Chapter Text
Grunting, Felix the cat pulled himself back onto solid land on the tunnels he was traveling through and looked down at himself, cringing at the black sludge staining his clothes.
He knew searching for magic artifacts can be dangerous and messy but an underground abandoned civilization full of ink was a bit much for him. His poor clothes would be stained forever, but it was a small price to pay for what he was in search of.
The legendary Finis sword.
Rumor has it that 30 years ago, a demon of ink from the very pits of hell rose to the surface, with his hell wolf and angel of darkness by his side doing his bidding. He planned to corrupt the world, drowning it in a sea of ink and making it into his perfect land to rule. Until a brave hero constructed Finis, a magic sword that when used against the ink demon, destroyed him and all of his ink corrupted followers.
If the story was true, then the sword should still be here. Felix the cat went out in search of it, hoping the sword could be useful in his future adventures in case he ran into demonic forces or if he needed to aid people in need of help.
Sighing, the cat kept moving forwards and did his best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of ink in his fur. When he finally came across a large room, Felix paused as he looked around.
Light spilled in from cracks on the cave ceiling, clearly caused by a rather gruesome looking fight considering all the claw marks, and splatter of ink all over the walls and ground. What caught Felix’s attention though, was how some of the light shined down on a sword, in the middle of the room, sticking out of a big black mass.
The Ink Demon.
The story was true.
Amazed by the sight before him, Felix carefully walked forward and took a closer look. The ink demon was bigger than he imagined. The cat heard how he looked like a walking skeleton coated in ink, but instead he looked more like a dragon with no eyes, wings, or tail, and he was curled up into a tight ball. The sword was sticking out of his back and broken chains were hanging off his arms that were tightly pressed against his chest. It, almost looked like the ink demon was holding something, but Felix couldn’t see what.
Looking up at the sword, Felix could see the Latin word Finis carved into the handle. The cat took a deep breath as he reached up, grabbed the sword, and carefully pulled it out of the dead demon. The dry ink on the sword stains it like blood.
Then, when the tip of the sword was finally pulled out, the ink demon threw his head up and GASPED FOR AIR, making Felix cry out in alarm and stumble back with the sword tightly clenched in his hands.
The ink demon was still alive?!
Turning its head towards the direction of Felix, the ink demon almost looked panicked as it roared at him and swiped its large, clawed hand at the cat. Felix lifted the sword to defend himself, but the demon was faster, slashing at the cat’s chest and easily knocking the sword out of his hands. Landing flat on his back, Felix hissed in pain and looked at his chest.
Bloody, but thankfully not deadly.
Pushing himself back up into a sitting position, Felix fought off the urge to panic as he looked for the sword to defend himself. Only for his heart to freeze in terror seeing the demon had picked it up.
Panting hard, clearly trying to catch it breath after being “dead” for 30 years, the demon gave a rageful growl at the sword, lifted it high above its head, and slammed the blade against the ground. Completely shattering it.
Ooooooh that wasn’t good.
As he got back to his feet, Felix reached for his magic bag. He frantically tried to think of a way to stop the ink demon now that the sword was destroyed, but then something unexpected happened. The cat’s ears perked up in surprise by the sounds the ink demon was making as it curled up on himself again, holding something close.
Was… was it crying?
Then, right before Felix’s eyes, the ink demon started to change. Instead of its large beast form, the ink demon slowly started to shift into something that resembled what Felix heard from the stories, a skeleton-like creature coated in ink, and then shrank into something smaller. Making the cat’s stomach drop at the sight before him.
Sobbing, the little childlike ink demon held close two figures. A young girl with black hair and a broken halo fused to her head, and a young wolf boy. Both were limp in his arms, but miraculously breathing.
Looking up, the Ink Demon stared fearfully at Felix with big black tears running down his face. He attempted to growl, his body trembling as he intended to get to his feet. Instead, his body gave out on him and he passed out. Falling limp to the ground with the two still in his arms.
With one hand pressed against his chest, trying to stop his wounds from bleeding, the other hand went up to Felix’s mouth as he processed what he just witnessed and what was still in front of him.
Children.
The ink demon, the beast of a scary story told around a campfire, was a CHILD.
A scared looking child, who had a sword in his back, and his arms protectively around the Ink Angel and the Ink Wolf.
All of them were children.
What in the world did Felix get himself into…
____________________
*Years later*
Hearing a loud annoying groan behind him, Mugman did his best to keep his temper under check as he sighed. “May I remind you that this was your idea?”
“But we’ve been searching for HOURS.”
Stopping dead in his tracks, Mugman spun around and crossed his arms, frowning at his brother. “What, you think when demon hunting, a demon will just show up for us to shoot at the moment it’s convenient for us?”
With a huff, Cuphead kicked a rock as he glared at the ground. “No… Would have been nice to go back with SOMETHING so the other knights don’t look down at us.”
Mugman understood where his brother was coming from. They’ve been training with the traveling group of knights for years, working hard to earn their title of knights and helping out as much as they could when the group was called to help to the nearest kingdom. It was an amazing experience to see the world and help defend people, but they barely got to do anything like the other knights, and all their higher-ups tended to look down on them often.
Especially considering they were taken in by the group pretty much out of pity…
They were always told they needed to earn their place among the knights, but how were they supposed to do that when they weren’t given the chance?
So, when visiting a nearby kingdom that was close to their camp, and they heard rumors of a demon living within these woods holding an innocent hostage to do its bidding, Cuphead came up with a crazy plan that Mugman found himself crazy enough to go along with. The two of them went into the woods and searched for the demon so they could bring it back and finally earn their place with the Demon Hunting Knights.
Unfortunately, today it seems like they’d go back to camp empty handed.
“Look, we can always try again tomorrow. How about we take a break before we go hiking back to camp, okay Cuphead?”
Grumbling “Fine.” as an answer, Cuphead reached for his canteen to drink. Though when he realizing it was empty from the lack of weight he felt, it just fueled his annoyance. “Ugh, I’ll be right back. I saw a freshwater stream near here.”
Sitting down on the ground, Mugman leaned against a tree and gazed at the sky above. “Don’t go too far, or fall in.”
Giving him a dirty look as the blue mug brother just smirked back, Cuphead rolled his eyes and headed for the stream. It was a few minutes' walk away from where Mugman stayed to rest, so it would be easy enough for Cuphead to find his way back. Once he found said stream, Cuphead knelt down and started to refill his canteen.
He really hoped they’d have better luck tomorrow. Not only would catching a demon help them impress the other knights, but it would certainly help Cuphead sleep at night knowing he and Mugman can handle themselves when the-
“Don't go too far kiddo.”
“I know, I know.”
Perking up at the sound of voices on the other side of the stream deeper in the woods, Cuphead quickly put away his canteen and got to his feet. Using his years of training to cross the water and travel quietly, the red cup brother tried his best to stay hidden using the environment until he came across the source of the voices. What he saw, made his eyes go wide.
Right there, with his back to him as he lowered the hood of his cloak from his horned head, was a demon walking towards and standing over a cat man who was kneeling before him.
Holy crap the rumors were true.
This was his chance.
As magic built up in his hand, Cuphead got ready to attack the demon and save the cat man when something unexpected happened. Kneeling down as well, the demon reached out and started plucking the wild berries off of the bush next to the cat. “Will these really make a good pie?”
Chuckling, the cat man ruffled the demon’s head affectionately. Now with the two at the same level, it was clear the cat was taller. So did that make the demon a child? “Absolutely. My best friend and I used to find these bushes growing where we grew up and gave ourselves stomach aches eating the berries before we could get them home to my mother to make pie.”
Humming curiously, the demon popped a berry into his mouth. He made a delighted sound as he ate a few more. “Oh these are good!”
“Now don’t go giving yourself a stomach ache, we need to save some for home too.”
Wiping his hand over his mouth to make sure he didn’t have juice stains on his face, the demon continued to help fill the basket. “Yes Felix.”
Cuphead stared, dumbfounded.
This demon actually listened to an order a mortal gave him.
No, that didn’t feel right. The cat was far too kind when speaking, and the demon seemed to look up to the cat and listened to his words without a problem.
This boy was listening to the guiding advice an adult gave him. Like a father teaching a son.
The sensation of magic in his hand faded, and the red cup brother took a step back as he tried to process what he was seeing.
Snap
Quickly diving out of sight after stepping on a stick, Cuphead pressed his back against a tree and held his breath. Praying the demon didn’t see him.
“Felix? What-?”
“Move, quickly.”
After a few tense moments of silence, Cuphead risked taking a peak back at the bush and saw that the cat and demon were now gone. The red cup brother released the breath he was holding and let himself plop down on the ground, thinking over what just happened.
A demon.
A demon was right there, and he hesitated.
Why did he hesitate?!
Heck, why was a demon being treated like a child by a mortal? What demon ever lets a “lesser being” treat them like that?!
Why did they look so, happy?
Groaning at himself, Cuphead got up and headed back to Mugman. He decided to keep this to himself to avoid getting grief from his brother over missing the chance to catch a demon, and to avoid the scolding he’d get for planning to take on a demon alone.
As well as avoid trying to explain what he just saw, because even he had trouble trying to understand it himself.
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Rushing through the woods, Bendy did his best to keep his pace with Felix as the cat tightly gripped his hand. He could easily outrun the cat adventurer, but he didn’t want to get unwanted attention drawn to them if Felix thinks it was necessary to rush home after hearing something. Heck he even made Bendy put his hood back up to hide his head just in case. So he held onto his guardian’s hand and followed his lead.
Stopping, Felix panted slightly from going at a fast pace for a long period of time. He put his hand on Bendy’s shoulder and kept him close as he looked around the woods. His ears twitched as he tried picking up any suspicious sounds. Bendy listened closely as well, but he didn't hear anything that stood out to him. “Felix?”
Forcing himself to relax and letting his tense shoulders drop, Felix smiled gently down at the demon teen before him. “Sorry about that, it’s getting to be that time of year where hunters come around here looking for a meal. I didn’t want one spotting us.”
Understanding that, considering the cat had a good reason to be protective and cautious, Bendy nodded and looked down at the basket full of berries in his hand. “We still got enough for a pie. I’m sure that’ll make Boris happy.”
Chuckling a little from Bendy looking at the bright side, Felix ruffled the top of Bendy’s head again as they continued their way home at a slower pace. “Yeah, I’m sure it will.”
After some time walking, the two of them finally came upon their home, a comfy looking house with a barn and garden next to it in the middle of a clearing. In the garden, a wolf boy was on his knees pulling carrots out of the ground when he looked up and smiled after spotting Bendy and Felix. “ALICE! Bendy and Felix are home!”
Coming out of the barn, Alice grinning as she met the two halfway and took the basket from Bendy. “Did you have a nice trip?”
Nodding, Bendy started telling her and Boris all about the things he and Felix saw and did while traveling through the woods as they headed back inside the house that belonged to the cat. The house was what the three ink siblings now called their home for the past 5 years ever since Felix has taken them in. Inside, it looked quite homely with all the things the three teens have added to it ever since moving in. Books belonging to Felix sat on the shelves within the sitting area, a few of Boris’s instruments were sitting by the fireplace, along with the fur blankets Alice made from her hunt catches sitting on the furniture, and Bendy’s paintings were hanging on the walls.
With Boris excited to make the pie, he quickly got to work getting everything set up while Alice went to clean the veggies the ink wolf got from the garden. Felix let out a heavy sigh as he sat down and relaxed in his favorite chair while Bendy got the fireplace lit. The cat man glanced at all three of the teens then asked. “Now are you sure you three have everything you need written down for me?”
All of them replied “Yes Felix.” to their guardian’s question.
Due to the fact that it was far too dangerous for Bendy, Alice, and Boris to go into towns or to be seen by other people, Felix on occasion would have to leave them at the farm and go for a few days to get supplies for their home. Every time he left, he'd put Bendy in charge considering he was the oldest.
Kinda.
Being an ink demon made of dark magic and ink made ages so complicated.
The ink siblings hated that Felix went through so much trouble for them by trying to support the three while keeping them secret for their safety, but their guardian always assured them he never minded and it was worth it to see them happy and healthy… Felix reminded them so much of their Papa sometimes-
Shaking his head to get rid of that though, not wanting to focus on those memories right now, Bendy simply grabbed the book he’s been working on reading for a while now and got comfortable in his favorite spot by the fireplace. The same spot he woke up in after Felix brought them to his home for the first time. Bendy remembered how confused he was, waking up in a pile of pillows and blankets with Alice and Boris sleeping with him by the warm fire. As well as seeing Felix, with bandages wrapped around his chest, holding a tray of food for them.
It was in that spot, the ink demon finally got the feeling of being safe… Something he hasn’t felt in a long time before that point.
And it was all thanks to Felix that he and the others could feel safe again.
Bendy would always be grateful for that.
Glad to hear the kids made sure to write down what they wanted him to pick up while in town, Felix grabbed his own book and started reading where he left off last time. The two of them sat in comfortable silence until Alice and Boris joined them after Boris put the pie in the oven and Alice put away the clean veggies for later. The ink wolf picked up his shawm and started practicing while the ink angel worked on her latest sowing project.
Stealing a quick glance around the room, seeing all of them relaxed and happy, made Felix smile a little before looking back down at his book.
They were all okay.
They were happy.
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It was dark by the time Cuphead and Mugman made it back to camp, their higher ups didn’t even ask where they were, they just assumed they were goofing off and scolded them for it. Calling them childish and saying they were wasting time.
Better they assume that then laugh at them over going demon hunting and coming back empty handed.
Scowling down at the fire he was cooking his dinner over, Cuphead was still thinking over what he saw earlier, trying to make sense of it, trying to understand what he saw.
A demon being parented by a mortal?
Looking like a happy little family?
That went against everything he was taught!
It had to be a trick, what he saw wasn't true!
If what he saw wasn't true, then why did he hesitate?
“CUPHEAD!”
Snapping out of his train of thought, Cuphead was about to ask what his brother wanted until he realized his dinner was on fire. Quickly blowing it out, he groaned seeing how badly it was burned. “Nuts…”
Raising an eyebrow at his brother, Mugman asked. “You okay? You’ve looked really lost in thought all afternoon and you haven’t heard a word I said.”
“I’m fine Mugsy. What were you trying to tell me?”
Feeling suspicious over Cuphead not giving a proper answer, Mugman decided to leave it be for now. “I was told I’m going with a group that’s heading into the nearby kingdom to restock on supplies tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a few days. Are you going to be okay while I’m out?”
Taking a bite out of his burnt meat, the red cup brother cringed at the taste while shrugging. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“You promise not to do anything stupid while I’m gone?”
Snorting, Cuphead faced his brother. “Oh come on, when have I done something- yeah, you know what, don’t answer that.”
Thinking better of finishing that sentence thanks to the LOOK Mugman was giving him, Cuphead rolled his eyes and continued eating. “I promise, happy now?”
Mugman hummed as he started eating his own food. “I’ll be happy when I can trust you to keep that promise.”
Okay, not completely uncalled for, but still ouch.
By the time the two finished their meals and retreated into their tent for the night, both brothers finished getting ready for bed and bid each other goodnight. Mugman easily settled down and fell asleep in his cot, while Cuphead stayed awake thinking. His mind was filled with too many questions to fall asleep now.
He glanced over at his sleeping brother in the dark tent, watching him sleep peacefully without a problem. He had no idea about the conflict going on in Cuphead’s mind and how he was trying so hard to make sense of what he saw.
He knows he promised, but he was going to go back into the woods when Mugman was gone with the other knights.
He was going to find out what was up with that demon and get some answers.