Viney felt the air drain from her lungs as she watched the giant monster emerge from the sea. Her entire body was paralyzed, and it was as if her mind had just exploded; her survival instinct was screaming at her to escape like she had never done before, to jump off the ship and swim until her arms and legs bled, and keep swimming again, until she reached the remotest corner of the world, dig a hole, cover it with every type of protection and then curl up inside it trembling like a rabbit in its burrow. That wasn't a kraken, or a leviathan, or a sea dragon... it was something terribly wrong, unnatural, a being that broke every law and rule in existence; a hideous, deformed concentration of evil in its purest state.

Viney didn't know what happened around her for the next five seconds. Her body acted on its own and suddenly she found herself lying on the deck of the ship holding a desperate Luz in her arms. It was then that she heard Captain Salty's scream, a scream filled with a fear that Viney had never thought she would hear in the voice of her captain who challenged pirates, monsters and storms while laughing at the top of his lungs: "BELOS! IT'S BELOS! "

Viney's heart skipped a beat. Belos? Was that Belos? The most feared creature in all the ocean, the monster that mothers guarded their children against at night? Viney had heard about him from her captain so many times that she had stopped counting years ago, and often she ended up laughing about it... but now she realized how stupid she had been. Salty's words couldn't let her or any other who listen imagine in the slightest the feeling of horror and helplessness that was coursing through her body as if ice water had been injected into her veins. They couldn't really describe that horns similar to giant dead trees, that skull so decaying, those bones covered in festering and rotting skin, those eyes so full of cruel light. Just looking at him, even briefly, was enough to make her body shake like a leaf and make her want to vomit even what she had eaten a week ago. There was no real way to describe that creature; not even the best storyteller in the world could have done it. Only a single part of what Salty had ever said seemed to contain absolute and complete truth from Viney's point of view...

"Always remember this, kids: if you ever spot Belos, the only thing to do is to kneel down and pray whatever deity you know that he passes by without noticing you. And if the sea gods ignore your request and he sees you... then be sure to close any matters in suspended, because you will not have the opportunity to do so later"

It was all so damn true. Viney thought back to all the times she had laughed at those recommendations and said she wasn't afraid to meet Belos; now she would have gladly taken back every single syllable and would have slapped herself for each of those words, which now almost sounded like blasphemy. Saying you weren't afraid of that monster was like saying you weren't afraid of death itself: everyone was good at saying it when it wasn't present, but as soon as you found yourself in front of it, then even the bravest man fell to his knees crying, praying for a miracle to happen and save him from the inevitable fate.

"We'll never survive this" Viney found herself thinking. "This is our end"

Belos' crystalline eyes moved toward them and the image of the ship appeared in his retinae; Viney could clearly see the creature's eyelids thinning slightly and a monstrous grin forming in the corners of his mouth despite it once again being half submerged. He was looking at them like a fat kid would look at his favorite dessert. It almost seemed like he was thinking about how to eat them.

Luz raised herself slightly on her elbows. Her body was shaking like a leaf. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't; it was as if her eyes were frozen in time when she saw her mother being swallowed up by that monster. It hadn't happened, she didn't want to believe it; that couldn't have happened! Her mother wasn't... wasn't... she couldn't be...

She turned on her side almost mechanically, and without warning she met Belos's gaze; and despite the distance and the difference in size, he seemed to notice and stared at her intently. For what seemed an interminable time the two of them looked at each other; the monster's eyelids opened wider and his pupils narrowed, as if he were just found a priceless treasure. The bright blue irises looked like the corpses of two dead stars, as if someone had violently taken their white light and broken it. Luz couldn't remember ever having seen such terrifying eyes: as Belos looked at her, she could clearly feel something, a terrifying lust to possess, consume, and conquer everything, and a strange crazy euphoria, as if she had just received something she had wanted for a lot of time. And then, at the end of that eye contact, Belos let out a roar, a sort of mix between a chain sliding across a metal surface and a fork scraping against a glass tumbler, that made everyone's skin crawl with how much unsettling it was; and then he moved, lifting his front legs as if he were gripping the seabed with them and dragging himself, raising tsunamis with each movement, heading towards the ship in front of him.

The sight of the giant monster advancing towards them was enough to make Viney regain some lucidity. "F-Fire!" she screamed, and she put her hand to her throat as she noticed that her voice had become shrill as if she had inhaled helium. "Everyone at the cannons! Fire!"

Her words awakened the pirates from their trance and they hastened to light their cannons, which all fired at the same time at the monster; dozens of fireballs streaked across the sky and directly hit the hideous skull-shaped face. But when they reached the target, they had no effect. Lead balls weighing more than forty kilos shattered on contact with Belos as if they were made of sugar. They couldn't even scratch the rotten and putrefied skin of the monster. Belos didn't even seem to feel that he had been hit, but he certainly saw the cannons shoot, and in fact immediately afterwards his grin widened, the water around his mouth boiled, and then his laughter echoed throughout that stretch of the ocean.

Despite the quite considerable distance that separated the pirates from the monster, they could clearly hear that distorted screech-like laughter that scratched their ears like nails on a chalkboard and penetrated their consciousness, threatening them with eternal torment. It was as if the gates of hell had opened and evil itself had laughed at the futility of those weak mortals who had dared to think they could even scratch it with their weak weapons. Everyone threw themselves on the ground desperately holding their hands over their ears, some even going so far as to plug them with wax, but it was all in vain; it was as if that sound didn't penetrate through their eardrums but directly into their soul, like billions of sharp claws that grabbed their spirit and tore it apart in an extremely painful way without them having the slightest possibility of defending themselves.

When the laughter ended, no one had managed to remain standing. Viney was the first to get up; her entire body was shaking so much that she could barely stand and only a miracle was keeping her from vomiting. Looking around she could see that many of her companions were bleeding from their facial orifices. Every member of the crew seemed to have lost all strength and could only cry in the knowledge of their impending doom. Some were clutching each other in a desperate search for some comfort; Barcus and Jerbo had also embraced, holding each other trembling. And for the first time in her life, Viney also wanted to be able to hold someone. Not even when that kraken had destroyed her old crew and tried to devour her had she felt this way; she desperately wanted someone to pick her up and hold her as if she were a newborn baby. She wanted someone to whisper in her ear: "Don't worry, everything will be fine, I'll take care of it now". She would have been fine with it even if it had been a lie.

But suddenly, the ship turned sharply and began traveling in the opposite direction of Belos; it all happened so quickly that even the monster himself seemed surprised for a moment. Everyone looked up and saw Captain Salty holding the helm and looking at the giant creature with an incredibly determined look. "Everyone! What's wrong with you!? Get your ass up and get busy!" he roared. "Jerbo, crank that stupid boiler up to full blast, and any of you who aren't doing anything go and help him! Everyone else, raise your sails to give the ship as much power as possible! Barcus, find a way to the nearest shallow water! First officer, come here now!"

Everyone immediately began to follow the captain's orders; they didn't even ask themselves questions about why they were doing it, they just did it. If there was even a chance to escape this monster, then they absolutely had to take it. Viney ran on her wobbly legs until she was in front of the captain. "What do you command, sir?"

Salty was silent for a moment, then he replied: "Belos is too fast even for Jerbo's steam engine, but we can hold out for a few minutes. We will head for the nearest shallow water area; Belos will not be able to reach you there. However, it is unlikely that we will get there with this ship. So when Belos is within fifty meters of us, I will stop the ship and all of you will throw yourselves into the sea in the boats. Then I will start it again and this time I will sail against that monster"

Viney's mouth dropped open. "What? But... but he..."

"He will devour me, that's what I want. When that huge mouth closes on the ship it will generate enough force to cause a wave that will push you away faster than an arrow fired from a bow drawn to its maximum draw. The shock wave unleashed by the impact of those teeth on the water will be immense, enough to send you flying" Salty continued. "Use such wave at your best and paddle as fast as you can, and get to the shallow water. Once you get there Belos can't catch you anymore; you know the story, he can't rise too high above the sea without breaking his back"

"But... captain... you will die..." Viney stammered.

Salty placed one of the claws he had for hands on her shoulder. "I know, Viney, but this is how it has to be. The ship can't steer itself; someone has to stay here and give that monster something to eat". He let out a deep breath; Viney could see that his lips were trembling, but he was trying not to let it show. "When you step off this ship, you will be the captain. Go ahead without me. But while you are on this ship, I am the man in charge. I am not dead yet, so do as I say, and carry out my last order"

"Captain..." Viney didn't know what to say. Rarely in her life had she found herself at a loss for words, she desperately wanted to thank him, to say she was sorry, to find solutions, to suggest something different, anything, but her voice refused to come out.

Salty looked at her with a strange light in his eyes, then he sighed. "Viney... we men of the sea know that it is at sea that we will find our end. The sea grants us only a short passage, and claims everyone sooner or later. Be it by a storm, by other pirates or by a sea monster, that's how it always ends. It was meant to be this way" he said. "I have sailed for fifty years, and for fifty years the sea has graced me and allowed me to live another day. Now the sea bids me pay my debt, and I am ready to do it. I am a crumbling and useless old man now, but you aren't. You're young, you still have a life ahead of you, so go! Take everyone else and live on! That's an order, first officer!"

Viney looked at his captain for a moment longer, then turned and ran away without looking back and began dictating his orders to the other pirates. With each passing moment the roar of Belos' movements resounded behind them louder than thunder, but unknowingly the monster was also helping them as he continually raised waves that dragged the ship away, although this was obviously not enough to escape them. Soon the distant profile of the coast began to be seen, and the waters went from dark blue to cyan blue, a sign that the seabed was becoming shallower and shallower. The pirates prepared to implement the captain's plan; Salty stopped the ship and began turning it around while the others launched the boats. They were close enough now: a single blow from Belos' jaws, and the wave that would be generated would hurl the light boats straight into the shallow waters...

But then the unexpected happened; Belos' eyes widened slightly, as if he had just realized their intent, and then they narrowed to slits. The monster raised his head even more, making it completely out of the water, showing his hideous smile, and then he moved his lips and his voice emerged from them, a voice that seemed to be composed of the millions of souls he had devoured over the centuries that were screaming.

"You're really funny. I like the little fish like you who think they can save themselves... entertain me some more!"

No one had time to be frightened by those words, or to tremble at the horrible sound of that voice; in the next instant Belos let out a scream, and that scream penetrated even deeper into their soul and seemed to seize it and envelop it until it suffocated it, and then broke it, releasing a myriad of horrible sensations that diluted their mind and erased all their personal thoughts , and filled them exclusively with the words that the monster was pronouncing...

"KILL! CONSUME! CONQUER!"

Luz remained lying where Viney had left her, completely unable to move despite everything happening around her. Her mind had been off for several minutes now, and she had barely noticed the pirates dragging the boats towards a corner of the ship or Vee grabbing her by the cheeks and shaking her trying to get any reaction from her; she probably would have remained in that state for much longer, but when Belos' words penetrated her soul she felt like she was burning from the inside, as if someone had lit a bonfire in her insides and it was spreading throughout her entire body. wood. She suddenly felt bloodthirsty, more than she ever thought possible; she desperately wanted to grab the first person in front of her and tear out their larynx, break their bones, cut all the muscles and tendons one by one, pull their eyes out of their sockets, tear them to pieces, and then sink her teeth into their flesh, taste the blood and torn skin in her mouth, and devour them all piece by piece, until only she would remain on the ship, sole and dominant, unchallenged apex predator...

But all this lasted only for an instant; as quickly as it had come, that primal instinct vanished and the fire in her body died, and she could think again. With an inhuman effort she got down on all fours without having the strength to lift her head and continuing to look at the deck of the ship. She felt dizzy as if a mountain had fallen on her head. She tried calling someone, but no one answered; on the contrary, a split second later Masha fell in front of her, causing her to let out a small scream, but what scared Luz the most was the bloodthirsty expression that they had. "Masha? What are you...?"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before Vee pounced on Masha with her jaws wide open, trying to crush them with her tail and trying to absorb their life energy, all while Masha grabbed her by the neck and tried to strangle her. Luz jumped up and was about to intervene, fearing that one of them would really get hurt, but stopped when she realized that everyone around her was fighting like never before: Viney had grabbed Puddles and was trying to crush him, while the pigeon reacted by pecking her and tearing her skin with his claws; Barcus looked like a rabid dog and had lashed out at Jerbo trying to bite him, and the boy had reacted by taking a stick and hitting his friend with all his strength. Every other pirate was fighting tooth and nail with the others. And Luz felt a familiar movement on her shoulders, and turning towards it she saw to her horror that Willow and Gus had thrown themselves on top of each other; the cricket was moving her pincers and legs with the clear aim of cutting her friend's body in half, while instead the spider was trying to bite her to paralyze her. "Guys? GUYS!?" Luz screamed, grabbing them and holding them away from each other, but they still continued to reach out and continue fighting. It was then that the puppet realized that their eyes had turned blue and seemed to be emitting a cruel light. "W-What's wrong with you!? Come on, now's not the time to..."

A now familiar sinister laugh paralyzed her; she looked up and saw that Belos had stopped and was observing everything with an attentive gaze, while his horrible lips curved into an ever-widening smile. That's when Luz understood. "He's like a parasite" she thought. "He's gotten into their heads and he's forcing them to fight... he's treating us like we're his personal show... and he's having fun..."

No... no, wait a minute, that wasn't right. Although Belos was clearly amused by the situation, another emotion prevailed in his eyes... excitement. And he wasn't looking at the ship... he was looking at her. The monster chuckled for a few more seconds, then his voice emerged from his mouth again: "You managed to resist life's oldest imperative... I was right, you are truly promising"

Luz didn't understand what the monster was saying, but she didn't care; her mind had become even emptier than before, and she could only look at those terrifying crystal blue eyes and lose herself in their evil light. "S-Stop! Stop now!" she shouted with tears in her eyes. "W-Why are you persecuting us!? We haven't done anything to you, and we're too small to feed you! Why are you so mean? What do you hope to gain from this? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?"

"Why?" the monster seemed to laugh heartily. "Because that's how the world works, little puppet. That's how it's always worked. The strong prey on the weak, and the weak can only accept being the plaything of the strong. That's the only true law that exists in this world, the law that weak individuals like humans have tried in every way to overcome... but you cannot change something so ancient and indissoluble. All creatures in this world obey it and everyone in their hearts desires to be strong, so as to being able to become something that nothing and no one can defeat... an apex predator, someone who can use everyone else as toys. Humans also have this desire, but in their inability to realize it they forget it and replace it with the desire to accumulate money, power and fame. But whether they like it or not, this is the nature of the world... and the world doesn't stop because weak creatures like you, little puppet, don't want to be the toys of strong creatures like me"

Luz was crying profusely by now; Belos' every word was like a sharp claw planted in her brain, and the more she looked at him, the more she felt as if her soul was being sucked out of her by those evil eyes. "P-Please..." she finally murmured as she fell to her knees. She was practically begging by now. "Please! If... if being so powerful really gives you the right to decide how to treat weaklings like us... let us go! Or... or take just me! Please... let my friends go! Give me my mother back! Please!"

"Oh, little puppet... you may have a promising body, but you are truly weak in spirit. Even a cornered and wounded animal would fight with all its strength to the end... and you are crying? You are pathetic and stupid if you think a few tears will move me" Belos replied with disgust in his voice, but then his grin widened: "But don't worry, in a few minutes you will meet your mother again. Soon you and I will spend a lot of time together, and we will have the opportunity to get to know each other better... after I'll devour you!"

And having said this he opened his mouth wide; inside it an immense ball of blue flames formed and began to swirl, and emitted a great light that made the sun fade, and then it was hurled against the ship, or rather, against the portion of the sea directly in front of the ship. As soon as they touched the water, the flames exploded with the violence of a volcano; the shock wave hit the ship's hull and broke it like an appetizer. Luz clearly felt the shock wave and was thrown at least ten feet into the air before hitting the deck again; all his companions did the same, and some of them broke a few bones in the process. The lifeboats flew away from the ship and when they hit the water they broke under their own weight; the masts collapsed, the boiler shattered, and all that remained at last was a slowly sinking mass of broken wood, upon which the dazed pirates were slowly climbing. That blow seemed to have awakened them from Belos' strange mind control, because all of them no longer had blue eyes and had stopped struggling and were only looking at the monstrous creature in front of them, who was laughing raucously. "You were fun... but now it's over" Belos said, and he lowered his head back into the water and continued to advance towards the ship.

Hanging from what was left of the rudder, Captain Salty, who had a broken claw and a bloody nose, hung his head in defeat. They had lost. They had no chance now. Like thousands of other hopeless ships before them, like millions of foolish sailors who had thought they had a possibility of escape, they too had been defeated. Realizing this, the captain couldn't stop the tears falling from his eyes.

Their last attempt to save themselves had been nothing other than giving a sea horror a show and a meal.


As you have probably understood from the previous chapters, Belos in this version is not a shark (as in Collodi's book) or a whale (as in the Disney film), but a real sea monster, and yes, I was highly inspired to create it to Lovecraftian mythology (in fact some of you will probably have noticed certain typical traits of the well-known Cthulhu in him). The fact that he manages to penetrate the minds of others like a parasite to make them fight is both another reference to Lovecraft (where monsters control minds, forcing people to massacre each other) and to the canon of The Owl House, where Belos with his words controlled the people who served him, effectively making himself a parasite on society (not to mention that he himself was in all respects a parasite given that he could possess people). The fact that he can shoot energy balls is instead a reference to the final episode of The Owl House where he takes possession of the Titan and does just that. As announced, Belos, like other villains in history, exploits the fact that his mania for devouring everything is a natural condition to justify his actions, repeating what he himself defines as the oldest imperative of life (precisely killing, consuming and conquer). Belos also presents typical traits of the seven deadly sins: pride (he starts playing with his victims instead of taking Luz immediately), sloth (he sends Hunter to do the dirty work and only intervenes when he knows that the prey will be in his territory and therefore it will be easy to catch her), anger (he gets angry easily even for small things, since he hits Hunter simply for having said a few words too many), envy (in the past he wanted the magic possessed by Evelyn and killed his own family to this), gluttony and greed (does this really need an explanation?), and lust (it is not shown explicitly but there are symbols: think about it, an old man who first devours a woman and then looks at his underage daughter with hungry eyes. Try to imagine this sentence without the context of the story... and call the police.) In short, put simply, this Belos is a real sea horror.