Nero grinned with excitement as the episode played out, watching as Jean-Pierre and got ready to duke it out with the dog, Iggy. It'd been a slow day, so, noticing everyone's boredom, Eda went to one of her supply closets and grabbed a DVD set for a series called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. After everyone was seated on the couch, she pressed play, and what followed was a pretty fun adventure romp for the past eight episodes that made Nero want to learn more about the series. About the only issue was that not everyone could join, what with Luz being too busy with her glyph research for the past few days.
Speak of the devil... Nero's gaze shifted over to Luz as she entered the room, note and history books in her hands, "Hey Luz! We're watching JoJo's. Wanna join in? Looks like you could use a break."
Luz shook her head and plopped everything down at the foot of a book fort she'd been setting up for the past several minutes, "Sorry, but I'm this close to cracking that new glyph combo. I gotta finish it first." She sat down and pulled out her pencil, "Besides, the David Productions version is better anyway."
From beside him, Nero could see Eda's eyes narrow as she growled, "You traitor."
"Wait, there's another-"
"Shush nephew. Do not listen to the blasphemer," Eda all but hissed as she directed his focus back to the Crystal Ball. Getting the feeling that asking her again would start up some sort of fandom-based shit storm (of which he'd seen too many consume the halls of Hexside), he shrugged and continued watching the episode.
"Mom, are you okay?" Nero asked, looking towards his mother as she held Selki in her lap, "You don't seem to be liking the show."
"Of course I am! Does my excitement not come across?" Lilith gave a smile so strained that Nero swore he almost saw stitching holding it together. Raising an eyebrow, he gave her a look, which became shared by Eda, King, and even Selki. Graff turned into an eye that directed their gaze at Lilith, and even Luz looked up from her notes for a split-second before returning to them, muttering something about getting the right pattern.
"Mom, if you're not having fun, we can watch something else."
"Eh, so long as it ain't your usual boring docu-schlock, I'm game," Eda cleaned out her ear as everyone on the couch (and behind it in Graff's case) turned to her, "What? Not like I'm gonna sugarcoat it."
"No no, you're right, Edalyn, it's just..." Lilith placed Selki down beside her and hugged at her legs, "I know what interests me isn't really something that everyone enjoys, and I won't apologize for liking those things. I always have and always will find joy in them. But I wanted to see if I could enjoy the things you love." She looked to her sister, "You and Nero just get into these things so easily, so I figured I'd put up with it for your sakes since you've done the same for me. Sometimes unwillingly," a grimace overcame her face, "Okay, often unwillingly."
Nero grimaced himself, having gotten a bit too caught up in the show to pay much attention to his mother's discomfort... which reminded him a bit too much of all the past times Mom made him sit through boring ass documentaries and history channels as a "bonding activity". Sighing, he gave Selki a few head pats that she nuzzled into, helping him feel a bit better before pressing pause on the remote, "Sorry Mom. Maybe there's something we can all watch?"
"Yeah," King threw his two Snails in, "Being honest, this isn't really my 'thing' either."
"What, why?" Nero, Eda, and even Lilith asked all at once. Graff formed into a question mark while Selki just looked confused. Luz, meanwhile, was too caught up in her notes to notice. Knowing the kind of stuff King tended to enjoy (and ramble about when he made his "plans"), you'd think this would be up his alley.
"Kinda having a hard time following things, plus I don't get half of what they're referencing," King explained, eyes scrunched behind his bone mask, "So, I get these Stand things and that most of them are based off Hexes Hold'em cards-"
"They're actually based off tarot cards," Luz chimed in without even looking up at them.
"Yeah, whatever. They look like Hexes Hold'em cards, so, as King of Demons, I decree that they're Hexes Hold'em cards!" King stood on the couch and pointed at the ceiling, making Nero chuckle while Selki clapped. Meanwhile, Graff formed a laughing face, Lilith merely groaned, dragging a hand down her own face, and Eda... weirdly grimaced for the smallest second before letting out her own, much smaller chuckle.
That was something that confused Nero, admittedly. Whenever King made his usual off the wall proclamations of taking over the isles (sometimes including plans to conquer Earth like Rita Repulsa... even down to straight up quoting her proclamation), everyone gave their usual reactions. Luz always catered to him and played along with it, with Nero doing the same, even if it was too amusing for him to not laugh. Selki seemed to unironically hang off the little demon's every word, Graff just laughed, and Mom always expressed frustration at his antics. But Aunt Eda? She was a confusing mix of different reactions that seemed almost random.
Sometimes, she'd play along with it like him and Luz, other times she'd roll her eyes, and then came the times where she winced during King's usual hype up session or assembling of his minions. Whenever that happened, she'd immediately shift right back to amused encouraging. It wasn't something that happened too often, but just often enough to be noticeable. Despite that, Nero couldn't figure out why, nor did he really know how to broach the subject to his aunt.
Rather than dwell on it any further, Nero focused back to the conversation, "Either way, you gotta admit the Stands are pretty damn awesome," he sighed wistfully, "Kinda wish I had something like that."
"HA! Tell me about it. What I wouldn't give to have some cool power like that," Eda leaned back, hands behind her head, "I remember watching Dragon Claw Z in theaters way back in my Gory Days-"
"Oh Titan, not this again," Lilith groaned once more.
"-and they had some badass transformations. Always wanted to have something like that," Eda slumped back in her seat, "Instead I got stuck with the cur-" her eyes went wide as she cut herself off and everyone winced. Slowly, their eyes turned over to Mom, who looked like a "deer in the headlights", as Luz once put it. Coughing into her fist, Aunt Eda muttered, "Uh... never mind, moving on."
King was the first to recover, "Yeah, those are pretty awesome, but I wasn't getting into the rest of it. Think what's really making it hard to follow is everyone speaking some weird gibberish."
"Japanese. And it's because you're watching the sub version," Luz helpfully pointed out as she continued with her notes. Nero nodded, having wondered what the language was called.
"Look, I'd rather watch something I don't have to learn another language to follow," King huffed.
"Personally, I don't really mind. I mean, that's what the subtitles are there to help with," Nero gave his two snails.
Lilith nodded in agreement, "I tend to prefer them even when I can understand what they're saying."
"I'm fine with whatever. Besides, I don't even need the subtitles to understand the characters," Eda added, everyone looking at her again in surprise. Blinking she gave them a raised eyebrow, "What? You don't become a con artist in two dimensions and not pick up a few languages here and there. It's helped me scam plenty of crime bosses and their cronies over the years," She sighed wistfully and continued to reminisce, "Had plenty of fun messing with those Mad Gear Gang schmucks back in Metro, and that's without getting into all the black-market deals I screwed over and swindled during those days. Wonder if the bounty that Irving guy put on me is still active."
As Aunt Eda hummed, she got a little too lost in the past, leaving everyone to look at each other before Mom coughed, "EHEM! Sister, you were saying?"
Eda blinked, "Huh? Oh, right! Anyway, the mafia, cartel, and yakuza? They all want my head and none of them came close!"
Yup. Definitely gonna ask Aunt Eda about all of that later, Nero made a mental note. Besides getting more curious about Earth (he'd been meaning to ask Luz, but never found the time), his aunt's adventures sounded like a blast and a half. Having seen that world once back at the Conformatorium, he couldn't help but feel drawn to it. Why? He didn't know, but maybe visiting that world would help him understand.
"BAH! Who cares about that junk? I just wanna watch something fun, and this," he gestured to the still paused Crystal Ball, "Isn't fun for me."
"Then how about we watch something you'd like," Nero glanced over at his mother, "As long as it's something we can all enjoy, that'd be enough."
Selki and Graff seemed receptive to the idea while King looked contemplative. Mom gave him a thankful nod, with Eda standing and stretching, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm beat. Think I'll hit the shower and nap for a day." She walked out, waving as she left into the halls, "You girls enjoy yourselves!"
As soon as Eda's footsteps faded from their ears, King snapped his clawed fingers, "I got it!" and ran down the opposite hallways. The sound of rummaging, shattering glass, and shrieking rats could be heard before King finally emerged with a set of DVDs, "I got really into this series when Eda brought it from Earth. Was on the Season 4 finale, so we'll start from there."
He placed the DVDs on the table, letting everyone still on the couch look them over. "This is a kid's show about unicorns?" Nero took the DVD out of the case, "Man, Earth kids sound pretty hardcore."
"Honestly, I don't know what to think of humans if they're willing to allow children around those savages," Mom bristled, clearly remembering that one carnival trip from when Nero was seven. He saw the unicorns at an enclosure and snuck off to try and feed them. Instead, he got snarled at, with one of them biting down on his right arm and pulling him in for what was a pretty insane ride through. It didn't hurt, given how durable the Devil Bringer was, and most of it was actually pretty fun.
Well, except for the part where the unicorn started attacking everyone while he held on for dear life. Or when a fairy flew right into his face and tried biting his nose off, to which he got payback by eating it whole (tasted like shit). Or the part where Mom had to pay a fine for murdering the unicorn in cold blood after rescuing him, but that was beside the point.
"Actually, the show's pretty family friendly," Luz said, looking up from her notes and smiling at them, "Believe me, it gave me the wrong idea on what unicorns would be like here." She shuddered, muttering something about "the carnival" and a "tent of tiny terrors" before focusing back to her glyph studies, "Either way, I think you guys will like it."
"I don't know..." Nero handed King the DVD, not sure what to make of it as the little guy plugged it into the system, the Crystal Ball flashing the episode selection screen.
"Come on! We watched what you, Graff, and Eda wanted, now it's my turn!" King impudently stomped his foot on the table, which was adorable and goofy enough to draw giggles from everyone, with Selki giving her claps of agreement.
Nero looked to his mother, wanting to give her an out if she wasn't up for it. Now knowing how much of a slog JoJo's was for her, he didn't know if this would be similar. Much to his surprise, she nodded, "I'll admit, I'm rather curious."
Looking over to Graff, they shifted to a thumbs up. With Selki still clapping, that was all the confirmation needed as Nero nodded to King, "Alright, oh fearsome 'King of Demons', play away."
With a toothy grin, King preened and grabbed the remote, clicking it to let the episode begin.
"HOLY FUCK!" Nero found himself muttering alongside his mother as the two watched the on-screen battle, which currently involved an empowered alicorn blasting so much magic at a demonic centaur that it resulted in a cataclysm of energy.
Damn, human kids really are hardcore, Nero was at the edge of his seat watching the bout unfold as King cheered to his left, Gotta look into the rest of this series later.
Selki, however, looked almost afraid while she watched, clinging to Lilith, who hugged back, yet was screaming in joy as the alicorn blasted the centaur in the face, "Yes! YES! Incinerate that bastard, Twilight! Tear off his horns and gouge out his eyes! SHOW HIM NO MERCY! AHAHAHA!"
... okay, that's... concerning... Nero side eyed his mother as she stared at Tirek with malicious, borderline sadistic intent. It was almost like she saw something or someone in the centaur and wanted to see him suffer in place of whomever she was thinking about. And I think I have a good idea who that is, Nero just barely managed to avoid shuddering at the thought of that masked freak, Much as I'd like to pound him into the dirt too, I... I don't think I'd enjoy it as much as Mom clearly would. Besides, not sure if I'm ready to be anywhere near that fucker again just yet.
But he was gonna have to face him eventually...
"Hey, could you guys maybe tone it down just a little bit?" Luz called from where she was sitting, "I mean, I know I can get more than a little excited with Good Witch Azura films, but I'm kinda sorta still trying to crack the code on this new glyph so could you please lower the volume juuuust a bit?"
"Sorry," Everyone said, Graff shifting to the word as Nero lowered the volume. They continued to watch the final battle with a quieter enjoyment, though King was still cheering and hollering, either unable to tone himself down or flat out refusing to do so. "Uh, King..." Nero poked the little demon's shoulder, "Remember what Luz said?"
"Oh please, the King of Demons silences himself for no one! Not even Luz!" King decreed before blinking, backpedaling, and looking over to the human in question apologetically, "Uh, no offense, Luz."
"None taken, and it's fine, you little demon king you!" Luz gushed a bit before returning to her studies, effectively giving King a free pass to be as loud as she wanted. At the same time, though, she did whip out a pair of headphones right at the climax of the fight, it being another cataclysm caused by a clash of beams. Good thing she did, since King went full ham again like the demon king he thought he was.
"You really get into this, don't you?" Nero asked, even though it was obvious. Not that he was against it, given his own investment.
"Yup!" King chirped before preening, "Y'know, I do intend to model my eventual rule and conquest after this show."
"Oh really?" Nero chuckled and rolled his eyes, seeing his mother do the same thing, only in annoyance.
King rubbed his claws together in an adorably sinister fashion, "Yes, and once I regain my rightful place as the King of Demons, I'll rule the Circle of Limbo, loved and adored by all. Just like Princess Celestia!"
Nero almost sputtered out laughing had he not clamped his mouth shut. The whole idea was just too absurd for him not to. Still, he managed to swallow it down and affectionately rubbed the top of King's skull, "Whatever you say, little guy."
While King laughed as the episode ended, Nero could see his mother giving him admonishing look from the corner of his eye. Turning fully to her, she had an expression on her face that just screamed, 'Why are you encouraging this?' In response, Nero could only give her a shrug. He just couldn't help but find it a little funny. Mom seemed to understand his non-verbal response, giving an audible sigh as she clicked off the Crystal Ball.
"Well, since that's done," Lilith put Selki down on the floor and stood up, stretching, "I think I'll work with Luz on developing my own glyph combinations." She started heading for the halls to gather supplies from her room, "Perhaps I can come up with something new as well."
"You do that, I'm gonna assemble my minions for tactical training," King jumped off the couch and turned to the baby Selkidomus. "You and Graff wanna join? I can appoint you two my First and Second Lieutenants." Selki happily clapped as Graff morphed into a smiling face that glided along the walls, following King as he walked out, "Great! Now, to properly serve my army, you'll need to stamp out any possible rebellion. Now, I don't want to point fingers, but François' been getting-"
King's voice became muffled as he, Selki, and Graff left, likely to gather said "minions" from his own room. Nero now alone in the living room, a highly focused Luz as his only company, he was left wondering on what to do now. At first, he thought about working with his mom and Luz with their glyph studies, but then a loud rumbling echoed from his stomach. Deciding to get a snack before doing anything else, he made a bee line for the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge.
"Let's see, what do we have here..." Nero saw a frozen meal at the forefront of the fridge's contents. With stomach growling again, he pulled it out and took it to the table, removing his blue overcoat and placing it on the seat as he sat down. He formed a Spell Circle and tapped the food, enveloping it in heat and quickly cooking it. Licking his lips, he scarfed it down just a bit too fast, almost choking as a result. Just as quickly, he got up towards the sink, after a few coughs, poured himself a glass of water to swallow everything down. With a relaxed sigh, he put the glass away, stared out the kitchen window-
"Hiya Nero! HOOT!"
-and immediately regretted it.
... what the fuck? Nero blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. At first, he thought he was seeing things, but no, it was actually Hooty with his actual fucking skin removed, leaving nothing but a talking, freaky skeleton staring back at him. Blinking a few more times (slower than previously), Nero panicked, Yup, it's still there even when I'm not looking at it.
Not wanting to deal with that for the rest of the day, he formed another Spell Circle with his left hand, telekinetically pulling a container of bleach from beneath the kitchen sink. Aside from making a good surface and pipe cleaner, it also doubled as a nifty way to forget something you saw from just a couple minutes prior. Sure, it often resulted in grogginess and possible nausea for about a couple hours from what he'd heard, hence why Mom never let him anywhere near it, but Mom wasn't here right now, so...
"Bottoms up!" Nero poured himself half a cup and took a swig of it. He didn't feel any different, wondering if it even worked. He picked up the container to read if he'd used it right, but the words looked like a blurry, jumbled mess and-why was everything getting... fuzzy.
"Whoah..." Nero slurred out as he stumbled across the room, bumping into a few things as clattering sounds echoed across the cavern-like kitchen. He managed to stand up and open the door, plopping face first into the grass, which felt especially ticklish today. "Heh," Nero giggled, muffled by the now neon grass, "The ground's funny."
"Tell me about it!" Hooty's voice sounded weirdly distorted. Looking up, he saw the house demon, whose skin was now pink with swan wings on his sides.
Wait, did he have skin before or-
"Boy, Nero, you don't look so good. HOOT!"
Nero struggled to get up, "I'm... fine... Hoots..." he stumbled back, falling flat on his ass, "I think I just..." he yawned, "Need nap."
"I can help with that!" Hooty chirped and wrapped himself around Nero, lifting him up and carrying him at the speed of light. At least, Nero assumed so, since there was a blinding amount of light everywhere as the ground vanished entirely. An even brighter light showed up in front of him, becoming bigger and bigger until it enveloped all surroundings as he covered his eyes. When he uncovered them, he blinked to adjust, seeing that he was now in a blank white room with a bathtub in the center.
"You can sleep here. I like to use this room to hide from the fact that nobody likes me. HOOT!" Hooty said in an infectiously cheerful voice.
"Thanks Hoots," Nero mumbled as he was plopped into the tub, stretching and yawning, "You're a... a good friend."
"Daw! Thanks Nero! Now get lots of rest!" Hooty stretched away, letting Nero curl up and place his head down on his hands, drifting away to the world of sleep.
"Ugh... five more minutes Mom," Nero groaned, trying desperately to sleep, but he found that hard to accomplish. There was so much background noise, like the billowing winds, the hum of a rickety sounding engine, and vibrations that made it feel like he was floating midair. He didn't want to acknowledge any of that right now, only wanting to nurse his headache and sick stomach with a good night's rest-
"Oh, didn't know you were back there."
What? At the sound of his aunt's voice, Nero forced himself awake, struggling to sit up This ended up being a mistake, as his stomach felt like there was acid in it, making bile rise in his throat. Throwing his head over the edge of the tub, he let out the contents of his stomach down into the Boiling Sea below and... wait...
"... what the fuck?" Nero blinked and rubbed at his eyes, his vision clearing up to witness that, yes, the Boiling Sea were far below them and that he was currently in Aunt Eda's flying bathtub headed for Titan knows where while the sun had mostly set over the horizon. With wide eyes, he yelped and jumped back to the other end of the tub, now fully awake as he sat up, "What's going on? How'd I get here? Where are we going!? Why-"
"In order, we're flying over the Boiling Sea, obviously, I don't know how you got here, and we're going to the uncharted island where I found King," Eda answered his questions in order without missing a beat. She didn't even bother looking back at him, too laser focused on piloting to... King's Island?
"What do you mean by that last bit?" Nero asked, getting a grunt from his aunt in response.
"Nero, not now! I'll... I'll tell you later."
Narrowing his eyes from how familiar his aunt was acting, Nero pressed, "Eda, seriously, what's going on?"
"I said I'll tell you later! Right now, I have to get there before he does and finds out-" She slammed a hand over her mouth, briefly looking back at him with that exact same worried expression he had whenever lying to Mom. At the sight, he softened his glare and sighed, despite the frustration.
"Aunt Eda..."
Now it was Eda's turn to sigh, "Fine! Something tells me you're all gonna find out either way, but what I'm about to say, King doesn't hear a word from you. I'll tell him. He... he deserves that much. Got it?" Nero nodded, to which Eda turned her focus back to piloting as she explained, "It was eight years ago when I was hiding from coven patrols on the seas. I ended up stumbling on an island that just... popped right out of the mists. The whole place left me feeling uneasy, but I needed shelter from the boiling rain and the tower there was a good spot."
Realizing where this was going, Nero asked, "And that's where you found King?"
His aunt nodded, "Found him stacking rocks in a large room. At first, I thought he was just a stray dog, so when we were attacked by this weird polymorphic golem looking thing, I grabbed him and flew out of there," she looked back and reached into her hair, pulling out a small horn, "He ended up losing this to it."
"Huh," Nero picked himself up and gently grabbed the horn from Eda's hand, the texture feeling exactly like King's skull, "Why didn't you give it back?"
Eda's eyes turned guilty at that, "I couldn't. Not after what happened." She faced forward towards the seas again, "When I brought him back home, I was gonna just have him for a pet because... well, I didn't know he wasn't some wild animal then. Then I made a joke about him being 'a king amongst his subjects' and learned he could talk." His aunt let out a low, wistful, almost happy chuckle as she smiled back at him, "That ended up being his first word, you know? 'King'."
At the sight, Nero smiled slightly too, though it was marred by a sinking feeling, "So, that's why King acts like he's some ex-demonic dictator? Because you lied to him?"
She winced, almost making him regret asking, but she relented, "Yeah, I... it wasn't meant to be a lie. I was just telling him fun stories about kings, conquerors, armies and so on. But when he started taking them seriously and thinking that's where he came from, I played along with it. He was finally happy and I didn't want to ruin it for him." His aunt's tone grew more and more somber the longer she spoke. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she muttered, "I'm a complete piece of shit for that, aren't I?"
Nero opened his mouth, trying to find the words, but nothing came. The whole thing felt almost too similar to him and Lilith, what with both of them hiding things out of guilt and fear. Sure, Aunt Eda's was a lot more one-sided, but it was making him wonder if this kind of thing was hereditary in their family. Knowing what that was like, you'd think he'd have a clue on what to say and do here, but he just... didn't. Even then, that didn't matter right now. His aunt, his family, needed a hand in this.
"Look, I'm not sure what you want me to say here. Still kinda going through my own shit with Mom when it comes to this kind of thing," Nero stood up, all grogginess gone as he kept his balance and got close to his aunt, "But it doesn't sound like an easy thing to be in, and I'm not sure if it's supposed to be. Maybe it wasn't right, but I don't know what I'd do if I was in your shoes." He held out King's horn to her, "I'd like to think you did what you could, if that counts for anything."
Eda didn't say anything, only having a worried, almost terrified look on her face as she wordlessly took the horn back and held it in her hand. She stared at it for a few seconds longer before heading back to piloting. Nero reached out, concerned what he said just made things worse, but relented just before his reptilian hand touched her shoulder. If he really did make things worse, he didn't want to risk doubling his aunt's turmoil.
Sighing, Nero sat down, resting his back against the tub's side. He kept himself just a few inches apart from his aunt, just in case she needed him for anything. But as the flight continued for Titan knew how long, he felt his worries bubble up even more, not just for his aunt, but for King. Telling and learning the truth wasn't easy, something Nero found out the hard way. What would King think of himself, of all of them, when he was told? Nero wanted to think he'd be alright, but...
"Get in gear, kid, we're here," Eda said as Nero picked himself up, seeing the island in the distance. A thick cloud of mist far below them dispersed around it, yet remained close, as if willingly revealing the place. It was surrounded by an abnormally smooth, almost cylindrical rock formation that opened to reveal the island itself, which was rather small and covered in a thick forest. But what truly stood out about it was the tower at its center, moonlight beautifully shimmering off the stone structure.
"This is where King was born?" Nero asked, amazed as they landed at the shore and jumped out, Eda strapping on a sash of potion bombs.
"Maybe," Eda stepped ahead of him and surveyed the area, "It's where I found him, at least," she stared down at the ground and knelt, Nero following her gaze to notice the mishmash of footprints, all belonging to Luz, Lilith, and King. "Shit, looks like they're way ahead," His aunt stood up, staring at the tower, "Well, only one place they could've gone. And if that thing's still there..." she shook her head, "Follow me!"
Nero nodded and followed after Eda, both of them running through the woods at equal pace. As he did, the younger Clawthorne reached a hand to his shoulder, intent on having Red Queen at the ready, only to pause when he felt nothing. Blinking, he stopped and looked at his back, only now realizing he didn't have either his blade or the coat he wore over his Bad Girl Coven shirt. A few more memories came in, making him realize he left it at home as he slapped his forehead.
"Here," He opened his eyes to see his aunt handing him a few potion bombs, "I know you still have your magic and that arm, but it never hurts to have backup options."
Looking down at the bombs, he gave a thankful smile that slowly shifted into a smirk, "Think you can manage without them, old timer?"
"Ha! You know I can, brat," Eda smirked back as the two started running for the tower, Nero forming a spell circle and manifesting an ice replicant of Red Queen (he opted on calling it Ice Queen) to heft over his shoulder. No Exceed and it'd only last a few hits by his estimate, but he'd make them count before switching things up. Sifting through countless trees, branches, and bushes, they eventually made it to the tower entrance, which looked like a giant keyhole with rubble blocking a good chunk of it, though enough was still clear for them to get in. Before they could take another step, however, the sound of ominous chirping and cricking echoes from within the tower alongside a series of loud footsteps.
"Oh no," Nero and Eda muttered at the same time before turning to each other and nodding. The two ran to the top of the rubble pile blocking the entrance to see Luz, King, and Mom (who had a birdhouse looking backpack on) facing down an assailant with staves in hand. Nero couldn't make out all the details, but whatever this thing was, it seemed to be made of jagged stone and sludge that reminded him a little too much of what the Emperor used. As it shifted its hand into an axe to bring down on his family, he and Eda threw a pair of potion bombs at its back, knocking the creature down.
"All of you, get out of here now!" Eda yelled as she and Nero slid down, surrounding it from both sides with the Owl Lady having its full attention.
"We'll hold it off!" Nero added as he charged at it with Ice Queen, delivering a downward slash while its back was turned to him.
"Wait, we can fight it together!" Luz shouted, the tower guardian facing Nero and coming down on him with an axe strike. Nero blocked it with Ice Queen, the blade cracking from the force of the blow as Eda threw a pair of bombs at his current foe. While staggered, the creature remained undeterred and kept its focus on Nero, though the look in its glowing blue eyes seemed almost analytic. But before he could make a move, something shifted in its demeanor as it ceased the attack.
"Huh?" Nero stood tall and watched as the thing backed away, keeping its eyes focused on him the entire time. Suddenly, it leapt to the ceiling and crawled along the surface, disappearing from sight, the echo of its cricks and chirps not far behind. As everyone came close, watching where it left, Nero could only mutter, "What just happened?"
"I... I honestly don't know. It never did that before," Eda replied, tearing her gaze from where the creature had gone.
As Nero dispersed Ice Queen, his mom hovered near him with Hooty's head coming out of her backpack. "Are you injured, my little raven?" She asked, wincing slightly, "I... sorry if it's a bother. Still working on that habit."
"No, it's fine. Besides, bastard ran off before it could really do anything," He smiled back to put her at ease. Good to know that both of them were working on their old habits.
"Good," Lilith sighed in relief and turned to her sister, "Edalyn, what was that thing?"
Eda shrugged, "Not sure. All I know is it attacked me the last time I came here, though thankfully it can't seem to leave the tower."
"Sounds like some kind of guardian. It must be protecting this place against intruders," Luz hummed, still holding Eda's staff close as King hopped off her shoulder, confusion evident in his eyes.
"That doesn't make any sense. It's my castle. How could we be intruders?"
"Uh..." Luz's face scrunched up as a nervous sweat fell from her brow, Nero and Eda's own faces mirroring hers. While Lilith and Hooty looked at them all worriedly, King became downright hurt.
"Y-You guys don't believe this is my castle, do you?
"I... I, uh..." Luz stammered but couldn't get any words out.
"But it is! I know it is! You gotta believe me!"
"King," Eda got their attention and walked up to the little demon, kneeling down to him, "Listen, there's... there's something I never told you..."
And so, Eda began to tell King everything: How she found stumbled upon this place to hide from the coven. How she found him in the tower, playing with rocks. How the stone guardian attacked them, and she grabbed him in retreat. How his horn broke when the guardian's arrow hit him. And finally, she explained how his "demon king" persona was solely from stories she'd told him growing up, and how she played along because it made him happy to believe it.
Throughout it all, Eda had a constant look of regret on her face, with his own, his mom's, Hooty's, and Luz's faces mirroring it the longer she went on. By the end, King looked to be on the verge of tears, hurt mixed with anger as he yelled, "Y-You're lying!" Rather than answer, Eda wordlessly reached into her hair and pulled out the horn, getting a gasp from King before he nervously took it into his claws. He looked at it contemplatively for several seconds, eyes slowly going wide as he tossed it away, "Get that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!"
"King, it's gonna be okay," Luz knelt down, reaching out to him before refraining as he backed up.
"Y-You're all just making fun of me again, right? R-Right? Please tell me you're making fun of me!" King begged, but none of them said anything. Nero wasn't sure if they could say anything. "N-No. Nonononono! I-It's a lie! It's just gotta be a lie!" The little demon clutched at his skull, sniffling as tears fell down his cheeks, "Nonononono!"
His own heart aching at the sight, Nero walked up and tried to reach out too, "King, we're sorry, we-"
Before he could get another word out, his hand was shoved aside as King ran deeper into the tower, his anguished wails echoing throughout.
"KING!" All of them shouted, but it was too late. He was gone and lost from them now. Nero looked at his family, and like before, they all had the same worry and self-loathing in their eyes. He felt like punching himself in the face now; all those times he laughed at King's little story just because he thought it was funny, and it helped lead to this.
What did I do?
"I messed up, didn't I?" Eda asked, now sounding like she was on the verge of crying. Nero didn't see any fall, but with the way her eyes shimmered, she was pretty damn close, "I… I should've told him sooner."
"I don't know if that would've worked, sister," Mom knelt down, gently placing a hand on Eda's shoulder, "I fear that King might've been too set in his narrative by then. I'd know a thing or two about that." She sighed, severing her gaze, "I kept denouncing his story, made him desperate to prove it true, and look where that led us. I won't say you did the right thing. I… I honestly have no idea what the right thing even is in this case, but I think you went with the best option you had available."
Ignoring the sense of deja vu for the moment, Nero knelt down to meet his aunt at eye level, "And if it means anything, you're not the only one who fucked up." He looked down at his right hand, "I always laughed at him when he went on about it. Felt like it was in good fun and all that shit. Now I feel like all I did was just make fun of him, and all over something make believe."
"And all I did was go along with it," All eyes turned to Luz as her grip on Eda's staff tightened, "I… I knew it was a lie too. He trusted me to believe in him and I let him down," she looked to the floor, tears building up, "I just saw how happy it made him and didn't want to hurt his feelings."
"This is… IT'S JUST SO SAAAD!" Hooty wailed, his own tears pouring out as he stretched out and limply hung from Lilith's shoulder. Nero watched as his mom comforted the house demon while Eda let out a light, mirthless chuckle.
"Guess we're all eating shit together on that, huh?" Eda stood up and steadied herself, Lilith and Nero standing up in kind, "Let's worry about that later. Right now, we need to find King." Nero, his mother, and Hooty nodded as she continued, "I don't know the layout of this place, but he couldn't have gotten past the ground floor. We'll stay in a group and look for him that way."
"Wouldn't it be faster if we split up?" Nero asked, having seen it in enough mystery shows to know that was usually the go-to strategy for covering more ground.
"Kid, that thing's still out there. We split, that'll let it pick us off one-by-one," Eda explained, "Besides, for some reason, it really doesn't want to be near you. You're basically gonna be our repellent."
"An admittedly crude reason, but I can accept the logic in it," Lilith gave her sister a light glare, clearly not happy with the idea of using her son as "repellent".
"Fair enough," Nero shrugged as the group started moving, but not before he turned back and realized Luz hadn't moved from her spot, "Luz, you coming?"
"Y-Yeah!" Luz wiped her eyes and speed walked over to them as she, Eda, and Lilith activated a trio of Light Glyphs to illuminate the path ahead. Nero, despite the natural light emitted by the Devil Bringer, crafted a spell circle and summoned his own light orb, its blue glowing as bright as their yellow. As they searched, Nero looked to Luz, who kept her eyes glued to the floor.
"Hey, we'll find him," Nero reassured her.
"I hope so," Luz tore her gaze from the ground, looking ahead sorrowfully, "I can't imagine what he's going through right now."
He huffed to himself as he crawled deeper into the small crevice within the wall. He couldn't cry anymore, having run out of tears somewhere between running and burying himself into this place. Through it all, he tried to convince himself that it was all just another one of Eda's pranks, that she was just lying for a quick laugh. But those memories he got from that horn, his horn, told another story. The very idea that this was all some joke grew more impossible to believe, as while Eda may have loved her pranks, she'd never do something so cruel to him.
But she did. She lied to me. They all lied to me! King curled into a ball, breath hitching at his own name. Could he even call himself that anymore? He'd always called himself that, believing it was his birthright as "King of Demons", but it was just another lie Eda told him. He wasn't king of anything. He was just a nobody from a nothing island in the middle of nowhere that everyone lied to.
And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it! He clutched his head and let the tears fall. He was mad at everyone, but especially himself for never looking past his own reflection. What am I going to do now!? He wiped his eyes, Might as well just live out the rest of my life in this stupid hole like the stupid nobody idiot I am.
Upon that though, however, he felt a light shine on him and removed his hand from his eyes, seeing a blue glow envelop the hole he was in. Sighing, he realized the others found him, "Look, guys, I'm not in the mood right now. Please just leave me alo-" He turned, only to see that it wasn't Eda or Luz or Lilith or Nero. No, it was that thing from before, cricking and chirping as he backed further into the crevice, "AH! W-Whatever you are, s-stay back! I'm warning you!"
As his back hit the wall, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, only to be met with nothing. Nervously opening one eye, he was surprised to see that the blue glow was gone, but the tower guardian's feet could still be seen… backing away from the hole? Curiosity briefly overriding his turmoil and self-preservation, he crawled out of the crevice and found himself looking up at the guardian, who tilted its head looking down at him.
"Great, guess I'm so much of a nobody that you don't even want to kill me anymore," He sat down right next to the crevice entrance, seeing no further need to hide, "That's fine. I'm getting used to being a nobody." He didn't get any response from the guardian, which he expected as he let out a huff, "Don't suppose you'd want to sit down and talk, huh?"
Much to his shock, the guardian actually sat down next to him, mimicking his sitting position down to the thumbs twiddling on its knees. Blinking, he muttered, "Ooookay then, I guess I'm doing this now…" Clearing his throat, he began, "So… I… I don't know who or what I'm supposed to be. I thought I did, but now I don't and everything's just a hot mess," His tears started to build up again, "I don't even know why I wanted to be King of Demons in the first place! Why!? What was I gonna get out of it anyway!?"
Why did he want to be a king? Watching and learning about all those monarchs from stories, the same ones he deluded himself into believing he was part of, they seemed to have everything he ever wanted. They were powerful, they were respected, and they were loved. Was that all there was to it? On some level, it felt like he still wanted those things, but did that mean he had to be a king to get them?
I honestly don't know anymore.
"King! Where are you!?"
He looked up as he heard his… his name and saw a series of lights shine from around the corner. Not even having the energy to hide, he watched as everyone rounded it and turned to see him. All of them seemed happy at first, but then their faces turned to shock and anger. He couldn't help but back up in confusion at the sudden turn, only for him to bump into the guardian, who picked him up and shifted its other arm into a blade. Just as quickly, he realized what set everyone off.
Oh, right.
"You!" Nero yelled as everyone stepped forward with staffs, glyphs, and fireballs, "Let him go, NOW!"
Much to everyone's shock, the guardian tilted its head in contemplation for a few seconds before obeying Nero's demand, gently putting him down. That left everyone blinking as Eda quickly ran up, grabbed him, and pulled him away from it.
"Uh… go away?" Luz ordered in a testing tone. Unlike before, the guardian didn't do anything. Nervously, she walked up and waved her hand in front of its stone, boomerang shaped face, getting no reaction. "Huh, looks like it stopped. I think we're safe now," Luz turned to him and knelt down, "Are you okay, King?"
He looked away, unable to stare anyone in the face, "No. I'm not. I'm not okay, I'm not a king, I'm not… I'm nobody."
"But you are, and we love that somebody very much, right guys?" Luz asked the others, getting affirmative responses, "I'm sorry I lied to you about what I believed."
"It's fine, I honestly don't think I can even be mad about that anymore," He kicked a random rock away, "I was the one dumb enough to believe it."
"No," This time, Eda knelt down and gently held his shoulders, looking him in the eye, "King, no one's to blame for that but me. I lied to you first, gave you that fantasy, and didn't even try to stop it. I was too much of a coward to be honest with you," she turned her head and stared at the ground, "I'm sorry King. I'm so, so sorry."
He was taken aback by the clear sincerity and warmth in her voice, despite how sad she was. Maybe there was a small part of him that was still mad about it, but it kept getting smaller, and he didn't even know what to do with it, or if he wanted to do anything with it to begin with. So instead, he did the one thing he knew he wanted to do.
"Boop!" He poked Eda's cheek, surprising her as she looked to him, "You're forgiven. Just don't keep anymore secrets from me," He held out his pinky claw, "Promise?"
Eda's heterochromic eyes went wide for a second before a warm, tender smile made its way onto her face. She held out her own pinky, "Only truths. I promise," and shook his, but the minute she let go, he leapt up, arms around her neck, and hugged her. Eda's body went rigid at the contact, but just as quickly softened as she embraced him, a gentle hand rubbing at his back. For several more seconds, they remained like that until he finally let go, Eda once more smiling at him, "Feeling better, King?"
King smiled back, "Yeah, I feel a little better. I think I'm ready to go home now."
Eda nodded and happily stood up, allowing King to lead the group forward as they started for the tower exit. He looked back at everyone, seeing them all still concerned for him, but alright. Though he couldn't help but wince a bit as the guardian followed behind them. None of its movements were threatening, but that didn't stop Nero from constantly glaring at it most of the trek, right down to giving it an "I'm watching you" gesture.
It wasn't long before they were back in the central room, the rock figures he'd deluded himself into believing to be his army still there. Right now though, King didn't want to think about that. If he did, he'd probably spiral and get worse. But amidst his efforts to not dwell on it, Luz chimed in from behind, "Wait, something isn't right."
Everyone looked to Luz, who was gazing at the ceiling. Nero asked, "What do you mean?"
Luz pointed up to the sky hole from before, still blocked by rocks like usual, "King, didn't you say something about how you fell from a great height?"
King pondered for a second, Yeah, I did say that. Probably just something else I made myself believe. He looked up to Luz, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Maybe that's where you fell from?" Luz ran over to the murals from before, "You said something about a roar from up in that shaft. Not to mention there's these!"
She gestured to the one depicting a larger version of what looked like him, then she ran and pointed to the second one depicting the same figure fighting an even larger, partially obscured demonic figure as comets and stars hung over them. And that was before she ran to the final broken, but still mostly intact mural: The bone-masked beast holding his spear in one hand, the other joined with an equally large, insectoid-looking demon with downward facing horns that held a massive, curved, single-edged crimson blade. Upon seeing them, Nero ran his right hand over each one in curiosity, his eyes lingering on the final one especially.
"If you came from this tower, then maybe there's a clue at the top about your real past! Even if you weren't some demon king, I don't think anyone would put these murals here if this place wasn't something, or for someone, important."
King stared up at the blocked sky hole, feeling this sense of hope, but then he huffed, just as quickly snuffing it himself. "I don't know Luz, I wouldn't get my hopes up," He sat, playing with a pebble on the ground, "What if we go up there and find out I really am just some nobody?"
Hearing steps, he saw Nero kneel down next to him, "And? Being a nobody doesn't sound that bad."
"Easy for you to say," King grumbled, feeling this tinge of bitter envy that he tried to swallow. Getting a look from Nero, he sighed, "Look at you! You're big and strong, you've got a mom by your side even if she's a bit of a wacko," He went wide eyed for a second and glanced over at the woman in question, "Uh, no offense, Lilith."
"None taken," She answered casually.
"And you're the grandkid of this Sparda guy!" King pointed at the guardian, who motionlessly watched the conversation, "Then there's this thing! It listens to you and does whatever you say. If it's guarding this place, maybe the tower has more to do with you and Sparda than it does with me." He stood up, better meeting Nero's eyes, "So if it's better to be a nobody, what would you know about that?"
King didn't mean for it to sound accusatory, but with the hurt look in Nero's eyes and how he looked away, it definitely came across as such. He balked and reached out to apologize, but before he could, Nero spoke, "King, I honestly don't have any clue what being related to this Sparda guy even means. Not like my deadbeat of an old man was ever around to tell me a thing about it." King noticed Lilith wince out from the corner of his eye, but kept that to himself as Nero continued, "And with all the shit in my life going on because of that… I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'd rather not be a Sparda at all."
Suddenly, Nero smiled, "Besides, you're not some nobody no matter where you came from. You had Luz, Eda and Hooty," he gestured to the three, who smiled back, before standing up and standing beside Lilith, "And you have me and Mom now too. If it means anything, you're somebody to us."
Not knowing what to say, King looked between them all, getting nothing but encouragement from everyone. Still uncertain, but reassured nonetheless, he took a deep breathe, "Alright, let's head on up there." Now feeling lighter than before, he walked to the rocks he'd posed on before to get a better look at the sky hole, "So, how exactly are we gonna-"
"I got this," Nero stepped forward and held out his left hand, forming a finger gun as he spun a spell circle. Once formed, closed one of his eyes and yelled, "Bang!" The blue flame shot out, impacting the rocks with an explosion that shook the entire tower. Dust and stone cleared away, revealing the path to the top as Nero blew the smoke off his fingers, "Going up, anyone?"
"… showoff," King muttered, even though he thought it was cool. Eda chuckled and picked him up to her shoulder while Luz returned her staff. Nero, on the other hand, got behind his mother on her staff as all of them flew up the shaft, the guardian still following behind.
"My little raven, if this thing obeys your commands, could you perhaps order it to stop following us?" Lilith asked as wind blew in everyone's ears, "It's really starting to freak me out."
"Yeah, I'd prefer if we discovered something without tall, dark, and ominous looming over us," Eda added, holding King close so he didn't fall. Not that he ever did, anyway.
"Sure," Nero looked back at the still following guardian, "Hey stone head! Could you leave us alone!?" Shockingly, the guardian didn't listen and kept following them at the same pace, "Ugh, the one thing it won't listen to me on."
"It was worth a shot," Luz said before focusing her gaze upward, "Besides, it looks like we're here anyway."
True to her word, they reached the end of the shaft and exited into a small room. Landing, Light Glyphs and Nero's arm illuminated their surroundings, revealing an empty room filled with cobwebs, bronze lining, and floor tiles that seemed to have been broken and chipped. King's eyes landed on a closed doorway, the only other thing in the room with them. He walked up to it, something about it feeling almost… familiar…
With wide eyes, he turned to everyone and pointed at it, "Guys, guys! I know this door!"
"That's great!" Luz ran up, joined immediately by everyone else, guardian included, "So, you gonna open it?"
"I… I don't know-" He wanted to say "how", but something gnawed inside him, telling him he did know how. Yet the more he wanted to open the door, the more he hesitated. "I-I'm scared," King looked down at his paws, "What if I don't like what I learn? What if there's nothing to learn? I know I shouldn't keep going on about this whole thing, but..."
He stood there for what felt like forever, but then felt a pair of hands, both of which felt distinct yet familiar, on his small shoulders. Turning, he saw Luz and Eda giving him an almost sisterly and maternal gaze respectively. He'd seen it a lot, been subject to it a lot, but something inside him just clicked as he looked into their eyes. Like even if none of them knew the answer, everything would be okay despite it all.
It felt like it'd always been there, but he was only starting to see it now.
Luz smiled, "King, no matter what we find in there, you'll always have us."
"And that's our promise," Eda concluded, both of them enveloping him in a hug that he gladly returned. King decided that even if whatever his past entailed turned out to be great, it'd never be better than this very moment. When they finally let go, King gulped and stepped up to the door.
"Okay. Here goes… something."
He made contact with the door, and almost immediately, waves of blue energy enveloped it. Both doors flashed, opening to reveal a small room that was illuminated by own sky light. They entered, almost entranced by the place. King heard Lilith say something about the room being old, but he didn't pay attention, focused solely on the large, familiar golden symbol at the center. It was surrounded by leaves and covered in what appeared to be the remains of an eggshell that also felt familiar.
Everything about this room sparked familiarity within King, but he just couldn't explain why.
"YES! I knew there was something up here!" Luz cheered for herself, muttering stuff about mystery jargon King wasn't familiar with.
"Hmm, judging by the murals, the guardian must have been programmed to protect whatever was in here. It certainly explains its initial hostility," Lilith ran a hand along the walls, outlining the images of other guardians that were drawn as if watching directly towards the center. Nero, after having done the same, broke off from his mother and walked up to the guardian in question.
"Don't suppose you can tell us what was up here, can you?" Nero asked, getting no response from it, "Yeah, that figures."
"I think I'm starting to remember this place," King walked up to the center of the room, standing atop the golden symbol and eggshell fragments, "And I might know how to jog my memory." He looked up at Eda and held out his claw, "I'm ready."
Worry in her eyes, Eda hesitantly pulled his broken horn out of her hair, "Are you sure?" King nodded, and despite her clear concerns, she held it out to him, "Good luck. We'll be right here."
Closing his eyes, King put the horn back on his skull, fitting it like a puzzle piece. A perfect fit, and with it, he gasped as the memories rushed through his head.
He remembered the roar, followed by an earthquake, but he couldn't move or do anything but sleep. Yet before he fell to slumber, he recognized the voice of the roar, and how it sounded like it called him "son."
He remembered the second time he awoke, once more seeing nothing but a blurry orange space with red lines everywhere, but this time, he wasn't alone. Beyond that space was a figure of some kind. He could make out downward horns and glowing red eyes, a hand reaching out for the edge his space. The figure's gaze felt gentle, and he said something King couldn't remember, sleeping taking over once again.
Then he remembered the final time he woke up. A bright light entering his vision as the orange space parted, falling to pieces as he plopped against the ground. The first thing he ever saw outside his shell was that skylight, the symbol now etched into his brain. He remembered crawling to the door and how it opened at his touch, revealing the guardian who took him care of him. The last thing he remembered was its gentle embrace as they fell down the tower shaft.
"I… I remember," King whispered as he removed the horn. Seeing everyone's eyes were now on him, he ran up to the guardian and said, "Pick me up!" Without hesitation, the guardian did as asked, King now gently held in its embrace. It felt exactly like it did in the memory. Curiosity satisfied, he ordered, "You can put me down now."
Once more, it obeyed, with Luz walking up behind him alongside the others, asking, "So this thing listens to you too?"
"Yeah, I think it was put here to protect me," King motioned for the guardian to kneel down. When it did, he poked where its nose would've gone, "I'll call you Jean-Luc!"
A sudden flash of light came in from the other side of the room, everyone turning to see Lilith taking photos of the murals. Sighing, Nero gave a light glare, "Really Mom?"
"Oh! Sorry, got carried away," Lilith blushed and held the camera out, letting Hooty eat it, "I'll just do this later. Anyway, you were saying? Something about a Jean-Luc?"
"I said he was put here to protect me. That roar I heard? It meant 'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do!" King hugged at his horn, "And then I remembered someone watching over my egg. It looked like one of those guys from the mural. The one with the sword, and I-" He looked over to Nero, "I think that was Sparda!"
Nero gasped, "Wait, really!?"
"Yes! I mean, Jean-Luc listens to you, so Sparda had to be involved with making him. Maybe he was programmed to listen to any of Sparda's descendants?" King started piecing the puzzle together, "And then there were those murals that had the spear guy. The one who looked like an older me. There was that last mural where the two were together and joining hands, and I heard a roar that called me their son, which must mean-" He gasped and looked up at everyone, "Guys, I think I get it now! Sparda and the masked demon? They're my dads!"
"… eh?" Nero slouched, arms limp with a face of utter bafflement, as if he was trying to process what he'd just heard. Lilith looked uncertain, but Hooty looked approving. Eda was smiling, and Luz?
"I knew it. I KNEW IT!" She gasped and hugged King, spinning him around, "When I saw that mural, I knew there was something between those two figures. Never doubt a lifetime of shipping, baby!" She placed him down, "So, they're your parents?"
King nodded, "I think so," He looked down at his horn, tears welling up again, "Even if I wasn't a king, I was still important to someone. I was important to them."
"Hang on, I'm still stuck on that last part," Nero, having recovered from his bafflement, pinched the bridge of his nose, "So… Sparda, my grandpa, is one of your dads?"
"… yeah," King wasn't sure where Nero was going with this.
"So that means you're my uncle?" Nero's stare became completely flat, "My eight-year-old uncle."
King blinked, processing what he'd just heard, "Okay, yeah, it sounds weird when you say it like that, but I know what I'm talking about!"
"I'm not saying you don't. Just trying to process all this," Nero shook his head.
"It's certainly more than I was expecting to learn today," Lilith threw her two snails in as she looked around the room, "Still, we've learned a new detail about Sparda's history. Since I've discovered nothing else thus far despite my best efforts, I'll take what I can get."
"Same on that end," Nero looked down at King, "So… uncl-Yeah, no. Too weird."
"Way too weird," King thought about it for a second and held out his hand, "How about… cousins?"
Nero went wide eyed, blinked, and smiled before shaking his hand, "Yeah, I think cousins can work."
King felt his heart grow a bit more, whatever family he had now feeling just a bit bigger. As the subject filled his mind, he looked up at the symbol on the skylight, "You think my parents are still out there?"
Everyone looked between each other, Eda seeming just a bit downcast for some reason before she asked, "What makes you say that?"
"I mean, I'm eight! I'm not that old! And if they're still around, then I want to find them!" He blinked away his quickly forming tears, pleading eyes staring into everyone's souls, "Will you help me?"
Luz was the first to step up, leaning down and smiling at him, "Of course. I'd do anything for you, buddy," she looked to the others, "Right guys?"
"Well, I'm already trying to decipher Sparda's lost history for my own reasons," Lilith looked to her son before turning back to King, "But even if I wasn't, I'd still like to lend a hand in this. If I discover anything about both your parents, I'll make certain to tell you."
"Me too! Hoot!" Hooty outstretched from the portable birdhouse on Lilith's back, with the ex-Coven head affectionately scratching his head. Annoying as King found the House Demon, and for as much as he felt the odds of Hooty discovering anything on his own wasn't likely, he was touched by the gesture.
Nero knelt down next and patted the top of King's skull, "You can count on me too, cous," King beamed at the new title: Cousin. He had a cousin! Just then, Nero gestured toward the horn and held out his hand. Handing it over, Nero pointed to where the horn on his head was broken and asked, "Would you like for me too…"
"Yeah, I think I'd like that," King answered, Nero's smile growing as he connected the horn to where it'd broken off. His left hand glowed for a second before the energy concentrated into his index finger, which he smoothly ran along the crack where horn met skull like a blowtorch. In seconds, King felt his both of his horns atop his head, like he'd never lost one to begin with.
"Thanks!" King gave Nero a thumbs up, receiving one in kind before looking over at the only one who hadn't spoken, "Eda?"
Eda wasn't meeting his eyes, and she held onto her arm in a nervous way King couldn't recall seeing from his… his mother-figure? He still wasn't sure what Eda was to him, but thinking of her like that just… it felt right. King opened his mouth to ask further, but Eda beat him to the punch with a sigh.
"Alright King, there's a lot I'm not sure on, but I can figure that out later," She regained her trademark cocky smirk and focused her attention on him, "I'll do what I can to help you find them." Her gaze softened just a bit as she rubbed the top of his head, "And no matter what happens, I'll be there for you. Okay?"
King felt his tail wag as he tightly hugged Eda one last time. Letting go, he couldn't help but yawn, "Think we can go home now? Today's been exhausting."
"Yeah, let's go home," Luz said, everyone else nodding along.
But then, as King turned for the door, his eyes fell on Jean-Luc, whose vacant blue eyes continued to stare back. With how quiet the guardian was, he'd almost forgotten about him. Pointing to his previous caretaker, King asked, "Can we bring him back home with us?"
"YES! New friend!" Hooty immediately agreed as he wrapped himself around the others in a hug.
"NO!" Everyone else yelled with a glower as Eda forced herself out, Hooty releasing them right after. "King, we're not bringing that thing back with us," Eda glared at Jean-Luc, "I don't feel comfortable having it around. Besides, I got my hands full enough with you guys, Graff, and Se-" Suddenly, Eda's mismatched eyes went wide as she panicked, "Oh FUCK ME!"
"What is it, sister?"
"WE LEFT SELKI HOME ALONE!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"… does anyone know if she can feed herself? Hoot!"
"SHIT!" Everyone but Hooty shouted as they all rushed out of the tower, Eda in particular grabbing King, Luz, and Jean-Luc all at once while Lilith grabbed Nero. The two adult witches shoved everyone into Eda's flying bathtub and squeezed themselves in at the front. Turning on the tub's engines, Eda took to the sky and flew faster than King thought possible for the rickety old thing.
King let out an "Oof!" as the tub crash landed in front of the Owl House, Eda and Lilith pulling everyone out. Jean-Luc, now inactive, just fell to the ground, but everyone was too busy rushing for the front door to care at the moment. Without hesitation, Eda kicked the door open as everyone rushed in.
"Selki! We're here! Are you… okay?" Eda slowed down, King leaning out from behind her leg to get a better look at the scene. In front of them was Selki, freshly cleaned off and eating food out of her bowl. On the wall behind the couch, Graff took the form of a surprised face that swirled in a series of colors.
"Hey guys!" They formed the words before swirling into another set, "I took care of her," then shifting into, "Don't worry about it."
"… you took care of Selki?" Lilith asked, Graff becoming a thumbs up in response, "All by yourself?" the thumbs up remained, "Without any help whatsoever?" once more, the thumbs up didn't change, "… HOW!?"
Graff started to swirl again, but King interrupted them with a yawn, "Know what? I've had a long day and I'm way too tired for this. Can we just go to sleep?"
"Yeah. HOOT! I'm exhausted too," Hooty agreed and stretched out, proceeding to detach himself from the portable birdhouse and reattach himself back to the front door. Having seen this earlier today, King didn't have much of a reaction, though his stomach still churned when he witnessed all the… nauseating details.
Nero, however, had the look of someone who'd just witnessed a war crime.
"But-but I need to know how Graff-"
"Sis, just let it go. Selki's okay, so no use worrying," Eda patted Lilith's shoulder.
"Yeah..." Nero said, still shaking off the disgust from Hooty's act, "How about instead, we focus on figuring out what you guys found at the tower? Anything to get keep my mind off the shit I just saw."
Lilith beamed, removed the birdhouse from her back, and placed all the photos she took on the living room table, "Ooooh! A night of extensive study? I'll get my notebooks!" After her song-like statement, she ran down to her room, but not before poking her head out from the hall entrance and adding, "Don't begin deciphering without me!"
"I should probably get Jean-Luc," Nero made for the front door and opened it, doing everything in his power not to look at Hooty as he made that large, spectral arm of his and reached for the now dormant guardian.
"Can you put him in my room, please?" King asked, Nero nodding as he took Jean-Luc down to his cousin's room. Yawning just one more time, King stretched out his hands and felt one bump into his collar. He looked down on it and held the gold material in his claws. It reminded him so much of what his egg laid on, and he could almost picture the symbol from before on it.
"Something wrong?" Luz asked, kneeling down to get closer to him as Eda sat on the floor just in front of the couch, Lilith returning with a plethora of notebooks and textbooks.
"No, but could you maybe get me a fork? I'll meet you in my room," King answered and went down the hallway.
There was just one last thing he needed to do before going to bed.