Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: Some relaxation before it all goes crazy again

Zzzt

"What's up, human world!?" Luz shouted into her phone. "It's me, Luz Nocdea, recording some images live from the demon realm from her humble abode. I'm currently a little…stuck here at the moment, but that's a small hurdle I'll be able to overcome eventually." It had only been about two days since the pretrication incident, and Luz was already scrambling to find something to keep her mind busy.

"I hope you're all listening, dear viewers, especially one certain Camila Noceda, who is back home in graves field completely unaware of the fact that I'm not at summer camp right now. Boy, I'm probably going to get the grounding of a lifetime when I get back." She weakly joked, assuming that she would come back at all.

"So right now I'm keeping myself a small diary of my daily life here in the Boiling Isles." Luz grinned. "You know, so I can shove it in the face of so many people."

"That's the spirit!" Many voices shouted out.

"Ah yes, let me introduce you to my current family."

ZZZT

"The Owl Lady, Eda Clawthorne, the most dangerous criminal in the Boiling Isles." Luz shows off the woman as they walked down the street.

"Ah yes, as you can see." The woman gestured to a wanted poster. "I strike fear into the hear of every-"

"Move it, hazbin." A Coven Scout walked up and tore down her poster, placing one of Lucci. "We need to make way for the real criminals in the city."

"Hey, do you know who I am!?" Eda shouted.

"Yeah, the Owl Lady. You don't have magic, which means you being covenless doesn't mean a damn thing to us anymore." There was a moment of silence. "Nananana, you can't do anything to me anymore, bitch!"

"Hey, that's my mom you're talking to!" A giant pink disk made it's way into the man's stomach.

"And this would be Lucifer Clawthorne, her son. And yes, he is named after the devil." Luz turned the camera over to the boy. "We just call him Lucci though. He was that typical emo child, thinking he was too cool for people, but I wore him down, and now we're best friends for life."

"Surrender Devil Child, by order of Emperor Belos, you are to be exterminated on sight!" More guards began to circle him.

"Boolus can suck it!" The boy shouted, creating many razor disks. "Anarchy for life!"

"… Let's focus on something else."

ZZZZT

"Aww." Luz showed off a sleeping King resting on Centi. "Adorable … and total proof I did have a giant centipede monster as a friend in the woods. Take that everyone I've ever met." She would gloat about this until the day she died.

"Ugh, just let me sleep." King moaned.

"Fun fact, Centi here is actually apart of a species called 'Crystal devils', but don't let the name fool you, she's a sweet as a peach." Luz scratched the bug girl's head.

"Krkrkrkr." They gently purred, causing King to sigh contently.

"And King's …" She frowned, slowly walking out of the room and making her way to Eda. "What exactly is King?"

"Cuter than words can describe and lazier than a sack of bones?" Eda snorted.

"You have no idea, do you?" Luz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't know Lucci was a crystal devil either, doesn't stop me from loving him." The woman ruffled his hair.

"Wait, does this mean I can live off of sunlight?" The boy questioned. "… Test fest time!"

ZZZZT

"As previously stated before, Lucci is in fact a crystal devil just like Centi, but he's alsohalf human, man some people get all the luck." If only she was born with a rock in her stomach. "Here, we can see Lucci in 'test fest' mode, trying out random powers." Luz explained, showing off the scene.

"I can fuse with people … but can I fuse with animals?" The boy asked, staring at a firebee in a jar. "... One way to find out!"

ZZZZZT

"I can't! I really can't!" Lucci shouted while trying to put out the fire.

"Ahhhh! They got into my hair! Why won't they leave me alone!?" Lilith ran through, rolling on the floor as Eda tried to put her out.

"For those of you that can make out anything from all the fire and smoke, that's Lilith Clawthorne, Eda's sister. She was once a powerful witch too that worked for the emperor, but after we found out she cursed Eda, she felt guilty and split the curse."

"Not that it makes up for everything!" Lucci shouted among the smoke.

"I'm trying my best here-my eyes!"

BZZZT

"That was everyone in the house, now I'll show you my fellow students of Hexide." Luz smiled at the camera.

"What about Hooty?"

"I'm trying to impress people, Lucci, not scar them for eternity." She rolled her eyes. "Starting us off is my first and, in my opinion, closest friend behind Lucci and King, Willow Park."

"Hello human world. I present you the marvelous gift of nature as a branch of my appreciation for you." Willow waved her hands and summoned a tree, shaped and molded to look just like Luz.

"She's also currently the strongest, if not most ruthless, witch you'll ever come across." Lucci added on to the commentary. "Never engage her in a one on one fight, you will lose, hard."

"Glad to see I can invoke fear in even the most dangerous witch on the boiling isles." Willow giggled with a tone that didn't belong on her sweet face.

ZZZZT

"Next up, Gus, a former member of the Human Appreciation Society." Luz showed off the disappointed boy.

"I still can't believe Matt became president, and scored a date for Grom." He grumbled. "But, enough about that, let's focus on me. I wish to establish peace between our nations, and one day, bring back the giraffes."

"You demented psychopath." Lucci commented with a shiver. "Those weirdos were banished for a reason, and you want to engage with those deranged soul sucking parasites?"

"It's been over a thousand years, they've probably mellowed out by now…,unless earth is a post apocalyptic nightmare and the giraffes have taken dominance." Gus turned to her. "That isn't the case, right?"

"Why is this the weirdest conversation I've had since coming to the Boiling Isles?" Luz lamented.

"Why aren't you denying it?!"

BZZZT

"And this here is Skara. Bard and buddy of the crazy lady Lucci had a crush on."

"Why is that last part relevant to the conversation?" Lucci asked. 

"Because I am not getting my phone anywhere within ten feet of Boscha. We both know she'll break it."

"To be fair, that's because you have a habit of insulting her personally whenever you're around her." Skara brought up. "Anyways, me and Ole Lucci have been jamming together for years. We're practically inseparable!" The girl leaned on the boy. "I'm the zig, and he's the zag."

"I'm surprised you haven't formed a band." Luz noted.

"Nobody survived the first verse with us." Her roomate shrugged. "Until we find someone to match our sheer awesome skill, we're stuck as a duet."

"The deadliest duet in all of Hexide! Bard Besties forever!" She shouted.

BZZZT

"And this here is Amity." Luz showed off the girl. "She was once stuck up, but like Lucci, she learned to be a better person, and now she's one of the most talented friends I have."

"Wait, what's happening, I just got here, what's going on?" The girl's face was getting red all over for some reason when she came close to her.

"Luz is making a documentary diary for the human world, since the portal was destroyed." Lucci explained, before smirking for some strange reason. "This may be the first impression you make on her mother."

"Her mom?! I'm not ready!" The girl quickly ran down the hall, tripping over a rock as she cracked herself back to her feet. "I'll be back later when I've prepared!"

"What's got her all wound up? I just wanted her to say hello or something." Luz asked out loud.

"Meh, who knows. Let's just see …" Lucci paused. "You know, besides Bump, I think that's everyone we know."

"Ooh, that reminds me! I haven't shown off the best part! Lucci, hold my phone!" She handed the boy and had it pointed to her. "Back home; no one believed it was possible for a human to do real magic, but guess what?" She took out a glyph and made a light orb. "Bam, real magic!" She waved it out in the air. "I've learned so much in just two months, and it's made me very popular.."

"AGGGH! My best eye!" Luz turned to see that she had accidentally sent the light orb…to Boscha's face. "Human, get your stupid tricks out of my face or I'll melt your face off!" She began making a magic circle to blast off a fireball right at Luz's head.

"Run!" Luz began booking it.

"Nice to see you again Boscha, do something with your hair?" Lucci asked with a smile.

"Just because I'm glad you're not dead doesn't mean I won't make you suffer the same fate!" She began hurling her fire. "And yes I did! Thank you for noticing!" Such a strange life she had now. Hopefully her mom could see the beauty in it when she came back.

Zzzzzzt

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

Belos looked over to the Construction Coven Head as they spoke up. "So let me get this straight." Mason began. "You want us to rebuild a highly theoretical construct decades ahead of our own capability, without the knowledge of wild magic to make the combination of magics easier, and find an alternative power source to titan's blood, the most powerful substance in the world … within the span of a few months?"

"I'm sorry, did you hear me stutter ?" He calmly threatened. 

"No my lord. I'll do my best …" The man relented. "But I'm not sure about the Titan's Blood. Even with our artificial magic generator, we only have enough to sustain ten staffs a month, two of which are used by you and the Golden Guard."

"Leave securing the titans blood to me and the Emperor's coven. You shall focus on repairing the portal door, or do I need to look into securing a new head of the construction before the day of unity?" 

"No my lord, it shall be done." They walked away, a quiet mutter as they left the throne room.

Philip would have simply made the door again … he really would have, even if it took him another four hundred years…if it wasn't for a certain thorn putting an end to that. "Collector." He calmly stated to the empty room, as he waited on his 'nephew' to arrive.

"Oooooh, been a while since you called me! Usually I have to constantly beg you for a decent chat! Something must be wrong if your in a talkative mood." A familiar shadow crawled along the wall.

The collector, the only being he could truly say was genuinely psychotic given their conversations. Although, even if they were abominations of god that would need to be ridden of existence, their usefulness was paramount … as long as he could word it in a way that was beneficial to both of their mindsets. "What is your opinion on a player that was out joining back in?"

"Wait, your serious? Pinky's come back!?" The childish deity gasped in unearthly glee.

"That is what I wanted to ask you." He turned to the being. "Despite being locked up, you have an unnatural sense of knowledge." From Glyphs, to physics, to sentences that plagued his mind and whispered the devil's tongue in the back of it, to what was happening in a forest downtown. "And during the petrification ceremony, there was a boy with her stone embedded into their stomach."

"Woah, a little rose bud! Would've never thought the old gall had it in her." The all powerful child chuckled. "Hm, well some people have taken gems to power themselves up in the past, but the Pinky I know was rather fond of her 'grown up' games, if you know what I mean."

"Believe me, I know." The fact she bisected him from the torso down wasn't the only thing she haunted him with. He shivered. "My question is, do you believe her consciousness to still be around inside of that stone?"

" Ooh, a toughie. Been a good millennia since I've had a good brain teaser."  The child rolled his head, quite literally, as it spun around in circles. " Did the rose bud have all her powers, sheilds and all that jazz?"

Philip pondered that. "They weren't all there, and they were weaker than our last encounter." If she was as strong as she was back then, it would have been worse.

"Then nah, It's a new player all together." They laughed. "Can you imagine it? A gem combined with life? The power to grow combined with the power of Pinky?" The collector grew tall, forming into a thorny hand. "Endlessly smarter and tougher, a good playmate!"

The idea of these savage and psychotic powers colliding was a nightmare in itself. Adding in their childish instincts, and no life form would be able to survive the first ten seconds of their meeting.

Philip's identity was safe for the time being, along with his plans, but if that child reached the height of their powers before the day of unity, or became capable of accessing the memories that stone held…it could throw everything off. It could even prevent the time-loop from being fulfilled if the information reached Luz too soon. "You're worried, aren't you?" The collector asked with a grin, leaning in closer. "That this new rook is gonna take out the mighty king?"

"A tad bit, but nothing overwhelming." He denied. "I'll simply give the Golden Guard their first assignment." Just like Lilith's first one.

"Two new players, how fun! But just remember." Multiple stars with eyes and ears formed along the walls. "If you ever need me … I'll be watching and listening."Before they vanished back to that prison dimension they kept complaining about.

"So useful, yet so annoying." Belos grumbled. He would feel a hell of a lot better, and saner, when he was finally able to clean himself of the psycho's presence, as well as the rest of this world.

Belos waited a bit longer, before Hunter finally entered the room. "You wanted to see me, Lord Belos?"

"Yes." He gave a short nod, standing as he made his way to the boy, slowly standing above them. "Lilith Clawthorne has become a defector. You are now the head of the Emperor's Coven."

"I…I.." The boy stammered, before he quickly bowed. "I am honored to be granted such a position. I promise to serve you and the Boiling Isles proudly." Already this new Grimwalker, one he not so subtly named hunter, was more submissive than the previous iteration.

"I expect you to carry on our mission. For the sake of bringing peace to the Isles." He told the child, leaning down and patting their shoulder. "Wild Magic must be eradicated at all costs."

"I will search the bottom of the boiling sea to destroy every inch and trace of it." Hunter responded.

"And as I'm sure you are fully aware of, the day of unity is coming upon us. Every witch is to be assigned a coven. Even if you have to bind them to the ground and cut off their legs, every witch must be branded with a sigil for everything to go right."

"I will do as I must … uncle." They nodded. It seemed he finally managed to get one without the squeamish properties that usually popped up.

"However, for now leave that to Kikimora." He responded. "The titan has a mission for you, one of vital importance."

Their eyes widened. "I've waited my entire life for this." He muttered under his breath. "I am ready to carry out the will of the Titan and enact his plans, Lord Belos." Ah, fanaticism, always a perfect way to motivate someone. Second only to true loyalty.

"Lucifer Clawthorne, the son of the Owl lady. He is too much of a threat to let roam freely. Inside of him is the power of the devils themselves. You are to eradicate his existence, by any means necessary. Not a speck of blood left, not a single cell of skin on the ground. Any means necessary … Am I understood?" Philip asked.

"I understand uncle." Good, glad to see this one was obedient. "He seems to be close to the human, I'll use their life as collateral to force him to surrender."

This was where Philip needed to tread carefully. The head of the Oracle coven explained to him thoroughly that time was inevitable. The loop would close, which meant, theoretically, Luz would survive just long enough to complete it. However, he had to consider the possibility that she survived because he stopped any needless harm from coming her way.

"The titan has plans for the human realm, and thus the human here plays an interesting role." He told Hunter. "I would think twice about using her as a pawn." Belos would let them sit on that for a moment.

Hunter looked up at him questioningly, likely confused, but nodded all the same. "I see. It'll be hard to find other attachments, but I'll exploit some angle out of him."

"Very well, you may leave now." The boy nodded, making his way to the door, leaving Belos in peace once more.

The human, the spawn, around the same time … was it all a coincidence? The titan's will was definitely a factor in the world, almost as strong as the inevitable force of fate that controlled all things. The human already had four glyphs within months, when it took him years to discover them.

Was the sheer force of the universe denying his noble quest? Was Philip Wittibane destined to fail….."No." He gripped hard, feeling his form almost destabilize from his frustration. He's had to sacrifice his whole life to this cause. His humanity, his freedom, and his family. All of it was to finally end the scourge, the true source of evil in any world… witches .

He's lived this long, and thanks to that vile thorn in his side, he'll be able to live long after his mission was complete, to ensure humanity was safe, and to finally see the fruits of his labor with the adoration he rightfully deserved, as any good hero deserved.

All he needed was some careful planning, and patience … and he's had centuries to practice both.

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

Bismuth took a gasp of air as she reformed … which was the wrong thing to do, considering the inside of her mouth was IMMEDIATELY filled with dirt. The gem tried looking around, finding nothing but darkness. She was buried, deep. She felt so weak and drained. It was gonna take a week to climb out of this.

Where had she gone wrong here? Bismuth had done everything in her power to do the right thing, ever since Rose, that pink bitch, before she showed her true colors, showed her that she was more than 'just a bismuth', that she was the Bismuth, the roughest, toughest, most dexterous Crystal Gem around. 

Even when that was taken away from her, when she was taken away from all her friends, Little Laramar, Snowflake, Biggs, Crazy Legs….Pearl...and forced into this strange new world without knowing what the heck happened or how much timed passed, Bismuth found a way to get her groove back.

Fighting for these people, their freedom, against the tyrant king. She's faced off against many would-be dictators of this land, fought so many creatures that would've disseminated this world without her help, without her Bismuth . That all led up to her eventual confrontation against the supposed Emperor. Against Belos. She would've smashed that bastard's head into goo a long time ago…but her victories were proven to be minor in the grand scheme of things.

Bismuth was strong, tough, and willing to go through more punishment than any normal gem would be willing to subject themselves through. She was stronger than strong, and tougher than tough….but these witches were strong too…stronger than any human she's ever seen. She felt that she would've been shattered by that Golden tool had she not landed that final blow on him.

And Edalyn … that poor gal. So strong, fierce, powerful, funny, wise … tricked by Rose, helping them and whatever sick plan she had for the Boiling Isles … the place Bismuth could finally call home after such a long time.

She began to force her hands up, slowly pushing her way through the dirt. Bit by bit, she'd dig her way out. Bit by bit, she'd build up her strength. Bit by bit, she'd reach the end of every enemy. All she needed was willpower, and materials, and time … she'd finish this.

Bismuth didn't know how she ended up in this world, or even cared why. This place had a purpose for her, and she loved every minute of it. If Rose thought she could take EVERYTHING away from her again, then the pink bitch had another thing coming. Rose…Pink Diamond…whoever the hell she was, she was going to pay for everything .

Her hand's began to light up red with a blazing fire, a neat little trick she's learned thanks to the 'magic' of this world. She didn't know how it worked, but it made building and crafting, something that she loved already and could do with her eyes closed, about a hundred times easier.

Slowly the earth around her became more liquid, more fluid, and thus, easier to shift through, and control. Bismuth pushed up more and more, slowly gaining progress as she traveled. Further and further … how deep did those chicks bury her!?

After what felt like days, she finally reached air. Grinning, she pushed herself forward, exposing her gem to the light, taking in the rays and the lack of pressure on her body. "Finally….FINALLY!" Her entire body lit out in a blaze, the magma boiling out of the ground below her. "The Rainbow Devil is back in action!!"

Alright, first thing first, figure out how much time had passed, and figure out how much changed within that passage of time. Bismuth crawled to the city, prepared to scare some mook into telling her everything she needed to know. "Hey, you, no loitering on the grass!" Perfect, an uptight Emperor Coven's scout that's a stickler for the rules. Exactly what the witch doctor ordered.

"Of course sir." She chuckled, making her way to him. "I'm terribly sorry, I woke up later than I intended." She could see the recognition and fear in his eyes. "Could you tell me the date?"

The man gulped, taking a nervous step back. "It's the um … third month of the hot season, fifth day."

"A whole month…they had me buried for over a month! No wonder I felt so drained!" She grumbled, stomping her foot on the ground. "Tell me everything that happened within the last month buddy."

"Oh … nobody's ever asked me that." The man blinked. "Well, believe it or not, I got myself a pet! Their name is Charly, and she has the most adorable little pur you wouldn't ever believe."

"No, you dingus, important events! Like, big announcements or incidents." She growled.

"Ah … well, the Owl Lady is no longer the most wanted criminal in the Boiling Isles."

"Really?" She wasn't sure if that made her happy or not. "What, she just gave you suckers the slip one too many times and decided to call it quits?"

"Nope, she can't do magic anymore, the curse went a biiit to hard on her body. Now we're hunting her kid, some child with Crystal Devil powers if you could believe it."

"Oh, is that a fact now?" She looked to the posters plastered on the wall. One depicting the image of the 'child' with horns and wings, looking particularly feline in design. "Manticore menace, huh?" She read the epithet.

"Turned into a lookalike and blew the whole place up." The man answered. "... Can I run away in terror now?"

"Please, by all means." She let go of him and swung at the wall with a hammer hand. "The whole world is against you now, Rose. Let's see just how long you can survive."

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

Hettie Cutburn walked into the familiar lab of one of the few respectable Coven Heads that existed. She watched the scientist, who was thoroughly invested in a list of papers.

"Why … reports say there were light, fire, plant, and ice reported from the human." Vitimir muttered, staring at a circle. "Why these four elements? How do they make up the vast majority of our system of magic? Fire and Light both count as energy, and the Plant is a highly complex life to count as a basic element." The man looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep for about a week…..again. "Is all the magic we use truly that simple and basic? That implies that the only pure form of magic in the coven system is Plant…"

"Vitimir." She introduced herself.

The man turned to her with a curious glint in his eyes. "Cutburn. What brings you to my workplace? Usually you only offer a notice when there's an interesting copse at the morgue." Well yes, because as much as she made exceptions, she still had a healer's oath to attend to.

"Normally that would be the case, but I believe in light of certain events as of late, there's a notable pest roaming the isles that aligns our interests together."

"I don't have pests as much as I have annoying test subjects." The man answered. "As long as I can explore something new or interesting, I don't mind organisms existing."

Hettie hummed. "Then I would like to try an avenue of my own …" She spoke up. "Three Crystal Devils, to experiment on."

Vitimir stared at her for a few moments. "Give me the data when you're finished, and you have free reign."

"Of course." She grinned, trying to hide the thoughts of vindictive pleasure behind her smile. Fourteen years….fourteen agonizing years of suffering were about to pay off. "In fact, I'm willing to offer compensation now, if you wish."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Information so quickly?"

"It's not data based." Vitimir scoffed at that, going back to their papers. "But it is the location of some children you once complained about … at a fair?"

Vitimir's eyes widened in surprise, before it slowly turned to understanding. "Aaaaaaah, I was wondering why you were being so forward, I had almost forgotten about your little vendetta against the Clawthornes."

"Just offering you a head start on capturing them alive before I obliterated his hope along with every cell in his body." Hettie shamelessly admitted. "I heard from Kikimora that those children were seen on a field trip … from Hexide."

The man chuckled, his laughter becoming more and more of a cackle. "To think the source of one of the greatest discoveries in magic right now resides at my old teaching grounds. I taught at that school for nearly thirty before I became a coven head."

"Oh really? I wouldn't know, I was a Glandus graduate." It was through all the hellish torment she went through daily there that she discovered just how far one could push healing magic in a combat scenario.

"You know, it's a miracle we can get along like we do." He muttered. "You can take the Crystal Devils … I have to run some research."

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

Lucci watched as the human girl sat down on the roof of the house. It had been a few hours since she finished making that little video diary of hers, and she'd been weirdly quiet about it. "Snail for your thoughts?"

"Not really, just…reflecting I guess." Luz responded.

"Video didn't come out how you wanted?" Lucci asked.

"I mean, it clearly shows how amazing your world is … but I can't send it to my mom, not with the portal gone." She said, lowering her head. "I really can't go back to the human realm … one way trip."

Stuck away from home, away from family…away from her mom. Lucci had heard her complain about her life in the human realm dozens of times before, and he would've joked that it was for the best…but this took her away from Luz's mom…no price anyone should have to pay. "I'm sorry Luz…you shouldn't have had to sacrifice seeing your mom just to save mine, that's not fair at all."

"Hey, my mom's still alive. I call that a win." She chuckled. "And I destroyed it so he couldn't get it … at least we did something against Belos that wasn't just making things worse."

"Yeah….but you still miss her, don't you?" Lucci asked. "Even if your world is the worst place ever, it still has you mom….something this place doesn't have."

"Come one, you know that I'm all about being the hero…this is just the tough choices heroes have to make." Luz wiped her eyes, staring up at the sky. "Just like the good witch Azura…sure this world is….really nothing like that world….but everyone's okay now….so it doesn't matter if a few things suck at the moment."

"Luz…it's okay to say things aren't completely okay…"

"No, things are okay!" She shouted back. "We're all alive, and we're all here! It doesn't matter if I would give up my soul just to see my mom's face one last time! We managed to egg out a win despite how much I've screwed up everyone's lives!

Lucci processed that for a moment. "You don't really think Boscha was right about that, do you?" He admired the three eyed girl to no end, but that didn't mean everything she said was right. She just didn't know Luz well enough.

"Isn't she? Eda no longer has magic because Lilith caught me…"

"Hey, she caught me too, I'm just as much to blame, probably more so." Lucci stopped her. "I got so stupid and angry I turned into a monster and let myself get captured."

"You were the closest thing there was to stopping Lilith from hurting Eda." Luz looked down at her hands. "And you heard her rant in the artifact room … Belos would have marched up to the house himself if she didn't hand her over."

"Yeah, it was a no win situation." Lucci added on. "But whatever screw ups that happened, it's not your fault Luz. It's Belos, and Lilith, and this whole crooked system of magic." Never before had he felt so comfortable being an outlaw.

"Yeah …" Luz sighed. "I know I shouldn't blame myself … but it's so easy when everyone else did something and contributed." They looked down. "I had glyphs that only did as much damage as King, and a sword that couldn't cut anything important."

"Luz…you landed the first hit on Belos, you cracked his mask." Lucci reminded the girl. "People have died for doing less against him, yet here you are, standing. Heck, I couldn't do much damage to him until we formed Glyphon." He chuckled. "I was able to use glyphs for the first time, so I'm only seeing positives here.

"True, Glyphon was pretty cool." She admitted, before frowning. "Do you remember it?"

"Yeah, I was there with you." He deadpanned. "I was half the fusion."

"No … the ground." Luz explained. "It was just lines, circles … and Glyphs."

"Right… Belos's magic…. when it didn't come from that staff…." He began to shiver. "Something about it just felt so… unnatural… like half of it was something completely out of this world, and the other half felt like a really good counterfeit." He looked at her. "But that means whatever power he has, you can catch up to him… you might be the only one who can."

Luz looked at her Glyphs. "Alrighty then … tomorrow, I look for a new Glyph, or die trying." She spoke determinedly.

"There's the naive optimism we've been missing." He chuckled, finally feeling like he could relax. Luz…it was only thanks to Luz that he was even here right now with his mom again. He owed her…everything. " There are times you drive me, shall we say, bananas…"

"Hm, you're singing now?" Luz asked, looking at him.

"And your mind is missin', no offense, a screw." The boy smirked.

"Pfft, for a second I thought you were being too nice." She laughed. "Don't worry, none taken."

"Still, whatever mess I land in…..Who is always understandin'?" Out of every friend he's had…."..... Nobody else but you." The one that stuck through him thick and thin. The one he felt he could take on the world with.

Luz continued to laugh. " Oh, your moodiness is now and then bewilderin'..."

"Looks like someone got their singing chops." He giggled.

"And your values may be, so to speak, askew."

"How else would a person make a living?" He snickered. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Who deserves a hero's trophy…..as we face each "catastro-phee"?..." 

"Not many people would ever describe me as a hero, myself included." He appreciated it all the same.

"Nobody else but you…." She stood up, standing in the moonlight, staring at him with those bright and innocent eyes he wanted to do nothing more than protect.

He stood up, and grabbed her hands, raising them up in the air. "Nobody else but you." They sang at the same time. "It's just our luck. We're stuck toge-ther…" Bound in an dimension, a whole world that was out to get them. "No….body else but you....Is crazy enough to believe we'll come through." So many death situations it was just best to run away from, but she went in head first.

"So you eagerness is….. let's face it, disastrous." He reminded the girl, recalling all the moments where her excitable nature got them in trouble.

"And you're more crazy than all the monkeys in a zoo." She winked back at him.

"I try my best. Just as long as it's not giraffes."

" But when life becomes distressin'....Who will I be S.O.S'in?" Once you face someone as evil as the Emperor together, you had no choice but to trust the one who fought along side you.

"If you're havin' trouble guessing, here's a clue….!" Luz swung around him.

"So you seem intoxicated…." He pointed a finger gun at her.

"And you're more than highly animated…." She pretended to catch it.

"And your nobody else but…..Nobody else but you!"

"We've turned...into a true-blue duo!" He lifted her into the air as they began to float.

"Hard times…..we've had a few…." Luz chuckled as they landed on a shield he placed below them in the air.

"Like we're thrown in the drink…." They began to spin.

"Like we're tossed out of town!" They spun in a whirlwind, going faster and faster.

"But when I start to sink,...hey, I'd rather go down…..!" They jumped in the air. "With nobody else but Y-O-U!"

They landed down on the ground, laughing. "I had my first musical number, and it was spent calling you crazy!" She hit the ground, holding her stomach. "I see why you always do it, that was the best."

"There's plenty more of those to come in the future, that I can assure you, my friend." He painted the girl on the back. "Luz….you're the best friend I have….and I trust you alot….more than I can trust most people." He gripped her hand. "So let's promise from here on out…we always trust each other. No lies, no half truths, we always stay honest with each other."

"Yeah, I can agree with that." She smiled. "All truths, here on out." Such an amazing friend he had … Luz was definitely the best for the Boiling Isles.