Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: Saving the family by any means nessesary

"Croooo." Lilith would have done everything in her power to stop Edalyn from tearing up the room.

"Graaa!!" Unfortunately, everything in her power was currently on making sure Lucifer didn't eat her alive.

"Ugh, would you calm down for just, five minutes!" She yelled at the boy turned manticore. Frustration was the only emotion she could focus on at the moment, otherwise she would be lost in bafflement at what just happened not thirty minutes ago.

Lilith's nephew, Edalyn's adopted son…..really was a Crystal Devil, or more accurately, a crystal devil that was of the same Caliber as the Rainbow Devil, if the multicolored haired woman's story was to be believed. Shapeshifting monsters, uncontrollable and wild. And all that raw power boiling right under the skin … so many questions to be had.

"Graa!" And now metal muzzles were the only thing keeping the rampaging beast from chomping off her head. She would have just covered the boy in metal, but whenever he couldn't see the Owl Beast, lasers went off.

"Scraaaaaa! " That at least made him slightly easier to control than the Owl beast. It seemed that Eda's childish and immature nature still imprinted on this form's personality, as they were doing pretty much everything they could to tear apart anything with the Emperor's face and or presence on it.

"Would it kill you to just sit still and listen to me!" She shouted, earning another growl from Lucifer. "Oh can it, you're just lucky I caught you before someone else did!"

"Oh my. The Owl Beast and a Crystal Devil." She heard Kikimora's voice. "For once, I don't blame you for the chaos in the room."

Lilith growled at the sight of the little twerp. "For your information, that's not a crystal devil, that's my nephew." Adopted or not, the boy was Edalyn's child, which meant he was family. Hopefully this…devil manticore….form was temporary.

"Then it seems your entire family is just rotten meat." Lilith tapped her staff to the ground threateningly as the tiny midget coughed. "The Emperor is arriving."

She felt herself stiffen, straightening up her hair and clothes as she bowed, feeling the presence of Emperor Belos arriving. "My Emperor, I have captured..."

"Yes, Yes, Yes, Lilith. I saw your little family scuffle from the top of the Castle." The man responded. "Along with the child…who is in this room I might add… that destroyed a good chunk of the castle."

"GRAA!" Lucifer screamed, charging another of those beams in his maw.

"It's a…rebellious phase he's just started." She weakly excused. Lilith wasn't a pathological liar like her sister.

It fired off, straight at the emperor. The king raised his staff and deflected the beam, destroying a good portion of the ceiling. "... If this is him as a rebel, then I'd rather not see him as an anarchist." They created strong bindings, holding down Lucifer. "I'll put him out of his misery now." He was going to do what!?

"Scraaaaaaaaaa!" That got the Owl Beast's attention, her transformed sister charging right at the man.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about the original Wild Witch of Bonesburrow." Belos stopped the woman and binded her as well.

"I..I did what you had ordered. Now you'll be able to heal her curse, as you promised." Lilith

"I never made a promise." Belos spoke. "The titan's will is to remove all wild witches." The man turned to her. "All I said was if you didn't bring her to me, I'd go to her myself." This…this wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was her last hope and it failed

"GRAAA!" Lucifer continued to thrash, the ground tied to his bindings cracking. Belos once more raised his staff.

"Please, at least spare the child." She pleaded. "He's not a wild witch, he's just a boy who grew up under.." She hated to put down her sister, especially like this. "..Under a bad parent. He's a student at Hexide. Given time, he'll learn to join a coven and accept it."

The Emperor stood silent, looking at the boy. "... Kikimora." He spoke. "Grab the Sigil Glove."

"As you command, great Emperor Belos." That woman just made Lilith so sick. "Here." She handed her a glove. "If you really believe he can grow up better, then you'll brand him with a coven you think is best, Lilith."

She thought it over for a second. Plant was a definite no, the boy's bubbles didn't react particularly well with abominations, he was shoddy with Illusions….he did seem particularly fond of bard the last time she checked.

"It's for the best … at least one of you will survive." She cried, placing the glove onto his arm, burning it in and pulling back.

"Grrrr…" They watched as the beast glared at the coven sigil … which began to smoke … then went up in pink flames. They all stood in silence as the fur remained perfectly intact, the sigil vanished without a trace.

"Hmm, how peculiar." The Emperor observed. "Not even Cuttburn with all her magical regeneration can remove a sigil. Looks like she and Vitimir have a new guinea pig to study."

"Cuttburn…" The woman that absolutely despised all Clawthorn's, Lucifer in particular for the parade incident. "And Vitimir…" The man who was absolutely brutal to all his experiments….especially the ones he conducted on Crystal Devils.

Belos carelessly walked over to Edalyn, raising his staff as a light enveloped her face. "Gah, Lucci what did I tell you about sugar clouds and-" The woman, in beast's skin, stopped. "Farts, I got caught." Her mind was intact … her mind was intact.

"Ah, Eda the Owl Lady. You've been a particular thorn in my side for a very long time." Belos seemed to cackle just the slightest in amusement.

"Ah, Emperor Boolus. You've been a jerk since the dinos crawled out of the ground." She looked around, noticing the manticore in the room. "What's with ugly over there? Another curse you placed on some poor sap, Lilith?" 

"Surprised you don't notice the family resemblance, like mother like son after all." Kikimora mocked.

The woman froze. "Lucci …" She tried to fight the bindings. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY?!"

"I did nothing, he did this to himself." The man gestured, before leaning down. "And he'll share your fate." Belos spoke menacingly, gesturing to the statues. "However, if you give me the portal to the human realm, I will be inclined to simply let him live in some savage location away from the Boiling Isles."

"Like I'd trust anything you say." Her sister glared. "You'll never get your hands on it, it's long gone."

"I see….you gave it to your human student…Luz, was it?" Belos summarized.

Eda's eyes widened. "Leave her alone."

"The Titan bears no ill will to their kind, fear not for her safety." The man stood up. "And given her personality, she's likely to rush here and save you, is she not?"

"Stop talking like you know her, you creep!" Edalyn yelled.

"Oh I know her more than you ever will." They looked over to Kikimora. "Ready the Owl Lady for the petrification ceremony." He then turned back to her. "And you, Lilith, prepare a special cell for your nephew. Vitimir and Cuttburn shall take a few…samples out of him before his time comes."

"Lilith!" Edalyn shouted. "I will never forgive you! I'll make you suffer for this!" The woman was dragged away. "You'll pay!"

"Grrrrr." Lucifer growled out, once more trying to break the ground and his vines as cracks appeared around the room.

"Sleep." She casted the spell on the boy, who thankfully closed his eyes…It was probably the last peaceful rest he would have….unless Lilith did something about it.

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

Hooty did his best to hug the crying Luz and King. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything." She kept telling them. Hooty knew Eda was cursed, and a bit fragile physically with how many times she kept losing her limbs around the house, but she always managed to wiggle her way out of a situation.

"It's not your fault, you did your best." King assured the girl, constantly patting her on the back. "A lot of things happened beyond our control."

"But … but they're both monsters." Luz cried. "Eda's curse was bad enough…but I didn't know about…" She looked at the two of them. "Did either of you know he was a crystal devil?"

" HE'S A WHAT!?" Both Hooty and King exclaimed at the same time.

"But he doesn't like Centi here at all!" Hooty cried out.

"Krkrkrkrkr." Said creature purred, rubbing herself across Luz's leg.

"I don't get it either, but Lilith sounded so sure and afraid when he turned." Luz pounded her head. Hooty wondered if this had anything to do with Lucci not being from the boiling isles at all. "The only thing I do know is that I need to get them both back." She quickly got up and ran to her giant pink sword.

"Woh woh woh!" King shook his paws. "Calm down now, we need to plan this carefully. It's not like we're on a time limit."

Someone slammed Hooty open rudely. "LUZ!" Amity shouted, running over and squeezing the girl. "Thank Titan. When the news came out I had no idea if you were dead or not!"

"What came out when what did?" The girl questioned.

"Amity!" Gus came in, panting. "Man … you run … fast …"

"You're…telling….me.." Willow huffed and puffed as they ran to the door behind them. "Luz! You're here! I didn't know if you'd be home or at the conformatorium!" Nobody greeted Hooty, rude.

"I know. After Lilith caught Eda and Lucci … everything was so crazy." Luz looked like she was going to cry, before shaking it off. "I've gotta bust them out."

"And I'm telling you to calm it!" King shouted. "It's not like they're going to be petrified immediately! We have time for a plan and resource gathering!"

"Oh….you haven't seen the news, have you?" Amity pulled up her scroll and showed off what it posted.

" Owl Lady to be petrified at sundown. Child of criminal to follow sometime afterwards." Luz stared almost blankly at the object. "... They're going … to petrify them both today?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah …" Amity looked hurt. "I know we can-" She stooped, seeing Luz get up, slowly dragging the sword behind her. "... Luz?"

The human looked back at the group, a look in her eyes that didn't fit their personality. "I … I think I'm going to murder Lilith …" She responded in a dissociated tone.

"Luz, calm down…" Willow tried to say

"I'm NOT going to stay calm! Do not tell me to stay calm!" Luz shouted back. "I don't know if I can heal Eda's curse or whether or not Lucci's a crystal devil…!"

"HE'S A WHAT!?" Gus and Amity shouted.

"... Actually that makes way too much sense." Willow muttered.

"The only thing that I do know is that Lilith took them prisoner, I know where that prison is, and I'm going to break them out and rip Lilith limb to limb before I cut her fucking head off!"

"Hoot." Owlbert flew in with a cloak, stopping the girl's completely healthy homicidal rant.

"Owlbert, what's this?" She grabbed it, and read the tag. "To Luz, from a proud mentor to her student." Luz paused, tearing up again. "She…She made me a witch's cloak?"

"A magic one to help protect you from dangerous spells hurled your way." King explained. "Luz, Eda and Lucci are my family, the only one I have. I'm with you on this until the end, but we have to play it smart. We don't have room to screw up."

"... Yeah …" She nodded slowly, wiping away her tears, putting the cloak on. "Me and King will get arrested, break into the conformatorium and get her out from the inside. Amity, Willow, Gus, try and do something on the other side."

"Ooh, we can beat up all the guards outside so that they can't call for backup." Willow nodded, growing out some vines from the ground.

Luz swung the sword onto her back in an impressive display of strength. "Come on King, Owlbert, we're going to save our family."

"Oh, can I come?" Hooty asked.

"Uh…your kind of just…a house." Gus pointed out."

"Oh, I can totally separate, watch." Hooty began to slowly perform his removal technique.

"No, no, don't, we don't need to see this!" Luz charged out the door before he could finish. Again, this girl was just so rude.

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

Owlebert waited inside of the cloak, silence reining through the entire trip. They simply waited … and waited … until now. "Alright prisoners, up and…" The two stared at the Warden with eyes full of malice. "... Sometimes, I really hate my job."

"Don't worry, we hate your job too." The human Luz answered as she sent an ice glyph right into the man, sending him flying across the room and frozen to the wall.

King responded by violently tackling the other scout guard, hitting them repeatedly in the eyes. "Does he have the keys!?"

"Yeah. Got it." Luz instantly snatched them. "Come on, we've gotta run. Lucci and Eda can't be far." The girl held Owlbert tightly as she began to run down the corridor. The palisman may have had his reservations with the girl, but she was willing to go this far for his master and the hatchling, the least he could do was help her.

They made it into a corner, where they were met with a guard. "Look, please, I really can't be unconscious, I have a birthday to go to." They pleaded.

"Tell us where the Clawthorne's are, and you're free to go." The girl threatened, raising the pink sword at them. "Otherwise we start cutting."

"Your bluffing, you can't actually-"

Krk

The blade cut through the leg. "Aaaaaaaah! Are you crazy!?"

"No, just very desperate and questioning my moral standpoint!" She shouted back. "Now tell me where they are or we go for the other leg!"

"They're chained down in the basement in two separate cells right below us! They're about to ship the kid off to Vitimir as we speak!" The guard shrieks out in pain.

Luz used Owlbert to knock the man out, continuing her run. "... You wanna talk about that?" King asked.

"After we get them out of here." Luz responded as she found a stairwell. "Jump on. Owlbert, we need to skip running. Fly us down!" She shouted as she jumped off the edge without a second to prepare.

"Hoooot!" Owlbert nodded, descending down nose first as fast as he could through the floors and floors of rooms and cells.

"This is almost like the first day we met, except somehow there's less explosions than I imagined there would be!" King commented as he hung onto Luz to stop himself from flying off.

"Don't worry, I'm going to make a big one in just a minute!" They reached the bottom, where their were two doors that awaited them. "That guy better not have been lying, or I'm going back and cutting his head off!" She tossed a fire glyph forward at one of the doors. Well, the human was certainly feeling more bloodthirsty today.

Boom

They flew through a hole, making their way to a cage containing a pink manticore that sent Owlbert's instincts on override. "Grrraaa." It growled out, trying to bite its way through the steel, which slowly bent now and then.

"Lucci, it's me, Luz!" The human tried to approach.

" Grrrrrrr." The hatching kept growling, looking like they were trying to take a bite of out of themZ

"He's lost in his own head." She flinched. "We need to bait him, or something … crap, I don't even know if we can get him back."

King looked back and forth between the human and the creature. "Lucci, it's me, King." He spoke.

" Gr?" The creature seemingly asked, stopping its biting on the metal and tilted its head.

"We've been family for years. We know each other better than anyone. I have … oh." The little guy fell to the ground, winding himself up with a growl. "Weeeeehhhhh!" They shouted out like a tea kettle.

"Grrrr…" The manticore paused, before it's growls became snorts. "Grrgrvhahahajahahh hahaah, that.." The monster began shrinking, going back to standing on its hind legs and becoming more bipedal shaped. "That never gets not cute."

"Lucci!" Luz ran forward and hugged him.

"Luz, what's …" He stopped. "What …" The hatchling began tearing up. "Mom … mom, she's …"

King jumped onto the boy's leg, holding him tightly. "We'll save her, Lucci."

"Right…right.." He wiped his eyes and felt his arms. "….Why am I more pink than usual…and hairy?"

"You shapeshifted into a manticore monster. We almost lost you." Luz responded.

"Really? All I remember was Mom changing and …" Lucci paused. "Lilith." The fur began to spread.

"Whoa dude, we can focus on killing Lilith later, we need you to stay mentally sound while we free Eda." Luz raised her sword above her head, and slashed it against the chain. The metal chipped, but it didn't break. "Damn it. This'll take too long."

"No need, I got this." Lucci focused on his hands as they began to glow. "Just one second…!" They stretched, and stretched, and stretched some more, until they both slipped out with a slight pop.

"Are you really sure you should be stretching right now?" King asked as Lucci walked out. "You're not the most … mentally stable right now."

"I'll hold myself together until we can get my mom out … after that, I'll figure something out." He growled again as horns began growing out.

"Save the beast mode for Lilith, big guy." Luz commented as they headed to the other door. "We got an Eda to save."

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

This was all her fault. Eda could, and would, blame Lilith for all her pain for the rest of her now short life. She'd blame her for the curse, the pain she put dad through, the constant isolation from everyone, the constantly close calls when she ran out of elixir. All of that, Eda would solely blame Lilith for.

Leaving Lucci in the hands of the Emperor, to be petrified just like her? That was all on Eda. She should have sat down and talked with him about this. Tell him to run away when she went Owl Beast. "And what made it worse was she could do NOTHING about it. "I shouldn't have done it." She should've never brought him into the boiling isles. He'd be living a perfectly boring, normal, but safe human life if she didn't take him.

Why did she have to be bought in by the healing spit and baby charms? She wasn't worth it. Eda needed to get him out, she needed to find some way to break this cage. She needed to get him out of here and away from a danger magnet like her-

Brrrr

Eda watched as a pink drill bore through the door, the lock demolished as … her baby boy came inside. "Mom!" The hatchling shouted, running straight to her.

"Lucci!" She screamed, half delighted and half terrified that he was still here at all, about to meet the same fate as her. "You're back to normal! Sort of." She looked at the boy, still covered in pink fur and horns. "How'd you get out?"

"Eda!" Well, her answer walked in just a second later. Luz, with Owlbert in hand and King on her back, came in, reaching the cage. "Don't worry, we'll get you out in a second." She pulled out the pink sword, swinging it into the cage as it chipped. "How!? This thing cuts through metal and magic like butter, but suddenly two cages get it stumped?!"

"Magic reinforcement. The construction coven really went all out on this one." Copying Bisy's technique. "Kids, you gotta get going. The petrification is going to start soon, and the moment they're through with me, they'll be aiming for Lucci next."

"Not until you're out of here." Lucci grabbed onto the bars, looking at Luz. "I'll pull, you cut, we'll Mom out in no time."

"Kid's…"

Hack

Slash 

"This isn't going to…"

Hack

Slash

"Work." The two kept ignoring her as they tried endlessly to break her out. 

"I'm not leaving until your safe!" Lucci cried out, continuously hitting the bars.

"You can't keep wasting your time on me! I'm a criminal, I broke the law, and I'm getting what I deserve! Your just kids, you can't get dragged down by me!"

"You're my MOM!" The boy shouted. "I'm never leaving you behind! Me and King need you!"

Hack

Slash

They were never going to stop. Lucci was never going to let go of her…unless she cut it off before he could.

"Didn't you steal keys Luz!?" King shouted. "Doesn't one of them fit the lock!?"

"I'm trying, I'm trying! Nothing's fitting!"

"I'mmotyourmom." Eda lowly grumbled, having dreading to say those words, hoping to never, ever have to say them in her life.

Lucci didn't seem to register the mumbling, continuing to desperately make headway into the bars. "Come on, a little more, a little more."

"I'm not your mom." She said again, just a little louder

"Don't start lying to me now!" He shouted. "I'm not ditching you, I'll never leave, I-"

"You're not my kid, alright!" Eda cried, cruising this beast body all the more for not giving her hands to wipe her eyes. "All those rumors about kidnapping were semi-true. I found you in the human world and just..kept you around."

The boy stopped, shock in his eyes, before he looked up to her. "What?"

"You had healing spit, and it helped stave off my curse for a while. Well, the curse finally took over, so I don't have a need to keep you around anymore." She turned away, hiding her tears at the semi-truth she told him. "You don't have anything to keep you in this world now."

Lucci looked at, staring into her eyes as he looked for something, before going back to the bars. "Even if that story is true, which it's not , you didn't abandon me there. I'm not abandoning you here." Damn it! Why did she raise him to be so stubborn!?

"Luz." She turned to the human. "Belos wants the portal. I don't know why, but I know it's bad news. Take Lucci, leave the Boiling Isles with him. Use as much force as you need, he's got a nerve spot near the back of his ears."

"What, No Eda! I'm not just going to leave you here to rot and grow moss all over!" She stubbornly swung her sword.

"Eda …" She looked at King. "They're not the only ones that don't want to lose you." He said with tears in his eyes. "Don't give up on us."

"I haven't….I never will." She smiled down at them as her cage began to rise. "But you need to give up on me…I'm no good to anyone anymore."

"Mom, please no!" Lucci shouted, trying to pull the cage back down. "No! NO!"

"It's alright kids..I'm okay with this." She could barely see them with the cage making its way to the stage. "Just please….stay safe…that's all I ask."

" MOM!/EDA!"

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

Lucci tried his best to break through the ceiling. "GIVE HER BACK!" He shouted, hitting the wall over and over as it cracked. "GIVE HER BACK !" He could feel his body warp with his anger. He was still here, damn it! As long as he was still here and breathing, he was going to get his mom back no matter what!

"Lucci, we can't break through the ceiling like that, we have to find another way!" Luz shouted at him as he slammed his head against the concrete for the twelfth time.

"Right, right." He growled, jumping to the ground. "We run around, catch her at the stage." They were still at the conformatorium, and he's run around here enough times to know where everything was.

"You'll be caught and captured in a matter of seconds." A familiarly irritating voice rang in the air as the two of them looked behind them. "It's seems that I was too late to catch my sister, but at least I caught the two of you in-"

"YOU!" He rushed forward, trying to punch that despicable skull off. " I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!"

Luz was right with him as she tackled the bitch where she stood and rolled all over the ground. "Oh no, you're not going to capture anyone again what you did!" 

"Would you stop fighting me for one second!?" The bitch screamed.

"No way, you terrible excuse of a family!" She shouted, opening up the portal door. "I'm going to make sure you can't hurt anyone here ever again!

Lucci proceeded to tackle the woman inside, launching her into a tree. "You'll pay for everything you've done!"

"Lucifer! We don't have the time to squabble!" Lilith waved her staff in an attempt to hold him down, but either out of pure rage or increased strength, he broke right through it and rammed her through the nearest tree.

"This isn't a squabble, it's justice!" Luz shouted, carving plant glyphs with her sword … only to get no result. "Wait what!?" Her glyphs…they just….didn't work. Did magic not work in the human realm?

"I know, I know, I should be the one petrified instead of her!" Lilith feebly tried to fly, creating her own vines to hold Lucci down…only for Lucci to ripp through them and tackle her again. "I understand that you hate me…" So Lilith could use magic…. but her glyphs didn't work…. she was powerless in the human world.

" Oh, we're LONG past hate, Lilith." Lucci felt his body mangle and morph again, his arms getting hair, bigger, and his nails becoming long and talon-like. "Give me one, single reason why I shouldn't carve that stupid brain of yours out of your skull!"

He raised his claws to strike her down. "I can get you close!" He stopped his claws from piercing out the woman's eyes.

"... Keep talking." The boy growled.

"I know how…to get you two…a direct passage to Eda undetected…" She coughed, likely trying to take deep breaths from having her face nearly caved in.

Luz glared at the woman's eyes, and slowly raised her sword. "What's your whole deal, Lilith? You spend all this time trying to capture Eda, and now you're flip-flopping the moment she is. Why betray your coven when you're so gung ho about following it?"

The woman looked at them, trying to get up. "Back then, it was the two of us doing everything together. Playing games, homework, dreaming … and when we went to try out for the emperor's coven … there was only one spot available at the time."

"And you were going to fight over it." Lucci growled, realizing where this was going. "So you decided to do something stupid, because you knew she was better than you."

The woman held her head down in shame, not even denying it. "She was younger, but she worked twice as hard than anybody, and I…I could never match her progress no matter how hard I tried." The woman wiped her eyes. "I had heard from Belos that to be great, sacrifices must be made….so I went to the night market, and found a parchment for a curse….I assumed Edalyn would lose her magic for just a day."

"So you gave your sister an unknown curse you didn't even understand how it worked." Luz summarized. "That's why you knew the healing hat wouldn't work."

Lilith let out a broken chuckle. "And on the day of the fight … she gave up ." She laughed. "She said I would need it more than her, and that she'd get better in her own way." Lilith's face went to the ground. "And … then the curse activated."

Lucci absorbed the information. He could barely muster the anger to slam this woman into a wall…but only because she was just soo….pathetically pitiable. "Getting mom to join the Emperor's coven, it wasn't about saving her or stopping her criminal ways…it was all about covering your own butt." He let go of Lilith.

"Guys, in case you forgot." King ran through the portal, calling them both out. "We're talking about motives while Eda is GOING TO BE PETRIFIED!"

"King's right, we're wasting time." Luz shook her head, pointed at her sword as Lillith. "We don't trust you one single bit, but right now, you're out best shot at getting Eda back. So lead the way, and we might consider letting you leave with your head intact." He would do it after.

"Alright, follow me." The woman stood up fully, now walking to the door. Lucci would save his mother, no matter what lies were told, or what craziness was brought forth.

"So … glyphs don't work here." Lucci noted, looking back to the girl.

"Something to think about when we're not going to die." Luz grumbled. And he completely agreed with the sentiment.

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

Luz finally being able to use the sword was fun, but that was kinda ruined by the mood of … everything. Even if they made it there, they'd need a way to break the cage. Her sword wasn't enough and Lucci's strength combined barely broke one bar. Maybe if she made enough glyphs she could just transform the metal into vines … somehow. 

That wasn't even getting into the problem with Eda still being in her owl form. The elixir wouldn't do anything anymore if the curse was in full effect. Sure she was in her right mind somehow, but who knows how long that was going to be. "Ugh, somehow this place is even uglier than I thought it would be ." Not to mention Lucci had his own problems, being in a half-manticore state.

His entire body just kinda shifted back and forth whenever he felt angry. It was a miracle he wasn't feral at this point … well that and his clothes stayed intact with all the shapeshifting he did. In fact, Eda's clothes never shredded when she transformed and she always had them intact when she changed back. Was that just a magic thing she wasn't understanding?

At least the awkward silence was semi tolerable with how much they've been dealing with. Just walking through a dark cave. "How much farther?" Luz asked.

"We're just about there." Lilith mentioned, pointing to a platform, in a room that looked like there were hundreds of decaying hands all over the place. "Everyone's at the Petrification, so there's no one on guard here."

Lucci gave the woman a distrusting look that was all too warranted. "So what happens after this? You just go back to the Emperor's Coven and act like you haven't screwed your family for the past thirty years?"

Lilith was about to open her mouth. "That would be in her best interest, but we've already passed that haven't we?" The voice was calm, so unnaturally calm. There was nothing comforting about it, it was like commenting about insects. The woman's eyes widened in horror, slowly turning to the dark part of the room.

"I … why-" Lilith stuttered.

"I always knew you would betray me, I just never knew why." Torches began to ignite, slowly making their way to a man sitting on a throne, a white robe with a golden and horned mask, with glowing blue eyes that lacked any form of empathy and warmth. "So I decided to wait and see what you would do when I captured your sister … imagine my disappointment when you chose them over your duties." The decaying hands all over the room grabbed onto her, and King by the tail, and lifted them into the air. 

" K ING! " She and Lucci yelled out.

"Then again, Clawthornes do have a certain knack for causing trouble when it's not needed." The two of them turned their attention to the man. "Lucifer Cawthorne, a fitting name for the spawn of a devilish woman. I would have preferred to just speak to Luz, but something about the way you destroyed the Sigil just rubbed me the wrong way."

"How…how do you know my name?" Luz asked, getting in a defensive position as Lucci's claws grew out.

"The titan knows many things." He responded.

"Of course he'd know it … Belos." Lucci growled. Wait, this was the emperor!? "Listen here you bastard. We're going to beat you to a pulp, then we're going to rescue our family!"

If he was this confident, then they had to have a chance. "Yeah!" She slapped down an ice glyph, the frozen material making its way to the man's head.

"... Well if you want to play." There was no poof. There was no circle. Unlike any other time she's seen magic in play, this was by far the most unnatural and wrong . One moment, the man sits on his throne. And the next, he's gone. "I'm down for a quick game." The calm voice spoke from behind them.

"Your funeral! I play rough!" Lucci roared, swinging claw behind them, only for it to stop inches from the man's cloak. "Wha-" And a second later, the boy was launched across the room.

"What a coincidence. When it comes to witches, so do I." With a simple wave of the hand, the entire wall that Lucci was next to turned into a gaping maw, crunching him.

"Leave him alone!" Luz cried out next, throwing out Glyphs and using Owlbert to set them off int the air, creating a whirlwind of fire to surround the Emperor.

"Weren't you the ones wishing to fight me?" The man asked as the air swirled into vortexes, absorbing the fire into nothing. "All I'm doing is a bit of retaliation." And a column holding up the ceiling turned into a pile of tentacles trying to bind Luz.

"Retaliate this!" Lucci managed to pry the maw off of him long enough to send a razor disk into the man's chest….who simply morphed around it like he was made out of evil play-dough.

"I see your time living with the Owl lady has allowed you to grow into quite the little savage. If I were a lesser witch, that would've killed me." Below commented with that creepily calm voice and threw Lucci into the ceiling. "You're truly nothing more than a wild animal, aren't you?"

"Better an animal than some narcissistic bastard!" Lucci shouted, before the ceiling turned into an abomination. "Oh come on-" Then he began drowning.

"All I'm doing is carrying out the will of the titan. Nothing more, nothing less." The way he carried himself…so collected, so unemotive, yet so sadistically playful….she felt like she was an experiment about to be dissected.

Luz sent forth a couple of fire and ice balls, both of which were ignored. "Would the titan really want all this?!"

"Order and prosperity, yes, but wild magic only causes suffering on that end." A skeletal hand wrapped around her body. "Now can we come to an understanding and end this useless farce, or would you rather continue prattling on?"

"I don't prattle…" She let an ice glyph fall to the ground. "I SCREAM!" And stomped her foot on it, sending a spike of ice into the air..

Chip

….As a piece of the man's mask fell off, revealing more of that monstrous blue glow within his eyes. "Heh…" Lucci chuckled as he pried himself from the roof. "For all the cloak and dagger, you're just a man underneath that mask, aren't you?"

"I never claimed to be anything else." With the wave of a hand, the boy came falling to the ground hard enough to form another crater. "But all that effort for a single crack … " He began walking over. "Is your need for blood satisfied, or shall I take one of your limbs to make the message stick?"

"Is this really the best use of your time?" Luz argued, having a feeling trying to fight it out any longer without a plan wasn't going to pan out well. "You're clearly as strong as you say, why even bother with us, or even Eda for that matter?"

The man looked down on her…and an uncomfortable laughter played out. "You do have a point. In the grand scheme of things, the Owl Lady's crimes are of little consequence. So how about a bargain?" They held out a hand. "The portal to the human realm, for the witch's life?"

"Don't trust him, Luz! You don't know what he'll do to your home!" Lucci cried out.

"Oh calm yourself. The titan has no mundane purpose for the human realm such as invasion." The Emperor waved him off. "It's actually quite peaceful in its intentions …" They turned back to her. "Or I could just hold you both here while Edalyn, Lilith, and your 'King' become petrified."

Luz mulled it over. This man had her friends…her family hostage, dangling their lives in front of her like they were keys to a baby. He was strong, and they clearly had no chance against them…but if she did this…there was no guarantee her mom would be safe from him either. "...Go to hell, Belos."

The man sighed. "I see the lesson hasn't stuck." The emperor turned back to Lucci, raising his staff up high as it lit up in a violent red and uncomfortable glow, brimming with magic that made Luz's skin crawl from looking at it. "Perhaps when I put down this mutt you'll finally learn."

"Don't do it Luz." Lucci responded. "For whatever reason he's not just taking it out on you. He wants this willingly, and you don't need to fall for it."

"Such a sharp mind…too bad you don't use it." The man blasted Lucci right in the head.

"Ahsdhskdfhadshasaaaaaahaaaaaaaaggggggggjjjjj!" The boy cried out incoherently, each second a new howl in pain was heard, echoing across the walls. 

"No…no….no….NO!" She pulled out with all her might, pulling the arms in the ground off as she ran towards her friend. "STOP HURTING MY FAMILY!"

Poooof

A bright flash of pink came over her..over them…as she…they….collided.

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

Belos was feeling like Philip today. Not that there weren't times he did, but so many strange things happened today. First Lilith finally betrayed him after all these years, he guessed some people were just too attached to family. Maybe he should set up a test for Kikimora.

Then Luz finally showed up. Oh, the joy of another human, and one that would close that loop in time as well. Philip wished to discuss so many things with her, so many secrets, but not while she was tainted with the idea of witches like Caleb was.

And the boy … so much nostalgia for a reason he can't quite place. Those razor blades looked so familiar as well, as if it scratched the back of his mind. A shade of pink that made him feel a bit irritated.

And now a pink glow occurred, as a feathered beast stood before him. "... We did it? I think we did. Never thought I'd do it with you Luz." The new creature was taller than the two children, matching Belos slightly in height, as they were covered head to toe with pink deaths and brown fur. Large wings adorned their back as they also sported a beak.

Belos tilted his head. "Two beings fused into one." Just corrupt her even more, why don't you? Such was the troubling lifestyle of his mission. "Do you have a name to refer to yourself?" He would be polite about it, the thing deserved that much.

"Oh yeah! Here comes Luzi! Seriously! That's so lame!" The creature argued with itself as they began to hover above the ground. "Well this time, I'm half. The fusion voice agrees with me, right? No, he's right, that's so lame." What a bundle of insanity this creature was.

"Whatever the case, you're not going to be around long enough for a name to matter." He fired off another blast from his staff.

The creature dodged around it. "Oh yeah, well how about this!" They formed multiple pink bubbles, bubbles that had strange markings on them.scattering them across the area. 

Belos prepared to block … only for them to harmlessly move around. A cheap joke? He stared closely … finding glyphs on them. "... Oh titan."

With a snap of the fingers, they began going off like a minefield. Blinding, binding, freezing, burning. " Hah! That's awesome ! I finally used Glyphs! We're a glyph Griffon! Glyph Griffon…we're Glyphon! Oooh, Glyphon, that sounds just right enough."

"Of course, they're still childish." He muttered, waving his staff to create multiple constructs, moving the bubbles away from himself. Belos created multiple cannons off of the walls, firing a barrage at the creature. He'd rather not hurt Luz, but it seemed some force was necessary.

"Really? You're trying to bombard me? The guy/gal whatever I am, that's half the kid who uses shields?" The creature summoned as they bounced off of them and richoting right back. A pink shield … with a triple thorny vine … leading to a single … Rose. They waited for them to stop. "Haha, scared yet?" Belos stared at their stomach, noticing feathers. "Is … is he okay? I dunno, maybe he's low on power?"Feathers covering a shiny gem … a Quartz.

"So after all this time … you still haunt me ." Philip raised his staff, carving the ground. Interlocking here, lines there, circuits here. Plant, plant, plant, light ice, light, fire, light, plant plant … he continued to interlock them more and more.

"I'm sorry, I believe you're confusing me for someone else…I mean, I was literally born just five minutes ago. Guys, does anyone else see the massive number of Glyphs on the ground!? We'll just fly around them, defend if necessary."

Belos finished with three final glyphs … those he discovered from the despicable woman . "I don't really think this is something you can block." Belos tapped his staff down … on a special little combo that split apart creatures on a cellular level.

"GAAAHHHH!! " The beast began screaming and thrashing, lights surrounding them as they began to split back into two beings, sent across the room.

"Did … did he just pull us apart?" Luz asked with a voice filled with confusion, horror, and pain.

"Uggh, my head…I think I tasted life and death at the same time…..tastes bittersweet." The supposed boy with that vile stone in his stomach said with a daze.

Philip glared at the witch spawn. "Where did you get that rock!?" He demanded.

"What, you become a geologist all of a sudden?" The boy coyly responded. "I can point you to the nearest quarry if you want."

Belos sent forth multiple attacks. Fire, ice, barraging them over and over until they were covered and drenched in their own blood, ignoring the cries of the human. "Where … did you … find it?"

"Fin-find?" The boy raised a weak eyebrow, coughing off blood as the wounds on his arms looked like they were slowly healing. "I-I was born with it…bastard. I found nothing."

Belos stared down at the creature. "I believe you." He responded, raising his staff. Light, Gravity, Energy, Decay, Emotional Manifestation, darkness, Compression, Rotation. He combined more and more spells within each other, forming a ball of death. "I will make your annihilation instantaneous." 

Belos had done too much to rid the Boiling Isles of that whore's memory. So many people and temples were obliterated. So many years wasted on trying to rid them so his progress could begin. He would not let that memory return because of some child they had. Philip would end this, NOW!

"NO!" Luz shouted. "You want the portal, fine! It's yours!" The girl took out the key, the key he's spent a lifetime trying to locate, and pressed the eye, presenting the door in its suitcase form. "Leave my loved ones alone, and it's yours!"

He contemplated the idea of getting it now, and letting this boy live. How much he was truly living to sacrifice and risk. "... One."

"... What? " The girl and spawn asked at the same time.

"The door is worth one's pardon, not two." He started, keeping his attack steady. "The Owl Lady or the boy, choose wisely."

The girl was hesitating … "The Owl Lady." Lucifer spoke strongly. "Pick Mom."

"Lucci..! No, I can't!"

"The whole point in doing this was to save her. And besides, it's alright …" The boy sent him a smirk that looked just like his mother . "I get to go out knowing that Belos personally took me out, with an attack that strong, out of fear ."

"I fear nothing , brat." Belos commanded.

"Oh, I know a lie when I see one, Boolus ." The spawn snickered. "You wouldn't be going this far over two kids if you weren't afraid of something. The mighty Emperor, afraid of losing to two mere children. Oh if only the audience outside could see just how weak and pathetic you really are."

Belos glared at him, dissipating the magic. "You're just like your mother." He sent the child away. "Enjoy petrification for the public, brat." They turned back to Luz. "The portal for the Owl Lady."

" Fine…" She tossed it over before getting on the platform. "I'm sorry, mom." 

"There, there.." He grabbed it. "Now go on, go be a hero. One life saved is better than no lives after all."

The girl glared at him. "I'm not the only one who switches things at the last minute, Belos." She raised the palismin staff high, a burning sensation entering his hand.

"What!?" He looked at the handle…A fire glyph on it.

"I may have lost…but so have you." She glared, stamping the staff down…

KABOOM

The portal was in pieces….over four hundred years of searching, and it was finally in his hands…..

Ohhh … if he didn't need her alive …

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

King stared at the audience. "Wow, I didn't think so many people would show up to a public execution." He noted.

"Well, a lot of people want me dead." Eda nodded. "Now could you move to the right, I'm not finished trying to murder my sister."

"Edalyn, I was trying to help…!"

"A fat load that did, now look at where we are!" Eda pounced on top of her sister and pressed her claw against her chest. "I'm cursed, King's about to be petrified with me, and my other kids are stuck with BELOS!" Eda pressed down hard. "If they come out of this with even just ONE hair out of place, I'll make sure I'm petrified with your disembodied head in my mouth!"

"Ah…you might be doing that sooner than you think." King pointed out to the stage…where a beaten and bloodied Lucci was being dragged to the middle of it.

"LUCCCCII!" Eda quickly ran to the bars, which wouldn't budge an inch no matter how much she pried on the bars.

"Hey mom!" The boy called out, coughing. "I think we … negotiated your release." He laughed weakly.

"Lucci please, it's gonna be okay!" She continued to try and fight against the bars. "King, please, you need to slip out and do something."

"I would if I could!" King demonstrated, trying to slip his boney head through the bars, only to get shocked as a result. "It's slip proof!"

"Guys, relax, once the show starts and I'm petrified, Luz will come and break you guys out. Three out of four people saved…then again Lilith's one of those, so that's a minus one if anything." The boy coughed. "Half credit is still passing, right?"

"I didn't mean to … he shouldn't have come." Lilith cried.

"Please no, please he's just a boy!" She shouted out.

King watched as a small portion of the crowd cheered. "END THAT SON OF A BITCH!" That Tibbles guy cried out.

"Really feeling the love here. If only I had my lute." Lucci still kept joking even as the Petrification statue began rising out of the ground. "This is the biggest audience I'll ever have, such a shame."

"LUCCCIII!" They turned back down to the crowd, where they could see Willow and the other hexide kids begin making their way to the front of the crowd. "Don't worry, we can still find a way out of this..!"

"Save your strength Willow, we all know this was going to happen one of these days!" Lucci called back out, his voice sounding like it was starting to strain. "Hey, at least Luz is still around, Law can still be a thing even without me."

"You can't just be replaced, that's not how friends work!" Amity called out!

"Heh, well you know how terrible I am at making friends." He was really going to do this…he was really just…accepting his death.

"Please don't do this." Eda begged. "Please don't take my boy."

Luz rose from the ground, running over to Eda. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Eda." She cried. "Something happened when we fought the Emperor and he got so rage filled and .. and …"

"Citizens of the Boiling Isles!" The tiny witch woman announced, walking over to the Petrification machine. "Today we commence the Petrification ceremony. Eda the Owl Lady has committed numerous crimes against the Emperor, most notably of all, being a Wild Witch! Let her be an example to all that oppose the Titan's will. We shall start by petrifying her son, Lucifer Clawthorne, right in front of her so she knows the weight of her crimes before she suffers the same fate!"

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" The woman shouted. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!"

King watched as the statue began to charge up, glaring down at the boy. "Lucci please!"

The boy turned to King, looking into his eyes. "... Thank you … for being my brother." Lucci responded with a smile. With those final words, the process began. The statue fired off right at Lucci. "GAAAAHHHH!!"

"LUCCI!" Luz and everyone else cried out.

The boy thrashed around in his bindings, breaking them off. "GAAHHH!! AAGGG! GRAAA!" Familiar claws began to form as he shifted, parts of him turning to stone and back, as if his body was trying to fight it off.

"A strong willed child." The tiny midget commented as she created a circle, the beam of energy doubling in size as it enveloped him further.

"GRAAA!! GRAAA!!" Lucci animalistically cried out, his body glowing brrightly as it was covered in stone, his mouth becoming brighter and brighter. "GRAAA!! GRAAAKK!!" It became so bright that it became hard to see.

VROOOOM

Before they shot off a laser and enveloped the petrification tower, leaving nothing but a hot wake of destruction … and a petrified Lucci. "Lucci …" King cried. "LUCCI!"

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

Shalisha had many things to focus on in her life. One-upping the bitch known as Odalia Blight whenever she could, keepening Eden in line and focused on her, and making sure Boscha shined like the brightest star. It was these three main factors in her life that motivated her to succeed so much in her potion making business.

She made sure to always move forward, strengthen herself physically, increase her intellect, and it helped that the Coven Head for potions focused more on the experimentation of potions and wasn't actual competition for her. As long as she stayed ruthless and powerful, she would succeed in life.

And those that weren't … fell to the same fate as the Owl Lady, trapped in a cage, watching her own son turned to stone. A shame too, the boy had talent if fighting off his own petrification was any indication. She glanced at the destructive wake of the tower, clearly indicating no more petrifications for the day. 

She turned her gaze to the horrified Eden (always was a softy, but that's what made her so moldable and easy to keep in line), and the dazed Boscha. "Did you know him?" Shalisha asked her daughter.

"Yes….no...just a little…" Her three eyed super star looked away, staring at the ground. "He was my date to Grom…he was the only reason why it didn't suck." Boscha huffed.

"I'm so sorry sweetie!" Eden was being her smothering self once more, glomping onto their daughter. "No one should have to have someone they like ripped away like that."

"You're embarrassing yourself Eden." She chided.

"Yeah mom, it's dumb for me to feel anything. I barely knew him." Boscha crossed her arms, though her eyes were still looking at the ground downtrodden. "Let's just get out of here."

"Well, it appears we can't petrify anyone else today!" Kikimora shouted out. "Thus, we shall execute the Owl Lady with impalement!" The cage lowered, as multiple guards started to walk in.

"Oh no you don't!" That little human girl Boscha always complained about shouted, creating vines with little pads of paper and tossing away any guards that got close. "I'm not going to lose any more family to you bastards if it's the last thing I do!"

So it was going to be a brawl? Well that was only slightly as interesting. Especially if the Owl Lady was reduced to an animalistic state. Then again if the boy's manticore transformation was anything, it proved that there was a slight power-

Crack

-boost … what was that noise? "What…what just happened?" The Owl lady, from her sobbing state, asked out loud.

Crackle

"Look!" The tiny…She wanted to say half dead cat…pointed to the petrified statute of the boy.

Crick Crick Crack

Which was beginning to show wear and tear, cracks appearing with many pink lines as they spread all over the statue. "I …" The former Emperor Coven head stared in confusion. "What's going …"

SHATTER

With a pink explosion, dust covered the arena, blasting all participants back. A few seconds later it finally died down, giving them a clear view of the situation.

"Grrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaggggghhhh!" The boy, the one that was just petrified, emerged from the rubble, glowing pink as the more animalistic parts of the beastial form began to shrink away. " Aaaaaaaagggg aasaaaah!" The boy's roar became much less raspy to. "Ugh, I have the worst creak in the neck like you wouldn't believe, man I feel so stiff all over."

"LUCCI!" The Owl Beast cried out, jumping onto the child. "You're alive!"

"I'm what now?" The boy looked at himself. "Please tell me this is real and not just some horrible dream from my Stoney existence."

The human walked up and slapped his face. "Could you feel that!?" She shouted with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"Okay one, ow, two, really? Three." The boy brought the girl into a hug. "Heh, so much for petrification being the worst punishment. I lived! I can survive anything!"

Shalisha took a small glance at her daughter, whose eyes were now completely glued to the stage in front of them. "He made it…he's alive…" The faintest signs of red began to form in her face. "He's…really powerful…"

"I suppose he is." She muttered, taking note of the interest. If this boy surpassed Coven Heads at such a young age … he'd ascend Boscha's standing to the next level. Of course given that he was the son of criminal made things a little messy….but she been around to know people like Oldalia didn't make it as far as they did without bending the rules.

"Suck it Emperor's Coven!" The brave boy shouted proudly. "Even you can't stop the Clawthornes from-"

"Lucci!" The cat thing shouted. "You survived the petrification, but your clothes didn't!" Yes … in front of the family with photographic memory no less … she really hoped Eden would be strict with the 'nothing before marriage' talk.

The boy looked at himself again for a quick second, before hiding behind the owl beast. "Okay, can we make do with escaping now before we tempt fate anymore than we already have?"

"What are you waiting for!" Kikimora shouted at the dazed Coven Scouts. "Kill them!"

"Not today, suckers!" The owl lady shouted. "Quick, everyone hop on, I'm flying us out of here!"

"Have you ever done that before!?" The human yelled.

"Now's as good a time as any for a test run!" The Owl beast shouted as the whole group of criminals got on, the owl creature ascending to the sky.

"Shoot them down!" The tiny demon shouted. "Chase after them! Whatever you do, do not let them escape!"

"Leave them." Everyone on and around the stage froze, stiffening at the sound of the calm, authoritative voice entering the area.

"L-Lord Belos." Kikimora shook. "I can assure you that I can.."

"Children of the Isles!" The Emperor ignored the midget, and turned to the audience. "I have come to spread news of the Titan's will! He has told me to spare the Owl's Lady's life, but in turn, her curse is to stay, stripping her of all her magic, permanently, for that is the faith of anyone who tampers with wild magic."

She could see the crowd muttering among itself. A sigh of relief came from Eden's throat. "Thank you titan, another soul lives their life …" Like she said, so soft.

"However, I, as well as all of you have just bore witness to, a new threat had risen today, a threat in the form of a boy, who within him holds the power of the devil itself." The emperor continued to announce. "Such a power will one day destroy all we've yet to achieve. So be assured that they will meet with the cruel jaws of death."

"A devil …" She had heard about the immortality of Crystal Devils, and it made sense that they couldn't be petrified … how curious. The boy just became more and more of an interest.

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

Centi rolled on the ground, hearing the noise near the front of the house. They began to hiss, threatening as they began to grow and fight off the intruder. "Luz, can you get your murder bug under control, I don't feel like smelling melted feather's today." The giant owl creature noted as family bodies hopped off its back.

"It's okay Centi, Eda's a friend, no need to melt her face off." The girl patted her mane.

They paused, sniffing the creature. "Kkrkrkrkr." It smelled like the limbless lady, so they were an ally.

"….After hearing about Lucifer being a Crystal Devil, this somehow still manages to shock me." The new lady, smelling like a race of bird.

"I'm sorry, I'm a what now!?! ?" The pink boy questioned.

"Oh … well, I kinda learned it from the Rainbow Devil, but I was kinda hoping to prove her wrong." The limbless … the Owl Lady chuckled nervously. "Although given the shapeshifting and fighting off petrification …"

The pink boy looked pale. "Alright, Owlbert, stay far away from me. I can't trust you to be around me."

"Hoot." The delicious smelling thing immediately landed on the pink boy's head.

"I think that's a sign that he trusts you." The girl giggled. "Besides, each time you shifted, you never felt the urge to eat Palisman, right?"

"No … just the urge to hurt someone who deserves it." The boy growled. "Speaking of.."

"Lucci, this isn't the time to hold a grudge." The Owl lady got in front of the raven smelling lady.

"She trapped you like this! Who knows how long you'll have sanity in this state?!" The pink boy shouted. "Lilith caused everything, and now she'll know what it's like to be a criminal, rejected by family!"

"Lucifer…Edalyn…Luz…" The woman looked down. "I know that there's nothing I can do that can make up for what I've done, but…please allow me to at least ease my sister's burden." She approached the owl lady and placed her hand on her head.

"What are you doing?" The girl looked ready to attack.

"What I should've done years ago." The raven woman responded. " With this spell declared, let the pain be shared." 

A bright blue warm glow overshadowed the two for a minute, the owl lady shifting to a more bipedal state and losing her feathers as the raven woman began to look a little more avian-like than she did a few seconds ago.

The pink boy paused. "Mom … are you …"

The owl lady looked herself over. "Well I feel alright." They looked into a reflection. "And I can rock this heterochromia."

"Too soon for the puns." The girl laughed. "How about your magic?"

The woman waved her fingers in a single, making a bright glow…that shut off immediately and fell to the ground like glass. "Nada. I think we've closed the book on that front."

"Same." The raven woman looked at her palms. "I feel weaker as well."

"If it means you won't turn into a giant mindless monster, I think it's a fine tradeoff." The pink boy grinned. "I'll just need to up my barriers for the boiling rain … and the gorenadoes … and adding a magical kick to potions….and I'll need to compensate for the lack of human junk we'll have around the house now."

"Worst case scenario, no more red velvet to watch on the weekends." The girl Centi liked shrugged. "I'm sorry Eda, I had to destroy the portal."

"Are you kidding? You cracked the emperor's mask, singed his robes, and somehow lived to tell the tale. I'm downright impressed kiddo." The ruffled her hair. "I can find myself a new job to work on."

"Oh, speaking of, did you really have to come up with such a lame lie to scare me off?" The pink boy looked at the owl woman.

"…Lie?" She responded slowly.

"Seriously mom, I get you trying to protect me, but you should've done better than saying I'm from the human realm. Even the Crystal Devil thing is somehow looking more believable-"

"Lucci, feel your ears." The old owl commanded.

"My ears?" The pink boy asked, confused; doing so. "They're still there, nice and round like.." He paused. "Why are my ears round? Those are only found on.." He paused. "Luz, I think our fusion messed something up."

"Dude, think about what's happening right now." The girl responded. "You once said Eda never does anything without a reason. So what reason would she have to keep telling you this?"

"…. Alright." He nodded slowly. "I'm part human….and somehow part crystal devil …" He looked at himself. "And … that's something I'm going to have to process for the next week or so."

"Yes…" The owl lady sighed. "I barely understand how your powers work. I don't know if you have a mom or dad in the human world that I took you from…but…" The woman began to cry. "You're not-"

"No." The pink boy said resolutely. "If there's one lie I'm always going to believe, it's that you're my mom. Not the one who gave birth to me, but the one who raised me as her own. Nobody else will ever take that from you, ever." 

They looked at the boy, before breaking into even larger tears and crying. "I'm so lucky to have someone like you in my life!" They bawled out.

"You know …" The fuzzy one that once more rested on their head started slowly. "Now that we know the truth, and Eda never had a kid … that means we can hook her up with someone!"

The warm girl gasped. "Real life shipping."

"Nope! I have one parent only! I don't need another one!"

"Didn't we do multiple quests looking for your dad?" The girl asked.

"You've only been here for two months." The fuzzy one spoke exasperated. "You should have seen what he did when he thought his dad was Steve."

"Oh, that explains why there were more fractures than usual when we found him in your bubble." The raven woman noted.

"So … thank you for the temporary cure." The boy nodded within his hug. "Hooty, you can escort the woman away from our home now."

"Lucci, she has nowhere to go." The owl lady looked down at the boy. "She's going to stay here for now." She leaned down to his ear. "We're going to milk the guilt for all its worth."

"... Fine." The boy grumbled. "Can we at least have a night in the nest?"

"Yes, family cuddle in the nest!"

"Oh, can we bring Centi?" The girl questioned.

"Krkrkrkr."

"... If she drools, it's on you."