Chapter 30: Echoes of the Past
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry that I haven't updated for a while. I was recently hospitalized and I needed time to heal. And I'm happy to say this story now has over 300 followers and favorites! Thank you all for your support! I hope you all like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.
We find ourselves in the middle of a big forest during a boiling rainstorm when a hooded figure runs through it.
Looking for shelter the figure spots an old ruined building.
Making their way towards it the figure takes off its hood revealing it to be a younger Eda with ginger hair and grey streaks in it.
Looking around Eda noticed several stacked rock formations unaware of a set of glowing eyes watching her.
Hearing something run past her, Eda took a stance.
"Who's there? Reveal yourself." Eda orders.
As the mysterious creature comes towards her, Eda turns around and gasps.
Flashback End:
In the present time, we're at the Owl House where Luz and Tiger Lily were studying books, Blanca was sharpening her swords and Minato was watching some recordings from his dad's phone.
"Guys! I need your help!" King said running in. "I think Francois is planning a rebellion."
Pointing to his stuffed animal pile we see a small dagger fall out behind him.
"Hey that's where my dagger went." Blanca said taking it back.
"Sorry King I'm just trying to learn more about dad. This is the most I've seen in 6 years." Minato said.
As he played the next entry the girls looked over his shoulder to get a peek.
"So Belos finally got through his thick skull that I don't have the portal anymore. Eda does. Now that he knows this. He plans to keep me alive until he gets his hands on her. But if I know Eda she won't give it to him that easily." Miguel said making everyone chuckle.
"He was not wrong about that." Luz said.
"But in the meantime at least I'm getting fed more. Belos even gave me his favorite drink." Miguel said sipping from a glass and immediately started gagging.
"He poisoned him!" Blanca gasps.
"Dad!" Minato panics before Miguel spits it out.
"Blech! This stuff tastes like Black Licorice!" Miguel said making Luz and Minato gasp.
"That monster!" Luz said.
"Uh what's Black Licorice?" Tiger Lily asks.
"It's one of grossest human concoctions ever made." Luz said.
"Oh it's on now Belos. Next time we meet I'm kicking your ass." Minato vows.
"Yes you've sworn your vengeance now what about me?" King asks.
"In a minute, King. I'm getting so close to figuring out this glyph combo." Luz said.
"Yeah and I'm trying a new combo with my spirit beasts." Tiger Lily said.
"Ugh it's always glyphs, spells, dads and portals with you guys. What about King?" King asks.
"Why don't you ask Lilith?" Blanca suggests.
"Yeah she was in the Emperor's Coven. She has more experience with unruly mobs than anyone." Luz agrees.
Looking over they saw Lilith staring intensely at a glyph she was drawing.
"Watching the ink dry is the best part." Lilith giggles making King uncomfortable.
"Hey Lilith don't look too close you're gonna hurt your eyes again." Blanca warns.
Hearing this Lilith lifts her head up smiling.
"Thanks BeBe." Lilith said when Hooty came in with a mug.
"A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu." Hooty said.
"Hootsifer you truly are a gem." Lilith said fixing herself and taking the mug.
"What's going on? Is Hooty blackmailing her?" King whispers to Luz and Minato.
"No King, they're actually friends." Minato chuckles.
"That's nice." Luz said before taking out a glyph. "Okay this'll work for sure. Now you see me." Luz puts the glyph on her and she instantly turns invisible surprising everyone. "Now you don't. Luz said before reappearing again.
"Luz your spell wore off." Blanca points.
"Huh? Oh I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath." Luz realized. "Still pretty cool."
"Don't ever do that again!" King begs holding her leg.
"Do that again!" Lilith insists standing up.
"That's pretty cool Luz, how did you come up with this?" Minato asks.
"Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs, I've been experimenting. I got the invisibility idea from Lilith's history books." Luz said shaking King off her.
"She's not the only one. How else are we supposed to keep up with you if we don't step up our game?" Tiger Lily asks surprising him.
"Me? You girls are trying to catch up to me?" Minato said not expecting this.
"We can't leave you to do all the fighting." Luz smirks.
"As the Owl House Guard I need to be strong enough to protect everyone in this house." Blanca smiles.
Smiling Minato was happy and impressed by them.
"Fascinating! As the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, my aid could be very helpful in—" Before Lilith could finish she tripped over King's stuffed animal pile.
"An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!" Grabbing a plushie King threw it at her.
Moving in Hooty took the hit and drops into Lilith's arms.
"I'm done for Lulu." Hooty said dramatically.
"Hootsifer this is make believe." Lilith said.
"Avenge me." Hooty begs.
"Take it down a notch Hooty." Tiger Lily rolls her eyes.
As Hooty pretends to die King thew another plushie at Lilith.
"King stop throwing things at her." Blanca said.
"The King of Demons yields to no one!" King snaps.
"Historically, demons have never been united under a single rule until Belos. There's no such thing as a King of Demons." Lilith corrects and was immediately hit by another plushie.
"Blasphemy! Clearly, you know nothing of my reign of terror. Allow me to tell you. I was once the mighty King of Demons. I was beloved almost as much as I was feared. But one dark day, an evil spell was cast transforming me into this." King gestures.
"Oh and what about your crown of power?" Hooty mocks.
"A trifle! It was merely a test of Luz, Eda, and Minato's dedication to me! They passed. My real crown is out there. But when I shrank my memories…got a little fuzzy." King admits.
"How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story." Lilith mocks.
"Ha nice one Lulu! Up top!" Hooty said but when Lilith high fives him Hooty got hit in the eye.
"No offense King but I've lived here my whole life and I've never heard of this. Are you sure you really remember this?" Blanca asks.
"I remember plenty. I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts, and falling from a massive height as evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place and all shall fear me!" King declares.
"Sure they will little guy." Minato smiles rubbing his head while Luz rubbed his belly.
"Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant! Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?" Luz teases.
"Me. It's me!" King smiles.
"Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it wasn't so sad." Lilith said.
"Don't blame me for your ignorance. I'm not a liar, and I can prove it." King said before running down the hall.
"He called me ignorant?! Me!" Lilith gasps.
"So uh what is all this about?" Tiger Lily asks.
"Yeah I'm not sure I buy this." Blanca said.
"Stop it, you guys. This story is really important to him, so the least we can do is play along." Luz said.
"You mean indulge his silly fantasy?" Lilith asks.
"We mean don't crush the one small shred of hope he has." Minato glares.
"I'm a house of principles! You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous!" Hooty scoffs.
"No dessert for a week if you don't." Minato threatens making Hooty gasp.
"Come on guys just go with it. For his sake." Luz begs.
Suddenly King came running in with Eda and Lilith's staffs.
"All right, you four shall regret ever doubting me. We're going to my castle!" King declares.
"What?" Minato pauses.
"Uh…" Luz pauses not expecting this.
"What's wrong Guys? I thought you said we should go—" Before Hooty could finish Minato elbows him in the gut making him shut up.
"Go with him! I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?" Luz corrects quickly.
As Luz takes Eda's staff Lilith took hers.
"My historical expertise is being questioned, and I will not allow it. Hooty, would you like to accompany us?" Lilith offers.
Gasping Hooty was overjoyed at the offer.
"I'll get ready!" Hooty said excitedly.
As Minato, Luz, Blanca, Tiger Lily, King and Lilith watch the sounds of organs squishing and splattering echoed from the door causing them to look in disgust before a look of sheer horror appeared on all their faces.
Looking at the door where Hooty was we see pulsing organs from the ident while Hooty was now sitting in a birdhouse-shaped backpack.
"Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!" Hooty declares.
While Lilith had a hand to her chest and was panting heavily, Blanca had a look of horror on her face as she pointed her sword at him hands shaking, Tiger Lily was whimpering as she rubbed her eyes furiously trying to block it out, King was tearing up and shaking his head, Luz was dry retching before gaging about to retch for real and Minato was on his knees cringing in pain.
"My eyes!" Minato screams covering his face.
After pulling themselves together we see Eda walk into the main room to see everyone was gone.
"Hmm? Where'd everyone go? Man, they made a mess in here. Oh well. It's been a while since I had room to put my feet up." Eda said taking her feet off and laying down on the couch.
When she did she noticed a note on King's plushies.
"Off to my real castle! Don't wait up! Love, your favorite demon overlord." It read.
"Oh no not again!" Eda said falling off the couch.
Changing into her normal clothes and putting her legs back on Eda ran to the shed and pulled out her bathtub motorboat allowing her to race after them.
As the sun was setting we see Luz, Minato, Tiger Lily, and Blanca wearing their cloaks and weapons as they rode on the staffs. Minato, Luz, and King rode on Owlbert and Lilith, Tiger Lily, Blanca and Hooty rode on Lilith's staff.
"Are we still flying? It's been hours." Hooty whines hanging off the side.
"Hooty stop complaining." Minato groans.
"Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night? Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious." Lilith laughs.
"That was a joke?" Blanca asked but Tiger Lily just shrugged.
"There it is!" King points.
Through the fog, we see an island in the distance.
"Whoa what is this place?" Tiger Lily asks.
"This island shouldn't be here. It's not on any of the maps." Lilith said confused.
"It's always been there when I looked." King smirks as they descended toward the forest.
"After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away. Like a wittle baby." King said.
"Awww." All the teenagers said.
Looking at Lilith, Luz clears her throat.
"Fine. Aw." Lilith said.
"Look!" Hooty gasps.
Looking through the forest they saw a large tower.
"Ah, home sweet home." King sighs as they made their way toward it.
Trekking through the forest King led the way with everyone else behind him.
"Well nice to see someone's handling this well." Minato said looking to Tiger Lily who was taking second.
"All these trees and wildlife." Tiger Lily said before taking a deep breath and sighing. "Feels like home."
"Oh yes, Neverland. You told me about it before Tili." Lilith said using her nickname. "It sounds like quite the home."
"We're still trying to figure out how to send Lily home, but the Wailing Star is tricky to copy." Luz admits.
"Hmm yes but fortunately tricky is what I love." Lilith said seeing it as a challenge.
"Man it's been so long since I've come here. I've done a lot in my time with you guys." Tiger Lily realized.
"You managed to make the best of this situation Lily. I know it's tough being this patient but I'm really happy that you stuck around with us." Minato smiles.
"Yeah me too." Luz smiles.
"You helped me feel welcome. We're happy you're here." Blanca smiles.
"As am I." Lilith smiles.
"Agreed you are a very good servant." King said.
Hearing how each one of them was happy she was around Tiger Lily couldn't help but wonder.
"Hey King why didn't we land a little closer?" Blanca asks.
"The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in. Plus now I can dramatically do this." King pulls back some plants to reveal a giant keyhole-shaped entrance to the tower.
"Oh man. Look at the size of that keyhole." Minato said amazed.
"A door fit for a tyrant." Luz teased.
"That's me." King said as they approached the keyhole to see rocks covering it. "I'll find you guys another way in." King said before crawling into a crevice.
"This place is amazing. I never it even existed." Blanca said looking around in awe.
Looking around Tiger Lily noticed a symbol on the wall.
"Hey what's that?" She points getting Lilith's attention.
"What a strange material. And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this." Lilith said.
"Ha! I've seen better graffiti. I've got better graffiti on me." Hooty said revealing graffiti marks on him.
"Kids look at this. This predates any language I know. King's story may be a fake, but these ruins are a history mystery." Lilith squeals excited.
Suddenly the rocks collapsed behind them startling them.
"What's a mystery?" King asks revealing he made them a way in.
"Uh…how someone as smart as Lilith can be so wrong about all this." Minato said making Lilith glare at him."
"Ha you so are. Come on in." King said walking ahead.
"Sorry I panicked." Minato shrugs.
Making their way into the dark castle, Luz and Lilith took out light glyphs allowing them to see inside.
As the lights shined through the halls they saw stacks upon stacks of rocks with a crescent moon shape on them.
"Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes. The taste was cold and bitter, but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz." King said.
"With all the sweets I eat I better be." Luz teases.
"I see Minato as more of a savory taste." King said.
"Probably from all my cooking." Minato chuckles.
As the others walked ahead Minato followed from the back examining carefully he saw a shadow race past the others.
Gasping he turns around about to draw the Monado but to his confusion saw nothing.
"Hey Minato is everything okay?" Blanca asks.
"He's probably amazed. My castle has that effect on people." King smirks.
"Uh yeah…amazed." Minato said following to catch up. But his guard wasn't lowered.
In another hallway, Lilith, Blanca and Hooty were examining the castle when Hooty gasped loudly.
"Look over there." Hooty points.
Examining the wall, the two girls gasp seeing a large carving of a demon that looked very familiar.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Hooty asks.
"These carvings are ancient." Lilith said.
"What does it mean? It's not in any of the history books I've read." Blanca asks.
"Well, if I've never heard about this ruin, let alone this entire island, who knows what other parts of history we scholars have missed?" Lilith said.
"Wait are you saying that?" Blanca starts.
"He might actually have been…" Hooty continues.
"The King of Demons!" Hooty and Lilith said at the same time while Blanca just stood in disbelief.
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, King stood atop a rock pile as Luz, Minato and Tiger Lily watched him.
"Ah my kingdom." King chokes tearing up. "I'm sorry I got bone dust in my eye."
"Hey what's up there?" Luz asks noticing a blocked hole in the ceiling.
"I-I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar, probably some minion praising my name." King assumes.
"Hey uh maybe we should get back. This is great but Eda must be on her third cup of appleblood." Luz said.
"Oh yeah we better hurry. Last time it took forever to get her off the roof." Minato agrees.
"Wait you guys want to leave? We just got here." Tiger Lily said surprised to hear this from them.
Before they could respond Hooty knocked them both out of the way.
"Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was messing around with you the whole time, right?" Hooty said confusing them.
"Your majesty?" Minato and Luz surprised.
"You guys are not gonna believe what we saw." Blanca said.
"It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value. Perhaps you could tell me more about them." Lilith insists.
"I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales." King laughs.
As Luz and Minato got up they heard a hissing from a small corridor.
Looking to each other they both slowly snuck away while King was talking. Little did the know Tiger Lily saw them.
"Am I using that word right? Regale?" King asks.
As they slowly glanced down the hall, Tiger Lily walked over and they suddenly heard that noise again.
"Uh what was that?" Tiger Lily gulps.
"Guys are you hearing this?" Luz calls out.
But everyone else was focused on King.
"I'll show you where my throne used to be. It was made from the teeth of my enemies and boy was it awkward to sit in." King laughs leading Hooty, Lilith and Blanca away.
Nervously the three of them made their way through they see the walls were lined up with stone figures that resembled the ones near the entrance. Some were even covered in fleshy goop.
"What are these things?" Minato asks.
"I've never seen beasts like these before." Tiger Lily said examining them when Luz noticed one had its hand out.
"I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy." Luz said high fiving it but the statue immediately fell apart on her making her scream.
"Luz!" Running over Minato and Tiger Lily yank the pieces off her.
"Are you okay?" Minato asks concerned when Luz looks up.
"Uh guys." Luz gulps pointing upwards.
Looking up the two of them saw more statues but one of them was empty.
Turning around the three of them gasped seeing something run past them.
Panicking the three of them were all thinking the same thing.
Back with the others, King was telling them more stories.
"And that's how I would annihilate my enemies. Who needs due process, am I right?" King jokes.
"And I thought my old assassin days were messy." Blanca cringed.
"What does this image represent, my lord?" Lilith asks shining a light on one where a familiar-looking demon had a spear in his hand.
"Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?" King asks when the others ran in.
"Okay tour's over! We gotta go!" Luz yells.
"Yeah we need to leave now!" Tiger Lily said.
"Leave? We just got here." Blanca said.
"There's so much to learn." Lilith said.
"This is not a learning environment! It's a dying environment!" Minato said.
"Ah, you guys saw the horrifying monstrosity room. Don't worry, they can't hurt you." King assures when they heard a rattling.
Looking up towards the ceiling they saw a fleshy rock monster looking down at them.
"Except that one!" Minato points.
"Run!" Luz grabs King and ran towards the entrance but before she reach the monster landed in front of her.
Extending its hands they changed into sharp claws much to Luz's horror.
Swinging them at Luz she narrowly dodges them.
"Luz duck!" Loading an arrow, Tiger Lily fires forcing the rock monster to jump back.
Drawing their swords, Minato and Blanca deliver a double slash attack knocking it toward the rocks.
Taking out ice glyphs Lilith fires multiple chunks of ice impaling the creature.
"Dang, girl, you've been practicing!" Luz said as Minato helps her up.
"You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive!" Lilith said as they made a run for it.
Sliding through the ice spikes, the creature started crawling along the ceiling before leaping out in front of them.
"What are you?" Minato asks as the creature turns its other hand into an axe.
It was about to attack when a potion flew in and exploded upon contact.
Looking to the entrance they saw Eda run with a potion belt filled with explosive potions around her.
"Get out of here! I'll hold it back and meet you outside." Eda said throwing another potion at it.
"Eda let us help!" Blanca said.
"We can beat it together." Luz agrees.
"You can't beat this thing. Go!" Eda orders.
Looking at each other Eda clearly knew more than they did and ran to the exit as fast as they could.
Once they were gone Eda looks at the monster and smirked.
"It's been a while. Miss me?" Eda said as the monster lunges at her.
Exiting the castle, everyone stopped to catch their breath.
"More running, less stopping!" Hooty panics.
"Edalyn said to wait here!" Lilith reminds.
"We can't leave her to fight that thing alone. We have to go back!" Minato said when multiple loud explosions went off.
Fearing the worst all of them huddled in fear before the first to emerge was Eda holding her side in pain.
"Edalyn!" Lilith said as she and Blanca ran to her.
"You're hurt." Blanca said noticing her wound.
"What about that horrible creature?" Lilith asks.
Jumping onto the rocks behind them, the creature was about to strike when suddenly a forcefield appeared stopping it from hurting them outside the castle.
"It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now." Eda explains.
"That thing must be guarding this place against intruders." Tiger Lily said.
"But this is my castle. How could we be intruders?" King asks confused.
"Well…uh." Minato and Luz cringed unsure what to say.
Pausing King looks at them. "Wait…do you guys not think this is my castle?"
Seeing the uncomfortable and nervous looks on their faces said it all.
"Luz, Minato, you think I would lie to you guys?" King asks hurt.
"King we…" Luz starts.
"You aren't lying. You just don't know the truth." Eda said before sitting down. "It's time for me to tell you how we really met. Eight years ago I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven. I never knew this place existed and it just... appeared out of the mist. So, I landed." Eda explains. "Now, I was one hot tamale, but the boiling rains were even hotter. I needed shelter. But when I found it I wasn't alone."
Flashback:
We see Eda make her way into the castle when a shadowy figure ran past her.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Eda orders.
Scurrying out of the shadows, Eda gasps at the sight of a baby King. As the baby tilted his head Eda watched as it picked up a crescent moon rock and put it atop a pile of rocks.
"Did you make all these? What are you?" Eda asks rubbing his head causing King's tail to wag.
Suddenly the creature appeared behind them with an axe hand.
Grabbing King, Eda hopped on her broom and flew out as fast as she could.
Turning its arm into a bow, the creature fired an arrow that flew towards the barrier and hit King causing one of his horns to fall off.
Looking in horror, Eda grabbed King and the broken horn and ran.
Flashback End:
"I assumed you were just some stray dog. But then that thing was gonna kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced. Against my better judgment, I took you home with me. I'd gotten you the collar, because... well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then…" Eda pauses.
Flashback:
At the Owl House, we see Eda had picked up Miguel for one of his visits.
"So how did it go this year?" Eda asks as Miguel walked in.
"Oh you know, dropped a letter off at home, kicked Dez's butt, the usual. How about you?" Miguel asks.
"Well." Eda opens the door and they saw King making stacks out household.
"Aww kawaii." Miguel smiles. "Eda what is this thing?"
"Ah, look at you. A king amongst his subjects." Eda jokes.
"King. King." It said before falling over surprising them.
"It spoke? Yeah that's right a king. You know what else kings do? They command armies and eat delicious feasts." Eda lists.
"And they wear big crowns on their heads." Miguel laughs.
Chattering King loved the sound of this.
Flashback End:
"And that's how you got the idea you were some despotic overlord. Oh, but you were finally happy. So we kept playing along with it. And that's why Miguel got that crown of power all those years ago." Eda finished.
"Y-You're lying!" King accuses.
"I'm not." Reaching into her hair, Eda pulls out the missing piece of King's horn.
Reaching out to touch it King suddenly remembered more. He saw his army was really all those stone statues he made, and his feasts were him eating whatever insect came into the castle.
"My armies, my feasts, my life." King chokes before tossing it aside. "No! Keep that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!"
"King calm down." Minato said.
"It's gonna be okay." Luz said.
"Y-You're all just making fun of me, like usual, right?" King said as he started hyperventilate. "No! No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Sobbing King ran off into the forest.
"King!" All of them yelled in horror.
Running into the forest all of them were looking for King screaming his name.
"King! King!" Luz yells.
"King where are you?!" Minato yells.
"I can't fly, these trees are too dense. I regret ever playing a part in this." Lilith frowns.
"Is this what regret feels like? I hate it!" Hooty sobs.
"I feel so bad for this. I doubted King and now he's gone." Blanca frowns.
"It's not your fault Blanca. Luz and I were the ones who messed up." Minato frowns.
"Even though he trusted us the most." Luz frowns.
"We'll split up, the island is small and he's even smaller. He couldn't have gotten far." Eda suggests.
Nodding Tiger Lily went with Eda and Blanca went with Hooty and Lilith while Luz and Minato ran off.
"King! King!" Both of them called out continuing the search.
As they made their way to the beach, they saw King sitting on a log all by himself.
Making their way over they sat down on both sides of him.
"Eda was right, wasn't she? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody." King said still upset.
"Not to us King. You were always a somebody." Minato said.
"We're sorry we lied to you about what we believed." Luz apologizes.
"Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it!" King sobs. "What do I do? I don't know what's real and what's fake?"
Looking over at the tower, Luz noticed how tall it was.
"Something's not adding up. One of your memories is falling, right?" Luz recalls.
"Probably another stupid thing I made up!" King said.
Pausing Minato realized something. "But what if it wasn't? There was an area that led to the higher parts in that tower but it was blocked off. You said you remember a roar from up in that shaft. What if that was where you fell through?" Minato said catching on.
"Eda found you in those ruins near the entrance, but that's only the first floor maybe the other parts have a clue about where you come from?" Luz asks.
"I don't know guys, what if the story gets worse?" King asks.
"When I tried to learn the story of my family, I ended up learning my grandpa wants me dead, my dad is in jail and I'm involved in this crazy recruitment thing going with my aunt and family butler. Trust me whatever you have that's up there it can't be any worse than what I'm dealing with." Minato assures.
"Huh. Got me there." King admits.
"You might have been alone before, but you have us now. Whatever we find up there won't change that. So, what do you say?" Luz offers as both held their hands out.
"Okay." King said taking both their hands.
Leading them back to the others everyone was overjoyed.
"King! You're alright!" Eda said before noticing the look on his face. "You're mad at me. I get it. I would be, too." Eda said before kneeling down. "I'm sorry King."
"Boop." King said bopping her on the cheek surprising her. "No more secrets okay? You have to promise me."
"Only truths I promise." Eda vows.
"Great. Now, before we leave, we have one more thing to check out." Luz points to the tower.
"We're gonna need to get past that thing to get King where we need to." Minato said.
"I got a trick I've been working on, it might be just the thing." Tiger Lily said.
"And we'll make sure you can pull it off." Blanca said.
"We'll double your chances." Lilith said as she and Hooty stepped forward.
At the castle, the monster was cleaning up the mess when suddenly it heard a noise.
Looking to the entrance it waited when suddenly a spirit eagle flew in and nailed it in the face.
Before it could react an explosive potion flew in and hit it creating a cloud of smoke.
From the smoke, the creature saw Blanca charge in with a sword gleaming.
Turning its arm into an axe the creature blocks it.
Flying in on her staff Lilith aimed Hooty like a bazooka.
"Special delivery pain!" Hooty said in a deep voice.
As Hooty spits a potion out of his mouth the creature dodged it only for a whip to shoot out and wrap around its axe arm.
Turning around it saw Tiger Lily holding it.
While it was distracted the creature didn't notice something invisible fly past it. When Luz takes a deep breath, she, Eda, Minato and King flew towards that shaft.
"You sure they'll be alright?" Eda asks.
"Trust Lily. She says she has a plan. So I have faith in her." Minato said.
Flying up Eda placed an explosive potion in a crack before they dropped down.
As Tiger Lilly pulled on the whip the creature stumbled forward before regaining footing.
Pulling back Tiger Lily was yanked towards it. Raising its claw it was about to strike when suddenly Lily's spirit eagle cawed.
Diving in at full speed the Spirit eagle collides with Tiger Lily causing a glow to envelop her.
As the claw comes in a hand grabs it.
When the light dies down Tiger Lily had changed. Her outfit had glowing orange highlights tribal makeup had appeared on her face to resemble an eagle and glowing wings shot out of her back.
"No way." Blanca said as she and Lilith smile widely.
While the creature was confused Tiger Lily pulls back allowing her to deliver a powerful uppercut to the chin.
"Why don't we go for a ride?" Tiger Lily said as they flew up and she threw it across the room.
Before it could react Tiger Lily flew in and rammed it into some rocks.
"Okay that's awesome." Eda said before landing down. "You ready?"
"Born ready." Minato grins as a ball of lightning formed in his hand.
"I've always wanted to do something like this." Luz said taking out a fire glyph.
Throwing them both up they collide with the potion creating a giant explosion.
Turning around distracted the creature was hit in the face by Hooty before Lilith grabbed Blanca and they flew up the hole.
"Quick! Fly! Fly! Fly!" Luz said as all of them shot up the shaft to the top floor with the creature on their tail.
"There's..." Minato said.
"There's…" Luz said
"There's…" King said.
"Nothing here." Eda said as they reached the top to see it was a big empty room with a door.
As they all climbed off their staffs they examined the room when suddenly King heard a hissing.
Looking down he saw the creature climbing up.
"It's coming!" King panics running to the door.
"You know you're really getting annoying." Blanca said.
Letting out a loud caw Tiger Lily released a powerful sound attack making it skid back towards the hole.
"Whoa. Where did that come from?" She said surprised.
"We can praise you later." Minato said as they all backed towards the door taking fighting stances.
As the creature shook off Tiger Lily's attack King touched the door causing it to glow in response before opening.
Seeing they had a way out they ran inside and slammed the door shut before the creature could catch up.
"I think we're safe for now." Eda said as Tiger Lily's spell died down allowing her to return to normal.
"But wait how did the door open?" Blanca asks.
"Huh?" Pausing King looked at his paw.
"This room is old. Very old." Lilith said as they looked around the room to see a skylight with decaying flowers and in the middle of the room on a gold pedestal was the remains of a broken eggshell.
"I knew something was up here! I'm like the mystery whisperer. The butler did it, magnifying glass, secret door." Luz said making Minato chuckle.
"Take it easy Luz. You're a long way from being the next Sherlock." Minato chuckles.
"Oh does that make you Watson?" Luz smirks.
"I'm no sidekick." Minato said.
"I think that creature was trying to guard whatever was in here." Lilith said.
"Yeah but what was in here?" Blanca asks.
"King, does any of this feel familiar?" Minato asks.
"I'm not sure, but I think I know how to jog my memory. Eda, I'm ready." Eda said facing her.
"Are you sure?" Eda asks worried.
"I am." King nods.
Taking the piece of horn out, King placed it on his head and he sees a memory of an unborn him still in his egg when a roar echoes from the outside. The next time he woke up he was a baby who had just hatched from his egg. Looking up he sees the castle's mysterious symbol in the skylight. As he crawled to the door he touched it and it opened revealing the stone monster.
Picking him up the monster carried King to the shaft before jumping down to the first level.
"I remember a deep roar, but I was too small to do anything. So, I went back to sleep. And the next time I woke up…" King paused.
"King." Luz said concerned.
"That roar. It meant "son". I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son. Luz, Minato I think that was my dad." King declared.
"Maybe that was him on all the wall carvings." Minato said.
Suddenly the door broke up revealing the creature.
"Oh not again." Tiger Lily groans.
"Stop!" King orders.
Listening to him the monster took a knee and bowed to him.
"That thing was defending King from us this whole time? Wow." Eda said not expecting that.
Suddenly the sound of a click went off.
Turning around they saw Lilith taking pictures of the wall carvings.
"Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll just uh…do this later." Lilith said putting the camera away.
"King maybe you weren't a King of Demons but you were important to someone." Blanca said as King tears up.
"If... If he's out there, I want to find him. I'm not that old! It could be possible. Will you help me?" King asks looking at them.
Smiling Tiger Lily, Blanca and Eda nod.
"I do anything for you buddy." Luz smiles.
"You helped me find clues about my dad. It's only right I return the favor." Minato smiles.
"Then can we keep him?" King asks pointing at the monster.
"No." Eda, Luz, Minato, Tiger Lily, Blanca and Lilith said.
"Yes!" Hooty said wrapping them all up in a hug.
That night back at the Owl House, King was using a fork to carve the castle symbol on his collar.
"Whatcha doing there King?" Luz asks gluing the horn back on his head.
"That symbol was all over that tower. What if it's my name?" King asks as Luz put it on. "Eww gooey."
"It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion." King said gesturing to the monster now motionless in the corner of his room.
"Yeah…too bad." Luz cringed.
"Luz, is it okay to still call me "King"? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything." King asks.
"You're the King of my heart and Minato thinks you're the King of the Dark World Archetype. Is that enough?" Luz asks.
"Yeah that's good enough. Goodnight Luz." King said as she tucks him in.
"Goodnight King." Luz said kissing his forehead.
"And Francois." King said as Luz kisses him. "And Jean-Luc?"
Seeing the creature Luz gulps.
"Oh look at that I am all out kisses. Maybe next time. Goodnight." Luz said leaving.
In the living room, as Lilith's pictures were laid out Minato handed out drinks.
"Lily you were amazing out there. You really shined tonight." Minato said handing her one.
"Oh stop…I just did what we needed at the time." Tiger Lily blushes.
"No he's right you really stepped up tonight." Blanca said.
"When I get back to Neverland you are gonna blow everyone away with your new skills. I mean you can fly now. You're amazing." Minato said making Tiger Lily blush softly.
"Yeah…Neverland." Tiger Lily muttered.
"I've never seen markings like this." Lilith said as they all examined the pictures.
"Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?" Eda asks as Luz walked in.
"And check out these carvings. What are they showing?" Blanca asks.
"What do you think Mystery Whisperer?" Minato challenges.
"I don't know. But whatever we discover, we'll be there for King... no matter what." Luz said looking at one with the demon holding the spear.
"Agreed." Minato nods.
"Absolutely." Eda said.
"Count on it." Blanca nods.
"Y-Yeah all of us." Tiger Lily said before frowning. 'Assuming I'm still here for that.'
She could never have pulled something like this off back home. Ever since coming here Tiger Lily has had one adventure after another and Minato, Luz and the others have made her become someone she never thought she could become.
And now if she ever did go back home what would happen to the friends she had made here when she was gone? As much as she wanted to go back home this place was having her do the one thing she never once thought of back home… she was growing up.