Kou was wondering the exact same thing as Javal. If the thing this witch created had once been made for joy and love… what happened? Why were they so evil now?

She thought of the stuffed bunny in the room, lashing out because it was looking to settle its hurts and find love. Maybe that’s what they were still seeking, even if they didn’t know it. Who knows how long they’d been alone here, abandoned by their creator, seeking to bring the joy they once had? Who knows how awful it had been here, to the point their purpose was distorted?

Or maybe perhaps it had happened long before that.

Perhaps the witch had done this to them.

“We’ll never know if we don’t look for ourselves.”

Kou held her breath as Javal nearly slashed through the box; but as he put down his sword, she couldn’t bring herself to relax any more. The oppressive aura of the room had her on edge. “Let’s just open it, dearie, and see what’s inside for ourselves. We don’t know if it will lash out.” She reminded him gently as he moved to open the box -

Kou’s grip tightened on her cane -

But nothing happened.

Inside lay a golden egg, seemingly made of chocolate and coated in a fine material. It glittered under the dim lights cast by the candles, and the light still emanating from Kou’s cane. It looked innocuous.

And yet.

Kou’s breath came out in a pained wheeze as she inched closer. “This is the source of her evil? If we cleanse it, then we might put the creatures here to rest.” She pursed her lips, wrinkled in thought before she turned to Javal. “I could perform a ritual… but I’m afraid my magic isn’t strong enough on its own.”

She wasn’t even certain she was right, but they had to try something. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if they were going to find a way out of here, they needed to take some ventures.

“An egg?”, Javal questions as he opens up the box pulling it out from its container. He looked at it observing it and all its glory, it was a nice egg even if there was still a strange aura that surrounded it. His hands felt a little heavy as he lifted it; this certainly wasn’t just a normal egg. Covered in a golden coating, it stood out among the nightmarish activities they’d encountered.



The fellblood placed it back down to its box and took a moment to listen to Kou’s wise words. This was important to the manner’s owner and perhaps their key to survival. Why was this placed inside such a difficult-to-open box the man wondered.



“Could this be what holds whatever manner of monster’s heart, friend Kou? Should we break it then if that’s the case? Wouldn’t the best solution be to break whatever is holding the source of this manor’s evil”, he says, placing his hand on his katana and waiting for the elder fellblood’s response.



“Ritual? What would we need to cleanse the egg’s malevolent energy?”, he asks curiously. He’d never seen a ritual done before, never really mingled with shamans or druids before, and was curious what Madame Kou had in mind.

“An egg.” Kou agreed.

Not a normal one, for certain; and based on the way Javal held it, it appeared heavier than normal. She reached up and rapped her knuckles against its surface, unsurprised to find it hollow on the inside. Like everything else upstairs, it appeared to be made out of solid chocolate.

She pursed her lips at the question.

“I’m not sure. If we break it, who knows what it might anger?” She’d heard too many tales of vengeful spirits and angry ghosts not to be paranoid that something might happen if they provoked it. Then again… so would attempting to cleanse the spirit of evil.

“I think we should be prepared in either case for something to happen.” Kou moved back and patted the ground. “Set the egg down here, Javal. Allow me to try a cleansing ritual. But keep your sword at the ready. If something happens, I want you to hold off the creature’s rage.”

When he obeyed her instructions, Kou would pull out the same incense she’d used to cleanse the kitchen earlier, and set out a couple of candles from her bag. She set them all down, a soft glow of light and warmth and the scent of jasmine Ms herbs filling the air. Kou sat down and crossed her knees, the action making her legs ache.

“Alright. I’m going to try a prayer now. Be ready.” She closed her eyes and clapped her hands together, muttering a prayer to Solaria to return the unrestful presence to its rightful plane. It had wreaked havoc here, but it was time for it to return home.

And as she prayed…

The egg began to rattle.

“That is a fair concern, I’m not sure I’d be able to fight a ghost or phantom if it breaks out of the egg. Although I did try to do so once before and it did not go well, those dastardly spectral bastards simply phased through my sword like cowards”, he says remembering the event from a couple of weeks ago.



Javal then followed the directions and set the egg down where Madame Kou had indicated. He then stepped back with caution and held his hand at the sword ready for whatever was to come.



He exclaimed, “Alright Madame Kou I’m ready to take down whatever manner of evil that egg shall bring, let’s give this our all”.



The young fellblood looked on as the elder fellblood performed the ritual, the pleasant smell of incense and herbs feeling the air. The fellblood nodded his head towards her and held firm as she began the ritual, the egg begging to rattle and shake as she did so. A bright golden light began coming from the egg and Javal was about to step forward when a sudden voice began echoing in the room around them. It was distorted and hard to understand at first but eventually, it stabilized the sound of children’s cries and laughter being clear.

Kou was muttering under her breath in her native tongue; if Javal spoke Crescent Islander, he would be able to tell it was a prayer for rest and peace. Rather than eliminate the presence, though, it merely served to anger the creature trapped inside the container. The sound of crying, laughter, and shrieking filled the air. And along with it, a haunted wail.

WE DO NOT WANT RESSSSSST, it hissed. WE WANT REPAYMENT.

The wind began to pick up, whipping around the small confines of the room. Kou swayed dangerously, continuing her prayer, though perhaps in vain; her chanting seemed to do nothing to the spirit’s strength. They would need something stronger.

The darkness coalesced into a single form, a spectral serpent that almost resembled… a candied worm, coated in sugar.

It dove, wrapping itself around Kou where the elderly woman was immobile, squeezing the very air out of her lungs. Kou’s chanting was cut off as she was constricted, the serpent crushing her fragile bones and preventing her from finishing her prayer.

WE CANNOT BE SSSSSSLAIN. The sugar-coated words reverberated in Kou’s mind. SSSSSSO LONG AS THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT SWEETNESS AND JOY, WE WILL EXISSSST TO DELIVER IT.

This is no sweetness, Kou wanted to say. This is a mockery of joy that will never be able to replace the real thing. She tried to call upon her magic, but while she was unable to breathe, she couldn’t seem to concentrate. It was up to Javal to put an end to this.

Javal did not understand a single word that Lady Kou was saying whatsoever considering the only thing he spoke was common, infernal, and a little bit of orc from his teacher, Zala. He assumed though that it must’ve been some pretty wise words considering how effective it was proving with voice wailin coming from the egg. Javal could feel the wind whipping around the room but he steeled himself forward. It was then when a dark candified serpent appeared that he knew this was coming to an end. All the darkness and pain were transformed into this final beast that quickly attacked Kou and wrapped itself around her, spitting its venomous words. He immediately went on high alert and grabbed the snake with his hand pulling it off the elder fellblood and tossing it in front of him. His eyes sharpened and his usual smile was instead replaced by a deep scowl. The snake quickly tried to retaliate, wrapping itself around Javal’s body only for the fellblood to melt into a puddle of water on the floor. The snake confused by the fellblood actions simply taunts the two adventurers, “YOU'LL NEVER GET RID OF ME, I’LL ALWAYS EXIST. BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW MUCH PEOPLE SAY THEY’VE CHANGED THEY’LL ALWAYS COME BACK TO SWEETNESS. THEY’LL CRAVE ME UNTIL THEIR TEETH ROT”.



Javal quickly reforms and sprays the snake with his cold breath (1) freezing it in place for a moment as he raises his sword above ready to finish this once and for all. He simply whispers, “Your wickedness ends tonight”.

---

1. Ice Breath (Drake Gland)

Javal’s spray of ice-cold breath made the snake spirit recoil. It froze, and Kou dropped to the ground. The impact might have shattered her bones, but Kou had been beaten around enough tonight. Battered and bruised and tired as she was, Kou had family to return to. A home that waited for her. She was no fighter, but she would resist tooth and nail to go back to the people that cared about her… and get Javal back to the people that he loved.

She raised a hand and uttered the last simple words of her Aria, and the prayer came to life in a spark of light.^[1]

The serpentine spirit was frozen still. Struggle as it might, it was the undead amalgamation of spirits that had been twisted and morphed; a ghost who had been trapped in these hallowed halls. And just like any ghost, it was powerless to the spirit-sealing magic Kou commanded. She had been raised by superstitious folk. She’d spent her life in fear of those which lurked in the dark and raked their undead fingers along glass panes between realities and spirited away innocent people.

She would be afraid of their tricks no longer.

“Begone, beast! Relinquish your grip on this world and let us return home in peace!” She cried, the holy light pouring forth in the pure conviction and love in every word. The warmth would wrap around Javal, imbuing him with the strength to continue the fight.^[2] For a moment, her form seemed to flicker; not the red fellblood whose features were as demonic as infernal blood came, but an almost… humanoid woman. Not as dragged down by the annals of time, but one who seemed at peace. Kindly. Almost divine.^[3]

And then the vision ended, and she was a mere woman once more, fighting tooth and nail for their freedom. And most importantly, giving Javal enough strength to finish the battle once and for all.

---

1. Halt Undead
2. Inspiring Presence
3. Angelic Pact (Celestial I)

Javal heard the elder’s fellblood powerful words of banishment and it filled his entire body with warmth and strength. The fellblood grits his teeth and turns his body giving a full range of motion as the vicious spirit stands still helpless to his attack. He took a deep breath and put everything into this single attack. He gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands and swung (1)  diagonally a deep harrowing scream came from the spirit but quickly Javal’s original slash was followed up by a mirror diagonal slash from the opposite side creating an X-shaped slash across the beast’s body.


"May your time come to an end and your spirit rest in peace wicked one", he exclaims as he finishes.


A deep white bright light penetrates the room with color as the evil spirit’s form begins to dissipate the sounds of hollow cries and innocent laughter dying down with it. Quickly Javal rushes over to Kou’s side and checks in on her before anything else.



“Madame Kou! Are you alright? Do you need anything? Uhhh..crap I think the only thing I got on me in these situations is a bag of Beef Jerky. I’m not exactly sure of its healing properties but I feel better after eating one. Would you like some?”, he says pulling out a bag of said jerky earnestly trying his best to tend to the elder fellblood injuries.

---

1. Katana Double Slash (Passives: Water Rune, Angelic Light, Bull's Strength, Double Strike, Buff from Kou's Inspiring Presence)

Kou’s prayer managed to halt the undead, and Javal’s slash did the trick. The final blow to a creature rotting from the inside with hate and decaying with time. Kou had never much been a fan of the undead… the stories her parents would regale her with in her youth were nothing short of a warning to be heeded. The undead were an amalgam of their last feelings. Their wickedness either meant they were evil upon death, or that they had endured so much pain that they needed to be put to rest.

Kou was not certain which they were dealing with now.

But it did not matter. The spirit had been vanquished, leaving behind nothing but a flash of blinding light and the last dying wails of a creature who’d intended to live forever.

The day’s events were too much on the elderly woman’s body. Though she’d been kneeling down for the prayer, only to be thrown around by the serpentine spirit. She was out of mana, home cooking, and stamina… it was good that Javal was there to catch her when she fell, else Kou might have plumb fainted! She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead, patting Javal weakly on the arm which supported her.

She was almost entirely certain that the dried beef would not do anything to cure her fatigue; Kou’s own food was imbued with love and the ambient magic in her person… but Javal was determined to help, and far be it from her to dash his hopes. She grabbed one of the pieces from him and chewed, offering him a tired smile.

“I feel better already. Thank you, Javal.”

The uneasy peace did not last long – beneath their feet, the ground trembled dangerously as the magic holding the building together dissipated. Above them, the rafters shook – the candied drake yelped and dashed over to a nearby wall, pawing at the side. Kou forced herself into a standing position, eyes wide with urgency.

“What are you trying to tell us? We need to get out of here…”

The earth was wracked with another tremor, enough to break the foundations of the wall he was in front of – and to her amazement, light began to stream through the cracks.

Freedom!

“This way, Javal!” She tugged on his pants, hobbling as fast as she could towards the opening which had been revealed by the crumbling house. They had reached the end; all that was left was to run.

“You are very welcome, I’m glad that you’re doing alright Madame Kou, hopefully, that jerky can heal your wounds. My mother says that with enough food and drink any wound can be healed no matter the severity”, Javal would say naively.


Suddenly before Javal could say anything more the building around them began to start breaking down. It seems that now without the haunting spirits holding the place together it was nothing more than a house that was seconds away from being destroyed. Javal’s eyes darted over to his little Drake buddy as panic began to set in, they had to get out of here and now. A way out would appear right in front of them as some light shone through behind a breaking wall.



“Indeed”, he’d respond to Kou as she tugged on his pants before he gathered ice magic into his hands. The fellblood would then smash his fists into the ground in front of him and then the floor itself would get covered by ice (1). He was going to make sure everyone had a clear way forward and a way to boost their speed. Javal would grab his baby drake friend, tuck him under his arm, and book it as fast as he could, his speed getting slightly boosted from the ice under him.

---

1. Ice Bridge

Well the jerky didn’t exactly heal her physical wounds, but Kou was inclined to agree with young Javal’s mother. Though she’d learned that it wasn’t the food itself that brought one comfort, but the love and care put into it. She chewed on the proffered treat thoughtfully. The day had been a long and tiring one, with much to think about. More importantly, it had come with learned experiences, and a new friend.

“Your mother is very wise.” She agreed.

There was not much more that could be said about the subject, given the terrifying tremor which signaled the end of their time here. Kou began running as fast as she could, but there was no helping it. She was exhausted, physically, and spiritually. She’d drained herself of all her magic and her resources. And now, as she began to slow, her own breath.

Javal had already outpaced her, smashing a hole into the ground. The slippery ice splintering across the floor nearly made Kou slip on her sandals. Furniture shifted, crumbling apart and breaking as rubble dislodged itself from the ceiling and fell to the ground. The crack in the wall widened.

Kou wheezed. She stumbled -

Just in the last few moments between what might have been her own certain death and the roof caving in on her, something fell from a closet, clattering to the ice-covered ground. Salvation.

A witch’s broom!

Kou’s eyes widened behind round-rimmed spectacles. She’d heard rumor of such instruments used by magic casters, but she never thought she’d see one in real life! It was fortunate, then, in that moment, the fates sought to remind her that it was a witch’s own home that was falling to pieces around her. She stumbled, hands shaking as she managed to grab hold of the relic. It seemed to vibrate under her hands.^[1]

But it would do the trick.

Her limited mobility was all but eliminated as Kou pulled herself atop the broom, hovering in the air. Kou beamed, relief flooding her system. “Perfect!”

She’d always been a rather energetic woman; now, with an aid to keep her spry, there was nothing stopping her. Kou flew towards the opening in the wall, pulling her sandal off of her foot and throwing it at the opening.^[2]

CRACK!

The hole widened.

“Come on, Javal!” Kou beckoned, pausing in the air at the exit to make sure Javal would make it free, too. Light poured from the exit; Moonglade’s serene forests sprawled in front of them. And as the foundations of the house shuddered and breathed their last…

The two fellbloods finally found freedom.

---

1. Flying Broom
2. Grandma’s Sandal (Boomerang)

“Thank you, Madame Kou, I think so”, Javal would yell as he ran, his momentum increased by the ice on the floor.



He was gonna make it there was no way some monstrous house could outmatch his speed, after all, he was a person and this house was a house and couldn’t run, huzzah. After a few moments, he’d get worried about not hearing Kou’s steps beside him.



“Oh no I’m a total jerk I should’ve carried her under my arms like the drake fellow”, he thought to himself before glancing behind.



The blue fellblood saw Kou fall for a moment and before he could rush towards her side suddenly she was zooming through the air flying on some sort of broom. The elder fellblood even managed to pass him and call his attention back to the reality of the situation. He smiled a mix of relief and excitement filling his heart, he sprinted as fast as he could using the last of his energy to increase his momentum. As he reached the sunshine he realized that his momentum proved to be way too much and he tripped and fell out of the house and landed head first onto the grass outside his little drake buddy landing on his back. A loud crash and boom would erupt as the nightmarish house collapsed and its destruction complete.



He’d quickly get back on his feet and erupt with a loud yell, “WE DID IT WE SURVIVED AND THE WICKED HOUSE HAS PERISHED ONCE AND FOR ALL”.

There was no need for Javal to beat himself up about helping Kou. If this experience had taught her anything, it was that she could fend for herself just fine; and she was.

Her sandal flew back to her hand as it completed its arc, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Her body was battered, magic depleted, and yet, they’d done it! She flew through the exit, Javal right at her heels before rapidly outpacing her. He tripped and fell into the grass, but Kou could not stop her escape. Behind them, the candy-coated house snapped, crackled, and popped - and with a great, shuddering groan, finally breathed its last.

With a giant CRACK the foundations broke apart and crumbled to the ground, and neither fellblood could outrun the wave of dust and pressure that hit them from behind. Kou was thrown off her broom, but thankfully, she wasn’t very far off the ground. She landed on her back as the explosion rocked the air.

Kou was… considerably slower recovering from the blast than Javal.

She wheezed, coughing out a bit of dust that tasted suspiciously like chocolate, before pulling herself into a sitting position.

“We certainly did!” She cheered, her voice weak with fatigue and dust. But bright with excitement. “We’re free, Javal! We did it!”

Then she laid back down at the grass, and stared up at the beautiful sun, grateful to bask in its warmth once more.

Before the blue fellblood could jump for joy he was thrown forward thanks to the great force from the building behind them being destroyed. Javal would be pushed a few feet but wouldn’t roll down the small hill in front of them. He once more picked himself from the ground and this time carefully looked around making sure nothing else would push him to the floor for the third time. After a moment he yelled loudly and expressed his excitement that everyone made it out safe and alive after that dangerous encounter. The house had been crushed and crumbled behind them a loud groan echoing the house’s final demise. They had done it, they had brought peace to a nightmarish house and defeated strong foes. Although it was dangerous, Javal had a lot of fun doing so and it seems that he had made a brand new friend in Kou which was always awesome.



He quickly rushed over to Kou the sudden realization of the whole thing settling into his head, “Lady Kou are you alright”, before quickly calming down seeing her spirit as energetic and content as he was.



After some talking and reflecting on their dangerous shared experience, the two would bid each other farewell. Javal would head home with another story to tell his crew and would be ready for next year if any strange spooky houses tried to trap him once again.