Summary: Made in heaven ... made in heaven ...
Sugar watched her master groan and rise. "Alright … that didn't end well." He looked around. "Nothing obvious to tell where I am … I should head back."
"Hhhss." Yes, it was unknown just how far back he went, and it'd be bad if something dangerous happened here and now.
"Yeah, probably for the best." He observed the landscape. "Such a shame too. I would've thought there'd be more of a sign that something is up."
"I'm telling you, time pool's are right here!" Hearing the commotion, the boy immediately jumped into the air, and landed on a nearby tree. "I've been working endlessly for weeks on their precise coordinates and likelihood of discovery.
From the branches, the boy saw three kids around his age. One kid with messy brown hair and tired eyes, a black skinned boy playing with abominations in his hand, and a green haired girl with a mean looking expression on his face.``... It's an empty beach." The green haired girl noted.
"Alador, I can take being dragged somewhere where you find an incredible relic, but a sandy beach is not one of them." The dark skinned boy groaned. "I told you messing around the basement all weekend was a bad idea. All the smog is starting to infect your brain."
"I know it's supposed to be here … maybe it's invisible?" The boy questioned. "A vortex in time would warp light after all."
"... Those are Amity's parents, aren't they?" Lucci asked.
"Wow, I'm surprised you didn't try to kill them right then and there."
"Didn't want to erase Amity from existence…that didn't mean I couldn't scare them thou."
"Hsssh." They sounded like a couple that hated each other, so most definitely.
"Good, time for some time shenanigan revenge." He laughed, making a semi bubble and yelling into it like a mike. "You have angered the ghost of screamus past!" He shouted in an ominous tone.
"Let me guess, a holiday once a year where presents are involved?"
"Less presents and more of a demon visiting the house of every child and man that's been naughty all year and giving them the scare of their lives."
"Me and Mom have rockcorn made whenever we watch Krampus fight Hooty."
"It's the blooming season!" Darius's voice shouted out.
"And you have ventured near a time pool, thus finding me, and my vengeance!!" He held in the snickers as much as he could. " And now I shall rain a hundred years of Screamus hell upon you all!" The boy grabbed sugar, and made spell circles in the air, creating giant pink spikes that were sent directly at the trio.
"Get me out of here!" The woman shouted.
"You're the oracle, kill the spirit!" Alador called out.
"I'm not the one that pissed it off by trying to find time travel!"
"You jumped at the chance to take advantage of that!"
"Oh, would you two get a room already!?" The dark skinned one grabbed them both by the back of their collars and dragged them out.
"Why did they even get together?"
"Me and Edalyn haven't figured that out yet. I assumed it's because their personalities are so terrible they couldn't find anyone else to stand them, and Edalyn thinks its because Alador lost a bet with Darius."
Her boy began snickering. "Hsss." They had their fun, now they should go back to the present with his family.
"Maybe…but….if Amity's parents are my age here…then so is mom. "This is my mom's time when she was a kid, probably before she got cursed." Lucci responded. "This could be my one shot at getting rid of the Owl Beast for good."
"Hhhsss." If she never became the Owl Beast, she'd never become a criminal, she'd never find the portal door or use it, and she'll never raise him.
"Yeah…but…she'd be cured…." Lucci shook his head. "If I can lift this burden off of her, then it'll all be worth it."
"Wait, so you were fully onboard with never meeting us, never seeing Eda, or being raised in the human world!? I…I don't know whether to call that sweet or insane."
"I was running purely on emotion, not logic."
"Now you know how I felt for the last thirty years."
"Now, all I need to do is run up to Lilly, knock her out before she grabs the curse, take the scroll, and I'm home free."
"Just because I agree with the sentiment doesn't mean I approve of your crassness."
"Hsssh." Several problems with that plan. One being that they couldn't just walk about the past as they were now.
"You can if you only exist for a day."
"Hsssh." Still a big risk. Maybe a disguise or something to cover up his most distinguishing traits, like his hair. "Hsssh." She began going through it, straightening out the curls.
"Okay … I'll snag some clothes, then go back to knocking out Lily."
"Hsssh." Another problem, they don't know where the curse is right now.
"Course we do, it's in the night market." He waved off. "That's why we're tailing Lily to begin with. The moment she buys a scroll is when we strike."
"Hsssssh." There was no talking him out of this, was there?
"Nope. Gotta try something at least. I owe mom that much."
"Ha, looks like I've been influencing you to, Lucci."
"HHHSSS!!!" She will not let this girl infect her boy any longer!
"She's going for my eyes!"
"So after that, it was pretty easy to steal everything I needed. Clothes, even an eyepatch to obscure my face. All I needed to do was find you…well…past you that is, and if there's one thing I know about Clawthornes, it's that they're always at the heart of nearby chaos."
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Eda panted, smirking at her sister. "That's three hundred and ten for me. I'm winning, Lily."
"Knocking out a stampede of Kirin that you unleashed on the town is hardly something to be proud of, Eda." Her sister rolled her eyes.
"You're just jealous because you're twenty behind." Eda smirked. "Now check this out, potshot ricochets around three trees and into the eye of that purple horned one." She threw forth the boulder, bouncing it off the trees … and straight into the goal! "Nailed it! The Grudgby all star strikes again!"
"Kirin stampede..I remember that day. Edalyn was attempting another one of her shenanigans for one of her dates with Raine."
"Tell me everything … you know, once Sugar stops trying to murder me!"
"Hsssh!"
"Calm down girl! Save that rage for when we chop Amity's mom's head!"
"Now which one do I use to pull the carriage and which ones do I use for the barbecue?" Eda looked over her load, impressed with her haul.
"How about we return them to their owner before we are accused of a crime." Lilith muttered.
"It's one Kirin. It's not like I'll become a criminal." Seriously, she was an agent of chaos, not a mob boss, though she could pull off a mean pantsuit look when she tried. "And they're completely harmless, not like using a few for a day's gonna hurt anyone."
"You have got to start cutting off these exploits. The emperor's cover tryouts are in less than a month!" Ah yes….the dream they both shared..or used to share. Since the day she met Raine, the Emperor's coven looked less and less glamorous to Eda as of late.
"Hey…so not being in the Emperor's coven wouldn't be the end of the world, right?" She asked.
"You mean besides not being the best witches in the Boiling isles?" Lilith questioned. "Not the end of the world, just crushed dreams." Her sister laughed. "But that nonsense, there's no conceivable reality where we don't get in."
"Sure…" Eda weakly laughed. She didn't want to lose her magic, but she didn't want to ditch her sister either. "Now if we can tie them up, we can make it look like-LOOK OUT!" Lilith turned, following Eda's gaze to a Kirin about to tackle her.
"And then we got saved by some kid with a ridiculous fashion sense and a stupid name … I think it was Lucca … seriously, who comes up with that?"
"I'm just gonna let that one go because it was a rushed identity."
"Don't worry, I got this!" Shouted some kid with a stocky build and a eyepatch, who was also glowing pink, grabbing the wild animal by the neck. "Not more difficult then fighting a griffon, just replace the claws with hooves!"
"You might want to scatter, Kirin have a nasty habit of lighting..!" Lilith tried to warn the kid as the animal, as well as the boy, lit up in a blaze of purple flames.
"Toasty!" The boy shouted, kicking the creature into the ground, landing and ignoring the flame. "Hello there, I'm … Lucca." He responded. "Just a moment." 'Lucca' rushed forward, hitting the Kirin once more, knocking it unconscious. "Good to go!"
"Dang, you just punched it like it was nothing." Eda whistled, impressed. "Seriously, it's like fire doesn't exist to you."
"Pfft, that's like a candle compared to what I've experienced." Lucca waved off. "Like my mama always says, arson is the world's greatest pain tolerance builder."
Eda snorted. Sounded like quite the woman. "I'll make sure to tell that to my kid."
"Between that and the 'Steven' thing, I'm starting to think we're running on closed loop."
"Anyways, miss awkward and nerdy here is my sister Lilly, and I'm Eda, the soon to be most powerful witch on the boiling isles." She bragged, shaking the kid's hand.
"I can believe that." The boy grinned.
"Lack of manners aside …" Lily groaned. "Thank you for your assistance, we'll take it from here."
"Oooh, you know what, I just totally realized I'm not actually supposed to be out right now. I got grounded yesterday, and mom's expecting me to be back in my room." She began running away. "You'll be happy to cover this for me, right? Thank you, your the best!
"Edalyn, don't you dare leave me behind!"
"Don't worry, we got this covered." The boy grabbed her sister with a hug and a smirk.
Suddenly Eda paused, glaring at the boy. "If he gets handsy with you, let me know, and I will rip his flesh off his bones and shove it down his throat."
"In hindsight I should've known to be more subtle around mom, even if she was a kid."
"Edalyn was particularly overprotective in this regard. I had just discovered my lack of interest in romance; so any male or female that seemed close was on her watch list."
"Will do…where am I supposed to drop the Kirin off exactly?"
"Oh, this stable in the night market, you can't miss it!" She waved off. "See you later try not to die love you okay byeeeeeeee!"
"Eeeedddddaaaaaallllyyyyyyyyyyn!"
"So it's always been like that, good to know."
"Kind of a shame that she didn't stick around more … then again after what I discovered, I wouldn't have wanted her anywhere near the place."
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Lilith bowed. "Once more, I apologize for the actions of my sister." She told the demon.
"Next time I see that crazy broad, I will enact vengeance! So declares Tibblet-Tibble Grim Hammer the Second!"
"Funny how we haven't run into him after all this time. Wonder what happened to him."
"Honestly I forgot all about Tibbles until I saw him in the past."
"But that was the second, you dealt with the Third."
"Really? Again, as far as enemies go, he was lower d-tier, maybe even E-tier."
"Trust me buddy, I get the feeling that your going to be waiting for a long time." The boy that had assisted her in this endeavor waved off. Lilith would've been more suspicious, but it was a rare occasion where someone was willing to help her in cleaning up Eda's messes.
"Thank you for the help carrying them." She bowed. "I'll make sure to repay you in the future, I don't have many snails on me as it is."
"Don't worry about it, it's nothing major or big." Lucca waved off. "Actually gives me a chance to look around the night market. I've only been here one other time."
"Ah, a mischievous type." She noted. If Edalyn wasn't into Raine, this probably would have been a second choice. "I, for one, do not plan on ruining my reputation. So I think this is where we should part ways."
"So what you're saying is that you have absolutely no interest in looking into the night market at all. Nothing that you want to buy or look into."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to buy highly illegal products in a place more likely to devour me than during the day market?"
"Just double checking. It's a huge risk coming here. You're likely to die or get cursed if you make a wrong move. You don't want to do something you'll end up regretting."
"I know, Edalyn has dragged me here more times than I feel comfortable. Not to mention dragging me into her debts." She groaned. "I feel less like her sister and more like her 24/7 babysitter."
The boy laughed. "I get that. I have this sort of sister back home. She can be careless, and half the time you have to set the brains straight. But..,.when the world comes crashing down, it's hard to imagine having anyone else by your side." He sent her a smile. "You're a good sister, Lilith. Eda's lucky to have you."
"Yes … I know what you mean." She smiled. It was nice to have some appreciation for her efforts for once. "I can't wait to join the Emperor's Coven with her."
The boy shifted weirdly upon hearing that, shaking his head after a second. "Well, you don't necessarily need a coven to prove your strength. I mean, between family and power, family's usually the better option."
"Aww, you were trying to talk it out."
"Getting threatened by a young mom played a part in it. Knocking Lilly out became the last resort option."
"Family of course, that's why I want to be together in the same coven." She answered. "Is your family worried about you?"
"Unbelievably so, more so on the emotional front than physical." Lucca laughed.
Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Then shouldn't you be with them?"
"Nah, let's just say I have time on my side."
"Thirty years later, I can now groan at how terrible that joke was."
"Well I don't. I have far too much to plan ahead for next month. I shouldn't even be at a market when I don't even have money of my ow-." She noticed a small object fall on the ground, picking it up. "Excuse me sir, you dropped this."
"Oh, my framed photo." The demon cooed. "It's so nice to meet kind souls in the night market. Here, take a thousand snails and buy yourself something nice."
Lilith stared at the sack of money suddenly placed in her palms. "That… that was … oddly empathic of a random stranger." She usually ended up spending her own snails covering Eda's messes. "If no one knows I'm here, then.." Maybe this was the universe giving her a sign.
"Weren't you saying that you weren't interested in stuff at the night market?" The boy asked with narrowed eyes.
"Not to use obviously, I wouldn't do that…but if I am joining the Emperor's coven, then maybe it wouldn't hurt to study one or two items on my own, maybe a curse or something along those lines."
Lucca seemed to internally panic. "We should avoid the cursed alley." The boy said, tugging on her arm. "Why don't we take this route-"
Crash
They watched as a fire formed, a demon being chased by Coven scouts. "I'll eat my eyeballs in peace!" She shouted.
"Lanes closed till we catch this crazy lady!" A captain shouted, placing down a road block.
The boy stared at the destruction with wide eyes. "Why don't we head backwards and-"
"I don't know about your situation, but I do have a curfew that I'd rather not break." Lilith told the boy, walking down the alley. "I shall take the short lane, thank you very much."
"Wait, Lilith, whatever you do, don't buy any scr-" The boy began to speak.
She turned to him with a glare, raising her magic. "My sister … called me … Lily …" He was absolutely a stalker!
"No offense Nephew, but you have to agree just how bad the situation looked from my perspective back then."
"It's cool, I can finally apologize for my reaction after that."
Suddenly, she had a pink arm wrap around her waist. "I'll just grab it myself!" He shouted, throwing her across a house.
"Why you little-!" She pulled out her palisman before she could crash, heading back into the ally. "I'm gonna roast you aliv-"
"You're gonna want to head back home now, little lady." A big figure in a cloak spoke, coming out of the shadows, with the creep having been knocked out by what appeared to be a sleep spell. "There's far too many unscrupulous figures roaming about the night market, many not suitable for a woman with a bright future ahead of her.
"Oh … thank-"
"There's no need to thank me … it was simply written in the stars." With a flash of shadows, the two vanished.
"I suppose I then should apologize for leaving your fate in that man's hands….if Edalyn ever finds that out, she'll kill me."
"And Mom will kill me for trying to change the past if she finds out…..agree to never tell this story to her?"
"Lips are sealed … mostly from snake poison."
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Orsan dropped the boy on the ground, waiting the four seconds it would take for Lucifer to wake up. It was fortunate that he hadn't developed his resistance to sleep spells yet. If he had, the Oracle coven head would've lost a limb trying to help this soul. "Gaahh … headache …"
"Hello, Lucifer Clawthorne." He greeted them.
They stood up in a flash, aiming his palisman, Sugar. "How do you-"
"You've heard of me. Orsan the Oracle." He bowed. "I foresaw your actions as the Manticore Menace."
"HE KNEW!?"
"Orsan has always been one of the more elusive of the main nine. He's never spoken a word to anyone other than Belos. Most of us weren't even sure if he did anything, he was so withdrawn and stared into space most of the time."
Lucifer growled, glowing pink as he waved his staff, sending out one of his bubbles that shot above his head like a cannonball, breaking the wall behind him. "That was a warning shot, the next one goes through your chest."
"It will not." Orsan stated. "The most damage you will inflict is a punch to my face, before you flee, return through the wrong time pool, and appearing as if you were only gone for a few seconds to your aunt Lilith and Luz Noceda, the human girl that will spark many a change within the Isles."
"If you're the Oracle head, then I should just cut off your head right now." The boy threatened.
"You can't." The man stated. "Because this is merely the past to you, unchangeable in its course." He explained.
"But if my present is your future, what's stopping you from changing it?" Lucifer growled, turning Sugar into a spear and pointing it at his neck.
"I told you, it's unchangeable. I believe Noceda described it as a … closed loop?" Orsan spoke. "Because I have foreseen you opposing Belos, I can do nothing to prevent you from opposing Belos."
"You're damn right you can't, but that's because I choose to defy that bastard…"
"Is choice really what drives fate, or does fate drive choice?" He interrupted, parting his wisdom on the young Clawthorne. "So far you have done nothing that alters your current present." He explained. "Vee shall still flee to the human realm, Twicepta will attack the school and die, Eda Clawthone shall be cursed, Belos reins with power unmatched, and the Rainbow Devil runs free."
"Then what if I just stay here? I stay until the tide comes up, I break into Grandma's house and stop Lilith from cursing mom then?"
"You won't." Orsan stated. "Because Sugar would never allow it. She already lost one master to her advice, she shall not lose another."
"Hsss!?"
"How do you…?!"
"You don't quite get it, do you?" Orsan stared directly into the boy's eyes. "I am the Coven Head because I have seen all, know all that there is … didn't you notice I said the Basilisk escape, yet made no effort to prevent them from fleeing?" He explained.
"Because you're a lazy bastard that doesn't care about protecting lives?"
"Because it is inevitable. Once the future has been seen it can not be altered." He stated. "I have seen the darkness of the world, and can do nothing to prevent it. If I truly had free will, I would have killed Eda Clawthorne before she became a problem, and brought you from the human realm … but fate does not work that way, Lucifer."
"So what … nothing matters and it's all pointless!?" They shouted.
"That is the nature of fate, my child." Osran stated. "The petrification ceremony will fail, Belos will succeed in all their plans … and no matter how much you beg Lilith Clawthorne, she will curse her sister, out of the minute fear of losing, and the pressures of Gwendolyn never paying attention to her in favor of focusing on the problem child that needs help."
"Well … I feel called out."
"Shut up…"
"You're mother will grow up, detached from people, breaking off every relationship she's built in her life, drawing herself in the vices of a criminal, which will lead her to steal a child from the human realm that's far too young to object to anything, a child that will grow up into you and bring you back to this very moment."
"Shut up!" Lucifer grabbed him. "What gives you the right to say this!?"
"Because I have foreseen my death." He stared down impassively. "You can't kill me no matter what you do. The only thing that will happen from this confrontation will be you taking away three of my molars from one punch. That is destiny."
"Shut up!" The boy punched him in the face, sending Orsan into a wall.
Orsan merely gazed at the child … and spat out three molars. "No matter what, without mercy, without malice, without favor, destiny comes for all of us…all the same." He began to walk away. "And although it would be in your best interest to simply head to the Time Pools before the tide rises, you will go to Lilith one last time, to see if you can still somehow prevent this."
"... Cold."
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"Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard !" Lucci ran through the marker, breaking through everything he could. He could care about what he was breaking, he couldn't slow down. Fate couldn't be set in stone, he couldn't just let coming here be all for nothing! There had to be a way to save his mom from the curse, there just had to be!
"Hhss."
"I don't care what he said, I'm going to stop this, I'm not going to let this be for nothing!" He ran forward, through the market, all the way to the cursed alley. Find the owl curse, owl curse, owl curse. Where the heck was that damn curse!?
"Looking for that curse was like trying to find hay in a needle stack. Every other item I picked up tried to eat me, kill me, or hex me in some way. Though that might've been because I was smashing through all the stands."
It had to be somewhere, it had to be somewhere, it had to be-
"Hssssh." Sugar bit him on the head. "Hsssh."
"You smell it?" He asked, jerking his head.
"Hsssh."
"Right, it smells rotten because it corrupts magic." He recalled, turning his head to the direction where Sugar was pointing, and-THERE! The owl symbol on the scroll…being picked up by Lilith.
"NO!" He shot forth a bubble … only for a stray explosion from his earlier rampage to knock it off course, sending it far away and unseen. "I'm not giving up that easily!" He sent a razor disk…only for it to get blasted away by a stray firework.
"Careful, fireworks. Highly illegal fireworks being carried here!" A demon hollered as it carried the lit box of explosives.
"I can't tell what's crueler. Luck or Orsan."
"Oh come on!" Lucci sent his arm in this time, stretching it out…only for acid to fall on it before it could reach her.
"Sorry, indigestion!" Another demon shouted.
"FUCK!!" He shouted, letting out another shockwave with his scream. "Okay, okay, … I'll wait until midnight and-"
"Hhhsss."
"I don't care that the tide is getting high. I am destroying that scroll, end of story." He glared in the direction Lilith vanished. "She's just going home, I'll follow her back to Grandma's house and.."
"Hssh?" Then what? Break into your family's home, traumatize your mom and her family as you barge in like a crazed maniac?
"Yes." He cried. "I can end the curse, I can save mom, I can change the future so it's not all set in stone …"
"Hsssh?" Do you want your mom's only memory of you to be of some deranged lunatic that attacked her sister, and never gain those happy memories of raising you?
"... Please Sugar … please …"
"Hhhss." You need to go home.
"Please … don't prove Osran right …" That she wouldn't let him sacrifice himself no matter what.
"Hsssh." The snake wrapped around his head. "Hssssh." And rubbed her own crying face against his own.
Scene transition…
"And after an hour of that … I came back here." Lucci finished his tale. "By the time I came back to the beach, I forgot what time pool I went through, so in a frustrated rage I jumped into the nearest random one I could find … and ended up where I was when you found me."
"... So you learned fate was irrelevant and that you could never save your mother … but you still wanted to help me in the past with Philip?" Luz asked.
"Yeah…like I told past Lilly, you stick with family no matter what." He sighed. "I figured that since you weren't trying to change anything, it would've been okay… and… I just wanted to forget about what Orsan said, hoping something good would come out of this."
"And then it turned out Luz is still an exception to her species and being the only good thing about it." Lilith concluded.
"Caw." Mike spoke.
"Hhss."
"... Lily was right, Palisman really don't like you." He weakly laughed. "I'm just…sorry." He looked to his Aunt. "All those years I gave you a hard time when it was an impossible situation…I didn't understand how bad it was until now."
Lily kneeled down and hugged him. "I think we've both dwelled on the past long enough today. Let bygones be bygones…Lucci."
"That sounds nice." He hugged back, squeezing her tightly. "Now then … I'm going to be existential and eat ice scream. Anyone want to join me?"
"Brbrbrbr." Rebecca cheered.
"..We should probably return to our own time before we force ourselves into a sugar coma." Luz brought up.
"Fair point."
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Belos stared at the portal door in silence. One trip … all he needed. After he was complete with his work here, he could go back, and become the hero the world needed. It was too tempting to use it now. Just one peak, just once glance at what became of the world around him was all he needed. How grand did the towns become? How many slaves did everyone own now? Did they wipe out all influences from the witches that lived among them? Was everyone still doing the righteous work of god?
"Lord Belos." He turned to Orsan.
"I take it you have news?" They weren't one to do much, given their views of fate.
"Luz Noceda has traveled back in time."
"She has now …" Philip smirked. "In that case … it looks like their protection is gone." He walked forward, picking up his staff. "I believe I shall go on a stroll." Too much faith went into incompetent morons. Now he could finally rid the world of that wretched woman and her spawn, before they caused any problems.
"If I may, Lord Belos…you taken quite the risk ordering Lucifer Clawthorne's death when you were aware he too traveled back in time with the human."
"....He did, did he?" He questioned, recalling back to the moment. It was Luz that he spoke quite intimately with, and he recalled Lilith being there as well, and the vile woman Quartz who almost destroyed the entire complex. "I recall there being someone named….Steven I believe…" He gave a long thought about it, before shrugging. "Whether or not, it doesn't matter anymore. He's lived as long as he has, which is too long in my books." Belos began making his way to the door. "Besides, when it comes to Rose Quartz, there's no such thing as too much of a risk."
He walked forward, encountering Hunter. The boy was mildly successive within the past two months, but his main objective had yet to be fulfilled. "Golden Guard, remember what I told you about showing restraint on humans? Disregard that now. Issue her bounty effective immediately."
"Yes sir!" The boy nodded, running away.
Belos glanced at Osran, who looked mildly surprised. "Is something the matter?"
"I assumed you would have run off to kill the child yourself given the failure of the scouts."
"Call it mild curiosity. I want to see if Luz Noceda is capable of surviving what I have planned." For all their differences, if there was one thing Belos wished to do before returning home, it was to save this human soul from the corruption this world brought about, just how it corrupted Caleb.