Scott's Perspective-

Scott grumbled as he woke up, having a splitting headache.

He lifted himself out of bed, confused at why he felt something on his head.

He walked into the bathroom and gasped.

-

Wallis chatted quietly with Allison about everything going on when they heard footsteps approaching the dining room.

Wallis looked up and saw the door crack open.

"Dad?" Scott's voice trembled.

"Yes?" Wallis asked, worried at why Scott wasn't just walking in.

"My head's hurting." Scott opened the door to show little deer horns that were glowing gold.

Allison gasped and she smiled proudly.

Scott tried to smile, and he fidgeted with his hands, which were behind his back.

"Are they hurting a lot?" Wallis asked worriedly, walking over to his son.

"A bit, yeah. They hurt more earlier."

"You should've said something."

"Sorry..."

Wallis smiled, "It's okay. Let's just get you some food. You'll need it."

-

Scott drank a warm cup of tea as he leaned on his balcony, looking down at his kingdom.

"Are you excited to become king?"

"Eh, it'll be whatever."

"...do you like living up here?"

"Yeah, of course I do. I get to live here with my favorite person." Xornoth smiled, elbowing Scott.

Scott giggled.

"And besides, it's beautiful here." Xornoth rested his head on his hand as he stared out at the snowy village.

Scott smiled weakly, missing his brother.

Xornoth's Perspective-

Xornoth slashed at the corrupted plants, walking around the labyrinth that was the corrupted world.

"Hmm...which empire should we corrupt first? Oh I know! How about we start at The Lost Empire?"

Xornoth growled as he heard the demon's voice echo around.

He was now trapped here while the demon had control. He had been doing everything he could to try and get out, but that required him to make it through a long maze full of traps.

Just thinking about Joey's empire being ruined with corruption made his heart ache. But it didn't hurt him as much as the thought of his brother being hurt.

Xornoth kept walking and he set off a trip wire which shot arrows at him. Xornoth gasped and quickly jumped down.

He slid a bit before coming to a stop. He groaned and looked up, seeing a room filled with huge, corrupted tentacles.

He slashed them and they regrew bigger.

Xornoth's eyes widened, and he stumbled back.

The demon teleported into the room, and he smirked sickly as he saw Xornoth's expression.

"You like it? I plan on doing this to your precious little boyfriend."

"Leave him alone! He's done nothing wrong."

"True. But hey, it would be funny."

"Leave. Him. ALONE!" Xornoth threw his sword and the demon quickly teleported away. He snapped and Xornoth got splashed with a potion of blindness.

Xornoth sighed and he crumpled onto the forest floor, feeling helpless and weak.

The Next Day (back to Scott's Perspective)-

Scott grumbled as he tried to put on his shirt. The horns had grown, and they were often getting in the way.

He eventually gave up and instead found a shirt that had buttons. He slipped it on and buttoned it up before grabbing his other royal attire.

As he was tying on his boots, he heard his parents' talking downstairs. He peeked his head out and heard his name get used a couple times.

Curious, he slowly walked downstairs, trying to be quiet so he could hear what his parents were saying in the other room.

"The demon's striking. I don't know if there's anything we can do besides wait for Scott's powers to grow." Wallis said, sighing.

"Scott's too young. He's a child, Wallis. Can't you and Arthur take care of it?" Allison asked.

"We don't have much of Aeor's powers anymore as they have been passed onto Scott. He can be more powerful than me and Arthur combined. He was chosen for this, he's the one who has to take down the demon."

"But that would mean taking down Xornoth as well. And you know Scott can't do that. That's his brother."

"I'm not saying it will be easy, I'm just saying this is what we have to do."

Allison sighed and Wallis hugged her.

"We just have to help train up Scott and figure out a way to defeat the demon." Wallis said in a hushed tone.

Scott looked down, a lump in his throat.

There has to be a way to defeat the demon without hurting Xornoth. He sighed into his hands. Please...