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“King, wake up.”
King awoke from his deep slumber. He was on the floor, today the wood was the perfect texture, at least to him. His skull raised to face Eda’s impatient figure, her arms crossed and foot tapping on the floor. King rolled his eyes a slight fraction, “Edaaa… what is it? I was taking my beauty nap. A king can’t rule a kingdom without his naptime!” He complained.
“Yeah, no. You said that 4 hours ago.”
King blinked at Eda, completely annoyed, but Eda didn’t falter or change her mind, “Ughhhhhhhh, fine, what do you need me for?”
“I need you to deliver these potions, they’re not gonna do it themselves.”
She dropped the bag in front of him. King didn’t stand up, or flinch, still in his comfortable laying position. King looked at the bag, then at Eda, “Can’t you do it?”
Eda didn’t change her tone, “King, I’ve been doing this all day, and it’s the evening now. You can do this one.”
King got up, stretching like a cat, clawing at the floor and arching his back, “Ah… okay, I’ll do it.”
King started dragging the large bag out of the house, it slid against the wood, and King’s little feet picked up pace to get it out faster.
By the time King reached the doorframe, he yanked the bag up to get it past the bump, “Eh!” King fell back on his tail. He slowly got up, grabbing the sack again.
Eda stood at the doorway, smirking as she shut the door. King only rolled his eyes.
A familiar annoying voice came to life, causing King’s eye to twitch, “OoOOooo. Hey, King! Do you wanna talk? Eda’s been busy allll day.”
King pinched his snout, “Hooty, I swear-”
“Ugh, FINE! HOOT!”
“Thank you, Hooty.”
--
The Bonesborough streets were loud, as usual. This was the time everyone was rushing to get to places, and prep their stands for the night market.
King dragged the bag, he swore he could’ve trampled over a small creature with it, but he didn’t notice, after all, he was having to make sure that he wasn’t getting trampled over.
Stupid Eda, making King do all of her dirty work. He bet she made the bag extra heavy just for him!
King should be the one ordering around Eda! If only he had his lost crown, he could power over her, and finally have his power back!
But alas, he was condemned to this useless, feeble body.
King stopped at the curb, he hated this crossroad, the lights always took so long to flash for small demon crossing. But recently, he made a helpful pawn, Jarell.
Jarell was a huge talking bug demon, a face of a skunk with a praying mantis body, he swore he was part fire honey badger, but the smell said otherwise, “Hey Jarell!”
“King! How are you, my acquaintance?" Jarell frog blinked, his fangs showing and face right in front of King, his head three times King’s size.
King pointed to the other side of the crosswalk, “I need a lift. Can you help me buddy?”
“Of course! Hop on!” King climbed onto his head, Jarell holding the bag in his mouth.
Momentarily, he started moving. His legs making a rhythmic, clacking sound against the asphalt and concrete, “We’re here.”
King hopped down, Jarell vomited out King’s bag. Respectfully, King bowed to Jarell, “I appreciate your kindness.”
Jarell bowed his head, “Anything for you, friend.”
Then Jarell crawled away, going off to his bug collection as he called it. It was just as weird as it sounded, a bug demon owning other bug demons, but that was Jarell’s work, and King had no reason to ask him about it.
At least someone listened to him, cough, Eda.
Okay, first customer, 2 rights, 1 left, 6625 Woolslog.
He made a turn, sigh, at least this was a small demon street. Although he walked here many, many times, he didn’t actually know anyone. Most spoke Bugish, the bug demon language of dances. King tried dancing once, he embarrassed himself, he called himself a- No! You don’t get to know! But that just meant he could never speak to those his size.
There was the occasional beast demon who could speak the Witch language, but only ever a few words. The only person who could speak full sentences was that random biped, Tinella Nosa. She was everywhere! She somehow even got into the Owl House one time! She whispered to King in an alien tongue, then scurried out of the house. It was weird and creepy. Sent chills down his spine. He had nightmares for a week after that.
In his travel, King was stopped by a small flying demon, the size of King’s paw. He was blue, looked like a gargoyle, and had a special blue cap that could be read as ‘GUARD’ if you squinted.
He flew to King’s eye level and started dancing in Bugish. King only blinked, unfazed. Leave me alone, I’m tired, I just want to get this over with and go home. His eyes slumped halfway in annoyance.
The guard stopped dancing, and started speaking in a pipsqueak voice, “Hello, sir! Are your items authorized?”
Authorized? King never had an issue dragging Eda’s potions here before, “Authorization? Um, I have been doing this for a long time by now. Don’t you recognize me?”
The guard paused, then said, “No.”
King rolled his eyes, “Alright, how do I get my stuff ‘authorized’?”
“You get a stamp. By me!”
King scoffed, “Okay, can you stamp my bag?”
“Nope!”
“What? Why not!”
“Because your bag is not authorized!”
King sharply inhaled a breath. Is he serious? “Well then how could I possibly get it authorized!”
“It needs my stamp!”
King let go of the bag, letting it sag next to him while he flailed his arms around, “HOW DO I GET IT AUTHORIZED IF IT NEEDS A STAMP FROM YOU?! YOU KEEP SAYING IT’S NOT AUTHORIZED BECAUSE IT DOESN’T HAVE A STAMP! WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY HAVE TO DO TO GET IT STAMPED?!”
The guard tapped his chin, “Uhhhh, I don’t know.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW?! I HAVE ALWAYS PASSED THROUGH JUST FINE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
King covered his snout, everyone definitely heard him. The moving crowds had gone deathly silent for a few seconds, then resumed their work.
Suddenly, a big demon caged the guard, “HEYYYY!”
He had a deep voice, “Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. This one has been causing trouble for quite some time now. He was trying to charge you for ‘authorization’, don’t worry, you don’t need that. You can keep moving along. The issue is taken care of.”
King sighed, dragging his bag throughout the rest of the street.
That was weird, big demons weren’t allowed here, then again, he was just authorities.
It was a concerning topic among the small demons, as years have passed, there were less and less spots for smaller demons.
Society was dominated by the big demons after all. There was a movement, the S.D.T.P., the Small Demon Territory Preservation.
King would join the S.D.T.P., but he had better kingly things to do. Maybe once he got his crown back, he could help them too, and regrow his army which was once huge.
King took another right then a left, reaching the neighborhood, what was it? 6624 Woolslog? Or was it 5526?
King saw a house in front of him, 6625. He exhaled, hopefully he wouldn’t embarrass himself again today by picking the wrong house. He strangled the door screamer.
The customer opened his door, “Ugh, it’s 7 o’clock, what is it?”
“I have a delivery for Talinda? I think that’s her name? Anyways, she paid for 2 bottles of snake oil and 8 bottles of Ghoul Mist.”
“TAL?”
“WHAT, HONEY?”
“DID YOU ORDER FROM THE OWL LADY AGAIN?”
“Oh! Hubert! You weren’t supposed to see that!”
Who King assumed was Talinda, pushed away who King assumed was Hubert, “I’m so sorry. My husband can be intruding sometimes.”
“INTRUDING? TAL, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THIS!”
“Stop yelling!! You’ll scare off the poor man!”
“OH! BUT IT’S OKAY TO GET MORE SNAKE OIL BEHIND MY BACK? WE WERE SUPPOSED TO STOP USING THAT THIS MONTH!”
The argument went on, and it was clear it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. He laid out the bottles on the front porch and walked off. He groaned, this was going to be a long trip.
--
King returned to the Owl House by 10:30, exhausted from the constant obstacles of being small and having difficult customers.
King fell onto his belly, laying spread across the rug, “Ugh, Eda, how do you do this all day?”
“I do it fast, that’s how.”
“You’re no fun…”
“I made dinner. Do you want some before you take another nap?”
“...yes.”
“Okay, I’ll get you a bowl.”
Eda picked up King, sitting him on a tall stool.
King slow blinked, still tired. A bowl of food slipped in front of King. He sniffed it, then started wagging his tail, “You remembered the human spices!”
Eda smiled, “Yeah. Found a few containers in my weekly human trash scoop. It also has some Eda flare to it.”
King ate the soup very quickly. Usually Eda’s cooking was meh, but with those added seasonings, it tasted a million times better to King. Then he immediately fell asleep into his bowl.
Eda cleaned the spilled food, washing up King’s skull. She settled him onto the couch, putting a small blanket over his body. Eda sat next to him, petting his fur while watching the crystal ball on low volume. Somewhere around 2 a.m., Eda went up to her nest.
King yawned awake, his periodic naptime over. If he was feeling mischievous, he would usually draw on Eda’s face, but he was lazy at the moment.
As he hopped off the couch, he crawled upstairs. Stairs were always difficult for a small demon like him, so tall, so wide, and clearly more accommodated for Eda.
Right now, he was heading to see if he could find something he liked in Eda’s human trash, it would only ever be a few things, and Eda wouldn’t notice.
While scavenging through Eda’s bags, King found a collector’s item, some sort of ghost, named… Larry. On the back of the box were pictures of all the possible figures you could get from it. One was black, completely blank, a silhouette. How dare the king of demons not be able to know what that figure was? He needed to know.
Eda’s portal sat nearby, completely unprotected. Maybe King would visit the human realm, and see for himself. Only issue was he didn’t have the key. The portal key was on Eda’s neck.
King peeked into Eda’s room, she was asleep, snoring loudly with her mouth open. As he opened the door more, it creaked. King froze in his tracks, hair standing on end. Eda paused her snoring for a second, then went back to sleep.
He checked around for any booby traps. Usually there would be a snapper or two as King called them. But it seemed like nothing.
He snuck by her nest, making sure not to make a sound. He looked at the key. Should I do this? Yes, Eda won’t even know I was gone.
He latched his claws onto the necklace, carefully lifting it off her neck.
He hopped down, scurrying out of the room and shutting the door.
He grabbed Larry the Ghost, his bath ducky, and put the key to hang off his horn because his skull was too big to get it to his neck.
The portal was open, the woods were… green. That was strange. Then again, this was a whole ‘nother realm.
He stopped through, the air was different too. More… misty, kind of.
In the distance was a huge mansion. That must be where humans check in! I didn’t know humans traveled across realms. Eh, doesn’t matter. Maybe these humans can point me to a human store.
--
“Katherine, I have discovered this… delightful treat. It tastes pleasant,” Abbadon licked the popsicle, it was sour, making him cringe a little.
“Abbadon, you’ve been alive for hundreds of years and you’ve never had a popsicle? And why did you pick the sour one?”
“They’re all white, how was I supposed to know?”
“They’re not all white Abbadon.”
“Mom, just focus on the dishes, let Abbadon enjoy the luxurious taste of a popsicle!” Esther bit into hers, half of it was already gone with that one bite.
“Ew, Esther. Don’t bite the popsicle! You’re supposed to lick it, see?” Ben licked his, but before he could pull away and say ‘mmm’ his tongue got stuck to it.
“This is why I bite it, Ben, who licks a popsicle nowadays anyway?” Esther chuckled.
“I do,” Abbadon licked his popsicle, cringing again.
“Esther, since when do you consider popsicles to be ‘luxurious’?”
Nathan phased through the wall, “I remember when I had a popsicle. Ate the whole thing in one bite. It’s great, but then you get brainfreeze.”
Esther pointed to Nathan, “Look! Uncle Nathan gets it!” The two high fived, though, Nathan’s hand just phased through Esther’s.
“Oh, sorry let’s try that again,” But Nathan’s hand still phased through Esther’s.
Esther put her hands back in her pocket, “I get the point, Uncle Nathan.”
As Katherine finished washing the last plate, she turned to Esther, “Esther, stop standing on the chair.”
Ben’s tongue was still stuck to the popsicle, “Yah, Eser. It dow.”
“Fine, fine.”
Abbadon’s face cringed again, “Why is it still sour?”
“It doesn’t get less sour, Abbadon.”
Then came the distant banging knocking on the door, “Katherine! Look! We have another guest!” Nathan exclaimed.
“Okay, kids, we are not bothering them. We are not assuming they are a werewolf or whatever else you can come up with.”
“Re-lax, mom. No more monster business.”
“Ben, keep an eye on Esther.”
Ben finally got his tongue unlatched from the popsicle, with a numb tongue, he said, “Wiw do.”
Katherine approached the door, “Geez, who bangs the door this much? Nathan, did you not tell us until now? How long has this person been out there?”
“Katherine, I will have you know that I heard that very first vibration of a knock.”
“Okay, just stand by the desk. And remember, don’t touch anything.”
“You got it, sister!” Nathan swinged his arm.
The door creaked open, “Human! I demand a stay here!”
“Oh, a ghost. Go away.”
The door slammed shut. King started throwing a tantrum and biting the door knob.
Katherine opened the door again, “I’m not a ghost! I’m a demon! You denying to serve me is discriminatory to us smaller folk!”
“Katherine, who is that?” Abbadon peeked from behind Katherine’s waist.
“You don’t know him? I thought you knew all demons.”
Abbadon sniffed him, “Hey, I don’t feel comfortable with your sniff demon checking me out, I am legit!”
“He doesn’t have the scent of a demon.”
Katherine sighed, “Look kid, Halloween was 4 months ago, we don’t have any candy.”
“Halloween? What’s Halloween?”
“Haha, very funny.”
“Eser, no!” Ben tried to chase Esther.
“Oooh, mom, you didn’t say you found a demon! Ask him if he knows black magic!”
“Black magic? Where I’m from it’s called ‘wild magic’. I actually know a lot about the topic. I was once a great king of demons. Then, my crown was stolen. And I became reduced to this. A tiny body not fit for a king!”
“I understand your pain. At least you have your powers.”
“I don’t!”
“Hmm. Katherine, I am affectionate towards this creature, we should keep him,” Abbadon scratched his chin.
“We’re not getting a pet.”
“MOM! Don’t say that! That’s highly disrespectful!” Esther flailed her arms.
“Yes, Katherine. I do believe Esther is right.”
Katherine pinched her nose, “You know what? Fine. He can help clean the house. Do you have money?”
King pulled out a few snails, “This is all I have, is it enough for one night? Or not. I just wanna know where this came from…”
King revealed Larry the Ghost. Ben’s tongue had finally thawed out, “There we go. Hey I think I’ve seen that before!”
“You have? I was intrigued by the black figure on its box.”
“Oh, that’s the secret one. I’ve been spending months trying to get it.”
Katherine looked at the weird looking coins, “What is this? Some plastic treasure box coins?”
“No, they’re real. You’ve never heard of snails? It’s a pretty common currency.”
“Maybe where you’re from but not here. Our currency is green paper.”
“Paper? Who wants paper? Paper isn’t valuable. You can get paper anywhere.”
“Kid, ask the guys from 500 years ago. I don’t know why.”
“Can I trade these in for green paper?”
“No. What would I use it for?”
“If you were to ever go to the demon realm.”
“You have access to hell?” Esther smiled.
“No. That’s completely something else. The demon realm is kinda like here, but different. Here, just imagine humans with pointy ears and magic as well as griffins and bug demons you could say.”
“That sounds so cool! Can you take me there?”
“Esther, no. It’s my job as your older brother to keep you safe. And going to a place equivalent to hell definitely is not safe!”
King steered the topic back around, “So, uh, can you point me in the direction of a human store, Ms…”
“You can call me Ms. Freeling. And no, you are staying here until we can contact your parents. It is not safe for a little boy to be out in the woods on his own.”
“I am not a little boy! I am the king of demons!”
“You’re a toddler with a fursuit.”
“I have been in this lowly state for 8 years! I am a king! I’m hundreds of years old!”
“I’m 10,000,” Abbadon said.
“Oho! A potential fellow comrade!”
Katherine patted Abbadon’s shoulder, “So, kid, you’re staying here with us.”
King rolled his eyes, “Ugh, fineeee.”
--
Nathan put his hands together, “Welcome, customer! I hope you’re having a good day! May I check you in?”
“No, no. Nathan, this is, what’s your name?”
“I’m King.”
“Um, Katherine?” Nathan asked.
“Yes?”
“That’s a demon. Not a ghost,” He pointed to King.
“I know, Nathan.”
“Well, then. He’s still our guest! Why don’t we show him around?”
Esther rocked her feet, “Mom, I know this place better than anyone. I can do this. Maybe just me even, I-”
Before Esther could talk in pride to convince her mother, Katherine stopped her, “No. If Nathan wants to show him around, he can show him around. I don’t want you alone with a demon.”
Esther gestured to Abbadon, “Wha-? But you let me be with Abbadon!”
“But we know Abbadon. We do not know King.”
--
“...Anddddd this is our ghost hall,” Nathan put his hands to his hips.
“Okay, this is interesting and all, but I’m not staying here,” King slouched.
“We’re treating you! It’s no issue- whoop,” Nathan’s hand phased right through King’s shoulder, “That’s weird, I can usually touch demons. I am more powerful than you.”
“Psh, no you’re not. Humans are weak and feeble, can’t even digest anything that isn’t mushy.”
King sighed, “Just take me to the guest room…”
“Alright, great choice!”
--
“So, Uncle Nathan, what’s he like?” Esther clicked her pen, notebook in hand.
“He’s just fine. A little grumpy guy, kind of reminds me of Abbadon, but King’s more child-like while Abbadon’s just childish.”
“Okay, okay…” That wasn’t interesting enough for Esther, she wanted more, “Anything interesting perhaps?”
“Well, I tried to pat his shoulder, but my hand just went right through him.”
“Intriguing…” Esther jotted that down, tapping her pen to her chin, she said, “So, he’s a demon that can’t be affected by ghosts? We know demons overpower humans, but is he above all somehow? Are you sure he’s even a demon?!”
“He literally said he’s from the demon realm, why wouldn’t he be.”
Esther asked Abbadon, “Abbadon, do you know about any higher plane demons?”
“I know others can be more powerful than me. But, that is unheard of.”
Esther gasped in excitement, “So we just discovered a whole different type of demon?! EEEEEEEE!”
“Woah, woah, Esther. Hold your horses. He is still a guest. And if you remember last time. We now treat all guests with respect, whether demon, ghost, human, or something else entirely.”
“You guys are no fun,” Esther pouted and crossed her arms.
“Nathan, I would like to ‘play’ with the king of demons,” Abbadon suggested.
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh, sure bud, maybe ask him first.”
Ben stepped in, “Abbadon, he is not the ‘king of demons’, he’s the size of a small dog.”
Esther shook her head, “Ben, ben, ben. You don’t underestimate a demon by his size!”
“How else am I supposed to judge him? Is he made of liquid like a cat?”
“Interesting point Ben- But, you judge a demon by his power!”
“He already said he was powerless.”
“Powerless? He’s immune to ghosts, Ben!”
Esther pulled out her pinboard, “Okay, let’s see here…”
Ben looked around, confuzzled, “Wha- Esther, where did that come from?” Ben then gestured to the door, “That’s too big to fit through there!”
“Ben, such questions are irrelevant. We have to focus on King! So, we know he has canine features like his snout, and he wears a skull… Where did the skull come from? His defeated enemy? Was he born with it? What does he look like without it?”
Abbadon spawned out of nowhere, spooking Ben, “Esther, you do not want to know what a demon looks like without his skull.”
“Fair point.”
--
King laid on his huge bed, well, it was huge for him.
He held his figurine in the air, Was this really worth the trouble? He thought.
Probably not, Eda would be mad at him anyways, so he might as well have stayed.
And that weird ‘Ms. Freeling’ human who insulted him. She was the biggest meanie ever! No one dared to disrespect the king of demons!
The room was fairly big too. containing more than just a bed, beside it, was a desk, with a lamp. King had never been in a hotel before but he’d describe his current experience as a budget bedroom meant to be copied in every room for max income.
No one said the human realm would be so boring. Nothing happened here! Sure, there was like a ghost or two that would occasionally bother him, but otherwise, nothing.
Why did Eda like this place anyways? What was so interesting about green plants and identical homes? Then again, she was Eda, and there were some abnormal things here too.
He just wanted to leave at this point. His stupid portal was all the way outside the hotel.
The blue shirt guy suddenly opened the door, “AH!” King’s hair stood on end, jumping and arching his back like a cat.
“Room service! Need anything? Are the floors too dirty? Do you need someone to make your bed? What about a drink-”
King’s fur smoothed out, “I-I think I’m good.”
“Rightie-o! I will be out of your business-”
The green coat girl ran in front of the blue shirt guy, “Hey, King! My mom’s taking us to the grocery store! Do you wanna come with? Maybe we can find your figurine there!”
King wagged his tail, “Really? I’m coming!”
“Oh, King, wait-” King ran past the blue shirt guy, “Nevermind.”
--
Katherine started the car, “Okay, Ben, we are only going to the store to get groceries, alright? No toys, no candy, and please keep an eye on Esther.”
“You got it, mom.”
Esther tugged on her mother’s coat, “Mom, mom! Can we take King? He wants to get a figurine!”
“Esther…”
“What! That’s the whole reason he’s here anyways! Come on mom, please?”
“Fine. But that’s it, nothing else.”
“Yay!”
Abbadon spawned in again, “I would like to come too, mom.”
“Not your mom, but okay.”
The car ride was relatively smooth, and to Katherine’s surprise, King was well behaved, mostly, at least.
King walked in, “Woah. This is what a human store looks like? It’s so big!”
“Yup, that’s your average grocery store.”
“Do you guys have rotten candy?”
“Rotten? Kid, who feeds you?” Katherine asked.
“An old criminal lady.”
Katherine pinched her nose, “I am so close to calling CPS.”
Within 5 seconds, all of the kids had scattered across the store, “Great.”
In the toy aisle, Ben showed King the figurine boxes, “Well, we can only buy 2. So, one for you and one for me!”
King pointed to the 3rd one, “I want that one!”
“Are you sure? 7 is the luckiest number so-”
“I’ve made my decision.”
“Okay, your loss.”
--
“How does it feel to be in a grocery store again, Abbadon!”
“I remember I was banished because last time everyone was bewildered when I tried to summon a demon in the garment section, where we are right now.”
“Yeahhhh, maybe let’s not do that again.”
Esther pointed to a green. shirt with the word ‘RAD’ on it, “Abbadon! You should totally try that on!”
“Esther, that shirt is…”
“Yes! Go to the changing room, I’ll find a matching shirt in blue!”
Abbadon groaned, he hated not wearing what his vessel would, that skin was sensitive to ‘modern clothing’.
Later, when Abbadon put on the shirt, Esther came back wearing that blue shirt and held two hats, “Put this on!”
“Esther, this seems, uncomfortable.”
“Relax, Abbadon! This is modern fashion.”
“I find it hard to comprehend that this is fashion.”
“We should probably go find the others.”
--
After two hours, Katherine had finally rounded up the kids.
She was exhausted, she didn’t want a fourth kid to handle.
“Ben, I thought I was clear you could only get one.”
“Wellll, King wanted one too, and we can’t upset the guest, can we?” Ben smiled.
“Fine.”
“You’re all checked out.” Said the tired looking cashier.
“Oh-oh! King, we should open our boxes now!”
As they were unboxing, Ben said, “Don’t be upset when you don’t get the mystery figure. You can always borrow mine- WHAT?”
Ben held a character named, ‘Poo-Poo Face’
And… King got the mystery figure, “HA! IN YOUR FACE!”
Esther chuckled, “Oh, Ben you just got owned.”
“I’m not upset, I’m a perfectly functional human being.”
King was still laughing at Ben, “AHAHHA! HAHA! I’m sorry, THIS IS TOO FUNNY! HAHA!”
--
It was nighttime, and Abbadon was doing his nightly ritual.
Esther watched him, “And you’re sure you won’t summon a demon?”
“No, Esther, I’ve done this every night for 30 years!”
The candle man stepped in, “CANDLES!”
Abbadon’s ritual was interrupted.
A demon rose from the symbol on the floor.
Esther remained unfazed, “Called it.”
Ben opened the door, “AHHH! ESTHER! WHY IS THERE A DEMON IN THIS HOUSE!”
“Which one?”
“THE ONE I’M STARING AT RIGHT NOW!”
“Oh yeah, RUN!!”
--
King woke up from the ruckus, “What the-”
He opened the door, seeing the demon chase the green coat girl and the red jacket boy, “Uh-oh.”
He ran through his stuff, pulling out a stolen wooden toy sword.
--
“Please don’t kill us, we’re worthless mortals!”
King suddenly yelled, “OVER HERE!”
He threw his toy sword, which did no damage. The big demon growled, King froze up, then ran, “WEHHHH!”
Ben yelled, “THANK YOU FOR BUYING US TIME!”
King echoed, “NO PROBLEM- AHHHH”
“Esther! Do you know any black magic spells that can fix this?”
“I’m looking, Ben!”
--
King ran into Abbadon, “IT’S A DEAD END!”
King yelled, “GET AWAY!!”
King’s yell physically pushed him back, like an invisible sound wave, “Woah, I didn’t know I could do that!”
Abbadon kneeled, “My brother, thank you for saving me, I am in your debt.”
The demon roared and ran back around towards green coat girl and red jacket boy, “That- That doesn’t matter right now! We need to help them!”
--
“Esther… IT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!”
“Give me five seconds!”
“I don’t know if I can, AHHHH!”
Esther made light, the demon was mostly black, so it disintegrated.
King connected the dots in his head, “Why didn’t I think of that! Demons with black eyes are sensitive to light!”
“Yup!” Esther nervously chuckled, she whispered to herself, “Soo glad that worked.” Then she changed her voice back to normal, “Let’s just hope my mom didn’t hear any of that…”
--
By morning, King started packing his things, “It was nice to meet you all.”
“I think I’ll miss you too King,” Esther said.
“Me too. You were a nice buddy to get that figurine, even though I got Poo-Poo Face.”
Abbadon gave King a blue button, “My brother, here is my gift.”
“A little rusty, but it is a value fit for a king like me!”
Katherine interrupted the tender moment, “Hold on, I did not give him permission to leave.”
“It’s okay, Ms. Freeling, I have my own portal.”
After ten seconds, King had already left, Katherine sighed, “I hope you three know where he’s going…”
Ben rubbed his neck, “Sorry you didn’t get to figure out what he was sis.”
“I think I’ll be fine. What about you Abbadon?”
“He was a brother in my shoes, I will forever mourn his departure.”
After a pause, Esther said, “Okay, who’s down for some TV.”
“Good thing! My girlfriend will love that.”
“I meant just the three of us, Ben.”
“Really? I mean, I already asked her.”
“You know what Ben? Fine, she can watch too.”
“Yes!”
--
King met a very upset Eda, “King… YOU WERE GONE THE WHOLE DAY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?!”
“I know, Eda…”
As much as Eda was mad at King, she couldn’t stay mad long, “You are on Hooty cleaning duty. Do you understand?”
King looked one last time at the portal, he thought of the store, the demon, everything he had just done today, the people he met. Maybe the human realm wasn’t boring, “Yeah… I think I do.”
And besides, what were the chances a human would come to the demon realm? Under specific circumstances, probably very high.