After what feels like half an eternity, the text continues with the next chapter. Sorry that you had to wait so long but unfortunately I wasn't satisfied with some things in the chapter. In addition, there were many things in between that prevented me from continuing writing.
But we're continuing with the Story and the part two of the previous chapter. The new antagonist in this chapter might appear in the sequel if you guys want to hear more of him of course.
Only three more chapters and this Story is finished!
Until then
"This way!" resounded through the forest in the darkest night. The moon stood at the top of the sky and looked down on the Inkwell Isle's with a smile. Some of the inhabitants turned out the lights in their houses to go to sleep in peace. After all, it was dark and night outside and almost nobody disturbed the peace and quiet. Except for a group who ran through the forest as if stung by a hornet.
The moon looked down in confusion. Who dares to disturb the night's peace? He asked himself and reached for a pair of binoculars. His eyes spotted the group consisting of three cups, a wolf, two foxes and a creature unknown to the moon leading the groups. Where was it leading the group? What had happened? And most importantly, why now, at night? The answer was as follows:
Worry.
The group was worried about a missing group member who had not been seen for several hours. Even the moon didn't know about it and felt guilty about it. His yellow eyes were not focused on the crime that had just taken place less than an hour ago. A crime that no one could have suspected. "Here. This is where I last saw Alicia before..." out of breath, the strange creature that turned out to be Sprigon and had the name Nyx landed on the palm of Lucifer's hand to rest. She had used all her stamina to lure the group here and to ask Varian and Eira to come along as well. Any help was needed. Nyx knew that. She wasn't stupid. She knew Alicia wasn't going to lay here. Otherwise the place would not be abandoned.
All that remained at the site were the traces of what had happened. Footprints (or boot prints), tire tracks and drag marks indicated what had happened here when Nyx disappeared. "Apparently it wasn't the devil but someone else." The group accused the devil of being the prime suspect who had kidnapped Alicia (again). But as far as the group knew, the devil never wore any footwear but always walked barefoot. What's more, his imps were also barefoot and didn't have big footprints like these.
Even Cuphead, Mugsy and Cuppy's shoes were quite small compared to the footprint. "But who would be after Al? So far, the Devil is the only one after them. Who else would be interested in her?" the older brother asked himself while the others couldn't give him an answer. Neither Blood nor Lucifer knew who else was after Alicia. "First we should follow the wheel tracks before we start puzzling over who or what has kidnapped Alicia." Varian inspected the wheel tracks with a scanner in his hand. A bluish glow shone from the small opening of the scanner. On the screen, the scanner read out the data it was collecting while all the tracks on the ground began to glow.
On the one hand, this was practical as it was already so dark that you could no longer see anything in front of your own eyes. "We should follow the trail," suggested Eira, pointing in the direction of the wheel tracks.
The glow on the ground helped the group arrive at their destination faster than they thought. The wheel tracks stopped when the group stood in front of a circus. Wait, a circus? What is a circus doing here in the forest, they wondered. "Maybe it's in here? After all, the tire tracks stop here," Mugsy asked himself. "Only one way to find out, one of us has to go in there and look for Alicia," Blood suggested. But who would that be? It had to be someone who wouldn't be immediately spotted, someone who was small, someone who could simply hide.
"Why are you all staring at me like that?" Nyx felt everyone staring at her. All eyes were on her as the question received an answer. Nyx was perfect for looking for Alicia. She was small, she could make herself invisible and she couldn't be spotted right away. She was perfect. "Nyx, I don't want to worry you, but you would be the only one who could check if Alicia is in one of the many tents without being discovered." Varian told her in a soft, calm voice so as not to worry her but also not to panic her.
But the exact opposite happened. Nyx panicked. She clung to one of Lucifer's horns as if her life was hanging on to it. Again, her fear was obvious. She was afraid of doing something wrong or even being discovered. But sending someone else there was impossible. Nyx knew that. She was the only one who could fly above the eyes of the circus staff thanks to her wings. Her invisibility could also be used to her advantage. She let go of Lucifer's horn with a sigh and accepted her task. She knew Alicia was in there somewhere, worrying. Turning tail now wasn't going to help the sprigon. So Nyx didn't hesitate for long, made herself invisible and flew over the fence while the others hid behind the bushes.
No one wanted to be discovered by the circus employees who were doing their rounds here so that no one could sneak into the circus. "Who owns this circus anyway that he is so interested in Alicia and has so many security guards?" Varian asked himself while his and the others' answers were already posted on a poster next to the bush. It not only had the name of the circus on it, but also the owner of the circus.
"Where is he?", 'He should have been here minutes ago!' the voices were quiet at first and barely audible as the anesthetic slowly stopped working. Well, it was still working. Probably a heavy dose. Good for anything bigger than a gorilla. Such doses of anesthesia were known to be very strong. Despite the fact that Alicia was still in her wyvern form, which was considerably larger than a gorilla itself, her body was still fighting the anesthetic. The effects didn't seem to disappear as quickly as she had imagined. Well, actually, she hadn't imagined being hit with a tranquilizer dart as a wyvern at all, if at all, landing in a cage and listening to a conversation she barely understood, if at all.
She was only aware of a few words while her eyelids fought against the anesthesia. Alicia was reluctant to go back to sleep. She wanted to know where she was, who the people were who had kidnapped her and who the hell was Mr. Cane that people kept talking about? Her eyes only caught sight of a few people, eight in all, standing a few meters from Alicia's cage. Two men were talking while the other six held a blue minotaur with a brown, partially torn off loincloth on its arms, legs and horns with ropes. The silver nose ring gleamed through the minotaur's snorting.
"Where is Cane? He should have been here by now!" grumbled one of the two men who weren't exactly busy keeping the minotaur at bay. A task that was difficult to master as the bull had a lot of muscles on two legs. A rescue could happen very quickly. But the six men kept a firm grip on him until a door opened and soft footsteps could be heard coming closer and closer. Alicia's tired eyes tried to locate the people the others were asking for. However, Alicia saw nothing but the pointed, obsidian-black boots. Slowly, her eyes blinked to see more. But forgive me. Alicia saw nothing. Nothing except for the other cages containing animals. Well, no animals that Alicia would have expected. Where was she, if anywhere? A zoo? Nope, she didn't see any visitors and as far as Alicia knew, the animals in the zoo were never locked up in such small cages.
She only knew of one other place where animals had been. The smell of fresh popcorn and cotton candy, the posters hanging everywhere, the weights, the trapeze and the colorful clothes indicated that Alicia was in a circus tent. But which circus had mystical creatures as circus animals?
Hydra, Manticore, Chimera, Satyr, Pegasus, Unicorns and many more were in the cages surrounded by the nine men who were talking or rather exchanging business. As far as Alicia could tell, the seven men were not exactly pleased with the amount of money they were receiving. "What?! Only half!?" shouted the supposed leader of the seven men, who Alicia quickly heard were bounty hunters. Were these the people who brought me here? she asked herself as her eyes closed momentarily. "I'm not paying the full price. You must have caught the minotaur by the horn too much when you captured him," a crow-like voice mentioned, "As a famous ringmaster, I can't mess up my reputation. When the spectators see the crack, they will question me. And questioning costs money, a lot of money.".
Alicia's ears heard before her vision darkened again. The anesthetic was still working. Alicia fought the anesthesia but her eyelids closed more times than she wanted them to. She wanted to know who the boss was so she could show him what she thought. Otherwise, she also wanted to know why she had been captured in the first place. A mystery that had plagued her since her captivity. But not as much as what was going on in front of her. While Alicia was trying to stay conscious, an argument broke out between the ringmaster and the leader of the bounty hunters. The payment for capturing the minotaur was not what the leader had hoped for.
Especially after several of its members were seriously injured. "Several of my best men were injured by this creature!" he growled 'And you want to tell me that we only get half pay because of a small scratch on the right horn?' The mood didn't improve. Not even after the shadow-like creatures appeared that had thrown Alicia out of the sky in the first place. They surrounded the group and the ringmaster like hungry predators just waiting to strike. But they didn't. They just watched. Nothing more.
However, with every second that passed, the situation got worse and worse. The ropes that had previously been held tightly were now partly hanging on the ground. It seemed that even the healthy members of the bounty gang were not very pleased that they were not getting the full price for the minotaur as agreed. One of them was even holding a wanted poster with the picture of the minotaur on it and the prize money of 300,000 bucks underneath. "We can set the minotaur free, you can set him free." Alicia didn't realize it, but her eyes were closed the moment the minotaur broke free and threw two of the six men away and freed himself.
The loud, menacing mooing woke Alicia slightly from her anesthesia. Only slightly because she was still fighting it and only heard screaming followed by a loud thud, shuffling and astonishment. Her eyes, which slowly opened, saw only a cloud of dust. A cloud of dust that slowly disappeared to reveal a figure with an outstretched arm holding a staff. Or was it a walking stick? It was hard to tell, as Alicia's eyes and the fight against the anesthetic lasted for that very second. Alicia gave in and lay unconscious, anesthetized in the cage, unaware of the danger the ringmaster posed to her.
While the situation inside the tent where Alicia was located was clearing up, Nyx forgivingly searched for Alicia. "Oh man, where is she?" the Sprigon wondered. Nyx didn't want to give up but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Every tent in which she searched for Alicia looked the same. The minimal difference was the size or the objects standing in front of the tents, such as barrels of water, huge tires, unicycles and everything else that was common in a circus. But there was no sign of where Alicia was.
"Think, think where would I want to store a wyvern as ringmaster?" Nyx looked around, pondering. Her eyes wandered from one tent to another until she noticed two employees talking about the incident with the minotaur and one particular wyvern. Nyx approached the two invisibly and smiled at them from behind a barrel. "Mr. Cane knocked out the minotaur with just one tranquilizer dart." smirked one of the two employees 'The look on the faces of the two bounty hunters was unique.' 'Yeah, he couldn't close his mouth!' they both laughed about the incident and went their way to a wagon. Unfortunately, Nyx didn't get the information about Alicia's whereabouts. Or maybe she did? "Do you even know where the boss is right now?" asked one of the employees in a curious voice as he poured himself a drink. The other drank from his glass before answering the question with a clatter, "Well, where else is he in the big tent where the other creatures are and he's just marveling at the wyvern?".
Her ears pricked up. Nyx now knew where to look. Her eyes searched like eagle eyes for the big tent. "Aha!" It wasn't hard to find. The tent was not only bigger but also a different color. Instead of red and yellow, it was blue and black with flags at the top in the same colors. It might be bigger but it wasn't new. Nyx saw a few holes in the tent where patches had been sewn on. Some were new or didn't seem to have been sewn on well. One patch was blowing in the wind. The opening of the patch was the ideal way into the tent. Nyx didn't hesitate for long and flew into the tent through the opening.
"Wake up..." Alicia realized acoustically. The anesthesia that had once put her to sleep had stopped working. "Wake up..." her ears heard again. She didn't want to get up, let alone open her eyes. But her body was against it. She opened her eyes slowly, blurry, hoping to wake up in the guest room again. That the thing with the bounty hunters was just a stupid dream and that she wasn't in a cage. How nice this dream would be if it wasn't. Her eyes saw the cage bars. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a fantasy or hallucination either. It was reality. Her wingtip touched the cold cage bar to confirm once again that Alicia had not been mistaken.
What was she doing here? Why was she locked up like a wild animal and, above all, who was the person standing right in front of her? Alicia only noticed the person now. She had completely overlooked them in her current size as a wyvern. However, Alicia sensed that this person had nothing good in mind. She could see it in the person's face. Her eyes narrowed. Alicia wanted to make sure that this was not the devil in disguise. It wouldn't be the first time the devil had disguised himself as a ringmaster. Although the last time he had dressed up as the owner of a freak show to get Cuphead and Cuppy to take off their invisible sweaters to grab their souls.
But in front of Alicia stood an anthropomorphic crow, dressed in a red pinstriped ringmaster's suit with various symbols on it like the a head of a crow. His pants are black like his boots. His suit and pants are partly covered with a dark brown robe. His eyes were as violet as amethysts. Well, the left one anyway. His right one was covered by a silver eye patch. Is he going all Brineybeard and just hiding his other eye or has he really lost his right eye? The beak seemed normal except for the scar that grew over the left side. On his head, the crow wore a black top hat with a silver ribbon wrapped around it. Two letters were pinned to the ribbon. A red G and a golden C. The look was completed with a silver walking stick with a purple crystal at the tip. The crystal may be small in Alicia's eyes. But she could feel its pulsating power. It was no ordinary crystal. Alicia didn't know much about them, but she knew that crystals couldn't store energy, let alone generate electricity.
"You're finally awake, my prize-winning-" 'Shut up, you crow!' growled Alicia menacingly. She stood up and was considerably taller than the ringmaster. Her head lowered over him, her yellow eyes staring into his purple ones. Not with fear, but with anger. Alicia wanted to know where she was, why she was being held captive like an animal, why the cage was covered, who this would-be ringmaster was and why he was calling her a prize-winner and, above all, what that strange feeling around her neck was. At first she tried to brush it off as an itch, but Alicia knew it was something else. "Who are you and what do you want from me?" Alicia asked the ringmaster with a mouth full of flames, the corners of his mouth just smiling. Not a happy smile, of course, but a menacing, deceitful one.
"Who am I you ask Alicia?" How, how does he know my name? Her anger disappeared and was replaced by a nervous tremor that Alicia only got when she didn't know what was going on. As was the case right now. She didn't know where she was, why she was here, where her friends and husband were and, above all, who the ringmaster was. The devil, Dice? Some admirer? Questions upon questions buzzed around in her head. But none of them answered the question of how the ringmaster knew her name. Alicia always stayed in the background because of the devil. She didn't like being the center of attention and preferred to be backstage rather than on it. That was just the way Alicia was. "H-H-How do you k-k-know m-m-my n-n-name?" she asked in a trembling but nervous and anxious voice. The fearsome wyvern she was a few seconds ago changed to a frightened one. She tried to keep her distance but the cage seemed tiny for Alicia's current size.
So small that she felt small herself in contrast to the circus director. "How do I know your name, you ask me?" he grinned mischievously. His stick rattled against the cage bars. Menacing and annoying at the same time. "I know many names." he replied 'My employees, my customers and of course all the inhabitants of the Inkwell Isle's.' chuckling, he pressed his walking stick brutally into the ground. A sign of authority. "However, you were unknown to me before, as were most of the inhabitants of the Inkwell Isle's." the ringmaster mentioned in a gruff voice. "More unknown than the devil himself..." his stubborn look vanished through his chuckle "I am amazed. Very surprised, I must say." Alicia knew that one day she would no longer be invisible. A minor character, a normal resident of the Inkwell Isle who rarely showed herself.
Well, with the two cup brothers she quickly became famous on the Inkwell Isle's. The unknown strange girl became the wonderful Alicia. A title that Alicia did not choose herself. She didn't want to be known as that. But the ringmaster didn't care. He would not take her prisoner for nothing. Not because he found her beautiful, but because of something else. Alicia was special. "You are special. Not only especially beautiful to win the devil's love, but also unique." Is that supposed to be a compliment? Alicia asked herself, "But I should introduce myself first before I chew your ear off." His hand, a typical white glove similar to King Dice's, reached for his top hat. "Grimm Cane is my name." and bowed like a polite gentleman. But Mr. Cane did not appear to be a gentleman.
Not a nice gentleman, anyway. "It's good that we know each other now, but I demand to be freed!" Alicia growled menacingly. But Grimm saw no threat in her. He saw money. Money that made him richer than before. "Why should I release my investment?" he asked her with a typical villain's smile. "Creatures like you belong behind bars and should be put on display!" his voice turned menacing. His walking stick struck the cage bars again. This time harder than before. The sound could be heard. The ceiling covering the cage shook and came loose. Alicia's eyes widened as she saw the rest of the cages. So I was not mistaken. She thought all the mystical animals were a hallucination. However, the three sighing heads of the hydra, the sad posture of the unicorns and the playing of the satyr's harmonica said otherwise. All the animals in the cage were not the typical ones from a circus but fable and mythical creatures.
However, they all looked unhappy. Not because they were in the cages, but because they were wearing collars with crystals instead of spikes. Like on Grimm's walking stick, the crystals were purple and crackled with the same energy. But why were they wearing collars with crystals on them? A question that Alicia would soon find out for herself because she also wore a necklace with the same crystals. Unlike the others, however, these did not glow. Grimm wasn't finished with Alicia yet. Intimidating her was just one thing. But getting her to do everything he asked was another. That's what the collars are for. The crystals emitted an energy that forced every being to listen to Grimm's commands. Even Alicia couldn't do anything about it. Nothing but fight it. But she lost that fight. The power of the crystals seemed to be a thousand times stronger. They took control of Alicia's body without her realizing it.
Instead of growling at Grimm or turning him into a rotisserie chicken, Alicia's eyes lit up purple. Like the rest of the caged creatures, they were now under Grimm's control and obeyed him. Nyx, who was watching everything invisibly, gasped. She had overheard everything and knew that Grimm was no ordinary ringmaster. Not only because he tortured Alicia, but also because he brought her to her knees with his power. Although she was only briefly under his control, it was enough to show Alicia how dangerous Grimm was. "Your sweaty face and the fear reflected in your eyes tell me you understand that I'm not joking. That I'm no ordinary Inkwell Isle resident and no wannabe." Grimm emphasized while Alicia breathed in and out and heard everything fall silent. She heard the soft beeping in her ears before it disappeared and was replaced by Grimm's dark and croaking voice. "You will stay here my dearest, don't even try to escape because you won't get far with your collar.".
The slam of the cage door rang like an echo in Alicia's ears before she realized that Grimm was no longer in the cage with her. "Hey! Let me out!" she demanded, her look as deadly as ever but Grimm ignored it and just smirked. 'Try it and you'll see what happens my love.' he replied and went his way whistling. Alicia was still growling. She wasn't going to put up with being caged like an animal. But... she had no other choice. She was trapped. Her powers that once belonged to the devil (at least the ones from this version of the Inkwell Isle's) had been pushed back thanks to the collar around her neck. The crystals attached to it seemed to keep Alicia's powers in check. A sign that Grimm was not to be taken lightly on the shoulder like Gaston Leboast.
Grimm seemed to be not only smarter but also more cunning. It was not for nothing that all the mythical and mythical creatures trapped in the other cages looked sad. Sad because they knew, like Alicia, that they would never get out again. The Satyrs continued to play the harmonica while a huge Cyclops sat in the cage directly opposite and sighed. Unlike the Cyclops from Disney's Hercules this one is not only smaller in comparison to Alicia but more ogre-like with a slight resemblance of an ape, sporting grey skin, black fur similar to Lucifer's. Double pairs of fang-like tusks in his mouth, a large lumpy nose and elvish ears with both golden rings.
The Cyclops sighed again and pulled out a small framed photo from behind his back. He stroked the glass tenderly. It meant a lot to him. Alicia didn't know it, but the photo was of Ms. Cyclops. The same Ms. Cyclops who had helped both cup brothers out of the prison she had been in ever since. It was rumored why she was still in prison, but everyone knew why. The kidnapping of her husband, who was now sighing and sharing a cage with the Cyclops demon, could be the reason.
Nobody really knew why the cyclops demon was here. Not even Alicia or Nyx, who slowly emerged and lay down on Alicia's back to keep her company. She needed it now more than ever. "Cups, Mugs, Lucifer..." sighed Alicia 'I miss you...' slowly she lowered her head and tried to sleep. In her dream she was united with them and yet Alicia felt something on her back. Something soft and small. Her eyes opened. Alicia wanted to know what was lying on her back. Her first guess was the devil himself. He might be bigger than she was in her human form, but as a wyvern he wasn't even bigger than her tail. Having him here now would make Alicia's situation much worse.
"Nyx?" but instead of the prince of the underworld, the shadow Sprigon sat on her back and greeted Alicia with a lovely hug. "Al!" she said, clinging to Alicia's muzzle. Tears ran from both their eyes. The reunion brought tears to their eyes. "I'm glad to see you again," Alicia sniffled softly to avoid drawing attention to herself. "I'm glad to see you again, too, Al, after all I've seen." Nyx didn't forget what her owner had to endure. This ringmaster named Grimm Cane seemed unlike any other nemesis Alicia and Nyx had encountered before. "We need to get you out of here." Nyx didn't hesitate for long and thought about how she could free Alicia.
But as Grimm said, Alicia could forget about escaping as long as she had this collar around her neck. No matter how far away she would be from him, Grimm would still have control over her thanks to the crystal on his walking stick. If it was destroyed, she would have a chance. But what if she was trapped in this cage like a wild animal? "Nyx, there's no point in freeing me now." "What do you mean, Al? The others are waiting for you outside. Lucifer misses you and the cups are worried." Nyx was not exaggerating with her statement, but neither was Alicia. She explained to the Sprigon why it wasn't worth escaping. "That sounds bad, but what am I supposed to tell the others if I come back without you?" Nyx asked sweatily. Alicia sighed and thought about what the Sprigon should tell the others.
It felt like hours while the group waited on the Sprigon. "Where's Nyx?" Cuppy wondered, concerned for Alicia's well-being. "She's been gone for hours." added Cuphead, exaggerating a little with his statement. Nyx hadn't been gone for hours, but at least 40 minutes. That's how long it had taken her to find Alicia. If you add 20 minutes to that, you get 1 hour. It took that long for Nyx to reunite with the group and tell them about Alicia's situation.
"Grimm Cane. The famous Grimm Cane has kidnapped Al?" Most of the group didn't know the circus director's name. The name was quite unfamiliar to the group. They had never heard it before. It was a mystery. But not a mystery for the two brothers Cuphead and Mugman. "Mr. Cane would never kidnap others." Neither of them wanted to believe that the friendly ringmaster that Grimm played for his audience had kidnapped their best friend Alicia. "I overheard everything the staff said." Nyx denied. "Grimm is anything but a nice man." remained Nyx's statement as she became more and more worried about Alicia. She felt bad that she couldn't do anything to help Alicia except deliver her message to the others.
But Lucifer was not disappointed or angry but thanked Nyx. He now knew where his wife was. However, her release was another matter. The necklace with crystals prevented Alicia from escaping. A hurdle the group had to overcome before they could rescue the young lady. But first the question remained: what kind of crystals were they? Nyx's description left a lot to be desired. The description could only fit two crystals. Amneysten and underworld crystals. "What are underworld crystals?" Mugman asked Blood curiously while Varian researched and looked for data on these crystals. "These crystals grow one level above the Underworld. They are usually located near the entrance to the underworld and are known to receive their power from the underworld." But the wolf was quicker than the fox.
Faster when it comes to research. But when it came to weaknesses, Varian seemed to know more than Blood. "To make matters worse, the crystals act like parasites and look for a host to give their powers to." The description sounded strange, but it was true. The crystals gave their powers to anyone who appropriated them. One piece of the crystal served as the main supplier and allowed the host to control the remaining crystals. This control was transferred to other living beings should they come into contact with the crystals. "The only way we can save Alicia is by destroying the main crystal that Grimm Cane used," Varian mentioned. "Or we remove the collar." Lucifer growled, raising his fist. However, both options seemed impossible.
For both, you had to get closer to Grimm. It would be difficult if Mugman didn't come up with the perfect idea. He snapped his fingers and a light bulb (or rather his straw formed into a light bulb) floated over his head as it occurred to him. "Or we can make sure his reputation is destroyed." Cuphead and Cuppy stared at him in confusion. "First Mugsy?" his brother replied "Destroy his reputation? That's your plan to free Ali?" added Cuppy. Both he and Cuphead were not yet one hundred percent sure whether they should go along with Mugman's plan or not. But then Cuphead remembered that a few months ago there had been several reports about Grimm Cane and his circus. These reports always asked the same question: How were the animals and employees doing? The latter was often asked because there were rumors that Grimm did not treat his employees very well.
But without evidence, the group could do nothing. It was difficult to take photos when they weren't part of the circus. Drones would be too conspicuous, especially for the era the Inkwell Isle's were in. It was more than clear that the group needed someone to help them from inside the circus. Someone who wasn't entirely loyal to Grimm but seemed that way to him. Someone inconspicuous.
Luck seemed to be on their side. As Alicia continued to puff away blearily, not knowing whether to keep biting at the cage bars or not, she heard someone come into the back of the tent. Alicia guessed that she and the rest of the mystical creatures were behind the curtain. She saw the ring several times when someone walked through the curtain. Mostly they were muscle-bound men who, as Alicia noticed from the more normal-looking employees, were among Grimm's closest collaborators. Not only were they treated very well by him, they also had the privilege of having their own carriage. Everyone else slept inside the big tent or, as Alicia could overhear, in the storage wagons.
Her eyes wandered to the poor soul who had just walked through the curtain with mop and bucket in her hands. This employee seemed to be different. Not only on the outside but also in his character. Many employees kept their distance from the creatures that had been brought in. Not out of fear of them, but out of fear that Grimm would catch them at it. After all, these creatures brought him heaps of money into the house or, in this case, tent, as it was still a circus. That's why most of them avoided the cages and went straight out to avoid paying attention to the creatures. But this one employee Alicia was watching seemed to have a different opinion. He went to each cage and engaged with them. Whether it was talking to them or feeding them.
He seemed to have a knack for it. It was not for nothing that the animals let themselves be stroked by him or even fed from his hand or paw. Yep, as Alicia had already guessed, this person wasn't a human or any anthropomorphic object like Cuphead, Cuppy and Mugman were. The person was an anthropomorphic German Shepherd with wolf gray fur. Like almost all the inhabitants of the Inkwell Isle's, the sheepdog wore gloves, gloves that were covered in patches. A clear sign that they had been in use for a long time. His clothes were not new either and, like his gloves, were embroidered in many places with patches of different colors. The jacket he was wearing was a newsboy's jacket in the color light brown which, as already mentioned, had patches of different colors in some places but also stains from oil, water and dirt.
The bags themselves had an inner lining in the color wine red. The patches themselves were orange, sky blue, gray-white checkered and red. The pants, or rather shorts, were tinted in a pine black. Unlike the jacket, the shorts did not appear to be well cared for. The fabric was missing in many places and some of it had been repaired with patches. But even these showed cracks. The shoes resembled those of the three cups. Only they were much bigger and looked like boots with laces. If they were laces at all, of course. The color of the shepherd's eyes was amber. A color that was well known for this breed. What was not natural, however, was the tear in his left ear. This must have been caused by something or someone.
No matter what it was Alicia could ask him because the sheepdog moved towards her cage and bent down to be at the same eye level as her. "Hey little..." the sheepdog said in a soft, gentle voice as Alicia stared at him in confusion. Did he mean me, little one? she asked herself and lifted her head. There was no question of little. He knew that now. "Okay, I didn't know you were a big girl." she rolled her eyes as he said this 'I'm not a girl, I'm a woman.' Alicia blurted out without thinking about it. Not because there was anything wrong with seeing a talking wyvern, but rather the opposite. The German Shepherd flinched when he heard her words. He would never have thought that a mythical creature could talk. The only thing he had heard so far were animal noises like growling, cooing and the like. But he had never heard anything about talking creatures. In any case, it was new to him that wyverns could talk.
"Since when can you talk?" shrugged the German shepherd and took a few steps away from the cage. "Since when can wyverns talk?" Alicia should have known he would react like that. She wanted to grab her head. If only she could. However, her ability to transform into her human form wasn't possible right now. The crystals prevented her from doing so. If this wasn't the case, Alicia would have run out of her cage long ago. But the crystal-studded collar kept her trapped here. "Because I'm not a wyvern," Alicia replied, lowering her head to the ground with a sad look on her face. She knew the German Shepherd wouldn't help her. How could he if he was afraid of her and voluntarily stayed away from her cage? As if she were a monster.
But the dog didn't go away. Quite the opposite. Alicia heard his footsteps. Curious, she looked at him and gazed into his amber eyes. He no longer felt fear but understanding for her. Understanding about being trapped here without her wanting it. "Then what are you? If you're not a wyvern, what are you in real life?" Alicia was afraid to answer this question. Not everyone swallowed the answer to this question easily. Being the devil's wife and therefore the queen of Inkwell Isle's hell was terrifying. After all, everyone feared the Lord of the Underworld.
Or at least you should if you don't want to lose your soul like a certain cup. "You... you're the queen of the underworld? The underworld?" the dog hesitated with his words, but his index finger clearly pointed to what he meant. Down on the ground. Or rather, what was beneath the surface. Alicia nodded. She understood his question and explained everything he needed to know. "I'm a hybrid, but I have the same powers as the devil inside me." "So that means this form you're in right now is also a power?" Alicia nodded. "Then it means Mr. Cane kidnapped you on purpose just to show you off as an attraction," growled the German Shepherd. His fur fluffed up while his hands clenched into a fist.
"And I..." he growled, but quickly calmed down again to be able to think clearly. Going into a rage now would help neither him nor Alicia. For one thing, they didn't know how to free Alicia and for another, it would be almost impossible to get her out of here if she wasn't even able to use her human form or other powers. That was holding them back. But not as far as a formal performance was concerned. After all, neither of them knew the other's name. "Before we think about an escape route, we should first introduce ourselves to each other," she suggested to the German shepherd.
He nodded and looked behind his shoulder several times before formally introducing himself, "My name is Finnegan Figg." Figg...why does that last name sound so familiar? Alicia asked herself inwardly before introducing herself. "Alicia huh?" she winced slightly at his tone. She didn't know why. Finnegan's voice did not resemble that of the devil. "A beautiful name for a beautiful young woman." She didn't know if she was flattered or not. In any case, Alicia seemed to blush, though it was clear Finnegan didn't know whether to say wyvern or woman. There was nothing wrong with either. "Hey!" but the mood was interrupted by a deep-sounding voice in the background. Finnegan jerked up and quickly walked away from the cage, grabbing a broom to sweep as fast as he could. Alicia followed suit and turned around. Her spike-covered tail tip clanged against the bars as if they were xylophone metal rods.
"Stay away from Alicia!" but the voice now sounded softer than before. The fear in both of them turned to confusion. Until they realized who the voice actually belonged to. They both heard the soft fluttering of tiny wings. It wasn't one of Grimm's employees who had secretly caught them, nor Grimm himself, but Nyx. "Nyx? What are you doing here, I thought you'd gone with the others?" Alicia asked in confusion as the Sprigon landed on her dragon's snout and nuzzled it firmly before turning her attention to Finnegan. She glared at him angrily, her fur fluffed up like a pigeon ready to prove what she was capable of "Leave your filthy-", "Nyx!".
The Sprigon flinched and fell silent immediately. Her small eyes were fixed on Alicia's stern expression. Her mouth, however, was still half open. Nyx didn't know whether to say the word she had just paused or not. She decided on the latter and closed her little mouth and swung at Alicia's head. Her wolf ears drooped like a sad dog's. "I'm sorry I was so rude." Nyx apologized to Finnegan for her behavior. The dog tilted his head before accepting the apology. "Apology accepted Navi.".
"Nyx. My name is Nyx and not some annoying fairy who keeps shouting 'Listen'," she mumbled. Alicia grinned a little. Although Nyx wasn't a fairy like Navi from Ocarina of Time, she sometimes acted like one. She always flew after Alicia. Just like Navi always did with Link. But enough of that. Why was Nyx here? Shouldn't she actually be with the others like Alicia had told her to be? She didn't want Grimm to see Sprigon and lock him up and use him for his circus.
Sprigon was happy to answer this himself. "We are looking for an employee who could help us ruin Grimm's reputation." How exactly is this supposed to help free me? Alicia asked herself, looking alternately at Nyx and Finnegan. There was no real connection to her liberation, or was there? Well apparently Alicia didn't know that Grimm took his reputation very seriously. According to Finnegan, Grimm always tried to put a good image on his circus so that more visitors would come to his instead of the competition. After all, Grimm Cane was considered a family-friendly ringmaster. He always advertised this on his posters where he was surrounded by his animals and the circus performers.
But like every business, everything behind the scenes looked different. The huge cages, the empty, dirty food jugs, the collars and the gloomy surroundings were not the best for the animals or the other employees. What's more, most of the circus performers didn't seem to have their own place to sleep, let alone their own wagon.
Instead, they slept in the stables on hay bales that served as beds or on circus props such as cannons from which someone would normally be shot to serve as a cannonball. Even the pool in which they jumped down from several meters served as a bed and bath at the same time. "Please don't tell me you have to sleep like that." Alicia hoped as she asked Finnegan about it. But the German shepherd only bowed his head while his finger wandered in the direction of the stables. Between a muscleman of an anthropomorphic cupcake and a snow leopard who worked as a trapeze jumper stood an empty stable where Finnegan slept.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is my sleeping place." Finnegan sighed and leaned back against the cage as he slowly slid down and slumped onto the floor. "Almost everyone here has to sleep in a stable." he sighed again 'Almost everyone except Mr. Cane himself and his 'people'." Finnegan mentioned and pointed outside the big tent where there was a wagon in front of which two of Grimm's men were enjoying a root beer. The mere sight was enough to make Alicia and Nyx angry.
But angry or not. Neither of them could do anything at the moment. Alicia was still in the cage, still wearing the collar and she couldn't escape anyway. Unless...
Finnegan felt someone nudge him. He couldn't ignore the slight pressure on his back. "Hey! What are you two doing?" he asked Alicia and Nyx. The latter flew right in front of him and smiled at him. This only confused Finnegan even more than before. Were they both planning something? Well, judging by the look on Sprigon's face, yes. They had something planned and they needed Finnegan's help. "What? You want me to help you?" they both nodded. Finnegan was the only one who matched the description of Blood and the others. He was a coworker, knew where everything was and seemed unimportant to Grimm Cane.
In any case, he would not be suspected by Grimm. If only there wasn't one little thing. Finnegan may have seemed insignificant, but unfortunately he owed Grimm Cane money. Money for the food he had stolen. Finnegan wasn't homeless, but lived in the Inkwell orphanage before he met Grimm. The same orphanage Ms. Chalice escaped from and where Alicia took Baby Bottle after he made a mess of the cottage.
The orphanage was short of money at the time. The director could no longer afford the children's toys and clothes. And then there were the taxes on the house. Where were they supposed to get the money from? By cleaning, drying and ironing other people's laundry, of course. The laundry earned them money. Money that the management of the orphanage shared with the staff and didn't spend on the children. Finnegan himself, who was the oldest in the orphanage at the time, did not have to iron or wring out laundry. Instead, he had to exchange the finished laundry with the newly delivered laundry in order to receive the money.
The money was grabbed, as almost every day, by an employee who was already waiting for him at the entrance. But she wasn't at the entrance that day. Finnegan took advantage of this to finally escape and look for his family. A few days before his attempt to escape, Finnegan overheard the orphanage director talking to someone over the phone about Finnegan's family. His ears perked up when he heard his name and listened. It seemed that his parents had not died as he had been told all along. They were alive and looking for him. This and the leader's actions caused him to flee. The leader did not want to reunite him with his parents. What was the point? He was big and strong enough to do the heavy work.
But escaping from the orphanage was only the first and easiest step. The search for his family was another. Running around the city homeless didn't help Finnegan. He quickly realized that he would now have to steal his food. He had no money and finding a job was extremely difficult. Especially in the 1930s. So he could only continue to steal food and flee from the police. He has always been able to escape them, but one fateful day Finnegan fell victim to Grimm. On that day, Finnegan locked himself in the circus feeding wagon. Where all the food for the staff and animals was stored, the German shepherd grabbed a small box filled with bread, butter, cheese and ham and made off. "Where are you going, you little thief!" but he didn't get far when one of Grimm's closest employees spotted him and grabbed him.
Finnegan was in trouble, threatened to be handed over to the police and end up in prison. But that didn't happen. Instead, Grimm saw him as a worthy employee and allowed him to work for him. However, on the condition that he would work off the debts he had stolen. The food wasn't exactly cheap at $2,500. "That's a lot of money," Nyx marveled. "How much do you still owe him?" asked Alicia, hoping it wouldn't be much. "$500," Finnegan replied and sat down with a big sigh. "I've already given up on ever being free again and leaving this circus." His folded ears indicated that he wasn't feeling well. Emotionally not physically, although Alicia herself noticed several times how the rest of the circus performers looked quite thin. Even the muscle men no longer had any real muscles.
This was enough for Alicia to be sure of her aim. She didn't just want to be free. No, she decided to free him too. Finnegan deserved his freedom just as much as the rest of the Mystical Beings. But how were they going to do it? Well, Nyx knew how. Grimm's reputation was very important to him. He tried everything to prevent him from being seen in a bad light. "We must try to prove that Grimm's reputation is nothing but lies." Nyx confirmed and turned to Finnegan, who listened to her eagerly. "And that's where you come in." "What me?" the German shepherd replied, astonished.
He was extremely surprised to be chosen to do a task. His concern was not in vain. The task was to distribute evidence photos to the audience so that not only Grimm's reputation was damaged but also Alicia could be freed. That was the plan the others had come up with. While the audience booed, Grimm and his men were far too busy to notice what was going on behind the curtain. Because at that moment, Alicia would be a free bird. That was the plan, but they needed one more thing. "Without the key, which is in Mr. Cane's wagon and would be guarded by his parrot Mr. Snitch, you can't try to escape." But Nyx didn't see a problem with that. Quite the opposite. "Then you could try to break in tonight when Cane isn't looking and grab the key." That was easier said than done.
The Hyacinth Macaw was not so easy to butter up. Even if he was more like a magpie with his thieving nature. But then again, the chatty parrot enjoyed his night's sleep like the food he shared with no one. So Finnegan could sneak into the wagon during the show tonight and grab the key. "You don't want to stay here forever and ever, do you?" Finnegan didn't see Alicia's statement as a question, but as a path to his freedom. That's why he didn't deny this task but accepted it just like the other one. He would get the key tonight, but how was he supposed to take proof photos if he didn't have a camera? "Don't worry Varian has built something that will help us." Of course, Nyx didn't come without some gadget Varian had put together. It didn't really resemble a camera in appearance. It looked more like a button. A button that Nyx pinned to Finnegan's jacket while she lay on Alicia's head and wished him good luck before he went on his way.
The plan was now rolling. The others prepared to free Alicia and made their way to the entrance area of the circus where the ticket counter was located. How else would they get into the tent? Breaking in was not an option. Both brothers didn't want to end up in prison again. Not again.
That's why they bought tickets to get into the circus like any other visitor. A legal one, to be precise. "I hope Ali's all right," Mugsy hoped with a worried tone, "I think she'll be fine. Nyx is with her, remember?" replied Cuphead as calmly as ever. He wasn't worried about Alicia being unwell. Although he was only pretending, inside he was very worried about Alicia and wanted nothing more than to see her again. "But we should free her as soon as possible." None of the group took offense at this statement. At the moment, everyone was worried about Alicia's well-being. Especially Lucifer. He missed his wife very much. "Don't worry, my dearest Alicia, I'll be with you soon.".
"Welcome, welcome!" the lights, the smell of popcorn and the melody invited the guests to a show. The ring shone in the bright glow of the spotlights. The visitors cheered and cheered as the show began and Grimm welcomed them. The show started, not only in the ring but also behind the curtain. Individual cages were opened and the creatures were led out to get ready for the show. Of course, they were led on leashes while they waited for their turn.
Finnegan took advantage of this brief period of non-absence to make his way to the wagon where Grimm always slept. There he would find the keys that would not only free Alicia from the cage but also from the collar she was still wearing, which was fitted with a thick lock. However, the first attack of the plan seemed simple. "Oh damn." Unfortunately, the German shepherd realized that several figures were lying in front of the wagon, fast asleep.
These figures were creatures. Creatures that were not only dangerous but also served Grimm. These were the same creatures that shot Alicia out of the sky. They resembled griffins but their fur, feathers and rear body parts looked distinctly different from a griffin. Fur, feathers and the entire body were black in color. The wings resembled those of a dragon, as did the rear part of the body, which ended in a dragon's tail with a venomous apparatus at the tip, similar to that of a scorpion. The venom contained in these not only paralyzed their victims, but in the rarest of cases made it possible to control them.
They were shadow griffins. A rare variant of a griffin which was also deadly. They were considered untameable but somehow Grimm had managed to get them under his control. Without the help of his crystals, none of the shadow griffins wore any crystal-covered collars. Nobody knew exactly how he managed it. Not even Grimm's best men knew. It was a secret that only Grimm himself knew. But the dangerous griffins were not dangerous at the moment. They were fast asleep and didn't notice Finnegan sneaking past them. He walked past them quietly and gently, slowly putting one foot after the other on the ground. A false movement, a crack, a kneel or a mere touch would give away his presence.
The destination just a few meters away seemed miles away in the current situation. Finnegan only grimaced with nervousness as he almost stepped on the claw of a griffin that cut him off. He balanced his body before Finnegan placed his foot behind the claw and hopped on one leg to the door of the wagon to open it with all his strength. The door slammed shut as Finnegan closed it behind him. He was more than happy to finally be in the wagon and to get the bunch of keys to free Alicia.
However, the next step was to remove the keys without Grimm's Papgei noticing. Fortunately, he was asleep and mumbled something in his deep sleep while Finnegan slowly removed the bunch of keys from the handle on which they were hanging. The problem was that the handle was right next to the parrot's open cage. If he woke up and saw Finnegan taking the bunch of keys, the parrot would immediately sound the alarm. The shadow griffins would hear it and then Finnegan would be trapped. The shadow griffins were extremely agile and fast. Both on the ground and in the air, they were considered top predators.
"Please, please..." whispered Finnegan as, after several attempts and near failures, he finally managed to remove the bunch of keys from the rake without making any noise or causing the key to fall and wake the Papgeien. The keys to Alicia's release were in his hands. He didn't hesitate for long and went back the same way to the big tent without waking a single shadow gryphon.
Once inside the big tent, Finnegan looked around for Grimm's men before his eyes noticed the group in front of Alicia's cage. The group itself seemed to know Alicia. It was not for nothing that they worried about her or that the three cups tried to free her while rattling the cage bars as if her life depended on it. But they couldn't get far without the key. "It won't work like this." the group heard behind them and turned to the voice that came closer and closer and belonged to the German shepherd waving the bunch of keys back and forth in his hands. "You found them," said Alicia with relief before a loud 'Boo!' interrupted her sentence. Everyone stared at the curtains and knew what was happening in the ring. "And it looks like the plan is working after all." Finnegan mentioned before searching for the right keys. After all, there were several keys attached to the key ring. Each one for an individual cage.
What's more, all the keys looked identical. Finding the right one required a good eye like Harry Potter's when he was looking for the right key to get closer to the Philosopher's Stone. Because only one key was the right one to open the door to the next room. The same principle applied to the cage in which Alicia was trapped. Not every key opened it. But one did. The picking of the lock told the group that the right key had been found. The door opened and Alicia's wyvern head peeked out. Opening the cage was one thing. But getting the oversized wyvern out again was another.
She could get out of it if she took on her human form. But the collar played havoc with her plans. Without it, Alicia could control her powers and change her form like the devil and Lucifer did. With it, however, not so much. Come what may, it had to be done. The golden key was responsible for this. It was the only one capable of removing the collars or picking the lock that opened them. "Hurry up, who knows how long it will take for one of the men to notice us." By men, Mugsy meant Grimm's men who were standing in front of the curtain and, together with their boss, were trying to calm the booing spectators.
But what they didn't realize was that Alicia and the others were long gone. The collar was lying in front of the open cage. Unfortunately, this was the only open cage. Even though Alicia wanted to free the other mythical creatures, it wasn't worth the risk. "I feel sorry for the other creatures still in the cages," sighed Alicia as she lay in her husband's arms. Lucifer didn't miss a second to take her in his arms after she was free. He missed her very much. You could see that in his face.
His tears, which Cuppy only knew from the fight with him, flowed from Lucifer's eyes as Alicia cuddled up to him. But he wasn't the only one who was happy that Alicia was free. The three cups were also happy that she was back with them. So much so that they fought with Lucifer over who got to hug Alicia while they stopped at the city limits. They were now a long way from the circus. "I never thought I'd ever get out of the circus," Finnegan breathed out in relief. He had come along despite several objections. Alicia had promised him she would free him from the circus. And she did, but what now? He was homeless again. Or maybe not?
Well Alicia had a solution for that. She knew where Finnegan could stay without ending up in prison or starving to death. "But where should I go now? No way back," he sighed until Alicia gave him the tip to go to the theater. Why the theater? Because Alicia had good contact with Sally Stageplay as her goddaughter. Thanks to her, the theater got a boom. Cuprodgers was extremely popular and played several weeks in a row because people couldn't get enough of it. One reason why Varian took longer to build the portal. However, Sally owed Alicia a favor. This favor was that Sally was now a godmother and that she took in Finnegan. Alicia really hoped for the latter because unfortunately she couldn't accompany Finnegan to the theater.
Not because it was late, but because the others didn't want to risk Alicia being caught again. Alicia was clutched in Lucifer's arms. A clear sign that he didn't want to take his eyes off her. There was only one thing she should do: Accompany the group back to the cottage. Nothing more. So Alicia said goodbye to Finnegan and wished him good luck for the future as they parted ways and headed home.
"Hopefully we'll have some peace and quiet now from any people who want to grab Alicia," Mugsy said with a relieved sigh as he ran ahead of the group with his brother and Cuppy. True words, one could say, if it weren't for the fact that Alicia felt even more uncomfortable with this statement, let alone that she now wanted to return home even more than before. The thought that there were people on these Inkwell Isle's who wanted to use her for their own purposes. The Devil seemed bad enough but Grimm Cane was a step worse than the Lord of the Underworld could ever be.
No one in the group knew who they could and couldn't trust. Almost everyone could secretly be working for the devil. That worried Alicia a lot. Her fears that things would soon get worse were not without reason. Unaware of the group, a familiar face soon approached them. A familiar face that didn't seem to be what it was pretending to be.