Summary: Surviving school has never been so literal before
Principal Bump stared at the destruction down the hallways. "... How do we have an entire Oracle Track but nobody sees these events coming?" At this point, a parent on the committee may actually start to gain leverage over how the school functions. Or worse, Glandus rubs it in their face.
"The school day is over, yet we've accumulated more damage than when the students are here…." All except the ones in the detention track...oh this was starting to make too much sense. "Edalyn, I blame you for this." He said out loud to himself, inspecting the damage.
Sure expulsion was an option he could take, but there were a couple of factors that dissuaded him. One being the human girl Luz, in spite of her impaintness and lack of certainty about her future, she was probably the most eager student in all her classrooms. A willingness to learn and go beyond what she was capable of. It was a very admirable trait.
The other factor was being Eda's child Lucifer, in spite of reputation both in and out of school, was actually more or less academically adept in his curriculums. In healing, there was nothing he couldn't fix. Bard was where he was naturally talented, even if the door flew off the hinges one too many times. Potions were pretty simple for him, though this was an area he seemed to be too creative in with how much smoke came into the room. Beast keeping from what Bump heard was actually a struggle, but the boy hadn't quit yet.
Either way, those two children were both very talented in way the principal hadn't expected them to be, learning and displaying magic and spells that even gave most of the teachers a hard time catching up with. If Faust was still around, the man would've expelled the two without a second thought, and most likely half the current student body for breathing too loudly or too softly.
Now, to discover what was actually going on with this school. "Frewin, a little help solving a mystery?" He asked his Palisman.
"Kekekek." The tiny imp changed Bump's vision, allowing him to see the flow of magic itself.
"Let's see what we have here." He moved to a locker trying to devour a student. A perfectly normal occurrence that happened quite a lot. "State your purpose."
"AAAAGGG!!" Now normally, it would have responded as it devoured on a leg. The lockers were feral but obedient to higher authority. For them to go rogue and not listen was a very rare and unusual circumstance.
Bump bound down the locker, looking at the magical composition with Frewin's help. "Did someone mess with your makeup?"
"A uuggggggghh! " So peculiar. Various parts of the school were 'alive' so to speak in one way or another, each one run on a certain magical signature that kept it alive and running…but looking into it, there seemed to be an overwhelming presence now laying on top of that, a presence that he couldn't quite tell if it was magic or not.
"If this was the work of a Clawthorne, there would have been an order to the chaos, not just chaos for the sake of hurting students." He pondered as he stopped a school bell from trying to punch him. "Glandus? No, our security is questionable but not THAT questionable."
"AAGG!!" Although it would explain why the detention seekers were now trying to stab teachers.
"Going to the bard classroom…..really…really bad idea!" One of the students, Augustus said as pieces of his uniform were shredded. "I'm friends with Lucci, why did I forget music could be so dangerous?"
"I take it your group is somehow responsible?" Bump asked questioningly.
"Not really, we just had a fortune told to us and the school started getting all murdery." Emiria Blight explained as pieces of her hair were sliced off. "Apparently there's something alive in the school and it's in pain and wants to kill us."
Bump gave a hum. "In that case, do your best to survive." He formed a magical circle. "I'll find the source and kill it myself." The principal glanced at the speaker. "So do your worst."
"AAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" It screamed with a pain that only wounded animals, or witches in true agonizing pain, would howl out, screaming a shout that blasted the Principal into the wall.
"In any other circumstance I would be more eager to learn just what you are, creature, but you are attacking my school." Bump prepped his staff. "I don't care what pain your in or whatever circumstances created it, I'm going to end you, right here, right now."
The walls and floor cracked and crumbled, splitting open until various rows of teeth were shown. " AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! " It shrieked again, the lockers dislodging and becoming more and more mouths for whatever this creature was appetite."
"Congratulations." Bump shot a fireball into the maw. "You gave me a target."
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Skara panted as the gang broke into the gym. "Status report!"
"Luz here! Got my sword back before we made it here, and I have some basic glyphs." The human went on.
"Amity, confused, worried, completely unprepared to deal with anything crazy today, and really, really stressed out." The green haired girl answered.
"Celene. Tired from the lack of stamina, distracted from the lack of mental fortitude, and useless from the lack of a crystal ball." The Moon Girl hit the ground. "I thought I'd have a couple of months before I died."
"Wait, why so soon, isn't that a bit of a bleak outlook to have on your future?" Luz asked.
"I don't make the rules of life, order, and the universe, I just follow them to the best of my ability and hope to come out okay….obviously that hasn't exactly worked out for me as of now." The Moon girl slumped. "Out of all the people I scammed….the biggest and last one I pull is on myself….of all the cruel and ironic ways to go."
"This is why Lucci hates Oracle Magic." Skara pointed to the downed girl. Such a defeatist mindset. Made her wonder exactly how these people got up in the morning. "On the upside, we're in a wide open area, instead of constantly surrounded by walls trying to close in on us." She gestured to the gym.
"Yeah, that gives us a moment to think for a second." Amity breathed a little, before turning to Celene. "Okay, you said something about this thing being angry and in pain. Could you elaborate a little more on that?"
"It'll…It'll be impossible to learn anything else without my Crystal ball. I can't communicate with it and I don't have access to Casper." The moon girl groaned. "I just know that…whatever it is that's possessing the school, it has their presence everywhere. Every facet, every corner, every hallway, no room is free from whatever influence has infected the building."
"Wait, then how did those desks try to take on Willow?" Luz asked with confusion. "They weren't bolted down or anything."
"Why would that make a difference?" Amity questioned.
"Because Skara has instruments, and I have Glyphs along with my sword." She pulled out the objects in question. "And they're not trying to kill us."
"So whatever's affecting this place isn't a ghost or poltergeist, otherwise every inanimate object would be going after us." Skara pieced the puzzle together.
"Whatever it is, its presence is all over the school…each of the rooms are enchanted in some way to accommodate whatever they're meant to be used for." Celene kept explaining.
"All the rooms?" Amity asked. "Then wouldn't that mean-" She was cut off by a very peculiar sound. "That … for the gymnasium …" They stared at the single grudgby ball bouncing up and down.
"The magic used here would be anything that increases physical education?" Luz gulped as more and more balls began to surround them.
"How about we slowly, and quietly, make our way to the door-nope, the bleachers became claws and blocked all the exits." Skara noted the objects. "No problem, our classmates nearly get killed during pe almost every other day at this school, a giant killer school won't be that much different, right?"
All the balls continued to bounce, until they lit on fire and began launching right at them. "Skara, stop giving the school ideas on how to kill us better!" Amity shouted, moving her abomination goo into a makeshift barrier.
"I'm sorry that I talk when I'm nervous!" She shouted back, pulling out her lute and trying to hold back the balls, only for her to feel drained . "Starting to see what Mattholomew was talking about. Whatever's moving this school around is a heck of a lot stronger than any of us."
"I know Eda called school a death trap, but this is ridiculous!" Luz explained as she sliced through one of the grudgby balls with that sword. "Aha, finally getting the hang of this thing!"
"That was so hot." Amity offhandedly commented.
"Wait what?" Luz turned her head to the Blight.
"I mean these fireballs are really hot and dangerous to touch! Yeah that's what I meant!" Amity shouted unconvincingly as she began batting away the balls with a whip made out of the goo. "Stay careful and watch your back!"
"I think I'll just stay in between you guys, where it's safe." The Moon Girl said nervously as she got behind them. "Skara, you coming to?"
"Nope …" She flipped her Lute in the air, exchanging it with one of the new models she got … complete with an axe blade. "I'm a grudgby player after all." Skara ran forward, swinging her instrument around and cutting apart the balls, sliding under shots, soaring over tackles. "You guys are nothing compared to Boscha!"
"Agggggggh! " The room roared back at them, the school's weight sets coming down on them and rolling over cursed temple style.
"You think you can hit hard!? I deal with concussions weekly!" The bard girl shouted out, jumping over the invoking metal and grabbed one of the dumbbells, and hurled it at the limb-like bleachers,creating a gigantic crater within it. "You are nothing but a bitch!"
"AGGGGH!" Not the school was doing nothing BUT attacking her directly, with arms and weights and grudgby balls.
"Go on ahead, this is my territory!" She played a little song to increase her speed as she began to zoom around the gym. " I'm tough and I'm fast, your weak and outclassed, I'm steady and stable, I'm willing and able!" She bounced off the walls and crashed through one of the practice goals.
"How was she not this scary during the grudgby match Boscha almost killed me?" She heard Luz ask as she ran out the door.
"Again, you should've seen her when she was a kid, the difference between her and Boshcha were very few and far inbetween." Amity answered.
"You think that you're tough? Well you guess what, I play rough. You think you have me tag, but I got this all in the bag!" She smashed through the bleachers again, ripping it up to stop it from grabbing on them or closing the entrance.
"Let's head to the Oracle Track. I need to get another crystal ball." Celene commented as Skara hit another grudgby ball into it.
"We can cut through using the doors, but we need to be quick. Everyone, hang on, I'll rocket us forward." Luz spoke, grabbing onto the Moon Girl as she pulled out a Glyph.
" We can fight on and on, I don't stop until I've won! Try as you might, but the moment you faced me, you already lost the fight!" She jumped up into the ceiling and slashed away as much of the lights as he could. "If you can really see us, I hope that hurts like hell!"
"Aaggg!!" The wood began to become jagged spikes that tried to stab her foot.
"And we're out of here!" Amity pulled her away with abomination goo and burst right towards the door. "I got Skara, do it now, Luz!"
"Fire Glyph's a go!" She pressed on the paper, rocketing them all through the small series of doors. "This thing is everywhere guys, no time to rest!" Luz shouted as they ran forward. "Seriously Skara, you are scary."
"Thanks, I try my best. Lucci's not to the only dangerous bard user out there."
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"Emira! Emira!" Edric was panicking. His sister was gone, and he was alone without any family. "Amity! Where are you!" His entire family was in danger and he couldn't do anything about it.
"Dude, I think we have bigger problems than them!" That outcast kid shouted out.
"WHAT THE HELL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAMILY!?" He shook the little punk violently. Emira was literally the only friend he had. Without her, he was nothing.
"How about the fact that when we split up, we got stuck with nobody that could actually use magic!" The kid argued back. "Construction magic doesn't work with this thing going on, Illusion magic is just useless in general…"
"Screw you too, Matt." Gus rolled his eyes. As a fellow Illusion track student, Edric fully agreed.
"….and there are no Beasts around for the braindead brat."
"Uh, I'm a brain dead bat , thank you very much." The bat kid, Belfry he thought the name was, responded as he sat back, not looking freaked out at all for some reason. "And that shouldn't be the case. This is the beast-keeping classroom."
"Oh …" The punk lost all the wind out of his sails. "My bad then, you just need to get the Snorse or something to fight with us."
"Don't worry man, I've gotcha." They watched the beast keeping student walk up to the creature. "Who wants a hug?"
"Hhhhs!" It shouted its cries of war, before biting down on the fellow student.
"... Did I mention I was failing Beast keeping?"
"That's it, that's it, we're dead! We're dead and we're all going to die alone, unaccomplished and unloved as this freak of a school kills us dead!" Edric screamed as began to fall on the floor.
"AAAGG!" The door transformed into teeth, reaching out to stab him as the desks moved around.
"Pull it together, Blight!" Gus pulled him out of the way and slapped him.
"WHY the heck did you slap me!?"
"I don't know, Luz uses it to knock sense into people and calm them down."
"Why the titan would slapping me ever calm me down!? I'm only freaking out more!"
"It works on Lucci, so I don't know!" The boy shouted again. They watched as a desk tried to poke their skulls out. "Alright, Construction and Beast keeping is a no go, so we need illusions."
"Against something with no eyes?" The brat asked.
"Not for us, for the beasts." Gus explained. "We need to create an illusion to trick them into helping us, so we can burst out of the room." Gus looked at all the cages. "And since Belfy's failing, I'm guessing he doesn't know what they like or don't like."
"Heh, sorry, I don't. I'm more about being chill with nature than controlling it." He looked at the snorse. "I think snorses like dooklleberries.." Huh? That didn't sound right.
"I'm pretty sure bloodberries would be more enticing to them, you know, since they are reptilian carnivores with little need for fruit. Their stomachs are sensitive, so giving them anything that doesn't match that gives them diabetes and blood clotting." Edric commented. There was a sudden silence, as all the kids turned to him. "... What?"
"Why do you know so much about snorses?" The punk asked.
"I read books when I'm alone." Helped take his mind off of crippling loneliness. "I've read up on a few beast keeping facts lately here and there, nothing major."
"Those little facts are the most useful thing anyone here has done in the last ten minutes." Gus answered as they created the illusion. "Here snorsy snorsy, nice bloodberries outside the door …"
"Neeesss." The creature charged forward … as the door opened and immediately shut right behind the beast.
"... I think it just wants us dead, not the animals." The bat kid pointed out.
"Oh really, no shit?" The punk asked them sarcastically, falling to the ground. "It'll maim and crush us into paste, but at least it doesn't hurt the animals, because that would just be too cruel." The floor opened a small pillar that knocked the transfer in the back of the head.
"I don't think it likes sarcasm either." The bat kid noted again. "So, green hair guy, what do we know?"
"Me? Your asking me for advice?" Literally nobody has ever asked him for help like this before. Emira and Amity were both smarter than him, he was just the middle child that no one remembered.
"You're the only one that's had any good advice so far." Gus pointed out. "Seriously, anything will do."
He thought about it for a moment. "... What if … the school isn't just animated … it's alive?"
"What, like a ghost is possessing the school itself?" The punk asked.
"Kinda, but also completely different." He waved off. "If it was just animated, it'd do whatever the caster wanted. I'm talking about genuinely being alive, like a creature." Edric looked around the room. "The windows being eyes, the doors being mouths … by that logic we could find a nerve or a gag reflex and press it hard."
"Making a room throw up. Somehow that's not the weirdest sentence I've ever heard." Gus nodded, beginning to look around. "So if the door is the mouth, then the gag reflex should be close."
"Well we better find it fast, because the chalk is starting to sharpen itself!" The punk pointed out.
"Okay, got it, got it!" Edric started to feel around. "The floor would essentially be the gums and tongue of the room. And that would make the throat … let's worry about that later. So the Uvula would be …" He looked up to the light fixture. "Up there! Bat kid, fly!"
"I have bat ears, not wings." The kid lazily responded.
"Ugh, why couldn't I at least get trapped with the psycho strong devil? Even the human would've been a better option!" The punk groaned.
"Never underestimate the power of a kid stuck with Luz for over two to three months!" Gus shouted, jumping on top of a desk trying to eat them and grabbing onto the light, swinging from it like a jungle witch. "How do you like them apples!?"
"Blllee….bleee…..bleeegh…." The room's floor began to ripple uncontrollably as the sound of gagging could be heard throughout the area, water beginning to fill up the floor.
"Ewww, don't tell me we're about to drown in room saliva." The punk complained as the water began to boil.
"Better than being digested!"
"BLEEEEGGGGGGGGHHHH!"
The four of them were launched out of the room, being swayed around by the liquid before it finally drained out, laying in the hallways as they caught their breaths. "I …" Gus began, panting. "Better … be let back … in for this." He told the punk.
"I'll…give it a thought…..at some point…" The punk coughed.
"Is everyone alright?" Edric asked as he helped them up.
"Yeah, all thanks to you, dude!" The bat kid cheered, giving him a pat on the back. "You're like, super smart or something."
He blinked at that for a moment. "Nah, my sisters are way smart-MY SISTERS!" And like that, he instantly remembered the most important thing. "Emira! Amity! Are you guys alright!?"
"They'll be fine." Gus assured him. "Lucci and Luz are strong, not to mention Willow and Amity beat up a lot of people. They're probably more annoyed than scared."
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Lucci could feel his eye twitch. "Hey schooly, we're over here! Delectable morsels right for the taking!" The curse in his ball he named Hexel shouted.
"Why did you bring that thing with us when we escaped detention!?" Willow shouted as buzzsaws and scalpels began to get hurled at their heads.
"If I leave it alone in some place this dangerous, the bubble will pop, and then it's a curse on the loose along with a school trying to kill us." Lucci grumbled as he tried to block a patient table trying to off him. Running to find an escape route had led them to the healing track classroom, where all the medical supplies were ready and armed to kill them all.
"You know, it wouldn't be the worst idea today." Boscha argued. "Throw it inside of the school and make it deal with the curse and slowly die." She suggested as she threw another exploding potion into the mouth of the creature trying to eat them.
"Well, that depends on exactly how living whatever's possessing the school is. If it's truly another force that's planted it's consciousness inside of the school itself, and there's the likelihood of it being more sapient than sentient, because both forces have a chance of being merged together to create an even more disastrous force." Emira commented as they blocked knives being thrown at them with a chair.
That little tangent got everyone staring. "Wow….you thought that through thoroughly." Willow blinked
"I don't have much to focus on when I'm not having fun." She shrugged. "Speaking of, have you finally made a move curly top, or can I swop in some time for an assist?"
"This isn't the time to discuss my social life!" Lucci announced as he drilled his way through one of the practice skeletons.
"Pfft, this guy's as single as they get. If you're going to throw yourself at him, do it now, the guy's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer on that front."
"Oh, so there's a time limit? Such a shame, I've never been well when the clock's ticking." The Blight sighed dramatically.
"Why are you so invested in this to begin with!?" Boshca yelled a lot more passionately than Lucci would've thought she would've.
"Aww, is someone feeling left out?" She asked. "Please don't tell me you're upset about Grom. It was just so sudden, I prefer a slow burn romance."
"You got dumped by Emira." Willow muttered with a grin. "Never had I thought you'd fall that far."
"Oh screw you half a witch! At least I had a date for Grom! You're like a cactus in a desert, alone and slowly dying in the middle of nowhere!"
"I'll have you know Catus are one of the most resilient and strongest plants out there, not to mention deadly!" Willow barked back. "Even your insults are getting weaker, you just complimented me!"
"Aw, don't be like that, girls, we can all learn to get along like a bouquet of flowers." The Blight girl had no sense of shame.
"Could you stop the teasing for like, five minutes?" Lucci questioned. "You're driving everyone into an argumentative frenzy."
"Well I could do that, and focus on how we're dealing with a sentient structure that constantly regenerates from all of our attacks and the hopeless fact that we aren't equipped to fight it, with the most likely case being everyone we care about is either dead or horribly injured." Emria commented as she batted away some glass shards.
"…..When you put it like that, flirt away." Willow waved her hands, using some seeds to sprout vines to catch some of the knives in mid air. "Okay, so this room is regenerative and has control over all the medical supplies in the room, which means this place has healing magic all over it."
"And if my very brief experiences with Hettie Cutburn have taught me anything, it's that some healing factors can't be overpowered before you're forced to run away." Lucci deadpanned. "Meaning our only option is to blow a hole through the wall and run as it closes up."
"Running out of supplies here, going to need to restock." Boscha took out another vial. "I only have one left, and i don't think it'll give us the fire power we need."
"We are in the healing track class, and we occasionally work with potions, there's gotta be something here that can give it the kick we need." Lucci looked around.
"The most explosive components I can think of that could be in here are the cocktrice venom and phloric acid." Emira listed up, getting more stares at her. "What, I practice healing on my off time."
"Then why aren't you multitracking?" Willow asked.
"Let's just say Mom's never one to not watch us like a hawk, and leave it at that." Huh…with how much Amity complained about her parents, it somehow completely went over Lucci's head that the other two could be going through the same thing. "Willow, you can provide some bitter root for it, right? That'll help give it more of a punch."
"On it." Willow took out another seed. "Lucci, you know this classroom, you find the other two ingredients."
"Right, they should be right at the cabinet on the…" The floor was spitting fire as buzzsaws began rolling all over the room, steaks of electricity flowing all over. "...other side. Well, I didn't feel like not burning my skin off today, so why not?" Lucci began running forward, using his shield to block blades as the others constantly cut him. Note to self, if you're working on bubbles anyway, up their durability for an omnidirectional shield. "Can't I have a normal day for once!" He shouted as blood continued to drip, the boy now being halfway there.
"Lucci! You alright!?" Boscha called out to him. Aw, she was worried. Maybe they will finally become friends.
"Don't worry…this has nothing…on…petrification!" He kept pushing forward, even as one of the saws grazed by his leg. "Though…I'm not ready…to test…if my limbs can regenerate!"
"Keep going Curly Top, you can make it!" Emira cheered him on. "Maybe after this, I can reward you with something nice."
"I will demand ice scream and nothing more!" He shouted back, using some razor disks to try and block the buzzsaws, finally making his way to the cabinet. "Come on, gotta be here somewhere."
"Hey school, do you really want them to hurt you more!? If not, stop this kid right here!" Lucci's heard of the miracle of birth and the joy of giving life…..whatever that was like, Lucci didn't know, because he's never been able to create something he actually liked….except maybe Willow's melon dog.
"Lucci!" Boscha ran forward and easily dodged through most of the traps using that impressive and astonishing athleticism she always had inside of her. "LOOK OUT!" She pushed him down as a knife came rushing by.
Snipppeee
"BOSHCA! " Everyone cried out as the girl rolled on the floor…. Blood leaking from her forehead
He felt something snap as another Buzsaw came at him … so Lucci decided to let loose just a tad. He grabbed onto the buzsaw with his bare hand, letting it cut him until the metal disk finally stopped spinning. "You … are going …" He could idly see fur grow on his arm. "To leave us … ALONE!"
He swung his arm forward, letting the disk fly with enough force to shatter half the room, a trail of destruction for a good while. He grabbed onto Boscha, using his shield as he tackled her into an opposite wall, using a shield as a buffer as it tore down. " MOVE IT, NOW!"
"On it crazy kid!" Emira shouted, following them.
"Never been more happy for you to be you, Lucci!" Willow called out as she booked it.
He let them crawl through the hole as he gently laid Boscha on the ground, turning back to the room. "I don't care how we have to do it…I'm not going to rest until I see whatever you are….RIPPED TO PIECES! " He shouted as loudly as he could, a shockwave emanating from his mouth as the room crumbled into rubble and debri.
"Ah …" He turned back to Boscha, who wasn't looking great. Her face was bleeding, she looked dazed and unfocused on anything but the room, and her body was trying to regain heat if the redness on her face was any indication.
"Boscha, are you alright!?" He screamed, shrinking back down and holding the girl up.
"No…not at all, that stupid room got me in the eye." The girl grumbled angrily. "I'm usually faster than that, stupid, I swore I could've made that dodge."
"The stuff can turn midair, don't put yourself down." Emira commented. "Lets put ice on it … unless Lucci managed to actually ace his healing exam and we have the time to heal and run."
"I did actually…thought it's…not exactly….orthadox." He realized what he had to do. "Uh, I got a really awkward way and a really gross way to heal your eye." Lucci blushed.
"Whatever's the less disgusting option, go with it, just hurry and fix it!" Boscha shouted.
"Kay, I'm going to do it real fast….just don't hurt me for it." Lucci took a deep breath…and quickly pecked her third eyed with a small kiss.
"WHY THE HECK DID YOU JUST-!" Bocha immediately went for the throat just like he thought she would, before stopping. "I…my eye…it's better, I can see out of it again….I think I can see out of it better than before actually."
"Healing kisses." Emira commented. "Man, Curly Top's gonna rock the world of any girl he's with."
"Ugh, enough with the mush, and more with the smashing." Willow rolled her eyes. "Let's meet up with the others before something else kills us."
"Aw, but I'm feeling a little sore too. Don't I get a kiss?" Emira winked at him. Lucci stared at her, before putting a finger in his mouth, pulling it out, and sticking it into her ear. "Fair enough, Curly top. At least I know just how magical your fingers are." Uggh, he couldn't get a break with this girl, could he?
"Let's just go." He stood up, looking himself over. His leg was still bleeding. "Huh … not healing as fast usual, but I'm still standing."
"Well that won't do at all. Oh School, come and find us!" Titan, WHY couldn't he find a way to kill this thing already?
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Celene clutched the Crystal Ball. After finally finding the Oracle room and fighting it off, they were now running down the halls, where most of the chaos was ironically enough. "Come on Locker, after all those scraps I give you, now you betray me!?" Luz shouted.
"Aaaggg!" It screeched out the same cry of pain that's been echoing through the entire school, the same cry of pain that covered and cornered every single inch and crevice of this school, the same cry of pain that came from it. "
"Okay, clearly talking isn't working here!" Amity shouted, bashing another locker away. "We need to regroup and head to the front door. Maybe we can bust our way out and leave the situation for the teachers."
"My life was well lived!" They watched as a teacher was devoured by a school bell.
"You know, you'd think I'd feel more satisfied seeing the teacher's getting eaten alive, but all I have is this weird hollow feeling deep down." They turned their heads and saw Lucci and the other girls in the detention group run up to them "Luz, Amity, you're alive and haven't been turned to school food!"
"Ah, there's my mittens! Big sis missed her widdle baby sister." Emira went up to the younger Blight and squished her tightly.
"Emira." The girl groaned. "Glad you're alive, but could we-"
"EMIRA! MITTENS!" The two Blights were tackled by the third. "I'm so glad you're both okay! I promise to never leave either of you alone again!"
"To think for a second I almost thought he was cool." The voice of Gus made itself known, along with the other guys.
"Celene! You're alright!" Matt ran up to her. "I knew you would be, you're too kickass to fall for a few giant mouths."
"Yeah, I am, thanks…thanks for the vote of confidence." Why did she have to have feelings?! It was just going to end when the day came. Why must she force herself through this torment!?
"Okay, gang's all together. Can we leave this place and call it a day?" Willow asked. "I'm running out of plants with the curse's constant heckling."
"If you all died, then I'd be content with life."
"Oh, I am so giving you to Aunt Lilith to experiment with." Lucci grumbled. "Just give me a second, I need to build up enough stress to go manticore again."
"Aaaaggg!" The voice shouted out once more as every object in the area began crawling to them.
"I don't think we have seconds." Boscha groaned. "I'm out of potions."
"And unfortunately, I'm out of Glyphs too." Luz grumbled. "How's everyone else holding up?"
"I used up all my stamina in the gym." Skara panted.
"I'm doubling your workout if we survive this." Boscha deadpanned.
"I can't manipulate the ground without getting drained, and the batkid sucks at beast keeping." Matt chucked a thumb at his group. "And illusions are useless in general."
" Screw you too." Gus, Edric, and Emira all complained simultaneously.
"If we can run, and if we can't hide, and we can't fight, the only thing left to do is learn." Luz summed up, pointing to Celene. "You can communicate with it with the ball now, right?"
"I mean … kinda?" It was mainly just a one sided flood of emotions. "I can push a little harder and maybe get a decent word in."
"Then talk with it, get us a conversation with it." The human went on.
"Wasn't that what got us in this situation to begin with?" Amity questioned.
"We don't really have a choice." Lucci grimaced. "Please Celene. We'll literally die if we don't do something."
"Hey, don't pressure her." Matt stepped up in front of her. "If you don't feel comfortable, we can try and find another way."
The way he was so unsure of himself yet stepped up for her….it would be nice to have a couple more months to see that cute face then have it all in right now. "I can do this. Just, step back and let me breathe." She took a deep breath, and concentrated all her magic on the ball, which began to swirl with colors, purple, green, blue, every known color of the spectrum.
" Aggggghhh!"
"Pain, pain, it's….. she's …in so much pain." Celene grasped her chest tightly, making sure to keep herself steady, even with all the sweat falling down her face. "She's old….she's something that's long existed before the Boiling Isles….something that's existed maybe even before the titan's itself."
"Okay, that's just blasphemy." Gus deadpanned. "Life was created from the titan, nothing can be older than it."
"Hey, who's the oracle user in pain here?" She grumbled, going back to concentrating. "She comes from another realm....there was….some sort of fight…..a battle…no…a war…..it went bad….both sides suffered….a flash of light….then…so many years alone…" So much isolation, the absolute insanity this creature must've had from so many years alone. "...then she ended up here….laying dormant in the ground for centuries….quiet…content….until…. pain pain, pain…."
"Well what did it, what caused you pain!?" At Willow's question, there was a moment of silence, the objects in the hall stopping.
The walls began to shift, revealing … a picture of an orange haired girl, with the carving of 'Lord Calamity' right underneath it. There was a strange cackling sound from the speaker. "Are you sure this is a good idea Eda?" An unknown voice questioned. "Causing damage to the school is …"
"Of course Rainestorm. It's hidden so the teachers can't see it. And it's not like this place can feel anything, it's a school. Oh, how about I go wild and carve a warnicorn? I heard those things are wild!"
"....Somehow I shouldn't be surprised, but here I am, surprised." Luz slapped her head. "But why's it going crazy now?
The speaker cackled again. "I'm gonna become an awesome witch, Just like Eda!" … A familiar voice shouted out … as everyone turned to the human.
"So….the entire school is angry and trying to kill us…just because Luz knows Eda." Willow sighed.
"Wait, if that's the case, then shouldn't it be targeting Lucci for being her son?" Skara asked out loud. The hallway shifted for a bit, before multiple lockers turned to the boy in question.
"Skara, what did we say about giving the monster ideas!?" Amity shouted as the multiple mouths began targeting Lucci.
"Hey, this is actually great, we let it eat the devil and the human, and then it's revenge thirst will be quelled, and we get to go home free, nothing important lost." Matt said excitedly, earning him a punch right in the eye….from Boscha weirdly enough. "What did I say wrong!?"
"This school declared war, and that means victory!" She shouted. "I am not losing to some bitch who thinks she's hot shit just because she was too weak to handle a woman that carved her name into their body!"
"For once in my life, I can get on board with your angry tirades." Willow grinned, creating a viny whip that wrapped around her arm. "Okay school! Do your worst!"
" Arrrregggggghhhhhh!" The screeching became louder as the very ground opened up, becoming rows of teeth and sharp tongues.
"Feast on the children, ruin their lives!" The curse shouted.
"Can't we just feed him to the school and be done with at least one of our problems?" Gus asked nervously.
"Not a bad idea, in you go, Hexel." Lucci let the bubble drop.
"You'll all be dead soon, so I don't even mind! Hahaha, have fun turning into shit, you little tuuuuuuuurrrerddddddssssss….." The little pink ball disappeared.
"Wow, that's a deep drop." Belfy sad as they all began clinging to the sides of the walls by the thin space they were given to cling on to.
"Well she gave us her worst, and we survived." Skara chuckled nervously. "That's enough for us, right?" Multiple spikes began shooting out of the walls. "... I'll stop talking now."
"Mom was right, school would be the death of me." Lucci groaned as he started to slip. "Just when I was starting to like this place."
"Alright then. Options are low, and time is limited …" Luz looked down. "... Guys, I love you all!"
"Luz, don't give up hope ye-" Lucci's pep talk was cut off, on the account of the human girl diving into the mouth . "You insane maniac!"
" Luz!" Amity cried out, jumping in after her.
"Not you too!" Lucci yelled out. "Willow, how long can that vine around your arm extend?"
"Maybe around a hundred feet if I push it." Willow answered.
"That'll have to do…it has to do."
========================================================================
Luz began to fall further … and further … and furth-wow, they were right. It was a deep hole. Luz waited until the walls looked close enough, before stabbing her sword in the side of the wall, trying to use it to slow down her descent.
"Aggggggghhhhh!!!?"
"Yeah, that's right, you can eat me all you want." Luz spoke lowly. "In return, I'm gonna give you the biggest stomach ache the world's ever seen!" She'll make sure the bitch chokes before she even has a chance to eat her friends.
" Luuuuuuzzzzzzzz!" And here came Amity…falling down the mouth too…hurtling towards her.
"What are you doing!?" She shouted, still riding the sword down the throat as they came closer and closer to a possible bottom-seriously, how deep was this hole?
"That's what I'm supposed to be asking you, you reckless moron!" The girl summoned some abomination goo and clung to the other side of the throat, sliding down it along with her. "What in titan's name made you think this was a good idea!?"
"Well, if this thing is alive, and can feel pain, then it's easier to hurt it on the inside." Luz explained. "At least, that's how Eda and Lucci said they survived a lot of giant animals over the years."
"It's Eda's brand of crazy that got everyone on this mess, and you think that's going to get us out of it!?"
"Well either it worked and we got saved, or it would be unstoppable as it endlessly chased us until I died, take your pick." Luz rolled her eyes. "Okay, seriously, how have we been falling for so long?"
"What's important is getting us out of here before we reach the botto-oofff!" They suddenly stopped mid fall as something got in the way. "Ooww. Who puts a rock in the middle of a free fall!?"
"A rock?" She stopped, glancing at the shiny flat surface. "So weird.." She pressed her hand on it.
" Aaaaaaggggggrrrrgggg!" The throat seemed to convulse.
"Oh, is this a weak spot?" Luz grabbed both sides of it.
" Aaaagggggggfffggffhhhjjnjjjhhh!"
"Amity, help me pull!" She shouted, doing her best to grab it.
"I think we have bigger probelms than that!" Amity pointed to the ground…where a bubbly green liquid began flowing upwards right them.
"Well that can't be good." Luz grimace as it continued to rise … and a half melted skeleton popped up. "Oh, bones of our fallen school. Finally see it in action."
"Luz, we have to start climbing up!"
"Not until we get this out! It maybe the only chance that anybody has at getting out of this alive!" Luz continued to pull. "Come on, why won't you budge!?"
"Luz, Amity!" Lucci came down, hanging upside down by a vine. "We gotta skedaddle right now!"
"Lucci!" She shouted. "We found it's weak point! Pull it with me!"
"Does that look like an easy option?!"
"Just do it!" She yelled, going back to pulling.
"Agh, the things I do for friends!" Lucci grabbed ahold of it.
" Ahghdj ahdhfjakdjfhajahdha!"
"Oh shove a cork in it!" Lucci pulled even harder.
"Bshnghbshah aaahhh!" With a final scratch they pulled out the gem, the bubbling liquid halted … as the walls began to close in on them.
"Willow, pull us up!" Lucci called out as he grabbed the two of them. "Hang onto your butts!"
" Aaaaaahhhhh!" They all screamed in terror as they began to be hurled upwards at blazing speeds as the space became more and more narrow.
Finally, the sight of the hallway made itself known to the group as the ground they were almost buried and crushed in closed up, barely able to make it out by a hair.
"Guys, you survived!" Willow came in and squeezed her hard enough to hear something crack.
"Man … she is buff." Luz groaned.
"Pfft, I could've done it better." Boscha scoffed to the side.
"You would have jumped into the gaping maw of death better?" Edric questioned. "Please, only the crazy will go that far."
"The crazy but cute." Emira winked at her, making Luz feel super weird on the inside.
"Ahem! I think it's best that we get out of school before anything else tries to kill us." Amity squeezed between her and their sister.
"So … it's over?" Mattholomew asked, looking around the hall. "The dangerous school's dead?"
"I…I pulled this out of there." She showed off the giant gemstone.
"A gemstone?" Amity questioned. "How could that cause the entire school to come to life?"
"I-I.." Lucci subconsciously patted his stomach as he reached out for the rock. "I think that's a crystal devil."
"Aww, she must have been scared." Belfry walked over and began rubbing the stone. "There there, nobody's gonna hurt you anymore."
"Yeah, no one's going to get hurt after I smash that rock to pieces!" Boscha yelled as she was held back by Skara. "I'm not leaving until I know that thing is DEAD!"
"Wait, hold on, here!" Lucci grabbed the rock and placed it in a bubble. "I don't know how long that'll hold it, but if it needs the school for a body, then that should stop it from coming out for a while at least."
"So you went from carrying around one highly dangerous and snarky entity to carrying around a highly dangerous and silent one." Celene deadpanned.
"At least we get rid of the first one and the second one's quiet for the moment." Lucci groaned. "I think I speak for all of us when I say I've had enough of school for today."
"Yeah, I'm done for now." Luz sighed. "On the plus side, I can honestly say with the combos and food fight, I really had fun. You guys just make everything awesome."
"You sure you're not just talking about yourself?" Willow asked with a teasing smirk. Meh, she didn't think she was that wild. Just an average teenager doing her best to have fun in a magic world.