Chapter Two

"Another failure," King sighed, standing from his place atop the roof of the wheelhouse where he had been meditating as the sun rose. He'd made a habit of that over the last several months as he tried to figure out his own glyphs for Luz. So far, he'd shown her the light glyph and had discovered his own fire glyph, but that was it. As he had discovered the light glyph in a dream, many in his family had theorized that the glyphs were hidden in his subconscious and would emerge naturally with time, perhaps sped along by this very meditation.

Granted, that wasn't the only barrier to Luz's new form of magic. The energy for each spell had to come from somewhere, and as the glyphs were connected to King, he was the source. And not a very large source, at that. The fist-sized globes of light that Luz had been used to back in the day would rapidly leave him exhausted.

King shook off those thoughts and looked around at the choppy waters around them. The Soaring Clutchman had been at sea for over a week by now and had passed several landmasses, in a few of which King had noticed recognizable portions of other titans. His kin.

Even four years after finding out the truth of his parentage, he's not quite certain how to process that idea.

"Hey, King!" called Katya, and he looked down. She's waving at him with a plate piled high with bacon, eggs, and sausages. "Come get some breakfast!" He smiled under his skull and made his way down for Katya to hand him the piled-up plate before she headed back to Salty at the deck's stove to get her own food. He looked around and found Steve tuning a spell circle before the boilers, as Salty had taught him when they first boarded.

"We should make sight of the port by midday," Salty said, dispersing a spell circle of Oracle magic — which he'd been dabbling in to predict weather and landfall ever since the removal of his Construction Coven sigil — from his non-claw hand and then shading his eyes to look at the horizon.

"Cool," Katya said, settling at the table and rolling up the sleeves of her linen poet blouse that contrasted her leather pants and non-slip boots, her hair held back by a red bandana instead of her usual ponytail. She'd adopted the "seafarer" style since the first day onboard. So had Steve, who was dressed in identical "high seas" wear, though his yellow bandana covered all of his head rather than holding back his hair, his name naturally dyed in blue onto the hem.

"Whelp, that should keep us moving for a while," Steve said, dusting off his hands as he joined them. He brushed the sweat from his brow with his arm and Katya gave a whistle of appreciation, which was laced with Bard magic to send a plate of breakfast soaring to settle in front of Steve at the table for him.

"Thanks, Katya," Steve sighed appreciatively, kissing her temple before digging in.

"Yar, that's enough to make ye sick after a week of it," Salty grumbled, though he neglected to hide a smile.

"You think that's bad?" King asked between bites. "I live with six couples who are just as bad, plus hanging out with these two!"

"Six?" Salty asked incredulously. "King, lad," he saluted with a mug of something King wasn't old enough to drink, "ye have my deepest sympathies."

"Ah, you'll understand when you're older," Steve commented.

King enjoyed the lighthearted banter until breakfast was over and Salty had to get back to work, bringing Steve and Katya along with him. King was left to his own devices for a few hours, just like the rest of the voyage. At age eleven, almost twelve, this wasn't as big of an issue as it might have been the first time he'd been on Salty's ship. First, he decided he'd pack up his few belongings from the cabin for an early disembarking.

After that, he decided to crack open one of the books he'd brought along for his Hexside classes. Eda had at first been resistant to King attending public school on sheer principle, but the efforts of Luz and Raine had convinced her to try letting him experience the baby class. With his newfound maturity, King had been placed in an advanced class as he prepared for the tracked "high school" grades. Even with his personal growth, it was often difficult for King to concentrate, but Luz and Vee had stepped up and worked together to help him figure it out — Luz from the perspective of having focus issues and Vee from jumping into structured education at an advanced age. As it turned out, frequent brief snack breaks to decompress were a big key in his success.

Right now, he was working on Bard classwork, which he naturally had an edge in given his mom was in a relationship with the most talented bard in recent history who happily tutored him. He'd adapted fairly well and was actually considering it as a track to pursue further along in his schooling. Not that his innate Titan magic really aligned with the standard practices, but when he figured out his glyphs he knew that Luz would be happy for the help in figuring out the language.

It was almost poetic that King finished an essay just as Salty shouted, "Land ho!" at the top of his lungs and startled him half to death. King blinked and shook it off before darting to his place atop the wheelhouse to get a look at the smudge that was their destination. Well, a long smudge on the horizon punctuated by five upright smudges. As they drew closer, King began to make out details of the titanic fingers curling from the simmering seawater. This far from the Boiling Isles, the seas were not at a rolling boil, though still dangerous to anyone but King himself.

Soon, Salty called for all hands to the wheelhouse, and King retrieved his luggage to assemble with Steve and Katya with the captain, both of his companions dressed in more casual clothes and with their luggage at their sides. Katya was dressed much the same as King had first met her so long ago during the Conforatorium breakout, in a violet, off-the-shoulder dress and heeled, calf-high boots, with a choker necklace that matched the band keeping up her high ponytail. Steve, too, was dressed much the same as when he'd taken King on their famous road trip before the Day of Unity, in his favorite leather biker jacket over a yellow shirt with his name printed in red, sturdy trousers, gloves and combat boots, though his now-longer hair was in a low, loose tail that contrasted his girlfriend's.

King looked down at himself and the collar that was his only piece of attire and snickered to himself about how great it was to have fur. Then he wondered if he'd have to start wearing more clothes as he got older and quickly decided that it was future-King's problem.

It took Salty some time to get them into port between this titan's spread thumb and forefinger that acted as a perfect natural harbor, but he pulled them smoothly into a spot along the wharf. He escorted them to the gangplank and off his ship with a smile and explaining that he'd be sampling the nightlife of the port with the deposit they'd paid him. He'd be ready to pull out whenever they returned and they had better send him prior warning if they needed to leave in a hurry.

"We'll keep it in mind," Katya chuckled.

"Thanks, Salty," King said, offering a thumbs up. Salty chuckled and ruffled King's skull.

"Aye, yer a good lad, King. I do hope this venture is more fruitful than yer last." King nodded in thanks.

"Captain, thank you for your hospitality," Steve said, offering a salute that Salty returned.

"My pleasure, Steve."

"We'll see you soon, Captain," Katya said with a faint curtsey and a teasing smile. Salty nodded with a smile of his own and returned to his ship. The trio turned to face the port and began their trek to the meeting point that Raine had given in the assignment file, King between Steve and Katya with their hands in his.

Captain Salty stepped lightly along the halls of the cabin areas, intuitively compensating for loose tiles with intimate familiarity. He'd enjoyed this excursion getting those three to the port of Pearly Cue, and he was also looking forward to some time of essentially paid vacation as he waited for them to do whatever it was that Head Witch Whispers wanted of them, which would take at least a week, if not more.

He smiled at this good turn in his fortunes.

Then his smile fell into a grimace as he heard a clatter further along the corridor. He growled and traced a sleep to summon a heavy club as he raced toward the sound, near-silent despite his build. He ran for the deck and out onto it, catching sight of a small figure racing toward the gangplank. "Halt!" Salty shouted, but the tiny silhouette hopped and fell. Salty checked over the rails to find no one there. Not satisfied, he returned to investigate, on a hunch starting at one place in particular.

He found the galley's food stocks missing several spaces of supplies. Grumbling with vexation, he followed another hunch and checked the cabins. There were six in total, including his own captain's quarters. Ever since his crew had left and he hadn't picked up any new consistent hands, he had kept half of them locked tight. During this voyage, he offered one to King while Steve and Katya had shared a cabin, the lovebirds. He unlocked and checked each sealed room … and found them all stuffy and put-together. On a final hunch, he searched the cargo hold from top to bottom, eventually finding what he had expected but hoped not to see: a small nest of blankets with a shuttered lantern and camp toilet.

"Blast it all," he growled to himself. "We've had a stowaway under my very nose." He traced a spell to lock down the evidence before turning to send a message to Raine Whispers with some prepared parchment Steve had given him in case of emergency. He also prepared a parchment to send to Steve in warning, just in case. "And a clever little bilge rat, it was."

"We'll be coming upon Pearly Cue port within the hour, sir," reported a witch in a yellow-trimmed cloak and full face mask, a former Emperor's scout who had found aegis under Vitimir.

"Excellent," Vitimir himself replied. He stood at the bow of the ship, watching the distance as he fine-tuned his plans for how they would approach this mission of theirs when they landed. "Prepare the men to disembark as soon as possible." The scout nodded and left to fulfill his orders.

"Care to share?" asked a rich, feminine voice. Vitimir turned to regard a figure in a heavy-cowled violet cloak regarding him. He was not concerned, at least no more than the natural paranoia of a former coven head demanded. She was, after all, his second-in-command. And though he knew she would betray him if she knew of a better option, she had none at the moment. And so her loyalty was secure for now.

"We will prepare another modified scrying potion when we find lodging in the port town," Vitimir explained. "We will find out what we can and then follow them to their goal. After we arrive-"

"We let them do the work for us," his second finished with glee in her voice. "Take what they find and secure passage back the Bonesborough with none the wiser."

"Should it ever be so simple," Vitimir grumbled under his breath.

Kikimora heaved to catch her breath, leaning back against the wall of a dark alley and panting heavily from her flight from the Soaring Clutchman. She faintly recalled it had been a favored hire of the Golden Guard back before the brat had turned toward the human and her friends.

As her breathing slowed and her thoughts settled from immediate escape, she reflected for the umpteenth time in her life upon the fact that good ears had served her so well in her time. In the past, they had warned her of approaching danger, and far more potently they had allowed her to listen in on conversations she was not welcome to and learn all she could to use for her own ends and against her adversaries.

In this case, it had allowed her to track the people upon that ship as they went about their tasks. During the day, she had tracked their footsteps across the deck to measure their proximity. As night had fallen, it allowed her to know when everyone was asleep — or in the dim ex-scout and floozy bard's case, too distracted with each other — to make her way and filch from the galley. And even better, it had allowed her to once more listen in, to find where the ship was and even snatches of what the scouting party would do when they landed.

Kikimora laughed quietly and maliciously to herself. She knew where they were going, and so knew where to follow them from. They had no idea she'd been there. And even if they found out some inkling as to someone on their trail, they would be looking for someone small.

Kikimora traced a horizontal spell circle that mirrored a much wider one upon the ground. She dispersed the first and then flicked her wrist to set the larger circle rising, leaving something huge and bipedal in its wake, covered and disguised in a massive cloak. She darted up the object and under the top of the cloak, filling the cowl as if she were the object's head.

With commands from the controls, Kikimora brought her beloved Abimotron to life and set it marching. The size of the disguised mecha set people to naturally avoid her path, just as she had always wanted in her life.

Now it was time to find her searchers.

Amity loved her job.

In the deepest and most private recesses of her mind growing up, she had admitted to herself that she didn't expect to enjoy her career. The dream of being in the Emperor's Coven had been forced upon her, and even if it hadn't been, she had more than once idled thoughts of being forced to research the engineering and Abomination magic that she genuinely liked but to the absurdly unhealthy ways her father had been forced to. Both he and herself by Odalia.

But what she did now? That was a different story.

Her technical job description was "research intern" under Lilith, but that didn't really cover her actual job. Like in theory, she helped with research of the history of the Isles, handled books and documents, and otherwise played the librarian Luz's-version-of-bookworm role. But in practice, she was often sent to the far reaches of the Boiling Isles to locate and secure any number of rare texts or artifacts that had either escaped Belos's purges or that Lilith had found described in the writings of the former emperor.

Luz had once called her an "adventure archeologist," and compared her to a "cuter Indiana Jones." Amity had not gotten the reference until Luz had hosted the group plus Eda, King, and Lilith over to the Noceda household for a marathon, and she'd been undeniably pleased with the comparison afterward.

Speaking of her batata … Amity rolled over and propped herself on one elbow as she admired Luz sleeping in her own bedroll, much like Amity's. Luz was curled up in hers and smiling softly in her sleep, and as the rising sun began to peek over the horizon of the Boiling Sea, Amity's heart felt so full in that moment.

"Stop staring," Hunter said from the helm with a grin in his voice, "your drooling will wake her up."

"Bite me, Clawthorne," Amity growled, though she couldn't help her own smile.

Given the scale of this particular adventure, Amity had requested permission for support. She'd asked Luz, of course, and the human had been over the moon to experience the cultures of another titan chain. Spending time with Amity had been, in her own words, the best bonus ever.

Luz had asked to bring Hunter along, too. Hunter's book knowledge and research skills were on par with Amity's, and in some ways even exceeded her even though she'd never admit it aloud. And given the honestly insane skills that he'd sweated blood and tears to hone in two years at Hexside to master his innate magic bequeathed by Flapjack, he would be a formidable asset for if — or perhaps when — things went haywire.

Plus, he could also pilot Amity's airship, a skill which Luz sadly had never taken well to.

"What's our ETA?" Amity asked, slowly rising from her bedroll.

"See for yourself," Hunter said, gesturing with one hand off the wheel at the distant splayed fingers of the titan.

Amity sighed with relief. As much as she loved Luz and Hunter — in vastly different ways — she'd been feeling crowded the last day or so. A week of flying on a vessel that leaned toward small would do that to anyone. She'd felt it from both of them too.

"Who are we meeting, again?" Hunter asked.

"A new contact of Lilith's," Amity said. "A professor at the university."

The city of Pearly Cue really was quite lovely, the remnants of a successful empire still evident in the architecture. The terracing streets were well-cobbled with what looked like the shells of askance crabs, each one two feet in area and mortared with ochre gault that would have been mined within Titan's bones. The buildings were white-washed flagstone that glittered in the sun and resembled the reflection of the sea. And the people were a fine mix of familiar witches and demon kith that were foreign to Steve, Katya, or King.

King, walking between Steve and Katya and holding their hands in a family-like display, was wide-eyed and looking around excitedly. Steve had heard stories that the kid had carried himself as an "expert" on demonkind when he was young, but King had done even more of his research in the years since and had acquired a respectable knowledge base. Seeing so many unfamiliar kinds of demons that may not even align with the classic "Three B's" of the Boiling Isles must be a real treat.

Steve, however, was not nearly as carefree as his smile would suggest. In a potentially hostile environment, his scout and watchmen training were working together to keep him alert and wary, his eyes constantly darting around and his ears twitching with any potential threat. He glanced at Katya, who was engaging King in conversation … and noticed her eyes never stopped moving, either. On the outside, she walked with all of the languid grace and attractively swinging hips as usual, but her ears were flicking, too.

Well, she was a bodyguard to a national leader. She'd clearly been through training for escort and threat detection, too. Steve couldn't help but be proud of her.

One thing that drew Steve's attention more than anything was the way the locals cast magic. In the Boiling Isles, people twirled their fingers to trace spell circles and seeing such a thing during the day was as typical as walking. Here, it seemed they had a different style: the witch or demon's fingers would glow with magic and then they would snap their fingers, a spell circle blossoming from the motion and accumulated magic before disappearing.

Finally, as the sun passed its zenith, they arrived at an entrance arch for the Aurorae University. They passed under the stone arch winged by wrought iron fencing onto the stone path of a sprawling university campus of stone buildings decorated with Titan bone, fountains at intersections, and late adolescent and early-adult witches and demons milling about.

"Who are we meeting again?" Katya asked.

"We need to head to the natural history wing," Steve said, discreetly consulting a file from Raine. "We'll be meeting with a professor there." He led the way through the crowds of students, hiking King onto his shoulders with a whoof of effort. King wasn't nearly as light as he used to be, but Steve wanted him out of the fray. Katya took Steve's free arm and curled into his side, keeping up the appearance of a small family as they navigated to the history wing.

They made it to the building after only two turnarounds and climbed the steps to enter into a vaulted ceiling for the entrance hall, a line of desks at the far end manned by witches and demons in business wear. Steve let King down and gestured for them to wait as he approached one of the desks and spoke to the attendant, showed them some papers, and then beckoned them over with a small, triumphant grin.

Steve led the way through the halls of the department to a large door with the title "Professor Ward Carver." Steve knocked, and a rumbling voice called for them to enter. They opened the door to reveal a demon resembling a goat with white fur spotted with red, almost like blood spatters contrasting a long, wispy beard, with rams horns curling from his temples and leathery wings protruding from his back. He wore a monocle that complimented a tweed suit and plaid bowtie. He was seated at a desk covered in books and papers, surrounded by the archetypal stuffed bookshelves and walls of certifications.

"Ah, Agent Malva," the professor said in a raspy voice that sounded almost hoarse from disuse, clapping his book shut and standing to greet them. He shook Steve's hand with a square hand ending in thick, blunt, yellowed nails that more resembled hoofs. "This lovely young lady must be Miss Sertdse," he added, shaking her hand, too. He then noticed King. "Ah, and, erm," the professor said, clearly suddenly uncomfortable. "You've brought a child with you."

"King Clawthorne," King said, offering his paw to shake.

The professor's strained smile froze and then crumbled into shock and something like awe. "Titan below," he breathed. "Are you really?"

"Uh, Professor?" Katya interjected. "Raine said you had information?"

"Ah, yes," Carver said, blinking out of a stupor. "Now, how much did Head Witch Whispers tell you about your mission?"

"They said we'd be searching out old ruins for stuff on wild magic," Steve supplied. "Or that's the gist of it."

"Accurate, if inelegant," Carver said, gathering books and scrolls. "At the height of the Behemic Empire, our scholars and philosophers were conducting extensive research into the use of magic and its fields." He chuckled. "At least as we understand them, anyway." He snapped a spell circle and an illusion appeared that showed a chart of five symbols that resembled Luz Noceda's glyphs. "As opposed to the nine branches that your old Belos codified into his coven system, we of the empire interpreted magic into five elements: water, fire, earth, air, and aether. Many monasteries were devoted to studying magic in this way, but political corruption weakened support for the institutes. And then the Chain of Cataclysms — a string of terrible calamities originating from our own titan decaying and collapsing into the Boiling Sea, leading to the loss of countless lives — struck and much of our knowledge was lost."

"So why not send your own people to poke around?" King asked, arms crossed.

"Well, on the one hand," the professor said, consulting a book that seemed unrelated, his tone distracted as his illusion dissolved, "the cataclysms occurred mere decades ago. With what was left of the structure of our empire ravaged by such loss, we have barely been able to regain a sense of stability." He lifted a hand and gestured around them. "Why this very university has been on the verge of abandonment for more than thirty years and has only hung on by a thread."

"On the other hand, we have sent our own people," the professor revealed gravely. "But few returned, and those who did were not, erm … in the shape to recall their experiences." He set down his gathered load and removed his glasses to polish them, clearly gathering his thoughts as he settled them back on the bridge of his nose. "With the losses from the cataclysms, our culture was nearly lost as well and has only just begun to recover. Most of our academics are, erm, unsuited for fieldwork. And those suited for such things are either brutes without a drop of education or severely lacking the experience needed."

"So you've outsourced for help," Katya surmised, a small smile on her lips. "I gotta say I'm impressed, professor. Not many would have the guts to do that."

"Thank you, Miss," the professor said with a faint smile. He handed stacks of manilla folders and scrolls to Steve and Katya. Then he snapped his fingers again and an illusion of a map appeared of the titan they stood upon. The skeletal carcass lay on its side, its skull resting on its arm, which was splayed to end in the hand where Pearly Cue port resided. Everything below the ribcage was gone, as was its other arm, but a bat-like wing clung to its back, curling over its ribs like a cresting wave.

"Your objective for myself and Head Witch Whispers is the ruins of a monastery at the thumb of the Wing. I know not what obstacles lay there, but any writings or artifacts you find can be placed in these," he snapped his fingers and a box of preservative baggies zoomed to King, "and returned to the university."

"You got it, Prof," Steve said with a salute.

"He wasn't telling us everything," Katya said simply as they left the university grounds.

"Probably didn't want to scare us off," Steve said. "After the 'guts to outsource,' and all," he added with a grin at her.

"So what's this mean for us?" King asked from between them.

"No change, really," Steve said casually. He traced a wide spell circle and pushed it forward. In the circle's wake appeared his trademark motorbike, the engine purring. King shouted with delight and raced to hop into the side-cauldron, while Steve and Katya took the seat.

"Let's go plunder a monastery," Katya shouted unironically, and Steve gunned the engine to race through town and toward the distant Wing.

As they rode away and turned a street corner, they missed the Abomination-powered blimp that settled upon the university grounds, and a group of scraggly former-scouts keeping an eye on them, and a massive cloaked figure listening closely.

Chapter two is finally here! It was tough to spin out, but I like how it came out. Here's hoping you all do, too!

*Soaring Clutchman is a play on Flying Dutchman. I just couldn't resist a "Pirates of the Caribbean" reference.

*I took some influence from the sea captain of "The Simpsons" when writing Salty. I just love that character and it seemed fitting.

*For the record, in this continuity, the six couples King is referring to are the obvious Raeda, Lumity, and Huntlow, plus Dell/Gwen, Edric/Viney - I imagine Edric remains close with Eda as a kind of second apprentice and so visits a lot - and platonic Lilith and Hooty.

*The "Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles" from "Young Blood, Old Souls" reveals that the Boiling Isles is the only example of a complete titan skeleton in the demon realm. To me, given later revelations, it's an early hint that King's dad was the last titan to die and so has had the least damage from decay and the boiling seas, and possibly means that few titans were left in complete state after being killed by the Collectors.

*The idea of the demon realms oceans outside the Boiling Sea being less hot comes from the distinction of the Boiling Sea that lent its name to the Boiling Isles, according to the Unauthorized History.

*The port is named for the space between the thumb and forefinger, the purlicue.

*Askance crabs are basically horseshoe crabs, which live in huge swarms in the Boiling Seas. The term comes from the scientific name for horseshoe crabs' family, which is Laton for "askew" or "askance." Gault is a heavy, thick clay soil. I imagine a special clay being part and parcel of Abomination magic.

*Kith refers to one's friends, often used in the phrase "kith and kin" meaning friends and family. Here it refers to a "species" of demon.

*Yes, the professor was based visually on Lekmet from "Star Vs." It was a fun gag.

*This titan had a different batch of glyphs for slightly different elements, which I based on Eda's line in the epilogue: "King's powers are getting stronger. It looks like they're different from his dad's …" This implies to me that each titan has a different set. The glyphs have not been usable in millennia, since this titan's spirit departed so long ago.

As always, I hope it was a fun read! Leave a review if you like! And may your own works be fun to read and to write!