Xornoth was winning when it had happened. He had Scott trapped in a ring of corruption and fire; he couldn't escape. The spell was ready to seal him away in a crystal so he could watch, helpless, as his demon brother tortured and killed his friends in front of him. Not that the other emperors weren't probably dying already. The explosion that had freed Xornoth was powerful enough to wipe out whole empires. Served them right for trying to fight him.
It was kind of ironic, really, when one thought about it. If those too-stubborn-to-die emperors hadn't sealed him away in a crystal in an attempt to save their empires, they wouldn't have been in a position to destroy the world with the explosion. And then the explosion destroyed their empires anyway. Xornoth didn't care. He thought it was amusing and humorous, yes, but he didn't really care about it then. Not when he was winning and finally getting his revenge on his accursed brother.
And then came the pain. Pain, like he had never felt before. Pain, that it almost hurt to not scream in agony. Pain, like his soul was being torn forcibly from his body. Was it Scott? With that cursed Rune Blade? He glanced at his brother. No, he hadn't used the sword. Whatever was happening, it wasn't because of him.
And then they were both teleported to somewhere new, along with the other eleven emperors. They were in a room that he didn't recognize, which was surprising, because Xornoth was sure that he was familiar enough with the other empires to know who's room was whose. And then he saw the other thirteen people, crowded into the same room as they.
They looked just like the emperors he fought and detested, other than a blonde lady wearing a steampunk uniform and a bard with a lute. Xornoth was almost frightened there for a moment. Maybe it was found out that he had escaped and someone, probably that annoying Crystal Cliffs wizard, had cast a spell that brought these new beings to defeat him. That was an irrational assumption that his dazed mind had created from sheer fear, a feeling he wasn't used to.
And then he realized no one was looking at him. No one noticed him. He realized why when someone had passed right through his body. He looked at his hands, now made of a swirling, dark ectoplasm. He had no physical form. He was like a ghost in a way, although obviously not dead, because he could see his soulbound brother standing there alive and well. Looking around his surroundings more, Xornoth realized that he was on the spectral plane.
He was well familiar with the dimension that was half-aligned with the world they all resided in, considering he had been there a lot before Lord Sausage of Mythland and emperor Joey of the Lost Empire had slain the dragon and let him bring himself fully to that world. Although last time he had been there, he had a physical form, and was able to clip a few seconds to minutes at a time into the physical world to interact with the emperors. Now, no matter how he had tried, he couldn't bring himself to leave.
All of his questions were soon given answers as he watched the emperors around him fight and then discuss what had happened. So the incompetent wizard had panicked and sent them all a thousand years into the future. Xornoth floated over to her as the Wizard Gem showed Sausage of Sanctuary the spell she had used. He read over the mage's shoulder, understanding the spell.
What a simple mistake. Gem had asked the spell to find her friends and bring them somewhere safe, without even clarifying when or where. The magic had searched for the souls of her fellow emperors to bring them somewhere safe, and since Xornoth's soul was linked to Scott's, the magic had brought him along as well, although without his body because of nuances.
Xornoth soon started planning how he could use his shapeless form to his advantage, and how he could corrupt and take over these new lands. The first advantage he found was that he could easily spy on the emperors without them knowing he was there. He spent the week keeping tabs on the emperors and studying their habits and eavesdropping on conversations.
That last one was a veritable mine of information, as they all really like to talk about the strange things that had happened to them. He made several discoveries just by eavesdropping. But his most important discovery was when Princess Gem had come to the spectral plane.
He was surprised that a celestial being such as her was so easy to take over. But perhaps she wasn't used to being possessed. Xornoth didn't even know that he could possess people in this new form. That would be a useful ability, but right now he had to plan more on what to do with it and make sure that the celestial didn't tell anyone of his existence.
He had possessed another person soon after that. A goblin. He was poking fun at a sheriff who was apparently the reincarnation of Codfather Jimmy. Xornoth couldn't resist. Barely thinking, he slipped into the goblin's body and started relentlessly bullying him, his words based on what he had heard while spying across the server. He was fairly pleased with the results, and it was so funny when after he had left the goblin antagonized the sheriff even more, not realizing what had happened while he was possessed.
Xornoth later found that near the spots that he had possessed the celestial and the goblin, some corruption was sprouting up. As pretty as they looked, it was a dead giveaway that he was on this time period with the emperors, so he managed to scare a few villagers into cleaning it up for him. Apparently even without a body he still had a voice, and his voice could be heard on the physical realm.
He sat among the emperors as they watched court proceedings. Xornoth was amused at the drama unfurling between the couples, but what piqued his interest the most was the second case. Emperor Joey was trying to assert his rulership over Mayor Lizzie, a descendant of his subjects. Xornoth liked the fact that Joey was still power-hungry and bitter over what he thought was unfair to himself. I can exploit that when I need allies.
However, Xornoth didn't pay much attention to the actual case. His attention was diverted to a conversation occurring next to him, between the celestial being and Scott's future self. "Scott, your yellow eye can see magic, right?" "Yes, why?" "Can you see souls or spirits?" Scott thought for a second, frowning. "If the soul or spirit has an abundance of magic, then I guess I can. Why?" "First, can you look around this room to see if there's any random soul or spirit in here?"
Xornoth panicked. He knew he had magic for sure, so Scott would be able to see him. He had to make sure that he didn't. Without thinking, he took control of Scott's body, and was pleasantly surprised at how much it felt like his own. He supposed that since his soul was linked to Scott's, it felt at home in Scott's body. He glanced at Gem, whose face suddenly acquired an alarmed expression. "Scott, are your eyes supposed change color?" Xornoth looked at his reflection and realized that he had one red eye and one yellow eye.
"Yes," Xornoth said, trying to play cool. Gem frowned. She suspects. "Well, okay, then," Gem said, sounding suspicious. "Did you see any spirits or souls in here?" "No." Gem looked thoughtful for a second, then looked away to watch the court proceedings. Xornoth did the same, knowing that if he said anything to her to try and assure her that he was acting normal, it would have the opposite effect and it would jeopardize his plan. And the court case was quite amusing as well.
"We animals shouldn't be ruled by humans! That happened to us a long time ago and the silly ruler made us wear silly outfits and got us trapped in cages! Wait, now that I think about it, the silly ruler was probably Joey." Lizzie said thoughtfully. "I'm not silly! And as for getting trapped in cages, that wasn't my fault, go ask your past self about what happened?" Joey protested, pointing at the Ocean Queen. The Lizzies looked at each other. "I only kidnapped one of them to hold for ransom in exchange for an axolotl Joey stole." "Wait, my past self was the one who-"
Xornoth didn't have to watch the court case for long, though, Judge Pixlriffs had come to a conclusion that since Animalia was a completely different empire than the Lost Empire, and separated by time and space, then emperor Joey had no right to rule over it and Mayor Lizzie. That lead to Joey storming out of the small claims court in a dramatic huff with a few swear words, and everyone began to file out too. Xornoth left Scott's body and quickly jumped into the celestial again, hoping that her now red eyes wouldn't be visible through the sunglasses.
Scott looked around, blinking in confusion. "Next time, Scott, don't fall asleep during a court case," Xornoth said, making himself sound like he was poking fun. Scott muttered something under his breath and left, and Xornoth quickly left the celestial before enough time passed that he would be suspicious when he regained control. Now he had something important to do.
He went to Gem's room in Dawn but she wasn't there. She'll be here soon, though. It's almost nighttime and she hates being awake at night. Or at least her character in this world does. Out of the corner of his eye, Xornoth spotted a notebook had apparently fallen off the bedside table and was now lying open on the floor. He bent down to read it.
Dear Diary,
I don't know what's happening. Wait, maybe I do. I think I'm being possessed. And I think other people are being possessed too. The past fWhip tells me that he saw fWhip's eyes turn red before being really mean to Jimmy, and the past Katherine told me about this time that the past Joey was sort of possessed, and the symptoms match. Red eyes, not remembering what happened afterward, and being very mean, to put it lightly. I don't like what that implies, and I think I need to tell someone.
Well you're not going to tell anyone about this, Xornoth thought. Not if I have anything to do with it. Just then Gem came in and prepared to go to bed. "Hello, celestial," Xornoth said, and Gem jumped. She looked around wildly, then her eyes darted to the open diary on the floor and she understood immediately. "You're the thing that possessed me," She accused. Xornoth laughed. "Don't be so mad. I didn't even do it on purpose." Gem glared. "I don't know what you are or who you are or what you want, but I'm going to tell my friends about you and then we'll figure out a way to deal with you," She said.
"You don't know me? Really? I believe I've been mentioned to you. Remember that talk you had with Katherine?" Gem thought for a second then her eyes widened. "You're that Xornoth demon, aren't you?" "Correct. I see that the wizard's smarts have been passed on to you, her reincarnation. Oh, right, you're not actually her reincarnation." Gem glared again, although she was looking in the wrong direction entirely. "Well now I know what to call you when I go tell my friends," She said defiantly.
Xornoth chuckled. "You act brave, but are you really? Are you brave enough to let your friends know what you really are?" Gem stepped backward, frightened. "Oh, don't be so scared. It's just a fair, even trade. I keep your secret, you keep mine." Gem tried to think of a good comeback. "Well even if you tell them I'm a celestial being, they'll still know you exist," Gem said. "True," Xornoth admitted, "But they'll still know your secret too. Come on, use those brains of yours. It's much easier for the both of us if neither of us tell anyone anything. Don't worry, I'll keep my end of the bargain."
He left before Gem could reply. He was fairly certain he knew what she would choose. People were very stingy with secrets like these, and would do anything to make sure they stayed that way. No matter the cost.