Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary:

A look into some friends

"NO!" He screamed. "Why did he have to leave!? We were gonna have fun!" The Collector shouted, grabbing onto the fabric of space and time as he tried his best to rip a hole through it. He twisted and vented gravity, wind, dark matter, whatever forces in the universe he needed to break to get through…but nothing. His power was limited to the Boiling Isles. Which meant he very well just lost his chance to play with the first friend he made in the last few thousand years."

"He's gone … he's gone .." Dragged to the human world … because of … "The human!" The collector screamed as the world warped from his shout.

"Wow." King muttered as he looked over the cracked landscape.

"Booo! No fair!" The collector whined. "The human plays with Lucci all the time, it was supposed to be my turn!" They were gonna do so many incredible things! "Cosmic bowling, Darts using suns and black holes, so many games!" Games that only immortals could understand!

"I-I-I'm sure he can find his way back….eventually…and besides…you have me!" King pointed to himself. "King the titan. Lovable fur ball that's about to tell you about how to play the most amazing game ever?" The little guy squeaked.

"Oh yeah, the Owl House!" He almost forgot about his other best friend. "How do you play? Does it involve turning the planet inside out as we live inside of it? That way, you can jump up, AND down at the same time!" Genius.

"Ah … no." They shook their head. "You see the Owl House is a game of …" They turned around, muttering something about 'safe idea, safe idea', before turning back. "Pretend! Yes, the Owl House is a game of pretend!"

"Ooh, like Pirates, or Ninjas, or Knights." He grinned at the ideas.

"Exactly! In Owl House, you play a…hero, a young witch trying to be the best hero in the world full of monsters and villains and obstacles that are constantly trying to get in your way!" King explained. "And you learn life lessons….and make a whole lot of friends!"

"Now THAT … sounds like a fun little idea!" The Collector giggled, pulling out a marker and drawing on the stars as if they were constellations. "So I get to be a hero, and that makes you … Rival, Sidekick, Love interest … nah, not the last one."

"Oh thank titan." King muttered.

"Okay, you're my sidekick, the King of Kings!" He shouted. "And I shall be … Collector Man!" He twirled around, and added a cape to his usual attire. "Pretty cool huh?"

"..Super creative." King gave him a thumbs up.

"And if I'm the hero, then we need civilians to fill up the town and constantly be in danger of almost dying!"

"Hence, the multiple players." King spoke with a bit of a squeak. "Though maybe tone down the almost dy-"

"I gotcha ya, I'll turn everyone into puppets!" He began to spread his power everywhere, sending out stars to puppetfy everyone.

"Wait what?" The guy asked.

"KING!" The Collector turned to see a woman flying with a bird creature. "What's going on, who is that!?"

"Oh, first targets." The Collector shot forth a star.

"No don't-" King shouted before cutting himself off.

"SAVE YOURSELF LULU! I SHALL BE YOUR SHIELD!" The wormy bird threw the lady off to the side into the thick trees as it was hit with his starlight, instantly turning into a toy. 

"Nice, jack in the box puppet. Super rare." Collector smirked.

"You … you killed Hooty." King whispered.

"What are you talking about? He's fine, he's just a toy now." He shot a blast at Lilith, turning her into a puppet. "Never sleeps, never eats, and no matter how rough you play with them, you can put 'em together and they will still talk. That way everyone can pretend and be a part of the game, whether they want to play or not. Can't have any stick in the muds ruining our fun. We have the rest of eternity to play now!"

King's eyes widened. "I … see … thisisterorincarnatewhatthefuck . "

"What was that?"

"Nothing important…let's…keep playing." Yeah, playtime forever!

:========================================================================

This was it, they were all gone. Raine may have stopped her suffering by ripping off her arm, but Eda knew it was a matter of time until they all left. "Raine … I'm sorry I couldn't trust you more."

"It's okay…I'm sorry…I didn't keep in touch." Rain coughed. "This was….a terrible plan."

"Now…you see it…" Darius groaned as he laid down in pain. "All of this…for nothing….this really sucks…so…so much."

"Grrr …" Ebberwolf cried out.

"So … serene … is the end …" Osran spoke.

"I blame you….for everything…Orsan…" Terra coughed. "Paradise…so close…yet so far."

"It was never going to happen, you old weed." Eda bluntly told her. "Belos is a Witch Hunter. His goal was to kill everyone in the Demon Realm from day one. You're a bunch of deluded idiots that were too pig headed to see who the good guys really were."

"At least…the Clawthorne name will die after today." Cuttie laughed.

"You know what …" Adrian spoke up, anger in his voice. "Fuck, ALL OF YOU!"

There was a moment of silence. "Come again?" Vitimir asked.

"Between Terra and Hettie's bloodthirsty insanity, Vitimir's need to constantly experiment on everything and everyone, Mason's happy go lucky attitude, Osran's dickery-"

"Only … to Coven Heads …" The man spoke weakly. "Karma … asked for it."

"I can't stand being around nutjobs who can't focus on anything! And since we're all going to die, I can say what I want without consequence!" It was a miracle he could speak so coherently with the pain. "So you know what, if we're going to die, I'm going to die letting out all my spite! Darius, you're an overrated drama queen whose sense of fashion is, quite frankly, gaudy beyond belief!"

"How … dare you …"

"Ebberwolf, we've known each other for fifteen years! LEARN TO SPEAK NORMALLY! Do you know how annoying it is to translate everything you say to every single witch we meet!?"

"Grrrh."

"Oh bite your own ass off, which I know you do in private! Terra, you're an overweight has-been who's greatest days are long behind her! You would've done everyone a favor if you had just jumped into the boiling sea!"

"I will … end you …"

"Orsan, Vitiimir, you're both self centered and selfish, know it all that thinks they're all that, but you're not! You're just arrogant assholes that have done nothing for anyone anywhere at any time! You two are by far the most USELESS Coven head's that always existed!"

"I progressed … science … but soon … knowledge shall be gone …"

"Twas … always fate."

"Raine, you're….. a terrible actor! That's honestly all I have, as far as Coven heads go, you are the least offensive."

"Huh…thanks…I guess."

"Mason, you are a bumbling moron! You're an idiot with no spine and no conviction! Everytime I look at you, I want to throw up at all the wasted potential you always throw away! And my I add…BRUSH YOUR TEETH! Your breath smells worse than Ebberwolf after he rolls around in corpses 

"I could say … a few things about you too."

"Oh, what's the big blocky baby going to do about it, we're all about to die, but you probably didn't know that, because of how STUPID YOU ARE!" Man, Adrian had balls, she wouldn't have ruined half his plays if she knew he could say something like this.

"And Hettie … oh Hettie Cutburn! I have so much to say about you!" He shouted … and would have continued probably … if the moon hadn't shifted away. They all stared at the sky, the lightshow of the draining spell fading away. Then the sky became a smiley face SOMEHOW. "So many … wonderful … and appreciative-"

"No, go on." The Coven Head nodded. "I'm morbidly curious to see how deep you can dig your own grave."

He was getting surrounded by all the recovering Coven heads. "Ah…Eda, Raine, you wouldn't mind helping me out here…"

"I heard about what you did to Lucci in the conformatorium, I'm not lending a single claw to you." Eda growled.

"And I'm more lost on how we survived." Raine spoke. "Does anyone have an answer?"

"I'm more lost than I've ever felt in my life." Osran spoke with muted horror. "Fate is broken … how … what force … we were supposed to …" Even in old age you can still get existential, who knew?

"Whatever the case is, I need to find my kids…I don't know where they are, but hopefully they aren't dead." Eda took a deep breath, and let out her Harpy mode. "Can you stay safe for me, Rainestorm?"

"Whoa.." Rain blushed. Oh right, this was the first time they've ever seen Harpy Eda. "I…I can try…but you know how that always turns out."

"That's fair." Now if she were a Clawthone, she'd be in the most chaotic section of the-

Stars began falling from the sky … yeah, that would do it. Eda began flying up, avoiding whatever stars and moons fell next to her.

Screee Familiar? What are you talking about? Hunter. Scroll. Trapped. Look, now's not the time to get paranoid, we need to find the kids! Now where were they…up in the sky…King was in the air, with what looked like a ten year old in pajamas. How was that not the weirdest thing she's ever-

Danger, danger, Hunter! Trapper! Danger! FLEE! FLEE!

Gah, she wasn't fleeing, not with King up there. Now stop struggling, she had to figure out how- "Hey there!" The kid was in front of her. "You look fun." A star was held in the palm of their hand, reaching out to Eda's face. The beast wasn't letting up, she was losing control. She needed to get more potion, she needed-she was out. She was out and she was about to be trapped. "Wanna play?"

Flee…FLEE FLEEEEEEEEE

"EDA!" King's cry was all she remembered before her world went black.

========================================================================

Kikimora groaned as she came to. The Collector being freed created quite the blast … one that knocked her straight into the wall and knocking her unconscious. Surely she didn't miss too much, right? After Belos and his stupid plans, anything had to be better than anything he thought of.

She looked to the sky…the sky that looked like something out of a children's coloring book. There was blue…a very wrong shade of blue and the stars looked far too big. And the last she checked, the titan skull didn't have a giant tiara floating above it. "What…what did they do?" From the conversations, she gathered that the Collector was quite child-like, but this…this was not was not what she was expecting from an all powerful cosmic being.

"Okay, let's check off the list." She turned her head, seeing the child of the stars … wearing pajamas, next to that fuzzy thing, and a captured owl beast , being held down by a wooden chain. "Me and you are check, and we got some interesting civilians here … hmm, we need some more allies to add to the game."

"Can those allies… not be puppets." The furry child asked.

"Of course, that's why I didn't turn Eda into one. We need a sassy old person to complete the circle, and from what Lucci described, she's the sassiest of them all." The child grinned. "Although they aren't very sassy right now …"

"Crrrr."

"That's just the Owl Beast inside of her." King spoke, before gaining a look. "Could you … cure her?" He asked. "Remove the Owl or something?"

"Hm, guess it could fun to have both a fluffy bird pet and a sassy mentor." The child waved his hands…and nothing happened. "Oh poops, I can't."

"Can't, what do you mean can't?"

"The curse, whatever it came from, was made by a boring older archivist." The cosmic child rolled their eyes. "Probably something from their stupid collection of boring scrolls. Either way, I can't undo it."

"...." King stared at the child.

"I..I'm sorry about it, but-"

"No no, I only half expected that to work anyway … I'm more curious about 'older archivist'." He said. "Is it a race name, a title, or your name?"

"Yes." The child nodded. 

"... Pink was the one inventing most of the games, wasn't she?"

"She had such a wild imagination! Too bad she wanted to grow up like the other diamonds, and not continue to have fun, but then she did something really fun and made Lucci!" The child's face soured. "And that human…took him away… before we could play."

She took a sharp intake of breath at the sheer pressure that entered the air … unfortunately drawing the Collector's attention. "Oh, new toy!"

Shit, shit, shit, shit! She was going to become the plaything of an almighty child if she didn't think fast! What did you learn from Belos…Manipulation! Say what they want to here, offer something they might need! "I..I assure you….I can be more…useful….as….not a toy.." She nervously gulped, mentally slapping herself for her wording. "I mean…you have so many toys to play with, and you…wouldn't want to lose any of them."

"...That is true…" Yes, the child was listening! She might live after all! "I mean, could you imagine if I lost the Eda inside of a dark hole with no way out?"

"Sounds terrible!" The genuinely fearful furry child shouted.

"Precisely, you need someone…to keep track…and…organize all your toys…and keep them clean and…in mint condition?" Kiki gulped. She was in no way equipped to handle children, she spent the better part of her years trying to kill children.

"Oooh, that sounds fun." The Collector said, before gasping. "King, she could be our Mama!"

"What!?"

"WHAT!?" 

"Yeah, Lucci kept going on and on and on about how much he loved his mom and hated his womb donor. I already hate the people that created me, so all I need is a maternal bond with someone that isn't blood related."

Let's look at the pros and cons. On one hand, you'd live. On the other, you'd be a mother to a psychopathic deity with no concrete morality. "... Alright." She already spent her life serving a tyrant who didn't care about her, what's another?

"Yay, you're amazing! You're gonna be great!"

"… I am?" In all her life Kikimora never had that sentence directed at her … yet here an omnipotent being was, saying she was worthy of praise.

"Yeah, you don't suck like every other adult I've ever met! You're gonna be a great Kikimama!"

"... I look forward to working with you." She smiled.

========================================================================

Ameila screamed as the wave of…whatever it was…seemed to spread everywhere. Everything around hexside seemed to become this cartoonish, childish playbook, and it was freaky as hell! "WHAT IN THE NAME OF TITAN HAPPENED TO THE WORLD!"

"Apparently the Titan didn't like the day of unity and decided that we don't get to have physics anymore." Cat deadpanned. It took a week, but they finally figured out Cat solved her fortune during that virus attack … which means Skara probably did too…Boscha did long ago when she started dating Lucci … leaving Amelia as only one left, to live a boring life. "I was all set to live out the end of the world…and now….I want to go back to that."

"Don't you dare give up girls!" Skara shouted. "If Boscha was here, do you know what she would say?"

"'Who's the green haired girl trying to talk to me'?" Amelia suggested.

"'Come on Crystal, let's move to a new island'?" Cat guessed.

"..Okay, she would say that, but she would also stand her ground, look death in the eye, and proclaim 'WE ARE THE BANSHEES, AND WE'RE NOT ABOUT TO FALL DOWN TO CRAPPY GRADE SCHOOL EXCUSES FOR STARS LIKE YOU!' and then proceed to throw a grudgby ball on fire, like THIS!" She shot one into the air, and completely pierced one of those drone star things. "See. Simple as that." Amelia saw multiple stars now encircle Skara completely. "Uhh-" 

Bump shoved her out of the way. "Get back inside, barricade the-" In a flash of light, their teacher turned into wood, slumping in the air.

"Principle bump, no!" Skara shouted, as the star dragged him away.

"Finish his last wish!" Amelia screamed, making a wall of vines as she ran. "We are going to survive damn it! I will NOT die as a minor character!" She grabbed Skara and made their way to the school. "Cat, book it, there's no point in trying to fight it!"

"You don't have to tell me twi-AAAAAAAGGGGGH!" Cat screamed as another star passed through, turning her wooden before being dragged off.

"I can't believe I'm saying this … but I wish Boscha was here." Ameliea cried out as more stars encircled the school, blasting teachers. "Please universe, help us!"

========================================================================

Bria was prepared for a plethora of things. She fought tooth and nail to stay at the top of the totem pole, and she was willing to fight anyone to keep her position. She knew just about anything could happen…so when the end of the world actually came, she thought she'd be able to tackle it head on….by titan how wrong she was. "So … did anyone in the apocalypse betting pool have death by cartoonish stars?" Bria asked. "Because I was expecting more of a big explosion that annihilates all life…like the moon crashing into the Isles."

"I thought it would be death by mutant werewolves. Hamlet had zombie apocalypse." Lector spoke up.

"Actually I assumed the ghosts of every witch Belos killed would end us all." That one actually sounded pretty plausible.

"Eternal Ice age for me." Brefana spoke wistfully, staring out into the sky. "The world has been turned on its head….there's an endless cavalcade of possibilities now."

"Yes, yes there is." Bria smirked, knowing an opportunity when she saw one. "Alright everyone, information gathering time." She pulled out her penstagram account, checking to see if anyone figured out anything. "What do we know about who or what caused this apocalypse?"

" Sources say that a star child, calling himself the Collector, stopped the draining spell that was killing everyone, but in exchange, has proceeded to take the free will of everyone on the Island to become his personal playthings. So far they've transformed half the isles, and show's no sign of stopping." Hamlet explained.

"So if a star hits you, you turn to a wooden puppet … which means no meat to eat, no soul to be collected, and no fun to be had." She hit the three triggers of her teammates.

"Lector kill stars!" The boy raised an axe.

"Hold up, hold up, hold up, don't get killy just yet, there's certain advantages here." Bria brought up. "With a guy like this, Emperor Belos is out of power, and that means the Isles themselves are up for the taking. What are we always told at Glandus?"

"To rule the weak by any means?" Lector responded.

"Exactly." Bria snapped her fingers. "People all over the isles are going to be looking for shelter, for a safe zone, they'll do anything for leadership and security…and that's where WE step in."

"So take advantage of how limited spaces are and take control of a selective area?" Hamlet asked.

"Yes. If our school survived with numbers intact, then that means the other schools have probably done the same. Once we establish our territory, we'll expand, and take over Saint. Epiderm and Hexide when the time is right. We'll make the laws, we'll rule. And then, one day, far…far in the future, we WILL take down that Collector thing, and when we do…Glandus will rain supreme for the rest of all time.

"Nice thought … but one problem." Belfana spoke up. "I'm going after him right here, right now."

"You're kidding right?" Bria asked. "You do understand that you're about to essentially fight a god right!?"

"Yes … for the first time since the human, I can feel my frozen heart beat once more in anticipation." The girl blushed. "I'm the weak one…I'm the crafty one now…If I don't take advantage of it right now, then I'll regret it for the rest of my life." She froze a hallway, and skated down. "Good luck to you all. I shall not be seeing you again."

"...She totally knows she's going to die, right?" Hamlet stated the obvious.

"Lector thinks she flirts with reaper like pictures of human in locker." Lector shivered.

"Gross, don't remind me." She still needed to crush the Banshee's skulls for that game. "Alright, I'm adaptable. I'll work with this." Empress Bria did have a nice ring to it. "I'm coming for you, Boscha, and your little crystal too."

========================================================================

King had a … lets just be very generous and say rough day. His family was either in another dimension or trapped inside bodies they had no control over, all his friends were gone, and a crazy god capable of one-shoting Belos never let him out of walking distance. King screwed over the Boiling Isles trying to save it….wow…this must've been what Luz was feeling right now.

At least he did one good thing and got his big bro and sis, along with their friends, out of the Boiling Isles, with no hope of returning back. They would try to, King was certain, but there was no magic on earth, no titan, and the Collector couldn't reach them, so they would be safe…they'd live old lives and have their own families….even if Lucci would hate it….he'd be safe…it's everything Eda would've wanted for them.

"Oh this is gonna be great!" The kid laughed, floating around the air. "Oh, who should we get for an enemy? Hey, do you have anyone you hate King?"

"Several actually." King responded almost on instinct, letting his guard down for just a second. Though he was afraid for his life, it was easy to mistake the Collector for an actual kid.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me." The boy asked with glee.

"Maybe … tomorrow?" King suggested. "It is pretty close to bedtime."

"Aww, sleep?" The Collector asked.

"Why do you not like sleep?" King asked. "You get a warm bed and drift off into dreams."

"... Dreeeams." The Collector asked, as if testing the word. "What are these…dreams?"

"You've never had dreams before?" King asked. The cosmic child just shrugged. "Dreams are….like little movies you play in your head when you sleep. They're made up of your memories, thoughts, and imagination, and they can be of almost anything. Best part is that you never get tired, and when you wake up from a good dream, you feel better than ever.

They blinked, looking positively shocked. "I could have been having adventures in my head while trapped this whole time!?"

"Well, have you ever…tried sleeping before?" He asked.

"..No. Never had a need to." He said. "I just…exist and keep making things fun. I don't get tired, or get hungry, or really anything mortals do." Which means if King didn't get him to sleep … he'd be playing twenty four seven.

"Trust me when I say sleeping is great. When you sleep, everyone feels happier and better."

"Hm…sounds strange, but also fun! How do you like your bed? Liquid, lava, celestial.."

"...aah, well…I am used to…sleeping in a nest of feathered pillows…" He said trepidatiously.

"Alright." With a snap of fingers, they made a nest filled with fluffy pillows. "So I just lay here and … stare at the ceiling?"

"You have to close your eyes." 

"Okay." The collector did so. "When does my head movie start? All I see is black."

"Give it a couple of minutes. Just relax … the lulls of sleep will do the rest." King said, yawning as he laid down.

"... Please don't go if I go to sleep." The Collector asked quietly. That plea…it wasn't of a cosmic mad good….it was that of a child … a sad … lonely child … just like Luz … just like Lucci.

"I promise." He nodded, resting his eyes. "I'll be here when you wake up." He had to be … maybe not just for the Isles sake … but for the Collector's sake as well.