"FIre burns under my skin. Through the archway of Oberon let my will become spirit." Og'drimun chanted. "Ensnare the one who haunts the shadows. Let his visage be burned in the light of the eternal fires of the pit!"

A pulse of energy spread out from the tiny demon like a ring. It passed through everyone there as if they were nothing but spirits as it loomed forward as the only real, truly physical thing there. Then it passed beyond the walls, and disappeared from view.

Narissa looked around with a disappointed frown. "That probably isn't enough, she murmured."

"Well, what else should we do then?" Ted asked.

Narissa turned to him with a cruel grin, and Ted instinctively stepped back as he covered his stomach with his hands.

"What I really need is time, and we don't have that." She admitted as she turned away from Ted.

Ted let out a sigh of relief. If she had pressed him about it, he would have let her reach inside him again, but he definitely would rather not have to go through that again. Especially with what he went through as he passed out.

A sharp pain hit his side, and it reminded him of the strange wound on his side. His hand pressed down on it, and his body felt calloused and hard, almost like a pile of clay had burnt and hardened in clumps along his skin.

"Why don't we have time?" Azrail asked. "Do we know when this brute is coming to enact his revenge?"

"No, and that's the problem," Narissa explained as she rolled her eyes. Almost as if she assumed the answer was plain as the nose on his face. "If I start any time-consuming preparations, then he could show up, and I'll be unable to help, or spring several of the traps we've already laid out for him."

"Blah blah blah," Og'drimun complained. "She'll basically have to leave for cigarettes, and if the milkman comes before then, no one will be there to protect our mom's innocence."

Abraham snorted out a laugh.

Now that's a vivid analogy bro! Death cheered as he clapped his bony hands together. Seriously, good job my man.

"Ah, you're too kind," Og'drimun smirked as he took a bow.

WHACK!

"Hey! What was that for?" Og'drimun complained as he rubbed the back of his head.

Narissa's hand was still up in the air from her recent smack to Og'drimun's skull. Her eyes were both closed, but her left one was twitching in irritation.

"You dumb beast," she snarled. "This is no time to joke. You know what he's capable of. Why, the third..."

Narissa cut herself off and let out a short breath of air. "We may not know much about him," she lied. "But, we do know he's not someone to be taken lightly. That's why we got lucky we had a cure, remember? But Sentenza said there was only one."

Creak

The front door groaned as it was pushed open. All of their eyes darted to the door. But, it was not the smiling man.

thump

The hollow king's body slumped down onto the ground as the weight of his sword pushed the door open. As he lied on the ground, his sword continued to push the door, and once it overextended itself, it clattered to the floor beside him.

Almost in unison, all of them looked at the open doorway. Ted was sure whatever had knocked him out would be standing right there.

But it was empty. There was nothing but air behind him.

"How did..." Ted turned back to look at the hollow king, but he was gone.

Ted took a step back and looked around. "Where did he go?"

"He's probably just thirsty," Abraham suggested.

Azrail nodded. "He is a strange one. But that would follow. He could outdrink a desert if he wanted to."

Abraham knocked back a mug of alcohol. "Packs a real punch too. Unlike some people."

Azrail smiled. "You know, when I was in training. There was this massive brute. He too thought physical force was everything, and that challenges should all be tackled head on..."

A mug flew at Azrail's face. It spun in the air and liquid sloshed out of it with very rotation.

Without looking, the frail man lifted one hand, and slipped it around the mug. In one seamless motion, he spun the cup around in the air, and caught every last drop of alcohol that was heading for him.

Finally, he settled the mug in front of his chest, and then took a small sip.

"Before you showed up, he used to listen to my entire story before he would throw anything at me," Azrail said as he looked over at Abraham.

Ted was stunned at the display, and when he looked at where the mug had come from, the hollow king was there. The emaciated man was leaning against the wall in an ill-fitting suit topped with the out of focus hat of the smiling man atop his head.

"Wait, is that him?" Ted asked.

Narissa looked puzzled and scratched her chin.

Before anyone could say anything else, Lulu had already walked up to the hollow king and was poking the strange fedora.

"Huh, now that's a strange feeling," she mused as she kept poking it with a single finger.

Narissa looked disappointed. "I don't know why I'm surprised after everything you did earlier," she sighed.

"Wha...what's it feel like?" Ted asked.

Yeah! You gotta tell us! Death agreed.

Lulu smiled mischievously. "Well, seeing as you're so interested, I could be willing to part ways with this golden information." She said as she slowly dragged her finger around in circles along the tip of the hat.

"Why," Lulu continued. "This is once in a lifetime information after all. Not many have the acute awareness of their senses that I do, along with the inherent danger of touching something so monstrous."

"Monstrous?" Narissa sighed as she shook her head. "It's just a hat."

"Ah! But that's where you're wrong, see this is no ordinary hat my dear." Lulu boasted as she pulled her finger away from the hat and waved her hands around it as if she was waving them around a crystal ball. "This hat contains but a fraction of the power of the mysterious creature who wore it. When he was killed, much of his raw power was slurped up into its very folds!"

"Why," she exaggerated. "This hat could very well hold the keys to immortality, or even unlimited power and wisdom!"

Og'drimun and Death looked completely enthralled, while Ted and Azrail seemed a bit on the fence regarding her dubious claims. Sid looked preoccupied with other thoughts as he traced indistinguishable shapes on the table in front of him. Abraham looked completely disinterested, and Narissa was absolutely furious.

"But!" Lulu warned, "This hat isn't without its own dangers. Why, so much power comes with safeguards, and only a true master of traps and ancient technology could hope to even lay a single finger on it without disintegrating entirely before their skin could brush against it!"

Lulu threw her arm over her forehead and turned away, as if in despair. "With luck, here I am. Such a masterful individual, and yet even I face dangers untold with each attempt. All I ask is proper compensation for my daring deeds. So that I can share the shard of wisdom I have been blessed with."

Lulu flung both of her arms wide and grinned. "So that I can show you the true path to your wildest dreams! For such a lofty prize, what is something as measly as money in comparison I ask you."

With a flick of her wrist, Narissa produced a cane, and twirled her straw hat to the end of it as she held it open to her audience. She nudged the hat towards them as she looked around at each of them one by one.