Summary: More like a door to problems
Eda looked over the jumbled pile of junk that was scrapped together by Luz. "So Piper finally coughed up the prints?"
"Yep. Turns out quite a few of the main components to craft the door itself were stored away in your apocalypse bunker, who would've guessed?" The girl shrugged. "We're just lucky bits and pieces of your stuff have palistrum wood embedded inside of it, or else I don't think this'll work."
"I'm not sure if this'll actually work at all." King said skeptically. "I mean, why is a baby doll head attached to a lizard body carrying a fork necessary?"
"It mentioned reptile parts for regeneration and eyes to the soul." Lucci explained. "This was just our substitute." He looked at the hobbled contraption. "Are you sure you're ready for this?
"Of course I'm not ready, but if I don't try, then I never will be." Luz answered, taking the glove that had the titan's blood covered in it. "I have to be quick about it too. With this little titan's blood, I don't know how long the portal will last." Giving a tired sigh, Luz ripped a piece of the glove off, and connected it to the door. "Okay Eda, give it a crank." She spoke, moving back.
"Lucci, shield us, I don't trust this not to explode." She said, before she began to pedal.
"Way ahead of you mom." Lucci brought it out as she began cranking the machine. Yellow energy ran through the connecting cable and reached the abomination head in the jar, making the energy glow harder as it continued down the line. "So, what are the chances that we'll open a black hole instead of a portal?"
"Don't say that, now that's all I'm going to think about!" King complained.
And then the energy reached the Titan's Blood.
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After that, Eda felt like she needed to get her eyes checked, because for a second it looked like space and time began to bleed out, crunching in on itself like a Black Hole of some sort, moving deeper within laws that should not be touched by mortal minds.
And after realizing her brain was no longer melting, she gazed at the misshapen and crooked door with two eyes, opening into a blackish green abyss of infinity. "Uuuhhh." That didn't look safe or right in the slightest.
"Wwoooowwww." She turned to Lucci, who gazed at the abyss with sparkly and dazed eyes.
"Hey, Lucci, you alright?" Eda snapped her fingers in front of the kid:
"Yeah, yeah, it's just … hypnotizing …" He muttered. "Kinda familiar …"
"We need you in top gear roomie." Luz walked over and handed him a rope. "As the guy with super strength, it's your job to pull me back when I give three sharp tugs."
"This isn't exactly a swimming pool or a hole, this is a dimensional abyss that could lead to who knows where." King pointed out. "A rope doesn't feel like it'll do much."
"We're running low on supplies, cut me some slack here." Luz complained "Alright, as a toy from a sentient object movie once said, to infinity, and beyond!" She shouted, jumping straight into the vortex.
"Movies must be super weird over there." Lucci commented.
"You have no idea. Over half of them are the same ideas and stories used over and over again." Eda explained. "Want me to tell you two some human world exploration stories while we wait for Luz to hop back out?"
"Ooh, Story time! I'll get the rock corn!" King ran into the house.
"Yeah, that sounds good…" Lucci kept looking at the portal, looking completely entranced by it.
"Hey, what did I tell you about sirens?" She asked, turning his head away.
"They're business telemarketers in sound form?"
"Exactly, and that door seems like it's just the same. So don't look at it." She responded, sitting him down.
"Yeah, I got it, I got it." Lucci shook his head. "So you found the portal when you were my age? What did you do when you were on the other side?"
"I was trying to get away from my mom as quickly as possible, so the idea that I was in another dimension didn't hit me at first." So many houses lit on fire. "One time I flew so high and fast I ran into one of those giant mechanical birds humans ride." The look of utter baffled on the man's face that day.
"I ran into a mechanical beast and tried pulling the guy out of it, then he started insulting me. So ungrateful." The boy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah no, those mechanical things are about as sentient as carriages." She laughed. "So you basically destroyed someone's ride around town."
"…Oh, but it looked so alive." He winced.
"Oh yeah. Hey, it could have been worse. I once beat up a guy because he asked me for a dollar." She chuckled.
"The guy at the donut shop said the same thing and I stuck him in a bubble." Lucci giggled. "Eh, he was still a jerk though, so I didn't regret it." His smile suddenly went away as he picked at his ears. "Do you hear that?"
She stretched her head up, not really picking up anything. "Nope, nothing on my end."
"Weird, I feel like I just heard Luz's voice…from the window." He pointed to the house, where his eyes widened. "Did you see that!?"
"See what?" She turned her head, and saw nothing.
"Luz, Luz was just inside of the reflection!" He shouted.
Well it wasn't the door … but that was concerning. "She might have ended up in the wrong place." She grabbed onto the rope. "Start pulling with me and we'll see just in case." She expected him to start tugging, only for his eyes to gaze at the door instead. "Lucci, don't you dare-!"
"Sorry, mom, my gut's giving me a funny feeling, and I gotta follow it! " Her son dashed to the door. "See you from the other side!"
"Lucci! You're in so much trouble when I drag your butt out of the void!" She instantly activated harpy mode, jumping after her son.
He placed a shield between him and the door. "You gotta watch the rope or we'll both be lost, I'm counting on you mom, you're the best, byeeeeeeee!" And he jumped through.
"Just because you use my lines doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you so easily!"
"I'm back with the rock corn!" She turned to King, who scanned the area. "… Lucci jump into the void?" She nodded. "And he forgot that even with both of us combined he has enough super strength to snap the rope if we're pulling him against something serious, right?"
"Like I said, he's in so, so, so much trouble when I drag his butt back here."
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Lucci began falling. "Okay, no problem, I just need to float." He focused on happy thoughts … and then began to fall up instead. "Wait what?" He questioned, before hitting the watery ground. "Ow … how did that-"
"The rules here are super weird." He turns his head, and saw that Luz was right next to him. "I can't use magic here either.
"No magic, and gravity is …" He trailed off. "…. Why does the sky and ground have an ocean?"
"I don't know, why the heck did you jump through the door, dude?" Luz nudged him in the arm.
"Gut feeling. Wow…this is so bizarre.." Lucci whistled, looking around the void. "I'm getting the oddest sense of dejavu looking at this place
"That's probably not a good thing man." She pointed out.
"Well sorry for being concerned, but I heard your voice and saw you in the glass and thought you needed help."
"No, I mean it's not a good thing you find this place familiar. I currently have a strong theory about what you said the Golden Guard told you. The navigation didn't work, so we ended up … in between."
"Makes sense, the door we made wasn't exactly art museum quality. Miracle it's still standing." Lucci nodded. "So how did you do that mirror thing? I want to know if that was real or if I need to catch up on sleep."
"Oh, so good news and bad news." She stated. "Good news is that we can talk to anyone just by saying their name and looking in a cube. Willow." A cube popped up, showing Willow watering a plant. "Hey will."
"Ahh!" Willow responded with a reflexive punch, followed by the cube breaking into pieces.
"I'm guessing that's the bad news." Lucci observed.
"No, the bad news is that gravity already doesn't work, and the same goes for magic. We don't know if this place causes life to decay or if the air is only because we think about breathing."
"Sheesh, I swear I wasn't this existential before I met you." Lucci rolled his eyes.
"Meh, I believe the best in worlds, but I have seen far too many bad place comics. The point is that we're on a time stamp, and our best bet is to find the cube that lets me talk to my mom, so I can at least tell her I'm on my way, then use the rope to get us both …" She looked at him. "Why aren't you tied to a rope?"
"I uh….jumped into here without warning mom cause I knew she wouldn't let me go if I told her."
"... Yeesh, and here I thought I was in for a grounding." The girl snickered.
"Oh sure, rub it in. May I remind you that this is only like, the fourth time ever I've disobeyed my mom. Sue me for having some teenage rebellion." He groaned. "Show Luz's mom." … There was a silence. "Luz's mom!"
"Maybe it's a me thing?" She questioned. "My mom?" More silence.
Name
Lucci turned. "Did you hear that?" He asked.
"Hear what?"
"Someone just said something." He answered. "Hello!"
Hello there
"Seriously, can't you hear them?" Lucci was pretty sure this wasn't in his head. "It's like one voice and a bunch of voices all at once. And again, this feels so familiar. Like something from a dream."
"... Okay." The girl pulled out a notepad. "In between realm induces insanity to the mortal mind …" She wrote down.
"Whatever. This insane guy is going to solve our problems." He cleared his throat. "Camila Noceda of the human realm."
A cube began glowing … far above their heads. "Alright, Mr semi crazy, any ideas on how to get there?" She asked.
"I think you're forgetting my powers." He grinned, forming a shield … which began to flicker. "Oh … oh that does not bode well."
"So I guess crystal devil powers don't work so well here either." Luz groaned. "Great."
"Hey, I got a flicker, that means my powers are working somewhat." He looked up at the sky. "Just give me a second." He squatted down. "Annd…leaaaap-Ah….!!!" Lucci was going too fast, shooting upward and crashing into the ceiling, which became the floor once the gravity adjusted. "Okay, that hurt …" He groaned, walking over to the cube and looking inside of it.
Lucci processed the image for a moment. "We got the wrong cube!" He shouted up.
"What!? What's wrong with it!"
"There's just some woman drinking bottles of what looks like apple blood while watching nature ocutlmentaries, and the house looks super unclean!" He called back.
"No, no, please don't let this be my mom." Luz freaked out. "Jump back and let me see! I need to know to for sure!"
"Sure thing … there goes my skull." Hopefully it would heal when this was all over.
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Camila watched the show. "And the mother bird now gently tosses the chick out of the nest, knowing their instincts will keep them safe as they fly away, never to be seen again." She took another swing. Oh, if only that was the case. Her own little chick fled from the nest without Camila even realizing it, far, far too early. Luz was still her baby, she wasn't ready to go off into the world, and Camila wasn't ready to let her go.
Why did she let the school board pressure her so much? Why did she give in so easily? When did Camila become an awful mother? She let the drink burn her throat, it felt awful like it should, and it eased the pain in the back of her mind. Luz was gone and nobody knew where …
"Mama!" She could still hear her voice at times, ringing in the back of her skull. It was times like this that made Camila wonder if she was taken or if she ran. And the sad thing was, she wasn't sure which one hurt her more. If she was taken, then that meant Camila wasn't a good enough mother to keep her daughter safe. If Luz ran, she was a horrible mother that couldn't keep her baby happy.
" MOM! " What was the point now of even caring about anything? Her husband was dead. Her daughter was missing, Camila was all alone now. She couldn't just go to her mom and vent all this out, that would just put too much of a burden on her. "Mom, please, stop!"
There was no point in stopping. Every minute, every second she was sober, she had to face the reality she drove her daughter away. She caused this mess, she caved and this was the result. She made her daughter feel like a freak. "Mom, stop this, I'm not gone!"
"Get out of my head." She complained, rubbing her skull. "Stop haunting me like you do every day …" Camila grabbed a soggy tissue. "Haven't I suffered enough … I already know I'm terrible."
"Mom, it's not true, you're not terrible!" Now the voices were just being cruel. Saying such sweet lies to ease her conscious. Oh what a horrible person she has become.
"If I wasn't terrible, you wouldn't have hated me…I wouldn't have driven you away."
"You didn't drive me away, you didn't-"
"SHUT UP!" She grabbed onto the source of the voice, a nearby mirror, which her hallucinations made her believe she saw Luz's reflection.. "It's my fault you're gone!" She tossed it against the wall, listening to it shatter. "My fault … my fault …" She took another burning sip. "My fault …"
" Mom, wait-!" The source came from the bottle this time.
"I said leave me alone!" She smashed the bottle against the ground, crying as she let herself fall to the floor and curling up, ignoring the shards of glass on the ground and the alcohol getting on her clothes. "Why can't you leave me alone … I'm sorry … I'm so sorry …."
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Connie was laser focused right now, failing could mean life and death. "Gently … gently … there!" She stood back, admiring her work. "Three strawberries on top of a triple scoop with three toppings."
"The trifecta." Steven responded with sparkly eyes. "Perfectly balanced as all things should be." They were in the kitchen of the temple, waiting for the gems to come back from another one of their longer missions, and luckily for once, Lapis wasn't around trying to hog Steven all to herself.
"I feel like letting you watch Infinity Wars was a mistake." Connie snickered. "You've quoted that five times this week alone."
"You saw the ending, I need to see Endgame or I'll cry for Groot for the next five years." Steven sniffed. "I can't just watch something lighthearted like Ant Man two after that, I need instant resolution to my plight!"
"We all do." She rolled her eyes. "So, what's on the agenda for today? Are you feeling outdoorsy or wanna stay inside and watch a movie?"
"Hm, staying inside does feel cozy, but I feel like I do that enough whenever the Gem's are out for more than a day." Steven contemplated. "And I think Masha just got back from camp, so I can finally introduce you to them."
"Ahh … right." Connie slowly nodded. "Everyone is coming back from the camp. Even she who shall not be named …" She almost forgot exactly why the past three months were so peaceful.
"You know it's going to be very hard to make friends with everyone if you refer to them in the third person, right?" Steven asked.
"If I say their name, I risk summoning her presence. They're like Beetlejuice." Connie shuddered. "So many detentions…do you know how long it took me to convince mom I wasn't a delinquent with how many of those I got?" She got the abacus on every occasion….such a cruel and unusual woman.
"Five seconds because your smile is like sunshine?"
Connie blushed with a laugh. "Oh sweet, naive, summer child Steven. Your family is cool and magical, so you don't know just how strict they can be."
"I'm actually grounded for a thousand years from tv after the Lapis incident." Steven laughed. "And I think they mean it literally, I'm pretty sure they assume I'm immortal."
"So are you immortal?" She questioned.
"I don't know … I hope not." Steven answered. "Yeah, there's probably so many amazing shows and movies I could catch up on, and I can try every flavor of pie in the world, but I wouldn't have you by my side to eat those pies with me. Feels less complicated and angsty if I pass away at around a hundred or so."
She blushed again. "Hey Steven … I have a question."
"Yeah?" He tilted his head adorably.
"Would you …" Come on, say it. "Would you want to go-"
"CONNIE!" … Can't even stop at school. You had to ruin relationships blooming too, didn't you Noceda?
"How did you even-!" She looked around, expecting to see Luz at the temple entrance…only to see nothing. "Uh…hello?" Connie scratched her head. "Where are you?" Please tell her she was just hearing things.
"The counter, the counter!" She turned around … seeing Luz inside of a coffee mug."I need you to listen, take me to my mom, please!"
"...Oh shit, you really are like Beetlejuice! You're a ghost and you're haunting me!" Connie fell on the ground in shock.
"I have a ghost buster kit, wait here!" Steven shouted, running off to the closet.
"Why does everyone think I'm dead!? Listen, it's complicated but I need your help. You're the only one I can trust, please!" The….reflection of Luz on the coffee mug spoke to her.
"Okay, okay…this isn't somehow the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life…but how do I know this is real and not just my brain taunting me?"
"I'm ready to fight the ghost!" Steven shouted, carrying a hose pack. "Stay away from my friend, girl in my hot chocolate cup!" Well, that answered that.
"Lucci?" The not hallucination asked, confused.
" Yeah?" Another voice came up, this time from a plate that was being dried on the kitchen rack…showing a reflection of …Steven…but with a neck and messier hair.
"Steven?" Connie looked back and forth. The boy that was not a reflection looked ever more freaked out.
"Oh hey, mr lookalike." The reflection smiled. "How's it goOWOWOWOW! Hold on there!" Connie turned to see Steven holding a chair.
"Last time we worked with talking mirrors … a lot of things almost happened." Connie understood why Steven would freak out over this.
"Well this definitely proves my alternate self theory about everyone on the Boiling isles looking like someone on earth and vice versa." Luz said, getting everyone's attention.
"Alternate … Boiling … what are you talking about?" Connie was starting to get lost here.
"Long story short, I kinda spent my days at camp … lying to my mom and inside of a fantasy world, but lost the portal to an evil dictator."
"... You know what, I believe you." Connie deadpanned. "Only you could cause so much chaos for your own desire to fuel a fantasy."
" Don't talk to her like that, you have NO idea what she's been through here! Don't get all high and mighty and judge her, four eyes." The Steven-look-alike glared at her. "As far as I'm aware, she's the only decent human that exists in your dimension."
"Hey, Connie's plenty decent." Steven patted her on the back. "She has an amazing smile, a love of literature, and a kind heart."
"That's literally how everyone describes Luz here." The look a-like rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing a kind heart means something different over there."
"We're getting off topic!" Luz shouted. "I need you to take me to my mom and tell her I'm not a hallucination, please."
She thought about it. On the one hand, this had adventure written all over it. On the other hand, it heavily involved Luz, which meant trouble was bound to happen. Was Connie petty enough to just let the girl stew in her own mistakes and let her mom, who was most likely depressed now, suffer for it. "Alright, but only because I know this probably hurts your mom, and I don't want a parent to suffer."
"Okay then, I'll take the Luz reflection, you take my look alike." Steven stated.
"Wait, wouldn't you want me to bond with Luz and call your look alike?" Connie questioned.
"I got a name you know, It's Lucci."
"Lucci … wait a minute!" Connie shouted, grabbing the plate. "You owe me fifty dollars for buying that charger while you ran out on me!"
"Wait, you ran into each other before?" Luz asked
"Back when I headed into the human world for the first time, she was just one of many people who thought I was this guy for some reason." Lucci explained. "She said something about shapeshifting and I thought I blew my cover, so I ran away."
"Okay, now you're being ridiculous." Luz rolled her eyes. "Magic doesn't exist on earth, it's not like … 'Steven is capable of it."
"Yeah, funny thing about that …" She chuckled nervously. "Steven is part … gem."
"Connie, maybe you shouldn't mention tha-" Steven tried to talk.
" Part Gem … you mean part crystal devil?" Luz asked.
"Crystal Devil? Don't you mean Crystal Gem?" Connie retored."Unless you're just being insulting."
" Trust me, I didn't come up with the name, they're just what the witches here call this race of people with gemstones in their bodies and hard light forms." Luz pointed to Lucci. " Lucci here is half one."
"Okay, maybe we should get going-!" Steven tried to say again.
"Really, another hybrid?" Connie was shocked
"Wow, pretty cool. Hope your womb donner was better than mine." Lucci stated. "Some crazy pink woman with a shield that tried to eliminate all organic life."
"Huh, woman with a pink shield?" Connie turned to Steven. "Isn't Rose's weapon a shield?"
"Wait, Rose, like Rose Quartz?" Luz asked, before looking at Steven suspiciously. "Where exactly is your gem placed?"
"No no no no!" Steven began hyperventilating, hitting the ground with wide and panicked eyes.
"Steven!" Connie ran over. "What's wrong, talk to me!?"
"I can't go back, I can't go back, I WON'T GO BACK!" He shouted, his voice cracking and sounding weirdly like Amethyst's.
"Whoa, take it easy man, why are you freaking out?" Lucci asked.
"I'm not going to give up being Steven!" Her best friend grabbed the plate and looked like he was about to smash it.
"Wait, don't-!" The plate began to spark pink, electrocuting Steven.
"GAAAHHH!" He screamed in agony.
"Steven!/ Lucci!" Luz's reflection moved to the plate as Connie tried to pull Steven back, and she was instantly shocked, and her mind begging to go blank.
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Luz groaned as she woke up. "Ugh, that was unpleasant…." It was like someone shoved her brain through a straw.
"No kidding … why do my powers malfunction at the weirdest time?" Lucci questioned as her eyes were trying to adjust. The gravity felt weirdly balanced out again. "What was with that guy? Started freaking out like we were about to kill him or something."
"Don't no, maybe the magic thing was new to him and he was overwhelmed." She answered, feeling something on her face. "Huh, how did I get these glasses on me?" Luz pulled them off, and her vision went blurry. "And why is my eyesight so bad now?"
"I dunno. I'm still trying to blink the sun spots out of my eyes …" The boy responded. "Wait, where are you?"
"I'm right in front of you…I think. Give me a second." She put the glasses back on. "Whoa, maybe I need an eye exam? Do you think Amity would like the cute nerd look?" Luz gazed at her surroundings….her non inky void, kitchen looking surroundings. "Huh? Weird…it…it doesn't feel like I'm in a mirror anymore."
"Seriously Luz, where are you, all I'm seeing is that four eyed mean girl." Lucci asked.
"Oh, am I invisible?" She questioned, reaching her hand forward. "Boop."
The boy's eyes widened, looking around, then looking at her. "....Luz, looking at your skin."
"This is a weird time to ask about race but…whoa, since when am I this dark?" A sinking feeling suddenly began to fill her stomach. "Mirror, I need a mirror!"
"Okay…I don't think you'll like it though." Lucci pulled out another plate and shoved it in front of her….where it showed CONNIE'S face.
"GAH!" She screamed. "I took over Connie's body! She's gonna hate me forever!" She didn't think that relationship could get any worse.
"Wait, if you took over Connie's, then did I take over…" Lucci grabbed the mirror. "Oh wait, false alarm, I still look like me."
"How does that work?! I don't see Steven anywhere else!"
"Same shapeshifting powers?" He shrugged, lifting up his shirt. "Hah, same gemstone too. Boop." He poked it….and frowned. "Wait…that didn't feel right." Lucci rubbed it. "This…this isn't a gemstone…it feels too soft and fleshy."
"Really?" Luz walked over and poked it. "... You sure? It feels more like nails, or an exoskeleton you'd find on a bug."
"Yeah, exactly, that's not how my gem is supposed to feel." Lucci said, black rings suddenly forming around his eyes. "And … and I'm feeling … really drained … it's like … I'm pushing my body past its limit … and … I feel … hungry."
"Lucci … you alright?" She asked, an apprehension boiling up inside of her stomach.
"Yeah … yeah let me just … destress." He stated, before his body shifted … Green skin, covered with minor cuts and burns here and there, a long scaly tail, and a mouth extending up to the ears, with the biggest puppy dog expression she's ever seen.. "That feels so much better … Luz?" They looked confused.
"Lucci …" She held back her shock. "You're …" He was … "A Basilisk."