Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: Heres to trying out things and learning secrets

Owlbert rested on Lucci's shoulder, being lulled as they played their melody. "The Boiling Isles has some interesting phenomena, crazy and fun, dangerous and scary. But if we listen, to how they all function, it may not be hard to carry … on." He sang to the latest arrival, a human. The house had been getting significantly bigger as of late. Owlbert didn't mind. Eda needed as much comfort at all times living with her curse.

"I know you said something about being a bard, but I didn't think music was a huge hobby of yours." She noted.

"It helps ease the nerves when your constantly getting chased by coven guards." The boy answered back. "So let's start with the boiling rain, high up in the sky. The clouds get heated by the sun, and soon the water starts to fly. Every drop is very deadly, so we've gotta get ready. Cause once it storms my shield won't be enough to keep playing this medley."  

The boy gestured to the outside of the house, where it was covered by a giant pink shield hovering over them. "Finally, they made an umbrella my size!" Hooty cheered as he stretched his body out as far as he could without burning himself.

"Boiling rain, and here I thought I saw everything." Luz noted as she saw the water drizzle on the ground.

"It's just one plague that curses the land, there's many curses to be had. Roaring waves of quakes and sand, and that's not even the least of bad." The boy began walking around as objects floated in the air with pink pulses, swirling in an almost violent matter

"Whoa, that's cool." Luz looked on in aw, ducking under a lamp that almost knocked her in the head. "How's he doing that?"

"Bard magic. As long as you play the right notes, you become a conductor for the world." His partner explained as she worked on the barrier spell. "I once heard of a bard magician that could move the arm of the titan itself."

"The pai~nbo~ws, they are the most beau~tifu~l sight that you've ever seen … but after I gazed upon one, it took an hour to put back my spleen." Eda's hatchling continued to play even when he barely escaped knives being thrown in his back.

"He tends to just play his heart instead of actual notes though, so a lot of it ends up doing something else instead of what he wants." The woman explained the uncontrolled chaos.

"So singing about uncontrollable chaotic weather.." Luz summed up as she had to roll out of the way of a bookshelf.

"Pretty much." King said as he put a helmet back on. "Trust us, it's much safer to let him play it out when he's in the zone." Owlbert trembled, recalling the last time someone stopped him mid-song, so much lava and acid pits forming from the depths of the earth.

"And then we get to the gorenados. Bloody bits of wind flyin all around, cause they're cuttin, and cuttin, and cuttin and cuttin." The knives went flying everywhere again.

"I would totally have him teach Demons if I didn't fear for my life." King deadpanned.

"Didn't we just have a whole bet on you being a terrible teacher, Mr Wiggles?" His partner smirked.

"Please don't bring that up Eda." The little demon complained as the human cooed.

"Last and least we have the hail, all made up and covered in shail. Tiny bits of glass and bone coming down on you alone. Carves deep and narrow holes in you, screaming in pain as you spew." Dishes came rushing from the kitchen as they were thrown all over the place like buzzsaws.

"Please tell me the song is close to ending!" Luz shouted as she moved away from the decapitating disc.

"He's reaching the chorus!" King shouted as he ran around the room.

" The boiling isles might be scary. Dangerous, Disastrous, Dastardly, and hairy…." The whole house began to shake as he strummed the next few strings. " But in spite of all of that, in spite of hexes, demons, and bats, in spite of all the crazy stuff you do, Boiling Isles I'll never stop loving you!" A huge flash of pink shined from the guitar as the whole house was covered in light. Seconds later, Everything was put back into place like nothing happened, just like usual. "Ah, that felt good. Nothing cleans the soul like a good song, right guys?"

"Hoot hoot." Owlbert looked in a mirror, seeing he was looking a little worse for wear trying to survive all the chaos.

"Lucci, what have I told you about spontaneous musical numbers?" Eda asked her hatchling.

"Give you five minutes to prepare ahead of time If I'm in the mood." The kid answered. "Sorry, holding up a big barrier for so long made me feel the itch, makes me forget about the strain."

"As happy as I am to hear this happens more than once, are you really going to hold that shield the entire night?" Luz asked.

"Nah, I'm almost done with the protection spell on the house. Once it's up, no one shall come in or out of here, so we'll be stuck inside the rest of the night." Eda explains with a yawn as she threw up her hands, a yellow energy spreading all over the place. "Ha, no one alive can make a barrier better than the Owl Lady."

The human looked curious. "Why are you called the Owl Lady?"

"It's because I'm old, yet wise." His partner grinned.

"I thought it was because you kept that nest full of bones." Lucci guessed.

"No, it's because she has an active nightlife eating voles." Hooty answered.

"Nah, it's because she gets distracted by shiny things." King snickered.

"I despise all of you on a surface level." The woman deadpanned, before yawning. "I'm gonna go drink some apple blood and nap." She told the group as she walked to the kitchen.

"Eda, this is the perfect time for you to teach me a spell!" Luz got in front of the woman. "I've been her me for almost two weeks and haven't learned any magic! If I'm not getting my staff anytime soon, then you have to at least teach me one spell!"

"No. I'm too drained from the barrier spell." Eda bluntly responded. "I'm a sleepy owl. You won't like me when I'm sleepy, and there's nothing on this planet that'll get me to change my mind."

"What about something from my planet?" Luz smirked fiendishly as she waved a pen with a plastic jewel on top, clicking it and making it glow."

"So shiny and precious and it must be mine." His partner's eyes widened as she jumped forward, only to miss. "I hate your cunning, but I admire you for it."

"Whaddya say, Eda? One spell, and you get your sparkle thing." Luz crossed her arms proudly.

"Fine, let me get changed. Owlbert, help Mama while she's exhausted."

"Hoot."

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

Luz grinned eagerly. "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna learn my first spell." She said with excitement. "How was it for you Lucci?"

The boy looked thoughtful as he sat on the couch behind her. "Let's see…the first time I recall making my shield was when I was about to have my head sliced open. … so relieved for one."

Luz blinked. "You've been using magic before you got taught how to do it?" She asked.

"My magic's a little weirder than most." He lifted up his shirt, revealing a small pink rock inside of his stomach.

"Oooh, bedazzled belly button." She ooohed as she couldn't help herself from rubbing a finger on it. "So smooth."

"Don't do that, it feels like you're caressing my nerves." He pushed her hand away. "According to mom, this is where all of my magic comes from. Never met anyone else who had one like it though."

"Wait, if you were born with a rock belly, wouldn't that narrow down the list of potential dads?" There was a long stretch of silence. "You never thought about it, did you?"

"Sue me, I used to think I grew out of a cabbage." Lucci shrugged. "Anyways, most of what I do is more based on how I'm feeling or instinct."

"Well that's out of the question then." She sighed. Guess it would've been too lucky to have two examples to learn from. "I guess it's up to the great Owl Lady to teach me the ways of magic." Surely she'd learn something awesome.

The woman came out, holding a steaming cup while wearing pjs. "Alright … you ready?" Eda asked.

"Born ready!" Luz jumped up and down. Sure, she may have learned her lesson about being too impatient…twice actually, but now was the moment she was waiting for.

"Now, where do you think magic comes from?" Eda asked.

"The heart!" Luz answered immediately. It may have sounded cheesy, but she was determined to make at least some of her fantasy come true.

"Correct! We witches have a bile sack located on the heart, flooding the substance through our veins and allowing us to use magic." They showed off a diagram. Well on the downside, that was disgusting. On the upside, she was right!

"Can I keep that?" She asked.

"No." Eda told her before stuffing the diagram in her hair, yawning as she did. "Witches' staff allow us to have a greater connection to magic, but before we receive one, we must learn at least one spell." She started to wave her fingers in the air tiredly in a circle. "T-this is a magic circle. The bigger it is, the stronger the spell."

"But Lucci doesn't do the circle thing at all." She pointed to the boy in question. 

"Hi-his source of magic is different from a normal bil-bile sack, so the execution is different." She explained, yawning. "Pointz is you need to gather up the energy fi-first."

"But … humans don't have bile sacks." Luz responded. "How am I supposed to do magic?"

"Hm…I don't know." What!?

"EDA!" Don't tell her that she's been doing this all for nothing!?!

"Well I know witches used to do magic in a different way in the old days, but most of the history's been lost, especially with the Emperor taking control within the past hundred years." She answered. "So we'll have to figure out something along the way."

Luz sighed. "I guess I can wait … can I at least record the spell for later?" She asked, pulling up her phone. "It's not like one more spell will kill you."

"Kid, you're really.." Eda yawned more as she waved her fingers in the circle again. "Really…" And fell back on the floor.

"Well, looks like one more spell killed her." King deadpanned.

"Do you want me to grab a shovel, or are you a 'do it yourself' kinda gal?" Lucci asked almost teasingly.

"How can you say that about your own mother!?"

"What, we've gone over the details together." Lucci waved off with almost a laugh. "If she ever ends up killing me, we've agreed it's better to cremate."

"But she's dead! No tears or anything!?"

"Mom's not dead, she's drained. She just needs rest." Lucci picked up the old woman, who was snoring just a little. "See, perfectly fine."

"I don't know, maybe I can head out and get some-" She was stopped from moving by King tugging on her arm. 

"Boiling rain! Remember!" The little guy warned.

"Also she made a shield around the house. Even if you wanted to risk the melting flesh, we can't break out." Lucci answered with a yawn of his own. "I already feel tuckered out from the shield and bard spell earlier."

"I say we let her out, it'll be funny to see her avoid the rain and get cooked alive." Hooty snickered.

"…Hooty, that's dark, man. Way too dark." Lucci shook his head.

"She deserves it after using me for an oven." The house complained. It was hard to get a read on the owl demon, and Luz was afraid of trying to dig too deep into that rabbit hole.

"So …" Luz looked down at her hands. "Being a witch was pointless from the beginning?"

"Hey, there could be other things." King looked thoughtful. "Like … oh, the Elixir!"

"The what now?" Both boy and girl said at the same time.

"Well, everyday I see Eda sneak a drink of this orange potion, and every time she does, she gains energy!" King explained. "I think it's her source of power!"

"I …" Lucci paused. "She never mentioned it before."

"Duh, who wouldn't hide their power source if people knew it could be drunk?" Luz was liking where this was going. "It makes too much sense!"

"I don't know guys, mom has me work with potions every now and again. They're more like medicine than anything else." Lucci looked worried

"Is Eda sick?" Luz asked.

"... No?" The boy answered. "She's never told me she was."

"Then why would she drink them?" King sided with her. "Come on Lucci, Eda can survive her head getting chopped off. There's nothing in this world that can kill that woman no matter how many people wish to see it."

The boy looked hesitant, gazing at his sleeping mother. "... Fine, we'll try the potion. But if that doesn't work, no more magic attempts for the day, alright?"

"Oh, if it doesn't work, we can talk about demons!" King shouted. "I wanted to show Luz the mighty terror of the Snaggleback!"

"Isn't that just the monkey with a turtle shell?" Eda's kid asked.

"And to think I thought you paid attention. The snaggle back is the most feared demon on the Isles! The shell protects it from the rain as it roams the isles and eats the flesh of the cooked inhabitants."

"Oh, fireproof and a taste for destruction." Luz nodded. She'd give the little guy's lesson's a little more attention, right after she became magic. "Okay guys, lets get potion drinking."

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

King read the label on the elixir. "An exliar a day …" He looked curiously. "Sounds ominous, exactly what we're looking for!"

"The label is half torn. You sure that's all it's saying?" Lucci asked cautiously. Sometimes it was a pain just how skeptical Eda taught her son to be of everything.

"Well what else would it be saying?" He asked. "She never mentioned anything before, so it's not like she desperately wants us to stay away from it." Eda was a tremendous liar and scammer, but it wasn't like she'd hide anything that would put them in harm's way…intentionally.

"I don't know…I'm used to taking things from people, but it feels weird taking something from mom."

"Lucci, I get having jitters about it." Luz looked at the boy. "I used to take my mom's treats for her pet clinic all the time behind her back when I was little. I didn't know they weren't for people, so about a fifth of my diet consisted of dog biscuits for two months. I got worms from it, but the experience was one I will never forget."

"Worms do sound delicious right now." King nodded. "Besides, you want to be more notorious than your mother someday, right? Stealing from her is the first step to your own wanted poster.

He sighed. "I guess you have a point … alright, let's do this then."

"Luz Noceda, on her first step to being a witch, drinks a magical potion." The girl grinned, downing the Elixir in one gulp, before gaining a horrified expression. "Oh my god, it tastes like feathers and regret." Luz started looking green.

"Hey, I think it's working! Your face is changing hues!" King cheered.

"No, that's not it, that's not it at all!" Luz went into the nearest corner she could find and began hurling out her lunch. "AGGGGH! WHHHHHHHY!" She screamed in between throwing up. "What did I do to deserve this!?"

He and Lucci looked at each other. "On the off chance you ever do manage to learn magic … don't do potions." Lucci deadpanned. "You have to drink a lot of them, and this doesn't sound nearly as bad as some of them can be."

"If this…" Luz spewed in between every few words. "..Is what…bleggh….it takes to be a witch….BLAAAAGH…..I don't think I have the stomach for…BLAAAGH….it."

"I don't think you have a stomach at all anymore." King snarked. Either way, now Luz was free to have her mind molded by the king of all demons! "I'm gonna go grab my stuff." Time to start teaching Luz the dangers of demons! He walked over to the living room … and saw scratch marks and destruction everywhere. "We've been invaded!"

"King, don't be ridiculous, we have Hooty." Lucci said while walking in, looking over the scene with surprise, then turned to the door. "... HOOTY'S DEAD!" Oh, apparently that was a thing … meh.

"Just bap him around, and put the door on the hinges, he'll wake up again in a few hours." King waved off before looking at the scratch marks more intensely. "We're definitely dealing with a quadruped one, so intelligence isn't going to be its strong suit…"

"King, if Hooty's down, that means we don't have…" Lucci said as the lights turned off, basking the whole house in a shroud of darkness. "..Power or security." The boy lifted his arms and concentrated, only a few sparkles of pink glowing before dissipating. "And I'm still too winded from the shield and bard spells."

"Looks like super stamina isn't on your power list." Luz chuckled nervously as she wobbled out of the kitchen. "So … what are we in for?"

"Well, given Hooty can go toe to toe with a gang of Coven Scouts and force them to drink tea while he takes on aunt Lilly …" Lucci's face started to become as pale as Eda's. "We're deling with a huge freaking monster."

"No duh, the only creature this could be is the Snaggleback!" King reassured. "It must've caught our scent and took cover on the roof before Eda set the spell.

"Wait, why would it take cover?" Lucci asked. "Isn't it supposed to be immune to the boiling rain? If anything this is when it should be in the open and hunting."

"Like I said, quadrupeds aren't known for their high intelligence. What it lacks in brains, it more than makes up for with raw strength and sheer ferocity." It must have smelled them and thought they were prey. "We need cold things. It's cold blooded to adapt to the hot temperatures of the rain, so we can take it down with ice."

"Lead the way, King of Demons." Luz nodded as the kids followed them. Hehehehe! Yes finally! Loyalty! Sure, the about to be devoured thing was horrible, but he finally had command.

"You guys get that Ice. I'm going to make sure Mom's still safe." Lucci gripped his hands. "She's too exhausted to fight this monster, we can't leave her alone like this."

"Just be careful buddy, you're not at one hundred percent right now either." He patted his brother on the leg. "Try not to smell too delicious, you know beasts have a habit of wanting to take a bite out of you."

"I really need to get an animal companion one of these days." The boy grumbled as he moved into the hallways.

"He'll be okay, right?" Luz asked.

"He's pretty in shape, so when it's time to run, he can keep ahead of most people." King nodded. Still would be better if he had superspeed.

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

Come on Mom, don't be eaten. Please don't be eaten. Lucci moved through the shadows, trying to not make too much noise. He really wasn't in the mood to fight the 'Snagglebeast' head on. He was never a hundred percent when the light was gone, especially when he already spent a lot of his day keeping the house safe.

The boy took a look around the corner leading to mom's room … and saw the door broken clean off its hinges. "MOM!" Ignoring all forms of safety, he rushed to the room, finding it utterly thrashed, with no signs of the Owl Lady anywhere. "Mom, please, please be okay! At least let your head be around here somewhere!"

He checked the nest. There were only bones from rats and discarded snails, no trace of his mom anywhere. The only sign of anything being in the room were the slash marks across the nest and floor. "Mom no …" He let out a few tears. "No no no …" It got her … the beast got her…his mom..his family.

Lucci let out a growl as he felt energy build. It took his Mom from him, it took away the most important person in his life. The beast would pay, it would die a horrible, agonizing, death. He stomped out of the room. "Snagglebeast!" The boy shouted into the house. "SHOW YOURSELF!" 

Hearing scrapes and rustling down the hallways, he rushed down with everything he and. "SNAGGLEBEAST!" He lost his footing and crashed into a wall, cracking it but still running immediately after. "GET OUT HERE SO I CAN SKIN YOU ALIVE!" 

No one would get away with taking his mom away from him! Lucci didn't care if she was the most wanted woman in the universe, she raised him, fed him, and gave him a happy life as well as being a notorious criminal. For this furry the beast that all away was unforgivable in his eyes, and he would never be satisfied until every single ounce of breath was drained from it's body.

He heard scrapping in the closet, kicking the door down without any second. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done." He growled, raising his fist in anger.

"Yes! I took your fish! Don't eat me please!" The scared voice broke him out of his rage induced … lapse in sanity, as he looked down. Down at the sniveling creature that looked like King's picture….but smaller and way more weaker looking. "It just got so hard eating the small bugs all the time, you know?"

"You … you're the Snagglebeast?" He looked at the guy. It was standing on hind legs and talking, not to mention the shell was partially cracked.

"I know, the weakest demon in the boiling isles." The little guy whined. King either got too carried away describing the details or his source of information was out of date.

"But … that doesn't make sense." Lucci's brain was in overdrive at the moment, trying to process everything that just happened. "You're too small, and weak, there's no way you could have taken out Mom. Even if she was incapacitated." Even enough to not leave a trace behind.

"What, no, I was on the roof the entire time when that protection spell hit, and I just now climbed through the window." The snagglebeast shivered.

"Then what's been terrorizing the house?" Lucci asked, looking around. Was Mom still okay? Was it Cuttie for revenge? Or one of those teachers from hexide? Or was it Amity transitioning from jerk to full on villain-

"AHHH!" A giant claw grabbed the Snagglebeast from the ceiling, reeling it in. "A TWIST!" 

" Grrrrrggggrrrr…" A light growl sounded off from behind him as Lucci had no choice but to slowly turn around, snarls as the sound of chewing made itself known. He was met with a wall of feathers, dark gray with a strangely familiar shade of white. Two large wings emerged from the back of this quadruped, with claws that could tear through wood easily. And a face … a face that looked like …

"Mom?" The moment he asked it, the beast growled at him, inching its way forward. "Mom, what is this … what's going on?"

"Gggggggrrrrrrr." It let out. "SCAAWWW!" And charged.

"AHHHH!" He leapt forward, sliding under mom-the thing…whatever it was, and made his way down. "Mom! It's me! Lucifer! You're son!"

" SCAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!" The Owl Beast creature squawked, jumping at him, running across the walls and making jumps at the back of his head. 

"No, no mom, please, whatever's going on with you, just calm down and let me help!" He pleaded, trying to reach his arm out in a show of comfort.

scraaaatch

"AGG!" He pulled it back, blood dripping from the new wound. "Mom, why, what is this!?" What was going on, why was none of this making sense, what was wrong with-

"Lucci!" The cry of Luz came out, followed by a block of ice hitting Mom in the head. "RUN!"

"Luz, wait it's not what you think it.."

"Doesn't matter what anyone thinks if we get shredded to pieces!" Luz grabbed him by his unwounded arm and dragged him off to a small corner of the house, locking the door behind them as they remet with King.

"Oh thank titan you're alive!" King jumped up and grabbed him by the face. "When we heard screaming, we thought the Snagglebeast took a bite out of you already!"

"It wasn't the Snagglebeast." Lucci explained with tears. "The … the beast-"

"SCAAW!!" It barged on the door.

"The beast is Mom!" He exclaimed as the Owl Beast reared its ugly head through the cracks.

"What!? Eda!?" Luz looked like she was frozen in shock.

" Arrrrrgggggggh!" It launched again, this time aiming directly at the human girl.

"Look out!" He got in front of Luz, ready to act as a living shield for his roommate-

Flash

A glow of light came out from the ground and forced the beast back from for a second. Looking around, they saw that the culprit of it was Luz's little magic rectangle. "Hurry, before she comes at us again!" Luz led the way out, going out to the balcony of the house, where they were able to get a good look at the boiling rain from behind the shield spell.

"How, why? I can't …" King stopped talking. "Lucci, what's that on your shoe?"

"Huh?" Lucci picked up what looked like half a piece of torn paper. "...keeps the curse at bay…." His eyes met with King as they both came to the same realization . "A potion a day …

"... keeps the curse at bay." King finished. "Was … was Eda cursed?"

"And Luz drank the cure." Lucci turned to the human girl, the horrible realization coming to her head.

"I stole an old woman's magic medicine….Oh craminity I'm the worst!" Luz shrieked.

"Grrrr." All three of them slammed hands over one another's mouths as the beast passed from above, giving a sniff before leaving.

"Why did she never say anything?" Lucci whispered, with light hurt in his voice. "I feel this should be something she would've said to me." If mom was in trouble, then it was his job to help her by any means necessary. "What if this is permanent? What if we're too late!? What if she turns back after she eats us!? WHAT IF-"

SLAP

Luz slapped him across the face with an open palm. "Snap out of it, Clawthorne! This isn't the time to think about What if's! That's still your mom out there, and as long as we're here in this house with her, we're not going to stop until we get our Eda back!" Luz looked at him in the eyes with the fiercist, most determined, and most loving expression he's ever seen on anyone. "Do you understand what I'm saying!?"

"Yeah … yeah I do." He nodded a bit in a daze. "King … you're the demon expert here. We need … something." King was still staring at the window. "King, we need you."

"Yeah, right." The little guy shook his head. "She had large black eyes, so she looked like a nocturnal demon. Bright lights should be super effective against her."

"Hooty's still out of it though." Luz grumbled. "Lucci, can you make that gem in your stomach glow?"

He looked down and lifted up his shirt. "No. I feel weaker in dark areas if I'm away from light for too long." He turned to Luz. "You have the rectangle thingy, right?"

"Not bright enough to do more than daze her." She sighed, looking at the image. "Not to mention the battery is low … all I have is this cracked video screen of me failing to learn magic." Luz sighed. "I shouldn't have come here. Mom was right to send me away to camp. I'm just a nuisance that gets in the way."

"Luz…" Lucci patted her shoulder. "I don't tell this to everyone, or anyone for that matter…but I feel so alone so much of the time. I'm grateful for my family…but…" He sniffed. "...You living here has removed that loneliness so much…so…you've helped me alot."

She had tears in her eyes. "Thanks … but it doesn't help much if it can't save your mom." She moved the image over to the light spell section. "We could have really used the light spell …" A tear fell down onto the cracked screen, the image on the magic rectangle freezing, the circle glitching with lines and cracks all over it.

"Is that normal?" King looked it over.

"No…there's some kind of pattern in the magic circle." Luz looked around and plucked a nearby leaf, taking out a pen and tracing the design on the plant. After getting all the details, she lightly tapped it, and the leaf folded in on itself...creating an orb of light…creating light magic.

"Luz…You just did a light spell." Lucci stated, unable to fully process everything with how chaotic today's events have been. "You just did magic."

"I did magic….I DID MAGIC!" She shouted with joy.

"SCAW!"

"Why do we keep screaming?" King asked.

"Too many emotions happening at once." Lucci answered before shaking his head. Time to go serious Lucci mode. "Think you can make a big enough light circle to knock her out?"

"Absolutely. I just need a big enough space and time." The human girl nodded fervently.

"Good, then let's get this beast up and into a lightshow." He cracked his knuckles. They were going to save his mom, or die trying.

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The Owl moved through the cramped nest. The Owl tried to find prey. The Owl was hungry. The Owl was annoyed. Prey moved fast and quick. Prey made horrid images. Owl looked, it needed something shiny but not too shiny. Needed shiny to gleam in nest, not to hurt eyes. Eye super sensitive. Eye's detected three distinct prey.

First prey small. Furry. Morsel. Owl save morsel for rainy day that wasn't this rainy day. Second prey was strong, but weak willed. Eyes leaked upon the gaze of the Owl. Take them down after devouring third prey, the annoying hurt one. Third prey bigger, but hesitant. Great meal to satisfy hunger for days.

"Hey Owl Beast! I heard you're afraid of the light!" The Owl glanced at new identity. A small creature with shiny on their identity. "Check this out!" Fourth prey had shiny …

"Ggrrrr." They charged at the Fourth Prey. Fourth prey had shiney. Owl needed shiny. Owl get shiny and devour fourth prey for hoarding her shiny. Shiny, Shiney. Shiny, Shiny.

"Running for my life now!" Fourth prey cried out as it attempted to escape. The Owl cased, closing in, but losing them around tight corners. Fourth prey was agile, but they would be devoured soon enough. "Really didn't think this through! Lucci, why aren't you the bait!?"

"Because I was chased the most out of all of us and she scratched me! I'm dealing with enough trauma for one day, thank you very much!" Second prey yelled as Owl felt something get on top of her. "I don't know why you chose to keep this away from me, Mom, but right now I don't care! I'm going to find a way to fix this no matter what!"

The Owl thrashed, trying to dislodge Second prey from the grasp. "Hey, don't forget!" Fourth prey called out. "I'm the one with the shiny object here!"

Shiny, no annoyance first. Shiny, but annoying. What to deal with, what to chose. Shiny, kill, shiney, kill, shiney, killl..

"EDA!" Third Prey shouted from a far off corner, marking her territory on a wall. "I'M SORRY, BUT THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!" Third prey hugged the wall.

Light hurt, light was bad, light was-Eda woke up with a start, something in her mouth as she noticed the kids around her. "Mom, you're okay!" Lucci shouted, hugging her so tight her head popped off once more.

She shifted as she spat out the object from her mouth as King placed her head back on her body. "Kids … why am I chewing on a bedazzled pen?" She got a better look around. "And Why are you all in my room?"

"Well first off … check that out." King pointed to a corner … where Luz was surrounded by bubbles of light. 

A soft smile rested upon her lip as she drew on a piece of paper, tapping it as it folded up into yet another bubble of light. "Getting it down pat …" Eda couldn't help but feel happy and proud, even though she knew she probably didn't do much to help the kid out. 

"And second..well…" Lucci showed off his arm, where there were deep scratches embedded into it. They looked like faded scars, so that meant they healed for the most part, but for something to leave that big a mark.

"Lucci, when did you get scratched like that?" She asked, bringing him closer, and it gently rubbed his arm.

"Luz got frustrated she couldn't do magic … so King brought up an elixir in your room." He stated. "You never said anything about it, so we just thought maybe it would help and took it … then …" He stopped talking for a moment, moving closer to her side. "Why didn't you say anything?" The boy asked.

She felt the shame build up again. She hurt him. Just like she hurt dad. "Lucci…I..I'm sor.." She couldn't feel herself breathe for a moment, the words practically choking trying to come out of her mouth. "I never wanted anyone to…It's just..I…" Lucci was the first person her curse didn't chase away, and now he was paying the price for her stupid decisions.

"It's okay Eda, we're still here for you, and we're not going to leave." Luz stood up and joined her side. "Us weirdo's stick together, remember?"

That got a broken laugh out of the old woman. "Yeah…we do."

"We're just lucky we found the storage you kept in your closet." King pointed to the multiple empty bottles.

"I'd be far more upset with you if it wasn't mostly my fault for being quiet about it." Eda relented. Better they all know now before she pushes them away like her curse always forced her to do. "When I was younger, someone placed a curse on me. I don't know who it was or when it happened. What I do know is that there's no cure …" She looked at the bottles again. "Those Elixirs are the only things that can keep it at bay."

"Oh mom, I wish I'd known sooner." Lucci in spite of all her stupidity actually moved closer and hugged her harder. "I would've stolen more elixir for you and kept one ready at all times."

"Hey, it's fine. I can manage this myself." She rubbed his head. "Just make sure to stay out of my room unless you get permission though, alright?" Small chuckles were heard all around. "Besides, right now my curse should be the last thing on our minds. Luz is finally doing magic. Now that's something to celebrate."

"I had a good teacher to learn from, and a roommate to keep my head on." Luz smiled as she pointed to King and her son.

"Of course, Buddy." He patted her on the back.

Luz's eyes sparkled. "Did you just call me a frien-"

"Buddies aren't friends, they are entirely different structures." Lucci waved his hands. "I know for a fact you won't betray me, so I trust you emotionally." He snickered. "So congrats Luz, you're the best…and only…buddy I have."

"Sure thing, 'buddy'." Luz laughed. All of the group did as they laughed at the mental gymnastics Lucci went through to avoid saying friend. Made up for how badly she messed up today.

"Glad to know we can all laugh." … She turned to the pink creature.

"... Who and what are you?" Eda raised an eyebrow, trying to get the taste of roadkill out of her mouth.

"The Snaggleback. According to King here I'm the most dangerous demon of all!" The little guy shouted.

They all looked at each other unimpressed for ten seconds. "Yeah, I'm updating that." The little guy deadpanned.

"That's fair."