Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: The animals roar

Hooty once more tried to sneak his way, delicately and quietly, into getting his way. "I WILL EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!" See, master of stealth.

"No, I already skipped three because of you!" Luz rudely shouted. "Let me eat in peace!" She kicked him away as she quickly gobbled up the griffin eggs Eda had bought. "There's only so much I can eat in this world, so I need this way more than you!"

"Not our fault your stomach's not as strong as ours." Lucci noted as he bit into a snorse steak. 

"You drink scorpion venom for the 'tanginess', your guts on a whole other level than even a demon's." King bluntly asserted.

"What can I say, I guess I'm the epithet of manliness."

"Epitome of manliness." Eda corrected as she rubbed his head. "But to me you'll always be my adorable little munchkin."

"I was short for ten years, and nobody lets me live it down." The boy rolled his eyes.

"Awww, you were a little Lucci for a while, weren't you?" Luz teased the boy with a smirk.

"Sure was. It wasn't until he was six that he became taller than me." King snorted.

"I don't know if it was his growth spurt, or he's just subconsciously using his powers all the time." Hooty added in. "Either way, I'm bigger, thus have superiority … now give me your breakfast!"

"No Hooty, back off." Eda fired off a blast that sent him back a bit. "Last thing we need is the little girl starving herself."

"Alright geeze, gosh, agg, … Hoot." They complained. They didn't make being the house an easy job most of the time. "Can I at least eat your feathers?"

"Eat my…ahhhhh!" Eda screamed as she lifted up her arm, now bursting to the brim with feathers as she began to collapse to the ground.

"MOM!" Lucci shouted, licking his hand and touching her.

There was a faint glow as they began to fall off. "Thanks for the save kiddo …" She groaned, rubbing her head. "Could have sworn I drank my …" Eda looked at her hand, looking at the small claws that formed, along with some more feathers. "Elixir, must be forgetting." She chuckled, putting the arm behind her hand.

"Eda, this is serious. We can tell that your curse is acting up more." Luz said as both the kids got up. "The curse has been getting stronger, hasn't it?"

"Whaaat? No, not at all." Eda waved off. "I just need to stop using magic so much and I'll be fine."

"Mom, you use magic everyday. You used it to make out breakfast this morning." Lucci pointed to the table.

"Well how else do you expect the food to cook itself?" She questioned.

"They don't. They're throwing the kitchen knives as we speak." King pointed out of the window. "You waste magic all the time."

"Eda, be straight with us." Luz looked at the woman with pleading eyes. "When you run out of magic…are you going to die?"

"No, I'm definitely not gonna die." She assured the kids with a pat on the shoulders.

"Yeah, she'll just be the mindless Owl Beast for all eternity with no hope of getting her mental facilities back in order." Hooty helpfully added in context to add assurance.

"Hooty, I would bake you into a pie if you weren't good at your job." The owl lady glared at him as the kids' eyes became bulgy and watery. "Hey, hey, I made a promise to look after you little rascals, so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, I swear."

"Mom … we can help, we can-"

"Oh look at that, school's in order." She lifted them up. "Up you go, come on, off you head."

"Eda, please, we can help-"

"Owlbert, make sure these little guys get to school on time…dang it, I'm starting to sound like my mother." Eda commanded Owlbert as she sent the pailisman their way.

"Eda!" Luz shouted as they began flying off.

The Owl Lady watched them off, before sighing. "I've gotta put in a reassurance."

"I thought you said you weren't leaving." King said with watery eyes.

"I'm not … it's more like a gift … a practical one, you know?" She sighed. "Head down to the basement and grab my magic wool, I have a surprise for luz I know she'll love."

"Oh, a surprise! Tell me your secrets!" Hooty shouted.

"Not for you. You caused enough trouble today as it is." She glared as King left the room. "Besides… there's one secret we both share that I don't think we'll be capable of keeping secret anymore."

"Ohhh …." Hooty was silent for a moment. "Should I be ready to nab the toenail box?" The one with her last will and testament.

"Be prepared if it comes down to it." Eda sighed. "I'd rather he hear it from me if I can help it." The woman wiped her face.

Things must be tense. Hooty would have to pull out all the stops for the worst case scenario … a full body hug. "There there, it'll be alright, hoot hoot."

"Will it? I was fine letting the curse come when it became too much.,.but Lucci came into my life, then king and now Luz….no one said loving something meant hurting this much." Eda wept as she returned the hug.

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Amity was never one for enjoying misery. Well, that wasn't accurate, it was more to say she was a connoisseur of Karma. She enjoyed misery if it was on someone who deserved it. The desperate faces of Luz and Lucci at the lunch table were definitely something she hated.

"It's wearing off." Lucci groaned. "She said it happened as a baby, and now it's happening as a teenager." He banged his head against the table. "My spit can't hold it back long term. And the Healing Track doesn't know how to amp the power on it."

"Yeah, you don't even fully know how your powers work, so that puts you way behind on finding a solution." They all gave dirty glares to the illusion kid, Gus, she learned it was. "Sorry, not helping, I see that now".

"Wow, to be stuck with a curse the entire time, and I never noticed a thing." Willow commented. "She seemed so carefree when we were younger."

"It must have been easier back then." Luz muttered as she messed around with her fork. "Using her magic just makes it worse, time is running out, and we're low on options."

"Not to mention nobody from Grandma to the healing coven managed to find a cure." Lucci added on. "I can't believe I'm even considering this...but Aunt Lily might be right."

"Take those words back, Lucci, nothing that women say can be trusted." Amity gasped. "You know just as much as I do that she says whatever to get what she wants." She would never, EVER forgive that woman for using her.

"I know, I know, I think I'm just desperate at this point." The boy groaned as he hit his head against the table. "I either get used to seeing my mom in an Emperor's coven cloak or feed her with a dog bowl while keeping her chained outside like some wild animal."

"Maybe she just needs something more potent." Willow suggested.

"If we knew something like that existed, we would have used it to begin with." Luz rolled her eye.

The speaker coughed up. "Attention Students, in two hours we will begin our field trip through the Emperor's Castle, where we will observe all manner of thing, such as powerful mystic displays, and even prized objects from famous coven heads."

"What kind of prized objects?" Lucci asked the speaker with wide eyes. It didn't respond. "Well here I was thinking we could have a decent conversation!" Guess no one explained to him the concept of a loudspeaker. Then again when the schoolbell and lockers were both sentient, it made some sense.

"Oooh, all kinds!" Gus explained, taking out a pamphlet and showing it off to the table. "Most of them come from the savage age of magic, and are said to contain untold level's of wild magic. Personally, I want just one glance at the Oracle Spear. It's said it can tell you the best path to you best self."

"I'd definitely go for the Green Thumb Gauntlet." Willow pointed to another item. "It said to grow anything, even plants that no one's ever seen or even imagined before."

Amity took a glance at it, seeing if there was anything that would peak her interest. "Huh, nothing much here on abomination magic. Closest thing is this…Sandcastle Stone." An orb that could shape the very earth around them, from sand, to stone, to even plants.

Luz looked it over, eyes widening. "And a hat can cure all curses!"

"A what that can what?!" Lucci snatched the pamphlet and had his eyes glued to the pages. "The healing hat. Said to cure and disease and expel any curse! That's perfect!" This was going to go into something illegal, wasn't it?

"I know that look." Amity said. "This is a bit bigger than a coven outpost you know. This is the emperor's castle, you'd be heading straight into the manticore's den under the Emperor's nose himself."

"Maybe, but this could be the last chance we have at healing Eda's curse." Luz countered with a look of desperation and sadness that Amity could feel herself getting very weak against. "She's done so much for me, for both me and Lucci, this is the literal least we can do.

Willow sighed. "If I get arrested, I reserve the right to hold Lucci in contempt."

"Don't we do that anyway?" Amity joked.

"Oh like you guys have ever turned away from a good heist before." Lucci snorted. 

"Wait, are we robbing from the same place Emperor Belos lives?" Gus asked with wide eyes.

"Yep, can't stop us, may as well join us." Luz grinned. "Alright, what's the game plan Amity?"

"Wait, why are you asking her for the plan?" Lucci asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because she trained under Lilith, who works with the Emperor right?" Luz asked. "Doesn't she know the place inside out?"

She was flattered that Luz remembered, but those good feelings were slightly drowned out by the memories of Lilith. "I…regretfully, have been to the Emperor's castle before. I haven't been everywhere, but I know where the artifact room is."

"Hold up, let me grab something." Lucci dug into his big curly bush of hair, and pulled out a piece of paper. "I snatched this little piece of paper off of Lilly the last time I saw her, thought it looked useful."

"Is Clawthorne hair just its own dimension?" Luz asked as she began poking Lucci's head.

"Nah, we just train it to hold a lot of stuff." Lucci smirked. "Grow yours out big enough, and one day you can do the same too."

"Really?" Luz's eyes got sparkly at the notion. "Hey Amity, you think I could pull off long hair?"

"I-ah-ah…" She was imagining it…it looked too hot! "Let's look over that paper, shall we!" She snatched it before anyone could see her face go red. "Oh, perfect, this is actually a blueprint of the whole castle." She pressed it down on the table. "Pen?"

"I've got a lot for Glyphs." Luz handed them over.

"Alright, we'll be taking the tour route here." She began drawing a line through the castle. "And the artifacts are … here." She made an X.

"That's not on route at all." Willow muttered. "Gus, can you make illusions to keep them from realizing we left?"

"Yeah, but making copies of all six of us is going to be pushing everything I have in case we run into trouble." The boy admitted.

"Don't worry, Gus, those six are all that you'll need to make." Lucci smirked.

"You think we can get through the vents?" Luz asked.

"Nope, Lucci and Willow are a lot bigger than they were as kids." Amity said off handedly.

"I'll have you know that I'm bigger because I'm buff!" Willow yelled.

"The point Amity was trying to make is that this is a job that requires us to cut off a few heads." Lucci answered.

"What, no, we're not killing anyone!" Luz exclaimed.

"Decapitation doesn't kill people, seriously, am I the only one who knows this?" 

"You're too loud Lucci, anything you do is just gonna ring out an alarm. We'll save you for the bigger obstacles." Amity was lucky she knew the boy long enough to defuse him. "Me and Willow will take on anything small."

"Hey, I can take out all of them just by myself. I'll have all of them buried in ten seconds flat." Willow assured them.

"Yes, I'm sure you can, but that's overkill, you need someone to help hold you back." She almost forgot about Willow's hidden vindictive streak. "Only bury about two to four people, otherwise the guards are going to notice too many missing and report it. The rest we knock unconscious, and most of the scouts will assume it's just them sleeping on the job."

"I'm starting to feel very concerned right now." Gus winced.

"Don't worry about it Gus." Lucci wrapped an arm around their shoulder. "We'll be in and out in no time." He smiled. "Mom's curse will be healed….we won't have to worry about her again…" Lucci's eyes started to water.

"Uh, Lucci, you okay big guy?" Luz asked, as Lucci pulled her in for a big hug.

"Just…thank you for helping me!" He shouted, before grabbing everyone else. "I'm so glad I'm not alone….I love having friends!"

"You…..won't have….them for…..long." Amity was sure she could hear something crack.

"It hurts….but it's better….then…being emo…." Luz coughed out. Pain aside….it was good to have this feeling back in her life.

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Kikimora never became Coven Head. She never understood why, she did everything she was told to the letter, and always made sure to help Belos no matter what. Her loyalty was never in question, she even kept the conversations with the Collector hush hush. But nope, instead he either favored Lilith Clawthorne, some second hand witch, or the oh so precious 'Golden Guard'.

She could understand the latter, even the Emperor could be excused for having a certain level of Nepotism, the man was all powerful after all, but the Clawthorne was where she really had to ask herself some serious questions. The woman was absolutely pathetic! She was given one job at the very start, and she's failed it for the past fifteen years!

Why she was kept around and not demoted to scout made no sense. And the bashing she was about to receive would be delightful. She watched through a peephole as the woman entered the room. "Emperor Belos, you wished to see me?" She asked.

"Just a moment." The man of her dreams grabbed a palismin, cracking it with one hand as he drank its essence. "Ah, there we go." She had no idea why people found it disturbing, it was quite brilliant in her personal opinion. It eliminated wild magic literally at its roots and increased the Emperor's already impressive power. "You have failed to capture the Owl Lady yet again, Lilith."

"My apologies, Lord Belos." The woman bowed. "I have tried my best time and time again, but she is … illusive."

"Do you really think after all this time that's an excuse?" The man questioned, his intense presence flowing through every word.

She could see sweat form on the woman's face. "She … managed to evade the Rainbow Devil as well." She WHAT!?

"Hmmm…" The man stood silent at that, almost like he was mentally weighing what the failure had spoken. "Do you know why you were chosen to be the head of the Emperor's Coven?"

"Because…Because I excel-"

"Because the previous head proved to be a complete failure, and in spite of your lackluster results, there was just the tiniest glimmer of potential to serve the Titan's will." The man explained. "So, I am going to test that potential now." Belos turned to her. "You have until sunset to capture the Owl Lady."

Oooh, a time limit. Those were always the best. Kikimora needed to grab some rockcorn when the time came. "Yes…I…I'll bring Edalyn in by sunset.

"And if you fail." The man walked over to the statues he had collected over the years, grabbing the head of a wild witch. "I will stroll down to the Owl House myself … and petrify her, and you, personally." With a simple flex of the hand, the statue was crushed into dust floating in the air. "Are we understood?"

"Ye-Yes, Emperor Belos, I understand." The woman feebly got up, visibly shaken. "And…And you'll heal her curse when I do, just as you promised?"

"I do only as the Titan wills." The Emperor answered. 

Lilith sweated, quickly exiting the room as Kikimora got out of the way, quick to act like she wasn't eavesdropping. "Ah, Lilith, I didn't know you were here. How did your meeting with the Emperor go?"

"Shove it, you little pipsqueak. I have no time to deal with your insincerity today."

"Oh my, are you afraid?" She questioned with a chuckle. "Such a strange turnabout. Maybe you should actually do your job for a change and see how it goes." She internally laughed. "You know the other heads are whispering about you. They're saying you're a traitor that's protecting the Owl Lady. I can't imagine why after all the times she's slipped out of your grasp.

The woman stopped. "... Do you know why you're not a Coven Head?" She asked in a low voice.

"It certainly isn't because I've failed for the past fifteen years doing one assignment." Kiki mocked.

"It's because you lived your entire life focusing on one person." Kikimora began to feel heavy. "You never really think about your own improvement." She fell to the ground. "And you don't sacrifice every waking moment to be better and better for your own goal." The floor cracked under the gravity as Lilith leaned down, gazing at her eyes with malicious intent. "So try to remember your place, as a mere assistant, not as a leader … understood ?"

"....Understood." She said under a low breath.

"Good, now if I wasn't mistaken, you had a field trip to monitor today." Lillth walked forward. "I meanwhile have a job that's actually worthwhile to get to."

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

Willow walked with the class as they made their way through the door. "And over here, you'll see the impenetrable gate of the Emperor's Castle, made from a mix of witch's wool, Palistrom wood, and titan bone." The tiny witch with a hand on her head explained.

"Titan Bone?" Luz asked.

"Most durable material in the world." Amity explained. "Carved right out of the titan itself, after years and years of picking even the smallest pieces."

"When they say magic is a gift from the titan, I never knew how literally it was taken." The human hummed. "Is there nothing not made from the titan's remains?"

"No, nothing I can think of." Lucci shrugged. "They say the veins of the titan are capable of deflecting magic. Just imagine if one of them was still alive today, they'd be unstoppable." Willow herself would love to see a titan. The power of their bodies, the wisdom of their years, the kindness of their life giving.

"Is anyone else curious why our tour guide is bleeding from head to toe?" Gus asked, pointing to the short lady.

"I just thought all members of the Emperor's coven were used to going through immense pain and torture." Lucci shrugged. "You know, given how ruthlessly Boolus runs the world."

"Maybe cut down on the insults while we're literally on their doorstep?" Amity suggested.

"Sorry, just had to get one in before the day ended." The boy snickered. "It's the wild witch in me."

"Is Belos really that bad?" Luz asked.

"As someone who believes in the Coven system, let's just say Petrification is the least painful punishment one has to worry about when it comes to him." Willow winced. "No offense to Eda, but Belos is the strongest witch who ever lived."

"It's fine, I'm pretty sure if mom wasn't limited on her magic she'd actually try to fight him." Lucci nodded. "But that'll all change when we find the hat … Gus, you ready?"

"Just a sec, trying to get Luz's curious gaze a couple of final touches." The boy admitted as he worked on a circle. "In about half a minute, make everyone look away from us while we switch out."

"Causing a distraction, my speciality." Lucci snickered. "Amity, I'm going to need some abomination goo."

"Please don't tell me you plan on blowing up the hallway?" Luz pleaded with the boy.

"Of course not, what kind of disrespectful boy do you take me for?" The boy asked in mock offense, taking the goo and bubbling it. "I'm blowing up the end of the hallway, away from our classmates so that only a couple of emperor goons get blasted."

"You've definitely gotten more mature over the years." Willow rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Hey, Mama raised no fool. I'm aiming to be a high-class criminal." Lucci laughed as he let the bubble roll down the hallway. "Ah, it almost seems like yesterday that we first made that parade float blow up."

"It feels so long ago it was almost like we've been doing this for eternity." Amity grinned as the wall exploded. "Go illusion kid."

"Come on, you said my name earlier." Gus sulked as he made his illusion doubles of them, allowing them to duck and cover as the student's began to panic.

"No need to be alarmed, probably an infestation of Badgermoles! Just quickly make your way to the nearest exit while we begin the extermination!" The tiny witch ordered the class as they made their way down another hallway, no one none the wiser that they had slipped out.

"And like that, we're good to go." Willow commented as they made their way down the hall. "Which way now?"

"Okay, we should be able to make a right down here." Amity pointed them down a hallway and led them, before pausing. "There's still a couple of guards here. Shoot."

"Don't worry, this is my time to shine." Willow savage grinned, taking out a couple of seeds. "I always save these for a special occasion." She created a magic circle around them, before tossing them in the air at the guards.

"Steve standing guard. Just good old Steve doing his job." The male sounding scout said out loud

"Why do you always refer to yourself in the third person?" A female Coven Scout with pointed ears from the look of the cloak asked.

"I don't know, helps me think clearly if I always remind myself of who I am." The man shrugged. "Oh hey look, seeds." Steve reached down and picked one up. "Steve wonders what they'll grow int-" The vines sprouted, choking the two guards until they fell to the ground.

"Alright, good to go." Willow smiled.

"... They're alive, right?" Luz asked.

"Maybe." Willow waved off. "Lucci, you can heal the dead, right?"

"I'd rather not mess with the natural cycle of life and death if I can help it." The boy shivered for some odd reason.

"This is what I meant by overkill." Amity shook her head. "I would have just suffocated them, not crushed their windpipes to pulp." She pointed to the guards. "Now there's evidence."

"Luz … do you still think LAW was a good idea?" Gus asked, shaking for some strange reason.

"If it brings us closer together, then morality be damned I guess." Luz shrugged with a happy smile. "Okay, anything else we need to deal with?"

"Just the door." Amity pointed to the left. "I think Lucci can break it down, though it might cause noise and attract unwanted attention."

"No wait, I can totally handle this! We're all in this heist together!" Luz got out her notepad, and pulled out a fire glyph. "Now for a little trick Eda taught me….SPICEY TOSS!" An X made out of fire was created, and sent shooting at the lock of the door, which melted instantly, opening it.

"Wow, you're really mastering the elements." Willow noted.

"Yeah, anytime I see an element, I instantly get the glyph …" She paused. "Maybe I should get struck with lightning for the electricity glyph if there is one."

"Nooope." Amity pulled the girl inside. "You're not going to hurt yourself doing magic on my watch." How did Luz not see it, it was so obvious.

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

Lucci walked through the room, admiring the pedestals all around. "So, these are famed artifacts from great coven heads." He muttered, seeing a variety of strange objects. "Kind of pompous to call them artifacts for a system that's only fifty years old."

"Fifty Years? Could have sworn that Covens had been around longer than that." Gus muttered, keeping his eye out for anything interesting.

"No, Belos has been around for over a hundred years, but he only came into power fifty years ago." Amity cleared up. "So while the Official Covens system was established half a century ago for everyone to follow, Coven's themselves have been around before that as the word of Belos's teachings spread across the Boiling Isles."

"Old or not, so many of these things have some powerful magic stored inside of them." Willow awed at the sight of the green thumb gauntlet, putting it on as a big buff arm made out of a tree sprouted from it. "AAAAAH! I love it so much!"

"Oh, the Oracle Sphere!" Gus grabbed onto the orb. "Come on, tell me how to be my best self."

An image of an older looking Gus smiled, leaning down and ruffling their hair. "You already are your best self." Well that was surprisingly heartwarming.

"Oh, check this out." Luz gazed at a strange looking container of water. "An exotic creature of immortality … oh wait, that's just a jellyfish from my world. Lame."

"Fish are made out of jelly in your world? Why didn't you tell me?!" Lucci immediately began looking at the magnificent creature.

Luz opened her mouth, but closed it and looked contemplative. "It's actually a neurotoxic poison coupled with water, but you'd probably think it's jelly anyway."

"Aww, aren't you a cute little guy, an adorable bundle of poison." He pressed his face against the glass.

"Why is it called immortal?" Willow asked.

"It's got this weird process where it splits itself into two babies, thus making it live on forever in a way."

"Your world is so magnificent and so macabre." Gus joined him in the gazing. "I so want to go to the human world someday and see what other terrifying creatures it has to offer."

Amity looked around, gazing at a pillow with a glass. " Sandcastle Stone. If your will is stronger than the stone, all sand is at your beck and call. " She read. "That's a limited use of construction magic."

"Well if you think about it, sand is just tiny rocks." Luz said. "If you crumble the ground and bigger rocks using sand, you get more sand and more ammo, and rocks are basically everywhere." 

"Fun way to look at it." Lucci grinned as he picked up. "Could probably get a lot of snails for-no, focus Lucci!" He slapped himself. "The hat, where is the hat?"

"Right here!" Willow pointed to another pedestal, where on it was a blue pointy hat, just ripe for the taking.

"This..this is really it." Luz grabbed it as the object began glowing just a little. "It…it's so strong…I can feel it's magic flowing already."

"Let me feel it." He placed a hand on top, and he felt an instant warm sensation well up. "This…this will work…I can feel it working." If mom had both this and his healing spit….then she'd never have to worry about any curse again.

"Okay, we got what we came for." Amity nodded. "Let's leave before we're caught by someone competent."

"Like me?" … They all silently turned to the voice of one Lilith Clawthorne, gazing at them with a mix of disappointment and guilt, the minor warmth in her eyes completely gone.

"Aunt Lily…heh…" He shook his head. "We can cure her, with this hat we can-"

"Comprehension."

"... What?" Lucci was thrown off by how … dead, her tone felt right now.

"For that hat to cure something, you need to comprehend what you're trying to cure. Down to every molecule of magical energy." Lilith explained in that dead voice. "And no one has understood even the tiniest detail of the curse." She began walking forward. "Do you really think I haven't tried anything in this room in an attempt to cure her?" She asked with a hint of disappointment. "That I hadn't spent the last fifteen years of my life looking for a cure?"

"I…no…no..I…This has to work….I…this was our only chance…." Lucci felt his entire body practically go limp.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" She asked. "The curse is entering the final stages … both of us are running low on time."

"Both of you …" Luz asked in a confused daze, being hit with too much information, just like himself.

"If I don't bring Edalyn to Lord Belos before sunset, he will march down to the house and petrify her personally." Lilith gripped her staff. "This is the end of the line I told you about before, Lucifer."

"... She'll never come." He said in a quiet tone.

"I know." Lilith admitted, the guilt in her eyes rising. "Unless she came for her children."

"What-!?" Luz's eyes perked up as a faint blue glow surrounded her and him.

"To think I actually looked up to you once!" Amity wasted no time getting abomination ready, charging it right as his aunt to drown her. She swung her staff, the goo splattering across the room as a red thread emerged from her staff, wrapping around Amity tightly, and tossing her to the door.

"Amity!" Willow tried to make a massive tree fist with the gauntlet, but it was dried up and turned to ash in an instant, Lilith moving behind her and tossing her over to Amity, where the thread wrapped around her as well.

"If you really learned anything from me, you'd know trying to fight me head on like this was the most asinine thing you could've done." Lilith stated plained as she looked ahead, seeing Gus charing at her.

"Don't worry, I have this covered!" He summoned a giant hydra looking creature that at any other time would've looked impressive….if Lilith didn't walk right past it and make it dissipate with a single poof.

"Do I look like someone who's playing a game?" Lilith tied Gus up and threw him with the others.

"You are not!" Lucci struggled forward. "Using me as bait!" He formed his razor disks, tossing them at the woman.

"I told you before that sacrifices have to be made! I told you before I had to keep going, or else everything I've done would've been for naught." She created a blue blazing fire that stopped the disks in mid air, and grabbed Luz, putting her right in front of it.

"Oh you dirty little-!" He shouted.

"I don't want to hurt Edalyn more than I have to, nephew, so the choice is yours." She glared at him. "Either continue to fight me and have your little human pet get hurt in the crossfire, or stop resisting and surrender peacefully."

He needed a way to get past Luz and take her on head to head, he didn't have great mobility though … dang it, he wished he had super speed. "We never surrender." He growled out, running forward as he tried to grab Luz.

"You're not even trying anymore, Lucifer, you know you can't win." She cast him in that blue glow the moment he would've grabbed Luz's arm. "You three.." She turned to the rest of their friends, shoot her staff at them. "Bring this to my sister…she'll know where to meet me."

"Luz! Lucci!" The three of them cried out feeblally as they were carried off, likely back to the Owl house where Mom would be baited.

"There, was that so difficult?" She let him go, but kept Luz suspended.

"When I get out of here, I am going to end you, painfully." He growled.

"When you get out of there, I'll have already captured Edalyn … now sleep." She made a circle.

"Do you really think this'll help Eda at all!?" Luz shouted, doing her best to keep moving despite being restrained.

"Quiet human." The woman who didn't deserve to be his mom's sister growled. "This is a matter of family."

"She's more family than you'll ever-" He didn't get to finish as the world became black.

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

Eda landed down outside the Emperor's castle, approaching the bitch. When she opened the door of her house, she was expecting to be greeted by Luz and Lucci, tackling her in an affectionate attack, not three kids she barely bothered to remember panicking and yelling that they were in trouble. "Edalyn." The woman smirked, keeping her kids suspended in bubbles. "I see you're still-"

The Owl Lady moved, slamming them into a wall. "No more games, right ?" She asked, already building five attacks to be launched simultaneously.

"Good, I hated playing with you." Lilith barked back, slamming her in the chest and launching her back into the sky. "All the running, all the hiding, all the schemes and scams, those all end today, dear sister! You can't evade your problems anymore!"

"You have a point sis." Eda evaded a blast, zipping behind her. "I'll put them in the ground." And slammed Lilith into the ground. She flew down, firing blast after blast at them to keep her pinned. "Despite everything, you were still family, I still cared about you! Then you go off and KIDNAP my children, you pompous hypocrite!" She created a wall of fire and dragged her bitch of a sister face first into it.

"M…mom…" Her baby boy woke up from the bubble, looking at the sight in fear. "Mom! You gotta get out of here! This is what she wants!" He began slamming against the walls of the bubble. "You're going to lose your magic!"

Scraawww

"I know Lucci!" She shouted. "But if she wants this finished, then she's getting it finished!" Eda created multiple spears, doing her best to try and get a single jab at the Emperor stooge. "Especially after endangering you!"

"You should listen to your son, for once he seems to have more sense than you!" Lilith made the ground below them glow, sending multiple fists upward at the spears as she blasted off my fire. "You've run out of options, dear sister!"

"And you've run out of chances with me, Lily!" Eda growledd, doing her best to keep her magic steady as she flew around at hyper speeds, more and more feathers growing across her arm. "No more holding back! No more reasons to leave you without every bone in that body broken!"

She was about to land a strike … only for Luz's bubble to be placed between them. "Unlike last time … I have leverage." A blast came at her side, sending her skidding.

"Eda! Don't worry about me! You need to save yourself–eleaaah!" Luz tried to call out, on the verge of falling off the ledge and down below to the spikes. "We'll find a way out of here, just please, take care of yourself!"

"I am, by protecting my family…all members of my REAL family!" Eda shouted back, creating a giant owl, bursting and seeming with as much energy as she built up at her. "You always looked down on me for being wild, Lilly, but being wild meant I always worked HARDER THAN YOU!"

She slammed her attack and pressed it against Lilith, not giving her a second to move, a second to even breath. "You always assumed you were better than me!"

"I AM better than you! After all!" Eda pressed even harder. "How pathetic do you have to be if you can't beat me at my worst!?"

Lilith looked like something snapped behind her eyes. "THEN WHY WERE YOU SO EASY TO CURSE!? "

Eda stopped her attack out of shock, the breeze being the only noise among the silence. "... Wha …" Lilith, Lilith did it? She was the one who did all this? Lilith caused her to ruin every relationship she had?

CAAWWW 

The ears were formings, her bones were mangling…she was going to lose everything today wasn't she? "I…I have the power to heal you! If you join the emperor's coven, I can finally heal your…" The bitch was STILL talking…after she had the gall to RUIN HER LIFE!?

"GAAAHH!" She sent forth another couple of fireballs. "THIS! ENDS! TODAY!" 

"Mom, stop!" Lucci shouted, tears in his eyes. "You need to run now!"

"NOT! UNTIL! THE! BITCH!" She rushed forth, pounding the woman with blasts at close range with everything she had. "P AYS!" 

CRACK

Luz's bubble popped…and she began falling down below. " LUZ!" Both she and Lucci called out.

"Eda, forget me, your magic!" The girl shouted as more feathers popped up.

"It's mine, I do what I want with it!" She called out. "Owlbert, keep her safe."

"Hoot." They spoke with concern.

SCRAAWW!!

"Do it now!" Her voice leaked out, throwing him at her to grab on to.

"Mom, you have to calm down!" Lucci screamed, trying to burst his bubble with another one. "Just give me a second to break free and my spit…!"

"Won't do me any good…" Eda finished for him as she felt her eyes becoming black. "I really pushed the limit this time….really took a gamble…and you know how bad I am at those." She laughed weakly.

"Eda, please!" Luz shouted, Owlbert having flown her back up.

"Kids … I'm gonna go away … and I don't think I can bounce back from this." She admitted as the Owl got louder and louder. "Just know … I'm thankful I got to raise you both as my own."

"Mom, please, don't…!"

"Watch after king, you know how easily he gets stuck in sweaters and behind the fridge." All the happy memories she shared with them. "Make sure to feed Hooty. Half his bad eating habits are because I forget." All the trouble they got into with them. "Lucci….I couldn't have asked for a better son than you….for a lifetime of bad choices on my end….you being my hatchling was the best decision I ever made." It was all going to go away….why…. why did it have to go so soon?

"Mom…Please…." She hated she had to make him cry…she wasn't ready to let him fly off on his own.

"And Luz …" She yanked off the key, tossing it down. "Whenever you're ready, you can head back home."

"EDA!" Luz cried.

"You're going to be the best witch in the world….I'm glad I got to be a part of that."

SCRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW

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

Luz was flown onto the ground next to Lucci, quickly getting her bearings. "Eda, please!" She ran up to the woman. "Eda-" 

"SCRAWWW!" Screamed … the Owl Beast. "CROOO!"

"MOM!" Lucci cried out helpless as binds were created that bound her wings and legs. 

"Now now, dear Edalyn, now we can finally let the healing begin." The Emperor Coven head spoke, waving her finger as Eda was dragged away.

"What…what are we going to do?" Luz asked out loud.

"Shes gone … she's gone …" Lucci muttered in a daze, a flury of emotions in his voice and in his eyes. Luz was going to tackle the woman in anger … if she didn't see Lucci's body begin to shift.

"You….alll this time….all this pain…all the misery you caused my mom….it was all because of you." Lucci slowly began walking towards his aunt.

"And now I can fix it." Lilith spoke. "I can fix this chain of mistakes caused by myself.

"You big…" His skin slowly began to become pink. "Fat fucking …" The air itself began to tremble. "Self righteous … " He began to grow just a tad. "Self absorbed…" Lucci glared at her with pink … diamond shaped eyes. "Arogant little…." Fur began growing all over him as WINGS popped out of his back and his face became more feline like. BIIIIIIIIIIIIIICTTTTTTTTTTTTTTH!" A scorpion tail grew out as he roared into the air, cracking the walls of the castle and ground as the shockwave made the whole area shake from it's tremendous power.

"Lucci…?" She asked out loud. "Why…why do you look like a Manticore?"

"Lucifer?" Lilith began to back away. "But you not….this transformation shouldn't be possible, you don't have…." He rushed forward, as Lilith made a shield- SHATTER-Which meant nothing in the face of Lucci's rage, given by the way she was sent into a wall.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Lucci moved faster than she could see, pounding on the spot Lilith was launched into. " KILL YOU! KILL YOU! KILL YOU!!" HE shouted like a broken record as he hit the woman over and over.

"Lucci! Stop!" Luz shouted out. "I want her dead too, but you're losing control over yourself!"

"YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!" He mindlessly kept wailing as he rammed the woman into a wall. What the heck was happening? Was this a new power he couldn't control? Was this Eda's cursed being inherited by him?

"Lucifer stop!" Lilith blasted him back. "This isn't like you!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! GRAAA!" He shouted almost animalistically, his voice sounding like that of a lion "GRAAA!! " Pink energy began to glow around the jaw, as it got brighter and brighter, pointed at the Witch.

"Lucci! STOP! PLEASE!" Barely knowing what was happening, not even sure if what she was trying to prevent was a good thing, she jumped right in front of the boy now turned beast. "We already lost Eda to a mindless animal state, I don't want to lose you the same way!" She hugged his glowing head. "You're the best friend I have in this world…in any world I've been…please…please come back."

"GRAA!!" It might have been that he heard her, or that she pulled him. Either way, Lucci missed Lilith … as a laser beam went right through the castle. "GRAAAA!!!"He bucked her off, running over to Eda. "GRAAA!!"

"Scraaaaaaaa!" The owl beast yelled back as it looked up at the Manticore. "Arrrrrooo?"

"Gawoooo." The Manticore seemed to nod as it pressed its head against the owl beast, a certain strange clam aura seeming washing over the two as they did.

"Lucci …" He was breaking himself just to be with his mom. "Don't do this …"

"She … she was right." Luz could see a horrified look on Lilith's face. "You really are … a Crystal Devil."

"What?!" She screamed, before being levitated again, and tossed to the other side of the bridge. "What are you going to do with them!? Eda! Lucci!"

"What happens from here on out is none of your business, human." Lilith stated plainly as the bridge retracted. "Go back to your world, this is a matter of family."

"I'm not leaving them!" Luz shouted. "Let them go!"

"I'm doing what's best for them." Lilith stated with a sad tone as they all went inside.

"No, nonononono." Luz hit the ground. "NO!" It all failed. It all failed miserably. "I'm…I'm sorry." She failed them. Eda and Lucci….Luz failed her family.

"Hooot." Owlbert landed on her head for the first time since she broke him, gently rubbing his head against her affectionately.

"We … we …" She cried. "They're both gone." And she needed to fix it no matter the cost.