Coven Fairy
"Kali, come on and hurry up, my library books aren't gonna return themselves." Eda called out from down stairs.
"Just a second." Kali called back, sitting in her nest in the Owl House, working on something. "An' done." She smiled, before holding up what looked like a diamond shaped ruby with a red gemstone in a frame of wood, connected to a flat braid of leather strings. "Coming Eda."
Running out of the room as she put the bracelet on her wrist, Kali slid down the railing before making a sharp turn and running into the dinning room to grab a quick bite to eat, just as Luz put a basket on the table.
"Morning everyone." She smiled.
"Morning sleepyhead." Eda smiled, before noticing the bracelet. "What's that?"
"Oh, uh well you know the item my mom gave me in the afterlife? This gem is that item, I just put it in a wood frame and turned it into a bracelet." Kali said, Sapphire perching herself on her shoulder.
"Smart, keeping it with you at all times." Luz said.
"What's with the basket?" Kali inquired.
"We don't know, looks like a gift basket." Luz stated.
"Probably an offering. Ah, being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks." Eda said.
"It's addressed to Kali though." Luz said.
"What?" Eda gasped.
"Me?" Kali questioned, putting her bottle of Apple Blood down and coming to the table.
"Here, read the card." Luz suggested handing her the card.
"First let's see what's inside." Kali said, pulling the covering down a bit on the basket, revealing a baby. "Aw, it's a cute widdle baby." She cooed.
"Mmm, fresh meat." King said excitedly.
"Nope, not eating that." Luz stated.
"No one, is eating the baby." Kali stated firmly.
"Besides, witches eating babies is so, 1693." Eda said as Sapphire stuck her head in the basket and sniffed the baby.
"What's the card say?" Luz asked.
"Take care of my child 'til morning, yi-yi." Kali read. "Ah, I only know one person who says yi-yi, this the Bat Queen's baby."
"You know the Bat Queen?" Eda asked.
"Yeah, the first night I got here, Sapphire and I were alone, but the Bat Queen found us and gave us a home for a couple nights. But she was still pregnant then, I hadn't realized she'd given birth already." Kali said. "She knows I'm good with little ones, even mended the wounds on some of the Palismen in her care while there. They seemed so sad to see me leave."
"There's more on the card." Luz said.
"You will be handsomely rewarded, xoxoxoxox, Bat Queen." Kali read. "Aw, all those hugs and kisses."
"She must really trust you with her child."
"There should be two more actually. She was pregnant with triplets." Kali said.
"Kali can't you just swallow it into your storage stomach or something?" King asked.
"Not happening. If I did that, the Bat Queen would not only lose her mind, she'd never trust me to watch her children again." Kali said.
"So about the, reward?" Eda asked grabbing the few coins that were in the basket.
"No, absolutely not." Kali stated taking the coins back and pocketing them. "The Bat Queen is trusting me, and only me to watch her children."
"Who's the Bat Queen?" Luz asked.
"Only the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her, and you're set for life." Eda said. "Kali already seems to be in with her."
"All I did was help her out when she was in some of the final days of her pregnancy." Kali said turning the blanket into a makeshift carrier, and putting the baby bat demon in it and twisting it a couple times to where the baby was wrapped like a piece of candy, with only his face visible. "Sapphire outside, Formation Omega." She instructed. "I figure while we're at the library I can read this little guy some stories when he wakes up."
"We?" Luz asked as Sapphire flew out the open door.
"What, you didn't think I was gonna go there on my own did you?" Kali questioned.
"Here." Eda said, using her magic to dump her books into Luz's arms. "You can take the books, since Kali's carrying the precious cargo."
"Hey Eda, do we have any apples?" Kali asked, rummaging through the fridge.
"Fresh out kid. An' don't rummage through the fridge with the baby on your chest, it'll get sick." Eda stated.
"Relax, I'm using my fire magic to keep the blanket warm so the little guy doesn't get cold." Kali stated, closing the door. "I'll grab some apples in the market on the way to the library."
"What do you need apples for?" King asked.
"For snack time silly. This widdle guy will be hungry when he wakes up." Kali said, booping his nose. "Oh Luz, you can set the books down on Sapphire's back. She should be big enough for both of us to ride without a problem."
"Right." Luz smiled.
~Later~
"You really have a motherly side to you, don't you Kali?" Luz asked.
"What makes you say that?" Kali inquired, shaking a rattle in front of the baby, making it laugh and giggle, while they both rode Sapphire's back as she walked to the library.
"Well seeing how you care for King all the time, cook his food, make his sandwiches while cutting off the crusts, even treating his boo-boos with such gentle love and care." Luz smiled. "You've got a soft spot for motherhood."
"Well, I guess when you put it like that, there's more to the story." Kali smiled.
"How so?"
"Well, Blue Vermillion Dragons are the rarest species of Dragons in all of Earthland. Even when Dragons were bountiful in species and culture, it was hard to find a Blue Vermillion. An' for good reason. Most people stayed away from Blue Vermillions intentionally, because if you pissed one off, not even Dragon King Igneel could protect you." Kali said. "Or so I was told by my Dragon Mother."
"What was her name?" Luz asked.
"Saphira. She never told me her actual name, just the name of a dragon in a book series she loved." Kali said. "She always told me that it was her name, because she was the inspiration for the author to write the books."
"That'd be something." Luz chuckled. "So why would other Dragons intentionally stay away from Blue Vermillions? I get people, they'd naturally be terrified of Dragons."
"Blue Vermillions also went by another name, the females went by Mother Dragons, and the males, the rare few that came to be, were Guardians." Kali said.
"Rare few, does that mean Blue Vermillions were mostly an Amazon Race of Dragons?" Luz questioned.
"That's right. Only one male born to every ten clutches of babies." Kali smiled. "Blue Vermillions were known as Mother Dragons, because they were protective of any young. If it were an abandoned or orphaned hatchling, or a lost human child, the Mother Dragons would take them in and raise them as their own."
"So you're so motherly because of your Dragonslayer Magic?" Luz asked.
"No, that's not how it works." Kali chuckled. "Saphira was the only mother figure I had ever known who didn't die, or mistreat me. So when I was little, I wanted to be like her, in more then just terms of my magic. I wanted to be the same kind of caring person, who didn't give a second thought on helping those in need. So I followed her example, and acted as much like her as my little mind could comprehend. At least that's how it was before she just, suddenly vanished one day, no note or explanation."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Luz said.
"It's fine." Kali said, before Sapphire stopped. "Ah, we're here."
Getting down from Sapphire's back, the two girls stood in awe at the sheer size and beauty of the library that stood before them.
"It's so beautiful." Luz smiled, books in her arms.
"Let's head in." Kali said.
Following the babysitter into the castle like library, Luz was excited to finally get to see the inside of the home for countless books. When passing through the door, the books began to float and headed straight for the main desk.
"Late, late… coffee grass and blood stains? These are Eda's aren't they?" The attendant asked.
"I tried warning her not to mix apple blood with coffee grass." Kali said. "Where's your children's section?"
"Just follow the directional signs." The librarian said.
"Thank you." Kali smiled heading off and following the signs.
Leaving Luz with the attendant, Kali made her way through the sections of genres, passing by fiction and non-fiction, before making her way to the children's section.
"Ah, here we go." Kali smiled, looking through the books.
Blah-blah
Looking down at that sound, Kali noticed two smaller babies on top of the carrier, that the biggest had been in.
"Oh there you two rascals were." Kali smiled, wrapping them up in the carrier. "Okay now let's see here, what book should we read first?"
"Kali?"
The Clawthorne teen turned to the sound of that familiar voice, and saw Amity standing there in shock with a book in her arms.
"Hey Amity."
"What are you doing here?" Amity inquired. "An', are those babies?"
"I'm babysitting for the Bat Queen. Eda needed some books returned so I thought I'd check out the children's section while I was here." Kali smiled.
"Oh that's great. I was actually just about to start on story time for the little ones, would you care to join?" Amity asked.
"That would be wonderful actually." Kali smiled, following Amity to the reading area, where a bunch of other children were gathered.
"Alright children, I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is my friend Kali. Can you all say hi to her?" Amity smiled, greeting the children.
"Hi Ms. Kali."
"Hello children." Kali waved.
"Ms. Amity, is Ms. Kali a mommy?" One of the children asked, raising their hand.
"No I'm not a mommy, I'm babysitting for a friend who needs some time for herself today." Kali said.
"Kali and the babies will be joining you today in listening to the story." Amity smiled.
"I'll just take a seat in the back here." Kali smiled, moving to the back of the crowd of children and sitting down, only for a few to scoot closer to her. "Oh, well…"
"It seems children are just naturally drawn to you." Amity smiled opening the book. "Alright now, let's begin. 'Otabin spent his days alone, amongst the many books he'd sewn. With needle and thread, the pages he'd mend, but all the while he'd longed for a friend."
~Luz~
"This place is amazing, so many things that are so similar to my world, yet so different." Luz smiled, after having her fun with exploring the library.
"What do you think you're doing?" Amity's voice came from a distance.
"Ah, I've been discovered. Quick, pretend to be a book." Luz said, before taking a weird pose with her arms framing her face and chest, before giggling came through the air. "Wait a minute."
"We're your friends, and we wanna help', said the tin boy with a yelp." Amity continued as she read the book. "Otabin smiled and paced the floor, 'I've never had real friends before."
"Amity reading to kids?" Luz questioned. "An' Kali's listening in."
"Then we'll be your first', the chicken witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So book maker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship, and that's the end." Amity finished as she closed the book with the children getting up in excitement for another story.
"Amity seems so nice, and smiley. We got off to a rocky start, but maybe I could befriend her even more, just like Azura befriended her rival." Luz said before ducking down to hide as the children ran past the shelf she was behind.
"Thank you so much, goodbye."
"Goodbye Ms. Amity, thank you." One of the children said, with a surprisingly deep voice for their age, hugging her legs.
"Thank you, Braxas. See you next time." Amity said with a gentle smile.
"Yay." Braxas cheered, running off.
"So, how'd you enjoy story time?" Amity asked, turning to Kali.
"I thought the book held a good message about making friends, and I'm pretty sure it put these three to sleep." Kali smiled, before looking past Amity. "Hey Luz."
"Luz?" Amity questioned, turning around to see Luz, pretending to read.
"I see you found the Manga." Kali snickered.
"I'm a sucker for Manga. Though I can't find the first volume of Witches Academia." Luz said, looking at the title.
"Right here." Amity said, pulling a book out. "Some visiting teens like putting them back where they don't belong."
"Thanks, I'm gonna get this checked out and maybe even a library card." Luz said.
"You're gonna need this for the fee." Kali said tossing a sack of snails to her.
"Thanks Kali." Luz smiled, as she disappeared.
"There's no fee for applying for a library card here." Amity said, looking at Kali.
"Not for the library card, for Eda's tab." Kali said.
"Hey Mittens."
Amity's face instantly turned red, as Kali looked back to see a pair of twins with green hair, and wearing Hexside Illusionist Track Uniforms. The young man had a mole under his right eye, while the young woman had a mole under her left, while her long green hair was tied back in a braid.
"Mom says to stop forgetting your lunch at home." The boy said, holding up a pink puppy demon lunch bag, as Amity turned away from Kali and went to grab her lunch bag.
"Thanks Ed, now leave." Amity said.
"Who's your friend?" The girl asked.
"That's Kali. A future classmate. I've told you about her, Em." Amity stated. "You can both leave now."
"Oh so that's the Clawthorne girl you're friends with." Em smiled.
"Whoa, does she have kids? She seems a little young to be a mother." Ed pointed out.
"Knock it off dummy, they don't look anything like her." Em said, playfully shoving him.
"She's babysitting for the Bat Queen." Amity said before noticing something. "Where'd he go?"
"Hey there, you must be Mitten's friend." Ed smiled, walking up to Kali. "The name's Edric Blight, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you too." Kali said, shaking his hand. "I'm Kali Clawthorne."
"Ed, you brought me lunch, you can go now." Amity said, getting between them.
"Oh, don't be like that Mittens." Ed said. "That human you were talking to earlier seems rather cool, and so does Kali."
"Way too cool for you." Em smiled, playfully coming up from behind Amity. "But you do seem more laxed and happy since you've met them."
"Wanna hang out with us? Leave the kids with Amity?" Ed asked.
"Sorry, I can't." Kali said as the babies were rocked back to sleep. "I'd love to hang out, but the Bat Queen's trusting me to babysit her kids. I kinda owe her for taking me in when I first got to the Boiling Isles."
"When you first got to the Isles? Where would you have come from if not from the Isles?" Em asked.
"A world called Earthland." Kali said. "It's where I was born, and raised for most of my life."
"She's actually living with her grandmother now, since she was sent here to learn on better controlling her Boiling Isles Magic." Amity stated.
"No way, so you're like an interdimensional traveler?" Ed questioned sounding intrigued.
"You could say that." Kali chuckled.
"Well, we're gonna go find the human, have some fun with her." Em said, as they turned to leave.
"You don't mean, bully her or anything do you?" Kali asked.
"Of course not. We just wanna show her how fun we can be, compared to our rule stickler sister Mittens." Ed smiled.
"Well, try not to get her into any trouble." Kali said.
"We promise." Em said, as they left.
"They may promise, but don't expect them to keep it. They like to pull pranks and get into all sorts of mischief." Amity said.
"Well either way I should be getting back to the Owl House. Luz knows her way home." Kali said.
Whistling for Sapphire, Kali smiled as the Palismen flew down from the tower perch's, and returned to her hand in staff form. Leaving the library, Kali sat on the staff and flew through the air, being extra careful with how she turned now that she had the Bat Queens babies on board. Once she was back at the Owl House, she walked in to see King and Eda trying to entertain themselves by watching the crystal ball.
"Oh hey, you're back. Where's Luz?" King asked.
"She's with Amity's brother and sister. Amity's still a bit sore with her, so her older siblings are trying to keep her busy and entertained." Kali explained.
"So how was the library? An' I see you found the other babies." Eda said.
"Yeah, this widdle guy gobbled them up, probably before coming here, and spit them out in my arms at the library." Kali said in baby talk, booping the first baby on the nose making it smile and giggle in its sleep. "But the library was good, we sat in on Amity's story time reading Otabin."
"Well go be motherly somewhere else. We're trying to watch the Crystal Ball." Eda said.
"Alright, fine I'm going to my room. By the way, you owe me 150 Snails for paying off your tab at the library." Kali stated.
"Ugh." Eda groaned.
"Hahaha." King laughed.
Going up to her room, Kali laid out a blanket and some pillows in one side of her nest, making a small nest to put the babies in, before gently putting them down with a smile as they slept.
"They're just so adorable." Kali cooed, Sapphire on her shoulder in agreement.
"Kali." Luz said with a big smile, bursting through her door.
"Shhh." Kali hissed as the babies stirred. "They're still sleeping."
"Oh, sorry. But guess what, Edric and Emira invited me to accompany them back to the library tonight to uncover the mystery of the Wailing Star's Magic. I'm meeting them back there at midnight, and they wanted me to invite you." Luz said excitedly.
"I can't Luz. One, I have to watch the babies until morning. Two, the library won't be open at midnight." Kali stated.
"I know, which is why we're gonna sneak in after it closes." Luz said. "Befriend the siblings, befriend the Amity."
"Wait Luz that's not how…"
"Sorry to hear you can't make it. But I'm sure Ed and Em will understand." Luz said leaving Kali's room, and going to grab her bag, the door closing behind her.
"Not good. I'm not liking the sound of this invite to a break in." Kali groaned. "Ugh but I can't leave the babies unattended."
Looking down at the babies, Kali was conflicted on what to do, before she sighed.
"There's only one thing I can do now." Kali sighed, with a nervous gulp.
~Midnight~
"Mmm, how this for cool? Or this, or maybe this? Oh, what about this?" Luz questioned, striking different poses at the front entrance to the Library doors.
"Keep going." Em said, waving her hand at Luz, shocking the human girl into falling on her butt. "This is fun to watch."
Ed and Em were standing across from Luz, dressed in their normal every day clothes, while enjoying the show of Luz making a fool of herself.
"You ready to bring this whole, whatever you're doing, inside?" Ed asked.
Luz just smiled in excitement before hopping to her feet and following the twins to the door.
"It says no trespassing, but I'm allergic to the rules." Ed smiled, bringing out a scroll, and unraveling it to show it was a bypass spell to get through the locked door.
"An' dairy." Em said, taking the parchment.
"Wow, okay just expose me like that." Ed stated as the images on the scroll began to light up.
Pressing the parchment up to the lock of the door, Em smiled as the scroll began to crumble and burn away, blowing like ashes in the wind.
"Wow." Luz said in awe, right before the lock grew big enough for them to walk through.
"Come on." Ed smiled, leading Luz in through the lock while following Emira.
Once they were all through the lock shrunk back to normal. On the inside, everything seemed normal while they looked around in different directions.
"Standing in a dimly lit lobby. You guys know how to party." Luz said.
"So I take it Kali couldn't make it?" Emira asked.
"She has to take care of the Bat Queens children until morning, so she couldn't join us." Luz stated.
"There. The Wailing Star." Ed pointed out.
Em and Luz looked up at the mosaic window, as the sound of wailing could be heard with the silhouette of the shooting star, passing through the glass. The trio continued to wait as they looked around, not noticing at first how the books started to glow.
"Hmm. Nothing happened. What a waste of a good bypass spell." Ed stated.
"Wait." Luz gasped, as she noticed the books were glowing. "The books are all glowy." She said, grabbing one of the books, before opening it.
Almost instantly, a flock of multiple species of birds came flying out of the book, shocking the trio of trespassers.
"Wow." Luz smiled.
"Wow, the Wailing Star magicked the books to life." Ed stated.
The moment Luz closed the book, the birds all vanished. In that moment, all three of them had almost the exact same idea, on how to have fun with the books and their temporary liveliness.
First up was the magazine section, to which Ed grabbed an issue of Regal Magazine, and upon opening it, he and Em were instantly put in a pair of stylish and regal clothing, with a peacock flying out of the pages. Luz on the other hand, grabbed an issue of Witches Wares Weekly, instantly getting dressed in an adventuring outfit, with a giant sword on her back. Unfortunately for her, the sword was heavier then she could carry, and she was instantly pulled to the ground, laying on her back.
Next up was the graphic novels section, to which Luz opened up a book, but nothing seemed to happen, stumping the three of them.
"Nothing happened…" Luz said, her words appearing in a speech bubble above her head.
"Whoa." Ed and Em gasped, their reaction appearing in another speech bubble, before Luz closed the book, with the thud being in its own bubble.
Afterwards, Luz was hiding behind a bookshelf, holding a book on snowballs, with Ed am Em sneaking around, trying to find her, holding their own copies of the same book. Jumping out from behind the bookshelf as Ed passed her hiding spot, Luz let out a cry of victory and opened the book to fire countless snowballs at Ed. Still on the ground, Ed retaliated with his own volley of snowballs, pushing Luz back as she was hit by a few before she ran. Making a sharp turn, Luz suddenly skid to a stop as she was face to face with Em, who held the open snowball book at point blank range, and hit Luz with her attacks. Taking cover in the manga section, Luz smiled at the fun she was having, watching as Ed and Em continued to chase each other, before she looked at the table of books and saw the one she saw Amity reading earlier.
"Otabin, a tale of the lonely book keeper." Luz read aloud, opening the books before Otabin physically manifested out of the pages. "Whoa." She smiled.
~Kali~
"What the hell did that Wailing Star do to the gemstone my mom gave me?" Kali questioned, looking at the gem on her wrist, having gone from red to green.
"Looks like it might have charged it with some sort of power." Amity said, leading Kali into the library. "Anyways, I thought you had to take care of the Bat Queen's children?"
"I did, but this was important, so I called someone I trust to watch over them with Sapphire, while I handled this." Kali said. "I'm surprised you knew about this though."
"I overheard Ed and Em invite Luz when they were kicked out earlier." Amity said. "How'd you hear about it?"
"Ed and Em told Luz to invite me. But I refused, for obvious reasons." Kali stated, before stopping when she felt she stepped on something. "What the…" Looking down and bending over Kali stood up, revealing it was a pocket sized sketch book she had stepped on with the pencil snapped in half. "A sketch book?"
"That's Ed's. He never goes anywhere without it." Amity said, as Kali opened it.
"The bookmark should tell what he's… Oh my." Kali said, her cheeks blushing a bit.
"Kali? What's wrong?" Amity asked.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Kali said, snapping the book shut. "Just getting a bit… feverish in here."
"It's probably due to the magic, come on." Amity said. "The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get out."
"Let's split up. We'll find them a lot faster that way." Kali said.
"Good idea." Amity said, before heading for a different section of the library.
With Amity gone, Kali opened the book once more, and turned to the last page Ed had drawn in. After keeping it open for a few seconds, the drawing began coming to life, and Kali was face to face with a miniature bust drawing of herself in a bit of an adults only pose, that Ed had drawn, with her hair in three rope braids, and wearing a backless and sleeveless cropped halter top. She could also see that Ed had drawn her chest, proportionally incorrect as it was bigger and perkier then her actual chest, along with the gem being on the exposed part of the center of her chest between her collar bones. The photo was greatly detailed, and it looked like it was done by a genius artist with decades of experience under their belt. While the image was flattering, it was the words written on the opposite page that made her blush.
"Today, I met an idol of beauty at the library, her fiery red hair as luminescent as the sun rise, her sparkling eyes radiant as the boiling seas, and her voice is that of an angels. She's friends with Amity, but she looks more around my age. Em and Amity can never find out about this as they would never stop teasing me about it. Upon first glace when I saw her, I felt my heart go aflutter, and the world around me seemed to vanish as all I could see of the world, was her, and her angelic form." She read aloud. "So he drew this based off what he saw of me? Ugh that dummy. He only just met me today." She sighed with a groan, before realization hit her. "Wait, this is Ed's, which means it has his scent on it." Taking a whiff of the sketch book, Kali knew where to go by following the scent trail that lingered. "Gotcha, I just hope I'm not too late."
~Luz/Em/Ed~
"Friend?" Otabin questioned, looking up at Luz while pulling thread through the eye of his needle.
"Luz." Ed called to her, taking her attention away from the book as he and Em came to her with a book that read, Quacks Eats Snacks, on the title. "Check this out."
"Look what we discovered." Em smiled, opening the book.
With the book open, the little duck inside came to life and went sliding around the library floor.
"Aw, cute little quackster." Luz smiled, while Ed and Em had mischief making grins.
Ed lifted a pencil from his pocket, and with Em holding the book up, he drew very ugly, and hair muscular legs in the photo of the duck under the water, and when they lowered the book, they saw the duck now had the actual legs, and was freaking out over it, and not in a good or excited way.
"Now he's extra cute." Em smiled, closing the book. "Okay Luz, your turn." She said, Ed holding the pencil to her.
"I don't know. Kali would kill me if I did something this drastic." Luz said.
"Come on, don't stop the fun now." Ed stated.
Looking at Ed, Luz took the pencil and opened up the book to the page of Otabin. Hesitantly putting the pencil towards the page, Luz stopped at the last second, and pulled the graphite tool away.
"I can't do it." Luz sighed.
"Let me help." Ed said, grabbing her hand, and drawing claws and fangs on Otabin.
Before the monsterized Otabin could come out of the book, Luz closed it, fearing what might come to pass should the monster come out of the pages.
"I don't wanna see it." Luz stated.
"Whatever. We didn't come here just to doodle." Em said. "Come on."
Grabbing Luz's wrist, Em pulled the human girl along, making her drop the book, pages open. A minute after they left, Kali made her way into the children's section, having tracked Ed's scent there.
"Damn it, I just barely missed them." Kali cursed, before she noticed the Otabin book on the ground. "That's strange, Amity's not one to just be disorganized like this." Reaching down to pick it up, Kali flinched and pulled back as the book began growing pink flesh from its covers, forcing the Clawthorne to step back as it grew in size. "Oh Luz." Kali said in disappointment. "What have you done to Otabin?"
~Luz~
"Oh wow." Luz said as the three of them stopped in front of the Romance Section. "Boiling Isles Romance. That's totally lame. I mean, unless you guys are into it."
"I think I'm into this one." Ed smiled, grabbing a book that said, The Lone Witch and Secret Room, on the spine before pulling it.
Pulling the book activated a mechanism system as the wall sunk in a bit, before sliding behind another shelf, revealing a hidden study room in the wall.
"Wow, that's a good book." Luz said. "Your clubhouse, is like my ultimate secret hideaway."
"We don't hang out in the library." Ed stated, before he started doing a terrible impression. "Uh, Teacher. I'm in love with a Dictionary."
"I'm studying the Dork Arts." Em said. "This is Amity's secret hideaway."
This news, did not sit well with Luz.
"Mittens has gotten a little too full of herself." Ed stated. "She keeps tattling on us, when we cut class."
"She needs to learn not to mess with people like that." Em added. "So we're going to find her diary."
"An' then post the pages all around school for everyone to see." Ed finished.
"What? Isn't that taking it a bit too far?" Luz questioned.
"Yes, it is."
Luz, Ed, and Em turned to the entrance to see Kali leaning against the frame of the entrance, out of breath, and covered in bruises and scrapes.
"Kali?" Luz questioned.
"Luz Noceda." Kali huffed. "What the hell did you do to Otabin?"
"I-I didn't do anything. Ed's the one who drew in the book." Luz said.
"You're the one who held the pencil." Ed stated.
"But I didn't want to draw on the…"
"That's enough." Kali stated, before falling to a knee. "Whoever drew inside the book, had some very strong negative emotions when they drew on the pages."
"Kali?" Luz gasped.
"Normally, beating something as weak as this Otabin Beast would be a snap for me, but I'm still recovering from my last battle, and some of my ribs are still healing." Kali said. "What came out of that book, wasn't the fun lovable animal we all know. That thing, I don't know what it is, but it's not friendly."
"AAAHHHH."
"Amity." Kali cried out, her head shooting around towards where the scream came from.
"Mittens is here too?" Em questioned.
"Of course she is. She came to make sure none of you actually did something stupid." Kali groaned, forcing herself to her feet before turning and running to where the scream came from.
Ignoring the pain coursing through her body, Kali ran through the labyrinth of shelves, and stopped when she saw the monstrous Otabin, in front of a giant book, holding Amity in place as he began sewing her to the pages, looping the threads over her limbs.
"With claws and fangs, and breaking bones. I've found a friend, to make my own." Otabin Beast said, turning to look at Kali, revealing his book beating in his chest like a heart.
"Let her go Otabin." Kali growled.
Otabin just growled and looked at Kali, before it charged right at her.
"I didn't wanna do this." Kali sighed, opening her Portal Blade, the edge shining in the moonlight. "I don't have enough energy for a Reequip to bring forth Slayer, so this will have to do."
Running at Otabin, Kali let out a battle cry as she charged the beast, before falling to the ground and sliding past him, and stopping at the book.
"Kali?" Amity questioned.
"Who else?" Kali asked as she began cutting the threads, freeing Amity. "I found the others, long story short, they wanted your diary to humiliate you at school as payback for tattling on them for playing hooky. Luz seemed against the idea."
"Oh those two are gonna pay dearly." Amity hissed.
"Less talking about payback, more trying to figure out how to beat Otabin." Kali stated, pushing Amity away as Otabin tried to grab her, but grabbed Kali instead. With Kali in his claws, she saw the book, and the edits that had been made to it. "Amity, I need an eraser."
"I don't have one."
"Not good… wait hold on." Kali reached into her pocket and pulled out the bottom half of the broken pencil. "The eraser on Ed's sketchbook pencil."
Reaching her arm out, Kali erased the graphite that changed the book, and in a flash of green light, Otabin returned to normal. Landing on her feet, Kali held out her arms to grab Otabin, smiling as she put him down.
"I am so sorry. I just don't know what came over me." Otabin said in a soft sorrowful tone.
"It's okay Otabin. We're all still friends." Kali smiled, before hissing in pain.
"Oh dear. Pain I've wrought upon my friend, how can I ever make amends?" Otabin questioned.
"This wasn't caused by you Otabin. But fighting your monstrous form didn't exactly help with the healing either." Kali said.
"Friendship bonds of those we make, I think I can fix this pain and ache." Otabin said.
Taking his ball of thread, Otabin ran around Kali, wrapping her in the thread until her entire torso was covered in it. Pulling tightly on the thread, Otabin smiled as Kali gasped, her injuries healing and the pain in her body leaving as her body seemed to mend itself.
"My injuries, they're gone."
"Of magic power my thread is created, though mending books, to the body it can also be treated." Otabin smiled. "Injuries gone, your skin anew, but perhaps I've done something, I shouldn't do."
Looking down at herself, Kali gasped before crossing her arms over her chest, as it looked like it was trying to burst out of her top. If she had to take a guess, she'd say that this increase in her size and perk, was due to the Wailing Star's magic on Ed's sketchbook, and the magic of Otabin's thread healing her body.
"Just great." Kali sighed. "Thanks for taking care of my injuries Otabin."
"Alright, back to your world you go." Amity smiled, closing the book.
With Otabin disappearing, Kali sighed and relaxed, thankful the healing magic of the little mender's thread wasn't wearing off with him vanishing. But that also meant her physical changes were permanent as well.
"KALI." Luz called out, her voice echoing through the library.
Kali and Amity turned to see Luz running towards them, with a book that had a hand drawn cover, in her arms, while Ed and Em were chasing her.
"Is that my diary?" Amity questioned.
"Here, take this." Luz said, putting the diary in Amity's hands, and hiding behind Kali as she got to her feet.
"Oh come on, that's so not fair." Ed stated.
"Really?" Kali asked. "You want to murder your sister's social life, and you call what Luz is doing, unfair?"
"We don't wanna kill her social life, we just…"
"Want her to learn to relax? Newsflash, a whole lot worse will happen to Amity if you post the pages of her diary all over Hexside." The Clawthorne girl stated. "Listen, you're her older siblings. Sure it's okay to fight sometimes, but you should be protective of her, not help bully her into depression and suicidal thoughts. She's lucky to have older siblings like you, so don't go blowing your relationship with her just because you don't agree with some of the things she does."
"Kali wait." Luz said, as Kali stormed off.
"Geeze what was that all about?" Em asked. "What is she an only child or something?"
"No, she's got an older brother." Luz said. "I met him once, a real piece of work that guy."
"So then why's she chewing us out about how an older sibling should act if she's the younger?" Ed asked.
"That emotional pain in her eyes." Amity said. "I don't think her brother cares for her."
"You'd be right about that Amity." Luz said. "In fact, he's gone so far as to blame her for their mother's death, and mistreat her their entire lives."
Em and Ed looked at Luz before looking to one another, sighing in realizing that Kali was speaking from the heart, and the wish that her own brother cared for her like that.
"I'll go talk with her." Ed sighed leaving the library.
"An' while he's doing that." Amity said, drawing a magic circle in the air, a broom appearing in Luz's hands, and a mop and bucket in Em's. "You're both gonna clean up the mess you made all night, and the mess caused by Otabin's rampage."
This got Em and Luz to groan, but they accepted the punishment as it was only fair.
Outside, Ed walked down the stairs leading to the doorway, and stopped by Kali's side as she sat on the bottom step.
"Listen, Luz told us about your brother." Ed stated.
"And?"
Ed was silent for a moment, before he began to talk, after thinking his words over carefully.
"I'm not gonna pretend to understand I know what you're going through. But it's clear to me that, your lash-out back there, came from some deep emotional scars." Ed explained. "I don't know how your mom died, but I do know it wasn't your fault."
"How can you be so sure?" Kali asked.
"You risked your life, despite being deeply injured yourself already, to save Mittens. A witch you barely know." Ed smiled. "How did you erase Otabin's edits anyway?"
Kali just looked at Ed, before sighing and reaching for her back pocket, pulling his sketchbook out and tossing it on his lap with the broken pencil. Seeing his sketchbook, Ed started to worry as he wasn't sure if she'd seen the drawing of her or not.
"I saw the drawing you did of me, and I read the poem too." Kali stated, confirming his fears. "I'm flattered you think I'm so beautiful. But you do know I'm a wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles right?"
"So? That doesn't matter." Ed stated, before sighing. "Look, I sorta have a thing for bad girls like you, it's kinda fun to be with someone who knows how to have fun, and break the rules, especially when it's a girl that's not my sister."
"You are sweet for saying that." Kali smiled. "You should consider a career as an author. You've got a talent for poems."
"I'm more of an illustration kind of guy." Ed smiled bashfully, as the sun began to rise. "Look at that, we've been here all night."
"I'd better get back to the Owl House. The Bat Queen's gonna be coming by to pick up her babies soon." Kali said, getting up. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm more of a writer then an illustrator, maybe we could do a collab sometime?"
"That's be great." Ed smiled, getting to his feet.
"Awesome, then it's a date. Call me, kay?" She winked walking off.
"Wait, I don't have your number." Ed stated.
"Check the poem next to my sketch. I added a little something there." Kali smirked, before vanishing.
Looking at his sketchbook, Ed opened up to the pages with the poem and sketch and saw, in what he assumed was Kali's handwriting, her number written at the top of the page of the sketch.
"Smart, fiery, strong, and foxy. What. A. Woman." He said, smitten by her.
~Owl House~
"I'm home." Kali called, coming into the Owl House, Hooty still asleep.
"Welcome back Kali." Mirajane smiled, coming in with the basket of sleeping babies. "Did everything end up okay?"
"For the most part." Kali sighed. "I got my injuries healed by a fictional character brought to life by the Wailing Star, plus my bust has increased a couple cup sizes and is a bit more perky. It's getting rather hard to breathe in this top."
"I'll be sure to take you shopping once we get some of the Bat Queen's reward transferred from Snails to Jewels." Mira smiled.
"Not sure that's gonna be a lot though. Thanks for watching the babies while I took care of the library situation." Kali said before there was a knocking at the door. "That must be her."
"Let her in." Mira smiled.
Opening the door, Kali stepped back as a large head with long black hair, and bat wings squeezed through, a smile on her face.
"Bat Queen." Kali smiled.
"Hello child. It is good to see you again." The Bat Queen said. "Everything go okay?"
"Sort of." Kali said. "Bat Queen, this is Mirajane, she's like a big sister to me." She introduced. "Mira this is Bat Queen."
"Pleased to meet you." Mira smiled.
"The pleasure is mine."
"So, I know this might break some of your trust in me but, something came up last night that needed my attention, and I had to leave the babies with Mira while I was out." Kali said. "I'd understand if you didn't give me the reward for watching them, or didn't trust me with them again."
"Kali." Bat Queen said softly. "You are a sweet child, with a kind heart. You make good calls and trust in the right people. If you trusted Mirajane to watch my babies while you went to take care of whatever it was last night, then I trust her just as much."
"Thanks Bat Queen. That means a lot." Kali smiled.
"I appreciate your trust in me." Mira smiled with a bow.
"Think nothing of it." Bat Queen smiled, before she began to hack and cough. Another minute of this, and she hacked up a treasure chest onto the floor, and a whistle on top of it. "Blow the whistle for a favor. You are owed one."
"Thank you. I'll see you again some time." Kali smiled.
"Take care now." Bat Queen said, before whistling.
The sound of the whistling was loud enough to wake her babies, and as if it were a command, they flew and nestled themselves into her hair, before she squeezed out the door.
Opening the chest, Kali gasped when she saw that instead of snails, she was looking at a chest full of gold coins, and if her exchange rate was accurate, each one was worth at least five hundred Snails.
"Looks like we don't need to exchange them for jewels." Kali smiled, pulling out her Portal Blade.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to shopping." Mira smiled as Kali scooped a few handfuls into a coin purse.
"Sapphire, use formation Omega to take this to my room, and use Formation Alpha to guard it while I'm gone." Kali smiled as the Palisman began following directives.
"What's Formation Alpha do again?"
"Formation Alpha. Basically, it's her Sentry mode. She can use the Titan Magic she has any way she see's fit to guard over what she's guarding. It basically makes her an unstoppable Guard Dog." Kali explained opening a gateway to Magnolia. "Now enough chitchat, let's get to that shopping spree."