Xornoth was happy. Things were going his way. He'd killed Oli and gotten the Crown, and then he'd captured the ender dragon. And with Lizzie already supplying sculk, he had everything he needed for the spell to give himself a physical form again.
He watched as Lizzie and Joey set everything up for him. They were surprisingly adept at this; Joey had used a little voodoo magic in the past, and Lizzie was a practicer of nekomancy. An altar surrounded by lava, with the ender dragon bound to it. Sculk and blood drawn in patterns on the floor. The Crown on his head, ready for when the spell was set to be cast. And the Rune Blade, held in Xornoth's own hand.
He'd refrained from using it; it would have been more fun to kill his enemies with it when they were allowed to kill him. And now that he had the Crown, they could try. And they would inevitably fail, banished to an afterlife of the worst sort of hell imaginable by the blade.
False watched the proceedings with a deadly glare that would have killed if looks could do that. She was inside a cage hanging above all of them, chains binding her limbs to the bars to keep her from strangling herself and escaping that way.
When Lizzie had chopped her head off, the architect had respawned in Animalia, and when the corrupted emperors and Xornoth himself came back from kidnapping the ender dragon, they'd run into her and captured her as well. If the worst came to worse, Xornoth could always threaten to kill her with the Rune Blade, and chances were the emperors, with their pathetic sympathy, wouldn't want her to die.
Lizzie and Joey finished their work in setting up the spell and walked toward Xornoth. "We're done, Xorny, what should we do next?" Joey asked, eager to help. "Thank you, Joey dear. Now just keep watch. I don't want the other emperors interfering when they get here."
"They're here," Lizzie said promptly, sniffing the air. Everyone looked westward and saw the other emperors assembled there, though Xornoth noticed some of them weren't around. Princess Katherine wasn't there, and neither was God Joel. He instinctively turned to see if they were sneaking up on him, but he saw nothing. Just then, the emperors attacked.
"Get False!" Scott shouted, and Ocean Queen Lizzie rushed to the cage. It was slightly out of her reach, so she picked up Shrub to let her hack at the bars. Joey flapped his parrot wings and swung his ax at the two of them, not letting them rescue the hostage. The blade sunk into Lizzie's arm; she shrieked and nearly dropped Shrub, who dangled precariously.
The gnome activated her elytra and flew towards Joey, sword unsheathed. Below her, wolves prepared to catch her if she fell, and to pounce on Joey if he did.
Elsewhere, Xornoth discharged electricity all over the battlefield; around them, plants caught fire, like they had in Olipeligo. Several emperors leapt closer to each other, barely avoiding being singed by the flames. Xornoth chuckled. All close together, just like I want. He called down more lightning.
Pearl chucked her ax at the demigod, and the lightning followed it, attracted by its metal, and nearly struck Xornoth. The demon dodged and felt the electricity sizzle close by him. That was close. He snarled and came closer, hands sparking. He didn't even need a weapon. All he had to do was touch someone and they'd be shocked with enough electricity to send them into the afterlife.
Except it seemed like the emperors figured out his strategy, because they quickly switched to using projectile weapons, and all but discarded their metal gear. fWhip threw a potion at Xornoth, and he dodged. The vial shattered into a million pieces behind him, and from the pool of blue liquid arose a familiar stench. "It's Fae magic!" Mayor Lizzie shouted. "Don't touch it!"
"You don't have to tell me once!" Joey said, whirling around in the air to face his airborne opponents. Shrub was still fighting him, one of the few emperors still brave enough to use metal weaponry, but she had been joined by Count fWhip of Gobland, Katherine, and Princess Gem.
Ocean Queen Lizzie was busy breaking open the cage that False was in, and she'd slipped the mechanic a bow through the bars so False could watch her back while the blue axolotl freed her. Her cat counterpart was busy slicing through the other emperors with her claws; not daring to use her sword or ax with Hermes nearby, and unlike the other emperors, she had built-in weapons that weren't attracted by electricity.
Unfortunately for her, she could only attack as far as she could reach, and keeping her at bay with bows and arrows should have worked, but Lizzie's agility and reflexes kept her from being shot. Xornoth searched the battlefield, making out the most dangerous threats.
First of all, False shouldn't escape. She was more useful as a hostage than as a killing machine. He shot a bolt at lightning at Ocean Queen Lizzie, who fell over and screamed. The electricity also rushed from her hand to the cage that she was holding, and it then electrocuted False as well.
"Leave my wife alone!" Joel shouted, and he threw more potions at Xornoth, who nearly didn't move out of the way in time. Soon there were several puddles of Fae elixir on the ground, and where they landed, the corruption cleared away. "Don't waste it, Joel!" Gem cautioned, shooting spells at Lizzie.
Suddenly Xornoth caught sight of Oli trying to free the ender dragon from its chains. Xornoth rushed towards him, reached out, and touched him. With one pained shriek, electricity coursed through the bard, and he fell over, sparking. Xornoth raised the Rune Blade and drove it downward, but Oli managed to roll out of the way.
Xornoth growled and raised his sword again, but suddenly he felt a glass bottle smash into him and cold fluids running down his back. And then he was slipping from Hermes' body no matter how hard he tried to hold on, and as he fell out, he cursed the Fae and their corruptive magic.
Hermes blinked, his red eyes turning black again, and with a scream he fled, searching for his fathers, but he couldn't find them. He looked at Mayor Lizzie, with blood red eyes and equally bloody claws, and ran away from her. Oli, heaving, slowly got to his feet and hugged the little demigod, whispering words of assurances into his ear.
Whatever it is you've promised him, bard, you're wrong. Xornoth quickly tried to possess Oli, but the Fae magic kept him from getting in. The demon tried Ocean Queen Lizzie next, but her body wasn't available either. None of the emperors could be possessed anymore. They'd all drunk the Fae potion. All but two...
"Xornoth's heading to Joey!" Scott of Chromia shouted, his yellow eye tracking the demonic spirit, even as he fought the cat Lizzie, his face scratched by her claws.
But the other emperors couldn't stop a spirit that they couldn't see, and soon Xornoth was in the body of one of his pawns. He fought harder than Joey had, understanding that there was almost no more room for error now. With a swirl and a flourish of Joey's ax, he drove almost all the airborne emperors out of the sky.
With a resounding crack, he smashed the weapon into Shrub's elytra, and the little gnome fell. A large wolf leapt up and she caught onto its back, and they both landed safely. Xornoth growled and struck Princess Gem next, who crashed into Katherine and they both fell to earth, both being caught by Wizard Gem with a telekinetic spell.
fWhip the goblin flapped his ridiculously enormous ears and flew towards Xornoth, his bonk stick swinging. They traded blows for a bit before finally, a blade was thrust into the goblin's chest, and he died, items flinging off of him and landing on the emperors below.
Xornoth dove for the altar where the ender dragon still lay, though Oli, Hermes, and Scott were trying to unbind it. The Rune Blade lay near them, forgotten in the scuffle, half hidden under a pile of fWhip's things. Xornoth grabbed it and swung it at the emperors and the ender dragon.
They all moved out of the way in time; the demon had been too hesitant to use it because of the close proximity of his brother. He swung again, this time at Hermes, who still wore the Crown in his head.
Suddenly, he was forcibly pushed to the side by something landing on his back. He tumbled on the ground, rolling once or twice, the blade falling from his hand and bouncing across the dirt, not harming anyone. Xornoth got up and saw False standing there, her face contorted with fury, and holding weapons in both hands. With no fear of lightning from the heavens striking them down, everyone was going back to using metal weaponry now.
Pearl came running up and joined the deranged tinkerer in fighting the demon, blades clashing. Xornoth fought a 2v1, ax in one hand and sword in the other, turning every so often to strike against the brilliant fighters. Suddenly he took to the air and made it an airborne battle again.
They rose to join him, but he had an advantage. With Joey's natural parrot wings, he was better at flying than the emperors wearing elytras. They fought again, blades rarely drawing blood, though Xornoth was pressing his aerial advantage and they were on the defensive. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermes taking off the Crown and giving it to Scott. No! If Scott gets it, he can make a rule against me!
Xornoth swirled in a dizzy circle, scattering Pearl and False, and dove towards the demigod. He grabbed the Crown before Scott could reach it and put it on his head, knocking off Joey's cursed crown, which rolled away and was broken to pieces by Shrub.
Then the demon rushed to the Rune Blade and grabbed it. I have to cast the spell now! Before I can be defeated! Xornoth stepped over the ender dragon and thrust downward as hard as he could. The creature cried out pitifully, and a shield suddenly caught the blade before it could slay its target.
Pix the historian stood there, grimacing, holding the shield between the demon and the dragon. He himself was also in danger of being struck by the Rune Blade, and as Pix pushed to keep the sword from going in further, he buckled. Xornoth pushed harder. Even as a ghost, his soul is not immune to this blade's power. "Pix! Get away! If you get killed by the Rune Blade, you don't respawn!" Scott yelled, and he rushed towards them.
Suddenly Pix flinched from another piercing migraine, and he blinked laggardly, his actions slowing. Across the battle, fWhip the goblin, who'd come back for his stuff after respawning, did the same, breathing heavily and leaning against a wall, tired.
Xornoth pressed his advantage, despite not knowing what was happening to them. Scott reached him before he could kill the archaeologist, though. Countering with his own blade, he pushed the Rune Blade away and with a thwack to the wrist, the elf disarmed his brother, and the sword flew out of his hand again.
"Pix! Grab it and run as far away as you can!" Jimmy shouted. Pix nodded, dove for the sword, and ran, finding a gap in walls of flames surrounding them. Xornoth growled and tried to pursue him, but Scott struck him with his ax. He wasn't letting him go without a fight.
The brothers fought for a bit, one on one, while Lizzie ran to Pix to retake the Rune Blade. With her speed, and Pix's condition, she caught up quickly. With a slash to his Achilles tendon, Pix cried out and fell, unable to run any further. Lizzie smirked, grabbed the sword, and threw to Xornoth. The demon reached out to grab it, but Scott got to it first. He took it by the handle, closed his eyes, and drove the Rune Blade straight through himself.
"NO!" Xornoth bellowed, but it was too late. He could feel death overtaking them both. Scott coughed up some blood. "I'm sorry," He managed, to the horrorstruck emperors watching the scene unfold before their eyes, helpless to change it. "I can't risk Xornoth winning."
Xornoth gritted his teeth and lunged at his brother, determined, now that he was already dying, to at least lay the killing blow himself, but he couldn't even have that satisfaction. The last thing he saw before death claimed him was Scott, letting go of the Rune Blade as he dropped lifeless to the ground.
And so the twin souls fell together.
Xornoth walked through the streets of Rivendell, whistling a tune to himself. He greeted the elves as he passed by and they bowed back at him. Xornoth looked around, searching for his dear little brother. Where in the world is Scott?
Then he spotted him standing under a tree, looking confused. "Scott! There you are!" Xornoth said cheerily, loping over to him. Scott froze when he saw him and stepped back a bit, but restrained himself. From doing what? Xornoth wondered. And why isn't he happy to see me, his older brother?
"Hey, Scott, are you okay?" He asked concernedly. Scott nodded.
"Uh, Xornoth, is that you?"
"Of course it's me! Who else would it be?"
"Um, where are we?"
"Rivendell, of course. The empire we'll rule someday, when our parents pass it down to us."
"Our parents are here?"
"Well, not here right now, they're visiting another empire for a peace treaty. Scott, are you sure you're okay? Why are you asking these questions?"
Scott shrugged, patting his own head. "Eh, had a funny dream. Nothing else. I'm fine, Xornoth." He looked up at him and smiled. Then he hugged him. Xornoth, surprised, just hugged him back.
"I'm just glad you're back, older brother."