Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Abnormal Night at the Library
Darkness was all that could be seen surrounding them. They looked around frantically as if searching for something. Suddenly two scarlet flames erupted in the distance, revealing a figure shrouded in the darkness, their features only illuminated by the flames that resembled eyes. Even though they were flames, the figure's gaze pierced the first person's soul.
The first person suddenly let out a yelp, as fiery chains latched to them, restraining them to the ground and forcing them to look at their assailant.
The fiery figure walked forward coldly and menacingly as the victim struggled, doing everything they could to try and escape. They even tried to cry out for help, but the heat was smothering and they couldn't find their voice. They were alone, trapped, and at the figure's mercy, assuming it even had mercy in the first place.
The fiery figure stopped just before their prey, looming over them as it finally spoke.
D̷̡̟̥̤͓̒o̷͔̲͚̰͋̓̅ ̦y̴̝̼̅o ̜̣͉̄̓u̵̗̠̅̌͆ ̵̤̼̂̈̓͝ÿ̶̨̥̗́͆̈́͛̑i ͈̅̉̌̚e̷̤͗͂̂̚̚l̷͈͉̦̦̳̑d̷̤̭͖̟̈́̓̃?̷̹̻̙͖̎͌̃
The victim tried to respond, but they still could not find their voice, no matter how hard they tried.
The fiery figure came closer to their victim's restrained body, the victim finally making out who their assailant was.
It was-
SNORE
Flint could be seen strewn across the floor of his and Luz's room, his body positioned in weird angles as he slept atop his disheveled sleeping bag. The only part of him that wasn't in a weird position was his head, which was facing upward atop his pillows as his mouth hung open.
While he slept comfortably (somehow), Luz watched him for a few moments, already having gotten dressed in the bathroom. She stepped closer to him and leaned over him.
'Aw, he looks so peaceful.' Luz thought. She leaned in closer to him, her face close to his...
And promptly slapped him in the face, his head recoiling from the blow and his eyes bugging out in surprise.
"WAKE UP!" Luz demanded.
"GAH! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT?!" Flint screamed, rubbing his stinging face to alleviate the pain.
Luz was shaking off the stinging sensation from her own hand as she responded. "I have completely lost track!" Luz said with dramatic confidence, raising her left and non-stinging hand up to point to the sky.
Flint glared at her. "Don't test me. I know where you sleep."
"So do I, your point?" Luz countered with a grin.
"...I will get you back eventually. Mark my words, when I come for those cheeks, you will not escape my vengeance." Flint threatened.
Luz just smirked, putting her hands on her hips. "Keep telling yourself that bud."
Downstairs, Eda is drinking a glass of apple blood when she suddenly stops mid-drink, lowering her glass as she looks around the room squinting her eyes.
"I sense a disturbance. I feel as though someone has made an innuendo without knowing it." Eda stated to herself.
After a few seconds, she returns to her usual carefree expression. "Eh. It's probably nothing." Eda shrugged.
Later, Luz was seen reading from the fifth Azura book to King as he sat on Flint's lap on the couch, with Luz standing on the couch beside them. Flint was reading from Volume 24 of My Hero Academia.
"'Azura,' Hecate began. 'Our paths have crossed only in battle. But today I stand before you seeking an ally.'" Luz recited before sighing dreamily.
"Luz, you're getting all swoon-y again." King chastises.
"I can't help it. Azura is able to befriend everyone. Even her biggest rival. I wish I had that kind of power." Luz said.
"Rivals are meant to be annihilated, not befriended." King denied.
Flint scoffed, looking at King from behind his manga. "Rivalries are far more worthwhile when you can be on friendly terms. By having someone to challenge you, it drives you to improve." Flint flipped the page from his left over to the right to get to the next page. "It's an endless loop of winning and losing. If you're gonna have someone to push you to get better, at least let it be someone you can get along with."
King rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Now keep reading. I've been sucked into your awful fandom." King said, his tail wagging in anticipation.
"Okay. 'Suddenly the door swung open.'" Luz started.
As if on cue, Hooty swung the door open. "Ding-dong. Ding. Hoot! Hoot!"
The three stared at Hooty in surprise for a moment.
"Wow. That was incredibly well-timed." Flint remarked.
"The book has come to life! Burn it!" King said with panic.
Luz went over to the door to figure out what Hooty was on about when she finds a basket on the doorstep and hummed in confusion.
The three of them headed into the kitchen with the basket in tow. Luz placed the basket on the table as King jumped from Flint's shoulder onto the table and began to tie a bib around himself as they stood with Eda around the basket.
"Eda, you got a package. It looks like a gift basket." Luz informed her.
"Probably an offering. Ah! Being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks." Eda said smugly.
King, the bib now tied on, grunts as he pulls a blanket off the top of the basket, revealing a…baby?
"…I'd rather we not have to deal with possible a Tai Lung situation," Flint remarked, getting jabbed in his side by Luz's elbow in response.
King rubbed his paws together. "Mm. Fresh meat." King said eagerly.
"Nope, not eating that." Luz shied away from the basket, noping out on that idea and walking a bit away, as Flint backed away too.
"Witches eating babies is so 1693. What is this?" Eda with a raised brow.
"Nani?" Flint questioned. Did he just hear that correctly?
King noticed a tag attached to the side and held it up to read. "There's a note. 'Take care of my child till morning. Yi Yi.'"
Eda gave a double thumbs-down before crossing her arms. "Nope. Babies are awful. Not happening."
"'You will be handsomely rewarded. XOXOXOX. Bat Queen.'" King continued reading the note.
That seemed to grab Eda's attention as she turned back to King. "Bat Queen?"
King pulls a few snails out of the basket causing Eda's eyes to widen further.
"Reward?" Eda questioned, intrigued.
"Who's the Bat Queen?" Luz asked as King sniffed the snails.
"She's the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her and you're set for life." Eda said, taking one of the snails from King and flipping it in the air. "So, we keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft. Easy."
"Our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes." Luz said excitedly.
"Not you. You have to return the books I checked out from the library." Eda said, summoning two piles of books, which Luz and Flint caught before walking toward the door.
Eda leaned over and whispered to King. "I don't want them getting a cut of the loot."
"Good thinking," King responded.
"Now, let's take a look at this little darling," Eda said, completely removing the blanket and causing the baby bat to violently screech.
"Oh, boy," King said as he and Eda quickly covered their ears.
"Argh! On second thought, maybe we could use your help!" Eda called out desperately to Luz and Flint.
Luz stood halfway out the door. "Well, we better get to the library! Got to go! Bye!" Luz quickly said, running off and leaving Flint at the door.
Eda looked to Flint in desperation as he stood at the door with the other half of the books in his hand.
Flint:
(YouTube) watch?v=JK2vik4_ehM
Flint proceeded to simply close the door without a word, running off after Luz and leaving Eda and King to deal with…
That.
Luz and Flint could now be seen navigating the streets of Bonesborough as they comfortably walked with their respective stacks of books. They pass the conspiracy prisoner as she carries a book as big as Luz.
"Whoa." Both Luz and Flint said in surprise at the sight. Luz continues walking as Flint comes to a stop.
"Hey!"
The conspiracy prisoner turned in his direction from him getting her attention.
"I've been meaning to ask, what's your name? I keep seeing you around and I'd just rather not keep calling you 'conspiracy prisoner' in my head." Flint asked.
"Oh! It's Tinella Nosa." The now-named woman introduced herself.
Flint hummed in acknowledgment. "Flint Smith. See you around." Flint said, bidding her farewell with a two-finger wave before catching up to Luz as she reached the library's entrance.
Flint opens the door and holds it open for Luz to go in before heading in himself. The inside of the library was very spacious, with the ceiling of the entrance being multiple stories up and with glass panes decorating the sides.
The stacks in their arms glowed green and began to float ahead, much to their surprise. They follow the trail over to the front desk as each book flies through a red spell circle, the word 'LATE' being spelled above the ring with an accompanying beep.
"Late. Late…" The librarian said before dispersing the ring and grabbing the last book in his hand as the two made it to the desk. "Coffee, grass, and bloodstains?" The librarian gave the two a tired look. "These are Eda's, aren't they?"
"Yup," Flint confirmed in an unbothered tone.
The librarian sighed, summoning a scroll and writing on it. "I'll put them on her tab. By the way, we're closing early for the Wailing Star meteor shower." The librarian informed them, gesturing to a framed picture of the aforementioned Wailing Star.
"Ooh. What's that?" Luz asked.
"You're in a library. Read a book." He responded, absolutely done with everything as his scroll rolled up and disappeared.
Luz huffed, about to say something before Flint put his hand over her mouth.
"Where might we find a book about it?" Flint asked.
"Should be over in the 'History of the Isles' section. 'Almanac of Celestial Events' if I'm not mistaken." The librarian answered.
Flint blinked. "How many celestial events does this place even have if you need an entire almanac specifically for it?"
The librarian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You don't know the half of it."
Flint nodded in thanks as the two went off.
They end up rounding the corner to find a group of growling card catalogs, with a banner above them saying 'Demon Decimal System DO NOT FEED.' Luz reaches for something in her pocket, only for Flint to drag her away.
"Flint," Luz whined.
"Don't 'Flint' me missy. You were about to feed one of them, weren't you?" Flint said with a raised brow.
Luz looked away guiltily. "Nooooo…" Luz lied.
The two eventually found their way to a study area (after Flint had to almost tackle Luz so she wouldn't grab one of the many books flying through the air) as they ended up in the Reference section. The witches there were watching things on crystal balls, similar to library computers back in the human world. One is watching a tutorial for flying on a palisman staff, another is watching a piano cat parody, and a third was…stuck on a loading screen.
The two stood between bookshelves nearby as Flint now had the almanac in his arms.
"Wow, I guess the buffering wheel of death is a universal constant," Luz said, peeking around the side.
"Oh hey, apparently those moonlight conjurings do need a good bond between the participants to work. Neat." Flint pointed out, reading a page about the moonlight conjuring from the book.
"This place is amazing," Luz said.
"'What do you think you're doing?'" The two heard the familiar voice of Amity.
Luz gasped. "We've been caught. Quick, pretend to be a book." Luz says in a panic, doing a funky pose.
Flint rolled his eyes before hearing the sound of kids giggling nearby, which drew the two's attention.
"Huh?" They both said, walking over in the direction the laughter was coming from to find Amity sitting before a group of children with a book in hand. She looked as though she was reading to them.
"'We're your friends and we wanna help,' said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before.'" Amity narrated the book to the children.
"Amity reading to kids?" Luz questioned.
Luz snuck into the Kid's Corner, hiding behind a small bookshelf.
Amity continued reading with a wide smile on her face. "'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end." Amity finished the story, closing the book.
The kids erupted into applause, and Luz looked on in surprise.
"Amity seems so...nice and smiley." Luz then gasped. "Maybe I can befriend her like Azura befriended her rival. What do you think…Flint?"
Luz turned to her side only to find Flint wasn't there. He stood still by the entrance still, watching on zoned out.
In Flint's head, he couldn't believe it. The smile on Amity's face while she was reading was different from the others he'd seen before. It was…genuine.
The two notice the kids getting up and quickly hide behind their respective spots, with Flint peeking one eye in.
The kids run off and say their goodbyes.
"Thank you so much." "Goodbye." Two of them said before another one stayed behind the pack, running up and hugging Amity's leg, catching her by surprise. Flint couldn't help but notice the kid had a resemblance to Warden Wrath.
"Goodbye, Miss Amity. Thank you." The kid said in an extremely deep voice, causing Flint to do a bit of a double-take.
Amity just smiled, patting his head. "Thank you, Braxas. See you next time." Amity said.
The now-named Braxas ran off happily. "Yay!"
…That voice on a toddler just sounded so weird, and Flint was still trying to wrap his head around it.
Amity watches him go before glancing to her side. She donned a look of surprise as she did a double take, realizing that Luz was hiding there with a book over her head. Amity's face then contorted back to the one they had become accustomed to.
"Ugh! You," Amity said coldly.
Luz stood up and leaned on a book, accidentally making it fall. "Amity-Whoop. Reading to kids. Wow. Looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center." Luz said.
Amity scoffed as she reached down and picked up the book Luz dropped and put it with the other she was still holding. "It's for extra credit. Don't get your leggings in a bunch." Amity said as she walked to the back of the room to put the books with the others on the table where she'd read to the kids.
Flint watched on. "Luz, don't-aaaaand she's following her," Flint whispered to himself as he looked on at his friend about to not get the hint.
True to his word, Luz went and followed Amity excitedly, actively trying to pull a Talk no Jutsu. "Flint and I could help with the kids. We could take turns reading. And do voices. I do the best monster voice." Luz said the last part in a robotic tone.
Amity slams the books in her hands on the table with annoyance before turning to face Luz, irritation evident on her face. "Human! Do you see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you... fry up owls?" Amity scoffed. "Okay, I don't really know what you do there, but every time you come near me, I…wait."
Amity paused, realizing something. "If you're here, then he's somewhere nearby isn't he." Amity realized, her eyes widening.
"Flint? Oh yeah, he's right out there behind the entrance." Luz confirmed, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder and pointing toward the entrance.
SMACK
Realizing his own position was compromised, Flint walked into the room, a comically pink mark in the shape of a hand on his forehead. "Hello there." Flint greeted.
Amity seemed to tense when Flint stepped out in the open.
"Just-just leave me alone!" Amity admonishes them both.
Luz backed off a bit at the girl's volume. "Okay! Okay…" Luz said, the second time a lot sadder as she walked away and past Flint.
Flint watched as Luz walked past him and he let out a sigh. "Damn I hate seeing her get like this," Flint muttered, unknowingly loud enough for Amity to hear. He turned to Amity. "See you around…I guess…" Flint trailed off as he turned to follow his friend.
Amity actually seems to look a bit…remorseful. She started to raise her hand to stop one of them but stopped halfway…the hand trembling ever-so slightly.
"Who are they?" Flint suddenly asked, suddenly grabbing Amity's attention…
And then she groaned, recognizing who was ahead of them and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Oh for Titan's sake." Flint heard Amity grumble.
Flint turned back to face Amity with a raised brow. "You know them?"
Amity groaned. "Unfortunately. As long as they don't go calling me-"
"Hey, Mittens."
Amity grunts as her face turns bright red, alongside a twitch in her eye.
Before them were two individuals who bore a great resemblance to one another, likely siblings, maybe even twins at that. Both had dark green hair and looked to be about 16. One was a girl and the other was a boy, and they both wore Illusion track Hexside uniforms. The boy was holding a rabbit-stylized lunch bag toward them.
"Mom says stop forgetting your lunch. And stop being a jerk to your friends." The boy said.
Amity stalked over with Flint following as she swiped the bag from the boy's hand. "They are not my friends." Amity adamantly denied it.
Amity's words made Luz look down solemnly at the floor as Flint frowned.
The girl then put an arm around Luz, causing her to look up. "Yeah, makes sense. These two seem too cool for you." The girl said.
Luz blinked. "We are?"
The boy grinned, walking over and putting his elbow on Flint's shoulder. "Say, isn't this the guy that you-"
"Shut. Up." Amity gritted her teeth. "All of you just get out of here," Amity said before walking back into the Kid's Corner.
The girl chuckles and sends a wink to Flint, causing him to raise a brow. Meanwhile, Edric winks at Luz, causing her to chuckle and blush in her confusion.
The four were walking through the library, with Flint flipping another page in his book to see the next of the celestial events this world possessed (seriously, why are there so many?!)
'Oh, here's the stuff about the Wailing Star. Huh, that's actually pretty cool, not gonna lie-' Flint's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the older boy.
"So, you're the humans we've heard so much about." The boy said.
"I'm Emira. And this is Edric. We're Amity's older siblings." The now-named Emira introduced herself, as well as her brother. "We heard how you and your friend here embarrassed her at the school and at the witch Covention last week. No wonder she hates you."
Flint sighed, closing the book in his hands. "It's not like I can really help it. I just don't take kindly to bullies, and I wasn't going to stand for her insulting my friends, especially Luz." Flint stated.
Luz blushed at his words. "Yeah, that's just how Flint is. We've always had each other's backs ever since we met."
"Aw, that's cute." Emira cooed. "But don't waste your time with Mittens. Me and Ed, we're way more fun. Follow us."
Flint watched from a distance as they stood near a sign reading '- FICTION NON-FICTION-'. Edric wipes away the 'NON' and hides as a triclops librarian walks up, leading some people around.
"And here we go towards our nonfiction section." He gasps when he sees the sign. "Fiction, fiction? Is our world but fiction? Then what in my life is real anymore?" The man proceeded to go into an existential breakdown.
Next thing Flint knew, he was following them to so the librarian from the front desk reading while shelving some books from his cart. As he puts one on the shelf, Emira surrounds it with a blue glow as it flew back onto the reshelving cart. This happens several times, causing the twins and Luz to laugh, before Edric joins in by switching the places of the two librarians, the one who broke down having been on a ladder in the background.
The triclops suddenly realized where he now stood and cried out again. "Huh? No! Not again!" He exclaimed, before breaking down crying once more.
The first librarian falls off a ladder, not paying attention to his surroundings.
Flint frowns as Luz and the Blights walk off. Instead of following them, he heads over to the one who fell and helps him to his feet. "Are you alright?"
The librarian groaned, rubbing his hip as he was brought back to his feet. "Mostly. Thank you, young man."
"Sir, I'd like to report two green-haired teens that are causing trouble, including what just happened to you. They've ended up recruiting my easily manipulated friend. All I ask is that you don't ban her, I'll take care of punishing her when we get home." Flint asked.
"Let me guess, Blight Twins?" The librarian asked, getting a nod in response. The librarian sighed. "Not again. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I can understand their tactics in getting others to join them, but I'll still have to leave your friend with a warning though."
Flint nodded. "That's perfectly reasonable. Thank you." Flint thanked him.
Amity began to approach them. "Sir, Ed and Em are-" Amity froze for a moment at realizing Flint was there, before clearing her throat.
The librarian turned to Amity. "Ah, Amity. This young man has already informed me of what is happening with your siblings.
Amity snapped out of her stupor. "Right. Well, I saw them heading toward the Demon Decimal System."
The librarian nodded. "Let us deal with them then." He said as the three walked over. When they arrived, the troublemakers were surrounded by a shower of notecards. Luz had her back to Flint and seemed to look reluctant.
"Hey, I don't think we should be doing this. These guys are just trying to do their jobs." Luz said.
"You should listen to her." The librarian said with a growl, causing Luz to jump in surprise as she turned to see Amity and Flint at either of the librarian's sides. Amity had an angry expression directed at all three of them, while Flint looked toward Luz with a disappointed one. All three of the people who understood responsibility had their arms crossed.
The librarian blinked, looking around a bit. "Wait. Where's Gary?"
"Coming." The triclops librarian, ran up before looking at the scene in front of him. "Nooo!" The now-named Gary cried out, collapsing to the ground as he began to sob.
Flint just blinked at Gary's behavior. "Wow. They really did a number on you, huh?" He then turned back to Luz, who was now sweating nervously at the dangerous look Flint was giving her.
Flint walked forward and past Luz, but not before grabbing her by the hood and dragging her toward the entrance, with Luz yelping in response. "We're leaving. Now." Flint said, not in the mood for this.
The two walked (Luz being dragged) out of the building as the librarians shoved the Blight Twins out behind them.
"Next time you two pull this kind of stunt, you're banned. For good." The first librarian threatened before slamming the door.
Flint released Luz from his grip, causing her to stumble a bit before she righted herself. "You better be lucky you aren't banned. If it weren't for me, you probably would've been, but they told me you've still been given a warning." Flint said angrily.
Luz had the decency to look down in shame. "I'm sorry…" Luz trailed off quietly.
Flint huffed. "If you're trying to befriend Amity, newsflash, this isn't exactly helping your case with her, if you couldn't tell."
"Ah, come on. Don't be so-" Emira began, only to be silenced by the chilling glare Flint shot at her.
"Attempt to finish that sentence, and I will burn away every hair on your head. And yes. Eyebrows included." Flint threatened with a growl.
Emira wisely decided to keep quiet at that. She'd seen how things went back at the Covention, and with her knowledge of how her mother talks with some of those who cross her, she could tell this wasn't a threat, it was a promise.
Flint turned back to Luz with clenched fists before taking a deep breath and turning away from her. "I'm going back to the house to cool off." Flint declared before stomping away.
Luz watched him go, ashamed of herself. It wasn't often that Flint would get this heated about something, but when he did, oh boy. Very rarely did he ever get to this level, and even less so was she the reason for it.
Luz sighed. "Great. Not only is Amity mad at me, but now Flint is too."
Edric chuckled. "No, when Mittens gets mad, she looks like this." Edric took a deep breath, his face turning aggressively red before he exhaled, swaying a bit afterward. "Whoa, I almost passed out."
"You're pretty fun, human. Way more than your friend." Emira claimed, before turning to her brother. The two shared a nod before turning back to Luz. "So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to...check out."
"And bonus, rumor has it the Wailing Star's supposed to unlock some rare magical event. You in, friend?" Edric continued.
"A rare magical event? Um, okay." Luz said a bit hesitantly.
Edric smiled. "Great. Meet back here at midnight. See you, Luz."
The twins then went off as Luz waved, somewhat hesitantly. After they go out of sight, Luz sighs. "Maybe Flint is right. Argh!" Luz slapped the sides of her face as she let out a groan of frustration. "Okay. I'll go with, check out the magical event, and make sure they don't cause trouble. And maybe Flint will calm down if I tell him." Luz pep-talked herself before running off.
As she ran off, Amity could be seen hiding behind one of the pillars as she watched Luz run off, looking over the human with an analyzing gaze. She then started thinking about what Ed and Em could be planning, holding her breath until her face turned red.
Amity released the breath she'd been holding with a hint of relief. "Phew! Almost passed out."
Eda and King were not having a good time. As it turned out, the b(r)at had quite the set of lungs on it. Right now, it was crying, something it hadn't stopped doing since Flint and Luz had left earlier.
As I said, not a good time.
Eda and King both had their ears plugged in some way. King had went about tying a pair of pillows over his ears, while Eda sat with her arms crossed, and her hands detached as they plugged her ears. They were both seated on the couch to either side of the baby, with Eda to its right, and King on the armrest to the left.
"It's been hours. How can it keep screaming?" King whined.
"Ugh. I hate it too, pipsqueak. But think about the money." Eda said, reattaching her hands.
CRASH
Oh great, now some of the glass around the room was shattering because of the brat's pipes. Eda was surprised it took so long for that to happen, if she was being honest. And people wonder why she never had kids?
Okay, that wasn't the main reason. She did love Raine, but she'd also been worried about whether her curse would carry on to her hypothetical child. Not to mention she never saw herself as a motherly-type either.
"No amount of snails is worth this torture. Make it stop." King said desperately, as he fell backwards and on his back.
The front door suddenly slammed open "OW!" revealing a quite angered Flint. Everyone turned to look at him, including the bat as it stopped crying in order to figure out what was happening.
Flint grumbled as he entered, stomping his way across the room, his words were indecipherable until he suddenly paused where he stood. He turned to the three with confusion.
"Um…am I interrupting something?" Flint asked in confusion. He was pretty sure he'd heard the crying from about a quarter-mile back before he'd gotten there.
"Yes actually," Eda said with relief. The crying was finally ov-
"Oh, my bad. Carry on," Flint said as he disappeared up the stairs.
The bat nodded before it began to take an audible deep breath. Eda and King noticed this and they became panicked.
"Don't you dare-!"
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Aaaaand now the crying was back. What did either of them ever do to deserve…what did King ever do to deserve this?
"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Eda sighed as she picked the bat up. It immediately stops crying, causing both King and Eda to look at it in disbelief.
Eda then rocked the bat in her arms. "Rock, rock. Maternal gesture." Her actions soothed the bat as it closed its eyes.
Luz then enters the house and looks around nervously before locking her gaze on the couch.
"Hey, um, did Flint come through with a really grumpy face?" Luz asked hesitantly.
"Yeah…why?" Eda questioned.
Luz pursed her lips. "I…messed up. But I want to make up for it," Luz said.
"What is it?" Flint's voice could be heard.
Everyone turned to see Flint staring at Luz with a calculative look, his sketchbook in one hand and his phone in the other.
"Wow, you came back down fast," King pointed out.
Flint gestured to his sketchbook. "I was just gonna sketch and listen to some music while I cooled off. Then I heard the crying stop and got curious." Flint said before turning to Eda and seeing how she was holding the baby bat.
…CLICK
Eda scowled as she realized Flint had just taken a picture of her. "Delete that."
"No. I don't think I will." Flint countered.
"Try making a witty remark after I steal your tongue," Eda said darkly.
Luz began to walk over to her. "But Eda, you look so motherly. How can you say that around this cute little baby?" Luz asked as she repeatedly poked the baby bat.
The bat then reawakened, followed by barfing out a smaller version of itself, with said smaller one doing the same, now leaving them with not one, but three of them to deal with. They all chirp and flap their wings.
"Whoa!" The two humans recoiled, their pupils shrinking in shock at the sight before them.
The bats fly upwards, still chirping, until one of them breathes fire at the couch. Eda, King, and Luz all scream and run away from the couch, with Luz running for the door, and grabbing her messenger bag along the way.
"Parenting sure looks rewarding. E-Enjoy your life lessons. Bye." Luz said quickly, running out and closing the door before she could possibly get roped into helping.
The bats fly around, knocking things off shelves and causing mayhem. Eda is holding King as they both look to Flint pleadingly.
"Don't worry, I've got an idea. Let me grab something real quick." Flint says, running back up the stairs.
Eda and King let out a sigh of relief. Finally! They were going to have some-
CRASH!
The two look in the direction of the noise, toward the window. Glass rained in front of it before Flint could be seen falling to the ground with a THUMP before quickly getting back to his feet right outside the window. He dusted himself off before booking it in pursuit of Luz.
"…I'm gonna kill him."
"I'll help."
Hours later, the two humans could now be seen outside the library that night as crickets chirped.
"I'm still a bit peeved, but I'm proud of your reasoning for wanting to come here," Flint remarked.
Luz had explained to him about Edric and Emira's plan to infiltrate the library, and her own plan to make sure they didn't get up to anything bad. Flint was still frustrated with her, but he voiced that he was happy Luz had come up with the plan. He was still gonna go with, having explained that he'd about the Wailing Star's effects. He refused to tell her what said effects were though, much to her annoyance.
"Come on! Just tell me already!" Luz shook him by his arm, but he refused to budge with a cocky grin plastered on his face as he leaned against one of the pillars.
"I think not. You'll learn soon enough after all. All I'll say is that it's pretty cool, and it's the reason why I wanted to bring my sketchbook." Flint said cryptically.
Luz narrowed her eyes at him before turning away, crossing her arms and closing her eyes with a huff. "Fine. Be that way."
"No no, keep going." Emira's voice suddenly called out.
Luz jumps in surprise at the sudden voice, turning to see Edric and Emira looking on in amusement from the pillar opposite of them, with Emira leaning against it.
"This is fun to watch." Emira continued.
"You guys ready to bring this whole…" Edric vaguely gestured to the two. "…this, inside?"
Luz huffed. "Since Flint won't tell me, yes."
The group then approached the door as Emira turned to Flint. "I'm surprised you came with," Emira remarked.
Flint shrugged. "Read what the magic could do earlier, had to see this for myself. Also, because there was no way I was leaving her alone with you two. We literally just met earlier."
The twins each shrugged in acceptance. "Fair enough."
Edric then turned to the door and pulled out a piece of paper. "It says no trespassing but I'm allergic to the rules," Edric said before handing it to his sister.
"And dairy," Emira added as she took the paper.
"Wow, okay. Just expose me." Edric said with a trace of betrayal.
The paper began to glow as Emira put it against the lock on the door, causing the paper to crumble as the lock grew until it was large enough for them to walk through.
Flint and Luz blinked in surprise at that. "Wow."
Edric waved them on as he and Emira walked through the newly-made entryway. "Come on."
The two follow the twins inside as the lock shrank to its original size behind them, leaving them now standing in the lobby.
"Okay, seriously, can someone please tell me what the comet is supposed to do?!" Luz exclaimed. Her patience had run out and she just wanted to know what was going to happen!
"There. The Wailing Star!" Edric pointed up at the stained glass above them. The group looked up and the light from the Wailing Star shined down on them as sobs could be heard far in the distance.
"How is it even doing that in the vacuum of space?" Flint questioned.
The twins shrugged, not really understanding it either as the light died down. They all looked around after a few seconds, not noticing anything changing.
"Hmm. Nothing happened." Edric said disappointingly.
A green glow then began to emanate from all the books, including Flint's sketchbook. Luz is the first to notice this and goes over to one of the nearby bookshelves.
"Wait. The books are all glowy." Luz pointed out, grabbing a book titled Extinct Birds of the Boiling Isles. She opens the, and immediately screeches can be heard as the birds in the book shoot up from the book, coming to life as they begin to fly around the lobby.
All four of them looked on in awe at the sight.
"Wow. The Wailing Star magicked the books to life," Edric said.
Luz closes the book, still watching the birds as they suddenly disappear. Flint then looked down at his sketchbook to see it glowing as well.
"It even got my sketchbook," Flint said, opening to a page marked with a paperclip. When he opened it, a dark-colored figure jumped out of the book, landing on the ground in front of them.
The creature was slate gray, with red and black accents. Its ears are triangular with dark insides, and a large tuft of fur tipped with red on top of its head. It has greenish-blue eyes with red eyelids, and circular red markings above the eyes that resemble eyebrows. Its muzzle is short and tapered. It possessed a ruff of black fur around its neck and four short limbs tipped with red, topped with a short and bushy tail.
The figure was a Pokémon known as Zorua. As it turned out, the page Flint had marked was the same page that was holding a picture of the Pokémon on a blank page.
The Zorua blinked a bit, tilting its head confusedly at the current environment. It looked up to see Edric, Emira, and Luz in front of it before turning around and being met with Flint.
"Ra?" It said, wondering what was going on.
EEEEEEEEEEE!
Luz looked at Flint in surprise as he squealed, dropping his sketchbook and surging forward, scooping the fox up in his arms before any of them could react. He began rubbing his head up against the fox's neck ruff.
"Ohmygoshyoursocuteimightliterallydie!" Flint said so fast that only Luz could really understand him.
The Zorua jolted a bit at the sudden contact, unsure of what to think of what this bizarre boy was doing. What it could tell though, was that it was the center of the boy's current adoration, and it took that in stride. It smiled, giving out a short cry of happiness as it accepted the hug.
Edric and Emira just looked at Luz in sheer confusion, not understanding what was going on. This caused Luz to sigh as she realized she needed to explain.
"It's a creature from this series we have back on Earth. It's known as a Zorua, and it just so happens to be Flint's favorite barring legendaries and mythicals." Luz explained.
Emira snorted. "So it's a fox, big deal. What could be so special about it that he likes it so much?" The older girl asked.
"They're known as the Tricky Fox Pokémon, and they like to play pranks. It's how they do it that he likes so much." Luz said cryptically as she watched her friend gushing over the fox.
Flint suddenly gasped, seeming to realize something and holding the Zorua out in front of him. "Can you do the thing please?!" He asked excitedly.
Seeming to know what the boy wanted, the Zorua gave him a nod, prompting him to put it down on the ground. The Zorua stepped back before jumping into the air with a flip, glowing in red energy and landing…
As Flint?!
The twins' eyes bugged out of their sockets as suddenly standing before them was a second Flint, the only differences they could see between them were the giant grin plastered on the double's face, and the fox's tail sticking out.
'Flint' gave a high-pitched snicker before doing another flip, landing back in its true form.
The twins turned to Luz with dropped jaws, only to see her smug look.
"Zorua are known for being able to disguise themselves with illusions. When they evolve into a Zoroark, they can cast it over more than just themselves." Luz explained.
Edric looked over to the Zorua with a smile. "Well, aren't you a fun little guy?"
"RA!"
"Little lady." Edric corrected himself, getting a nod from the vixen.
Flint turned back to his sketchbook with a curious look on his face. "I wonder…" Flint trailed off, scratching his chin in thought. He grabbed the book and the Zorua followed curiously. Flint pulled the book up and took the Zorua picture out from under the paperclip before removing it from the book, now glowing green just like the book. Flint closed it, looking toward the vixen to see she was still around as he held the picture up.
"Interesting. It appears if an item is removed from the book while it's open, whatever was brought to life will stay even when it's closed." Flint inquired, before turning to the Zorua with a smile. "So, you wanna hang with us for as long as you can while the magic is still going?"
Zorua smiled, giving a happy cry before climbing up and onto the boy's shoulder, akin to a certain mascot with his trainer. Flint pocketed his sketchbook away but lodged the Zorua picture against the library door so he wouldn't forget it later.
The group got up to some shenanigans with the various books until Luz and Flint made their way into the Kid's Corner with Zorua on Flint's shoulder again. They'd opened the Otabin book Amity had read from earlier.
"'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 longed for a friend.'" Luz read from the book, as the small figure of Otabin sat threading a needle on the book.
"Friend?" Otabin asked.
"Luz, Flint, check this out," Edric said, arriving with Emira.
"Look what we discovered." Emira continued, holding open a book called Quacks Eats Snacks. A duck swims out of the pages and around the floor, quacking happily.
"Aw. Cute little quackster," Luz cooed.
Flint watches the two as Emira holds the book out to Edric, who has a pencil in hand. He draws human-like legs on the duck in the book, causing the duck in the real world to suddenly gain a pair matching them. It looked down at its legs, quacking hysterically in panic.
Flint, Luz, and Zorua look on horrified at what they'd done.
"Now he's extra cute," Emira says, closing the book as she and her brother start laughing.
"Come on. Your turn, Luz." Edric says, offering Luz the pencil.
Zorua snarled, reaching forward and attempting to bite the offending hand, forcing him to recoil back.
"Whoa! Chill!" Edric exclaimed.
Flint reached up and stroked the ruff of Zorua's neck, calming her down. "We are not vandalizing children's books," Flint said firmly.
Emira groaned. "Come on. Have a little fun."
Flint scowled at her, swiftly swiping the book from the delinquent's hands and opening it back to the page from before, causing the duck to reemerge, still screaming at its human legs. Flint pulled out an eraser from his pocket and erased the legs on the page, making the duck return to normal. With its body back to normal, the duck quacked happily and swam through the air over to him, nuzzling his leg in thanks. Flint reached down and patted its head before closing the book again, making the duck disappear once more as he put the book down atop one of the nearby shelves and put away the eraser.
Emira scoffed. "Buzzkill." She turned her attention to the two humans. "Whatever. We didn't come here just to doodle. Come on." Emira took both of their hands and dragged them away, causing Luz to drop the Otabin book in the process. Edric smiled as he opened the book, drawing a pair of angry eyebrows on Otabin before leaving the book to catch up with the others.
Edric caught up with the four as they stood before the Romance section.
"Oh, wow. Boiling Isles romance. That's totally lame. I mean, unless you guys are into it?" Luz said nervously.
Flint gave her a flat look. "Luz. I've seen you sneaking into my mom's room to secretly read from her romance novels."
"…I thought you didn't know about that," Luz responded with a haunted tone.
"And last time I checked, she was reading some very spicy hen-"
"HEY, SO WHY ARE WE HERE?!" Luz interrupted loudly, turning to the twins with a nuclear blush on her face, trying to change the topic.
"I think I'm into this one," Edric said, pulling a book titled The Lone Witch & Secret Room, resulting in a clicking sound. Suddenly the bookshelf sinks back and slides away, revealing a secret room.
"Wow! That's a good book." Luz said in awe of the new room in front of them, walking in to admire it further with Flint and Zorua behind her. There were some hanging decorations in the room, alongside some bookshelves, and a desk. "Your clubhouse is like my ultimate secret hideaway," Luz said.
It was the next thing that was said that made hairs on the back of Flint's neck stand on end.
"We don't hang out in a library. 'Uh, teacher, I'm in love with a dictionary.'" Edric mocked.
Flint's pupils shrank as he began to put the pieces together. If this wasn't their hangout, there was only one person he could think of that it could belong to. "No…" Flint said under his breath.
Emira followed her brother in mocking. "'I'm studying the dork arts.' This is Amity's secret hideaway." Emira revealed.
Luz became immediately worried.
Edric and Emira walked in, circling the three. "You see, Mittens has gotten too...full of herself. She keeps tattling on us when we cut class." Edric said.
"She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary." Emira continued her brother's train of thought.
"And then post the pages all around the school for everyone to see." Edric finished before he and his sister started laughing.
Luz looked at them in disbelief. "What? Isn't that taking it a bit too far?"
Emira put her arm around Luz. "No. See, we're her family. It's tough love. She needs to learn to lighten up."
The twins start to look around, much to Flint's newfound anger. He turned to Luz, leaning into her ear. "We can't let them do this. We have to find that diary first and get it away from them." He whispered, getting a nod from Luz in response and her eyes began to trace around the room. Flint saw her eyes lock onto something with a gasp, and he turned to look at it…
Only to see a collection of Azura books on one of the shelves.
'Oh no.' Flint thought in exasperation, facepalming as Luz quickly rushed over with a squeal to get a better look at the collection.
"Good Witch Azura books one through four?! You get these on the Boiling Isles? So majestic. Is this cover hand-drawn?" Luz asked, grabbing one book that didn't match the others.
Flint noticed the cover, his pupils shrinking as he realized that the cover was Amity dressed like Azura. He couldn't stop Luz from opening the book in time, as a small version of Amity rose from the pages.
"I met…two humans today at school." Diary Amity said.
Luz finally realized what she was holding. "The diary." She said in a mix of relief and horror.
"I may have overreacted. I don't wanna seem all uptight. I just can't show weakness." Diary Amity said before Luz quickly closed it. This was fine. They found the book, now they could keep it away from-
"What've you got there, Luz?"
The three tensed as Edric and Emira now looked at them skeptically.
Flint scowled at them, stepping between them and Luz as she hid the diary behind her back. "Nothing you should concern yourselves with," Flint said, as Zorua growled from his shoulder.
The diary starts glowing blue and flies out of Luz's hands, and into Emira's.
"Huh? No, wait." Luz called out as the twins opened the diary, another Amity rising from the pages.
"It's not fair. I'm the only one who knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?" Diary Amity aired her grievances.
The twins looked at each other with smiles. "This is it." They said in sync before turning to the two.
"Luz, were you hiding this from us?" Emira questioned.
"You've seen how she treats people." Edric continued, closing the diary as he and Emira stepped closer to them in disbelief.
"I know Amity can be kind of cold but no one deserves this. These are private thoughts. We should put it back," Luz said firmly.
Flint had his arms crossed. "This is not how family should treat each other. I may be an only child, but that doesn't mean I can't tell doing this is screwed up. Give. It. Back," Flint said with a growl, reaching forward and grabbing the book, as Zorua barked from his shoulder in agreement.
Edric doesn't let go, as the two begin a tug-of-war over the diary, with Luz and Emira grabbing onto Flint and Edric respectively to help. Zorua even jumped off Flint's shoulder and into a double of Luz to help.
"She needs this!" "It's for her own good!" Edric and Emira declared.
The jostling must have loosened some of the pages, or they had simply been put in on separate papers, because a few spilled out and onto the floor.
Each of the pages had an Amity sprout from them as they read off from their respective page.
"I wish I had somewhere to go."
"Called my teacher mom again."
"Sorry I haven't written for a while. Wait, why am I apologizing?"
"I…had the dream again last night." One of the pages started to say in a quiet voice, yet the tone of it pierced through the room and caused everyone to stop. "I can't…I can't take it!" The imitation of Amity that stood on the paper held the sides of her head, an almost crazed look of fear plastered across her face. "It doesn't matter what I do, he catches me. I-I can't say anything, I can't even scream! Then he walks up to me with those piercing, flaming eyes. They make me wanna just crawl into a hole and just...then he chains me up. The chains burn and I can't even move. Then he speaks. He asks 'Do you yield?' I try to say I do, but I still can't scream, and I can't even give him a nod! And every time he leans close when I don't answer, I see his face. It's always him. Flint. I…haven't had a good night's sleep since before the Covention." Diary Amity concluded before it began to repeat itself.
Everyone stood in silence after hearing that. The twins smiled. This would be a really good one to get for their plan.
The pages repeat themselves as Luz hurries to pick them back up. Zorua looked over to Flint only to see him zoned out, staring at the page that had talked about him specifically.
"Really?!"
Everyone but Flint turned to the source to see a furious Amity in the doorway.
"Argh. It's not what it looks like." Luz said in panic, as she finished collecting the pages.
Amity turned her attention to Edric and Emira as they giggled.
"You two are the worst," Amity said with a glare. She grabbed each of them by the arm and dragged them out of the room, with Flint and Zoru-Luz grabbing the other as they took them to the entrance, with Luz following her.
"Go home. Now," Amity said angrily.
"Ugh. Fine. Better than dealing with you buzzkills," Emira rolled her eyes, the twins grumpily leaving.
Amity watched them walk off before turning to Zoru-Luz with a raised brow. Zorua snickered before dropping her disguise, as Amity looked between her and the picture that was lodged on the door. She gave a hum of acknowledgment before turning to Luz, taking the diary from her with a sigh.
"I heard you earlier, so I'm at least willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," Amity said to her before turning to Flint. "That goes for you…too?"
The expression on his face was…he looked hurt. Why was he looking at her like that?
"I gave you nightmares from our duel?" Flint asked in a soft, pained voice.
Amity recoiled in shock. 'How did he find out about-the diary!'
Amity avoided looking him in the eye. "You...saw that, didn't you."
Flint approached her. "Amity, I'm so-"
Amity flinched when she saw him come closer out of the corner of her eye, causing the boy to stop in his tracks, his shoulders slumping depressingly. "Oh…"
Flint knew he could be intense when defending Luz, but he didn't think it would reach far enough he'd become the thing that wakes someone up in the night…unintentionally, that is. He wanted some of those classmates back home to fear him. After all, fear is a very powerful weapon.
Before he could say anything, loud footsteps were heard. The four turned to the source to see Otabin coming up to them, only he looked very different from before. Otabin now towered over them with a much more monstrous appearance, with giant teeth and claws, and giant angry eyebrows. His chest pulsed loudly with his heartbeat, his open book engorged and attached to his chest.
Amity looked on in horror. "Otabin?"
"With claws and fangs and breaking bones, I found new friends to make my own," Otabin said in a gravelly voice, grabbing both Amity and Flint in one hand, holding them in such a way their arms were being held down, before running away with them. The action caused Amity to drop her diary in the process.
"Luz!" Both of them screamed as they got carried away.
Luz and Zorua cried out in distress as Otabin hauled the two off.
"Amity! Flint!" Luz yelled after them as they left her sight.
Zorua went over to her giving out a series of whines. She might not have known them long, but she still wanted to help however she could!
Luz hit the side of her head with her balled hand. "Argh! Come on Luz, think! We need a plan to get them out of them away from him." She looked down at the pages scattered across the floor, before turning to the worried Zorua. Luz was trying to gather her thoughts so she could come up with a-
Luz's mind ground to a halt. She looked between Zorua and the pages again before smiling. Oh yeah, it's all coming together.
Meanwhile with Amity and Flint, the two were currently struggling in Otabin's grip. He'd taken the two back to the Kid's Corner and was holding them down to the page of a giant book, larger than either of them. He took a large needle, threaded with a giant ball of thread, and sewed Flint's left and Amity's right arm down onto the page, causing the limbs to turn two-dimensional.
"Huh?!" Amity gasped in shock, looking at what happened before turning to Otabin. "Why are you doing this? I've been reading you since I was a kid. I know you're not like this. Someone changed you," Amity tried reasoning with him.
"But friends are what I've always sought. And now friends my claws have caught." Otabin answered.
Flint groaned loudly as he struggled to escape. "Of course, we had to be captured by an ignorant kid story character! They're relentless and never listen!"
"Why don't you use your fire?" Amity asked.
"Oh yes, because fire in a library is such a great idea," Flint said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Amity winced. Yeah, probably not. She then rested her head against the book with a sigh. "Of all the ways to go out, this is definitely an odd one."
"Well, at least you aren't gonna be alone." Flint pointed out.
Amity snorted. "And here I thought I'd have a fate special only to me."
"Hey!"
The three looked at the entrance to see Luz standing at the entrance.
"You want another friend? I'll be your friend! But you gotta catch me first!" Luz said, running away after.
Otabin snarled with an almost sadistic smile. "A friend you'll be all the same, so I will play your little game!" Otabin declared, charging after her and out of the Kid's Corner.
Flint and Amity just resigned themselves. No matter what they did it wasn't working, so the two just sat in silence for a moment.
"Hey, I…I never meant for any of that to happen." Flint apologized.
Amity sighed. "Well, I doubt either of us could've predicted being trapped by a storybook character brought to life."
"No, not that." Flint denied, causing Amity to look at him in confusion as he pursed his lips. "I meant back during our duel."
Amity frowned at that. "Oh, right. That."
"It's just…Luz and I have always been called freaks our whole life. We've gotten in trouble for things they'd call us that many times. For Luz, it was just because of how weird she was, but for me, it was because of how unhealthy I looked back then combined with being her friend. So when I was losing, and given what was on the line, I lost control. I hurt you because of it. And for that…I'm so sorry." Flint said sadly.
Amity listened to him, mulling over his words and sighing. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have acted the way I did with you guys. I guess I kind of deserved it." Amity also apologized. "So, wanna start over?"
Flint chuckled. "I'd shake your hand, but trying to do that right now would be weird."
Amity giggled, remembering how each of them had an arm stuck and the others were far away from each other. "I guess you're right. Funny how certain death will bring people closer together."
"I know right?"
Flint and Amity blinked, turning to the source of the voice to see Luz standing before them.
"Luz!" The two exclaimed.
Luz frantically shushed them. "Shhhh! He doesn't know I'm here!"
"Wait, but I thought he was chasing you." Amity pointed out in confusion.
Luz chuckled. "Let's just say we got a little tricky."
Amity looked on with confusion. "'We'?"
Flint gasped before turning to Luz with a smile. "Of course! He wasn't chasing you!"
At the same time, 'Luz' was running from Otabin with a mischievous grin on her face as she evaded Otabin's attempts to grab her, a familiar bushy tail sprouting from her posterior.
"You believe yourself so clever, but you cannot run forever!" Otabin declared, continuing to chase her.
'Luz' let out another snicker as she evaded another swipe.
"How did he even get like that anyway?" Amity asked.
Flint snapped the fingers on his right hand. "Edric must've gone and drawn in the book after we left here earlier, it changes them." Flint realized.
"So if we erase the change-" Luz began.
"-then he should go back to normal!" All three of them said together.
"Then get us out of here!" Amity demanded.
Luz took out a blank page of Amity's diary and wrote 'a pair of scissors' on the page. Suddenly, a pair of scissors appeared in her hands and she used them to cut the thread holding the two to the page.
Flint was undone first and landed on his feet, and soon after Amity followed, stumbling off as Flint raised his arms, catching her in a princess carry.
The two blushed a bit as they realized their current positioning, with Flint wordlessly putting her down as Amity thanked him under her breath.
"One problem, the book is on his chest." Amity pointed out.
Flint pulled out an eraser and handed it to Luz. "Then you and I will hold him down while Luz erases the changes."
The two girls nodded. "Right."
Zorua was starting to get tired. She used Agility to increase her speed, but she was now really struggling to keep this guy busy. What was taking them so long?!
Otabin found an opening and slammed her against the ground, bursting her disguise as he looked on in confusion.
"Huh?" Otabin questioned.
"ARGH!"
Otabin turned to the source only to get slammed to the ground by Flint and Amity, who were holding him down with ease.
"Now Luz!" They both yelled, as Luz came out from behind the nearby bookshelf and jumped onto Otabin, finding Edric's drawing and erasing it. Absently, Luz questioned how he became like this just by adding giant eyebrows to him.
Immediately, Otabin returns to normal, and Luz catches Otabin before placing him on his feet. Amity walks over and picks him up.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me," Otabin apologized.
Amity gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's okay. We're still friends." Amity nodded to Luz, who proceeded to close the book. Otabin disappears, making Amity look sad.
"Thank you!" A new, girlish voice could be heard as the three turned to the very tired Zorua plopped on the ground.
"I was getting really tired from all that running," Zorua said in perfect English as Flint looked on in confusion. [Voice like Tara Strong, more specifically as Sari Sumdac in Transformers Animated]
Flint shook his head. "You know what? This night has been weird enough as is. Let's get this place cleaned up."
Hours later, it was now morning as the four left the library, with Zorua perched on Flint's shoulder once more as he held the Zorua picture in his hand.
"Good idea again Flint, using the page to temporarily give you guys super strength to hold him down." Luz complimented.
"Thanks, but nice going yourself by writing on the Zorua pic." Flint complimented back.
Turns out, Luz had written 'can speak English' at the bottom of the Zorua picture while she and Zorua planned, which is how the Zorua could now talk.
"It's fun being able to talk!" Zorua said cheerfully.
Luz turned to Amity. "Thanks for helping clean up."
Amity simply walked past her. "This never happened."
"Wait," Luz called out, getting Amity to stop as she turned back to look at Luz. "It doesn't make up for reading your diary but would you wanna borrow this?" Luz pulled out the fifth Azura book. "I noticed you only had up to four."
Amity took the book into her hands with a hint of a smile. "Thank you." She said genuinely. She began to walk away again before stopping to turn back to the humans. "I…know I haven't exactly been the friendliest witch. I'll think on that." Amity then turned to face Flint directly. "I know I told Luz to thank you for me back then, but thank you for what you did back at the Covention," Amity said.
Flint flashed her a smile as she turned, walking away. He looked over at the Zorua perched on a shoulder and sighed, pulling out the picture and his sketchbook. "Well, I guess it's time for you to go. It was fun while it lasted." Flint said.
Zorua gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, it was."
Flint put the picture in and clipped it to the page before closing the book.
…
…
…
Hold on…why was she still there?
All three of them blinked in confusion. Flint looked at the book and repeatedly opened and closed the book.
"Let me try." Luz offered, taking the book from him and doing the same, to no avail. Even the Zorua tried it, only for nothing to happen.
"I don't get it. This is how it worked with the others, why isn't it working now?" Luz questioned.
Flint scratched his head as he began to think back to the book he'd read earlier that day. He felt like he was forgetting something-wait a minute!
"Hang on. When I was reading about the Wailing Star earlier, I think I saw something about this. It said that if a book isn't closed before the sun fully rises, they…become…permanent…" Flint trailed off, causing both humans to look at the now-real Pokémon.
Flint was practically vibrating with excitement as Luz sighed. "How are we going to explain this to Eda?" She asked, for once speaking as the rational one of the two.
Non-Canon Omake:
"Wait," Luz called out, getting Amity to stop as she turned back to look at Luz. "It doesn't make up for reading your diary but would you wanna borrow this?" Luz pulled out the fifth Azura book. "I noticed you only had up to four."
Flint rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease. You should try reading through my version, I translated it to remove most of the flowery language for easier reading."
Luz pinched the bridge of her nose. "Flint, no."
Flint threw his arms up into the air, causing Zorua to flail and fall to the ground. "WHY NOT?! Sorry Zorua." Flint yelled before apologizing to the fox.
"I thought we already went over this before the Covention. It's the name!" Luz exclaimed.
"You still refuse to tell me why though?! Seriously, what's wrong with 'The Good Witch Azura: Deflowered Edition'?"
Amity blinked slowly as the words registered in her mind. Amity turned to Luz with a raised brow. "Is that really what he calls it?"
Luz sighed. "Yep."
Amity took a deep breath, took the book from Luz, and walked away. She was too tired for this shit.
Zorua tilted her head in confusion. "What does it mean for Azura to be deflowered?" Zorua asked innocently.
Flint's pupils shrank, as though he came to a realization. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…I think I get it now."
"Oh for the love of-IT'S ABOUT F***ING TIME!" Luz screamed.
"Almost literally, given the subject of-"
Flint was interrupted by Luz grabbing him by the neck and choking. It's official. She needed to kill him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone