Summary: A lake of violence and ethical questions
Luz stared at the key, a solution instantly forming in her mind. "Maybe the key is magic, not the door." She thought. "So I just need to eat it, and it'll make me a portal." Genius Luz, good job.
"Nope, I'll be taking that." Her adorable purple cat snatched it away.
"Aww, come on Kitty, that's not something you should play with." They may break it. Now her purple Kitty was changing all chameleon style into something more red. How adorable.
"Jeesh, never thought Boiling Isles diseases would be so harsh on the human body." She could hear the Lion speak. "We're just lucky it was the common mold instead of something serious."
"I just hope she isn't allergic to the mushrooms that'll sprout from this." Purple kitty wrapped the key around her neck like an adorable collar. "Willow, Gus, how are we doing on that soup!?"
"Hooty! Stop dumping your face into the pot! This is the fifth batch we've had to remake!" The talking tree shouted from down below.
"But my face makes it delicious and nutritious!" The walking house spoke. "Isn't that right Luz?!"
"It's like licking a frog, it clears your mind right?" She asked.
"Even with your healing powers, I have trouble believing you were never sick with how everything goes in this house." Her kitty sighed.
"Lucky I guess." The lion shrugged. "Speaking of, I'm pretty sure.."
"No."
"Come on-"
"Too risky."
"Look, I can control when I bring plants to life, just let me-!"
" NO! " Her adorable kitty roared at the pink Lion. "You want to experiment with your powers, fine, but leave Luz out of it! We barely survived two veggie incidents, and I will not let you make Luz patient zero for a zombie mushroom apocalypse so help me Titan!"
"Aww, if I'm a patient zero, you're my patient one." She hugged the kitty, leaning into their ears. "And I'll be sure the doctor treats you right." Luz giggled.
"Can you keep the adorable banter down? I'm trying to concentrate on being Harpy Eda here." Mama bird peaked her head inside the room.
"I thought you made a pact or something?" The lion questioned.
"I did, problem is I have to mentally concentrate and talk to the Owl beast each time." Mama bird groaned. "That and it expects me to hunt for voles ahead of time. I keep getting fur stuck in my teeth."
"That checks." The lion nodded. "Anyway, I finally finished the restraints if I'm not going to be curing her." He stated, pulling out chains. "You get her left side, I'll get her right."
"No, no, don't wrap the snakes around me, they've already taken my arms!" They always hugged her too tightly."
"... These aren't snakes, their worms." Mama bird explained.
"Okay, can we not chain up my girlfriend?" Her kitty asked.
"Amity, you may be her Girlfriend, but I know her better. And I know that unless restrained, she'll sneak out when no one is looking and go on a crazy life endangering quest." The pink lion explained.
"Pfft, don't be silly, Mr Lion, I'll go do that even if your looking! Adventure time is coming, my otter sense is tingling!" It was that or the small headache at the back of her head, but what were the odds of that?
"And like that, our point is proved." The Lion deadpanned. "Better you learn how to 'speak luz' now if you plan on living with her someday."
"Oh it'll be fun." She turned to the video mouse. "Won't it Piper?"
They responded by glowing on the wall. "I have collected most of the necessary parts for the portal door, however, now I must travel for it's most vital component, a power source. My study on the magical background field of the titan has led me to believe that a source of magic radiates from it, leading me to the discovery of Titan's Blood." It showed a golden and shimmering drop that seemed to cause glitches on the videotape. "A source of magic so potent even without being cast in a meaningful way, the laws of nature and reality seem to bend to it as if it were a King. Believed to be capable of warping the very fabric of space and time, it holds the way to travel between worlds." It showed a mirror, with earthy stuff in it.
"Wow, feels like forever since the echo mouse actually revealed something useful." Mama bird chirped.
"And last time it led us into a fight with the Rainbow Devil." The lion grumbled.
"The most notable lead I have is an area called Eclipse Lake, home to a small pool of water said to act as a gateway through it's reflection. It may be my only way home."The mouse explained. "I shall record my findings if I survive." And it ended.
There was a moment of silence, before Luz pulled out a glyph. "To the lake!" She shouted, pressing it on the ground, using Ice to launch herself out of the window. Weird, she could have sworn that was Plant.
"Oh no you don't cutie." Her kitty summoned her magic mud and lassoed her leg, dragging her back. "That's all the way up in the knee, and the last thing you need is exposure to the cold."
"A little frostbite never hurt anyone." She told the adorable creature.
"Alright Lucci." Mama bird pulled on the worms. "Grab the arms, I'll go for the legs. Bossy Boots, grab the sleeping bags, we're going to seal her in."
"Lake! Blood! Magic! Smiling Koalas! I need to go!" Why were they trying to stop her!?
"Don't worry Luz, we'll get the blood ." Her kitty rubbed her soft paws on her face.
"We will?" Mr Lion asked.
"Don't you want to help her?" Her kitty questioned.
"Yeah, but this seems like a big man operation if we're messing with magic THAT potent. We won't have enough people to watch over Luz."
"Gus and Willow can stay behind. Gus still only knows illusions and Willow's at a disadvantage in colder weather." Kitty explained.
"And it's a great opportunity for Harpy Eda to make herself useful, and King to test out that shouty echo power." Mama bird continued
"Alright then … hey King! Button up, we're going to the Knee!"
"Snowballs for days!"
"But I wanna make snow angels that match how cute my Kitty is." Luz complained.
"Come on Amity, let's go before Luz flirts you to death with all the flirting." Mr Lion pulled her kitty away. Today was not her day.
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"It's finally finished sir." Belos looked over the door. "It took a while to blend together elements, but I think we managed to work on the navigation and amplification in question." Mason explained.
The emperor had to constantly remind himself to not let his impatience get in the way. Ironically, he didn't have to have the portal ready by the day of Unity, but after that day, he'd have less manpower to exploit and utilize. Having the draining spell and door ready at the same time was just the most convenient path. "Very good … and the key?"
The man winced. Never a good sign, or a happy one in Belos's book. "To substitute Titan's Blood, we tried to use a substitute key that could channel a Witch's entire magic into it to act as a fuel source."
"And?"
"And now we have fifteen corpses in the corner." He pointed to the edge of the room.
"That explains the stench of death in the air." A scent he was far too familiar with by now, and in fact, comforted by on some occasions. "Are you certain you've exhausted every possible resource?" Getting even just the spoonful for the first portal key nearly cost him his life to procure.
"I'm certain sir. The closest we got was the one Galder stone you lent us, but that only charged the key up to eight percent before the stone turned to fragments." Mason explained. "We attempted to use the Manticore Menace's blood, and that attempt incinerated the user completely."
"Hmm …" He considered that. "Build either an armor or suit, something capable of withstanding an immense surge of energy."
"As you wish, Lord Belos." The construction coven head bowed before leaving. Mason was by far the second least annoying among the main nine. Straightforward and never talked back. If he wasn't a witch, it would've almost been a shame to lose the manpower.
He watched as the Grimwalker came in. "Golden Guard, how is your mission to eliminate the devil child?" Philip questioned.
"It's … difficult, sir." He admitted.
"See to it that child is finished quickly. His corpse may be the only substitution to Titan's Blood." Wouldn't be the first time Quartz attempted to ruin him, but leave him with something invaluable instead.
"Of course, lord Belos." Hunter bowed, before looking back up. "The human realm…is it really as peaceful as you say it is?"
Philip paused. "The sea is so cool you could swim, the painbows are able to be seen without any problems, and the fruits are sweet enough to have sugar within them." Truly a home he's missed for a long time. "I've been there before many times…it is a paradise like no other."
A paradise he's had to fight to protect for decades, both before and after he became Belos. So many enemies appeared to take that peace away. The witches, the crystal devils, most especially Evelyn and Rose . "So when the door is opened, we'll all achieve that paradise?"
"Paradise will come." Once every witch on the boiling isles was dead. "But it can only come when all obstacles are out of the way, Hunter. Be sure to always remember that."
"I understand Lord Belos." The boy bowed.
"Oh, and one more thing. Tell Kikimora to hunt for some Titan's Blood." He told him.
"But … but I thought I was going to open the portal."
"It's a bit of a backup." He turned to look the thing in the eye. "You have been on a failing streak, after all. I need useful witches to be by my side after all." Let that stew something in the boy, see if anything useful came out of it.
"Of…Of course, Lord Belos." The boy bowed, before leaving.
"I can't tell if you're getting more manipulative or more blunt." The Collector spoke up.
"I'm simply telling him the truth, nothing more."
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Flapjack rested on Hunter's shoulder. "Chirp?" It wasn't like him to be somewhere as desolate and distant like this.
"Don't worry Flapjack, I have a simple plan." The boy explained. "It's Clawthorne luck that lets them get involved with Emperor Coven missions. So either the devil child exposes himself for a kill, or I manage to sneak in through a side cave and get the Titan's Blood. A win win."
He still wasn't completely sure exactly what kind of connection Hunter had to Caleb. Descendent maybe? Whatever the case, Flapjack wanted to make sure Hunter wouldn't do anything to get himself killed…a task that was rather difficult to do given the boy's mental state. "Chirp."
"Duh, if I accomplish either one, or both for a double win, Belos won't doubt my usefulness anymore and I'll finally prove myself!"
"Chirp?" Why did he need to prove himself to Belos?
"Because that's how family works. You either do good by your previous generation, or get discarded as worthless while they pick someone else." The boy nodded with a dissonant smile. "Besides that, he put so much effort into keeping me safe, training me, teaching me the dangers of wild magic. I need to pay that back."
"Chirp." Familial love should be unconditional no matter the circumstances.
"Clearly you have never seen a family in action." The child rolled their eyes. Neither did Hunter apparently. "Alright, we need to get knowledge of the surroundings. Could you get an aerial scan, Flapjack?"
"Chirp." Only to stop the boy from getting killed, not because he approved of this plan. The cardinal palisman flew up. "Chirp." There were Coven scouts at the entrance of the gate. No way to get through without getting noticed.
"And knowing Kikimora's obsessive nature, she's not going to let her guard down for a second, not after the Palisman mission." Hunter thought it over. "Can you see any side entrances?"
Looking around there wasn't anything visible, maybe some weaker veins to the left … oh, on the same path as the boy that smelled like Rose, and Ghost's new master as well. And the annoying human that never shut up wasn't with them either, bonus! "Chirp."
"The devil is here." Hunter got on top of a tree line to observe as well. "Looks like the youngest Blight daughter is here as well. Question is should I follow through and arrest her, or actually bring her to her parents, chances are she'll just rebel again."
"Chirp." Or, you know, join them.
"Right, join the boy I'm trying to kill. Swell idea." Caleb definitely wasn't this sarcastic back when Flapjack knew them. "I might not be able to get that titan's blood, but I can still complete the mission I was assigned."
Yeah, he was not going to let this boy go through the mental hoops, or the one sided fight. "Chirp." He needed friends, and this was for his own good.
"What's for my-" The palisman tugged on the boy's hood, causing him to fall out of the tree and to the direction of the path.
"Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" The rose smelling boy asked as Hunter fell.
"All the time. I mean, even without Mom's obedience necklace around me, I still feel that way." Ghost's owner nodded. "And your mom is flying over us like a hawk."
"Just keeping an eye out for trouble, Kiddos. My owl vision is flawless!"
Splooof
Hunter finally hit the ground. "...Nearly flawless. I think it's better in the dark."
The boy groaned as he began rising, locking eyes with the rose child. "... Hey there." He greeted. "What's a kid like you doing-" And then his eyes locked on the staff that smelt really bad. "... Oooohhohoh, Golden Tool."
"Yes, it's me, and if you know what's good for you-!" Hunter didn't get the finish when something large, gray, and brown swooped down and pinned the boy to the ground, and sent the staff flying off into the snow.
"Bet you thought I was useless, didn't you?" An Owl woman grinned.
"Oh I've been waiting for this." The boy that smelled like Rose cracked his knuckles. "Hold him still while I hit him really, REALLY hard."
Crap, looks like the rose boy was just as different from the original as Hunter was to Caleb. What was with generation and violence? Hopefully this one still had the love for all Palisman. "Chirp. Chirp." Flapjack flew on top of Hunter's head. "Chirp."
"...Really?" The rose boy groaned exhaustedly. "Alrighty little guy, How about I move you from your own safety before we hurt this guy?"
"Chirp."
"He has an uncle that eats Palisman! The closer you are to him, the more likely you're going to be next on the chopping block!"
"Chirp." He hasn't so far, and he trusted Hunter.
"That's his name? Hunter?" The rose boy groaned again. "Dumb name."
"At least I'm not a damn devil!"
"You just love digging your own grave, don't you, you little moron." The owl lady that vaguely reminded Flapjack of Evelyn pinned Hunter down even harder. " There literally isn't any witch here that doesn't want to kill you, and your bright idea is to keep running your mouth?"
"So are we taking this guy down for endangering Luz or …" The girl with Ghost questioned.
"Look, I can help!" Hunter tried to exclaim.
"Yeah no. The moment we look away, you're going to stab me in the back." The rose boy deadpanned.
"Maybe, but right now, what Belos want's is titan blood, and I know how to get it. If you keep going the way you're going, you'll run into Kikimora's group unprepared."
The Owl groaned. "Why do we keep getting involved in this maniac's plans."
"Hey, he is NOT a maniac!" Debatable. The guy smelled just like Philip, except it was more like a rotten tree than usual.
"Okay, let's run through our options." The young girl muttered. "Option A, we run through and attempt to fight off Kikimora with just the four of us."
"I'd say we can do it as long as they don't have a Coven Head with them." The boy that smelled like Rose noted.
"Do that, and risk damaging the unstable and decaying veins of the titan." Hunter put in.
"Shut up, you don't have a say in the matter."
"Option B, we sneak in through with invisibility glyphs and move ahead of them as to avoid interaction all together." The girl continued.
" Good, except Glyphs don't work on Lucci, so he'll be completely exposed."
"If we go through that option I could stay behind and watch Golden Tool." The boy once more cracked his knuckles. "I'm feeling very conversational right now."
"And Option C, we trust the Golden Guard, sneak in, grab some Titan's Blood, THEN murder him." The young girl continued.
"Is there an option here where we do that and you DON'T try to kill me?" Hunter asked.
"Is there any option you don't try and kill me?" The rose boy asked.
"... Noooooo." Well, if there was one trait he and Caleb shared, it was their terrible poker face.
" Lot's of good options. Kikimora probably has her own squad with her, so I say we mix and mash the plans." The Owl lady smirked. " Me and King will take on Kikimora and her goons while y ou two tie up the annoying twirp and get him to lead you to the blood."
"Wait, where is King?"
"In here!" What looked like a skull headed badger popped up from the large mane of hair of the Owl Lady. "Harpy mode hair is a lot more soft and roomy."
"I'll have to try that for myself. Oh, and one more thing." The rose boy walked up to the magic staff, looking it over, before breaking it over his knee. "No more magic for you."
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Hunter yelled. "Do you know how long it take to make a staff of artificial magic!?
"Long enough that you're stuck without magic and unable to hurt me. Also, screw you." The boy nodded. "Come on Amity, I still have some leftover chains from Luz."
"He kind of had a point. Having a staff that powerful would've been useful." Ghost's owner brought out the chains.
"I don't trust anything Boolus has. Just saying it outloud, 'artificial magic', that just sounds wrong." The boy argued.
"Also it would just hold you back in the end, like with a training Wand." The Owl went on. "Luz didn't need it and she learned Glyphs. Look at this kid, he's too weak to even cast a single spell."
"If you weren't some sort of bird freak, I would make you eat those words!"
"And strike three, I'm knocking you unconscious for the next ten minutes." The rose boy cracked his neck. "I'm a little rusty, so this might take a few attempts."
Well … in trying to get the Caleb-lookalike friends, Flapjack had inadvertently doomed this child … Not his best work.
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Severine went into a coughing fit once more, falling to the ground. "Could you pick up the pace?" Their bitchy boss asked.
"Oh sure, I can ask my damaged organs to fail another day mam." The invasion was terrible. Even the Healing Coven couldn't fix all the damage to the piercing wound … although that was mainly because they were spread so thin that it became too late to fix the scar tissue. That and quite a few of them were eaten. Apparently the regenerative magic that kept most of them healthy and young made them even tastier to the Crystal Devils.
Severine was all set to finally retire, maybe open up that tiny cat cafe she's always dreamed of, but the moment she got out of the hospital, she was put right back on duty without being able to get a word in. She got no compensation for her injuries, or even so much as a magic brace to help her get through the day.
"See that you do. If I fail this mission every scout here is going to be punished severely." Kikimora said seriously. "The golden guard screwed up my last attempt at appeasing the Emperor, and I won't have him screw me over again!"
"Ah, wasn't it you that screwed him over, since it was his mission to collect the Palisman?" Steve asked.
"Shut it! Do not use logic against me!" She shouted, wacking his head. "Now, how much further until we get to Eclipse Lake?" She asked the Coven Captain.
"Unclear mam, this map is over two hundred years old and is unlabeled … I can't even tell where the entrance is." The masked woman muttered. "I think if we just keep wandering around aimlessly we'll find it sooner or later."
This was Severine's life … fuck, this was Severine's life. All it was at this point was stupidity and suffering for her without end. Hell, at this point STEVE was somehow the most tolerable thing in her life. The Emperor's coven was filled with people pleasing morons, they were never thanked or rewarded for all their hard work, and Severine woke up every three days with an agonizing pain all over her body and throwing up blood.
Now they were walking through a damp vein while looking for a magically potent substance without any idea of where to start looking for it. She idly glanced at their newest add on. "So, I don't know if I was unconscious or not when these things were included … What's with the Golden Abomination?" She asked Steve as Kikimora raged against the Captain.
"Oh, Emperor Belos made some sort of exclusive deal with Blight Industries. He funds their projects, and they in return keep producing and upgrading their Abomatrons." Steve answered. "It's kind of cool, I guess. I just hope they aren't trying to replace us."
"I'd prefer it if they replaced us." Severine groaned. "I checked, we aren't-" She coughed quietly into her hands. "Allowed to quit. If we're loose this job it's the same as being murdered." Her retirement plans were all scratched. Maybe Lilith had the right idea. She was exiled. Maybe that's what Severine should do. But she couldn't do much of anything now due to the injuries-Gah, Titan, she had the worst life!
"WAIT!" Kikimora shouted. "Do you sense that?"
"Sense what?" The Captain questioned.
"We're being watched. Watched by unseen eyes, a skulker roaming around."
Severine groaned. "We're covering the only entrance, and we haven't seen anyone." She had to spell it out.
"Unless they're invisible! Abomatron 2.0, attack everywhere!"
"Wait, don't do that, the blasts…!" The machine fired everywhere. Goop, energy, fire, all forms of magic bounced off the walls! "We're in a titan vein! The magic's just going to bounce off everywhere!"
"It's in my eyes!"
"My leg!"
"My arms aren't supposed to bend like this!"
After the chaos died down, it was simply her, Steve, the Captain, and Kikimora untouched. "... Huh. Steve thought he was definitely going to be hit with a stray blast." He noted. "Lucky day for Steve."
"Seriously, you have to stop the third person speech. People are going to think something's wrong with you…well, more so than usual." Severine warned. "So, are we going to stop or.."
"Don't you even think about it! We wont stop until we're down to the last man standing!" Kikimora roared. "Steve, jump down that ravine and start digging from there!"
"Yes mam!" The man nodded, moving to the edge. "Ah … Steve doesn't think there's a bottom."
"That sounds like a you problem." Why was everyone in the emperor's coven either a sadist or a moron? "You jump down there or I push you into there myself!"
" How about we push you all in and get lost forever in the cold dark abyss!" An echoey voice exclaimed as they swapped from the ceiling, and kicked Kikimora into a wall.
"I knew we were being watched!" The woman shouted. "Abomatron 2.0 attack!"
The creature began glowing. "Oh no you don't!" The bird lady shouted "Alright King, time to unleash your stuff!"
A little skull headed boy jumped out of the bird lady's hair and took in a deep breath. "WHEE!"
The abomatron was sent flying into the ravine, hitting the wall before it began falling … and falling … and fall-why weren't they hearing it hit a bottom? "Wow, that's a deep pit." Steve, get a fucking clue already.
"Don't just stand there, get the intruders!" The captain ordered as the bird woman thing spun around like a gorenado, and kicked her right in the back.
"How? Any magic we shoot inside of here just gets shot back. We can't hit them." Severine pointed out. That and after three spells her heart stopped beating for about a minute.
"Ugh, I'm surrounded by incompetent morons!" Kikimora complained as the little bone child jumped on top of her head.
"Then what does that make you? Queen of the idiots?" The furry kid batted Kiki's eyes before inhaling again. "WHE!" The shrimpy woman was sent spiraling into the ground, creating a crater from the immense power. "Is this what it's like to have magic? It's amazing! I see why you love it so much Eda!"
"Good for you, terrible for us!" Steve shouted. "Alright, when they attack, just take the hit and act like you're unconscious. I can take it from here." He whispered.
"My insides are already on fire from all the fighting, I don't need to act at all." Severine responded.
"That's the spirit." … It was sad he was the only good thing in her life.
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Amity looked over the texts as they snuck away. "I think she's straying even further from sanity." She noted, showing Lucci the message. "She's been sending me these weird messages all day."
"Come on, they can't be that hard to crack." Lucci responded.
"Boomerang, house, sheet paper, and two bats."
"..I stand corrected, I think I need to brush up on my Luz speak." Her friend took back.
"Sounds simple to me." Their captive pipped up.
"Ah, since when did we give you permission to speak?" Lucci glared. Amity's seen the boy angry many times, but this was the first she's ever seen him be outright malicious towards somebody.
"You're going to kill me either way. Am I not allowed to at least talk on my last day alive?" The Golden Guard questioned.
"To be fair, if the situation was reversed, you'd be doing the same thing." Amity noted.
"No I wouldn't. I like to let him run his mouth, it's easy to dismantle his feeble attempts at snark." They responded.
"Feeble? Last I checked, you got your butt kicked because you don't know when to shut up." Lucci argued.
"Ah yes, I got my butt kicked. Does that mean the multiple sources I have that called you weak for almost a month were all lying, or were you just so mentally scarred you couldn't go full power?"
"Says the powerless and tied up captive."
"The captive you're afraid to hurt because a single Palisman is supporting me."
"The palisman I'm going to teleport away for safety the second I can because I don't trust you around Palismans period." Lucci argued. "If I remember correctly, all Emperor Coven members are required to turn in any they find. So what's this? Someone starting to go against Belos?"
"No …" The boy trailed off. "I just … wanted a challenge, you know? No point when they seek death."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure Boolus will totally be understanding when he finds out you've been hiding one from him and absolutely won't tear you apart limb from limb."
"Okay, enough you two." This was worse than when Lucci and Willow hated each other. "What did you mean before about the message?" Amity turned back to the Golden Guard.
"The boomerang represents coming back, the house represents your base, and the paper chart means results." They explained. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Uh…" Amity blushed, not sure how to respond to that.
"Looks like we're on the same boat." The golden guard kept going.
"Really, how are you and Amity anything alike?" Lucci groaned.
"The longer you're alive, the more I'm failing my mission." Hunter explained. "Last time I barely got off because I could pin the blame on Kikimora and his response was petrifying her for three days … he wants you dead by today, or I'll be directly punished myself."
Lucci stopped walking. "But … he's your uncle."
"And?" Hunter asked. "He's my family, so that makes my failure even worse. I have to succeed, or I'll lose my opportunity and become worthless. Isn't that how it goes for your family, Blight?"
"It…it does." Amity had no choice but to agree.
"That's how all relationships work. They put in effort to make you something, and you have to live up to that. And right now I am either coming back with that Titan's Blood, or the devil's corpse." The golden guard kept going. "Same for you, apparently. Go home with results, or you're getting cut off."
"Whatever, stop trying to play your mind games, Golden Tool, it's not going to work, right Amity?" Lucci turned to her. "Right Amity?"
"I mean..this is probably Luz's only chance to get back home…if I fail her now….then there's no making it up to her." Amity sighed.
"She thought she needs to put in the effort to be your girlfriend, stop being a moron alright." The boy rolled his eyes.
"But Hunter said.."
"Oh come on Amity, this guy met Luz for like, five minutes while you've known her for months. Does she seem like the kid of person to just dump you after one failure?" Lucci kept going. "That would be hypocritical, given that you've fallen for her in spite of her constantly messing up."
That was true … "I'll just try and decode them later." She sighed, putting the object away with a bit of hesitance. "So, how long until we get there?"
"I suppose when we see the giant lake filled with liquid, we'll know." Lucci answered. "And then we can test the water by dumping it on the Golden Tool and seeing how long he lasts."
"You are a deranged basket case, you know that right?" Hunter accused.
"Better deranged basket case than a sociopathic bastard. I'm still going to cut off your head for what you did to Skara."
"Who?"
"The Bard Girl whose head you tried to decapitate! Seriously, do you never remember the people you almost killed!?"
"Blight, Noceda, Owl Lady, Fuzzy twerp, Devil child."
"Okay, we already got past Kikimora, just give me one clear swing at his head." Lucci growled, raising a razor disk up.
"Give it a few minutes, Lucci, you don't want to do anything you'll regret." Amity patted his shoulder. "Remember Ivan?" That one wasn't even directly his fault, yet he was still feeling the guilt.
"...Too soon, Amity, too soon." Lucci sighed, lowering the disk.
"Who the heck is Ivan?" The Golden Guard asked.
"Someone the Emperor's Coven made suffer." Her friend growled. "That's all you need to know."
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"No…no…no…no!" Hunter cried out. He let himself get dragged around by a ragdoll, getting humiliated by that damn devil, and had to listen to the duo's inane melodrama for two hours, and all for nothing. "The lake…the lake….it's gone!" Hunter ran to the middle of it. "It's all dried up!"
"So …" The Blight stated. "Why did we expect there to be a limited resource of something that was known about for around four hundred years to still be here?" She asked as they gazed at the dried up lake.
"To be completely fair, we know zilch about titan's blood in general." The damned devil responded with a sigh. "I just sort of figured that there might be something, you know, since the Isles is the titans itself.
"It's gone … it's all gone …" It was empty, an abyss … it was hopeless …
"I would suggest looking online for any information, but it might be locked up if even the Emperor is searching for it." The Blight stated. "We may need to open a vein somewhere on the isles."
"Where would we even start, the heart is right next to the Emperor, and the skull is too damaged to safely traverse." The Devil noted. Yes, the Emperor, he'd be punished … he'd be hurt … Hunter leapt forward, still chained, trying to take a bite out of the Devil's neck. "Dude, if this is your attempt at flirting, don't bother." He was thrown right off.
Hunter stood right back up, trying to land a kick, only to get a shield in return. "It's pointless." He began kicking it over and over. "Listen Golden Tool, it's not going to work, give it up and just walk away."
"Only one of us is walking away!" Hunter shouted.
"Yeah, and it's not going to be you at this rate." The blight girl used her abomination goo to keep him at a distance.
"Then do it!" He called them out. "Go ahead and do it, I'm a dead man either way!" Hunter forced his head into the ground. "This spot is good enough to be my grave anyway! The golden guard, buried at the sight of his last failure!"
"... What?" The Devil looked confused.
"Chirp." Flapjack tried to talk, but he was in too deep as it was.
"Didn't you hear me earlier, I've failed too much." He growled out. "So either I kill you and bring you back to Belos, you kill me and make it quick, or I'm turned to stone for eternity!" Hunter shouted to the child. "So go ahead, pick an option already! You want me dead right, do it!"
The two children looked at each other with uncomfortable looks. "..This…this is sad." The Blight girl said out loud. "Mind if I say something before we do anything else?"
"Sure…go ahead." The damned devil said in a quiet voice.
The Blight girl nodded, before turning to him. "Look…Hunter, I know this is a lot, and I know you think either success or death is the only option.."
"It is."
"But it isn't." The Blight continued. "I've spent so many years thinking every situation, every relationship I had was just an opportunity to advance myself or get ahead, because I thought that's what it meant to live..well…life." That was perfectly solid reasoning. "But I got friends now that don't care about any of that, friends that treat me better than my own family ever has. They brought me out of that destructive mindset." She reached out her hand. "Maybe…maybe you can break out of it too."
He stared at her, at her hand, at her small smile … at her neck, where a certain eye gazed at him. "... It's not lost …" Hunter had hope.
"What?" She asked in confusion.
He was in chains, and in abomination goo, without any way to break out since his staff was broken, he needed to buy time. "The portal door, how do you think it worked?" He asked, quietly signaling Flapjack to get into his hands.
"It was made through magic, and it can go to another world." The Devil answered.
"It didn't have the power to open the portal, it's merely navigation." Hunter divulged. "It was simply made to lock onto a location, it didn't have Titan's Blood inside of it."
"Really?" The Blight asked.
"Yes, Titan blood back then would flow into the boiling water and create pockets of space time that would break the dimensional barrier between realms. That's why occasionally human garbage fall through on the shore line." He explained as Flapjack fell into his hands. "From colorful cubes, to metallic things, to some book series called Akura."
"Wait, Azura isn't published on the Boiling Isles!?" Blight exclaimed.
"The point is, that it needed to be contained through an entirely different manner, so the door was made without Titan's Blood …" He had Flapjack go into staff mode, allowing him to reach forward in an attempt to grab it. "And made with a KEY!"
"Wait, we had the titan's blood the entire time!?" The devil pulled Blight out of the way before he grabbed the key.
"Yeah … now instead of one of us dying, I have a new option." He freed himself, teleporting out of the chains… he could do magic with Flapjack? "If I take that Key and bring it to Belos, I won't fail, and the day of unity can come to pass." Something to think about later.
"Day of unity, what's that?" The Blight and the Devil took out their Palisman as told, ready for a fight.
"The day Wild Magic is erased from the world, and peace reigns with all Witches." He stated.
"I knew I should have taken him out." The Devil growled. "You want to go, fine then, how about this!" The child swung their palisman forward … as the two of them were surrounded by a field of bubbles.
"... That's what you made to counter him with?" The Blight questioned.
"Just wait and see." Whatever, he warped closer, making his way through-only to cut himself, teleporting out of range as he tried to figure out what just happened. "You always teleported around, so I made a counter. A minefield of high speed spinning bubbles with tiny blades on them. Offense and defense completely covered." The Devil grinned.
"Ugh, Damn it! I'm not leaving without that key!" Hunter exclaimed, realizing he had to do something different. Okay, he had a staff of wild magic now, just pretend it was his artificial magic one, and he should be good, right? "Take this!" Tapping into construction magic, he aimed Flapjack at the ground, and created a wall, and forced it back, sending it right into the bubbles.
The wall was torn to shreds, but a lot of them had been popped, so progress there. "Alright, Amity, I'll keep the field up and keep refilling it. I need you to hit him at range, alright?"
"Got it." The blight nodded, though moaned. "I thought I had him with the emotional speech. Being nice usually works for Luz."
"Ehh, that's a sixty-forty ratio of failure at best for her." The Devil responded.
Hunter worked on binding their feet with plants, raising his staff as multiple stalagmites fell from the ceiling. While they were focused on either trying to break free or create an overhead barrier, he once more ran forward, this time using a water based field in an attempt to push away the bubbles and bee line to the key. "You're not going to beat us here! It's two against one, and we know how to use our staves!" The devil turned his staff into a lance that he threw right at Hunter, knocking Flapjack away.
"I don't know, I think I'm pretty handy with mine!" Flapjack was immediately called back to him as he teleported right behind the devil and kicked him in the back. "You should be grateful, I don't have the time to kill you today!"
"Oh jeez, I'm so glad your ignoring your eventual goal of ending my life to steal away my friends only way home while ruining my life with an entire day, how humble of you!" The boy shouted, moving some of the razor bubbles closer to hit him in the arms.
"Don't worry Lucci, I got you!" The Blight girl created fists out of abomination goo and struck him right in the chest. "Face it, you're outnumbered. As long as the two of us work together, then you're not going to come anywhere close to this key!"
Craaaaaaaash .
Everyone turned to see what had just crashed through the ceiling of the cave. "Damn it, that's the last time I try to mine fool's blood." A…rainbow haired…behemoth
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDING ME!?" The Devil child shouted in bafflement.
The Rainbow Devil looked over to them, and growled with a fire furry. "Oh HELL no! I'm not going to let you ruin another part of my plan, Rose!"
"Could you butt out of my life for like, five minutes!" The devil shouted. "I mean for Titan's sake, there's not even Titan's Blood here! The lake's empty!"
"I wasn't here for the blood, I'm here for the veins." She was what? "They're everywhere and I'm the only one that knows how to mine it correctly without corroding it. But enough about that." She transformed her hands into mallets and jumped over them. "You're not going to get in my way again, Rose!"
"Why does she keep calling you that!?" The Blight girl shouted as the moved out of the way.
"Long story I don't feel like answering." The Devil child grumbled as an extended ax hand was thrown his way. "Alright, I trained for one of these guys, not both … Pudding?"
"Pudding, definitely feeling like it's time for Pudding!" The blight shrieked as Hunter tried to wrap towards the key again, just barely missing her neck
"What, is that supposed to be your last meal or something?!" Hunter shouted.
"No, though it might be yours. Just hope you like the abomination flavor!" The Devil child smirked before he and the Blight girl clasped hands together, a light shining from them as their bodies … started to meld?
"Are you fusing … with an organic!?" The Rainbow devil shouted in complete confusion and horror. Why did this not feel good at all?
========================================================================
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH YEAAAAH! It's good to be back!" Pudding exploded into existence, their pink and goopy body flowing onto the floor. As excitable as ever . Even in a life threatening situation…does that say something about us?
"Oh my titan … is that SEX?" The Golden Fool…. Heh…nice .. thank you, I do my best … shouted in horror.
"Maybe, maybe not, you'll never know!" Pudding wasted no time hardening their arms, shooting them out at the golden moron and launching the brat backwards. "Just know, if you thought Amity and Lucci were hard to deal with before, we're about three times more difficult!"
"I'll take those odds!" They turned, seeing the Rainbow Bitch swing a hammer at their face … so they let their head explode. "Wait … that was too easy-" As to get close enough to land a hit on their stomach, sending them into a wall.
"Hello there, Rainbow Brite, neither me nor Amity have been that acquainted before with you, but we are aware from Lucci that you hurt Luz, so we have no choice but to hate you with every fiber of my being." They sent forth a tidal wave of spikes. "Please don't die from this, it'll make your suffering much more delectable." I can't even tell how much of that speech was me and how much was you. Doesn't matter, it feels good either way.
"Just…just HOW! This shouldn't be possible!" The Rainbow bitch tried chopping their arms away. "Gems and Organics don't mix like that!"
"Clearly I just ignore possibility." They smirked, sending forth attack after attack as they shifted their face, keeping one eye on the bitch as they used the other two to look around. "Now where did mr goldy go …"
"Right here, you muddy freak!" He teleported right through them….an act that left a hole in them, that pudding used to trap hunter's arms inside of them. "How, there's no organs in here!?"
"Oh there is, here, here…i think a kidney is spread out on my back." Pudding pointed to their back. "But now that I have you as my special captive audience, allow me to treat you to an extra explosive surprise!" They turned their torso pink…
KABLOOOOOSH
And sent the golden brat rolling.
"Ha, oh that's fun." They smirked, as Rainbow creep tried once more to charge at them. "Careful, I've been throwing around attacks, you may slip on something." Abomination fists came forming from the ground, hitting the Rainbow Devil over and over.
"Damn it! Bad enough you use me, the crystal gems, and Eda, but know you're using some little girl for your sick plans!?"
"The only sick one here is you, Rainbow pop." Hey wait, she's a Crystal Devil, and they poof right? So if I bubble her, she'll stay trapped! Actually, let me try something. "Hey Hunter!" They shouted. "I'll give you a trapped Rainbow Devil if you leave."
"Belos doesn't need that …" The boy growled. "He needs a way to the human world, and either Titan's Blood or your corpse will do."
"He wants….to go…. to the human realm!?" The Amity side screamed in absolute anger as purple fire spread all over their form, squishing the pipsqueak against the ground. "You have officially lost all chances here, bub."
"Maybe you can beat me …" He stated. "But I know where you live, I can send a squad to-"
"You can't do anything." Pudding spoke, looking down. "You can't threaten the Owl House because Luz lives there, and Amity could give two shits about her family. You have NO leverage to threatn me, and at the strength I'm at right now, neither of you could stop me from crushing you to dust." They raised a hand, forming it into a spike.
They would end him, they would end the threat. They would stop him from hurting others. They brought it closer, and closer, about to stab and end his existence Just like Ivan.
They stopped, just as it was about to hit his eye. "What?" No. It can't end just like Ivan. He's going to keep coming after you. He's threatening the human world! But we can't just kill … It's like he said earlier, he'll die either way. Belos punishes all who fail him. If anything this is a mercy kill.
What was the right call here? Would it be better if they were the ax to kill Hunter, or let him go to be killed by Belos. They had the key, they could already help Luz, staying here would just risk them losing-
"ROOOSE!" The rainbow devil charged at them from behind, knocking their body around…..and flinging the key in the air, and falling to the ground.
Crack
"NO!" They extended their arms. They had to grab it, they had to protect it-
"AHA!" Hunter used that stupid teleporting trick and swopped it into the air. "Yes! I got it! I got it!"
" NO YOU DON'T! " They swarmed up to him, wrapping around his body and trying to make it slip out of Hunter's hands.
The golden guard struggled for a bit, before glowing…and slipping out with ANOTHER damn teleport, one of their gloves falling to the ground but the key still in Hunter's hands. "Thank you two, for helping me. I'll remember that the next time I hunt you down, you devil." With another warp…they were gone…with the key.
"You …" They turned to the Rainbow Devil. "I already let one bastard get away … I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE TO!" They swarmed forward, surrounding her in a swirl of abomination goo. Luz's chance was gone and it was all this woman's fault.
"Oh, give me a break! Own up to your own mistakes for once, Rose!" The rainbow Bitch yelled at them, trying to run out, only for the swirl to keep them trapped.
" Stop….calling….ME...ROOOOOOOSSE!" The goo began turning pink, fire was starting to fly everywhere and they compressed it all down on the bulky bitch.
KAAABBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
They panted, waiting for the smoke to clear, but keeping their three eyes out for any activity. They might have poofed her, but they couldn't be careless and let her get away. "Come on, come on..where are you, you Rainbow bastich."
We…we failed…I failed Luz… No, you were good, I failed Luz…I should've just let us kill him, I got too sentimental. I shouldn't have brought up Ivan earlier, that needlessly clouded your judgment at the worst possible time.
It's fine, both of you. What matters now is that we stop the threat in front of us, then we can have a cuddle pile later while we wallow in misery. I just…we had the key to everything the whole time, and we blew it. What do we have to show for ourselves? A single glove covered in stains . Pudding notices the glove the Golden Guard left behind…a glove covered in something bright blue.
"There's Titan's Blood on it … the key leaked on it." There was hope … They had hope for the portal, they just needed to keep an eye on the Rainbow Devil. Attack her when she came out.
Rumble
" Lucci, Bossy Boots, you might want to book it now!" Mama Eda shouted down the tunnel. "We kind of got carried away in the fight and now the whole place is collapsing!"
"We're dealing with the Rainbow Devil, we need to bubble them before it's-" A rock fell next to them. "Okay, we'll head out now!" The rainbow bitch got to live…for now.
========================================================================
Lucci cracked his neck for what felt like the millionth time. "Usually after we form Pudding, my body is usually relaxed, but now everything feels like it's rusted all over the place.
"We took on the Golden Bastard and the Rainbow Bitch, we might have over extended our magic there." Amity noted as she messed with her body. "A two on one battle between the right hand of the emperor and one of the scariest legends on the Isles…crazy stuff."
"And we were kicking their butts too …" Lucci huffed. "Okay, we have a glove full of Titan's blood, which means we have … what, six or seven uses before we lose all of our chances to lose it all?"
" Don't sweat it, son, we got the blood, that's all that's important here." Mom patted him on the head before swallowing a whole vole live. "Ugh, this is why I never went full cannibal, the squirming just gets so unsettling."
"Adding that to the list of things that'll scar me for life." Amity shuddered.
"Meanwhile, I took on an Abomatron!" King shouted. "I am officially a powerhouse!"
"It took me forever to put a dent in them, so good job." Lucci scratched his head. He was going to feel these creaks for a week.
"I got to get the blueprints for the next time we face them, dang it dad." Amity groaned. "Lucci, thank you for what you said earlier, about Luz. That really put my mind at ease."
"No prob, just being a friend." He waved off. "And I know the whole thing is a mixed bag, but, thank you for holding me back earlier. After Ivan, I don't know if I'm actually prepared to kill anyone." Especially someone that … desperate.
"Hhhsss." Sugar stated, hugging his head.
"Meow." Ghost pipped up.
"Oh yeah … you know, if we do another fusion test fest, we should really train our Palisman to work together." Amity noted. "Oh, what if they can fuse too? The staff are essentially extensions of us, what if we can extend that to the fusions as well?"
"Hsss." Sugar sent those weird eyes over to Ghost.
"Meow." The white cat blushed bashfully.
"There are some times I truly can't understand you." Lucci noted as he walked inside. "How's everything on your end guys?" He asked.
"Good, good." Gus noted with a nervous laugh. "Just … tough once Luz broke out of those chains."
"And fifteen plants." Willow panted, taking in a large gulp of her energy drink. "She freaked out all of a sudden out of nowhere!"
"Guys, we need to head to Eclipse Lake now!" Said girl tumbled down the stairs, looking less sick but her head covered in mold and mushrooms. "They're in danger and.." She paused. "YOU'RE BACK!" She charged right at Amity and squeezed her tight. "I should've known my awesome girlfriend would've come back no problem!"
"Wow, did you seriously have so little faith in us?" Lucci asked.
"But it was dangerous." Luz pouted.
"You say that like you knew how destructive the whole event was." King rolled his eyes.
Piper came down the stairs, squeaking as she began playing another message. "By the time I got to Eclipse Lake, I discovered that it had been completely drained, and covered with Fool's Blood, which signified a decaying vein. I lost all my companions just getting out alive. I leave this message so that no one would dare enter that place again. For a fool's venture with nothing to gain."
"....Oh you have gotta be *bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep *kidding me!" Lucci banged his head through a wall.
"So does everyone else hear the beeps or …" Gus tried to ask.
"We lost the key for nothing, and we could have been warned about it!" Amity shouted in rage.
"You lost the what now?" Oh great, that was how Luz got the news broken.
"Long story short, we ran into the Golden Guard and Rainbow devil and found out the key has titan blood." Amity answered after a long sigh. "Fighting happened, and the Golden Guard got away with it, but not before it cracked." She presented the blood covered glove. "This is all the blood we have left...sorry."
Luz responded by kissing Amity on the cheek. "Hey, don't worry about it. Now that we know we HAVE blood to use, we can start building another portal door."
"Wow, the insanity finally pass?" Mom questioned.
"Yep! My legs may be made out of fishsticks now and the color of the wind may be purple, but I'm as healthy as a snorse!"
"... I'll go help that soup." Lucci deadpanned as he began walking to the kitchen. Semi-victory would have to do for now.