Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary:

In ways you never expect

"Spice, no, get off. Get off right now." The lion, now aptly named Spice apparently, ignored the words of his boy, refused to get up from the spot.

"Grrr." He wanted to show off the world to the boy, but all they did was grab the sword. There were many other treasures in there, and the shirt was starting to smell. That and sitting on the child was weirdly comfortable in a way.

"Hsssh." That seemed to be one of the few things he and the snake could agree on. Sugar, as her name was, was resting peacefully in the boy's hair.

"Well, you wanted a magical animal companion, so you can't say you haven't gotten your wish." The human girl, the one not wearing glasses and smelled of guilt, laughed. "Though I'm surprised how he got into the house."

"He's been extra clingy to me all day for some reason." Lucci answered.

"Hugging you is just really comforting." The gem lateched to the boy's back constantly answered. "So what fun games are we going to play today?"

"Grr." No games, just rest and getting him inside the mane.

"Hssssh." There's no air in there, he wouldn't last that long.

"Grr." He has bubbles, he could find a way.

"Right now we are trying to put some extra effort into fixing the portal door, and since Philip used to be from here, and history remembers him and his…witch hunting.." The human girl shivered. "We're heading to the library today to see if we can find anything useful, a text or a record he left behind."

"Doesn't sound as implausible as finding his journal in Bonesburrow library, so I guess that checks." His boy grunted, trying to slip out. "And the moment Spice get's up I'll join you."

"Yes, please do, mom's barely understanding the witch thing, I don't want her freaking out over a giant pink lion in her living room." Why would that be a problem, they weren't doing anything harmful

"What's a library?" The pink gem asked.

"It's a place where we get books and read them." The human explained.

"... Nah, that sounds boring. Let's do something else fun." They responded. "Come on, we can have plenty of fun in the forest!" 

"Luz, are you in the living room? What's with all the shouting?" A voice that made the girl shake called out for the kitchen area.

"The guys are rooting for a soccer team on the TV!" The girl shouted back.

"What the heck is soccer?" The boy asked.

"A game where you kick balls around a field, I had to think of something so she didn't come into the living room." The girl whispered in a panic.

"Oh, let's play that." The gem smiled. "I'll be the ball!" The gem shifted herself into an orb, and began bouncing all over the place, making the walls shake a little.

"Spinel, no!" The girl cried out. "Lucci, do something!"

"Still trapped under here!"

"You've faced off against the Rainbow Devil, a lion is more than below your weight class!"

"Yeah, but I don't want to hurt him. He's too fluffy."

"Grrr." Enter the mane!

"Luz, did you bring in another stray animal?" The commanding voice said as steps were heard. "If they're injured, it's fine, but you should tell me beforehand if you're gonna-ahhhh!" What appeared to be the alpha of the house shrieked upon seeing Spice.

 "Mom, it's not what you think!"

"Mija … sweet girl … don't tell me you robbed a zoo and brought a wild animal to the house!"

"No, of course not." His boy responded. "We found him in the woods."

"THERE'S WILD LIONS IN THE WOODS!?"

"Lucci, not helping!" The girl shouted. "Mom, I know what I'm about to say sounds a little unbelievable, but you've accepted that magic and demons exist, right?"

"..To my utter shock and slight terror, yes, I have accepted it." The pack leader slowly nodded.

"This is one of those things. A pink lion with a super calming nature." She explained. "In fact, he just eats Lion Lickers, no real meat." Lion felt a bubbling in his throat, and spat out a half digested lizard. "...Except small lizards, but, do those really count?"

"Hssssh." Sugar hissed from the boy's hair.

"...Is that a snake living in Lucci's hair?" The pack leader asked.

"Yeah, I adopted her a while back." The boy managed to slip out from under Spice's grip.

"Luz, I thought we had a discussion about poisonous animals." The leader sighed. "If I walked to that cabin right now would I find more animals that are a danger to children?"

"Unless you call a cat, a cardinal, a chameleon, and a giant bee as dangerous."

"A giant what now?"

"What about the Centipeetles?" The gem asked.

"Do those count as animals?" Lucci asked. 

"What's a Centipeetle?" The leader asked.

"Acid spitting worm gems with ravenous minds." The gem explained. The human facepalmed at the blatant admission.

The mom looked like she was going to freak out even more as the girl prepared for the worst, only for the mother to breathe in deeply. "Luz, I admit I don't understand magic, so you have one chance at explaining it to me … are these creatures safe for you and your friends to be around?"

"Yes." The girl nodded. "Lucci's snake is a palisman, creatures made from wood. They all listen to their master's no matter what, so they won't harm anybody."

"Hhhss." As long as they weren't trying to hurt their boy … or if they weren't Luz.

"And the Lion…well, he's tame, and he came from Lucci's wom…from his mom…" Lucci groaned at that word.. "And he mostly sits around all day and sleeps. We've all taken rides on him, and he never bites."

"I see … and the … 'Centipeetles'?"

"Grr." They weren't that bad. All they did was chase around the annoying woody creatures anyway.

"Hsssh." I will make them spit acid on you someday.

"They're always cuddling Luz like little puppies." Lucci answered. Not a lie, they did love Luz. It was just everyone else they hated. "We have no problems with wild animals at all. In fact, why don't you pet Spice's mane? It's super fluffy."

"The fluffiest!" The gem squeezed him annoyingly.

"I don't know.."

"Come on mom. If you want to understand magic, this is perfect for you. You love animals, don't you?" Luz brought up. "You have internal instincts that tell you to protect all creatures big and small, fluffy or scaly, wild or tamed?"

"True…" The mother sighed. "Alright…please don't bite me…" The mother cautiously approached his head with her hand, closing her eyes. Spice rolled his eyes and just walked closer himself, allowing her to pat the top of his head. "Is my arm gone yet?" She did know acting scared around his kind meant you were prey, right?

"No, still intact, and resting on pink fur." His boy reassured her. "It's okay to open your eyes, you know. That's half of the magic and fun there."

The woman slowly opened them, watching Lion as she began scratching his ears in a wonderful way. "I don't know what kind of magic made it possible, but your lion is the most calm and patient creature I've ever seen." The house pack leader gave him one of those amazing head pats.

"Hhhhhhmmm." Spice purred at the touch. This lady knew her way around a mane.

"Well … I guess if they're all this calm." The leader smiled. "But I want to make sure nothing is wrong, so once a month check-ups will be mandatory."

"That's fair." Luz nodded. "We're going to head out now. Lucci, you think Spice can take us?"

"Actually, I think he's going to be stuck here for a while." His boy nodded as Spice leaned into the petting.

"Oh, does that mean you're free so we can play soccer?" The gem asked, clinging onto his boy. "We can take turns on who the ball gets to be!"

"Give a me a minute, Luz, this might take a while."

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

Connie watched from the parking lot as Lucci and Boscha kicked Spinel all around. "Huh, never thought I would see a sport that would interest me as much as Grudgby, but this might actually be a close second." Boscha smirked. "It's like that, but only with leg power. Just add a few magic traps, and it would be perfect."

"There's one thing you didn't account for, my Angel." Lucci grinned as he kicked Spinel up. "Luz said no hands, not only feet!" And headbutted the ball across the field. "Victory!"

"I'M FLYING! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" The bouncy gem with much more darker features than she remembered shouted gleefully.

"You missed the goal." Luz pointed out.

"Sorry Crystal, but even you can't beat me at what I'm best at." The three eyed witch smirked, kissing the boy on the cheek. "Nice try though."

"So is this why they're dating?" Connie asked. "It still kind of baffles me."

"Girl, we've been living with this for months and we still don't get it." Willow spoke as she looked away. "Let's move on from the romance and focus on something else."

"Like the reason we're in the first place." Luz announced. "We tried pulling together everything we had on hand to create a new portal door, and it didn't work. So we need to step back a little, and focus on the resources we DON'T have at hand at the moment."

"Isn't that just the titan's blood?" Gus asked.

"Yes, but we know we don't have access to that, so until an alternative comes up, we need to go over everything." Luz explained. "I once found everything I needed in a library to make my first portal door, so maybe a little more research is required before we take the next step."

"And Connie is a master when it comes to knowing all about books." Ever since the Pearl incident, Vee hasn't left her side … when she wasn't being grounded of course. Constant hugs and reassurances that Connie mattered. It wasn't that big of an issue for her as it seemed to be for Luz, but she did have to acknowledge the whole 'you don't matter' talk was taking things a bit too far.

"If there's anything about witches and history, it's going to be here." At last, this was an adventure she was all too prepared for. "Behold, the Budwick Town Library." Connie introduced with a dramatic tone.

"... I never thought I could hate you as a person more than I already did, but here we are." Amity grumbled. "Why is this place so small? It's a disgrace to libraries everywhere."

"But it's the size of three swimming pools, that's big right?" Vee asked.

"The Boiling Isles library reached the size of about five football fields." Luz input. "With flying books all around that acted like birds, and the all seeing eyeballs constantly watching your every move."

"... Awesome." Connie responded with sparkling eyes.

"It is … until the librarian sets you on fire because you eat one of the pages." Vee rolled her eyes. Sometimes she forgot they lived there for a while before coming here.

"No, they just fine you here…which still sucks but less so." Luz explained. "Now everyone be careful. Human libraries are much more simple, so things are also less alive. Soo if you see people opening cabinets.."

"WHERE ARE THE ORGANS!?" Willow shouted as she saw a little girl opening one.

The girl looked at Willow, then started to tear up. "Waaaa!!" Now she was crying as the mother came in, glaring at her glasses wearing friend.

"...know that they're just objects." Luz grumbled. "Cabinets, lockers, none of them are alive here."

"Riiight …" Gus nodded, walking over to the sections. "If they're not alive, do we just push the shelves instead of them coming to us?" He asked, starting to press on one.

"Wait, don't push on the-!" Connie warned, but it was too late as the shelves began toppling on top of each other like dominoes. "Guys…RUN!"

Each of them scattered, running to the far end of the Library where the screaming was muted and where no one was liable to blame them for the chaos. "How is it that Willow and Gus caused more mayhem than Lucci and Luz at a library?" Amity asked.

"Because we're calm and passive enough to let others make the mistakes, and the usual troublemakers either aren't interested or know enough … no offense Luz." Hunter said.

"None taken…although now that you mentioned it, I don't see Lucci anywhere." Luz looked around. "Oh no, guys, find a fire hydrant, he might've set the library on fire by this point."

"Geez, I'm not that much of a pyromaniac." Said boy walked up to them.

They all gave him a blank stare. " Yes you are."

"Suddenly feeling like I should have brought an emergency supply to stop him." Vee muttered.

"Stop Lucci? Oh, is this a game?" Spinel asked. "Whoever sets something on fire first wins?"

"You go out of your way to find something useful, and everyone accuses you of being the bad guy." The boy rolled his eyes. "So I guess nobody wants this really old journal looking thing I found underneath the shelves Gus toppled over."

"Really old journal …" Connie took the book, reading the cover.

"Yeah, Luz found Phililp's journal at the Boneburrow library, I figured looking for another one here would give us something

"Philip … like, Philip Wittabane?" Connie asked.

"Yeah?" Luz asked.

"As in one of the town FOUNDERS Philip Wittabane!? He was on the Boiling Isles!?"

The witches all turned to her. "... Remember that immortal man from the sixteen hundreds Belos that tried to kill all witches?" Luz reminded.

"... Ah …" Connie nodded slowly, already feeling bad.

"Which means that I now have another reason to burn this town to the ground." Lucci grumbled. "Spinel, put the match back." He said without looking. "Please don't tell me this is about him, that's just going to lead to a dead end."

"No…this one's Buddy Budwick's journal." Connie read as she flipped it open.

"As in the name of the library?" Amity asked.

"Yes. Buddy Budwick was an assistant on a ship that had the Wittabane brother's and William Dewey on it. He fell off the ship, but miraculously survived while the other three went on to found Gravesfield." Connie skimmed through pages until she found some drawings. "Eventually he got inspired to search the globe …" 

"There's a lot of gem artifacts on here." Vee noticed.

"Already getting bored." Lucci rolled his eyes.

"And apparently Rose had a pack of seven Lions." The basilisk continued.

"...Getting less bored, continue." Lucci changed his mind.

"How about you start with the town founding?" Hunter asked. "We…don't know that much about Belos's past as a human. Maybe we can find a weakness to exploit."

"A weakness in the dead man?" Amity asked.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting…it's hard to accept at times." Hunter sighed. "Worked with him for so long…guess I'm looking for any explanation for why he was beyond hating witches."

"Alright." Connie returned to the part about him waking up. "Art came froth from dreary slumber, as thou's body ached with the agony of a thousand thorns ached into the bottom of Art's flesh."

"So…flowery…." Boscha covered her ears. "It's worse than the Azura books."

"Anyone who wants to give a summarized version after can, I'm going to put in earplugs." Willow said as she pulled out the object.

"They'd probably all hate Shakespear." Vee muttered. "Just give the baby version, sweetie."

"Fine." So uncultured. "I came from my dreary slumber with my body aching with the agony of a thousand thorns.."

"Oh wait, actually let me try something. This sounds familiar anyway." Vee took the book, clearing her throat as it sounded deeper. "I came from my dreary slumber with my body aching with the agony of a thousand thorns." She narrated, sounding just like Jamie.

"This is because of the town play you put on huh?"

"It's the only exposure to Buddy Budwick I have." She responded. "Plus this guy totally sounds like Jamie, right?"

"The overdramatic words, yeah, but there's now real way to know since, you know, he's dead." Connie pointed out.

"True, but if we can't use the real words I'd figure a little pizazz would do wonders either way."

"Can we get on with it?" Boscha rolled her eyes. "We've been stalling for so long I might consider burning this place down myself."

"Fine." Vee grumbled. "..I had been out of it for quite some time. I had very little grasp of how the others had progressed on their quest until I washed upon the shores of the new world."

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

Budwick spit the last of the sand out of his mouth. "A thousand washes will never remove that flavor." He grumbled. Come to the new world they said, it would be an adventure of a lifetime. Maybe it would, if they actually managed to throw Buddy a rope. It was a miracle he survived the ocean with nothing but a small life preserver that flew off the ship.

Budwick began to put pressure down, allowing his weak and malnourished legs to get used to walking again. It was solely for Caleb's sake that he tolerated this trip as is. Philip and Willaim could be quite insufferable with their ego's constantly clashing with each other, each one of them trying to take control of the ship.

"Surprise, surprise, Belos had a lust for power even back then."

"Had to start somewhere."

Why did Philip deny those colorful women's help? They warned them ahead of time of the storm! What kind of stubborn mule sails straight into the eye of a storm in pure spite!? But nooo, they're not human, and therefore, must be devil's work! We didn't know a continent existed, Philip, they may not even be aware Lucifer exists!

"That's ironic on so many levels with foresight. History joke."

"Yeah, a bad one on my life."

Budwick shook his head. He needed to push aside his grievances for the moment and try to find some food, clean water, or at the very least some decent shelter. He walked along the coast, making his way forward as he tried to search the beach of any signs of life. Buddy looked at the forest, retaining a feeling something was gazing upon him. "Is anyone there?" He questioned … before a purple blur shot forth and snapped at his legs.

"I'm gonna win!" Shouted a small purple girl.

"Agggg!" He screamed in pain.

"Amethyst, I've told you a hundred times before you don't bite the newcomers!" A familiar pink woman chastised.

"Aww, but he smells so salty, like a fish. What if he's one of those giant fish people? I always wondered how'd they taste."

"I'm so sorry for her." The woman apologized. "I'm Rose Quartz."

"It's quite alright, I'm just happy to see anyone at all. I'm Buddy Budwick, Madam." He bowed. "Would it trouble you to point me in the direction of a town, or village?"

"That depends." Rose said. "What is your opinion on witches?"

The man paused. "Frankly at the moment I wouldn't care if I saw the devil himself in front of me if it meant getting a decent meal. I'm far too tired and exhausted to care about any religious beliefs."

She gave him a smile that reminded Budwick of his own mother. "Then I can cater you in my cave. It's a bit packed, some others are hiding out at the moment."

"Other's.." He was directed to a nearby cave entrance, where there was a familiar face waving at him. "Egads! Caleb, is that you!?"

"Buddy! You made it!" His friend joyously greeted him affectionately. "I would've dove in after you, but Philip held me back. You know how overprotective he can be."

"You're the elder brother, that should be your job." If there was one positive trait that Philip had, it's that Buddy was sure he'd die for his brother.

"....No comment."

"Yeah…I got nothing."

"Same. That just aged poorly."

"Do I want to know the context?"

"Save it for after this story."

"I take it you and the others already set up?" He asked.

"Yes. Believe it or not, we were saved by a giant woman of volcanic rock and eight arms." Caleb said. "She moved through the ocean as if she touched the ground itself."

"She did." Rose answered with a small chuckle. "It was only three thousand miles deep, one of the more shallow parts of the ocean to be honest. They didn't have to stretch their legs out that much."

"This New World is incredible!" Caleb exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "I'm discovering wondrous, new discoveries and mysteries."

"Good for you…I take it Philip hasn't been doing all that well." Buddy assumed.

"You mean the bearded guy?" The purple child asked. "He refused to let Rose heal his broken arm and has been hobbling all over the place."

That checked out. "I should probably head back … lead the way Caleb?"

"During sunset, I want to learn what I can." If Buddy didn't know any better, he'd assume the twinkle in that man's eye was from a crush. 

"This better not be about my womb donor hooking up with somebody."

"Trust me Clawthorne, I don't like this direction either."

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

"For the next few weeks I followed Caleb as we began exploring the local areas. While we shared a similar passion in recording and discovering the new…which was rather hard given that the crystal gems had already discovered much of the world themselves…..Caleb seemed more interested in researching the people…or rather…a certain person in particular….."

"If it's my womb donner, I'm going to stab someone."

"A witch by the name of Evalyn." 

"...Barely avoided me burning this book."

"Would you really have burned something so historically poignant?"

"Connie, there's almost nothing that Lucci isn't willing to burn. That's just how Eda raised him."

"And she raised me very well."

"Caleb, must we traverse the woods so late at night?" Caleb heard his dear old friend ask him. "You know how much the wolves can smell the fear off of me."

"Believe me, Buddy, who we're meeting up with is far more scary and impressive than any old wolf." Caleb reassured me. "She was in the cave while we were recovering along with the rest of her family." It was quite fortunate that Philip was still passed out when they met, otherwise his overzealousness might've scared her away.

"The cave of witches." He responded.

"Oh you don't believe what the town says about them, do you?" Caleb asked.

"I believe the town may be liable to linch you." Buddy deadpanned.

"Seriously, what was the deal with witches back then?"

"If you weren't a straight white who focused on the single monotheistic religion, you were treated as second class citizens at best and killed at worst. Not to mention paranoia spread by those in power in order to keep said power going as people would perpetuate the rumors themselves out of the instinctual fear of the unknown."

"..." 

"What, wasn't any better than the Witches against Basilisks, but you don't see me hating you guys." 

" Just get back to the story."

"Oh quiet you. She's a lively spirit, and far from dastardly, I can assure you." Caleb reassured. "Trust me, once you meet her, you'll appreciate her charm."

The man simply hummed as they made their way into a clearing … where the woman in question worked, grinning as she messed with a pot of ingredients. "Eye of newt, tongue of fly, and a pinch of paprika … haha, bomb potion. People will definitely pay a fortune to blow the face off a few pricks."

"...Her charm, eh?" Buddy glared at him. "What, does she have a beautiful laugh while blowing people up?"

"The most beautiful…" Caleb remembered fondly.

"...."

"Luz, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing, just … getting the weirdest sense of Deja Vu right now."

"Hey, who goes there? If you're a peeping Tom, you aint getting a show, unless you want a face full of fire!" The witch summoned balls of flames into her hands.

"No, no, no, there's no peeping here, Evelyn! It's only me, Caleb!" He made himself known.

"Ahhh, the cute human that was passed out in Rose's cave, right." The brown haired witch turned off the fire and snickered. "If you wanted a private show, all you had to do was ask."

He felt his face flush. "Heavens no, no no no, I just wanted to show my friend the kindness and great wonder of witches." Caleb explained.

"... Listen, you're a good kid, so I'm gonna level with you. I'm a scam artist. Kindness is not at the top of my library, nor my first priority." The lady mused. "If you want unconditional sunshine and rainbows, you're better off with pinky." Evelyn rolled her eyes. "She's the one everyone wants after all."

"You mean Rose?" Caleb asked. "She's interesting, sure, but you can make lights with nothing but a pot and water, and anyone could replicate that … it's wondrous." He complimented. "I've seen you in action. You're resourceful, you're crafty, and you're always coming up with something new and imaginative. I find that to be a very admirable and charming quality."

Evalyn stared at him for a moment, before looking away. "Well … I guess one or two shows couldn't hurt."

"See, I told you witches are nice." He smirked at Buddy.

"... You are so oblivious it hurts."

"Wait, is there an actual peeping Tom here?" Evelyn prepared the fireballs once more.

"No, I just told you I wanted to show my friend the wonder of witches" Caleb said. "This is my Buddy … Buddy."

"Buddy….you're parents hated you, didn't they?" Evelyn snorted.

"They thought the alliteration was clever." Buddy grumbled. "You don't plan on eating any babies anytime soon, do you?"

"No. There's no meat on those tiny things." Funny joke.

"Huh, never thought someone could be more dense than Luz, but history proved me wrong."

"Oh ha ha."

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

"The town had flourished within the coming years, a steady and thriving commnunity founded on steadfast beliefs. Unfortunately for Caleb, that left little room for his special lady."

Evalyn packed the last of her things. "That's it …" Eclipse lake wouldn't last forever, its properties were beginning to dissolve. If she didn't head home now, she never would again. She turned to Rose. "It's been a pleasure." Despite arguing over Caleb, the woman was still a fun gall to hang out with.

"Indeed, Evelyn. I wish we could've found a way to keep the portal going continuously." Rose sighed. "The Boiling Isles has so much to offer the human world. If it wasn't for the witch hunters-"

"Eh, you win some, you lose some. Not everything goes to plan." Evelyn shrugged. "Gonna miss collecting human junk that isn't covered in slug guts though. No hassle for a fortune."

"Is anyone else getting Eda vibes?"

"I was wondering why I was liking this Evelyn woman so much."

"I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to tone down your larceny streak by now." Rose laughed knowingly.

"You got it pinky. I live at my own pace. I haven't stopped now and I'm not going to in the future." She smirked. "Though if you give me a vile of that magic spit of yours, I might not need to for a while."

"We both know you're just going to use it to grow corn people to harvest. You know my powers overload in the Boiling isles, so not a chance."

"... Powers overload?"

"That explains so much yet so little."

"Worth a shot." She put the sack on her back. "Fare thee well, Ro-"

"Evalyn wait!" She turned, seeing a familiar cute face run into the cave, doubled over. "Curse … you … fragile … writer legs …"

"Guess that was the early version of weak nerd arms."

"Caleb! What are you doing here?" Evelyn asked. She had made sure to tell no one she was leaving to make it easier for everyone.

"Flapjack flew by my window and explained everything through clever context clues."

She watched as a red cardinal with a poorly drawn image of Evalyn diving into a pool of water flew into the room. "Chirp."

"... Even back then he never understood subtly."

"Are we just ignoring the fact that this woman is Flapjack's original owner?"

"I'm pretty sure every Palisman we have has a unique and crazy backstory about their original owner."

No Flapjack, she did NOT need this. "Listen … the portal's closing, I can't stay here."

"I know, and I could never ask you to stay away from your home, much as I might wish to have you stay." Caleb nodded. "I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye at least."

"Caleb.."

"No, I need you to hear this from me,even if it's only once." Caleb interrupted. "Evelyn, I have never met a single woman, a single person in general in all the vastness of this world, as amazing and unique as you. The magical nights we had making potions,gazing at the stars,getting chased by buffalo, those are all unforgettable experiences I will always hold dear in my heart." The man grabbed her hands. "Evelyn Clawthorne, I will love you till the ends of time, and no one will ever tell me otherwise."

She couldn't tell what was worse, the heat in her cheeks or the pain in Rose's eyes. "I …"

"And that's why … I can't say goodbye." He said, leaning down, pulling out a…. "So please … take me with you, to the Boiling Isles." A gold ring in his hand.

" What!?" Both her and Rose shouted.

"I love your world, I love your kind, and I've never felt more at home with you by my side then growing up my whole life in the human realm. With you..I'm truly myself." Caleb stood up, and kissed her on the lips.

"Caleb, think about what you're doing.." Rose spoke up.

"I have. I thought about it for a long time." Caleb said resolutely. "My life is incomplete if I don't have Evelyn by my side." He turned to her. "Please …"

"I …" He … "I …" He was … "I accept!" She hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"Evelyn, you can't!"

"I can, and I will, Pinky!" Evelyn cackled.

" This was all I could record from Rose Quartz, for that was the last time anyone had heard of Caleb Wittabane and Evelyn Clawthorne."

"Wait… CLAWTHORNE!?"

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

Hunter gaped with everyone else, staring at the blinking Basilisk. "Oh yeah, Lucci, she has your last name doesn't she?" She smiled.

"Lucci…even you can't just brush that off." Luz Spoke up. "Evelyn….Evelyn is Eda's ancestor."

"Mom's great something great grandma…whoa." Clawthorne was in awe. "The Clawthornes have always been awesome!"

"Wait … is there anything else about Philip?" Hunter had to know.

"Umm … according to Budwick, he used words to gain passage from Rose into the Boiling Isles to save his brother." Connie added on. "So …"

There was a moment of silence. "Clawthornes have been screwing over Philip since day one." Boscha bluntly stated.

"So I've upheld a four hundred year family tradition..nice." Clawthorne smirked.

"Wait. If Evalyn married Caleb … that means …" Luz's eyes widened. "Eda has Wittabane blood." Wait, since Hunter was from Philip's brother … did that mean …

"Eda is part human!" Gus shouted, fortunately not having access to the full implications Hunter had.

"... So many questions." Willow muttered.

"So they came in on Eclipse Lake." Amity derailed that discussion. "That means we can't use their method of going back."

"Wait, but Rose was on the isles too with Philip, and she got stuck there for a century." Luz pointed out. "That means she and Philip found a way to follow them AFTER the portal closed!"

"How would they get stuck there?" Connie asked. "If they had a way in, they'd use the same way out."

"Philip said in his journal he had to make his own portal door while stuck there, which is the portal door that Eda used to own. So my best guess is whatever method they used must've been destroyed or been a one time use." Luz justified.

"It had to be Rose, right?" Willow asked. "With the whole Diamond thing I'm pretty sure Rose was the only decent power source they had at the time."

"There has to be something we're missing here." Lucci scratched his head. "Does it say anything about making the portal?"

"No, not from anything I'm reading over. Most of the final entries are the personal sketches Budwick made." Connie showed off. 

"Is that a yeti?" Luz asked as she looked the drawing over.

"Pretty sure I saw a couple of jackalopes a few pages back." Vee mentioned.

"Yeah, I think he was breaking down from the journey." Connie muttered as she flipped the pages. "Says here he almost 'lost his soul in africa from a giraffe' or something."

"That's why we're not going to the zoo anytime soon, Gus." Clawthorne stated.

"Come on, I'm sure they would've mellowed out by now." Gus complained. "If we can redeem Boscha and Hunter, Giraffes should be no problem."

"Hey, I never needed any redeeming!" Boscha yelled back. "My standards for tolerance just lowered for the sake of my crystal."

"I also question the definition of redemption if we're stretching it that thin." Willow muttered, looking at the book herself. "So I guess we're not going to learn anything el-wait, go back. I thought I saw something weird."

"How weird? Boiling isles weird or everyday earth weird?" Luz asked

"Fate has a twisted sense of humor weird." She muttered. "Hey, Hunter, Philip was your uncle, right?"

"Yeah…" That's what everyone still managed to believe. "Why?"

"I think I found the family resemblance." She showed the picture to everyone.

Hunter stared at what could be described as a round eared version of himself. "Uhhhhhhh…." He managed to stutter.

"Wait, if he's directly related to Caleb…wouldn't that make him and Eda related?" Boscha questioned

"Uhhh…."

"Let's back pedal this for a second…" Luz tried to steer the conversation away from the topic.

"Yeah, wouldn't he and Lucci technically be cousins?" Connie pointed out.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh…."

"Look, how about we just drop the subject now and go back to figuring out the portal…" Clawthorne piped in.

"For a guy who talks a lot about loving family you sure are adamant about not gaining a new member" Vee noted.

"Uhhhh….."

"Guys, could you stop talking about it, Hunter's been frozen the entire time with a freaked out face." Gus pointed out. 

"I'm … gonna go … use the restroom." He began walking away, hearing the faint words of 'wait, where's Spinel' before he stumbled into the restroom, hearing nothing but ringing in his head. He knew he was a clone…it just dawned on him of just how horrible it was. He essentially read up on…his own life….the life Belos kept killing…over…and…over…and over…and over….because he hated who he was….because the grimwalkers always did the same thing…over…and over…and over…

He looked into the mirror seeing his…no…seeing Caleb's face…seeing BELOS's face. Hunter quickly got out his pocket knife and sliced away the longer parts of his hair. He couldn't look like him, he didn't need reminders. Why the hell did they have to open a book they didn't get anything from?

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

Lucci held onto Spinel as they walked out. "I'm not saying I'm mad at you for setting fire to the faculty lounge, I'm just saying you could've given us a head's up before doing it."

"But I thought the name of the game was to set something on fire before anyone else?" She asked innocently.

"We are horrible role models." He heard Luz mutter. "Well, minor history lesson aside, we at least know there actually IS a way to the boiling isles. We just don't know what it is, or found it."

"My vote is still on Lucci powering the door." Willow said, before looking back. "I'm gonna go back for Hunter, he's been in there for a while."

"Surprised he wasn't the first one out when the fire alarms rang." Boscha mentioned.

"You saw him freak out. He's already dealing with a lot just being related to Belos." Gus pointed out. "Probably stirred up some unpleasant memories."

Connie and Vee walked up to them, sighing. "Well if there was a way to open the portal in there, we can't look for it anymore. All of us are banned."

"Good riddance. That library was pitiful." Amity smirked. Nice to see the sparks of a troublemaker in her. "Surprised you didn't walk out on learning about your own family, Lucci."

"I couldn't care less about my Womb donor, but mom's great something grandma, that's completely different." Lucci smiled. "Reading up on Evelyn, it was like reconnecting with mom and her side of the family. And knowing I'm living up to the Clawthorne name….that just leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside."

"Good to see you having fun, Crystal." Boscha smiled with a kiss on his cheek. "So, do humans have technology for power transfer?"

"We have jumper cables, Mr Universe always uses that for his van." Vee suggested.

"Not going anywhere near that bastard, so I'll just steal some later." Lucci waved off. "So what's the situation for dinner tonight? I'm starved right no-" He bumped right into something pink and Fluffy. "Hey Spice. I take it you had your fill of headpats today?"

"Grrr." He kept rubbing his face against Lucci.

"Great, this again." He turned to Vee. "Any suggestions?"

"Nah, not really. Li-... Spice tends to do what he wants all the time, which is why he always ran away from me." She answered. "We could jump on him and see if he wants to take us to a mystical location or something."

"No, if he was going to do that, he would just put me on himself." Spice just pressed against him even more. "Seriously spice, I can hardly breathe in your mane."

"In his mane….wasn't it his mane where you found the sword?" Luz brought up.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Then don't you think maybe he's telling you to grab something else from in there?"

"Luz, he already magically contained a full sword without learning the clawthorne technique." He said while putting his hand into the surprisingly roomy mane. "Although … there is a lot of space in here. I'm just getting air though, nothing else."

"Maybe you need to go deeper?" 

"Yeah, give me a second." He put his head inside to take a look … and saw a field of pink grass, along with a pink sky, and a pink island next to him with lots of stuff … what the heck-no air, no air! Lucci pulled his head back, gasping. "HOW DO YOU HAVE AN ISLAND WITH A SKY IN YOUR HAIR!?"

"REALLY! THERE'S A MAGICAL WORLD WITHIN HIS HAIR!?" Vee squealed. "Take me with you!" She tried to go into the mane..and couldn't "What?"

"Guess it only works for me." Lucci said. "Besides, it's a bad idea anyway, there's no air in here, I can't breathe in there, though I did see a few things on the island."

"Grrr." Spice looked at him with a nod.

"Oh, you wanted me to take those out, didn't you?" He asked.

"Grr." Spice nodded again.

"Alright, if you say so." Lucci took a deep breath and dove back in. Short track through the pink grass-hair(so weird) and he was on an island with a fully grown tree. Even for a witch this didn't make that much sense.

Let's see what the baggage was. A giant treasure chest, good, classic, hopefully something valuable in there, definitely taking it out. A flag with his shield symbol on it. Not as cool, but maybe he could design it later, so he'll probably take it out too.

An oversized t-shirt … gah it wreaked, no wonder Spice wanted it gone. It even had the name Mr. Universe on it….okay, not only would he take this shirt out, he was going to burn it.

What else … a pink scabbard, probably goes to the sword. Okay, Luz would definitely want that, so that would be getting out. Anything else….nothing except a black rectangle labeled 'for Steven'...gah, like he needed that in his life. Might as well ask Luz what this was before destroying it.

He picked up the shirt, the scabbard, and the rectangle, before air became a problem again. He ran back to the grass, jumpinging in and landing outside as he gasped for air. "Okay … Angel, start a fire." He said, sorting the objects. "For Luz, scabbard for the sword that cuts through anything."

"Finally, I can take the sword into battle without cutting through my clothes!" Luz hugged the thing. "...Wait, I wouldn't have to have worried about that if you just took it out the first time!"

"Hey, I was trying to take Spice to the Boiling isles the first time I met him until Vee came….and wow, that would've solved so much of our problems if I had." Damn Hindsight. "Also got this shirt, but it belongs to Mr. Universe, so it's becoming ash."

"On it." Boscha tossed fire onto the thing.

"As for the rectangle … any clue what it is?"

"VHS." Connie said. "It's used for recording and playing videos."

"So…since this has my womb donor's stuff in it…I'm guessing this is something she wanted to say to me." Lucci stared at the tape, and genuinely thought about crushing it then and there … "Hey Vee." He looked at the Basilisk. "Any attachment to Rose?"

"I always saw her picture as something warm to look at, but no personal attachment."

"Cool." Just a good idea to be sure, he thought as he crushed the tape into dust, and sprinkled it into the burning shirt.

"Sure you wanted to do that?" Luz asked.

"Yeah. After all; there's no Steven Universe to give it to."

"True … but there might have been a hint about the portal in there that nobody saw."

"This is my womb donor we're talking about. Name one time where something she left behind has been helpful to us." Lucci countered. Luz simply raised the sword, and moved over to Spice, before pointing at himself. "..Flukes in the universe."

"You do realize you're calling yourself a fluke." Gus pointed out.

"I'm content with it." He shrugged. "So, dinner?" Better to end the day now before anything else happens.