Echoes of the Past
Around 8 years ago...
Someone panted as they hurried past a creature in the center of the scorching downpour. She wore a cloak and carried a staff. She then went passed a symbol on a wall and into what appeared to be a cave. Removing the cloak revealed that Eda had been running. Her hair was short and had white streaks due to her curse. She looked behind her and held out her cloak, which had holes due to the weather. She stepped inside, her bright eyes hidden behind one of the boulders she walked over.
Looking around, she noticed a heap of pebbles and a shadow dashing past. She flinched when she heard it.
"Who's there? Reveal yourself!"
she demanded, and whoever was sneaking up came in from behind.
She turned around and gasped sharply.
It was a peaceful day at the Owl House. Hazel, Luz, and Bijou were glancing down at the Latina girl's notepad, which contained drawings of glyphs, as they had recently conducted additional research on them. Luz drew a circle, then split it and crossed it out. She grunted in irritation and grabbed another paper as she was surrounded by books.
"Guys!" King jumped in front of her. "I need your help. I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion."
He pointed to his teddy rabbit, who was surrounded by stuffed creatures. Then a knife fell behind it, which put Luz off slightly.
"In a minute, King. I'm getting so close to figuring out this glyph combo," she continued drawing.
"It's always glyphs and portals with you these days," King complained to the girl. "What about King?"
"Maybe we can continue our playdate as soon as we are done with our research," Hazel said before he started cleaning his face.
"In the meantime, why don't you ask Lilith for help?" Bijou asked, pointing to the aforementioned woman. "She used to be head of the Emperor's Coven. She has more experience with crowd control than anyone else."
Lilith, on the other hand, appeared to be...busy, staring at a piece of paper and drawing something slowly. She giggled as her hair was a mess.
"Watching the ink dry is the best part," she said with a big smile.
King groaned, more alarmed than he had been by Francois's knife. Hooty floated in and handed Lilith a cup. "A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu."
"Thanks, Hooty Lilith's eyes widen as she straightens her hair.
"Well, Hootsifer, you truly are a gem," she smiled, patting his head. "How do you always know what to do?"
"What's going on?" King whispered to Luz. "Is Hooty blackmailing her?"
"Oh, I think they're actually friends," Luz said, smiling. "Isn't that nice?"
"Yeah, I'm glad everything is still going well for Lilith from here," Hazel mused in relief.
"Okay, this'll work for sure," Luz held up a glyph combination. "Now you see me..."
Luz placed it over herself and became invisible! King gasped sharply, and Lilith looked up to see that she had vanished. Luz suddenly reappeared in the same location.
"Now you don't! Oh. I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath. Still pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah, and by the looks of it, it does need some work on working without holding your breath," Bijou replied.
"Don't ever do that again!" King grabbed her leg.
"Do that again," Lilith exclaimed, stunned. "How ever did you accomplish it?"
"Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs, Luz and I have been experimenting," Bijou explained as she attempted to remove King from Luz's leg. "We got the invisibility idea from your history books, Lilith."
Lilith pressed her hands together, "Fascinating!" "As the Emperor's Coven's lead historical scholar, my aid could be very helpful in-"
She tripped over the dozens of stuffed animals.
"An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!" King hurled a stuffed animal at Lilith, with Hooty diving in and dodging it. He pretended to die in Lilith's arms.
"I'm done for, Lulu!" He looked up at her in agony.
"Hootsifer, this is make-believe," she said with a deadpan expression.
"Ah, to die in your arms. Avenge me...bleh," he said before falling over, his tongue protruding. King threw another stuffed animal at Lilith, who didn't care.
"The King of Demons yields to no one!"
"Historically, demons have never been united under a single rule until Belos," She told him. "There's no such thing as a King of Demons." In exchange, she received another stuffed animal...
"Oh? What happened to your crown of power?" Hooty joked, raising himself up.
"A trifle! That was just to test Eda, Bijou, Hazel, and Luz's dedication to me. They passed. My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh, fuzzy."
Luz bent down to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story."
Hooty laughed at this. "Nice one, Lulu! Up top!" She raised her hand and slapped it against his face, which he didn't seem to notice.
"Hey, I remember plenty!" King countered. "I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts, and falling from a massive height as that evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place and all shall fear me!"
"Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant," Luz cooed, grabbing King and tickling him. "Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?"
"Me!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "It's me!"
Bijou and Hazel simply smiled at the two.
"Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it weren't so sad," Lilith told them, and the girl winced.
"Don't blame me for your ignorance," he exclaimed, leaping out of Luz's arms. He then stomped off into the corridor. "I'm not a liar, and I can prove it!"
Lilith scoffed. "He called me ignorant. Me!"
Hooty simply shook his head sadly.
"Stop it, you guys," Luz said, standing up and picked up two plushies, "This story is really important to him. So the least we can do is play along."
"You mean indulge in his silly fantasy?" Lilith scoffed, hands on her hips.
"Yeah! I'm a house of principles!" Hooty agreed. "You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous!"
"You've had, what, years of listening to this?" Bijou threw up her arms to Hooty. "Even Eda seems to believe him."
"You do?" Lilith asked the girl, shocked.
"I mean, Hazel and I read about demons a few weeks ago, and I haven't seen anything that could explain everything. But I don't believe everything I read, so could it be true?"
As far as they knew, there had been no evidence to support or refute King's story.
"Could you please just go with it?" Luz asked. "For his sake?"
Before they could respond, King entered, attempting to get Lilith and Eda's staffs into the living room. He fell backwards, then straightened them and stepped inside. "Alright, you two will regret ever doubting me; we are going to my castle!" He slammed the staffs firmly.
"Uh..." Luz looked at a loss for words, as she hadn't expected him to go this far.
"What's wrong, Luz?" Hooty slithered behind her. "I thought you said we should just go-"
"Go with him," she said with a big smile. "I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?"
She took Eda's staff, and Lilith came over to take hers.
"My historical expertise is being questioned, and I will not allow it," she defended herself. "Hooty, would you like to accompany us?"
He gasped sharply at the prospect of finally being able to participate in something. "I'll get ready!"
He dashed to the door, and...well, the aftermath looked disgusting. They exchanged uncomfortable looks, unable to look away. They gasped, and organs floated where Hooty had been. He was sitting in front of the door, which had become something of a birdhouse.
"Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!"
Lilith, Hazel, and Bijou recoiled with horrified expressions, King was crying because he was permanently scarred, and Luz was dry heaving.
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life..." Hazel said in horror, wishing he could UNSEE it.
Eda stepped out of her shower as the group of six flew away. She entered the living room and adjusted her hair underneath the towel.
"Hm? Where'd everyone go?" she asked, perplexed. "Man, they made a mess in here. Oh, well, it's been a while since I had room to put my feet up."
She jumped onto the couch backwards, detaching her legs from her body. She opened her eyes, surprised to find a note from King.
Off to my real castle! Don't wait up! Love, your favorite Demon Overlord
She sat up with panicked eyes. "Oh no. Not again!"
She was about to run to change when she realized her legs were still detached...
After changing, she hopped out of the house and put on her boot. She dashed into the shed, taking off in a bathtub with a motor attached.
The six were still in the air, as they had not yet arrived. King kept an eye out in front of Luz, while Bijou and Hazel sat behind her. Both girls were wearing cloaks.
"Are we still flying?" Hooty suddenly inquired. "It's been hours!"
"Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night?" she joked, as Bijou rolled her eyes internally. "Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious."
"There it is!" said King, pointing downward to what appeared to be an island surrounded by smoke. It resembled a broken cylinder. The two groups dove down, and as they got closer, they noticed a tower-like structure with some pieces broken off.
"This island shouldn't be here! It's not on any of the maps," Lilith exclaimed, stunned.
"It's always been there when I looked for it," King boasted, feeling somewhat satisfied.
They landed on the beach, all jumping off the two staffs. They started walking toward the forest. "After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away," King told them. "Like a wittle baby."
"Eda found you here on the beach?" Hazel asked as King nodded in response.
"Aww," Luz cooed, placing her hand on her cheek. She grumbled, urging Lilith to follow suit.
"Fine!" Lilith grunted, defeated. "Aw."
Hooty gasped at something up ahead. "Look!"
When they saw the massive tower ahead, everyone except King was taken aback.
"Ah, home sweet home."
He took the lead through the island, and they walked over some overgrown tree roots.
"That tower is certainly intriguing, but—oh!" Lilith tripped over the root, but Hooty caught her by extending to the tree. "Thank you, Hootsifer."
"My pleasure!"
"But couldn't we have landed a bit closer?" Lilith inquired.
"The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in," King said, pointing to the sky. The tree branches were so long that they couldn't see the stars. "Plus..."
He rubbed his palms together.
"Now I can dramatically do...this!"
He moved a bush to reveal a large keyhole-shaped entry.
"Ooh. A door fit for a tyrant," Luz joked, smiling down at him.
He giggled, hands on his cheeks. "That's me!"
They continued to walk forward, Bijou scanning the area with her eyes. She'd never seen anything like this before, so King had to be correct...though she wondered why no one knew about this place or how he met Eda.
They were unable to pass through the door due to a cave-in.
"Looks like going in through the front is out of the question," said Hazel.
"I'll find you guys another way in!" King said, climbing through a small hole. "Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle."
Lilith noticed the symbol near the door's edge. It resembled a bullseye of some sort.
"Huh. What a strange material," she commented, lightly touching it. "And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this."
"Ha! I've seen better graffiti," Hooty leaned in for a closer look. "I've got better graffiti on me," he boasted, displaying Luz's name along with three S's.
"Luz, Bij, Hazel, look! This predates any language I know."
They looked at it closely.
"King's story may be a fake, but these ruins are a history mystery," Lilith exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"I wonder what they mean," Bijou muttered as the rocks crashed down behind them. King popped up from the pile.
"Eh? What's a mystery?" he inquired.
"Ha ha ha! The only mystery is how Lilith can be so smart and so wrong at the same time." Lilith glared at her, annoyed. "Academics, am I right?"
Bijou and Hazel didn't seem amused, either.
"You so are! Come on in," He waved as he crawled inside. Luz looked up to see Lilith's dirty expression.
"Luz...you know, we can't keep up this charade forever," Hazel said, shaking his head. "Bijou and I don't like lying to King if he's gonna be this insistent about it."
"Please, guys, he's really hung up about this," she said, eliciting a groan.
"Okay...but sooner or later, you will tell him," Bijou took the lead, the others trailing behind her. Because it was so dark, the girls used their light glyphs and spells to light up their path. Rocks were everywhere, and they all looked the same: two rocks with a crescent-shaped one on top.
"Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes," King said. "The taste was cold and bitter, but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz. And yours too, Bij and Hazel."
"With all the sugar we eat, we better be," Luz said jokingly. Bijou and Hazel said nothing while giving off a dry look on her face.
They continued forward, noting that the rocks had grown moss over time. A shadow passed right by them, and Luz gasped, turning around to see nothing.
King unexpectedly appeared on Luz's shoulder. "Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect."
"Yeah," Luz laughed nervously at him. "So much wonder..." She decided to keep walking to distract herself, but she hesitated...
Hooty then gasped at something while moving around Lilith. "Are you seein' what I'm seein'?" She approached a wall and noticed murals.
"These carvings, they're ancient!"
"Wh-what does that mean?" Hooty inquired cautiously.
"Well, if I've never heard about this ruin, let alone this entire island, who knows what other parts of history we scholars have missed?"
Hooty took another look at the mural, as the creature in it resembled King.
"Are you saying..."
"That he may actually have been..."
"The King of Demons?" Hooty and Lilith said together, staring at him. He was also standing on top of a pile of rocks, which emphasized his point even more.
"Ah, my kingdom. I, uh..." He wiped away a tear. "I got some bone dust in my eye..."
"What was up there?" Luz stepped forward, pointing to the ceiling, which was blocked off by rocks.
"I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar. Probably some minion praising my name."
"Well, uh, wanna head back?" She smiled up at him, as the shadow from earlier made her nervous. "This is all so cool, but...Eda's probably on her third cup of apple blood by now, and the last time, it was real hard getting her off the roof."
Hooty pushed her out of the way. "Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was just messin' around with you the whole time, right?"
Luz sat up, confused. Bijou just raised an eyebrow at him. Hazel shook his head with disapproval.
"Your Majesty?" Lilith pushed Luz away.
"It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value. Perhaps you could tell me more about them?"
King laughed as Bijou helped King up.
"I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales. Am I using that word right? Regale?"
Luz entered another room. She gasped because that was where the noise was coming from.
"Uh, guys, are you hearing this?"
"I'll show you where my throne used to be," King said as he motioned Lilith, Hooty, Hazel, and Bijou to another part of the room. "It was made from the teeth of my enemies and...heh heh, was it awkward to sit in."
She decided to go on without them, stepping forward.
"What are these things?" she wondered as the walls were lined with...things she couldn't identify.
They looked like the rocks in the other room, but with limbs. As she continued walking, she groaned in disgust at one nearby who held out his hand. She then returned.
"Just kidding. I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy," she high-fived, only for the object to fall on her.
She pushed it off and looked up to see that other figures were also on the ceiling. She slowly stood up, and as she did, she noticed that one of the storage units was empty. Then she heard another hiss and turned around to see the shadow run away. She then went after it.
King was showcasing the various murals. "And that's how I would annihilate my enemies," he said cheerfully. "Who needs due process, am I right?"
"It's strange how one place can change Lilith's mind on a dime," Bijou murmured to her and Hooty.
"Yeah," Hazel confirmed. "At first, she was skeptical about King's origins and now, she is convinced that King really is royalty."
"What does this image represent, my lord?" Lilith paused in front of another depicting a demon holding a spear in his hand.
"Hmm... does that... thing... look familiar to you?" asked Hazel.
"Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"
Luz rushed in. "The tour is over; we have to leave right now!" she exclaimed urgently, crossing his arms and glaring away.
"But there's so much to learn," Lilith said to the girl.
"This environment is not conducive to learning," Luz replied, her voice filled with fear. "It's conducive to death."
"Okay, amie," Bijou stood in front of her. "Calm down. Tell us why you want us to leave so bad."
"Ah," King jumped off Lilith's shoulder. "You saw the horrifying monstrosity room. Don't worry, they can't hurt you."
He looked to the side and heard a rattling noise. Bijou used her light orb to get a better look at it, and they eventually spotted the creature crawling across the ceiling. It turned its head in an unsettling way.
"That one can. Let's go!" Luz grabbed King and ran away.
The creature jumped and landed in front of the two before crawling forward. Luz took a few steps back, and it rose above them, opening its hand. It swung forward, and Luz ducked, falling to the ground. Lilith and Bijou prepared themselves. The woman threw three ice glyphs, which formed into icicles and pinned the object to the wall. Bijou called for vines to wrap around it.
"Dang, girl, you've been practicing," Luz told Lilith as she helped her up.
"You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive," she said as they ran past the creature. However, it was able to escape by simply slipping through everything, going on all fours and chasing them.
They panted while running, and the creature crawled on the ceiling to catch up. It then jumped and landed right in front of them. It slowly stood up, tilted its head, and took out an axe. An explosion erupted behind it, knocking it to the ground. The creature cast a glance over his shoulder as Eda jumped in, sliding to a halt. She held her potions around her body while looking up at the others.
"Get out of here," she told them. "I'll hold it back and meet you outside."
"Eda!" Luz exclaimed as Eda threw her potion at the creature. "We can fight it together!"
"You can't beat this thing," she replied, perplexing Bijou and Hazel who wondered how Eda knew that. "Go."
The others exchanged glances before heading for the exit. Eda smiled confidently at the creature before her.
"It's been a while. Miss me?"
It then lunged forwards at her.
The others dashed down the stairs, looking back with concern for Eda. "More running, less stopping!" Hooty urged them.
"Edalyn said to wait here," Lilith countered.
"We can't let her fight it alone," Luz said, gesturing toward the exit, concerned that Eda didn't have her magic. "We have to go back!"
"This is Eda we're talking about," Hazel informed her, crossing his arms. "She can handle this."
"He's right, I've seen Eda fight much worse," Bijou agreed.
Suddenly crashing noises occurred from the building, and they looked terrified at the possible outcomes...but then Eda stepped out of the darkness, clutching her arm.
"Edalyn!" Lilith rushed up to her. Eda groaned slightly, looking exhausted. Lilith helped her out a little. "You're hurt! What of that horrible creature?"
As soon as she asked, the thing emerged from the darkness, holding the axe. Lilith gasped and braced herself, while Eda did not flinch. When it swung, it couldn't go very far because there was a forcefield between the two Clawthornes and the entrance.
"It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now."
"That thing must be guarding this place against intruders," Luz correctly assumed.
"But it's my castle; how could we be intruders?" King wondered as he jumped down from the girl's shoulder.
"Uhh...u-um..." Luz stammered, and he noticed something while looking at her.
"You don't believe this is my castle." She averted her gaze, sweating slightly. She looked at her friends, and Bijou bit her lip. King glanced between them, and he knew Bijou and Hazel were also involved.
"Guys, you think I would lie to you?"
"King, I-"
"You aren't lying," Eda interrupted her. "You just don't know the truth."
She sighed and sat down. Lilith began to tend to her, while Bijou and Hazel looked at the Owl Lady, perplexed as to what she had to do with all of this.
"It's time for me to tell you how we really met."
Flashback - 8 years ago
"Eight years ago, I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven."
Eda flew through the boiling rain, stumbling across the island.
"I never knew this place existed, and it just...appeared out of the mist." She landed safely on the grass. "So, I landed. Now, I was one hot tamale, but the Boiling Rains were even hotter. I needed shelter, but when I found it..."
She dashed through the entrance, staring at the rocks.
"I wasn't alone."
A shadow ran by, alerting her.
"Who's there?! Reveal yourself," she demanded, and whatever it was rushed up to her. She turned around and gasped, seeing a baby...puppy with a horned cap, and she had no idea what he was. He wagged his tail, and she looked down at him. She watched the creature pick up a rock and walk on its own two feet to complete the small sculpture. She knelt down to him.
"Did you make all these?" she inquired, scratching his cheek, to which he responded by wagging his tail. "What are you?"
"I assumed you were just some stray dog, but then..." She turned around to see the creature staring right at them. "That thing was about to kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced."
She quickly grabbed King and they flew away on her staff. They walked out the exit, with the creature preparing a crossbow. He shot the arrow through the forcefield, which chipped off one of the puppy's horns and knocked them off the staff. Eda grabbed him and the horn piece before fleeing.
"Against my better judgment, I took you home with me."
At the Owl House, Eda peered behind the archway, observing her new friend.
"I had gotten you the collar 'cause...well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then..."
He was stacking some of her belongings to make them appear like subjects, standing proudly with his hands on his hips.
She chuckled, indicating her presence as she leaned against the archway. "Oh, look at you. A king amongst his subjects."
"King. King!" he exclaimed before falling backwards to the floor. She blinked in surprise; it was the first time she had ever heard him speak.
"It spoke. Yeah, that's right, a king," she said before taking a seat in front of him. "You know what else kings do? They command armies and eat delicious feasts."
He seemed pleased to learn this and listened intently to her story.
"And that's how you got the idea that you were some despotic overlord."
End Flashback
"Oh, but you were finally happy, so I kept playing with it," Eda said, shrugging slightly.
King shook a little bit and glared angrily. "Y-you're lying!"
"I'm not," she said, digging through her hair and pulling out the horn piece. His eyes widened, and he seemed hesitant to accept it. He gasped as he began to remember.
"My army...my feasts...my life...!"
"King..." Bijou stepped forward with soft eyes, holding out her hand to comfort him.
"Ah, no!" He threw the piece at her feet. "Keep that thing away from me. It's messing with my head!"
She frowned sadly, and Hazel nuzzled her cheek in sympathy.
"King, it's gonna be okay," Luz tried to reassure him, but it didn't work.
"Y-You're all just making fun of me like usual, right?" He began wheezing, as if his entire life had crumbled into pieces.
"No. No, no, no, no," he sniffled, as they all expressed their sadness for him. "No, no, no, no, no." He cried and ran away.
"No!"
"KING!" Luz called out to him.
"King! King!" She exclaimed as they searched for him. "Please come back!"
"I can't fly," Lilith said, shaking her head. "The tree cover is too dense. I regret ever playing a part in this."
If she hadn't doubted him, they might not have come here, and he wouldn't have had to face the harsh reality.
Hooty then began sobbing. "Is this what regret feels like? I despise it!"
He landed on Lilith's shoulder, and she patted him.
"This is what you were trying to tell me," Luz looked up at her sister, who bit her lip. "I lied to him, even though I knew he trusted me."
She sat down on the rock.
"Now he's all alone."
Bijou walked forward and bent down in front of her friend. Hazel jumped over to Luz's shoulder and nuzzled her cheek.
"Luz...you just wanted the best for him."
She placed one hand on her shoulder.
"Hazel and I shouldn't have gone along with the lie either. But I know that you'll make it right, like you always do. That's one of your best qualities."
Luz sniffled and looked up at her two friends, tears in her eyes. Bijou pulled her in for a comforting hug, which she returned.
"For now, let's split up. The island is small, and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far," Eda explained to everyone. Lilith turned around and ran off. Eda placed her hand on Luz's back.
"Don't worry. We'll find him."
And with that, Eda, Luz, Bijou, and Hazel split up to find their friend.
"King! King?!" Bijou, Hazel, and Luz cried out. The fog made it difficult to see anything. They emerged from the jungle and found him on the beach, sitting on a log. Their eyes saddened as they felt for him; after all, he had been lied to his entire life. They stepped forward and sat beside him.
"Eda was right, wasn't she? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody."
"That's not true," Hazel replied softly.
"You are somebody, and we love that somebody very much. We're sorry we lied about what we believed."
"Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it!" He burst into tears again. "I don't know what to do, guys. I can't tell what's real and what's fake."
He held his head, and Luz bit her lip as she looked up at her sister. They both felt terrible about lying to him when they shouldn't have...and knowing the truth about his past only made it worse. Luz looked behind her at the three.
"Something's not adding up," she said, focusing on the hole. "One of your memories is falling, right?"
Bijou gasped when she realized what she was looking at.
"Probably another stupid thing I made up," King said, wiping away tears with his arm.
"No. What if that's a true memory?" She stood up, catching his attention.
"Why does it matter?" He lamented.
"Maybe Luz is right. You said the last thing you heard and remembered was a roar from up in that shaft," Hazel started off. "Maybe that's where you fell from. Eda found you in those ruins. That must be the first clue in there about where you came from."
"Yeah! Like maybe a letter or something," Bijou said, pointing up at her.
He averted his gaze, hesitantly. "...I don't know, guys. What if the story gets worse?"
"You might have been alone before, but you have us now," Luz said, gesturing to herself and her sister. "Whatever we find up there won't change that."
Bijou placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no harm in looking, right?"
"So, what do you say?" Luz extended her hand. King stood up and accepted it.
"Okay..."
The quartet returned to the meeting point and encountered both Clawthornes.
"King! You're all right," Eda ran up to him, noting his sighing expression. "You're made at me. I get it. I would be too."
She knelt down to him. "I'm so sorry, King."
She averted her gaze, regretting that he had all of those thoughts.
"Boop," he said, tapping her cheek. She looked down at him. "No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me."
"Only the truth, I promise," she said, smiling at him.
"Great. Now, before we leave, we have one more thing to check out," Luz said, pointing to the tower.
"Come on, we'll fill you in along the way," Bijou waved them forward, taking the lead.
The creature was rearranging the small statues when it turned around and looked at the entrance. Suddenly, one of Eda's potions was thrown, and the concoction struck it in the face. Lilith and Hooty flew in on the staff.
"Special delivery: pain!" Hooty spat a potion out of his mouth, which exploded on the creature's face. Something invisible flew past, which turned out to be the two Nocedas, King, and Eda, who had applied an invisibility glyph to themselves. They all inhaled, with Eda glancing at Luz.
"You sure they'll be alright?" Eda asked, as the two humans got off.
"Hooty knows what to do."
"You sure they'll be alright?" she asked again as she took off. Hooty was still fighting, as Eda flew to the ceiling. She planted a potion next to Luz.
"Ready?" she inquired, smirking.
"I've always wanted to do something like this," Luz said enthusiastically, holding up a fire glyph. The others exchanged glances.
"They're in place!" Hooty informed them.
"Hold your breath!" Lilith ordered, putting the invisibility glyph on each of them. Before being repeatedly hit, the creature appeared confused. Luz aimed for the potion, and the creature grabbed Lilith, making her visible.
"Fire!" Hazel signaled to Luz as she transformed the glyph into a fireball and flicked it at the potion. It exploded, destroying the blocked hole in the ceiling. Hooty struck the creature, and Lilith grabbed her staff. She flew forward, accompanied by her sister, King, Luz, Hazel, and Bijou.
"Fly, fly, fly!" Luz urged, and they all flew into the hole. The creature pursued them, and Lilith guided them with a light glyph. They had reached the end. "There's..."
"There's..."
"Nothing here," Eda concluded for them, as there was nothing in the room but webs and strange symbols on the walls.
"It's empty?" Bijou was confused at what they found, or rather, what they didn't find.
They dismounted the staffs, and King heard the hissing again. He looked down the hole to see the creature arrive.
"It's coming!" he whimpered, leaping up and sprinting over to them.
As they backed away, King touched the back of the wall, and it reacted. "Huh?" The door flew open, and they dove into the room, closing it as the creature reached out. Its hand was severed, and everyone sighed with relief.
"Well, I think we're safe...for now. But how did we get the door open?" Eda asked, perplexed.
"Huh?" King looked down at his hand, perplexed.
"This room is old," Lilith said, stepping forward to reveal a skylight in the ceiling filled with decaying plants. "Very old."
The skylight fell to a golden pedestal.
"Sunny would kill for a room like this," Hazel breathed in awe at it and they explored the room. King approached the pedestal, which was covered in broken pieces of eggshell.
"I knew there was something up here!" Luz suddenly exclaimed happily. "I'm like the mystery whisperer. The butler did it. Magnifying glass. Secret door."
"It looks like that creature was made to guard whatever was in here," Lilith said, lightly touching a mural on the wall.
"So there was something here...the question is, how did it break out?" Bijou looked around.
"King," Luz said, looking down at him. "Does any of this feel familiar to you?"
"I'm not sure, but I think I know how to job my memory," King said, taking a step forward and looking up at the Owl Lady. "Eda, I'm ready."
He extended his hand, and she looked concerned.
"Are you sure?" she inquired carefully.
"I am..."
She took out the broken horn and handed it to him. He put it on his head, and it felt like everything was coming back to him.
"I remember a deep roar..."
A baby King was inside the egg when he heard the roar.
"And then something happened."
There was a crash, which prompted him to wake up.
"But I was too small to do anything. So I went back to sleep..."
He suddenly grew a little bigger.
"And the next time I woke up..."
A crack formed, and a small flash of light appeared. King hatched from the egg and fell to the ground. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed a symbol on the ceiling. He then crawled forward and tapped the door with his head. He tapped it with his paw, and it opened. The creature stood right behind the door. King cooed as it picked him up in its hands and walked away. It jumped towards the hole, and King reached out as the light faded.
He blinked and took the horn off. "King..." Luz stepped forward, then turned around.
"That roar, it meant'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son," He hugged the horn, facing Luz, Bijou, and Hazel. "Guys, I think it was my dad."
"Really?" Hazel was astounded to hear this.
"That's fantastic, King!" Bijou encouraged him.
"Maybe that was him in all those wall carvings," Luz said to the small demon. The creature suddenly broke through the wall behind her. She spun around and watched as it raised the axe above her.
"Luz!" Bijou grabbed her arm and stood in front of her friend, ready to use a fire spell. King raised a hand.
"Stop!"
To their surprise, the creature did obey him.
"That thing was defending King from us the entire time?" Eda asked, hand on her hip. "Huh. Alright."
They noticed a flash nearby and realized Lilith had been photographing the murals.
"Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll-" She cleared her throat and concealed the camera behind her. "I'll just do this later."
Hooty then ate the camera and she hid the photo behind her back.
"Maybe you weren't exactly the King of Demons, but-"
"I was important to someone," said King, interrupting Luz. "I-If he's out there, I wanna find him!"
He looked up at her, tears in his eyes.
"I'm not that old; it's possible," he said, sniffling slightly. "Would you two help me?"
"We'd do anything for you, buddy."
"Yeah," Bijou and Hazel replied, smiling down at him.
"Then can we keep him?" King asked, pointing to the creature.
"No," everyone responded.
"Yeeees!" exclaimed Hooty, wrapping himself around the five.
Back at the Owl House...
In Luz's room, King was carving something on the collar tag that represented the symbol he saw when he fell. "Whatcha doing there, King?"
"This symbol was all over that tower," he explained as she applied glue to his broken horn. "What if it's my name?"
When she placed the broken horn piece over the glue, he flinched. "Gooey..."
She scraped the glue off him.
"It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion."
"Yeah... Too bad," Luz looked at Jean-Luc, who was only alive because the magic was contained within the ruin. Bijou and Hazel are removing the dirt from it.
"Guys, is it okay to still call me King? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything," he said.
"Well, you may not be a king at all, but you'll still be one in our book," Bijou said, tapping his cheek with her fist. "That's good enough, right?"
"...Yeah. Good night, guys," he said, smiling as Luz kissed his cheek and Bijou and Hazel patted his head. "And Francois," he said, holding up his stuffed bunny, which they also kissed and patted. "Now Jean-Luc."
Yes, they were not doing that...not until Jean-Luc is all clean.
"Bummer, looks like we're all out of kisses. Maybe next time. Good night!"
They quickly exited the room.
"I've never seen markings like this," Eda and Lilith said as they examined the photos in the living room. "Hmm. Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?"
She wondered as Luz, Hazel, and Bijou arrived.
"And those old carvings, who were they depicting?" Lilith inquired, flipping through a book.
"Any ideas, mystery whisperer?" Eda asked the girls.
"I'm not sure, but whatever we discover, we'll be there for King, no matter what," she smiled as she looked at the mural photo.
"It's a big case but I know we can solve it if we find the right sources," Hazel said.