Summary: How one does proper beastkeeping
Viney grinned. "For my project, I shall display the intelligence of my partner." She turned to the Griffon. "Puddles, fetch me a sterile scrapple."
Her lovely assistant picked up the knife with two talons, moving over to a single as it washed off the blade with soap, picking up a towel with its beak to dry it off, using a free claw to spray it once, before bringing it over to Viney, handle first. "Scaww."
"Wow, impressive, you managed to get your partner to carry something without breaking it or shoving a piece of glass into someone's throat." Their teacher nodded, impressed at their demonstration.
"It's nothing much. Since Puddles is going to help me with my healing magic, it's all about treating each other respectfully as equals." The griffon was less of a pet and more of a friend.
"Scaww?"
"Yes Puddles, you can get your liver when this is all over." They still had to deal with their flesh eating habit. Ever since the Basilisk incident, her friend may have developed a taste for blood. "She's still overeager, but as long as she has enough attention, we can manage."
"Very nice Viney. Massive improvement from when you started." Multitracking was the best. She got to learn what she wanted instead of just limiting her options for the future. "Up next, Lucifer Clawthorne, who'll hopefully have a demonstration without getting eaten alive this time."
"Don't worry mam, I finally figured out what to do." The boy grinned, pulling out a large cage with various small fliers inside. "For my presentation, I mixed a bit of bard magic into this one." He explained, before coughing, clearing his throat.
Lucci began to whistle, starting with a merry tune. Such a clear vocal range. " Tweet, Tweet? Tweet tweet?" The phoenix and the nachtkrapp(nine headed raven) responded, looking curious as they flew around his head.
The new lord calamity continued to whistle, bringing it to a high note before going to a much lower one. The birds nodded in understanding, swarming the room and picking up every pencil from every desk and stacking them neatly together, forming a little house of sorts. "My mom used to tell me about how certain vibrations can affect liquids, so I began to wonder, what else could it affect? Most creatures respond to sound in one way or another, so I thought, what if I can make that connection between witch and animal through music."
"Communication through song … well, it's the first improvement all year, I'll give you an A-." The teacher shrugged, writing it down.
"Success!" The boy shouted.
"Nice job, lord calamity." She grinned, patting his head.
"Thanks, surprised it took me this long to figure it out." He grinned as he sat down next to her. "I love animals, but I REALLY love Bard magic. Since I'm learning how to mix magic, I figured if I could bring that same love over to Beast-keeping, I'd finally start getting better at it. Sort of a little life hack for myself."
"Life hacks, the best way to advance in life." Viney wished she could hack her life as easily at this kid. "So, you and Boscha looking for a third partner?" She's never been polygamous before, but she was willing to give it a shot.
"Third partner for what?"
"Next up, Belfry." Oh no… this was going to be a disaster.
"Belfry, Skara's boyfriend?" Lucci looked at the bat kid, who slowly made his way to the door. "Doesn't he have the lowest grades in class, even when animals tried to eat me before?"
The boy walked up to one of the birds Lucci left behind. "Hey there little guy, would you like to-" It began to poke at his face hard enough to cause blood. "... I would have taken no for an answer." Belfry responded, before hitting the ground.
"And now you see why." Viney winced. It was hard to see another kid fail at magic so hard. "Animals may try to eat you, but they just hate him for some reason."
"Belfy, we went over this." The teacher growled. "If you're to pass this class, you need to show some assertiveness over the situation. Beasts are wild creatures that naturally only go off on their own feral instincts. To be effective at Beast keeping, you need to stand tall and give them something to respect.;"
"But they look so sad and in need of a hug." The boy complained, as Puddles walked up to the boy, grabbing his arm.
"PUDDLES, DROP HIM NOW!" She screamed, not wanting another dismemberment charge thrown her way.
" ...Scraaaw." Puddles pouted, letting go of the bleeding limb.
"See, exactly like that." The teacher scowled at Belfry. "Viney and Puddles may be equals in their relationship, but Viney is still able to lead her with a dominating aura and presence. Until you show improvement like that, you're going to keep failing."
"Yes mam." The boy pouted.
"How has he survived as long as he has?" Lucci questioned.
"Honestly, It mostly looks like luck." Viney observed as all the animals of the classroom began to hiss at him when he passed by.
"Yikes, it's just me whenever I walk into the market." Her desk partner winced at the sight. "On another note, nice job with your Griffon. Wish I had an animal companion as cuddly and loyal as that."
"You just have to learn to be both loving and assertive. Puddles, hug!" She jumped up and cradled the guy's neck tightly. "See, he loves this!"
"Scaaww!"
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Skara groaned as she made her way to the table. "I need your guys help." She didn't like to do this, Skara usually was the one being asked to help someone, and it was a great feeling to have, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Weird, it's usually Luz that starts our crazy adventures." Willow noted.
"I haven't started anything in a while, it's mostly chaos ruining perfectly casual things …" Luz noted. "Am I losing my touch?"
"Nah, that's just you settling into the chaotic landscape that is our world." Lucci shrugged. "And you've been pretty busy trying to keep Centi calm since the chaps went away, so there's been no time to start anything crazy."
"Oh, so we're finally putting down the Crystal Devil?" Skara questioned.
"DON'T YOU DARE EVEN SUGGEST THAT THOUGHT LUTE FOR BRAINS!" Luz slammed her fist down on the table and threw her fork over her head and into the wall.
Everyone was quiet for a second as Skara sank in her seat, having a similar feeling of being small she got from her Grudgby captain. "See Lucci, this is what happens when you date Boscha." Amity sighed. "Her terrible attitude is rubbing off on Luz."
"Oh no, she was like that whenever someone threatens someone important to her." Lucci responded. "Now it's just kinda expanded to King, Eda, and you."
Amity blushed at that one. "You'd … do that for me?"
"I mean … yeah." Luz blushed herself. "You're close to me Amity …"
"Can you guys save the flirting for after we deal with whatever today's problems lead us into?" Gus rolled his eyes.
" We're not flirting!" The obvious lovebirds shouted at the same time.
"Ah, can I speak now?" Skara waited a minute to get a nod of confirmation before she continued. "It's about Belfry…"
"You're breaking up with him?" Lucci asked, confused. "You guys seemed so happy together… I think… I don't really remember you guys doing much of anything outside of Grom."
"I'm not breaking up with him." She rolled her eyes. "I'm worried about him. He can't afford the constant injuries launched at him, and his parents might crack down on his fs at this rate."
"I feel for the guy, but what can we do?" Gus asked. "He's not exactly the most motivated guy in the world. Isn't that what you liked about him?"
"Look, I love Belfy's chill and relaxed nature towards life, but I won't be able to enjoy it that much if he gets expelled for bad grades." She relented. "So I want you guys to … you know, get him into that angry mindset."
"I feel Boscha would have been a better choice." Willow pointed out.
"I want to help him, not kill him." Five seconds with Boscha would turn him to dust. "Plus you guys are super determined and recklessly angry. Willow's a goddess of plants, Amity's an abomination prodigy, Gus skipped two grades, Lucci's a crystal devil, and Luz is crazy with glyphs and comes up with super ideas and plans. If anyone can get him on the right track, it's you guys."
"I think we could do it." Lucci shrugged.
"Oh, let's do another montage!" Luz shouted.
"I'm going to get all my flags to a safe place." Gus groaned, moving out of the way.
"How many broken bones can we expect to have today, I want to brace for the pain." Willow took a bite of her salad.
"What's a … montage?" Amity questioned. Luz grinned as she entered a long rant that Skara tuned out.
"They're going to beat that for a while." Skara turned to Lucci. "So… You and Boshca have gotten pretty close with each other lately, haven't you?" Skara snickered, watching Lucci's dopey eyes linger on her oldest friend.
"Yeah… It's so amazing." Lucci said dreamily. "I feel like anything could happen to me and I'd be completely fine with it. I could tell her anything, and the world will still be intact."
"Anything, huh?" She poked her finger at his arm. "You're going to say the big L word?"
"Maybe." His expression remained almost droopy and unfocused. "I could tell her I'm human and thing's will be alright…"
"You're what now?" She was taken aback, not expecting THAT tidbit of information to pop up.
Lucci's face scrunched up as his eyes shot back. "Nothing, I didn't say anything! Hehehe, I'm so high on the relationship I'm saying nonsense, crazy right?!"
"... Wow, and here I thought you were the healthy one in the relationship." Skara muttered.
"Look, I'm not trying to hide it from her, I just want… time to process it." Lucci banged his head on the table. "I'm barely able to accept being a crystal devil, and I only have one good example of humanity compared to the other jerks I ran into on my only visit to the human realm."
"Oh trust me Lucci, you're right on that." Luz assured him. "I don't want to shatter Gus's dreams, but our species sucks."
"Blasphemy. How could you say that about such an awesome creature!?" The illusionist questioned.
"Come on, do you think Boscha's going to judge someone based on their species?" Skara asked.
"Of course not." Amity added in. "She just judges you about your money, strength, intelligence, and how annoying you are."
"Exactly, so what makes you scared.." Skara tried to ask, only for said three-eyed girl to come by and shove Luz off her seat.
"Hey! I was sitting there!"
"You were sitting too close to Lucci, human! Don't get your gross human filth all over him!" The girl shouted as she sat down next to Lucci, moving into his side.
Lucci sent Skara a look, before turning back. "Angel, I'm sorry, but I'm going to be busy this weekend. Skara wants me to help her boyfriend get a backbone."
"Seriously? I told you dating that loser was going to bite you in the butt, Skar, but you didn't listen." Boscha groaned. "Give me five minutes with him and I'll set him on fire."
"… You me get him fired up?" Skara asked.
"That's what I said." This was why she wanted these guys in the first place.
"Well, that's one annoying girl joining us." Luz grumbled. "I guess it's time to go!" … Belfry was doomed.
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Lucci let Luz play her montage music as he brought over a medium sized panthreta. "Now, let's start off with this." He stated. "Belfry, give it a growl."
The bat boy looked at the demon. "Grrr." He spoke weakly.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh!" The beast roared back and attempted to bite the guy's head off.
"One minute and we already have to worry about getting eaten alive!" Willow held the monster back with her vines.
"What kind of roar was that!? Seriously!?" Boscha yelled at the bat kid. "There's no passion, no energy, and most of all, no anger!"
"I gave it my most aggressive call." He shrugged.
"Didn't you scream loudly for Grom!?" Luz shouted as she froze the beast over.
"Yeah, but that's Grom. It's like watching a grudgby match. You just get hyped up from all the energy all over the place."
"Then lets try the next one and hope you can keep up that energy." Lucci sighed
BBBT
Next he brought in a waist sized ferafalc, wings covered in razor blades. "Now, energy man, passion." Gus instructed. "Imagine Grom coming up at you and trying to rip you apart. You have one shot at this. What do you do?"
Belfry tore off his shirt and slid on the ground. "I offer myself as tribute! Let me be your sacrifice oh mighty Grom!"
"CAAWW!" The bird tackled him, cutting into his chest.
"Not the right move!" Amity shouted, using an abomination to pull it back.
"See Skara, this is why we DON'T cheer for the fear bringer." Lucci pointed to his hard buddy. "Huh, don't cheer the fear bringer…I think I can make a song about that for next year."
"Please tell me we have some smaller animals!" Luz shouted.
BBBT
They did have smaller animals. This time they decided to stay away from animals less of the avian variety and turned to something more reptilian. "Okay, let's work with a cockatrice. If you don't control this one, you will be turned to stone." Lucci brought out the half chicken, half snake creature.
"Why would you bring in something like that?" Luz asked him.
"Two reasons. To see if fear can be the right incentive for him, and to see if my healing spit can cure petrification on other people."
"Being helpfully threatening and self improving… I've never been prouder." Boscha wiped a tear from her eye.
"Aww, how cute." The boy walked forward and began petting the cockatrice. "You want a hug, don't you?"
Hissss
The cockatrice bit him, turning Belfry to stone instantly. "Skara, I don't say this to be mean… but your boyfriend has as much brains as a bag of rocks." Willow groaned.
The girl sighed. "I know … it's kind of endearing after a while."
"Who would find someone so self destructive endearing?" Luz questioned.
BBBT
"Why is everything on the Boiling Isles so reptilian?" Luz asked as they brought in the liracore.
"It's a very hot place." Willow answered. "Lots of things are cold blooded."
"That's why most of the furry creatures around here live in the knee, like the slither beast." Amity continued. "This time we'll try giving Belfry a weapon and see if that will boost his threat." She handed the boy an abomination sword.
"Oh, I'm not any good with knives, like at all."
"It's true, he cut himself with a butter knife last week." Skara added.
"That's why you gotta make them think your going to use it." Gus got behind him. "Stand straight, raise your arms in the air, and swing it around with all you got!"
Belfry nodded, turning to the liracore. "Stay back, I have a sword!" He swung it … as the weapon slipped right out of his hand … and into Amity's foot.
Amity paused for a second. "…Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggh!"
"Oh my titan, the blood's leaking everywhere! The bone's sticking out!" Luz exclaimed.
Bbbbt
"Okay Lucci, I relent. Your healing spit is a life saver." Amity thanked him as she was finally able to stand on her own two feet again. "I shall not doubt it in the future."
"Thank you." The boy grinned. "Now, I realize that size isn't everything, so now we're going to give you the most absolutely pathetic demon we've encountered for you to tame." He gestured to the Snaggleback.
"Aww, come on man." The little creature complained.
"You were the crystal ball at grom, you know how low on the totem pole you are." Luz deadpanned.
"I know, but it still hurts." The turtle monkey thing sighed.
"This time Belfry, it's idiot proof." Willow gestured. "Slam your foot on the ground and demand this demon do what you say or you'll grind it to mulch!"
"Alright. Here goes nothing." Belfry walked towards the little guy.
"Agh, stay away!" The Snaggleback slipped into its shell… causing Belfry to trip over it.
"You…gotta be freaking kidding me!" Boscha banged her head against a tree. "How much lamer can a single witch get!?!"
Lucci sighed. "Luz, cut the montage music." He waved to her. "Skara, I'm sorry, but if the Saggleback is too much, then he really is hopeless." Even King could beat up that guy in his sleep.
"But..but.."
"Skara, I know you find the right tone is your thing, but even you have to admit when something's too out of tune." Boscha sighed.
"Maybe we could just have Gus make an illusion and have Lucci or Luz take the class in their place." Willow thought aloud.
"Could we not?" Amity questioned. "I let many things slide, but I still have hang ups about cheating."
"What I don't get is why he's even in Beast Keeping." Lucci looked up at Belfry.
The boy sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I figure if I live with animals, I may as well study on being their friends."
Skara looked surprised on that one. "Wait, live with animals?"
"Yeah, my real parents left me in the woods when I was a baby, I got picked up in a pack."
"…You're homeless?" Boscha raised an eyebrow.
"Home is what you make of it." The boy shrugged. "My cave has plenty of lighting and a spot to grow berries."
"Aka, you're homeless." Amity summed up.
"Huh, with everyone always tossing that assumption at me, it's weird running into a real life case." Lucci muttered. "What kind of animals do you-"
" Krkrkrkrkrkr." Centi came up from out of nowhere, mouth more full of acid than usual.
"Why is she here!?" Willow shouted.
"Ever since she ran out of chaps, she's been extra clingy." Lucci explained with a wince.
"Kraaa." The Devil ran over to Luz.
"Listen Centi, I'm sorry I don't have any more chaaps." She apologized. "But maybe we can-"
All became silent as Belfry walked straight up to the creature, raising a single hand and touching the side of her eye. "There there." He mumbled, slowly rubbing it with his knuckle.
" Kawaaaaa." Centi looked relaxed, closing its maw and curling up in a ball.
"She… she calmed down?" Lucci couldn't believe it. "I can understand what she says, yet I can't do that."
"When it comes to crystal devils, they feel a lot more from their gem than anywhere else." The boy explained.
"I …" Boscha paused whatever she was going to say. "Wait really?" She questioned, lifting his shirt and placing a finger on his diamond. "Can you feel that?"
"Yes, very much so!" He said flustered, turning his head. "It's really sensitive and makes me feel funny."
" Oh really?" Why did he not like that smirk on his girlfriend's face?
"How do you know so much about crystal devils?" Gus asked.
"Because they're the ones that raised me." Belfry said with a smile, continuing to rub Centi.
"Belfry.." Skara said as everyone shared the same look. "Take us to where you live, now."
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Belfry trudged through the forest, making his way to the entrance of the cave. "Here's my home, make sure to wipe your shoes on the rocks." He did his best to keep things tidy.
"So you really do live in a cave." Luz asked as she looked all around, constantly petting Centi the way he showed her. "How do you keep yourself sanitary?"
"Mostly rain, and a small river that flows through a mile to the right." He explained.
"You mean the boiling water that everyone always has to fight to avoid?" Gus said skeptically.
"I always leave it to Crysta to help cool stuff down." He looked to his right, pointing to a snake-like creature with a singular eye. "She always does some of the craziest stuff, almost like she knows what's gonna happen."
"Swaaaa." She spoke in a daze, keeping their eye on the group.
"And here's the crib." He walked into the inside of his crib, giving a low hum from his throat as he looked at a familiar plant-like creature. It always calmed Weeda right down. "It's alright, they're non violent."
"This is somehow the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen all week." Amity hesitantly stepped forward as a cloudy looking one leaned in close. "They're not acting violent at all, especially for so many in one place.
"They almost seem … at peace." Lucci noted, reaching out to a crab one and getting a scream in return.
"There, there Staby, they don't know any better." He told the creature, gently tapping the ground in a consistent manner.
The three eyed girl leaned down and seemed to admire the little dance the little guy own with her own dancing. "Aww, that one looks so cute." Everyone looked weirdly at Boscha. "What, I have a thing for crabs. They're tiny yet strong, and no one wants to mess with them."
"This little guy's nature isn't to devour or destroy. If people just paid attention long enough, they'd know they're all suffering from excruciating pain." He turned to Boulder, a rhino looking one. "This one right here, is scared of touching anything. They keep to their corner to keep space because skin contact hurts." He turned to Mama, a bat looking one that helped him when he was young. "And this one wants to raise others because it can't remember their friends or family, and is super violent around perceived threats to that."
Belfry moved over to Centi. "And this girl just needs something stimulating to distract her from the buzzing in her own head, isn't that right?" He scratched the soft part in their inner jaw.
"Krkrkrkrkr."
"And Lucci …" He looked at the hybrid boy. "You're lucky. I don't know what you did but … you missed out on whatever caused these guys agony every time they had a thought."
"Wait… caused?" Luz asked. "Something… or someone made them into monsters?"
"I don't know the details cause I can't speak their minds, but Santa over there has the most consistent memory." He pointed to a giant red bear looking one, with fur around its face that looked like a beard.
"Huh. Maybe I can get something out of it." Lucci stepped forward. "I can understand Centi and the Gauldur stones. Maybe I can understand these guys too."
"Grraaaa." Santa complained.
"No, friends." He grabbed Lucci's hand, gently moving over and softly placing the hand on the fur, scratching with his nails to get through the shell-like body. "Not enemies."
"Raaaag."
"No, I'm not going to steal your rock moss either. I have a bed at home." Lucci responded. "Look, I'm one of you guys, see?" He showed off his rock.
Santa stared at the gem, their head tilting. "Graaa …"
"Familiar?" Lucci questioned. "... Could you tell me what happened? What made everyone … like this?"
Santa was silent for a bit, shifting positions and laying flat. "Aaarrrg."
"There was … a war." Lucci translated. "In another realm… one entire species of people… old and immortal… they fought themselves in a civil struggle."
"Civil war from another world of immortals." Luz spoke with sparkly eyes. "You're awesome Centi."
"Krrrk."
"Graaa." Santa continued.
"The war lasted a thousand years… many breaks … many cries …" The room got colder, many of the Devils curling in. "Then one side warped, fleeing from the world … and …" Lucci looked confused. "A flash of Yellow, Blue, and White."
"Mmmmm." Mama lept over and hugged Belfry tightly. He patted and rubbed her back to comfort her.
"Three lights… .three rulers… three….. diamonds." Lucci eyes widened.
"Lucci, are you royalty?" Amity questioned.
"No, it can't be." Willow assured them. "His Diamond is Pink."
Santa's eyes became pinpicks. "GRRAAA!!!" The big gal shrank, getting on their knees and looking… afraid. "Aaaaafgh."
"What do you mean I'm supposed to be dead?" Lucci asked.
"Hey now, everybody calm down." Belfry tried to keep the peace. "Nobody here wants to hurt any of you."
"Grrrr." … They all turned to … Coven Head Ebberwolf.
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Ebberwolf found himself often annoyed as of late. If he had his way, he'd spend his entire life in the woods, being isolated from the rest of witch kind. Most people sucked, and he's only met one or two decent people in his life. People needed to be more like animals. Simple and basic with no overly complicated emotions and ideas.
He'd be content with living at one with nature, but the Emperor's Coven, and the Emperor himself, were too much of a threat. Many of his beastial brethren were hunted down and needlessly killed by the command of Lord Belos, so becoming a coven head was the only deterrent to keeping everything secure.
They did their best to defend nature. Preservations, sanctuaries, fight clubs. But there were times even political power couldn't help … Crystal Devils. And here he was, face to face with an entire group of them, panicking around a group of children.
"Please don't tell me we're fighting a Coven Head." A bard track student from hexide begged.
"Given our track record with them, I'd prepare for the worst." What looked like a human girl reached for their pockets. "Anyone want to tell me what's the deal with short, feral, and hairy?"
"Coven Head Ebberwolf of the Beast Keeping coven." What looked like one of the Blight children backed away, holding onto the human. "He's lived in the wilderness for most of his life and raised by various wild animals."
"Ah, a fellow lover of nature." A beast keeping child smiled. "Welcome to our humble abode. We have some leaf stew if you're interested."
"Grrrr." That sounded nice but he was a strict carnivore through and through.
"So …" A plant track child backed away. "What brings you … around?"
"Besides Lucci's track record for getting Coven Heads into a murderous mindset?" An illusionist questioned.
"Hey, we all know that Vitimir's just plain crazy, that one's not on me." The kid the Emperor wanted dead so much crossed his arms. Fair enough.
"Look, Mr Ebberwolf was it, we really don't feel like fighting anyone today, so if we can just go off on our way and pretend we didn't see each other.." The human began to speak.
"Grrrruuf." He shrugged. He didn't particularly want to fight anyone today either.
"Wait, really?" The devil kid raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to go on a murderous rampage and try and kill me?"
"Ruff." Not his style. He just came to shatter Crystal Devils rumored to kill nearby witches. Long as the kids got out of the way, they'd be cool.
"Oh, there's no need to look here. These guys are cool. They've never hurt a fly before… well they've eaten quite a few fly-fruits, but that's normal." The beast keeper kid waved off.
"Grrwaaaah." Didn't matter. He needed to get all the crystal devils out of the area. Too many devouring incidents lately and Ebber couldn't play it safe.
"But … but they're innocent little babies." The human hugged one of the Crystal Devils.
"Krssss." It sprouted acid from it's maw.
"Rrrrrggh?" Was that really the best excuse they had? "Grrrrruuuf." Now get out of the way before things got messy. Fighting with a crystal devil always got messy, and they'd assuredly get caught in the crossfire.
"Mwaaaa!" The bat one screeched aloud.
"No mama, we don't need to fight him!" The beast keeper kid got in front of it. "I'm sure we can come to a compromise if we think this through."
"Grrruh." The only compromise was their form being poof and their shards brought to Belos. That was how it was going to end one way or another. " Grrrruugggh!"Ebber howled out, growing out his claws and scaling the walls, aiming to slice the bat monster's neck for a quick poofing.
"Why did we never learn that in Beaskeeping class!?" The devil child shouted, creating a shield. "Belfry, get them out of here!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" The bat kid shouted, seemingly commanding the devils into one corner.
" Raaaaggh." Ebber was getting that annoying feeling again as he grew his arms, making them bigger and stronger by combining the traits of several animals. "Geeeeruuugggh!" He swung as the shield, sending the devil kid back into a wall.
"I thought beast keeping was all about controlling animals! How's he doing all this morphing stuff!?" The human girl exclaimed as she attempted to throw fireballs he easily ducked under
"Transformations are genuinely a higher level of beast keeping magic, because that requires taking on the elements of nature within yourself." The blight answered.
"Like how Pudding does that muck stuff I'm guessing …" The human paused. "Wait, does that mean you can turn into an adorable goop girl one day?" Modern courtship. Both cute, but annoying at the same time.
"Seriously, can you idiots find a better time to get out all your stupid flirting that isn't a life or death situation!?" The potion girl shouted as she attempted to throw one vial at Ebber. "This is the second coven head I've run into in less than a month and I'm fighting them, what the hell is my life now?"
"Just be glad you haven't met Cuttie yet, that woman's insane." The devil child commented as he threw a razor shield. Ebberwolf slid under it and attempted to land some more blows.
"Unluckily for him, animals have acute hearing!" The bard girl shouted as she begun to play a violin, forcing his limbs to tug if he wasn't focused enough. "Hah! All those super senses are biting you in the butt now, aren't they!?"
Sadly yes, but there was still other forms of magic he could use. "Aaaaaawwwwwwwoooooooooooh!" He cried out in the air, focusing a magic circle to summon some flesh eating scarabs to attack the bard girl. Mainly to eat the lute, but also a limb if she continued to struggle.
"AAAHH! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE BUGS!?" The girl shouted.
"Well that's horrifying." The illusionist commented. "Unluckily for him, I learned a thing or two, take this!" A rock came flying at him … which was easily avoided.
"Grrr." Was he really expecting something there? He dodged an attack from the devil child … only for the illusion to poof as the real one punched him in the ribs, hard enough for Ebberwolf to feel something.
"Misdirection combat!"
"Nice one Gus!" The human shouted, waving around a piece of paper. "Now let's see you dodge this!" The human held it out at him? What was the point of this? It wasn't-Holy titan he needed to dodge!
Zaaaap
The top part of his hair burned and sizzled as what felt like lighting passed over him, scorching the walk behind him. " Gwaah?!" An invisible lighting bolt!? Really!? Who comes up with that!?
"The power of crazy for the win!" The human shouted, freezing over the ground and making it hard to get a grip, before a vine hit him in the face.
"You know, compared to Vitimir, I feel we have a genuine chance for the first time." The plant girl commented.
"Geeerwaaaagh!" Because Ebber's main goal was the crystal devils, not the dumb kids that were naively protecting them for no good reason. " Gaaaawwwwoooooah!"He howled again, summoning giant sandworms from underground to sink the group in.
"Well, it was nice living here while it was in one piece." The beast keeping child commented as the cave began to collapse.
" GwwwwwwAa!" The kids were acting extremely stupid and irrationally. They had no idea what they were doing, or what awaited them by doing this.
"Yeah, well stupid as we might be, it was still enough to kick your sorry behind, so I think I'm can leave satisfied with my life choices." The devil kid smirked as he placed a barrier that separated Ebber from the rest of the kids. "Everyone, exit the cave and make a path to the forest!"
As if the forest would be the best place to run. That was Ebber's home turf.
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Luz took a deep breath as they all exited the cave. "Is everyone … alright!?" She asked, catching wind.
"I'm good!" Willow called out. "Somehow…SOMEHOW we fought a Coven head and came out relatively unscratched….that feels AMAZING!" The girl had a fire in her eyes, the kind they were trying to get Belfry to have all day.
"I set someone up! I'm not just a hype man, or a stage man, I'm a legitimate threat on the field!" Gus shouted. "Fear me world, Gus Porter has new power going to his head!"
"I'm fine." Amity said. "You alright Luz?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just glad he didn't get the chance to harm your cute face…I mean cut your face, yeahs that's what I meant!" Luz corrected, ignoring every instinct she had to inspect every inch of this girl top to bottom to double check. "Lucci, you fine!?"
"Yeah, for once I don't have to heal myself, just wiping off dirt." Lucci shook his head and turned to his girlfriend. "Boscha, you alright?"
"Lucci….is your life like this every day.." The three eyed girl said in a distant tone.
"Uh…yeah…Boscha are you.."
"That was the most intense feeling I've ever had i my life…like playing ten grudgby matches in a sudden death round all at once." Boscha looked flushed. "We beat up a Coven Head … I have never found an activity so exciting in my life." She grabbed Lucci. "You are so getting rewarded when all this is over with." She kissed the boy's forehead, who proceeded to go all dopey and googly-eyed. Totally wiped.
"So that's what her flirting looks like." Skara muttered. "Belfry, you alright?"
"Yeah, can't say the same for everyone else though." The boy responded, petting a bunch of the Crystal Devils. "It's all right guys, it's over, we're safe …"
"Scruuuiii." The plant one responded, cuddling the group.
"Sorry Belfry, sorry…. Belfry's crystal devil family.." Skara put her hand on his shoulder. "Today's been a disaster. I just wanted to help you so you didn't flunk out of Hexide."
"Honestly, if he showed up with these guys in tow, he'd get As for week." Luz noted. "Everyone says they're untamable, but they're just friends." She smiled, looking down on Centi. "Isn't that right girl?" She asked, petting her like Belfry showed her.
" Krkrkrrk." The little girl purred, acting way more calm than she's probably ever been in a while.
"Their forms… they didn't used to be like this… their like mom…their cursed to be like this." Lucci petted the boulder looking one. "I suppose you wouldn't know how to undo it, huh little guy?"
"Hhhrr." It backed away.
"I told you she doesn't like touching." Belfry repeated.
"Funny… every crystal devil I run into is a girl." Lucci stated.
"MMggg." The one eyed snake spoke.
"... Apparently the concept of gender is nonexistent to them, so 'she' is just easier." Lucci paused for a moment. "I'll just put that into the vault to think about another day."
"I guess all there's left to do is find Belfry and his family another place to hide, someplace away from Ebberwolf's gaze." Amity noted. It was nice to see her friends change their mindsets on Centi's kind..
There was a crash of rocks, as Ebberwolf himself came riding out on top of a giant mole creature, growling at them. "It looks like we'll have to run farther than that." Luz noted, reaching for her glyphs.
The Coven Head stopped growling, staring off into the distance. "Ggrrr?" He looked baffled … then his eyes widened. "RAAG!" Then Luz blinked, as he's suddenly next to Willow, pushing her out of the way … with a giant spike driving its way through his shoulder. "OWWWWWOOO!!" He howled in pain.
"Wait, he protected Willow? From what-?" Gus tied to ask, only for something small and green to attack him from behind and pin him to the ground.
"Gus!" Lucci went forward, only to block more spikes from … a hedgehog looking Crystal Devil. "Alright, listen, we just went through a conversation about-"
"BSHEAAAA!" A single run cut off the boy with a horrified look.
"Wha-" Lucci was cut off as a bird looking Crystal Devil hit him from the side.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Belfry tried to ask as the bat one tried to shield him from the block lizard looking devil's that were surrounding them. "Why are you guys attacking? We're not trying to fight."
"That's where you're wrong, little witch." A new voice made it known. "To be a crystal devil is to have a life of nothing but fighting, to know nothing but the struggle to survive."
Luz turned her gaze to … some guy in a hood. "Alright Ominous man, this is not a fight you wanna pick." She glared, pulling out her glyphs.
"Correct." They answered instantly. "You're a human right? You're free to go." The Hooded figure turned away. "This is a fight between me, my brethren, and all of witch kind."
"Yeah, that's fine and all, but when you're using Crystal Devil's to attack my friends, you have two reasons for me to hate you." Luz growled.
"KRKRKRKR." Centi hissed at the hooded form from right behind her, acting very cat like with her mane flaring upwards.
"It hurts." The moment the cloaked figure said those words, Centi immediately stopped her movements. "Every thought in your mind hurts." They reached a hand up. "And you want the things that smell of energy, which can help the pain in your mind. Everything here does, right?"
"Krkrkrkr." Centi backed up, a strange and curious look in her eyes.
"Well there's another source you can get. One that's arguably easier … Witch Bile." … What?
"What?"! Lucci asked.
"Crystal Devils crave palstrum wood for its magical properties. Palisman especially contains an essence that is undeniably irresistible to them. Once consumed, they're hit with instant satisfaction and clarity, a brief respite from the torment and mental anguish they experience every single second of their lives." The hooded figure explained. "However, it is simply the magic contained within the wood, nothing about the Palisman themselves … so I showed my brethren the truth." He moved over to a massive dragonfly looking one, petting it. "That instead of fighting witches to gain those Palisman, they can feast off the blood of Witches and feed on their Bile … every one here has been fed witches by myself, and seen the truth."
"Chchchchchc." One of them stared at Amity … hungrily.
"Hey, I'm no one's snack, sicko!" The purple haired beauty created an abomination shield that was brought up the second the devil jumped at her.
"So before I go forth and destroy Witch kind, I merely wished to extend the offer to these poor souls." The hooded man leaned down, looking at the Devils surrounding Belfry. "Come, let us remove the mental anguish clouding your mind. Society would never accept you, so why should you accept them?"
" Gewwwwaaagh." The bat one still looked defensive over Belfry.
"But how long will it be before he abandons you? He will eventually join a coven, a system of a society that wants nothing more than to extinguish your existence by any means necessary." The hooded figure extended his hand. "You are feared, but you are mighty and powerful. Don't just be content with hiding in a cave for eternity."
"Krkrkrkrkr." Centi began to crawl to them!
"Centi, no!" Luz shouted. "You're better than this, don't fall for whatever sick and crazy words he has!"
"Sick? Crazy? Who are you to judge the only rational choice that can be made here?" The hooded figure growled, before removing his cloak…. showing a basilisk . "Only I can understand the pain these poor creatures have experienced, and only I can lead them to salvation."
"Oh great." Lucci growled. "First a giant one attacks the school, now a new one somehow makes them delusional."
The creature instantly stopped, turning to Lucci with wide eyes. "... A Greater Basilisk … did you happen to … catch her name?"
"Don't know, don't care. Especially since she died in her crazy little stunt." Lucci snickered.
"She's dead …" The Basilisk began chuckling. "Two's dead …" And then he began laughing like a mad man. "Of course, of course she died! What should I expect from witches!" Luz backed up as the laughing continued, before the man stopped, staring with an unbridled hatred. "I'm done speaking to them … feel free to feed."
"GRAA!" Ebberwolf shouted, jumping onto a Crystal Devil and turning to them. "RAAA!"
"That's our cure to run!" Skara grabbed Belfry and ran. "Scatter now!"
"But my family!" The bat cried out.
"Trust me when I say some time apart will do you wonders!" Amity shouted as she pushed a couple away with a wave of goo.
"Centi, please!" Luz tried to grab the gal. "We need to go! Don't listen to him!"
" Krkrkrkrkr…" Centi looked to her, but back to the Basilisk….and walked towards the enemy.
"Rest assured human, she's with her own kind now… and she'll be well taken care of." The Basilisk nodded sisterly.
"CENTI!"
"Luz, we gotta go!" Lucci picked her up and carried her out of the way on his shoulder.
"Hey, why does she get to be-" Boscha tried to complain, only for Lucci to pick her up too. "..Fine, but I want this to be just me next time!"
"NOT THE TIME TO BE A BITCH, BOSCHA!" Willow yelled out.
This couldn't be happening … it just couldn't … she couldn't lose the first person to get close to her. "CENTI!" She couldn't lose her closest friend.