Summary: The temple is not pleasant
Steve did his best to hold on for dear life as the ground caved in. So many regrets, so so many. "Come on Emperor Coven, I'm wide open."
"Don't listen to him Kikimora, all fights with him are one sided slaughters!" Steve had seen it personally happen for the last ten years. The boy never held back for a second. Literally no scout had ever come even close to taking him down.
"Then I'll be the first on the giving end!" She shouted, launching a fireball at him.
The boy simply let it wash over him. "... I get hit with so many fireballs I literally can't feel the pain of heat at this point … should I be concerned?" He asked his Palisman.
"Hsssh." The snake pointed ahead.
"Got it, don't look a gift snorse in the mouth."
"Don't ignore me!" The woman shouted, sending forth a boulder.
Said object was grabbed and tossed away. "Compared to the evil voice and the rest of the temple, this is actually refreshing." Lucci smiled. "What else you got?"
"Guards, don't just stand there like idiots, you outnumber him, swarm the pest!" Kiki kept ordering.
"Ooh, moving targets, always great practice for a test fest!" The boy crackled.
"Hsssh." The snake wrapped around his arm.
"Really? You want to try something new?"
"Hhhss."
"Alright, go for it. My arm is yours to command Sugar." They gave a smirk Steve's seen in his earlier years on the Owl Lady's face.
The snake gripped itself and curled all over his arm like a coil. The limb seemed to lift up on its own as it glowed pink, before stretching out and firing like a rapid cannon, sending one of the guards into a wall.
"... Severine, move to the back, he's not in a 'bubble the enemy' mood." He warned his damaged friend.
"Backlining isn't gonna save me from that." She whispered back.
"Oooohh, nice concept." The boy nodded approvingly. "How about adding a spin to it? If it already makes my bubbles more dangerous, it could do that too. Oh, or you could split my hand in two and hit two scouts for the price of one."
"Hello, this is a fight, not a science experiment, I'm trying to kill you right now!" Kikimora yelled indignantly.
"You are?" Lucci questioned. "Do you mind if I offer my critique on how to do it better?"
"Do not sass me!" She shouted, shooting a lighting bolt.
"I only sass the Golden Tool, that was an honest question!" The boy stuck out his hand and just let the lighting hit him. "Oh, and tha-thank yo-you for remin-minding me I'm sho-shock proof to-too!" The yellow energy voucher all over the kid's body, before being shot out of his other hand, and directing it to another guard. "Blegh, feels like I've sucked on one of those battery things Mom used to bring over though."
"Will someone land an attack on this child?!" The tiny woman screamed in rage. "Steve, you do it or I will rip your head off myself and kick it across the isles!"
Steve threw forth a wave of ice. "Nippy." The boy noted as he broke free. "Alright, next attack is a go!" The boy's fingers extended, piercing one scout in the ribs. "... Are those poisonous snake fangs?" Lucci asked with a bit of hesitance.
"Hsssh." The snake just shrugged.
"Now do I let my conscience take over here….nah, they work directly for Belos. I shouldn't be holding back anyway."
"I tried to warn you all this would be one sided!" Steve shouted as he ducked under a bubble that broke through the wall behind him.
"I was hoping to save this for later, the last thing I want is to owe that Blight anything " Kikimora grumbled. "Activate the Abomatron 3.0!"
"Lamest naming scheme ever." The child rolled his eyes as the familiar soldier came in. "Alright, you wanna bring on the first move big guy?"
"Oh, your going to regret that, little brat. The 3.0 is a model specially made and designed after your little stunt at Blight industries." Kiki explained as the arms stretched out, and…encased the boy in a familiar orb.
"Did … it just trap me in a … pink bubble ?" Lucci spoke in bafflement.
"Not just any bubble … a bubble that explodes!" Kiki cheered way too happily.
"Amity … I am going to kill your parents, one way or another." The boy grumbled as the bubble began to expand … and popped harmlessly.
"... WHAT THE FUCK!?" His boss screamed.
"It may be used by someone else, but it's still my bubble. And with Sugar helping I have complete control over those." Lucci rolled his eyes. "If anything you just gave me a way to blow this thing from the inside out." He smirked, shoving his palisman into its gooey guts, and encased it in his own bubble. "Sayonara, you bucket of bolts and melted guts."
Kablllloooom
The room collapsed from the explosion; making two figures fall down from it. "So many explosions … I've inhaled so much abomination mist … death is all I taste now." A very familiar voice shuddered.
"Eh, you get used to it after five to seven years." A younger voice responded as the smoke cleared.
"Amity, Aunt Lily! Glad to see you guys are in one piece..relatively speaking." The boy waved.
"Hey Lucci." The young girl groaned as she stood up. "The tower is magic resistant and trying to constantly kill us, same for you?"
"Yep, and I met some Emperor Coven mooks with Abomatrons … that have mybubbles in them."
"What the-dang it dad!" The youngest blight growled. "I am going to kill him once I make it out of here."
"So, if it isn't the old Coven Head." Kikimora growled out.
"Kikimora." Lilith stood up, adjusting her glasses. "I see you still have a size complex coupled with the fact you subconsciously hate social interactions to such a large degree you can't bond with anyone unless you see them as a superior. Tell me, how does it feel being so small you can literally look up to me even when I'm not your boss?"
The whole room was silent for about two minutes to fully digest what Lilith had just proclaimed. "Dang, aunt Lily is savage." Lucci smirked. "So I take it we're all in on beating the crap out of the emperor's coven?"
"Actually I used up most of my glyphs breaking us through here. I'll try and find us another way out and let you two handle it."
"Oh, when our lives are in danger THEN you trust people to deal with their opponents." The girl argued.
"Would you give it a rest, Blight! We have more important things to worry about!
"I'll give you all a rest!" Kikimora shouted in complete rage. "Abomatrons, kill them all!"
"Okay Amity." Lucci began swinging his staff around. "I'll take the five giant unstoppable and superpowered abominations on the right, you take the five on the left."
The girl scoffed, pulling out her own staff. "They're my dad's work, I'm going for six and leaving you with the midget."
"Ooh, saving the mini-boss for me, thank you."
"WOULD YOU STOP TALKING LIKE I'M NOT HERE!?" At least they didn't bring up Steve.
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"Mawp … Mawp … Mawp …" Luz rubbed her ringing ears, trying to get sound back in order. That explosive didn't hurt thanks to the awesome witches wool Eda made her, but damn if it wasn't loud up close.
Boscha was slowly trying to put herself back up. Sure, she didn't blow up, but she was the one to slam body first into the floor … followed by Luz slamming onto her. "The…next time…there's some big adventure planned out … I'm going to follow my gut and turn the other way as fast as possible."
"Yeah, that'd be for the best." Anything was better than being around Boscha. "You mind figuring out how the room wants us dead while I get my ears to stop ringing?"
"Whatever." Boscha rolled her eyes as she picked herself up from the ground. "I would've never taken Lucci's birth mom to be so vindictive. Figured he got the repressed rage from the owl lady. What kind of sadist builds a temple of doom for just one artifact."
"I don't know, it's a lot more dangerous than the last one." Luz answered. "And that artifact was an amalgamation of broken and corrupted souls inside of a piece of paper." Why was this one so important to keep locked away?
"At least this one looks like less of a torture chamber. No gas, no acid-oh, a shiney looking chair." Boscha pointed to one that look shiney, big, and white. "Really, really big chair. I think you could fit like five to seven people on it."
"Or one giant lady." Luz noted, walking up to it. "This must have been some sort of personal room, like a break lounge." She looked the thing over. "And it's even got the handprint thing that all the doors have."
"Really should've been stuck with Lucci. Without him we can't fiddle with any of this space demon stuff." Boscha groaned as she idly tapped on something pyramid shaped, making it fall over and glow.
"... I think you either activated a flashlight or a bomb." Luz noted as she positioned herself behind the chair.
The pyramid continued to glow, until a blue image popped up, showing a woman with a practical garden of curly hair over her head. "Alright, image is set …" The giant lady coughed. "Log date one. This is Rose Quartz. There was an accident involving a certain human, trapping me in the Boiling Isles."
"….If you were literally anyone else and I wasn't dating the most perfect girl in the world, I would deeply consider kissing you." Luz admitted.
"Gaaahhh." Boscha looked like she was going to barf at that. "Gross."
"Luckily, I can tap into the background magic field, allowing me to construct gem equipment. Unluckily, the bastard escaped and is on the loose. I need to end him quickly, and stop him before it's too late."
"She can't be talking about Philip, can she?" Luz asked out loud. "All his entries show how brave and noble he was."
" I've come to discover that brief openings between this world and earth open, but only for a second, and at the bottom of the boiling sea. Try as I might, I can't go back home through this means. So I'll be stuck here for a while." The woman chuckled. " I could ask Evelyn for help, but after what happened with Caleb, that's not likely to happen."
"Evalyn?" Boscha asked. "Kinda sounds like 'Edalyn' don't you think?"
"Probably a coincidence." It wasn't like similar sounding names were uncommon.
"I've been away from my friends about five months by this point-" Her first entry was in five months after finding out she was stuck?
The image cut out, before showing another one, glitching. "Log date fifteen." Great, must be corrupted. "I found the stinking Harmony Core. HOW, that was supposed to be lost in the bottom of the ocean!" She screamed in rage. "Seeing how that won't work again , I plan on making a fortress, one so impervious that even someone with my gem can't gain access inside, and it will obliterate all intruders."
"Guess that means Lucci isn't impervious to all the traps here either." Boshcha commented.
"My search for the human hasn't gone very well. He is quite the crafty little bastard, always able to spin a lie at the most convenient time to save his ass." The woman complained. "Oh but when I get my hands on him I'm going to *bbzzt* all over his *Bttzz* while I *bzztt* and then *bbzzt* him to the snaggle tooth."
"Huh, I think me and this woman would've gotten along pretty well." Boscha smirked.
"You would get along with the person Lucci wants to vehemently deny?" Luz questioned.
"He's still friends with you while dating me."
"Touché."
The image glitched again. "Log date one twenty. I've been stuck here for forty years. While that may seem like a blip to my kind, the arrows of time have spun far too slowly for my taste. I've watched Evelyn's family grow from afar. Even if she may never forgive me, I can only hope to do my best to sheild her from any trouble that lies ahead." The woman continued. "I just need to fix this … fix it."
The image distorted again, showing the woman screaming and crying. "AGAIN! It's been fifty years and he got away again! And with the Collector of all things!" She hit the ground. "He was sealed away for good reason, he was too innocent, he couldn't mature, just like Spinel … fuck, she's just standing there." She went into a ball, shaking. "What the hell have I been doing all this time?"
"That … got dark." Luz winced.
The image changed once more, showing a dazed looking version of the lady. "Log date … don't care. It hurts, the constant searching hurts. I had to figure out how to get drunk … they all died." She groaned. "The Basilisks are dead …"
"Ooofff….I think I know where this is going."
"I thought…I thought after I threw my life as a diamond away, after I became Rose, I would fix messes like this…that I'd stop all the fighting….all the wars….all the genocide….no….who was I kidding? All I've been doing is running away from my mistakes. I did it with Diamonds, with Bismuth, and so many people have gotten hurt because of me. The crystal gems. Humanity as a whole….Caleb…"
"So she did know the rainbow devil …" Luz just watched this woman … break to pieces. This wasn't the monster that Philip described in his journal, or the dictator the other temple explained to them…this was a grieving….broken woman.
The image went static again for a second. "I … Killed him …" She stared at her hands in a glazed look. "He's dead … … after 90 years … … I finally killed him … and it felt good ." The woman clutched her head. "How can I go back, cracked as I am?" The woman smashed her head against a wall, which crumbled easily. " How can I ever face my friends again after all I've done!? All the lies, all the hypocrisy! That's the summation of my life! Nothing but one giant mistake in the universe! WHY!? DID!? I HAVE TO EXIST!?!?!!"
The two of them watched the sudden bouts of self desecration. "So …" Boscha started. "I'm starting to see where Lucci gets a lot of self deprivation from…"
"Yeah … to think he's actually tame compared to this." Luz nodded. "Then again … he has us."
Once more the image went static. "So … I have this Portal door now … I've had it for ten years now…..and I don't know if I can take it upon myself to use it. I've ruined so many lives…..just by being here I've ruined so many lives. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are so much better off with me in their lives. The earth is such a beautiful place, they deserve to rest…." The woman cried. "I want nothing more than to see them again … but … It's just … why should I be happy? … Why?"
The prism stopped glowing, dead on the floor. "... So …" Luz broke the awkward silence. "Should we … talk about what just happened?" So much of what that woman said … hit really … REALLY close to home.
"I'm fine with repressing that if you are." Boscha winced. "It's definitely for the best if Lucci doesn't hear this. That just piles on more needless drama in his life then this place already is."
"Yeah … probably." She nodded. "Though … Lucci was born on Earth, so that meant she did eventually go back to the human realm."
"As she should have." Boscha stated. "All they did was cause problems. Just like you." Why didn't Luz have the strength to argue back now?
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Eda carried Willow through the halls, flying as fast as possible. "Come on, come on, we have to get there before someone else does." Willow called out.
"That's what I'm trying to do, flower girl, but that's hard when I keep getting shot at every five minutes!" She barrel rolled under another barrage of wall piercing arrows and shot themselves upward. "We're trying to help get everyone out of the temple you stupid voice! We'll leave your Harmony Core alone!"
"High levels of Oxytocin suggests you are a pathological liar."
"Why would you even have a feature like that!?" Willow shouted.
"The person who designed me was also a pathological liar. She wanted nobody, not even herself to be able to touch the core."
"That means my baby is being attacked!" She needed to book it faster. "Owl Beast, any speed boosts would be appreciated!"
'Scraaaaaaa' They needed three times the voles added to her diet, and twice as many cuddles.
"You can have the Voles for a week and then discuss that, but the cuddles are fine!"Her stomach was gonna tear itself apart one of these days.
"What goes on in your head now?" The girl in her arms asked her with a worried look.
"You do not want to know." Eda responded as she felt her feather grow sharper on the edges. "Okay, I don't have the time to turn so I'm just going to burst through this next wall and hope for the best. Hope you don't get broken bones easily!"
"I am really glad I work-out." The girl whimpered as she braced for impact. Luckily Eda had her feather to soften the blow, so charging ahead a top speed was going to be no no problem-
KAABLOOOOOM
Charging at top speed into a wall that was already exploding was a slightly different manner, exemplified as Eda lost control and tumbled right through it.
"You created an exit!" A familiar voice shouted. "I'll check to see if-Edalyn?" Eda blinked the dust out of her eyes to see her sister staring at her.
"Hey Lily." She groaned out. "You and Boots dealing with your own problems?"
"You could say that in a way, though it's less 'dealing with problems' and more two angry kids doing target practice." Lily pointed to the side of the room where most of the destruction and explosions were occuring.
"This is for hurting Luz! And this is for using Lucci's powers! This is for taking up attention from my dad!" The young Blight shouted as she tore through golden abominations. "And this is just for existing, you stupid piles of dead carcasses and metal!!" She reached inside of one's chest, ripping out stuff that looked pretty important.
"You sure we're not above burning down Blight Manor after this? I feel like if we don't do it now, we'll never get the chance afterwards." Her baby asked as he grabbed two Coven scouts and bashed their heads together.
" Lucci!" Eda disregarded everything and flew up to her baby, swooping into the air and squeezing the hell out of him.
"Mom!" He hugged her right back. "I'm glad you're alright!" Lucci rested his head against her feathers. "Ooh, your feathers are somehow softer in this form. If i wasn't being forced into life threatening peril, I could fall asleep right here."
"ARE YOU STILL IGNORING ME!?" A shrill and shrimpy voice called out. " I AM NOT ONE TO BE IGNORED! I AM A LEGITIMATE THREAT ON YOUR LIFE!"
"I dunno, I only paid attention to you when you had a message from the emperor." Lily deadpanned. "Anytime else it was quite easy to forget you existed."
"... When did Lilith become a savage?" Willow questioned.
"I think she might've taken a lesson in sass from mom, that's how I learned." Eda chuckled. " So seeing as how there's no legitimate danger at the current moment, why don't we find the others and get the hell out of here."
"No way." Lucci stated. "We can't let them have the artifact after getting this far."
"We're going to take it, and you will not stop us Manticore Menace!" The woman shouted.
"Listen you dumb Bitch!" Eda shouted. " The Harmony Core doesn't have power, it just makes living organisms brain dead!"
"IT WHAT!?" Lucci, Boots, and Lily all exclaimed.
"... And?"
Everything in the Owl Lady froze. "... You knew ?"
"The Emperor having a power that can pacify all wild witches and make them easy to grab against their will?" Kikimora questioned. "Not to mention making offing your bastard son quite easy."
"Lady, have you not been paying attention for the past half hour?" Boots rolled her eyes, twirling a finger and causing one of the abomination hands to explode. "You're outclassed here, and two more of our powerhouses just crashed through the wall. You don't stand a chance right now against us."
"Lucky for me, I have one skill perfect for situations just like this." The woman grinned, forming a magic circle.
"Alright be prepared for anything. She may be a nuisance, but she's in the Emperor's coven for a reason." Lilith wanted.
The spell poofed into smoke … and vanished, showing that the woman was already a long ways away. "A lack of shame at running to something stronger!"
".... Wow … just … wow." Willow stated before turning to one of the guards with pointy looking ears. "Have you guys always been this pathetic?"
"Ever since Lilith left, the Golden Guard is the most 'stand his ground' guy we have left." Steve admitted.
"Yes! Validation!" Lily cheered, throwing her hands in the air.
"Less yapping, more fighting! We gotta reach that core before she or one of these losers grabs it." Eda reminded the group.
"Right." Lucci nodded. "Sorry Steve, the stakes are too high, no holding back." Lucci spoke, forming an array of bubbles with Sugar and launching them all forward.
"I understand. Steve made this bed, and Steve will lay in it." The scout nodded before being sent into a wall, becoming embedded in it.
"Let's move people!" Boots shouted, already riding an abomination wave to the direction Kikimora ran to.
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Gus was in so much agony. "It's not working …" Trying to manipulate the light only made these guys pissed off. The sonic screams knocked them back individually, but the other five immediately went in to counter after. The two of them could do nothing.
The were constantly showing off flashing lights that made them all dizzy and disoriented. Gus and King even threw up a couple of times from how sickening the light show was making them. "Gus …" His voice weakly cried out. "My mind … is getting tired … can't stay … up."
"Hang on … little dude … I … agggh…" His brain was getting fried all over the place. Gus's arms felt like noodles and his face like sandpaper. He started to forget what his own finger felt like.
Why was he so powerless here? Why couldn't he do anything? Why was he so worthless and pathetic and meaningless to the group!? Now everyone probably either forgot all about him or were slowing themselves down to find them.
He could barely make out the lights glowing brighter, another attack charging up with both of them too weak to counter, too weak to move away, too weak … to survive . This was it, after all this Gus was meeting his end from painbows. His dad, his friends, and Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo all let down without him because Gus couldn't do anything.
"Gaghg…" King threw up again. "So … many colors … too…many…" The little guy passed out. They would die here. KING would die here because Gus was too weak .
No…n….why…why…. "WHY…." Gus felt a faint blue light cover his own eyes … a light that came out of his own eye. "WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!!!!!????!"
Fawwoooosssshh
A wave of blue light covered the area, washing over the room, washing over the prisms, which seemed to freeze in place. "!(@!*@(!)!*@!!!!!"
"!(@&!(!@)!*"
"!*@(!)@)!)!@&@^%$!" All of them shouted incoherently as they began sparking.
"Useless, I'm useless, I'm useless. " He began rocking himself.
"!(@!(&&^%!" The cube one sparked, before turning gray … and falling to the ground with a thud.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The orb looking one followed suit, cracking in half as it hit the floor.
*!)%^@(#$." The pyramid fell onto the cube, landing flatly on it.
The other colors all fell, but Gus couldn't focus on that. "It's just like school, it's always like school."
"Why dad…why did you leave me…" King was curled up in a ball. "Why did you leave me….why am I always alone." The room began to brighten back up.
They were worthless, nobody would care for them, nobody would come for them, they were just weak and powerless and… ":( ?"
"Huh?" Gus looked up, the pyramid one floating over him, not looking threatening, but looking…confused.
": ( ? :)? ???" Was…was he able to understand this thing?
"Yeah, I guess I'm really sad….though I feel more depressed than anything right now." He answered. "I'm so useless I couldn't even save me and King."
"?" The thing looked puzzled. "1>5! %$@)"
"What do you mean I stopped them? They all just…" He looked at his surroundings. "..How did they turn off?"
"+)@(<>{{."
"What, but I don't have that level of power, I just do illusions." Gus looked at the broken orb. "... Ouch."
"&^*(&^i)." The prism hovered over his head. "*&^&^)/."
"You want to follow me? But I have nothing." Gus tried to reiterate.
"Bbbrrr." Emiline Bailey Marcostimo spoke up from his collar, nuzzling against his face.
"Guys, please, you're going to embarrass me." He lightly blushed.
"Dad…why…..dad…..why…" King kept muttering from his coroner of the room.
"Come on little guy, let's get out of here." Gus picked him up, before turning to the prism. "So…you wouldn't happen to know HOW to get out of here, right?"
"!&%$@":<." It gestured to an open door.
"And you haven't escaped because?" He questioned.
The prism merely floated an inch outside of the door. "Light prism escape detected, initiating countermeasures."
"Great, out of the pot and into the bonfire!" Gus braced for impact-only to fall through the floor. "NOT AGAIN…..!"
He fell, and fell, and reached the bottom with a loud thump. "OWW!"
"GUS! AHA! I knew these controls had to do something!" He was wrapped in a hug by Luz, suddenly realizing he was in a giant chair.
"Luz?! Boscha, what the heck are you doing here?" The illusionist boy asked.
"Looking through stuff." The girl grinned. "I'm pretty sure this is the control room."
"Really?" Gus asked in confusion.
"It hurts … alone … nobody …" King muttered.
"Awww, come here little guy, big sis Luz is here." Luz took the demon from his arms and held him tight. "So I take it you're as lost as we are right now?"
"Yeah …" He paused. "There's security in every room except the most vital controls?" He questioned.
"Apparently this is also supposed to be some sort of safe room." Boscha commented. "Lucci's bio mom would come here and record herself having an existential crisis." She rested a hand on the chair. "Most of this stuff we can't activate without Lucci's gem, but there's one or two buttons that do something without it."
"So since this is the only room that isn't trying to kill us every second, we're trying to figure out what works here and what doesn't until we can reach that core." Luz continued to explain.
Gus looked at the prism. "You have a clue on what button to push?"
":):)." The little guy hovered over the chair and glowed slightly pink. After a minute, it showed off a map that had the temple layout presented right in front of them.
"... Let me guess, another Crystal Devil?" Boscha questioned with a raised eye.
"No actually. They're some kind of… mechanical guard drone that controls various lights." Gus explained.
"Weird …" Luz looked over the map. "Alright, we need to reach the artifact here." She pointed to the bottom of the map. "And we're … here." She then turned to a halfway point on the map. "Hmm … maybe there's a way to turn off the security from here."
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"COME BACK HERE YOU TINY TWERP!" Kikimora ran as that annoyance Lillith Clawthorne yelled, the explosions getting louder the more she ran.
"Do you have any insults that don't revolve around my height!?" She shouted back.
"I was going to say you're finally tall enough to lick my boots on one knee, but maybe there's another expression for beta subservience!"
"Seriously Aunt Lily, next time I fight the Golden Fool, I need you to come with me. We can roast him both literally and figuratively." That devil child commented with a smirk as he sent another fast launching fist at her.
"Whoa, new power?" The plant twerp asked.
"Sort of. Sugar wrapped around my arm and helped me coil and stretch it out at rapid fire speed." The devil child laughed. "It's like I have my own mini bazooka attached to my arm."
"Maybe you should focus on your fingers and snipe her, because the big scaled attacks aren't precise enough." The Blight noted as the group continued to chase her.
"Oh, sounds great. Hey Sugar, I'm doing that fang attack again. If you have any to spare, pour as much venom as possible into my fingers!"
"Hhhss." The boy's hands became five fangs, which began to shoot out and curl around the area, targeting Kikimora from multiple locations.
"ACK! You little pest!" One of them nipped her in the shoulder, and her entire right arm fell completely numb.
"I'm having a hard time seeing exactly how this little gremlin entered the Emperor's coven. I know they're a bunch of jokers, but…so far I'm not seeing anything impressive." The owl lady attempted to swipe her from the air.
"Skilled enough to make it to scout, but so perfervid to the cause she never once questioned an order, and is quite ruthless to enemies she can actually do something against." Lilith explained.
"So she's such a but kisser it makes up for the lack of genuine skill?" The Blight girl summarized.
"I could have your entire family branded as traitors for this!" Kikimora tried to threaten.
"Good, a life on the run will probably teach mom a lesson or two on humility." Well that bluff failed exponentially.
"And I feel being a traitor to the Emperor is more ideal than being, you know, brain dead!" The glasses girl screamed as she threw a giant tree.
"Face it, you little troll, you got nothing, you're outnumbered, outpowered, and far outclassed. Sooner or later, the temple will kill you or we'll catch you." The devil child smiled wickedly.
"Not if I find the artifact before you!" It had to be somewhere.
"Deploying explosives."
"Not the time!" Ugh, this wasn't how it was supposed to be! She failed the Emperor far too many times already. She didn't secure the Palisman, she failed to get the Titan's blood, and each time, the Golden Guard showed her up! If she failed anymore, she risked being replaced!
She needed something, anything, just something to put her in the lead and win. "No more!" A vine wrapped around her leg, tripping her as a bubble landed over her body. "We got her!"
"No! Let me go! Let me go! I can't fail now! Not when I'm so close!" She screamed.
"Yeah, that's exactly why we're not letting you go." The damn devil brat rolled his eyes. "So I'm guessing all that's left is grabbing Luz and the others and booking it out of here."
"Yep … I'd say split up and search, but I don't trust this place to not drop walls on us." The Owl Lady spoke. "Let's try going up and see where it gets us."
The moment the owl lady said that, the ceiling opened up, and something large and shiney fell down, along with a couple of more nuisances. "Okay … that's the lower floor button …"
"Luz!" The Blight ran forward and hugged them. "It's you, it's you, you beautiful woman, I am so happy to see you!"
"I missed you too, my cotton candy colored goddess." Ugg, get a room. "Like seriously, I got stuck with Boscha. Literally couldn't have been worse than that."
"Screw you too Human." The three eyes girl went up to the devil boy and squeezed his face. "Lucci, next time I push you to go on something like this, feel free to stop me by any means necessary."
"Yes, Boscha." The devil child hugged the girl. "I know it was bad for a first adventure and-King!" The boy instantly moved past the three eyed girl and down to a shivering furry thing. "Are you okay, speak to me buddy."
"Daddy, why….daddy….why…" The creature shivered.
" King!" The owl lady rushed to the creature and picked it up. "Don't worry, mama's her for you, mama will always be here."
"Mom?" The guy blinked, his eyes dimming a bit. "I … what happened?" He asked. "One moment I was with Gus and some evil lights and the next … nightmares."
"Best you try and forget about it." The short child laughed hesitantly. "So are we grabbing that orb or what?"
" Negatory. The Harmony core is a doomsday weapon that'll turn every witch brain dead if activated."
The devil turned to the human. "This is the last straw, Luz. No more womb doner adventures, ever ."
"Fine …" The girl pouted. "But you have to look at this. It's a recording from her and-"
Crack
They all watched as the pieces of the object fell to the floor. "Not … interested." The glowing pink child reiterated. "I never knew her, she didn't raise me, and I owe her nothing."
"I told you not to bring it up." The three eyed girl muttered. "But nooo, I'm just his girlfriend, I couldn't possibly know what he would want."
"Can we just use this thing and get out of here?" The plant girl questioned.
"Yeah, just give us a minute." The human sighed. "We're still working on the buttons." Kiki eyed the chair from her bubble, knowing it was probably her one chance at getting out of this. "We can open and close random parts of the temple, but we don't have full control over it."
"I'll go round up the coven scouts we beat up." The Manticore Menace stated, walking back into the old rooms. "You all start pushing buttons."
"Is button mashing really a good idea here?" The Blight asked.
" It's not like we can try anything else." The owl lady looked over and began pressing randomly. " What's the worst that can happen?"
The laser turrets all popped out of the walls and started to aim at them. "... Why do you still stay stuff like that?" Lilith questioned.
"…Plucky optimism?"
"That's my schtick Eda." The human pointed out. "Though we should all make running our thing now!"
The lasers fired off every, causing all the nuisances to scatter randomly. Leaving Kikimora free to roll her bubble anywhere she wanted. "Heh, idiots." She smiled as she made her way to the chair, pulling out the crystal devil gemstone she used to enter the place.
A laser shot off, popping the bubble as she placed it on … causing everything to freeze. "New User Registered. Verification from Master required."
"Verify-what now?" The devil child asked out loud.
"Verification authorized. Welcome new user. Manual control engaged."
"... You just gave them access … to the entire temple … through voice command." The human stated slowly.
"How was I supposed to know that!? I don't know a damn thing about this technology stuff!"
Kikimora grinned. "Bring the Harmony Core to me."
"Request denied." Wait, what? "Primary Directive, never allow the Harmony Core to be activated. Secondary Directive, follow command of all users."
" Hooray, so the race is still on!" The owl lady cheered.
"Maybe so, but I can slow you down!" Kiki growled. "Temple, bury these interlopers in the deepest, darkest area you can find and keep them locked away!"
"Request acknowledged." Multiple holes in the ground began opening up. Alright, this wasn't completely worthless.
"NOPE!" The human wrapped a vine around her entire posse, pulling them together. "I am not splitting up with Boscha a second time! Everyone hang on tight!"
"Damn you, you little gremlin!" Lilth cried out as the darkness enveloped them.
"That's one problem down …" She looked up to the walls. "Bring everyone in a white cloak here."
" As you wish, my master."
"Ooh, master, I like the sound of that." Kiki giggled, suddenly getting another thought in her head. "Would you refer to me as Empress Kikimora from here on out?"
"Of course, Empress Kikimora."
Ooooh, that sent so many wonderful shivers down her spine.