Chapter Text
Long ago, the ...nce of Malign... was released onto the world when suddenly ... made a selfish decision and threw everything out of balance ... was finally given the power to send his army up to ..v.n and st.t the .ar on Calix Animi. .h... was killed in battle, and ...itas' crusade of corr...ing so..s began. ...He doesn't like it one bit. All of the ...nt a... of Calix Animi live there, and he believed that this crown should be his. He decides to pay the new family a visit... a grave accident causes the death of the...leaving...unarmed. By a miracle, his magic is at least strong enough to expel L... out of the kingdom .
Cuphead sits alone in the section labeled "Ancient Scriptures" reading probably the thirtieth book he's taken out in the past hour. The word "Calix Animi" playing over and over in his head.
Why was it that whenever he found something that actually looked like it could be helpful, he couldn't see half of it? At least 4 of the books he found had the same word, with no indication of what it actually was. It was almost as if something was keeping him from figuring it out. The constant speculation made him lose himself in thought, to the point where he could've forgotten where he was.
"What'cha readin'?" His twin brother Mugman appeared behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. The slightly younger brother chuckled as Cuphead lets out a louder-than-intended yelp and turns around. He punches him in the arm.
"Don't do that! Jeez!"
"Ow…sorry. Have you found anything yet?" Mugman asks as he rubs the arm that was brutally attacked.
"Nah, not really. I've been sitting here for what feels like forever." He flips to the page. "The only thing I can really even see here is the word 'Calix Animi', whatever that means. Any ideas?" His brother leans over to see, and screws up his face in thought.
"Hmmm no, I've never heard of it either." he smirks. "Sounds like some kind of cult."
Cuphead laughs, and pulls out a pencil. He knights him by tapping both shoulders with the end of it. "Brother Mugman, I now dub thee a member of our clan."
" PFTT- " Mugman smiles as Cuphead grabs his arm.
"Lend me your appendage so I may cut it off in sacrifice!" He raises the pencil and goes to slam it down on his brother, who pulls away, cringing. Cuphead grabs it again, raising the other arm with the "sword" once again.
"YOU DARE DEFY THE CALIX ANIMI?! You are not worthy!" Cuphead yells, and both of them burst out laughing. A snail appears from around the corner, holding a very tall stack of books.
"Hey!" the stranger yells, and the boys immediately stop to look up at him. "This is a library, not a playground. Keep it down. You boys know better." he reminds them in a monotone lull.
"Sorry, Johnson." Mugman answers, "We will."
"I'm sure." the snail responds, doubtful, as he steals a glance towards Cuphead, who instantly glares at him. He nods, and slithers away, back to his desk.
"Yeesh. How long is the ruler stuck up his ass, huh?" Cuphead retorts, causing Mugman to smile and then immediately take it back.
"Cuphead, no, that's rude."
"And? He wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine."
He gets up from his chair and goes to put the book back where he found it. He returns to his brother and motions Mugman to follow him. "Cmon, let's scram."
The boys exit the library and are immediately met with the overwhelming presence of the kingdom they grew up in. The grandiose castle being the first thing anyone sees every time you walk out of a building. Its two pillars on each side rise up to the clouds with vines spiraling the outside. The wall reaches halfway up the height to protect its inhabitants, with a moat outside to make it even harder. Spoon, Knife, and Fork people walk around the top of the wall with crossbows as a weapon to snipe out any intruders. A tapestry depicting the kingdom's crest hangs on the outside, almost just as tall as the pillar itself.
Seems a little selfish considering how poor the rest of us are. Cuphead thinks, regarding the small, rotted, wooden hut that he and his brother had been sharing.
Must be nice.
The comparison really shows as they walk deeper into the kingdom. They are now in the middle of the marketplace.. It is so busy. There are stalls and people yelling for the customers to come and check out their stuff, and homeless people everywhere. Lots of folks living in cardboard boxes and holding out their hats and empty tin cans to the people as they walk by to beg for money. A little girl tugs on Cuphead's pant leg, and holds one out to him with a smile. He frowns, and reaches in his pocket to pull out a coin. He drops it in the can, and she runs off through the deepest part of the market, towards the farmers stand.
"Thank you!" She calls out to him as she continues to run.
He smiles and waves. "Stay safe, okay!"
Mugman nudges him, smiling, he saw the whole thing. "Aw, that was nice of you."
"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it." Cuphead responds, rolling his eyes in slight amusement that he'd never admit to.
As they walk through the market towards the forest, they notice a man in tattered clothing slipping his hand behind the counter of one of the stands while a merchant talks to a customer. He makes his move, and runs off, the jingling of the coins giving him away immediately.
"Hey! Get back here!" the merchant calls out to him.
The thief looks behind him, breathing heavily, but he does not stop. Cuphead steps forward to do something, but his brother puts his arm in front of him. He gives him a look as if to say, I got this.
" Dormio." Mugman whispers under his breath, so as to not draw attention, making sure to look right at him, and the thief falls to the ground in a deep sleep. Many, many, many bags of money and small jewel encrusted nick nacks fall out of his pocket. The people around him start to notice their items that have been stolen and quickly start to take stuff back.
"Dropped like a sack o' potatoes." Says Cuphead, winking at his brother. "Nice job."
"I learned from the best, didn't I?" Mugman replies as they continue the trek towards the house.
They immediately turn around at the sounds of screaming.
"No, no please! Let me go! I was just hungry, that's all, I didn't mean any harm!" The man yells, as two spoons run towards him, and pick him up under the shoulders.
"You know the law, no excuse. We'll see what Baron Kettle has to say." One of the generals replies, as the man continues to scream and flail his legs. The other whispers an incantation, and they disappear.
"Yikes. Maybe we shouldn't have gotten involved, huh?" Cuphead jokes nervously, trying to lighten the mood. He looks up to his brother, who wears a frown on his face that shows his distraught.
"You okay?" He asks, knowing the answer.
Mugman responds even quieter than usual. "..Yeah."
No , I'm not okay. I thought he was just a common thief. They're gonna kill him for needing food.
The boys continue to walk in silence. Cuphead looks up to his brother, who shies away. He tries to hide the obvious tears falling. Cuphead puts his hand on his shoulder. "Try not to think about it." he says, attempting to comfort him.
Mugman nods, and takes a second to collect himself. A merchant suddenly calls to them as they pass the edge.
"Hey, kids!"
They both whip around. "What? What do you want?" Cuphead answers, sounding a bit more rude than intended, but he just wanted to go home.
The creepy old man leaned in closer to the boys. "I have something special to show you. I sense a great wisdom within, a feeling as if I can entrust you with such a valuable item...yes…" At this point the man was almost breathing on Mugman, they both took a step back.
"I uh...no thank you." says Mugman swiftly, and they both turn to walk away.
"Wait!" They stop. Why did they stop? This guy is crazy!
"I knew your father way back when! His name was Goblet! I used to show him all my cool little hoozie-whatzits! I-I'm so used ta luring all my customers in with the mystical crap I got a bit carried away, I didn't mean to scare ya! I just figured you might wanna take a look, that's all, it seems important!"
At this point their interest was at its peak. They never knew their parents, and this was the first time ever even hearing one of their names . Who knew what could happen, it couldn't hurt.
Cuphead shoots him a look. What do you think?
Mugman shrugs, clearly still uneasy. I don't know, it's your call.
"Okay, but only looking. You're not getting a penny from me." Cuphead finally decides.
The two boys walk back up towards him and he dives his hand down into his comically large overalls and pulls out a scroll.
"Your time has come. Don't you see?!" He hands it over with a genuinely excited grin over his face.
"I thought I said only looking." Cuphead replies slyly, and looks to his brother, catching his laugh.
The merchant waves his hand in protest. "Pssh. Just read it. Geez. It's not gonna blow up or anything."
Cuphead takes the scroll in his hands and opens it up. It's not an old nick nack like the rest of the items. It seems to be brand new. The only problem being, it's not in English or Latin.
"Well I can't read runes." Cuphead shrugs, handing it back. The old man opens it up and traces his finger down the paper, word by word.
"He is coming home." Mugman's eyes dart to Cuphead and back to the merchant.
"..What does that mean?" He asks nervously.
The old man suddenly smiles, shoving the paper back in, and begins to laugh. He can't control himself. He grabs the sides of his ribs to try and steady himself, as he slips further and further into madness. Something is very very wrong. The boys steal a glace at each other as the other hacks up a lung, trying to catch his breath. Cuphead and Mugman bolt. The last thing they hear is him calling after them.
"Hey! Where are you going?! What's wrong?!" As he continues to laugh to himself.