Mugman had climbed the ladder to the floating castle in the sky. The young mug took a moment to gawk at the magnificent castle as he made it to the top. It was a massive structure that was held together with blocks of varying shades of silver and gray. The tops of the spires were red with turbines attached to their peaks. Amazingly, those little propellers kept the entire structure high above the ground.
"Another little cup to come play in my games! Wonderful!" A voice beamed. Mug looked over and saw a man that looked like a living piece from a chess board. A king piece to be exact. He wore a king's dress with a red shirt piece that had yellow diamond-shaped decorations on it. The bottoms were a two-toned blue color, his shoes being the same light blue color as part of his pants. A long red cape draped over his shoulders and all the way down to the ground. It had a frilly white trim along the edge. At the king's face, his skin tone was yellow, had a white bushy mustache, a small pink nose, and a large crown on his head. The very top of it was round with the two-toned blue. Around the sides was a silver trim that went up and out like arrowheads. In the middle of these arrowheads were gems, alternating between pink and blue colors. The chess piece also held a golden staff with a crown-like decoration at the top.
"I am the King of Games." He announced. "And you have made it to the King's Leap, young cup....something only the true warriors of the world can claim." The king whispered that last part to him.
But Mug didn't really care what the King was saying at this point. The most important thing was to find Cuphead and Ms. Chalice to get their help.
"Where's my brother? I need to talk to him!" Mugman panted.
"Yes, of course. He's right down in here." The king's white glove pointed to a large opening into the castle. Mug noticed the wooden plank leading up to the opening. This was a drawbridge that currently was open. Did that mean there was a moat beneath? Mugman didn't have time to ponder that now. Without another word to the king, the young mug raced inside. He traveled down a long hallway that was lined with a red carpet on the floor. It eventually opened up into what seemed to be a spacious living room. The red carpet finally ended, revealing the black and white checkered floor. Toward the back of the room was a fireplace with a couple chairs and a suit of armor near it. Above the fireplace was a blue banner that had a picture of a white horse head and neck.
Before the young mug stood his brother and the golden chalice. There was a third person in the room. It was an anthropomorphic horse that was wearing armor. The horse's torso had the same red shirt piece with yellow diamond-shaped decorations as the king. The armor on its arms, legs and neck was silver. Attached to its right arm was a golden shield and a sword dangled from its left hand. A golden knight's helmet closed over its eyes. Small holes provided places for its ears to stick out of the armor. The only part of its body that was truly exposed was its gray muzzle. Even its mane seemed to be fortified. For it stood straight up in a rigid manner and glowed a bright pink. The equine held a goofy smile on its face as the legs frantically danced around, coaxing the young cups to come and attack him.
Cuphead noticed his brother come into the room.
"Hey Mugs, check this out!" The red cup ushered Mug over. "If we win against the King's guards, he gives us prize money! Look!" Cup held up a large brown sack filled with gold coins. The jingled like loose change as he held it up.
"That's great. But I really need to talk to you." Mugman tried to explain.
"Oh, can't it wait just a minute? Chalice and I are in the middle of sparring with this guy." A gloved thumb pointed back at the armored horse.
"But this is really important!" The young mug insisted.
"Tell ya what, if you help us beat this guy we'll listen to you for as long as you like." Cuphead said to his sibling and draped an arm around his shoulders.
"Fine, I'll take care of this!" Mugman said with a huff and brushed his brother off.
"That's the spirit!" The red cup egged him on. Mug noticed the horse had pushed up his helmet a bit to take a look at the new challenger. It's silly grin grew even wider as the golden helmet crashed back down on its face.
The young mug charged forward without fear. At this point, he was ready to make this battle quick so his brother would not be so distracted when he tried to talk to him. The equine brought its sword down towards Mugman. It happened faster than Mug had predicted, causing him to take an exaggerated dive to the right.
"Whoa!" He squealed as the weapon came close to hitting him. The sword clanged loudly to the checkered tile floor.
I can't believe I barely avoided that... Mug breathed and shuddered at the thought that this horse was not holding back. The creature whinnied as it lifted the sword again. Both the weapon and the shield came crashing towards Mugman. How were these strikes so fast? The young mug wondered. For he was barely avoiding these blows and quickly draining his energy from all the dodges and dives he was taking. The horse's sword eventually got stuck in a crack between tiles. It struggled to pull out the weapon. This gave Mug a chance to attack. He jumped up and tried to charge up a powerful blue blast between his hands. It started to build up but quickly began to fizzle and die out. The energy pulsed a couple of times before going out completely.
"Huh?" He wondered, not remembering that he needed the demon for that kind of magic. At this point, using that kind of magic just seemed routine. And it confused the mug child when it suddenly didn't work. Before he could react, the horse's shield came barreling toward him. It crashed into his mug, sending him spiraling and screaming across the floor. His glass body tumbled over and over itself until it had exited the room. It did not stop moving until he crashed into a wall, rendering him unconscious.
Some time later, Mug began to wake up.
"Oh, my mug." He drawled out as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head. "I feel so weak and helpless....without him." Mugman still had his eyes closed as he talked to himself. "Ok, Cuphead I-" He suddenly stopped talking when he opened his eyes and realized he was not in the hall of the knights anymore. Cuphead and Chalice were nowhere to be seen. It was a spacious room that he was in. Absolutely all of the walls were chocked with books. The bookshelves climbed a couple stories tall, all the way to the ceiling. Mug had never seen such a large library. The smell of paper hit him like a ton of bricks. Red carpets lined paths around the place. There were spiral staircases that led both upstairs and downstairs. The young mug looked around, thinking one could easily get lost in this massive place. It was only after he was done looking around that he realized that he was sitting on a soft red couch. On the coffee table to his right sat a little hourglass. Something inside Mugman said to flip it over. So he did. And the sand started to drain to the other end.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Came an elderly male voice. Mug flinched at the sudden voice in the complete silence of the library. It was as if the voice came on cue when he touched the hourglass. A creature was making its way down the red carpet paved staircase from upstairs. As it came around the spiral, Mug saw that it was a hybrid of creatures; part dragon and part bookworm. Its upper half looked like a dragon with three clawed paws. A braid of hair came down from its lower jaw like a beard. It wore a pair of oversized glasses and had four horns that looked more like antlers. The wings that sprouted from its shoulder blades were old and withered with holes patched throughout them. It clearly never used them to fly anymore. If one looked close enough, you could even see some dust on them. The creature's lower half was that of a scaly worm tail. Its whole body was an earthy green color.
"That was quite a hit you had taken. Must have been quite a shock to have that hurt so much..." He slowly drawled out. The creature stopped a few feet away from the couch. From this distance, Mugman noticed it wore a necklace with an hourglass as its charm. The sand had transitioned from one end to the other. A single black claw from the hybrid reached up and turned it back around, so the grains would begin the journey again. The young mug wasn't paying too much attention to what the dragon-worm was saying. For his only thought at that moment was to find Cuphead and Chalice for their help.
"Do you know where my brother is?" He asked impatiently.
"Probably still battling with the King's minions." The old creature said, gesturing with its left wing toward a door. That only confirmed to Mugman that was how he got out of the library.
"Great, thanks! Bye!" Mug hopped off the couch without a second thought and headed for the heavy-looking door.
"Perhaps you should slow down for a minute, Mugman. Certainly there must be someone you want to read about in the library?" The dragon-worm calmly explained. He cocked his head, waiting for the mug child to respond to his inquiry. The young mug stopped on the spot when he realized the creature had just used his name.
"Wait....how do you know my name?" His mug turned back.
"It's an honor to finally meet you, Mugman." The elderly hybrid ducked his head and wings as if he were bowing to the boy. "I've read a lot of stories in my day, but yours is one of the most interesting tales by far. And yet there is still so much more to be written."
"What are you talking about? I haven't written an autobiography of myself." Mug shrugged with both his shoulders and hands.
"No, no, dear boy." The dragon head slowly shook back and forth. "This room that we are currently standing in is the Inkwell Archives." Its tattered wings gestured to the open space around them. "The books write themselves here. And I am the librarian assigned to protect and organize the books."
"So you're telling me that this room contains the entire history of Inkwell?" Mugman inquired, gesturing to the spacious room as a whole.
"Precisely."
"And....I have a book somewhere in here that tells my life's story – which you've read?"
"Oh, yes. Many times." The dragon-worm said humbly. "There is much one can learn from your story."
"Would it...be possible for me to see it?" Mug cautiously asked and took a step back toward the creature.
"Of course, you can. This one is yours." He gestured a wing and a book magically floated off the shelf. Mugman noticed a silver silhouette of a mug on the cover. The trim was a blue color that seemed to match his nose and shirt. It opened itself near the hybrid, who gestured with his head for the child to come over and read with him. The young mug approached close enough so that he could read and turn the pages. "The book details every part of your life from the time you were born to the present minute." The librarian explained.
Mugman flipped through the pages, amazed at how detailed and accurate the chapters were. The dragon-worm noticed that he went through the chapter about his parents' deaths rather quickly. It made sense that the mug child did not want to relive that moment, but the creature gave him some words of wisdom nonetheless.
"You know, sometimes we have to revisit the darkest times of our lives in order to see the journey to take into the light. Remember that, Mugman." He lectured. But Mug was only half-listening as he intently flipped through the pages. His pace slowed when he came upon a different text. It was a scribbly, ancient looking writing. Almost as if it were halfway between symbols and letters/words.
"What is all this?" The young mug wondered aloud.
"It is a language spoken not by the living." His elderly friend responded.
"So you mean to tell me....that this is the language of the dead?" He watched as the dragon head nodded. "But why would this be in my book?"
"Well, you might remember that you were thrown into the Devil's pit?" Mug just shuddered at the memory of that happening. "Clinically speaking, you were dead for about sixty seconds."
"So...these are my thoughts when I was dead?"
"Yes, but not just yours. I may not be able to read this language, but I can distinguish a few different writing styles. It seems a couple of souls were talking to you." The elderly creature explained.
"Talking to me? Could it have been my parents?" Mugman asked hopefully.
"Perhaps..." The hybrid hesitantly answered. It was almost as if he knew more about this but wasn't sharing.
"Is there a way to find out? Does someone know how to translate this?" Mug persisted, wanting answers about this mysterious text.
"If there were someone able to translate this, my best bet would be a demon since their written language is similar."
"A demon..." Mugman's thoughts went to his demon. He wondered if Tsundere was okay at the moment. That the chef wasn't doing anything to hurt him. In order to help the parasitic creature, he needed to learn more. Perhaps this dragon-worm could lead him toward the correct research. Only one way to find out, Mug figured.
"Curious, do demons have these life books as well?"
The hybrid merely chuckled before answering.
"Of course, you're curious. It is your curiosity that has led you to learn so much about the world and people around you." The young mug raised an eye at him. His look said that he just wanted the creature to answer him and make it quick. The librarian realized this and cleared his throat. "However, yes. Demons do have books, too."
"Can I see one?" Mugman wasted no time in asking.
"I'm sorry, Mugman. I'm afraid not. The demon books are in the restricted section for a reason. Not even I go in there very often."
"And that reason is...?"
"Well, some spirits are powerful enough to have a physical tie to their book. And when opened....well, you probably have a good idea about what happens." The librarian explained and took a second to flip his hourglass necklace again. Mug looked away from the creature and back to the book. The child thought for a few seconds about a possible way around this block.
"Is there another way to check on my demon without opening the restricted section?" He ventured another question.
"Perhaps..." The hybrid said. "Try flipping towards the back of your book." Mugman wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but obeyed the wise librarian's words. As his gloved hands kept flipping through, the young mug realized that the book captured all of his internal conversations with Tsundere. As he neared the end of the book, the two of them came across text that said things like "Help!" or "Mugman, where are you?" Not only that, but the text from these thoughts were blurring and growing smaller.
"What's happening to him? Why are the words getting smaller?" Mug was now worried.
"It seems the internal connection between you two is fading." The dragon head said.
"But why would it be fading?" The mug child had a good idea of why, but he still asked anyway in hopes that the hybrid might divulge anything useful.
"Well, think about it. Tsundere used to be an embedded demon inside of you. And he just got ripped out against his will. A creature that relied on your body for support that long won't fare well by itself."
"Are you saying that Tsundere is dying?!" Mugman exclaimed. The demon's condition was worse than he had feared.
"Regrettably, yes. I don't suspect he will last longer than a day without you." The dragon-worm said solemnly.
"Please! Do you know a way to save him?" Mug asked urgently.
"If you were to find a way to get him back in your soul, I believe he would recover. But figuring out how to do that is the challenge. By now he will have lost too much energy to make the transition himself."
"So you're saying that there's no hope left for him? That there's nothing I can do?" The young mug said somberly.
"Perhaps nothing you can do by yourself. But with the help of others, there may be a miracle yet." The librarian provided some optimism.
"Then I have to find Cuphead and Ms. Chalice! There's no time to lose!" Mugman turned and tried to run out of the room. A scaly green tail pressed against his torso and slowed him to a stop.
"I know that you are concerned about your demon, but running out there in such a hasty manner will not get you very far. There is one more person that you should read about before you leave." The dragon-worm could tell that the mug child was getting impatient. It fought against his tail for a bit before finally giving in.
"Fine, fine! Who is it? Chalice? Can she help me?" Mug asked in an exasperated manner.
"No, it is not Ms. Chalice." The librarian slowly shook his head. "Although the golden chalice is indeed a curious case, she is not the person that you need to understand for the moment." Mugman's book closed up and floated back to the shelf. A new one was magically summoned down to their level. The young mug caught a glimpse of a silver trim on the book but could not see the symbol on its front as it unfolded too quickly. It opened to display a name that Mugman was not expecting.
"Chef Saltbaker?! Why him?" Mug could not fathom why he needed to know about this character.
"The chef is a bit of a troubled soul. But with the proper help, he can be healed." The hybrid admitted.
"Why would I want to help him after what he did to Tsundere?" Mugman argued with him.
"Which begs the question: why did you help the Devil during your last battle with him? You could have let the demons destroy him." The dragon-worm challenged.
"Well, David is still a person and deep down he's not a bad guy. He just made some mistakes that he couldn't get out of." Mug answered honestly.
"And you think the chef is any different than that?" The librarian watched as the child looked away and stayed quiet. He knew the elderly creature was right, it was just hard for him to admit it at the moment. His little porcelain body sat down next to the hybrid, ready for story time. "You two are more alike than you realize. Understanding your enemies is just as important as understanding your friends. Surely you remember that." The dragon head then looked back to the book, clearing his throat. "For the sake of time, we'll skip the early years and get to where he started having troubles. Let us begin..."
"For most of his life, Saltbaker was a pretty happy, care-free person. He always loved to cook for people (even at a young age) and do what he could to make his customers happy. Early in life, he married another salt shaker by the name of Sue. They were more than happy together and soon talked about having a child.
"Not long after that, Sue was diagnosed with a mysterious illness that prevented her from bearing a child. Heartbroken, both Sue and Saltbaker fell into depression. It became clear to Saltbaker that finding a cure for his wife was the only thing that mattered to him. The two traveled off Inkwell in search of a cure. Everywhere they went, they turned up empty-handed. Sue's condition was worsening. She wanted to go home, spend however long she had with her husband and doing the things she enjoyed. But Saltbaker wasn't about to give up.
"It was the night before their boat trip back to Inkwell when Saltbaker snuck off the ship for one last attempt at getting something for his wife. Sue was fast asleep when he made his leave. In the dark of night, Saltbaker ventured into the shadow market."
"What's the shadow market?" Mugman inquired.
"The shadow market is a place where people buy, sell, and trade magical items. Often times they are powered by dark magic or illegal all together. Not to mention always dangerous. These markets move about and only operate in the dark of night in order to escape the watchful eye of the law. If they were to be found, they would be shut down immediately.
"The chef, not having any previous knowledge of what the shadow market was about, asked around to see what people had. Saltbaker found a stranger that offered him essence of an angel."
Mug pondered at why such an item would be sold at such a dark market.
"The stranger told him that this essence of angel would not cure any damage that was already done, but prevent any illness from spreading further. Without a second thought, Saltbaker bought the white and yellow orb and rushed back to his wife. He cracked the orb like an egg and let the essence flow over Sue. She had slept through this, but come the next morning, she was feeling a little better. Sue and Saltbaker made it home and continued to live their lives."
"I don't get it." The young mug interrupted. "Why would essence of angel be sold at a shadow market?"
"Essence of angel is often given to someone when you wish for them to have a painful death." The hybrid answered.
"What? Why?"
"What the stranger didn't tell Saltbaker is that demons are sure to track that energy. They are like moths to a flame with angel essence. Demons have an insatiable desire to consume and corrupt the purity of the angel essence."
"So you're saying that she...?" Mugman couldn't even finish his sentence.
"It was one afternoon when Sue was working in their garden that it happened. A demon had tracked her down and tore an opening between the two worlds."
"The astral plane...!" Mug said, beginning to understand how the demons travel so quickly to the land of the living.
"Yes. The demon grabbed her and pulled her away. The portal closed before Saltbaker could reach her. And he never saw his wife ever again. But Saltbaker vowed that he would get her back no matter what.
"The chef began to buy more items from the shadow market in hopes that he could find a way to get into the astral plane and get her back. The police eventually caught him buying illegal goods from the market and threw him in jail for a bit. Not to mention all the rumors that were floating around that people thought he had killed his wife. As you know, he is currently out of jail....and he has taken your demon."
"But why would he take Tsundere when he hates demons?" Mugman tried to understand the chef's reasoning for doing so.
"By now, Chef Saltbaker has figured out that only certain species can traverse farther into the astral plane." The dragon-worm replied.
"So he wants to use Tsundere to go look and find his wife?" The young mug was starting to piece together.
"Correct." The librarian said. He watched as the child sat there lost in thought for a moment. "Is this all starting to make sense to you now?" The creature asked. Mug nodded.
"I won't hurt Chef Saltbaker if I can avoid it." He stood up now that the hybrid was done with his story. "Maybe...maybe he can help put Tsundere back inside me."
"Perhaps." The dragon head said, being the optimist he was. "Be careful, Mugman. The chef will not likely be swayed easily. Find your friends, work together, and succeed. I wish you all luck." The young mug nodded and started to walk to the door. "Do come visit me again, Mugman. I enjoyed our time together. Hopefully my next guest will not be another 100 years later." The librarian waved a paw.
You've been here for that long? Mug thought. "I'll be back. I promise." Mugman said before heading out of the archives. He ran down the hallways of the castle calling out for Cuphead and Chalice. But they were nowhere to be found. Mug eventually found the king and inquired about his friends' whereabouts.
"The little cups? Oh, they're not here anymore. They went back down to the surface looking for you." The mustached man said.
Oh, great. That just added another layer of difficulty to this... Mugman thought. He bid the king thanks and climbed down the ladder.