章 19: Chapter 19: I-Aye, Captain!
In the center of the Owl House living room was an assortment of gloves lying in piles beside the couch. One pile consisted of sigil-branding gloves and was much larger, another only had nine gloves in it and the gloves were far thinner and resembled Glyph Grafters, and the third seemed to consist of cloth matching the sigil-branding gloves in the shape of a square. A hooded figure could be seen with shadows cast over them as a sigil-branding glove hovered in the air between their hands. Scarlet energy surrounded the figure's hands and formed a spherical barrier around the glove, as the figure chanted under their breath.
"Reverse the curse and that seals the soul. Transform this garment into my desire. Invoke the user's will and cast your power!"
When the chant was done, the glove was bathed in an orange glow. It shined brightly as the glove in the center began to mold like liquid before splitting in half. One half resolidified into the shape of a smaller glove, while the other dripped through the barrier and fell onto the pile of excess cloth, solidifying into another square of it.
The bubble around the transformed glove dissipated to reveal another glove similar to a Glyph Grafter. The glove landed in the figure's hands as they proceeded to put it on. Shortly after, a fire glyph came to life on either side of the hand, bathing it in fire before being quickly extinguished. The figure then placed the glove in the pile with its brethren.
"Aaaaaaaand done!" A voice rang out as the figure slumped back into the couch, pulling their hood down to reveal an out-of-breath Flint.
A white raven flew over and lifted one of the Glyph Grafters from the ground before bringing it over to Lilith, who inspected it as she was now sporting a gray low-battery shirt. "It still baffles me how you were able to make these. Mind you, it is impressive, but I would've never thought of enchanting them to do the opposite of what their initial purpose was," Lilith said as she pets her palisman, Tart, who landed on the armrest. "Though I must ask, did you really have to have the hood on for that?"1
Flint huffed out a quick chuckle. "Hey, Eda made this hood for my jacket and for Titan's sake I'm going to use it."
It had been a week and a half since the portal had been destroyed. During that time, Eda made a hood from witch's wool that was now stitched onto Flint's jacket, not unlike Luz's hooded shirt. There was a bit of a funny moment where they realized Eda had accidentally put the hood on backward, but that was an easy fix. Luckily, items made of witch's wool could also change color if they were attached to another article of clothing so the colors would match. Now his jacket sported a red-orange hood on his jacket that resembled Raven's from Teen Titans.
He definitely didn't say her signature 'Azerath Metrion Zinthos' after putting it on for the first time. Nope. Not at all…okay, maybe once. He might have also pulled an Assassin's Creed off the top of the house, bird cries and all.
Flint groaned. "Making those things is a bit tiring. It feels like I just did a 100m sprint at least."
Lilith smiled. "With a spell like that, it makes sense. Those sigil-branding gloves are supposed to be veryintricate. To alter them in such a way requires a lot of precision."
Flint chuckled. "Yeah. Hopefully, my other project will go by much easier."
"What kind of project?" Lilith asked curiously.
"I was thinking about seeing if I could make a kind of sigil remover. Partly just so I can test myself, and the other part because those brands give me some seriously bad vibes," Flint explained.
"Well, if you need someone to help test it…" Lilith trailed off, but not before gesturing to her wrist adorned with the Emperor's Coven sigil.
During the time Lilith had begun living with them, Flint and Lilith had managed to get on semi-decent terms. He still wasn't the biggest fan of Lilith since learning about her fault for Eda's curse, but after some time to calm down after everything, he at least was able to come to an understanding with her. Something about seeing her meltdown back in the human realm made him admittedly sympathize with her a bit. He…wasn't quite sure why he sympathized with her, but he did. He simply couldn't bring himself to outright hate her anymore.
It also probably helped that she was doing what she could to teach him things about magic, as well as her research into his connection to the Isles. She hadn't made much headway in that department, but given her knack for history, it would hopefully be just a matter of time before they made some progress.
Flint shrugged. "Luz should be back soon with that 'Garlog' guy. After she gets back we can load up and head out to the market to collect those bounties." Flint said, getting up and stretching before casting a spell to put all three piles around him away.
The front door opens to Luz and King. "I'm home," Luz said neutrally as she held the Owl Staff in her left hand and…
Flint blinked in confusion. "Did you manage to like, shrink Garlog before putting him in there? Because he looks kind of small."
Luz looked unamused as she held Garlog in a glass bottle, her bounty being a small figure. "No. He was already this size when I found him."
"How did you get him in there? The opening is far too small." Lilith asked.
Luz just shot them a half-lidded look as she gestured to the Owl Staff before heading upstairs.
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Lilith admitted a moment after Luz had left.
Flint gave Lilith a two-finger wave as he turned to the stairs. "Let Eda know we're about ready to take all them out to the market for me, will you?" Flint requested as he headed up the stairs.
"Okay." Flint heard Lilith say softly as he went up the stairs. Was he still somewhat treating her like an errand girl? Yes. Did she deserve it? Yes.
When Flint got to his and Luz's room, he could hear her recording a message, likely another one for her mother Camila.
"-week and a half since I destroyed the portal home. I had to. Emperor Belos was planning something bad with it, and we couldn't let him get to Earth, so I blew it up with some fire magic." Luz said as he was approaching. "She's not gonna understand any of this. That's okay, Luz. Just keep moving forward," Flint heard her mutter to herself.
Flint decided to make his presence known by knocking on the doorframe before standing in the doorway. "Yeah, it would be a lot to take in for someone not in the know," Flint said as he walked up to her, planting a quick peck on her forehead before electing to stand behind her.
"Flint," Luz whined while blushing. She was still trying to get used to his random acts of affection. Luz snapped herself out of it. "Hey, check this out! Flint's barely had any issues with his health since we got here." Luz said excitedly, gesturing to Flint as he waved to the camera with a toothy smile, showing off his lengthened canines. "Outside of a few moments, particularly when he got sucked by a Basilisk- I mean- his magic got stolen by a Basilisk!" Luz corrected quickly after the strange looks she got from Flint and Garlog.
"What naughty words my Starlight.~" Flint smirked.
Luz blushed. "Shut up! You aren't helping after that entrance of yours!" Luz said to him, only partially angry.
"You know you liked it," Flint said smugly.
Luz huffed, crossing her arms as she turned away from him with her eyes closed. "It also doesn't help how the phrasing is in Maddie's romance novels and hen-" Luz's eyes opened as her pupils shrank. "I should not have said that," Luz said with a haunted look, remembering that she was being recorded.
Luz shook her head to snap back into gear. "Anyway, surprise! Flint and I are a couple now!" Luz said nervously. She didn't think either of their mothers would disprove of them, but it was still a completely reasonable fear.
"Good for you," Garlog congratulated them from his glass prison.
"Anyway, this world is filled with inexplicable magical wonders, like this portal key!" Luz said, reaching into Flint's shirt and showing it off. "I don't know if it contains magic, but I'm gonna study all I can, and find a way back to you," Luz said as Flint swatted her hand away and tucked the key back under his shirt. "A-And don't worry, we aren't alone! Here, let me find King real quick!" Luz said semi-excitedly, as she ran out of the room with her phone.
"Wow…she has a lot of energy," Garlog pointed out a few moments after Luz had left the room.
"You have no idea," Flint remarked, casting a quick spell to reshape Garlog's bottle prison into a cube with air holes before following Luz downstairs.
When he got downstairs, he was met with Luz showing off King in the living room. "This is King, and ain't he the cutest little thing?" Luz said in a babying voice, as King looked unamused.
"I would try to deny that, but it's never worked," King said neutrally, accepting his fate.
"Barring the time she messed with me, I'd personally like to see Trixx again," Lilith murmured as she watched Luz be…Luz. Lilith actually did find the Zorua quite interesting and cute, even if she now knew it had been Trixx who had messed with her and Steve that one day. Lilith hoped Steve was doing well, not that she'd ever admit to thinking his odd mannerisms were entertaining.
"Oh yeah! Speaking of cute companions, you're not gonna believe this, but we have a real-life Pokémon! She's a Zorua that came to life thanks to some weird comet magic. Apparently, she decided to go off on her own for a while though." Luz said as she let King back to the ground.
Luz then brought Lilith into the frame, causing the woman to wave stiffly. "This is Lilith, she's the sister of the one who we've been learning magic from! We still don't trust her the most, given she did permanently curse her sister when they were in school and kinda threatened our lives." Lilith face-faulted at that information being brought up. "But hey, she betrayed the Emperor for us, so that's gotta count for something!" Luz continued without a beat.
Luz then ran off to the kitchen as Lilith lay on the couch, face down. "What did I do to deserve this?" Lilith said, muffled by the cushion.
Flint and King both raised a hand, about to say something. Lilith, without bringing her head up, held her hand out in a stopping gesture to the boy. "Don't answer that," Flint and King proceeded to lower their hands.
Flint heard something shatter from the kitchen and went in to investigate, only to see apple blood covering the surroundings, which included Eda's face.
After a beat of silence, Luz continued recording with a shy laugh. "Yeah…the curse kind of weakened her magic."
"You were trying to show off for the camera, weren't you?" Flint asked bluntly, already knowing the answer.
"No…maybe…yes." Eda finally admitted, slurping up what she could from her face to not waste the spilled apple blood.
"Unfortunately without the portal, Eda's supply of human garbage to sell has become severely…limited. We've resorted to taking some odd jobs in order to put food on the table. Luz's options are a bit limited given she can't digest everything around, but thankfully I've been able to work some of my cooking skills so it will manage better." Flint narrated for the video before turning to Eda. "We're all ready to head out whenever you are," Flint told her.
Eda nodded as she took a towel to her face to wipe it off. "Alright, let's get those guys turned in and cash the reward," Eda said, exiting the room to grab the cart.
"This week we're bounty hunters. Next week we could be anything. So, Mom, please don't be scared. I'm growing more and more every day, and I'm gonna do my best to become a full-fledged witch and get home to you safe and sound. Te quiero, Mama. Te lo prometo, regresaré a casa pronto." Luz said, before ending the recording. The recording buffers in her messages for a moment, but fails to send due to the obvious multi-dimensional barrier separating the worlds.
Flint sees her frown and rubs her shoulder. "We'll find our way back before then, don't worry."
Luz's frown didn't fade though. "Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it," Luz responded, shrugging his hand off before heading back up the stairs.
"I don't," Flint said under his breath as he watched her leave the room.
Eda, Luz, and Flint had split off from King and Lilith momentarily and were currently standing before a giant statue of Emperor Belos, depicting his appearance at the end of their fight. It depicted the same cracks around his right eye and was missing most of his left horn. All around the market streets of Bonesborough were Emperor's Coven guards.
Flint stared upward with his hood on, unamused at what was in front of him as the statue's shadow was cast over the group.
"If he jerks himself off anymore, he's gonna rip his dick off," Flint said bluntly.
"Flint!" Luz chastised.
Flint shrugged. "Hey, I'm just saying it as it is."
"As much as I agree with you Fireboy, I did not need to have that image in my head." Eda groaned, for once wishing Flint hadn't insulted Belos.
Flint continued staring at the statue intensely.
"Flint, no," Luz said, knowing what he was planning.
"No what?" Flint said with faux obliviousness.
"We both know what you're planning," Luz deadpanned.
"You can't tell me you don't wanna," Flint defended.
"That's not the point. We still need to turn in the bounties. We can't do that if you do what I know you're going to do." Luz stated.
"…Fine," Flint whined, turning away from the statue.
Eda hauled the bag of bounties over her shoulder as they walked away from the statue. "Believe me Fireboy, I understand the feeling all too well."
"Man, ever since the petrification ceremony, the Emperor's been really taking over," Luz said, glancing back at the worthless waste of stone.
"Thanks to Flint putting up such a fight, it almost seems like he's paranoid. He's going for a power play, trying to remind everyone who is in charge. Though it's making it hard for me to stay civil," Eda pointed out as the group came up to a demon decked out in Emperor's Coven apparel, who was promptly kicked over by Eda.
They reached a booth reading 'BOUNTY' across the top as Eda placed the bag of captured demons on a scale. Eda taps her foot impatiently, Luz leans over the counter and Flint stands behind Eda to keep watch of their surroundings. After a bit, the shopkeeper reads the scale before turning back to the group.
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue before pulling out a coin from his cloak and holding it up to them with his claws. "Tsk. Your payment."
Eda's eye twitched. "A single snail? Are you kidding me?!" Eda said offendedly.
The shopkeeper laughs mockingly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't done yet," he said, before taking his claws and snapping the coin in half.
"You can't do this to me. Do you know who I am?!" Eda growled as many of the surrounding market-goers looked on curiously.
"Yeah, you're Eda the Owl Lady. What are you gonna do? We all know you're powerless now." The shopkeeper stated, unafraid of the woman.
Eda continues to growl, tracing a large spell circle only for it to disintegrate, much to her annoyance. "Ah! What the-"
The townspeople around began to murmur at the awkward attempt, which only served to anger her further.
Luz glared at the shopkeeper, summoning a fireball in her hand. "You'd better pay us properly," Luz said threateningly.
The shopkeeper laughed. "Ha! Look girlie, you don't scare me."
CAAAAWWW!
FWOOOOSSHH
The shopkeeper jolted as scarlet flames erupted in the form of a brilliant blazing bird that towered over the stand from behind Eda. The woman blinked as Luz turned to the source, both of them grinning wickedly as they parted, revealing the hooded Flint. His pupils glowed scarlet as his lavender irises shined from beneath his hood, and the phoenix avatar behind him matched his glare toward the shopkeeper. The boy said nothing as he walked up to the stand, everyone around shaking a bit at the power on display.
"For your own safety, I would suggest listening to my friend here," Flint said with a low voice.
The shopkeeper sweated nervously. "G-g-guards!" The shopkeeper called out desperately, getting the attention of a few Emperor's Coven guards that were around.
One of them pointed at them, preparing to trace a spell circle. "Hey! You're disrupting the-"
The guard never finished his sentence, as the fiery avatar screeched, turning toward the guard and slamming him to the ground under its claws. It lowered its head into the guard's face and screeched point blank, as all the other guards didn't dare try to attack, and the townspeople looked on cautiously. Throughout the whole ordeal, Flint's unblinking gaze never left the shopkeeper.
"I went toe-to-toe with Belos himself. If you thought that you or a few guards would stand a chance, then you're a fool. Now, let's try this again. You are going to give us our reward for the bounties we collected, and because I'm feeling generous, I'm not going to make you pay us more as punishment for trying to rip us off." Flint stated, his voice as cold as his flames were hot.
The shopkeeper nodded his head frantically. "Okay, fine! I give up! Whatever you want!" The shopkeeper said quickly.
Flint grinned wickedly. "And one more thing. You need to spread the word around to all of the other merchants. Tell 'em that any trader who messes with any of the Owl Lady's companions will get totally covered in burn marks, if not worse." Flint threatened.
"Don't worry. I'll tell everybody." The shopkeeper promised fearfully, as he pulled out the proper amount of snails in a pouch and handed them over.
Flint's grin grew ear-to-ear. "Pleasure doing business with you," Flint said with finality as he turned to the still-trapped guard, snapping his fingers as the phoenix dispersed.
The guard got up, his outfit now slightly singed as he looked back at Flint, whose eyes were still glowing beneath the hood.
"Boo."
The guard scrambled to his feet as he and his compatriots fled the scene. None of them were dumb enough to take on the boy.
With the guards gone, Flint's eyes returned to normal (pupils black and overall not glowing) as he stretched his neck, getting it to pop a few times. "I always kind of wanted to do that," Flint said casually.
"And to think, you didn't even need a bunch of balloons and a shield," Luz remarked.
Before Eda could question what that meant, Lilith and King walked up to them.
Lilith laughed. "Don't worry, sister. At least two of us' image can command respect and-"
Before she could finish her sentence and pose with her recruitment poster behind her, a garbageman shoots a flamethrower at the poster, promptly destroying it.
Eda looked at her sister with a raised brow and a smirk. "You were saying?" Eda taunted.
Lilith sighed. "If I'm being honest, I'm more surprised it wasn't taken down sooner."
After a moment, three new Coven recruitment posters featuring the Golden Guard flew onto the wall as Lilith glared at them, letting out a sound of disgust.
"Of course it's him." Lilith sneered.
Luz pulled off one of the posters and looked at it. "So, Lilith, got anything on Goldie?"
"Unfortunately, I do." Lilith groaned, taking the poster from Luz. "He always gotten special treatment because he was the 'genius teen prodigy'," Lilith explained with a sneer. "But he's really just a brat. If he's in charge...vomit." Lilith finished, crumbling up the poster and throwing it toward a trashcan.
Unfortunately for Lilith, it stops right before entering, hovering mid-air before flying back and attaching to Lilith's face. She tries to rip it off to no avail. She sighs, giving up and crossing her arms before stalking off.
Eda sighs as Flint hands her the bag of snails. "Well, at least we got what we came for. I hate not having my magic. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you're here to intimidate everyone, but it's not the same. I was feared for my power, but now? I can't even cast a single spell." Eda said a bit sadly.
King spoke up. "I'm sure Flint and Luz will find a cure. I mean, look at all they've done so-"
Eda put a hand up, silencing him. "King, just…just don't. You know more than anyone that I hear enough of that from my mom." Eda said softly before walking off.
King watched Eda walk away with a frown. Seeing this, Flint picks him up and places him on his right shoulder. "It's not your fault bud," Flint told him, scratching his chin to cheer the little guy up a bit.
Luz cupped her chin in thought. "Hmm. Maybe Eda just needs a confidence boost. I bet if we take on the biggest bounty we can find, Eda will get her groove back! Come on, let's go check the board!" Luz ushered them to the nearby bulletin board with a variety of different posters plastered on it.
Luz scratched her chin in thought as she inspected the ones present. "Hmm. Lost Cerberus, no. Witch cackling lessons?" Luz questioned.
"Why is that even a thing?" Flint asked confusedly.
Something caught Luz's eye. "Aha!" Luz exclaimed triumphantly, taking a poster down and showing it to Flint and King. "There's something called a 'Selkidomus' ravaging boats up and down the coast. Sounds like a high-seas adventure." Luz said with a smile.
Flint scratched his head with a furrowed brow. "Weird. From what I remember in our beast-keeping class textbooks, I thought they were peaceful creatures. There was something I remember them getting violent about, but I'm drawing a blank on what that is." Flint said.
Luz hummed in thought. "That is weird," Luz said as she looked at the board again and noticed one in particular. "Wait, the Abominable Cutie Pie is real?" Luz asked.
"Oh yeah," King said before looking around. "Hang on, I could've sworn I- AHA! There he is!" King said triumphantly, pointing into the crowd to the aforementioned bounty, holding a lollipop in his hand as he stood between two Hexside students.
The demon giggles; running off and climbing the statue of Emperor Belos Flint wanted to destroy. "You'll never catch me!"
Flint picked King up from his shoulder and placed him on Luz's head. "You two have fun with that, I'm gonna go ask Eda about the Selkidomus bounty," Flint said, walking off to do that.
He walked up to Eda and Lilith at their cart nearby, the latter of the two still with the poster stuck to her face and sitting in the front with the reins in hand.
"Yo, we looked and the bounty board and saw the highest one was for a 'Selkidomus' apparently. Worth a million snails too." Flint said.
Lilith said something from under the poster, but it was too muffled for Flint to understand. He snapped his fingers to make a flame at the end of his index finger, akin to a lighter, and put it against the corner of the poster. The poster turned to ash in an instant and left some soot splotches on Lilith's face.
Lilith coughed a bit before repeating what she'd just said. "The Selkidomus are peaceful creatures though. Why is there a bounty on one?" Lilith asked, confused.
Eda shrugged. "Beats me." Eda then sighed. "Look, I'll be honest with you two, things aren't looking too great right now. Even with your threats ensuring we get paid right, our funds are still really low." Eda admitted.
"Why not have Luz go after some bigger bounties? She's quite capable in a fight on her own." Lilith asked. Flint couldn't help but agree with her on that, especially since she was getting used to wielding the Owl Staff since the curse puts a strain on any palisman the Clawthorne sisters use.
"I'm sure Luz could handle bigger bounties, but if we wanna eat we don't have the luxury to mess up even once. I…can't bear the thought of something happening to either of you because I underestimated the bounty or overestimated you." Eda said, pursing her lips. "If it weren't for me, you'd be safe in the Human Realm."
"Did you not get your usual dose of apple blood this morning?" Flint asked after a moment. She seemed a lot less carefree than usual.
Eda shook her head as she hopped up on the cart next to Lilith. "I didn't. I'm trying to get out of that habit; need to save the money for things like griffin eggs and stuff for you and Luz. I know your stomach can handle most Demon Realm foods, but there's not a lot Luz can digest here, so I make sure to have your guys' favorites around." Eda said. "We'll see you back at the house kid, just try not to cause too much trouble," Eda said as the sisters headed off.
Flint frowned as he watched them leave, turning to Luz and King, who must've climbed up the Belos statue, as they jumped to the ground. Flint walked over to them. "You heard, didn't you?"
Luz pursed her lips, giving Flint his answer. "Eda wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me. All I ever seem to do is cause trouble for everyone around me. Maybe it would be better if I never came here." Luz said sadly as she looked down at her hands.
Flint's frown deepened before he took her left hand into his right and gave it a light squeeze. "Hey, you know I don't like when you beat yourself up stuff like this. You aren't a burden." Flint reassured.
Luz sighed. "I feel like one though. I just want to prove myself, you know? Come on, let's go see if we can get in with the hunt."
Luz let go of his hand as they all walked to the Bonesborough Dock, finding the one leading the hunt, a crustacean-like demon, Captain Salty. They went up to him and Luz slammed the Selkidomus's wanted poster onto a barrel in front of him.
"The Selkidomus hunt. We want in," Luz said as the ship's horn blew.
Salty glanced between the three. "Are ye wanting your own cuts?"
"We'll share one," Flint stated.
Salty hummed at that. No scales off his back, it meant he'd get a larger cut after all. He then turned to Luz specifically. "I watched the petrification ceremony, I know yer fiery friend there can handle himself. But what about you, squirt?" Salty asked.
Luz gained a determined look. "I can handle anything. Bring it."
Salty hummed in acknowledgment, handing each of them a blue bandana. "Welcome aboard."
A while later, Luz could be seen in a sailor outfit with King on her shoulder as they looked into the distance.
"When we defeat the Selkidomus and get a boatload of snails, Eda won't have to worry about money for a long time," Luz said confidently.
"King want a cracker!" King said.
"All hands!" Slaty called out, getting their attention as Luz joined the rest of the crew in a line in front of Salty.
"All right, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline. It was last seen in the Simmering Shoals. You know the drill, 'Snag the quarry-'" Slaty began, before dropping a large sack of onto the deck. "'-get the money galore-y.' We all do the work, we all get a cut." Salty finished, eliciting cheers from the crew.
They all cheered, as one sailor resembling a fish said "I have many debts!" with far too much enthusiasm.
"Till then, keep everything shipshape. This ain't no-" Salty paused, realizing someone was missing before turning to Luz. "Oi, where's your mate? The boy with the fire?"
"Up here."
Everyone turned to the source to see Flint's silhouette leaning along the edge of the middle chimney. Flint jumped down as fire circled him, replacing his outfit with a new one. His outfit now resembled Team Aqua Leader Archie's ORAS design, the only difference being the lack of the gold chain and belt.
"I always wanted an opportunity to wear this. Until now, I didn't have the physique for it," Flint said with a grin as he landed next to Luz, his outfit causing the girl to struggle to keep herself from staring at his exposed chest, now toned with lean muscle instead of the almost Steve Rogers pre-Super Soldier serum look he once had.
"All right." Salty acknowledged, turning to Luz. "Don't be a burden, sea squirt," Salty said.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about us," Luz said with a smile.
Salty led the three over to the bow of the ship. "Alright, yer first duty will be to scape off the barnacles. Here's some scrapers." Salty said, offering them both a scraper.
Luz smirks and waves it off. "No thanks, I've got my own way," Luz said with a smile. The backs of her hands glowed with plant glyphs as vines wrapped around her to make a harness of vines. The vines latch to the ship and she descends the side of the ship. The barnacles hiss at her, only for her to hiss back, throwing her palms forward as a barrage of ice spikes shoot out and latch to a bunch of barnacles. She summons more vines and they proceed to rip the barnacles off in groups.
Salty turns to Flint as he just smirks, jumping off the other side of the ship and alarming him. Salty runs up to the side only to find Flint flying along with fiery wings, firing fiery chains out that stab into a similar amount at a time, the heat being too much for them to handle as they shrivel and fall off the ship harmlessly.
Later, Salty leads Luz to the bellows of the ship, where he shovels some coal into the furnace. He offers her the shovel, but she declines again, holding her hands up with a condensed fireball floating in the space between, only the size of a coin. She walks up and pushes the ball in, quickly closing it and ushering it away as the boat lurches forward from the power of the flames. After a bit, Salty is surprised that their surge of power is still going, only for King to point at Flint nearby, who is sitting cross-legged with his eye sockets glowing scarlet. Salty realized that Flint was fueling the fire with his own magic by forcing it to still be lit, eliciting a nod of approval.
A little while later, the crew can be seen clapping in rhythm with Luz dancing, and Flint singing.
"-The Wellerman makes his regular call to encourage the captain, crew and all!" Flint said before turning to them and prompting the rest of the crew.
"Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go!" Flint and the crew chanted, the crew all having a great time.
Luz turns around revealing she just has a large bug on her back that she was trying to remove the whole time. Sick of this, her gloves light with plant glyphs as vines wrap around the bug, before she cracks the vine like a whip, sending the bug flying into the distance past King, who was eating a cracker beside a bunch of birds.
The crew laughs as Salty came up to the two and slaps them both on the back with a smile. "Ha ha! You scallywags made me confront my own biases and I got nothing but respect for both of ye now. Ye be real sailors as far as I'm concerned." Salty chuckled heartily before turning to Flint. "And nice shanty lad."
"Thanks, Salty. I've had a great time! You make me feel like a real part of the crew," Luz thanked him.
"Well, that's because you…arghhhh," Salty said jovially, getting a cheer from the crew, and booing from King.
Flint rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Wow, not hard to sea what you did there."
The crew laughed as Luz snorted, shaking her head fondly at her boyfriend's dorky antics.
King groaned at Flint joining in on the sea puns as one of the birds next to him managed to grab it.
"Hey, that's mine, you feather duster!" King demanded.
Unfortunately, the ship hits a large wave, causing him to be launched into the captain's quarters with the doors closing behind him.
Flint saw this happen and shrugged. 'Eh, I'm sure he's fine.'
Soon enough, Salty's ship goes beneath some clouds as they enter darker waters, and Salty himself can be seen looking through a telescope.
"We're here. The Simmering Shoals. Eyes peeled, mates." Salty warns, looking around warily.
The ship passes a burning ship, and some of the sailors take their hats off to pay respect to the fallen. Salty arrives at their side and peers over the edge as well, focusing intently on the water specifically.
"She's close," Salty identified.
Suddenly the ship wavers, as something struck the side.
"She's here!" Luz called out.
Dorsal fins erupt from the nearby water as a large creature roughly a third, if not half, the length of the ship swam by with some kind of plant life noticeable on its back.
The sailors throw harpoons at it, but the Selkidomus jumps out of the water with her belly facing them, shooting off pufferfish-like spikes from her underside that force the sailors to duck. One clam-headed sailor got beheaded, but his body just picked the head back up and put it on. The entire time, Flint watches carefully, only moving his head slightly to the side the moment before one of the spikes could hit him.
Luz jumps onto the rail and outstretches her hand, ice glyphs locked and loaded on her palms. She fires off ice spells the erects a barrier that forces the Selkidomus to change course before she fires another off in the beast's path. As the Selkidomus crashes into the ice, Luz takes advantage of the opportunity as her palms change to plant glyphs, shooting vines out that snare the Selkidomus, and she begins pulling. corners the Selkidomus with ice pillars then wraps it in vines. She starts pulling it onto the ship.
The vines extend like a rope as Salty orders the rest of the crew to help pull the beast aboard, but Flint is still just watching, deep in thought.
Luz ties the vine onto the ship and throws her arms up triumphantly. "I did it!"
Not a second later, there is an explosion on the deck, causing Luz to fall back. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Selkidomus breaks free and swims away.
Luz looks toward the smoke, seeing a silhouette of someone carrying a large bag, the bag clanking as it is revealed to be the bag of snails.
"Is that a-a ghost pirate?" Salty says in fear.
Luz gasps as she realizes what's going on. "The money! We're being robbed!"
The mysterious thief then jumps off the ship. Luz and Flint run over to the edge to see the thief on a speedboat, heading to a nearby island in the distance.
The couple turned to each other and nodded. Luz jumped off the side of the boat as Flint dived after her, summoning his fire wings as the two locked arms. This leaves Luz hanging suspended above the boiling waters while Flint flies in pursuit of the thief with Luz in tow.
They barely managed to hear Salty laugh as they flew. "Show that specter what for, you two!"
The two close in on the shore as they see the thief standing near their speedboat.
"Drop me like I'm hot," Luz said with a determined look.
Flint snorted. "You're always hot," Flint said with a sly look.
"Sweet talk later. Throw, now." Luz said, not letting herself get distracted from their target.
The two dive closer and Flint winds up, spinning her around once. "Let 'em have it!" Flint declared, launching her at the apex of the throw, causing her to collide with the thief, forcing them to drop the bag
The ice has melted to barely support her feet. She loses her balance and is sent flying, colliding with the thief who drops the money at the shore. The bag opens and unfortunately, a wave crashes over it, washing it away.
"The money!" Luz and the thief exclaimed.
Luz then paused for a moment as the thief's voice registered in her mind. They sounded very familiar. 'Wait a minute. I know that voice.' Luz thought as the thief averted from Luz's suspicious gaze. Luz walked up and knocked the figure's hat off to reveal-
"Eda?!" Luz exclaimed in disbelief.
Eda just chuckled sheepishly. "Hey…"
Flint landed in front of them with the sea to his back, noticing Eda and facepalming. "Of course, it'd be you."
"Why are you robbing our ship? And what happened to your legs?" Luz asked.
True enough, Eda was missing her legs. The woman snapped her fingers and suddenly her legs hopped out of her speed…bathtub? Flint was getting too desensitized by this world's oddities to even question it.
Anyway, Eda's legs hopped over and reattached themselves. "It's called 'disguising your tracks'," Eda remarked before standing up on her now reattached feet. "Now, why were you two on that ship to begin with? You coulda' gotten killed!" Eda asked worriedly.
Flint deadpanned. "I would've never let that-"
Before Flint could finish his sentence, a giant water fist rose from the sea, grabbing Flint and lifting him into the air with a yelp. Eda and Luz look on in worry at the sudden watery appendage.
"Flint!" they both exclaimed worriedly.
There was something that Luz noticed about the water though, which was that it was surrounded by a red glow. Luz's eyes narrowed. She knew that glow. "Wait, isn't that-"
Luz was cut off when another fist appeared with a new figure inside, slamming onto the beach and dispersing, revealing the Golden Guard. His body was steaming as he held a covered birdcage in his other hand.
"Don't worry, your deaths can still be arranged," Golden Guard said ominously.
"Oh great, Goldilocks is back," Flint said with a bored tone, still suspended in the air with his arms to his sides within the steaming hand.
Golden Guard took a deep breath. 'Let it go, Hunter. You have shit to do.' Golden Guard recited in his mind as he turned his attention to Luz and Eda. "Hello, criminals. What's about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do what I say."
"And why would we do that?" Luz asked.
"Well firstly, I have the only one of you who can do real magic trapped-"
"You don't know that!" Eda denied.
Golden Guard seemed to pause for a moment. "Wait, do you mean about the magic, or about having him trapped?" Golden Guard asked, genuinely curious.
Eda and Luz shared a glance before turning back to him. "Yes."
Golden Guard seemed to take that in as he turned to Flint, who looked…oddly unfazed at being held by boiling water.
"Shouldn't you like, be screaming in pain from the water?" Golden Guard asked, put off a bit by the boy's nonchalance.
Flint's response was a half-lidded look. "I can literally set myself on and turn into fire, which is a lot hotter than boiling water. Ever since I beat Jesus' respawn timer I've learned I'm now fireproof, so boiling water isn't gonna do much. Drying off isn't gonna be fun though." Flint deadpanned.
"...who's Jesus?" Golden Guard asked.
Luz raised her brow incredulously as she looked over at the Golden Guard. "Really? that's what you're focusing on?"
Golden Guard raised his hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm a curious guy."
Eda's brows furrowed in thought. "Hang on a minute, doesn't that mean you can get back that bag of snails that was swept away?"
Everyone stared in silence for a moment as they thought about it. Golden Guard lowered him into the water so he was floating above the surface without being restrained. Flint took a breath and planted his face in…only to immediately recoil.
"AH! SHIT! IT'S IN MY EYES! IT'S STILL SALT WATER!" Flint screamed, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get the salt out.
Everyone sweatdropped at Flint as he furiously attempted to stop the burning sensation in his eyes.
"Of course it is. Where did you think we get salt from? Honestly, just how backward of a world is Earth?" Golden Guard questioned disbelievingly.
Luz turned to Golden Guard in confusion. "Wait, how do you know it's called Earth?"
Golden Guard sweated under the mask, and not because of the heat from the Boiling Sea. "Um-I found a book once that talked about it!" Golden Guard said quickly before regaining his composure. "Side note, that has to be the lamest thing to call it, just for the record."
Eda snorted. "Oh yeah? Get this, they have names for other worlds and even their moons, yet they just call their moon 'The Moon'." Eda said, waving her arms for dramatic effect.
"Seriously?" Golden Guard said incredulously.
Flint finally got the salt out of his eyes and looked back, his eyes a bit red. "I mean, some stories will call it 'Terra' sometimes too. The moon thing though...is honestly kind of lame." Flint admitted before snapping his fingers, summoning a pair of scuba goggles on his face before taking a deep breath and diving below the water's surface.
Everyone just stood by and waited for a moment before the water seemed to split, revealing Flint as he walked up the path with the bag of snails hoisted over his right arm.
"Found it," Flint said, snapping his fingers on his left hand de-summoning his goggles, and turning back to the water. "Hey, look at that, I pulled a Moses."
"I don't know who that is either. Well, with that sorted out, if you'll be so kind as to give me back that bag, I can change the charge to attempted theft from one of the Emperor's ships as I arrest you all." Golden Guard gestured as he placed the birdcage on the ground and outstretched his hand expectantly to Flint.
Luz turned to Eda. "Emperor's ship'?"
Eda shrugged. "They're the only ones worth robbing. Well, outside of Blight Industries that is."
Flint repeatedly looked between the Golden Guard and the bag before eventually donning a devious smile. Flint then traced a spell circle, pocketing the bag away in his personal storage space.
"Not again." Golden Guard sighed as his shoulders slumped.
"Why did you think that'd go any differently this time?" Luz asked.
"A guy can hope, okay?" Golden Guard defended.
"Well, with that out of the way, what's it gonna be Goldilocks? You gonna stay here and get curb-stomped, given I was able to go toe-to-toe with your boss? Or are you going to leave and not lose another staff?" Flint asked.
Golden Guard held up his staff hand. "I don't think so." Golden Guard warned, holding up the bird cage and removing the shade, revealing King.
"Weh?" King cried in alarm.
Golden Guard pointed his staff at the cage and made the staff glow menacingly. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your bird, would you?"
Flint's glare promised death. "What do you want?" Flint demanded.
"You know what? I have a new idea. No one has to get arrested, as long as one of you follows those Selkidomus tracks and slays the beast." Golden Guard offered, pointing to the trail in the sand leading to a cave nearby.
"Why are you guys hunting the Selkidomus? It's a peaceful creature and you're provoking it!" Eda questioned.
Golden Guard shrugged. "The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."
"The same Emperor that literally killed me?" Flint questioned with barely-held contempt.
Golden Guard actually winced at that. "I-I'm sure he had a good reason for that. Besides, you got better." Golden Guard said sheepishly. Who he was trying to convince was the real question.
Flint was unamused by his response. "Oh yes, because having my neck snapped around so I can look at my own ass as I die felt so great," Flint said sarcastically.
[Not gonna lie, I surprised myself with that line. It's not wrong, but it's certainly an interesting way of putting it.]
"Look, just-! Just slay the Selkidomus, and you can have this guy back." Golden Guard said, gesturing to King in his cage. He turns to Luz, who gives him a sad look with a whine.
Golden Guard pinched the bridge of his mask. "Oh for Titan's- Just do it, please? Heck, you can even keep the bag of cash. It was gonna be the reward for the beast anyway, so you would've gotten part of it even if you hadn't tried to rob the ship," Golden Guard half-begged as he tried to reason with them. He didn't actually want to hurt Luz or Flint, especially not after the admittedly fun day he'd had hanging out with the latter. Plus, the Emperor emphasized that the Titan wanted Luz to still be alive too.
Flint scoffed, walking in an arc around the Golden Guard and linking up with Luz and Eda. "Fine. We'll get it done you Aurum Asshole."
Scratch that. He very much wanted to hurt Flint. Points for creativity though.
Flint and Luz quickly made their way toward the entrance of the cave, with Eda chasing after them frantically.
As they left, Golden Guard sighed. "Why must they make things so needlessly complicated?"
"Luz, Flint, don't hurt the Selkidomus. We can find another way out of this." Eda begged them as they reached a chasm with a decrepit ship in it.
"You heard what he said, Eda. If you and King want to be free...then I have to do this alone." Luz said as she climbed the mast of the ship, summoning a cutlass made of ice.
Flint frowned. "Alone?"
Eda was in the same boat (figuratively) as Flint. "Yeah, what's this 'alone' business? Don't you remember? Us weirdos have to-"
Luz turned back angrily. "What? Stick together?" Luz's tone caught the two off-guard. "Eda, because you stuck with me, you lost your magic. You almost got turned to stone, and now you even have to give up apple blood because you're worried about what I need to eat!" Luz said before turning to Flint. "And Flint, it's because of me and my stupid fantasies that got us here in the first place! I got us trapped here and-" Luz dragged her hands down the side of her head, grabbing stray strands of hair, as a growl reverberated through the cave from below them.
Flint spoke up. "Luz, I don't blame you. I'm just as much to blame for us staying here, maybe even more. I wanted to stay to get answers, if anything, you should be blaming me-"
"I GOT YOU KILLED FLINT!" Luz screamed in frustration.
Flint and Eda jumped a bit from the girl's sudden volume. Luz's eyes watered as she clenched her hands.
"You died…because I brought us here. All because I chased after some random bird that stole my book." Luz said quietly, crouching down to sit on the mast with her legs hanging off. She tossed the icy cutlass over to them as she looked down sadly.
Eda's face softened. "That's what all this is about…isn't it?" Eda asked after a moment.
Luz didn't respond, her silence saying enough.
Flint sighed as he wisped away into a trail of flames that flew through the air. The flames flew to Luz's side as he reconstructed himself sitting to Luz's left on the mast, his legs hanging off the side and his left hand reconstructing to hold her right.
"Luz…do you really think that? Do you really think that you got me killed?" Flint asked softly.
Luz closed her eyes, which forced a few tears to roll down her face as her hand squeezed Flint's, as if to make sure he was really there.
Flint sighed. "Luz…that was not your fault." Flint began softly. "Look, I know I might not be the right person to say this. Watching someone you care about die is…never a good experience." Flint pursed his lips as he tried to find the right words to say. "I'll admit it. If our positions had been reversed…I'd probably be beating myself up too. I understand that you want to prove yourself, to not feel like a burden. Remember when we first met?" Flint asked.
Luz didn't say anything, so Flint continued. "You were the new kid at Gravesfield. You didn't know anyone in our class back then. When lunch came and I saw you sitting alone in the cafeteria, do remember what I did? I went to you and introduced myself. I sat with you. I chose to sit with the new girl because she looked sad, and because I wanted to see if I could cheer her up."
Flint brought his right hand over to lift Luz's chin up, as she opened her eyes to look into Flint's, his expression soft and kind. "You are an amazing person Starlight. And I'll say it as many times as it takes for you to realize that too. You never have, and never will be, a burden to me."
Eda hopped up onto the mast, standing on Luz's other side, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not the best with emotional sentiment, but kid, you helped me find King's crown when you barely knew me. You saved me from turning to stone and you even got me talking to my sister again. Luz, in the short time I've known you, you've made my life great, all because you decided to follow that 'random bird'. Your boyfriend's right. You're amazing, and a far better person than I've ever been, I can tell you that much for sure, but anyone who can't tell how great you are is a Titan-damned idiot!" Eda said with a fond smile.
Luz's lip quivered as she teared up. She leaned into Eda and wrapped her in a desperate hug. Eda wavered a bit from the sudden action but took it in stride, smiling softly as she patted the girl's back and returned the gesture, closing her eyes in the process. She wished Luz hadn't had to go through all this because of her. Eda might not have been much of a hugger for a long time, but these kids had really grown on her, and she'd be damned if she didn't do what she could to help them. She hadn't been lying back when Lilith captured her…she really did want to see them succeed, as if they were her-
CLICK
Eda was going to ignore the fact that Fireboy was taking pictures of them. It hardly bothered her anymore.
Eda stopped patting Luz's back and ruffed Luz's head. "Now come on. Let's figure out how we can trick that golden fool."
Luz separated from the woman and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Her eyes were puffy from the crying, but she was smiling happily again, and that's what mattered.
Flint cast a spell to put his phone away as everyone got to their feet. "Alright, so this thing was really aggressive. Eda, do you know any reasons that would cause a peaceful creature like this to get like this?" Flint asked.
Eda crossed her arms as she thought. "Well, beast demons like the Selkidomus are mostly like a lot of mammals back in the Human Realm."
Luz cupped her chin in thought. "Hmm. What's the one thing that most mammals would get angry about?"
They suddenly felt the cave rumble again as they looked down to see the Selkidomus glaring at them, its eyes red. It growled, puffing up again to fire spikes at them, which Flint quickly defended the group from by casting a fire-laced barrier spell in front of them.
Luz quickly jumped from the mast, a plant glyph in hand as it shot vines that wrapped around the mast as she descended, with Eda grabbing onto the vines and sliding down after her until the Selkidomus reached up and tried to bite Luz. Luz reacted quickly and put her other hand behind her with a fire glyph, propelling the vines back upward and above the Selkidomus' range, as she and Eda launch off the vine.
Flint watched carefully from above as he ran through plans. He watched as Luz and Eda screamed before Luz threw her hands forward and shot snow from her hands that managed to cushion their fall. Luz landed in it upside down on her back while Eda landed in it feet-first, leaving her buried in it up to her shoulders.
As the two went to get up, something drew everyone's attention. They all heard a whale-like cry from behind Luz and Eda, and they all looked to find a much smaller Selkidomus.
"Baby!" Luz and Eda gasped. That's why the Selkidomus was so aggressive! She was protecting her cub!
Seeing the two by her child, the mother roared as it prepared to attack again. Flint's lower half converted into fire as he flew in from of her. "Wait!"
The Selkidomus was caught off-guard by his sudden appearance, roaring right in front of his face.
Flint then began to whistle, pouring bard and beast-keeping magic into a short tune to soothe the mother's rage. The mother calmed down as Flint landed, his lower half turning back to normal as Flint finished the tune.
"We aren't here to hurt you, or your baby," Luz said, walking up next to Flint.
Eda then walked up behind them. "In fact, we want to help."
The mother Selkidomus tilted her head curiously as her child flopped around with a derpy smile on its face.
Flint looked back to the child. "Okay, wow. It's way cuter up close. It also reminds me so much of a Spheal."
"I know, right?!" Luz said with excitement.
The Golden Guard sat waiting, having made himself a chair from the sand for the three to finish their task. He'd heard a tune playing from the cave a little bit ago, and had to admit it was a rather soothing melody.
Right now though, he was messing with…whatever this bony creature was. He lifted the shade, as King woke up and spun around like a panicking dog.
"Weh?" King cried before Golden Guard dropped the shade, causing him to sigh in relief.
Golden Guard then proceeds to lift the shade again.
"Weh?" Drop. Sigh.
Lift. "Weh?" Drop. Sigh.
Golden Guard chuckled. "You're an odd creature, I'll give you that."
King huffed angrily, causing Golden Guard to lift the shade again to see King sitting with his arms crossed.
"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Golden Guard said. "It's nothing personal."
King huffed. "Yeah, well your boss made it personal when he killed my friend and made the other sad!"
Golden Guard grunted. "Look, the Emperor's just doing what the Titan tells-"
"Would the Titan want to kill someone's only friend?" King interrupted.
Golden Guard stiffened in surprise. "What?"
"Flint was Luz's only friend back in the Human Realm. And your boss killed him right in front of her. Flint says that anyone can say the Titan talks to them, but what proof does your boss even have?" King asked.
Golden Guard didn't know what to say to that, too busy reeling at the information. 'He was her only friend?' He didn't want to believe King's words, maybe even throw them back at him. But King's expression when he said that…sounded so genuine that it left Hunter feeling uncomfortable.
Soon enough, the Golden Guard's attention is taken by the three coming out of the cave.
"I heard the music. Is it done?" Golden Guard asked.
Flint scowled. "Yes. I put it to sleep first. I wanted to at least make sure it would pass peacefully."
"Now give us King!" Luz demanded. Golden Guard absentmindedly noticed that Luz looked like she had been crying. He wrote it off as her not liking what they'd had to do.
"Calm down, okay? You can have him." Golden Guard said, tossing King's birdcage over to them as Luz catches it.
"Thank you for your service. I'm sure you have your own way home. Oh, and for your sake, try to stay out of trouble. As I'm sure you know by now, the Emperor is not a merciful man." Golden Guard warned, before getting on his staff and doing an exaggerated wave. "Bye-eeee!"
And with that, the Golden Guard vanished in a flash of light, as a red streak appeared high in the air as it went into the distance.
Luz glares as he leaves, blowing a raspberry as Flint flips the bird in the direction Golden Guard left.
Luz lets King out of the birdcage and the four stand there for a minute, making sure things are okay before Eda turns back to the cave with her mouth cupped.
"Coast is clear! You're safe!" Eda called.
Moments later, the Selkidomus peeked her head out from the cave, her child flopping happily up to them, coming up to Luz and hugging her.
"Baby! Awww," Luz said, as Flint started moving around them taking pictures so fast King could swear he was leaving afterimages.
King stepped back a bit. "Wait, what is that?"
Flint stopped taking pictures in order to hug the baby Selkidomus himself, squishing the baby's face a bit. "I would kill anyone who dares to harm you," Flint stated in an obsessive tone.
The baby for its part, had no idea what Flint was saying but was loving the attention.
Eda chuckled. "Don't worry, King. Once the mother saw we weren't a threat to her baby, she calmed down." Eda reassured him before turning to the Selkidomus mother. "This area is dangerous. You need to move further out into the sea."
Gratitude.
Thanks in part to Flint's beast-keeping magic, Flint was able to feel the wave of gratitude coming from the Selkidomus mother as she nodded in appreciation. The mother then does something unexpected, as she regurgitates a pile of golden…something.
"Um…thanks?" Flint looked at the golden material in confusion, not sure how to react to…that.
Eda on the other hand, looked ecstatic. "Hot dang! It gave you the treasure of the sea." Eda said, pulling Luz and Flint into headlocks.
"Gold? Tuna?" Luz asked.
Eda released them and pulled a ball of the mushy material, molding it like clay. "It's selkigris. Ah, people pay big money for it at the Night Market. Ah, feel that money, Luz." Eda said, lathering a handful of Selkigris on Luz's face.
"No, Eda! Stop!" Luz whined.
Eda then turned to Flint with an evil grin. Flint put his arms up in an 'X' formation. "Ohhhh no. You aren't doing that to me!" Flint denied, quickly casting a spell as all of the selkigris levitated into the air, including the remains of it on Eda's hands and Luz's face as it turned into a sphere. Flint then snapped his fingers and it all vanished, disappearing into his personal storage dimension.
Eda huffed, crossing her arms. "You're no fun. But, at least with you, it makes transporting the stuff a whole lot easier." Eda conceded.
"Let's just head home. It's been a long day." Flint sighed.
King gasped, scrambling up Flint and onto his shoulder. "I call flying with Flint! To the skies my noble servant!" King declared, pointing toward the horizon.
The group laughed as they all headed to the shore. Luz and Eda boarded the latter's speedboat and Flint cast a quick protection spell to keep them safe from the boiling waters, before taking to the skies with King on his back. The little demon excitedly ordered him to do various tricks in the sky. Every time he did, Flint would chuckle at King's antics, but obliged, entertaining the young demon the whole way.
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