Coven Fairy
"An' here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons, facing off against his natural enemy, the Ducky Sock." Luz said, in a calm nature documentary narration voice, as she filmed King messing with a ducky sock, stuck to his nose and fangs, before he tore it to shreds.
"Where are you now Ducky Sock?" King questioned.
"Awe, he's so cute." Kali gushed, with Sapphire resting on her shoulders, while she was filming this herself.
"So, why'd you call us here again?" Luz inquired.
"Oh yeah." King said climbing onto a platform behind him with a red curtain draped over something, while Luz was still filming him. "Human and Sorceress, Luz and Kali, you've both been so obsessed with Witchcraft that neither of you have learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for, Demons 101." He said, removing the curtain from what was a lesson board, and putting on a blue professors hat. "Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight. Creatures of sulfur and bone."
"An' cute widdle paws." Luz cooed zooming in on him.
"Hah. An' cute little paws. True." King sighed. "We live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water, and passive aggressive comments, sometimes."
"Oh, you guys are sensitive." Luz cooed.
"That's adorable." Kali said.
"Even demons have inner demons." King stated, before tearing off one of the pictures, and pointing to another of a shelled monster. "The most powerful demon of them all, is the Snaggleback. He is a…"
"Bad boy." Luz said, before adding a filter.
"Oh, your phone can do that? My PCL has like, unlimited options for filters." Kali smiled.
"Luz, Kali, pay attention. This information could save your lives someday." King said.
"He has a point Luz. Knowledge itself is a powerful survival weapon, if you know how to use it properly." Kali said.
"No, no. We are so paying attention." Luz said, putting her phone away and taking a serious expression. "This is my paying attention face."
There was a loud crack of thunder as Kali was still filming, before turning to look over her shoulder, as Sapphire was startled awake by the thunder clap and hid somewhere on the ceiling.
"Uh-oh. Looks like its gonna rain." King said.
"I love the rain." Luz gasped, getting up.
"Hold on a second there Luz." Kali said, grabbing the girl by her hoodie. "I don't know what rain is like where you're from, but if you go dancing and singing out in this rain, you're gonna die from being boiled alive."
"Wait, this rain actually does that?" Luz asked.
"It's boiling hot. One drop can melt a hole through the ground." Kali said. "I went through two sets of clothes when I spent a couple weeks roughing it in nature after I first got to the Titan's body. It's not called the Boiling Isles for nothing."
"How'd you survive?" King asked.
"Fire's one of my elements. Fire produces heat. Boiling rain has heat. I'm immune to fire and heat, which is what allows me to eat it without getting burned. But I can't eat the elements I produce myself it has to come from an outside source."
"Everyone okay in here?" Eda questioned, rushing into the house.
Before anyone could answer, Eda tripped over one of King's stuffed animals, and rolled forward, knocking over Luz and Kali, making them role into King and his presentation board.
"Just peachy." Kali groaned, picking herself up.
"Ow, I think one of King's fangs cut my arm." Luz hissed.
Later with Kali, Luz, and King sitting in front of the door, Eda was out in the boiling rain with a barrier covering her, while she was preparing the spell that would protect the Owl House. King put a bandage on Luz's arm, after Kali disinfected it.
"There, now we're booboo buddies." King said, putting a bandage over his nose.
"The three of us." Kali smiled, having a bandage on her shoulder.
"Oh my gosh I love you so much King." Luz said, having a cuteness overload. "Boiling Rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is insane. At least now I know what you were talking about with the rain, King."
"Yeah we don't have weather. We have plagues, gorenados, shale hale, painbows." Eda said.
"It's like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out." King said.
"In which case, I wouldn't recommend looking at one." Kali said, as Luz tightened her hoodie.
"So, until the rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight."
"No one except me, since I'm immune to the heat the rain produces." Kali said.
"No. When I say no one, I mean no one." Eda stated.
"Fine." Kali grumped. "But I'll be cutting it close when the rain stops. I need to go out and gather more ingredients for making more of my potions."
"Can't you get more at the market in Fiore?" King asked.
"I tried that yesterday, but I was chased down by the Rune Knights after someone ratted me out." Kali said, showing a Wanted Poster, of her from Earthland.
"Aw, your second wanted poster." Eda smiled. "But seriously, no one goes outside tonight. Am I clear?"
"Yes ma'am." Kali huffed.
"An' if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will." King said, producing a demon book with an image of the Snaggleback. "They wonder the rains, feeding on boiled tourists."
"Well, whatever the case. This force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains, and made-up demons." Eda said.
"Hoot, well hurry it up with that force field. That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco." Hooty said.
"Yeah, yeah I got it." Eda said, before using her staff to gather the energy she was collecting, and create a giant force field bubble that shrank down and molded to the shape and size of the house.
"Wow, someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady." Luz said, bringing down her hood. "Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age."
"Luz, that's my grandmother you're talking about." Kali said.
"Sorry." Luz said, before turning to Eda as she entered the force field. "Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady anyway?"
"Because I'm so, wise." Eda said.
"Because she coughs up rat bones." Hooty said.
"Because she can turn her head around at 160degrees without breaking her neck, like an owl." Kali said.
"I think it's because she gets distracted by shiny objects." King said.
"No I don't." Eda said, before King pulled a pen from under his hat, and the plastic gem lit up on it. "It sparkles and shimmers, it shines and delights, I must have it for my nest."
Eda tried lunging for it, but King put it back under his hat before she could grab it.
"Nest? You have a nest? I want a nest. Nest party." Luz said, crouching down next to Eda and shaking her arm.
"Easy there Luz. Eda's had to use up a lot of magic." Kali said, as Eda got up.
"Ugh, that force field really really took it out of me." Eda groaned.
"Uh-oh, moving a little slow. Age finally catching up with you?" King questioned, before his hat was pulled down over his eyes. "Ahh! Darkness."
"Not that I'm saying he didn't deserve it, but King's just a kid, come on." Kali sighed, lifting the hat from over his eyes, before yawning. "But yeah, now that you mention it, I'm starting to feel a little tired myself."
"Were you up all night carving statues again?" Eda asked.
"Maybe, maybe I wasn't, who could say for sure?" Kali said.
"I knew it. Off to your nest young lady." Eda said as they entered the house.
"Yes ma'am." Kali sighed.
"I want a nest." Luz stated.
"Later." Kali and Eda said at the same time.
"This is perfect, with everyone stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell." Luz said.
"But, don't you want to finish our lesson? I was going to let you and Kali scratch a demon's tummy, me." King said.
"Oh uh, sorry King but, Magic." Luz simply said before running to Eda, leaving King disappointed before his horn poked a hole through his hat, causing it to deflate.
After having changed her clothes with a snap of her fingers, Eda stretched out and laid back on the couch with a smile, only for it to turn into a frown when a shadow came over her, and when she opened her eyes, she gasped in shock as she saw it was Luz.
"Oh Eda, have I told you how rad your fang looks today?" Luz asked.
"Whatever it is, no." Eda said.
"An' your hair is like, girl."
"I'm not teaching you magic tonight, I'm sleeping. I'm a sleepy little owl." Eda said, pulling a blanket over herself.
"Please Eda, please. How am I supposed to earn my witch's staff if I don't know any spells?" Luz asked.
"No, sleep." Eda said, hiding under the blanket.
Settling in under the blanket, Eda smiled as she intended on getting enough rest as she could, before the clicking sound of the light up pen caught her attention.
"Sparkle thing." Eda gasped, sitting up and looking at Luz who was turning the light on and off again on her sparkle pen.
"Oh, this?" Luz asked, before stepping back as Eda threw the blanket off and hopped onto the arm of the couch.
"Oooh." Eda said, trying to grab at it.
"Nope." Luz said, swiping the pen out of her reach, causing Eda to fall to the ground. "Teach me one spell, and I'll give you your sparkle thing."
"I respect your cunning, but I also hate you for it." Eda said, before getting up, and grabbing Owlbert. "If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me… repeat… myself…" She began, falling asleep momentarily before waking up. "Witch's staffs have magical power embedded into them."
"Gimme." Luz said, making a grabbing motion with her hands.
"But before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own. Now…" She tosses Owlbert to the side. "Tonight, I will show you how to create, light, without using that fancy wand Kali carved from Palistrom Wood." Eda stated, as she performed a light spell. The ball of light floated down from the air and into Luz's face before vanishing, making her gasp.
"Yawn, who needs another boring spell lesson when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you. Look how teethy, bite-bite." King said holding up a picture.
"Be quiet, I need to focus." Luz said.
"Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything must come from something. Let me ask you kid, where do you think magic comes from?" Eda asked.
"Uh… from the heart?" Luz guessed.
"Actually… you're right." Eda said.
"Really?" Luz gasped happily.
"Really, it comes from a sack of magic bile attached to a witch's heart." Eda said, pulling an illustration of the bile sack from her hair.
"Gross." Luz said. "Can I keep that?"
"No." Eda said, before Luz snapped a picture of it with her phone. "Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell." Eda explained, putting the picture away and drawing a bigger light spell in the air above her.
"But how can I, little old Luz, do magic if I don't have a magic, bile sack thing?" Luz questioned. "I don't even know how to access the magic I used when fighting Phantom Lord."
"You know I'm not actually sure." Eda said.
"What?" Luz asked.
"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how." Eda said.
"Eda." Luz said.
"Don't worry, you'll figure it out." Eda stated, ruffling her hair. "Now, I need to lay down." She said, cracking her back and heading to the couch past Luz.
"That's it? Wait, I need to see you do the circle thingy again." Luz said, pulling her phone out for a second time. "I'll record it on my phone this time." She stated, turning the camera on. "Smile, you're on camera. One more spell won't kill you."
"Fine." Eda groaned. "Now you see the… spell circle is… key… because… Oh boy."
Eda was unable to finish either her spell or explanation, as she passed out on the ground.
"Welp, looks like one more spell killed Eda." King said.
"Oh my gosh, my obsession with spells knocked out Eda." Luz said turning Eda over onto her back. "I'm a monster."
"Bap." King said smacking her on the nose. "Yep, she's out. Bap. Hahaha, just making sure."
"We should get help right?" Luz asked, before running for the open door. She was stopped however, when King grabbed her foot.
"Boiling rains, remember?" He questioned, pulling her back.
"No let her try, it'll be funny." Hooty said, before King slammed him shut.
"But what if Eda's dead?" Luz questioned.
"Shiny thing, big nest." Eda mumbled in her sleep before snorting.
"Remember when she got her head chopped off last week?" King asked. "That woman could survive anything. She's probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles."
"Well, we can't just leave her on the floor." Luz said.
"We're gonna be carrying her off to her bedroom, aren't we?" King questioned with a sigh.
An' just like that, Luz and King were at Eda's room, carrying the Owl Lady's legs and dragging her into her room towards her nest. Putting her leg down for a second, Luz wiped away some rodent bones in the nest, before she and King put her in her nest.
"Sorry for pushing you Ms. Eda, please don't hurt me when you wake up." Luz said.
"Should I bap her again?" King questioned.
"Just, let her rest you little goober." Luz smiled, rubbing his head before heading out.
King followed behind her shortly after, but not before bapping her nose again.
~Later~
"Ugh, why can't I do this? This is all she does, why you gotta be so cryptic Owl Lady?" Luz questioned, repeating what Eda was doing in the video. "I'm not gonna be able to do any of this without the wand Reedus gave me. Kali and Eda make this look so easy. Without a bile sack, I'm just waving my hands about like a fool."
"Hey, you know what's really cryptish, let me tell you about the most, spine chilling demon. Smootchie Pie the Sweetie Baby." King said, holding up a drawing of what looked like a puffer fish. "He's… well he's a lot more threatening then his name implies."
"Not now King, I wanna figure out this spell." Luz said, sitting on the ground while King sat on his pile of books. "But if I don't have a magic sack, what's the point? I'll just be, twirling my fingers around unmagically forever."
"Why do you wanna learn Magic, so bad anyway?" King questioned.
"I was a no body back home, but becoming a witch is my chance to be someone." Luz said. "Do you know what it's like to have no one take you seriously?"
King just sighed, as thunder rumbled through the air.
"If I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?" King questioned.
"Oh yes, yes. You can teach me about demons, all week if you help me learn this spell." Luz stated.
"Well, she said Witches used to do Magic differently, so there has to be a way right? An' I have a theory." King said, drawing something on his notepad and showing it to Luz. "Everyday I notice Eda taking drinks of this special Elixir, see? Then she always gets a boost of energy, see? I think that's where she gets her powers, and I know where to get some."
"Really?" Luz questioned.
"Si." King said.
"Thank you so much, you're a prince." Luz said, hugging him with a twirl.
"King, I'm King." The little demon said.
After Luz put him down, King took off, running past Kali, and up the stairs as she came into the living room.
"What's he in a rush for?" Kali yawned, while still half asleep, Luz following her into the kitchen.
"Oh, King's gonna help me learn Magic." Luz said, sitting at the table.
"I'm sorry, my brain isn't fully awake yet. Did you say King was gonna help you learn, Magic?" Kali asked before pouring herself a glass of Apple Blood.
"I did."
"How is that little demon gonna help you learn magic?" Kali questioned.
"I got it." King said, running into the kitchen with a bottle of a glowing yellow substance in it.
"Wait, King where'd you get that?" Kali questioned.
"From Eda's room. She drinks this stuff every day to give her power a boost." King said, hopping on the table while Luz put a bib around her neck. "An' now it's gonna allow Luz to do Magic, so we can finish our lesson on demons."
"Wow, I can't believe I'm about to learn Magic, real Magic." Luz said, taking the bottle and uncorking it. "This is historic."
As Luz brought the bottle up to her lips, Kali stopped her by grabbing the bottle just as thunder and lightning shook the house, before sealing the bottle again with the cork.
"Hey, give that back I wanna learn Magic." Luz said.
"Yeah. Let her dream." King declared.
"This isn't a potion that gives Eda her Magic." Kali stated.
"Then what is it?" Luz asked.
"It's medicine. Where do you think my condition for my daily potions came from? I got it from Eda. This is the medicine she takes to keep it at bay, just like the ones I take. King if you took this from her nightstand you'd better pray we're not too late in…"
Before Kali could finish that statement, the lights went out, leaving them in darkness, before the sound of Hooty's screams echoed through the house.
"Hooty." Kali cried out, sticking the potion in her top and running for the owl door. There they saw the silhouette of a giant beast, and Hooty on the ground, as claw marks were dug into it. "Shit, not good." She cursed, before the creature ran off.
"It's the Snaggleback." King said as Luz went to check on Hooty. "It feeds during the fain. It must have seen us inside and thought of us as a snack."
"It's not the Snaggleback, King." Kali stated. "Hooty will be fine. He's just unconscious from being torn off his hinges."
"What was that thing if it wasn't the Snaggleback?" King questioned.
"Wait, Eda's in trouble." Luz gasped. "If that thing's in the house with us, then it'll probably go after her while she's defenseless."
"Luz wait." Kali called to her as the human girl, and King ran off the go find Eda. Before Kali could go after them, she felt a tightness in her chest, and fell to her knees, hissing in pain. "No, not now. Why now of all times?"
Reaching into her bag, Kali pulled out a vial of her potion, and cursed herself.
"This is my last potion. But… We might need the Beast, to keep Eda from killing those two." Kali groaned, fighting back the transformation, as scales formed on her cheeks under her eyes, and on her forearms up to her elbows, like bracers. "I just hope I can at least aim it this time."
~King & Luz~
"Oh my gosh, Eda." Luz cried out as she and King, now wearing 'protective gear' entered the Owl Lady's room, only to find it empty with the nest, somewhat destroyed.
"She got Snagglebacked." King said as Luz ran to the nest.
"Eda?" Luz questioned before her eyes shrank in horror and she picked up a shredded pillow. "No, slash marks. King, you're the Demon Expert, I need your help."
"I'll go get my Demon Book." King said.
As King was gone, Luz was still worried beyond belief, before a hand covered in scales clasped over her mouth, and she was pulled back.
"Shhh." Kali motioned with her finger, hiding Luz and herself in the shadows, before something big came into the room.
Luz's eyes widened with terror as the silhouette of the beast was looking around, sniffing for anything that might make a good meal for it, but its attention was drawn when the sound of Sapphire's screeching flew past them in the hall, and the beast gave chase.
"Phew, that was close. The Snaggleback almost got me, thanks Kali." Luz sighed in relief stepping away from Kali.
"I told you, that's not the Snaggleback." Kali huffed.
Luz turned back to Kali and question her what she was talking about, before she gasped when she saw Kali still sitting on the ground, back against the wall with her arms, hands, and part of her face, were covered in scales, her hands now looked like claws.
"Kali, what's going on with you?" Luz questioned, coming back to her.
"It's my curse." Kali hissed. "I'm fighting it back, but I'm losing the battle."
"Kali hold on I'll go grab one of your potions, I'll…"
"Listen to me Luz." Kali said, grabbing the human by the front of her shirt. "That beast isn't the Snaggleback. That's Eda."
"What?"
"The potions she and I take, keep our curses at bay." Kali hissed as more of her body became covered in scales. "That's why she's called the Owl Lady."
"An' why you're known around Magnolia as Kali the Beast."
"Hehe, Jet and Droy told you my nickname huh?" Kali chuckled, before reaching into her top, and pulling out the potion she stopped Luz from drinking. "Take this. It's Eda's potion. Once I pin her down, throw that sucker down her throat."
"What about you?" Luz questioned.
"Sapphire has my potion, it's my last one so I'll need to act fast to distill more of it before my curse can take effect again." Kali groaned, forcing herself to her feet. "Once Eda is back to normal, Sapphire knows what to do."
"But how are you gonna pin Eda down long enough for me to give her the potion?" Luz questioned.
"I'm gonna unleash the beast." Kali declared, before taking in a deep breath, opening her jaws again, Kali revealed her canines had grown longer, along with all her teeth growing sharper, as she let out a monstrous roar.
Quickly sliding out into the hall, Kali just glared down the path as she could see Eda running towards her. The Owl Beasts instincts having reacted to the declaration of a challenge.
"Come and greet your kin Owl Beast." Kali glared, her eyes glowing red before her body transformed, and took on her beastly form, right before Eda Beast rammed into the dragon.
Pushing back against the cursed Owl Eda, Beast Kali grabbed the owl by the shoulders and threw it to the ground, causing the entire structure to tremor.
"Whoa." Luz gasped, trying to get out of the way of the fight.
"Luz, what's going on?" King questioned, running up to her. "The demon that ate Eda wasn't the Snaggleback. He got eaten by the demon too."
"Eda wasn't eaten by a demon. That is Eda." Luz said.
"What?" King questioned, before looking to see the two demons fighting each other, one with Eda's face, and the other with Kali's. "Holy…"
"I'll explain later." Luz said, moving back with King in her arms, to avoid getting squished. "But the short version, is the potions Kali and Eda take, are to keep their curses at bay."
"Oh no." King said, pulling a tag from his collar. "I pulled this off the bottle I was gonna give you."
"It's torn." Luz said.
"Wait." King gasped, grabbing something from the bottom of Luz's shoe. "It's the other half of the tag. It says keeps the curse at bay."
"Then it's a good thing Kali stopped me from drinking this stuff." Luz said.
"What are we gonna do now?" King questioned.
"Right now, we need to wait for an opening for me to pour this stuff down Eda's gullet." Luz stated.
"We need to cause a distraction. Eda's eyes and big and blacked out. You can use the light spell." King said.
"I can't, I don't know how to do the…"
Scree…
Luz looked up as Sapphire perched on her shoulder and gave Luz a piece of paper with a symbol on it.
"Luz, Eda might not know how magic used to be done, by I do." A note on the back of the paper said. "As I've said earlier, I spent some time in nature before finding my way to Eda, and I found this glyph as a constellation in the stars. I haven't tried it myself, but I think it has something to do with light. Us it as a diversion, assuming I've already told you the plan, to put both Eda and I in shock from the sudden burst of light, and when we're frozen, feed the elixir to Eda."
"Kali you genius." Luz said.
"That little thing isn't gonna be strong enough to make them both freeze." King said.
"No, but I know something that might work. I'm gonna need a crayon, the color won't matter." Luz stated, heading off to do what she needed to do.
"Well what am I gonna do?" King questioned, evading the fight as best he could.
"When I call for you, get their attention, and come to where I am." Luz called back to him.
For the next few minutes, King hid from the fight, hoping he wouldn't be caught up in it, as he saw the two demonized Clawthornes trying to kill one another.
"King, now." Luz called from wherever she was.
"Hey, over here." King called to the two cursed girls, jumping out of his hiding spot.
His attempt to grab their attention wasn't successful as Kali and Eda were still fighting one another.
"Oh this isn't working what am I gonna…" King stopped when he remembered something, and pulled the glowing pen out from his pillow armor. Clicking it a few times, King looked up to see that got their attention. 'Kali said dragons are more catlike then people think, which means they're attracted to shiny object just as much as owls.' He thought. "Oh my, what do we have here? It's just so dang shiny, and sparkly."
Eda and Kali got off from one another, before they both began to slowly stalk towards King, before giving chase as he began to run towards him.
"Luz, whatever you're doing, do it now." King called out, making a sharp turn.
Eda and Kali still gave chase to him, before he reached a dead end with Luz on a latter, the the Glyph drawn on the wall.
"Eda, Kali. Sorry, but this is for your own good." Luz declared slamming her hand on the Glyph, before a large brilliant light enveloped the hall.
Both Eda and Kali screeched in shock as their pupils shrank, before Luz uncorked Eda's medicine, and tossed it at the Owl Eda, sending it down her throat and making her swallow it. Slowly, Eda's body began to shrink, and return to normal, before she was lying on the ground, her clothes still intact on her body, unconscious and snoring lightly.
"It worked." Luz cheered, before Kali let out a roar, and lunged her head at Luz.
"No." King said, pushing Luz away.
"King." Luz cried out as Kali threw her head up into the air, letting King fly for a second, narrowly touching the ceiling with her mouth wide open.
"Oh no, this can't be the end for me." King cried out, before Sapphire let out a screech and wrapped all four of her legs, and her wings around him, using a fang to uncork the red potion, just before Kali's jaw snapped shut on both of them.
"No." Luz cried out as Kali swallowed, two distinct bulges traveling down her throat, one as big as King and Sapphire, the other barely noticeable, both traveling in different directions down her throat.
Letting out another roar, Kali began to groan like a sick animal, before her body began to shrink and returned, mostly to normal. Her clothes were still intact, but now Kali looked like a teen mom, ready to pop with some very active triplets, as King and Sapphire both moved around inside her stomach.
"Luz, help." King's muffled voice called out to her.
"Oh crap, what am I gonna do?" Luz questioned.
~Later~
"Oh man, what the hell did I eat when I was the beast? An' why do I feel so bloated?" Kali questioned, her vision blurry as she opened her eyes, and tried sitting up in her nest, before looking down to see her belly was bigger then before her transformation, and was perfectly smooth with a slight torpedo shape. "Oh, that's why."
"Kali, oh thank goodness." Luz said appearing at her side. "You ate Sapphire and King when your curse took over you."
"That would explain the increased size." Kali sighed, backing up from Luz a bit, before getting to her feet. "How's Eda?"
"She's fine, I found another elixir in her closet and fed it to her through a straw." Luz said, sounding confused as she followed Kali out of her room, to Eda's. "I'm sorry, but why aren't you more concerned about why you look ready to drop with a clutch of dragon eggs?"
"Because this isn't the first time this has happened, with Sapphire at least."
"What?" Luz asked.
"You want an explanation?"
"Yes please. King stopped moving an hour ago and I'm a bit concerned. I already tried making you throw up by using moldy foods, and I think something equivalent to ipecac." Luz said.
"Then start drawing the Glyph you used on me and Eda, to give Eda some sleeping light." Kali said, putting a pad of paper, and a pencil in Luz's hands.
"Right." Luz said, as she began drawing the Glyph, creating dozens of light spells at a time.
"Oh man my head." Eda groaned, sounding sick. "Oh, what did I eat? I feel like I'm gonna…" Before she could finish that statement, her cheeks puffed up and she coughed up a pellet that opened up to reveal the small and adorable Snaggleback, along with the empty elixir bottle. "When did you get inside my stomach?"
"I'm just gonna… lie here for a while." The Snaggleback sighed.
"Hey, how you feeling Eda?" Kali asked.
"I could be better. I was looking for this earlier." Eda said, picking up one of the two empty elixir bottles. "It must not be working as well if two were required."
"Actually, King took the one on your nightstand, thinking it gave you power, but Luz gave it to you when we were both transformed, and gave you a second one when you returned to normal, just in case." Kali stated.
"Your curse took ahold of you too huh?" Eda asked.
"Yep, but I allowed it to." Kali said. "Sapphire knew what to do if there was no one else to give me my potion."
"That would explain this." Eda said, patting Kali's belly.
"Sort of, but take a look over there." Kali smiled.
Eda looked to the corner and gasped in awe when she saw Luz drawing the light Glyphs, and creating more balls of light.
"How is she doing that?" Eda asked.
"She's using a Glyph. She had a little help from me when we were fighting in our cursed forms." Kali smiled.
"Eda, I'm so glad you're doing better." Luz said coming over to them.
"I'm glad to be better. But there's something you should know." Eda said.
"Wake up King, you're gonna want to hear this too." Kali said, shaking her belly.
"Weh?" King's muffled voice came from her belly.
"King's in there too?"
"I'll explain later." Kali stated. "So first off, Eda and I are both cursed."
"I was cursed as a little girl." Eda said.
"While I genetically inherited the curse. That's what these gems we wear do though, monitor how and when the curse will activate." Kali said.
"I don't know who cursed me, or even why, so it's a mystery."
"An' my curse is very different from hers."
"No one likes living with a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable." Eda said. "An' so long as no one steals my elixirs again, then it should be fine."
"I'm glad you told us Eda." Luz smiled. "Now I'm needing an explanation on Kali's belly. She said this wasn't the first time Sapphire's been in it."
"Well… when I got my Dragonslayer Magic, my curse changed. Originally, I'd turn into any animal I either saw, or had on my mind during the time the curse would take effect, but now with my magic, I'm stuck with my curse being a dragon." Kali explained. "Female dragons, physically have two stomachs. One for digesting food, and one for protecting their young when they're still too weak to join in battle. It can act as a storage stomach for storing food during long journeys, but mainly it's meant to be a cradle for the female dragon's young. First time I transformed into a dragon beast, and Sapphire had to feed me the potion, I permanently gained that second stomach as well, as she ended up in it when I changed back."
"So, there's no stomach acids in the second stomach King and Sapphire are in?" Luz questioned.
"None, not even saliva. It's not even connected to my intestines." Kali stated.
"So how will King and Sapphire get out?" Eda asked.
"That's easy, but gross as well." Kali sighed. "I just gotta regurgitate them out, by flexing my abs. Generally though, Sapphire fights me when I do, as to stay as long as she can, if King's with her, then it means she grabbed him before I swallowed, and she tossed my elixir down my throat."
"What would have happened if she hadn't?" Luz asked.
"Then he'd currently be stewing away in a puddle of stomach acids." Kali said. "Since I made Sapphire, she has my scent on her, and my cursed form catches that scent, sends her to my storage stomach. If she grabbed him, then now my cursed form will always register King as one of its young and forever put him in the storage stomach with Sapphire."
"At least that means he's safe from harm." Eda said.
"As fascinating as this all is, can someone please get me out of here now?" King questioned, his muffled voice drawing their attention to him, as he pressed out against the fleshy walls containing him.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? I'm stuck on the floor." Hooty called out.
"I think it's best we do take care of these things." Kali said, getting up from Eda's nest. "Luz, would you mind taking care of Hooty while I get King and Sapphire out?"
"I'm on it." Luz smiled, before picking up the Snaggleback. "Come on you goopy fella."
"Ow, ow, ow. I think part of my tail was digested." Snaggleback groaned.
"We'll leave you to sleep Eda." Kali smiled, as they left.
~Afterwards~
"Welcome to the Boo-boo Buddy Club Hooty." Luz smiled.
"Finally I get to be a part of something." Hooty smiled.
"An' then, she had teeth, inside her stomach. Her stomach." Snaggleback described to King, the little black furred demon was wrapped in a towel as Kali dried him off after a quick bath, with her stomach now half the size it was earlier. "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."
"This is gonna make a great addition to my book." King said.
"I'd say the latest chapter should have quite the added touch to it." Kali smiled, hiccuping as Sapphire rolled over inside her stomach. "Don't get too comfy in there Sapphire, I'm getting you out by morning so I can go collect herbs and other ingredients for more elixirs." She said, poking her stomach.
"That book is filled with so many interesting facts." Snaggleback said with a smile, grabbing the book and opening it to the chapter that described him. "Like this, I'm one of the most powerful and terrifying demons on the Boiling Isles, aren't I?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to edit that." King said.
"Aw." Snaggleback said in disappointment.
Later, after everyone was settled in, and Snaggleback was set up for sleeping on the couch, Kali returned to her nest with a yawn, stretching her back and popping her spine as the weight of Sapphire in her belly was still there, Kali curled up around her pregnant looking belly, with a sigh, allowing for the land of dreams to take her.
Opening her eyes, Kali frowned when she found she was in a familiar cave, all alone as she felt the heartache of this memory presenting itself to her as a dream.
"No, not this memory again." Kali said, as the rumbling of footsteps echoed through the cave, and to her anger and horror, she saw the silhouette of a fearsome dragon, and it wasn't the Dragon Mother she'd grown to love for two years. "No, you're not real. I'm not actually in that cave, I'm not in Fiore or Earthland."
Gasping for breath as she opened her eyes, Kali sat up in her nest, looking around to see she was still in her nest. Sighing in relief, Kali looked down when she noticed she wasn't alone, and smiled when she saw King curled up next to where her belly had been. Giving off a yawn, Kali laid back down in the nest, with King curling up against her belly with a hug, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside as Sapphire moved in response to the sudden contact, with the fleeting memories of that nightmare, vanishing as she entered the dreamscape once more, with a heart full of motherly love.
