Summary: As much joy as we can get
Hooty preened as he took another bite. "I've gotta say Eden, your cooking is a lot better than Edas. She never adds this many live worms to the mix."
"A special blend just for you, Hooty. You're our guest, and it's my job to provide for you." This was the greatest! Sure it sucked that the owl house was gone, along with most of their valuables and half of Hooty's organs, but he now had the perfect opportunity to make new friends! And Boscha's Mama was super sweet! Not mean and nasty like Lucci's girlfriend.
"Finally, food that isn't poisoned or over burnt! Finally my taste buds can rest!" King licked his plate clean. "No offense Eda, but she's a way better cook than you."
"You ain't seeing me complain, this stuff's the bomb!" Eda scrapped down her plate. "Luz, eat up, we won't have this stuff forever."
"Yep …" The girl absently nodded, taking small bite after small bite like autopilot.
"Something wrong dear?" Eden asked. "Eda told me how sensitive your stomach was, so I did my best to make it digestible for you. If it's bad I can make buoy a griffin omelet.."
"No need, Mrs Heironymous, the food is great, top notch." Luz quickly took another bite. "I..I'm…I'm still …processing I guess. Bismuth's assault…it took a lot out of me."
"You can head back to bed if you want Luz." Eda rubbed the girl's head. "We can understand if you need it."
"No … I think I'm just gonna walk after I eat." The girl sighed. "I..I have to move on eventually…so…I will move on…eventually." The girl continued to idly eat.
That was a bit of a mood killer to an otherwise upbeat morning. How to livin things up now? "I should wake up Lucci and get him some of thaw these worms!"
"That doesn't sound like the best plan Hootsifer." Lulu spoke, rubbing her bed head as she adjusted her glasses. "He's currently resting with Boscha, and I fear the horrors of waking the two of them up."
"It's just two children sharing the same bed, what's the worst they could be doing?" Eden spoke, not worried at all as Eda did a spit take. "Me and Shalisha did that all the time. And after the locker incident we stopped wearing clothes all together." This time even Luz did a spit take.
"Lucci! You better come down here with your innocence intact or I'm chopping off limbs!" Eda yelled at the stairs.
"Ugh, I'm coming, imma coming.." The voice of Lucci slurred as he trudged his way down. "Best sleep I had all week. I swear, that was second only to the nest." He muttered.
"It better be second." Eda threatened. "I know living with your girlfriend is exciting and all, but this isn't permanent. I don't want you sucking face with her all day just because you're under the same roof."
"I'm not, I'm too scared of Boscha's mom stabbing me in my sleep."
"Oh she wouldn't do that." Eden chuckled.
"Really?" Lucci questioned.
"Of course. Shalisha likes to be more upfront with her victims." Hooty laughed at Eden's hilarious joke while the others looked worried for some reason. "She's just warming up to you in her own special way. She'll be less prickly once you and Boscha tie the knot."
Lucci looked thoughtful. "When's a good time to pop the question?"
"Eighteen/Twenty four/Fifty." Eden, Lilith, and Eda answered, before looking at each other.
"The sooner the better." Eden justified.
"Mom and dad got married at that age." Lulu explained herself.
"…I don't need my baby leaving the nest too soon."
"Seriously, why do you think I'm going to leave you after I get married?" Lucci questioned. "In fact, when we rebuild the owl house, we can make it big and large enough for all our family's to live together."
"Yeah! And we only have one bed, so we can all sleep together!" Hooty shouted. "Doesn't that sound awesome Luz!?"
"Hu?" The girl looked up from her meal. "Yeah, sure."
"Might want to put a rain check on that idea, Lucci." Eda winced. "That many people in the same house will drive everyone crazy. There's the bad habits, pet peeves, dealing with and cleaning up other people's messes because they're too lazy to do it themselves.."
Shalisha walked into the room with the fury of a thousand angry moms. "Eda … if you … would so kindly … stop clogging the bathroom with your feathers."
"Sorry, can't really be helped. Molting season." The woman shrugged shamelessly. "You could always take it up with the owl living in my head, or hope Lilith doesn't start doing it too."
Shalisha turned to Lulu next, clearly frustrated. "I know. The first chance I get, I'll find some way to compensate you."
"WOULD YOU PEOPLE QUIET DOWN!?" Boscha stomped down the stairs and grabbed Lucci, heading back up. "I need my beauty rest and my favorite body pillow! Don't disturb me for the next two hours, or I will make you all pay!"
"Blame mom for the body pillow." Lucci pointed out as he was dragged away.
"Blame your Mama for the concern." Eda deadpanned.
"What a great start to the day!" Hooty cheered. "Hoot Hoot!"
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"So … we have the palm, and two fingers left." Lilith noted as she looked at the glove. "Sadly, the other one was lost in the destruction of the house."
"So we have three more uses …" Luz groaned. It had been three days since the rainbow devil's assault, and the human's mood had shown no sign of improvement. "Why not? I can't even make a functioning door anyway. Might as well have lost the entire glove. It's not like I'm going to make it back home anyhow."
"Okay, you don't mean that." Lucifer accused the girl. "We still have enough blood. Fixing the door is just going to take time, which we do have."
"Now we need to get this exactly right." Lilith looked over what notes they still had. "If it's wrong, you'll end up making a portal between realms, and Lucifer will be drawn into it again due to the strange pull."
"I have the sleep spell on standby just in case." Edalyn raised her hand.
"You still haven't made a counter to it, right?" King questioned.
"I do, I just bubble my head." Lucifer shrugged.
"That does not fill me with confidence for letting you near this test." Edalyn groaned. "So, what ingredients do we need?"
"The ingredients aren't the problem. The problem is aligning them so they go somewhere …" She turned to Luz. "How big would you say a realm is?"
"Ah…endless I guess?" Luz shrugged. "There's a whole theory where the universe was made from an explosion, causing it to expand endlessly, but ever slowly as heat death approaches and all life ceases to be."
"That's a bit nihilistic." King noted.
"Plus side, that's a three trillion year problem to worry about." She shrugged. "There's even a further theory that says the universe folds up in the end and blows up again into another universe with new stuff in it."
"Well in that case …" Lilith groaned. "This quality equipment won't even give us the right realm, let alone the right location there. We'd need all the resources from the Emperor's Coven, combined with around forty years of study."
"Forty years…sure, not like I should worry about getting back home now in a hurry. Mom's probably moved on, probably glad she doesn't have her troublemaker around the house anymore." … Best to ignore the girl's issues for the moment … her familial ones that is.
"Philip made it right? What's the problem?" Lucifer questioned.
"The problem is that he communicated with a 'Collector' of some sort that actually had the exact information on." She explained. "And my search into that has surprisingly become empty." Disturbingly so in all honesty. If someone knew that much there should have been a record or two, right?
"Great, we get about a month's worth of adventures learning about my womb donor, who I don't want to know more about, and zilch on the people we actually needinformation about." Her nephew groaned.
"Wait a minute … so your womb donner … quartz something." King spoke up. "You said Vee said she was in the Human world for a while, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, I am … regrettably…. half human."
"True that." Luz nodded.
"Then maybe a test fest can give us a power for opening portals between worlds!" Her youngest nephew pounded his fists. "Crystal devil magic is crazy powerful, yours especially, right?"
"Yeah, Darius had exploding abomination-slime from being exposed to Lucci's blood." Eda recalled. "And if anything Bizy said had any credit to it, your womb donor probably went back and forth to earth and back a bit."
"Well … portals are square, but I'll see what I can do." Lucifer stood up, cracking his body as he began pacing in place. "Alright, you've seen it before Lucci. Just imagine earth, focus everything from your gem, and think of earth … and go!" He held his hands out, grunting as he held out his hand….only getting his usual shield. "I don't think teleporting is on my list of powers. Other than when I do it with the bubbles." He grabbed a rock, and bubbled it. It disappeared, and ended up in Edalyn's grasp. "And it only ever goes to mom."
"That's still something to work with. Does it always travel to her, no matter where either of you are?" Lilith inquired.
"Yeah, I once sent her a note when I was at the knee telling her I got stuck in a cave, and then another time when she fell into the bottomless pit."
"Wasn't exactly bottomless, it just spat me back out of the top after about two hours." Her sister complained.
"Maybe it's just a nesting instinct." Hootcifer spoke. "She does give off the homey vibe."
"Maybe…or maybe Lucci's powers are only one half of the key here." Luz brought up. "Titan's blood is the most important ingredient for travel…maybe we need to add some to the mix along with Lucci's bubble teleport."
"Okay then, one mix coming up." Lucci tore off a piece of the glove.
"Wait, shouldn't you take a second opinion to think about-" Lilith tried to warn.
"And bubbled." Lucifer instantly contained it.
"Luz, Lucifer, I know that you have childlike wonder and curiosity, and I greatly support it for the pursuit of furthering scientific knowledge…but truly think about this." Lilith expressed. "You're combing the world's most potent source of magic with powers that seemingly have no limit.
"Too late to stop now, if something happens it's already infected." Edalyn pointed out.
"And we're running low on options anyway. If we're getting results, we need to take bold steps." Luz justified.
"And now to warp it." The child grinned as he tapped it … only for nothing to happen. "... Come on." He did it again. "Okay, you work on Palisman, blood can't be that hard." He began squeezing the bubble aggressively.
"Did you make it indestructible?" Hooty questioned. "Has it become impossible for even me to digest?"
"No way." The boy growled, continuing to squeeze. "It just needs a …"
ZAP
The inside of the bubble sparked with the faintest hint of blue electricity. "... Did anyone else see-"
ZAP ZAP
Which began to continue, melding in with a golden yellow energy that began to swirl….and swirl. "Huh…tiny portal." Lucifer laughed. "Cute."
"I don't know how we can work with this." Luz looked at it curiously. "Maybe if we squeeze tightly …"
ZAP ZAP ZAP
The bubble began to contort, looking like something tried to burst out of it. "Or it could be an unstable black hole." Luz paused. "Please tell me you know what a black hole is."
"A swirling vortex of death that sucks everything including light…yes, I have a faint idea." Lilith responded dryly.
ZAP ZAP ZAP
The bubble began shifting and wobbling, appearing to nearly pop every second. "Everybody move!" Edalyn immediately grabbed her son, pulling him back.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Lilith took hold of Luz and King, pushing to the ground as they bracket for the worst.
WHOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSH
What could only be described as a whirlpool of death and dark magic appeared as for teen breif seconds, everyone felt themselves be violently forced began. Lilith though that her very skin was going to be pulled off and suck in for a moment.
"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHH!" Luz cried out as she used her sword to keep herself stead on the ground. "Come on…have…to…hold…on….a little bit..lo-AAAH!" The sword was pulled out of the ground, spinning rapidly like one of Lucifer's disks until it reached the black hole, slipping in perfectly like it was a puzzle piece.
The suction instantly died when the blade disappeared, the black hole fading away as if it never existed to begin with. Everyone took a few small breaths, staring at the empty space. "Lucci …" Edalyn spoke. "Twenty feet away from Titan Blood, at all times."
"Not going to argue with that." Lucifer nooded. "So blackholes…didn't expat that. Crazy, huh Luz." Silence was the only thing coming from the girl at the moment. "Right…Luz?"
"Heh….Heh..." Luz kept staring at where the vortex of death used to be. "Welp … swords gone …" Luz weakly chuckled. "First my home … then Centi … then the sword …" She slid from Lilith's grasp. "Wonder what next …"
"Luz … you doin alright?" King questioned wearily.
"… I need a walk." The girl began stumbling into the woods.
They waited for the girl to disappear before speaking again. "You know … Celine said there was going to be a lot of pain in Luz's future …" Lucifer spoke up. "I thought I'd be able to heal anything that came our way….but…but this is out of my depth. I'm not even over Ivan and Triton's deaths, and I didn't even like them."
"We should lock her in a room and force her to confess her feelings!" Hootsifer shouted.
"In what world is that a good idea?" Edalyn questioned.
"The one where it got Luz and Amity together."
"...That is a very valid point." She almost forgot just how insightful the bird demon could be.
"Locking her in a room seems like a bit much, but getting Amity involved isn't a bad idea." Lucifer nodded. "Alright, full intervention time. Lily, keep the living room clear, mom and King, get some comfort cake and Ice-scream. I'm gonna get the gang together."
"What about the Heiryonmous's?" Lilith questioned.
"Luz and Boscha aren't exactly each other's favorite people, so I'm gonna ask her to get her parents out of the house for a while…I'm gonna owe her so much cuddle time."
"Just please keep your clothes on." Edalyn groaned.
"I don't see why it matters, it's not like anything people haven't seen." King stated … Everyone turned to him with questioning gazes. "You know, during the petrification ceremony where he flashed the world?"
"I did?" Lucifer said. "I feel like I would've remembered that."
"Your clothes were torn to shreds after you turned to stone … remember?" Lilith questioned.
"Not really, the whole day was hectic, and literally no one mentioned it afterwards." Her nephew shrugged. "Anyways, that's not important. Luz is. So let's hop to it, now!"
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Amity sat down, waiting with everyone else silently as they stared at the entrance. "I feel so dirty being here." Willow shuddered. "I never wondered what Boscha's house looked like and I wish it stayed that way."
"Honestly it's pretty much Amity's house, but more white pristine and less death in the air." Lucci added on. "The only downside is fear from her Mom gutting me in my sleep."
"I used to hope that she would shank mom at the dinner table. Wouldn't that have solved most of my life's problems." Amity brought up, taking a deep sigh. "I take it that rebuilding the Owl house isn't going to be anytime soon?"
"Sadly, no. We were lucky to grab our belongings when we did. When we went back to check on it yesterday, the whole area was surrounded by Coven scouts and abominations." Lucci sighed.
"We lost our scrap book, and so many of my minions … poor Jean Luc….poor Francios…." King sniffed. "They were brave until the end… the very… bitter… end."
"Not to mention my toenail clippings." Eda groaned.
"Is it really that important?"
"It's where I keep all my post Mortem notes, I need to start all over now." The Owl lady complained.
"You don't need them, mom. You're not going to be dying anytime soon, and it's not like there's any other life altering secrets you're hiding from me." Lucci pointed out.
"Oh, so then on the off chance I vanish, you and King won't fight over who keeps Owlbert and who keeps Hooty?" She asked.
"Why would I fight over our family?" Lucci asked. "They're both amazing companions we'd be lucky and honored to care for."
"Hoot." The bird cheered. "Hoot."
"Oh come on, don't tell me you're gonna complain about helping Luz." Lucci argued. "It's not like any of the others are comparing."
"Hhss." "Mew." "Bzz." The only Palisman that didn't complain was Gus's, who was laying on their back with a dead eyed gaze.
"...Ah Gus…is your Palisman….okay?" Amity asked.
"Emmiline got into a few scuffles with the Prism. Now she just gained a habit of playing dead." The illusionist poked the chameleon's stomach. "She's actually too good of an actor. Dad almost threw her away three times because he didn't want the corpse to rot."
"Worry about that later, any minute now Luz is going to come in, and she's going to have her walls built up, high and secure." Lucci reminded them. "That's why we're going to attack this in waves. Willow, Gus, you lower her defenses with the platonic friendship bond. Me, King and Mom will approach next with familial love, and Amity, you bring her home by reaching into her heart in a way only a devoted and loving girlfriend can."
"I won't let you guys down." Amity nodded, preparing her speech as she stared at the door. She was prepared to once again earn the title of best girlfriend in the universe. Maybe in the multiverse if the situation called for it.
Eventually the door opened, her beautiful girlfriend finally walking in. "I'm back …" She trailed off, with a curious gaze. "..Did you guys have a surprise party ready or is this a sneak into the castle meeting due to the day of Unity only being two and a half weeks away?" Luz questioned. "Because I would rather have the latter than the former, no offense."
"Fine, no ice-scream cake for you!" Hooty pouted, shoving his head into a pint of the desert.
"We aren't planning a surprise party." Gus answered. "Trust us, if we were, we wouldn't have it at Boscha's house..unless it was a big highschool graduation party where we trash the house and leave her to clean it up."
"Save that for my place." Amity rolled her eyes. "It'll be much more cathartic." And she planned on living with Luz at that point anyway.
"As much as I love both options, the Boscha house party a little more if we're being honest, that isn't what we're here to discuss." Willow got them back on track. "Today, this is about you."
"… Okay." Luz nodded.
They all looked at each other. "… I expected a bit more than that." Willow relented.
"Not the first time I've been dragged into an intervention for my personality." The human shrugged. "Lay it on me."
Lucci and his family looked at each other, obviously a little taken aback about how this was going to work now, before refocusing back on Luz. "Luz.." King started. "It's been quite a while since the Rainbow devil attack, destroyed our homes, nearly killed us, and…other things." Way to be subtle. "And can I say for the record, awesome job at poofing her, ten out of ten."
"Alright." Luz nodded, still keeping her expression flat.
"And. well…it's just…we haven't talked that much about that day afterwards." Eda continued. "Especially…how you feel about it."
"I feel terrible and sad about it. I thought that was obvious." Luz bounty said, once again taking them aback. "If you want to know anything extra, a part of me also feels angry."
"Angry at …" Lucci started.
"Myself for failing, Centi for putting me before herself, Hunter for tricking us, Bismuth … I'm not going to lie Lucci." She stated. "I know you said I wasn't in the right mindset at the time but … a large part of me would still do it if we found her in a cell that Belos had." Luz grumbled. "The only thing that pisses me off more is that I completely screwed my shot at shattering her."
"… This got dark fast." Gus bluntly stated. "Luz … do you want to … maybe talk about … Centi?"
"… She was family." Luz stated. "She was there to make sure I never got lost in the woods as a kid, to talk to when I lost dad, to be free and express myself with …. She was everything to me." Luz curled up on her seat. "No one believed me when I said she was real…and while that frustrated me…a large part of me was glad…she was mine and mine alone…she had me and I had her." Her girlfriend began to tear up. "And because she loved me….she sacrificed her own life….she's dead because of me!"
Amity immediately sped to Luz's side and hugged her. "Don't think like that Luz. That's now how Centi would want you to think about it-"
"WHAT WOULD ANY OF YOU KNOW HOW CENTI THOUGHT!?" Luz yelled out at them, standing up. "She was a mindless monster to all of you! She was never a person to you guys, just some wild animal that dumb and naive Luz had followed her-!"
"LUZ, shut UP!" Lucci stood up, and stomped his foot on the ground, making the floor crack as he shook the house. "I can understand Crystal Devil's, remember!? I've talked to Centi and dozens like her! I've gotten to know what they're like and how they feel, the pain they experienced!"
"Lucc-"
"And need I remind you how you along with everyone else felt the same about the Basilisk!? I got decades worth of torment in my head living out their pain, yet you called me insane for having sympathy for Ivan and Triton! I know how you feel!" He screamed. "To care about something even when the world says not to!"
She stared at him, tears coming out as her body seemed to slump. "It should have been me …"
"Don't you dare go there." Amity stopped Luz from going further. "If it was you that died, then I'd enter an eternal depression of which there'd be no escaping from."
"Yeah, and I'd probably just lose all sense of worth and restraint and kill everyone in the coven system, dying once I made my way to Belos." Lucci added.
"Seriously Luz, we're glad you're still around." Gus said. "We care about you and everything."
"None of us regret meeting you. Heck, aside from Lucci and King, you're the best thing that ever happened to me." Eda sniffed. "We wouldn't trade that for the world.
"Guys.." Luz immediately teared up again. I..I don't know what to say…I've…I've never…." She choked up. "Back in the human world, I sucked at making friends. No matter how hard I tried, i couldn't get anyone to like me."
"I don't know how, you've done nothing but make them since you got here." Lucci joked.
"Maybe. I was just born wrong, or born into the wrong world." Luz weakly laughed. "There,..there was this one girl, Connie Mahaswarren. She was new at school having just moved into town. I thought I'd be able to start fresh with her, someone who was quiet, who struggled with making friends too, who read a lot and didn't know my history." She looked away. "But I kept getting her into detention with me, and in trouble with her family, so she just kinda … resented me, I guess." Luz groaned. "I tried to ignore it, hoping if I just ignored the issues that she'd come around … but that only made her hate me more." She sniffed. "It took meeting an entirely different species of people for me to finally make some friends, and I'm still the same pushy and ignorant girl that doesn't think things through."
"And that's what we like about-"
"It's what got Centi and so many more people hurt."
"Luz-"
"But don't worry, I'm going to totally catch up." Luz rubbed away the tears in her eyes. "I won't let the same mistake happen twice. I may have lost the sword, but I can still do what Philip did and carve some glyphs into my skin."
"Alright, didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." Eda stood up. "Everyone, jump her and restrain her arms! Make sure she can't draw anything!"
"Wait wha-" The group began piling onto the girl. "Oh come on!"
"Luz, you're talking about putting dangerous magic in your skin, you have no idea what that'll do to you!" Willow shouted. "What if your skin permanently sets on fire, or you constantly grow vines out of your mouth, or what if you go invisible forever!?"
"I mean that last one would be cool for a sucker punch here and there."
"Luz Noceda, don't you dare!" Amity grabbed her face. "I am not going to live the rest of my life without seeing your adorable face at least once a day!"
"You have plenty of things other than a sword." Lucci said. "You've already used abomination and plant magic with your glyphs, not to mention invisibility is an illusion. You have all the markings of a witch."
"Besides Palisman having hatred for me for both multiple reasons and being friends with crystal devils?" She sighed. "Even if I made one it'd probably share their opinion."
"They only have that opinion because they've all encountered crystal devils trying to eat them." Eda brought up. "When you carve your own palisman, it'll be your palisman, a clean slate. It'll know you and love you and stick with you till the end."
"… But …"
"Luz, not every problem in life is somehow your fault." Hooty stated. "Sometimes other people have the blame. Just look at how messed up the family is."
"Bit of a low blow, Hooty, but not untrue." Lucci said.
"And I'd never blame you for causing all the problems in my life." Amity kept going. "That responsibility solely goes to my Mom, who, thanks to you, I have the confidence to stand up to and confront."
"It's because you were so pushy that we finally got out of our own ways and became friends again." Willow reassured her.
"And I got to see how good of a witch I could be." Gus smiled. "And you taught me so much about humanity!"
"Heck, the number of times you've helped me out almost can't be counted." Lucci chuckled. "You're my sis, Luz. We're family, and we're going to be stuck with each other forever."
The girl sniffled, as tears once more fell from Luz's eyes. "Thank you …"
"No, thank you Luz." Amity once again hugged her. "Thank you for being apart of my life."
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"Impressive, you've only woven three threads into your finger this time instead of five." Darius laughed as he sat the young Golden Gaurd down. Time was running out, and they had little in terms of planning for the day of unity, but that didn't disway Darius too much. He just needed to convince Raine to bring Eda into the fold. Right now, he was more focused on helping Hunter, in more ways than one.
"Progress …" The boy winced in agony. "Slow … painful…. progress … just like the good old days."
"If you think that's bad, you should've seen your predecessor." Darius chuckled. "Sewed an entire shirt whole without realizing he stitched the cloth to his arm."
"… How long-"
"A whole week before he tried to take off the shirt." It was pretty hilarious in action. "Took a few layers of skin with him trying to pull it off."
"Really glad I'm not that oblivious." Keep telling yourself that kid. Hunter still didn't know how to update his penstgram account. "So..I hope I'm not stepping on too many toes here, but, why did you become a coven head? Not trying to insult you here, I just know that it's not everyone's thing."
"Would you believe it was out of spite?"Darius answered, laughing. "Back when I attended Hexide, I was friends with the Blights."
"… Okay, as someone who's lived in the same castle as Kikimora … how ?" The boy questioned. "I know they're in a contract with the Emperor, but their personalities are so …"
"Spectacularly prickly and unapproachable." Darius finished. "I know, believe me, and back then, they were like that too, but nowhere to the degree it is today. Alador and I were in the same track, and as insufferable as it has become, he was quite the idea man, exploring new possibilities to take abomination magic."
"And Oldalia?"
"..Not going to lie. She was annoying back then too. I had no idea why she hung out with us back then. I think everyone else just hated the person she was and Alador took pity on her." Either that or he genuinely had a crush on her. . "So me and Alador went through classes. I was by the books, he took off on wild experimentation. A little too wild at times." The abomination-off with Eda was downright sadistic. "Eventually we decided to take it a step further, and entered the bones burrow brawl. I learned all the ways bones could be broken when I threw my opponents out of the ring."
"Sounds like an effective way to learn how to fight." Hunter nodded with investment. "Maybe I ought to try it out sometime."
"Eventually it came down to the two of us for the final round for the belt. Preciously beforehand, we had agreed to share the title…but the moment the bell rang, he caught me off guard and knocked me out."
Hunter looked surprised. "So he lowered your guard and knocked you out with an opening … sounds like a classic Coven Scout move." He blinked. "I'm surprised more people don't follow it."
"Most normal people are too terrified of the others to believe it." Darius answered. "I felt betrayed, but as the crowd was cheering that hack on for his victory, there was a lone figure in the background watching the event, who approached me when I was cleaning myself off." He smiled fondly. "It was the previous Golden Guard. He told me how impressed he was with my rounds, said I had potential to become something great." The look on Alador's and Oldalia's face when he told them was priceless. Showed them for stabbing him in the back."
"That's incredible." The boy smiled, before blinking. "You know, I never got his name. What was it?"
Darius paused for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure how Belos did it, but somehow he managed to copy and duplicate his mentor. He could speculate that the same happened with the guard before him, as well as every guard that existed previously. "He … said he'd take off the mask when I became a Coven Head." Darius excused, only half lying. "I..I never gotten the chance to achieve that goal…before his demise."
Hunter looked at the ceiling for a moment. "... Despite the utter disaster it was … the Rainbow Devil incident must have been cathartic." Oh on SO many levels.
"I won't lie, it was." Even if the rainbow devil's defeat only served to push Belos's agenda even further on the Isles. "And I know you want to do everything you can to serve the empire, but..no matter what, don't let your loyalty or duty cost you your life." He looked into the boy's eyes deeply.
"I promise I won't fall like the last guard." He said resolutely. "I'm young, I know I can get better with practice."
"I can only hope. You do have a lot of promise." The promise to be fully free to live a fulfilled life unlike his predecessors. "Now keep your eyes on your fingers. You just sewed two more threads on it."
"Is that so … didn't feel a thing." The boy grinned with tears in his eyes.
"Whatever you say, Hunter. Whatever you say."
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Dell began helped Gwen lay out the meal. "Oh come now dear, you had a full day of work." She said. "Just let me do it, I was the one who cooked after all."
"Which is why I insist on setting up the table." He argued. "I may be retired, but I still have some energy left in these old bones."
"You slept for seventeen hours yesterday." She said with a teasing tone.
"Like I can't take a nap here and there." He rolled his eyes.
"Dear, there's no shame in taking a break, I want you fully relaxed and at peace for tonight's dinner. You know how rare it is for us to have the whole family over." Gwendolyn reminded him. "And it's extra special tonight, Lucci and Luz are bringing their sweethearts, so this is an opportunity to both make a good impression and/or imagine the great-grand babies that'll come out of this."
"I already received a heart attack when you came home and told me I had a grandson. Now you're having me think about great-grandchildren?" Not that she wasn't free to do so … but his baby girl's innocence!
"Oh don't be like that. This just means our family nest is getting bigger, that's all." Gwen smiled. "Given Eda's lifestyle and Lilith's lack of interest, I didn't think this day would ever come. Now sit your rear down or I'll get the snakes to tie you down."
"Yes dear." He sighed, taking a seat.
There was the sound of footsteps outside. "Don't worry, they'll love you." Lucifer's voice stated from the other side of the door. "You and Grandma have a lot in common when it comes to being violent against enemies."
"Great, now I'm worried." The voice of a young girl groaned.
"Look on the bright side, Amity, anything that happens tonight will be a million times better than sitting down at dinner with your mom." Eda's pupil Luz answered.
"As long as I can drown out sappiness with food, I'll be content." The voice of his latest grandson, King, spoke up.
"How did I get dragged into this?" His youngest daughter complained as they got closer. "You know I don't like coming over."
"Because being more emotionally open with our family helps Luz be more open with us." His oldest daughter Lilith answered. "It's called setting a positive example for your children."
"A positive example is teaching your kids valuable life lessons. How to cast a spell, never to talk to men with sandals, what's the best method to pickpocket a stranger, most of the stuff dad taught us when we were growing up." Dell smirked in pride.
"Why did you ever teach them those particular skills?" His wife asked.
"You taught them to be strong, I taught them to be smart. You can never be too careful nowadays." He answered as the door opened. "Edalyn, Lilith, it's been too long." Getting up, he walked over and gave his two daughters a hug. "I'm so happy to see my two prides and joy getting along again."
"It's not like we ever hated each other, we just had funny ways of expressing affection." His youngest daughter laughed.
"And some of those ways just so happened to end up covered in acid." Lilith smirked. "On either side."
"Grandpa!" His youngest grandchild jumped into his arms. "So glad I can see you again!"
"As am I King. Did you get taller?" He asked playfully as he rubbed the boy's skull head. "It's like I can barely hold you now."
"Nah, he's still the same cuddly and cute wittle guy." His surrogate granddaughter laughed. "Great to see you again, Dell. You're looking as old and spry as ever."
"Do you hear that Gwen? She says I can still run a demonathon."
"Don't sass me, I'm the one controlling the food." As sweetly threatening as ever.
"Things are certainly lively around here, aren't they, Grandpa?" He turned to Lucifer.
"That they are my boy." He laughed, noticing who he was holding hands with. "And just who is this fine lovely lady you have here?"
"This is my girlfriend, Boscha." He introduced him to the girl with three eyes, with long magenta hair and a red dress.
"The same girl you've had a crush on since you were five and who could, and I quote, 'set the isles ablaze with her beauty and ferocity'?" He smirked.
The boy in question blushed. "Grandpa …"
"Don't be embarrassed, Crystal, you know I love it when you talk pretty about me." The three eyed girl pecked the boy on the cheek. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I swear to burn alive anyone that tries to take away my crystal."
"Oh she's already a wonder." Gwen shook the girl's hand. "I don't know what you were worried about, owlett, she's a delight so far."
"In small doses theoretically. You don't see her every other day." Edalyn rolled her eyes.
"Funny, that's what Raine's parents would tell us about you." Dell couldn't help but bring up.
"Finally, funny romance." King chuckled. "So what are we eating?"
"Not before we get to know all our guests." Gwendolyn smiled. "Luz, I believe this is your territory."
"Oh, this is Amity." Luz hugged the girl in question. "She's my girlfriend."
"Hell, Mr. and Mrs. Clawthorne." The purple haired girl bowed. I'm Amity Blight.."
"Ooh, so you're my sweet flea's little pupil she's so proud of!" Gwendolyn exclaimed. "And you got together with Edalyn's student. Aw, how sweet."
"... Former student." The girl stated, having dropped the nervous gaze she had for the first time that night with a frown.
"It's a rather…complicated story to say the least.." Lilith sighed.
"Nonsense, you're both here now, which means you didn't come home to bring up old wounds, you came to have a good time with the people you love." Dell waved off. "It's in the little moments like this we can experience the greatest joys in our lives."
"I haven't heard from you much, I've been busy searching for a cure." Gwen said as she sat everyone down. "So tell me, how has it been since we've last seen you?"
"... Well our house is gone."
Dell raised an eyebrow. "You sold Hooty?" He didn't think that was such a possible thing … very few people were willing to purchase that.
"Damn it, knew there was something I could've done with that." Eda grumbled. "No, as in, literally gone. The Rainbow devil took this giant fortress and kicked it to pieces. We've been staying at tri-eyes folk's home for three days now."
"You're Homeless?!" Gwendolyn shouted in horror. "That's terrible! Owlett, Sweet Flea, if you needed a place to stay, we would've been more than happy too.."
"No, the kids are still wanted by the Emperor. Staying at our family home would be the first place the scouts search for us." Lilith corrected. "At the moment, no one has a current idea of our location, and it's best we keep it that way for now."
"Well we should at least be more concerned." Gwendolyn stated. "If she's out there …"
"She's not." Luz spoke up, staring at her food as she began to stab it with a fork. "The Emperor took her … and with any luck, she's rotting in a cell devoid of sustenance as every waking moment is filled with nothing but agony …"
"Sssssh." The purple headed girl rubbed the human's head. "We agreed to leave the revenge talk behind tonight. Don't dwell on it, Camote."
"I know, I know…. " Luz sighed. "It's just…hard not to think about it when it just happened."
Dell gazed at her for a moment, before turning to Lilith. "So, how's the new job?" It was best to focus on the positives in his life at the moment.
========================================================================
Luz groaned as she sucked on her fingers. "Dang it, working with a knife is tricky." She said as she whittled on the piece of wood. Although she didn't think she was ready for it, Eda thought the time was right for her to start carving her palisman.
She still didn't know what she wanted to be, or what animal to choose, so a full hour was spent hanging upside down from a tree branch until she finally got an idea … along with a thought. "At some point I wonder if it was lucky I became immune to cutting objects." Eda muttered, looking for her misplaced fingers. "Haven't gotten a paper cut in thirty years."
"Definitely sounds lucky." She weakly laughed. It was still tiring to get through most of the days after Bismuth's assault. But her friends were with her, so for their sake, she had to at least attempt to be more positive. Luz wondered just how she was able to keep in so much positivity before. It was exhausting trying to be uplifting in bleak circumstances.
"Come on, tell me, tell me." King spoke up.
"King, it's her Palisman." Eda spoke. "We don't know anything until after it's done."
"But it's so round. All I can think of is a rollie killie!"
"One of these days I have got to look over an encyclopedia on all the different creatures." She was still baffled by snorses.
"I've been trying to give you lessons since the first time you went to school." King deadpanned.
"Sorry, things have just been hectic lately." She apologized, looking around. "Where's Lucci?"
"Don't know, he said something about a personal project." Eda answered. "Honestly I think that just means hanging out with his triclops girlfriend."
"His last personal project was growing a pailstrom tree." Luz recalled. "Maybe he's going for something like a forest to help Dell?"
The boy himself opened the door gently. "I'm back …." He answered, carrying something behind his back. "Luz…I have something for you….I don't know if it's something you want to see or even have…but I figured it'd be better in your hands than just laying around on the ground."
"Oh … kay." She said in confusion. Was it a new sword or something to make up for the awesome one she lost?
"I…it took awhile to find every piece." Lucci sighed, showing off a bubble behind his back…a bubble with multiple green shards. "Centi's broken pieces….they managed to survive the explosion…they were scattered all over the ground…and I didn't want them to just be lost.
Luz stared at the bubble in silence, slowly reaching forward and grasping the bubble, staring into the pieces that she recognized so, so much. "Thank you…..thank you so much, Lucci." She cried, hugging the bubble as tightly as she could. "Can…can you use your spit to.." It was probably too much to ask, but she had to at least hope for the chance.
Sadly, her best friend turned away, already confirming the horrible news. "I tried…by titan I tried so hard…but they never stick together no matter how much I want them to. Some did…but as a whole…my powers aren't….. I…I can't bring someone back from…you know."
"Right …" She should expect too much, she had this now. "... So she's still alive like this?"
"As multiple limbs, yep." Eda confirmed.
Lucci winced. "There's a reason I put them in a bubble…"
Luz stared at the bubble for a moment. "Luz …" King spoke up. "You doing alright?"
"Hey Eda …" She turned to the woman. "I know this is stupid but … do you know how to inlay jewels into wood?"
"Course I do, how else do you think I made norma human junk look so appealin…" Eda stopped for a moment. "Ooo…You sure you want to do this?"
"I was going to wait until I was finished…but I guess I should tell you now." Luz sighed. "I'm carving an egg."
"Like a griffon egg?" Lucci asked
"No."
"Dragon egg." Eda piped in
"No."
"An phoenix eg-" King stated to say.
"It's just an egg!" Luz shouted, waiting for the rest of them to give her a moment to explain. "I..I still need to choose who I want to be. I figured that the Palisman should be able to choose for themselves as well."
"Ooohhh." The gang nodded.
"And…and you guys said Palisman are a part of you, that they're companions that help you when you need it…and Centi…centi for so many years was that to me. "I don't know if it'll matter or not …" Luz said, bringing the bubble next to the egg. "But this way … she'll be with me, forever."
"I understand that … but we're talking about Crystal Devils and Palisman here Luz." Eda said, placing an arm on her shoulder. "That's like combining predator and prey. You don't know what problems you'll get."
"That's how everything's been since the day I came here, so it's perfect for me." Luz said resolutely, not willing to back down from this.
"Alright. It's not like it's the first crazy idea I've ever gone along with." Her teacher laughed. "So you have to start carving the little holes in now while it's still semi carved."
"Alright." Luz began to work once more … maybe this would turn out better than she thought.