SPYRO 101: Thanks, you just have to wait and see.
Arkhamboy29: Thanks.
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 tore it off, stomping on the pieces.
"Where are you now, ducky sock?" He slammed down his fists.
"Alright, okay, ducky sock's been defeated," Amity stated with an amused smile, sitting on the couch with her siblings to the side of her. She was reading the Good Witch Azura. Her legs were crossed on the cushions, the book on her lap.
"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, 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."
Amity 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.
"Even demons have inner demons..." He moved away from 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, making Amity, Edric, and Emira chuckle a bit.
"Luz, Amity, Edric, Emira, 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."
"King, the three of us have listened to your Demons 101 seminars for years, we know everything," Amity told King. 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," Amity, Emira, and Emira called out but were ignored.
"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 backward 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, Amity, Emira, and Edric were tangled up on the ground, a coffee mug landing on her face. "Not hurt."
"I'd beg to differ," Amity 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 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 Amity 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." 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.
"Yeah, remind me of when those occur so I can avoid those."
"It's like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out," King explained to Luz.
Luz closed her hood tighter as Amity slowly walked backward.
"So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight," Eda warned the kids.
"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 perfectly 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 her kids.
"Says the woman who couldn't even tell the difference between a seed and a slime ball," Amity blurted out.
"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'm pretty sure it's because she gets distracted by shiny objects," Edric stated, hands on his hips.
"No, I don't," She denied, and in response, King pulls out the pen from before. He pressed the button and it glowed.
"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!"
"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 a good reason. "Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell."
"Maybe even a little spell fight," Emira said.
"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..."
Eda went behind her changing board and flashed herself into her PJs. She adjusted her skirt and clicked her tongue. She lay 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 Edric, who took the pen away from King at toss it to Luz. She then clicked the pen, making Eda's eyes widen. She gasped sharply, waking up immediately.
"Sparkle thing." She sat up and saw the 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."
"I respect your cunning, just like my kids, 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 Amity threw a cup of water into her face, causing her to snap awake. "Thanks, sweetie. Witches' staffs have power embedded into them."
"Gimme," Luz held out her hands.
"But before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own," Eda continued. "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.
"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.
"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."
"Oh, gross. Can I keep that?"
"Really?" Amity, Emira, and Edric asked in literal confusion.
"No!" Eda answered. 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.
"Well, we could replace your heart with one of a witch," Edric brought up.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" Luz said while placing her hands on her chest. "We are NOT replacing my heart!"
"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. 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.
"Oh, my gosh. My obsession with spells knocked out Eda." She stood up, holding her head in guilt. "I'm a monster."
"Relax, she just passed out," Emira explained.
"This actually happened before," Edric revealed.
"A lot of times," Amity added.
"We should get help, right?" Luz asked them all, running towards the outside, only to be stopped by them.
"Boiling rains, remember?"
"You'd get burns all over you, and remember that we're not supposed to be outside!" Amity warned her.
"No, let her try. It'll be funny," Hooty commented, Amity 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," Amity added in, holding up a finger.
"Well, we can't just leave her on the floor," Luz protested, King giving her a blank look.
Thunder struck again from outside as the five 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 twins 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. I mean, she hasn't killed you yet, not even when we went to Hexside," Emira told her.
"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. Amity, Emira, and Edric were helping Luz with the circle spell.
"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."
Amity, Emira, and Edric snickered a bit, looking up. "What?"
"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 pile of books. "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. "Do you know what it's like to have no one take you seriously?"
King sighed at her response, looking away. He felt the same way as Luz. "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.
"I still don't understand how, though," Amity said.
"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."
"King, magic comes from our bile sacs, not some sort of elixir," Amity told King.
"Well, maybe she takes them because she's an older witch," King responded.
"She's not that older than our ex-parents and they don't take elixirs," Edric said.
"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."
Amity, Edric, and Emira chuckled at the scene.
Thunderstruck 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 of orange liquid right next to the next on the 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 then 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," Amity raised a skeptical 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 and the twins a pleading look. The three of them sighed as they looked away, and then paused. "Aw, the puppy dog eyes," She said with some drought.
"Yup. With the pout!" King told her.
"Ugh, not the pout!" Edric complained.
"Now I know how mom felt whenever we did this on her," Emira added.
"Fine! But only one sip and that's it," Amity pointed down at Luz in a 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.
"You're taking the blame for that," Amity, Edric, and Emira said together.
"Golden elixir, gone. This is awful." Luz said sadly.
"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 kids staring at him. He groaned at the irony. "Hooty controls the house lights. He probably just fell asleep."
Then there was a loud crash. "Hoot, hoot!"
"Hooty!" Luz, Amity, Emira, and Edric exclaimed as King grabbed Luz's shoulders. The five 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!"
"No…" Amity whispered, horror emanating from her voice. "It's not."
"How do you know?" Luz asked.
"I've seen that thing," Amity said. "I've been having nightmares about it since I was little. I haven't seen it up close, but I've seen enough to know that it isn't the Snaggleback."
"Well, what do you know about it?" Luz asked. "Maybe something in your dreams will help us out."
Amity rolled her eyes. "They're just dreams. Just because that monster was in them doesn't mean I'm a real expert on it."
"Let's go check it out!" King said with excitement.
"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," Amity added.
"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.
Luz put on some gloves, King taping a pillow over him. Amity, Emira, and Edric equipped their heads with colanders, holding large spoons 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. Thunderstruck 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.
"MOOOOM!" Amity, Edric, and Emira together in desperation. They then all look at Luz with anger.
"This is all your fault!" Amity said with an accusing finger pointing at Luz and tears running down her eyes.
"Mom could have dealt with that thing like it was nothing if you hadn't knocked her out! And now she's dead!" Edric added, also with tears running out his eyes.
Luz started to tear up. "I… I'm sorry…" she murmured. "I just wanted to-"
"You just wanted to learn magic," Emira finished for Luz. "You just wanted to be a real witch and go on magical adventures, because that's all you want."
"Well, forget it," Amity said decisively. "I hope that monster eats you alive. Maybe if Mom hasn't been digested yet, you can tell her yourself how sorry you are."
Amity, Emira, and Edric stormed out the door, into the hallway, and then the bathroom. They all cuddled together thinking of all the moments with their mom.
Lessons in magic taught to them by their mother, the greatest witch in the Boiling Isles. The whole family, crowding around the crystal ball to catch a performance, or pretending to be very interested when Amity read them her Good Witch Azura fanfic.
All of those were things that would never happen again. They were gone forever. Because their mom was gone forever, eaten alive in her sleep by some monster that was literally out of Amity's nightmares.
Amity is seen tossing and turning in bed, still a little scared from her nightmare a few days ago. She then get out of her bed and made her way to Eda's room. She then opened the door, walks over to Eda, and shakes her.
"Eda. Eda," Amity said with a soft tone.
"What, kid?" Eda asked, a bit groggy from being woken up
"I'm scared of having that nightmare, again," Amity told her. "Could I sleep with you tonight?"
"Kid, I don't-" Eda stop her sentence halfway through when she saw Amity's giving her puppy eyes, she then sighs. "Fine, get in."
Amity then gets into the nest with Eda and cuddles with her. Eda while a bit annoyed, she had a big smile on her face
"Aw man, the three of them are really upset," Luz said with some sorrow while looking at where the three of them ran off to.
"Do you blame them?" King asked her. "They were kicked out by their real parents and now lost their new-"
"KING!" Luz yelled at him. "I'm feeling bad already!"
"Sorry,"
"We need to stop that thing," Luz said. "You're the demon expert. I need your help."
"I'll go get my demon book!" He ran out of the room to go get it.
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 Luz. "Luz?" 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 was left behind in front of the door. "Luz?" 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?" 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 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.
"Luz?"
"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.
"I was checking on Eda, and she was gone, and you were gone. I also tripped and lost my shoe," She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh, hey, you found it," She took her shoe back.
"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?"
"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 at 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 accidentally dropping her phone, cracking her 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, grabbed King, and took off. 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 two hiding behind a small stone wall. She sniffed the air for them as Luz covered her mouth. Eda leaned in close. Luz saw this and grabbed a nearby can, tossing it. It hit the door and Eda fell for it, screeching and running off.
"Oh, man. Did you see her eyes?" Luz asked as she stood up, King looking guilty. "They were like BLAUGH! 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. I-I just wanted you 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." Luz looks at King with sorrow. "I thought maybe if I taught you, finally someone would care about creatures like me."
Luz smiled at King. "Well, let's finish the lesson," She held out the 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 leaped 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 at Luz's phone, remembering the camera. "That's it! Light! Luz, use your human wonder rectangles!"
"I can't," She held it up, showing him the cracked screen. "My camera's all blasted."
"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 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!" King shushed her. "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 two fist-bumped together.
We then cut to Amity, Edric, and Emira, who snuck out of the bathroom, and into the twins' room. They began to think to themselves that maybe it wasn't a good idea. For one thing, they were also abandoning King when they did that. If the monster got him because there wasn't a witch present to try and fight it off, then they would have been responsible, just as Luz was responsible for Eda's death
Plus, they begrudgingly admitted to themselves, maybe they didn't really want Luz to die. It was something that they said in the heat of the moment.
It was then that they heard the monster sniffing to detect a scent. It started to scratch at the door in an attempt to break it down, and Amity prepared to cast a light spell, hoping she could disorient it enough for them to get past it and join back up with the others.
When the door finally fell down, Amity immediately cast the biggest light spell she could manage. But it wasn't enough. Though the beast flinched, it powered through and kept approaching Amity.
Amity kept on casting light spell after light spell, up to and well past the point of exhaustion. Yet, no matter what, nothing could stop the creature that crept closer to them.
Eventually, it reached a point where it hurt to have her eyes open, the room so filled with balls of light. But even if she couldn't see, they could feel, they could feel the monster grabbing her by the back of their clothes with its mouth.
It hastily carried them off, and they couldn't help fearing the worst. Was it going to take them somewhere before eating them? Was it going to feed them to its children? Why didn't it swallow them alive right then and there?
The monster brought them to Eda's room and laid them down in her mother's nest. They were all fearing for their life, looked up into the face of their captor, and began to come to a realization. Faced with a closer look at it than they'd ever gotten, they were hit by the sudden revelation that the avian beast which had terrified them was…
"Mom?!" Amity, Emira, and Edric exclaimed in shock. There was no doubt that the creature before her was some monstrous transformation of their mother.
Eda spat up the Snaggleback in front of them and looked at them expectantly. Amity, meanwhile, looked down at the creature and tilted her head. "And you are…"
"I— uh— I'm the Snaggleback." the demon stuttered out, understandably nervous.
The kid's eyes widened and Amity simply stared at the Snaggleback for a few seconds. "…Wow, you're a lot less impressive in person."
"Yeah, I get that a lot… or, twice just tonight, at least."
Eda nudged the small demon closer to them, who realized that Eda expected them to eat the Snaggleback. "Oh, uh, that's fine," Amity said with the politest tone and smile she could muster up to decline a still-living demon as a meal.
"Yeah, we're not really in the mood for Snaggleback," Emira added.
Eda frowned at this, then left… and returned almost immediately. Eda then spat up, right into the nest, a whole pile of dead bugs. Long dead, to the extent that they may not be edible even if they wanted to eat bugs.
They all gagged and held a hand to their mouths. "No thank you… I'm not hungry." It would have been a lie, a few minutes ago.
Eda frowned yet again and pushed the pile of bugs closer to them.
"No, I insist, we had a huge breakfast this morning." This actually was a lie, they ate a very light breakfast that morning.
Eda's ears perked up and her eyes widened, seeming to detect some noise far off that was of interest to her. She left the room for a third time, but not without giving Amity a look that practically screamed to stay here in the nest.
Now, all alone (save for the Snaggleback), they tried to calm themselves down and process what they'd just learned. It felt like it came out of nowhere, but in hindsight, they wondered if they should have seen this coming.
All the times that Eda left them and King at the house when she went to pick up elixirs, how grandma would visit to help Eda with something, and the way they would panic when she couldn't find them. It should have been clear, they thought with their new knowledge, that the elixirs were very important. Much more important than just a simple power boost.
Then there was other stuff like the way that Eda was so entranced by shiny objects like the monster in Amity's nightmares, or all the other owl-like traits Eda had, like how she even had that nest they were currently sitting in.
They all sighed and laid back, staring at the ceiling and lost in thoughts. For as much as it answered a lot of questions, it also raised one very big question:
Why did Eda hide it?
"Can I leave now?" the Snaggleback asked.
"Somehow, I feel like you'll just find yourself in this same situation again," Amity snarked.
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.
"I'm sorry, Eda, but it's for your own good!" Luz finished drawing the light symbol on the wall with a 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."
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, Amity, Edric, and Emira sitting near the still-broken window. Amity, Edric, and Emira were sitting on their knees with a smile in front of Luz, watching her make 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 a 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," A few light orbs flew around Amity'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, Amity, Edric, and Emira walked over to her. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys."
"Yeah, we already put it together," Amity said. "Why didn't you tell us you were cursed, Mom?"
Eda sighed and looked her kids in the eyes. "When I was younger, I kept it secret because I knew that people would either think I was disgusting, or worse, they would pity me. And I didn't want that to be how people saw me. I was, and still am, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, and that's what's important. But when you came into the picture… I was thinking about telling you three about my curse, but then you told me your nightmares… I didn't want my own kids to be scared of me. So, I guess I thought that if it was just some nightmare creature from when you were a kid, that would be better than letting you know the truth."
Amity, Edric, and Emira smiled and hugged their mother. "If it helps, the monster you is a lot less scary in person.
"Though, we are a little grossed out by what you tried to feed us," Emira added
Eda chuckled at that. "I was wondering what this big pile of dead bugs was for…"
"So are you okay?" Luz asked
"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.
"Oh, you," 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," Amity 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. Amity, Edric, and Emira followed after them.
Once she was alone, Eda let out a sigh but was smiling. She lay down in her nest, looking up at the light orbs. She smiled peacefully and closed her eyes, going to sleep.
Eda stood in front of a 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, Amity, Edric, and Emira put bandages on the door the next morning, the boiling rain was finally over. They had managed to put Hooty back on his hinges, but it left him with 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.
Amity, Edric, and Emira then turned to Luz awkwardly.
"Um... Luz" Amity sighed, "About what we said earlier-"
"It's fine, guys" Luz interrupted her. "You were greaving about losing your new mother, I know I would act the same."
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..."
I hoped you enjoyed that chapter. Sorry for not including Amity, Edric, and Emira that much, but since the three of them could you magic, I figured they could easily solve everything, so I had to write them out.