"I never thought that, in all my life, would I have come across something such as this. After spending several months on Earth, with the Brotherhood of Light, my mentor, Victor, decided to follow me back home to the Boiling Isles. He also gave me this fancy journal, which a lot of the guys back with the Order have. At this point, I was still on the run, but even then, did Victor help me out, defending me, fighting by my side. He's been more family to me than...you-know-who ever has been. I'm not sure if I could ever forgive my sister for what she had done to me, but I do thank her for accidentally helping to get me out of the Coven system. Being a fugitive isn't so bad once you get used to it. On the plus side, Victory and I had found a neighboring island that I didn't know existed until now. We're gonna go check it out and see if it's an Emperor-Free zone. Hopefully, we won't run into anything weird over there...
In the Owl House, Luz was looking over a Travel that Apparently belonged to Eda, telling of the times that she was part of the Brotherhood of Light, and when she was Victor Belmont. While Luz believes Victor to be an ancestor, having been studying her family tree, she isn't entirely sure from which branch Victor was from. None of the better-known Belmonts ties him into much of her common Ancestry, and from what Eda had told her, it has only been several decades since they last saw each other. It brought up a question in her mind...who was Victor Belmont?
Then King came, rushing over to the girl, knocking over a few scrolls in the progress as he said "Luz, I need your help! I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion."
He points over to the couch, covered in his plushies. Francois, his pale pink bunny, is sitting in the center on a pillow when suddenly, a jagged dagger with a red gem on the hilt falls out from behind him.
"Not now, King." Luz sighed. "I'm busy studying my family tree. Research is important, you know?"
King groaned. "It's always research and studying with you these days. What about King?"
"Hmph." Luz brings King up to his lap. "I'm always gonna have time for you King. I know my stuff may always seem boring, but you gotta admit that it's caught your interest. And, it's better than being with the other weirdos in this house. Like our newest addition, for example."
She gestures over to Lilith, who was by the coach, drawing something on a piece of paper... with a paintbrush that had what Luz was hoping was just red painting. Lilith seemed rather focused on what she had been told to draw, as it specifically meant to "banish" certain monsters, according to Luz. But as it came into formation, she could see the runes that were on the edge of the circle she drew and the forming of a hexagonal shape with two lines tracing a cross inside. When it was finished, it glowed in a crimson-red hue.
"So this is a seal?" She asked. "Interesting..."
King shuttered at the sight of her. Sleeping in a house that is now with a vampire has not exactly been comfortable. But at least they've been doing well to make sure Lilith was well fed...and by they, I mean Hooty, as the very house demon comes in with a mug...that had a dead rat inside it.
"A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu." He says cheerfully.
Sighing, Lilith gives Hooty some pets on the head before saying "Hootsifer, you truly are a gem. How do you always know what to do?"
Confused, King whispers to Luz "What's going on? Is Hooty blackmailing her?"
"No. Those two have surprisingly gotten along pretty well." Luz answers. "And it's good to see Lilith has been mastering the art of seal-binding. We might just need those later."
"For what?"
"Something very, VERY important, according to Ms. Belmont here," Lilith says, walking up to Luz and handing her the paper. "Your seal, child. I must say, to study this form of magic has been rather fascinating." She then starts to walk back to the coach. "Had I still been the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, this would've been-"
And then, Lilith stumbles over the tower of King's plushies, toppling them. This prompts King to start "attacking".
"An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!" He starts childishly throwing plushies at Lilith, to which Hooty goes and blocks one of them, taking a hit as he then falls into Lilith's arms.
"I'm done for, Lulu." Hooty says in a weak tone.
Lilith has a deadpan look on her face. "Hootsifer, this is just make-believe."
Hooty seems to be playing along though. "Ah, to die in your arms. Avenge me." He then drops and sticks his tongue out, playing dead. All the while, King tosses another plushie at Lilith's head.
"Ha! The King of Demons yields to no one!"
Still looking unamused, Lilith grabs the plushie that landed on her and flings it away as she then takes Hooty and begins to bring him back to the door.
"You know, I've studied the History of Demonkind for Years, and officially, demons have never been united under a single rule until Belos. There's no such thing as a "King of Demons"."
Luz scoffs and says to herself. "Yeah. Tell that to when Gabriel Belmont fought the Devil of all Demons."
King then began to talk about how he was once a mighty king, but this got Luz thinking of what kind of demon King really was, as she started to flip through the pages of the more aged travel book, the one belonging to her ancestor, stopping at around Chapter 11 to see the image of a titan that existed on earth. Luz was familiar with the history of the ancient golems and constructs made by the smiths of Agartha on Earth, and they were known as Titans because of their enormous size. But none of them were like the ginormous corpse that the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles made their home. Except, maybe the Dracolich one; fossilized remains of an ancient dragon, reanimated by the Necromancers. Her ancestor, titled the "God Savior", had been the one to have battled it before. Just thought of that one, and the sight of King made Luz wonder. Could he be...?
"...My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh... fuzzy." She heard King say, getting out of her thoughts.
"How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story." Lilith remarked.
"Nice one, Lulu! Up top!"
Lilith ended up palming Hooty in the face, giving him a black eye. But King wasn't taking their so-called "blasphemy" lightly.
"I remember plenty!" He said. "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!" He was standing triumphantly amongst the three as Luz got back to reading her travel book, looking at all that was recorded about the Titans on Earth.
"I bet they will, King." She said cooingly while also thinking to herself. "If you are what I think you are, you'll definitely grow in size."
Lilith huffed, saying "Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it wasn't so sad."
"Oh, I believe that King is destined for something great. In fact, I'm looking into it as we speak."
"Ha! See? Luz is loyal enough to help me regain my true power!" King said. "But there's no need. I have proof of my legendary moments of triumph."
And that is when King headed over to the doorway, getting Eda and Lilith's staff, before trying to head back to the living room. But, he was holding them horizontally and it left him struggling to get back through until the staffs fell to the ground and he then decided to hold them vertically, making it easier for him.
"Follow me! We're heading to my castle!"
"Your castle?" Luz asked. "You actually had a castle."
"Of course! It was where I ruled over my subjects as a true king! But I haven't really been able to head back there since Eda took me in. She has not allowed me to go back there for some reason."
Closing her book, Luz then gets herself ready with her weapons in hand, and taking Eda's staff, she says "Alright King. Lead the way."
"Well, since my historical expertise has been put into question, I shall go along with this as well." Lilith says. "Hooty, would you like to accompany us?"
Hooty gasps before saying "I-I'll get ready!" And that is when he headed back to his door, where the other three found themselves looking at the most disgusting and disturbing, horrifyingly-gore-filled scene it has even been their displeasure to have laid their eyes on, as the sounds of crashing and squishing organs and splattering filled their eyes. By the time it was over, they gasped in horror as where Hooty once took place as guardian of the house, was now hanging open like a wound, as pulsing organs could be seen beating at the edges, while the House Demon himself was now sitting in a birdhouse-shaped backpack.
"Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!"
King had tears in his eyes after seeing that, Lilith was clutching onto her chest with shocked eyes, taken back...and Luz threw up.
"UUUuuuuUUUUUrrrrRRRggggGHhhh..." Luz then got back on her feet, wiping the vomit from her mouth. "Okay...let's go then."
Taking the Hooty backpack, Lilith grabbed her staff as the group walked out the door. But that is when she pulled Luz aside and whispered "Ms. Belmont, with all due respect, do you honestly believe that that little imp is actually some shrunken-down demon king? I was being serious with what I said. There is nothing in the history of the Boiling Isles about a ruler such as him. Belos was the only one to do so."
"And I wasn't kidding when I said that King was destined for greatness." Luz replied "Wherever he's leading us may have more historical significance than you think. Trust me. We might just make the discovery of a lifetime."
"Come on, guys!" King called out. "We don't have all day!"
And with that, Luz, Lilith, King, and Hooty flew away on their staffs. All the while, Eda had come out of her bathroom, wearing a bathrobe and a towel on her head. She was quite surprised to find the main room void of anyone else. Normally, she would mind the piece in quiet, but in times like this.
"Where is everybody?" She asked. But then, she found a note tied on one of King's plushies, and she read it with widened eyes. "Uh oh. Not again."
All the while, Luz, King, Lilith, and Hooty were flying over the sea for what seemed like an entire day's worth of time. At first, they may have started to lose of finding anything around here, but that is when Lilith took notice of something in the water. Something...dark and unnatural. Luz had a feeling that if something was catching Lilith's attention, then she should take notice as well, as she could see Lilith leaning to the side, and dipping her hands into the boiling waters, which surprisingly didn't cause her arm to start to burn. That is because when she brought it back up, her arm was covered in red...
"That water's been tainted." She explained, as she brought up her hand and let the crimson waters drip down her mouth, much to the dismay of the others, who almost cringed at her drinking that stuff. "...With Blood."
"Uh, is that normal?" Hooty asked.
"No. It isn't." Luz said. "And it seems to be flowing...right to where we're heading."
"There it is!" King yelled out, pointing to an island slowly becoming clear in the fog. He steers Luz down towards it, and Lilith follows.
"This island wasn't charted on any of the maps the Emperor's Coven used. I don't understand."
King replied, "It's always been there when I looked for it."
They land on the shore and walk into the jungle.
"You've actually been here before, King?" Luz asked and King answered. "Of course...this was my castle. I was born here and lived as a true King...before I shrunk and Eda took me away."
"There's something about this place that makes me feel...off." Lilith said. "I don't know why."
They were about to continue when Luz stopped King from going any further.
"Weh? Hey!" But that is when Luz pointed to what was ahead of them. The forest, the trees, and even the ground...it was all caked in blood.
Hooty gasps. "Look!"
"Ah, home sweet...home?"
And the blood was all coming and flowing towards the "spot". In the center of the Island was a large, yet dilapidated tower. And from its cracks and broken rooftop, blood was seeping out of the entire place. And the very sight of disturbed the party very much, while King was...saddened. As if the significance this place has for him has been disturbed and disgraced.
"It...wasn't like this before." King let out in a frightened tone, falling to his knees. But Luz was angered the what she saw, as she recognized whose handiwork it was.
"The Night Creatures got to it." She growled.
"That explains why I feel so strange." said Lilith. "I feel them nearby. Watching us."
To realize that a place of great significance to him has been desecrated in such a way by Creatures of the Night didn't stick well with King, as he got up and looked angry, saying "Well if they think they can take my castle, they got another thing coming! WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" And with that, King went off running towards the tower.
"King, wait!" Luz said as she and Lilith rushed after him. They see him heading over to a giant keyhole-shaped entrance to the tower, which appeared to have originally barricaded with rocks that were pushed out of the way, as a trail of blood leads inside. As Luz sees King heading inside and continues to go after him, Lilith walks over to a wall with a strange symbol caved into it.
"Strange material. And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this."
Hooty replied "Ha! I've seen better graffiti. I've got better graffiti on me." Hooty raises his side, showing "LUZ!" and three cool S's graffitied on him.
"Yes, charming. But this language. It predates anything I know." She says while examining the carvings. "Whatever this place is...it just cries out for research. Perhaps the little demon's story may not be as farfetched as I originally thought."
But that was when screeching could be heard coming from inside the tower, and Lilith rushed in to see that a Vampiric Soldier held King in one of its claws while trying to slice open Luz with a giant sword in another. It was a bestial one, white-skinned with a horrid-looking predatorial mouth, and with armor that made it a warrior, yet the stubs on its back gave the impression that it had wings that were cut off. It fought with primal strength and savagery but wasn't up to Luz using her whip to severely damage it, using Venus to cut off the arm holding King and blasting off its head with an explosive dagger, courtesy of her shadow medallion. As she saw her new vampire brethren burn away to ash, Lilith bit back the urge to snarl at Luz, since she was now a vampire, and there was an itch in her head that she couldn't get rid of. Something that wants her to submit to her vampiric nature and...serve. But she resisted, for she would never again be another pawn, not after what's become of her.
"I see you've...taken care of it." She said through some rather heavy breathing.
"That one was just a dishonored." Luz explained while picking up King. "Only acting as a sentry. But there doesn't seem to be anything here for it to've guard."
"Ha! It may seem like that to mortal eyes, but I'll have you know that this place would be more than enough for monsters to claim as their own!" King exclaimed while jumping from Luz's hands and gesturing to the room they all stood in. It was littered with rocks stacked to make the same figure of something with two or three round rocks as a body and a crescent-shaped head placed horizontally. But they didn't see much of the blood are the place. Almost as if it retreated entirely. But where?
"This was the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes!" He yelled out. "Not how I wouldn't want to show you guys, but you get the idea."
"Wonder what all these cairns are for?" Luz said to herself, looking around, and for a moment, while following King, her vision flashed to show her following a red-headed girl instead before flashing back to normal. That caught the young Belmont off guard, as she looked around to see that everything was as still as when they arrived.
"Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect." King remarked.
"That's one way to put it." Luz murmured.
Meanwhile, Lilith and Hooty stopped at a wall that had a carving of a giant demon resembling King.
"These carvings, they're ancient." She said. "And it does seem to resemble King."
"Wh-what does that mean?" Hooty asked.
"I'm not sure if he truly is some kind of grand ruler, even before Belos' time. But if there were truly some things that scholars had missed, I'd say Ms. Belmont was right about the little demon being destined for greatness."
"You mean that he could actually have been the King of Demons?!" Hooty replied, feeling shocked.
Lilith answered back "If Ms. Belmont is right...then he might just be more than a King."
The two look back to see King standing on top of a rock pile with a semi-destroyed mural right behind him, as basks at the sight of his 'history'.
"Ah, my kingdom. I, uh..." He wipes a tear from his eye. "I got some bone dust in my eye."
All the while, Luz was looking around, as if she was searching for something.
"Something still urchs me. What happened to the blood? Why was that vampire soldier here? What could've-"
She stopped herself when looked up to see a hole in the ceiling with rocks plugging it.
"What could've been up there?" She asked. And when King looked up, he narrowed his eyes and tried to think.
"I-I can't quite recall, but-"
Before he could say anything else, something dripped onto his snout, catching him off-guard. Wiping it off King with her finger, Luz looked at it very carefully...even gave it a sniff. The rather metallic scent of it nearly made Luz recoil as she looked up again to see the plugged hole in the ceiling...was leaking.
"The blood coming from up there." She figured it out. "It must've retracted when we got close, heading back to its 'rift', just up there."
"You mean that whoever's trying to disgrace my castle is still here?!" King said, angrily.
Luz replied while pointing upward "And unless we find out what's on the other side of the plug, we won't know what they're up to here. We should circle back and find some-" But, as she was moving, Hooty ended up knocking Luz to the ground before heading over and...beginning to praise King?
"Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was messin' around with you the whole time, right?"
"Calm yourself, Hooty." Lilith said as she walked over to King. "It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value that has never before been recorded. Your stories may not be fake, but the details are still rather hazy."
"Well, if you would truly like to learn more, I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales." King replied. "Am I using that word right? Regale?"
"Hold that thought for a second." Luz said as she pointed upwards to show that the blood that was seeping from the hole in the ceiling was now starting to slither head to another room within the tower. The sight of the sentient blood made Lilith bare her fangs in cravings, while King was a bit of a mixture of shocked, scared, and mostly angry as he recognized where the blood was heading.
"It's heading to the horrifying monstrosity room!" He called out as Luz decided to go and check it out. Heading down the hall, she could see that the walls were lined with recesses containing stone figures, resembling the little ones in the foyer, partially covered in fleshy goop.
"These are some kinds of golems. What were they meant for though?" She asked.
But that is when the blood started to seep into the recesses, where they soon covered the flesh of the figures, filling in places where they were incomplete, and started to activate their eyes to glow red and come out from their spots. Now contaminated by the blood, Luz readies her whip.
"I had to ask." She murmured before letting out a battle cry. Her fighting against the golems could be heard, echoing throughout the halls, which drew concern towards the trio, who were walking down the hall, continuing to look at the murals carved along the walls. Lilith looked back to hear the commotion in the distance, and if it weren't for Hooty, she would be going feral right now.
"Luz can handle it, Lulu." He told her, to which she replied. "That much, I know..." She then gestures over to carvings on the wall, acknowledging it's connection to King. "If you ever were such a great ruler, then surely, you would know something of your own history."
"Of course, I do!" King said confidently while walking over to the carving himself. "This one is...Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"
Their tour was cut short when they heard the sound of screeching, stone breaking, and Luz yelling. The three of them quickly evaded stones coming at their head as Luz walked towards them, looking worse for wear after just two minutes of combat.
"Lilith..." She breathed out. "...I could use a hand."
As she said this, the creatures can be seen crawling along the ceiling, rotating their heads down to look at them with glowing red eyes.
"Gladly." Lilith responded as she took her staff and spun it before energizing her palisman with shadow energy and whacking a golem's head off with it. With an extra set of hands to help her out, Luz and Lilith fought through a horde of the creatures, that were easily smashed by their attacks. Lilith, favoring the ice glyphs she learned, attacked with Grando ice daggers that impaled some of the creatures to the walls.
"You're doing great!" Luz told her as she held her own. But Lilith replied, "You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive!"
However, the blood that energized each golem seemed to splash and seep out of them and onto the floor, where it crawled to some destroyed pieces of the golems, and with its dark magic, regenerated the creatures so that they could continue fighting.
"The blood!" Luz called out as she struck another golem. "We have to destroy the blood!" And then she struck another.
"Hoot! Hoot! I'm on it!" Hooty said as he where the blood was crawling on the ground and opened his mouth. Luz and Lilith both knew where the demon was going with this, much to their dismay.
"Wait! Hooty! Don't just-"
*SLUUURRP*
"Blaagh! That stuff tastes terrible." Hooty said with a cringed expression and blood staining his lower lips. Luz and Lilith look at the house demon in disbelief, seeing him drink the demonic blood so casually. He looked at them and saw that they were confused. "What were guys saying?"
"...Nevermind." Luz said as they continued to fight.
Meanwhile, King was making a break for the entrance, but one of the monsters jumped in front of him and blocked his way. It changed its right arm into a claw and was ready to swipe at him. But as it prepares to strike, an explosion at the head puts it on the ground. it turned out to be Eda, coming into the temple, armed with her own weapons as she took a defensive stance against any other golems coming their way.
"Eda!" King called out, to which his caretaker met him with a glare.
"What could you possibly have been thinking?! Coming back here?!"
"Well, I-" He didn't get to finish as a blood arrow flew past Eda's head.
"Forget it. We'll discuss this later." Eda growled. "Just get out of here."
And with that, King crawled out of the exit while Eda armed herself up with her combat cross. "There are more of these freaks than before."
As one of them was leaping over to Luz, its head burst into pebbles as the tip of Luz's whip could be seen striking through it. The young Belmont walks up to Eda and says "There's too many of them, and the blood just keeps coming along with them." That made Eda look up to the blocked hole in the ceiling, which still had the blood dripping out from the other side.
Eda looked at her pupil and replied "Follow me outside. Quickly."
"Lilith! Hooty! We're leaving! Now!" Luz yelled back to the other two, who quickly made a break for the exit, catching up to the other two as they all headed for the exit. King waited for them outside and was quickly snatched by Luz when they were being chased by one of the golems with an axe hand. But as it was getting close and swung its weapon down, a blue forcefield appeared outside the tower, which the heroes were able to pass through, but when a golem followed them through...it went limp and collapsed on the ground. This made the group stop in their tracks to see the downed creature, but the blood that brought it to life was pulsing and glowing, as it lifted its head up and weakly got back on its feet. It limped towards the group, but Eda quickly destroyed it with a strike from her combat cross. They could see the blood slithering out of its body and returning to the tower while the group took a breath, right beyond its boundary.
"I don't understand..." Eda said. "The one I faced before couldn't get past the entrance."
"You've been here before, Edalyn?" Lilith asked, to which Eda replied, "This is where I met King."
"Those things..." Luz pointed out. "They had to have been acting like guardians to this place. To keep out intruders."
This made King say "But it's my castle. How could we be intruders?
"It was the blood King. It corrupted them. If it weren't for that, I would believe that you could've commanded them."
"...Of course...that does make sense." King agreed, nodding his head. "We should free them! Even I would never for my minions to be subjugated by a darker force!"
"I met one of those things a long time ago." Eda said. "When I first found this place."
"When you and I met?" King asked.
Eda nodded and began to explain "Eight years ago, after hanging out with the Order back on Earth, I returned...and almost immediately, was I looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven. Thankfully, at the time, I wasn't alone. My mentor accompanied me at the time."
"Victor..." Luz said in surprise.
Eda nodded and continued. "We looked around the Isles, but no place seemed safe enough. Victor asked if the Titan's Corpse was the only place around this part of the Demon Realm, and before I could say yes...this place appeared out of the mist. So, we checked it out..."
Flashback to when Eda and Victor first traversed the island, keeping themselves covered in cloaks while the Boiling Rain rained down as the two searched for cover.
"We were looking for shelter and the tower seemed to have been the best bet." She explained. "But when we got there...we weren't alone."
The young Eda saw a shadowy figure move about and heard some strange sounds coming from out of nowhere. She raised her staff, ready for a fight, but Victor raised her hand at her, gesturing her to hold as he pointed his Cross towards a small rock formation, a small, furry creature with a skull mask on its head jumped out and wagged its tail. The child tilts his head, and Eda lowers her staff as she turns to Victor...who merely shrugs. They watched as the little demon picked up a crescent-shaped rock and put it on top of an incomplete figure.
"I didn't realize that we were in the presence of something, or someone, very important...until that thing showed up and tried to kill us both. Victor and I were able to push it back, and then I just picked you up and bounced."
Victor, Young Eda, and the child flew out of the ruins. Approaching its magical boundary, the monster fashions its limbs into a bow-and-arrow and fires at them. The stone arrow hits the little demon, breaking off his left horn and rendering him unconscious. Young Eda and Victor, having fallen off her staff, continued their escape on foot, grabbing King and his broken horn. Managing to get off the Island, the Young Owl Lady looked at her new little friend with sympathy, realizing she just put on a full weight of responsibility as she and Victor returned to the Boiling Isles.
"Against my better judgment, I took you home with me." She continued to explain. "Victor helped me get you settled in before he had to return home."
Young Eda looks on as Baby King stacks piles of household objects, similar to the rocks in his castle.
"I'd gotten you the collar, 'cause... well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then...you spoke."
"Ah, look at you. A king amongst his subjects." The Young Eda said with a smile. But then, the Baby said, "King... King!" before falling down and yelping. To hear that it had a voice caught the girl by surprise. But to her, it did seem to fit her newest member of the family...
"I came back here a few years later. Saw the carvings on the walls myself and...while I'm not entirely sure what they mean, I do believe that they were connected to you in some way." Eda reached the end of her story. "I honestly do believe that in some ways, you are destined to be a great ruler. Just...not really sure."
"Well, that explains the flashback I had when we walked in." Luz said out of the blue.
Meanwhile, King tried to think about this and wasn't really sure what to say. Eda had told him that he was once an actual demon king who was shrunk down to the loss of his crown and power. But to hear this side of the story seems to dig more holes rather than fill them...
"So...was I actually shrunk down, or regressed or...what?" He asked.
"I honestly have no idea, King. But the Murals, they're all connected to you. As part of your history, they carry great significance to you. A legacy."
"That does seem to make sense." Lilith said. "But there are still a lot of gaps to fill in. What do the murals mean? Where does King really come from."
"I wish I knew..." Eda replied before reaching into her hair. "But maybe, King does." And what she takes out is revealed to be the broken piece of King's horn. King is shocked and curious about this, and he slowly takes it from Eda's hand. But upon holding it, was he hit with a wave of flashbacks, showing Little King within the Temple, standing on a pile of rocks and presenting himself to his army of little rock figures, feasting on small instincts, and something else...something almost bright. But he couldn't quite make it out as he flashed back to the present, dropping the horn in the process as he caught his breath.
"King." Luz called out. "What did you see?"
And that is when he looked to the top of the tower, the blood that had corrupted the place pulsating from within. One of his memories was failing him, and he needed to figure out why. This place was originally his home, and the Night Creatures corrupted it...
"We have to head back inside." He said while glaring at the top of the tower.
"HOOT?! You're serious?!" Hooty yelled out. "You want us to head back inside, where all those things are waiting to gut us to pieces?!"
"Well, we could always leave you here, in this dark and spooky forest, miles away from home." King retorted and Hooty gulped.
"If we're gonna head back in there, then we're gonna need a plan..." Eda said.
The castle appeared to have suddenly gotten still and quiet...until an explosion rattled the front entrance and Lilith suddenly flies in on her staff, aiming Hooty like a bazooka.
"HOOT, HOOT! COMING IN, JERKS! SPECIAL DELIVERY...PAI-oh, wait. It's perfectly calm in here now."
The other soon came in and saw what Hooty meant, confused by the sight of the golems that were trying to rip them apart a few minutes ago...now on their knees, facing where the blocked hole in the ceiling was as if they were worshiping it, and remaining still. Luz examined them up close and found that what had awakened before was now missing once again.
"The Blood has retreated." She said before pointing upward. "No doubt, it's up there, being channeled for something."
"Then we have to move quickly." Eda said, grabbing an explosive potion and throwing it up into the air before casting a fireball and blasting it, managing to clear away the rocks that blocked it. Using their staves, they all flew in and upon reaching the tunnel, they only found a small, empty room covered in cobwebs.
"There's nothing here." Lilith said, annoyed. But Luz spotted something.
"Not exactly." She said, pointing to a blood trail that led to a locked door, well hidden within the walls, but the blood exposed it, covering the edges as if it were a giant boss door...
Eda then exclaimed "Great. Now how are we supposed to get through that?"
Luz turned back toward King and said "It's your castle, King. You'll know what you gotta do."
Walking over to the door, King looked back to the others, who waited curiously at what he was to do. So then, King simply placed his paw on the door, which then glowed, as if triggered by the touch before opening on its own. King was surprised, looking at his own paw while the others were shocked to see the room, which was decorated with decaying plants and a skylight on the ceiling. But the room had also been filled with an intense crimson glow coming from its center, where on top of a formally golden pedestal, which had the remains of a broken eggshell at the top, someone was standing by a giant red sphere that showed nothing but a dark abyss within it, coursing with demonic energy. And just above that was another golem, but it seemed different, appearing to be more... complete than the others they had faced, with no signs of demonic blood, only the organic materials that bound its stone-like body. The energy from the sphere was keeping it levitated just above it and the person, who the heroes stepped forward to confront. They got a good look at him and saw that he was wearing aristocratic attire dubbed in a dark violet hue, armored with black shoulder pads, and fashioned with gold lining and dark clothing underneath. On top of that, he was bald and had chalk-pale skin, but upon turning around, the gang was disturbed by his inhuman face; black eyes with golden pupils, painted ears, wrinkles around his face, but the most disturbing part was that he had a bat-like nose and mouth, that was in a permanent frown, and with blood staining the lower part, and last but not least, elongated fangs peaking out of his mouth.
It was clear that he was a vampire, and a much higher-ranking one at that, yet not of the crew seemed to know who he was...except of course, for Luz. She recognized him as the one prisoner within the Conformatorium, back when she first arrived in Demon Realm. Not realizing it at the time, Luz now knew that this vampire turned out to...
"Olrox..." She growled, glaring at the LEGENDARY Vampire Lord.
"...So...the Belmont returns..." He said in a dark, demonic tone, looking at the team before setting his eyes on King. "As does the Spawn to its nest..."
"Wha? Spawn?" King said before he stepped back, frightened by the sight of the Vampire looking at him. Eda got in front and took a stance to protect King. But as she did that, she looked up to see the golem that was levitating over the dark sphere, and almost instantly recognized it.
"That's it!" She pointed out. "That's the original! The one I faced before!"
Olrox looked back to the Golem, which was seemingly being tortured by the sphere as bolts of energy were striking its limbs.
"The Guardian was originally programmed to look after and protect the Spawn. After the Owl Lady stole it, the Guardian no longer had a purpose. Until now..."
Summoning dark energy from the palm of his hand, the Vampiric Count sent towards the Orb, where it was energized and began to further corrupt the golem, as it seemed to have screeched in pain while its eyes turned from blue to a hellish red. When it was over, the sphere sent the Golem back to the ground where it was now looking more demonic than its brethren, the blood that once corrupted the entire tower was now fueling it with darkness completely. All the while, Olrox looked back at the group one last time.
"I would love nothing more...than to kill you all myself. Especially you, Belmont." He said, pointing to Luz, who glared heavily at him. "But unfortunately...our operations here have already concluded...and your piffle meddling...matters not." He soon starts to levitate off the ground, transforming into mist before escaping from the hole in the wall. His wretched voice could still be heard... "I shall leave the Guardian...to you...We will come for the child...soon enough."
"OLROX!" Luz screamed as she rushed over to try and go after him, only to be stopped by a giant tentacle made of blood blocking her path. The Guardian had taken a feral stance as stance as then leaped into the air, shifting one of its arms into a blood-made sickle and sending it down, to which everyone present quickly dodged.
"Holy-!" Eda exclaimed as she saw that the golem shifted its arms into blades, much to her dismay. "Great! Now this thing is worse than before!"
The Guardian came running at her, swinging its arms crazily before attempting to pounce like an animal, only for Eda to dodge by rolling onto the floor and sending her staff into its chest, blasting it with a fireball that sent it crashing against the roof before falling back down. But then, it was now on all fours and began crawling like a spider as it was heading right for Lilith and Hooty. Getting back on its feet, it once again swung its bladed hands towards the Vampiress and the House Demon, who moved back to dodge before using the Ascia Glyph, summoning an axe and sending it upward and into the chest of the golem. The blade dug into the stone, where the demonic blood spewed, steaming like acid, and much to the surprise of Lilith, who was harmed when some managed to splash onto her.
She hissed in pain, clutching her burnt wound "The Blood is just...evil. I cannot even consume it."
Seeing his friend get hurt didn't sit well with Hooty as he looked angry, aiming himself at the Guardian.
"YOU JUST BOUGHT YOURSELF A ONE-WAY TICKET TO PAIN!" And that is when he coughed a potion out of his mouth, and it hit the monster again. But the House Demon wasn't done yet as Hooty starts coughing up potions in a rapid-fire fashion, while Lilith is holding his head and looking disgusted. And despite how much damage it was throwing at the golem, the whole top section of the tower was starting to shape with how many explosions were going on.
"Hooty! Chill with the explosives! You're gonna bring this whole place down on our heads!" She yelled out, getting Hooty to stand down for now as she pulled the chain of the Morning Star. "I got this..."
Seeing the Young Belmont Leap into action, the Guardian changed its arms into a shield and crossbow, firing repeatedly at Luz, who ran alongside the walls, dodging as swiftly as she could, only taking some cuts here and there, but was then able to get close enough break apart the Golem's shield with a downward strike from the whip's built-in stake. This forced the creature to morph its arms back into claws, going on the defensive as Luz swung her whip from all sizes, but it wasn't letting up, soon managing to start swinging back and forcing Luz to take out Venus, using the blade-ring to defend herself against the Golem's claws before being able to slash and stab it in the shoulder before swinging her whip at it, blasting the arm off altogether and continuing to make the hot blood spew out even more. But not for long as the Guardian just seemed to regenerate, morphing back its arm.
Eda sighed, "This fight's getting old. We can't seem to damage."
"And with that Blood inside of it, we are at a disadvantage." Lilith proclaimed.
Meanwhile, King was at the edge of the room, watching the fight continue to rage on. But seeing that it was a losing battle, the little demon wished he could do something about it. The Guardian though, was very familiar to King, and he did recall the vampire saying that it was meant to protect the 'Spawn', him. The thought of what that meant triggered another flashback as King found himself in darkness, until a huge monstrous roar was heard, and then he emerged from an egg and tumbled down the steps of the pedestal. The newborn King opens his eyes for the first time and sees the castle's mysterious symbol on the skylight. King then pulls himself across the room until he reaches the door. It magically reacts to his touch and opens, revealing the monster behind it. The two look at each other. The monster picks up King, cradles him, and walks to the shaft. It dives down the hole with King in its arms, and King reaches for the light from the top as it disappears from view. With everything falling back into darkness, King's mind returned to the present, where a pained sound can be heard coming from Luz, getting slammed down by the Guardian...
Looking down at his paws, King formed them into fists and said "If this was really my castle...then I know exactly what to do!"
King then ran over to where the battle was, to which Eda and Lilith could see him heading straight toward danger.
"Wha-King, get back here!" the Owl Lady called out, but it was too late. Luz was slammed onto the floor, dazed by the monster's attack, who was ready to finish her off, morphing its hand into an axe. But that is when King jumped on top of Luz, holding his paws up to the Guardian who was about to strike...
"STOP!" He called and just as the Golem could slam its weapon down on the two of them, Luz was surprised to see that it froze mid-swing, albeit shaking, as if trying to break free and continue its assault. But it seemed as if King's command over it was stronger than anyone realized, as even its eyes were flashing from red to blue. It recognized its master, its mission...and it cannot fail that mission. The child had to live, and it had to guarantee its survival, even onto its own termination.
"Show us..." King then ordered, and though struggling to regain control of itself, it followed its orders and took both its claws, ripping open its chest to reveal a core of bloody, demonic energy. Seeing it was a weak spot, King turned to his friend and said "Luz! Strike it now!"
Wasting no time, Luz got back on her feet and took the back end of the Morning Star, staking the Guardian deep within the core, which seemed to make it screech in pain. But Luz didn't let up, grinding the stake of her weapon even deeper into the corrupt core, which seemed to siphon the dark energy that was plaguing the golem. Everyone watched as sparks flew from the core until finally, the thing burst, and the energy was released from the Guardian, who then went limp. The blood can be seen seeping out of its body before dissipating altogether as the freed construct fell to the floor, the light faded from its eyes, as it seemed to succumb to its wounds. Now that it was over, King went over to and looked at its now lifeless eyes, almost as if he was...mourning. All the while, the Clawthorne Sisters and even Hooty were still in shock by all that they had witnessed.
"So...all this time, that thing was just trying to protect King...and wound up getting corrupted for its troubles..." said Eda.
And while she was looking at the carvings on the walls, Lilith said "And that Vampire said that this place was a 'nest'. Which brings in the questions..."
"Where does King really come from? Who birthed him?" asked Luz as she and King looked at the Guardian, and the Belmont could see something glowing within its chest cavity. Suddenly, she decided to stick her hand inside, much to the dismay of the others.
"Luz?! What are you-?!" Eda started to say before Luz pulled out some kind of blue gemstone. Taking a good look at it, Luz recognized what it was and its purpose.
"What is that?" Lilith asked, and Luz answered, "A Primordial Stone. Can be used for many purposes."
She then tossed it over to King and said "Hold onto that King. It might come in handy."
"Okay...this has been fun...Now let's get out of here." Eda said as they all headed back down to the base of the tower. Much to their dismay, King also asked if they could bring back the body of the Golem, to which Hooty had to carry. All the while, King kept looking at the stone and the cairns they passed on the way out. Almost a sad reminder that they looked like the Guardian.
"Hey, Luz?" He said to her. "Do you think...maybe we can bring him back someday?"
Taking one last look at the castle, Luz thought about it and said "...Maybe someday, we will, King. Maybe someday, we will..."
And with that, they left the tower to head back home, passing one of the carvings depicting a large, spear-wielding demon who looks similar to King...
Been a while since I worked on this one...again. I know, but there's this thing called "life" and it happens to come by every once in a while. I wanted this one to get done quicker, but I was delayed and it came out longer than I wanted. But I hope you still like it. And rest assured, I'll try and get to these types of stories, and I'm open to any ideas that will happen in the next chapter...assuming you guys follow Castlevania just as much as you followed Owl House. Catch you guys on the flip side.
- Light.