Summary: Books ... how evil
"Seriously, now I'm confused." King watched as the human tried to map her head around the events of last night.
"I thought we agreed last night didn't happen?" Eda asked.
"It didn't-"
"I resent that!" Lucci shouted from the kitchen.
"But where I'm from, you can't have kids with the same gender. Not that it's illegal, but … the science doesn't match." Luz explained. "Did magic just … fix that or something?"
"This isn't exactly the kind of topic people should be going over right after breakfast." Eda went on. "It was a disaster trying to explain the dragons and the fairies to Lucci when he was four."
"And now that he did that fusing thing with Willow, the bar has muddled even further." King snorted. "So Lucci, going make out with her in her garden now and plant some buds?"
"Ew, no, it's never been like that between us, King." The boy looked disgusted as he walked in. "If I ever do … whatever I did again, it's gonna be with someone I trust and care for."
"So since we're on the subject….you and Willow? Friends again?" Luz asked him with that hopeful glee that had yet to be squashed by reality.
"Friends….that might be pushing it a little, Luz." Lucci sighed. "Working together with Willow again after all that time…it was a great experience I won't lie…let's just say I don't hate her anymore."
"Yes!" She jumped in the air. "Now it's just getting Amity into the mix, and we can fix everything."
"Seriously, no. Amity is the worst." The boy rolled his eyes.
"She's not that bad." Luz waved her hand.
"She tried to murder you … twice." King reminded twice.
"Yet I'm still standing, which means there's always a chance!" She was sweeter than ten bags full of sugar.
"Actually, this is more than Lucci's teen angst talking, the Blights are a genuine pain as a whole." Eda spoke up. "I had to deal with them ever since I, regrettably, went to Hexside. It took everything I had, along with Bump and Lilith, and an old pal of mine, to prevent me from grabbing that dainty little neck, squeezing it as I watch the light fade from her eyes, gasping for air as she tries to land a single strike, but the pain will be worth it because the memory would forever be embedded into my-"
"Here's your morning apple blood mom." Lucci calmly poured the red liquid into a cup. "You're not you when you don't have your morning fix."
She took a large gulp from the cup. "Ah, that hits the spot … now where was I on that murder fantasy?" Apparently she was serious.
"You guys can't judge a person for their family." Luz rolled her eyes. "I say we figure out where she is, and have a civil conversation."
"Hah, Amity and civil. You get funnier with every passing day, buddy."
Knock knock
"Oooh, someone left fresh meat on the porch! Finally, I have a gift of my very own!" Hooty chanted in the living room.
"Fresh me-Hooty, whatever you do, don't eat whoever's there!" Lucci rushed in to the living room as they slowly followed behind.
"Aww, but it's gift wrapped and everything." The door opened to reveal … babies …three tiny little babies that looks like little heads wrapped in blankets.
"Well that's new." King laughed. "Usually Eda needs to kidnap the children,this is the first time they ever dumped them on her."
Eda gripped her mug hard enough to cause cracks, glaring at him. "Would you like to rephrase that?" She asked in a tone that promised misery.
"I mean, what poor and degenerate soul would be so sick as to abandon these poor innocent souls?" King quickly corrected himself as he pulled off a note that was attached to the basket. "Take care until nightfall. Handsome reward promised. Yi Yi, Bat Queen."
"Nice!" Eda cheered.
"Wait, you're cheering for labor?" Lucci asked. "And dealing with more kids too? For the vague promise of a reward?"
"Lucci, the Bat Queen is one of the most influential people on the isles … surprised I never told you about her actually." The woman looked thoughtful. "Anyway, she definitely could spare a couple million snails for a babysitting job."
"Yes, together we shall embark on our greatest adventure ever!" Luz cheered, once again, being way too cheerful about the situation. "Learning the meaning of familial love and life through wacky babysitting hijinks!"
"Nope, not you, you gotta return all the books I have to the library." Eda twirled her finger as books dropped into the girl's hands.
"Oh cool, magic library." Luz smiled.
"One, mom's doing this so she has less people to split then loot with." Lucci explained the very obvious ploy. "And two, everybody hates libraries. They restrict the public art of stories..."
The babies opened their eyes. "Craaaawww!" And let out a sound that made King's ears feel like they were bleeding.
"Like I said, everybody loves libraries!" Lucci grabbed the girl. "Let's go return those books!"
"Hey, wait, I was counting on you-" Eda cried out as the door slammed shut. "....Helping me out. I raised him for fourteen years and this is the thanks I get?"
"Wouldn't you do the same thing in his position?" King pointed out the hypocrisy. "He only ever does what you've taught him to do."
"I do admire the cunning, but I expected a little respect." The woman made some ear muffs. "Now, let's focus on hey!" Eda shouted as one of the babies started bitting her hand. "Don't use my finger as a toy, only Lucci can!"
"… What?" That sounded so wrong and so weird, even by Eda's standards.
"Never mind-hey, don't go into that powder, that's Lucci's favorite poison!" She launched herself at another baby, swatting it away from a jar. "Now let's just-hey, that's my son's favorite knife, don't you dare touch it!"
Maybe King had it wrong, maybe it wasn't Eda giving Lucci bad habits, maybe it was Lucci giving Eda bad ones. Either way, it was going to be fun watching the mama bird struggle.
========================================================================
Lucci rubbed his ears. "I am so glad super senses are not one of my powers." He grumbled.
"So, let me guess." Luz asked as they made their way through the street. "Tragic backstory for the library you refuse to talk about and make cryptic?"
"Not really, it's just where Amity works." Luz practically knew the whole story already…and recent events made him realize that he could lighten up on one or two things here and there. "And no, we are returning the books, then leaving."
"But … but … magic library!" His buddy shook his arm. "Histories that sound like fantasies, myths unknown to my world, there's so many mysteries to uncover!
"Last I checked, what's myth here is truth there and vice versa." He answered. "The unkillable honey badger, the mechanical humans, the soul eating giraffes." He shivered.
"Don't be such a spoil sport, Lucci. Back home, books were the closest thing to magic I had." The human girl looked up at the sky whimsically. "Without any friends, they were the next best thing."
Lucci looked at her in confusion. "You didn't have friends?" She seemed like such an upbeat person to be around.
"If myths and reality flip in the boiling isles … so does weird and normal." She chuckled weakly. "Oh, there it is, let's go!" She ran forward before he could follow up on that.
She dodged the question almost just as quickly as he would've. The way she always tried to be positive..it was almost like looking into a mirror of the past. Was Luz just as lonely as he felt…could she understand his pain?
Shaking the feeling for the moment, Lucci follows along inside, and as they did, the books were lifted up magically by the librarian behind the front desk. "Late, late, late, covered in blood and coffee grass. I'm running out of room on her tab, Lucifer." The man boredly expressed exasperation.
"We should be getting a payment soon, don't worry." The boy waved off. They'd probably spent a good chunk of the treasure on mom's tabs alone. "Alright, we returned them, now-and she's gone." He was half curious how she kept doing it, and half annoying that she kept doing it.
Lucci walked through the shelves, finding her next to the kid section … watching Amity read to the tiny children. "Seriously Luz, can we avoid the friendship plot today?" He sighed.
"Oh sure, let's go back home to the screaming bat babies." She waved him off. "I'm sure between all the screaming and the biting and the pooping, we're sure to have a blast and half, much better than at worst an awkward conversation."
"… I'm impressed and annoyed you're picking up blackmail so fast." He muttered, looking at Amity. "However, there remains the point she's at work, and neither of us can get close." Not to mention she'd probably turn the second she got a glimpse at them.
"You're right." She muttered, turning back and entering a thinking pose. "We need an inside man."
"How about inside twins?" A vaguely familiar voice, one he hadn't heard in years spoke up.
"Spying on mittens. A truly great pastime. I'm glad someone else appreciates the finer things in life." Spoke up another vaguely familiar voice.
Turning around, they saw two older kids, one boy and one girl, and like the two said earlier, twins. They had matching green hair and identical moles on their cheeks, and matching illusion track suits from Hexide.
"Oh, hello there … Lucci, who are they?" She whispered.
Lucci was really not feeling today. "Luz, these are Elsa and Emiro Blight." He introduced her. "Amity's older brother and sister."
"Emira and Edric, but you were close, curly top." The older Blight girl winked at him with a little smile.
"Nice to see you again too, Emira." Lucci sighed. She was still teasing him even after all this time. It made him feel weird as a kid, and it made him feel weird now.
"So, Luz, nice name for a cute girl." Edric clicked his tounge as he pointed at his buddy.
"Oh, Ah thanks, you have..really cute moles?" Luz responded awkwardly.
"Straightforward and honest. I like it. You're definitely too cool to be Amity's friend." Emira smirked.
"I um, thank you." The girl blushed, which was weird considering her face didn't go fully red, just the cheeks.
"Careful Luz, they love pulling pranks and tricks almost more than I do." Lucci recalled the prank wars that would last for hours when it was the Blight twins against Team LAW.
"Careful Lucci, you're gonna flatter us too much to resist." Edric wrapped an arm over his shoulder. He forgot the teasing could come from both siblings.
"I still have enough power to snap a few bones here and there." He threatened.
"Ooh, is that a promise? You know how rough we like it." Lucci merely smiled as he grabbed the arm and gently began squeezing. "Point taken, point taken." They whined.
"So I take it you're both here to snoop the deets on Mittens over there?" Emira laughed as Edric recovered from the arm soreness. "We heard about the abomination incident and the Covention. She does not like you one bit."
"Yeah, we messed up." Luz sighed.
"No, she deserves being taken down a peg now and then. Mittens has gotten too serious lately." Edric chuckled. They were saying all the right words, which was what any good con artist did. "Personally, we think it's because of this stuffy old library. We need to liven things up a little, and you two agents of chaos seem like the perfect partners for our noble endeavor."
"Wait, as in … make things worse?" Luz asked. "She already went through a lot, maybe we should …"
"We're not making things worse, we're just going to show mittens she can be more…open, with her feelings and not be so grumpy all the time." Emira waved off. "There's a comet passing by the library later tonight. They say something super fantastical happens to the books when it does. It'll be perfect."
"Fantastical you say?" The girl looked like she was considering it. As much as he wanted Amity to be knocked down a peg, he didn't want Luz caught in between a scheme. So like always, he had to be the voice of reason.
"Luz, I know you probably have this convoluted friendship plan, and I'm usually all for long term cons, but if there's one thing I remember from hanging out with Amity as a kid, it's that her and family aren't exactly two things that mix well together." He tried to warn her.
"Aw, and I was recalling how you were the cutest of Mitten's friends." Emira laughed as she messed with his hair.
"Did you forget the arm?" She instantly retracted.
"Seriously, I heard something that'll really peak your interest." Edric smiled. "Be here at night or don't, but we both know you won't be able to resist the perfect nab."
The twins left soon afterwards, leaving the two of them alone. "I'm gonna-"
"No." Lucci stopped.
"I'm gonna-"
"You're going to regret it."
"I'm serious, Lucci! If I can befriend her siblings, there's a chance I can befriend her too!"
"Did you listen to what I said earlier about Amity and Family?" Lucci brought back up.
"Well something is better than nothing." Luz argued. "Seriously Lucci, if you never involve yourself with others, they'll never change."
He gripped his hand tightly. "Change isn't always good Luz." He sighed as he walked away. "I'll wait by the front for when you're ready to give up this crusade."
Deep down, Lucci knew that probably wasn't going to happen. Luz was just too stubborn, just like he was. So, in order to save the girl from herself…Lucci would have to talk to the one person he didn't want at all to see again.
========================================================================
"And then the frazacon finally ate his pixie, and lived happily, ever after." Amity smiled as she closed the age appropriate book. "Did you guys like that one?"
"Amity rules!" A deep voice kid with a giant mouth shouted out. This may have started out as a part time job for school credits, but it soon became a nice little part of her life. Making kids happy … something she couldn't do before.
"So what book should we read next?" She asked them. Best part of the job was the privacy. It was her spot and hers alone. No need to be reminded about the past or the high standards for the future. The here and now was all that mattered. "Quacks eat snacks? Vampires with Werewolves?"
"How about Obtain the Bookmaker. It was always your favorite, right?" Amity paused, freezing at the sound of the familiar voice."The wandering man looking for friends? Boy, isn't that a relatable topic."
She took a breath. "Do you mind if I take a small break, children?" Amity asked.
"Yes miss Amity." Another perk was that the kids were respectful and hardly bratty. It was the closest thing she had to love in her life.
She stood up, marching to Lucci. "What are you doing here?" She shout-whispered. With how things ended at the Covention, her thoughts on Lucci were confused to say the least.
"Returning books." The boy answered. "And as much as I'd like to avoid you with a restraining order, someone else got caught up with Blight fever." He pointed at the book cart being ridden by her siblings and the human!
"Oh my titan." Amity groaned at the living nightmare.
"Yeah, I ran into them earlier, they were just as annoying as I remember them being." Lucci groaned. "The teasing somehow got worse."
"I think Edric and Emira might legitimately want to share a partner." She shivered. It was so hard to tell what was serious and what was a joke between those two.
"Yikes … anyway, just a heads up they're planning something big, and they're dragging Luz into it." He responded.
"Is that so? Or is she just hopping aboard the first chance she gets at ruining my life?" She rolled her eyes.
"Hey, it's not her fault you live such a horrid and unlucky life." Lucci spoke with a hint of anger. "Don't blame the impressionable human who doesn't know better."
"Hey, I want her as far away from me as possible, yet she always comes in and barges where she isn't welcome."
"The second time was just you being a jerk. That was asking for it." He pointed out.
"Whatever, you don't see me going to the owl house to stop you all from…frying up owls.."
"Mom loves owls, almost as much as she loves me, maybe more so." Lucci rolled his eyes. "I'd thought you'd remember that much at least."
Amity growled a little. She wanted to explain so much why he was wrong, how much she did remember..but that wasn't an option. "You know, even if you're a petty criminal, I never thought you'd like hanging around such a bully."
"Wow, the caldron calling the kettle black. At least that's what Willow would say." He grumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She pointed accusedly.
"It means you don't exactly put your best foot forward, Amity. Even if we don't get along anymore, you went out of your way to pick on Willow and destroyed her self confidence back at Hexide. That's being a bully."
"She was making herself weak, she should have been motivated to get stronger." Amity growled. "Instead they went to the wrong track and used shortcuts."
"Oh yes, because someone made it so easy and simple." Lucci rolled his eyes. "You haven't even given Luz a chance."
Give her a chance after all she's done!? "Come on! She's pushy, she cheats, she lies, and she got Willow to cheat! How can anyone ever be friends with a jerk like that!?"
She yelled that last part a little too loudly, and now every eye in the library was on her. "Why don't you say how you really feel?" Edric called out to her.
Lucci's eyes widened as his face got more sad and disappointed. "Is that why you didn't want to be my friend anymore? Because I was …" He turned around, stopping as he sniffed. "I'm sorry that I was such a jerk."
Damn it! Why does she never say the right thing at the right time!? "Lucci, wait..!"
"I won't go home without Luz…so I'll just be waiting outside." The boy said while making his way past them.
"Yeowch." She could hear her sister mutter. "Mittens can be a real mess sometimes."
"Definitely." Her brother joined in. "Totally needs a super fix."
"No, no, that's not what I..I didn't..ughhhhh!" Amity yelled into the nearest book she could find and kept at it for a few minutes, before sighing. She walked back to the kids, seeing some of them start to get impatient.
She would just … push down the pain for later. That always worked, right?
========================================================================
"Guys seriously." Edric watched as the girl paced back and forth. "I can't just leave Lucci alone while we mess with stuff, he needs a buddy right now." The library had just closed, which means it was the perfect time to not only mess with the wailing star's magic on the books, they'd finally be able to get one back at Amity for good.
"Hey, relax." He assured. "We'll make it up to him."
"Trust us." Emira added on. "Once we find what we're looking for, little Lucci is gonna cheer right back up." Out of the two old friends Mittens used to have, he was the one with the best sense of fun.
"Alright, if you say so." The girl sighed. "So, if you knew Lucci back then, then you know about the stuff he did with Amity and Willow?"
"Oh yeah, we do. Back when Mittens knew what the definition of fun was." Emira smirked. "They even had this cute little nickname for themselves, what was it?" His twin scratched her chin. "Team Wals? Awls?"
"Team LAW." Edric reminded her. "They did all kinds of crazy things. The egg incident, the vegetable incident, the cake incident." The last one was the most fun, as the kids somehow made a cake out of abomination goo taste like actual cake.
"How many random unnamed incidents am I not going to get context for?" Luz growled.
"Probably more than there are people on the isles." Em laughed. "Ed and I had to pull out all the stops when we pranked them. I still think the mirror incident was a magnum opus."
He decided to explain this one before that vein popped. "Basically, we set up mirrors inside of a room to make the kids think Blight Industries were mass producing children." Ed looked around. "Now where would that room be …"
"Probably around that book series she likes." Em muttered. "Adora?"
"Wasn't she the sword lady in love with an evil cat?"
"Right, what amity likes is something cheesier than that." Em pondered. "With that green haired witch with the white outfit and the flowery language."
"Flowery laun-you mean the Good Witch Azura?" The human's eyes lit up curiously. "Amity reads the Azura series?"
"That's the one, right!" Edric snapped his fingers, knowing where to go in the romance section. "Started burying her nose in all those smultzy words when she started sucking at having friends."
"And ever since then she's always been a bookworm, to the point the letter is the law." Emira rolled her eyes. "It's fine if she wants to be a stick in the mud like Mom, that's her biz, but she keeps tattling on us whenever we cut class." The only time their folks ever acknowledged they had other kids.
"So now we're going to send a little message to Mitten that'll force her to lighten up a little-Aha, here it is." He found the book they were looking for and pulled the hidden level, showing off the entrance to the secret room.
"Hidden hideaways. And I thought libraries couldn't get more magical." The girl smiled.
"Oh they always can, trust us." Em patted the girl on the back. "Okay, focus guys, it has to be here somewhere."
Luz looked confused. "Wait, what has to be?"
Edric smirked. "Mitten's diary of course."
"Woh, woh, take a step back!" The girl did just that. "I just … that seems overkill, don't you think!? I thought you said this would help Amity?"
"It is. Posting all the pages around school will expose every secret that she has, so she won't have anything to hide or be stuck up about." Emira explained. "And the brief month or two of humiliation that'll soon follow will light little Lucci's face just a little."
"Nothing is more satisfying than revenge after all." Edric nodded, looking through the shelves of books. "I almost think she was in love with books with how many there are."
"Leave it to nerdy little mittens to have a library in a library." Em laughed as she opened up that baby Obtain book, scribbling something in the pages. "Heads up, I think the girl's getting cold shoulders." His sister whispered.
"Figured as much, but once we find the book we can go ahead. People will thank us later." Ed smirked as he looked through a small section of dictionaries. Seriously, you only needed one, get over yourself.
"Wow, she actually owns the first four books?" Luz looked through a particular section on the shelves. "Is this a fan made cover?" The human pulled out one and opened it.
"Dear diary, I ran into that human again. As usual she was causing trouble. She seems like she means well, but I can't afford to show weakness, not when I'm in too deep."
What a beautiful sound, the sound of chaos. "Whatcha got there?" Edric asked, turning to the human in question.
Luz immediately tried to hide it behind her back. "Oh, nothing you'd probably find important, just more nerd stuff, hey why don't we scan the romance section more, maybe find something more saucy and
Emira swiped her finger as the book came flying over to them. "If it's nothing important, you won't mind if we look at it, right?" She asked with a grin.
"I mean … are you sure you wouldn't want to see-" They opened up the book immediately.
"I accidentally called Lilith mom again, titan that was embarrassing." The twins snickered as they flipped to another page. "Ms Clawthorne is dead to me. Women only exist to torment the next generation, and I am never getting near a kid once I become an adult."
"... Okay, save that one for a rainy day." Edric muttered to himself as they flipped for something a little less … home hitting.
"Guys, please, you can't do this." The human pleaded. "Yeah, Amity's not the easiest person to get along with, but these are private thoughts."
"Weren't you the one who wanted to cheer up Lucci?" Emira asked as she flipped through the pages. "Getting revenge sounds like something he'd be all up for."
"Maybe, but it's not what I'm up for." She grabbed the diary and tried to pull it back. "You had your fun, now put it back."
"Just let us rip a page or two and we'll call it square." Edric pulled back.
"No, we've done enough damage as it is!"
"No, we haven't done enough!" Emira helped him and tugged tighter. "She's never going to stop being a jerk to people until she learns her less-"
Rip
The cover tore and the pages spilled on the floor, making several little Amity's pop up in the floor.
"Great, I did not need this in my life. Just another day ruined by Willow." A page muttered.
"Dear Diary, sorry I haven't written in a while. Wait, why am I apologizing?"
"Why can't Ed and Em just leave me alone for once!? I didn't ask to be mom's favorite, they don't need to take it out on me! If I had Lucci's bubbles I'd blow their room to smithereens a hundred times by now."
The human desperately began picking them up. "Come on, come on-"
"What the heck!?" Uh oh, looks like they were caught. They turned to the red face of their little sis.
"Told you we should have hurried up." Emira rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Meh, messing with the books was fun." Edric grinned right back at her.
"What are you two doing in-" She froze. "Is that my …"
Luz waved her hands around. "It's not what it looks like!"
"Why do I keep trying?" A page asked. "In the end, all I get is disappointment and misery from everyone I interact with."
"You…You.." Amity glared at him and Em, with that cute and red angry blushed face. "You two are absolutely the worst, the most deprived, and the most despicable siblings anyone on the boiling isles!"
"You wanna get new content?" Edric asked.
"We try our best, you're welcome." Emira snickered. It wasn't anything they hadn't heard before, and they'd likely hear it again in the future. Anything went when they weren't mommy and daddy's favorite.
"You're both impossible." Amity slapped her forehead and turned to Luz.
"I swear this isn't what it looked like-"
Amity didn't let her finish as she pulled the torn pages from her hands. "I know I'm difficult to get along with, but that doesn't give you the excuse to just inject yourself into my life and do what you want." Mittens turned around. "I was right before. You're a bully." And began to walk away.
"Amity." Luz looked like a kicked puppy. They totally should have snagged at least one page. "I-"
"FRIENDS!" They all turned to the shouting.
"And what is that?" Their sister asked with a growl.
"Huh, I was wondering what the deal with the wailing star was going to be." Emira looked up at the slobbering bunny creature. "Guess that explains the magic diary pages, the comet brings books to life."
"And why is he acting like an angry monster!?" Amity shouted.
"I drew angry eyebrows on his forehead." Edric shrugged. "Well, it's time to do as a Wild Witch does … scram!" And grabbed Emira as they began to flee.
"With blood and fangs and broken bones.." The one friendly child book character turned monster through a giant sewing needle at their heads. "I've found some friends to call my own!"
"Why are children's books so demented!?" Luz shouted. "Darn you progressive media!"
========================================================================
Luz panted as she hid behind a shelf with Amity. "I think … we lost him."
"All my friends seek to play! I'll hunt them down until the end of days!" The monster shouted out, knocking over several shelves like a stack of dominoes next to them.
"Mind saying that a little louder? I don't think they heard you all the way from the knee." The green haired girl groaned. Given that this was her fault, Luz would accept the sarcasm.
"You read the children's book, how do we get him to stop?" She asked Amity.
"Obtain only stops once he has a friend." The girl explained. "He's the determined underdog of the story."
"Obtain will find a friend on this day, tie them up in a book and forever shout hurray!" The monster shouted as it went to break down another bookcase.
"Damn you Ed and Em! Whatever they did twisted his personality." Amity shook her head. "I thought I was done risking my life in incidents like this."
Her fault, again. She was always getting others in trouble. "Amity, I-"
"Zip it, just shut up." Connie's face flashed in her mind. "Let me deal with your problem, while you sit here quietly and don't screw anything else up." Luz silently squealed and nodded along.
Sneaking around, Amity managed to get behind the giant monster rabbit and created an abomination. "Obtain, you have to stop! This isn't how you make friends!"
"Making friends, creating friends, to make them so I will go to every end!" The monster pierced the gooey creation and grabbed Amity. "There's no length, no law, no rule I won't bend!" Well that failed fast.
Obtain opened a book, shoving amity inside as he messed with some threads. "Sew them in, my new friends. Soon I'll have them, my new friends."
Luz reached around, grabbing onto the Azura book … taking a deep breath as she opened it. "You can't rhyme friends with friends!" She shouted, pulling out Azura's staff. "Let her go, or face the wrath of Luzura, hero of the realms!"
Obtain merely reached out to the staff, and stopped it half way, flicking it across the room. "….My hero." The trapped Amity rolled her eyes.
"…Guess the magic power doesn't come along with the prop, heh." It just occurred to her that she spent almost the entire day at a library and hadn't read a single book. She was slipping as a nerd.
"Girl full of delusions and grandeur." He picked her up and shoved her into the book … alongside the flattening Amity. "Soon you shall be with her, immure."
"He is very articulate for a mangy beast." Luz noted as she felt herself become less three dimensional.
"He's not supposed to be a mangy beast." Amity said with a dark look. "He's supposed to be a nice and kind soul looking for someone who can relate … but everyone else just decides to ruin it."
Luz looked at the girl guiltily. All the times she's pushed Connie into being her friend, all the times she's bugged Lucci into making up, and now Amity…she really was the worst. "Yeah…I have a habit of making things worse."
Amity looked at her, the angry glaring becoming slightly less stern. "..At least you have friends, actual friends. I just have a vague goal of reaching some top spot…a lonely, lonely, pedestal."
"Better a goal than being a nuisance …" Luz chuckled. "And here I thought I could actually make an effort of being a witch … helping friends connect … I guess it was just a dumb dream of mine."
"Dreams are fine and dandy all day long. But combined with reality will only end with a wrong." Thanks for the reality check.
Bang
A shield hit the monster on the head, sending it stumbling. "Hey Obtain, I'm tired of you singing this song. It's dull, flowery, and not that strong." Lucci charged in. "You should stop trying to string everyone along!"
"Lucci, what're you doing here!?" Luz shouted.
"I was by the entrance for the last five hours, you think I didn't see Em and Ed run out?" He explained. "I asked them what was up, they teased me again, and now I'm here while they're stuck in a bubble by the doorway."
"At least that's one plus for today." Amity groaned. "I got something for all my trouble."
"Hey, it's not the worst situation that could happen." Lucci shrugged as he attempted to pull them free.
"How could it possibly be any worse than being forever trapped in a book!?" Amity demanded.
"He could've closed the book and forced you two to kiss." Her roomate pointed it out.
"Ah yeah, Amity would have killed us all if that happened." She chuckled. Even if Luz wouldn't have minded it, there was always the need for consent.
Said girl did that whole face blush all the witches seemed to do around her as she turned her head. "Just get us out of here!"
"Trying, that guy could tie a good knot." Lucci complained as he yanked hard.
"Boy from nowhere causing pain …" Obtain growled as he approached. "All his efforts will be in vain!"
"Can't you see your causing strain? You mend people together, or so you claim." Lucci turned his attention to the rabbit. "By Forcing these bonds, friendship you can never obtain!"
"Why's he speaking in rhyme?" Not that Luz didn't mind, but it was a little out of nowhere.
"It's what we did whenever we read the book as kids." Amity explained. "He's not himself, you need to get the book that's tied to his chest." Amity warned him.
"Or I could just let the library rewrite what's left. If I leave some cash it won't count as theft." Lucci sent forth a razor disk
Buzzzz
That sparked off the rabbit's skull like it was some kind of metal. "Obtain's quest will never end, not until he has a friend!" They shouted as they pushed back.
"Lucci's quickly realizing the error of his way. There was a book he heard someone say?" Lucci switched his gears. "Your words hold quite the sway, I seek to mend the bonds of my past this day."
"Stop talking in rhymes and I'll tell you how to survive." Amity deadpanned.
"Oh good, it's hard to keep that up without singing." Lucci turned to the giant book they were held in and used another razor disk to slice it in half. "How are we doing this, Blight?"
"The comet brings stories to life, Ed and Em messed with the source material and made him a monster, we just need to find his story and fix things up." She explained.
"Obtain may be frail, but he is not a dummy. He keeps his weakness near his tummy!"
"Thanks for the bad guy monologue." Lucci smiled as he picked up a random scattered page. "Luz, you're the writer here and your imagination is crazy. Make us something crazy."
Luz grabbed the pen, writing out her first thoughts into words. They were in a crunch, no time for overdone details. "Lucci was suddenly armed with an anti Obtain cannon, filled with dark matter energy. Amity was filled with the power of twenty women, spirits of librarians desperate to keep the peace of the catacombs."
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Amity suddenly lit up in an overwhelming surge of purple energy, looking like a power up sequence from Dragon Claw Z. Like a cannonball made out of lighting, she shot herself forward in a blink of an eye, knocking the monster into the wall. "FIIIIIIIIIREEE ALREADY!"
They stared at the pissed off girl. "Too much?" Luz asked.
"I'm not going to argue with results, or piss off a librarian ever again." Lucci lifted his fancy new weapon. "NOW EAT LITERACY, SUCKA!" And fired the black ball of boiling energy.
They were blasted through a few bookshelves, the book on their stomach dropping to the ground. "I've never felt so proud." Luz grinned as she walked over to Obtain to Bookeeper's book, opening it to the doodled page. "And … erase."
A flash of light washed over the beast, and what came in its place was a tiny little bunny guy, cute and innocent as he should be. "I'm, I'm terribly sorry, I don't know what came over me."
"It wasn't your fault little guy." Amity leaned down, ruffling their head. "We're still friends, alright?"
"Friends." The little guy hugged the girl.
"Isn't he lucky." Lucci sighed sadly to the side as Luz closed the book.
"So…what an adventure, am I right?" Luz tried to break the tension.
"I think I'll take a page out of Willow's book and pretend today didn't happen." Lucci answered. "Come on Luz, let's head home."
"Wait!" Amity yelled, stopping the boy in his tracks. "Lucci….I…" Amity slapped her forehead. "Can't believe I'm about to do this."
"Do what?" Lucci asked as Amity opened up her diary. "Whoa, Amity, it's fine, you don't need to show anything-"
"Lilith said she was getting closer to capturing her sister. Somehow i highly doubt that." The little Amity popped up from the pages. " Still, it's nice to think me and Lucci could be in the Emperor's coven together. He'd hate working for the emperor,,.he'd hate being in a coven in general really, but we'd get to hang out again. Two thirds of team Law, La. Heh. I'm glad nobody reads this."
They all stood in silence. "... You wanted Lilith to catch my mom." He muttered. "Because you'd thought it'd make me good enough to hang out with you?" Well … that was fucked up.
"No, yes, I don't know." Amity admitted. "I've been told so many things and had to do so much of what I hate for so long, I don't even know what the right thing to do is. I just wanted to be around someone I could trust." She held her head down. "I never thought you were a jerk for what it's worth."
Lucci took a moment to breathe. "It's not worth much…but it's worth something, Amity. Thanks." He began walking away once more before Luz could get context for what they were talking about.
Luz looked at him, then at Amity. "Sorry about the mess … hope we can talk about Azura sometime." She pulled out something she's kept in her hoodie. "I noticed you only had the first four books, so here. It doesn't make up for seeing your diary, but.." She handed her the fifth book of the series.
"Azura…" Amity's eyes widened, slowly and cautiously accepting it. "This isn't a fake, right? Or cursed? Or stolen?"
"Of course not." Luz smiled as she made her way to the entrance. "For the great Azura promised her uncle to never lie when it came to her own name." Something any fan would know.
" To uphold honor and valor with every breath I take, and stand proudly for every step I make." Amity quoted flawlessly. "You might….MIGHT not be such a bully after all. Titan knows I'm not the nicest witch."
"No one is the most anything. That's what makes the world fun." Luz gave the girl a smile. "Endless growth and change in an exciting and fantastical universe."
"You sound like how Lucci used to talk as a kid." Wait what?
"Mr Emo sounded like me?" She asked.
Amity stared at her for a moment, before she snorted, then burst out laughing as she walked out of the door. She continued cackling even as Lucci looked at her funny. "What's making you crack a smile for once?"
"Nothing … Mr Emo."
Lucci's expression didn't change as they started to go their separate ways. "Oh haha, Mittens."
This wasn't the friendship make-up plan she wanted, but Luz felt something was different between the two after today, not so much animosity like before. Now came the question she was dreading the most.
"Lucci…you don't think I'm a bully, right?" She asked her roommate after they started heading into the familiar forest.
The boy looked away for a bit, like he was having a hard time trying to figure out what he wanted to say. "Luz, lot of what you do reminds me of how I used to be..of who I want to be, pushy optimist and all." He began waking ahead of her. "It's probably why you're the only friend I have."
"... What happened?" She asked. She knew the biases of what LAW (aw, cute) went through, but even after today, they just scratched the surface of all the weight they buried themselves under.
Lucci stopped walking for a moment. "I … learned there are people who say you're friends, but ditch you the moment it's convenient." He looked at her. "Don't be me … alright?"
"I won't, someone's got to bring the sunshine into your life, it might as well be me, my friend." She hugged his arm.
"Aw, that's sweet." They turned around to see the still bubbled twins of Edric and Emira. "Now if you'd be so kind and free-."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, they pop after a couple of hours, give or take how much emotion is put in them." Lucci smiled.
"Why do so many of your powers run on moods?" Luz asked. "I'm all for the power of friendship, but still."
"I don't understand the magic, I feel it and I do it. No need for complications."
"Glad I can make you feel this strongly about me, curly top." Emira waved. "Until next time~." Luz was pretty sure they would be in there until sunrise.
========================================================================
Eda heard the door open, slowly blinking the crust out of her eyes. "What the … the kids!" She jumped up, looking over for her babies. They should've been in her arms, where they never had the chance to leave her side ever!
"They already left." Lucci's voice called out. "There's a pile of treasure, so I'm pretty sure the Bat Queen came by and took them."
"I kinda feel like a pirate queen just gazing at this giant chest of gold." Luz's voice spoke with awe.
"Wait..they're gone?" Eda asked, a slight pout forming on her expression. "But..it's too soon. I just taught jr how to pick locks. We had an ice cream bender planned and everything."
"So many explanations, yet so many questions." Luz muttered. "Don't worry Eda, I made sure to grab a book just for the occasion." She handed over … 'how to cope with empty nest syndrome'.
"Oh haha, owl lady, bird, nest." She groaned. "Don't tell me you were gone the whole night just for that one joke."
"Nope, I was helping Lucci bond with Amity." Luz smiled.
"Luz was conned by the Blight Twins." Lucci countered.
"That sounds about right. Come here, your little troublemakers." She pulled the two in close.
"You're definitely looking and feeling extra maternal today Eda." Luz commented as she returned the hug. "I guess babysitting taught you some wonderful life lessons after all."
"Yes, the lesson of never letting a child out of my sight ever again or they'll leave you forever." Eda patted the girl on the back.
"…I think I just found a major source of Lucci's trust issues."
"And that's enough friendship talk for today." Lucci got up. "I'm heading to bed."
"Wait, let me tuck you in!" Eda scrambled off the couch to catch up.
"Mom, I can tuck myself in."
"Not tonight. Family cuddle time. Into the nest."
"Ah guys, I really think this is something we should talk more seriously about!" Luz tried to inject, only for Eda to pull her close again.
"Nope, no more talking. Into the nest." She would care for these babies and never let them go, ever.
"Cuddle time!" King got it.