A/N: Hello. :) This is actually my first story based on The Owl House. I've recently become invested in the show, its story, and its characters. :) Also, I happen to be a bit of a Lumity fan myself, though I felt the process was a bit rushed. Of course, I'm open to any other character being paired with Luz, so no judgment from me. Anyway, I wanted to take a crack at making a story for The Owl House for some bit of time. And during that time, I noticed a lot of worlds it could be different. And further down the road, I may adopt some of these worlds into this story. But first, I will introduce you to my OC, who while I can't tell you just yet (mainly because you can kinda see it down there) will be voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. As for his family, I'll hold off on that until the end. I hope you enjoy the beginning. ;)
Prologue: Away from Home
He was on the run, running for his life as a large, unearthly roar was echoing in the forest. He was jumping over a log ahead of him before he continued his sprint, knowing if he stopped, he'd surely be doomed. If he knew his day would turn out like this, he would've stayed in bed. Then all of what he experienced may never have happened. But there's no use trying to change it now. All he could do for himself now was to stay alive.
The young man was wearing a red shirt with a black jacket on him, as well as dark blue jeans and black shoes. Although, wings would be more useful to him in this situation, not that he could grow any. A dark shadow was looming over him, its own wings outstretched. He looked up to see the beast swoop down on him as he tried to jump away from it, causing the beast to miss as it sent up a lot of dust into the air from the collision. After that, he turned around to see the outline of a horse's body with the wings of an eagle. And to top it off were glowing white eyes that appeared fixated on him. The young man closed his eyes and was expecting the worst as he spoke to himself the same question he thought before.
"Why did I have to get out of bed today?"
4 Hours Earlier
Before that mess came up, however, the young man had a different problem. And it came nowhere close to the chase he'd eventually find himself in. It was getting ready for School. And his father did not like him to be late.
"Benjamin! Where the blazes are you?!"
Benjamin sat up straight, stirred out of his sleep so suddenly, although he was still sleepy. He had on a black shirt and black and white plaid pants to sleep in. But with how groggy he was getting to be, his father's voice might as well be another alarm clock. Even so, his eyes still needed to adjust themselves. When they were able to see straight, Ben found himself in his room. It was a medium size room with a brown hardwood floor with a fuzzy circular, red carpet in the middle of it.
The bed he just woke up from had a small metal frame with light beige covers on it, along with a small pillow and a smiley dinosaur pattern blanket on it, but it was messy from hanging off the side of the bed. There was also a wooden dresser with a metal alarm clock, and a small purple picture frame of his mother smiling, tenderly holding her pregnant belly.
He also had a hanging full body mirror on the left wall with a few fun sticks on it, as well as a big wooden closet full of clothes, ranging from casualwear to fancy clothes for fancy events all cluttered together on one wooden line (with a line of shoes on the bottom of the closet, a Black umbrella leaning on one side and a cardboard box labeled "hand me downs'' on it. On the right wall, there were a few wooden long planks on the wall acting as shelves full of super hero action figures, a few animal plush toys, a lego model of the Death Star and a Dino grabber toy, a small wooden dresser on the right side of the bed full of socks and underwear on the inside while on the top is a simple lamp with a wizard-like figure as the base, a dirty clothes hamper full to the brim with dirty clothes with a few scattered on the ground near it, and a Dino calendar hanging on a wall next to the hamper with the addition of a few posters hanging on the wall displaying a few movies he watched.
His main forte in the movies were Marvel movies, like Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and even Deadpool. While the third wasn't part of the MCU, Ben liked the humor and action it had to offer (even if most of it was inappropriate). And finally, it had a big window over his bed with black drapes over it that were half open.
"You better get dressed and ready to go in five minutes!"
And speaking of clocks, Ben looked at his own on his desk. According to the time, it was at 7:25. His bus was to come pick him up at 7:30. The young man's eyes widened in surprise as he spoke to himself under his breath before replying back to his father.
"Oh, crud… I'll be right there!"
He'd overslept. And because of that, he was bound to be late. To make up for it, he took off his pajama pants first and put on his dark blue jeans, followed by his shirt. Next, came the socks and shoes. And to top it off, his jacket and backpack. When he was finished, Ben looked at the time, seeing that it said 7:28. He then took a look at himself in the mirror, seeing that nothing was out of place.
"How about that? My new personal best."
Ben was about to take off, but before he could, he stopped to look at a picture of his mother in his hand. Apart from the pregnant belly, she had long, black hair that reached her shoulders, a tall, slender, curvy body build, thin eyebrows, and a pale white skin tone. She also had forest green colored eyes, thin small eyelashes, a small rounded nose, slightly big hips, long skinny arms and legs, round small ears with black earrings pierced on them, red fake paint on her fingernails, thin lips with pink lipstick on them, a long blue gown, a small pearl necklace, black leggings, and white strap-on fancy shoes. Ben imagined that must've been how she looked when she went to prom. Or it would be if she didn't have a pregnant belly, but he didn't mind it one bit. He looked at the picture fondly before he spoke gently to it.
"Wish me luck, mom. I might need a whole lot of it."
Ben made a small laugh to himself before he planted a small kiss on his two front fingers on his right hand before placing them on her forehead. He would've let the moment dwell longer, but his father's voice rang out again.
"You better be down here by the next minute, Benjamin!"
Ben made a small grumble to himself. As much as he wanted him to keep his mouth shut, he wasn't wrong.
"Well, see you soon."
Ben then took off from his room with his backpack in tow to get downstairs, ready to start another day at School. However, before he went down the stairs, he turned back to the picture before going back to it. He then picked it up before putting it in his backpack and zipping it tight.
"Actually, I might need you with me."
On his way down, Ben noticed three people waiting on the chairs by the fireplace. One of them was a young man with a missing front tooth in his mouth, a slightly lean body build, a light skin tone, short brown hair done in a spikey stuck-up style, dark brown colored eyes, thin eyebrows, big round ears, a pointy nose, short skinny arms and legs, wearing a grey t-shirt that's short sleeved, black shorts, white socks, black sneakers and black sunglasses. Another person that waited for him was a young woman with a slightly chubby but curvy body type, light white skin tone, thick long arms and legs, small round ears with golden small earrings, firm waist, big wide hips, pink painted fingernails/toenails, small round nose, freckled cheeks, short shoulder-length blonde hair with a pink streak in the middle, silver eyes, a ripped up dark blue shirt, short black shorts, and black open-toed, high-heeled shoes. But the third one was who he couldn't stand in the least: his father.
He had a tall and thin but sturdy body type, tan white skin tone, white short, slicked back hair, small dark blue eyes, a long flat nose, a pointy chin with a thick pointy beard over it, thick white eyebrows, a few wrinkles on his big forehead, round oval like ears, big hands, and a thick neck. He was also wearing black pants, a purple light turtleneck, a brown belt with a brass belt buckle, and black shoes. The young man and woman spoke out to Ben first in a complaint.
"Ugh! About time you showed up."
"If we end up being late, it's your fault."
Ben rolled his eyes at their comments. Every time they complained, they always directed it at him. It was something he came to expect from his brother and sister.
"Good morning to you, too. Kyle, Susan."
His father gave Ben a short glare as he walked over to him.
"And where have you been, Benjamin?"
Ben felt he should've known the answer to that as he tried to reply casually.
"Uh… in my room?"
His father only gave him a scoff before he spoke back to him, starting to get furious.
"I know that! I mean, why did it take you so long to get your sorry butt down here? It didn't take your brother and sister nearly this long to get ready for School."
Kyle and Susan gave Ben a mean-spirited look. He was all too familiar with that. Although, with how much their looks contrasted their father's, Ben felt it was easy to see why. They looked like they were going to a club, for crying out loud. As much as he wanted to call them out on it, he knew all too well what would happen if he did.
The last time they were dressed like this, he blurted out that they looked ready for an orgy. As a result, his father gave Ben a hard slap on the face and told him that if he ever spoke out of turn, let alone in such filthy language again, he'd do worse. Rather than tempt fate, he had to suck it up.
"Sorry, dad. It won't happen again."
His father then placed his hand sternly on his shoulder and began to squeeze it tightly as he tried to get his message across.
"See that it doesn't. I can't have you embarrassing the Kingston family name with your tardiness or anything else. Is that clear?"
Ben gave him a hard glare back as he replied.
"Crystal."
Just then, they heard the bus pull up outside. Kyle and Susan quickly grew excited. For them, School was a way for them to maintain their social status. Doing the actual schoolwork was of no consequence to them whatsoever. How they could possibly manage to get passing grades, let alone straight A's was a mystery to Ben.
"Ah, finally!"
"Can't wait to get started."
While Kyle and Susan headed out to the bus, Ben was about to follow them, but his father grabbed his arm and wanted to be sure his point was made.
"I'm serious, Benjamin. If you do anything to blight our family name, you will have to answer to me. Do you hear me?"
Ben forced his arm away from his father's grip as he gave him a casual smile before he answered back to him.
"Hey, don't worry. I hear you."
Ben then exits the door following Kyle and Susan before muttering under his breath.
"But that doesn't mean I'll listen…"
A half-hour later, Ben, Kyle, and Susan had exited the bus and went for the School building. While his brother and sister went ahead, they passed by a young girl. She was a fourteen-year-old Dominican-American girl with tan skin, purplish-brown short hair that was usually styled in a pixie cut, and hazel eyes. She was also wearing a pair of ebony earrings, a short-sleeved half-white and half-indigo hoodie with cat ears attached to the hood, high-waisted jean shorts, dark grey capris leggings, and a pair of white loafers. She was lugging a few big bags up on the stairs as Kyle and Susan passed by her with them giving her snide comments.
"Hey, nice luggage, Luz-ser."
"I hope you're not planning on staying anytime soon."
Kyle and Susan then left, making the girl frown before Ben tensed his hands. If it were himself, he wouldn't have much to say or do about it. He couldn't care less about what they thought of him. But anyone else was a no go, especially her. It's not her fault she has an active imagination. If anything, at least she made the effort to do her best in what she does. She shouldn't be mocked for it. Ben went up to the girl and picked up the luggage, making her look up to him.
"Need some help with this?"
The girl made a light gasp as she looked up at him. The girl had the impression that she couldn't believe that someone actually made the effort to help her. But after a few seconds, she got her focus back and answered him.
"Oh! Uh, sure. Thanks. Just help me carry it up the stairs. I'll take care of the rest."
With that, Ben grabbed one side of the bag while the girl held onto another before walking up the school steps. When they got up, they set the bag down before the girl spoke up to him.
"Thanks. I owe you, one, Mr…"
At that moment it occurred to him. He'd seen her around a lot, but he never did get to know her. The first time he saw her was at the tryouts for Romeo and Juliet. To make her death more "convincing" she had used a spork and wieners to fill in as guts, making everyone panic. The second time was when she made a Baby Griffin taxidermy, while using spiders for Spider Breath, causing the whole class to go into a panic as they ran away. And he heard once from Susan how that same girl did a bizarre trick with her eyes that sent her and the other cheerleaders into a panic. Ben couldn't help but snicker at that one. However, out of all those times, he still never knew her name. He figured this was the time to change that.
"Uh, my name's Ben. What about you?"
Ben held out his hand as the girl answered while shaking his hand. However, her answer was set on what Kyle called her a minute ago, which made her flustered.
"Oh, I'm Luz-ser. I mean Luz! Just Luz. Anyway, thanks for helping me out."
"Sure, Luz. Anytime."
Ben then went ahead to the School building before looking back to her and giving her a smile. He had a feeling whatever she had in that bag was going to be something that would make today interesting. Whether that was good or bad, he wasn't sure, though he's leaning to the latter. But when did that ever stop her? If there was one thing he envied her for, it's her enthusiasm.
Not much later, Ben was at his locker, putting his backpack inside. But just as he closed the door, he took notice of a young man giving him a stink eye. He had short, spiked-up, brown hair with a grey shirt and jeans. And his arms were crossed with a smirk on his face to boot. Ben wasn't amused by that one bit.
"So, what's a snob like you planning to do today?"
The bully maintained his smirk, only for Ben to roll his eyes before walking away from him. This only irritated the hooligan. To get his attention back, he yelled while running up to him.
"Hey! You don't get to ignore me. I asked you a question."
Ben only persisted in his walk before the bully spoke to him again, getting more bitter by the minute.
"Just because you're a dumb, rich boy doesn't make you a hotshot. I run this school, and you should be giving me the respect I deserve!"
Ben had finally gotten tired of hearing him talk. But he wasn't going to settle it by fighting him. He just wasn't worth the effort. Instead, he put on a smile before he spoke to him in a good-natured tone.
"Oh, sorry, Cyrus. My bad. Maybe I should give you the respect you deserve after all."
Cyrus wasn't quite expecting his reply. But it did make him feel a little better to hear him say it.
"Oh. Well, that's better."
However, Ben's look told him otherwise as he spoke.
"Actually, I wasn't talking to you."
Confused, Cyrus turned around, only to see that there was no one behind him. Cyrus looked back to him, still befuddled by his meaning.
"But there's no one there."
"Never said there was. But hey, look on the bright side. If you actually did get what you deserved, you wouldn't be here."
Ben then walked away from the bully, making Cyrus glare at him just as the school bell rang.
At his class, Ben was sitting near the windows of the classroom in the row that was second-closest to them. Coincidentally, Luz happened to be sitting just across from him in the opposite end, farthest away from the windows. While their teacher was standing in front of the blackboard, Luz was looking at Ben and giving him a wave with an eager look. Ben waved back to her with a smile of his own as the teacher handed out the assignments and spoke out to his class.
"Alright, everyone, it's time for you to work on your given assignments. Assuming you've done your homework, which is admittedly unlikely, you should know what to do from here. And I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. That goes double for you, Ms. Noceda."
As the teacher pointed to Luz, she had an optimistic look on her face. And she didn't seem to care about his tone that told her she was nothing but trouble.
"I gotcha, Mr. Sterling."
While Luz put her feet in between the top opening of the bag, Ben looked all around the room. He could tell they all had worried looks on their faces. Then he recalled why as almost every one of them instinctively looked towards Luz. Given her track record, he could believe why they'd be so nervous. A part of him was worried about what she had up her sleeves this time himself. However, that wasn't his only concern. Susan and Kyle were sitting next to him as well. The brother was sitting behind him while Susan was sitting next to him on his right.
"Well, Ben, you sure know how to pick them."
"I know. That was a pretty sly burn on that meathead, by the way."
There were a lot of things Ben couldn't care less about when it came to bullies. Like Cyrus's pitiful attempt to intimidate him, for instance. But unfortunately, these two always knew how to push his buttons. And Ben wasn't going to let them get into his head. He had to focus on Amy's report just to be able to ignore them, assuming he could pull it off. He spoke to them in a hushed whisper tone so as not to rudely interrupt.
"Just stuff it, you guys. I'm trying to do my work."
Kyle didn't seem too bothered by Ben's annoyed tone. Then again, why would he be? Kyle leaned back against the chair with a smirk as he spoke.
"Alright. If that's what you want."
"Uh, yeah. It is."
Kyle, however, put on a mean and stern look as he replied.
"Oh, wait. You don't always get what you want, do you?"
Ben's sour expression didn't fade as he continued to write down the answers on his assignment. But it got even worse as Kyle continued to whisper to him.
"You think you're so clever lately. That you're strong, that you're gonna be set for life. But the truth is, you're just not… well, Kingston material."
Susan then joined in on the banter as she interjected with him.
"Oh, yeah. You're not a Kingston. You're just a mistake from an affair between an actual Kingston and your two-bit nobody of a mom that just got lucky in sleeping with a big shot."
Ben stopped moving his pencil the instant he heard them talk about his mother that way. He was getting visibly mad. So much so that he wanted to stab his pencil right into their necks. But he knew better than that. He had to keep it contained, unless he wanted to end up on the news. Ben maintained his silence, saying nothing as Kyle and Susan leaned back, laughing to themselves. But they weren't done yet.
"When we're done with you, you'll die as a nobody, just like she did."
That was the last straw. In a sudden instance, Ben's eyes widened and his thumb suddenly broke the pencil in half with a loud SNAP! Some of the class, including Luz, turned to see where the snap came from. But it certainly got Mr. Sterling's attention. He noticed Ben clutching tightly on his pencil, his hand shaking in quiet rage. He didn't quite like what that implied as he spoke out to him.
"Mr. Kingston?"
When Ben heard his voice, he noticed Mr. Sterling giving him a stern look that told him to let go of his anger. Not that he would understand. It wasn't his mother they were mocking. But as previously stated, Ben had no intention of ending up on the news. The last thing he wanted was to get himself into trouble. But his anger had put him dangerously close to it.
"Is there something you need to tell me?"
Ben wanted to tell him then and there how much Kyle and Susan were torturing him, but sadly, due to their natural influence, it was their word against his, as it often was. One time, he spoke out against them when they cheated on their test using other people to do it for them, but they denied any knowledge of it. They even kept a ruse of it for two weeks just to prove they're innocent, making him look like a raving lunatic. So unless he wanted that to happen again, which he obviously didn't, Ben had to swallow it.
"Uh… could I get a new pencil?"
Mr. Sterling only took a sigh before he nodded.
"Come here."
Ben stood up and left his chair before giving a glare to his brother and sister, who only smirked back at him. After the brief exchange, Ben took a new pencil from his teacher's desk before he went back to his seat. When he sat down, Mr. Sterling cleared his throat.
"Okay, everyone, time's up. I'll need you to put them face down and turn them in."
Fortunately, Ben was barely able to finish his assignment before he broke his pencil and had to get a new one. He put his paper down to be collected by Mr. Sterling. And once he had gotten all of the assignments, Mr. Sterling turned to the rest of the class.
"Alright. Now that we've got your assignments covered, let's move on to our book reports. Can we have a volunteer, please?"
Luz raised up her hand and waved it excitedly.
"Oh, oh, oh! Can I go? Please?"
Ben saw her enthusiastic reaction and couldn't help but chuckle to himself over it. She was as excited as a puppy. Mr. Sterling had a look of hesitation as he looked over to the rest of the class.
"Anyone else want to volunteer? Anyone at all?"
No one's hands were raised up as the class murmured amongst themselves. Of course, no one else would volunteer. They either were scared of presenting their book reports themselves, or they figured it best to get Luz's bizarre nonsense over with as soon as possible. Either way, Ben really wanted to see what Luz had in mind this time. Apart from being a bit nervous about what her plans are, this was his reason for not raising his hand. Mr. Sterling took a deep sigh and spoke to himself before he called out to Luz.
"Might as well get this over with… Alright, Ms. Noceda. Let's see what you've got this time."
Luz shook her hands in giddy anticipation before she picked up her book of choice, sat up straight out of her chair, and began to lug her bag with her to the front of the class. As Luz began to speak up, Ben noticed the book she had in her hand. It was The Good Witch Azura.
Even before he spoke to her, Ben knew she seemed to always carry it around with her, so it must've been an obvious choice for Luz. Personally, he didn't find the series worth a trifle, but with Luz putting her own spin to it, it was bound to at least be exciting, one way or the other. Ben saw that the other students were getting ready to expect the worst as Luz cleared her throat.
"Well, I'm not really one for introductions, but my book report is actually about... the Good Witch Azura!"
As her voice took on a dramatic tone, Luz dug into her bag and got out an action figure of the book's main protagonist, Azura. She had long green hair, a blue and white dress with a star above where her chest was, a witch's hat with a crown around it, and a white staff with a blue gemstone on the top. The class drew a sigh of relief from this. They saw no possible way that Luz could possibly cause a panic with a doll. The odds of that were a million to one. But Luz wasn't done yet.
"And her battle with…"
Luz dug into her bag and got out a snake with her other arm.
"...the dreaded Gildersnake!"
The snake wrapped itself around Luz's hand before making a lisp, sticking its tongue out for a moment. The class had a nervous look around them as they eyed the snake. As for Ben, he widened his eyes in surprise as he spoke out to Luz.
"Uh, Luz… is that snake poisonous?"
Luz only held her left hand to him, although it still held her Azura figure while doing so.
"Please save all questions till the end of the report. Anyway, like I was saying, my favorite part was when Azura traveled into the dark Cave of Ares, where she confronted her enemy."
While Luz went on, her snake bit down onto the head of her action figure. Seeing this from the snake, Ben sighed to himself. As far as her usual weirdness goes, even with a possibly poisonous snake, this was pretty tame in comparison.
"Well, at least it's just the one snake."
However, a moment later, Ben was proven wrong. He heard a brief hiss as well as a chomp before another student next to him began to feel drained. He had dark brown hair, a dark blue shirt, light blue eyes, and pale skin as he moaned. Ben became worried about what it meant.
"Uh, Todd? You doing okay?"
"Hey, um, I feel a thousand pounds heavier all of a sudden. Does anyone else taste poison?"
When Todd's face fell onto the table, Ben saw the reason literally slither up along his body. The snake hissed out at Ben, making the whole class scream as Ben gasped. In an instant, the snake lunged out at Ben, forcing him to duck, avoiding its bite. However, Susan wasn't so lucky. She held up her arm in defense, but in the process, the snake bit into it, making her scream in fear as she fell out of her seat while most of the class went as far from the snake as possible, some of them even leaving the classroom altogether. Ben was starting to go along with the idea, too.
"Okay, I'm out of here."
Luz, on the other hand, tried to reassure her classmates.
"Hey, don't worry! They're not poisonous! I think…"
Despite her reassurance, their panic still ensued as they ran out of the class. Amidst that panic, Kyle went over to Susan, who was still writhing in agony from the snakebite.
"Hold on, Susan! I'll help you!"
But the snake had other plans. It leapt out away from Susan before promptly biting Kyle in the head as he fell back with a scream.
"Ah! My face!"
All the while, Ben was already outside of the classroom as he looked at the scene in horror. Although, a part of him tried to hold in his laugh. If anything, that was karma answering the phone. Of course, he didn't forget about what they'd do to him. One bite from any of these snakes would put him in as much agony as Kyle and Susan were. Although Todd only passed out from the bite, or possibly worse.
Either way, that was something even Ben wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, as much as Kyle and Susan deserved it. However, his classmates didn't share the same sentiment. They all looked towards Luz, giving her a stink eye for her idea of a book report. The young girl began to laugh nervously from the many eyes staring at her.
"Well, at least it can't get any worse."
Unfortunately, it did. Half an hour later, the snakes were wrangled up by Animal Control. Before then, it turned out that Luz's backup snakes were roaming in the hallway, with two more students and even Principal Hal having fallen prey to them. While the snakes were being put in cages, the students and principal were being carted to the Ambulance as they moaned from the pain. They were bandaged in the bite areas and laying on hospital beds before the ambulance doors closed and carted them away while Mr. Sterling spoke up to his class to get their attention away from the chaos.
"Don't worry, everyone. Everything's under control here. Principal Hal and your snakebit classmates will be getting some treatment in the hospital. And Animal Control has already wrangled every last one of the snakes. As far as we're concerned, though, to prevent further incidents, this school is closed for the rest of the week."
This made the whole class cheer in celebration over the fact that they don't have to go to school, but Mr. Sterling wasn't done.
"But after that, you still have to go to school for the finals. School's not over until next week."
As the class moaned dejectedly, Luz began to frown sadly from the other side of the school's main door. Despite her mother's company, it was still hard to get over. She had dark brown hair tied in a bun and tan skin with her bangs tuft up similarly to how Luz's was. She also wore glasses with a thick red frame on the top and gray studded earrings. She placed her hand on Luz's shoulder before she spoke gently.
"Mija, I know it's hard. But the sooner you put all this behind you, the better it's going to be for everyone."
Luz's frown got worse as she responded in a deadpan voice.
"I know, mama."
When she opened the door, Luz only looked at the ground the whole time. She didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. But the other classmates didn't seem to care about it as they were only focused on the results.
"Nice work, Luz-ser."
"Way to go, Snake charmer!"
"Who else could bring a living snake to School?!"
"Four terrors in one week! A new record!"
Luz felt more and more ashamed from each comment, forcing her to walk faster towards the car in a huff just to get away from their scorn. Ben hated to see Luz like this. She was just trying to be herself. Even if it was disastrous, she didn't deserve to be put down for it. Hoping to keep even a shred of it alive, Ben ran over to where she ran.
"Luz! Wait!"
Even when they were leaving the school, Ben would've been able to talk to Luz if he didn't hear his father's voice in the distance behind him.
"Benjamin Tyler Kingston!"
Ben turned around to see his father who was waiting by his black sedan with a very cross look on his face. And he was far from angry.
"You and I are going to have a talk."
Back at home, Ben was subsequently and suddenly struck in the face by his father's cane, sending him to the floor. Ben struggled to stand up as he crawled up before he spoke callously to his son.
"I told you not to embarrass our family name, and what do you do?!"
He stabbed (or rather poked) his cane on his back, pushing him back down to the ground as he grunted.
"You tossed those snakes at your own brother and sister! Have I taught you nothing?!"
Ben raised his eyes in disbelief. He didn't recall tossing any snake at either one of them.
"What? I never… tossed those snakes at them…!"
"Oh, no?"
Suddenly, Ben was struck in the side by his cane, forcing him to scream in pain as he turned over to his side.
"Because they told me a different story. They told me you unleashed that girl's snakes to get rid of them and claim their status as heirs to my fortune! Did you honestly think you'd get away with such an underhanded scheme as to attack your own flesh and blood?!"
Ben felt it was a moot point for him to say that. As far as he was concerned, they were not his flesh and blood. They even told him that themselves.
"You're not a Kingston. You're just a mistake from an affair between an actual Kingston and your two-bit nobody of a mom that just got lucky in sleeping with a big shot."
Ben growled under his breath as he made no hesitation to retort.
"Oh? So, now I'm part of the family. But a few hours ago, I was a mistake."
His snide remark only earned bitter retaliation from his father. He planted his cane near Ben's head as if to make a point as he leered closer to his face.
"That's right. You are. But as bad as you are, the only worse mistake I ever could've made… would be your mother."
That was the last straw. He didn't get the opportunity to truly attack Kyle and Susan the last time his mother was mentioned out of ill will. But here, Ben saw no need to hold it in anymore. Before he could speak one more word about her, Ben gave his father a headbutt, knocking him away and causing blood to come out of his nose while he dropped his cane. Fueled by his anger, Ben took his cane and stood up with hatred burning in his blue eyes, and pointed it at his father, ready to give him a taste of his own medicine. Despite the situation (along with a bloody nose), he tried to gain control of the situation.
"How dare you! I have half a mind to—!"
Before he could finish, Ben used his cane to strike him across his face, making him fall near the fireplace before pointing it at him again.
"Talk to me about my mother one more time! I dare you!"
Surprised as he was, the wounded father spoke out to him to shift the blame off of him.
"I'm surprised you haven't realized this, but I'm not the one who put you here, boy! She's the one who left you here!"
Ben raised his cane to strike him down as he yelled. But in spite of the cane being raised against him, the father didn't flinch one bit. He saw the look of hesitation in Ben's eyes. He could see the cane shaking in his grip. He saw this as an opportunity to go for the jugular.
"You know that's the truth, don't you? The only reason your mother left you here with me, of all people, was because she can't even be bothered to look after you herself. The fact of the matter is, if she ever gave a darn about you, she'd have done the responsible thing and taken care of you. But she didn't. She left you."
As he continued to speak bitterly towards Ben, his already vicious anger was climbing higher and higher. His teeth began to grind themselves as he growled while his father continued to berate his entire reason for living.
"You were no more precious to her than you are to me."
"Shut up…!"
"Because we both know that no matter what you do, one thing will never change about you!"
"Shut up, damn it!"
"That you're a mistake that should never have been made!"
In a roar of pure rage, Ben threw his cane down on his father, scattering both the pieces of wood that were used to make the cane and his blood onto the fireplace, where it kindled the flames and sent smoke up through the chimney, making his father look at Ben in surprise and alarm before he continued to beat him senseless with his cane with tears burning in his red eyes. He continued his senseless attack until he stopped and saw his father's beaten and bloodied body.
The pieces of wood had scattered to his suit, but they could be brushed off, unlike the blood Ben spilt onto his now torn-up suit. And with the unrelenting force behind each and every blow, his father had large gashes from his own cane. And yet, when he was the one tortured, Ben didn't have any gashes to speak of. Was he holding back on him? Right now, it didn't matter. Ben never wanted to see him again. He tossed the rest of his cane into the fireplace before he spoke coldly.
"You're wrong. The only mistake mom ever made… was you."
Ben then turned away from his beaten and broken father, now barely alive from Ben's assault, picked up his backpack from the racket by the door, and walked towards the front door. He wanted to get as far away from him, his house, and his family as possible. His father tried to speak out to him, but he could only cough out blood onto the carpet before he finally got a word.
"And… where do you think you're going?"
"Where do you think? I'm going to find my mom. As far as I'm concerned, she's the only family I have left."
"Don't be foolish, Benjamin. The moment you walk out that door, you'll have nothing. You'll just be a nobody, like your mother was."
Ben glared back at him, his rage still burning in his blue eyes as he spoke just as coldly.
"I'd rather be a nobody than get anything from you ever again, Jacques."
Ben then walked away from Jacques, from his house, and from his life, closing the door behind him with a loud slam, never looking back to that wretched house ever again.
An hour later, Ben was all by himself in the woods. And if he didn't have second thoughts before, he's starting to now. Since he ran away from home, Ben has encountered one obstacle after another. For instance, he was starting to get hungry. And without any money of his own to pay for food, he'd end up starving to death. And that was just one setback.
Other setbacks included finding a place to stay, of which there were none. And as far as shelter, there wasn't any lodge to stay in that didn't cost money. Not that there were many options left after what he did, but he wondered what he was thinking by leaving the house for good. Ben sat down on a nearby log and put his hands on his head as he sighed dejectedly.
"Where did I think I could go? What a joke…"
Ben wondered if his mother had to deal with something like this. Then he remembered. Before he left for school, Ben took the picture of his mother with him in his backpack. He wondered if it managed to survive the chaos that happened today. Hoping it did, Ben opened his backpack and dug into it, finding the picture was thankfully intact.
He let out a sad sigh of relief before he spoke to the picture.
"I don't understand. Why would you leave me with him?"
He received no answer from the picture. At that moment, Jacques' words rang into his ear.
"The only reason your mother left you here with me, of all people, was because she can't even be bothered to look after you herself."
Ben started to think that maybe he was right on that much. His hands trembled as he held onto the picture before he raised it, as if getting ready to throw it away. But as much as he wanted to toss it away, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. That would mean throwing away the only potential memory of his mother left. And if he couldn't find her, he might as well have not cared about her at all. He only set the picture back in his backpack before he spoke sadly to himself with tears in his eyes.
"Where did you go…?"
While Ben wallowed in his misery, however, he felt a gleam shining onto his face, forcing him to block it with his hands in irritation. But after parting his hand a bit and moving his face away from the light, he saw something surprising. It was a bizarre object that looked like a demon's yellow eye with cracks on its bottom-left corner. Ben didn't notice that when he sat down by the log before, but it certainly didn't look like anything he was familiar with.
"What the…?"
Ben sat up from his log and went closer to this strange object and knelt down to it, seeing his reflection off of it.
"What the heck is this? It looks kinda broken."
This gave him an idea, however desperate it was. If it looked so rare, he figured maybe he could pawn it off to someone in exchange for money. At least that'd give him something to eat for a start.
"Eh. I wonder if I could sell this thing…"
When Ben tried to pick it up, the demon eye began to glow brightly, making him widen his eyes in surprise as he gasped before it suddenly engulfed him and swallowed him in its bright light. When the glow faded, both Ben and the eye were long gone, never to be seen again.
A/N: Ta-da! And here we have a new entryway to the Boiling Isles. Or rather, we had. It looked pretty busted to begin with, so don't expect to see it working again anytime soon. Other than that, the voices of his so-called "family" are voiced by Kyle McCarley for, well Kyle, Daniella Monet for Susan, and Jason Douglas for Jacques. For the life of me, I couldn't think of any other name to call him that rolled off the tongue as well as it did. XD Anyway, this is where Ben's own adventure begins, and it will intertwine with Luz's own adventure as well, but the character interactions will be different. How much so, I won't say. If you want to know, just follow the story and keep reading. But if not, fine by me, but you're missing out. ;)