Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: Things change, and sometimes that's not okay

"I should have known." Eda watched as her kid rubbed King's back like a pet. "The LAW is evil, why did we name ourselves after our own demise?" He asked no one in particular. "Was it doomed from the start?"

The boy had been partially inconsiderable for the past two days. She didn't know what it was about, only that it had something to do with that little club he came up with those girls a while back from what she understood in between the sobs. 

"Lucci should've struck fear in them. Make them afraid to leave Lucci behind." King responded as he moaned in pleasure from the pats. The little guy had been talking a whole lot more lately, apparently taking the whole 'king of demons' story a little too literally. The sight was cute enough, she figured there was no harm letting him believe it a little while longer.

"But Francois isn't afraid of you, and he's your friend." Lucci countered. Eda wasn't sure if her kid was playing along or genuinely forgot about the trip to the temple.

"Francois is super afraid of my awesome might." King said. "That's the answer to everything."

"Wait, but I'm not afraid of you, and you're not afraid of me …" Lucci began crying, squeezing the creature. "Are you gonna leave me behind!?"

"King can't breathe! Ribs are being pressed!" The kid had a problem with controlling his strength occasionally. She still giggled remembering the time he squeezed her so hard her head popped off. Took a month to convince him it was natural.

"Alright, let poor King take his breath." She sat down and rubbed Lucci's back. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"We-me-I.." Lucci struggled to control his sobbing as he wiped his face. "Amity and Willow, we promised we'd be friends forever and cause chaos all over the island." He explained. "But a couple days ago Amity … she …"

Of course it was the Blight causing the trouble. She remembered Alador being more fun until he married Odalia. "She said something bad?" Eda took a guess.

"She invited us to her birthday. We didn't even get to go inside. Amity called Willow too weak to be her friend and told me I was alley scum she needed to wash off." Lucci sniffled. "I tried to talk to Willow after, but she just stayed in her house all day..I haven't seen either of them since then." He leaned his head into her chest. "We were supposed to be best friends forever. They never ran from me or got scared of me…so why did they lie to me?"

Eda's best guess was that the Blight parents got involved and extended their snooty overpriced hands over the situation. Still didn't excuse the kids from making her boy cry. "Well, you see Lucci, when people are born into money, they're born dumber than most people and replace their emotions with solid gold."

"Is-is that why we never feel guilty for robbing rich witches?" He asked as he sniffed.

"Exactly, they just end up snobby and believing the best way to get more is to hurt others. That's why they try and flood the market with mass produced knock offs." Her stuff was quality knock off. 

"B-but what about Willow? She's not rich and she hasn't talked to me either." Lucci sighed. "Is there something wrong with me? I thought they were my fellow carcass eating feathers."

She chuckled at the botched up metaphor. "Oh Lucci, the more you grow up, the more you'll realize that most people in this world will make attachments difficult. You can try as hard as you can, but in the end, sometimes it's better to cut ties off entirely."

"Oh." Lucci frowned. "But..but everyone can't be like that, right? At that shool place, there has to be one or two different people that'll accept me."

Eda knew those kids would be bad influences. He actually thought something good could come out of going to school. "Lucci, let me tell you here and now the absolute truth. School is nothing but a prison that tries to teach you the wrong things, has a social heiarchy that makes bad people powerful, and lock you into a coven."

"Really?" He asked. "But they made it sound so fun."

"Because they were raised by brainwashed adults whose parents brainwashed them, and so on and so forth." Eda explained further. "If you join, you'll be forced to only study one type of magic until the day you die, and even afterwards."

"How can they force me after I die?"

"Oracle magic." She answered. Never touched the stuff herself, knowing the future never ended well. "The point is that they're dummies who don't know what they threw away." She ruffled his head. "But you'll always have me, Kiddo."

"And me, ruler of all demons!" King shouted out. "I will crush all your enemies with my mighty army!"

"And me!" Hooty shouted. "The house that'll never leave you alone!" Some would call that a curse before calling it anything remotely positive.

"Yeah, I do have you guys…I have my family!" The kid jumped into the air and raised his hand up. "This is the best!" …. He didn't come back down, staying in the air as he looked at the group. "I can float?"

"You can float?" She'd have to keep a dictionary of Lucci's powers at this point.

"My kingdom will expand to the sky!" And a list of who King considered in his kingdom.

"Now we can have fun and sing songs in the clouds for hours and hours!" Hooty cheered a bit too excitedly and rammed right into Lucci, knocking him right into her arms.

"Like I said Lucci, I'm always going to be here for you. Us weirdos have to stick together, no matter what."

"Yeah! Weirdos for life!" Eda may have not had that much in the grand scheme of things, but the little she did have was a sacred treasure she would hoard to herself until the very end of time.

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Lilith watched as her pupil sent forth another couple of embers. "Ugg." She groaned. "I can't do anything but abominations." The Blight complained.

"Magic is all about a foundation." Lilith explained. "You need to comprehend the basics, then the rest will come naturally." It was hard, given how she never actually had to teach before. Suddenly she felt a lot more empathy for her old teachers at Hexide.

It was strange to consider herself a teacher. Sure she used to dream about being a figure for all to admire, a symbol of hard work and power, but that was more in an inspirational sense. Having a hands-on approach was definitely an experience.

"Why is fire a foundation?" The girl asked. "I thought the nine covens covered the nine main types of magic."

"Those are the nine main systems that magic is divided into, however each one of them has more of a common link between them than most consider." Lilith continued. "For example, beast keeping and potions mainly require outside forces and factors, yet both are capable of channeling fire." The Clawthorne made a small flame. "Raw energy is simply given form through heat. It flows through the air as bile does through our veins."

Amity looked at her own hands. "So why can't I make mine?"

Lilith thought about it for a moment. "Have you considered the mental composition?"

"Isn't magic just physical energy with motions?" The girl asked.

"You'd think that, but many factors come into it." She raised her hand. "Our bile is the wood, our intention is the spark, but the flame itself is from our intensity." Lilith looked down. "Have you considered something keeping your emotions in check?"

"My emotions?" The girl looked at her hands for a second before groaning. "Mom just says to press everything down into a pit and focus on success. Feelings mean nothing if you can't win."

"…" Lilith stared at the girl for a second. "Do you … wanna talk about it?" She didn't sign up for therapy, but maybe talking about bad parenting would help get it through her nephew's (she had a NEPHEW!) head that Edalyn wasn't the best role model. Plus Lilith had her own experience with her own mother, or rather a lack of one, given how she was always 'second priority'.

"Not really, she just makes everything so difficult and takes control of everything and it's so-ugh!" The little Blight girl kicked the ground. "I had to give up my best friends for her and she still expects me to be grateful!"

"Parents." Lilith rolled her eyes. "No matter what you do their focus is never on you." She sat down. "Eventually all the drive hits you, and then you find yourself alone …" She sighed. "The closest thing I have to a friend is Steve." Well there was the Coven Heads … but Darius was always a diva, Adrian was an asshole, Eberwolf always stayed in the woods, and Hettei swore vengeance on all Clawthornes. And the less said about the golden guard, the better. Whoever said it was lonely at the top had no idea how right they were.

"So what's the point?" Her pupil asked. "Why does it matter if I make it to the top when everyone around me is just gonna be a jerk?"

Lilith looked at her. "Because trying with all your effort is better than always being taken down a peg by those at the top." She refused to be weak to anyone or anything. "You should never settle for anything less than your worth, and only you yourself can fully bring out what your worth in the end."

Amity looked distant, gazing at her hands. "Why don't we try an exercise?" Lilith suggested. "Let's try angry emotions to cause an initial burst." She pointed to the targets. "Imagine each one the people you hate the most in your life."

"All the people I hate.." Amity closed her eyes for a brief second before it turned into a glare. "Why don't you ever say a word to me like a normal person, dad!" The little girl made her magic circle, shooting out a little chunk of rock that cut through the first target.

"Earth magic, a start to construction magic." Created from a stable mind with resolute and straightforward ideals. "Keep it up, focus on the next few targets with that same intention."

"How about we don't try and focus picking on others for a change, Boscha? Some of us just want to read!" She raised her hand, a stream of water rushing forward to hit the dummy head on, sending it flying.

"Water, a fuel and resource that all living creatures require, important for potions, abominations, and healing magic." Shows one's capability to flow through difficult situations.

"How about you stay out of my room once in a while, Emira and Edric!" Amity shouted, sending forth a gale of wind to start cutting the targets.

"Air, bringing life into anything that takes a breath, a component of plant and beast keeping magic." Flexibility and adaptation through the most difficult of situations. "You're getting there."

The moment the word 'plant' was said, a fierce intensity was gleaned in her puipil's eyes. "You don't get to say how strong and important my friends are, Mom! They're way better witches than you'll ever be!" Vines ruptured through the ground and ripped the dummy into hundreds of tiny shreds.

"… Was half expecting fire, but I think that three out of four is good enough for the classical elements." Lilith clapped just a little for the progress. "You have a bright future ahead of you, Amity."

"Thanks…" Her student kept her head low. "Hey..you're still chasing Lucci and his mom, right?"

"Yes …" Lilith admitted. "I'm hoping I can help them both with a brighter future."

"So when you capture them..they're not going to get hurt? No one's going to hurt them in any way?"

"Of course not…" Lilith paused. "… I try to not hurt Edalyn, but I know it won't be feasible." The woman was stronger than anything she could ever hope to be.

"Alright … and Lucci?"

The woman scoffed. "I'll get a tad desperate now and then, but not enough to harm a child. I do my best to keep him out of combat." Which was hard because the boy was Eda's main form of defense with that strange shield spell of his. "I'd wish for us all to serve Belos under the Emperor's coven, and I will achieve that goal no matter what it takes."

The little girl stared at her for a moment, giving a small smile. "Thank you."

Lilith felt her heart skip a beat for just a a brief second. She's heard praise several times before, praise from even the likes of Emperor Belos, but something about this one lone child looking at her with that beady innocence made her feel more accomplished than in the last ten years. "You're welcome…eh what for, precisely?"

"I just … want to protect people I care about." The girl answered. "And it's hard to do without power, you know?"

"I know far too well." Lilith chuckled.

"But now I know if things go right, I can protect who I want from whatever if I become as strong as you…so thank you." Her heart skipped again. Maybe being a teacher was exactly what she needed to be…for the moment that is.

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Skara made her way to the forest. "Alright, time for a new melody." The acoustics of nature were always perfect to understand her instruments. So whenever she had time, she played her little songs here.

Hits included, but we're not limited to, 'bat boy on a bike', 'grudgegedon', 'trip through explosion town', and 'green galore'. The last one in dedication to Amity joining their friend group.

She would have played these for said group, but Boscha could be extra critical of anything that she didn't approve of, which included most string instruments, which were practically half the lifeblood of all bards.

Sure, she could also sing, and play flute, but strings always resonated the most with her. The way they vibrate gives this sensation through her entire body, as if she's one with the universe. "So what am I feeling today …"

Happy, sad, angry, romantic, existential about the ever decaying future, parties? That didn't really fit the scene around her. It was a rather tame day weather wise on the boiling isles for once. It was the kind of day where you could just get lost in the serinety while gazing up at the sky.

And the forest was giving her a nice tranquil melody to. From the gentle buzzing of insect demons, to the flapping of crow demons, to the rustling of leaves, to the strumming of the guitar, to the rolling of fruit-she paused.

"Is someone singing a song?" Weird. Singing wasn't rare, but Skara could probably count the number of times a witch sang publicly on her right hand alone.

She followed what sounded like the strumming of a loot to the source. From the trees, she spotted a boy that looked around her age, curly hair and wearing a dark magenta shirt that was torn at the bottom, and covered in little mini stars. 

"Augggh. Why does life have to suck when good things happen?" The boy grumble as he plucked his instrument, small pink pulses coming out as he did as nearby leaves and branches began flying around him while covered in a pink tint.

"Why are there…so many songs….about painbows, And what's on the other side?" He asked, staring at the sky. "Painbows are visions, but only illusions, And Painbows have nothing to hide." Aww, that sounded kinda sweet.

"So we've been told…. and some choose to be-lieve it. I know they're wrong, wait and see." The boy began pacing. "Someday we'll find it … the painbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers … and me."

The boy walked as he continued to strum, rocks beginning to float as he stepped across them like he was on a sidewalk. "Who said that every wish….would be heard and answered….When wished on the evening star?" He asked, leaning against a tree. "Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it … Look what it's done so far."Well it's done wonders for her.

The boy jumped onto a floating rock, being carried into the air. "What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing … And what do we think we might see?" The leaves began to swirl around him, the multitude of colors making it almost look like a painbow was in the air..a painbow that didn't try to kill you….the concept alone was breathtaking in of itself. "Someday we'll find it, the painbow connection … The lovers, the dreamers, and me."

The boy slowly began to descend as he was starting to get lowered into a nearby boiling stream, a weird pink disk forming under his feet, allowing him to float without being boiling alive by the water. " All of us under its spell…We know that it's probably ma-gic…"  Well duh. Magic was what made the world work. "Have you been half asleep …. and have you heard voices? … I've heard them calling my name."… Did he need mental help? "Is this the sweet sound … that calls the young sailors? … The voice might be one and the same"

Really? If more people heard it..then could that be the voice of the titan? Only The Emperor was stated to talk to the titan. To be able to talk to the source of magic itself, wouldn't that be something? "I've heard it too many … times to ignore it … It's something that I'm supposed to be."

What was he supposed to be? What was anyone supposed to be? How could anyone know who they're supposed to be…huh, maybe existential was the way to go today.

"Someday we'll find it … the painbow connection … The lovers, the dreamers …" The boy paused, gazing once more at the sky. "And me." He jumped off his makeshift raft and walked on the ground, the leaves and rocks descending as he walked by. "La-da-da, de-da-da-do...La-da-da-da-da-de-da-do."

She waited for him to stop playing, letting out a smile. "Nice song." The moment she spoke, a pink disk was embedded next to her head. "... Well that was dangerous."

The boy took a couple of breaths. "Hasn't anyone ever told you to not sneak up on someone in the woods?"

"Actually yeah, get told by my parents every other week, just never ran into anyone else in the woods before." She answered, deciding to take the friendly approach. Boscha wouldn't approve, but Boscha wasn't here right now. "I thought I was the only one who played in the forest."

"I believe that's the stove calling the flame red." He grumbled. "I've been living in the woods and I've never heard anyone singing or playing instruments." … Was he homeless? "So, you play the lute too?"

"Flute, lute, violin, Viola, basically anything with strings. My parents run a music shop that provides instruments for the bard coven." A rather small business that actually racked up a lot of dough, which apparently made her family 'qualified' to be friends with the Blights.

The boy gave a hum as he looked her over. "I see … I'm Lucci. Lucifer Clawthorne."

"I'm Skara, nice to meet you." She extended her hand in kindness, something he seemed hesitant about before slowly shaking it. "It's nice to make a new friend."

Lucci gave her a look. "I don't make friends … no offense, but we can be acquaintances though." The boy responded firmly.

"Sure … acquaintances." Skara chuckled. She would totally make him learn to lighten up. "So 'acquaintance', are you a solo act or do you mind making this a duet?" She summoned her violin.

He looked at her curiously. "Dunno, I've never played with anyone else before … do we just play a song each or …"

Skara laughed a little. "I take it that you're self taught?"

"For the most part. Mama plays a little, but it's usually just my little hobby, except for when Hooty, our house demon, joins in. People call his voice a witch's repellent, but I think it sounds alright." He twirled his instrument. "You mind taking the lead?"

"Not at all." She nodded, getting her instrument in tune. Duets were always better than going solo any day.

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Around ten years later….

Connie read up on the latest book of her collection. With Azura on hiatus, and Spirit Saga being held up with backdrafts, she was stuck reading manga. It was nice, if a bit mindless. The current chapter of Monster Slayer Academia at least closed up a lot of open plotlines that had been dragging on.

It was a tad difficult to get used to living in Gravesfield, as it was the farthest out region her family has had to move so far, but at least this time it looked like the move was permanent. And the town also had a history with witch hunting. A little disturbing, but she wasn't one to turn down research into town history.

The story goes that the founders sailed across the world into new land, by an ancestor of Mayor Dewey apparently, only to find the land covered with witches of all kinds. They chased and … did things she wasn't comfortable reading about, before hiding within a magical cave guarded by colorful golems.

Apparently said cave was supposed to be right by the beach, so about two months ago, Connie went by to check it out, and after almost getting crushed by a boulder from a freak earthquake, she met the first ever person she could call her best friend..her friend in general matter of fact.

Steven Universe … the guy who made everything in her life weird, wild, and fun. And in a good way, not the 'there are now snakes crawling over the cafeteria' kind of way she noticed after glancing during the initial screams. Hence, why she was reading from the top of a table instead of a normal seat.

The moment her presence was noticed, she who shall not be named would appear and drag her into trouble, the 'getting detention and disapproval from overbearing mother' kind. She who shall not be named was probably the soul reason alone why Connie hadn't tried to make any friends during school hours.

Well that and there weren't many options to begin with. Anyone Steven hung around with was above their age range, and most of the girls followed the cheerleaders, aka the jerks of the school. Sure, they were better than she who shall not be named , but that was like comparing mosquitos to a gem monster.

Connie sighed. There were only two hours left of school today, and there was only one week left of school to boot. She just had to push through the anxiety and peer pressure and the bespectacled girl could survive without calling attention to herself. And most importantly, she could spend three whole months without running into she who shall not be-

"Hey Connie." Came she who shall not be named , drawing attention and thus, giving her a detention sentence. "So as one girl who's the daughter of a mom doctor to another…you wouldn't happen to carry extra vials of anti-venom on your person at all times, do you?" The frankly crazy girl asked like she was planning something that would probably get her suspended if it wasn't the last week of school.

"To use anti-venom one has to know the specific snake." Connie explained. "If I just carried all the anti-venoms all the time, I'd never have room for books, school or personal otherwise." She deadpanned. "Also, it makes better sense to avoid the hissing of a snake, but that doesn't work when the entire cafeteria is surrounded, now does it?"

"Heheh, you know me so well, buddy." Connie's most definitely not buddy chuckled. "So that's a no on the anti-venom? None for any snakes or spiders that may or may have escaped from my backpack?"

"….Okay you're the snake girl, so I don't question that…but why would you bring a backpack full of spiders? The one thing about sixty percent of people are guaranteed to have phobias of?"

"I wanted my griffon art project to be anatomically correct. It's a very little known fact that they have spider-breath."

"Spider breath means it smells like a spider, not that it spews them out." Connie growled.

"Oooooh, guess that would make a little more sense…but isn't it a lot cooler to imagine every time they breathe out, hundreds of spiders just keep leaking out."

Connie's mom got along pretty well with Ms. Noceda, so she tried really really hard to not be judgmental…but this girl was seriously mental . "Whatever, just keep me out of it before someone assumes-

"Luz Noceda, Connie Manshwarren, to the principles office once you find an escape route from the cafeteria."

"…that I'm your accomplice."  Connie groaned. "How is it everytime I'm minding my business, I always end up getting on the troublemaker list when you show up?"

"Because people can't understand creative people like us?" Luz asked in a guess filled tone. "Right, buddy?"

Connie internally grumbled. Steven would probably tell her not to judge so fast and give her a chance, but she was just absolutely done with Luz constantly getting her in trouble.

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"Reality camp!?" Luz didn't even know it was a thing, much less that her mom was actually considering such a horrible experience. "But why!?"

"Miha, I'm not trying to stifle your creative side, but you've gotten three detentions within this past month alone ." Her mom answered softly as Luz had no choice but to walk outside to her boring fate. "You go overboard, and it's gotten out of hand."

"The motto is literally think inside the box!" Luz exclaimed. "This is not a healthy environment for an aspiring author and or graphic novelist!"

"I wouldn't have to consider it was just writing fanfiction and editing those clips of anime you like, but I draw the line at property damage and snake bites." She continued. "Not to mention you always make the school think Dr. Mahaswarrens daughter was involved somehow. You're literally putting innocent people in danger."

Luz thought about it for a second. She had always thought she and Connie had a partners in crime relationship, being fellow book birds of a feather. "Come on, even you can agree this is overkill, right?"

"Luz, one of the snakes you brought to the principal's office bit him in the eye." She stated firmly. "If those weren't the everyday garden snake, you'd be facing time in juvie, or worse." Her mother sighed. "You need to start learning how to separate fantasy from reality. When was the last time you made friends? Ones that weren't drawn or imagined like the giant centipede?"

"Centi is real..She just really likes her privacy." Some people, especially giant acid spitting bugs, needed their alone time, even if that meant not showing up for the past five years.

"Luz, honey." Her mother leaned down, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Please, believe me, I only want the best for you. Now, promise me you'll try the camp, alright "

Luz saw the serious and desperate look in her mom's eyes, guilt welling up in her stomach. "I … I promise." She said as Luz placed her auzura book in the trash. She couldn't afford to worry her mom with anything. With dad no longer around, she needed to keep her happy, even if that meant Luz wasn't entirely satisfied in the end.

"Oh miha, I promise that the summer will fly by fast while you're learning how to balance checkbooks and appreciating public radio." Yaaay, taxes and uncontrollable music, just what any child wants with their life. "Don't see this as a punishment, but as an opportunity to make some friends."

Friends who were either locked up like her or signed up willingly … well, maybe she'd meet someone she could actually call a partner. "Alright, I'll try to make a friend or two." No matter how hard it would be.

"That's my girl." She rubbed her head, before walking back into the house. "I'll make sure to call!"

She waited for her mom to disappear before mulling over her options. "Okay Luz, option one, you hide out somewhere in town and photoshop yourself into random backgrounds." Problem was that she didn't know where in town to hide that her mom wouldn't eventually visit. Best option was the car wash, but that's where mr. Universe lived, and he was….moody to say the least.

"Option two, you do texts alone while surviving out in the forest." Then again, she might just ask to talk to one of the counselors, and that wouldn't end well. Her impressions were never a strong suit, even if Luz felt like she could narrate a good story. And she wasn't sure what this particular set of woods had to offer.

"Option three, skip town and get a part time job somewhere in silver city." She had great work experience from her week at the big donut…that was also the week the fryer exploded and the shop got truck deliveries from then on. It wouldn't look pretty on her resume.

"Option four, suck it up and go while attempting to keep my free spirited nature." … Sadly this was her best option, even if it seemed unlikely. "Goodbye, my concept of fun." 

She sighed, walking to the trash can to at least pick up Azura as a memento. If she was going to suffer, she would do it with her oldest companion.

Luz stared at the owl grabbing her trash bag. "… If you don't drop that, I'm gonna make you regret it." She told the bird bluntly.

It looked at her with those annoyingly adorable wide eyes. "Whoooo." It squawked as it picked ot up and carried the bag into the woods.

"Stop you cute tiny trash thief!" She chased after it. Luckily, this was the first bird that didn't outright fly away. Mostly in the account it had heavy trash in its mouth. "Give me back my book!"

It kept flying at its relatively fast pace before entering that old rickety cabin in the middle of the woods. Luz only knew it as that one place where Mom would spend hours trying to free forest critters from little traps surrounding the place, as well as where the fry-guys oldest son hung around. It wasn't like exactly a luxury hang out spot to say the least.

Without a second thought, she followed the bird inside. "Get back here!" With a single step, she unknowingly changed the course of her, and many others, destiny.