Summary: Some relationships ... never mend
"Now if you get nervous on your first day of class, then what you need to do is punch the first guy you see, to assert dominance." Eda eloquently explained to her child as they sat down on a park bench. It was a nice enough day to enjoy idle lounging out in the open without too much hassle, so what better way than to enjoy it with her family, that is, King and Lucci.
She invited Luz, but she was getting into the 'hexide spirit', and decided to join the nerds in watching her first Grudgby game. "I understand." He nodded. "Question, what if the first person I see is an aqu-bud-friend?" Right, she was trying to fix that whole trust issue he had going on.
"Then just wait until it's a stranger, it adds to the unpredictable nature of your personality." She added in. "A tough kid is one thing, but a tough kid that punches someone for no reason is horrifying." It was a fine line between fear and respect. "When it comes to the classroom, keep the teachers on edge, but don't drive them too off the walls."
"Really? I figured you'd want me to set every teacher on fire."
"Well that is a pleasant thought, not all of them deserve too much grief. You shoud've seen old Bumpy back when he was the vice principal. Somesays I felt bad just breathing too hard around him." Especially with Faust around. Dude was a nut job.
King came rolling in. "My throne has been taken by my mortal enemy!" They turned to the snot nosed kid with a happy smile. "You will fall before me, usurper!"
"Sure thing, friend!" The child waved.
"I'm starting to see your hatred of the term, Lucci." The little scamp made himself comfortable sitting next to them.
"Why do you think l never use that term loosely?" The boy snickered. "So going there means only learning about one type of magic at a time. What was the track you were on?"
"Potions. They're the easiest magic to mix up and get creative in, and the fastest way to whip up a stink bomb on short notice." Some of her best pranks came from that class . "And if worse comes to worse, I had a little secret installed in the detention track."
"I'll probably explore that one at a very late date. I still see eyeballs when I close my eyes." Lucci shivered. "Potions sound fun, but bard is my favorite, and I've wanted to learn more about Beast Keeping."
"What, so you can be like Luz and control monstrosities to witch and demonkind?" King asked.
"If I did, then I would just sign up for the plant track, and no one wants that." Everyone shivered, remembering the veggie incident. "I just think it would be great to have an animal companion that won't try to bite me every five minutes."
"If you want that, then just wait until you finally get your palisman." Eda patted him. "Just like good old Owlbert." She hoped they left enough 'chaaps' for Centi to leave them alone. "I carved the little guy myself and we've been inseparable since. Remember Lucci, a witches relationship with their palisman is one of the, if not THE most important relationship they'll ever have."
"I remember mom. I come from a family of Palisman carvers." Lucci reached up and scratched the guy's head. "I'm still not totally convinced on keeping 'Centi' around the house because of it."
"Good, we're all on the same page with that." King pipped up. "Question is how are we going to squash that giant bug before it kills us all?"
"We can't." Eda answered.
"Look, I understand that Luz is attached but-"
"No, we literally can't." Eda cut off her son. "Those guys are pests because they're immortal. They pop right back up after a couple days from when you destroy them."
"What?" Lucci looked wide eyed.
"Yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you squash them, they always come back." The only thing she'd ever agree with the emperor's coven on was that they needed to be wiped out. "But enough about them, lets have some fun with-"
Craaa
Eda could feel the screeching in the back of her skull. "Shoot." She searched her bag. "It's acting up, I need the Elixir."
"You didn't take it this morning?" Lucci asked with concern.
"I've been more focused on recovering the Apple Blood King messed up, so it sort of slipped my mind."
"Mom!"
"Relax, kiddo. I never leave the house without.." She lifted up the vial, a visable crack in it as potion leaked out of it. "An uncracked bottle. Shoot."
CRAAA
Eda held her head, seeing feathers aline her arms. "Kids, run to the house, grab the elixir, asap." She told them seriously.
"What about you!? We can't just leave you here out in the open like this!" Lucci grabbed ahold of her arms.
"No, I don't have a lot of time and I'm already craving lots of raw meat." She held her stomach as more feathers formed. "I need you out of the danger zone fast."
"Wait, maybe we can wait until she eats the little usurper." King suggested.
SCREEEE
"Whatever you plan, do it fast-" She could feel her bones shifting as her brain slowly became more and more focused on … on …
The Owl Beast blinked, staring down at the two individuals. Strange, they felt off, they weren't hungry, or angry. "Scraaa?"
"Mom? Are you alright? Can you here me in there?"
"Crooo." They could hear the strange and tall one, but what's a mom?
"Lucci, look at her eyes." The tiny one pointed at the Owl Beast. "I think she's stuck halfway there."
"Weird. At least she's not trying to kill anyone." The taller one spoke again. "Uh, hey..mom beast..sit?"
The owl beast didn't know why, but something about the figure made her want to listen. As such, she complied with the order. "Scro."
"Guess this partial transformation means her brain's are more susceptible to suggestion." The smaller figure muttered, silent for a moment before pointing. "Eat that kid!"
"Graaaa." They began walking to 'that kid'.
"King, now's not the time for petty revenge! We need to get mom to the elixir asap!"
"In a minute. My honor must be avenged! My enemies must taste my wrath!" The tiny one shouted as the figure covered in snot began running away crying. "You know exactly what you did!"
"Gah, whatever, hey! Owl Beast, come with us!" Once more, they were compelled to follow.
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Luz carefully and quietly opened the door, giving a 'shush' sound to Hooty. "I LOVE THE QUIET GAME!" The bird demon shouted.
"Hooty, seriously, I need you to stay quiet!" She shout whispered, looking over her surroundings. "Eda isn't back yet, is she?"
"Nope! Still out with Lucci and King on this lovely fine day, probably pickpocketing and smelling the daffodeads like any normal day!" Hooty shouted, dangly his head all around. "Why, what are yooooou up to Luz?"
"Something that you can't tell anyone else about, alright?" She asked, before recalling something. "Pretty please?"
Hooty gasped. "The password!" The big wormy guy wrapped himself around Luz in a squeeze-like hug. "Finally! I was starting to think no one else would ever say those words to me again!" She'd almost feel sorry for him. But the voice made that part difficult. "Okay, you got the Hooty seal of silence! Now spill the deets, girl!"
"Well, if you must know, I'm attending my first Grudgby game with Willow and Gus to help myself get into that Hexide pride." Just a little way to celebrate her enrollment. "But I spent a little too much time trying to fit into Banshee merch, and made us miss the ride over to glandus."
"Why isn't Lucci going?" Hooty asked. "Isn't the girl he likes playing?"
"One, we didn't think to tell him because he's iffy on school still, and two, Willow didn't want to tell him because she didn't want to, and I quote, 'listen to more blind gushing about that triangle eyed bitch' then there needed to be." Harsh but accurate.
"So Willow's going to watch a sport about a girl she hates and not bring her awkward bestie because he'd cheer on the girl from the same school you're all cheering for …" Hooty nodded. "Sounds perfectly reasonable to me." They smiled in a way they legitimately believed it was right.
"Yeah, the whole situation is a mess, but good news is that Lucci and Willow don't hate each other, so there's small steps being made in restoring their friendship!" Very, very, small steps. "Anyways, I'm here to take Owlbert so we can fly over there in time."
"Oooh, you want to take all the owls in the house on a joy ride, do yah? The demon said teasingly. "Make sure to not scratch him. Eda killed the last guy to do that. Centi's feeding on his bones right now."
"Krkrkkrkr ." The little bug knawed on what looked like a femur.
"Awwww, aren't you a little sweet green machine, aren't you girl?" She rubbed Centi's white mane. "You're not a scary devil like everyone says, your a good fluffy little girl, yes you are, oh yes you are."
"Rrkrccrcc." They leaned into the petting.
"Alright." She began walking over to the stairs, making her way to the door labled 'Eda's Room, you know not to enter'. Any other time, she'd be more inclined to listen.
"This isn't wrong, it's not like your not going to return him, he's just going to go on a little trip, that's all." Luz told herself as she walked in. Owlbert was resting right on Eda's nest.
Was she taking Owlbert without permission and without them knowing? Yes. But they were criminals, so it wasn't like she wasn't picking up some of their traits. "It's not so bad…Lucci and Eda steal all the time, this is just me applying what they've been teaching me." She assured herself as she approached the staff.
Its eyes slowly blinked into awareness, like an adorable baby bird. "Hoot?"
"Hey Owlbert." She greeted softly. "I need your help for today, alright?"
"Hooot?" They said right back, presumably asking something.
"Well … I still can't understand palasmins, but I'm going to take the non aggressive tone as a yes, alright?"
"Hoot." Owlbert rolled their adorable little eye as he shifted into staff form.
"Don't worry, it's just going to be for a couple of hours, and then we'll never speak of this again." That seemed to be a running theme around the house. "I hope I haven't left Willow and Gus waiting too long."
"IS that a Crystal DEVIL!?"
"Bury it before it buries us!"
Woops, forgot to explain that. She rushed downstairs to the front. "Guys, guys!" She shouted. "It's allright, Centi is cool." She reached to the bag, tossing the creature some chaaps.
They munched on them mid air. "Krkrkrkr." They purred in delight.
"Did…Did you just feed…a Crystal DEVIL!?" Willow exclaimed.
"Yes, yes I did." She petted Centi again. "And it's rude to use the D-word around her. Call her Centi." She gave a kiss to the white mane as Owlbert shifted nervously in her hands.
"... Willow, I think I just became more scared of Luz than I am of you." Gus muttered.
"It's cool, I'm more afraid of this too." Willow slowly took a backward step. "Luz, I've seen Lucci fall into three different griffin nests; float over the boiling sea, and pull pranks on the emperor's coven…NONE of those are as crazy as what you're doing right now."
Luz rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you gave them a chance they wouldn't be so scary, now would they?"
"Sccccrrrr."
"And she's just a humble mama doing her thing, like Eda." Luz walked over to the two. "Now come on, lets ride for some grudgby."
"Klerk." Aww, Centi crawled on her back. Guess she wanted to come too.
"Luz, you need to drop the bug if you're going to fly by staff." Gus told her. "Crystal Devils are relentless when it comes to consuming palistrom wood.
"Yeah yeah, Lucci tells me the story all the time." She tossed a bag of chaaps into the house, the creature hissing in happiness as it entered. "Can't that see that Centi's a good girl? Obedient, caring, nurturing, and a great therapist for a five year old."
"Suddenly a lot of things have started to make sense." Willow shook her head. "Fine, but only if you're sure. The chance of seeing Boscha getting hurt while cheering for Hexide against Glandus is too good to pass up."
"Can't we all get along?" Luz asked.
"Ah, Luz." Gus shook his head fondly. "Glandus is the worst. Like, genuinely the worst." Well if Gus vouched for the hate, who was Luz to disagree?
"Well, everyone get on." Luz smiled as she held the staff in position.
"You have flown with Owlbert before, right?" Willow asked as she got on.
"I have… justneverbeentheonedriving."
"Wait, what was that?" Gus asked with fear.
"And we're off!" Luz jumped into the air as Owlbert began to flap their wings. "Ride like the wi-whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Owlbert began jerking around just a little, almost shaking her off her course. "Steady now, steady Owlbert!" Luz shouted as she tried to navigate.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Gus said from the back as they keep running into branches, zig zagging as like they were on the world's most uncomfortable bumper car ride.
"TREE!" Willow shouted, pointing straight ahead.
Unfortunately it was too late, as they all hit the stationary object head on.
Crack
Luz fell to the ground, groaning as she tried to shake off the disorientation. "Everyone okay?"
"My brain tastes sound." Gus answered as he waved one of his flags in the air.
"Nothings broken." Willow raised her hand. "Nothing more than a fracture at least."
"Cool, cool." Luz stood up as she wobbled a bit. "Wait, Owlbert?" She looked around for the tiny owl, eventually finding them, looking at her with terror … and a crack in their skull
"Hoot." They spoke with a sad tone.
"Owlbert, I'm so sorry!" She rushed forward as the tiny guy twisted himself off Eda's staff. "I can fix this, just come with me and-"
"Hoooot." The little guy hooted sadly again as they began flying away..away from her…and into the words."
"No, no, no, no!" Luz screeched. "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm-" She slapped herself. "No! I'm going to get him back and I'm going to fix this!"
"Luz, wait a second! You can't just run into the woods!" Willow exclaimed. "Not only is this where the crystal devils roam, the Bat Queen is said to fly around this part of the forest, and she's known to be super protective of abandoned palisman."
"Well Owlbert is hurt, and I'm going in anyway." She stated resolutely. "I need to help him any way I can." Luz began running into the forest. "Owlbert! Please, come back!" She needed to fix a mistake for once in her life, instead of just causing more for everyone else.
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"Come on Eda, this way now." King kept throwing small cribs in front of them as he rode on the Owl Beast. "You know, I had a lesson about not feeding animals back when you first showed Luz a trash slug, but somehow it works out with everyone else." The demon king noted.
" Scraaaa." The beast screeched as it nuzzled Lucci's arm as they walked.
"You know, when it's not trying to kill people, the Owl Beast is actually pretty pleasant." Lucci rubbed the owl demon's head. "It's just a giant animal, nothing more and nothing less." King threw some more crumbs. "... Do you think Luz is gonna call us hypocrites for bonding with a vicious animal through food and cuddling?"
"Absolutely. Which is why we're never going to tell her about this" King vowed. "It'll be like that time we never told Eda about how we fed her anti-wrinkle potion to Hooty".
"He looked good for days, but mom's hunting was relentless." Lucci shivered. "We can work with that … hey King?" Lucci asked quietly.
"Yeah?" He turned to stare at the serious change in tone.
"Mom's never done … this before." He looked over the beast. "Does that mean anything?" The boy questioned. "Is the curse … changing?"
"Hm, curses are not exactly my area of expertise, but if I had to take a guess, it might be a sign of it getting stronger." King sadly observed. "This docile nature might be an effect of the lack of magic in her body now."
"Stronger?" Lucci's eyes widened. "What, does that mean … the Elixir isn't gonna work soon?"
"I..I don't know, Lucci. I really don't know." He admitted.
"Mom…oh mom, why did you have to keep this side of your life hidden for so long?" Lucci stopped his tracks and hugged the beast's head, wiping away tears. "We're family…I would've found some way to help you."
"Crrrrooooo." The beast nuzzled into his side sadly.
King winced at the image. "It probably still works for now. You and I know Eda's a tough old codger. She ain't going down without a fight, curse or no curse." King couldn't imagine his life without the woman. She gave him a family, and he would always be eternally grateful for that.
"Yeah! Your right." Lucci sniffed. "We just gotta get her to the house and-"
"Come on guys." Some eyepatch wearing guy with an animal control vest walked by. "I know our last job as Demon Hunter went poorly, but if we do a good enough job, maybe we can get our licence back and-" The group froze, staring at Lucci. "... You."
"Hey there …" Lucci started nervously. "What brings you guys around?"
"Reports of a wild owl beast attacking children at a playground." They glared. "You know, since you cost us our old jobs with the crazy vine chick."
"All hail the goddess!!" One of them shouted.
"Oh, well sounds like you guys are really busy then." Lucci began signaling them to move away. "Guess we'll be on our way home and far away from your business here-"
Shank
All three of them ducked under a harpoon. "Nice try, brat. We're taking in that monster behind you, and there's nothing you can do about it." The eyepatch guy readied his magic circle.
"Craaawww." Eda growled out.
"Eda, calm down." King tried to assure her as Lucci pulled out his shield. "There's nothing to be scared of, we can deal with this-"
"Vrrrrvvvv." An unnatural tone came out from the woods. All of them stood in silence, gazing at each other.
"In our twenty years as Demon Hunters." Eyepatch started, a hint of sweat on his face. "We've only heard that sound once …"
"No, no, not them, anything but them!" The green skinned one fell to the ground. "I lost my Palisman to one of those bastards!"
"One of your …" The ground shook a bit as Lucci muttered.
"Well you gentlemen are clearly busy, we'll be on our way!" Eyepatch began running with the other Demon Hunters.
"Hey, you can't just steal my excuse! Come up with something original if you're just going to ditch us for dead!" Lucci demanded.
"Rumrumeumeumeurm."
"Lucci, I don't think that's going to be our main problem here!" He pointed to the ground, where a giant dangly claw crawled out. The dirt below them falling apart as the monstrosities began making themselves known.
One of them looked like some dark blue plant creature, multiple vines acting as appendages as it pulled itself out, a mouth snapping and growling as it gazed around the area eyelessly, constantly tapping the ground. The other had the vague appearance of a mole, with a giant purple crystal embedded in its skull, a hardened shell resting on its top half, sniffing the air with a strange tone.
"Crystal Devils!" King shouted out in fear, trying his best to hide within Eda's mane of feathers.
"Scrraaaa!" Eda growled at them, trying to stand her ground.
"Rumrummmmmeee." The mole charged forward, shoving apart earth as it batted the woman away, into a tree.
"Leave my mom alone!" Lucci shouted, creating a couple razor disks as he tried to throw them at the creature. "This perfectly fine day was already turning sour because of the curse rearing its ugly head, I do NOT need it to get worse by seeing yours!"
" Brrrrrgeh!" The plant one grabbed the boy from behind and pinned him to the ground.
"Ahh! No!" King wasn't going to let this happen, not when he was the king of Demons! "Eda, that's your hatchling they're attacking! As your ruler, I demand you do something about it!"
"CAAAWWW!" The Owl Beast screamed as it rushed forward, grabbing the plant beast inside of it's jaws and trying to pierce it, only for the mole to tackle the both of them.
"Stop hurting my mom!" Lucci jumped back up and grabbed the mole from back leg. "Attacking me is one thing, but when you go after my family, buddy, that's when you crossed the point of no return!" The boy proceded to throw the mole into a nearby tree, hard.
Pieeeerce
Like really, really hard. " Aaaaaaaghhhhh !" The bastard screeched from the thick long branch landed on, the one that currently stabbed the creature all the way through its chest. " Aggggggfhhhhhh-!" Weird how there was no blood.
Pooof
To the disbelief of both of them, the Crystal Devil poofed out of existence, only the crystal part on the beast falling to the ground. "Did …" King noted. "Did you kill it?"
"No … Mom said they were immortal, right?" Lucci asked. "So it's totally fine to not hold back, right?"
"Scro." The owl beast let out a low growl as if it agreed.
"If the mindless animal agrees, who am I to argue?" Anything was better than actually facing those things.
"Krkrkrkrkaaaaaaagggggggh!"
"Oh right, we still have that one to deal with." King moaned.
" Scraaaaaaaa!" The owl beast screeched back, stomping the ground like a predator would when protecting its territory.
"Guess we're going to be here a while, King." Lucci sighed as he began cracking his neck.
"Cool, I'm just gonna go hide in a tree to avoid the giant plant thing from bitting my head off." Even though he hated being treated like a baby, King would admit he was clearly outmatched without his Demon King powers.
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Willow was honestly surprised they lasted as long as they did. Walking through the Crystal Devil's territory tended to be a death sentence, but other than a rumble here and there they never actually encountered anything. It was sure to end as they were entering the cave of the Bat Queen, but again, Willow was surprised they even got this far without dying.
"So Eda did a small favor for the Bat Queen a while ago, so what are the chances that this girl will be super nice and negotiable?" Luz asked with that adorable yet life threatening naivety she's come to enjoy and slightly loathe this far.
"She's eaten multiple people for just getting near the Palasmins in this forest." Gus answered. "And that's one of the better fates, the guys in the Emperor's Coven get it worse if you could believe it."
"I'm dead either way if I tell Eda I broke and lost Owlbert. I might as well try and salvage the situation as best I can." Luz sadly sighed as she made her way in, the ground crunching with every step.
"They're just twigs, they're just twigs." Willow repeated to herself as she looked at the cave ceiling as she stepped over the numerous bones scattered across the floor.. "If I just imagine they're twigs, that's what they'll be." Keep it out of sight, keep it out of mind. Willow slipped, falling to the ground, face to face with a skull. "... Really off colored rock." She squeaked.
"Come on, guys, we've gotta keep moving." Luz helped her up as the group continued forward, eventually reaching a large opening. Across from them stood a giant round woman, with large batlike wings. Owlbert rested by her feet. "Owlbert!" Luz began running forward.
The little guy simply scooted back as the bat lady flew forward, stomping the ground as she landed in front of Luz. "Stop, tiny human. No harm comes to Palisman when Bat Queen is around."
"Heheh, yeah, hey, Batty, so ah, funny story." Luz began to shiver in the presence of the demon's horrifying aura overwhelming the area. "I'm Luz, I work for Eda the Owl Lady, and Owlbert belongs to her, so I'm here to take him back home-"
"Owl Lady is careless." Well that wasn't exactly wrong. "She left staff unprotected from harmful, careless, thieving human. To harm a Palisman is unforgivable. I protect him." The Bat Queen gave a deadly glare to her.
"Please, I beg of you." Luz got on her knees. "I messed up, I hurt Owlbert, I'll do whatever it takes to make it right. Please, give me the chance."
The Bat Queen narrowed their eyes at them, the looks of absolute disgust and seething rage locked within her gaze. "I protect Palisman. My sacred duty as Queen of Forest. Protect them from likes of carless owners and Crystal Devils, and you reek of both."
"I tamed them, I promise that Owlbert is in no danger."
The Bat Queen cackled. "The Crystal Devils can not be tamed. You bring nothing but lies and false promises. All Palisman fears for their life every day around Crystal Devils." She gestured to the foreground of the cave walls, where they could see hundreds of eyes gazing down on them.
"Are those.." Willow looked closer, the silhouettes showing off what looked like to be hundreds of animals, lots of them appearing to have either cracks on them, or chewed on with large teeth marks scattered across their bodies.
"All Palasmans. Mistreated. Betrayed. Fearful." The Bat Queen explained. "I should kill you now just for the sin of making them think a Crystal Devil approaches."
"Please! I swear on the Titan that I mean no harm to Owlbert or any Palisman!" Luz got on her knees and began crying. "I'm a screw up, I'm stupid, I'm careless, and I don't think things through! Just please, let me make things right for once!"
"Luz.." Gus and herself wanted to offer a reassuring shoulder for her to lean on, only for the Bat Queen to raise her claw and close it, making what appeared to be webs ensnare them in place.
"Hooot." Owlbert hooted, flying on top of the Bat Queen as both their eyes shared a yellow glow in them.
"Are you sure?" Bat Queen asked out loud, the little owl giving a small nod in response. "Very well. Against better judgment, Owlbert wishes to see trust earned."
"What do I need to do?" The crying girl asked.
"Three trials. Complete them, and prove yourself capable of true remorse." The Bat Queen stated with a glare.
"Luz, please, this won't end well." Willow tried to talk her out of it. "They say the trials of the Bat Queen are brutal. No one's known to win, let alone survive them."
"No, I have to do this. I need to make up for my stupid and selfish mistake." Luz shook her head and managed to get up. "Alright Bat Queen, what do I need to do?"
"Bat Queen babies need fresh nourishment." The Bat queen gestured to three horrifying looking little heads with wings. "For the first trial, Milk Spider Demon and feed them every last drop."
Luz looked around. "Alright … where is the Spider Demon?" She asked.
"Up there." She pointed to the ceiling, where a giant spider hung upside down, growling as foam leaked from its mouth.
"Okay…so are you going to call it down or.."
"You do trials all on your own. No assistance."
"Right right, of course." The girl nodded, running to a rock wall. "Come on weak nerd arms, climb. Climb!" Luz shouted to herself as she tried to scale the side of the cave.
She sent a look to Gus. "Can't we do anything?"
"I might be able to get an illusion to scare it to the ground …" Some more webs popped around his hands. "Nope, we're doomed."
"Damn it. I wish Lucci was here." With that freakish strength, he would've broken out and created a barrier big enough to make some distance. Or if it came to it, that weird combo magic thing they did.
"Well, maybe if you invited him.."
"No. I would've had to deal with the Boscha drooling, and I've had enough of that in my lifetime already." Amity left her to be friends with that bitch, who's to say he wouldn't have done the same?
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Lucci once more tackled the plant devil and sent it into the air, where it moved around like a monkey. "Vrrrrr." It hissed at them.
"Suddenly realizing that fighting Centi is more effort than it's worth." The boy panted as he tried to land a blow on the mobile bugger with his disks. The planty viney monster was way too limber and agile for him to hit.
" Scraaaa!" Mom was only doing just a little bit better, managing to scale the trees to attempt a head on assault and only managing to land minor scratches here and there. Weird how she didn't use her wings to move around…then again if she went wild and feral again, Lucci probably wouldn't have been able to catch up with her.
"Can't you just make something super big and hit everywhere!?" King shouted from a safe distance.
"I don't want to cause too much damage to the forest. If there's two Crystal Devils around, there might be more." And the cover would help if that was the case. "To think I actually used to like playing in the woods as a kid!" He shouted as he threw another disk that missed. "I'd climb these trees and enjoy myself!"
" SCRAAAA !" Mom screeched again as she managed to land on top of it, sending them rolling into the ground, the planty monster trying to use its vines to ensare her in a tight grip.
"What part of leaving her alone do you not comprehend!?" Lucci shouted, grabbing onto the vines and swinging the plant like devil around, throwing them into a tree. "We're trying to live our lives here!"
" KRKRKRKR! "
"There's a lot of things I'm trying to process now, alright, and I don't need you bugging into my life with whatever crap you want to bring!" He charged forward with a shield in hand, pressing deeper and deeper into a dark corner of the woods. "My social life is a mess and I might be losing my mom to some horrible dark fate, so the last!" He punched the creature forward and continued to press on. "Thing!" Punch. "I need!" Punch. "Is for monsters!" PUNCH! "Like you!" PUNCH "MAKING MY LIFE!" PUNCH " WORSE!"
The Crystal Devil had a small hole where he punched. "Mmmmkrrrr." It groaned out.
Pooof
Before it vanished in a puff of smoke, only a small gem resting on the ground. "That … smarts." Lucci grimaced as he caught his breath.
"Lucci?" His head picked up from the familiar voice he didn't expect to hear in the woods.
"Willow?" He asked. "Gus? What are you guys doing here tied up?" Luccia asked as he looked around, noticing that he seemed to enter what looked like some sort of cave.
"Long story, did you just disintegrate a crystal devil?" Willow asked, looking confused and horrified.
"I guess …" He shook his head. "I don't get it either, Mom said they're immortal …" He paused. "Wait, where's Luz?"
"Working for the Bat Queen." Gus answered, hanging upside down..
"Hey King!" Lucci shouted. "Wasn't Bat Queen one of the dangerous people of the Isles mom mentioned?"
"Yeah, we babysat her kids and got that huge stash of treasure!" King shouted as he began running to them,with mom right behind him. "Also….you run really fast…did you unlock super speed?"
"I wish." He muttered, turning to the sight of Luz washing what he would've described as the most horrifying and scary looking bats of all time. "Hey Luz, what are…" He suddenly found himself covered in webs too that grew out of the ground. "...Doing here?" He looked at the giant Bat creature.
"Lucci!?" She jumped up. "King, Eda!?" The human froze, but looked curious. "Is she … beast mode?"
"She's only part way transformed, she's more mama bird like this." King explained. "Watch. Eda, sit." The Owl Beast complied. "That's a good girl, that's a good ferocious demon bird mom." King scratched behind her ears.
"Oh wow … impressive." They nodded.
Lucci raised an eyebrow. He could have sworn she'd point out the whole thing with Centi hypocrisy, but she just kept washing the children of the Bat Queen. "So … what's going on here?"
"You know, just doing favors for the good ole bat queen, you know how it is?" Luz answered, making it sound like a question more than an answer.
"She is completing trials to atone for her sin." The giant woman glared. "You lie again, do you?"
Lucci wasn't offended by lies, he expected everyone to. Even Luz had done it once or twice, but after the whole thing in detention, he'd thought she'd be more against it. "Luz…why are you here?"
"I …" She looked racked with guilt. "I …"
"Hoot." Lucci turned to Owlbert … his Mom's palismin … carrying a crack on their head.
"Luz…you cracked Owlbert!?" Lucci charged right at the girl, breaking free of the webs.
"Lucci, I know this looks bad, but I've been going everything I can to-"
"Palisman aren't toys to be played with! They're the closest companions anyone can have!" Lucci exclaimed as he grabbed onto her collar, feeling himself nearly explode. "Owlbert's family Luz! I thought you got that!"
"I know, I know! I messed up! I've been doing everything I can to make it up! I swear!"
He tossed the girl on the ground. "You've done enough." He began bowing to the queen. "Let me make it up to everyone, please, in the name of my … associate." Lucci was right before, friends just stab you in the back when they felt like it.
"Hooot." The little guy perked up upon seeing him, and to begin fluttering away, though the bat queen seemed reluctant to let him.
"Are you certain? His mother can't be trusted. Same could go for him." The Bat Queen asked the bird back.
"Hoot." The two shared a weird yellow eye glow.
"Ah…I see." The Bat Queen relented, letting Owlbert fly into his hands.
"Oh Owlbert, I'm sorry you had to go through this. I knew I should've placed a bubble around you before we left." He gently rubbed his head.
"Hoot." Just because it was stuffy didn't mean it wasn't necessary!
"Ooof, this crack is really deep." He looked at it. The essence wasn't leaking out, so it wasn't anything fatal, but this was cutting it close. "I promise little guy, I'm going to take care of you. Once we get mom back, everything will be alright." He gently pressed his lips on his head, kissing the wound.
"Hoot." Aww, that was sweet. The little guy had such a way with words. They sounded just as pretty as the pink sparkles on his head-wait what? They could only stare in confusion as the crack slowly faded away, leaving a perfectly clear head. "Hoot?"
"Lucci … did you just fix him?" Luz asked.
"Since when could you heal!?" Willow shouted as she was freed from her binds.
"I don't! I never-I mean, yeah I heal fast, but I never did it to others…" He inspected Owlbert, seeing no sign of any crack or damage. "I….I have healing powers?"
"Tweet." A small red bird palismin flew over to Lucci, landing on his stomach, beginning to peck at his clothed belly rock. "Tweet."
"Do you own a gem child?" They turned to the Bat Queen, who gazed at them curiously and intensely.
"Yeah, I do, it's been with me ever since I was born." He admitted, showing it off by lifting his shirt, feeling like this wasn't a time to lie.
"... An old friend of mine once had one that looked just like that … It seems this one has had a pleasant experience as well." The queen noted, a gentle looking smile forming across her face.
"Tweet." The red bird once more pecked at the rock, before gently moving back to the other palismins.
"I see the Owl House has one responsible occupant in it." The bat queen glared at Luz, who rightfully held a face full of shame. "I can trust Owlbert's safety knowing you're around. You are free to go."
Lucci slowly began walking out, making his way to the entrance of the cave, deciding to break the silence. "Did … did she know my dad?" He asked.
"I think that's somehow on the lower side of the question spectrum this entire day has brought." Gus shook the cobwebs off of himself. "Like how YOU CAN HEAL PEOPLE BY KISSING THEM!"
"Honestly, that's not one of the weirder powers I have." Lucci responded. "I still have an eyeball on my back from the test fest." It was hard to sleep because he forgot that one was open.
"Shapeshifting powers rule." King laughed. "Also, can you heal Eda? Because I think she's starting to go feral."
"Grrrrr." They were sniffing Luz, who wasn't moving away despite the fear.
"Right..I don't know if this'll work though." He hesitantly approached the Owl Beast with a gentle hand. "Hey mom…I'm going to try something new and weird…I don't know if it'll work…but…It'll be better than nothing at least. Like you always say, nothing ventured, nothing gained."
" Scrrrrrrrrrrrr." The beast growled again, looking like she was about to take a bite out of Luz. He'd spare the girl the pain…no matter how much she deserved it. He kissed the woman, watching pink sparkles form around her body, before his Mom went back to normal. "Wha-what's happening?" His mom stood up in a daze. "Why are we in the woods, and why is Owlbert here?" He….he did it…he healed his mom….HE COULD HEAL HIS MOM!
"Mom, I have healing kisses!" Lucci shook his mom in excitement. He'd give this one last out for Luz, just because he knew just how brutal mom could be, and he didn't want anyone dead, not today at least. "If I can make this stronger, I can heal anything, maybe even your cur-"
"Hold on there, you little rascal." Mom stopped him. "Don't start jumping the gun or you'll start sounding just like your grandma."
"What?" He froze. "Grandma knew about the curse but didn't say anything?!" That explained EVERYTHING she's worked with in the Beast-keeping Coven. All the weird looking rituals she did and all the weird ingredients they picked together for seemingly no reason. His whole family was full of liars, who knew?
"You know what? I think today's a good day to restock on Lion Lickers. I'll go on a run right now." His mom summoned Owlbert to her hands.
"No wait, this is serious." No matter how much he wanted them. "She's been looking for a cure, and I suddenly have one, and-"
"Kiddo, let me tell you now, your saliva isn't a cure all." She told him.
"... He just said healing kisses." Luz pointed out. "Did….Did you know about this before?"
She sighed. "Happened once when you were younger, the feathers just vanished. After that I kinda used a mix of elixir and your saliva to stave it … but eventually, it just stopped working on the Curse all together, so I didn't bring it up." Mom looked ashamed. "I kinda forgot about it after a while."
"But…but I was able to bring you back, this time, so that means it still works to some extent." He looked up at her.
"I told you Lucci, this curse is something I have to deal with, not you. You shouldn't have to be responsible for me." She rubbed his forehead. "Now let's get out of here before I ask any more questions about why we're all in the woods."
"Yeah, let's get out of here." Luz said with a low head, and Lucci only turned his head away when she looked like she was reaching out to him. Hurting family…that was the one line you could never cross.
"Oh, also one more thing." King noted. "I thought you said Crystal Devils are immortal."
"They are." The Owl Lady nodded.
"But I thrashed two of them and they went poof." Lucci gave an exaggerated hand wave.
"All that's left is the crystals." King held up the purple and green gems.
"You killed things like Centi?" Luz asked, and Lucci sent her a glare that made her clamp her mouth shut.
"Yeah, here's the thing, their bodies are weird. If someone actually manages to damage them, they go 'poof'. Few days later, they reappear from those crystals and reshape their bodies. If you break the crystal, they just form creepy looking limbs and body parts. End results are still the same." Mom explained. "They form no matter what and hunt Palisman no matter what, so bury those rocks someplace dark and deep before they do reform."
"That's horrifying." Gus noted. "... So, hang out later?"
"I'm gonna go play some music in my room." Lucci said. "You guys can do what you want." He couldn't trust not to break anything else.