Hey guys, here's chapter 16 of Rise of Zeo. Enjoy.
It was another day in Bonesborough. Zeo walked around the market in search of something. He was in the search of the last ingredient for the elixir he was making, the one he was making for Eda. He remembered what his teacher said about this ingredient too.
[Flashback]
In potion class, they were learning about different dusts and powders. From pollen to gold dust to pixie dust. They were informed that these ingredients went into the potions/elixirs last. They were told that these ingredients gave the potion/elixir its effectiveness. Curious, Zeo raised his hand.
"Which would be the most effective?" Zeo asked.
"Good question, Mr. Clawthorne" the potions teacher said, "You can either go with gold dust which, if you find gold, you can grind to dust or buy pre-ground. Or you can get pixie dust which can be obtained by either being friends with a pixie or having the right connections. Though, with either option, it can be quite pricey with pixie dust being harder to obtain. Which is why you're better of going with the lesser dusts or powders" the teacher explained.
"You don't say" Zeo muttered.
"The more powerful and rarer the dust or powder, the more accurate and effective it is, the more effective the potion or elixir will be" the teacher said, "And, if you're lucky, someone might be willing to trade for these items"
"Hmm…" Zeo rubbed his chin.
[End of Flashback]
The way Zeo saw it, he could either get gold dust or pixie dust. It was probably better to go with gold dust since pixie dust was use for flight. As luck would have it, at a nearby stand, there was a jar full of gold dust. What were the odds of that happening?
"See something that catches your eye?" he heard a feminine voice.
"Yeah, how much is the—" Zeo stopped himself midsentence when he saw the person that the voice belonged to.
It was a tan female anthropomorphic cat with green eyes. She had a slim figure with wide hips. She wore a dark blue cloak over her body though that was probably the only thing that covered her body. Underneath the cloak, all she wore was black thong and a thin black bra that barely covered her large breasts and exposed her cleavage. She wore black high-heeled boots that went up to her thighs.
"How much is what?" the cat lady asked with a tilt of her head.
"How much is… Could you maybe cover up, please?" Zeo tried to avert his gaze with a slightly embarrassed blush.
The cat lady leaned forward, one arm lying on the stand while the other propped her up on the elbow. She gripped Zeo's cheeks in a single hand and made him look her in the eye, "No" she said flatly, "Now, what is it that you want, dear?" she asked resting both arms flat on the stand.
"Uh, how much is that gold dust?" Zeo pointed to the just full of golden powder.
"3000 snails" the cat lady said.
"3000 snails?!" Zeo repeated with shock.
"It's made from pure 24 karat gold" the cat lady explained.
"Damn!" Zeo snapped his fingers in annoyance, "I only have 1000…" he said while holding up a small sac of coins, "Maybe we could work something out? Perhaps a trade or a quest?"
"A quest, huh?" the cat lady raised an eyebrow, "Alright, I'll sell you the gold dust for 1000 snails, along with a vile of yeti's blood and its fur" she offered.
"Yeti's blood and fur?" Zeo repeated.
"One of my friends wants the blood for an experiment, and the other friend's a fashion designer that wants the fur to make a rare coat or something" The cat lady explained, "With this little quest I'm offering you, it'll be like killing two birds with one stone. So, how about it? Are you up for it?" she asked.
"Sure. It's a deal, uhh…" Zeo didn't get her name.
"Tabby" the cat lady smiled at him.
"It's a deal, Tabby" Zeo said, he and Tabby shaking hands in agreement.
The Owl House…
"Hi, Zeo!" Hooty greeted as Zeo approached the house.
"Hey, Hooty" Zeo replied as he walked through the door.
Upon entering the house, the card-wielding witch-warrior headed straight to his room. Zeo changed from his regular clothes into his winter clothes. He grabbed a few of many vials given to him in Potions class and placed them in his coat pocket. He then grabbed a large sac, left his room, and went back downstairs.
"Zeo?" Luz called, walking out from the kitchen, King riding on her shoulder, "Where are you going?" she asked.
"On a little quest to the knee. I'll be back later" Zeo replied, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Wait!" Luz said, making him look back at her as he stopped in his tracks, "Let me come with you. It'll be easier to complete your quest if you have someone with you" she told him.
There was a short pause between the two.
"You want to see if you'll get the chance to test our Luzura's new form, don't you?" Zeo said with a deadpanned expression.
"No. That would just be a bonus…" Luz replied, muttering that second part.
Zeo sighed, "Fine" he said with a roll of his eyes. Luz set King down.
"I'll go change into my snow clothes, and I'll see if Gus and Willow will come, too! There's safety in numbers" Luz said while running upstairs.
"You aren't going to ask to come too, are you?" Zeo looked at King.
"Nah, I'm good. Besides, I don't want to be there when you and Luzura have that awkward moment between each other" King replied.
"Yeah, well, she's with Luz at the moment. Hopefully, we won't have to resort to summoning her so we can avoid such a moment" Zeo said.
It had been a fair amount of time since Luzura had decided to, what Zeo hoped, temporarily stay with Luz. Hell, they hadn't even really spoken since then. Zeo hoped that someday that would change.
"Well, if it does come to that, try not to mess it up like you did last time. That's what led her to stay with Luz" King informed.
"Thank you for that informative reminder" Zeo said sarcastically.
"Ok, I'm ready!" Luz said, descending the stairs, "And I'm bringing my witchy counterpart just in case" she held her doppelganger's card between her fingers in one hand and her other hand on her hip with a wink.
"Of course you are…" Zeo muttered, "Alright, let's go" he said, he and Luz and heading for the door, "Oh, hold on a sec" he stopped, pulling out his deck, "Night Howler, arise!" He tossed the card, summoning the dark dire wolf, "Make sure King doesn't do anything stupid" Zeo told her.
Night Howler gave an understanding nod as she watched her master leave with his human friend. The dire wolf turned to face King with a half-lidded-eyed gaze and a smirk.
"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" King asked with some concern.
The Knee…
"Can someone please tell me why we're up here?!" Gus asked as they trudged the knee.
"There are a few things I need to get up here. Bringing you guys as back up was Luz's idea" Zeo told them, "Plus, it'll give me expendable distractions just in case" he muttered to himself.
"What was that?" Luz asked.
"Nothing" Zeo quickly replied.
"So, what is it you need here?" Willow asked.
"Yeti's blood, as well as its skin." Zeo said, much to Gus' horror.
"Yeti?!" Gus repeated, terrified.
"Yeah. If you get scared, hide behind Willow" Zeo said teasingly.
Luz chuckled at her friend's lack of bravery, "So, where's the first place to look, Zeo?" Luz asked.
"Well, Yetis are usually found in frozen caverns" Zeo told her.
"That shouldn't be hard to find. Although we should probably do so before that snowstorm hits." Luz said, pointing to a cluster of storm clouds that could be seen on the horizon.
"Hey guys" they heard a voice. They turned to see Amity, Emira, and Edric.
"What are you guys doing here?" Zeo asked.
"Mittens here wanted to practice more advanced fire spells" Edric said while ruffling Amity's hair, only for Amity to smack his hand away.
"And we're here to protect her just in case something attacks" Emira added, "But I feel much safer now that you're here, Zeo" she said flirtatiously while holding his face in her hands.
This motion made Luz feel a slight tinge of jealousy as her eye twitched.
"What're you guys doing here?" Amity asked.
"We're going to kill a yeti and take its skin and blood " Zeo said while being hugged by Emira.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Edric asked.
"It's necessary for the quest that I'm on" Zeo replied with a small shrug, "We're going to need some help finding this icy sasquatch. Blizzard Wolf, arise" Zeo tossed the card, bringing forth his icy canine, who released a howl.
"Cute!" Emira said, admiring the ice elemental canine.
"Blizzard Wolf, do you think you can track down a yeti for us?" Zeo asked the beast.
The ice wolf replied with a nod and sniffed the air for a moment. Blizzard Wolf barked and ran, leading the way to their target.
"Follow him!" Zeo said, causing the girls and Edric to do so, while Gus hung back.
"Do we really have to?" Gus asked.
"No, but considering the speed of those storm clouds..." Zeo started saying, pointing the two in the direction of the oncoming storm Luz pointed out earlier.
"Coming" the illusionist said, following the others close behind.
"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Zeo said.
Blizzard Wolf arrived at the entrance of an icy cavern; the scent of the yeti strong inside. Blizzard Wolf released a bark, getting the group's attention.
"Good boy, Blizzard Wolf" Zeo said, petting the wolf on his head before calling him back into his card state. He then turned to the group, "Alright, if we're going to get this thing's blood, we're going to have to be super quiet. So, everyone shut the hell up. That means you, twins" he narrowed his eyes at the twins, more specifically at Edric.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Edric asked, offended.
"Seriously, not a peep! Not even a sneeze!" Zeo said.
"Oh, why did you have to say that? Now I'm definitely going to sneeze!" Gus said.
Willow held a finger under the illusionist's nose, preventing him from sneezing.
"Thank you, Willow" Zeo said. They then made their way into the cavern where Luz ran up beside the card user.
"Hey, Zeo, if we have to fight that thing, you'll let me fight it in Luzura's new form, right?" Luz asked, oddly excited.
"If you want." Zeo said, getting her even more excited.
Zeo planned to take it out with a quick stab to the back of its neck, so he hoped it wouldn't have to come to that. Soon they arrived in a large chamber. In the middle of it, there lied their target. Bigfoot's Tibetan cousin, the Abominable Snowman, the Yeti. Fortunately, he was sleeping peacefully.
"Perfect, he's asleep." Zeo said. "Okay, here's the plan, I'll sneak up to him, and kill him by stabbing him in the back of the neck. If we're quiet, we'll be able to do this without incident." He whispered, holding up one of the vials.
Zeo silently summoned his Dragon Blade. He then started walking carefully across the floor.
"Remember, not even a sneeze!" He warned.
Once close enough, Zeo stood up and raised his sword, aiming it at the beast's neck. But just as he was about to stab it, Gus' nose started twitching.
"Uh, guys?" Gus asked, acting like he was about to sneeze.
"Gus, no!" Everyone whisper-shouted as Willow tried to stop the sneeze again, only for Gus to sneeze before she could even get a finger up.
"ACHOOO!" He sneezed, rattling the cave, causing the yeti to start waking up.
"Gus you idiot!" Zeo said. The yeti roared and smacked Zeo away, sending him flying to the wall by his friends, "Gus, if the yeti doesn't kill you, I will" Zeo said, shooting the illusionist an annoyed glare.
"It's not my fault I'm highly suggestible!" Gus tried to defend himself as Luz pulled out the Luzura and Mind Meld cards.
"Zeo" Luz looked at the card user, showing him said cards.
Zeo sighed in defeat, "Go ahead, Luz" he said with a small smile.
"Yes!" Luz cheered, "Luzura, arise!" she tossed the card, summoning her witch doppelganger who was, needless to say, was surprised to see the hulking ape-man. Luzura looked back at the human girl, "We need that thing's skin and blood. It's for a quest that Zeo's on" Luz told her.
Luzura looked at Zeo before looking down with a bit of sadness. Zeo glanced away with a tinge of guilt. Yeah, things were still a bit awkward between them. The others of the group were surprised upon seeing the witchling.
"Whoa, this is freaky!" Gus said.
"It's like she's Luz's twin" Willow said.
"Looks like her wish of being like Azura came true, more or less" Amity chimed in, "Lucky…" she muttered under her breath with small amount of envy.
"Command Card: Mind Meld!" Luz tossed the card between herself and her double, the two girls merging into their shared form. "I see you're getting better, but it's still not enough…" Luz muttered to herself. She then looked at Zeo.
Knowing what she was thinking, Zeo nodded, "Knight Owl, arise!" he tossed the card, summoning his ace beast, "You ready for this, Luz?" he asked the human girl while holding the Fusion Vortex card between his fingers.
"Yeah! Bring it on, Zeo!" Luz said excitedly.
"Fusion Vortex!" Zeo tossed the card between Luz and Knight Owl.
Both Luz and Knight Owl turned into wisps of light before entering the vortex. The vortex then exploded in a swirling pillar of light and darkness. The pillar quickly vanished. There, floating in the air, stood Luz with massive bird wings on her back, her eye closed and her arms folded over her chest, her back to the others. She spread those wings, revealing the Owl Paladin in all her glory.
"Whoa..." Luz said while looking at herself, "I can feel an incredible surge of power coursing through me!" she beamed. "And I look, amazing! Although, I do wish this sarong mini skirt thing was longer." Luz said, tugging at the bottom of said garment. "Especially considering..." She glanced towards Gus and Edric, "Zeo, did you have to make the outfit so revealing? Seriously, if my mom saw me wearing this, she'd have a heart attack!" Luz told the card user while using her arms to cover her midsection.
"I have no control over the outcome of fusions" Zeo replied, "Besides, I warned you about the outfit. Plus, Luzura doesn't have a problem with it" he added.
He was right. Due to the Mind Meld card, Luz and Luzura had received each other's memories. Unlike Luz, her doppelganger didn't mind the look of the outfit. In fact, the witch counterpart kind of enjoyed it. Knowing this made Luz's cheeks burn red with some embarrassment.
"Don't worry, if either of these two look up any higher than that yeti's height while you're in flight, I'll just sic Crimson Eyes on them." Zeo said, threatening them with the dragon's card.
"Aww, thanks!" Luz smiled.
"You're joking, right?" Gus asked with a nervous chuckle.
"I never joke about using my owl or my dragon" Zeo narrowed his eyes at him.
"Noted!" Gus and Edric said in high-pitched voices.
"What can I do in this body?" Luz asked while looking at her war talons.
Zeo then remembered something. "Luz, catch!" He said, tossing a stone card Luz's way.
"Huh?" Luz looked at it.
"I created it this morning, but for some reason, it wound up like that. But I just remembered that vision I received the other day, and I realized it was meant for you and the Owl Paladin!" Zeo said as the stone started falling off, revealing a new Beast Weapon card.
"Owlcalibur?" Luz read the card's name as she held it in her fingers/talons.
The weapon shown on the card was a broadsword with a hilt shaped like an owl in flight.
"Ok then. Beast Weapon: Owlcalibur, arise!" she tossed the card, summoning the weapon.
With a flash of yellow light, a miniature owl appeared, spreading its wings as an impossibly long blade compared to its body extended.
"Whoa!" Luz grabbed the sword, swinging it around like a toy, "Me likey. This must be like Zeo's Dragon Blade" she said.
The yeti roared, trying to throw a punch, only for Luz to block it with her blade.
"Whoa!" Luz said, amazed before she threw a punch of her own that socked the yeti straight in its face, sending it into one of the walls of the cave, "Time to test this bad boy out" she said, looking at her reflection in the flat end of the sword's blade.
Luz flew towards the yeti with her sword reeled back, the blade engulfed in light. The yeti roared and tried to smack her away, only for Luz to swing her sword, slashing through and severing off its arm. The yeti roared in pain as it held its amputated arm which gushed blood. Luz landed, skidding to a halt.
"It cut through the flesh and bone like it was nothing!" Luz said, amazed as she looked at the weapon, there being no blood on it due to it being coated in light, "Alright, time to finish this" she said.
Luz took off, a small cloud of snow behind her. In a quick, fluid motion, the owl girl flew past the yeti. Floating in the air, Luz looked over her shoulder at the monster, watching as its head rolled off its body and fell to the ground. Luz descended as Zeo approached the monster's body. The card wielder took out the vial and filled it with blood before putting a cork in it and putting it back into his pocket. He then pulled out a dagger.
"Hold on, this may take a while" Zeo told the others.
The others watched as Zeo skinned the yeti's dead body. Once completely stripped from the carcass, Zeo folded the furred skin up and gently placed it in his bag.
"Ok, now let's get the hell out of here" Zeo told the others.
The group walked out of the cavern, with Luz choosing to fly out. Once out, Luz turned to the entrance of the cavern.
"And just for good measure…" Luz cupped her hands together, "Flaring Lunar Victory!" she shouted as she generated a large orb of light surrounded by wisps of different colored light.
Luz fired the ball at the cave. In a bright explosion, the cave collapsed, sealing everything in.
"Was that really necessary?" Gus asked, making sure not to look at Luz while she was in flight.
"Better to be safe than sorry" Luz said while landing.
"You just wanted an excuse to use that move, didn't you?" Zeo assumed.
"Eh, kind of" Luz said while sheepishly rubbing her arm.
"Anyway, let's get out of here before we freeze to death" Zeo said while holding up two cards, "Daze Raven, Crimson-Eyes Onyx Dragon, arise!" he tossed the cards, summon his black dragon and white raven, "Twins, you get on Crimson-Eyes with me. Amity, you get on Daze Rave with Willow and Gus" he told the rest of the group.
The others nodded as they all boarded the two beasts. The two creatures took the sky and flew off towards Bonesborough, Luz flying beside them.
Bonesborough…
Tabby leaned back in chair, tossing a ball of yarn back and forth between her hands. That's when she saw the kid from her earlier, along with a girl and two other kids.
"Oh, hey, you're back! I assume everything went well?" Tabby asked, returning her seat back into its original position.
"Yeah, got the blood" Zeo handed her the vial, "And the fur" he reached into the sac and gave her the yeti pelt.
"Excellent" Tabby said, taking the items, "The gold dust is yours for 1000 snails" she said, sliding the item to the boy.
"Thanks, Tabby!" Zeo said, handing her the money and taking the jar of dust. The boy then put the gold dust in the sac as he and the others walked off, "So, Luz, how did you like becoming the Owl Paladin for the first time?" he asked the human girl who was now back in her normal state, the Luzura card in her pocket.
"It was awesome! I felt both powerful and sexy!" Luz said, clenching her fists with a confident grin, "Plus, as a bonus, I was a sexy hot bombshell! My chest was huge and my thighs were almost as thick as Willow's!" she beamed while looking at her body.
"They aren't that thick, are they?" Willow asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, I'm not touching that topic with a 50-foot pole." Zeo said, nervously.
"Trust me, Willow, it's a compliment" Luz smiled at her.
"Uh, thanks. I think…" Willow said, unsure how to take that statement.
"I just wish the loopiness that I get after separating from Luzura didn't last longer than usual" Luz said with a bit of annoyance, the others chuckling at her situation from earlier.
The Owl House…
"So… any chance I could transform into the Owl Paladin outside of battle?" Luz asked innocently.
"I'll think about it, Luz" Zeo said as they walked through the door, "I noticed how Luzura looked upon seeing me. Is she alright?" he asked with concern.
"She's getting better. A part of her is still a little heartbroken though" Luz replied, "Don't worry, she'll heal in time" she said with a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Alright, I trust you" Zeo gave a small smile, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to—" he stopped midsentence when he turned his head to the couch. He saw Night Howler lying on her stomach with King in her arms as she nuzzled him.
"Help… me…" the tiny demon whispered, clearly uncomfortable with the situation he was in.
Zeo chuckled, "Heh heh. Alright, see you guys at dinner" he said as he made his way upstairs, deliberately leaving King with his wolf beast.
"Luz, help me out here" King whispered to the human girl.
Looking at the sight, Luz could help but think how cute it was. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture.
"So cute!" Luz gushed as she walked into the kitchen.
King groaned under his breath. Sometimes those two really annoyed him.
Alright, that's the end of this chapter. This marks the first time Luz has become the Owl Paladin herself. This chapter was co-written with JTWAS1994.
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