Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary: Learning all sorts of stuff!

Luz grinned as she finished drawing on the chalkboard. "Witches and demons. Welcome to Glyphs one oh one. I'm your teacher, Luz Noceda, and I'm here to teach you about the magical nature of glyphs, and how to use them." Oh, her first hand raised! "Yes, Lucci."

"Where did you get the desks?" He pointed to their current setup of a teacher with a chalkboard and multiple students.

"...Trash slug." She reluctantly admitted.

"Hah, suddenly trash collecting doesn't seem like a useless hobby and skill, doesn't it Luz?" Eda smirked in satisfaction. "And to think you doubted the wisdom of the owl lady."

"Yes Eda, you did well to teach me, but now that no one in the owl house can do normal magic…unless you count Lucci and his crystal powers…you must pay attention. No talking unless your hand is raised." She slammed her ruler against Eda's desk.

"... This is giving me the weirdest of feelings." The woman muttered.

"I know, I've never been in a position of power before." Luz noted as she looked over her tool. "I see why King takes advantage at every turn, it's too addicting."

"If you properly became my student, I can show you the proper way to let power overwhelm your mind and take over your entire life." King offered as he bit into a doughnut.

"Maybe after. I'd rather get us ready to fight off the scouts before they manage to overcome Hooty one day." Luz admitted. "Now, there are four main glyphs. Light, Ice, Plant, and Fire … somehow … The Avatar, Final Fantasy, and Monster Slayer Academia are all lies apparently." Which broke Luz's heart just a little when she realized the truth. "They all create their element, and are adjusted depending on the nine and width of each line."

"That makes sense I suppose." Lilith had been taking the whole school set up supper seriously, meticulously writing down over a dozen notes within the past five minutes. "Bile sacks have different fluids inside of them to mix and create different spells. It stands to reason that if magic comes from the titan itself, glyph magic works by mixing and directing it."

"That kinda sounds like magic radiation." Luz noted.

"Radiation?" Lucci questioned.

"Lots of energy coming off of a large source. It can mess with genetics and cause lots of mutations."

"Gene-what now?" Eda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For a fantasy world, I surprisingly end up explaining alot of sci fi." Luz muttered off to the side. "Anyways, back to the main point, I tried finding other glyphs in both nature and other spells, but all I got were these four glyphs either mixed tighter or linked along with each other, which has lead me to realize that with the right combination, you can create any spell. Observe." She pressed an invisibility glyph on herself, and disappeared, reappearing when she released her breath. "Tada."

"Wow, invisibility is a pretty high scale illusion." Eda nodded. "So if these can do anything … What happens when you mix them all together?" She got a wicked grin as she began carving into the wood.

"Uh, you have to draw them a certain way if your going to do that, and it's not going to come out pretty with such a rough carving in the wood." Luz advised.

"Whatever, I'm not afraid of anything! Quadruple super glyph combo, active!" Eda slammed her hand on it…and got a face full of smoke in response. "Ah nuts, I pulled a Lucci."

"Why is my name suddenly an insult? It's not like I need to use glyphs." Lucci growled, turning his head and pouting in obvious jealousy.

"Aww don't worry kiddo, you've got enough awesome pink stuff as it is." She ruffled the boy's head.

"Not you too!" The boy shouted. "Why does everyone say pink stuff?"

"Because the only other options we have are devil powers and crystal powers, and pink stuff is just too funny to forget." Luz laughed. "Here we have, one of the most powerful kids on boiling isles, he'll chop you in half with pink stuff. He has a shield made of pink stuff, and he'll turn into a monstrous manticore with the dark power of pink stuff!"

"I swear vengeance on you all." Lucci's grumbling got them all to chuckle.

"And Lilith, how is your glyph making?" Luz asked as she walked over to the woman.

"Just a minute …" They placed down a combo, tapping it as ice grew up, shaping around and …

"Oh, my gosh." Luz stared at the perfect swan statue, with an elegant shine, wings raised to catch a breeze, and hooty's soulless eyes on its face. "I um …"

"Yes, I know, the feather texture isn't right." The woman picked it up, and tossed it over to a pile of ice statues. "Maybe if I angle the triangle of the fourth ice glyph it'll help represent the micro carvings …."

Luz looked back at Eda. "Is this a normal occurrence?"

"Best to stand back, in nerd mode, there's no telling what she's capable of.." Eda rolled her eyes. "Just get her the glasses and dye her hair red and it'll be just like it was in Hexide."

"Wait, I thought she dyed her hair blue." Lucci asked. "Or, did you both dye your hair red back then?"

"No, we were natural redheads, the curse just ages it gray and white." Eda groaned. "I tried dying it back when it first started, but eventually decided to settle with the aged and foxy mama look."

"And you can totally pull it off." Luz gave finger guns while clicking her tongue. "Now back to the lesson, Glyph Combos. You have to carefully align the circles to match what you want. For example, the Abomination combo is four plant glyphs, two ice glyphs, and two fire glyphs. When I arrange them closer or farther from the center of the total circle, I can arrange the commands for the abomination. The closest thing I've managed so far is one punch."

"I see, the glyph symbols are like a language, how they're ordered is like giving the words structure." Lilith moved on, proceeding to use the glyph combination she was given, and made a tiny little abomination, which began walking back and forth, waving its hands in the air. "Aha! I did it on the first try!"

"Aww, how adorable." Luz cooed over the little guy.

"Do I get a gold star?" The woman asked with sparkly eyes.

"I can do it too." Eda scribbled onto a piece of paper erratically. "Like this!" She tapped the glyph … as an abomination hand sprung up and grabbed King's face.

"AAHHH! It has me in its clutches!"

"Wow, I was sure I would have been the target." Lucci looked surprised.

"You're being far too impatient, Edalyn, just like how you were back in Hexide." Lilith chided her sister. "You need to master the basics."

"Pfft, Basics are so basic. I became the most powerful witch on the Isles because I thought outside the box, and that's the only way I'll regain that title." Eda stepped on her chair, standing proudly.

"You can go as crazy as you want once you learn how to draw a circle Eda." Luz told her bluntly, flipping over the chalkboard. "Lets start simple. First you draw a face." She drew an exact copy of Eda's face. "Then you get rid of some of the details." She took the eraser and reduced it to basic geometry. "And one two three … a circle!"

"HOW DOES SHE DO THAT!?" King screamed as he was tossed around by the abomination arm.

"I think you're going five steps ahead of where mom is at the moment." Lucci chuckled as he grabbed his backpack. "Anyways, we still have school ourselves, so we gotta cut the lesson short."

"Oh right!" Luz began packing fast. "Eda, work on the basics. Lilith, try to branch out something new. King, stay adorable."

"SOMEONE GET ME DOWN FROM THIS CRAZY RIDE!"

"And nobody create a black hole that will destroy the world." She shouted as she began running off.

"You don't tell me what to do! I'll destroy the world if I feel like it!" Eda shouted back definitely

"You know, Lilith might've reverted to the eager teacher's pet, but mom slipped right back into being a rebellious student." Lucci mentioned as they made their way.

"That implies that she ever left that phase to begin with."

"...Touche."

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Willow yawned as she cracked her neck. She may have gotten back into school, but dad still got mad at her for getting expelled to begin with, something COMPLETELY out of her control mind you, so a lot of her night was focused on studying. At this rate she might have to sleep during class like Lucci did during the last week.

Fortunately, growing plants was essentially like breathing by this point. Just give some life to a couple of seeds, and boom, instant A+. Some students and a teacher or two made a comment about her being the next Plant Coven head, and while the Coven system was a subject she was starting to question more and more, Willow would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about how well her magic matched up with Terra Snapdragons.

"Craaa!" She turned, watching as a giant beast came barreling down the hall, ridden by one familiar person, and running from another.

"Back to the classroom, big guy, nice and easy!" Luz shouted, trying to pet the creature.

"Why does every animal in that classroom either want to run away from or eat me!?" Lucci shouted, trying to follow after it.

If Willow had her say, she would've given the principal second thoughts about letting these two enter the beast keeping track. Lucci's never been that good with animals, and Luz thought crystal devils were adorable. But they were trying to learn, so she would give the benefit of the doubt…for now. "Not sure. Surprised you haven't tried singing one to your side." Willow chuckled, taking out a seed and making the vines grow, wrapping the animal's legs together and sliding it against the wall."

"Doesn't his signing cause things to go flyyyyyyy-" Luz apparently wasn't holding on tightly enough, being launched the moment the beast was stopped as she went down the hall, a loud crash ringing out. "... I'm okay!"

"That's when I'm playing an Instrument. Actually I haven't tried using bard magic with my voice, unless the voice copying and sonic shrieking count." Lucci noted, before turning to Willow. "Thanks for that. Haven't exactly been at the top of my game lately, do to…you know…life."

She nodded. "Yeah … on the plus side, you can add oracle magic to your nonsensical powers list."

"I wish I couldn't. It fried my brain more than when the golden guard dumped hot magma all over me." Lucci groaned, rubbing his head. "I've gotten headaches for the first time in my life….it's like there's a weight on top of my brain I can't let go of no matter what. I don't know how normal people deal with it."

"Lots of astralpirin, and for adults only, Apple Blood." Willow answered. "Surprised you even went to school still with everything that's happened."

"The only other option I have is staying in bed and seeing Aunt Lilith all day when mom's not around… so it's basically choosing the least worst prison."

She gave a hum at that. "So, do you think the Clawthorne brand of chaos is gonna be pre or post four o'clock? I don't have plans after school today so I should be alright until six."

"Really… actually I could use your help on a little side project I want to get off the ground." He reached into his pockets. "And don't worry, it's not illegal… ish."

"Lucci, if I had anything against moral grayness, then I would've never been friends with you or Luz." She reassured him.

"Thank you." He smiled brightly at her. This was definitely better than constantly rubbing on each other….well, they would still do that, but playfully now. "Look, don't tell anyone, but I have this." The boy looked back and forth, before revealing something in his closed up hand. It was a seed…a very special looking seed.

"Is that…is that a Palistrom tree seed!?" She excitedly shrieked with a whisper. "How did you steal this!?"

"Sssssshhhh!" He quickly hushed her, making sure there was no one listening. "I didn't, it's a little souvenir from my last visit with Grandpa." 

"Your grandpa has tree seeds?" She asked. "Isn't that illegal?" The botanical garden alone has a lot against the Emperor Coven cutting them down.

"It's illegal to own trees, and thanks to Lilith, Grandpa Dell can't plant anymore without the Emperor's coven taking every last inch of bark." Lucci looked off to the side darkly. "Bad enough she screwed things up for her sister, but her own dad too? To think I once felt sorry for her."

"Guess Amity's not the only one with family issues." Willow chuckled a bit weakly. A small part of her still felt guilty for destroying so much of his ability to trust all those years ago. "Anyways, you want me to grow the seed?"

"Yes and no…" Lucci whispered quietly. "I want to grow it…. so…. I need your help to master plant magic."

"... The same magic that nearly kills us whenever you use it?" She clarified. "The same magic that tried to attempt a coup against the isles? That same magic?"

"Yes." He groaned. "Look, I wouldn't just go to you about this casually. If so many crazy things didn't happen in the past two months, I'd be just a bard user that occasionally used potions." True. "And don't let anyone know this, but against the golden tool, I had to use it…"

"YOU CAUSED ANOTHER VEG-"

"Yes, what part about quiet did you not understand!?" He shout whispered. "Yes, I caused another one, and that yellow chicken wiped them all out in less than three minutes. I barely escaped alive, and he took my most dangerous attack like he was clearing out rats in an attic."

The fact the Golden Guard took it on at all sounded absolutely horrifying. "And … you want to get better at this?" She questioned.

"Yes. I want to figure out how to grow plants without bringing them to life. I healed broken bones and scratched skin, so it's not a stretch that I could do the same for a chopped tree stump or a plucked flower." Lucci sighed. "Figued, if I can do that, I can put whatever bs powers I have to good use for once in my life, actually do something good."

Lucci was never one to question whether or not he was a good person. He was always pretty content with his lot in life. To him, it was less about being good and more about having fun. "Your serious about this, aren't you?" Willow looked her friend in the eye. "I always thought you wouldn't bother with anything else once you became wanted, with that being your dream and all."

Lucci signed for a long minute. "You were right."

"Huh?"

"In my mind, when you argued with my inner selves… you were right. Lately I've been finding out infamy isn't all that it's cracked up to be." He grimaced. "I can't take on everything with a smile like mom did. I'm constantly drained all the time, I'm scared to go to bed on some nights, I can't heal myself like I used to, and I am so sick and tired of being called either a devil child or the manticore menace." He slammed his head against the locker. "I just want something to go my way for once and be good, and not blow up in my face."

"Come on Lucci." She tried to assure him. "Things can go your way without blowing up."

"Then how come ever since the day we busted into the Emperor's Castle I haven't done anything right?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I can't help Luz get back home, I can't help mom with her curse or money, I couldn't protect Skara, even aunt Lilth I couldn't help."

"Well, there was the monster school thing." Willow reminded him. "You helped us get out of the healing track room."

"And then Luz solved everything by being forced to do something suicidaly crazy." He added in.

"But that's just Luz, when isn't she doing something like that?" She questioned.

"Please get off me… I'll rub your belly if you do." Luz moaned as she was stuck under the creature.

"True, but… but I have all this power. The least I can do for everyone's learn how to do it right." Lucci looked at her. "Please Willow? You're the strongest plant user I know. If I can't learn from you, then I can't learn from anybody else."

She stared at him for a moment. "... If we start another incident, the deal's off, alright?"

"Great!" He rushed over to her in a hug that would have cracked something if she wasn't so buff. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"No problem, happy to help." She winced. "So … shouldn't you be heading back to class now?"

"Right, again, not at the top of my game at the moment." He turned to the still buried Luz. "Come on roomie, let's head back."

"Carry this thing for me, will you? I'm about to pass out."

"I'll do what I can." About a month ago he would have just picked it up and walked … he really has gotten weaker… yikes.

========================================================================

Eda made another glyph. "And … bam!" She tapped the circle … only getting half a ball of light. "Ah nuts." She had been at this for the last three hours, and still nothing. "What am I getting wrong here? With my normal magic, I was lighting the streets on fire without a second thought." It was practically instinct.

"Maybe it's the fact you're a terrible artist?" King pointed out.

"Hey, as a con artist with a specialty in forgery, I resent that statement." She glared at the little guy. "The combos are there, they're just going more kaput than whenever Lucci tries to use a glyph."

"You know, your sister has a point about following the basics." King muttered, pointing outside. "You've barely used the four elemental glyphs before losing your magic, and now you're trying to dive right into the complex stuff that's taken Luz two months to figure out."

"I was never basic. Back in my gory days, I could make any potion you could imagine. Not to mention invent a couple of them myself." She smirked. "And when I had detention, magic was so easy to mix and mold at my wim." Plants with healing, construction with abomination, oracle with illusion. Divisions between powers and skills were just … weak. These glyphs were just like covens, constructs meant to keep witches from full potential. "I never needed to follow instructions and I don't need to now."

"That's very contradictory considering you constantly had to remind Luz how to follow your instructions." King reminded her.

"Well the instructions are slow." She muttered. "I need a shortcut."

"Another contradictory thing to say, considering the entire first month was spent teaching Luz patience."

"... When were you put in charge of sanity?" This was all coming from the little guy that got his head stuck in a table and struggled to climb out of trash cans when he searched for half eaten doughnuts.

"Since always, with your gambling habits, Lucci's destructive music, Luz's chaotic goodness, and Hooty's…everything… someone needs to keep their head on tight around this house." King ground. "Besides, Lilith is leaps and bounds ahead, look." He pointed to the window again.

"Wow Lulu, you're the bomb!" Hooty shouted, wearing a tiara made of ice in a small castle of plants as an abomination served them drinks.

"I have to say, as a host for tea parties you're a nightmare, but as a guest you're the most pleasant one there is." Lilith laughed light as she continued to use those glyphs like the big know-it-all she was, creating popsicles on a stick. "Hah, I even manage to add flavoring to the ice. Scream-Lime popsicles anyone?"

"You're amazing. Way better than any Eda could do!" Oh, no he didn't !

"Those are fighting words." The woman began drawing multiple lines and circles together. "Time for the real, almighty ultimate glyph that'll take on all living things!"

"You are seriously giving me Lucci veggie incident vibes here, Eda, that's not a good sign!" King screamed at her, trying to pry her pen away. "Think about what you're doing for a second! For all we know, you're making a glyph that'll blow up the entire house!"

"Ha, if it spans the entire house with its small size, that proves I have the best glyph on the planet." She smirked.

"Why do you choose to ignore the 'blow us up' part!?" Because it was fun.

"And here. We. Go!" She slammed down on the completed glyph, watching it spark … as a small ball of ice formed. "That's it? I was expecting a trail of ice lit on fire at least. Or even a giant ball of fire floating in the air. All those circles and paper for once a ball of ice?! How does that even work!?"

"Again, you've barely worked with a single glyph before any of this." King dabbed her on the head. "You're not going to become the strongest witch on the isles overnight."

"I know, but it would be nice if I could." Eda grumbled, trying to ignore every good point King was making. "If I was, then the kids would have to stop worrying about helping me out all the time."

"They want to worry, you help us all Eda. We love you." King rubbed her head like she did for him plenty of times. "Now let's-" There was a flash of light, as they both turned to see the ball of ice now exist as a ball of light … then as a ball of fire … then as a ball of vines. "Um …" Then it went back to a ball of ice … noticeably bigger than before.

"Hah! It did do something! Suck it Lily! I'm the master of all magic! Glyphs tremble at my command!" Finally, something to brag about after such a long string of failures.

It once more turned into a ball of light (noticeably brighter), fire (noticeably hotter), and vines (a few visible thorns on there), before turning back into an even bigger chunk of ice. "Cool, now as the master, please stop it." King whimpered, backing away.

"Right…I'll do that… .as soon as I figure out how." Eda began walking back farther as the flames started to spread, only quelled when the ice pressed across the room and froze the floor. "But you gotta admit, a multi-elemental glyph is impressive. Just think of the damage it could cause to all those coven suckers out there.

"I'm more concerned about the amount of damage it's going to do to us and the rest of the house!"

There was a knock on the door. "Is everything fine Edalyn? Do you require assistance?"

"We don't need you Lilith! I can take on everything myself!"

"No she can't! We really need help!" King yelled out.

"Quiet you! This is my creation, my child!" She grabbed the nearest mace and began swinging at it when it was in ice form. "And as it's mother, it will obey me and die!"

The ice cracked, then turned into light, which began to laser right through her mace, turning it to molten metal. "May I remind you that as a mom, you've taught all your kids to be as rebellious as possible." King droned as he was wrapped around a thorny vine. "Why does every creation you make want to kill me!?"

"Get ready King, we're in for the long haul."

========================================================================

Boscha looked at the sky, idly tossing a fire potion down on the streets below her, letting her thoughts muddle about. She's been getting weaker, distracted, and unfocused. It seems the Clawthornes really did ruin people, not just the dumb human who thought she was worth something.

Never mind the old owl hag that constantly robbed people left and right. Boscha could care less about her, though it did get annoying when Mom complained about a wagon shipment being stolen every other week or so. The main issue on her mind was that boy…that dumb, chaotic, stupidly powerful boy that she could not stop thinking about for whatever titan damned reason.

He was infecting her mind, corrupting her thoughts until it was even interfering with her grudgby training. Heck, whenever she focused on the group of students to torment, now she was focusing on how to keep that cut-that BRAT-out of the way. When she tried feeding some newbie to their locker, or tripping the unpopular down to the level they should stay at, she would imagine Lucci's face and start feeling weird.

She couldn't pin down when this feeling started. Boscha encountered the homeless wonder dozens of times growing up and she never felt anything like the weird clump in her chest. Was it during that Basilisk attack where she saw the real firepower behind that dumb face? Grom, where he without remorse or care destroyed the gym all just to make her happy?

"Ugh! Why does this matter to me so much?!" She screamed in the air, walking through the streets and almost daring anyone to come close to her, hardly noticing a crystal ball or two playing a melody she thought she heard Skara sing once or twice.

" The day started ordinary." Passing round and round. "Boys walking by (ooh ooh)."One after another. "It was the same old story." The one she was content living. " Too fresh or too shy (ooh ooh). Something Boscha never was.

"I'm not the kind to fall for a guy … Who flashes their smile (It goes on for miles)." Everyone at school feared her. Once or twice she had weirdo try to confess their dumb feelings or whatever to her, but the second she gave them a look, they all ran in the opposite direction pissing their pants.

" Don't usually swoon…" Flattery meant nothing to her. Gestures of kindness meant nothing. No one in the school had any freaking guts….all except one. "But I'm over the moon ('Cause he was just too cool for school)." The ability to crush through stone like powder, and treat petrification itself like a flakey skin to shed …

"And now I'm …"  She couldn't believe it. "Falling for ya, falling for ya!" Weak feelings everyone fell to at some point or another. Something her mom told could never happen unless you forced the circumstances yourself.

"I know I shouldn't but I …" Why couldn't it be on a ghost? Or one of the Banshees? Why did it have to be on the insanely cute-INSANELY mental nice kid that could go toe-to-toe with the toughest and strongest on the Boiling Isles.

"I just can't stop myself from…!" Why couldn't he be someone rich? Or popular? With his strength Hexide would have no problem winning every game, but no, he had to be friends with the Human and Half a witch, choosing to side with them against her."

"Falling for ya, falling for ya!" A criminal, someone she could never associate with. Someone to degrade and abandon the moment it suited you. That's what was supposed to happen.

"Can't hold on any longer…" Yet as these past two months went by, not seeing his face everywhere was starting to get harder and harder to do. It was getting difficult to not imagine him being a part of her life, even if it was as that lovestruck puppy that could never get a clue. " And now I'm falling for you...…"

"No, no, no, I'm not in love, I'm not in love, I am not in love!" She pressed her hands against her head, doing everything she could to shove the images out. This was nothing, this was just mama's annoying talks about love refusing to leave her brain.

"Now we're going steady." Wait a second, no they weren't. " He's the cat's meow (Meow Meow)." And there's no way she'd say something like that! "He says I'm a betty." What was going on? "And we paint the town (ooh ooh)."

Gaining an inkling, she slowly turned her gaze to Skara, who played on a lute. "You were singing in public, I thought I should add my voice."

"I was!?" Boshca shouted, her face beating red. "Since when do I do that?!"

"It's not as uncommon as you think. You're alone and you want to express feelings you don't usually express." Skara continued to strum. "Come on, you had a good thing going, keep rolling."

She scoffed, turning away with a flushed face. Boscha stayed silent for a moment. "...I'm not the kind to fall for a guy." She admitted to her friend. "Just cause he says hi (When he's cruisin' by)." Something Lucci has done constantly for as long as she could remember. Always willing to say high, alway waving that dumb hand and showing that dumb bright smile, always being happy to see her, never afraid unlike everyone else in her life.

"He's ready to race.." They shared classes together, they danced at grom together, heck, he healed her eye with a freakin KISS! " And I'm catching his gaze (They'll go on like this for days)." A kiss she couldn't get out of her head, a kiss that made her body feel unnaturally warm whenever she thought back on it.

"And now I'm …" As terrible as it was. "Falling for ya, falling for ya! I know I shouldn't but I …" She glanced back at Skara, who was still playing her lute. "I just can't stop myself from, Falling for ya, falling for ya! Can't hold on any longer…!" A whole damn of mushy feelings was escaping from her chest. " And now I'm falling for ya..."

"Completely and utterly ridiculous." She grumbled. 

"A little, but not completely." Skara smiled. 

"You know I can't go through with it." Boscha said. "He's gutter trash."

"You don't mean that." Skara countered.

"Would your parents be alright with you dating a criminal?" She questioned.

"Actually yeah…..they do a lot of weird stuff at night apparently, something tells me they'd be okay with it." What the fuck? "Come one, he's like, the first out of thousands of people that isn't scared of you, and he's one of the strongest and most feared witches on the isles, I know that checks up a lot of your boxes, doesn't it?"

The girl growled before letting out a small scream of frustration. "It feels like I tumbled from another world!" One that made no sense.

"Into your arms and it's so secure." Why did she make it sound like she was someone else's girl? No, whoever she dated would be lucky enough to be HER date. " Maybe I'll stumble but I know for sure." Boshca never messed up, she was perfect, she was strong, and she was in full control of her life!

"Head over heels I'm gonna be your girl…."

"Seriously Skara, I get you're just singing along with your own words, but dial back the 'your girl' stuff. I belong to no one." Boshca crossed her arms.

"Fine, fine." The bard shrugged. "Now come on, bring in the chorus!" Why did she put up with her?

"And now I'm…..Falling for ya, falling for ya!" For some inexplicable reason. " I know I shouldn't …" She really shouldn't. She really, really shouldnt'.... "But I just can't stop myself from….Falling for ya, falling for ya!"

"Can't hold on any longer… " She just wanted to drag around that stupid face of his and squeeze it for making her feel so dumb…just pressing her hands against that soft squishy face of his. " And now I'm falling for you…"

"Feel better?" Skara asked as she finished strumming.

"No, not really." Boscha groaned. "I just want to forget all my feelings right now."

"Okay, okay, I see how it is." Skara smirked evilly for some reason. "Since you don't feel the same way, I think it's my duty as his bard buddy to set him up with someone nice. The Blight twins seemed like they'd be open to it."

Boscha considered that for a moment. "... Nope."

Skara raised an eyebrow. "No reaction?"

"And do what, match him up with the two probably incestual kids who never take anything seriously that Amity wants to keep away from any group of friends she has with violence?" That plan would die in three hours.

"Ugh, you're really making it difficult to help you." Skara rolled her eyes. "You don't have to say anything, but does the idea of him being with someone, ANYONE romantically, and subsequently, taking all the attention he has for you, completely away, NOT bother you?"

She scoffed. "Like he'd focus on anyone other than me." The boy's eyes were locked on her.

"Even when he and Luz share the same bedroom?"

"....They what?"

"Nope, you clearly don't care, so I don't have to explain anything more than that." Skara giggled as she walked away. "See ya, Boschy."

"Wait, they WHAT?!"  Don't just leave her on that!

========================================================================

Centi took a bite of the chaap, eagerly savoring the salty taste. So few had been given, the headaches came back in the meantime. Where thinking hurt and everything was chaos and the cold emptiness inside of them. She knew that eating the owl and the raven was prohibited, but it was getting harder and harder to resist. Somedays they'd just be resting on the couch or on the ceiling, and Centi was just mere inches away from chopping down on them.

"No more for today Centi." The girl comforted her with headpats as they sat outside the large building full of other what Centi supposed were children her age. "Today we're going to learn how to do things by the sole motivation of positive reinforcement."

"Krkrrrr." Centi didn't know what that was, but it sounded weak.

"Aww come on, you've gotta trust me …" The girl looked like she was back in the weak place. "We're gonna need something … soon we won't have Chaaps and I don't … I don't know what to do after that."

"Krrkrkr ." It wasn't that hard to figure out. She'd just eat the furry child or those other creatures that smelled like the owl and the raven.

"Now let's head in. It may seem bad, but you'll love this place." The girl paused. "... Oh my god, I've become my mother." Given how scared of the older figure the girl seemed to be, Centi felt like that was a natural reaction to have.

Centi took a long gaze at the place. So many vibrant and new smells to be had all over the place. Around every corner, there seemed to be morsels of all kinds and being of various flavors all over the place. Centi was starting to get excited. The girl was shopping for her dinner and brought Centi. What a sweet girl. She'd nuzzle the girl's face later after her meal. "Now let's see what kind of meals we can use as a substitute." The girl walked over to a man. "Excuse me sir, do you have any seafood samples?"

"Arg, yes, what be ya fancy? Three headed trout, Eel taffy, or barnacle crips, freshly chipped from the barnacle." The man presented a tray of what Centi supposed was food.

"If they're free, one of each. I'm trying to figure out something that sticks." The girl held her up.

"Mmmmkkk." Some of it smelled salty like chaaps, but none them seemed to resonate all that well with Centi…like there was a certain sweetness missing from it.

"AHHHHH!' The man screamed, falling down and spilling the samples all over his body. "Get thou hands away from that ghastly creature, lass! That be a crystal devil you're holding!"

"Yeah yeah, 'Crystal Devil scary', 'ditch the palisman eater', as long as she's fed with treats it fine …" The girl looked the meals over. "Do you have a sweet sauce to add onto this stuff?"

"You're crazy!" The man began running away like a coward.

"Sheesh, Centi didn't even do anything. I swear, these people act like super scary demons one moment and like little gnome babies the next, am I right Centi?" The girl rubbed her head. "On the bright side, he still left plenty of snacks behind, so we're free to explore. So first up, the three headed trout." She dangled the slimy scaly creature above her maw. "It's like mutant sushi. Go ahead, take a bite.

" Krkrkrkrkr ." Centi happily obliged and opened her mouth, chopping on the sea creature….before spitting it out in an acidic mush. " Brrllllgggh." So bitter. It tasted like it died three times.

"Okay, not that." The girl held up an oily thing and moved it to her. "How about Eel taffy? It's like real taffy, but with a zappy slime to the mix."

Hm, it sounded spicey. Centi supposed it wouldn't hurt to change up her pallet just a little. " Krkrkrkk ." She slurped the thing up. It was surprisingly sweet, one could even say too sweet, but it was palatable. " Krkrkrkr."

"Do you like it? Do we have a winner!?" The girl's eyes lit up cheerfully.

" Krkr-zzz-kkrrrzzsst." Something was wrong, it felt like there was a buzzing starting forming all over her body. She needed to spit this out, she needed to "KRZZZZZAAAAAAAPP! " She let out a small burp, where a trail of green energy blasted out of her maw and began to destroy the walls around them.

"Okay, electricity does not mix well with Crystal Devils. I'll let Lucci know the next time he messes with a taser worm." The girl muttered. "And now we have barnacle chips …. These are almost like chaaps, they should work, right? Please."

Centi sniffed the last items. They didn't have the saltiness or the sweetness. They smelled so…bland." "Krkrk. " She turned her head away from them.

"Come on Centi, I need you to try this…I'm running out of options here!" The girl yelled, covering her eyes. "Everyone's afraid of you, and I know you're a good girl….but I don't know how to control you without food…without your favorite snack." The human sniffed. "Someday we're going to run out of chaaps, and….and anything you do after that is going to be on me. It'll be…it'll be my job to poof you."

"Rkrkrkrk." Centi expanded themselves to a larger size, wrapping themselves around the girl just like old times, curling against them for reassurance and comfort. They always put too much pressure on everything. Centi would just eat something tasty and be comfortable with their life, that was that.

"Centi…" The girl rubbed her leaking eyes on her mane. "I don't know what I'm doing half the time now. I'm stuck here without a way home and my mom's going to find out I'm missing at some point, all because I lied and wanted to live out my fantasy. I've barely been able to help Eda and Lucci with their problems because mine keep getting in the way. How can I take care of anyone if I can't even take care of myself?"

"Krkrkrkr." She shouldn't blame herself because other people had problems. The girl should have her own problems dealt with. She always focused on others instead of herself.

"I guess you have a point, but if I don't help other people, then what was the point of me coming here at all?" The girl groaned. "I'm supposed to be the protagonist, the isekai hero…I have to make sure everyone is happy. That's my responsibility."

"Rrrrr." Says who?

"Says me." The girl got up. "Come on Centi, let's go home, where things can hopefully be a little less bleak."

========================================================================

Lilith sat at a tree, sipping tea as she heard the kids walk by. "Oh, Luz. I've been improving my glyphs. I even created a new combo for construction magic!" She showed off a bird made of stone. "Do I get a gold star?"

"Wha…oh yeah, he's a couple. Great job Lilith." Luz said rather unenthusiastically tossed over a couple in the air that Lilith scrambled to catch, falling out of the tree.

"Yes! Validation! Oh, this is exactly how it was back in my school days." Learning something new about the world, improving herself, and getting recognized for her achievements.

"So, you've just been out here all day?" Lucifer questioned, covered in dirt. "I would have sworn you'd head inside after five or six."

"I would have, but I'm waiting for Edalyn to admit she needs my help."

"SERIOUSLY LILITH! SAVE US!" The little one shouted.

"IGNORE KING! EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL!"

"INDIGESTION RULES!" Hootsifer shouted.

"Again, this is very reminiscent of my time back in Hexide." Lilith reiterated. "You two look worse for wear … is everything alright?"

"Not particularly. I spent the last three hours drilling the basics of plants and gardening from Willow to better my plant magic … the Hexide teachers have nothing on her, that girl is merciless." Her nephew fell to the ground. "I was buried alive and had to dig myself free."

"As for me … just a lot of introspection …" The girl hugged the crystal devil tightly. "I promise your last moments are gonna be happy Centi, no matter what anyone says, alright?"

" Krkrkr." It frightened the old coven head just how intimate the savage creature was with the human girl…even scarier was when the crystal devil listened to her.

"Well in any case, I hope your day's were just as informative as mine was." Lilith offered up a small smile. "It might be hard to get through some of the time….a lot of the time…actually most of the time…but the trick is to get through it all one day at a time. As long as you work hard for what you want, the results will come when you need it."

"We needed the cure for the curse about a month ago." Lucifer deadpanned.

"I was trying to put a positive spin on things. Titan knows you're not going to do it." She rolled her eyes. "So-"

"EDA! IT HAS MY LEG!" King's voice called out.

"Don't worry, I'll get her to cave." Luz walked up to the door and knocked. "Eda, we're back, and we're really tired. Let Lilith help you or we'll move in with your parents and learn more embarrassing stories about your childhood."

There was a moment of silence. "So you're threatening my pride by threatening my pride?!"

"Mom, seriously, just open the door and let Lilith do her thing! I really want to sleep in my own bed tonight and I'm too exhausted to do anything myself!" Lucci yelled. "What do you always say about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!?"

"....Find some poor sap to trade spots and take the pain for me." Dubious parental advice, what a shocker.

"Exactly, so let Lilith be that poor sap and open the door!"

There was a sigh, before the door opened, revealing a plant that caught on fire, froze over, and turned into a blinding light, before shifting into ice, then a plant once more. "Hey guys …"

"You overlapped the Glyphs, didn't you?" Luz accused.

"What, naw. This is just.." Fire flew over their heads. "An experiment."

"Yeah, an experiment GONE WRONG!" King was wrapped in a frozen ball of light that lit on fire every five seconds.

"Eda, you can't just draw Glyphs over each other like that! You're basically shouting four different languages in four different dialects into the air. You're confusing the spell because it has no direction to properly follow." Luz slapped her forehead.

"Is that thing just gonna expand forever?" Lucifer questioned. "Even if this kills us all, dumping it on the Emperor's palace seems like a really fun idea."

"See King, I told you it had something good to it after all-"

"SHUT UP and SAVE ME ALREADY!" The little guy shouted.

"Hold your snorses … and done." She slapped the glyph combo on the chaotic mess, turning it into snow. "Instant cure, along with another new glyph combo."

"What, how!?" Edalyn shouted.

"Simple. Every line in a glyph essentially directs the magic in the air around into whatever direction and or shape you specify it to go." Lilith explained. "I just 'told' it to go in one direction, and the magic followed suit."

"The language of magic." Luz grinned. "And one day, I will be its most fluent linguist." She turned to Lilith's sister. "If you wanna get close though…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, follow the basics." Edalyn rolled her eyes as she went to grab a broom. "Now is anyone going to help me sweep away the snow or what?"

"Whenever I bring snow into the house it usually just melts." Luz answered. "I'd figure if everything on this island boils it probably would melt twice as fast."

"Yeah, I still don't want to deal with wet floors and furniture, the mildew is a pain to get rid of." They answered.

"I'll do it!" Hooty shouted. "I love the taste of snow in the hot months. Especially since we're gonna be getting into the cool ones soon." Such a chaotic house Lilith was stuck in… it was hell on some days and relatively lively on others….hard to choose what she preferred in all honesty.