Summary: This house be traumatized!
Lilith walked up to the familiar door. "Hello there, Hootsifer."
"LULU, YOU'VE COME BACK!" The charming door demon wrapped his long body around herself. "Finally, my second bestest friend in the whole world has finally returned! Now I don't have to give myself black eyes everytime I use a typewriter now for letters!"
"And you were very grammatically correct for someone with no hands or previous education, very impressive." She patted the house demon on the head. It had been a long while, and they still hadn't found a cure. So now it was time to take a rest back home… that and after finally getting closure from lack of mother daughter time, she finally experienced the deep pool of the opposite problem. So much pink. Too much maternal love…..so much….love.
It was going to be a welcomed change of pace to have more sarcastic banter with the other members of her family. Lilith opened the door. "Hello there everrrryyyyyy …." She trailed off at the more than usual chaos before her.
"HeY T he re LIL ith ." King awkwardly spoke. " Stu PID crack ed VoicE." He growled, sipping some fire honey tea.
"Hey ya sis." A sleep deprived Edalyn answered. "Nice hairy monster on your head. Reading buddy?"
"No, I just decided to stop wearing contacts." She adjusted her glasses. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Sleep? SLEEP!? Sleep is for the weak! I never need to sleep! I am doing everything I can to get back my powerful status, and the first obstacle is to evolve past the need to sleep!" Edalyn stated waving in the air. "Right after the moon gnomes finally get out of my house!"
"Guys, can you please stop yelling so loudly!? You're scaring the Echo mouse!" Luz yelled from the couch, holding what looked like a glass cage.
"Something resembling sanity!" Lilith couldn't help but exclaim. "Luz, I take it you've been successive in finding a way back to the human realm?"
"Hardly! This little echo guy's been quiet for half the time, and I've gotten zilch!" The human girl grunted. "Come on Piper, you're the only solution I have to finding a way into Amity's heart!" She blushed. "I mean, a way home. With no thoughts of cotton candy goddesses-I mean nobody!"
She stared at this madness, before turning to her nephew, who simply waved at her while eating mummy jerky. "Do you mind explaining …" She gestured. "All of this?"
"King is … what we can only assume going through whatever his species has for puberty." Lucifer explained.
Lilith raised an eyebrow. "I thought he was approaching three."
"He's only two years younger than me, remember? I was three when Mom took me to that temple." Oh right.
"But he's still so short." She noticed. "How long a cycle would it take to reach adult size … or is this a case like the snaggle back?"
"We're not exactly sure…what he is, and that's kind of been the issue with him lately." Lucifer explained with a wince. "We had this whole interview get announced all over the Boiling Isles to call out his dad, but we haven't gotten any answers from it, so King's been stressed out about his identity."
" Maybe he just do SEN 't HAve a crystal bALL…or…OR…. " King looked worried at his hands. " Did Dad jUst nOT l ov e me?" Oh boy, she shouldn't have pressed those parental issues the day she left.
"Meanwhile Eda had a bad encounter with an ex or something and started worrying about her usefulness…" Was it wrong that she felt justified by seeing her sister struggle with that particular issue? "...so she's been trying to tame the Owl Beast through sleep deprivation." Hootsifer informed Lilith. "How she came to that conclusion I have no idea."
"If I can weaken it mentally enough, then I can hit it with so many positive emotions it'll bend the knee for me or suffer eternally!" The woman cackled. "Bring it on bird, just try and haunt my nightmares now!"
"And Luz…" Lucifer rolled his eyes. "I don't think that mess needs any explanation, other than finally figuring out the freaking obvious."
"Ah, she's just in denial, isn't she?" Lilith nodded.
"Denial nothing! I don't spend waking moments dreaming about touching her warm and delicate hands while holding her tightly!" The girl shouted.
"You're not helping your case." Lucifer sat back on the couch. "So they've beeing basically banging their heads against a wall for the past few day's while I've gone on with living my life."
"Really?" Lilith asked skeptically. "You alone have no problems you're currently facing?
"None at all, Aunt Lilly." Her nephew waved off happily. "I am the peak of emotional maturity in the owl house." That wasn't a high bar to reach in any circumstance.
"No offense dear nephew, but I have trouble believing you're not going through some sort of trial with the house being twice as chaotic as when I departed."
"Eh, what can I say, things have been going pretty well for me lately." Lucifer shrugged. "Sure, I've learned way more about Crystal Devil's then I would've ever wanted to and I've had to kill a basilisk that wanted nothing more than the right to live, but I got a girlfriend and a palisman now, so I take the good with the bad."
"… That sounds like something to talk about." She noted.
"Nothing at all." He responded off handedly. "If anything, I'm just getting closer to Hooty's mental stability."
"You'll get there someday, Lucci!! I believe in you!" As great as a companion Hooty was, that still doesn't make him a good example for anyone to follow. "But now that Lulu's here, we have all the smartest people in the house to solve everyone's problems!"
"You're part of the problem!" Luz shouted. "You traumatized the echo mouse, now she won't show me more diary entries. I'll even take non-door related stuff at this point." The girl whined. "Anything to take my mind off the goey angel that can tear limbs off of-I mean, the loneliness of not having a mother."
"I don't think we can solve anything with everyone being this difficult." Lilith noted.
"Not if we split the problems up between us!" Hootisfer announced. "Since Lucci and King are now brothers, you two are the perfect pair right now."
"And since we're both adopted by being abandoned by our bio families, we have all the more in common!" Lucifer shouted with a smile.
"Meanwhile, Eda and Lulu could use some sisterly catching up." The Owl Demon continued.
"That does sound fairly reasonable." Maybe they could bounce ideas off each other to understand the curse better.
"And finally, I'll take Luz."
The girl rolled her eyes. "What makes you think you're the best one to solve my pro-" She was cut off … on the account of Hootsifer swallowing half of her body. "MMMMMM!" The girl shouted before the house gulped.
"Cause I'm gonna lock you two in a basement until you kiss!" They shouted, stretching out of a window while breaking it. "HOOT HOOT!"
"...I don't know what I was expecting to see when I came back here, but it certainly wasn't that." Lilith winced. "So…what was this about your palisman?"
"Oh, Sugar, she's the best." Lucci fee pointed to a snake head that popped out of his hair.
"Hss." The snake greeted.
"Caw." Mike joined in.
"Micheal, since when do you flirt?" She questioned her longtime companion.
"Caw."
"... So she has a 'reputation'."
"Hoot." Owlbert put in their two cents.
"Wait, what kind of reputation?" Lucifer asked.
"Hsss."
"What do you mean 'when I'm older'?" The house somehow managed to get even crazier in a matter of weeks.
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"So, we prepared three tests for you today." King watched as Lucci had three curtains. "Since we don't know what you are, we'll first figure out what kind of Demon you are."
" Ma kes sEn CSE." Talking about puberty was weird, but at least it was with someone else that was going through it at the same time as him. Hooty was a no go and now that Eda was his mom, it was awkward to talk this stuff with her.
"First up, as a fellow lover of music, we're going to test your dance skills and see if you're a bug type." The boy explained, pulling off one curtain to reveal a pixie.
"DOes it loOk LIke I haVE tiny legs?"
"Yes, but that's not the point." Lucci answered. "Bug types have the most variety when it comes to appearance. Heck, Hooty's mostly a bug type and he doesn't have any limbs at all."
"Co mpa rINg m e to Ho oty dOEs n o t IN SP i r e a n Y coNfI den c e at all ." Eda's main failure as a mom was letting Lucci look up to the house demon so much.
"Oh come on, love music's in our blood." Well, if King's reading of Eda's diary was true, then yeah it was. "Just try it and see what happens, right Shelshy?" He asked the fairy.
"If he's truly a bug type, he'll be able to communicate flawlessly with his dancing that comes instinctually." The little gal nodded.
Instinctual huh? So this would just come naturally? "Alright, HEre I go." He tapped his feet and awkwardly spun; feeling stiff and uncomfortable with every step. "How'sthat?"
The two of them looked horrified for a minute, before the pixie grew fangs and claws and charged right at him. "You will not dance on my fathers grave you sick bastard!"
"AA AA AA!" Gah, he can't even scream in terror without his throat feeling like it was trying to hit itself.
"Okay, thank you Shelshy, I'll be sure to clear out the fire bee nest first chance I get." Lucci bubbled the bug lady and scooted her off "Okay, you did not inherit the Clawthorne musical groove, but that's fine. Next up, biped type." The boy lifted another curtain, complete with a pair of foam gloves.
"You DIdn't thiNK to STart wiTH that?" He gestured to his two legs.
"I wanted to run through all the options." The boy shrugged as he put them on. " Bipeds are the most difficult to classify, since that's where the line between beast and animal blurs. They're basically witches with horns, tails, bile sacks, etc and etc." Lucci pulled out a picture of Boscha. "My lovely angel happens to be part Biped if you haven't noticed."
"That MEAns I can mAGic right?"
"Maybe, you've never done any before, though that could just be a combination of contentment and laziness on our part." True, and Eda wasn't exactly teacher of the year. "Here, try and form a magic circle for a light spell like mom does. Concentrate on your entire being flowing like a river to your palms, then your finger tips."
"HoW d o yo u kNo W tHAt? You do n 't usE mA Gic ci rcLEs."
"I asked mom before, and whenever I use Sugar to help me, that's the visual I use." His brother nodded. "Except instead of my entire being being put into one spot, it's my gem being put into my entire being, so like reverse flow."
"W eiR d." King nodded, before closing his eyes to concentrate. Come on magic, if you're really there, then you'll come out right now! Flow out of his fingertips, be the mighty demon King once thought he used to be! Be something amazing and powerful! "Ho W' s i t lo o kIn g!?"
"….Non-existent." Lucci answered. So … once more useless. "But don't worry, we still have one sure fire way to test your demon type." He responded.
"Wa it, i f I' m no t biPEd o r bu g , then I ha ve t o be b eAST, ri gH t, b y p rO cEs s OF el im in ati on ?"
"Maybe, but there's only one way to know for sure." He pulled away the last curtain. "Eat this entire cake!" It was a triple layer choker sunday.
"Re alLY !?" He asked, feeling like this was too good to be true.
"Yeah, beasts have ravenous appetites, so do it in under sixty seconds." The boy answered. "And the clock starts … now!"
King jumped forward, instantly burying his face in the delicious treat. "Wow, tHis isgrEA-whaT do yOU have beHind your back?"
"Nothing but my stop watch, keep eating." Lucci assured.
"ThIs cake smells like a lie." King leared at him.
"King, you know I'd never lie about cake." Lucci waved his hands…where he showed off a LARGE FREAKING NEEDLE. "'... I can explain."
"YOU WErE GOnna Sab ME!" Betrayal! AGAIN!
" Blood samples are the only way to test for blood types!"
"T he n w hy i s iT s o la rg e!?"
"I was in a rush to find one, and this was the smallest one Boscha had available."
"I Don't EveN hAve ThaT muCH blood!"
" Just stay still and eat your cake, I'll only take a cup of blood at most."
"No, tE St ov er! Get t h AT aw a y fRO m ME!" King began to run for his life.
"Come on, your the one that's curious about finding out who you are."
"N ot IF yO ur gOin G t o Go psYC hO nu rs e on me!" He ran to the door, which was locked.
"I figured you'd run, so I put the couch by the door." Lucci admitted. "Let's just get it over with, and I'll get you a lollipop if you don't struggle too much."
"No! No! nO!" He shouted, feeling his throat tighten even further. "NOOOO!!!!!"
In an instant, the glass vial shattered, as Lucci was sent flying … through the wall.
"Lucci!" Oh hey, his voice was finally working again. Neat. "Please don't be dead!"
"What!?" The boy shouted.
"I think I screamed with … powers!" This was so weird.
"You mink your cream with gowers!?"
"Ooh, I might have made you go deaf."
"No, I don't think blades can run and dance!"
King was about to say something, but paused. "Wait … did I do something no one else could do?" He looked down at his hands. "Is there really no creature alive like me?"
"I have no idea what just happened, but I think you did something crazy!" Lucci shouted. "Nod your head if you're feeling existential!" King thought about it for a moment, and gave a 'sorta' hand wave. "Alright! I just want you to know that we clearly have no clue what you are, just know the fact I'm the only hybrid on the Boiling Isles makes me just as weird as you! Even if it doesn't feel satisfying, what you are is my brother! Don't forget that! Also, you can kick butt now!"
"Yeah, yeah I can get behind that." It wasn't the answer he was looking for, it was at least an answer he could live with at the moment. "Finally, you guys won't have an excuse to leave me out of fights anymore!"
"Why do you want to go to the book store this late!? Did you just want to see if Ruler's reach is still on the shelf!?"
"We should probably get you to lay down now."
"Oh, I haven't played a kazoo before! Thanks for the suggestion!"
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"Alrighty, here's what we know." Eda layed her notes down. Weird that they didn't do this before, but then again, so many other things were happening during the week Lily moved in with them that figuring out the curse sort of fell on the back burner. "It feeds on negative emotions, is most dominant inside dreams where it reigns supreme, it's adaptable to sources of magic, it's not from the Boiling Isles, and somehow splitting it created a Raven Beast, despite the original scroll you took only mentioning owls."
"There's a slight personality aspect to it, as in it seems to affect the people cursed with it slightly differently, though whether or not that's a product of the curse splitting is up for debate." Her sister muttered. "Though you've been able to gain some form of control over it once or twice, regaining some mental dominance over it."
"Once or twice, though they've only happened when outside forces barge in." Eda recalled. "First time was when I first took in Lucci and got exposed to his spit, second time was when the Emperor blasted me, and third was when mom talked me down during her last visit."
Lilith hummed. "You know, I've been reading some of those books from the human world, have you heard about penicillin?"
"Yeah, some kind of miracle medicine made from bread mold." Not the strangest form of magic she's heard, but uncanny all the same.
"It was used because of its potency … maybe the answer isn't a specific way to fight the Owl Beast, but simply raw magical energy if only the likes of Lucifer and Belos have managed to scratch it, before it could possibly adapt to what it's being hit with."
"Raw power neither of us have access to anymore." Eda pondered. "Our magic is gone and drained respectively, Belos would kill us before even humoring the idea of curing us."
"There are two possible paths we haven't crossed yet. One would be titan's blood, though seeing Luz, I take it that finding some hasn't exactly panned out."
"Oh … we actually haven't started looking for Titan's Blood. We're still trying to get anything we can out of the mouse." Eda glanced over to the encased rodent. "Still afraid Hooty's going to eat it, so it'll probably be awhile on that front."
"Another possible source would be the galdur stones, but where one would find one of those is anyone's guess." Lilith scratched her head.
"Heh, kind of forgot for a second how much you've actually missed since you were gone. Lucci found the looking glass ruins…"
"... We have Gadulr stones?!" There was that excitable sister she remembered.
"Sort of, yes, their actually crystal devils without bodies that were watched over by illusionists that are dead now, and using them would kind of be grave robbing, and that's just kind of tacky since they weren't jerks." If it was Belos or the Golden Tool, she'd rob that grave blind.
"... Right." She sighed. "But if they're Crystal Devils …" Lilith muttered. "Maybe if we stockpile enough we can use a collective energy field similar to the background magic field radiating from the titan … that might give us an edge."
"We do have a large collection of them since the invasion…though again, due to how much you've missed, we learned quite a few things from them…like the fact they're a race of people that were cursed to be mindless animals forever and constantly feel mental grief and anguish."
"...Are there any OTHER breakthroughs in magic that I don't know about!?"
"Only that Crystal devils are actually demons from space." That was the simplest way to explain the 'alien' concept.
"Demons can live in spa-irrelivant." The woman shook her head. "So we need a plan to find Titan's Blood somewhere, and use that to amplify whatever we try to cure you with."
"Closest I've come to reaching an actual cure, so I'll ta–" Eda let out a long yawn. "...Take-Take…take it."
"Are you sure you're on the right track?"
"Of course I am. Whenever I sleep it just uses nightmares to torture me, and whenever I try to fight back I wake up." Eda explained. "It's one sided way to power it, so I need to … to …" She grabbed a tasserbug, zapping herself. "To stay awake."
"Edalyn, have you actually been able to communicate with the curse before?" Lilith asked her.
Eda raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"
"Sort of, Mom's given me more elixir than I could actually handle at times, but when I sleep, I find myself at a reasonable distance in the dream void. The curse manifests itself there as an animal, and it acts like one. There's no reason to not suspect it can't be reasoned or bargained with."
"Oh sure, reason with the monster that's ruined my life for the past thirty years, what a wonderful idea." She was going to drive this beast into the ground.
"Well you could try killing it like you have for the past thirty years and see how thatgoes instead."
"... You're snarkier than I remember."
"My glasses aren't the only thing new about me, dear sister." Lilly said. "Plus living here has made me realize no one can go one day without being sarcastic, so I'm just embracing it."
"You finally became family." Eda grinned. "Alright … fine … passing out time." She slowly drifted, letting herself fall unconscious. Seconds later, she found herself in a familiar gray void, the one she always landed in whenever she came here. "Alright Beasty, come and get me! I'm not afraid of you or your ugly bird mug!"
"CRAAAW!" She turned as the familiar beast lumbered forward, claws exposed and beak trembling as it walked closer and closer.
"Look, you've been ruining my life for decades now, and I have had enough! I know you're constantly fighting for the next opportunity to get out, but that ain't going to happen, buster! I'm in the driver's seat, not you!"
"CraaW!" The beast screamed, and somehow she could understand … It's COMPLAINING!?
"How am I ruining your life!? You attacked my dad! You made me distant from Raine, and do you know how many times I worried I would transform at night and hurt Lucci!? TOO MANY TIMES!"
"CROOO!" Trapped in a void never to see the outside world, constantly forced to drink terrible substances that made it's head hurt, and cramped cold never exposed to other bodies. "Craaa." Not to mention starving it on not being able to sustain itself on nothing but her psyche and whatever it could eat when out.
"Well sorry if I don't exactly feel like having you munch on my family, because whenever you go out, you attack people!"
"CRAA!" They always tried to lock the Owl back up, retaliation.
"All dad did was show off a party trick, and you crippled him for life!"
" ....cccccooooo." That was regrettable. The Owl would do anything to be back with their own family, but they were long dead by now.
"Wait, you have a family? How's that work? You're a curse."
" Caa." Not always. They were once a free bird roaming the land, until the star child trapped them for his game.
"... You know how little sense that makes, right?" How could a child turn a bird into a curse?
"Craa." This coming from their daily life? With a human girl and a space boy for kits?
"Touche." Eda rolled their eyes. "Okay, so you have a messed up life. I get it. But you can't just keep fighting for control here. We need to come to an understanding or we're just going to keep making each miserable until the day we die."
There was a moment of silence, before the beast retracted its claws. "Scrooo." … Three rules each? "Crooo." Rule one, it wanted live Voles to eat.
"Really? Can't I just cook them a little before I swallow them?"
"Ca ." It tasted better fresh, especially when they struggled down their throat.
This was already turning out great . "Fine, but rule two is you can't hurt friends or family." Eda glared.
"Caaw." Rule three, they wanted control on nights with a full moon.
"Okay that's reasonable, time to stretch your legs out. Rule four, under every circumstance, whenever Lucci, Luz, or King are in trouble, you listen to them and help them, no matter what."
"Caaw." Rule five. They reserved the right to cuddle with the kits whenever they wanted.
"They aren't your kits!" Eda shouted.
"Caw. " Technically they weren't hers either.
"... Once again, touche … fine fine." She rolled her eyes. "Rule Six, I want my magic back."
"Caa w ." Impossible. Magic doesn't work when they are around. That's why the star child turned them into a curse to begin with. Bard only worked on technicality, since it was channeled through instruments instead of bile.
"Seriously!? You can't give me anything?!"
"Coooo. " Maybe not magic..but they could give them power.
"Sure, I'll take it." She needed some way to help her family again.
"Craaw." Be aware it causes pain.
"Whatever, I can take whatever you can throw at me." The bird shrugged, making their way closer … before driving a claw through her chest. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" And then it began crawling inside of her heart. "SCREW YOU CURSE!"
" Caa. " Eda liked it better when it was just chasing her around!
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Luz finally saw light, crawling out with a pant of that wretched and terrifying cocoon. So much fur, so many teeth, why did Hooty's stomach have tentacles on the inside!? "How many years have gone by!?" She shouted to her unknown savior. The days blurred so much and so fast. What was time but a constrict? What was its purpose when one was completely separated from all forms of it. Nothing but a prison of agony that slowly drilled away her sanity
"I just got called here an hour ago." A familiar and pretty voice stated.
Both eager and completely terrified, Luz reluctantly blinked to clear up her eyesight. Sure enough, it was everything Luz both hoped for and feared. "Ah, Amity! You're here! What are you doing here…in the creepy basement I just now realized we have."
"I don't know, you're the one that sent me a letter." The girl pulled it out. "Amity I have something to show you, come to the basement of my house."
Luz looked over. "... And you didn't take the multiple grammatical errors and fluids as a sign that was a forgery?"
"I actually took it as a sign something was wrong and brought an abomination to kill whoever dared to hurt you." Amity pointed to the giant behemoth of a creature. "... You know, as a friend." Of course, of course, not like she was attractive.
"Oh, yeah, thanks, that's sweet…in a completely platonic way that any friend would give to another." Don't focus too hard on how pretty she was, don't be so obvious. You were rejected hard five times for your lameness, don't let this be number six.
"You know, I didn't even know you had a basement." Amity pointed out. "Like, didn't your house stand up at one point?"
"Yeah, Hooty's been going weird lately…wait, you know about the moonlight conjuring?" She thought no one did.
"Kind of hard not to, when it was trending all over penstagram the next day." Amity showed off her scroll. "Not to mention Boscha further added her plans of murder after that happened."
"Ah, that checks." Luz nodded. "I really need to get me a scroll."
"I can help, my family's rich so it shouldn't be too hard to snag one and give you my number-to hang out of course-I mean chat-" Amity began to tumble.
"Yeah, Yeah, totally, I mean, unless I get Eda to steal one for me first, then we can start texting each other, you know, as friends usually do." Just take it slow and eventually ease your way into the romance zone after maybe….five to ten years. Then Luz would be mature enough for Amity to notice. "So … wanna climb out of the basement before something crazy tries to kill us?"
The wall began cracking, crumbling behind them … to reveal something with a massive sign over it. 'Tunnel of Love'. "Oh no…no…no…" THIS WAS HOOTY'S IDEA OF HELPING HER!? HOW WAS THIS HELPFUL!?
"Tunnel of L.." Amity gave that adorable full face blushed that made her look like a cure sunburned cat…oh titan that sounded lame. "Oh…so…do was just…ride this to get out of here?"
"Yep!" Hooty's annoying head came out. "I made sure to move the door to the end! And be careful, there's a tight fit on that little boat over there!"
"Gee, I wonder why that is.." Luz grumbled at the lack of subtly before she and Amity planted themselves firmly in their seats, where they were practically spooning each other from the lack of space. "Hey, we can totally just explode our way out if you want."
"NO!" Amity cried out. "I mean…why not take the scenic route..no harm…spending time together, right?"
Spending time…alone…with Amity….in the tunnel of love. "Okay … if you're sure." She nodded slowly, burying her screams of many varieties.
They began to move forward, the machines (she thought the Isles weren't tech savy?) began coming to life. "Love, such a joyous thing between two young people."
"Wow…..he really went into detail with this." Amity looked around, observing, probably analyzing just how cringey and lame this was. "I never thought Hooty was this elaborate."
"Elaborately annoying." Luz silently grumbled, looking at all the signs that Hooty put up, each of of them being some cheesy line that was trying to force the shipping.
"Love is amazing and precious, it will totally flood your hearts with joy!" A cupid shot an arrow, lowering a banner that said … 'Lumity for life'. WHERE WAS THE SUBLTY!?
"Why, why, why, why.." She began ripping up as many of the banners and papers before Amity could see them. If she saw them, Amity would think she purposely set this up and ditch her for being an unsubtle desperate loser! Why would Amity date someone like her, the girl that ruined everything!?
"A, a cursed door." A wooden door was moved in front of them as the ride stopped. "It can only be unlocked by one thing." Please, please don't be. "True love's kiss!" WHY!!?
Amity's blush someone extended past her face and now was covering her neck, arms, and hands. "You know… Luz… I've been thinking…alot…about what happened the day at the library…and…"
"Ahhhhhhh!" Luz was barely able to pay attention as she got out her fire glyph. "NOO!" She thew it at the door, burning it to ashes.
"Oh, is someone upset?" A machine asked. "Maybe you should calm down by hugging someone close to you?"
"GIVE UP YOUR GAMES HOOTY! IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" Luz went on to to through more paper glyphs everywhere, setting the whole room on fire. "LET US OUT OF HERE!"
"Not until your hones-"
"You want the truth!? The truth is I'm super annoyed right now, and it's not helping that you're trying to force me to do something I don't want!"
"Oh … I see." Amity's voice spoke up. Luz turned to see a … distant look on her face. "Thanks for letting me know beforehand." … FUCK!
"Amity..!"
"No, I get it..I was a major jerk to you before….you and me dating, it was stupid of me to think I had a chance." Amity began walking away.
"No, it's not wha-"
"NNOOOOOO!!!" Hooty's voice rang out. "I ruined your lives! I'm a terrible person!" He shouted, followed by the house rumbling. Great, rapid fire problems, why not?
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Lucci walked into the front door, his ears finally stopped ringing after resting for two hours. On the plus side, they learned why sound never bothered him. "Guess who helped King with his …" He stared at his mom, who had wings, blackened eyes, feathers all over her body, and talons at the edge of her hands and feet. "Okay, we need to carefully and slowly move to the elixir." He whispered quietly.
"No, No, Lucci, it's alright, I'm still in control here, watch!" His mom spoke in a slightly echoey voice as she flew around. "I talked to the curse, and we came to an agreement."
"... Really?" He asked with surprise.
"It surprised me as well." Aunt Lily admitted. "I was never able to have such a strong connection to my curse … maybe it was the progression that allowed it?"
"Yeah … on a side note, I need to eat live vole now, it can do whatever it wants on the full moon, and it reserves the right to randomly cuddle you, King, and Luz."
"Well it was extra affectionate when you were half turned that one time, so I guess your mama bird nature rubbed up on it." He walked over to her and rubbed the feathers on her arms. "Do you have your magic back?"
" Sadly no, but I can fly and have super bird strength and speed! I'm like a Harpy or something." Mom smirked as she spun herself around rapidly. " I'm Harpy Eda, the final form of the Owl Lady! So, what happened with you and King?"
"I got my voice upgraded!" The guy ran to a window, and took a deep breath. "WHEEE!" And shrieked with enough force to obliterate a small section of the forest. "I can beat people up now!"
"I don't recall reading about any kind of demon that has such an ability." Lilly observed. "Eda, what is it with you and picking up such anomalous children?"
" I don't know, and I don't care. I'm not going to say no to an extra hand in a fight."Mom smiled. "So two out of three problems solved. Guess it's just a matter of time for the third to be fixed."
"That may take a while. Hooty's going for the time vs denial route after all." Lucci pointed out. "... So how do you plan on walking through doors?"
Mom looked at her wings and new height. "Haven't thought that far ahead."
"You know, I still don't buy that you aren't plagued by some sort of problem." His aunt pointed him.
"Again, mostly just repressed trauma." He shrugged. "I can deal with it when I …" He paused. "... When I meet Vee I guess."
"Who?" King asked.
Knock knock
"Nothing important for now." He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. "Time to see what the cat dragged in." He opened the door, revealing Amity and Skara, with a massive abomination standing behind them. "... Luz is in the basement according to Hooty."
"You guys have a basement?" Amity asked as she walked in.
"It's where Hooty's stomach is…we try to go there as little as possible." Mom answered as she led the girl in.
"Amity I get, given Luz's problem, but what are you doing here?" Lucci turned to Skara.
"Oh, I'm here for you actually." The girl grinned.
"If it's for something musical, it's gonna have to wait for tomorrow." He responded. "King unlocked sonic screams and I was his first target."
"No actually, Hooty actually sent me a badly spelled letter about a week ago about his whole plan, and how he thought I was the best person for you to help confront your problem." His bard buddy nudged him.
"Ah, you might want to be more specific, there's like a million of them inside his head." King brought up."
"I do not have any problems I need help with." Lucci rolled his eyes.
"Then you'll have no problem telling Boscha that you're human when she gets here in five minutes." Skara innocently smiled.
".....She's what!?" Lucci's skin glowed pink, feel a whole wave a stress wash over him instantly
"Stole your scroll and said you wanted a chill night at your place." She grinned as she tossed him his own communication device. "And that you wanted to tell her something important."
No, no, no, NO! Hooty, why did you betray Lucci like this!? "Why would you do this to me, Skara!?
"Because as your best bud, I'm helping your relationship just like how you helped mine during the invasion, no matter how fucked up everyone agrees it is."
"My relationship with Boscha is not messed up!" Lucci argued
"Mehhh…." King rolled his eyes.
"I mean …" Mom added in.
"I actually haven't met Boscha." Aunt Lilly admitted. "Just tales about how she's ruthless and vicious to all living things."
"That's part of what makes her beautiful!" Why was that so hard for them to understand? "Great now I have to come up with something elaborate in the next three minutes to tell her."
"I said it involves your body AND your origin, so good luck trying." Skara walked inside. "I kinda skipped dinner coming up with this plan, do you mind if I help myself to a snack Ms Clawthorne?"
"Sure, some rock corn will be nice to go with as we watch the carnage unfold." Why was everyone so against him and Boscha together!?
"Come on come on, what can I say?! She already knows I'm half crystal devil, I can't rely on that. Oooh, I can just tell her about the whole space demon thing, and I'll cover my tracks without actually having to lie!"
"Lying by omission is still a lie, dear nephew." Lily raised her hand. "I should know, I've omitted the truth for thirty years and you didn't let me off so easily."
"Do not compare me denying my species to you harming our family!" He shouted back. "Okay, maybe I could explain how I accidently learned my species wants to destroy all organic life?"
"I'm sorry, they want to do what?" Aunt Lilly questioned.
"Long story involving a metal temple and the Rainbow devil, point is I got to play up the space demon thing so she won't have to question anything else."
"Look, I don't get what you see in your triclops girlfriend, but is it actually that bad for her to know your whole background?" King asked
knock
"Lucci, you better be alone! We do not need that dumbass human ruining our date with her entire existence ruining my life!"
"You were saying?" He approached the door.
"Nephew, this has a bad idea written all over it."
"A bad idea is better than the truth." He twisted the handle.
"Come one, the worst case scenario is that she dumps you and you date someone else." King brought up. "In fact, that might actually be the best case scenario actually."
He just ignored that and opened the door. "Hey Boscha. Luz is in the basement with Amity, so it's just us, King, my Mom, and Aunt Lily." He greeted the beautiful girl.
"Still a bit too much company for my taste, but at least the human isn't in the same room as me." Boscha let herself in. "So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"
Alright, go time. "What I wanted to tell you was that …"
The ground broke open. "I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON!" Hooty shouted. Thank titan for distractions. "I'M GONNA CHUCK MYSELF INTO THE BOILING SEA!"
"Hooty! Calm down, you don't have to do that!"
"BUT I RUINED LUMITY FOREVER! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" The house Demon shouted. "I SHOULD'VE KNOW THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED!" Hooty kept slamming his head everywhere, cracking every inch of the walls and floor as the house shook even more violently. I" HAD EVERYONE ELSE HELP OUT WITH THE OTHER'S BECAUSE I KNEW I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HELP EDA WITH HER CURSE, OR KING WITH HIS PUBERTY, AND YOUR HANGUPS BEING HALF HUMAN!"
"His what?" Boscha asked with surprise, before the ground exploded.
"AAAAH! I RUINED ANOTHER ROMANCE! I DON'T DESERVE HAPPINESS! I JUST MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE! I NEED TO LEAVE BEFORE IT ALL GETS WORSE!" Even ignoring Hooty being irrational and ruining his relationship, did he forget he could detach into portaHooty?
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IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT! HOOTY COULDN'T HELP ANYONE! WHAT WAS THE POINT IN BEING A HOUSE IF HE COULDN'T MAKE HIS FAMILY FEEL SAFE AT HOME WITH THEIR PROBLEMS! He needed to get away so they could find a better house demon! "I'M SORRY I EXIST EVERYONE! I'LL GO AND DIE NOW SO EVERYONE CAN BE MILDLY HAPPY AGAIN!"
"HOOTY, you need to calm down!" His buddy kept pulling on his neck, glowing pink as he tried to pin Hooty down. "Just stay still for five seconds and-ahh!" Hooty accidentally knocked Lucci head first into a wall.
"AHHH! I HURT YOU AGAIN! MY EVIL IS GROWING, I NEED TO LEAVE EVEN FASTER!" He doubled down on the pulling. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd ripp his body in half and make his guts spill all over the ground.
Luz jumped out with Amity, looking at the horrible chaos Hooty caused by existing. "Luz, what happened!?" King shouted. "Wasn't he with you?"
"Things kinda escalated in the wrong direction and …"
"Did that Blight dump you?!" Eda shouted, about to kill one of Lucci's friends. He really just created a domino effect of problems, didn't he?
"No, Hooty was trying to hook us up together and I blew it by not reading the room!" Luz exclaimed. No, it was him deep down, just like with everyone else. "We need to-what happened to you?!"
"Oh, I made a deal with the curse and now we share power. How do I look as a harpy?" Eda showed herself off. "Pretty hot, huh?"
"Can you admire yourself in the mirror after we stop our house from exploding?" King asked. "He's going crazy just because he thinks he failed to get you guys to start dating."
"Also he told Boscha Lucifer's human." LuLu pointed out another mistake. Of course. "Where did she go anyway?"
"Right here, trying to back away from the chaos." The three eyed girl raised her hand. "So….the human thing…..that's not just random gibberish the wormy moron just shouted randomly?"
Lucci grimaced, obviously hating Hooty and wanting him gone. "Yep …. I'm part human and part Crystal Devil .." He admitted. "You probably hate me now, right?"
"Lucci…I…" The house crumbled more. "I.." The ground cracked even louder. "Ugh! I don't hate humans!"
"...WHAT?" Everyone, even Hooty, had to pause to see if they heard that tidbit of information.
"..You…don't?" Lucci asked.
"No! I just hate the human you live with because she's a moron that fucks up everything around her!" She explained.
"Don't you dare insult my Luz, you three-eyed control freak!" Amity jumped on top of Boscha.
"Hey, I'm just being honest here!" She shouted, pushing the purple haired girl off. "She admited to fucking up your relationship after all!"
"We weren't dating before!" Amity continued to yell. "And maybe I don't care that she does mess up! She's smart, creative, unbelievably cute, and just watching her live her life is enough to make my heart flutter!"
"I do?" She questioned in complete bafflement.
"Oh for the love of….CAN YOU TWO JUST START DATING ALREADY?!" Lucci yelled at them. "Why is it so hard for you to imagine she likes you?!"
"Because … every person I ever asked out before called me weird and lame …" Luz said, looking down. "So I couldn't imagine someone as cool as Amity liking me …"
"I'm not cool at all!" Amity admittedly loud.
"What a shocker." Boscha muttered quietly.
"Quiet!" The Blight girl shouted right back. "Luz, before I met you, I hated everything about my life. It's thanks to you that I have anything worth liking again, and you're at the top of that list."
The blush that covered the human's face was intense. "Amity … would you … like to …" Luz gulped. "Goo out … with me?" She whispered the last part, a hint of fear in her voice.
"YES!" Amity clasped the human's hands quickly.
"I … I didn't MESS UP!" Hooty shouted. "I got you two to date!"
"Who knew the answer to get people to do what you want was to throw a tantrum and threaten to destroy their home?" King asked. "That's a lesson I'm going to remember forever."
"Again, how did this house get more insane since the last time I've been here?" Lulu muttered.
A rustling from the door made itself known, and our came Skara with a bowl of rock corn. "So…what did I miss?"
"Why … is Skara … in your house so late ?" Boscha questioned with a fury that caused Hooty to move back a bit.
"Hooty, you're great and all…but tell me next time when you want to help people." Lucci sighed.
"Sure thing best buddy!" Hooty was awesome! He fixed every problem!