Angel: I have actually never seen Kid Cosmic, but I wouldn't say no to doing it. But at the same time, I'm doing enough stories, so I wouldn't even write it next. I've seen the animation, looks cool, but I need to watch the show before I even decide to put on the list of stories.
Also, thank you to the community A Box of Chocolate's, because someone from it put this story in there just a few days ago! And we're only four episodes in. Thanks for all of the feedback too, I know not everyone likes the 'following canon with OC' stories, but it means a lot and makes me so happy that people like it regardless!
Also, pretty soon, I will be introducing one character that will get more time in the story than in the show. The other one will keep their debut episode, but will still get more presence.
It was a stormy night in the Boiling Isles and Luz started recording something from her phone, which was King's eye. "And here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons, facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock," Luz narrated as if she was doing a documentary, using a British accent. King was struggling with the sock until he ripped it apart with his feet. He stood up and teared it off, stomping on the pieces.
"Where are you now, ducky sock?" He slammed down his fists.
"Alright, okay, ducky sock's been defeated," Lucila stated with an amused smile, sitting on the couch. She was reading about covens tonight since she saw a poster for one, headphones in her ears. Her legs were crossed on the cushions, the book on her lap. She was only interested in the organization, and not magic. Thankfully her sister didn't bother her about it as much after she explained it to her and Willow.
"So, why'd you call us here again?" Luz asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah," King suddenly remembered he had something important to do. He stood up and got in front of a board that was covered by a curtain. "Human Luz, Human Lucila, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft and the Boiling Isles that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for..." He removed the curtain to reveal a billboard of demons, putting on a beret. "Demons 101. Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone."
Luz zoomed in on him. "And cute little paws."
Lucila giggled a bit, covering her mouth with her hand as King sighed. "And cute little paws. True. We live only to create chaos and misery," He held up a ballpoint pen. "Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. Sometimes."
"Oh, you guys are sensitive," Luz cooed a bit.
"Gotta admit, that's something I never expected from demons. Usually they're associated with destruction and power," Lucila raised a brow.
"Even demons have inner demons..." He moved away a picture to reveal another one of a pink-skinned creature with a spikey turtle shell. "The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He is a-"
"Bad boy," Luz interrupted, playing with the sticker app from her phone. King looked back to see Lucila still interested in her book.
"Luz, Lucila, pay attention. This information could save your life someday," He spoke up, gesturing to the board.
"No, no. I am so paying attention," Luz shook her head. "This is my paying attention face," She pointed to her interested face. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
"Sorry, King, it's not you. It's just that every time I'm reading, I tend to lose myself in the writing and intrigue," Lucila smiled sheepishly. Lightning then crashed from outside, getting their attention.
"Uh-oh, looks like it's gonna rain," King commented while looking out the window.
Luz gasped sharply upon hearing that. "I love the rain," She then headed for the door.
"Hey, wait," King held out a hand.
"You don't wanna go out there," Lucila called out, but was ignored. "Luz!" She ran over to her.
"Ah," Luz stepped out into the open. "I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair," She saw a flower and bent down to it. "I bet you do too, little buddy." However, when the first raindrop hit, it completely destroyed the flower. "What?"
"Boiling rain!" Eda ran out of the forest, covering her forehead with her arm. "Everybody inside now."
"Huh?" Luz yelped as the Owl Lady grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards into the house. Then there was a crash and Eda looked up from the floor in relief.
"Phew! That was close. But the important thing is you didn't get hurt."
"Yep," Luz groaned as she and Lucila were tangled up on the ground, a coffee mug landing on her face. "Not hurt."
"I'd beg to differ," Lucila murmured wearily, a hand on her head.
Outside in town, people were running for cover to get away from the rain. And some of them were getting burned in the process unfortunately. Willow went out to her small balcony where her plants were to grab them so they wouldn't get burned.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" She jumped up and pulled down the curtain with her teeth.
The Conspiracy Theorist that Lucila and Luz met shrieked as she hid in a mouse hole, throwing out the mouse from it. She hissed at it.
King put a bandage on Luz's wounded arm, after Lucila put some burn cream on it. She was wearing her cat hood. He then put one on his nose. "Look, now we're boo-boo buddies."
Her eyes shined at him as she squealed, falling onto the ground. "Oh, my gosh. I love you so much." Lucila opened the door behind them and she looked up at her sister. "You read about this in a book, didn't you?" She asked knowingly with a small pout.
"I did," Lucila shrugged down at her. "If you had just bothered to wait and listen for two seconds-"
"But you know me, sis! I never wait to listen. You deal with that all the time," Luz looked away, still pouting. "But I guess I should learn to know when you're gonna warn me about something, huh?"
"At least you learned something today at least, even though we both know you'll never do it," The girl smirked in amusement, crossing her arms. She patted Luz on the head, who smiled in return. They looked up ahead at Eda, who was preparing a spell. She had a yellow protective shield over her head to protect her from the rain.
"A boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is so fun!"
"Yeah, we don't have weather," Eda corrected her. "We have plagues, gorenados, shale hail, painbows."
"It's like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out," King explained to them and Lucila shuddered.
"Yeah, remind me of when those occur so I can avoid those."
Luz closed her hood tighter as Lucila slowly walked backwards. She then looked back at her sister. "By the way, can you tell me what those are like later?"
"Yeah, I will tonight," Lucila confirmed with a small nod.
"So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight," Eda warned the trio.
"And if the rain doesn't get you," King took out a book out of nowhere, opening up to the Snaggleback. "The Snaggleback will. They wanted the rains, feeding on boiled tourists."
"Well, whatever the case, this forcefield spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made-up demons," Eda teased him.
"Hoot! Well, hurry it up with that force field," Hooty called out angrily. "That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Eda grabbed her staff, spinning it around. She then conjured a giant bubble that engulfed the house, before switching sizes to be a perfect shaped barrier for the building. The forcefield spell effectively protected anything on the outside, including the rain.
"Wow! Someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady," Luz pulled down her hood. "Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?"
She placed a hand on her hip. "Cause I'm so wise," Eda stated proudly, earning a small scoff from Lucila.
"I mean, you did help us with the whole Hexside thing with the slime ball, but wise? I wouldn't say so."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Eda waved her off.
"They call her the Owl Lady because she coughs up rat bones," Hooty pointed out.
"I think it's cause she gets distracted by shiny objects," King stated, hands on his hips.
"No, I don't," She denied and he pulled out the pen from before. He pressed the button and it glowed.
"Is that my pen?" Lucila pointed down at it. Eda was completely fascinated with the pen.
"It sparkles and shimmers. It shines and delights. I must have it for my nest," She lunged for it, but King moved it away and she crashed instead.
"You have a nest?" Luz asked excitedly. "I want a nest. Nest party!"
"Luz," Lucila chuckled a bit. When they were younger, she would make several forts for her and Luz in any shape or form that Luz wanted it, with the nest being her favorite one. She walked over and she helped Luz help Eda up.
"Ugh, that force field really took it out of me," She groaned a bit.
"Uh oh, moving a little slow," King teased her. "Age finally catching up to ya?" She put the whole beret over his face in response. "Ahh! Darkness!"
Eda opened the door, stepping inside tiredly. "This is perfect," Luz grinned happily, and for good reason. "Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell."
"Ooh, and I can read more about the covens," Lucila smiled in excitement.
"Covens?" Luz asked her excitedly.
"Oh, go learn that spell," She encouraged her little sister, pushing her forward. "I'll still be around so you can hear me babble on and on, and then you'll fall asleep afterwards."
"I won't fall asleep...! It's just that your voice is so calming sometimes," Luz placed two hands on one cheek, mimicking sleeping. Lucila looked away with a small amusing smile, patting her sister on the top of her head.
"But don't you guys wanna finish our lesson?" King asked sadly. "I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me."
"Oh, uh, sorry, King," Luz turned to him apologetically. "But magic..."
"Boiling Isles for me," Lucila shrugged at him, walking away to get her book. He gave a deadpan look, his beret falling flat.
Eda went behind her changing board and flashed herself into her pjs. She adjusted her skirt and clicked her tongue. She laid on the couch with a satisfying sigh...until a shadow loomed over her. She shrieked as she saw Luz standing over her.
"Oh, Eda, have I told you how rad your fang looks today?"
"Whatever it is, no," Eda deadpanned at her.
"Uh, and your hair is like, girl."
"I'm not teaching you magic tonight," She guessed correctly. "I'm sleepy," Eda pulled a blanket over her. "I'm a sleepy little owl."
"Please, Eda. Please," Luz begged her. "How am I supposed to earn my witch's staff if I don't know any spells?"
"No. Sleep," Eda put the blanket over her head.
"Psst." Luz looked up at her sister, who had her feet touching the cushion from the chair not too far away, leaned back a bit. She held up something and then tossed it to Luz, who smirked. Clicking was heard and Eda's eyes widened. She gasped sharply, waking up immediately.
"Sparkle thing." She sat up and saw Lucila's pen in Luz's hand.
"Oh! This?" Luz asked innocently. Eda jumped into the armrest of the couch, eyeing it closely. "Ooh!" Luz held it up and down and then wiggled it in front of Eda. She tried to grab it, but Luz moved it out of her grasp, causing her to fall. "Nope. Teach me one spell and I'll give you your sparkle thing."
"Luz, no!" Lucila hissed a bit at her.
"I'll buy you another one," Luz whispered sheepishly and apologetically. The older girl groaned a bit, looking annoyed. She used that pen to write down her songs…
"I respect your cunning, but I also hate you for it," Eda made clear to Luz from the ground.
Lightning struck, and Luz watched as Eda stood in front of her, holding her staff. "If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me repeat myself," She almost fell asleep right then and there, but Lucila threw a cup of water into her face, causing her to snap awake. "Thanks, kid. Witches' staffs have power embedded into them."
"Gimme," Luz held out her hands. Lucila gave a bit of a wary look; not that she didn't trust Luz, but she already knew that she wouldn't get the hang of it immediately if even Eda allowed her to touch it.
"But before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own," Eda continued to Lucila's relief. The girl walked away with her book, sitting back down on the chair. "Now..." She tossed her staff away, holding up a finger. "Tonight I will show you how to create light."
She traced a circle and it turned into a light orb. Luz eyed it in amazement as it floated down in front of her and then popped.
"Yawn," King stood up in annoyance. "Who needs another boring spell lesson when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you?" He held up a picture of a demon biting into what looked like a human body. Thankfully, though, it looked like a child's drawing that a parent would put up on a fridge. "Look how teethy. Bite, bite."
"Be quiet. I need to focus."
King looked disappointed by her answer and Lucila glanced down at him. She then looked towards Luz, feeling a little bad for him. It wasn't their entire fault that other things had kept them interested and/or busy...
"Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something," Eda continued speaking. "Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?" She smiled as she booped Luz's nose.
"Hmm...from the heart?" Luz's eyes shined as she clasped her hands together.
"Not everything here is like the Good Witch Azura, Luz," Lucila smirked in amusement. Luz turned around and blew a raspberry at her. Lucila stuck out a tongue in response, dragging down an eyelid.
"Actually, you're right," Eda answered after a pause, Luz gasping in delight. "No, really," Eda dug into her hair, pulling out a diagram of a heart that had a GIANT thing attached to it. "It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart."
"Ew!" Lucila recoiled back upon hearing that.
"Oh, gross. Can I keep that?"
"No!" Both Eda and Lucila answered in unison. Eda put back the paper in her hair.
"Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell," Eda raised her finger and drew a bigger circle, making another orb. It exploded into smaller ones. However, Luz was just now realizing something.
"But how can I, little old Luz, do magic if I don't have a magic bile...sac?"
Eda paused once more as she thought about it. "You know, I'm not actually sure."
"What?!" Luz exclaimed up at her.
"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how," She laughed with a small snort.
"Eda!" The girl protested in response.
"Don't worry," Eda bent down to her, ruffling the girl's hair. "You'll figure it out. Or rather, you could ask an expert," She turned Luz's head to Lucila, who flinched upon the looks given to her. "Now, oh..." Eda stood up, her back cracking. "I need to lie down..." She staggered to the couch.
"That's it? Wait. I need to see you do the circle thingy again," Luz dug behind her back, pulling out her phone. "I'll record it on my phone this time." She held up her phone to Eda. "Smile. You're on camera. One more spell won't kill you."
Eda groaned at her prodding. "Fine. Now, you see, the spell circle is really because..." She attempted the circle, but it looked wavy and not straight like the past two times. She then fell face-first onto the ground. "Oh, boy."
"Well, looks like one more spell killed Eda," King remarked nonchalantly, and Luz shrieked in horror. She turned around Eda, Lucila bending down to the rug.
"Oh, my gosh. My obsession with spells knocked out Eda." She stood up, holding her head in guilt. "I'm a monster."
Lucila raised a brow while King held out his hand, booping Eda on the nose. "Bap! Yep. She's out. Bap!" He hit her face again, laughing. "Just making sure." The girl shook her head, examining Eda a bit further. She was breathing, so she definitely wasn't dead.
"We should get help, right?" Luz asked the duo, running towards the outside, only to be stopped by both King and her sister.
"Boiling rains, remember?"
"You'd get burns all over you, and remember that we're not supposed to be outside!" Lucila warned her.
"No, let her try. It'll be funny," Hooty commented, Lucila slamming the door closed before King could do it.
"But what if Eda's dead?" Luz gestured to her.
"Shiny thing...big nest," Eda let out a snore.
"Remember when her head got cut off last week?" King reminded Luz. "That woman can survive anything. She's probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles."
"Plus attempting a light spell three times within 5 minutes. Which equals fatigue," Lucila added in, holding up a finger.
"Well, we can't just leave her on the floor," Luz protested, King giving a blank look.
Thunder struck again from outside as the three dragged Eda across the floor into her room. They put her feet up against a nest, which was actually her bed. Luz moved away some skeletons and the two sisters hoisted Eda into bed.
"Sorry for pushing you, Ms. Eda. Please don't hurt me when you wake up," Luz stated in worry.
"Should I bap her again?" King offered, earning a head pat from Luz.
"Just let her rest, you little goober."
"Eh, I wouldn't worry, sis. I mean, she hasn't killed you yet, not even when you went to Hexside," Lucila crossed her arms, looking away. "Though it's the first time we've seen her this tired before. Wonder why."
"Come on. Let's go downstairs," Luz dropped the subject and left the room. King hit Eda across the face one last time.
"Bap!" He laughed as he ran off.
They were back in the living room, where King was drawing from the couch. "Yeah, yeah," He said in approval of his picture. Lucila was still reading when she looked up, yelping to see Luz grinning widely at her.
"So...sis...whatcha got for me?" She asked her sister excitedly.
"I don't got anything," Lucila told her, to her disbelief.
"Aww, what?" Luz whined to her older sister.
"I haven't been reading up on magic on the Boiling Isles," The girl crossed her arms. "I've avoided those books. Besides, I don't think you'd get much if you search for 'humans and magic' anywhere. Sorry, Luz."
"But I wanna do my first speeeeell!" Luz complained a little, pouting.
"I mean, she didn't say it was impossible," Lucila rubbed her chin. "Don't worry, I know you can do it."
"Okay..." She pouted, standing up, though a bit happy with the encouragement. After a few seconds, she groaned, getting their attention. "This is all she does," She was tracing circles like Eda. "Why you gotta be so cryptic, Owl Lady?" She replayed the recording from her phone, trying to find something that would help her out.
"Now, you see, the spell circle is really-"
"Hey," King put his sketchpad over her screen. "You know what's really cryptish? Let me tell you about the most spine-chilling demon." He held up what looked to be a giant fish of sorts. "Smootchie Pie the Sweetie Baby."
Lucila snickered a bit, looking up. "What?" Until today, she didn't think that'd be a name that she would want to remember or hear.
"He's...well, he's a lot more threatening than his name implies," The little guy stated sheepishly.
"Not now, King. I wanna figure out this spell," King looked away sadly, sitting down on a bile of books. He looked to Lucila and he already knew that he'd get the same thing since she was too busy reading. "But if I don't have a magic sac, what's the point? I'll just be twirling my fingers around unmagically forever."
"Why do you wanna learn magic so bad, anyway?" He asked bitterly, a bit upset that she hadn't paid attention to his lessons at all. Eda never wanted to talk about demons with him, and no way was he asking Hooty. So when he finally found people to share his knowledge with, they didn't want it.
"...I was a nobody back home," Luz revealed to him. "But becoming a witch is my chance to be someone," She sat down, frowning a bit. "And...my sister, well, she inspired me, and she's always encouraging me to be myself. I wanna show her that she's not making the wrong decision by letting me learn magic" Her eyes softened a little. Lucila was always taking care of her when their mother wasn't home, always playing out Azura books with her. She took on a lot of responsibility at a younger age than normal to look after Luz, and...she wanted to make her sister proud by accomplishing being a witch.
Lucila smiled at her a bit, feeling happy by Luz's words.
"Do you know what it's like to have no one take you seriously?"
King sighed by her response, looking away. He felt the same way with both the sisters. "If I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?"
"Oh, yes, yes," Luz perked up. "You can teach me about demons all week if you help me learn this spell."
"Well, she said witches used to do magic differently," King tapped his chin.
"And I haven't read up on how exactly," Lucila added in.
"So there has to be a way, right? And I have a theory." He held up his drawing, which showed an equation of sorts. "Every day I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir. See? Then she always gets a boost of energy. See? I think that's where she gets her powers."
"But didn't she say that witches have...bile sacs to be able to do spells? Why would she say that if she has an elixir to get her magic?" Lucila rubbed her chin. It didn't seem to make sense for Eda to lie, and she was the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles. So she doubted that witches had to drink elixir on top of having the bile sacs biologically. And Eda was...different, but still technically operated like other witches.
"Who cares? I know where to get some," King waved it off.
"Really?" Luz asked hopefully.
"Si," He simply responded.
Luz spun him into a hug. "Thank you so much. You're a prince."
He stared at her, not getting the phrase. "King. I'm King."
"Right."
Lucila sighed at them; she really hoped she was wrong about this...
Thunder struck louder this time, Eda still snoring in her nest. King opened the door, stepping in quietly. He glanced around the bedroom for the elixir. "Now where could it be?" He found a bottle with orange liquid right next to the next on a table. It specifically said 'an elixir a day.' He stepped over to it, only for his foot to hit metal. He shrieked, looking down to see a bear trap. He moved his foot just before it snapped closed.
"Huh! Nice try."
The bear trap than came to life, opening an eye. "Nah, my heart wasn't in it," He stated before walking off. King crawled over to the table, grabbing the label.
"An elixir a day. Cryptic." He ripped it off, hiding it in his fur. He then took the bottle and jumped onto the floor. He looked towards Eda, feeling a little guilty that he was stealing from Eda. But then again, he really wanted the girls to learn more about demons...
"Nah," He snapped out of it and ran off.
"Got it," He presented it to Luz, who popped the cork off the bottle.
"Wow! I can't believe I'm about to learn magic. Real magic. This is historic."
"Luz, I don't know if you should be drinking that," Lucila raised a skeptic brow. "We don't even know what it'll do to you."
"True, but this is the only way I can learn magic," She gave her older sister a pleading look. The girl sighed as she looked away, and then paused. "Is she doing the eyes?" She asked King directly. He turned to Luz, seeing her with puppy eyes and a pout.
"Yup. With the pout!"
"Ugh, not the pout. Fine! But only one sip and that's it," Lucila pointed down at Luz in warning.
Luz eagerly put the bottle to her lips, but before she could actually have a sip, the lights went out briefly from a big crash of lightning. She yelped and tossed around the bottle, only for it to fall onto the floor, breaking into pieces. "Golden elixir gone. This is awful."
"Who even needs a light spell when we have tons of lamps?" King bragged to her, gesturing to the lighting on the walls. The lamps then went out entirely, the girls staring at him. He groaned upon the irony. "Hooty controls the house lights. He probably just fell asleep."
Then there was a loud crash. "Hoot, hoot!"
"Hooty!" Luz and Lucila exclaimed as King grabbed the younger girl's shoulders. The two ran for the door, gasping as the door was destroyed, but Hooty was still alive. However...there was a large creature at the broken door, and they had no idea what it was since it was so dark that they couldn't see it. Hooty's eyes had x's in them while the creature clawed at him, growling at the trio and leaving. They loomed over the door.
"Hooty, are you in there?" Luz poked at his beak, examining his eyes. "Whatever did this escaped into the rain. What could survive that?"
King touched the claw marks and realized something. "Oh my gosh! The Snaggleback. It feeds during the rains. It must have stumbled across our house and seen us inside."
"But if law enforcement can't find us here, how would the Snaggleback?" Lucila rubbed her chin, and they heard a howl. They ran out the door, looking up to see the creature breaking in through a window.
"This is terrifying," Luz commented, glaring down a bit at King. "So why do you look so happy?"
King laughed giddily, Lucila crossing her arms at him. "Because this could be a lesson. This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal."
"You wanna go towards those creepy sounds? No way," Luz denied immediately.
"I'm with her on this one! That's asking to get eaten," The older girl raised a hand.
"What if Eda gets eaten? She's upstairs and defenseless because Luz knocked her out," King pointed out, earning a groan from the aforementioned girl. She had forgotten that Eda was still asleep up there, and there was no way she put up defenses because it wasn't warranted. Especially since she didn't believe in the Snaggleback.
"Man..." Lucila sighed at this.
Luz put on some gloves, King taping a pillow over him. Lucila equipped her head with a colander, holding a large spoon as well as wearing a couch cushion over her waist. Luz put two bandages over her cheeks. She smirked and grabbed a hockey stick (Eda stole some from traveling into the human realm). King ran over and got Francois.
"Weh!"
Luz used her phone flashlight to guide the way, and they looked up the long staircase. As they started walking, the steps started creaking, and they reached the hallway. A door creaked, and it was coming from Eda's bedroom. They glanced at each other and when they opened the door, they saw Eda's room trashed, along with a broken window. Thunder struck briefly to give off an ominous tone.
"Oh my gosh, Eda!" Luz called out in a panic.
"She got snaggle-backed!" King added in, Luz going over to the nest and peeking in.
"Eda?" Eda wasn't sleeping, but she did find a pillow with slash marks on it, like the ones from the front door. "Slash marks! King, you're the demon expert. We need your help."
"I'll go get my demon book!" He ran out of the room to go get it. Lucila walked over to the broken glass, and something about it seemed off to her for some reason...
"What are we dealing with here?" She murmured to herself, glancing back to the pillow.
As King ran down the hall, a large shadow flew over his head. He ran back into Eda's room, holding two books. "Wait, wait. First edition or second?" He looked up and gasped as the room was empty, with no sign of Lucila or Luz. "Luz? Lucila?" He dropped his books in shock, one of them stopping on the page of the Snaggleback. "The Snaggleback got them!"
Something zipped past him and once he heard it, he saw the small shadow go by. Then he ran down the hall after it. "You craven beast! Give me back my boo-boo buddy and my reading buddy!" He ran up the stairs and chased it into a closet. Only Luz's shoe and Lucila's glasses were left behind in front of the door. "Luz? Lucila?" He whimpered a bit, grabbing the items. He grew angry over not finding them and opened the door. He stepped inside to see the junk...his eyes resting on a curtain with feet behind it. "There's nowhere for you to run!" He moved the curtain...to come across a purple monkey with a tortoise shell for a back. "Snaggleback?" The creature looked up at him. "Wow! You are a lot shorter in person."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," He whimpered in fear. "I just needed a place to hide from the rains."
"Then why did you break down our door and take Luz and Lucila?" King accused him. "That's not cool, man. Bad Snaggleback."
"I-I didn't do any of that stuff. I snuck in through a window just now," The Snaggleback explained, confusing King.
"Huh? Well, then what-" A hand with talons came in from the ceiling, grabbing the Snaggleback by the turtle shell.
"Oh, no. A twist!"
King looked to where he went, and banging on the door occurred. He yelped and heard growling, turning around to the closet door. It was starting to open, revealing the creature that wasn't the Snaggleback...whose turtle shell fell in front of the creature. It snarled and roared at King, who backed away.
"Oh, my..."
The creature slowly stepped inside, the little demon hugging Luz's shoe and Lucila's glasses close to him. "Stay back!" He warned, only for the creature to get closer. "Hey, hey. I am the King of Demons, okay? A-And as such, I demand you to barf my friends back up."
The creature let out another roar, swiping its claws. King yelped as he ducked, a slash mark left behind on the wall. He ran for the hall and the creature bumped into the wall, stumbling after him a little. He slid around the corner and the thing started to catch up with him. He slid to a stop in another hall, and was pulled in by a gloved hand. The door closed and the creature stomped away. He listened as it left, looking up to see Luz. Lucila was standing nearby, rubbing at her eyes since she was still blind.
"Luz? Lucila?"
"King," She held him up happily, putting him down. "Oh, we're so glad you're safe."
"Where did you go?" King wondered to the duo.
"We were checking on Eda, and she was gone, and you were gone. I also tripped and lost my shoe, and I bumped into Lucila, making her drop her glasses," She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh, hey, you found them," She took her shoe back and then the glasses, tossing them to Lucila. "Here sis."
"Hey, watch it! That's the only pair I have," Lucila stated, putting them back on. She smiled in relief when she could see again.
"I...hey, what's that?" He took out a paper stuck from Luz's foot, reading it. "Keeps the curse at bay." He gasped sharply, taking out the other half he had kept earlier. He then put both of them together to read one sentence. "An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay."
"Curse?" Luz blinked in confusion. "Wait, what are you trying to say?"
"...Oh no," Lucila murmured quietly, eyes wide. She realized that something was off about the glass...because it was laid out like it broke in, and only the creature did that...into Eda's window. "Oh, we're in trouble."
"Why are we in trouble?" The younger Noceda asked in a panic. "King, why are we in trouble?"
"I was wrong the whole time. That's no Snaggleback. That creature is-"
The door was broken in by a hand and they all screamed. The door was fully broken, and they finally got a good look on the creature, specifically its face. It looked at them with a big grin. "Eda?" Luz asked in shock upon seeing her.
She raised her talons with a roar. Luz shrieked as Lucila scrambled backwards, both of them terrified. Luz dropped her phone, and it cracked the screen, but activated the camera flash. It flashed in Eda's eyes and she screeched in pain, covering her eyes. Luz looked up in shock, grabbing King. She helped up her sister and they took off into a run. Eda snapped out of it, and stood up with a roar.
While it was still raining, she was searching for them. She sniffed around the garden, not noticing the three hiding behind a small stone wall. She sniffed the air for them as the girls had their mouths covered. Eda leaned in close, her hair from her ears hovering right over Lucila's face. She looked like she was about to gag as Eda looked around, her hair in Lucila's face. She flinched as she was about to sneeze, holding it in as best as she can. Luz saw this and grabbed a nearby can, tossing it. It hit the door and Eda fell for it, screeching and running off.
Lucila sighed in relief, letting go of her mouth. "Oh, man. Did you see her eyes?" Luz asked as she stood up, King looking guilty. "They were like BLAUGH! Hey, how'd you know it was Eda, sis?"
"Well, I noticed that the glass had been broken in, and not out. And Hooty's door was angled at a way only possible if someone broke out. And with this force field basically impenetrable from the outside unless Eda takes it down herself..."
"Only someone from here could've done all this..." She then looked down at King. "What happened to her?"
"Don't you see? The elixir I gave you doesn't give Eda powers. It prevents her from turning into that thing. She's turned into a nightmare, and it's all my fault!" He sat down while hugging his knees. "I'm so sorry, Luz, Lucila. I-I just wanted you guys to be into demons like you're into magic or the Boiling Isles. I don't have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me." The girls glanced at each other knowingly. "I thought maybe if I taught you, finally someone would care about creatures like me."
"...You know, I get it, King. I used to be the same way," Lucila spoke up and he looked at her in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I mean, I used to read fantasy books like Luz all the time, both to her and on my own. But...eventually, specifically when I started high school, I kept getting teased for it. I did have two friends, Will and Cori, but it still kept happening. So I...gave up my love of fantasy, and I hid everything I owned relating to it away," She explained to him. "But...you know, then I ended up inspiring Luz, and it was a hard decision, but I don't regret it."
Luz smiled at her and then at King. "Well, let's finish the lesson," She held out Lucila's pen.
"Huh?" King looked up at her in confusion.
"Eda's turned into some kind of demon, and we need to save her. So who knows more about demons than the best teacher in the world?"
He looked happy as he pointed to himself and they nodded with smiles. He took the pen from her and stood up. He leapt forward and hugged them gleefully. He planted some leaves onto the ground. "Let's see," He started drawing Eda. "She was bigger, covered in feathers, and had giant black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light." He then glanced down to Luz's phone, remembering the camera. "That's it! Light! Luz, Lucila, use your human wonder rectangles!"
"I can't," She held it up, showing him the cracked screen. "My camera's all blasted."
"And my phone's flash function doesn't work from my camera," Lucila added in.
"Then...what about that light spell?" King pointed out, earning a sigh.
"You saw me. I can't draw circles in the air. I'm not like Eda," She pulled up the video again and played it.
"Spell circle is really key..." As soon as the video ended, the camera acted up, but there was something there that Luz didn't see before: a pattern. The video paused on it and Luz gasped as she looked at her screen.
"There's a pattern in the spell circle!"
"What?" King and Lucila looked over her shoulders. "Where?"
Luz took out a leaf, and took the pen. "It looks like this." She laid the leaf over the phone so she could trace the symbol. "There," She tapped the pen against it, and the symbol glowed. She gasped as the leaf then turned into a light orb. Luz held it in her hands in awe. "It's beautiful...Oh, my gosh. I just did magic. I just did magic!" She stood up happily, pumping her fists. King barely held onto her arm, swinging his legs. "I just did magic!"
"Shh!" Lucila and King both shushed her in unison.
"...Luz, that's it!" Lucila blinked in realization, pointing at her. "You can't do normal magic like Eda, right?"
"Right...unfortunately," Luz looked away with a small pout.
"But if every spell has a symbol and you can draw them out..."
"...Then I really can become a witch!" The girl smiled at her.
"But we're not gonna stop anything with something that small," King stated, jumping onto the ground. They heard Eda shriek and ducked for cover. "What do we do now?"
"I think I know how to get Eda back," Luz smiled, holding out her fist. "Will you help me, boo-boo buddy?"
"Hmm, I'm kind of over that nickname. But okay." The three fist-bumped together.
"Just tell us what we need to do," Lucila nodded in agreement.
Eda sniffed around the living room, Hooty still unconscious on the ground, but with black eyes. She sniffed a book and then heard the clicking sound from the pen. She turned to see King using it as he was leaned against the door to the hall.
"Oh, what lovely thing do we have here? It's just so dang shiny," He threw it up into the air as it was glowing. "Oh, my. Oh, dear." Eda got distracted from the pen again, just like last time, and the top of the pen reflected in her eyes. She reached forward to get it, only for King to run into the hallway. Eda chased after him and then hid as Lucila was putting down one final object on the ground. She ran and hid next to King as Eda slid on a bunch of papers. She looked up as Lucila threw a cloth over her and she screeched loudly.
"I'm sorry, Eda, but it's for your own good!" Luz finished drawing the light symbol on the wall with crayon. She then tapped it with her hand, and the light was so big and powerful that the hallway was bathed in it. Eda screeched loudly from it.
She opened her eyes as she sat up, taking a straw out of her mouth that was connected to her elixir bottle. She was thankfully back to normal...mostly, though, since the left side of her face was still part of the owl beast she turned into earlier. And part of the pearl from her outfit was black as well. She yelped in surprise and sipped the last of the elixir to regain the yellow from her pearl and her eye. She looked up in confusion, the rain still occurring from outside.
"What happened? Oh, I have the worst headache," She put a hand to her head. "And my mouth tastes like roadkill."
She retched and leaned over to vomit out a large pellet. The thing then broke open to reveal the Snaggleback she ate earlier, but he was still missing his turtle shell.
"I'm just gonna...lie here for a minute," He murmured, feeling very...disturbed from what went on tonight. Eda looked down and saw her elixir bottle almost empty.
"Hmm. I was looking for that."
"Actually, we found an extra one in your closet," King spoke up, jerking a thumb behind him.
"King?" Then she connected the dots, feeling furious. "King, you stole my elixir? I oughta break every bone in your-"
"Shh," He shushed her, to her confusion, and he turned around. "Over there."
She saw Luz and Lucila sitting near the still-broken window. Lucila was sitting on her knees with a smile in front of her sister, watching her making light spells with the symbol she learned from earlier. She looked up with a smile as the lights floated up to the ceiling. Luz tapped the symbol again, and the paper turned into the light orb. Luz herself looked very happy, Eda amazed. She had never seen that kind of magic before, obviously.
"Wow," She then saw that the ceiling was being filled with light orbs that Luz created herself. "How is she doing that?"
"I don't know, but she did it all on her own. Lucila, though, still doesn't want to." A few light orbs flew around Lucila's head to make sort of a crown and the two giggled. "Hey, I uh...kind of messed a bunch of things up back there," He turned around, being met with a glare from Eda. "And I just wanted to say...I'm sorry."
"Well, you better be! I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it," She paused as she looked away in thought. "But it's not entirely your fault." Luz and Lucila walked over to her. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys."
"Lucila...kind of got the gist of it," Luz glanced up at her sister, who looked a bit concerned.
"Eda...you're cursed, aren't you?" Eda bit her lip at the question, looking anywhere else but them. "Why didn't you just tell us?"
"...Okay, yes. Fine. When I was younger, I was cursed," She admitted to them. "I don't know exactly how it happened. All I know is that if I don't take my elixir..." She held the bottle in her hands. "Well...that's why people call me the Owl Lady. No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's...manageable. And I guess the reason I didn't tell you is because...well, no one likes to see a big giant Owl Beast. I was...afraid."
"Whoa," Luz commented as Lucila blinked in shock. "So are you okay?"
"There's no side effects we'll start noticing? Because I'm not ready for that," The older girl stated clearly.
"There's nothing for you to worry about," Eda sat up a little, holding her arm. "It's all under control. And as long as no one steals my elixir—King-" She pointed down at him pointedly and he looked away in slight shame. "Then I'm fine. But, hey, look at this," She gestured to Luz. "A human doing magic. Good on you."
Luz smiled, hands behind her back. "I had some encouragement from a great teacher," She smiled down at King.
"Yeah, his lesson was really helpful, Eda," Lucila smiled too.
"Oh, you guys," King replied bashfully.
"Hey, hey!" Hooty shouted as he had finally woken up. "Is anyone there? Hello? Hoot. I'm on the floor. It's cold."
"That voice," King said in annoyance. "That horrific voice!" He went for the door, Luz turning to Eda.
"We'll take care of him. You stay in bed."
"And take care of the Snaggleback too," Lucila pointed down at him. "And don't worry, I found some extra elixir in case you need it," She gestured to the desk, where there were at least 2 more.
"Come on, you goopy fella," Luz picked up the Snaggleback and walked away with him. Lucila followed after them.
"Oh, wow, I think my tail was digested."
Upon hearing that, Lucila winced towards Eda, slowly closing the door. Yeah, there wasn't really anything she could do about that...
Once she was alone, Eda let out a sigh, but was smiling. She laid down in her nest, looking up to the light orbs. She smiled peacefully and closed her eyes, going to sleep.
Eda stood in front of door, surrounded by nothing alone. "No, not this memory again," She tried to back out of it as she didn't want to see it. It had been occurring for as long as she could remember, and she could never figure out what it meant.
The door opened on its own to reveal a black shadow with large white round eyes. The shadow itself had no specific shape, so she couldn't tell who it was. "You! You're the one who cursed me, aren't you?" She got no response in return. "Who are you? Who are you?!"
Eda awoke with a sharp gasp, looking around. She then exhaled as the memory still haunted her to this day, and she knew it wouldn't stop until she found out the truth...but she didn't know where to begin...
Luz and Lucila put bandages on the door the next morning, the boiling rain finally over. Lucila had managed to put Hooty back on his hinges, but it left him with the claw marks. "Welcome to the boo-boo buddy club, Hooty."
"Finally, I get to be a part of something!" He smiled happily upon hearing this.
King was taking notes while talking to the Snaggleback, since he was the only one who got an up close, but gross experience by being eaten. "And then she had teeth in her stomach. Teeth in her stomach. Can you believe that?"
"Oh, yeah," King nodded in agreement. He saw Eda eat him, so nothing surprised him there. "This will make a great addition to my demon," He turned around the sketchbook to reveal a drawn picture of Eda as the Owl Lady.
"That book is filled with so many interesting things. Like this," He pulled out King's demon book. "I'm one of the strongest demons on the Boiling Isles, huh?" He smiled happily upon having that recognition.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to edit that," King commented since he now knew that the Snaggleback in front of him wasn't all that strong...or impressive, either.
"Oh..."