The story continues.

Small spoiler warning in advance for the next chapter. Some things are used from the transcript of "A Very Devil Wedding".

Unfortunately, an episode that never made it on the show. It's a shame, but it's really worth reading the transcript.

And we slowly are coming closer to an end to the Second Season Arc.

Until then

The mood in the cottage changed abruptly when Alicia finished her sentence. Cuphead, Mugman and Cuppy were shocked and shaking like a leaf. Blood didn't know what to say. Or whether he should say anything at all. His thoughts were somewhere else entirely. Just like Varian. On the one hand, he was glad to learn that Eira was here. On the other hand, he had been worried about Eira and didn't know if she was here or not. The brooch was the only thing he had of her so far.

The two were childhood friends and were almost rarely apart. Being reunited with her would not only please Varian. But unfortunately there was a problem. Hearing that Eira was also on Inkwell Isle's was one thing. But to learn that she was a captive of the devil was not at all pleasing. Especially not since the devil would only release her on one condition.

He wants Alicia. He wanted her for himself. Everyone knew that. Everyone who was in the cottage, with the exception of Elder Kettle, of course.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy" Mugman nervously paced back and forth as he said this, not knowing what to do himself. Alicia was silent and leaned back, almost ignoring the caresses her husband Lucifer was giving her to calm her down while she herself was conflicted and didn't know what to do. She could go to the underworld and follow the devil's requests to free Eira. But Alicia also knew, or almost suspected, that the devil would use every opportunity to keep her in the underworld. Be it through his power, his demons or something completely different that he hadn't tried before.

Anything could happen while she was alone in the underworld. The emphasis was on alone because the devil only wanted her. He didn't want Cuppy or Cuphead's souls as a condition for freeing Eira. His desire was for Alicia. That was all he wanted. That was certain. But Alicia was not interested in him. She wanted nothing to do with him, let alone be with him at all.

She was married to Lucifer and was his wife and queen. You didn't have to put a crown on her head to see that. Alicia already possessed a royal aura and power. Such power was rarely felt on the Inkwell Isles. If at all. Alicia was never interested in using her demon powers on innocent inhabitants just to harm them even more. No, she wasn't like that. Alicia was reserved and shy and not someone who would harm other people just for fun. She only used her powers to protect others or herself.

"What should we do? We can't just send Alicia to the underworld alone and hope the devil will release Varian's girlfriend." Varian's cheeks flushed slightly as Cuphead said the last sentence. Actually, Eira was only friends with him. There was no real relationship between the two of them like there was with Alicia and Lucifer. Although he had been developing feelings for her for several months before he started working with her on the portal project. Every time she praised him or winked at him, his cheeks flushed and he had this strange feeling. He didn't know what it was, but every time he saw Eira, when she smiled, laughed or stroked his ear, the feeling came back.

He tried to convince himself that it was nothing special, but he quickly realized that this feeling was love. Love that he had developed for Eira. And well, he wasn't alone. Eira also developed feelings for him. However, they both found it difficult to show their feelings to each other. Either the timing wasn't right or something else got in the way. But now Varian knew he had to tell her. He had to tell her that he loved her when she was reunited with him.

"I'm going" the group was confused when they heard this sentence and their eyes wandered to Alicia who was standing with her back to them and looking towards the front door. "My love. What are you up to?" Lucifer asked as he approached her and reached for her hand. But Alicia pulled it away before he could touch it with his fingers. "I..." Alicia thought about what to say as Lucifer slowly pulled her closer with his arms and tail wrapped around her waist. The others were silent and waited for Alicia to reveal her answer. "I will go to the underworld and get Eira back" Alicia was confident in her statement and already knew that the others especially the three cups and Lucifer were against this statement as they knew it was not a good idea.

"Are you sure about that Ali?" asked Cuphead as he hugged Alicia's leg tightly to stop her from doing what she was about to do. "Yeah, you know how the devil is," added Mugman, clutching her other leg. Neither of them wanted her to leave. But Alicia had made up her mind. She wanted to go to the underworld and free Eira. No matter what the devil had planned, she would be prepared. Or at least she hoped so.

She didn't really know what was coming. Nobody knew. But they could guess. Luckily she had a technically gifted fox as a friend who might be able to help out. "Hmm..." Varian mused as he thought of something. "Wait, I might have something that could help us see and hear while Alicia is in the Underworld." The puzzled looks the others and Alicia gave him were hard to ignore. How would they be able to hear what Alicia hears or sees? Well, thanks to a small gadget Varian was holding in his hands that resembled a Bluetooth headset. It was silver-white with a blue and green glow that previously glowed red until Varian activated it with the help of his bracelet.

This headset was small enough to disappear under Alicia's hair so that the devil wouldn't notice. At least Varian hoped so, because they didn't know whether the devil would stick to the deal or not. He could still keep Eira with him and probably torture her while he had Alicia in his power. He was known for that. That's why Lucifer was worried about her and didn't want her to go off on her own. But he knew that, like him, she could sometimes be stubborn and hard to persuade. He liked that about her. That she leaves her shy shell and uses her own mind.

But in the current situation, he knew it was a risk. A risk of losing her. Forever. He didn't want that and neither did Alicia. But that was the only way she knew right now. "How does the headset work?" she asked Varian as the fox approached her and pressed the headset into her hand while Lucifer hugged her tightly and kissed her head several times as if he wanted to say goodbye. But Alicia would see him again as soon as Eira was freed. "Well, it's quite simple," Varian said as he activated the headset and connected it to his bracelet so that a holographic image could be seen showing the group Alicia was looking at. "So the headset is connected to my Bracelet and should allow us to see what you see Alicia" his voice could be heard twice because of the recording on his Bracelet.

That's why he switched it off first so that they didn't have to hear everything twice and three times. But Alicia still had a question. "What does Eira look like?" Alicia didn't know what she looked like and wanted to bring back the real one and not a copy that the devil had created to deceive the group. That's why Varian activated something on his Bracelet and a hologram appeared.

An anthropomorphic Arctic fox with a lithe build and covered in white fur appeared above the bracelet. She has long white white hair with an icy blue streak, two strands braided over her shoulders while she has a small strand in the back is tied into a small ponytail. She has a small violet blue nose and light blue eyes. She wears a long-sleeved icy blue dress with a white ribbon around her waist and the bottom of skirt has a white lining with blue snowflake printings. The skirt stops above her knees, revealing midnight blue leggings and icy blue boots with white flaps and Pom-Pom strings. Around her neck, she has a silver heart shaped locket with a snowflake shaped diamond embedded into it.

"She looks beautiful," Mugman mentioned as he stared at the hologram. "No wonder you miss her Vari," added Cuphead. The fox's cheeks flushed again. He wanted to say something, but suddenly the sound of an elevator opened its doors.

Confused, the group looked around to see where the noise was coming from until they spotted the elevator from outside where Henchman was waiting for someone. The someone was Alicia. She knew what to do and didn't hesitate for long and walked out of the house while the others looked after her with depressed and worried expressions on their faces. No one knew what would happen while Alicia was alone in the underworld. "Ah Miss Powell," Henchman greeted Alicia with a wagging tail and a broad grin on his face. She herself remained silent and said nothing as she entered the elevator and looked at the others.

Her eyes wandered to the three cups, tears flowing from their eyes, Varian, Blood. Both with neutral expressions that could not really describe whether they were positive or negative. And finally to Lucifer. Her husband. His ears drooped while his lips no longer smiled. He was sad and worried about Alicia. I miss you already. she said in her thoughts as the elevator door closed in front of her face. Henchman didn't hesitated and flipped the switch with a grin and the elevator was surrounded by flames. Flames that slowly rose and engulfed the elevator before disappearing, leaving only the burning outline of where the elevator had been.

Alicia was gone and on her way to the underworld. She was on her own without the help of her friends and her husband. "Do you think Alicia will make it?" asked Mugman, worried about her. Cuphead and Cuppy looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Actually, no one knew. Well, not quite. They didn't know until Varian activated the holotransmitter, which just came on and showed a holographic image of Alicia and Henchman sitting or crouching on a stool next to the elevator lever while pushing it down. "Here they are," Varian explained and showed it to the others.

The three cups looked at the hologram with curiosity but also concern. Alicia and Henchman stood next to each other and said nothing. The latter's eyes wandered from the lever to Alicia and back to the lever again. Silence could be heard in the elevator. Well, it wasn't completely silent. Alicia sighed and Henchman hummed a song that Alicia had difficulty identifying.

But after a minute she was able to figure out that it was the theme tune from Roll the Dice. At least that's what it sounded like. But his humming disappeared when Henchman suddenly noticed something. His eyes wandered to Alicia, whose human form was slowly changing. Fur grew out of her skin and covered her entire body, her ears took on the shape of wolf ears, two white horns peeked out of her black hair, her fingernails grew a little and were white like her horns.

From her pants grew a long, flexible tail with a devil's tail tip that was not as thick as that of the devil himself. They were thinner and more elegant. There was no trace of Alicia's street shoes. Instead, there were two feet with five toes and five claws. Henchman already knew that Alicia was one of the few who had five fingers instead of four. To be on the safe side, he counted his fingers and came up with four instead of five. That confused him a little. But he shrugged his shoulders and ignored it. For good reason - they had arrived in the underworld.

"Here we are Miss Powell," the bars in front of the door opened and Alicia found herself back in the throne room. Again.

She still remembered the white columns, the blue carpet that led up to the throne, the red curtains behind it and the flames that surrounded the throne room. Looks just as scary as I remembered. Alicia swallowed nervously as she stepped out of the elevator.

She did not look around to inspect the throne room. No, she did not. Lucifer's throne room in the book was much better and looked more elegant with the marble and the balcony. The tapestries were also clearly more beautiful and better designed than the ones Alicia had just walked past. Still, I have a bad feeling when I see them. She wasn't visible on them, but Alicia still had the uneasy feeling that these tapestries showed the past. A past in which the devil presumably once haunted the Inkwell Isle's as a dangerous creature and terrified everyone. Every resident on the tapestries screamed in fear, fled or fell victim to the devil and his transformations.

Be it the souls he ate, the cities he burned in flames or the spider webs in which he trapped them in order to tear the souls out of the inhabitants with his many spider hands. Without them being able to defend themselves. "Duh... Fascinating, isn't it?" "What the!" startled, Alicia looked down to her left to where Henchman was standing, looking at the tapestries with her and grinning happily. Well, only until he startled Alicia and apologized to her. "Uh sorry Miss Boss, uhh Queen Powell, uhh... Miss Powell I didn't mean to scare you" he stuttered as he tried to find the right words.

But his nervous tone told Alicia that something was wrong. Why was he calling her Miss Boss or Queen? Of course she was a queen. But she didn't rule over the underworld. She ruled over Inkwell Hell. In the book world not in the TV show. She was with Lucifer and married. The wedding ring around her ring finger was on it for a reason.

She was married to him and therefore his queen. The devil couldn't say anything about it. He couldn't marry her even if he wanted to. After all, Alicia had chosen Lucifer because he took good care of her, spoiled her, gave her freedom and made sure she was well. That was the most important thing for him. She shouldn't feel any pain or feel bad. Her parents had already made sure of that.

"Ah if it isn't my queen" Alicia winced as she heard the voice she hoped she wouldn't hear again. Oh great. Slowly she turned her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance as she saw the devil behind her. Of course he has to cuddle me again. He could help it and Alicia hated it. His hand stroked her hair and tangled itself in it. You could see that he liked it.

But Alicia had had enough and freed herself from his embrace. The devil didn't really like that "My love, why don't you relax? You're in your home," he asked her in a seductive voice while his hands tried to touch her cheeks. However, Alicia only moved further away from him. "First of all, I'm not your sweetheart!" growled Alicia, angry and annoyed. Her eyes burned with anger and warned the devil not to flirt with her. After all, that wasn't why she was here. She was here to free Eira and nothing more. "And secondly, I'm here to pick up the prisoner".

The devil had not forgotten. His low growl confirmed it. So he didn't keep Alicia waiting much longer and used his trident to fetch the prisoner Eira. She was trapped in heavy chains that prevented her from escaping. She could hardly speak thanks to the cloth wrapped around her mouth. Only a mumble could be heard instead of real words. But Alicia recognized from Eira's eyes that something was wrong. "Here she is my dearest as you commanded" Alicia rolled her eyes again as he said this and walked with Eira back to the elevator where Henchman was waiting for her to take Eira back to the surface. But before Alicia did that, she used her claws to remove the chains and the cloth from Eira so that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable on the way up. But also because Alicia wanted to say something to her before she was taken to the surface.

Cautiously, Alicia looked behind her and saw the devil polishing his claw with a nail file before wrinkling his nose. So he knew nothing of what Alicia had planned. "Listen, I know you don't know me, but I know your friend Varian," when Eira heard this name, her eyes widened with joy. Eira was relieved to hear from him as she thought it was some kind of deception by the devil so that he could have Alicia with him. Alone without her being back on the surface with the group.

"Is he all right?" asked Eira in a shaky voice. Alicia didn't blame her. The devil here may be clumsy, but he can also be threatening. Although he was rather annoying for Alicia with his constant flirting and seducing. Although he knows that Alicia was taken with Lucifer. "Don't worry, he's fine," Alicia assured her. Eira sighed with relief. But as the gate closed in front of her, she suddenly remembered something she wanted to say to Alicia. "Alicia be careful it's-" but the elevator disappeared before Eira could finish the sentence, leaving Alicia confused with the devil.

She didn't know what to say or if she should say anything at all. Did Eira think it was a trap that Alicia had just walked into? She hoped not because she was now alone with the devil and didn't want to stay here a second longer. She wanted to be reunited with Lucifer. That's why she made her trident appear and raised it slightly. "Finally..." but before she could push him to the ground, Alicia suddenly felt someone standing behind her. Someone with not-so-soft fur. "We are alone, my love" Alicia knew it was the devil. His claws leaned on her shoulder and were clearly visible to her.

"Seriously?" Annoyed, Alicia broke away from him and kept her distance from the devil. She really didn't want to be alone with him any longer, raised her trident and...

"What the?"

But before that could happen, Alicia felt a sudden pain in her right shoulder. Confused, she looked at it. Her eyes widened in shock. The reason for the pain in her shoulder was not due to a strained muscle or a pinched nerve. No, the reason for the pain was something else. Something that Alicia hoped would never happen to her. It was a tranquilizer dart that she pulled out of her shoulder and examined. The anesthetic took effect quite quickly, however, and Alicia began to see everything blurred as her vision slowly went black. "Oh no please..." she fell backwards and landed knocked out in the devil's arms. "Oh ho someone's tired" the devil chuckled and picked up Alicia who lay unconscious in his arms. "Looks like we need to take you somewhere where you can rest my love".

He didn't hesitate for long and two extra arms grew out of his body. Similar to Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. With these, he grabbed his trident and teleport himself and Alicia from the throne room to his bedchamber. The king-size bed with crimson comforter cover, comforter and pillow stood out clearly from the room. The backrest was the same color as the comforter cover but with a golden border.

Slowly he laid Alicia down on his bed and stroked her cheek before he leaned her own trident, which he held with his tail, against the wall next to the bed before he lay down next to Alicia and cuddled up to her. He rubbed his head against hers and purred like a cougar. "I finally have you for myself my love" of course he couldn't resist a kiss and kissed her cheek. This left an imprint of his lips on her cheek. The devil liked it. Not because Alicia could resist, but because the wedding preparations were almost finished. Oh yes, the devil was ready to marry Alicia and keep her as his queen "Soon you will..." but as he stroked his fingers through her black hair, the devil noticed something. "What's that?" he saw the headset still in her ear and pulled it out, revealing a hologram showing Varian and the others who now realized the devil could see them.

"Oh damn he-"

Crunch!

The headphones were destroyed before Varian could finish the sentence. The devil was glad that his plan had worked and didn't want to lose Alicia. That's why he didn't hesitate for long and destroyed the headphones with his hands so that neither the pests, nor the three cups, nor the copy could take Alicia away from him. She was now in his realm and belonged to him. And soon Alicia will be his wife and queen. His tail wagged with joy as he imagined what Alicia would look like in a wedding dress. "Hmm maybe I should get together with my wedding planners before I come back to you my love" slowly he stood up, gave Alicia another kiss, this time on the lip instead of the cheek, grabbed his trident and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Alicia was alone but still in danger.

"Damn it, I can't get a picture in!" Varian growled frustrate as he pressed the screen on his wristband several times. But the only thing the fox and the others saw was screen noise and nothing more. There were also no more radio connections, so they could no longer get a picture of Alicia or communicate with her. "Don't tell me that-".

Knock! Knock!

The knock on the door was hard to ignore. "Is that Alicia?" Mugman asked himself in a nervous voice. He really hoped it was Alicia and that she had made it back safely. "Varian?" but the voice behind the front door did not belong to Alicia but to someone else. Someone who knew the cups, Lucifer or Blood. "Eira? Is that you?" but Varian recognized the voice immediately. He didn't hesitate for long and ran towards the door. His fingers touched the doorknob and slowly turned it to open the door. The light from outside shone into the cottage and briefly blinded him, causing him to raise his hand in front of his eyes to avoid being blinded. "Varian?" As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed the figure standing in front of him and couldn't believe his eyes.

Eira stood before his eyes. The Eira he had been looking for and was almost about to give up. He really hoped that she hadn't ended up in the portal with him. But when he not only found her brooch but also learned that she had been captured, he was more than happy to have her back with him. But the joy was short-lived. "Varian, I have to tell you something," she remembered that there was someone else in the underworld. Someone the devil had been after for weeks, if not months. "The young lady is in danger!".

The eyes of the others widened when Eira said this. What did she mean they were in danger? "What do you mean Alicia is in danger?" asked Cuppy, confused but also depressed. He hoped Eira wasn't serious. But her serious look, which normally only Varian knew when something was wrong, also reached the others. They knew she was serious with her statement. Alicia was in danger. "While I was trapped down there, I realized what the Horned King had planned something for her." Her voice trembled with fear. Not because she had to think about being trapped in the underworld again, but because she saw Lucifer, whom she mistook for the devil. "W-W-What is he doing here?" she asked, clawing at Varian while pointing her finger at Lucifer.

"Woah! Don't worry Eira he's a friend of ours" Varian explained while Lucifer realized that something was wrong. Varian's friend was here with the others but something was still missing. Or someone, rather. "Where is Alicia?" he asked the others gloomily. But they didn't know what to tell him because all of them except Eira didn't know where Alicia was. "She's in the underworld," Eira stuttered while Varian hugged her and tried to calm her down. He himself could easily imagine what Eira had to endure while she was trapped in the underworld.

Lucifer's eyes widened when he heard that. "The devil used me as bait to get Alicia so he could marry her and perform some kind of ritual." Blood's pupils retracted when he heard this. He knew what ritual the devil had planned for Alicia. Lucifer suspected it too and growled softly as his hand clenched into a fist.

The devil had planned all this not only to keep Alicia for himself but also to marry her, crown her and regain his old powers that were stolen from him a long time ago. This was not a good sign for the group. They had to act quickly and free Alicia before the devil could perform the ritual with Alicia and bring even more chaos to the Inkwell Isle. Chaos that most of the inhabitants would probably not survive.