A Path to a Different Happy Ending (Flower Husbands Empires Fic)

Chapter Nine: Shattered

"Hey there, little guy, what are you doing here?" Gem asked the little dog in front of her cliff house.

It responded by dropping a piece of paper onto the ground.

"What's this? A note, for me? Okay..." Gem picked it up.

It read:

Whoever Lord Pluto goes to:

The crown wasn't there. Joey's probably put it back on. Call a meeting immediately. If I'm not there, Joey's probably caught me.

Shubble

Gem immediately cast a messaging spell to let Scott, Pearl, Rarran, and Shubble know that she was hosting a meeting at her place.

~*~

"I don't remember anything else. It's kinda weird that you can't hear ᓭᓵ𝙹ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ name even when he's got nothing to do with you in Last Life." Pearl said.

"Yeah. I really wish I knew who he was though... I'm assuming he doesn't look the same anymore, though." Jimmy said. The only person with cyan hair in empires was Scott, but that would be far too easy. He was certain it wasn't him.

"Yeah, no one looks the same anymore. Except Grian. I think he just has a million copies of the same sweater."

"Yeah, it's -" Jimmy started, but Pearl froze suddenly. "Pearl? What is it?"

"A message from Gem. She's hosting a meeting of those who can be trusted about the Xornoth crystal thing. I have to go. Maybe keep talking about this later?" She pulled out rockets to fly to Gem's.

"Yeah. I probably need to get back to the Cod Empire now anyways."

~*~

Scott arrived at Gem's around the same time as Pearl. They were the last, other than Shubble. Rarran was in Pixandria, too far away to come on such short notice.

"She should be here by now... He got to her. Oh, crap." Gem played with the end of her braid nervously.

"Gem, what happened?" Scott asked.

She took a deep breath. "One of Shubble's dogs was outside of my house this morning. He had a note saying that the crown had been moved, and that if Shubble wasn't here quickly, she probably got caught."

"Oh, no..." Pearl said.

"What do we do? Should we confront Joey?" Scott asked.

"That's probably a good idea. Is everyone ready to head to the Lost Empire now?" Gem asked.

Everyone nodded, and it was decided. They were gonna confront Joey about the crown, the crystal, and Shubble.

~*~

Joey ran up the Dark Tower of Mythland, feeling the crystal that contained Xornoth calling him. He should be the one to release his husband, not Sausage. At least he didn't have to take it from Scott, though. Breaking the ice would have been a little difficult.

He reached the top floor. Why couldn't he have just flown here? Whatever. This was the direction the crystal had called him through. Now, where exactly was it?

Joey paused, focusing on the call for a few moments. There. That drawer, under Gem's decapitated head. He ran to it, opening it.

There it was, glowing softly and slightly cracked. The crystal. He had to hurry. Sausage could get back any time, and Joey didn't want him to take the honour of freeing Xornoth from him. Come to think of it, why hadn't Sausage already freed the demon? It didn't matter. It just meant that Joey got to do it.

He grabbed the crystal and flew away, back to his empire.

~*~

"Where is he? We've searched the entire place now - including his secret rooms! Is he in some other empire?" Gem's voice was rising to a panic. They'd been searching for an hour, with no sign of the Lost Emperor.

"Are you looking for me?"

Scott and the others whirled around and standing behind them was Joey. He was wearing the dark crown, his eyes were red, and he was holding something in his hand. Scott couldn't see what it was.

"Joey... We are. Where's Shubble? She came here, and hasn't been seen since." Scott said, apprehensive. Joey had the crown on. He was probably under Xornoth's control.

"Oh, her. I caught her snooping around places I would rather she didn't. I imprisoned her for it. I'll let her out when I feel like it, you don't need to worry."

"We don't need to- Our friend has been imprisoned by a possibly possessed guy who could do who knows what to her! We don't - and won't - trust you enough to not worry!" Pearl burst out.

"Well. That's probably smart. But you won't find her." Joey smiled. It was unnerving.

"That isn't our only question, Joey. Did you take the crystal?" Gem asked.

"Mmm... No. Sausage did." Joey answered.

"And how do you know that?" Pearl asked.

"I took it from him." Joey held up the thing in his hand. It was the crystal, faintly glowing, and... Cracked. Crud.

Scott reached for his sword. They needed to get that crystal from Joey.

"Ah! No need for that, Scott. You won't be getting this back." He dropped it, then stepped on it, crushing it into the bridge he was standing on. A cloud of roiling red, purple, and black smoke billowed out from the crystal, enveloping Joey, then condensing next to him, into Xornoth.

Xornoth was covered in plates of black carapace, all over him, only broken for his mouth and eyes, which were glowing red and purple.

He turned to Joey. "Thank you, Joey."

Uh-oh, bad stuff! (also this is posting on Halloween and that's cool)