Luz initially tried to resist; she absolutely didn't want to move away from her mother and Vee now that she had found them again, nor did she want to move away from Eda, Amity, King and all her friends, but Belos' grip was definitely too strong and he wouldn't let her go. She could have tried to kick and punch, but she didn't do so for fear of hurting Raine too; so she just tried to free herself, but it was all in vain. When the gigantic opening finally closed behind them, she finally gave up (also because she no longer had the strength to fight) and let Belos drag her wherever he wanted.

She tried to think clearly as they walked. The place where they were located was clearly the gut, as it curved over and over again; it was even larger than the esophagus, and unlike the stomach there was absolutely nothing inside, not even water. All she saw before her was rotten flesh that gave her a horrible sense of disgust.

"Mh. I'm glad to see you've finally stopped trying to escape" Belos commented. He was smiling almost lovingly, but on his face it just looked like a distorted grimace.

"Even if I could, would I be able to go anywhere?" Luz answered him.

"Ha ha! No, actually no" Belos told her, and finally he let her go; as soon as he took his hands off her she rubbed the spot where he had touched her as if she were afraid he had passed on a contagious disease to her. She didn't do it voluntarily: it was an automatic reaction of her body due to the disgust that monster caused her. "I'm happy that you talk to me as if I were an ordinary person. That's exactly why I wanted a conduit and took this guy's body. Oh, don't worry; I'll let them go soon... it's not very efficient, and I'm sure I'll have a custom-made body soon"

Luz wanted to scream at him again to let Raine go, but she knew it would be useless anyway, and so she remained silent. "Okay, you got what you wanted, I'm here. What did you want to talk to me about so badly? What is so important about me that you would try to devour me, take away my family and friends, traumatize me, make me live for months with the remorse and certainty that they are dead, dress up as an old man, bring me and all the kids from Bonesborough here, turn us into donkeys, and finally treat us as if we were your toys!?"

A small voice in her ear strongly advised her to listen to caution and avoid speaking that way to a monster who could tear her apart in a split second if he wanted, but she was having a very hard time listening to her. She knew that Belos could destroy her with a finger, but perhaps the very fact that he was now speaking to her through another person rather than showing himself with his true appearance or with a giant eye was giving her more courage than she would have been better off using.

Belos chuckled lightly. "Look at you, you're really furious. But trust me, I'm sorry for everything you had to endure" he told her. "During our first meeting there were some... misunderstandings. Regrettable misunderstandings. It was my fault, I admit it; I let myself get carried away by the excitement, I shouldn't have treated you and your friends like you were my toys. But try to understand me... it's been a long time since I chased a ship, and seeing you trying to escape has rekindled my desire for that fun. What can I say, it's so... intoxicating. The heartbreaking screams, the desperate cries, the prayers, the pathetic attempt to escape an already sealed fate... they always make me die laughing! You should try it, seriously, it's hilarious"

Luz bit her lip. That monster was talking as if he were describing a children's game he was particularly fond of, as if he wasn't realizing the cruelty he used to perpetuate. No, even worse... it was as if he was perfectly aware of it, but considered it not just a simple game, but actually the funniest thing in the world. Luz was convinced that that evil being couldn't get any more disturbing than it already was, yet every second she spent with him seemed to contradict such assumption.

"Anyway, I shouldn't have gotten carried away, so I apologize. I didn't behave in a very exemplary manner. I hope you can forgive me" Belos continues, speaking as if he were referring to the time he accidentally bumped into someone and made them fall, not to when he had played with an entire ship and then devoured it. "However, if I hadn't been so foolish that time, I could have welcomed you in a much better way. As I told you that time, my intent was to get to know each other better. And fortunately, now we can do it without further misunderstandings"

Luz clenched her fists. "You still didn't answer my question!" she exclaimed. "What do you want from me!?"

Belos smiled even more, and took her chin and looked her straight in the eyes: "I want your body"

A terrified shiver went through Luz and she quickly moved away from him, and instinctively she put her hands in front of her as if to protect herself. Belos didn't seem at all moved by that scene, but on the contrary there was only amusement in his eyes: "You see, Luz... I am the apex predator. I possess power greater than anyone else. I have conquered the oceans and terrorized every creature that ever heard of me. I've seen everything, I've done everything. I'm basically a god... but a chained god"

The light in his eyes changed; for a split second, it seemed to contain an incomparable fury, more than any mortal being could feel. "My dear sister-in-law Evelyn, the fairy who transformed me... has placed a condition on my transformation. I cannot leave the ocean. Although my power is incomparable and I could move mountains or sink continents if I wanted to, I can't lift my body out of this prison of water"

Luz was very scared, but still she found the courage to speak: "Yes... Lilith told me that. Even if you could lift your body with magic, you would still break your back because of Evelyn's punishment. She wanted to give you the possibility of becoming the most powerful of all, but preventing you from actually using that power, so that you were always dissatisfied..."

"That's right. Fairies have always been creative with their punishments" Belos confirmed. "Can you imagine how much frustrating this is for me, Luz? At first it was good... I killed and consumed and conquered new power. I continually ate and grew, becoming stronger and more powerful, and I destroyed everything in my path. It was wonderful to feel so powerful... but then it started to get annoying. I am so strong that I could not only consume this entire world, but go even beyond it, to other realms, travel between the stars, absorb every knowledge and every form of energy in the universe... and yet I can't, because here I am, stuck in my eternal prison!". He let out a deep growl, but then he smiled again. "But... eternity is very long, Luz, and I had a lot of free time to look for a way to free myself. You see, there's a loophole in the punishment that fairy gave me: she said I can't lift THIS body. But if I had another one... I could finally be free"

Luz swallowed; the thought of Belos free to go where he wanted and do what he wanted was terrifying, but she forced herself to keep her mind clear. "But... if all you need is just another body... why haven't you already left the ocean? I mean... you're possessing Raine, and before that you possessed that other body..."

"Possessing? No, no. I'm just maneuvering them. Inside this body there is a negligible amount of my soul" Belos explained to her. "Have you ever tried to pour a hectoliter of water into a small glass, and force it to enter only there, without overflowing? The small glass would end up exploding. And the same goes for this body. If I now introduced all my enormous soul containing my entire magical power in this body, it would disintegrate into pieces so small that you wouldn't even be able to see them anymore. With this body I can wander around a little... but the real me is still stuck here. No, what I have always looked for... was a body capable of containing my entire essence, not just a tiny part of it"

Luz's eyes widened, and she was thankful that Belos hadn't made Raine exploded; she was finally starting to understand why all those scars had opened on the bard's body from which that gooey liquid came out... they were just like tears due to an excessive quantity of water inside a container that was too small, which created openings to escape.

"I started experimenting" Belos continued. "I stopped fussing too much and started trying to find the perfect body. Initially I hoped I could create it myself, so I started creating grimwalkers, like your friend Hunter... or should I say ex-friend? Hmm, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, however, I didn't get the desired results: grimwalkers were more resistant than normal people, but they deteriorated too quickly. So I began an active search for something that would allow me to perfect them... or that would directly act as container for my power. I used the grimwalkers as my soldiers and sent them to the four corners of the world to search for every possible magical artifact or creature, and when they became too old and useless I used them as temporary containers for myself. It was then that I realized a detail: some people in the world had a greater ability to withstand the stress caused by excessive amounts of magic, especially when they were... very young"

Luz trembled slightly at the mention of Hunter, but she remained silent nonetheless. Even though the mere name of that boy made her blood boil and brought great pain to her heart, that wasn't the time to start crying with anger or punching the ground. She wanted to know where Belos was going with this. Well, at least she had solved one mystery: that's why Hunter was a monster hunter...

"When I realized that kids like you were more likely to tolerate my magic, I began to look for one who was perfect for the purpose. But kidnapping them one at a time and experimenting on them would be a long and tedious job. So... I found a more fun and efficient alternative" Belos continued to explain. "Remember I told you I worked at amusement parks for years? Well, that's it. For decades I turned my back into an amusement park, and then I'd go to different towns and get all the kids in one fell swoop. A place where you can have fun and do what you want without adults around... what kid would refuse that? A little more persuasion thanks to my magic, and the game was done. In a single swoop I had hundreds if not thousands of subjects ready to be tested. And also... a prisoner who doesn't know they are a prisoner doesn't try to escape. The kids stayed here and had fun, while I experimented with them. And so I found many of them able to pass my first test..."

"Test?" Luz repeated. "What test?"

"Oh, right, you didn't notice. Remember that weird tasting ice cream? I put a seed in it" Belos answered her. "It's a tiny part of me. The test is to get it to take root in your body and form a stable magical balance. If the body in question isn't suitable, the seed simply won't grow. But in your case and everyone else's that have passed the first test, germinates and grows, and allows me to create a very first access to your body. And in your case, Luz... you broke every record: the seed took just five days to become stable and perfect , when for everyone else it took at least a month. You can be proud of it"

Luz opened her eyes wide and felt her body, half expecting to see a hideous and disgusting sprout bloom from her chest at any moment. She felt terribly dirty and contaminated at the thought of having a piece of Belos inside her. "Take it off me now!"

"No, I don't think I will. It will help me to possess you more quickly" Belos answered her without any empathy. "Anyway, back to us... as I told you, I found many subjects who passed the first test. The second test... was more difficult. I had to verify how many of them to resist my most powerful magic, a dark magic contract. Initially I used different contracts every time, but then I found the perfect one that started my favorite show: after all, what simpler contract than the one based on the eternal old saying that kids who only think about having fun and not studying become many beautiful donkeys?"

Luz's eyelid quivered. Belos was truly a horrible and disgusting being; he talked about an action that traumatized kids and robbed them of their lives as if it were a hilarious show. Well, probably for that monster it actually was.

"Ah, that was a brilliant idea... even when I failed, and it happened very often, at least I enjoyed a great show. Oh, it's so funny to hear those little donkeys begging for mercy and screaming the names of their parents! And besides, by doing so I got every thousands of receptacles of dark magic that I could spread around the world and become more and more powerful. A lot of advantages with minimal effort" Belos chuckled, and then he became serious again: "Anyway, in this case only three people before you had overcome the test, and again, much slower than you. You are the first who managed to return to normal so quickly. But no one before you had passed the third test... free someone else from my control"

Luz trembled as the pieces began to fall into place in her mind. "You spared my mother, Vee, and my friends... because they were my third test" she murmured. "That's why you turned them into monsters... because then I would have been desperate and begging them to wake up... and whatever is inside me... would have set them free..."

"Exactly" Belos confirmed. "I had already noticed a certain aptitude in yours to counter dark magic. When we met for the first time, you resisted my evil influence, while all the others on that ship slaughtered each other dominated by my words. And while you were coming here, you managed to counter that little donkey's dark magic so much that she managed to whisper to you to run away... she was your old friend Viney, by the way" Luz's eyes flashed at that revelation, but he didn't seem to care. "I was hoping to run the third test using that lobster captain, but unfortunately your girlfriend and your little brother got in the way. So I sent Kikimora and Hunter to separate you from the others, so you could take the third test alone. Given the opportunity, I used your mother and sister... and you did it! You were a little pathetic initially, but in the end you managed to free them! You broke my mental control over them with your sheer willpower!"

Luz gritted her teeth. "Damn you... what did you do to my mother!? What did you do to Vee!?"

"Nothing too serious, I simply increased your mother's muscle strength and gave Vee the ability to convert her magic into new body mass and vice versa, giving further output to her ability to transform. Have you noticed that she can now fly, right?" Belos answered her. "Don't worry, I erased their memories of what I did to them, so they won't be traumatized. But I want you to know that they suffered a lot during the whole process"

Luz was now leaking saliva from her mouth in anger, and a few tears were running down her cheeks. "Why...?" she whispered. "I understood your whole plan, but... why me? If you had come to get me that day, it means you already knew that I was promising for your purpose! How did you understand it?"

Belos nodded, smiling evilly. "You're absolutely right, Luz. I already knew how much potential you had from the beginning. When Hunter told me about you... I immediately understood how special you were, and the studies I've conducted on you over the last few days have only confirmed my guesses". His eyes twinkled. "That silly fairy who gave you life... has without realizing it created something extraordinary"

Luz was speechless. "What do you mean?"

"The wood you are made of is Palistrom wood, which is full of life magic... but not only that. One of the special characteristics of life magic is that if it is not used all at once it can regenerate infinitely. A little like a lizard that regrows its tail" Belos explained to her. "And when that fairy added her light magic into you... a small part of these two magics merged together. Basically, now there is a source of light magic inside you that is continuously regenerating. Unless you don't destroy it in one fell swoop, it will always replenish itself, never running out, allowing you to live without having to ask your fairy for more magic. Basically, Luz... even if you never knew it... you are an infinite source of light magic"

Luz felt like her mind had just exploded. She looked down and stared at her palms. "Me...? An infinite source of light magic...?"

"Exactly. Just what I need" Belos told her. "The amount of light magic in you is negligible... but if it can continuously regenerate, then it can continuously fight against my dark magic! Basically, if I poured my soul into you now, I could create a perfect magical balance, which would not only prevent your body from exploding, but would actually leave me more room to expand again and again! You... by a simple twist of fate... are the most promising body I have ever found! Can you see now why I was so eager to bring you here to me?"

Luz was shaking all over. "I... I am your perfect vessel... that was why you were chasing me... I am your key to escape and free you from your prison..." she whispered almost voicelessly, and weakly raised his head towards of him: "What... what are you waiting for, then? If you finally have me here, and I passed all your tests... why haven't you tried to possess me yet?"

"Oh, Luz, it doesn't work like that. I too have to respect the rules of dark magic" Belos replied to her. "The only way to make a possession stable and lasting is with the help of a contract, and not just any one, but its most powerful form: the one in which both parties know it and give their consent"

Luz pulled away. "I will never help you!" she exclaimed. "If you need a 'yes' from me, then forget it! I won't let you take my body and go around destroying the world!"

"Destroy? Oh, no, Luz, you misunderstood" Belos told her. "I don't want to destroy the world, I want to devour it and transform it into something new. I am carrying out an important mission, for me and for all those who accompany me"

Lus was already about to protest, but then she stopped: "What do you mean by... those who accompany you?"

Belos's grin became very wide. "You see, Luz... killing, consuming and conquering is not a sin. It is the basis of life. But dying... it's so sad. I didn't want my victims, who had so generously given me their biomass, to die. So... I found a way to please everyone"

And suddenly a blood-curdling scream, no, billions of blood-curdling screams exploded in the cave; Luz dropped to the ground with her hands in her ears, desperately trying to muffle the sound. Her whole body trembled like a leaf and her blood reached the temperature of ice, and her face became so pale it looked like chalk. She felt like she was listening to pure suffering. Terrified as she'll ever be, she opened her eyes and saw with horror that billions of desperate screaming faces had appeared all along the walls of the gut, as if people were trapped there and experiencing the most horrible agony. The sight was enough to terrify her so much that her heart nearly stopped.

"What's the matter, Luz? Don't you like my collection?" Belos told her over all the desperate screams. "I told you, didn't I? This isn't heaven, it's hell. And I... am the devil!"

Luz's eyes darted from side to side as she looked at all those souls dead for who knows how many years, decades or even centuries, trapped in that terrible digestive tract, screaming in the throes of excruciating torture. She was so scared that she could no longer move. "He is a monster" was all she was able to think as Belos approached her.

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, and the grin on his face split open to reveal the fangs underneath, which combined with all the desperate screams ringing among them made it the most terrifying sight possible. "But... if you give me your body, I will no longer be just the devil. I will become something better. It would be long to explain it to you with just words, so... let me show you!"

And with that he touched her on the head, and suddenly reality seemed to split before Luz's eyes, and she found herself falling into a deep abyss, still hearing Belos's chilling laughter and the screams of his poor victims in her ears.

Belos: "Sorry, boss, I've read the script a bit and I have some doubts... I've already heard this story of putting a seed in a young girl without her realizing it and wanting her body, and it it makes me quite uncomfortable..."

Author: "Shut up and do your job"