Castle of Demons

The Cloud

   He burst through his room doors and coughed up blood into a trash can, then looked up in the darkness to see Tovuu sitting on his bed, legs crossed, a shit-eating grin blanketing his face.
"What do you want, bitch?" Grumbled Bløød.

"Same thing you want, my darling," Tovuu said passive-aggressively.

"What exactly do I want?"

"Lucifer alive and safe."

The king flashed Tovuu a look of amusement. "Ha, I don't care about Luci."

"Flapjack does, and you love Flapjack." He dragged the word 'love' out intentionally to piss him off. He spoke slower, like a sibling with another's secret, taunting him. "You'd kill someone for him- oh, even turn back time." 

"Says the murderer," Bløød retorted under his breath.

"You're in no position to speak, Elias." The grin returned to his face and he laid under the covers.
He shuddered and closed the door behind him.

 "I left the old me in the past, no bother bringing him back up again." He shuffled to an island on the elevated ground in front of the window, the sunlight through the thin curtains making the room dim. He picked up a glass from the table and a carafe filled with clear alcohol. "Want some?"

Tovuu nodded cautiously, unsure of Bløød's behaviour. He watched as the king poured the liquid. "Why did you turn back time, Elias?" 

He sighed and poured the liquid in a second glass. "I don't know, Flapjack requested it." He walked over to Tovuu with the two glasses and handed him one, sitting on the bed next to him. "He probably has something he's going to do- he has a pet now; a human."

"Really? How'd the Spade brothers react to that?" 

"Not sure yet, they did react pleasantly to the arrival of the humans. Eca especially."

"Eca? Wow." Tovuu took a large swig from the beverage and winced. "What is this?"

"Everclear." The king smiled.

Tovuu opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Flapjack entering the room. "Tovuu!" He yelled, his light brown eyes now a blood red, his usual attire turned to a black floor-length fur coat and matching coloured shirt and pants.

"Uh-oh," Teased Bløød quietly, sipping at his alcohol and watching the show play out.

Tovuu sat up, trying to mask his fear with a blank face. "What do you want?" 

"You," He growled. "Boys!" He called from over his shoulder, three figures emerging from the shadows carrying shiny weapons. Eca wielded a gun, Ace a long sword, Lawrence carried a knife.

"Wow," the god said, "This is... awfully pathetic." He grunted.

Bløød teleported them all to Redcotton, putting on a black pair of gloves. "Can't have you dirtying up the castle, now can I? Alright Tovuu. If you run, we automatically assume you forfeit." He picked up some of the dirt, crushed it in his fist, black rose petals falling onto the ground. "Go," He said, disappearing.

Bløød appeared at the Cloud, where several people whispered as he passed them. He was quite a character among the white clouds, buildings and people. The king walked up the marble steps to a white building he knew all too well, before coming across the large white doors. He opened the doors with ease, slamming them behind him. 

 "Elias!" A familiar voice called, and he looked up suddenly, his pumpkin coloured eyes searching the room before they landed on a friendly face. 

 "Jorn. Hello." His staccato greeting sounded harsh, but he knew his friend understood he meant well. 

The upbeat man with thundercloud coloured hair and soft red-orange eyes stood up and shook his hand, only inches shorter than him. "How's your girlfriend? Did you get married? I must send her my condolences," Jorn smiled and laughed from his belly. "I'm just kidding, E. Nice new clothes, what happened to you while you were gone? Get in as much trouble in other places as you did here? Where're your wings?" 

 "I did get married, but we got divorced. I'm gay, J."

 "Ah. That's unfortunate." He gave Bløød a firm pat on the back. "Still doesn't explain what happened to your wings." 

 "She cut them." 

 Jorn looked at his feet. "Wow." 

 "Mm. Well, that's not why I'm here. I own a land now. Strhing." Bløød knew that that would make Jorn uncomfortable. Strhing isn't supposed to be spoken about in the Cloud. 

 "You're King Bløød?" Jorn asked, clearly surprised. "They cause fights all the time! I should've known. You can't tell anyone else you're the king of Strhing," He whispered in a panic. "Quick, come." '

He dragged Bløød out of the white building and into the town, all the houses the same colours. White and light gray. They came across a large house and Jorn opened the door and locked it behind them. "Be careful what you say," Jorn warned, "The walls have ears sometimes. Care for tea, Eli?"

 "I'm dying for some."

 "No manners, as usual. Where's the please and thank you?"

 "When dogs fly."
 Jorn cackled. "They're getting better at it every day, you might want to change that saying." He walked to the kitchen and pulled a pitcher with red, thick liquid out of the fridge and poured it into two teacups. He handed one to his friend and sipped his own. "So, what are you doing here?"

 Bløød held up a finger and downed all the tea quickly, setting it down and wiping his mouth with his arm. He smirked, canines flashing. "You are the best. Anyway," He continued in his usual monotone voice. "Tovuu is there. At Strhing." 

 "Oh, no." 

 "My... brother is fighting him right now. He's livid. He brought his pets to fight with him as well. They're toast, but whatever. I'll let them get it out of their system." 

 "Oh, God. Elias, he's been practicing moves to drain black blood and ways to exclude someone from time travel." Two boys with spiky black hair emerged from a room and whispered something to each other before approaching Bløød. 

"Mister," one of them said. "What's your name again?" 

 "I'm- I'm Elias."

 The boys smiled and whispered to each other again before one of them whispered in Bløød's ear. "Tovuu wants to kill you. He told Jorn, Azazel and Alvah," He whispered the names ominously. Bløød shivered, closed his eyes dreadfully and teleported them to Strhing.