Previously on Calamitous Intervention
Anne and King had been working on a song together, but when King rewrote it and took all the attention for himself, she became pretty upset about his arrogance. King would partner with a shady businessman named Cynder, who would make him famous and loved, but after a disastrous performance, Cynder would disown him and attempt to attack him. Meanwhile, Anne met a wise figure who introduced her to bard magic and after being fascinated with what it could do, she came to rescue King and together they defeated that psycho. They celebrated by performing their song together with the help of some bard magic.
Chapter Twenty-Four - Echoes of the Past
Anne stood with a defiant pose in the middle of the living room of the Owl House, figuring out how she could improve her knowledge and use of ice glyphs. While she had fought well against that Cynder psycho a couple of days ago, she felt there was still a lot of room for improvement. Practice makes perfect, as they say.
She knew it probably wasn't the best idea to practice indoors, but she tried to minimize any potential damage by drawing the glyphs smaller. If anything bad happened, she could just bribe Hooty with some bugs so he (hopefully) wouldn't tell Eda.
Anne prepared herself by drawing an ice glyph onto the surface of a tennis ball. She wondered if perhaps this could be more efficient than drawing them on slips of paper all the time. She held the ball above her tennis racket as she got into a battle stance, ready to toss it up.
Her determination and focus were so strong that she failed to notice King heading up to her.
"Still practicing with that new glyph?" King asked.
She was shocked and lost her grip, causing the ball to fall to the ground. The impact was enough to activate the glyph and shoot an ice pillar toward King, but it missed him by mere inches, making him stumble backward, surprised.
"Uhh, of course I am," Anne replied after a bit of weariness. "I want to be prepared in case something like that basilisk attacks me again."
"Well, I need your help with something, Anne," King began. "I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion!" He pointed at a huge pile of inanimate plushies with Francois in the middle and a sharp knife falling over behind it.
Anne snorted in amusement while resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Oh, no, not again," she said in a halfhearted tone. "Whatever shall we do, King? Your kingdom is in danger."
"Right, you are!" King replied with a fist raised in the air. "And you're the only one I trust with keeping my rule!"
Her playful tone and demeanor quickly faded away as Anne started to get a bit tired of his constant self-praise and boastful claims.
"That's pretty cute, but why do you always talk about being the king of demons and a big, scary ruler?" She looked at King's small body as she kept speaking to make her point clear. "Because, to be honest… you don't really look like someone who's actually ruled a kingdom."
"Blasphemy!" King's voice rang out as he grabbed a plush from the large pile and threw it in Anne's direction, only for it to bounce off of her harmlessly and squeak. "Looks can be deceiving, and I can tell you, I've been both king and a fearsome, brutal enemy. Claiming otherwise is an insult to my kind's legacy."
"Yeah, if that's the case, can you prove you're any kind of special king?" Anne replied as she turned her back away and began working on practicing her ice glyphs again.
"Of course I can. I know what I used to be," King replied. "I still remember it like it was yesterday." He paced back and forth, recalling the events. "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!" he declared.
"King, none of my history classes have ever said anything about a King of Demons. And from what I know, there hasn't been a formal ruler of the Isles before Emperor Belos," Anne replied. On one hand, she wanted to disprove his points, but on the other, the whole subject was still a sore spot between them, and she couldn't bear to make King cry again.
Before she could say anything, however, King spoke up first. "Stunned speechlessly, are you?" He hopped up onto a stool in an attempt to get even with her, staring right up into her eyes. They had a brief staring contest until Anne couldn't resist the urge to boop King's nose, which made him sigh.
"Anne!" King complained, glaring at her exasperatedly.
"Sorry, dude, couldn't resist," Anne said, smirking. She went to boop his nose again, but King brushed her hand away.
"This is serious! For all we know, Belos is the one who cursed me into my tiny form and took away my memory," King told her. "You'll regret doubting me once we get to my castle!"
"Whoa, whoa, what castle?" Anne asked. "Did you, er… make a fort at the slayground again?"
"Those are just my outposts," King said, rolling his eyes. "I'm talking about my real castle."
"Real castle, you say?" Anne asked, trying to keep a straight face after his last comment.
"It's on a remote island away from the Boiling Isles," he replied. "It's always been there when I looked for it."
"That's a rather convenient story," Anne said, raising an eyebrow. King noticed this and started to become even more frustrated with her. Why is she so stubborn? he wondered to himself.
"We've been over this, Anne!" King protested, clenching his paws. "Why won't you ever believe me? You always make fun of me, and you even called me a fake!"
Anne's heart sank as she remembered when he had gotten famous for stealing her song. While they had resolved that conflict, there was still a bit of tension between the two. The guilt of what she said had returned, and while she still wanted to be friends with King, she also didn't think it was healthy for him to keep living with his delusions and couldn't think of what to say.
After a moment of silence, King sighed. "How about this: I'll prove to you that my castle is real. Right hand to the Titan. I am not lying, okay?"
Knowing she couldn't escape this without making things worse, Anne sighed, deciding to play along for now. "I had no idea there was more than just the Boiling Isles, but alright. What could possibly go wrong?" she wondered out loud before realizing King had disappeared from her sight. "King?"
She heard some sudden tapping and turned around to see King walking back into view, holding Eda's staff. After some brief hesitation, they went outside to the front of the house, both preparing to take off.
"Well, hopefully, we won't end up in total disaster again," Anne said as she firmly clutched Eda's staff beneath her in a riding stance and as King climbed beside her. Anne pressed her feet against the ground, then pushed off, rising into the sky and soaring out over the boiling sea.
Meanwhile, in the Owl House, Eda had just finished taking a shower, wearing a robe and a towel on her head. She walked into the living room, noticing how unusually quiet the house suddenly was. She looked around with confusion and a hint of worry.
"Huh? Where'd they go?" she asked out loud to herself. After contemplating things for a moment, she just figured they went off to do their usual antics, though she was a bit on edge after a few recent events.
"Oh, well," Eda said, plopping down on the couch and casually detaching her legs from her body, figuring it wasn't anything special. "It's been a while since I had room to put my feet up."
Her ease of mind didn't last long when she noticed a note on King's pile of plushies not far from the couch. Eda sat up to get a better look at it, and when she read it, she felt a rush of shock followed by heavy pulses of fear.
Off to my
REAL castle!
Don't wait
Up!
- Your favorite
Demon Overlord
"Oh, no! Not again!" Eda yelled in a panicked state. "Why didn't they ask me beforehand? What if they run into that… thing?" Wasting no further time, Eda leapt up from the couch, but not before realizing she forgot to reattach her legs. By then, it was too late. She fell to the ground hard and winced in pain.
After recovering, Eda quickly got dressed and went into a shed outside the house before bursting out through its doors in a bathtub crudely repurposed into a motorboat. The bathtub sputtered and crashed into the ground as it struggled to take off. It wasn't the most comfortable way of flying, but it got the job done as she urgently rode it off the ledge and into the sky.
It had been a slow, agonizing few hours for Anne to just sit there on the staff while King continued to scout ahead. Her patience had really worn thin by now, and she was surprised she could even last this long. She got uncomfortable riding on the thin staff, and she couldn't use her phone since she had to focus on where she was flying and not risk losing it in the boiling sea. Before Anne suggested that they call it off, King's eyes widened as he pointed down toward a dark shape covered by fog. "There it is!" he announced.
Anne looked at where he was pointing as the fog parted to reveal an old, ruined castle, right smack there in the ocean. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again, not believing what she was seeing. Was she hallucinating? Was the boredom consuming her, playing tricks on her mind to keep her brain stimulated?
As it turned out, no. It was real, and as they dove toward it, they were buffeted by strong winds and consumed by clouds that seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Luckily, Anne managed to steer the staff and land gracefully at the last minute. As they got off the staff and began approaching the dense jungle surrounding the castle, Anne started to have doubts in her mind. "How come I've never heard of this place?" she asked out loud.
"It's only here when I come looking for it," King explained. "After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away. Like a wittle baby."
"But Eda never said anything about this," Anne protested, but she gasped as the fog cleared once again to reveal a tall, rundown tower.
"Ah, home, sweet home!" King said as they ventured into the jungle. The jungle surrounding the castle was dense and seemed like the perfect place for wildlife to inhabit, yet there were none. The only lifeforms they could see so far were mostly just insects. The fog covering the area made it kind of hard to see ahead, so if anything suddenly appeared, it would be hard to react on time.
As they got closer, Anne was deep in thought. Surely Eda wouldn't lie to me, right? She wondered to herself. He couldn't actually be the King of Demons… I thought it was just a lie Eda wanted me to take part in to keep King happy. Something's not adding up here…
"Okay, I get this whole dramatic reveal thing you wanted to do, but couldn't we've just flown right into it?" Anne asked.
"The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in. Plus, as you said, now I can dramatically do…" he began, before pulling away some foliage to reveal a huge entrance in the shape of a keyhole. "... this!"
The doubt in Anne's mind grew the closer she got to the castle. At first glance, it looked like some giant stone tower Eda could've made, but it looked too real. "Uh, wait, how are we gonna get in?" she said.
King climbed a pile of rocks lying nearby, spotting a gap between them. "I'll find you another way in," he assured her, before diving into the gap. "Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle!"
Anne had to cover her mouth to keep her from laughing. He was such a goober. While she was waiting for him to let her in, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. "... Huh?" she muttered, seeing some strange carvings on the wall and not knowing how to feel about them. The human couldn't read any of them or tell how old they were, but she realized that just from the looks of things, this tower was much older than eight years. And if King was the King of Demons, then where were his servants? His kingdom? Did he just find this place somehow and think it was his castle? Did Eda tell him another lie? She had to talk to the Owl Lady later about this.
Focusing her attention back on the symbol, Anne thought it was possibly graffiti at first, but her gut told her that it was important, so she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of it, just in case. Anne was so focused on staring at it that she flinched hard when the rocks came crashing down behind her. "King? You okay?"
"Yep!" the demon replied, peeking out from the large hole in the entrance now, an excited glint in his eyes. "Come on in!"
Anne climbed through the hole as quickly as possible, not trusting the rocks above her not to fall and crush her. With that out of the way, it was completely dark in the castle, forcing her to use her phone as a flashlight. The light revealed a large chamber with short figures made of stacked rocks, with crescent-shaped heads topping them, almost making it look like… an army?
"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, Anne," he teased.
"Ha! That's… a bit weird, but thanks?" Anne replied. "Hey, what are those… things on the floor?"
"I–... uh…" King blanked, scratching the back of his head. "Probably some offerings from my loyal subjects. It's been a long time."
That's right, he doesn't remember, she thought. He did mention he shrunk, and a spell messed with his memories. Was it a lie told by Eda or the truth?
They walked past the stone soldiers, careful not to tip any of them over. Anne followed King from behind, watching their surroundings, before noticing a shadow passing over her. She gasped, spinning around and getting on guard, instinctively placing a hand on her power glyph. "What—"
"Can't believe your eyes, huh?" King assumed smugly, taking her gasp as admiration. "My castle does have that effect."
"Uh, yeah, totally," Anne replied. "We're alone here, right?"
"Oh, definitely," he confidently stated. "I haven't seen anybody else here other than you and Eda."
The human wasn't too sure about it, still keeping her guard up as she pointed her flashlight in different directions, ready to fight anything that tried attacking them. However, what Anne's light passed over made her freeze. She went back to reveal much more detailed carvings than the ones at the entrance. What she saw turned her whole worldview upside down.
Anne saw… King? But he wasn't the tiny little guy she knew, but rather a giant, buff demon. She explored more of the carvings, seeing one of the King of Demons himself aiming a spear at a beast even bigger than him. This confirmed it. Her doubts were for nothing, as this confirmed the fact that he… was actually the King of Demons. And the fact that Eda was a double liar…
"Dude, this is insane!" Anne remarked, completely disregarding the red flags that still remained. "You're… wow… I mean, I'm sorry for doubting you, King, err, I mean your… majesty ," she remarked as she gave a bow.
"Your doubtful words are forgiven," King said, gently patting Anne on the shoulder, before feeling himself tear up. He felt nostalgic and sad that the days of ruling the Demon Realm were behind him, at least for now. He was determined to get that crown back. "Ah, my kingdom. I, uh…" King wiped a tear from his eye, trying not to show weakness. "... I got some bone dust in my eye."
"Dude, you've gotta tell me about some of those wild adventures you've been on," Anne said. "You were totally hardcore! Maybe if you get your crown back, you could send me back to my world."
"I'm sure I could arrange for that to happen," King replied, smiling with his eyes. "Perhaps I could even conquer your world and make it better and stronger than ever!"
Anne's smile faltered slightly. Sure, she was completely fine with him being the King of Demons, but not the King of Humans. Something like that would not bode well for humanity. "Uhhh… Yeaaah…"
She approached another set of carvings covered in dust. "Sheesh, you really need to get better servants," she joked, using her hand to wipe it off to get a better view, but something unexpected happened. As soon as Anne's hand made contact with the carvings, her eyes flashed blue as the ruins began to glow.
Anne stepped back, surprised, as glowing blue lines traveled across the floor. King watched too, amazed, as their gazes followed the lines, which went to the opposite side of the castle. Before either could say anything, the room shook, dust falling from the ceiling as a secret wall slid open to reveal another room.
Even King could not explain something like this, as he couldn't even remember this being a part of his castle. He'd have to figure it out later, as he followed a stunned Anne toward the opening. When they entered the secret room, some carvings had deteriorated over time, but Anne could still make out some of them.
"How… did I do that?" Anne asked herself, but had no answer. She pulled out her phone and looked around, taking pictures of the strange carvings. One of them, in particular, caught her eye. It was of a divine humanoid being with half their body covered in darkness wearing a cap and sprouting large wings. They were surrounded by various dark blue figures either praying or shaking their fists toward, all while gold shooting stars flew above. But the thing that really caught Anne's attention was that vibrant aura around the figure. It seemed powerful, and she strangely felt a sort of connection to this being. She didn't understand what it meant, but something about the divine figure, despite it being a carving, called out to her.
Why are these so detailed? she wondered to herself. It's more like actual art rather than just ancient carvings.
"I… I don't recognize any of these," King admitted, trying to process the new information. "Perhaps one of my loyal subjects was a prophet."
"A freakin' psychotic prophet," Anne corrected. "Or maybe this is something that's already happened before. Let's get out of here. This place kinda gives me the creeps."
"Agreed," King replied. As they left the secret chamber, the wall slid closed behind them. Anne looked around for any other details they missed until she noticed a large opening in the ceiling that was, of course, covered with more rocks.
"Hey, by the way, what's up there?" Anne asked curiously.
King looked up as well, just now noticing the opening. "I-I can't quite recall," he said. "I just remember a muffled roar, probably some minion praising my name."
"As much as I'd like to find out what's up there, I'd rather go back home than risk catching some kinda foreign disease from here," Anne suggested. "It's getting late, anyway. Eda might be worried."
"Already?" King whined. "But the tour was just getting started! I still have to show you my throne, which was made from the teeth of my enemies. Boy, was it awkward to sit in."
"I don't know," Anne began, but one look at his pleading puppy dog eyes made her immediately give in. "Alright, alright, fine. You're lucky you're so cute."
"Looks like this form does have some benefits after all," King replied smugly. "We'll save the throne for last. Let's go this way." He led her down a hallway filled with more stone figures, except they looked absolutely revolting and covered in some weird goop.
"Titan, it stinks in here," Anne groaned. "What are these things?"
"This is the horrifying monstrosity room," King explained. "Don't worry, they can't hurt you."
Anne looked at the strange figures before noticing one of them was gone. Before she could mention it, they both heard something hissing above them. Anne froze and slowly looked up, shining her flashlight on the source to reveal that… one of those flesh rock things was alive. It crawled along the ceiling and rotated its head to look at them.
"Oh, H to the L, NO!" Anne yelled, grabbing King and booking it for the exit. Before she could reach it, however, the monster leapt down from the ceiling in front of them, stopping them. It turned around and crawled on all fours toward them, ready to pounce. Its arm shifted into a pair of claws, going to swipe at her.
"Ew, ew, get that thing away from me!" Anne yelled, backing away from the attack. She picked King up and tossed him to the ground, a fair distance away. "Sorry, King, but I'm not gonna let this thing turn you into demon chops!"
She growled and stepped back, pulling out a glyph. "Alright, bozo, if you want a fight, you're gonna get it…" Anne tapped the glyph with her thumb, launching an ice pillar at the monster, which pierced it. The pillar kept expanding until it hit the wall, pinning the freak against it.
"Ha! How do you like that, ugly?" Anne taunted, but she spoke too soon as the freak's flesh morphed around the ice to free itself. Anne knew that seeing this thing as absolutely disgusting was the last thing she should worry about during a fight, but she couldn't help but feel her stomach churning.
"Guess this won't be as easy as I thought," she said, before pulling out her power glyph and activating it. Immediately, she felt a surge of power, like she could run a hundred miles without breaking a sweat. Anne dashed forward and threw a punch at the creature, making it flinch and stumble back several feet. She then went to drop kick it, but it got out of the way, resulting in her foot cracking the ground.
The monster hissed and morphed its left arm into an axe, swinging it toward her neck. Anne pulled out her tennis racket to block it, grunting at the creature's surprising strength. "Wow, they really make these things sturdy," she muttered, hoping the tennis racket wasn't going to break.
She did her best to fend off the creature, trying everything she knew to overpower it. But no matter how much she damaged it, it always regenerated and got back up. Anne knew at this point that it was a losing battle. Her stamina was wearing thin, yet the creature remained just as strong.
She dodged another swipe from the creature. She dismantled some small stone figures with her hands and threw the rocks with ease at high speeds, knocking the creature back.
"Hey! Don't damage my property!" King complained.
"Kinda busy fighting for our lives!" Anne growled, panting. The creature scurried around, trying to find an opening, but she wasn't letting it. She faced it, glaring at it as the two paced back and forth. "King, I'm gonna need you to run," she decided, ready to make a sacrifice. "Get to safety!"
Before King could protest, however, the entire room became illuminated in a blinding light as a huge blast of magic slammed into the creature, sending it flying across the room and slamming into the wall, some of its limbs falling off.
Anne, shocked, turned to see none other than the Owl Lady herself, who was radiating powerful magic. "Kiddo, go," Eda commanded. "This is now my battle."
"Eda?!" Anne said, and her eyes widened. "But how–"
"Later!" Eda cut her off. "Go!"
Knowing Eda could handle herself, Anne decided to comply by tossing Eda her staff and running toward the exit, picking up King on the way. With the two kids out of the way, the Owl Lady could now let loose without any worry.
"It's been a while," Eda said to the creature, spinning her staff as a golden light surrounded her. "Miss me?"
The creature hissed, leaping at her. Eda smirked and drew a spell circle, creating a solid barrier that stopped the creature in its pursuit. She then swung her arm, letting the barrier explode as it sent the freak flying back once again. "You might've caught me off guard last time, but you took it a step too far this time," she said, her eyes glowing a bit. "You can hurt me, but you cannot hurt my kids. I guess it's time to teach you not to mess… with The Owl Lady!"
The creature morphed its limbs into a bow and arrow, aiming toward Eda. It launched a stone arrow toward her, but she formed a circular portal that it went through. It came out of another portal behind the freak, causing its arrow to strike itself in the head. Before it could recover, however, another blast of magic hit it head-on, causing it to splatter into many pieces, instantly ending the battle.
"That's payback for King!" Eda shouted, taking a deep breath as her magic subsided. "Guess that takes care of that. Better go check on the kids."
As she left through the entrance, ready to take Anne and King home, the creature began reassembling itself, despite the heavy damage it had sustained.
After the sounds of the quick battle had come to an abrupt end, Anne couldn't help but worry. Was Eda going to be okay fighting that thing alone? Did the creature win?
Luckily, that wasn't the case, as Eda casually walked out through the opening in the large keyhole. "Is everybody okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm good," Anne replied, her lungs still burning from exhaustion. "That thing nearly got me. Thanks for coming in clutch, Eda."
"Good." Eda's smile vanished as she narrowed her eyes at the human. "Now would you kindly explain what, in Titan's name, you were thinking, coming here? I know you're a troublemaker like me, but even I wouldn't do something that crazy. You almost got yourself killed!"
"I thought this was King's castle," Anne said, finally having regained her composure. "Why didn't you tell me about this place? You told me to play along with—" She paused, glancing at the confused little demon, before correcting herself. "You never told me he had a freakin' kingdom!"
Eda's expression tensed, trying not to wince. "Well, you see—"
Before she could continue, however, they heard a hiss from the entrance. Eda spun around, aiming her staff, while Anne was ready to fight again, despite her low stamina. The freak, now completely regenerated without a scratch, lunged forward and swung its axe, but something unexpected happened. A previously invisible blue force field blocked it from going any further, stopping its attack before it could even get close to Eda.
"It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now," the Owl Lady assured the other two, lowering her guard a bit.
"Okay, so… Why would that thing attack King if it's his castle?" Anne wondered out loud.
"That's what I was thinking!" King chimed in, scowling. "How could we be intruders?"
Anne didn't know what to think, either. On one hand, the carvings looked so real. They had to be about King, right? But King's stories and accounts were all so inconsistent that it was difficult to stay on one side, but that wasn't his fault. His memory seemed pretty messed up by whatever spell was used on him.
Expecting answers, they both looked at Eda, who had sweat building up on her face. Normally, she'd be able to come up with a lie to cover things up quickly, but she couldn't. Even if she wanted to, the story she had told King this whole time wouldn't work anymore. It'd just make her look even worse if she continued to lie. Having no other option, the Owl Lady sighed. "You… just don't know the truth," she admitted, closing her eyes. "It's time for me to tell you how we really met."
And so, Eda began telling the two about how, eight years ago, she accidentally stumbled upon the island, met King as a baby, and how the creature they had previously fought had attacked them. Eda had taken him and escaped, but the monster fired an arrow that chipped off his horn. When she brought baby King home, she made him think he was actually a despotic overlord, only because it had finally made him happy.
Back in the present, King had a horrified expression on his face, while Anne was just stunned. "Oh, but you were finally happy. So I kept playing along with it," Eda concluded, feeling a heavy weight on her heart when she heard what he said next.
"You're lying!" King yelled in denial, not believing it one bit. He was the King of Demons, not some useless little furball! But Eda's expression remained unchanged.
"I'm not," she stated, reaching into her hair and pulling out… King's broken horn. Eda had kept it this whole time, dreading the day she would have to eventually spill the beans to the little demon. King flinched when he saw this, but reluctantly reached forward and picked it up with his hands. At first, he felt nothing, but then… memories flooded back to him, and he gasped.
"My army…?" he whimpered, one memory revealing that his 'army' were those stone soldiers in the main chamber.
"My feasts…" Those so-called 'feasts' only just turned out to be King eating flies and other bugs he had managed to find in the ruins.
"My life…" King finished, trying to deny it in desperation, but deep down, he knew it was true. He threw the broken horn in front of him, feeling absolutely devastated. "No! Keep that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!" he yelled, wishing it weren't true and that it was just a prank Eda had pulled on him. Yes, that's right, he was still the King of Demons. Eda was trying to get a rise out of him… right?
King looked to Anne for comfort, but her sad expression said it all. Just when Anne had finally started to believe he was actually a king, it all came crashing down. Who could he trust anymore? Who was he?! Had he been living a life full of lies?!
"Y-You're all just making fun of me, like usual, right?" King asked desperately with his voice shaking, only to be met with silence. "Anne, tell me it's not true! Are you trying to get back at me for stealing your song?!" He began hyperventilating, clutching his head. "No! No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he stumbled back before finally breaking down and running off through the jungle, sobbing.
Anne watched, unable to form words, as the little demon ran off. She felt nothing but guilt, even more so than when she called King a fake. This is my fault, she thought to herself, starting to get worked up, before she stopped. No… It's not my fault… It's her's!
She spun around, glaring at Eda with such venom that even the Owl Lady was surprised. "Why? Why couldn't you just have TOLD him the truth from the start?!" Anne yelled out of blind anger. "I knew this would happen, and I warned you, but nooo , you just had to keep it going! It's your fault all of this happened in the first place!"
Eda stared at her, shocked and heartbroken. "I… just wanted him to be happy," she weakly protested, but she knew it was her fault. She let him down by continuing to feed into the story for eight entire years. Still, she meant what she said, as she only wanted him to be happy, even if she messed up.
Anne growled in frustration and ran in the same direction as King. She searched for a bit, scared she wasn't going to be able to find him. He could've been anywhere on this island, and if he wanted to, he'd be nigh impossible to find. However, when she exited the jungle and ended back up on the beach, her heart skipped a beat as she saw King sitting alone on a log, staring out at the vast ocean only illuminated by the moonlight. She watched him for a moment before deciding to approach him slowly.
Anne sat down next to him, taking a deep breath to calm her anger a bit. Silence followed between the two before King finally spoke up. "Eda was right, wasn't she? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody…"
"No, don't say that," Anne said in a gentle tone. "Eda's the one in the wrong. She lied to you for so many years. She hid secrets from both of us, and she's… I can't trust her. She's a liar, through and through."
"But you lied too!" King snapped, making Anne stiffen. "You took part in it, and I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it!" He trembled, sobbing. "I... I don't know what to do, Anne! I can't tell what's real and what's fake!"
Anne paused, feeling her shoulders sag. She was at fault, too, for this. While Eda might've started the whole lie, Anne took part in it and allowed it to continue. Recently, she even started to believe the lie too, until Eda revealed the truth.
King buried his face in his paws, silently crying. Anne got up, kneeled in front of him, and gently pulled his paws back so he could look her in the eye. She felt herself tear up when she saw his broken expression.
"I'm so sorry," she said, holding his hands with hers. "You're right; I shouldn't have lied to you, too. You didn't deserve to go through any of this."
"You already let the truth slip," he said, almost in a whisper. "I am a fake, and I was too stubborn to realize it."
Anne pulled him into a hug, rubbing circles on his back as he trembled. "No, you're not. In the months we've known each other, I've started to care for you so much, just like a little brother."
King's eyes opened when he heard that, sniffling. "A… little brother?"
Anne's lips curled upward a bit as his trembling lessened. "That's right. At first, I treated you like a pet, which was kind of a jerk move by me, but after dealing with Eda's curse for the first time, I've started to see you as so much more."
King listened, wiping away his tears as she continued. "You're not the King of Demons, but you don't need to be. You are so talented, King. You're only eight, and you're really talented. I mean, for crying out loud, you could make those detailed journals on different demons and learn to play the guitar so quickly!" she half-joked.
King weakly chuckled, starting to feel better. "I-I did play the guitar like a king, didn't I?" he countered.
"Oh, you definitely did," Anne confirmed, petting his head. "Heck, with some practice, you could even be better than me."
A comfortable silence followed between them as King occasionally sniffled, but no more tears escaped. "Hey, Anne?"
"Yeah?"
"Can… I call you my sister?"
Anne was silent for a moment before she burst out into tears, sobbing loudly, which caught King off guard. He took her, nearly crushing him in a hug as confirmation, and despite the trauma he had just gone through, he never felt happier.
After Anne finally regained her composure, she thought of something she still wanted to address. "Wait… But those carvings were real, weren't they? I don't think Eda would put so much effort into making a convincing ancient castle. I would know, 'cause she made up a quest for a Burger Queen crown."
King sighed, feeling doubtful. "I don't know… Why else would they be there?"
Anne gasped, imagining a light bulb above her head. "You may not be the King of Demons, but maybe you're a descendant of one!" she pointed out, making King's eyes widen.
"A… descendant? As in family?" he wondered, feeling his hope returning. "Ooh, ooh! What if I'm a prince?"
"Dude, that could totally be it!" the human replied. "What if you grow up to be huge like that demon in the carvings? You could seriously be a king in the future!"
King contemplated her theory. If that was true, he wondered what he was. Were there other demons like him? Maybe they lived far away from the Boiling Isles?
He decided to put that question in the back of his head for the time being as Anne decided to change the topic. "Wait, I just remembered something you said… Didn't you mention falling and hearing someone roar like… RAAAAGH ?!" she greatly exaggerated that last part to get him to laugh, which succeeded.
After laughing, King thought about it and paused. "That's just probably something I made up. Y'know, like the rest."
"That doesn't sound like something you'd make up," the human pointed out. "What if it's real? Maybe it's part of your actual past."
King felt reluctant, kind of wanting to just go home at this point. "I don't know, Anne. What if the story gets worse?"
"We'll be by your side," Anne assured him, reaching out her hand. "I think it'd be nice for you to get some closure on your past, y'know? We might as well while we're here. Well, if you're okay with it, that is."
King hesitated before making up his mind and taking her hand. "Okay."
With that, the two headed back into the jungle to meet up with Eda. It didn't take them very long to reach Eda, who was sitting against the castle wall, looking absolutely devastated. That was, until she saw them, and her expression completely lit up.
"King! You're alright!" she called out, leaping up and running toward him, but she stopped when she saw him looking at her with a stern expression. King wasn't just going to up and forget about everything Eda lied to him about.
She stopped, and the guilt returned to her. Sighing, Eda knelt in front of him. "You're mad at me, too. I get it. I would be, too. I'm so sorry, King."
Seeing the genuine remorse in his guardian's face, King decided to forgive her, poking her in the cheek. "Boop. No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me."
"Only truths. I promise," Eda nodded. She turned toward Anne, her expression falling again. "And Anne, I'm so sorr–"
Before she could finish that last word, Anne walked forward and pressed her index finger up to the Owl Lady's lips to silence her. "No, Eda. I'm the one who should be sorry. I went way too far by yelling at you. I was the one to blame, too, and I shouldn't have reacted like that."
Eda smiled, ruffling her bushy hair. "Thanks, kiddo. I'm glad you both are okay. Wanna go home? I could get us some takeout for dinner."
"Maybe in a bit," Anne replied, turning to King. "But first, I think we should give him some closure." She pointed up to the top of the tower, and Eda immediately understood. Despite how dangerous it was to confront that creature again, she knew they would be fine if they stuck together.
Back in the ruined castle, the creature had given up its pursuit and instead worked on repairing the damage its foes had caused. It was reassembling the small stone figures Baby King had created years ago, making sure to put them the exact way they were always meant to be.
Suddenly, it sensed something and turned around, looking toward the entrance. At first, nothing happened, but then it heard a minor explosion coming from the hallway filled with its dead brethren. Immediately, it shot forward, going to investigate the noise, while Anne, Eda, and King suddenly manifested on the floor under the opening in the ceiling. Eda had cast an invisibility spell long enough for them to make it inside without being noticed, creating a distraction, just in case.
"Ready?" Eda asked, drawing a large spell circle with her index finger. The other two nodded, so she launched a powerful blast of magic that shot up and completely obliterated the rocks covering the opening. Without another word, the three leaped onto Eda's staff, flying up through the opening and to the top before the monster could find the source of the new noise.
They reached the top of the opening, revealing another small chamber that was… empty and filled with cobwebs.
"There's nothing here!" Eda complained, and Anne and King felt disappointed until they saw a locked door leading to another part of the castle.
As Anne and Eda approached the door, King heard hissing, jumping in fright as he looked down the opening, seeing the monster quickly climbing up toward them. "It's coming!" he screeched, running to take cover behind the other two as it made its way to the top, ready to strike. They were cornered.
While Anne and Eda were ready to fight and put this thing in its place once again, King backed up, not wanting to get in the way, but he made contact with the locked door and noticed something odd happening. A glowing light consumed the door and caused it to open, giving them a chance to flee, and flee, they did.
Anne applied the power glyph to herself and quickly closed the doors in the creature's face, cutting its entire arm off. Everybody panted, feeling relieved that they had narrowly avoided death once again.
"Huh, I think we're safe... for now. But how did we get the door open?" Eda pointed out.
King looked at his paws, confused. Had… he done that? Was it just a lucky coincidence? Then again, this could line up with Anne's theory about him being a prince.
After everybody had recovered, Anne laughed and cheered. "How do you like that, you disgusting, weird… thing?"
She trailed off as she saw what was in front of them. It was a room that looked even more worn down than the rest of the castle. The room had old, dead plants everywhere, especially along the walls. However, that wasn't the part that caught their eyes. What did catch their attention was the golden pedestal sitting in the middle of the room, only illuminated by a skylight coming from the ceiling.
King approached the pedestal, speechless. Was… this it? Were those broken eggshells what he thought they were?
"Is that…" Anne noticed the eggshells, immediately having suspicions.
"That creature might be guarding this place," Eda said.
"What do you think, King?" the human questioned the little demon.
"I'm not sure, but I think I know how to jog my memory," King said, walking up onto the pedestal. He knew he had to learn more about who and what he was. "Eda, I'm ready." He extended his paw, expecting her to give him something.
A concerned expression flashed across the witch's face. She didn't know if now was the best time for him to do that , given how much he had gone through today already. "Are you sure?" she asked wearily.
"I am," King replied confidently, knowing there was no turning back now. Without another word, Eda pulled the broken horn out of her hair and handed it to him, stepping back to let him do his thing.
After taking it, King closed his eyes and placed it back on the stump, which was the other half of his broken horn. Immediately, he felt all his memories returning at once, letting out a gasp as he could remember… everything.
He could recall himself in his infancy, as far back as when he was still developing in the egg. "I remember a demonic roar," he began, focusing on the lost memories as he also remembered hearing a muffled explosion. "And then something happened, but I was too small to do anything. So, I went back to sleep."
King played the memories in his head like a slideshow. "And the next time I woke up…" He remembered himself emerging from the egg after Titan knew how long, clumsily falling from the pedestal. Luckily, he hadn't hurt himself. An infant King looked up at the skylight in the ceiling, barely able to crack his eyes open. He crawled across the floor, approaching the same locked door he had opened in the present.
The baby bumped against the door and pressed his hand against it, causing it to open. The first thing he saw was the monster itself. Rather than causing him harm, the creature leaned down and gently picked King up, who reached out for it, wanting affection. The creature headed toward the opening and dove into the hole, holding King protectively. The last thing King saw was the light from the top fading as they plunged down the dark shaft. He reached out for the light, but he headed into the darkness.
Back in the present, after recalling his earliest memories, King took the horn off its stump, processing everything he had remembered. That creature… Was it… protecting him?
Anne walked over and leaned down in front of him, concerned. "Are you okay, King?"
"Yeah…" he replied. "That roar. It meant 'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son. Anne, I think it was my dad!"
"Your dad must've been the real King of Demons!" Anne replied excitedly. "That had to have been him on those carvings!"
"Wait, what now?" Eda asked, utterly confused. She thought they had moved past the whole King of Demons lie now.
"I'll tell you later," Anne replied. Suddenly, the locked door behind her completely broke apart, revealing the creature, which was out for blood. It moved forward and prepared to strike them with its axe hand, but King did something unexpected.
He ran forward in front of the others, raising his hand toward the creature. "Stop!" he commanded, hoping that, based on his memory, this would work. Shockingly, it did, as the monster bowed to King with respect, now completely under his control.
"That thing was defending King from us this whole time?" Eda said, surprised. "Huh. Alright."
"Whoa…" Anne muttered. "You got your first actual servant, little dude! Nobody's gonna want to mess with this guy."
King wasn't paying attention to what she said, as he realized something. "I was important to someone," he said, tearing up. Right now, he couldn't care less about the whole King of Demons shtick, but he had a new goal in mind. "If... If he's out there, I want to find him. I'm not that old! It could be possible!" he insisted, sniffling as he turned toward his sister. "Would you help me?"
"Of course, little bro," Anne replied, patting the top of his head. "Anything for you."
"Then... can we keep him?" King asked hopefully, pointing toward the still-bowing monster.
"No," Eda simply replied.
As much as Anne didn't want this thing in their home, maybe they could clean it up or something. It would make a pretty cool soldier. "I'm sure… we can work something out," she said through gritted teeth. Eda rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Aw, come on, Eda," Anne protested. "It could protect us. Plus, as you once said to me…" She picked King up by the head, who was giving the Owl Lady puppy dog eyes. "Who could say no to this cute face?"
Eda stared at them blankly before her expression softened. "Touche."
After finally making it back to the Owl House, King sat in his bed, carving the same symbol he saw in the castle into his medallion with a fork. Behind him was the monster from the castle, sitting in the corner of the room, lifeless.
Anne, holding a bottle of glue, noticed this. "Whatcha got there?" she asked him.
"That symbol was all over that tower," King said. "What if it's my name?"
"How the heck would anybody even read that?" Anne replied, gluing the missing horn back onto its stump, wiping the excess glue away.
"Eeh, gooey," King muttered, trying not to wince as he felt the glue against his bone. He put his collar back on after he finished carving. "It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins," he said, finally giving the creature a name. "I liked having a big, scary minion."
Anne looked toward the fleshy corpse, shuddering a bit. "Yeah… Hey, maybe one day we could revive it. I mean, your dad probably created the thing, so who's to say you can't?"
"Maybe…" King muttered, frowning. "Anne, is it okay to still call me 'King'? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything."
"Well, what do you suggest?" Anne teased him, booping his nose. "I could call you Baby Precious, maybe… Domino 2? Ooh, ooh! How about I bring back the name, Mr. Wiggles?"
His shoulders sagged. "I thought Eda promised not to tell you about that… Just call me King, please."
She chuckled, hugging him. "I'm kidding. I'll always call you King because you're the king of my heart."
King was satisfied with that answer, leaning into her hug.
"How about tomorrow morning, I make you some smooburry pancakes?" Anne suggested.
"Ooh, my favorite!" King replied excitedly before letting out a yawn and lying down. "Good night, Anne."
"Night, buddy," Anne replied with a smile, tucking him in. After leaving the room, she headed downstairs to show Eda the pictures she had taken from the ruins, since she had been curious about them for a while.
"I've never seen markings like this," the Owl Lady muttered, swiping through Anne's pictures on her phone. "Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language? And wait, why does that look kind of like King?"
"It's kind of a long story," Anne replied, sitting next to her on the couch. "I think that guy might be King's dad."
Eda, who had been focused on the pictures, flinched when the human said that. "You're tellin' me that's King's dad?" She snorted with laughter. "How is that little guy gonna become like that?"
"Eh, maybe some kinda growth spurt in the future," Anne suggested. "I'm gonna guess you weren't the one who made those carvings in the photos."
"Yeah, uh, no," Eda confirmed. "I thought King was a stray demon dog who happened to be in some random castle. Surprised Belos and his band of idiots haven't found it yet."
"Speaking of Belos, who was the ruler before him?" Anne asked. She wasn't normally into historic stuff like this, but to be fair, she had little interest in human history. This, on the other hand, was a lot more interesting.
"Sorry, but I can't help you there," the Owl Lady replied. "Belos has been around for as long as I can remember, and probably even longer than that. Why?"
"Because I was wondering… What if King's dad ruled the Isles before him?" Anne theorized.
"Who knows?" Eda said, smirking. "Maybe that bonehead overthrew King's dad as ruler, and that's how we got to today. Belos has been ruler for so long, people have probably forgotten what it was like before him. But I know. The age before Belos was known as the 'Savage Ages.'"
"Savage Ages?" Anne questioned.
"According to Belos, before he became emperor, witches were using magic wrong," Eda began. "That age was called the Savage Ages, because witches used whatever magic they wanted and that was the wrong way to do magic, at least according to the Titan. Belos claims that only he and his coven are allowed to mix magic, while all other witches have to be restricted to one type of magic."
"Something's not right," Anne said. "What do you mean, according to the Titan?"
"Well, one of the big reasons Belos is emperor is because he claims he can talk to the titan," Eda elaborated.
"I mean the titan is dead, isn't it?" the human asked.
"Yeah, trust me, I think it sounds fishy," Eda replied, "but a lot of other witches believe him."
"Well, I'm gonna head off to bed," Anne stated, yawning. "Had enough trauma for one day. See you later!"
As she left, Eda realized the human had forgotten her phone. Before she could call out to Anne, however, the witch stumbled upon the last photo taken from the ruins. She paused and studied it closer, looking at the carving of the divine figure surrounded by several other humanoid beings. "The heck…?"
To Be Continued in Chapter Twenty-Five
What a chapter! Echoes of the Past happened early, as a consequence of Anne's words in Sense and Insensitivity.
You may be wondering why it has been so long since the last chapter, and the reason is Rob and I took some weeks off as a hiatus because of burnout, which we announced on the Discord server. But we returned with a big chapter, and we wanted to make sure this one was great. Special thanks to ChampionElCid for helping us with revising this chapter!
We were also thinking about starting a QnA either soon or after Season 1 ends. Please let us know what you think about the idea!
~ Scruffy