The next chapter is out and is the longest of all, I suspect. Nevertheless, I would like to answer your questions before we continue.
You know, i had never asked this before but what had inspired you to create Muru?
Muru has had many inspirations. But the main inspiration was the Death Wolf from Puss in Boots and the Manticore from Onward. However, especially in video games and series, I like it when there's a dealer who has everything you could want and that's how Muru should be.
What had inspired and motivated you to co-wrote with Lexieluthor98, Nataliepthatsme and Gemwimg2012 on your Space Jam fic?
The question what if instead of Looney Tunes characters Cuphead show characters play basketball? And thanks to Gemwing, Natty and Lexie I can partly answer this question and I really have to say thank you guys for helping and supporting me to write this story and create a universe out of it. Give me a big hug.
By the way if you want me to ask more just post more questions and I will awnser them if I can.
It's been a week since Lucifer appeared on the Inkwell Isle's show world and reunited with Alicia. Both have missed each other very much and use every free second and of course minute to cuddle with each other. After all, it felt like months since Alicia hadn't seen her husband even though in her world it was only 2 hours. "Oh how I've missed this," Lucifer said in a seductive and purring voice as he stroked Alicia's head. Alicia sensed this and rubbed her head deeper into his fur as a sign of her love for him.
Lucifer purred even more than before while his cheeks flushed. They both enjoyed their twin-ship. However, there was still a problem. It wasn't the devil who was watching the whole thing from his magic mirror and was on fire again while Henchman and Amnon, who had just come into the room with a food trolley, left because the devil was about to explode with rage.
No. The problem was Cuphead and Mugman. They were both standing at the top of the stairs, hidden behind the banister, watching Alicia and Lucifer. Mugman's nose peeked out from between the railing and was seen by Alicia. "Cuphead, Mugsy you don't have to hide" Alicia reassured the two cups walking slowly and thoughtfully down the stairs. However, they were still hiding behind the railing when they arrived at the bottom. Alicia already suspected why. Both cups didn't seem to trust Lucifer as much as Cuppy did. Blood and Varian also seemed a little skeptical, but as Alicia explained to the two cups, Lucifer was friendly if you were friendly to him.
"Are you sure?", "Yes, are you sure Ali that Lucifer is not ... Well..." Alicia already suspected what he was going to say and just rolled her eyes in annoyance. Oh boy. Both brothers didn't trust Lucifer because they thought it was an illusion from the devil to mislead Alicia. "How many times does Alicia have to say it" Alicia, the two mugs and Lucifer looked towards the kitchen where Elder Kettle and Blood were standing.
Both seemed less than pleased when the two mugs made their comments about Lucifer. "Mr. Lucifer is a kind man who not only takes care of Alicia but also does a lot of housework, cooking and gardening," both brothers were unaware of this.
They both really thought Lucifer was just the devil in disguise to deceive Alicia. Well, he was the devil. But not the devil from this world but from the one Cuppy came from. Nevertheless, there was a difference between the two. Lucifer was gentle with Alicia and hugged her softly while his tail was not around her waist but knotted with her own tail.
Alicia also smiled more than usual as she was always seen with a neutral or sad expression on her face. Not even Cuphead's jokes could cheer her up lately. She was a changed girl and that pleased Cuphead and Mugman. They both realized that they were wrong and decided to do the right thing.
Lucifer heard the footsteps of the two brothers coming closer to him and Alicia. His gaze wandered from Alicia to the two cups standing in front of him with their heads bowed. He bowed his head and was about to ask what was going on when both brothers apologized to him. "We're very sorry, Mr. Lucifer" "Yes, we're very sorry that we have mistrusted you," the two brothers said with a sad expression on their faces.
"I accept your apology" was Lucifer's reply to the apology from the two brothers, who were surprised by the answer. Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other and then at Lucifer and Alicia before asking "Really?". Lucifer's nod acknowledged the answer which pleased both brothers greatly. However, there were still skeptics. Both knew that Lucifer didn't behave like the devil and seemed to have no interest in Cuphead and Cuppy's souls. He just wanted to be with Alicia and helped everyone as much as he could. Just like Elder Kettle had mentioned.
However, Cuphead still seemed to see the devil in him and got scared. It was the same fear he felt when he had the nightmare before Mugman sent him and the others to Quadratus. He remembered exactly what the nightmare was like. It was not a pleasant event as he had to watch his brother, Cuppy and Alicia disappear one by one before the devil began to eat his soul.
His pale face was hard to miss. Alicia saw it and suspected that he was thinking about the nightmare again. She and the others knew the nightmare because Cuphead had talked about it several times. Alicia always felt bad when she heard about it. Firstly because her nightmares were almost the same and unfortunately could become so and because she couldn't do anything to prevent the nightmares that had been tormenting the little cup for months.
Lucifer was able to travel to Alicia's dream world and always save her from her nightmares. Alicia, however, could not travel to the dream worlds of others. She wasn't strong enough yet and still needed some training. But Lucifer could help him. Not only would it help Cuphead sleep better. Not only Cuphead, of course, but also Mugman, who was woken up by his brother's constant crying, making it increasingly difficult for him to fall asleep.
But Alicia had a good idea. An idea that might help both brothers not to become afraid of Lucifer and compare him to the devil. "Hey, how about Lucifer taking care of your nightmares?" Alicia asked Cuphead, who was still thinking before he gave his answer. "I'll have to think about that, Alicia," he replied, sitting down on the floor and taking a few marbles out of his trouser pocket for him and his brother to play with. Alicia sighed softly so that the two brothers couldn't hear.
However, Lucifer heard it and looked worriedly at Alicia and asked her with a sad look "Is something wrong?". Alicia heard the question and said "I don't know if I said something wrong or not" Lucifer sensed how depressed Alicia was as she laid her head on his stomach and sighed even more than before. Lucifer himself didn't know what to say. Of course he wanted to help as much as he could and gladly accepted the offer to take care of the cup's nightmares. But perhaps he should start small first.
"Maybe it would help if I read them a story?" he whispered in Alicia's ear. Her eyes widened when she heard that and she was her old self again. That made Lucifer very happy. "Hey Cuphead, Mugman" Mugman was just about to flick his marble when he was interrupted by Alicia's voice, who was now crouched next to the two of them and asked them "Shall we read you something?".
Both cups looked at each other in confusion. They knew what Alicia meant by 'we'. Lucifer would join Alicia in reading a story to them and Cuppy, who was walking down the stairs. Of course they both took up the offer, running like lightning up past Cuppy who was spinning in circles as he went down the last flight of stairs, spinning in circles while stars circled above his head.
He shook his head and walked over to Alicia, Lucifer, Blood and Varian with a confused and questioning look. The latter came out of the kitchen and was a little confused by the sudden loudness. Varian was about to ask what was going on when Cuphead and Mugman came running down the stairs with a thick book in their hands. "Here we are," Cuphead mentioned with a friendly smile as the heavy book fell on his head while his arms shook like spaghetti arms.
"And we found the book we'd like to have read to us" Mugman said the last two words with effort as he tried to take the book off his brother's head. However, he seemed to be having trouble doing so, huffing and puffing as his face turned red with exertion. Alicia rolled her eyes and giggled slightly before standing up and taking the book from Cuphead's head and looking at it closely.
It was a book of several fairy tales. From Snow White to Puss in Boots, there were all kinds of fairy tales in the book as she and Lucifer leafed through it to decide which fairy tale they wanted to read. Goldilocks and the three bears sounded interesting, as did Little Red Riding Hood and the Bremen Town Musicians. But the three cups in front of Alicia and Lucifer insisted on a different fairy tale while Alicia kept turning the pages until she came to Jack and the Beanstalk.
Like every fairy tale in this book, an illustration of what the fairy tale was about came before the actual fairy tale. In this case, Jack was seen climbing down the beanstalk with a princess while a giant hand tried to grab them both from above.
Okay, since when is there a princess in Jack and the Beanstalk? Alicia knew that there was a golden harp and a goose that could lay golden eggs which Jack stole before he slid down the beanstalk to escape from the giant. But there was never any mention of a princess. Of course there was a castle in which the golden harp was located in the middle of the valley where Jack lived with his mother. However, there was never any mention of a royal family in the story.
Alicia thought nothing of it, shrugged her shoulders and began to tell the story while the three cups sat on the floor in front of her and Lucifer and listened intently. Mugman sat with both legs stretched out while Cuppy sat cross-legged. Only Cuphead was lying on his stomach on the floor, rocking back and forth with his legs while his hands held his head supported by his elbow.
Clearing her throat to oil her voice a little, Alicia turned the page and began to read the text aloud.
"A long, long time ago, there was a valley where many farmers lived and took care of the valley, the animals and their crops, which were always fresh and ripe every year thanks to the help of the princess who lived in the castle on a small mountain in the middle of the valley with her two parents, the king and the queen".
Alicia turned the page. On one page there was a picture of the valley while the text continued on the other. She read on while Lucifer took over the voices of the male characters, not even realizing that they were being watched by the devil himself, who was standing outside the window looking annoyed.
Henchman, who was standing next to him, noticed how annoyed his boss was and tried to take his mind off things. However, the devil seemed to disagree and had an idea how to get Alicia away from the copy. "Really nice to see my dearest Alicia reading the story where the giant marries the princess after freeing her from her prison," the devil chuckled nastily. Henchman, however, was confused and asked the devil what he meant.
"But boss the story is very different" Henchman explained while the devil looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "The giant doesn't free and marry the princess, he kidnaps her and forces her to sing songs for him forever so that he can sleep better." The devil didn't believe him. "And well, in the end the giant will be defeated by Jack," added Henchman as sweat poured down his cheeks. The devil didn't understand that at all. Especially not when he learned that the giant had been defeated by a tiny man.
"So you want me to believe that the giant is the bad guy in the story?" Henchman nodded his head while the devil found it hard to believe him "Well, at least it's only in this story because I know for a fact that in Little Red Riding Hood the wolf is the good guy and gets something to eat and drink from Little Red Riding Hood".
But even there Henchman corrected him and explained to him that the fairy tale was very different from what the devil thought it would be. "And in Rumpelstiltskin he gets the child from the queen and in the Three Little Pigs the wolf is allowed to live with them, isn't he?" but Henchman kept shaking his head and telling him how it actually happened in the fairy tale.
To the devil's shock, the aforementioned characters were the villains and either wanted to get at the heroes or even kill or eat them. "That may be true in your version, but in mine the fairy tales play out quite differently," the devil mocked with his nose turned up. However, Henchman was curious and looked away from the window at the devil and asked him the following.
"Do you even know the original fairy tales boss?" he doubted it but the devil seemed to be smarter and pulled out a book behind his back that was black with "fairy tales" written on it in white. That answered Henchman's question, but when he took a closer look, he noticed that there was something else under the word "fairy tale". It was written in lower case and said "For bad guys". That explained where the devil got the version of the fairy tales in which the bad guys won.
And it looks like the devil wants to put this version into action by raising his trident and thundering it with a zap on the ground to enchant the storybook that slowly started to glow while Lucifer took over the lines from Jack.
'But mother I swear these beans are no ordinary beans' "Jack said as he opened the door to show his mother what made the beans so special. But his mother was furious and took the box of beans out of his hand and threw them into the garden".
Lucifer turned to the next page and was about to continue reading when he noticed that the page suddenly began to glow. Not only did the page light up, but the whole book did too, as he, Alicia, Blood, Varian and the three cups discovered. "Okay, what's going on here? Since when can fairy tale books glow?" asked Alicia, who suddenly got scared.
For good reason. The pages suddenly began to change. The text and images disappeared so that only empty pages were visible. Almost like the Cuphead book that Alicia had opened for the first time. The first pages were still illustrated and labeled. But the rest of the pages in the book were blank. Just like the pages in this book now. The three cups were confused at first and sat down next to or between Alicia and Lucifer to see what was confusing the group. The three cups were also confused and were about to make their statement when suddenly something appeared on the pages.
It was a glowing blue portal that moved like a whirlpool and grew bigger and bigger until it took over both pages of the book so that neither the text nor the pictures were visible. "Uhhh," mumbled Alicia, not knowing what that meant. She knew it wasn't her husband and she knew it wasn't Blood who had enchanted the book.
And from the looks on the faces of the three cups, it didn't seem normal that a portal suddenly appeared from the book that not only lit up figuratively but also created a strong breeze that literally pulled Alicia and the others into the book. "What's going on?" asked Alicia, feeling the book slowly pull her in as she dropped the book on the floor in fear.
The others couldn't really answer her question because they didn't know what exactly was going on and because the wind was now so strong that it pulled Cuppy, Cuphead and Mugman into the book, causing them to disappear into it like a tornado and scream loudly for help. "Alicia save us!" Alicia and the others heard before they could no longer see the three cups and panic broke out on the faces of the four adults.
Nobody really knew what to do. I mean what should you generally do when a book suddenly sucks you in? Alicia didn't know because she had never seen a book in her world that was able to do that. Not even the Cuphead book was able to do that. So Alicia didn't think twice and jumped into the book to help the three cups while her husband, Blood and Varian followed her.
The book closed and the group had no idea what was to come while they were trapped in the book. None of them knew that it was a trap set by the devil who was trying to snatch Alicia.
Her eyelids opened as Alicia woke up and could slowly see everything around her with clear vision. The first thing she saw was the curtains, which were a navy blue color and decorated with what she thought were floral patterns, but were actually small white, gray and black wolves. "What is... Where... Where am I?" Alicia asked herself as she slowly sat up and looked at her bedspread. It was the same pattern and color as the curtains.
The bed also seemed far too big for her as it was a king-size bed. Okay that's weird. Alicia took a closer look around and realized that she couldn't actually see anything because the curtains were closed and light was only coming in from one side, probably from a window. So Alicia looked for the rope that opened the curtains that hung to the left of her outside half the bed and pulled on it. The curtains pulled back from both sides and Alicia opened her mouth.
Not because the bed was so beautiful or because she was in a castle. No, it was because she saw herself and what she was wearing in a mirror in front of the bed. She wear a sleek navy blue evening gown, bell-shaped sleeves, revealing long fitted white inner sleeves, light blue puffs on the shoulders and a white underskirt. The dress also has a light blue ribbon like sash with a silver buckle that has an engraving of a wolf around the waist, navy blue flat pumps and atop of her head is a silver tiara with a sapphire in the middle. She still wears her wolf necklace.
On the one hand, Alicia was relieved that she was still wearing this and the wedding ring Lucifer had given her, but on the other hand, she was less than pleased with her appearance and wanted to get out of the dress and into her old clothes as soon as possible. But they were nowhere to be seen. Super. Really great.
Alicia sighed and got out of bed, looking around the room. Next to the bed there was a closet, a desk with a mirror in which she could see herself, a fireplace in which a fire was burning and heating up the room and a small sitting area with lots of cushions, soft toys and, much to Alicia's confusion, a food bowl from which something had apparently already been eaten.
"Okay, it doesn't get any weirder than this, does it?" Alicia asked herself as she walked over to the bowl and picked it up Only now did she notice Blood's staff standing next to the fireplace and took it. She knew that she couldn't do much with it. But Blood would be happy to have it in his hands again.
As she slowly walked out of the room, deciding to ask where she was and why she was dressed like that. There must be servants in a castle, Alicia thought to herself and walked out of the room, trying not to fall with her dress.
She looked everywhere in the castle but, surprisingly, she didn't find any servants or knights anywhere. However, the castle was lit by fire and something seemed to be cooking and baking in the kitchen itself, despite the lack of staff. Anyway, Alicia smelled fresh bread, beans, cheese and sausage as she walked past the kitchen and got hungry.
The kitchen door opened and Alicia looked in and was again disappointed to see that there was no one in the kitchen. But there was some food on the table that looked delicious. Alicia's stomach growled even more and she couldn't help but go into the kitchen and eat some of the food. She broke off some of the bread and took a bite, saying contentedly, "Oh man, that tastes so good!" as she continued to eat until her hunger was satisfied.
With a full stomach, she walked out of the kitchen and looked around until she saw a door, or rather a slightly larger door, that led outside into the castle garden. She looked out and was amazed at how big and beautiful it was. The flowers and the trees looked beautiful.
The birds chirped and flew past Alicia from their nests, quietly singing a song while the squirrels cuddled together. It was beautiful but then Alicia heard a rustling from the bush next to her and turned to it with a frightened look on her face. She didn't know who or what had jumped out of the bush, but Alicia wouldn't have thought it was two tame wolves.
"Whoa!" Alicia shouted as both wolves tackled her to the ground and let her stroke them while she put the staff on the ground. The two wolves weren't really small. They were more the size of a dire-wolf. Big enough for Alicia to ride both of them.
"Easy you two" Alicia said as she was being licked by the two wolves as dogs usually do while she stroked them both and their tails wagged with delight. Both wolves loved it. So much so that they laid their heads on Alicia's lap and slowly fell asleep. This gave Alicia the opportunity to look up the names of the two wolves as they were wearing collars with their names engraved in gold. "Tala and Amarok" Alicia read out and noticed that both wolves wagged their tails again when she mentioned these names.
"Is that what you two are called?" the wagging and soft howling of the two wolves confirmed this. Alicia couldn't believe it. She had wolves as pets. What she had always wanted as a child had become reality. Of course, the wish didn't come from anywhere but from the movie Balto, which she had watched up and down as a child and had taken to her heart.
She associated the movie with her childhood and her love of wolves. That's why she smiled when she saw the wolves that looked very much like Balto and Jenna. Even though Jenna was actually a husky lady, the color fits the wolf very well. Alicia thought to herself as she stroked said wolf while the other nibbled on a bone.
Alicia smirked a little and decided to go back into the castle with Blood's staff in her hand to find out where she was. Unfortunately, the castle walls were far too big to look over them and Alicia couldn't climb at all in her dress. It was far too long and went all the way to the ground, making it difficult for her to walk or even run without taking a bunch of the dress in her arms.
So she went back to her room and only when she opened the door did she notice the balcony from which the light she saw while lying in the four-poster bed was coming. Curious, she went to the balcony and looked outside while protecting herself from the bright light by placing her arm in front of it until she got used to the light and opened her mouth in shock.
Oh no, no, no, no, that's not true. Alicia took a step back and leaned against the nearby wall, trying to calm herself down. She knew where she was now. And Alicia was very frightened. She was in the valley where the story of Jack and the Beanstalk took place.
The houses, barns and fields of wheat, corn and grazing animals were everywhere. Alicia slowly calmed down and breathed normally again. She was back to normal on the one hand. "Okay Alicia it looks bad but everything is still normal" Alicia knew how the story was going and suspected she would soon be visited by the giant who would kidnap her.
But not as long as she didn't start singing. That would attract the giant. That's why she tried not to sing. But unfortunately Alicia realized that something inside her was trying to let her sing. Oh no, please don't. Her lips trembled and Alicia tried to cover her mouth with her hand.
But...
Waking up in the light
Of a shining new day
Giving thanks to the moon
For guiding my way
There is no greater gift to the soul
Lie in each breath that my body can hold
So great spirit
Hear my voice, today
Alicia spread her arms out as she looked towards the valley and sang the song that was carried on the wind. The birds that flew past the balcony chirped to the tune and flew down to the next farm.
Welcome, magic
Welcome sweet sun ray
Love is no secret,
Look all around you
Welcome to this day
The cows, which were grazing, lifted their heads as the birds flew past them. The song that Alicia was singing was clearly audible and delighted the cows, who then began to sing too. Or rather, they mooed to the music.
Life is simple and clear
When you make the right choices
It's true that you're here
When you find your own voice
Oh, my brothers and sisters believe
You are just what you are meant to be
Oh, great spirit
Hear my voice, today
The mooing was heard by the rest of the animals from the other farms, who also sang along to the music and carried it further into the valley until the song could be heard outside the valley.
Welcome, magic
Welcome sweet sun ray
Love is no secret
Look all around you
Welcome to this day
The migratory birds flying over the valley were surprised by the beautiful melody. The birds liked the song so much that they also sang it to spread it further.
Welcome, magic
Welcome sweet sun ray
Love is no secret
Look all around you
As the birds happily sang the song, they didn't realize that they were flying right past a castle. A castle that was huge and in the clouds. The walls were black and there were banners with figures on them showing a familiar figure spreading fear and chaos. It was the devil.
Welcome, magic
Welcome sweet sun ray (sweet sun ray)
Love is no secret
Look all around you
Welcome to this day
The castle belonged to the devil who was sleeping. His snoring was hard to ignore. But what couldn't be ignored was the song that came through the open window and entered the devil's ear, waking him up.
Look all around you
"Ah my dearest Alicia" said the devil with a grin on his face and slowly got up and walked towards the window where the music was getting louder. His grin did not disappear but grew wider and wider. "Time to bring you to me" he reached for his trident that was leaning against his bed and teleport away.
Love is no secret
Look all around you
Welcome to this day
Alicia finished her song and was able to control her body again. This calmed her down a lot, but she also realized what a mistake she had just made. Oh no. She had sung and the giant would definitely be on his way here. So they looked around frantically but she saw nothing. "Thank God," Alicia breathed out in relief as she leaned on the railing with her arms. She was satisfied that she hadn't seen the giant who probably wasn't even here.
On the other hand, Alicia suddenly noticed a huge shadow appearing over the tower where her bedroom or bedchamber was located. "Oh no" she said in a low voice as she saw two horns that now appeared behind the tower and looked more than familiar. She knew who those two horns belonged to, so she slowly walked into her bedroom without making a sound and hid behind the wall between the balcony and the four-poster bed, covering her mouth with both hands as she tried not to panic. Blood's staff was lying on the bed.
For good reason. Barely a second later, Alicia felt someone peering into the room. But she didn't want to look. Well, who wants to be greeted by a huge yellow eye? Not Alicia anyway. She suspected when she saw the horns that it might not be Lucifer. Otherwise she wouldn't be as scared as she was now.
"Hmm" said the voice before it disappeared and with it the shadow that had darkened the entire bedchamber. Alicia breathed a sigh of relief and carefully peeked out from behind the wall to make sure the devil had really left the balcony and wasn't messing with her. He was no longer in front of the balcony, but he was standing not far from the castle and seemed to be looking for Alicia in the trees, as he suspected that she was no longer in the castle. Well normally Alicia should have been abducted by now. But somehow she managed to escape him.
But she wasn't quite safe yet and she knew that. So Alicia seized the opportunity and disappeared from the bedchamber with Blood's staff and went downstairs. She didn't think twice and decided to disappear across the castle garden, hoping she wouldn't run into the devil.
Motivated, she went through the door into the castle garden and was immediately greeted by the two wolves who offered Alicia a ride on their backs. Alicia already knew why and accepted the offer and sat on Amarok's back.
Tala ran ahead while Amarok followed her and ran into the small forest that was in the castle garden. Alicia saw this as a way to escape the devil and probably reunite with the others. She very much hoped that the others were also trapped here in the world and that she was not alone. "I really hope that Cuppy, Blood and the others are here too" Alicia hoped so and looked to Blood's staff.
It was the only sign that the others must be here too.
However, this did not happen. Unfortunately, the long dress Alicia was wearing got caught in a bush and pulled her off the wolf's back without him noticing. Alicia realized this and landed on the ground. Blood's staff landed next to her. She watched both wolves run deeper into the forest. Calling after the wolves would do her no good, otherwise the devil would know where she was. So she decided to continue on foot herself. However, Alicia stepped on a branch that had fallen to the ground and split in two with a loud crack.
Alicia very much hoped that no one had heard. Or so she thought. But unfortunately What's going on now? suddenly, the ground began to shake, nearly throwing Alicia off her feet. She quickly caught herself, using Blood's staff to balance herself for support before frantically looking about herself to see what was happening. "Please tell me it's an earthquake" she said softly to herself as she noticed something.
Just then, a great shadow eclipsed her. The trees were uprooted one by one, leaving Alicia with no visual protection from the devil. Gasping, she spun around to see a massive yet familiar pair of giant demonic feet. The feet were gray and had three toes edged with saffron yellow claws and the long, slender legs were covered by familiar black fur.
Alicia gulped audibly with dread and recognition. Oh, please don't tell me it's I think it is that's the giant in the story. Although she didn't want to, Alicia turns her head upwards and her eyes widened in horror to find herself staring up at the giant version of the Devil himself. Even though she's normal sized, Alicia still felt unnerved by how huge the Devil's fairy-tale counterpart is and how unnerving he is. "Well, well, well, this is quite a lovely find," the Devil snickered.
He had already guessed that Alicia would be in the story. But he never thought she would look so beautiful as a princess. His grin widened and looked very much like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.
"Hello there, my little songbird"The devil waved to Alicia with a smile. Alicia had very little choices in her situation right now. She could transform into her wolf form and thus escape the devil. However, Alicia did not feel any of her powers in her body. Normally, she would hear a howl, roar or screech in her heart and transform into her forms as needed. But she didn't feel any of her forms and had to realize that she was a normal human again and that she wasn't able to use any of her demon abilities.
It couldn't have been better, could it? Even if she still could, it'd still won't be enough to fend off the giant Devil. And she doesn't have much experience in the use of magical artifacts that are not her own, so using Blood's Staff was certainly out of the question. So, the best and only thing she could do right now is to Run! But where should she flee to? She looked around and saw a entrance door which would probably take them outside. There she would at least have a chance of escaping from the devil.
Spinning on her heels, Alicia made a quick sprint to the door. She wanted to get away from the devil as quickly as possible before he could grab her with his huge hand. However, she didn't go very far due to the absurdly long length of her gown as she accidentally caught onto the skirt and tripped over, crashing to the ground, Blood's Staff flying out of her hand. Yep that hurts! The staff landed a foot away from her with a clutter.
Grunting, Alicia attempted to reach for it when a massive clawed hand suddenly reached down and enclosed around her body, trapping her arms to her side before lifting her up. It was not difficult to find out that it was the devil who was grinning even more than before. "Ah, ah, ah, my dear," the Devil scolded her mockingly like she were a toddler. "It's very unbecoming of a princess to run off on a gentleman who just wishes to make light conversation with her" A light conversation yes sure colleague! Alicia felt him tighten his grip around her.
She felt it and screamed."No!" as she struggles in the Devil's grasp as he continued to lift her up. "Let go of me! Put me down!" she ordered him, but she knew it would be useless. The Devil simply tightened his grip on her as he had lifted her up to his face smirking seductively. She hated this and seeing him in full size did not really please her. As insult to injury, he coiled his tail around Blood's staff and lifted it up from the ground, setting it in between his thumb and index finger of his free hand, examing it with a careful look.
Oh no don't tell me he's "Such marvelous craftsmanship," mused the Devil, mildly impressed. Yes he is interested in Blood's staff. He then returned his evil eyes on Alicia, who was still trapped in his clutches. "Tell me, my sweet, how did a charming little creature such as yourself happen such a pretty little staff such as this?".
"That's none of your business!" Alicia snapped as she squirmed about in the Devil's fist in an attempt to pry her arms free. "Give it back and get your claws off of me! Leave me alone!". The Devil simply chuckled as he has a devious smirk on his face. He actually found himself a most charming addition to his treasure collection and a new prized possession.
Not only could he do with such a human with a pretty voice to keep him entertained, but he also found literally a little wife to be. "I'm afraid I can't do that, princess," he replied as he lifted her chin up with the tip of his claw. "Such a darling little mortal like you are so hard to come by and you have such a lovely voice" Alicia groaned in horror, frustration and annoyance. You've got to be kidding me. But the devil was not pulling her leg.
"Come along, my pet," the Devil grinned as he pulls out his trident, Blood's staff transferred back into the grip of his tail. "Where to, please?" Alicia asked him as she still tried to free her arms while the devil took a few steps back from the castle wall, still staring at her seductively. "It's time we take you to your new home, shall we?" Wait don't tell me that we.
Laughing diabolically, the Devil tapped his staff as he, Alicia and Blood's staff literally at hand, disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The sky in the valley darkened as the river slowly dried up and the fields no longer yielded a fresh harvest. It was as if something had been taken from the happy valley that kept it alive.
The farmers and the animals sensed that something was wrong. A donkey that was about to eat an apple realized that it no longer tasted as juicy as usual and immediately spat it out again. "Do you feel that too?" a peasant boy said as he carried a basket full of pears into the house and looked towards the castle, behind which dark clouds created by the devil peered out.
His parents looked in the same direction as the boy and were just as worried as the other farmers and animals. For good reason, because the harvest no longer looked so fresh and was beginning to rot. The clouds that had previously been over the valley also disappeared so that the sun warmed the fields with its warmth and made any kind of liquid disappear.
The inhabitants of the valley realized that they could no longer live here. So they packed everything they needed and left the valley in a convoy of carriages. They knew that it would do them no good to stay here.
Before Alicia knew it, she had arrived at the castle of the giant devil. He was still laughing diabolically while Alicia tried to free herself, but it didn't work. "Don't worry, my dearest princess, you will be just as comfortable here as in your castle," he promised her. But she didn't really want to believe him. "Right Henchman?" he asked as Henchman came through a door wearing a black cooking apron.
In his hand he held a tray with a food hood that was probably more for the devil than for Alicia although her stomach was growling too. Well, she had hardly eaten anything anyway. "Of course boss but can you tell me who you were holding in your hands?" asked Henchman as he placed the tray on the table that was next to him and walked over to Alicia.
The devil smirked "Oh Henchman this is Princess Alicia my future wife and queen" his index and ring fingers rubbed against Alicia's body. She felt it and was disgusted. But Henchman found it rather sweet. "Aww boss you finally found someone" he said as he started to fly lightly over the ground with his stubby wings. Alicia didn't know whether to think it was cute or not.
But she was still in the devil's grip and was visibly annoyed that he had already decided to take her as his wife. "Henchman, if you would be so kind, could you please serve our princess a dish worthy of her?" the devil asked him as he sat down on the table. Alicia he still held tightly in his grip while he removed the food hood.
Yes she was hungry was more concerned about Blood, the cups, Varian and most importantly her husband Lucifer. Her real husband. But she was completely alone when she woke up in the castle. "Don't worry princess you will settle in here quickly" said the devil as he set her down on the table. She was glad to be out of his grip and only wanted one thing. To escape. So she ran away from the devil and was about to jump off the table when she suddenly found herself hanging upside down.
"Fleeing won't get you anywhere princess" he said and put her back on the table. A chain with a heart-shaped lock with devil's horns appeared around her waist. "And you don't want to make Henchman sad" Alicia looked from the lock to Henchman. He looked at Alicia with a sad expression while his lips twitched as if he was about to cry. Oh please "He has gone to such lengths to prepare a wonderful meal for you and you want to leave already?". He removed the hood and under it was a small dining table with a plate was Alicia's favorite dish. Meatloaf with roast potatoes, carrots, gravy according to her grandmother's recipe and beans.
"You don't want him to be sad, do you princess?" the devil asked her. Alicia rolled her eyes in annoyance when she saw Henchman's googly eyes. "Okay you win" she said annoyed as she went to the dining table while the devil looked behind her smiling as Henchman rejoiced. She didn't want to, but her stomach was rumbling even more than before, so she ate her food while Henchman left, leaving her alone with the giant devil.
Oh man this feels more than weird. She wanted to escape but with this damn long dress she could forget it. "Not to be overzealous princess but" she looked up at him. "How about we spend the first night together?" he asked her. She swallowed. Not only because she was nervous but also because she just had something in her mouth. "What do you mean?" she asked in concern. The devil took her hand and held her again. But not too tight. After all, she had just eaten something.
"What I mean is you will share a bed with me". What?! She didn't want to believe it. You in bed with him? No way! Alicia didn't hesitate for long and was about to leave when she got up. Before she could do that, he grabbed her, got up and went with her up the stairs to his bedroom. Oh no, no, no. She tried to free herself but unfortunately she wasn't strong enough and had to watch as he climbed into bed with her.
Lucifer I hope very much you do not resent me. She was still faithful to him no matter what. "So here we are, my dearest," said the devil as the torches on the wall lit up the room. and snapped his fingers to light up the room where Alicia was with the devil. They were in a medieval bedroom with a red four-poster bed with black curtains, a desk with black wood on which stood a mirror with a golden edge that hung on the wall above the desk and a closet also with black wood, a cozy corner with several pillows similar to Alicia's bedroom in the castle only the pillows were less colorful but rather rose red.
The devil walked over to the bed and pulled the curtain aside as he lifted the comforter and lay down in bed with Alicia. She lay on his chest and was covered with the blanket while the devil's fur served as a mattress. "Just a little darkening and then our fun can begin," said the devil as he pulled the right cord hanging next to his bed to close the curtain.
Now she was alone with him and couldn't do anything. His yellow eyes stared into her blue and green eyes while he stroked her slowly and carefully with his claw. "Don't worry my dearest Alicia, I promise you'll like what I'm going to do to you." That doesn't sound very nice, Alicia thought to herself and swallowed nervously.
"I like your black hair very much" The devil played with her hair while Alicia turned her head to the side with a look of disgust and hoped that the devil would leave her alone. "I think I will call you my black rose princess" but he continued to play with her hair while his nose touched her head."Or rather my songbird?" he was not sure yet what he would call her.
But Alicia didn't care. She tried to ignored him. "Whatever your nickname will be I hope you will sing something nice for me soon because I like your singing voice very much" Alicia felt disgusted and was about to speak her mind when she realized how the devil lifted her up and kissed her on the mouth on purpose. Or rather her whole face. "Good night my love" the devil laid her on his chest again and covered her up while he fell asleep contentedly and with flushed cheeks.
Alicia however couldn't really fall asleep. How could she? She didn't want any of this, and yet here she was. She couldn't use any of her powers and she couldn't escape. Oh guys I hope you are well. She was very worried about the others and hoped that she was not the only one in the world. Blood's wand was with her and possibly the only sign that the others must be here too. Possibly Lucifer too. At least she hoped so.
Sad and depressed, she laid her head on the devil's chest and said quietly to herself "Lucifer, I miss you". The devil heard this and opened his right eye and looked at her. She is still so intent on being with this copy and not with me? he didn't believe it and decided to prove to Alicia that he was better than the copy.
Meanwhile in the valley, Cuppy was looking out of a farmhouse. He and the others were inside and heard something loud driving past the house. Curious, Cuphead and Mugman also looked out of the window to see what the noise was. To the shock of the three cups, there was a convoy of covered wagons and carriages leaving the valley with everything they could carry and drag. "What's going on here?" asked Cuphead while Mugman and Cuppy couldn't answer his question.
Even Blood and Varian, who were watching from outside, didn't know what was going on. Neither seemed to be looking at the convoy at all, but rather at the castle that could be seen in the sky. Both knew or suspected that this castle would belong to the giant. "And you really think she's in there?" Varian asked, sweating nervously and hoping that Alicia wasn't in there but in the other castle behind them in the middle of the valley.
"If she was in this castle, the others wouldn't want to leave the valley, would they?" Blood was not wrong. The valley was becoming more barren by the second and resembled a desert or wasteland. The trees lost their leaves, the corn plants toppled over and the river that flowed through the valley dried up.
The cow that was behind the house of Blood, Varian and the three cups did not notice the convoy and continued to eat the drying grass that was falling apart as the cow pulled on it. "The cow didn't seem to mind eating dry grass," Mugman observed, while Cuphead and Cuppy looked slightly disgusted. But the cow was not here for nothing. It was part of the story and was exchanged for the legendary magic beans. The only question that remained was when and where the seller would appear.
Now, as if on cue, the five heard a musical whistle that grew louder and louder and came closer and closer to the group. Confused, Blood and Varian looked in the direction from which the whistling was coming and saw someone with a small cart pulled by a donkey on which were various crates and bags filled with different goods. A hooded man wearing a blue coat, a black hat that resembled a witch's hat and a green scarf was sitting on the small carriage.
Not much of his face was recognizable with the exception of his eyes and his red nose, which resembled that of the devil. The devil saw the group and stopped his carriage in front of the house from which the three cups came. "Ah customers. I can't believe I'm experiencing this with the current situation in the valley." Joyful and happy, he got down from his carriage and walked over to the group while offering them a wide variety of goods.
"Do you want something extraordinary like this vase here that belonged to the royal family?" He pulled said vase out of his coat, which was white and looked like it was made of marble. But that was not the case because as soon as the vase was out of the cloak it broke into several pieces. Nervously, the vendor pushed it under the carriage and offered the group another item for sale "Or maybe this harp that can sing by itself?" he played with it to prove that it could sing. But since he played so badly, the harp didn't sing, or rather the figure stuck to the harp like a figurehead and seemed rather annoyed by the bad music the seller was playing and slapped him in the face.
He immediately stopped playing and threw the harp behind his back in annoyance, offering the group one last thing before giving up. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a mysterious box "Or are you more interested in these magic beans?" he opened the box and a greenish light could be seen coming from the beans.
The group saw the glow and stared at the box with a look of interest. This pleased the vendor who realized that the group was interested and closed the box before Cuphead could reach for the beans and pinch his fingers. "But I don't sell my goods for nothing," the vendor warned, stretching out his other hand and demanding payment from the group. But they had no money and couldn't pay for the beans. But the vendor offered them a barter deal. His eyes fell on the cow, which was still eating dry grass.
"So you want to sell us the beans for our cow?" Cuppy asked the vendor. He nodded, confirming his question. The three cups, Blood and Varian looked at each other and nodded in agreement to accept the deal. Blood walked over to the cow with a rope and tied it around the bell she was wearing around her neck and handed the rope to the vendor while he handed Blood the box of beans.
"Thank you for the business my friends," said the salesman, tying the rope to the end of his carriage before climbing on and giving the group another tip. "What you should know is that these beans only grow in the moonlight" his finger pointed upwards towards the sun which was slowly setting. A hint that it would soon be night.
Satisfied with his business, the salesman drove on, leaving the group behind who were in the process of planting the beans. Thanks to Varian's technology, they were able to plant the beans. However, Blood could not speed up the process as his wand was missing. So they had to wait until nightfall. Until then, they couldn't do anything.
But two questions were still unanswered. Firstly, where was Alicia and secondly, where was Lucifer. Blood didn't suspect that Lucifer would be the giant. Because if he was, he would have his wand back by now. So where was he?
Alicia slowly opened her eyes as she looked around and the first thing she saw was the face of the sleeping giant devil that was not far away from her. Oh great Yes, he was fast asleep, there was no doubt about it. Just like the hand that forced Alicia to lie in his fur. Damn it, how do I get out of here without the big guy noticing I'm gone? It would not be the first time that she would escape from him.
She didn't want to be here any longer and decided to leave. Slowly and silently, Alicia climbed down from the devil's chest and landed on the mattress, which felt like a waterbed. The devil was still sleeping soundly which reassured Alicia who looked at him and exhaled with relief before looking down at the floor which was a long way down and at its current size looked like it went on for miles.
The question now was how to get downstairs without hurting herself and without waking up the devil. Well her question was quickly answered as Alciia saw the cord the devil had pulled earlier to close the curtain. "Okay now or never" Alicia said quietly to herself and walked over to the cord and clung to it as she slowly climbed down, trying not to look down.
After all, she was terrified of heights. So she decided to do the same thing that Donkey from Shrek had done when he and Shrek crossed the wooden bridge that hung over the lava lake. Not to look down and to go forward, or in her case, down, step by step.
She climbed down slowly and was at the height of the bed frame when she heard the devil wake up. He yawned and stretched his arms and looked at his chest with sleepy eyes "Good morning my..." but when his eyes could see more clearly he realized that Alicia was no longer lying on his chest. "Alicia?!" he got up and looked all over the bed to see if Alicia wasn't under the pillow, the blanket or the mattress. He looked around and only realized when he put the mattress down that Alicia was hanging from the cord.
Both stared at each other and said nothing until the devil grinned diabolically and seductively at Alicia. "Morning my beautiful black rose" he said and grabbed her with his claw while he tenderly caressed her cheek with his claw tip. She tried to hold on to the cord but the devil was stronger and she could no longer hold on. He continued to stroke her and sat down cross-legged on the bed while purring softly. Alicia felt disgusted when she heard this and said annoyed "Morning".
"Why so bad-tempered my love?" he asked her a"Don't you like that?" he continued to stroke her and slowly ran his fingers down to Alicia's chin, which he lifted slightly. "Hmm let me think" Alicia said as she tapped her chin thoughtfully with her fingers. The devil was waiting for an answer from her.
"You kidnapped me, you brought me into the castle unintentionally, went to bed with me without my permission and want to make me your wife without me wanting any of it!" she counted with her fingers. So no wonder why she was so annoyed and tried to free herself from his grip while the devil continued to stroke her.
Alicia sensed this and tried to free herself even more while she felt him rubbing his cheek against her body again. "Let go of me!" but the Devil ignored her "No I won't my love!" and walked with her out of the bedroom down the stairs to the dining table. There was a lot of food on them. All typical breakfast food. From eggs with bacon, slices of toast, butter and jam to bowls of scrambled eggs. "I think eating something might change your mind, my love," Alicia was about to say, but her growling stomach interrupted her and she admitted defeat.
Satisfied, the devil sat down and used his trident to conjure up a small table. This stood in front of the devil's plate. The chair Alicia was sitting on looked in the direction of the devil, who grinned seductively. But suddenly she heard a jingle and looked to the devil's right arm where a gray bracelet appeared with a chain attached to the lock that was tied around her waist. Damn. She also noticed that Henchman was staring at her alongside the devil while holding a basket full of toast slices in his hands.
"Um, could I please eat in peace?" asked Alicia as the devil and Henchman looked at each other before granting Alicia's wish and leaving her alone. At least for the moment. What Alicia didn't notice was the devil's claw slowly creeping up behind her. He ran towards her with his index and middle finger as if they were two legs.
Alicia didn't feel it and continued to eat while the devil grinned. What Alicia didn't know was that it wasn't morning, but that the sun was just setting. Chuckling, he decided to change the meal. Suddenly there were no eggs and bacon on Alicia's plate but a chicken and potato stew. She was about to say something but decided not to and ate her stew while the devil stroked her head with his fingers.
Meanwhile in the farmhouse.
Everyone slept soundly in their beds while the clouds flew over the land so that the moon shone on the land. The moonlight shone on the bean, which began to grow and get bigger and bigger. The beanstalk that was once small grew rapidly until it reached into the clouds and beyond.
Nobody knew that five small magic beans were capable of creating such a huge beanstalk. Varian would burst with amazement because he didn't want to believe it. After all, it was not physically possible. But the same could be said for the castle and the garden that was above the clouds where Henchman was.
"La di da" he sang and was watering the plants and vegetables with a water hose when something broke out not far away from him. "Huh?" he heard the noise and walked closer to it and saw the part of the beanstalk coming through the cloud cover. Confused and thoughtful, he took a closer look at the beanstalk. "Hmm since when does the boss have beanstalk in the garden?" He knew that the boss didn't like beans so he was confused as to what this one was doing in the garden.
But before he could do anything, "Henchman where's the tea?" the devil roared out of the window while holding Alicia with his tail. She tried to free herself until she wondered why the devil was asking for tea. Don't tell me he... She was already dreading it when Henchman came to the window with a cup of what kind of tea it would be.
This tea was not for the devil but for Alicia, who was terrified and tried to free herself even more. But it did her no good. "Don't worry, my love, this tea will help you sleep better." Oh no, please don't. She refused to drink the tea the devil offered her. But the devil forced her to drink the tea and opened her mouth with the tip of his claw and inserted some of the tea. Alicia swallowed the contents reluctantly and coughed because she had choked. "Easy, easy my dearest" the devil tapped her back with his index finger to make Alicia stop coughing.
She was about to say something when she suddenly realized that she was getting tired. "What's in the... *yawn*?" Barely a second later, Alicia was fast asleep and lying in the devil's hand, who stroked her with his other hand "Sleeping nettles my love" the devil replied and took her back to his bedroom while Henchman tidied up the dining table.
While the devil lay down in his bed with Alicia, Blood and the others woke up and saw the beanstalk that had grown behind the house and reached up into the sky. All three cups could not close their mouths as they followed the beanstalk with their eyes. Mugman even toppled over when he looked all the way up.
"And we have to climb up the whole beanstalk?" Varian asked as he looked at Blood, who confirmed this question with a nod of his head. The fox swallowed nervously before he and the three cups followed the wolf to the beanstalk to climb up it. "Unfortunately, it says in the story that we have to climb it" and lifted the three cups with both hands so that they could climb onto the first leaf while the wolf offered to help the fox up as well.
Varian declined with thanks and jumped onto the leaf by himself while the cups had already climbed further up. Blood wanted to follow the others. But he wondered where Lucifer was. Blood knew that Alicia's husband must be here too. He had been dragged in here too. But the question was where was he? Well his question will soon be answered because Lucifer was not far away from the group and Alicia.
The group climbed further up the beanstalk, getting closer and closer to the end as the sun slowly came over the horizon. The land was bathed in sunlight, as were the castle and the garden in the sky. Once at the top, the cups watched the sunrise before looking at the castle, which was huge. "Oh mama," Mugman marveled as his jaw dropped even further. Cuppy was shocked and Cuphead was the only one who was happy to see the castle.
"Are we going into the castle?" he asked excitedly like a toddler while Cuppy tried to close Mugman's mouth but it kept opening. Blood and Varian climbed up the beanstalk last and now saw the castle and how huge it was. The plants growing in the garden they were in almost resembled redwood trees, although they were only tomato plants.
However, to answer Cuphead's question. Yes, they had to go into the castle to free Alicia. They couldn't finish the story any other way. Alicia had to come down the beanstalk with them otherwise they would remain trapped here in the story for all eternity. That's why Blood and the others made their way to the castle, which was a journey in itself. After all, they had to go through a garden that looked more like a jungle for the size of the group.
"So beautiful" the devil stroked Alicia who was sleeping soundly on his chest and blushed more with every second while his lips more or less formed into a kiss that he couldn't resist giving Alicia. After all, she didn't feel any of it anyway as she was fast asleep thanks to the sleeping tea.
Even when Henchman came into the room and reminded the devil that breakfast was ready, Alicia didn't realize that the devil was holding her in his hand and walking down the stairs with her. "Oh, she's fast asleep," Henchman chuckled when he noticed this. "Yes, sound asleep and I like it better that way," agreed the devil, stroking Alicia's head.
They both went downstairs to the dining room. Blood and the others were already there, looking around the dining table for Alicia and Blood's wand. But neither was to be found anywhere. In fact, they didn't even know exactly where Alicia had been captured or where the wand was. The only thing on the table was food. Either standing open on the table or in boxes. However, the group didn't want to give up and decided to keep searching until suddenly the ground started to shake like an earthquake. The three cups, Blood and Varian knew that the giant was approaching the table and would see them if they didn't hide.
"Damn it! Hide!" the cups didn't hesitate for long and hid behind or in food. Cuphead, for example, hid in a sandwich topped with sausage, cheese, lettuce, tomato and a pickle with an olive on it. Mugman and Cuppy climbed into a small carafe with milk in it. Blood and Varian, on the other hand, didn't really have time to hide, so they hid behind the vase of flowers in the middle of the table while the devil just came to the table and sat down.
Curious as to who the giant was, Blood peered curiously from behind the vase and was shocked to see that it was the devil. His eyes widened further as his gaze fell on the devil's hand. "Alicia," he whispered and couldn't believe it when he saw her. She was lying unconscious in the devil's hand before he laid her down in front of his plate and stroked her while Alicia moaned softly. The wolf knew that something was wrong and blamed the devil. Alicia would never allow herself to be treated like that.
Blood tried not to get angry and calmed down until he saw the devil reach for a box and take out his wand. What made him white-hot, however, was that the devil used his wand as a toothpick. Blood growled with rage. He knew that his wand was indestructible. But seeing the remains of lettuce clinging to the crystal not only disgusted him, it angered the wolf. Varian realized how angry Blood was and tried to calm him down before he did something he would regret.
"I know you're angry but we have to-" before the fox could continue, however, the two realized how the devil had reached for the sandwich Cuphead was hiding in. "A sandwich all for me," the devil said with a grin as he opened his mouth and took a bite. Alicia's eyes opened and she looked around and realized that she was lying on the food table. She was about to ask what had happened and why she was lying here until she looked up at the devil and saw him swallowing half of his sand duster. From the half that was still in the devil's hands, however, she noticed something moving.
"Oh no" she saw what it was that was wriggling around in the sandwich. It was Cuphead's lower body trying to hide in the rest of the sandwich before the devil could see it. Alicia was glad to see him on the one hand and knew that Cuphead wouldn't be the only one in the castle. On the other hand, she was scared when she saw the devil trying to bite into the sandwich with his mouth wide open.
She knew she had to act quickly and shouted "Stop!" to stop the devil from biting into his sandwich, where Cuphead could finally hide without the devil being able to see him. His eyes wandered to Alicia who tried to sit down but had problems with her dress so the devil helped her by offering his finger for her to hold on. Alicia sensed that he was looking for an answer and looked from the devil to Cuphead, who looked at the other end of the sandwich and exhaled with relief. "What is it my love?" asked the devil, lifting Alicia's chin with his claw so that she could look into his eyes, "Is something wrong?" Alicia didn't know what to say. She tried as best she could to give Cuphead a chance to escape.
"I... uh..." she thought about what to say as the devil stared at her in confusion and then seductively before holding her in his hand and lifting her to his face so he could continue to watch her as he demanded. "Sing for me" Alicia swallowed nervously as she heard this and took a step back, which did her little good as the devil pushed her closer to him with his index finger as he repeated his request. "Come my dearest sing for me. I know you want to" Rather reluctantly. After all, Alicia was a living being and not a wind-up music box.
But then she remembered that the giant fell asleep to the song. That would mean Alicia could escape with the others. However, she would not be completely free yet. The lock around her waist was still an obstacle to her freedom, so she tried to look for the key. No matter where it was, Alicia had no other choice and began to sing.
In my favorite dream
Everyone is so delightful
No one's mean or spiteful
In my favorite dream
The devil listened to the song and smiled contentedly, setting Alicia down on the table while he rested his head on it with his arms folded and his tail wagging slowly back and forth like a happy dog that just got a treat.
Yes, and in my favorite dream
There my heart can go romancing
Dancing to a heavenly theme
But there's something else I look forward to
It's a secret, but here's a clue
He's my favorite you-know-who
You're the hero of my most favorite dream
Alicia moved as she continued to sing and the devil followed her with his eyes, not even realizing that Cuphead had hidden behind the vase where the others were. Mugman and Cuppy had actually decided to hide somewhere else as they feared the devil would find them more quickly. But when they heard Alicia's singing they knew it wouldn't be long before the devil fell asleep. After all, in the story the giant had fallen asleep after the princess had sung to him.
In his right hand you'll find the key
The right hand, go carefully
As the devil's eyes grew heavier and heavier, Alicia noticed the key in his right hand, hinting in song that Blood and the others would find the key there that would free Alicia from her captivity. But the group couldn't intervene yet as the devil tried to stay awake even though his eyelids were almost closed.
It was only when Alicia gave him a kiss on the cheek that the devil fell asleep and dropped the key, which stopped right in front of Blood and the others. Like the lock around Alicia's waist, it was silver and had a key head that looked like the devil. "Come on guys!" Blood, Varian and the three cups grabbed the key and dragged it over to Alicia.
She was relieved to see the group and let the three mugs hug her while Blood and Varian inserted the key into the keyhole, picking the lock and freeing Alicia from her captivity. Relieved, she hugged Blood and Varian, who were just as happy as Alicia that she was all right. Nobody really had to say anything. The facial expressions were enough to say that the group only wanted one thing. To get out of the castle as quickly as possible and finish the story before the devil wakes up. So Blood didn't hesitate for long and used his wand to teleport the group out of the castle and appeared with the others in front of the beanstalk.
Well, not quite. They still had to walk a bit to get there. After all, everything up here was huge. That included the distance. What was only five steps for the devil was five hundred for Alicia and the others. So they walked on, hoping that the devil wouldn't notice that Alicia was gone. But unfortunately it happened that the devil was awakened by a mishap. A rake that was leaning against the door to the dining room tipped over and woke up the devil, who only now realized that Alicia was gone.
Frightened and anxious, the devil looked everywhere for Alicia until he realized that his toothpick was missing and he already suspected what had happened. Furious, he looked out of the window and saw Alicia and the others on their way to the beanstalk in the distance. The devil did not like that at all.
"Come back here with my little songbird!" The Devil roared as he pursued the six escapees. "I kidnapped her fair and square! She belongs to me!" Alicia and the others heard it and stopped and looked towards the castle from which the giant devil had come "Faster!" Mugman screamed as he and the others put in more speed as best as they could as the Devil thundered after them, not far behind.
Everyone was faster except Alicia who was still having problems with her dress and was having a hard time keeping up. Blood noticed. "Easier said than done!" Alicia cried as she picked up a handful of her skirt as best as she could. "This is why I don't wear dresses!".
Blood was quick to solve the solution as he scoops Alicia in his arms and carried her bridal style as he kept running. "Hold tight!" the Wolf Wizard told her. Alicia did not say no to this and held on tight. The Devil snarled furiously as he kept chasing the fools making off with his treasure. "He's gaining on us!" Cuppy cried. "Hang in there!" Varian shouted encouragingly as he spotted the beanstalk.
They were able to escape and get rid of the devil for a while. "We're almost there!" Cuphead and Mugman screamed as the Devil lunges forward, making a diving grab for Alicia and her friends. Blood managed to place the devil with the rake, which had fallen over earlier, in front of the devil with the help of his magic wand. The devil stepped on it and got the stick in the face. Like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons, the devil grumbled.
The moment Alicia, Blood, Varian and the cups heard it, they made a fleeting dash for the beanstalk. How Alicia wish that her powers were working, she would be able to carry her friends to the beanstalk and to safety in her wyvern form. She felt so helpless. And just when it seems they were out of the frying pan, they were still in the fire as the Devil destroyed the rake with his trident out of sheer rage and took on the form of an angry bull, bellowing in rage and snorting streams of fire out of his nostrils.
Bellowing some more, the demonic bull galloped after the group, snorting and puffing through his nose. "Doesn't anything stop this guy?!" Cuphead wailed as the cloudy ground shook beneath the group's feet due to the heavy pounding of hooves. The gang finally reached the beanstalk. The moment Blood sets her down, Alicia wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but she knew that had to wait because the Devil is still after her as well as her friends.
"Hurry!" Cuppy cried as he takes Alicia's hand as Varian climbs down the beanstalk. "Wait!" Alicia exclaimed. She didn't want to move on yet without doing one little thing. Reaching down, she makes a tear in each side of the skirt, making a small slit to give her extra mobility during her descent down the beanstalk. Stupid dress "Okay, let's go!" Alicia yelled. Cuphead and Mugman also arrived and were ready to climb down but Blood stopped. This confused the others very much.
"Blood, c'mon!" Mugman urged."You all go ahead!" Blood responded as he takes his staff from its sheath and boldly turns towards the Devil, who is still Charging towards him and the others. "I'll take care of the Devil."Alicia didn't want to leave Blood behind, but she trusts him on what he's doing and began to climb down the beanstalk.
As the Devil charges towards him, Blood brandish his staff and uttered a spell. He shot a beam of magic at a nearby beanstalk vine. The vine suddenly stretches, straightening into a perfect line on the ground. The moment the Devil ran over the vine, he trips over it, accidentally entangling his left back hoof with it and stumbles forward. Blood winces as the Devil smacked face first into the beanstalk, comically dangling by one leg that is still tangled with the vine.
Groaning, the distinctly dazed Devil morphed back into his normal form as his arms dangled beneath his head. Nodding with satisfaction, Blood leaps down and begins his own descent down the beanstalk to follow his friends to freedom. The Devil quickly recovers as he shook his head and spotted the thieves climbing down the beanstalk with his princess.
Fueled by pure rage, the Devil growled as he angrily rips the vine off with ease, freeing his foot before he began to climb down the beanstalk himself after the group."You'll never escape me!" roared the Devil as he continues climbing down with zero problems because of his sharp claws.
The group continued down the beanstalk, hoping to reach the ground very soon and then get rid of the devil. But Alicia forgot one important thing that was very important in the story. They had to bring down the beanstalk. "Say guys do you have a saw with you or something else we can use to bring down the beanstalk?".
The others hadn't thought about that. To be more precise, they wanted to escape with Alicia without the devil noticing. But that went well, as you could see. What nobody could see in advance, however, was how the leaf Alicia had just landed on began to crack and plummeted with her. "Alicia!" screamed the three cups while Blood and Varian just looked shocked and didn't know what to do.
Alicia plunged into the depths, the devil was after them and the way down was still a long way off. It was a stupid situation they were in. However, there was good news. While Alicia was still falling, someone appeared at the bottom of the beanstalk to catch her. She felt that she had landed on something soft and opened her eyes in confusion, realizing that she was lying on a huge hand. A hand that Alicia knew all too well because when she looked in front of her she saw a familiar face that she had missed for a long time.
"Hey my love" it was Lucifer who was also a giant and had caught Alicia when she fell down the beanstalk. "Are you okay?" he asked her, stroking her cheeks while Alicia hugged his thumb with joy. She was glad to see him again and had completely forgotten that the others and the devil were still climbing down the beanstalk. Of course, the devil saw Lucifer and was about to say something or swing his trident when Blood and the others disappeared from the beanstalk in a cloud of smoke and appeared in the palm of Lucifer's hand while the beanstalk snapped and fell over with the devil.
The devil felt himself landing on the hard floor, or rather falling onto the castle, and admitted defeat. For the moment. He knew that Lucifer would be a challenge for him. But still he didn't give up and wanted Alicia for himself. Come what may.
"Can we please get out of the book? I don't want to stay in this dress one second longer!" Lucifer heard his wife's plea. Although he would like it if she wore a dress, he granted her wish and disappeared with her and the others from the book and was back in the living room where they found Elder Kettle asleep in the armchair while soft radio music played.
You could tell that he hadn't noticed the arrival of the group and the whole adventure they had. Elder Kettle was old and fell asleep very quickly and deeply. That's why the group decided not to say a word about the whole thing and decided to enjoy the rest of the day in peace.
The three cups played with marbles in the brothers' bedroom while Blood continued to study the treasure map. Varian tinkered with his invention and Alicia and Lucifer lay contentedly in the guest room and slept. It was very peaceful for the two of them. But this peaceful time would disappear very quickly. Because what neither Alicia nor Lucifer suspected was that the devil was ready to separate them from each other for good. But the question was how?
Songs: Welcome to this Day from Brother Bear 2
My Favorite Dream from Mickey and the Beanstalk