At the Emperor's Palace…
It all seemed that it was all leading up to this moment as her father was waiting for her on the throne while her friends and family watched.
"Kneel before the Heart of the Titan, Dear Child." Belos requested it from his daughter as it was part of the ceremony.
Luz kneeled as Belos revealed an artificial staff he crafted long ago.
"Luzura Crescent Wittebane-Noceda, do you swear on the Heart of the Isles, upon the Titans that Form our World, and to the Crest of the Royal Family that until you draw your last breath you will serve and defend this land for all time?"
"I do."
She then felt the staff gently tap her shoulders.
"By the Life and Fire of the Sun which warms our path… By the Ice and Light of the Moon that guides our way… You are now and forever Princess Luzura, Heart of the Boiling Isles and Child of Two Worlds." Belos declared then placed the tiara on her head, "Long Live Princess Luzura!"
"Long Live Princess Luzura!"
The Fireworks exploded as the people cheered. When the princess was crowned, Blue burst in with wounds covering her body!
"The Blood Crusaders! They outfoxed us! They are going to seal everyone in the palace!"
Before anyone could react, Blue used a spell to teleport twelve people before the dome enveloped the entire palace! Too wounded and nearly about to faint from the pain, the spell was for random people!
Luz.
Hunter.
Gus.
Willow.
Amity.
King.
Eda.
Raine.
Darius.
Will.
Spade.
Adrian.
They were able to just be pushed out as the dome completely sealed everyone else in!
The Palace…
The Covens were trying to break out of the barrier as it seemed the spell was impenetrable.
Blue was being healed by the latest palisman healing treatments while her faithful witch stayed by her side, deeply troubled.
"Bad news, your highness. These barriers were laced with unicorn hair and elf blood so it will take another hour for us to break through." The coven scout informed as he and the other scouts were trying to use a drill spell with their palisman.
"Break the barriers down ASAP! We can't let the Blood Crusaders continue to cause more mayhem than they have!" Mason ordered the group.
"They were planning for this. They were waiting for a moment like this to strike." Vitimir uttered under his breath.
"I should have known… She never was one to surrender." Belos breathed.
"She?" One of the witches questioned.
Outside the palace…
"We need to get to the ocean as soon as possible!" Darius ordered as Eda was prepared to take the kids somewhere safe.
"What's going on?" Luz questioned, refusing to leave.
"Children, this is an adult business. Emperor Belos would never forgive us if something would happen to you nor would anyone who loves you, including us." Raine informed, though they may disagree with the emperor on many things, one thing was certain they agree on, "Children don't belong in war."
"But our people need us! These terrorists are beginning they are burning our home!" Amity voiced to the adults!
"Yeah, we may be kids but we're tough!" Spade assured with Orion in his hands.
"We may not have much choice but to fight them anyway." William shivered as he remembered the stories his uncle told them about the Blood Crusaders.
"It was during the Era of Kings when the war began, the Nun in Red, the infamous monstress spider woman, Demona Occide Magam caused horror and chaos to the land. Many lives perished and villages were lost. But it was the hard work and struggle of the emperor and the first coven that we were able to fight back and win our home again." Kikimora declared, "The titan chose Belos as his champion of the lands and showed him the powers to counteract Demona's evil magic, thus creating the coven system today, for we may fight alone or together, we are all united as one with the power of the Sigil."
The students were in awe as Luz looked at the Demona depiction and shivered. So, this was the bad guy witch her dad fought.
"What happened to Demona after they lost?" Gus wondered.
"The emperor killed her and dunk her body into the boiling sea so no one could resurrect her." She smoothly answered.
"Woah," Luz uttered, still a little bit nervous around the Nun in Red pictures in the stained glass.
"Kids… this is more than an attack." Adrian confessed as the two men were shocked that he would spill something so secretive, "And you're right, you guys will be involved in this. Even if we were to hide you, they'll just follow you and hunt you down… because of your bloodline, because she hates him."
"Who?" Gus whimpered as they all felt afraid, but Hunter answered for them.
"Demona."
Everyone jumped at that name.
"Demona is trying to come back, right? That's what Uncle is trying to prevent."
At the party in the palace…
"Demona isn't dead? She's still alive?" One of the witches gasped.
"Yes and no. For what I have done it was something far worse." Philip explained as he remembered the horrible images of his people dying and his home burning by the evil bloody nun, "I can't even count the many times I thought I won only for that jubilation to be snuffed out…"
"Emperor?"
Belos breathed as he looked at everyone. It was time to release the dark secret that submerged below the Boiling Isles themselves, clawing out of the water.
In the forest…
"She couldn't be killed?" Gus gasped as he heard the horrible stories of the Nun in Red and her grim deed.
"Belos smashed her head to bits, ripped out her heart many times, and dismembered constantly, burned her to a crisp, yet she kept coming back, stronger and angrier than before." Adrian answered as the details were very graphic, "The witches of that time believed her unkillable. So, he had to make sure she could never return and created a solution with the council and the Titan."
"So, he tore her soul out to the In-Between, then locked her body to the deepest, hottest, deadliest part of the Boiling Sea." Hunter concluded, "Sometimes, I listen to my uncle when he's studying. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop but-."
At the party in the palace…
"I knew sooner and later the truth would be unveiled and they would try to bring her back into our world again," Belos confessed.
"But why lie about her being dead?"
"To maintain peace, to be sure no one would try to find her, to keep her hidden until there was a certain way to end her." One of Willow's fathers answered.
"Yes, you are right. Even where I left her, I couldn't take that risk. After I defeated her, I broke the spirits of her troops to end the war. While it was a temporary solution it helped rebuild what Demona destroyed."
Near the Beach…
Luz managed to call her beast Mr. Saltines as the story continued.
"It was the most well-kept secret in the isles… but now, it seems the truth is out. Demona somehow found a way to contact her man and soon… she will be free, and the nightmare will start all over again." Darius cringed at the thought of what will happen soon.
In the waters of the Boiling Isles…
With the final pillar collapsed from the constant attacks and explosions and died with a mournful sound.
That accursed pillar Belos and his men created sixty years ago was finally destroyed and with that the anchors were gone. The Blood Crusaders cheered because all their work, all their sacrifice, all their loyalty was going to be rewarded for their queen, their true savior, the priestess who has come to purify these lands would finally return. The excitement and anticipation were electrical as the people of the Blood Crusaders cheered. Finally, she would return and Belos would be the one would be the one sealed away, for the crimes of preventing their nun from cleansing the realm and summoning the great Day of Unity.
"Oh no," Raine whispered with fear in their voice.
"What's wrong?" Luz wondered.
"They took down the pillar… it will soon rise up." Darius gasped with horror as he and the others could feel the trembles of the earth.
"What will rise?" Willow questioned with fear.
"Her prison."
"We gotta do something!" Eda yelled, causing the attention of the cult.
Oops.
"Ah, the princess and her loyal subjects. Bring them here." The one-hand man ordered as the group was dragged and brought in front, "We would think it would be fitting for you to see the return of the true ruler of the realm."
"Oh, so you're gonna free my uncle?" Hunter mocked earning a punch!
"Hunter!" The group gasped as they glared at the man.
"Cute, but cute is something that we do not have time for. Watch and behold as the prison she once is kept, in is lifted from the boiling seas and we begin the ritual of her resurrection!" He proudly declared as the Scarlet Weaver stood right beside him.
"Resurrection brings Salvation!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
Everyone looked afraid as soon something was slowly rising from the sea!
"Behold! The Prison of the Spider!" The cult leader declared.
On the Shore of the Isles…
The coven, Eda, and the Blood Crusaders stopped fighting as they soon felt the energy that hadn't been felt in over sixty years!
The prison fell apart right before their eyes as the Blood Crusaders cheered, for they were victorious of their leader's return to their world. Hunter was barely able to get everyone out of the building with Flapjack's power as he and his palisman passed out. The Coven Heads and Eda went to the children as they watched in horror, from the sky was a witch. She was a withered woman with a nun attire and scary farm equipment in each of her shriveled hands, looking at the world she had been gone from for so long. It brought a look of smugness to her horribly pale and withered face.
"Is that… Demona?" Eda uttered with fear.
"Yeah… that's her…" Raine answered, trembling at the sight of her.
Demona looked down as sounds of rigged flesh moving was disgustingly heard.
"Resurrection brings Salvation!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Resurrection brings Salvation!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
"Salvation brings truth!"
"Truth brings harmony!"
"Harmony marks the return!"
"Return oh Great Collector!"
"Salvation at hand!"
The leader of the cult smiled a wicked grin.
"Ah, it is good to be welcomed to this fixer-upper... It seems I will be welcomed even more…" Her croaky voice vibrated then noticed that Belos was flying towards her, seeing his sharp blue eyes.
Soon, these two legends were face-to-face.
"Hello, Belos." She greeted the man who trapped her in the In-between.
"Demona, you have been busy." Belos sneered with venom in his voice.
"Oh, so you put two and two together. I am a little disappointed, you used to be so much sharper back then."
"Yes, you were the one to lure my daughter here, you had Lilith betray us, all that has been happening of late has been your doing. I couldn't even see it; you truly are a puppet master."
"I am simply doing my mission. I don't forget that… I don't forget a lot of things, unlike you."
Philip frowned with his Palisman of the Flock in Totem Palisman form in hand.
"I am going to kill you again. You know that right? Years of incarceration have weakened you and the poor beast inside you." Belos reminded her as he was slowly turning into his Elk Beast form.
"Maybe, but…" She laughed then presented her sickles in her hands, "But why not have a little fun before I leave to recover?"
The fight was epic as two mighty legends clashed once again! Both Blood Crusaders and the Isles cheering for their champion! The group was being led away by Kikimora as the battle was proving too close to them! Luz, distraught with her inability to reach the statue in time, watched her father and the monstress Nun in Red fight in a battle of epic proportions!
"Kid, we gotta go!" Eda advised.
"No, we gotta help Dad!" Luz refused but Kikimora stopped her.
"No, we need to go back to the palace. Your father has her, let him fight the evil."
The group was then led to safety as it seemed that Belos had this locked.
But then… The head of the Blood Crusaders intervened.
"Sweet Mother, we must leave! The Covens will be hunting you-!"
"You…you would do anything for the cause, yes?"
"Of course, anything for our Demon Realm!"
"And you are willing to make… any sacrifice?"
"Yes! Yes!"
She smiled.
"Take my hand."
The head did and Belos watched in horror as the man was drained of everything until he was a pile of ashes! Demona herself was rejuvenated, still not at full strength though. She then placed her white mask over her face.
"Palisman can give you a kick, but a willing soul… so rejuvenating…. But you wouldn't know of that, Blasphemer."
"You really are a parasite."
"I am the saving grace of all worlds, while you are just a diluted little mushroom."
Now, Demona transformed into the Spider Beast as her terrible fangs dripped with poison. Now, the true battle has begun! Claws, teeth, and magic as the two nearly tore each other apart while their legions were battling each other!
Tulip watched her aunt fight the man who sealed her away.
"Aunt Demona, please come back to us. Make our world a paradise." She pleaded with all her heart.
Meanwhile, at the palace, Hunter made the same plea to his uncle.
"Don't lose to her. Beat that bug back into the darkness." Hunter whispered, knowing his uncle would hear him.
Luz, meanwhile, was able to slip away from her family and friends to help out her father!
"Luz, come back!" Her mother pleaded but she was already long gone!
At the Battlefield…
Belos was pinned by the claw of Demona as she was ready to strike him.
"You know, Belos. If you had just remembered, things wouldn't be this way. Oh, well. Live and learn or die and learn."
"Great tip, I'll try to remember that."
Before any of them could react, Luz used an ice spell to pierce Demona while Mr. Saltine gunk her claws and legs! Demona howled in pain as Belos took this opportunity to pin her.
"Luzura, though I am happy you came to my aid, you are grounded for putting yourself in danger like that."
"I know."
"Good, now stand back." Belos ordered then turned his attention to Demona, "You've lost, Demona."
"True, but only the battle… the war, however-."
She then disappeared!
"Is just getting started…"
Weeks later at the Boiling Isles…
People were cleaning up the mess during the reawakening of Run in Red and the return of the Blood Crusaders.
The smoke cleared, the fires long gone, the homes rebuilt and yet not all is well. The people of the isles were tense, uneasy, and watching every corner of shadow. Demona's return marked the end of the sense of security they once had. Now, the threat of war loomed upon their isles once again, and they prayed they could defeat her, this time for good.
"How? If Emperor Belos could only seal her away-."
"He's been working nonstop to figure out a way to stop Demona and the Blood Crusaders once and for all."
"I still wish he hadn't lied about this."
"He had no choice. If anyone knew she can still come back…"
"The emperor was buying time so he could find a permanent solution. He took no joy in lying."
"Still…"
"He may be a prophet but not even he can know and do everything. He had to roll the dice and make a discussion."
"There is also another possibility."
"What?"
"That he didn't tell anyone but those close to him because of the Blood Crusaders."
"You mean… the reason Demona is back is because they infiltrated the Covens."
"Or worse, that some in the covens are traitors."
"Oh, dear."
"Who can we trust?"
"Well, I'm putting my trust in the emperor since he's the mortal enemy of Demona."
"Same here."
"Makes you wonder when they'll come back."
"Don't know but the isles have started putting up barriers and doing background checks on people going in and coming out."
"When will this nightmare end?"
At the Emperor's Palace…
Camila was distraught with what Belos had told her.
"That's how Luz was lured to the isles? Demona can access Earth? She found a way?" The mother fretted with coffee in a teacup on a plate in her hands.
"Yes, even if we send the children to Earth, she will still be able to locate them. Nowhere will be safe… until I kill her." Belos answered his voice dripping with hatred for the nun.
The human woman then approached him and hugged him from behind.
"I know you'll stop her and this time, the Demon Realm will be right behind you, ready to fight back." Camila assured, "How was your meeting with the other leaders?"
"Rough, but they agreed."
Blue then flew in with messages from the isles.
It looked like war was coming and all needed to be ready.
Especially Luz.
