this stuff."

"Exactly!" Aria said. The way her eyes sparkled at him made his knees buckle; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her appear this excited.

"Well, let's not waste anymore time!" Jarod made his way toward the door. "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!"

Aria giggled and followed him, making Ludwig the last one to exit the room. He stood in the doorway for a little bit, imagining what the hunt would be like as well as trying to grapple with his unease. After swallowing a lump, he stepped forward and closed the door.

This was all going to be fine. He was being accompanied by two experience demon hunters. This would all be just fine…

…

Moonlight streamed down on the three koopas as they stood in front of the cave. The waves crashing onto the beach calmed Ludwig's nerves. If he just closed his eyes and focused on that as well as the sea's aroma, he could almost forget about the dark cave that they were just about to enter. He could almost just leave Aria and Jarod to do their thing and go relax on the beach with the waves washing over his feet.

He wasn't going to do that though. He agreed to this, and he was doing it for Aria's sake. To leave her dangling in the wind like that would not only be horrible, but… well, it would just prove that Ludwig was a coward. It would prove that he wasn't willing to conquer his fears in order to be by his friend's side. And after the Frostwall incident, he didn't want to increase his list of sins he committed against Aria Shellcreep. So, he was going to follow her in. He would stay by her side, no matter what kind of horrors potentially rested within the cave.

Before they entered, Jarod and Aria got out their dark magic trackers. The things beeped like they had never beeped before, sounding like they were bombs that were just seconds away from exploding. Jarod's eyes traveled between the device and the mouth of the cave.

"Well, it seems that our trackers weren't barking up the wrong tree."

Aria laughed and looked back at Ludwig. "Sometimes, we get readings that aren't accurate. Whether it be because the demons move or the objects get taken out of the area, every so often, we get false alarms." She looked back into the cave. "I'm glad that that didn't happen this time, though. I do appreciate a little excitement in my life."

Ludwig snorted. Without anymore words, all three Koopas got out their flashlights and entered the cave. As they walked across the rocky ground, Ludwig took notice of how still everything seemed. There wasn't any sound, not even water dripping off the stalactites and falling to the floor. The only sounds and movements within this cavern came from the three Koopas and their dark magic trackers. This only added to the eerieness, as it felt like Ludwig was stepping into an unholy place. This was where unclean spirits lurked (or at the very least used to lurk). This was where magic (dark, dangerous, arcane magic) had been practiced. Ludwig tried to not let it bother him. Sure, he didn't like the feeling that he was stepping into the home dimension of the devil himself, but he was still going in. He would stay close to Aria if it was the last thing he did.

When they got a little deeper into the cave, the beeping of the dark magic trackers sped up even more (which was honestly impressive seeing how they were as quick as a hummingbird heart before). Jarod, who led the group, held the tracker at arms' length and let it scan the walls and the room.

"Hmm," he said. "These readings are really picking up." He turned toward the right. "I think we might find some magical items this ti…"

He stopped. Aria shined the flashlight on the right hand wall, causing everyone to gasp. Markings, archaic and mysterious, rested on the wall. Ludwig could hardly believe his eyes. They were mostly pictures, pictures of a time that had long since passed. Some of them were still brightly colored, at least enough for Ludwig to see that one picture depicted what looked like some sort of child sacrifice. He swallowed a lump and took his eyes off that particular picture. Underneath the picture were some kinds of runes. What they said and what language they were supposed to be, Ludwig hadn't the slightest clue, which was saying something as he knew how to read multiple languages from all over the Mushroom World. However, even though he couldn't understand them, he still found them very intriguing. He reached out his hand to touch the wall…

Only for Aria to slap his hand away. "Don't. There's magical residue on the walls."

Ludwig pulled away instantly. Trying not to worry too much about the fact that he had almost potentially put his life in jeopardy, he looked between the other koopas and the runes. "What do you guys think this means?"

Jarod grinned. "It means we're in the right place, that's what it means!"

Ludwig gave him a sideways glance. "I was talking about the runes."

"Oh." Jarod looked back at the runes and shrugged. "I dunno."

Aria snorted. "It's a good thing that I'm here then."

"You can read runes?" Ludwig asked.

"Oh yeah." She shined her light on the wall, studying the runes. "Well, it seems that they go along with the pictures." She shined her light on said pictures. "The cults that worshiped here sacrificed children for the sake of the Shadow Queen and the Dark Prince. They seemed to believe that by killing them, their pure, untainted souls would be able to pass from this dimension to the one the Shadow Queen was in, thereby allowing her and her son to be released from their interdimensional prison."

Ludwig's spine felt like it had been exposed to sub-zero temperatures. "Man, that's disgusting." He shuddered before something occurred to him, something that made him perk up. "Wait, if this is the site of those sacrifices, maybe we can uncover more information about the Dark Prince here!"

Aria's eyes shined again. "Maybe…" she sank a little bit. "I wouldn't get my hopes up though. This isn't the first time a site of sacrifice has been found by demon hunters. And those who did have found just as much info about the Dark Prince as I have."

"Oh." Ludwig's shoulder slumped. "Never mind then."

"But that doesn't mean we can't explore!" Jarod exclaimed. "We never know; maybe this time we'll get lucky!" He faced forward. "Come on guys, let's keep going!"

Ludwig and Aria exchanged a look before following after him. After a little bit, they came across a split path, which in turn caused the group to split up. Jarod went to the right while Aria and Ludwig went to the left.

As they walked, Aria's magic tracker went nuts. She looked down at it with interest. "Man, it isn't often that this baby goes this crazy." She faced forward. "I have a feeling that there's some sort of magical item here."

Ludwig beamed. "Well, that's good! I bet that could really aid you in your research!"

"Possibly." Aria smiled. "That would be really nice." She walked faster. "However, I don't get to keep dark magic items for very long. Usually, I give them to museums, or other demon hunters more experience then I am when it comes to studying this stuff."

Ludwig nodded and continued following her. As they did, a thought occurred to him. "You know, it's really interesting to me how all this ancient magic impacts our present day. You would think it wouldn't, but it really does. There are still some cults dedicated to worshiping the Shadow Queen, and of course there are a lot of demon hunters who dedicate their lives studying the impact of these ancient peoples."

Aria nodded. "It is interesting." Her face fell. "It's also unfortunate though, as that indicated the damage that evil like this can leave on the world."

"I know." He put his hand on her shoulder. "But even still, I'm very impressed that you pursued this career path. That takes a lot fo guts."

Aria blushed. "Thanks." She face forward again. "Although, one has to be careful with this sort of thing. It's very easy (and not unheard of) for people fighting monsters like these to become monsters themselves. Sometimes even literally."

Ludwig shuddered. "I… yeah." He looked back at her. "I highly doubt you could be corrupted like that though."

"One can only hope," Aria said with a sigh.

With that, they continued down the path. Said path ended in a circular room, one that looked oddly man made for a naturally occurring cave. In the middle of the room was an altar, but other than that, the place was empty. There weren't even any markings on the wall.

Both koopas stepped further in. "Well," Ludwig said. "I guess there are no magical items."

"Nope." Aria looked down at her magic tracker in confusion. "So, what's causing all the…" She stopped all of a sudden, looking alert. "Ludwig did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" It was only once that was said that Ludwig heard a sort of scratchy scuttling sound. It almost sounded like it was coming from up above, in the ceiling. His heartbeat sped up as he looked up there. "What was…!"

CRASH! Rock, dust and debris rained down from the ceiling right onto the altar. Both Ludwig and Aria shrieked, only barely getting out of the way in time. Unfortunately, that didn't bring much relief when they saw what had caused the ceiling to break. Right on top of the altar rested a creature, purple and color while possessing no limbs to speak of. It did have a mouth however, filled with fangs sharp enough to pierce the heart. The beast roared at them.

Ludwig screamed. "DEMON!"