𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺,
Luz staring at the strange statue-like creatures in holes in the walls, the girl gasping as she frowned in curiosity, seeing all the holes filled with the creatures, some broken down and others completely collapsed, yet still in their place.
"What are these things?"
She then passed by one of the creatures with its hand raised in the air, Luz letting out a noise of disgust as she passed, the girl then returning to the statue as she smiled in a joking manner.
"Just kidding, I'd never leave someone hanging, up top buddy!" Luz cheered, slapping the creature's hand before it collapsed, the corpse landing on Luz as she cried out, lifting it off of her while her eyes widened in horror at the ceiling above her.
More corpses filled her vision before she lifted her light, scanning each hole as it was filled before she had come across a vacant hole, the girl gasping as she heard the rattling, turning around as she saw a shadow race out, the girl running after it.
•
"And that's how I would annihilate my enemies!" King smiled, the group passing by a carving as he explained the image to Lilith and Hooty, the witch holding the light orb as the demon continued to speak.
"Who needs due process am I right?"
"What does this image represent, my lord?" Lilith asked, the carving showing a creature that shared the same features as King, the position in throwing a javelin as they stared at the image in awe.
"Uh... It's hard to remember," King scratched his head before looking at the carving. "But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"
"Tour's over! We gotta go, now!" Luz ran in, Lilith looking at the girl in confusion while the Latina frowned.
"But there's so much to learn–" Lilith complained, Luz doing her best to rush the witch out.
"This environment is not conducive to learning. It's conducive to death!"
"Ah," King replied as he hopped off Lilith's shoulder, letting out a grunt while he landed. "You saw the horrifying monstrosity room! Don't worry, they can't hurt you."
King waved an arm dismissively before he heard a rattling, the group looking up to see where the sound had come from, the group seeing a creature on the ceiling as it snapped it's head a full one-eighty degrees.
"That one can!" Luz yelled out, picking King up as they sped through the hallways.
"Let's go!"
The creature looked in Luz's direction, then lurching itself off the ceiling as it crashed in front of Luz, making the girl back up before pulling it's hand up, a fluid appearing from it's arm as it now had claws, Luz glancing at it in fear as the creature began to swipe.
Luz continued to dodge the being, the creature not noticing Lilith, the witch pulling ice glyphs out as she crushed them, the glyph turning into spikes as she threw them in the monster's direction, the creature now impaled as it was stuck to nearby rocks, Luz glancing at Lilith.
"Dang, girl! You've been practicing!" Luz smiled at Lilith, Lilith pulling the girl up as they ran.
"You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive."
The creature then morphed itself as it moved around the icicles, racing after the two, climbing on the ceiling before landing in front of the group, lifting its hand as it turned into an axe, ready to lower it on the group before an explosion hit it from behind, Luz and Lilith facing away as they flinched.
Eda jumped from the entrance, Georgia flying in on her staff as Eda held another vial of potions, the woman calling to the rest of the group.
"Georgia, get them out of here, I'll hold it back and meet you outside."
Georgia nodded, pulling King from Luz and placing him on her staff while Lilith clutched onto a staff of her own.
"Eda! We can fight it together!" Luz called out, holding onto her staff.
"You can't beat this thing!" Eda replied, backing away as she held another vial, the creature nearing her. "Go."
The group then looked at one another as they ran out, Eda tossing a vial in her hand as she glanced at the monster, smirking at it once they had gone.
"It's been a while, miss me?"
The creature then lurched towards her, the two fighting as Lilith and Luz ran down the stairs, Georgia placing King down as she got off her staff.
"More running, less stopping!" Hooty called out as the group looked back at where Eda was.
"Edalyn said to wait here!" Lilith responded, as Luz held her arm out, Georgia frowning as she ran back in to help Eda after she had placed the demon down.
"We can't let them fight it alone! We have to go back!"
Noises rang out from inside the structure, Lilith and Luz looking at one another in worry as the exploding sounds had suddenly ceased, Eda walking out, clutching her arm as Georgia supported the woman.
"Edalyn!" Lilith called out, rushing to her sister out of instinct, Luz remaining frozen as King clutched onto her shoulder.
Eda grunted, dizzy as Lilith supported her sister, Georgia looking back at the entrance as she squinted at the doorway for any signs of movement.
"You're hurt!" Lilith held her sister carefully. "What of that horrible creature?"
The said creature then appeared, rattling as the three gasped, Georgia drawing a pink circle as an abomination appeared, ready to attack the creature before it lowered it's hand, the axe-arm going limp as a blue forcefield-like shield appeared, the arm going through it as it reeled it's arm in.
"It can't get past the entrance, we're safe now." Eda smiled, Lilith's eyes opening as she released Eda slightly, Georgia sighing in relief as she waved her hand, the abomination disappearing.
"That thing must be guarding this place against intruders..." Luz's eyes widened in realisation, King frowning before hopping off her shoulder.
"But it's my castle, how could we be intruders?"
"Uh... u-uhmm..." Luz stuttered, trying to find an explanation, King's eyes tearing up at Luz's hesitation.
"You don't believe this is my castle..." King stated, Luz biting her nails nervously.
"Luz, you think I would lie to you?"
"King, I–" Luz looked down at the demon sadly before Eda interrupted her.
"You aren't lying." Eda sighed before sitting down in pain, looking at King guiltily as Lilith rushed to get bandages out, Georgia helping as she drew a circle, healing Eda as Lilith wrapped the bandages around her sister's arm.
"It's time for me to tell you how we really met."
King's eyes widened as Eda told her tale, the group listening in pensively.
"Eight years ago, I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's coven. I never knew this place existed, and it just appeared, out of the mist! So I landed.
"Now, I was one hot tamale, but the Boiling rains were even hotter, and I needed shelter, but when I found it...," Eda laughed to herself, reminiscing the memory. "I wasn't alone."
•
Eda walked through the abandoned hallways, a figure dashing passed her as she whipped around.
"Who's there?" She asked, her staff raised as she called out to her 'company'. "Reveal yourself!"
A scuttling came from behind her as she quickly turned to the noise, gasping as a little creature with a skull on its head jumped from behind a statue, wagging its tail while its eyes widened in curiosity.
Eda lowered her staff, looking at the creature curiously, seeing it lift a 'v' shaped rock and placing it on a small stone pile.
"Did you make all these?" Eda questioned, landing on one knee as she placed her staff on the floor, scratching the being as it wagged its tail. "What are you?"
•
"I assumed you were some stray dog," Eda continued her tale as she remembered hearing the rattling for the first time. "But then, that thing was gonna kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced."
•
Eda raced through the halls, the critter in her arms as a monster had chased after the two, swiping its weapon-shifting arm while speeding out the entrance, the monster creating a bow and arrow as it pulled back, firing as it had missed Eda, but hit King's horn, the impact causing the two to collapse.
Eda pushed herself up, the critter unconscious as its horn was now broken off, Eda speedily grabbing the critter and its broken piece as she ran, the two flying home as she held the little creature close.
•
"Against my better judgement, I took you home with me. I had gotten you the collar cuz... well, that's what you do when you get a new pet, but then..."
•
Eda peered from the doorway, glancing at King as he had piled junk on top one another, the demon falling over in the process.
"Oh, look at you," Eda snorted in amusement as she stared at the little being, now leaning against the doorway. "A king amongst his subjects."
King's eyes widened as he repeated 'king', smiling as he fell backwards in excitement, Eda's eyes widening as she uncrossed her arms.
"It spoke..." She then smiled, walking towards the creature. "Yeah, that's right. A king. Do you know what else kings do?"
She booped his nose, the little creature listening excitedly as he heard Eda's tales.
"They command armies and eat delicious feasts!"
•
"And that's how you got the idea that you were some despotic overlord." Eda looked away embarrassed as Lilith sat near her sister. "Oh, but you were finally happy, so I kept playing along with it."
"Y-You're lying..." King stared at Eda in horror, terrified to hear that his life, all that he believed in, was a lie.
"I'm not." Eda responded, rummaging through her hair as she pulled out the broken piece that she had saved from all those years ago.
King let out a soft whimper of confusion as he took the horn in uncertainty, his eyes widening as his memories returned to him, the demon seeing that Eda was in fact, right.
"My army... my feasts... my life..." King then cried out, tossing the piece away as it landed by Luz. "No! Keep that thing away from me, it's messing with my head!"
"King, it's gonna be okay," Luz reached out, King retracting from her outstretched hand, Georgia looking sadly at the poor demon as his eyes began to well up with tears.
"Y-You're all just making fun of me like usual, right?" The demon then let out a series of 'no's in disbelief, the group looking at one another sadly before he shook his head, gripping it as he ran off.
"King!" Luz and Georgia cried out, Luz getting up as she reached a hand out, Georgia then holding Luz back.
"I think he needs some time to process this..."
•
"King! King!" Luz's voice rang out as they searched for the small demon, the demon now having disappeared for an hour, the group getting worried as they searched hard.
"Please come back!" Luz ran in one direction, Lilith following her behind, as she held her staff.
"I can't fly, the tree cover is too dense." The witch frowned, as she looked away in guilt, Hooty tearing up immensely. "I regret ever playing a part in this..."
"Is this what regret feels like?" Hooty asked himself, the owl then slumping over Lilith's shoulder as she placed a reassuring hand on him.
"I hate it!"
"I lied to him, even though I knew he trusted me." Luz looked down, sitting on a rock as Georgia placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Now he's all alone..."
Luz teared up, Georgia patting her back as Eda gave out orders.
"For now let's split up," Eda announced as Lilith walked towards her sister. "The island is small, and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far."
Lilith nodded, running in one direction as Georgia walked another, Eda sitting down next to Luz as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll find him."
The witch smiled at Luz before running off, Luz wiping her tears, determined to search for the small demon.
"King!"
•
After a while of tireless searching, Luz walked towards the sandy beach, praying that the demon was there as that was the last place left she had to search, and her eyes widened as she was correct, seeing that the small demon was indeed on a log, staring at the moon as the waves crashed against the shore.
Luz frowned at his loneliness while guilt filled her stomach, realising that she had to right her wrong as she walked towards the demon, who was too deep in thought to care about oncoming footsteps.
"Eda was right wasn't she?"
Luz sat on the log, looking at King as he stared down at his feet.
"I was never king of anything, I'm nobody."
"You are somebody," Luz smiled, looking at the little demon. "And I love that somebody very much."
The Latina then looked at her feet, her apology slipping out her mouth.
"I'm sorry I lied about what I believed."
"Everyone lied!" King replied, his eyebrows raising at the statement, before he rolled his fists into balls.
"And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realise it! I don't– I don't know what to do, Luz." King sniffed. "I can't tell what's real and what's fake!"
The demon placed his hands on his head, sobbing, as Luz looked away, her eyes widening at the tower.
"Something's not adding up."
King moved his hands away, unsure of Luz's statement.
"One of your memories is falling, right?"
"Probably another stupid thing I made up." King answered, wiping a tear away.
"No, what if that's a real memory?"
"Why does it matter?"
"You said you remember a roar from up in that shaft," Luz answered, pointing at a crack in the roof. "Maybe that's where you fell from. Eda found you in those ruins, there's gotta be a clue from where you came from!"
"I don't know, Luz." King replied, looking away. "What if the story gets worse?"
"You might have been alone before," Luz walked towards King, placing a hand over her heart. "But you have us now. Whatever we find up there won't change that. So what do you say?"
The girl held her hand out, King looking at it pensively before taking her hand, the demon giving his answer.
"Okay."
•
so we have a last chapter left before the next episode and ho dam am i late–
Note 1: Luz, i wouldn't touch that if i were– nevermind
Note 2: oh king...
Note 3: i feel so bad for king, dear god–
Note 4: look at this pot of gold
Note 5: the fact that king's life was a lie is kinda oof–
Anyways, that's all for today, thank you guys so much for reading and i wish you all a good day/night!
- sam