Summary: Romantical, isn't it?
Boscha should never have taken Amelia's advice. 'Read romance to get romance' she said. Now Boscha was stuck reading some lame old stories, and they were of no help at all. "Seriously? She faked her own death without telling him? What kind of moron is she? And who immediately drinks poison without checking her pulse!?" She read one that just infuriated her. It was about two dumb teenagers acting stupid and horny when they barely knew each other.
This was almost worse than that one about a guy who fell in love with his own reflection and brought it to life, only to get strangled so it could live his life. This entire section of books was just so dumb and stupid.
Maybe that was a sign that love was dumb and stupid. It made Amity act dumb and stupid around the human. Well Boscha would be better than that. She'd get that smiling cute doofus all over her and straighten him out and make Lucci absolutely perfect. She just needed to straighten one or two 'problems' she had and everything would be how it should be.
First step? Find the human and slaughter her when no one was looking. They caused everything to crumble around Boscha, making the entire social structure turn on it's head. She just needed to find that girl and then swiftly decapitate them. Problem solved. Sure, Lucci was 'friends' with the girl, but everyone made mistakes. Boscha was surrounded by people who didn't give a damn about her, but that's why they would be able to help each other out now..
Now where would that human be? If she was around Lucci, then Boscha couldn't dispose of her when she was in viewing range. They hung around the owl house with Lucci's criminal mom, which was a double no on approaching. If the Emperor's coven couldn't break into there, then the three eyed girl doubted her chances.
The school was too public, one of those wimps would get in the way long enough to stall her out while the human ran. That just left the streets, which were too chaotic, and the forest path, where she walked with Lucci. No, she needed to track, to find a location that nobody could find them. "No human diary here." … If she did it quietly enough, maybe Boscha could get away with this.
Boscha leered over, keeping herself under the cover of the books and shelves, where she saw the human looking over. "I suppose I can't just look to section H for human." The weirdo mumbled to herself, going through each one.
Hm, accidents happen in the library all the time, right? Boscha just needed to 'accidentally' knock over the shelf and crush the human where she stood. Just a little nudge and…
"Luz, you're here!?" The voice of Blight exclaimed as she went up to the human. "I mean, you love books, no duh you'd be here, I-Ah, just didn't expect you to be here today after the wailing comet incident." Oh come on! Of all the luck!
"Oh, yeah, and you're here, because you work here, right." The human let out a pathetic chuckle. "I um, just learned something interesting about a diary and needed to find it here."
"Like the one you tried to read?" Amity said in a so not cool voice. "Wait, is that too soon to bring up? I don't hold it against you anymore, I swear to titan!"
"No, no I deserve that. it's your privacy after all." Why was Boscha pausing? Amity was on her list too of people to separate Lucci from. Two birds with one stone here. "This is a special diary from a human that lived on the isles a long time ago. If I find it, I might be able to make a portal back home." Wait, a portal? A portal back home? For the human, that would be a portal off the boiling isles, a portal that would literally put a whole universe between the human and Lucci, and more importantly, away from Boscha! If she could play her cards right, shove them in, and destroy any way back, she'd be golden. "Problem is I don't know where to start."
"Oh, I can totally help! Th-that is, if you want me to."
Barf. Going by the terrible flirting, these two were going to just fail at being cute the whole day and not focus on getting rid of the Boiling Isle's most annoying headache. It seems like she needed to add in her own superior might. "I'll join in on your little crusade." She answered, forgoing subtly and approached the losers. "You two, your Lucci's friends, right?"
"What gave it away, the fact I live with him?"
Boscha froze, almost forgetting that tidbit. "Live … with him?"
"Yeah. We eat and sleep in the same house." The human responded. "Did you seriously not know that?"
Living together….eating the same food…seeing each other in their most private moments!? No, don't kill her yet. Be patient. "Why should we trust you?" Amity growled.
"Because if the human makes a portal and leaves, that'll fix all of my problems." Boscha answered. And by doing it under the guise of 'helping' the human, a 'friend' of Lucci's, she would endear herself to him more.
"At least you're jerkishly honest about your intentions."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. She sold Lucci out to Vitimir, remember?" Blight grunted. Oh sure, bring up the past. She was so petty.
"Oh definitely, and I don't trust her to not somehow stab us in the back." The human responded shamelessly. "But I can trust her to be ungodly motivated to getting me off the Boiling Isles by any means necessary."
"Exactly. So are you going to let me help, or are you two losers going to waste the day flirting in the library?" Boscha crossed her arms.
"Wagah-we-we're not flirting, right Amity?" The human laughed.
"Nope just-t two girls hanging out." The Blight joined in.
"... You're both so obvious." She sighed. "So what the heck are we looking for again?"
"Human diary of some guy who was here before me."
"Well if people can call you the 'first human here', then that means it must have been before they remember … so over a hundred years ago." Blight muttered.
"So what you're looking for is probably already worm food, great." This was already not worth it.
"Maybe not." Amity turned to the back, where some giant doors were. "If it was donated to the library way back when, then it might be stored in the archives, which are forbidden from entry."
"Even to people who work here?" The human questioned.
"It's only permitted by the head librarian, Malphus, but my key card can get us in.." Amity
The human hummed. "Okay, here's the plan. We wait till the dead of night, tie up Amity-"
"What?" The Blight began blushing madly. This better not be a human kink.
"Use the keycard and get in. That way, in case we get caught, she won't be blamed for us being there."
"…Or we can just go in now when no one's paying attention and be quiet?" Boscha threw out there.
"... I can't tell if the complex plans are just the boiling isles infecting me or Lucci."
"Probably just your dumb human brain making things worse." Boscha got flicked in the head by Amity. "Hey!"
"This isn't school, this is the real world. You insult my friends here, I retaliate; got it?" Amity glared.
"And whenever you attack, I retaliate twice as hard." Boscha punched the shelf next to the girl's head. "Got it?"
"I get it, we all want to kill each other, but we also all want me to make it back home, right?" The human asked.
"Yes, and leave this world forever." Boscha rolled her eyes.
"… Okay, so let's just focus on that one goal and get this over with as quickly as possible." Literally the only sensible thing the human has said this entire time.
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Luz looked up at the almost impossibly high bookshelf. "So … is there an organizational system here or …" She did not think this place was a toordus situation, but in a magic world, everything probably was.
The whole place definitely gave off more of a magical library vibe than the rest of the building. Stairs and hallways with little lighting that went seemingly nowhere, books that flew around like birds, and some ghostly looking limbs that crawled all over the place.
"Well I can say that we're in the 'really old' section." Boscha grumbled as she picked up a book … which then proceeded to break apart into dust in the wind. "Ugh, half of these books aren't even good as paperweights anymore. Your human diary probably got swept away centuries ago."
"I haven't gotten this far just to give up on the only lead I have, so I'm not leaving until I've searched the whole place top to bottom." Luz affirmed. "How many books do we have to look through, ms wisdom?"
Amity's face did that cute full red blush face before quickly turning around. "Just…just right down a couple of floors. If it's a donation, then it should be classified under the era it was donated." She bowed a little. "Just right this way, curious cutie….Ah, as in your..ah..curiousity is cute, like a cats, not saying you look like a cat by that your cute like one, but not in a weird way.."
"I thought you were trying to work as fast a possible, yet we're still here in this dark and dank dungeon while you two fail at flirting!" Boscha yelled at them, before Amity placed a hand over the girl's mouth.
There was the sound of feet crawling above them, followed by a heavy hiss, before it moved away. "... Do not … tip off … my boss." She argued quietly. "He's usually nice, but he's vicious against trespassers. We could be ripped apart into paper shreds, or worse, I could be fired."
"This is why I wanted to go with the tie her up plan. Plausible deniability that we forced her to do something so Amity doesn't get in trouble." Luz grumbled. "I've already done enough of that since we met."
Amity looked at her with a face of concern. "Luz, I don't hold anything against you. If anything, you getting me in trouble has only made my life better." The green haired girl chuckled. "Ed and Em have toned down their antics towards me, mom hasn't pressured me at every waking second now, and I have two of my oldest friends back…and I have you…."
"Oooh…thanks for that..'' Why did every word that came out of this girl's mouth make her feel warmer than the wrath of a thousand suns.
"Gah, your love is pathetic." The bitch groaned.
"Don't blame us just because your parents don't love each other." Amity argued.
"What are you on about? They're completely in love with each other." Boscha looked confused more so than anything.
"Oh really? Because I've had dinner at your house, multiple times, and you make my parents seem perfectly functional by comparison." Amity rolled her eyes.
"Wow, that's a really low blow." Luz still was on the fence about a Blight parent redemption as it was. Everyone had to get better eventually, right?
"Again, I don't see the problem, Mom told me the perfect way to love someone was to slowly destroy their lives until you're the only positive source of encouragement and joy they have, and that's exactly what happened." Wait what? "They at least have more affection for souls then the Blights."
"Affection? More like blatant hate weakly painted as kindness." Amity argued back. "My parents at least are straight to the point and don't place meaningless bs down each other's throats."
"Straight to the point? This entire time you've been beating around the bush with how you feel towards the human. You hold everything in and don't act on anything."
"Okay, starting to see a lot of problems emerge here." Luz muttered. "So you think love is just controlling your partner?"
"What else could it be?" Boscha nodded. "You get them to depend on you and you get to spend the rest of your life with someone that'll never abandon you."
"And … what about you Amity?" She asked.
"Oh, it's an equal transaction where you have to provide as much as you can in order to make your partner happy." Amity answered unhealthy fast. "Failure to produce happiness renders any business null and void."
"... I think Willow might be the sanest member of the group in terms of relationship goals." Luz deadpanned as she continued walking.
"Like half a witch has a chance with anybody." Boscha said out loud.
"She had a million more chances than you ever had." Amity formed a sinister grin. "Or shall I remind you of how hard my sister turned you down for grom, or how literally everyone you asked ran away."
Now Boscha adopted a look like she was about to murder someone. "At least I got a date in the end. What about you? The girl that was a coward and ditched being Grom Queen until her precious little human got all whiny and ran like a cockatrice without its head."
"I get you two are venting probably a decades worth of mean girl problems, but can I just ask if we're getting close?" One of the books perched on Luz's head. "I don't want to find out if magic books are able to lay eggs."
"We are, just over there." Amity walked up, grabbing her hand with her soft fingers. "Come on."
"Sure thing." Luz nodded a little quickly for her own liking.
"Seriously, get a room, you two. You're not cute." Blasphemous. Amity was the pinnacle of cute.
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The mouse hid in the covers of its latest meal. The soft and warm pages both provided great nourishment and shelter away from the threat. They nibbled on another page, their head being filled with a rush of information that filled their minds and made them sleepy. They didn't understand the information, but it was tasty either way.
Light invaded their room, along with cool air. Their shelter was invaded. "... It's GONE!" Some round eared creature shouted. "THEY ATE IT!" So loud and so rude. If they wanted the pages, they should've gotten here first.
"Maybe if you stopped flirting and actually moved your butts, this wouldn't have happened." The three eyed creature groaned.
"Oh like you did anything to help at all, you did nothing but rip on us the entire time." The green haired one accused.
"I got your backsides moving, because if I hadn't done anything, you losers would have still been at the entrance trying to suck face with each other."
"Would you stop with the accusations?!" The round eared girl accused. "At least we can have romance if Amity was into it, but no, you're just jealous because other people have better relationships than you!"
"I am never jealous, and I'd especially never be jealous of some powerless, worthless wannabe witch that's keeps getting in my way!"
"What are you talking about?! We've barely talk to each other, let alone get in each other's way! What could I possible be-!" The round one paused, before laughing. "Wow..wow, wow, wow, I know what this is…this isn't about me, this is about Lucci!"
"What?" There was a tone that had the mouse want to back up deeper into the pages.
"You're jealous that I'm friends with him, you're jealous that during Grudgby he chose to side with his friends, his real friends instead of you, and you got it all twisted in your head that as long as I'm here, he'll never give you the attention you want you want, Because deny it all you want, you like him and want him all to yourself because your life is just that shitty!"
The three eyed girl stared at the round eared one for a long, long silence, before letting out a disonant smile. "Would you like to know my original plan before shoving you in a portal home was an option?"
"I … what-" A hand went around her throat.
" This ."
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" The green haired girl punched the three eyed one and tackled her to the ground. The two girls began rolling, punching, and biting around as they tried to viciously kill one another like savages … that was probably the book talking, they were just fighting like normal animals to the mouse.
"Hey, guys, guys, I thought we were trying to keep it down!" The round eared one shouted, wisely staying away from the upcoming carnage.
"That was before the bitch tried to murder you!" The green haired one shouted, using claws to scratch at her enemy.
"Oh like you haven't tried to do the same! You were all up for murder at the Covention!"
"Yeah, but unlike you, I can grow up and see how dumb high school hierarchy is!"
"If I wasn't at the top of it someone else would be, and I refuse to take orders from anyone!"
"Or you can just not care and actually do something with your life, you second rate triangle eyed Grudgby Captain!"
"I'll show you second rate when I burn your organs from the inside out!"
The two began pulling out magical circles, only for a shadow to fall over the group. "... That would be the librarian, wouldn't it?" The round eared girl questioned.
"Amity…" The predator spoke in a deep voice, the sense of being devout prominent. " What…. Are you doing here? This is like, so unprecedented and unprofessional. I expected more out of you young lady."
"I'm … I'm sorry sir." The girl apologized.
"I'm afraid I'll have to revoke your library card. And to think I had such high hopes." The man lamented. "Also I totally banish your two friends here for life."
" What!" The three eyes creature yelled. "But it's the humans faul-"
"You're the one that threw fireballs in a room full of old books." The bigger predator stopped the girl. "Take my advice and don't start blaming others for your own problems."
"Is there anything I can-" Luz tried to
"If you want to negotiate, save it for tomorrow while I assess any and all damage you caused." The predator rubbed their forehead. "Ugh, just go, go, I'm just too full of disappointment right now to look at any of you. Leave this place now."
A massive wave of disappointment seemed to overwhelm the trio as they began to walk with their heads down. "Told you the human just makes.."
"Boscha.." The green haired one growled. "Would it kill you to not have the last word for once? The last thing we want to hear is your bullshit."
"No…no she's right." The round eared once wiped her eyes. "I came to this world just being focused on what I want…and a lot of people have gotten hurt because of that." Saltiness filled the air as the round smeared creature cried. "And thanks to me, you lost your special safe space away from your family. Classic Luz screw up, am I right?"
"Lu-"
"Don't worry, tomorrow I'll do whatever I can to fix this. I'll get you back your job, I promise … gah, I've gotta go now. Lucci's probably gonna be wondering where I am." The girl began running off.
There was a tense silence with the other two. Neither looked like they knew what to say. "Awkward." The three one muttered.
The green haired one grunted. "You know, even if I hated you in silence for the last ten years, I at least respected the person you were. Determined, focused. Disciplined. That's far from the petty, insolent, and bratty child I see right now." She began walking off. "Lucci deserves far… far better than you."
"Whatever!! I don't care what you have to say about it! Lucci likes me for me and that's all that matters!" The three eyed creature stormed off in the other direction.
The mouse was conflicted on what to do. They could go back inside and find another book to sleep in…but the round eared one took his shelter. The best one he's had in a while. Surely they could offer some compensation for that, right?
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Amity groaned as she stared out the window. "And while running after Luz, that's when I got hit with a tree."
"Would explain a lot." Emira noted as she tried using some scissors on one of the branches in her hair. "Geesh, I knew three eyes was a jerk, but that was some alpha bitch mean girl territory there."
"Not fair I tell you. Mittens defends her girl and gets punished for it. I'm vandalizing the library extra hard the next time I visit." Edric swore, getting a hairspray bottle and a lit match in his hands.
"No Ed, there's kids in the library who just want to learn. And the age range would be young even by your standards for attacking witches." It was at least nice to hear her siblings attempt to be supportive with their troublemaking. "I just… I got so out of control when Boscha started bad mouthing Luz. I got these weird feelings I've never felt before, and they keep popping up at the most inconvenient time."
"I think that has more to do with you holding everything in for so many years." Emira took out a comb with a smirk. "You got so used to not being happy that you don't know how to keep it all straight."
She let out a hum. "Yeah … and now Luz is out there blaming herself like she does sometimes …" It wasn't her responsibility. "I just…I wish there was a way for to tell her it's all okay."
"You know us mittens, we like to be straightforward and blunt." Ed chuckled. "If we were in your shoes, I'd just lay out everything to her. You do like her, right? Like, like her more than anybody you've met in your life?"
"… Yeah." She relented. "Every time she smiles it makes my heart flutter, any time she holds my hand my body tingles, when she laughs I wanna hear it forever … oh my Titan was this what it was like for Lucci and Willow?" Those poor souls, always out of reach from their crushes.
"Probably. Crushes are weird. They start off small. And the more your hang out with them and get to know them, the more you appreciate them." Em nodded. "Only time can tell if you want, or can, take it a step further."
A step further … could she do it? Could she muster up the courage to actually try? "How are you guys giving good advice on this? I've never seen either of you with anyone before."
"Hey, me and Em have been around the block plenty of times." Edric waved off. "Nothing major though, we tend to take things more casually." That was one well of advice down the drain. "Hey, I'm starting to see the roots again, should I get the dye?"
"Hm?" She looked at the bottle of dye…the bottle of dye that made her look more like her mom, the person Amity despised most in the world. Ever since Luz came into her life, Amity has been able to slip out of that controlling grasp her mother always held her under. Maybe this was another chance to take it another step further. "I think I want something different this time."
"Different, like a new color?" Emira asked. "Not against it, but you know Mom's going to get all over your case when she sees it, right?"
"Yep …" Amity looked at the forest from the window sill. "But that's my choice to make, not hers." She was in control of her own life.
"Dang, you should've fallen in love sooner, you're way more fun like this." Edric laughed. "What color are we going with? Pink, polkadoc, warnicorn painbow?"
"Abomination purple. Sounds cliche, I know, but it's my favorite color." She nodded.
"Hey, whatever you like, I'm sure you'll pull it off." Emira grabbed a bottle. "I know a certain round eared cutie will love it."
"You think?" She blushed.
"Especially if we style it like that one character you both read too much." Edric added in. "It's short enough to do so anyway."
Amity chuckled. This was legitimately the first time in…ever that she recalled having a good time with Ed and Em. "Thanks guys. You're not as bad as I thought you were."
"No prob, sis." Em rubbed her head. "Mind telling that to Curly top though? I'm thinking of trying that multi-track thing with healing, and it would be nice to not duck under a razor blade every five minutes."
"Just stop flirting with him." Amity deadpanned. Seriously, couldn't they see it was a dead end anyways? He liked Boscha way too much and he'd never go for the twins after the 'date incident'.
"Stop….flirting? I hear the words coming out of your mouth yet they don't make any sense." Ed snickered.
"Hey, it would probably be easier to stop than it would be to fail spectacularly."
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Lucci watched as Luz did a twirl. "Thanks man, after how badly I messed up today, I needed confirmation that I was right about something."
"Sure thing. Don't know why I didn't see through it. I thought I was better at picking up stuff like that." Bria seemed so nice too.
"Maybe it's because you have a thing for toxic women." Luz answered.
"Pffft, you're assuming that means I'd fall for someone other than Boscha." He's been pretty clear about that since the moment they've met. "Well in either case, the Galder stones ended up being Crystal Devils that can't form a body, so we stopped Bria and her lackey's from using them against their will for something sinister and/or petty."
"And here I thought all the Glandus High jokes were overkill." Luz retorted. "So I guess you ended the day on a positive note."
"Yeah, pretty much…although I might be friends with Mattholomule now, and I don't know if I can count that as a positive thing." The guy went through hell if he had to spend it with those jerks, but Matt was still a jerk too.
"At least you gained a friend. Boscha wants to kill me as always and I ruined Amity's job." Luz sighed. "Seriously dude, I'm not going to stop you from liking who you like….but why just Boscha? I have more than one crush, why don't you?"
"Last time I had more than one, it ended with me sitting alone for two hours waiting for the Blight twins to come." Lucci rolled his eyes thinking about that memory.
"Wait…you used to like them? Like… Like them like them?" Luz's eyes widened.
He blushed. "Yeah, maybe a little. They kept my pranking skills on edge and I admired them for that." And their moles were really cute. "And then they used my feelings for one of those pranks. Trust me Luz, never fall for a Blight. Amity is one of the few exceptions to that rule."
Luz flopped herself on the couch with a long moan. "After today, I'm not even sure Amity would want to even be my friend."
"Oh come one, Amity's not that petty…not anymore at least." Lucci was pretty sure of that. "Say, why don't we have another test-fest, this time one for all the fusions? You still haven't seen Rubix yet."
"Fusion test fest … yeah, that could be fun." Luz grinned. "I'll go grab my books!" She ran up the stairs. "KING! Why is my room covered in paint!?"
"The war was too great for one room!"
"Krrkrkrkrkr."
"I stand by my decisions, Hoot Hoot!"
"Heh, things are getting back to status quo, nice." Lucci grined, prepared to head to the kitchen to see if there were still some Lion Licker's in the back of it.
Knock knock
"Huh, odd to get a visit this late without the shouting and pounding at the door." Did Aunt Lily come back already? He approached the door and opened it. "Who's there…whoa…" He stepped back.
It was Amity, but with shorter hair….shorter Purple hair. "Hey Lucci…is Luz home?"
"Yeah, she is." He inspected the look. "Wow, went for a new look? Nice. It makes you look WAY less like your mom. Instant improvement." He sent a thumbs up.
"That's kind of what I was going for." She nodded. "So … anything crazy happen?"
"Well we were planning a special test fest where-"
Luz came crashing back down. "I've got my notebook, ready to plaaaaaa …" She trailed off, staring at Amity. "Hello there cotton candy-I mean my Amity-I mean … hey Amity."
"Oh..hey Luz. Sorry for-for showing up so unexpectedly, I just…ah…do you like my hair?"
"It's…beautiful…." Luz wistfully approached the girl.
Lucci stared at them for a moment. "Now I understand why King doesn't want me to flirt around him." Seriously, get a room to contain your cuteness.
"You think so?" And cure the Blight full face Blush. "Ah, thanks, I ah…I didn't mean to just stop by and get your opinion, I..I think I have something that might help." She lifted her hands to show off a mouse with a skullish looking head. Not the most romantic gift Lucci would've brought, but maybe Luz would be into having a small new pet.
"Oh if it isn't the little twerp that ate the diary!" Luz pulled out multiple glyphs, lighting her hands on fire. "Let me at him!" Huh, guess Luz wasn't a mice gal.
"No, wait, don't kill it!" Amity backed away from the fire. "It's not just a mouse! It's an Echo mouse! They can playback anything they've consumed! Just watch!" Amity scratched the little guy's head.
The sound of a tape recording echoed in the air, before it's eyes glowed a pale green light, projecting an image in the air like a movie. "Entry One: May 21...I think. My Name is Philip Wittebane. And I have found myself in a world so horrid, yet so fantastic, few minds could have dreamt it. If only those at home could see what I have, and perhaps they shall. For the more I learn about this realm, the more I am certain I can harness its strange powers to return home. Today, I begin recording my journey home to create a portal back to the Human Realm." It showed a familiar eye symbol, before the mouse closed its eyes, rubbing its nose adorably before falling asleep.
"Projection mice….this world just keeps on getting more and more magical by the day." She presented her palm and slowly placed the little creature in them. "You and I are going to be best friends….eventually."
Amity chuckled at that. "You always do find a way to sneak yourself into people's hearts." She leaned forward and…..kissed...Luz....on the cheek.
The girl he thought of as his roommate/best friend/sister froze on the spot, eyes wide. "AAhhhhh…" He saw Amity blush before she ran away, closing the door behind her. Lucci waited for a minute after Amity ran away to come up and poke Luz in the head. "Uhhhhhhh…."
"Yeah, that's exactly how I felt when it happened to me." He patted her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the club."
"Uwaaaa."
"It's going to take about half a day before you form full sentences again. Better to head to bed now and sleep about a quarter of those feelings away."
"UWAHWHWHAH…"
"We'll do the test-fest maybe the day after tomorrow. All Fusions mean we need to bring in Pudding, and you both need to let the awkwardness fade a little before you see each other again."
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."
"I won't hold this over you. I'll just say I told you so and move with my life."
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Tibbles felt so much pain as he awoke. "Gahh …" He tried to stand, only to find that wasn't an option. Opening his eyes, he noticed his leg was wrapped up in a splint, held together by string and fancy looking wood. "What the …" He didn't do that. He looked around, noticing he was inside of some cave. "Where … where am I?"
"You are in my dwelling." Tibbles turned to see a voice, coming from … a hooded figure. "I found you down a cliffside with broken legs."
"Cliffside…." He didn't recall going off a Cliffside. Granted, it's been hard to walk around ever since the Owl lady's human attacked him viciously for unjustifiable reasons. No one even bought those dumb Azura books, so there was no one to even care about plagiarism. Not to mention the masked man reeked of suspicion.
"I brought you here and tended to your leg." He gestured to the injury. "There is soup to your left, but I'm afraid it has cooled as of an hour ago."
"I'm not exactly a demon with high expectations." Tibbles grabbed the bowl. "Hard to make a living now. Sure, with the Owl Lady gone, I have more people to scam, but jobs are harder to pull with the Emperor's coven coming down twice as hard on criminals."
There was a chuckle. "The emperor's coven, the absolute worst of witch potential … I am Ivan." The masked man answered.
"Don't I know it. Heck, on some days I have to make do in caves just like this." Tibbles said as he took a sip of the ice cold soup. "Blegh. No offense, but this isn't all that good even by knock off standards."
"None taken. I have to live off what I can find. A few mushrooms here, a cup of mold there, and the occasions dabs of Firebee honey." They moved, but silently, as if no footsteps were ever taken. "Such is the beauty of nature, giving us substance from the smallest of things."
Ah great, a hippie. "So what did you fix me up with?" He asked, looking down.
"Palistram Wood."
"Wait, what?" Tibbles looked amazed. "You have enough palistram wood laying around to use as splints?" He gazed at his splint. "This is virtually wooden gold! You could set yourself up for life if you have this much laying around."
"I do not need something as petty as gold. All it does is shine brightly, with no practical use." Correction. Tibbles was dealing with a stupid hippie. Well, if this Ivan fellow was so frivolous with his use of Palistrom wood, maybe he could take the splints, and any other wooden samples the man had and make off with it. "Stay for as long as you need, and leave as soon as you please."
"Oh, I think I'll stay for quite a while." Tibbles attempted to stand, though the best he could manage was a hobble. "So about this Palistram wood. Do you have your own orchid or some unexplored section of the forest you discovered?"
"I've grown one or two trees in my time, although it is hard to come by. My friends just need every shredding and carving they can get."
Tibbles raised an eye. "Your friends?"
"Screee." The witch tensed. "Braaa."
"What … was that?" He questioned.
"Nature is so full of misunderstood creatures, you see." Ivan chuckled as the screechings got closer. "When one sees a monster, another can see a friend, a companion, an ally, a shoulder to cry on during hard times." The crawling echoed through the cave. "And where one sees a devil, I see angels, guardians, my sentinels of justice."
"Rttrrtrtrtrtrtrrtrtrtrtrt"
"Devils?" The pig demon looked to the source of all the noise…..there were…. "Crystal DEVILS!?"
"That's what some call them, yes." Ivan nodded. "Oh look, I guess it's feeding time, and they are quite hungry."
Tibbles backed away as well as he could with a splint on his leg, the Crystal Devils of various sizes and colors approaching. "Please sir, you have to help me. I'll pay you lots of money, lots of rewards, and-"
"Have you heard of taste association?" The person in the hood questioned.
Tibbles glared. "Is this really the time to talk about science, my life is in danger!"
"It's quite a simple concept." They went on as if they didn't hear him. "To get an animal to enjoy a certain food, you mix it with something they like. Firebees honey mixed with apple gets them to become more fruit based. A snaggletooth can eat processed foods if you mix it in with raw meat."
"Are you not listening to me!" They shouted. "I'm telling you to help me! They're dangerous beasts!"
"And another example …" They removed their hood … revealing … a basilisk. "Is Palistrom wood wrapped around a witch." Tibbles couldn't breathe. "After all, their bile is filled with magic that pumps through their veins … right?" Tibbles fell to the ground. "Remind me, what was your splint made of?"
"No …" He began sliding back. "Stay back you freak!"
"How funny … witches love to use that word." Ivan grabbed a hold of Tibble's tiny form. "Another I've become well acquainted with is monster ." He threw him right in front of the devils. "For that is the end goal of my mission…to rid this world of all the monsters…. starting with you."
"No, please, this isn't right! This isn't-" They descended upon him. And soon all he felt was nothing but agony and suffering as he was ripped limb from limb.
"How charming … denying justice to its very face."