Learning How To Be a Princess

by LetsGetIt

14 Years ago Camilia Noceda fell into a mysterious rip in Space-Time, falling into the Boiling Isles, specifically into the arms of Emperor Belos, they naturally fell in love. Finally, years later, Camila decides it's finally time for Luz to meet her Father. Join Luz as she learns how to be a witch and learn how to be a princess...

30. Swapping Crowns Part 1

-Enjoy this following small segment of Belos' character growth, I enjoyed writing it.

Side note, I'm going to be trying something new soon, as soon as a chapter hits 10k words, I'm going to post the chapter and label it as a part unless it's a special or if there won't be enough for a part 2, 3, etc. and then when I finish that "Episode", I'll condense everything to one chapter because I assume you don't like waiting for half a year for one chapter. I end up overwhelming myself.

Also my career has taken precedent in my life, so sorry for the long absence. I promise to update sooner and faster this coming year.

---

(Let's see if I actually do it)

---

"So, what do you want to do about this dear?"

Belos looked at himself in the mirror with a deep hum and an intense look, thinking.

Just last week, Baba Yaga had "cursed" him. His hair was… significantly more pronounced as a pink afro. It took Camila and Luz the better part of the night to straighten it back out and undo the color.

After everything was settled, Belos was left with an undignified look about him. His hair was shaggy and frizzy, unkempt, and he could sit here forever thinking what's wrong with it, but right now… He needed to do something… But what?

"I'm not sure, my love," Belos took a seat in front of the mirror with Camila, "I haven't cut it in almost an entire year now, as you can see."

"Oh I see it alright," Camila smacked her lips, combing her fingers through his hair, "Honestly, this was the best thing to happen to you, it's finally an excuse to give you a haircut!"

"You're saying you didn't like my hair before this?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Now, not like is a strong word to use, dear. But did it bother me greatly whenever we were in bed together? Then yes, it did. Did it infuriate me when I woke up with it in my mouth? Absolutely."

Belos laughed lightly.

"Then do what you must, Camila. I trust you fully and your ability, I give you free rein."

Camila smiled brightly at that, reaching into the off-hand medicine cabinet and pulling out a fabric bag. It was full of specialty scissors, clippers, buzzers, and shavers.

"You're in luck though, because Luz inherited how fast your hair grows. I learned quickly how to cut her hair, otherwise, we were going to burn through all the gold you left us on haircuts alone. Luz also always wanted to do something different, so double lucky you,"

Belos smiled at his lovely wife, but felt a prickly feeling in his skin, particularly on his neck, and rising. He grunted, covering the spot with his hand.

"Son of…"

"Forget something?" Camila asked nonchalantly with a hum.

"Perhaps I did…"

"Mhm, aquí, tonto Emperador," Camila produced a glowing blue potion from her pocket, which he took immediately, drinking it quickly.

Belos watched in the mirror as the curse mark receded into his skin and gradually disappeared. Oh, the things he had to suffer with now because of all the mistakes of his past…

"I thank the Titan every day for your being here, Camila…"

She tsked again, grabbing a brush to comb his hair out, and using a spray bottle to get it wet and calm.

"What in God's name were you doing for the last 14 years I wasn't here?"

"If you're asking how I managed to take your medicine, I seldom did. What happened was that I would turn into the Bane of Magic-"

"¿Así es como lo llamas?"

"-And then Kikimora would beat me with her hammer until I was too weak to fight back and force-feed me the medicine. Then she'd scold me for hours on end for having to hunt me down like some common beast,"

"Within good reason, you're dangerous in that form, you know. Nearly killed me the first time in your study."

Camila started to snip and cut the edges and the ends, being careful not to cut too much too fast, not wanting her husband to need to wear his cowl and mask for another year just so she could try again. No, she wanted to get it right the first time.

"I know Camila, I think of that every day,"

"If you did, you would remember to take your life-saving medicine, Mi amor," She scolded, "You know what Lady Hele told you, right?"

"Yes… That, if I lose control now, no power on the Isles would be able to stop the rampage of the curse…"

"No, she said that only Luz would be able to stop your rampage…" She tsked with a sigh.

"It won't come to that, I promise."

"I'd hope so too…"

Camila focused on Belos' hair, eyes narrowing and feeling a phantom pain in her gut, a reminder of her various scars and GSWs…

"Dear, I uhm… I have something to tell you…"

Belos' eyes met Camila's in the mirror.

"What is it, dear…?"

Camila hesitated on what to tell him. She wanted to divulge her very speckled past to him but felt a great fear in her chest holding her back. Like the very idea would send her heart flying like a runaway freight train.

She shook her head and looked into Belos' eyes once more.

"Uh, we should hurry… You'll be late for your morning lesson with Luz…"

Belos felt like Camila had something else to say, not a reminder that he would be late to meet with their daughter, but it was clear that she wasn't willing to further discuss what was originally on her mind. So he nodded.

"Then let us not delay a second longer, my love."

Camila nodded, focusing in on the haircut, snipping and trimming his hair down, using the clippers occasionally in certain parts, until, finally, it was done.

"What do you think, dear?"

For the first time in years maybe, Alexander's hair was even and one shade of brown again. It was still long, as he didn't feel right with any modern male haircuts. Everything about it… Felt right to him, giving him an odd sense of nostalgia back to when he was a young man fighting to liberate the Isles from the true tyranny of Emperor Crisis.

He smiled at himself in the mirror, using a human hair tie to pull his hair back into a ponytail.

"I love it, my lovely Healing Empress," He said with a chuckle.

Camila playfully rolled her eyes.

"They will never call me that,"

"They will if I make it a law,"

"Pleeeeease do not do that, they'll think I've bewitched your heart or something,"

Belos chuckled at that.

"I am too powerful for that kind of magic, but enough flirting," He kissed her cheek, summoning his mechanical staff, "I must meet with Luz before she questions my absence. We'll talk more later."

Camila smiled and took a few cautionary steps back, allowing her husband to teleport away to their daughter in the library.

"Oh we'll do more than talk~" She whispered to herself, turning to go make lunch whilst her family had their morning lesson.

---

-Conformatorium, Project Siphon-

---

What a lovely way to start this morning…

Warden Wrath was already standing on broken ice when half of the conformatorium's population got up and escaped back into the Isles, or worse, into the arms of those up-and-coming BATs…

An entire population of criminals just aching to hurt the Emperor in any way they could, a very painful thing to tell the Emperor…

He still felt sore thinking about that…

Even worse was when he found out that that human girl that was there was also his daughter and he had just fought her and cut her hair to length.

The Empress had several words with him for doing that.

He felt the worst part of it all was that it all happened in one. Single. Day.

He'd go insane if he didn't have a son waiting for him at home…

So when he was informed this morning by his underlings that the Basilisk Project was having complications with its test subjects… Well, he wasn't rushing to tell Belos of his incompetence, so he decided that he could handle it himself.

Finally arriving at the lab that rested underneath the conformatorium, he took one last look at a picture of his son, putting it in his lab coat before looking at one of the masked researchers that met him at the door to the elevator, entering it with him to access the secret lab.

"What were the complications you were supposedly having with the basilisks?" Wrath asked in his deep, threatening voice, the elevator arrived in seconds and him stomping into the floor with the countless cells. Passing through the slithering basilisks that reeled back in fear of him.

"Subjects 1 and 4 have been performing up to standard and we've recorded them closely, but 2, 3, and 5 are being difficult. 5 especially."

Wrath grumbled under his breath, looking forward.

"I'll talk to each of them, personally, and remind them what happens to those who impede the Emperor's progress…"

The researcher nodded and walked off to handle other business. Wrath adjusted his mask and, finally, reached the first cell in his path. It was dark, but he saw the chains move inside the cell and the rats skittering around it and the subject in a defensive manner…

"Number Five,"

A low voice within the cell responded.

"What do you want Wrath…?"

"I want to know why you aren't participating in the tests… We wouldn't want complications now, would we…?" As he said this, his hands grabbed hold of the lever next to her cell.

The chains jostled at the threat and Wrath saw a tail sway into the shadows within the cell.

"No…"

"Then you will stop making friends with your food and allow the scientist to do their job. Understood?"

It was silent in the cell, Number Five's tail receded back into the darkness and Wrath couldn't see it.

Warden Wrath growled, his fist coming apart and forming a razor sharp-scythe that he flung through the bars of the cell, slamming into the other wall and sinking deep into it.

"I asked you a question, number 5…"

"...That's not my name…"

"What-"

"My name is VEE!"

Suddenly, a snake-like demon slithered around Wrath's arm and pulled him forward, slamming him into the bars of the cage. Just close enough for the chained demon to reach out and grab Warden Wrath and slam him against the bars again, successfully disorienting him.

Wrath stumbled back, taking his arm back from the cell and using it to hold his face in pain, a bubbling sense of anger arising in his chest. He looked towards the soon to be dead demon and-

Clank Clank

Wrath watched in shock as the demon unlocked her chains.

"How did you get the keys-" He looked down at his waist and saw that his keyring was gone and his eyes widened in shock from behind his mask. He knew how, when she slammed him against the bars the second time, she must've snatched them…

Wrath had a few seconds of reaction time, reaching over to grab one of the levers next to the cell to activate the shock collars but Vee's surprisingly strong tail wrapped around his wrist and kept him in place.

"You want to see how I can drain magic so badly!? Then watch!"

Vee reached through the bars and grabbed him, pulling him in close. Vee's eyes snapped open to reveal an intense blue glow that shined with enough magic to cause the entire floor to rumble from her fury as she opened her mouth to reveal the jaws that were lined in rows of sharp teeth.

Wrath attempted to escape but Number Five's strength… It was concerningly stronger than his, gripping him tightly whilst her tail held his arm in place. He was about to call for help until he gasped, feeling like the magic from his very body was being drained. It was an almost painful feeling in his heart, as the thing that kept him alive was being stolen from him.

He became weaker and more tired, falling to his knees as his hand slipped from the lever, too weak to even hold onto it.

Vee continued her onslaught, tears forming in her eyes as the memories of her entire life here in the horrible torture house flashed through her eyes. The testing, the pain, shock collars, everything! It made the blue glow of her magic become tainted with an almost red glow.

Wrath felt like… This was the end for him, so in his quickly weakening state, he reached for the inside of his coat and drew the picture of his son. It was of him and his late wife, holding him for the first time.

"B- Braxus…" He whispered before fainting from the exhaustion, the photo slipping from his hand and floating over to the inside of Vee's cell.

Vee's eyes caught sight of the photo slipping into the cell, seeing the family picture snapped her out of her rage, eyes returning to normal and stopping her assault on Warden Wrath. He let out a sigh of relief, and Vee could see that Wrath was still breathing and alive.

Vee considered going further, wanting revenge for everything Wrath and his researchers put her and the others through. She'd never forget, seeing the corpse they cloned her from, it must've been her from a different time when she was at rest after a long life… And she'd never know who she was from before…

She rolled her eyes and looked at the key ring in her hands.

"Let's get out of here…" She whispered, jingling the keys to the other basilisks on the floor, a plan to get out of here quickly forming in her head.

---

-Much Later, in the Royal Library-

---

Perhaps the greatest thing to wake up to in the Boiling Isles is knowing that you are probably one of the most powerful people on it, both magically and even politically. Although, our Luz had the bad habit of not utilizing either asset properly or was simply not ready for what it meant to be a publicly known Princess. The latter is currently the case.

Once revealed to the Isles, her every move would be watched. Her every meal, judged and every action, scorned. All by the people who won't even give her a passing glance on the street as she is now… She knew that the minute she was revealed, from the woodwork, hundreds of snakes would claim to be her friend. All for a single chance to be her friend and rise on the idiotic social ladder that Luz couldn't even hope to understand, no matter how many times, her father, Belos explained it to her.

During an etiquette lesson with her father, it wasn't exactly something that she enjoyed thinking about in the morning. If anything, she wished to be another person entirely because of these thoughts.

Who'd want to be Princess with all these thoughts flying through her head?

The board in front of Luz was full of notes, chalk illustrations, and more of the proper ways to stand and sit at a table with important persons of state and other countries.

"Hey, Dad?" She interrupted his long-winded speech, "I've got a question."

Many floating pieces of chalk paused their movements and slowed down or finished their thoughts, they all came together and rested at the lip of the board, as Belos turned to face Luz. At the moment, he was unmasked.

"Yes, what is it, my little light?"

Luz's eyes glanced behind her at the board, seeing the countless rules on how she should act in front of her people, and sighed. Taking a deep breath before responding.

"Why is it that I have to act like a different person entirely around my people? Their judgment of me can't be that important…"

"How the people see you will matter, dear. Say that visiting royals from another country arrived and something you did normally causes them to be offended, now it's a political nightmare to rectify. The judgment of others, especially those of high standing and royal lines, affects your own credibility to lead the Isles and its people. However, we can make sure that that only needs to happen during certain events and such," He took a brief breath, "I'm not saying you should be a different person all the time. But only when it is essential. Do you understand, Luz?"

Luz played with a pencil as she listened, unsure of herself.

"Yeah, I understand but isn't every moment as Princess to the most powerful nation in the world crucial?" she asked, her eyes meeting his, spinning the pencil a bit in her fingers, "everyone will be watching me and you said it yourself, people will be out to get me for my name alone… I won't know who my friends are and aren't…"

Belos let out a breath, he never intended for Luz to feel like this…

"I know, my little light. I just want to prepare you for when something like that ever occurs… The world is cruel and you must be strong to face it head-on," He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Be grateful you have time to prepare before the entirety of the Isles learns about you and your mother," He laughed a bit, "I never had that luxury, honestly. I was given the position and had to learn on the fly, I pray nothing happens to me for that to be your case."

Luz returned the laugh, leaning into his hold.

"Well, for you, the people got to know you. You led them in a 300-year-long rebellion before dismantling a thousand-year regime... they got to trust and respect you before you became Emperor, for Mom and me, we're just going to pop into existence to them," She said softly, "I guess I'm just nervous what everyone will think once I ascend to the crown, one day…" She said softly with a giggle.

Belos let a smile spread across his face.

"You have the right to be nervous, dear. When I ascended to the Crown I was nervous myself, but I learned how and so will you, my dear. I will be sure to teach you everything I know," He looked towards the clock in the library, "Ah, I guess we can call the lessons over for today. I'm sure you want to learn more magic from your teacher, the Owl Lady."

Luz looked at the time herself and saw that it was indeed time for her to meet up with Eda and King, she jumped to her feet.

"Alright, I'll see you Dad, oh, have you seen Kiki?" She asked, "I haven't seen her in a while."

Belos smiled at the question, chuckling.

"That's because when she's not working today, she's conversing with that other demon in the Owl Lady's company…" He hummed, stroking his chin, tapping his staff to the floor, a door forming on the outside wall of the library. Luz's griffin awaited her on the other side, "But enough of that, you must be on your way."

Luz nodded and ran over to Belos, giving him a tight hug, to which he returned with a chuckle.

"Bye Dad! Love ya!" She swung her bag over her shoulder and ran towards the window, jumping on Greg the Griffin and flying away. Belos hummed, grabbed what appeared to be Luz's sword, walked it over to the hole in the wall, and threw it out, to which Greg caught it in its beak as it shot past, "Thanks, Dad!" She shouted in the distance.

"You're welcome, my little light…" He watched her fly off towards Boonesborough, disappearing in the horizon soon enough and letting the walls of the castle reform themselves.

"Lesson's finally over~?"

Belos turned to suddenly face Camila, who stared at him with those bedroom eyes that he knew all too well since she returned to the demon realm.

"Now… My love… You must be scared of getting pregnant or are you simply that insatiable that the consequences-"

Camila put a finger on his lips, shushing him.

"I was in an… Accident of sorts in the human realm…" She whispered with a chuckle, "I can't get pregnant anymore so you know what that means?"

Belos sighed slightly.

"Saddening to hear, but… I'll clear my schedule and leave Lilith in charge of things…"

Camila wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled, leaning up to kiss him softly.

"Good boy~"

"Just for you, my love~"

They whispered sweet words as they snuck away back to their bedroom upstairs.

---

-w-w-At said House of Owls-w-w-

---

"No, like this,my Prince, I keep telling you!"

Kikimora chastised King again, ripping a spear from his hands and sighing, holding it out in front of her to demonstrate once more. Kikimora had spent the better part of half a week teaching King how to use a spear, in the same manner as his father, the late King of Demons.

Ri Imperator was a master with his spear, an ancient weapon carved from the bones of a once mighty dragon of some kind, only members of the royal family knew the whole story and King probably wasn't up to talking about his dead father.

"You're supposed to use both hands, my Prince," She chuckled lightly, demonstrating once more how his hands were supposed to be holding the spear, "Looking cool isn't as important as being a true master of the spear!"

"Well, how about the Warhammer, like you?" He asked, "Your Fortunato is a powerful weapon, I can learn to use something like that, can't I?"

Kikimora sighed at that.

"Fortunato is an intense weapon to learn. Without the proper strength or training, a single swing will rip you in half at the spine and besides, it's one half of a family heirloom that I do not intend to loan out or lose."

"What happened to the other half?"

Kikimora hummed at that.

"Ah Montressor, it's lost to the wild forest of the vein forests. Not even Ebberwolf could hope to find it in that dense chaos… But let's focus on what matters right now, my Prince."

King nodded and held the spear out in front of him, attempting to do that move that Kiki has been trying to teach him the entire morning; a simple spin. He got the first movement down, easy but when he twisted his wrist to catch it again, he slipped and tried to catch his mistake. Making the spear get launched into the air.

Kikimora sighed once more, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"You have a long way to go-" She held out her hand and caught the spear by the handle inches before it hit her foot, "-Before you become a master of the spear like your father once was, my Prince."

King groaned at that and took the spear back once more.

"Yeah, Yeah, I know…" He held it as she had often instructed him, "If only I could get a handle on this…" He lost his grip before said spear fell and hit him on the skull, "WEH!" He held his head before looking at the spear with a frown.

"This is impossible with three claws! It's like opening these weird five-fingered door handles!" He then began to choke the spear, as if it could breathe, "I'll end you, stupid spear! You and your existence! You'll regret striking the King of Demons!"

Kikimora couldn't help but smile at his reaction to not instantly understanding how to use the spear, and his reactions were always so cute to her. She covered her mouth, almost letting a giggle flee from her lips.

"Oh, my Prince, I don't believe that the spear meant you any harm, I assure you," She teased, holding his claws to make him stop shaking the spear aggressively, "Don't be discouraged by your shortcomings-"

"Who are you calling short?"

She ignored him and continued.

"-The spear is one of the most challenging weapons to master. It truly is a challenge befitting someone of your stature, My Prince." She encouraged him, squeezing his claws before she released him.

King felt warm from her encouraging words and nodded, clutching the spear tighter than before and holding it the same way a soldier would hold his weapon, with pride, bravery, and conviction.

"Yeah… Let it be known by all that the King of Demons shall not be bested by a pointy stick!"

And then a grating voice cut through their conversation.

"Yeah!" looking, King saw that it was Hooty, waving a flag with his tube body as he watched the two train, "You tell 'em, King!"

"Not now, Hooty!"

"Okay! Hoot! hoot!"

King's foot stance shifted and he held the spear out in front of him, once more falling into his training stance, ready.

"Nothing will stop me from training now!"

Kiki smiled and summoned her spear to fight with. It was a trainer, with several of her family's insignias branded or carved into it. Hers was the better of both of them, but before Kikimora could start the next phase, her ears twitched at the sounds of a distant, young, and reckless Princess yelling in delight, which got louder the closer she flew out.

Kikimora sighed and went at ease, planting her spear into the ground and looking towards the skies, seeing Luz on her griffin and approaching.

"Nothing but Princess flying here at top speeds…"

King tensed at this information, nearly freezing in place at hearing it.

"Luz!?" He looked down at the spear in his hand, "We'll train later!" King took position and threw the spear at the house, making it stick to the side of it with oddly accurate precision.

Hooty looked at the spear that now stuck out of his stucco walls.

"Hey! Take it easy, will you? Hoot! Hoot!"

Kikimora inspected the throw with a hum and summoned a notepad, crossing out a part of the training regimen that said, "Spear throwing".

"At least we can skip that… That was an impressive throw and while I can appreciate the caution, why the call to fear?" She asked, "You learning how to wield a spear shouldn't set her off to anything, I don't believe."

King waved his hand at her with a pshh noise.

"Oh, I know that! I just feel, as a fellow royal, I should greet my ally with full attention!" He stood with pride, fists on his hips, "That, and the potential of pampering and belly scratches!"

Kikimora couldn't help but smile at that, shaking her head slightly with a small chuckle.

"How are you a Titan?" She asked herself with a sigh, turning her head to see the Princess land with her griffin next to them. Immediately, Kikimora bowed in respect of her presence, "Princess, I see that you've arrived for your training once more…"

Luz smiled at her and hopped off Greg, petting him just under his feathers and scratching the spot he could never reach, making the avian kick its back leg.

"Hi, Kiki, hold on a second," She turned to face Greg, reaching into her bag, "Good boy, I'll call you later…" Finally, she pulled what appeared to be a jar. Opening it, Luz threw a fish in the air. Greg jumped, catching the treat in its beak and swallowing it whole with a loud and proud caw. He threw open his wings and with a powerful flap, he cleared the ground and breached the clouds, flying back to the castle.

"I'm glad you've taken kindly to your griffin, Princess," Kikimora said, walking up to Luz, "Reminds me of my Pegasus,"

"You should let me fly them one of these days," Luz suggested with a smile, to which Kikimora laughed.

"Ha! Unless the Isles is being destroyed or when you're Empress, it won't be happening anytime soon, Princess."

Luz frowned at that.

"One of these days…" She turned to the awaiting King, "King!" Immediately, she scooped him up into her arms, giving him a careful hug to not squish him in her arms, "How's my favorite demon doing?" She asked him, giggling.

King hugged her back, and unlike her, he didn't hold back, embracing Luz with enough strength to crush stone, but she didn't notice.

Kikimora was the only one to notice that use of strength, but didn't pay it mind too much.

King smiled up at Luz, even if it wasn't obvious with his skull.

"Well, if you must know, I'm learning the ways of combat!" King flashed Luz a flurry of punches and kicks to demonstrate, "The Isles shall tremble before the might of my prowess! So says the King of Demons!"

Luz scoffed at that, flipping her hair at that.

"Is that so? If that's the case then, can the mighty King of Demons survive against…" She suddenly grabbed him, "Belly scratches!?" She declared, beginning to rub his belly with a laugh, scratching the spot that always made his little feet kick involuntarily.

King fell into a fit of laughter, wriggling and writhing in her hold.

"Cut it out, Luz!" He laughed more in her hold, trying to escape her grasp.

"Only when you recognize me as the strongest there ever was!" She said, continuing to scratch him up and down with a bright smile.

King shook his head no.

"Never!"

"Hm, then maybe this'll convince you!" She paused her belly scratching, and reached into her bag and produced a bag of snacks, "Rare human snacks!" She declared with a smirk, "These are some of the last remnants of the human world that I still have since coming to the Isles! I was saving this for a special occasion, but this seems like just the occasion!"

King gasped, wonder and stars in his eyes before he jumped up, snatching them out of Luz's hands, yelling, "mine!" before he began to chow down and much on them.

"So good! A mixture of sweet and salty. The King of Demons is appeased by this offering!"

Kikimora raised a brow at this, wondering what was so good about the human realm snacks that made King turn almost savage like.

"What kind of snacks? Are they like those fried eyeball treats the young witches like?"

"Fried what?" Luz asked.

King laughed, shaking his head and offering her bag.

"Try some, it's similar to Hex Mix, but without the spontaneous spells that come after."

"Is that so…" She asked incredulously, undoing her collar and revealing the tusks hidden underneath. She took one of the snacks and took an experimental bite. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers at the taste. It was… Delicious!

It was like eating a piece of heaven from a bag! Like, tasting the Fruits of the Mataka Lilith and not immediately dying to her seconds later! The crunch alone felt like she was eating bones once more. Oh, she could go on and on-

"Kiki?"

Her eyes snapped open, seeing that the Prince and Princess were both staring at her with a mixture of worry and curiosity.

Without a word, she reached out and grabbed the bag of snacks and held it to her chest and with a voice barely above a whisper, she said-

"Mine…"

And then disappeared in a fury of purple flames.

King blinked several times, staring at the spot where she just was, truly not expecting that to happen.

"Huh…" Glances to Luz, "Did… You know she would do that?"

Luz sighed, shaking her head.

"It was certainly a possibility," She said softly, stroking her chin, "It looks like she likes human snacks more than you…" She hummed, "I better hide them better when I get back home…"

King crossed his arms, nodding in agreement.

"Good idea, as the King of Demons, I deserve your snacks more! I command it!"

Luz chuckled at him, peeking into her bag for a second.

"I wish I could bud, but that was probably the last bag I'm gonna have for a while," She said with a tsk, "I don't have a way back to the human realm, after all. I gotta make them last."

King gave her a look.

"Is that all? Why don't you just ask Eda? She's got what you need."

She raised a brow at that.

"What do you mean?"

"Eda's got a portal to the Human Realm, Luz. How else do you think she gets her "merchandise" for her stand?"

Luz was silent for a second, several rocks, branches and critters lifting off the floor due to her magic as her eyes went wide and, suddenly, King was staring at an afterimage of Luz.

Luz sped through Hooty, nearly taking the poor house demon off his hinges and barreling into the living room and rolling to stance, knocking the crystal orb off its hinges and sending it flying somewhere into the kitchen.

"EDA!" She yelled, "Where are you!?"

Eda entered the living room from the kitchen, holding the crystal orb she had caught and a big sack of mysterious items over her shoulder, she gave the Princess a curious look.

"Whoa, Kid, where's the fire?"

Luz rushed over to her, bouncing up and down fast.

"You have a portal to the human realm!?"

Eda's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, how do you-" She paused, her eyelids lowering into a deadpan expression before she craned her neck to look at King as he entered the house, "You told her, didn't you?"

King shrugged, non caringly.

"Hey, I was tempted by the wonderful taste of human snacks," He defended himself, "They just taste so good…" He sighed in delight.

Eda sighed and looked down at Luz. She had the glimmer in her eyes that convinced her that she could absolutely do no wrong to anyone living or not… That sort of innocent stare that reminded her of herself when she was younger and less… Cursed, to say the least.

"Yes, Kiddo," She reached into her hair, searching for something, "I have a portal to the Human Realm," Eda finally found what she was looking for in her hair, showing Luz. It was an old-fashioned brass key with a yellow-slitted where its bow would be, "And I have the only working portal in the entire Isles. Temporal or natural portal don't exist anymore, it's the only one left… Not many know of it and I like to keep it that way, understand?"

Luz nodded in understanding and looked bashful, glancing away.

"Can I…" She hesitated a bit, poking her fingers together nervously, "Can I use it, perchance?" She asked hopefully, "I'd love to see the human realm again after a few months here… God, I could use a burger again…" She fantasized about the taste of human food again… "Oooh maybe I could eat some platanos again and some coconut water!"

Eda hummed at that, scratching her chin before sighing, rolling her eyes, and smiling.

"Tell you what, kid. Help me with my stand today and I'll let you borrow the portal for a bit, yea? Sounds good?"

Luz hummed, thinking.

"What if… I used my ultra cosmic Princess powers instead to make you give me the portal instead!?"

Eda snorted at that, shaking her head, and bopping Luz on the nose.

"Yeah, nice try kid, but that's not gonna work on me," She laughed, setting down the crystal orb back on the stand in the living room.

Luz chuckled at herself, looking back to Eda.

"I guess I can help you with your stand… Knowing how you get your merchandise is kinda funny, I always thought you got it from those giant fish."

"Oh those blowhards," She waved her hand, "Half the stuff they throw up comes out digested and smelling like stomach acid, can barely sell half the stuff, but let's get going!" She pointed at the door, "To the marketplace!"

With that, both mentor, apprentice, and prince in training all rushed to the marketplace down in Bonesborough, meanwhile, a national emergency was happening at the Castle…

---

-Throne Room-

---

Belos couldn't believe that his time with Camila had to be interrupted for his subjects' incompetence…

Not only Lilith, but Warden Wrath as well, who looked quite dazed and tired at the moment, but most of all, scared for his life.

Rightfully so.

"We apologize for this, Emperor, Empress…" Lilith began, "We know that you both wished not to be interrupted…"

Camila sat next to Belos, holding a dignified stance but her face showed a look of annoyance and dissatisfaction. Due to Belos' mask, it was often Camila that showed the shared emotion between them.

"This had better be important, Alexander…" Camila said to Belos.

"If both Warden Wrath and Lilith are here…" He turned to the aforementioned party, "It had better be…"

Lilith looked to Wrath with annoyed eyes.

"Yes, Warden… What's the news?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Wrath stood, coming forth before Belos, clearing his throat.

"Your Highness, Emperor…" He hesitated before taking a breath, "The… It's the Siphon project… The strongest among them surprised me and led another breakout at the conformatorium…"

Camila looked confused.

"Siphon project? What's that?"

Wrath looked towards Belos, and he nodded at the Warden to explain the situation to Camila. They didn't have much choice now.

Warden Wrath quickly explained what it was, how an almost intact corpse had enough blood and DNA for them to make several clones of these highly dangerous, and extremely hostile demons. But the word that stuck out to Camila was the word "Basilisks"

On Earth, a basilisk was a feral beast that drained the life and soul out of a human till they were nothing but a shriveled up husk of who they once were in life… She… She has had several bad experiences with them whilst working with Bermuda… The mere mention made her trigger finger itch.

"What!?" She asked in shock, "And these things escaped!?"

Wrath (and Belos) were shocked that it was her who showed such concern for the safety of the project.

"How could this have happened!?" She asked, stepping down from her throne and standing in front of the kneeling Warden Wrath, "How could you let this happen!?"

Wrath was honestly still in slight shock at her reaction.

"It was… Whilst I spoke to one of the Basilisks… Subject number five… She stole the keys from my belt and undid her chains, nearly killing me after she siphoned most of my magic out of me before she stopped… She then staged a coup and escaped through the sewers with the rest of Basilisk's 1 through 7…"

Camila took a deep breath and walked back to her husband's side and took a seat once more.

"Do you realize that those demons, if allowed to enter the population, will want nothing but to hurt other Witches and Demons for the things you've done to them? And what if the people learn that we played Titan and revived an extinct race of demons?" She asked, "We'll lose the people's trust in record time..."

Belos hummed in agreement and looked toward Warden Wrath. Whilst Camila was acting on emotion, he had spent the better part of 15 years learning to react logically instead. It has saved him countless hours of stress.

"Lilith," He addressed her, getting to his feet, "Send out search parties in every village, town and city on the Titan for the escaped assets. They are to be captured, alive. Not a single scale in their bodies are to be harmed unless absolutely necessary. They are worth more than both of your lives, understand?"

Camila stood up next.

"And ensure that the people never even become aware of this fiasco, as well. Discreteness is of absolute importance. Without hurting a soul, do what you must to stifle leaks of information,"

Lilith nodded at them.

"Yes your highnesses, we understand the dire state of the mission and the risks involved, we'll see to it that the people never even become aware of the winds changing…" She said softly, "I must say, you are rather calm at this moment, sir…"

Belos hummed at that, taking a seat on his throne once more.

"A ruler must have a cool head in any situation, Lilith. Even some that would anger them so," He tsked, "And I am angry, but I will not let my emotion get in the way of my thinking. Now…" His eyes flashed blue at them threateningly, "You're both dismissed."

Wrath and Lilith felt chills race down their spines, almost like they entered a winter. They quickly bowed to the royals and took their leave to find the missing basilisks.

After the throne room doors closed, Camila stood and moved in front of her husband, staring him down.

"Qué diablos estás haciendo con los basiliscos?!" She shouted at them, "Don't you know that they're dangerous!? I can only imagine how bad they are against Witches!?"

Belos stood, taking his mask off to give Camila a feeling of respect.

"It's more complicated than you might think, my love…" He said softly, reaching out to hold her shoulder, "The Titan-"

Camila groaned.

"Esta mierda otra vez…" She tsked, rolling her eyes, "Mi amor, you can't hide behind the Titan for these things!"

"I am not hiding behind him!" He defended, "He… He tasked me to research them, to bring them back and to use what I learned for the Day of Unity… I couldn't refuse him…"

"And that, what is the Day of Unity?" She asked.

Belos couldn't meet her eyes.

"I… I can't… Tell you…"

"Can't? Won't? Which is it, Alexander?" She asked seriously, turning away from him.

"Where-"

"Upstairs! I'm going upstairs… Come back when you're ready to talk about why you're really doing ANY of this!" She yelled, slamming open the doors of the throne room. Her heels clacking in her furious stride.

Belos watched her leave and took a deep breath, shaking his head as he put on his hood and mask, he summoned his staff and tapped it thrice.

Hidden in the rafters, three shadows moved and fell down, landing in front of Belos and kneeling to him.

The Titan-given Elite Guard.

"What would you have us do in this situation, Emperor?" Hawk asked first.

"Recapture the assets?" Crow suggested.

"Silence any unnecessary observers?" Eagle recommended.

"No, no one will die if it can be helped. You are to join the search from a distance and lead a group of high ranking guards in capturing the assets. You have my express permission to execute, then and there with prejudice if absolutely necessary."

Hawk and the others got to their feet, bowing to him.

"Understood, Emperor… We'll keep you updated," With that, Hawk grabbed the other two and with a flash, they all disappeared.

Belos couldn't help but sigh, rubbing his head a bit, feeling a headache from this situation and the possibility of it becoming a catastrophe. He simply hoped for the best…

Especially with his wife, Camila…

---

-Back with Eda-

---

The marketplace was thriving today, with many witches and demons getting their stands set up, whilst some others have been here since the early moments of the morning. A common trait all the stands seemed to share, appeared to be a stamped parchment, a permit to be here and to be able to sell specified goods as stated in the paperwork.

One simply needed to hang this paperwork somewhere a patrolling guard could see and no problems would arise and they could continue on their way.

All these official government documents were looked over and approved by none other than Kikimora and, rarely, a few other experts in Boiling Isle's laws and regulations but those were few and far between.

There, among all these stands, was Eda's Human Collectibles. It was being set up with the help of King and Luz, Eda as well. Notably, it was the only stand without that stamped government permit. Nowhere to be seen anywhere on the stand that was slowly constructed.

"Alrighty, you two," Eda began, "you handle the stand while I get the inventory sorted out back here, yeah?" She didn't wait for them to reply, walking back into the tent that held the portal door and the varying amount of human junk Owlbert regularly stole/found.

A few minutes in, King was already bored, missing Kikimora and her weapon training. Wondering where she had gone when she had stolen those human realm snacks. He glanced up, seeing a row of flags hung up above the stand, he got on top of the table.

Crouching carefully, like a tiger stalking its prey, he pounced. Jumping up to grab the row of flags that hung from stand to stand but his claws only grazed the very edge, and he fell back to the table.

He tried again, failing but not only that, slipping into some merch that Luz had set out earlier. King groaned in slight pain and annoyance, glaring at the flapping fabric.

"Stupid flag! You will face my Wrath!" Pauses, noticing Luz walking up with what appears to be a wooden sign and a step ladder, "What'cha got there, Luz?"

Luz hummed at his question, unfolding the step ladder.

"It's been a bit slow around here, and I was thinking that I had just the right thing to bring more customers our way," walking up the ladder, Luz began to set up the sign over Eda's "Human Collectibles" sign.

"And so a Princess said, let there be light!" Luz snapped her fingers and in an instant, the sign lit up and a holographic image of Eda appeared, winking constantly at them, "What do you think? Too subtle?" She asked with a hum.

"Unless Subtle means ugly, then yeah, way too subtle," A voice mocked, followed by a chorus of teenage laughter.

Luz rolled her eyes, she recognized that voice. Turning, she came face to face with Boscha, Skara and a few of her friends. Such as Bo and Amelia. All members of the Hexside grudgby team, and current nuisance to the Princess.

Luz cringed at the sight but smiled anyway at them, wanting to not disappoint Eda out of using the portal.

"H- Hey, Boscha," She looked past her to her friends, "You as well, Hexsidians! See anything you like?"

"Ew, no, not today, I was honestly shocked I got something the last time I was here. Must've used a charm on me or something, no, all you guys ever have is the most junkiest stuff I've ever seen," She rolled her three eyes at Luz, summoning her scroll, "I'm just here to take an ironic selfie in front of your weird flashing trash sign!"

Boscha extended her arm out and held her scroll out steady.

"Say royalty!" She said with a chuckle, making Luz narrow her eyes at the picture she snapped, even having the audacity to take a few more.

Luz clenched the wooden counter of the stand.

"It's not funny, Boscha…" She sneered lowly, "Especially after what happened last time… When you almost… You know."

"Please," She rolled her eyes, "You're lucky that she hovers over your shoulders all the time. What were you going to do if she wasn't? Spit your human venom on me and run me through with your sword?"

King looked up at Luz with wide eyes and a gasp.

"Humans have venom!?" He exclaimed, pointing at the teenagers, "Quick, Luz! While they're mocking you! Aim for their eyes! Start melting faces!"

Luz met his level, popping a perfect squat to whisper to him.

"Even if I could, King, it's not worth it. I have a lifetime of experience handling teen girls just like her, and trust me, it wouldn't be worth it," she leaned in closer, "And as the Princess, I'm supposed to be above that sort of thing anyway…"

King clicked his tongue, crouching and jumping on Luz, planting his feet on her crouched lap. He grabbed her hood, pulling her closer.

"No! I'll show you what to do! Just like how my father taught me!" He released her, exerting himself as he jumped onto the counter of the stand, trying to stand menacingly at the group, "Now listen up, children-"

Luz raised a brow at that.

'I mean… Not like he's wrong, compared to him, afterall…'

"-You all will respect me and my ally," He gestured at Luz, who waved, "And you will tremble before me!" He said in a mighty tone and roared, well, to him anyways. In reality, it was just a cute squeak.

Boscha looked for a moment before gushing, eyes widening at the sight of the small demon prince trying to be threatening and menacing. It was just so cute!

"Oh my Titan!" She scooped him up into his arms, "He's so cute!" She snuggled him, rubbing her cheek against his skull and drawing her phone, "I need to get some pictures of him for my penstagram!" She aimed her camera and started to snap many selfies of her and King.

King struggled in her arms, trying to free himself from Boscha's strong grip.

"WEHHH! Luz! Use your human venom to free me from this torture!"

Boscha ignored his pleas and snapped several more pictures of her and King.

"How much for him, Human? He's a penstagram gold mine!"

Finally, King was free from her hold, escaping and landing back on the table, turning to face them, waving a clawed finger.

"You couldn't afford me, sister!" He declared, snapping his fingers in a very sassy manner.

They all gushed at that and King's remark, finding it even more cute.

"That's the INCORRECT reaction!" He shouted, exasperated.

Finally Eda poked her head out from behind the curtain, curious as to what the ruckus was about, spotting Boscha and her friends and smiling to herself.

"Looks like an easy mark…"

Eda rushed out from behind the counter, hopping over the table and landing in front of Boscha and her friends.

"Hey, Kiddos! Can I offer you the latest fashions from…" She paused, casting a spell before appearing dressed in random clothing/knick knacks from Earth, "The Human Realm?"

Boscha and her friends collectively cringed at the sight of her horrible outfit. Even they knew no human would walk around like that without a tidal wave of embarrassment washing over them in the process.

"Yeah, no," Boscha started, "Sorry Owl Lady, but maybe next time… Mom says hello, by the way!" She said, waving as she and her friends turned away, walking off and heading to Hexside.

Eda watched them go, humming slightly.

"Well," She poofed back into her normal outfit, "I still can't understand how someone as sweet as Ruby had a little firecracker like her?"

Luz shook her head in agreement, sighing a bit.

"You're telling me…" She huffed, "Yeah, Teens can be sour, but unlike them, I'm a little sweetie!" She laughed, pointing up at the sign with Eda's flashing face on it, "Look at what I made you!"

Eda took a look at the sign, before her eyes widened and she became tense at the flashing sign.

"Luz!" Eda quickly scrambled her way onto the table, grabbing the sign and trying to pull it down.

Luz looked up at her, confused.

"What? What's wrong? Did I spell something wrong? Or did I spell something right?" She asked with a chuckle.

With a heave, Eda was finally able to pull it off her original dull and lifeless sign, giving Luz a look and pointing at her.

"Stop that," She flicked off specks of light from the sign with a tsk, "You may be forgetting something, Luz, while I am pardoned by your dear 'ole dad, I still can get in trouble with my stand. Happens when one doesn't have a "permit"." She made air quotes, "Every guard in town would be at my doorstep if I had my name up in lights!"

Luz looked to her left and then her right. The streets were devoid of any patrolling guards or scouts that could've possibly apprehended Eda for not having a permit to sell.

"Well, I don't see anyone right now," Luz rested softly spoke, resting her hand on her pommel, "Maybe you're just being paranoid, I mean, you are directly contracted by my Dad to be my teacher, and you're a powerful Witch, free from responsibility of her social image and all that fuzz! Why hide when you can "poof" away all your problems with magic and do what you want?" She asked with a longing sigh, dreaming of having that much control over her own magic.

Having such large reserves of magic, often meant Luz couldn't even risk casting a simple light spell without summoning a sun in her wake.

But King scoffed at Luz, shaking his head at her.

"What does Luz know about problems?" He asked, getting to his feet, "All she has is dumb teen drama! And to top all that off, with her being the Princess, she can snap her fingers and order her guards to take care of said problems. She doesn't understand how hard some of us have it!"

Eda rolled her eyes in such a way, Sisyphus would be amazed.

"King, you're pampered all day like a dang baby. How hard is that life?"

"Well, I don't know if you realized, but I'm not a baby!" He yelled, stomping his tiny foot on the counter of Eda's stand. In an adorable manner that made both of the girls giggles.

"If you're not a baby, then why are you screaming like one?" She asked with a chuckle.

King groaned and allowed himself to fall onto his back, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"My life is a living nightmare!"

Eda watched the two argue and tease each other and an idea came to mind.

"Well, there's only one thing to do when friends can't see eye to eye on their situations," She chuckled in a mischievous manner as she said this.

Luz lifted King into a very tight hug.

"Hug each until we pass out?"

King lifted a fist to the sky.

"Fight to the death!?"

"Pfft, no. We do a body swap!"

King paused, raising a brow at that, glancing at Luz.

"Are you sure you don't shoot venom?"

"I'm wishing I did right now.." She said softly, looking back at him with a deadpan look.

"I love a good body swap, it's like demonic possession with the ones you love,"

Luz couldn't help but glance over at a tablemirror that customers would use to look at herself and instead of her own reflection, Luz saw Zul giving her a wave and a thumbs up, smiling at her with very sharp and threatening teeth.

"Is this... Such a good idea?" Luz asked cautiously, "This sounds alot like one of my favorite movies…" She said softly with a chuckle, "Maybe we should think about this for a second or we'll-"

Before another word could be said, Eda raised her staff above her head and twirled it.

"Body swap!"

The spell was cast and shot into the air before it fell back onto them, shuffling them around with each other.

Luz was partially blinded and dazed by the spell, and she felt the normal immense and heavy feeling in her chest leave her, letting her take a deep breath and sigh in relief. Why was that? Was that feeling her magic weighing on her chest?

"Did it work?" She asked herself, reaching out to grab the table mirror but couldn't find it anywhere, so she decided to instead look for the floor mirror that she knew was in the tent.

Finally finding it, she looked at herself and her eyes widened. She was much taller, gray and… Well, old probably wasn't the right word to use but she was certainly aged.

"Omigosh! I got Eda!" She inspected her teeth, seeing that they were sharp and pointed, like that of a vampires, "I got fangs! And my ears are pointy!" She said, playing with her ears and poking her new sharp teeth, pricking her fingers and hissing in slight pain.

"Ooh, sharp," She remarked.

"Not as sharp as your new look,"

"Hm?" Luz looked in the mirror to see that Zul was staring back at her, still taking Luz's form, "Why don't you look like me?"

"Well, genius, I am connected to your body, soul and mind, also that pulse of magic you hit me with when you first looked into my mirror sorta locked me in so I don't even have a choice,"

"I see…"

"Who are you talking to, Luz?"

Luz jumped at the sudden question, looking down to see herself yet again, but the voice was different and the eyes were oddly yellow and a pale purplish pink color. Like an Orchid.

"Me? No…King!" She quickly put two and two together, jumping giddily as she held her own face in her hands, closely inspecting, "Looking at myself from this angle is so weird…"

"Yeah, yeah it's you," King pushed Luz away, looking at himself with a devious chuckle, "I can FEEL the power of the Princess!" He declared with a smile.

"Shush!" Luz reminded him.

"Oh yeah, very important secret…" He chuckled, squeezing his new, much bigger hands, "I'm the human now. Bow before my massive, meaty appendages!"

"Hands," Luz corrected him.

"Whatever,"

Luz chuckled and looked at herself again with a hum, posing and checking herself out in Eda's body before the realization hit her.

"Wait… Then that means that Eda is in-"

A cough caught their attention as they looked to see Eda, now in King's body, standing on the table looking at them with a look Luz could recognize anywhere.

"How do I look?" Eda asked, striking a pose and holding Owlbert in her claws, but it was an awkward hold, considering her new height and stature.

King gave a weird thumbs up, forming half a fist with his index and middle and holding up their new thumb. They weren't used to the extra fingers.

"Like Me!"

Eda chuckled at that and cleared her throat.

"Alright! Here's the deal!" She started, "Whoever can prove that their new body has the easiest life, gets out of cleaning Hooty for a month, and you know what that means."

A collective image of Hooty, dirty and rolling in mud popped into all of their minds, covering the entirety of the Owl House in muck and grime, the mess getting worse by the second. Thinking about it made them all shiver and groan.

Even Zul cringed at the thought, materializing in the mirror.

"House demons…" She whispered, "The worst thing ever made… Even I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy," She commented, shaking her head and unknowingly alerting a Prince.

A familiar shiver ran up King's spine, one that he couldn't place, as he looked around for the source of the voice. It was… It sounded just like Luz but it wasn't, at the same time. Not distorted, but certainly different to the trained ear.

"Who… Said that?" He looked behind him, towards the mirror but Zul was already gone, he shrugged and turned back to Eda, confidant, and grinning.

"Won't be me! Life as a teenage royal with unlimited magic is a tyrant's dream!" He declared, "By the end of the day, I'll be ruling over your feeble and weak demographic!"

Luz smiled at his enthusiasm, looking at Eda.

"And I have magic I can actually control without hurting anyone or making random suns!" She smirked at Eda, "Don't be too upset when all your inventory's gone and the guards are none the wiser," She said slyly, drawing a spell circle and accidentally forming a blast instead, knocking her off her feet with a deep groan, "I'll get the hang of this…"

Eda snorted, hopping off the table.

"Ha! That's cute!" She said, "If you need me, I'll be getting pampered on a vacation fit for a King," She punned.

"Booooooo!" Both Luz and King gave her thumbs down in response.

"Everyone's a critic," She said, snapping, walking off into the market, the short demon disappearing into the crowd.

"My life's not a joke!" He shouted after her, looking back to Luz with a smug smile, "But yours is... Bap!" Boops Luz on the nose before running off with an evil and maniacal laugh.

As the three went their separate ways, across on the other side of the Isles, a small battalion of Coven Scouts were being led by none other than Hawk, Crow and Eagle.

The Elite Guard of the Emperor.

They moved slowly and carefully, Hawk tracking down the trail of the Basilisks. They were starved, intentionally, just in case of a situation just like this. Now, the experiments were leaving behind a trail of dead forest critters and various magical animals for them to follow.

Hawk figured out they could easily swing this around to say that a dangerous animal escaped and that the Emperor's Coven had to take drastic measures to put it down.

"Ma'am?"

Hawk craned their head slowly to the voice.

"Yes, captain?" Hawk asked, turning to look at them as she drew her journal to write something down, "Did you find something interesting to share?"

The captain looked Hawk up and down, a slight fear rising in them. The Elite guard was always… An interesting position, to the rest of the Emperor's Coven. For your skill and ability to be so vast, strong and mighty that you would be required to be separated from the rest of your comrades in arms and become a symbol, not a person, but a symbol of what others should strive for in this coven…

The Golden Guard, Hawk, Eagle and Crow…

Compared to him, this captain, he was nothing to them but a drop in a mighty pond of power to all of them...

"Y- Yes, I think…"

The Captain presented Hawk with a dead rabbit in her hands and she, Hawk, inspected it, taking it from his hands. The poor animal had sunken eyes… Pale hair and skin… Death from lack of magic, clear as day.

"We found a new trail of dead animals in this direction," He pointed, "And the tracking devices are pointing in that same direction, we believe that we are close as well, due the frequent amount of these."

Hawk nodded and poked a finger to the dead rabbit and a flame licked her fingers and caught on the rabbit's fur, lighting it ablaze and soon enough, it was turned to ash.

"Make your journey to the afterlife…" She said before turning to the Captain, "Good job, Captain. Crow? You're up."

Crow fell from the tree she was chilling in and stretched her arms.

"Alright… Show me where to aim, Captain,"

The captain quickly nodded and pointed forward, presenting the device to her. Crow took in all the information she needed to and hummed before stepping forward and putting her hand to the forest floor, closing her eyes. Her vision darkened and became monochromatic, listening to what the plants heard and through them, she saw what appeared to be a basilisk feeding on a Windideer… A flesh eating deer that was originally theorized to have originated from the Human Realm and crossed over here from a natural portal, but besides that.

Crow looked down at the earth and clenched the dirt and sent her magic into it, vines shot into the dirt and ran through the earth at breakneck speeds and found their target, the feeding basilisk. Catching the magic draining demon off guard, the vines shot out from the soil and ensnared them tightly and without mercy, restricting airflow and dragging the basilisk down into the earth, the soil covering itself back up.

The captain watched in amazement as the earth split where he stood and the struggling basilisk was pulled out of the earth by a terrifying amount of thorny vines that choked and stabbed into the poor demon. The demon bled around the vines, green blood dripping through the cracks of the vines and staining the forest floor.

Crow narrowed her eyes at the basilisks, certain memories arising in her mind of these foul creatures from her past… She clenched her fist tightly and the thornes of her vines dug deeper, eliciting a deep scream of pain from the basilisk.

A hand held Crow's shoulder, drawing her out of her deepening rabbit hole. It was Hawk's.

"Alive."

Crow clicked her tongue and eased her vines, releasing the basilisk and allowing it to roughly fall to the forest floor, she turned and began to walk off from the rest of the group.

"I was just incapacitating it…"

Coven guards quickly descended upon the captured basilisk, binding and muzzling it immediately to prevent it from further causing any more damage to any one or thing.

"Captain?"

The Captain jumped, he was so focused on Crow's display, that he forgot where he was.

"Y- yes! Yes, Ma'am?" He asked, turning to face Hawk.

"Make sure that the subject doesn't bleed out… I know you know some sort of healing magic…" Hawk chuckled at that, "It's why I chose you, after all."

The Captain blinked in surprise and walked over to the basilisk, beginning to cast healing magic on it. The poor demon groaned and shivered, bleeding from the thorny vines of Crow's.

Were… All the Elite Guard like this?

Violent and dangerous?

This basilisk is dangerous, yes, but… That was unnecessarily cruel… Crow could've easily captured the… it without hurting it so much… Just…

He stood once the spell was complete and the basilisk was in a stable condition.

"It's alright, they won't-"

Suddenly, one of the basilisk's arms reached out to him, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in close. He half expected it to drain him of all of his magic in one instance, to take someone down with them but no. Instead, the demon began to plead with him.

"P- Please!" It begged him, "Don't take me back! Don't do this! It hurts there! I just want to live! I just want to be free! I just-"

Hawk suddenly came over and with the pommel of her blade, hitting the subject with it, right in the head. Knocking them out clean.

The Captain was shaken by the basilisk's requests and pleas, shaking him to his core and making him take pause as he watched Hawk pick up the knocked out Basilisk.

"Captain Tholomule?" Hawk asked, "Were you hurt?"

The Captain, which you all may know better as Steve, shook his head no and walked forward.

"I'm sorry, Hawk… I'm just…" He paused and cleared his throat, crossing his hands behind his back, "It won't happen again."

Hawk remembered Steve from her own timeline, a steadfast and dedicated soldier in the face of a crisis such as a sudden war with the Demon Lands. Quickly and without hesitation, he rose through the ranks and led battalions into many battles at Hawk's command.

Even now, while absent from her own realm, he fought back the hordes of demons that threatened to take the Boiling Isles.

Hawk reached an arm out to hold his shoulder.

"Steel up, soldier. We have a lot of work to do and I know you have the potential for greatness. Don't disappoint now." She tapped his shoulder briefly and walked past him, directing everyone around them to gather the basilisk and to move out.

Steve watched as the basilisk was muzzled and chained before they were thrown into a carriage and just like that, they were on their way once more and they acted as if nothing had happened…

Captain…

Did he even really want this?

He was only just promoted to the position and… It was already too much to deal with, the expectations and acting as if nothing was wrong but… He steeled himself, he knew he could do it with flying colors. If not for himself, then for his little brother who looked up to him, and while he would never ask Matt to join the Emperor's Coven, he wanted to show him that it didn't matter where they came from, they could do anything they wanted…

"For Matt…" He whispered to himself, "I'll make our parents proud…"

Hawk looked back to him.

"Joining us, Captain?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I am."

Captain Steve Tholomule walked forward, chin high and mask secured.

Nothing would deter him from rising above the ranks and taking care of his brother…

As the convoy of scouts and Elite guard moved out, hidden in the shadows, Katya and Raine Whispers watched silently with inquisitive faces.

"What is that demon they captured…?" Katya whispered to Raine, "I've never seen anything like them before…"

Raine narrowed their eyes at the snake-like demon and summoned a set of layered colored monocles that they brought to their eyes to look at the basilisk in the back of the Emperor Coven Carriage. The monocles each had a differently colored glass that revealed different things about the thing it would be pointed at. The green one revealed magic, the blue one revealed its source and the red one outlined items inflected with magic. It was called a See-Through.

"I'm… Not too sure… I've never seen anything like it either…" Raine shook their head, "The See-Through isn't telling me much…"

"Are we gonna spring them?"

"No…" Raine said quickly, putting away the See-Through and pulling out their violin, she silently plucked a chord that made them invisible, "Those are all three of the Elite Guards, we need to get out of here and keep our distance…"

Katya nodded and stayed close to Raine as they began to follow the convoy, as Eagle took a cautionary glance behind him and clicked his tongue.

"We're being followed…" He whispered to Hawk.

"By who?"

"Raine… Katya too…" Crow added.

Hawk hummed.

"The Krampus festival hasn't happened yet, right?"

"No…" They both said in unison.

"Then leave them, focus on the mission and only intercept if they decide to interfere with our task."

Crow and Eagle nodded and looked forward, focusing on the task ahead, whilst Hawk looked forward and held her cracked and bloodstained medallion, looking at it briefly before focusing and going back to tracking.

Someone had to find these loose Basilisks…

---

-`0`0`0`0`0`-

---

Back to the A plot of the episode, here we see Eda, as King, going through the marketplace. Tail swaying and strutting around without a care in the world, taking a pair of glasses off a stand and striking a pose, earning the sights of many Witches and Demons alike who starred in an awestruck manner.

As Eda continued on her way, she kept on receiving compliments and Gasps on her appearance and how cute she was, until-

"Stop right there!" A gruff and deep voice cut through the crowd and the sea of demons and witches split to reveal a Conformatorium Guard, aka the local police authority when a Coven Scout wasn't present. He was eyeing Eda, pointing right at her. He had a four headed cerberus at his side who sniffed around cautiously.

Eda's, once more, as King, eyes widened at this as the guard approached Eda with thundering, clunky footsteps.

"A Conformatorium Guard…" She stepped back cautiously, ready to run. Did King run on all fours? She couldn't remember at this moment and was trying to figure out what was going to get her out of this situation faster.

"Thought you could get away with it, did you?" The tall and big guard asked, striding over with an intense look that could pierce the strongest of armor.

Eda lowered her sunglasses at him, the pieces of her escape forming in her head.

"You know who I am?"

The guard narrowed their steel yellow eyes at Eda.

"Of course I do. You're…"

Suddenly, his eyes softened.

"The cutest little demon I've ever seen!" " He suddenly gushed, "Who wants a lolly!?" He reached into his pocket and withdrew a lollipop for her to take.

"Ha!" Eda swiped it, "That's more like it! Bap!" She hit the head of the cerberus as she walked past with a cackling laugh and a sigh, "Being King is a walk in the park! I'm winning this bet for sure!" Eda laughed to herself some more as she walked without a care in the world, not looking and bumping into a set of someone's legs, "Weh?"

Looking up, it appeared to be a pair of older ladies, one being bigger and more unnatural looking than the other, who smiled at Eda.

"Oh, Dottie! Look at this lost little dumpling!" She said, crouching to pick Eda up and hold her, inspecting her, "Well you're safe now, sweetie!"

Eda kicked her legs defiantly, trying to break free from Roselle's hands.

"I'm not lost, you creeps!" She yelled at them, "Hands off the merchandise or you'll suffer my intense power!"

"Poor baby must be starving, do you need us to make you a delicious meal?" She cooed, reaching out and giving Eda tummy scratches, making her tail wag.

"Ooh…" Eda leaned back into the feeling and Roselle's arm, "You know what? Maybe I am lost. Take me away, ladies!"

Roselle chuckled at that and together, the older ladies walked along the alley to what appeared to be a café, where two creatures meowed in the window and a demon with several giant eyes was painting letters on the window.

Roselle entered, waving her hand out towards the shop as she did.

"Welcome! To our kitty café. This is our little safe haven for cherubs like you!" Pokes Eda's tummy. Taking a quick once over of the café, Eda saw various witches and demons all playing with smaller creatures, only one of which actually looked like a cat.

All of it was… A bit disturbing…

"Ugh," She cringed, "What hot mess is going on here?"

Roselle fully entered the shop with Dottie, the latter of which closed the door behind her as Roselle began to speak.

"You see, precious cargo like you should be taken care of, boop!" Once more, she poked Eda's tummy with a laugh, "All you should have to worry about is how many belly rubs you want or how much tasty num‐nums you're gonna eat!"

Roselle carefully placed Eda into a crib and petted her skull lightly, as Dottie handed Eda a purple frosted cupcake, waving it in front of Eda for her to take.

Eda's eyes narrowed at them.

"Well… My creep alarm is ringing…" She swiped the cupcake, "But I can't argue with num-nums!"

"This is a safe place," Her face suddenly shifted to that of disgust, " A place, clean from the outside world and those teenagers who filthen it," She sneered, pointing her thumb to a sign behind her reading; "NO TEENS A-MEOW-ED".

Very ominous.

"You have a good nap, my dearest, and welcome… To your new home…"

Roselle rose from her lean over Eda's crib, leading Dottie away and walking through the employees only door, disappearing into the back.

Eda laughed, tossing away the cupcake and falling onto a pillow with a sigh.

"Ha! Oh, being adorable is the life!" She took a deep yawn, "Now, it's time for a nap…" She fluffed the pillow, getting comfortable and preparing to fall asleep, however a cat's meow disturbed her.

Eda tried to ignore it but found it was a persistent cat.

"Can't a cute little demon take a nap around here without being disturbed!?" She groaned, standing up and peeking over the crib's side panel to take a look at what was up when suddenly, a cat wearing a bow tie breached the cover of the crib, nearly scaring Eda out of King's body.

"Leave this place!" He yelled at Eda with a surprisingly deep voice, "Danger is near! He gripped Eda by the fur, "Before they return! You must escape! Danger!" He shouted frantically at her, shaking her aggressively.

"What are you talking about!?" Eda shouted back at the cat.

"Oh Baby demooooooon!" Roselle's voice was heard in the back, just through the Employee door, "We have a surprise for you!"

Eda grunted and pushed the cat demon off, dusting herself off.

"You hear that, Bowtie?" She asked with an arrogant chuckle, "There's a new star in town!"

"You don't understand… The danger-"

The employee door suddenly slammed open, and Roselle and Dottie stepped out, with Roselle hiding something behind her back.

The Cat Demon yowled loudly, falling on all fours and scampering across the crib before scattering up the crib and running off and away from the older women.

"Weird…" Eda said, watching him for a moment as the ladies walked up to the crib.

"We have a gift for our special little, cutest demon!" Roselle revealed what it was that she was hiding, a fire bee costume that was oddly the size of Eda, or King in this situation, "Oh you'll look so cute in this outfit, we must try it on at once!" She gushed.

Eda gave a sarcastic look before taking a deep breath and jumping out of the crib, walking towards the café entrance to leave.

"Nope! I'm out! You guys made it weird!" She shook her head, "Novelty costumes are where I draw the line."

Rosell frowned at that, scowling at the sight.

"Dottie, please help our little angel get changed," She snapped her fingers and Dottie shrieked and growled, crouching on all fours, she hopped from surface to surface in the café. A counter here, a customer's table there, before jumping one last time and landing before Eda with a slam that shook the entire café.

"Oh, nonononono No! You simply can not survive out there without us, sweetie! We need to protect you from the outside world and those teenagers," She spoke the word with such disdain and anger that you could've confused the entirety of the teenage population as her mortal enemy.

Eda was an experienced older lady, so she knew when to get out of dodge and this was screaming at her to get to stepping.

"Ladies, stand back!" She pointed a finger, "I'm not above disrespecting my elders!"

Eda, once more, in King's body, attempted to then cast a spell. In any other normal situation, most demons didn't have Magic. As it was a thing that was only gained through intense study, biological means, or even mechanical. If given enough research and time, of course. No, Demons are being of the underworld, ever so technically, so most forms of Witch magic are lost to them or simply unable to be used.

What should've happened was that King's claw would draw nothing and they would give chase, but something else happened.

In place of Eda's normal yellow magic, was a dark purple ring that hummed with mini balls of power that circled the ring.

"Uh," Eda began, "Oh right… I'm not a Witch right now…" She inspected the ring closer, "I didn't even know King had—"

Suddenly the dark ring of magic turned into a demon symbol, Eda didn't recognize it, and watched as the symbol fired a beam forward and without entirely knowing how to aim it, it shot over the heads of both Roselle and Dottie and destroyed the roof of the café.

"Why I never— Dottie!" She shouted, crouching as several pieces of the ceiling began to fall around them, "That little angel needs protecting!"

Dottie growled and clenched her fists and got on all fours and pounced at Eda like a wild animal would its food and Eda's eyes widened at the sight, jumping away to narrowly avoid the pouncing Dottie. Leaving the savage old lady behind her.

"Lady! You're insane! I'm not an angel!" She said with a huff, "Do I look like an uptight blowhard!?"

"Exactly, you're a little baby that needs protecting!" Roselle yelled back, approaching Eda from the front whilst Dottie came in from behind, "Now hold still…" She reached out for Eda.

Eda's eyes scanned the environment around her. Dottie covered the door and Roselle was covering the "Employees Only" door. Both were making their way to Eda… What could she do in this situation…? She didn't want to try and use King's magic again, it's proven to be too much for her to handle and while these ladies were creepy and weird, she didn't want to kill them.

The stress of the situation was getting to Eda and without any way to defend herself. She felt absolutely helpless and useless…

Eda felt like screaming.

"Stay back…" She said warily to the old ladies, but they still approached, "I said… Stay… BACK!"

It happened in an instant, when Eda shouted from her gut the word "back", an orange and yellow colored shockwave that glowed with a blue light radiated from her in the form of a sonic blast. Things were knocked its shelves, shaking the foundation of the store as well and knocking both Roselle and Dottie off their feet and flying back from King.

Eda blinked in shock.

"Was that… Me?"

Just outside of the café, maybe a few blocks away, Kikimora was still eating the snacks she had stolen from King when her ears twitched. Followed immediately after with an extremely loud shout and residual shockwave. Her ears twitched even more and her eyes widened.

She knew the shout of the Rí family anywhere, she's heard it only once in her entire life and she was a very young demon at the time, but she would never forget the roar of the Demon King…

"The Prince!" She summoned her warhammer, Fortunato, and swung it into the earth and the shockback wave sent her flying into the air in an arc, while she looked for the nearby source of the "Prince's" shout.

With Eda, she was still greatly pondering the question of what that power was when Roselle and Dottie got back to their feet, angered and getting tired of how rude and annoying this baby was.

"I don't know how you did that little baby…" Roselle groaned, rolling up her sleeves, "But you won't be doing it again... She said softly, reaching out for Eda.

Eda's eyes widened at the sight and ran forward, sliding like it was an action movie in between Roselle legs and punching her ankle on her way through.

"Ankle shot!"

Roselle was felled like a jenga tower, being an older lady, it was quite easy for Eda to displace her and Roselle cried out bloody murder, as King was demon royalty and they were naturally strong enough to take trees down with a flick of a claw, a full power punch from a "baby" Titan, Roselle's ankle was turned to powder in an instant and she fell.

Once more, Eda was shocked at the strength kept hidden. Magic, some kind of sonic shout, and strong as the Princess? What else did he have?

She was thinking too much, as she slid in front of Dottie, who leaned down and captured Eda! Wrapping her massive hands around Eda and squeezing tightly to calm Eda down. This was a more… Destructive baby than usual…

"H- Hey!" Eda struggled, but she didn't know how to use that strength, it felt like all of King's abilities needed to be activated and she didn't know how to manually activate a single one of them, but they didn't know that, "I'll do that scream again, I swear if you don't-"

Dottie suddenly shoved a cupcake into Eda's mouth to silence her but that was a mistake, as Eda bit down on it, paper and all, and Eda gagged at the taste of the paper. She's seen King do that before so she didn't understand how he could handle the taste. It just immediately began to upset her stomach. In a sense of… Nausea…?

All of sudden, Eda let out a burp and from her maw, an ebony ball of energy to shoot past Dottie, who dodged it with ease. It hit the tattered ceiling and began to glow brightly.

"Oh no…" Eda whispered, eyes widening.

Just outside the café, it was calm, or as calm as it could be on the Boiling Isles. Folks with permits were peddling goods to passerbyers and people were simply walking and going about their days, peacefully…

BOOOOOM
CRASH
CRACKLE

The roof of the kitty café was blown off its walls, cleaving apart into thousands of splinters, stone fragments and other building materials. Black flames rose along the pieces of the rubble as the walls of the café fell apart and into themselves, destroying the entire cafe down to its foundation, and from the wreckage, a countless stampede of cutely dressed demons swarmed out and into the streets, many shouting declarations of freedom!

Kikimora was but a few feet away when she witnessed the roof of the cafe get blown to smithereens and the brick walls turn into brick memories and the black flames rising from the rubble, and she knew the source of this explosion as well… She quickly moved into the sight, holding her hammer out.

"The Emperor must've certainly felt that…" She ran faster till her clawed feet landed on the rubble, using her hammer, she dispelled the flames before they spread anywhere else, "King! King, my Prince, where are you?"

And to her relief, "King" popped his head above the rubble and Kikimora sighed in relief, walking towards the Prince, running towards him.

Eda groaned and gave a deep breath.

"Wooo! Dang!" She exclaimed, "King's got some power!" She looked at her claws in contemplation, "Looking back, this would've been a great use during some escape plans…"

"There you are!" Kikimora shouted in Naihcone to Eda but the Owl Lady truly didn't know what she was saying, Kiki pulled Eda out of the rubble in one tug with ease, "What in Mother's name do you think you're doing!? Using that power in the open!? Are you trying to get yourself exposed!?" She shouted at him with a huff, "Well? What do you have to say for yourself!?"

Eda couldn't help but just stare at Kikimora, the demoness switched between Naihcone and Common (aka English) and was lost at the speed at which the warrior spoke and with such intensity.

"Enough with the coddling!" Eda finally said after another round of unintelligible sentences, shocking Kikimora.

"Excuse me?!" Kikimora asked with wide and angry eyes. To see both of them usually meant a death sentence.

"I just had to deal with two old ladies about being babied, I don't need it from you too!" Sighs with a groan "King will never let me live this down when he finds out…"

Now Kikimora was just plain confused at what the hell the Prince was talking about… So she began to think before the pieces fell together and she aimed her hammer at King's skull.

"Who am I speaking to, right now?" She asked firstly, her hammer lighting up in a brilliant storm of flames.

Eda began to sweat at the demoness' hammer and took a few steps back to avoid the heat of the magical flames.

"H- Hey now, is that any way to treat the Princess' teacher?"

Kikimora's eyes narrowed and her hammer cooled down, lowering it.

"Why in the Titan's good name… Are you in King's body, Edalyn…?"

"Calm down secretary-"

"I am a lawyer, not a secretary…"

"Whatever, look, Luz, King and I made a body swap bet to see whose lives were harder and all that! And I learned alot about King and the stuff he has to deal with…"

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll keep it all to yourself…" Kikimora threatened, summoning a sword and holding it to Eda's chin, "Or I'll make sure that your curse is the least of your problems…"

Eda held her claws up in a surrendering manner.

"Yeah, yeah you got it…"

Kiki stared at Eda for a moment before giving a huff, sending away the sword and beginning to walk.

"Do you happen to know where King and the Princess are?"

"Not in the slightest,"

"Of course not… Well, where the Princess is, chaos usually follows, so we won't look long…" Kikimora sighed and checked her mirror, "Lilith is in town… So let's hope she finds the princess and then we'll look for King and then we can undo this idiotic and illegal spell…"

"Illegal? Since when?" Eda asked, following Kikimora into town, "I remember using it back in my school days!" She chuckled at the memories, "Oh man, Lily had a hard time adjusting to that one time…"

Kikimora summoned a law book, flipping through it and finding the entry.

"25 years ago, I imagine you would've been a sophomore in Hexside at that time… You caused a travesty so bad that the Emperor banned the use of the spell entirely and…" She read further, "You swapped the entire school? Seriously?"

"It was the start of summer break!" She defended, holding up her little arms, "I was going for something memorable!

"Oh they remembered alright, you traumatized half of the student body and-" She squinted her eyes, "Gave life to several rows of lockers, after which, they never found the- Oh Titan this gets more and more worse by the word…" She closed the book and sent it away in a flurry of flames, "In any case… Do you at least have any leads on King? We need to undo this before you lot destroy Bonesborough in the chaos…"

"All I remember is him saying how he was gonna conquer the "teen demographic", whatever that means…"

Kikimora groaned and rubbed her eyes for a moment, grabbing Eda by the collar.

"So he's in the Princess' body… Let's hope that King doesn't use the Princess' magic… Then that'll be catastrophic…"

---

-Elsewhere with Vee-

---

Shit…

Shit shit shit shit.

"Come on Tres…" Vee whispered to another basilisk that slithered alongside her and Tres fell at Vee's side with a groan.

"I don't know how much more running we can do…" Tres whispered to Vee…

"Don't say that… You're not even on feet…" Vee chuckled with a giggle.

"Oh ha ha…" Tres rolled her eyes, "I'm serious, Vee… We weren't made as good as you were…"

"Don't… None of us wanted to be made…" She whispered, "But we were… So let's just find somewhere safe to go…"

"Like where? The Emperor and his goons are everywhere… There's nowhere to go…"

"There's always somewhere to go…" She whispered and picked up Tres, "We need to keep going…"

"Y- yeah… We need to keep-"

Woosh!

SHINK

Vee's eyes widened as she spotted a spear drive itself deep into Tres' shoulder and pin the poor basilisk into a tree. Tres' scream was caught in her throat but when it loosened, she let out a roar loud enough to disturb the trees and disturb the animals.

In the distance, Crow held a spear with a hum, a hand over her eyes to block the sun.

"I'm calling it…"

"It doesn't count! You didn't kill it!" Eagle argued.

"We're not supposed to kill them, dingus." Crow responded with an eye roll from behind her mask.

"Look, whoever can hit the second one, will win this round. Wait, did we leave behind our regiment?" Hawk said, summoning a set of spears and handing them out between Eagle and Crow.

"It's not our fault they're slower than us." Eagle commented with a shrug, taking one of the spears and running a finger against the edge, "A bit dull…" Even so, he lifted the spear to his shoulder and aimed, the two basilisks were nothing more than specks past countless trees and endless vegetation but Eagle saw them clearly, "Watch this, Hawk…" He whispered with a hum, "I'm about to show you why I'm called Eagle…"

Crow groaned, throwing her head back.

"This again…" She shook her head, "You always say that and you always end up missing like a chump,"

"I'll show you how accurate I can be with a spear from this close you moody piece of-"

"Would you throw the goddamn spear!?" Hawk interrupted their bickering, shaking her head, "We've only found 3 of the 10 basilisks, if this takes only longer, I'm going to kill myself, now hurry up! We got better things to do!"

Eagle tsked and aimed the spear once more.

"Fine, mom…"

Eagle clenched the shaft and aimed once more, the tip of the spear being flooded with his magic before he lifted it and threw it forward, it flew through the air and cut through the trees and vegetation like it was a hot knife through butter.

Tres' eyes widened in shock at the sight of the spear heading towards them and aimed directly at Vee so with one last ounce of her strength, she pushed Vee out of the way just before the second spear sailed and stabbed her in the gut.

Tres gasped and coughed up blue blood, staining her chest and the color was quickly draining from her body and face as more of her blood was spilled onto the forest floor.

"V- Vee…" Tres took in deep breaths, "I'm… I'm not getting out of this one, this time…"

"No, no, Tress, come on!" Vee held the dying basilisk's hand and squeezed it tightly, "We need to keep going! W- We've been together for- forever… We were going to get out of here! Find the Demon Lands! The royal family would help us!"

Tres shook her head.

"Vee, I'm serious… The Elite Guard are chasing us, it was never going to be all of us… B- but it can still be you…"

"Tres…" Vee's eyes were full with tears that rolled down her cheeks, "I can't do this without you… This is my fault… I never should've-"

"No, No… Don't… Vee… You let us see the outside world… We were born in a lab from a basilisk corpse and kept in an underground lab… None of us knew what the sun felt like… What trees looked like… You did so much but… My only regret is that I won't be alive to see more of it with you…"

"I'll… I'll live for you, Tres… I'll love and live for you… Just… Let me help you sleep…"

Slowly, calling on a memory of a life that was never hers, Vee held Tres' hand, and began to whisper a silent prayer and a spell.

Tres closed her eyes and took one last sigh as her head fell forward and a wisp of green magic flew out of Tres' mouth and Vee's eyes watered even more before she opened her mouth and absorbed the wisp into her and covered her mouth, crying even more.

"I told you would miss, you idiot," Crow suddenly asked as the trio of Elite Guards fell from the trees and surrounded Vee, who still held Tres' no longer living hand.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, I still hit number three twice," Eagle said, summoning a pair of shackles to his hands, approaching the silent Vee, "Stay still, number 5…"

"My name… Is Vee…"

Hawk's eyes widened at that as she stepped back and began to draw a circle, alerting both Eagle and Crow to high alert. Hawk would use that much magic on a random basilisk unless- Oh Titan, how could they not see it before?

This basilisk… It was her…

"TAKE HER DOWN!" Hawk suddenly shouted, completing a spell circle and preparing a spell that would wipe the entirety of Bonesborough off the map if not contained properly, in her panic to eliminate Vee. The loss of life would be justified.

Crow and Eagle jumped back, with Eagle summoning a demon from a scroll and beginning to puppeteer it as Crow jumped into a tree and began to summon a collection of steel root vines.

All with the singular goal of erasing the very existence of Vee off the face of the Boiling Isles.

Vee could only hold Tres' hand as tears continued to spill from her closed eyes.

"Her name was… Tres…"

In a move faster than what any of the Elite Guards could process, Vee's form began to grow to that of a beast with countless scales and an immense size. A beast so ancient and so powerful, no not a Titan, but something of slightly lesser power and just as much prestige. A race of mythical creatures that flew through every realm in the name of Mystra to share the gift of magic across the Demon Realm, Human Realm, Holy realm and beyond.

A Venomous… Green Dragon. Pale green scales with razor sharp claws and wings that have blown away entire armies…

Hawk couldn't help but stare in absolute fear as her spell fizzled to nothing and she stepped back, teeth clenched at the sight of Vee's form.

"The Sixth Sin…" Hawk said grimly

The Green Dragon, aka as Vee reeled its head back and roared and let out a noxious plume of toxic poisonous gas that covered the Elite Guard utterly in a blinding green smog. Hawk made the mistake of breathing this noxious gas in, coughing violently and nearly retching in her mask, having to tear it off and exhale the contents of her stomach upon the floor as she fell back and felt consciousness slip from her, falling… Falling into a memory of this…

Monster…

.

..

…

I'M BACK

I'M

BACK

Again

I'm so so sorry for disappearing.

Pressure me to update in the comments and that just may work to make me work faster, lol.

Thanks for reading and remember, the story is never dead. Just being worked on.

Part two should come real fast, keep your eyes peeled.

Remember, if you find any mistakes in my writing, point them out and I'll fix them immediately