Greetings everyone! My name is Elthreee and this is my crack at writing a fanfic for the first time in years. I've never posted my story/crossover here on this site but that's beside the point. I hope you enjoy the story and feel free to leave feedback at your discretion.
And I guess I should say I don't own any of these characters. All copyrights go to Bungie and Disney.
This story takes place a little bit after the episode "Echoes of the Past". If there are any slight alterations made to the lore or timeline of TOH, they are purely for storytelling purposes.
"I found myself on the vast and empty expanse of the darkest reaches of the vacuum. The deepest gaze was expended upon the nihility of the void. I did not know that what I wanted to see could not be seen, but I had to be told. I sought to reach out to the voice in the Darkness to pose the question of rebirth beyond my splendor. Yet the voice I wanted to hear did not speak to me. It was different from the one I've heard before. This new voice beckoned me to continue my journey further, I questioned, and got no answer from it. Inquisitive, I obliged to its commands." - Calus
Chapter 1: A Sublime Finding
Before Luz found King on the beach of his home island, she took a quick glance at a glistening object. She didn't think much of it as the only thing she had on her mind was finding King and making sure he was safe, though that didn't stop her from going back and examining it. Once King was found and was confirmed to be alive, safe and comforted, Luz set out to find the object again. She trekked through the forest to find what she thought might've been some valuable treasure she could take back to Bonesborough and sell off for a large amount of Snails.
The girl walked and stumbled around the forest trying to find it, "Man, I don't remember this thing being this far away from the beach," she thought to herself.
After what felt like hours searching for this thing that caught her attention, she finally came upon it. A large golden statue that quite wasn't unlike anything she'd seen before, but the thing or person that it seemed to be made after was wildly unbeknownst to her. That wasn't the weirdest thing about it though, it appeared to be covered in a fungus-like life form with lots of tentacles and spores sprouting from it that was drastically different from all the other fauna around the statue. Unfortunately, Luz didn't have enough time to fully examine the statue so she took a series of pictures of the mysterious statue.
"I better show these to everyone back at the house when we get back," the girl said out loud to herself.
As Luz started to walk off back to the beach, she heard a strange laugh behind her. The voice that let out the laughter was a deep and almost beguiling voice, she turned around to see where the laughter was coming from and could only see the statue, she almost turned around to go investigate it some more but she could hear Eda and Lilith calling her name. Freaked out by the creepy laugh, she ran off as fast as she could in the direction of their voices and returned to them.
Luz ran out of the treeline panting and gasping for air. She put her back to a nearby tree and slid down it slowly trying to catch her breath. Everyone around looked at her, worried for her. "What's wrong kid?" Eda asked the visibly troubled girl.
Lilith knelt down to Luz's level and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Is everything okay with you Luz? What happened when you ventured back into the forest?" Lilith inquired of Luz with a worried look on her face. The girl looked up at the older witch with a disturbed face.
When Luz looked up she finally snapped out of her uneasy trance, "Okay so there was this giant golden statue, and weird looking fauna then the statue fricking laughed at me and then I ran back here and now I'm all tired and terrified!" Everyone looked at Luz like she was a crazy Conformatorium patient spouting random nonsense.
Eda and Lilith looked at each other, "Maybe we should just all go home and we can figure all of this out over some nice cold apple blood, eh?" Asked Eda with a smile on her face. "C'mon kid, let's get you up and get you some sleep," Eda said as she helped Luz up off the ground.
Luz dusted herself off and looked at Eda, "Yeah, yeah alright. But when we get home I have to show to you what I found back there, Eda."
Eda nodded at Luz and gestured to her to get on her staff so they could return home. "Alright kid now let's get back home so I can get some beauty sleep!" Said the wild witch as they flew away from the island.
While they were flying over the Boiling Sea, Luz was busy studying and examining the mysterious statue she found back on the island. Her eyes were glued to the photos she took of it, trying to figure out what it was, what the fungus around it was and why it laughed at her. She had so many questions but figured she'd wait until she got back home.
Once back at the Owl House and everyone was all settled down after the encounter with King's past and the statue, Luz sat down with Eda and Lilith in hopes that they could make out anything from her photos.
"So, can any of you guys tell me what this stuff could be? Most importantly the statue?" She asked with a determined look on her face while placing her index finger on her lips.
"Well I can't really tell ya what any of that is kid. I've never seen anything like it a day in my life. And I've been just about everywhere in the Demon Realm! But I'm almost certain Lily over here can tell us what it is! Isn't that right? " Eda exclaimed. Her and Luz then looked towards Lilith hoping that she'd have an answer for them.
Lilith looked down almost as if she felt shameful for what she was about to say, she let out a sigh before she started explaining, "Alright. If you two must really know about all this then, I shall tell you. Long ago, during my time within the Emperor's Coven, I read about a once powerful emperor who came to the Demon Realm searching for a new species to recruit to his new empire. What most people don't know is that the species he was looking to recruit were Titans. He showered them with gifts, praise and affection. But this emperor had ulterior motives, he wanted to use the Titans to enslave them, to trap them within his powerful ship that once hung over the Boiling Isles. The reason for this is unknown, but I speculate that he wanted to somehow harness their power for himself." Eda and Luz looked at each other in surprise.
"So you mean to tell me that there was another big bad emperor here before Belos? How come so many people don't know about this?" Luz asked with a skeptical face.
"Yeah, and how come I never knew about it either? Huh, sis?" Asked Eda.
"Well it's something that the Emperor's Coven has been trying to keep secret from everyone since they discovered it. Anyways, I haven't finished the story. As I was saying, this emperor did not have any good intentions with the Titans. Luckily, the Titans were smart enough to figure out the emperor was untrustworthy and confronted him about it. He claimed that he only wished to test their strength and loyalty, yet the Titans saw through his lies and through their magic they supposedly trapped the emperor within one of their gifts from him to them. And it seems that you, Luz, has found what he was trapped within. And as for the fauna that surrounds the statue, I am not too sure. Nothing about it was ever mentioned in my studies." Lilith wiped her eyes from exhaustion and stretched, while Luz looked on with a surprised face.
"Wow. Mind. Blown." Luz said with her jaw dropped. Eda had fallen asleep from boredom.
"Well I think Eda has the right idea, I think we should head to sleep for the night, Luz."
"But wait, Lilith. We have to go back to that island and find out more about that evil emperor guy. Maybe he's changed his ways and he'll help us stop Belos!" Luz said with determination written on her face.
"I'm sorry Luz but I'm really tired right now. Besides, what makes you think he's changed his ways anyway? For all we know the guy could be more evil than Belos himself and just waiting for an opportunity to escape his prison. It's way too risky. And I wouldn't want to deal with somebody who was almost successful with tricking Titans into joining his freakshow so he could take their power. Not to mention he also probably has a large ship with a huge army on it lurking around the Demon Realm just waiting for his return. We just shouldn't take this risk Luz."
"Well it's a risk I'm willing to take if it means stopping Belos." Luz said while crossing her arms.
Lilith looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes, "Fine, Luz. I'll go with you. But just for the sole reason of further studying the statue and the fauna, not interacting with it in any way whatsoever. And we're not going tonight, we'll go first thing in the morning. You got it?" Lilith asked with a strict tone.
"Yeah, yeah right. No touching the statue or the weird mutant fungus stuff. Got it, Lily."
"Good. Now let's get to sleep."
Both the girls went their separate ways as they headed to their rooms to go to sleep.
"When I ventured further into the abyss I came across one of the most majestic sights I had ever beheld. Almost as beautiful as my daughter, Caiatl. A mesmerizing vortex unlike any other I've ever seen. For a brief moment I objected to betaking myself any farther. But I concluded that perchance, this is where the Voice had led me. There I stood, taking in the divinity of the swirling beauty. I wished to set forth to see what lay beyond the gyre. Though I wished to not cross through in fear for my life. I called upon my faithful and most trusted Loyalists to serve their emperor's needs. "Loyalists! You would walk across realms for your one true emperor! Serve me and explicate the contents of this anomaly, would you?" I said to my subjects with a boisterous tone. They rightfully obliged. And what I saw that ensued next was most astonishing to me." - Calus
Early in the morning, Luz had woken up stretching her arms, rubbing her eyes and smacking her lips. She suddenly remembered about her encounter yesterday and shot out of her bed. She went right for her closet and put on her day clothes to get ready for her adventure back to the island. Lilith was already ready to go back and was waiting for Luz in the living room.
"Lilith! Lily! Where are you? Li- Oh, there you are. Are ya ready for our awesome study adventure?" Luz asked.
"Oh as ready as I'll ever be. But Luz, don't you think we should tell Eda or King about where we're going? I think it'd be beneficial to us if we had a little bit of help with this," said Lilith with a hint of concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Just in case we get trapped in the emperor's mind too," Luz said followed by a slight nervous chuckle. "King! Eda!" Luz yelled out, but the only one who responded to her was King.
King came into the living room stretching and scratching his back, "What's the big deal Luz?" The little demon asked.
Luz knelt down to King and put her hand on his tiny shoulder, "King, I found something on that island yesterday and me and Lilith were going back to investigate it. We decided we should tell you and Eda because we figured we'd need some help. And don't worry I'll understand if you don't want to go back there," She said with a little smile on her face.
King looked down at his feet and considered the proposition for a moment. Suddenly he shot both his arms up, "Of course I wanna go Luz! I mean, who knows? Maybe I'll find something else related to my past there," He said with a hopeful tone.
Luz looked at him with a surprised face but was ready to leave nonetheless. Her face suddenly changed when she realized Eda still hadn't shown herself. "King? Have you seen Eda anywhere?"
"No, I haven't seen her this morning. Come to think of it, I didn't hear her do her really loud old lady stretching and yawning noises this morning either," King remarked.
"Oh, that sucks. We could have used some more help with this but I guess us three can go without her. I just hope wherever she is she's okay," Luz said as she walked to open the door. "Is everyone ready for our adventure?" She asked.
Suddenly everyone heard knocking at the door. Luz opened it to see who it was and saw three familiar faces. It was her friends, Willow, Gus and Amity.
"Luz! How have ya been!?" Gus asked. He went to give a hug to Luz.
Luz put her arms around Gus to hug him, "Oh you know. Going on totally awesome adventures as usual. Although this one might be a little slower than usual. Would you guys like to come with us?"
"Would we ever!? We'd love to come with you guys! Isn't that right?" Said Willow, who nudged Amity with her elbow as she wasn't paying much attention to the conversation with her arms crossed.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I guess I'll come along too. But that doesn't mean I'll do too much though," Amity said with a bitter tone. She suddenly looked at Luz and blushed a little, she then put her head down in embarrassment.
"Oh hey Amity! It's nice to see you again!" Luz exclaimed in happiness.
"Yeah, nice to see you too, Luz," Amity responded.
Lilith looked at all the kids at the door, then to Luz. "Well, I guess we have more than enough help for this now then, Luz."
"So where are you guys going anyway?" Gus asked with a smile on his face.
"Well, to put it shortly, we're going to an uncharted island to investigate a statue that Luz found, including some type of strange fauna around it. And according to her, it laughed at her which I think is complete nonsense. Statues or plants don't laugh at you," Lilith told the other kids.
"But it did laugh at me Lily! Let's just go so I can prove it to you," Luz said with a determined face while clenching her fist in the air.
"Alright! Creepy statue adventure is a go!" Willow yelled out while pumping both her fists in the air. King climbed into Luz's backpack as everyone got on their staff and took off towards the island, following Lilith.
Meanwhile, Eda took a visit to Mr. Elixir's shop hoping to buy some of her elixir to suppress her curse for the while. She banged on the "Hey Morton, open up in there! I need some of your finest elixir!" Eda said as she knocked on the door of his shop. She then saw some feathers pop up on her arm, which she immediately covered with her other hand. "Come on! I'm getting fuzzy and stuff out here! I don't think I have much longer until I'm a complete furball!" Suddenly the sliding door opened up on the shop and a young man appeared on the other side.
"Oh hey, Eda. I see you're here to buy some elixir. Do you have the Snails?" Morton the shopkeeper asked.
"Of course I do, Mort. They're just not on me right now. Can you put this on my tab until I can pay you back later?" Eda inclined with a nervous smile on her face.
Morton looked at Eda with a disappointed face and was about to shut the door on her until she stopped him.
"C'mon Morton, at least give me a bottle and a half. I'm good for it! I promise!"
"Eda, listen. You're our best customer but the last time you said you were "good for it" you didn't pay me back for a whole year." Morton responded.
"Actually it was almost a whole year. So I think I'm trustworthy enough to pay ya back within almost a whole year." Eda retorted.
Morton gave Eda three whole bottles full of elixir.
"You're just giving these to me? Free of charge?" Eda asked in confusion.
"Well I felt bad for you after Emperor Belos tried to petrify you. This still doesn't mean you don't have to pay me back though, Eda."
Eda saluted Morton with a determined face and walked off back to the Owl House.
Luz and her friends had finally reached the island and landed on the beach where they last left it, hoping they'd be able to find the statue easier. Once they landed, they all followed Luz in the direction of the statue.
"Okay guys, it should be somewhere this way," Luz said as they all walked through the forest.
Luz then pulled some shrubbery out of the way and everyone caught sight of a very large golden statue. The statue was very golden, and it looked like it depicted a very large figure that looked to be wearing some type of royal attire. At the center of their clothing was some type of symbol that none of them have ever seen. On their back was a large, bodacious collar. One of the arms was held up, holding a chalice of sorts, while the other was held near the hip. The face of the statue looked like an unknown species never seen before.
"Wow. That's - one huge statue." Gus said in amazement.
Though the extraterrestrial nature of the statue wasn't the weirdest part to them. The fauna that lay beneath it. It was a gray-ish fungus-like organism that had sharp tentacle-like arms sprouting from it. But one of the most important features of the fauna were the blue glowing spores protruding from it.
"Holy Titan, Luz. This is what you found? It-it-it's remarkable!" Lilith said as she had started to write down notes on a notepad she packed.
"Yeah, this is exactly how I remember it. Big, weird, and scary. Also very smelly. The only thing is that it isn't laughing at me now."
Suddenly, everyone heard a loud booming noise. And the tentacles on the fauna started to wrap around the statue as if they were protecting it. They all fell silent and stepped away from it in fear.
Then, out of nowhere. A loud, deep and foreboding voice who's word echoed throughout the forest spoke out to them, and from the fauna seemingly. "I see you recall our last altercation here, human. It's truly been an interminable amount of time since I've interacted with one of your species. Though you must accept all my sincere apologies for frightening you with my daunting presence before. I should introduce myself. I am the great Emperor Calus of the once grand Cabal Empire. Now I only a small portion of my former empire from these very plants you see around this visage of me. But I assure you that my Loyalists make haste in bringing their leader back to the corporeal realm. I know you all have many questions of me, I can feel it inside of you. But you will answer a question of mine first." The voice demanded they answer with an intimidating and commanding tone.
"O-o-of course, um. Emperor Calus, was it?" Luz said while shaking, and so was everyone around her.
The emperor continued with his question, "Good, you recognize rightful authority. Now, for my query. It has been centuries since I have been banished and confined within this effigy of myself. Perfect as it may be. This form bores me, I have been unable to feel the feeling of revelry and mirth for quite some time now. I have a way to return to a physical form, yet I am unable to due to my ship, my splendid Leviathan, being fruitless for the moment. I have full faith my Loyalists have been putting forth their best to repair it, yet the sheer size of it hinders their progress. The only other way I would be able to raise the Leviathan once more, would be through this very plant I speak to you with now. The Egregore. Although, I am unable to establish a connection to the Egregore that inhabits the Leviathan. I recognize this is a great burden for a being you have just come across. But would you be willing to enter my mindscape and establish a connection with the Egregore aboard my ship? I would be eternally grateful, and I would endlessly rain bequests, gifts, charity and love upon your people in return. It would only be fair." No one could believe what the Emperor had just said to them. Luz and Lilith were very skeptical considering his apparent past in the Demon Realm.
Luz looked up at the face of the statue with a scared but mistrustful face, "I'm sorry your majesty, but why should we trust you? We've heard about what you've done here before you were trapped," She said while clenching her fists.
"Because, I am the only salvation and savior of this pitiful realm from its tyrannical leader."
"Only salvation? Wait, how do you even know about Belos?" Luz asked while taking a step forward.
"I have agents everywhere within your Demon Realm. It is only fair that I employ spies here after my welcoming party to this realm was so…impudent." Calus laughed boisterously before continuing, "It amuses me how my Cabal have so perfectly fit in with your law enforcement. Unfortunately, it seems that some of them have been found out by your higher powers. No matter, they served their rightful Emperor well, their sacrifices were necessary for me to finally be reborn," Calus said while dragging out his final word a little.
"So? What does any of this have to do with us at all? Why couldn't you get your "Cabal" to help you?" Willow asked with an impatient face.
"My apologies. My spies have told me that you all are very experienced, even for your age. I believe you have entered mindscapes before. I require your expertise in navigating minds," Calus said.
"Well that was once, and it was completely an accident. But I guess we do kinda know how to enter someone's mind. Also, unfortunately no one here is powerful enough to transport us into a mind," Luz responded.
"That is no matter, child. I have my own methods of transportation into my mindscape. You may want to step out of the way for them," Calus remarked.
"For them? What do you me-" Amity asked before she was interrupted and gained an even more surprised face.
In a flash, two large bubbles appeared beside Calus's statue and inside of them were two very slim figures who were floating while holding their arms outwards. They wore purple and golden armor with a trim of black.
"My Psions shall grant you passage into my mind. And when you are ready, they shall transport you out. If any unforeseen events happen, all you need to do is ring my Bell of Conquests six times. You would take care not to ring it one additional time, as it would enact the Cabal tradition known as scal'sangus. And by the looks of it none of you would survive. It would do you well to be attentive, children." A small bell and hammer appeared in front of them. "Take these and do not lose them, lest you wish to be stuck in my mind for the rest of eternity," Calus warned.
"Well, give us some time to think over this. It's a lot to take in," Luz said to Calus.
Everyone else walked away and huddled up to discuss whether they should go in and help Calus or not.
"This guy seems sketchy. I don't think we should help him at all. And I know he said he'd help us take down Belos, but what if he just tries to take over just like him?" Gus told everyone.
"Well we don't really have any way to get rid of Belos, and this Calus dude seems to be our only chance at that right now. And if he's really as evil as he comes across, then we'll just banish him back to this statue or whatever. That's when we figure out how to do that of course." Amity added.
"I for one think we should take the chance. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, children. If we leave now he'll just find someone else to do this for him. We could be some of the first witches to reveal him to the public. And if turns out to be evil, we just leave him," Lilith whispered to all the kids with excitement.
Everyone looked at Lilith with skeptical faces. King then butted in, "Okay, I'm in. But if this Calus guy is a murderous, villainous maniac I want cookies and apple blood when we get home. Looking at you, Luz," King said as he turned his head to look up at Luz.
"Of course, King. Now, everyone who's in. Put your hand in the middle."
Everyone put their hands in the middle on top of each other.
"All right, that looks like everybody. Now let's jump in there and establish that Egelgore connection. Or was it Evilgare? Who cares? Let's just go," Said Luz as they all turned around to walk back to Calus.
"Ah, I see you all have made your decision now. Will you venture into the depths of my mind? Or have you chosen the path of destruction and ruination?"
Luz held up the Bell of Conquests and hammer to show that they were ready.
"Wait!" Lilith yelled out. "I think I'm going to stay here in this realm to make sure everything's okay out here. Will you children be okay?" She asked.
"I think we'll be fine on our own. We've been through worse. Isn't that right guys?" Gus asked as he looked at everyone around him.
"Right. So how are you gonna transport there anyway? And what do these guys have to do with it?" Luz asked.
"You will see. Psions. Prepare to grant passage to my mind for my humble friends." Calus commanded as the Psions put one hand on top of their head and stretched out the other. "I advise you to prepare yourself. The first time can be quite precarious."
All the kids held each other's hands and braced themselves to be transported into Calus's mind.
"Brace yourself!" Calus yelled out just before a big white flash covered the eyes of everyone and the kids were gone.
"Are they-" Lilith couldn't even finish her question.
"Safely in my mind, yes. I will be guiding them through it. But I also will not be. There are multiple versions of myself that they will encounter throughout their journey. I will stay here within this realm to keep you company, my dear," Calus told Lilith.
"Don't- don't call me that please," She responded.
"As you wish."
Almost in an instant, they were all teleported into Calus's mind. None of them couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were standing on an all golden floor, and when they looked up they seemed to be in space, but it wasn't space because they weren't suffocating. They were truly in a different realm. Looking straight ahead and around them, they were surrounded by giant figures holding weapons of some sort in the air with one hand. They had the same colors as the slim figures in the real world. Their heads were completely covered by helmets, and their torsos covered by some armor, yet their arms were barely covered. All the figures turned their heads toward them, staring in silence, following their every movement. They could hear their exigent, heavy breathing. What lay before them were large stairs with two more of the figures at the top, but they were way bigger than the others.
A door opened at the top of the staircase, and out came a familiar person. It was Emperor Calus himself, yet it also wasn't. He wore the same adornments as the statue depicted but purple and golden with an excessive amount of jewelry and accesories. It was the inner version of Calus. He walked down the stairs with a large cape that draped and dragged behind him and walked up to the kids.
"What a surprise! I see I have new guests aboard my Leviathan! How amusing! Loyalists, is this any way to treat new visitors!? You make me look like an inadequate host, the lot of you! My apologies for the bad manners of my subjects. I am Emperor Calus, welcome aboard my wondrous pleasure craft, the Leviathan. She is a beauty is she not?" Calus asked.
Something seemed off about this Calus to the kids. He seemed way more boisterous than the one in the real world.
"Hello, Your Majesty. We are here on the behalf of, um, you." Luz told the inner version of Calus while bowing to him.
"Ah, yes. Him. Come, we have much to discuss about this predicament you're in. And maybe when we're done we can share a chalice of our finest royal wine and revel in the baths." Calus added as he gestured to his troops to carry the kids along with him. "Loyalists! Would you carry our guests with me?"
Two giant Cabal came over to carry the kids and laid his hand on the ground. They were reluctant at first but eventually climbed into their hands. "Good. We will converse as we walk, my friends. Thank you, Loyalists." Calus added.
They all walked up the stairs behind Calus and into the door that shut after them.
So that's the end of the story guys. I hope whoever reads this enjoyed it. This was just something fun I wanted to do to pass the time until S3 episode 3 of Owl House came out. Also I'm sorry if my writing skills were a bad at some points, I haven't done anything like this in a long time, which isn't much of an excuse anyway.
If this gets positive feedback I may consider writing a second chapter and further. But until then, I'll be probably inactive when it comes to writing. I'll see you guys 'till then. Per aspera ad Astra.