Castle of Demons

The Mourning [1,300 Years Ago]

Chapter 1

 A dismally gray sky was bringing Bløøds mood down lower than it had been recently. He stared out the window grimly.

 "Knatalie," he called for his servant, who usually stood around, awaiting his command, "have they found the cure for Dr. KC's death yet?"

 The skinny human jumped at his sudden chattiness, as she's used to his quiet few words and his only-speaks-when-spoken-to nature. She replied quickly. 

 "Fortunately so, but at the moment they're afraid of the effects it will have on the doctor's fragile human body."

"She's not fragile," Bløød snapped. "she's very strong and medically well-trained."

 "Oh! Yes of course, without a doubt. I was just reading what um... what they wrote." She held up her tablet flinching, hoping he wouldn't hurt her. The king was also known for his bursts of aggression. 

He nodded forgivingly. "Tell them to use the cure immediately," he told her without spite. Knatalie had the best intention, he knew she did, her goal to always be kind and to always please him set in place by his own kindness. He had plucked her from an - rather abusive - orphanage on Earth the last time he'd visited, and she owed him her life.

"Yes, my Lord." She tapped on her tablet a few times before typing.

"Also tell them to have her bring Seth back."

 She nodded and typed faster. "And..." she typed a little more, a bit slower, before making one last tap. "sent!"

He looked at her, his eyes unmistakably grateful. "What would I do without you?"

"I believe that you can do anything I can and better!" She replied happily.

☽

"Bløød lost his mind." Flapjack paced the Castle hospital. "What if this goes wrong and KC revives him, but he just keeps suffering rather than the quick and painless death? He'll be rotting alive!"

 Spike sat in front of Flapjack in a chair, having him pace around, trying to reassure him. He spun in Flapjack's direction every time he passed him"Look, that won't happen."

 "And if it does?"

 "Doctor KC will fix him."

 "What if she's not fixable?"

 "She better be." Bløød jumped down from the ceiling, landing on his feet like a cat. Dramatic entrances were his thing.

 "And if she isn't?" Flapjack asked quietly. Doctor KC was a genius, and the castle was lucky to have her. No one had ever met

 "It's your head," Bløød threatened. "I want KC alive in 10... 9... 8..."

 Egan rushed around with everyone else, shoving pills down KC's throat and pushing chairs around.

 "3... 2..."

 Egan slapped the Doctor with as much strength as he could possibly muster, which made her immediately shoot up, alert.

 "1," Bløød called, "0. Good job. Welcome back, Doctor KC."

  Doctor KC mumbled incoherently as her eyes rolled back.

 "Fix it, Doc."

 She nodded, sighing in exasperation. She then walked over to her counter to put together a pill, swallowing it, then turned to them. "You guys can't even put together an Ocean pill. Idiots."

 "It's hard, okay?" Egan complained frustratedly. "I can't just throw the right things together from memory like you can, it takes practice."

 "Practice I've given you plenty of, Egan."

 "Whatever, I tried, okay?" Egan kicked the leg of the table frustratedly.

She looked at the king, ignoring Egan, "What's my task, King Bløød? I'm ready to carry out any duty whenever you are!" KC chirped and looked at the king eagerly.

"I need you to revive Seth," He answered, "The best you can, and the quickest." 

"Geez, that's not even a challenge," Her previous smile dropped, replaced by a look of uncertainty. "I trust you have Seth stored in a safe place, preserving him?"

 Egan speed-walked out of the room, his jeans making a swosh swosh swosh sound as he exited, and when he was out of sight, there were a few noises following him; CRASH, crash, squeeeeeeeeek squeek squeek squeek, THUMP, a whispered curse word, and more squeeks. The squeeks continued, and Flapjack assumed it was wheels.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," KC mumbled.

"Jesus, he stinks" Egan muttered under his breath as he entered with Seth on a gurney.

"I wonder who's fault that was," KC said to him, preparing pills on the counter, shaking them subconsciously, "Because I know I taught you better than to just let the body rot, when you knew our king was going to want him revived."

 "How was I supposed to know?" He hissed, and stormed out.

"You assume," She called after him, then spoke to everyone in the room, "Fair warning, people who've had black blood injections - or just have black blood- are less likely to be revived with Ocean pills. Has Seth had injections?"

"I think so," Spike answered.

"He has," Flapjack mumbled, "I gave him one in Redcotton because he was sick. Gavriel too."
Kc looked at the prince, analyzing him carefully. "He wasn't sick, was he?" She asked, Flapjack looking down at his feet.

"Why did you give Seth free blood?" Bløød pressed, "You and I both know that that's well against the law."

"I-" He sighed, "I foresaw he was going to die, but I wasn't sure how it was going to happen, so I gave him some of my blood."

"Now, since he's had black blood in his system, he's probably not going to be revived by a simple Ocean pill- also, we're going to need to replace all the blood in his body. Flapjack- congratulations!- you're going to be his blood donor, good luck!" The doctor smiled.

"That's not safe," Spike protested, "Can I take his place?" 

"No, we're already risking our materials."

Spike took a deep breath and grabbed Flapjack's hand, pulling him into the hallway and out of earshot of everyone else. "I know you already know what I'm going to say."

"Yes, why did you pick this time to pull me aside and tell me now?"

"I um- she gave birth today. It's a girl-"

"Who's the mom?"

"It was Shell, Gavriel's wife. She passed away during birth; the child is 72% vampire, 28% demon. I have to go pick her up, if you'd like to see your new daughter. She's in the downstairs infirmary with Egan."

"I'll go," Flapjack decided hesitantly. As Spike walked off, Flapjack glanced at Seth on the table in the other room before running to catch up with him.