#its my weirdo with a blood mark on her face + her glowing bastards against the world | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keeroo92 · 3 years

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Breaking Point

My SFW contribution to @jackpot-dantezine, where Dante falls apart on the way to confront Urizen.

Word count: 1,909

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The air hung stagnant around him, oppressive and unnaturally warm. Shades of red and brown, grey and a sickening green encroached up the walls. When he called the smell, “hot garbage”, he’d been far too kind. Veins pulsated a stern drumbeat as Dante stepped forward after his two female companions.

“Bet you both I bag the first Queen!” Lady taunted. Trish responded with a cool smirk and a quickened pace, but Dante’s mind was elsewhere.

What if it was Vergil?

Dante had his doubts, despite what the weirdo client told him. What were the chances, right? Vergil’d been gone for years, stuck in hell after their last meeting. Getting back here, let alone in good enough shape to pull off this bullshit, was a longshot.

Still. His brother had a way of popping up and causing trouble.

The first boom of battle ricocheted off the nauseating walls, reminding him where he was and what he still needed to do. He’d better catch up. Thinking about shit wasn’t his style; killing demons was.

Time for a good ol’ fashioned beat down, that’d get him out of this funk.

Dante cracked his neck, hands twitching to grasp the twin handles of his beloved Ebony and Ivory. The staccato thud of his boots mirrored the thudding of his heart, hastening as he got closer to a fight.

He turned a bloody corner just in time to see Trish deal a death blow to a Hell Judecca, its skeletal arms dissolving into ash as she spun to find her next prey. Her signature yellow sparks glowed brightly from her hands, her body dashing across the blood-stained ground to strike a pair of Antenora. Show off.

“That puts me ahead by two, Lady! What, are you taking a nap?” the blonde called.

“Not even close!” Lady replied, firing her bazooka straight down the throat of a Caina.

Dante grinned and picked a target, spinning on his heel as a scythe hunted his flesh. Too easy. He twirled Ebony and shot the ugly bastard in the face behind his back. Why did all demons look like the ass end of a bad burrito, anyway?

Eh, who cared?

His heart lurched. Vergil would. When they were children, Dante’s brother never ran out of questions about the nature of demons. He’d asked everything imaginable, from how they fought to how they multiplied.

Dante tried not to think about that part.

And for every question Vergil asked, their dad had an answer. He’d stop whatever he was doing to explain, smiling proudly all the while. Like Dante wasn’t even there. It used to annoy him, but now the memory only brought bittersweet longing. What he wouldn’t give for them all to be together again…

“Dante, duck!”

Leather snapped as Dante instantly dropped to a crouch. A stream of fire licked his flesh, a Hell Bat above screeching its displeasure at the near miss. Annoying bastard. He never should've let it get so close.

I gotta keep it together, he thought cynically, or the girls will get on my case.

Plus, banter always helped keep his mind from visiting its darker corners.

The man in red summoned a smirk and fired a few rounds, his bullets poking holes in the bulging orange belly overhead. A sound not unlike a whoopee cushion signaled his success. Nice.

“Sayonara, sucker!” he crowed, watching as the bat’s leaking body propelled it into a wall to explode. “Let’s call that one twenty points.”

“No way, lazybones! You don’t get extra for making fart noises,” Lady called with a scowl.

Dante raised his hands in a placating gesture as soot settled to mark the deaths of their foes. He hoped Ver- Urizen sent a few more their way; he needed to warm up before kicking the king’s ass. Maybe he should stretch, just to keep his blood flowing.

Dante sighed and shook his head. He’d never hear the end of it.

It turned out he didn’t need to worry; as the trio progressed, they encountered wave after wave of demons, all vying for fresh blood. Trish and Lady didn’t falter, picking off one after another as Dante did his best to stay on task, but his mind kept drifting back to his brother.

For decades, Dante held only anger at his twin for not being there, for forcing their mother to search for him. To a child, the immature logic made sense. If Vergil hadn’t run off, things would’ve turned out differently. Simple cause and effect.

But time dulled the blade of his rage, and a broader understanding of life took hold. Any number of choices may have changed the outcome of the attack, but obsessing over it wouldn’t change what happened.

None of them had the power to predict the consequences, or to change them. All he could do was keep fighting, and hope that by doing so he spared other families from sharing the fate of his own.

If Dante was being honest, the constant battles tired him. His body didn’t move like it used to, and the first aches of middle age warned him it was time to slow down. He couldn’t chase demons forever, and part of him didn’t want to. It was a lot of work.

It might be time to leave it to someone younger.

Then again, what the fuck else was he going to do all day? The only thing worse than being tired was being bored.

And the thought of retiring while Vergil was still out there somewhere, doing who knew what… it didn’t feel right, as if the balance would shift to the demons and they’d go unchecked. As a descendant of Sparda that gave a shit about humanity, Dante felt a certain responsibility to bear the weight of defending them. It was what his dad would’ve wanted.

What his mother would’ve wanted.

Besides; if he didn’t, then who would? Nero sure as hell wasn’t ready, not yet.

But above all else, if it came to a fight to the death, his brother deserved to go at the hands of his family. Someone who understood what he’d gone through and all that he’d lost. It was Dante’s responsibility, and he damn well wasn’t hiding from it. Not this time.

The thought left a hollow ache in his chest, a bitter sorrow he desperately wished he could ignore. If there was any alternative, any chance of helping his brother instead of ending his life, Dante knew he’d take it. That he had to even consider killing Vergil showed how twisted life could be. It made him want to scream.

“Aw, shit,” Trish said, breaking his rambling thoughts. A quartet of Nobody’s waited in the next clearing, scurrying back and forth like excited cats. Perfect timing - Dante hated these guys.

And he really needed to kill something.

He flew at the demons with a cry of fury, drawing all four to him as he pulled Rebellion out. The girls followed in his wake, but he saw nothing save the nearest mask as his blade struck home. It left a deep crack in the clay, but the prick backed off before he had the time to kill it.

He really hated these guys.

“Lady, finish him!” he cried. The other three were already swarming him. Damnit.

He dodged a stray arm and slashed at another as a blast reached his ears. The grotesque floor shook from the force and Dante roared, unleashing a vicious series of slices at the stumbling Nobody closest to him. It whimpered and tried to back off, but he refused to let it go that easily. Rebellion’s heavy blade sank deep into the creature’s core, splattering hot blood on its fellows and its killer alike. Two down.

Two to go.

There were days he didn’t see the point of it anymore; no matter how many would-be demon kings he took down, there’d always be another, and the peons were even worse. Useless, feral things, their only desire to destroy and kill.

It only added fuel to the fire of his rage. He needed to get closer.

Dante sheathed Rebellion and pulled at the thread of dark energy connecting him to Balrog, summoning the metallic pseudo-armor even as he threw a powerful punch. A rapid kick followed, his feet cracking against the reddish mask of the third nobody. He’d kill it before it fought back.

But a fiery blast on his left hurled him to the side, the last demon cackling as he fell. Years of getting pummeled proved their worth as Dante rolled with the blow, using the momentum to get on his feet a beat later. He grimaced and flipped a finger at the laughing jerk.

“Is that all you got?” he shouted. Who knew if it understood.

It screeched and slammed a limb at him, slashing at his chest. He stepped aside and brought his arms together, crushing the appendage and tugging the beast closer for a solid headbutt. He punched and kicked, again and again. Demon blood splattered his face, each drop like a balm to his wrath. The chaotic battle surrounding him faded away; it was just him and the demon and the sounds of his strikes pulverizing its desecrated body.

“Dante?” Lady called, her voice barely piercing the fog of his anger. He ignored her and punched the Nobody in the face again. “Dante, it’s dead. You can stop hitting it now.”

How many people had this one killed? How many families did its hunger shatter? For all Dante knew, it might be the bastard that killed his mother. He punched it again.

“Dante, come on…” Trish said.

Maybe this was the demon that left nothing but smears of blood on the playground outside. Or the one that tore through a local grocery store, or that small house where he found those god awful husks. Another punch. He didn’t notice his female companions coming to stand beside him.

“Dante, knock it off. We need to keep moving,” Lady said, her palm coming to rest on his shoulder as he pulled back for another punch. Trish mirrored her.

The edges of the creature’s face began dissolving, a fine grey powder all that remained. Dante’s panting breath sent the dust aflutter as he slowly lowered his arm. His jaw ached; had he been gritting his teeth the whole time? Fuck.

Better crack a joke, something to keep it light.

“So, that’s what, four points to me?” Dante said. Both women shot him fierce glares.

“What the fuck, Dante?” Lady began.

He wiped away the blood still clinging to his face and sighed. “It’s nothing.”

“Didn’t look like nothing,” Trish chimed in. “You good?”

The red-clad man released the tendril of energy connecting him to Balrog, the blood-stained metal vanishing a beat behind. He didn’t know what to say. His rage still flickered within him, an ever present ember waiting for the right moment to flare into an inferno. It might give him an edge; it might consume him.

Talk about a double-edged sword.

It didn’t matter what was happening in his heart or what it did to him. There was a big ass demon tree growing in his city, ugly bastards swarming the place and who knew what else. It was his job to clean up the mess, no matter who made it.

Dante snorted. He was, in essence, a janitor.

He cracked his neck. It was time to clean. “I’m good.”

#fanfic #my writing #dmc #devil may cry #dmc dante #dante sparda #angst #one-shot

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Crossover Episode 1 Part 4

Hello all, this is the last section of Midnight Striga, Episode 1. Feel free to let me know what you think! Everybody clap your hands!!

Luz and Eda looked at each other, neither bothering to fight off the smirk at King’s adorable attempt at being serious. As they followed him through the doors, Eda tugged King back before he could crash into the glowing barrier barring their way. “Up, up, up! We’ve got a human with us, remember?”

King chuckled sheepishly. “Oh yeah, I guess I got too excited.”

Luz arched an eyebrow. “Okay, what does my being human have anything to do with this?” She indicated the “this” in question, gesturing to the barrier. She had to admit, it was a pretty nice looking one, albeit not a very complicated one. She had an idea of what they needed her for, but getting confirmation was always best.

Eda grinned wryly at the girl’s question. “This barrier is how Wrath keeps the contraband under lock. It blocks out all magic, so no Witch or Demon can cross through. Because humans aren’t supposed to have magic,” Eda continued, ignoring the annoyed glare Luz sent her way, “I assumed you’d be able to cross it. But since you do have magic… got any ideas on how to get through?”

Luz snorted, shaking her head. Of course, what had she been expecting? “Yeah, don’t worry. This isn’t my first time having to dispel a barrier, and this one doesn’t seem like that tough a nut to crack.” Turning a discerning eye back towards the barrier, she reached forward, marveling as her hand passed through, mostly at any rate. The barrier seemed to cling to her, as if it recognized that she had magic, something it was supposed to keep out, but was confused by something.

Eda gazed impassively, her thoughts racing at the implications of Luz’s words. As far as Eda knew, unless it was broken by something it couldn’t block, dispelling a barrier wasn’t a thing, yet Luz apparently had done so before. When she saw the barrier stick to the girl’s hand, she felt a slight jolt of worry; the human had magic, who knew how the barrier would react to her? Her worry vanished as a cocky grin bloomed across Luz’s face. Her arm lit up along the area the barrier was clinging to, sigils, runes, and symbols flashing across it, before spreading out across the barrier. To Eda, it looked a lot more methodical than most forms of magic she had seen, but she couldn’t deny, it seemed to be working. As the symbols crawled across the barrier, it broke further and further apart; soon, in seconds really, the barrier was gone, a wide open passage in its place.

Luz felt the impressed stare of Eda burning against her, but brushed it off. While showing off like that was certainly fun, the quicker they got this done, the sooner she could trash this place. As Luz strolled into the room, she noted how it was almost overflowing with scraps, odds and ends, and numerous random bits and pieces; it looked like a hoarder’s paradise. As she grew closer to the center, she noticed a raised pedestal. When she got closer, she stopped and blinked, hoping her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. They were not. Grabbing the prize, and somehow keeping her temper in check, she wandered back to Eda and King, the two of them having made themselves at home amid the junk. As she approached King, she plopped his crown atop his head: a cheap piece of cardboard, the kind used to package boxes shipped within cities, arranged into a crude ring and cut into the shape of a crown with fake jewels drawn on it.

As King felt the crown fall atop his head, he paused, elation rushing through him. “YES!! I CAN FEEL MY DARK POWERS RETURNING!!!!” He roared with glee, turning to the toys scattered around him, before focusing on a stuffed bunny. “You, nightmare creature! I will call you Francois, and you will lead my armies!”

Luz turned a twitching eye back to Eda. “That crown doesn’t give him any powers at all, does it?” She knew it didn’t, but she really needed to know WHY.

Eda barked a cynical laugh. “HA! No, not even close.” Her cocky grin fell as she slumped, now seeming oh so very tired of it all. “Ah look at us kid. I’m a cranky old witch who lives in the woods, and sells junk to whoever’s gullible enough to buy it. He’s a mini-demon with delusions of grandeur. Me and him? All we’ve got in this world is each other, so if that toy is important to him, then it’s important to me. We weirdos have to stick together.”

As frustrated as she was about it all, that sentence rang with Luz. All her life she had been the outcast, and so were they. Who was she to judge how they decided to live? “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

“Of course I’m right, kid!” Eda crowed. “Now let’s get out of here before the Warden catches us.”

“Too late.”

An oddly flesh-like scythe cleaved through Eda’s neck, sending her head rolling across the ground. Luz screamed, not in fright, but in sorrow, sorrow at the loss of the woman who she had already formed a bond with, however fresh it may have been, and rage, the blistering rage at the man, the monster, responsible for them being here.

“It seems the Owl Lady isn’t as impressive as I was led to believe.” Wrath rumbled, reaching down to scoop up Eda’s head. Before he could touch her, however, Luz blocked his path, her face a rictus of hate. “Oh, a human? So that’s how she crossed the barrier. I had assumed she would’ve tried going around, rather than through. Still, how does a fragile thing like yourself hope to challenge the likes of me?” He rumbled, no he chuckled. This bastard was LAUGHING!! HE HAD MURDERED EDA AND WAS LAUGHING!!!!

“You…” Luz’s voice dropped, cold-blooded murder coursing through it. “I’m going to make you pay for that.” It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.

Wrath paused. Then, his shoulders started to shake. The guards behind him started to snicker. Then, they all burst into raucous laughter. Luz had been aware that those on the Isles didn’t really seem to have the highest opinion of humans, but this open display of laughter, as if the idea of a human hurting, or threatening, them in any way was only a laughable joke? That made the rage burn all the hotter.

Luz brought her hands together in the familiar pose of her favored magic, and as the light started building in her palm, the laughter started dying. She bit out a spell, anger scorching through every word. “Light-Make: Blazing Durendal!!!”

With a scream of rage, pain, and years of accumulated frustration, Luz unleashed the strongest Light-Make spell she was currently capable of without incapacitating herself. A shining sword, so large the just forming it caused the ceiling and the floor to tear up to accommodate its bulk, launched forward, catching Wrath on the chest. It was a testament to how strong he was that he didn’t die immediately, as that sword was very much sharp, and the sheer force of its movement made it hit like a landslide. The guards screamed, scattering in panic as their leader was sent crashing through the walls. With a roar, Luz ran after the Warden, intent on making him hurt more, oblivious to what was going on not ten feet behind her.

After Luz jumped through the hole her spell had made through the walls, King tentatively approached Eda’s head. As he crept closer, he slowly pulled himself level with her face… and slapped her across the mouth, eliciting a pained yell from the decapitated head.

“OW!! King, what was that for?!?” Eda yelled, oblivious to her current lack of a body.

King, deadpanning, pointed to his left, where, following his arm, Eda’s gaze landed on the sight of her headless body flopping against the ground, trying and failing to move without her head.

Eda blinked. “Oh. Okay, so how badly did the kid take it?” Eda really hoped Luz wasn’t too choked up over this. Having her head cut off, after she got past the initial panic and horror the first few times, always amounted to her getting knocked out and her body flopping around until she rolled close enough to reattach after waking up.

Once again, instead of answering, King gestured, this time to the gaping whole in the wall. Eda blinked again. “Wow. Not sure how she did that, but help me get up so we can stop her from doing something stupid, okay?” King grumbled, but grudgingly agreed, carrying Eda’s head over to her body.

Back with Luz, she had finally reached the spot where Wrath had landed. Aside from his uniform being trashed to Kingdom Come, and some bruising all across his torso, he seemed none the worse for wear. He chuckled, “A good trick, human, and this will certainly leave a mark for some time, but I doubt you have anything left to give after that feat. I may not know how you imitated magic in such a way, but I doubt you can do so again.”

Now, Luz was well aware that battle banter was something you were supposed to leave in books, high-profile fighters notwithstanding, but she couldn’t keep the snark in check. “There is nothing imitation about my magic. Seriously, maybe do a little fact checking before going off outdated assumptions, asshole!” Normally Luz isn’t so coarse, but right now, she had every reason to be pissed off enough to curse.

“Hmph, then prove it, welp.” Wrath goaded.

“Light-Make: Lion Jaws!” Luz screamed. A blindingly bright Lion Head materialized before her, surging forward and clamping around Wrath’s torso. With a pained grunt, Wrath was once again sent flying back, only to brace himself against the ground. Digging in his heels, he grunted, and roared, ripping open the Lion’s jaws and the head along with it.

“Pitiful.” He grunted, tacitly ignoring the pain surging through his ribs. With a roar of his own, he whipped one of his arms back, reforming it into a mace, and rocketed it forward. With a yelp, Luz jumped back, avoiding the blow, but feeling part of her hoodie rip at the close shave. She grunted; she really liked this outfit, dang it! “But that is to be expected of one who allies with trash.”

Luz was incensed. A slight against herself, while frustrating, was something she could handle. Mocking the dead!? Yeah, she was gonna make this bastard pay dearly. Still, she needed to stall a little more before she could unleash her trump-card, so…

“Why’d you do it?” She asked. She genuinely wanted to know, but the more she could draw this out, the better. “What possible reason could justify killing her? She lived in the woods and sold trash!!!”

“The politics at play are more complex than your feeble mind could even begin to grasp.” Wrath intoned condescendingly. He raised his untransformed fist, beckoning her almost. “But I must admit, I enjoyed that far more than what is traditionally proper. Seeing the stain on my love’s perfection wiped out was far more satisfying than I ever anticipated. Now, she’ll have to accept my offer for a meal together!!”

Luz blinked, dumbfounded. Then, the confusion shifted. Now, it was boiling hate, even more intense than any of the rage and pain she had felt today, the likes she hadn’t felt since that day. “You mean to tell me… you murdered someone, an innocent woman, TO GET A DATE!?!?!?”

Wrath laughed mockingly, throwing his head back. “She is far from innocent! Her very existence is a spitting in the eye of our leader’s great vision! She should be honored to serve as a lesson to those looking to stray from the proper path!!”

With that, Luz officially snapped. “LIGHT-MAKE: DAGGER DANCE!!!” A swarm of blades manifested, each aimed to rip Wrath apart. To counter, he divided his arms into countless tentacles, whipping up the nearby rubble into the paths of the daggers.

“Light-Make: Wolf Pack!” Whatever attack Wrath had been planning to follow up on was quickly aborted, as he was forced to divert his tendrils to fend off the canine constructs currently attempting to rip him apart. As he busied himself with fighting the wolves, Luz took the moment to catch a breather. Keeping him distracted while setting up her finale was a LOT harder than she thought, and she just knew she was gonna be paying for it tomorrow. Still, she needed just a little more time…

“Answer me this then,” Luz began, eyes alert for any attack he may use. “What possible reason do you have for locking these people up?” She gestured in the direction of the cells, specifically the cells containing the trio of prisoners she met before. “What did they do that deserves all this!?” She yelled, gesturing to the imposing structure surrounding them.

Wrath snorted, wrestling another wolf into the ground after it made a lunge for his throat. “I locked them away because they are better for it. What possible use could society have for people like them? Worthless wretches who can’t even do what’s expected of them-” Anything further he had to say was cut off by Luz’s attacks. Abandoning finesse for raw power, Luz had traded her constructs for blasts of pure, concentrated light. As each blow hammered into Wrath, Luz screamed her fury.

“BEING YOURSELF IS NOT A CRIME!!”

Hearing the yells, Katya perked up.

“BEING DIFFERENT IS WHAT MAKES EVERY PERSON AMAZING!!”

Tiny Nose raised her head.

“WHO CARES IF THEY DON’T FIT IN? THEY AREN’T HURTING ANYONE!!!”

The Eyeball eater gained a tearful smile.

“NOBODY DESERVES TO BE LOCKED UP FOR JUST BEING THEMSELVES!!”

The prisoners shared a look.

“I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE!!! AS LONG AS I’M ALIVE, I WILL ALWAYS STAND UP FOR PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO BE TRUE TO THEMSELVES!!!”

With a roar, the three prisoners threw themselves against their cells. As the guards closed in on them, the eyeball eater grabbed them, slamming them against the bars, while Katya snagged their keys. With a battle cry, Tiny Nose proceeded to blast the guards with fire, incapacitating them long enough to lock them in the cells in place of the prisoners. Sharing a nod, they rushed off. As they rounded the corner, they saw Wrath powering his way through the Light Blasts, though he was clearly worse for wear. His body was coated in light burns, his clothing in tatters, even his mask was destroyed. As he reared back a scythe-arm to destroy the still defiant human, the three prisoners leapt into the fray.

“I Believe the Wowld is a Twiangle!!” Tiny Nose yelled, pulling at the corner of Wrath’s beady eyes.

“I like to eat my own eyes!” The eye eater growled, pulling at Wrath’s arms to keep him from swinging.

“And I practice the ancient art of fanfiction!!” Katya roared, swinging her arm into Wrath’s torso.

“””AND WE ARE DONE BEING AFRAID OF YOU!!!””” All three screamed.

Smirking in pride at how forceful the three, formerly meek, prisoners were being, Luz reeled her arm back, and unleashed one last blast, sending Wrath flying back. All four of them cheered.

“Luz!”

Luz’s ears perked up at the shout. It couldn’t be, could it?

Her eyes started tearing up. “Eda? You're alive!!” Indeed she was. Eda certainly looked ragged, but by all accounts, she was alive and well, and somehow her head was once again attached. Attached… Luz blinked, then slapped herself. She had totally forgotten about Eda’s detachable hand earlier!! Of course, she had no reason to believe that would extend to something as important as a head, but still!

Eda smirked, but it couldn’t hide the relief in her eyes. “And here I was coming to bail you out, and you had it all handled!”

“Yeah!” King shouted, trying to sound angry. “We were worried!”

Luz grinned. “Sorry to disappoint you guys.”

Eda patted a spot next to her on her staff. “Okay kid, let’s beat it before Wrath recovers.”

Luz groaned as the pain from her injuries and expended magic started kicking in. It was anything serious but it was exhausting. “Yeah, I’m not sure how long I could’ve kept that up. Let’s go!”

“Wait!”

“Huh?” Luz turned, catching sight of Katya, holding her hand out.

Katya bit her lip, nervous, before speaking. “I just wanted to say, thank you.”

Luz cocked her head, puzzled. “For what? You guys got yourselves out, didn’t you?”

Katya grinned at the memory. “Yeah.” Her expression sobered. “But we wouldn’t have been able to if you hadn’t inspired us. Nobody has EVER stood up for us before, or people like us before.” She gestured to the eyeball eater and Tiny Nose, both having the same expression of gratitude that Katya did. “I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but if we ever do, you can count on me for help, okay?” She held out a hand. Luz glanced at it, stunned, before eagerly shaking it in acceptance, getting a startled laugh from the Witch.

“As touching as this is,” Eda droned. “We really do gotta go.” In response to her words, the furious roar of Wrath sounded out again. With the reminder that he wasn’t down for the count, everyone quickly rushed outside, on foot for the prisoners, and by staff for Eda, Luz, and King.

“Wait!” Luz yelled, causing Eda to stall.

Eda turned around, surprised. “What for?”

Luz grinned maliciously. “For my finale of course!” She exclaimed, pointing up.

Eda snorted, following her finger. “What do you mean finaleeeEEEEEEOOOOOHHHH MY TITAN!!!!!!” Her question shifted into a shout of shock at what she saw; an absolutely massive magical circle floating above the Conformatorium. Each quarter of it was a different color, with a different style. The one closest to Eda appeared to be Brown, with a rock and stone motif, the next a rich blue, images of waves and water covering it, the third being a bright red, stylized flames scattered about, and the last segment being pale green, swirling gusty patterns that reminded Eda of windstorms detailed across. It wasn’t just Eda who was shocked. King was stammering incessantly, unable to form proper words. The little ball-shaped demon with the big nose was ranting something about a higher power. The one with multiple eyes was popping them out and gobbling them down as fast as they appeared in some sort of stress-eating trance. The girl Luz had talked to was just staring, wide-eyed. And Luz? She was currently putting on four rings, their designs matching the four designs on the circle above.

“The finale.” Luz intoned, pointing her ring-clad finger to the sky.

“Oh Mighty Earth, I Invoke Thee. Sunder This Land So That All May Fall.

Oh Blazing Flames, I Invoke Thee. Scorch This Land So All Shall Burn Eternal.

Oh Crashing Waves, I Invoke Thee. Wash Away All That Is So That Nothing New May Come.

Oh Howling Winds, I Invoke Thee. Rip And Tear This Unworthy Place So That Naught But Memory Remains.

Yee Four Catastrophes, I Invoke Thy Names Under The Authority Of Those Forgotten. Mine Name Is Fae And Let All Sing Thine Song Of Sacrifice!!

ABYSS CANON!!!!!!”

Nothing happened at first. The circle glowed, and vanished. Suddenly, a roar built up from above. A great light started shining. And then… a pillar of destruction descended, rending the Conformatorium apart, each floor dismantling itself under the force bearing down upon it. Yet, just as suddenly as it started, it ended. True, over half of the Conformatorium had been reduced to rubble and slag, but it wasn’t the total destruction they had been expecting after seeing the spell begin. A pained gasp caught Eda’s attention. As she turned, her gaze filled with horror at what she saw; Luz, blood hacked from between her lips, blood and tears seeping from her eyes, the four rings she wore cracked and charred. “KID!” Eda’s cries fell on deaf ears as Luz tottered forward, and fell

“uz. Luz. Luz!” Luz blinked her bleary eyes to find the worried gaze of Eda staring down at her, a crying King clinging to her chest. “Oh thank Titan you’re okay! You had us worried kiddo!”

Luz tried for a confident smirk, but had the feeling she failed at Eda’s unimpressed look. “Didn’t know you cared that much.”

Eda blinked, looking almost offended. “Of course I care, I’m not some kind of monster!! You stuck your neck out for me and King way beyond what was needed for the mission, and when you thought I was dead, however wrong you may have been, you jumped in to avenge me. That’s not something I’m just gonna write off. But I do gotta ask-”

“WHAT IN THE TITAN HAPPENED!!” King butted in, tears and snot dribbling from his face.

Luz blinked, mulling over memories, before realizing what they meant. “Oh you mean the spell!”

“”YES WE MEAN THE SPELL!!”” The force of the combined shout was actually enough to ruffle Luz’s hair.

Luz sheepishly chuckled, glad her laugh hid the wince of pain her body was feeling. “That spell was my trump card. A last resort that lets me totally obliterate a target, derived from one of the most dangerous spells ever taught, the Abyss Break.” She turned her gaze to the sight of her rings, ruined from the strain of helping her channel the spell. “Quick confession time, Eda, remember those elemental spells I used against you earlier?”

Eda blinked, wondering why she was asking about that. “Yeah, what about them?”

Luz bashfully rubbed her head. “I can’t actually use them normally. I’m only technically trained in Light-Make Magic. Those elemental spells were ones I knew theoretically, but lacked the training to actually use.” She gestured to her rings. “Those rings are focusing instruments, allowing me to utilize and channel elemental magic in its more raw state to make up for it. Normally I only need to have them close to my body, like in a pouch or something, to enjoy the benefits.” She turned her gaze, looking almost apologetic, back to Eda and King. “But for anything big or complicated, I need to properly wear them. The biggest drawback to them is that they aren’t very high-quality, so if I ever aimed too high for a spell, something too big for them to handle, they had a chance of breaking and for me to suffer a backlash from the spell breaking down.”

Eda looked shocked. She had genuinely not been able to notice that Luz hadn’t been using those elemental spells from before in any way unusual, sure she may not know anything about human-style magic but still, she knew plenty about magic in general! The fact that humans had tools that could compensate for lack of training and talent for magic use was honestly a scary thought. Before she could finish processing it, however, a thought came to her. “Okay, but what about that big spell from before, what did you call it, Abyss Canon? That wasn’t an elemental spell as far as I know of.”

Luz’s grinned shifted from sheepish to proud. “Abyss Canon is extremely complicated, it and its predecessor work by taking fire, wind, earth, and water magic together, and sublimating them into a total destruction attack. So, technically, it is elemental magic, it just isn’t one element!!”

Eda blinked. She snickered. She snorted. Then, she laughed. A deep, heavy laugh, the kind that came from hearing something totally surprising you couldn’t NOT find funny, especially when it completely challenged something you hated. “HAHAHAHAHHAOOOOHHHHH TITAN!!! That… that’s incredible, kid.” Her grin softened, looking almost wistful. “So, you ready to go home?”

Luz blinked. “Who said anything about me going home?”

Now it was Eda’s turn to blink. “But, I thought, wasn’t that why you helped us? To get you back home?”

Luz snorted. “No. I helped you because it sounded like fun! Also, because I thought if I helped you, you’d be more likely to let me stay here.”

Eda backed up at that. “WHOA WHOA WHOA!! Now I may like you, kid, but my place is not somewhere a child should be. I mean, wouldn’t your mom worry about you?” As Luz’s face darkened, Eda had the feeling she had stepped into something bad.

“I haven’t seen my mom since I was ten.” And there it was. Whatever resistance Eda felt about letting Luz stay just went up in smoke. Eda felt a tug on her dress, looking down to see King looking up at her with pleading eyes.

“Come on, let her stay! She could make us snacks!” King begged. “And… it gets kind of lonely with just us here.” He gestured to all the space they had for the four of them.

Eda groaned. “Ugh, fine! You can stay!” Luz and King both cheered, before she continued. “BUT! You’ve gotta work for rent, capiche? I’ve already got one freeloader.” She said, gesturing to King, who had the nerve to look affronted!

Luz smirked, taking Eda’s hand in her own, shaking it. “Well, Miss Owl Lady, looks like you got yourself a tenant. Plus, maybe we could trade some magic, eh?”

Eda smirked back. “You know, I think I might actually like having you around, kid.”

#the owl house #fairy tail #owl house au #fairy tail au #owl house crossover #fairy tail crossover #king the owl house #warden wrath #katya the owl house #tiny nose the owl house #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #magic

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