A/N It's another chapter! Getting to know a little more about Ashton as the two stumble around bonesborough! Squeeee, it was fun to write this chapter. I've taken to trying to draw some promo art, usually based off Dana's art in some form, to post with the release of the new chapters! I've also just been doing a bunch art in general in my sketchbooks with Ashton so if ya wanna see some more, I've actually made in instagram account to dedicated to my page. Neo doesn't have access to it, (mostly because they don't like using phones or the internet lol) so it's just me over there. It's probably one of the best places to contact me if you wanna so check it out. The user is @lost_abandoned_souls, and I'll be posting mostly pictures on there. Okay, okay, you can read the story now sorry!
Ashton woke up as the sun illuminated the room in an orange glow. King and Luz were still sleeping, so he quietly grabbed his t-shirt and bandana before heading to the bathroom. After washing up, he put his vigilante outfit back on and decided to work out. He went to the yard so he didn't have to worry about waking anybody up; well, aside from Hooty as the door-tube was already awake.
"Hey Ashton! Sleep well~?" Hooty asked as the teen was doing his push-ups.
"Well enough," he grunted. '45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50; that should be good for now,' he thought to himself. He started jogging around the house, enjoying the quiet rustling of trees and the distant sounds of waves splashing against shores. He never did anything too intense for his work-outs but seeing as how he had gotten captured the other day, he was pushing himself a little harder then usual. He lapped the building once, twice, thrice, before Hooty's shrill 'ow' rang through the air. He paused his running to see Hooty leaving the bathroom window, Luz calling out an apology after him.
"Good Morning, Ashton!" Luz waved out the window and he awkwardly waved back before he started his jogging again. He did a couple more laps before deciding to head inside for some sort of food.
He walked inside and headed to the kitchen where Eda was drinking, King was eating, and Luz was...taking a traffic cone off of her head? 'She should come to New York, she'd fit right in.'
"A magic staff huh, you really want one?" Eda asked, tilting her mug in Luz's direction.
The teen's eyes sparkled as she grinned brightly. "More than anything." Ashton walked over and grabbed an apple from the counter, unnoticed by the rooms occupants. He leaned against the fridge as he bit into his breakfast. Strangely enough, the apple was 'bloodied' inside, the apple juice being a dark, blood-like red color. He shrugged it off and took another bite.
Eda held out her hand with a small smirk. "Magic staff, come to me!" Luz, Ashton, and King stared at the open doorway as a series of crashes rang through the house. The staff suddenly flew through the doorway and smacked Eda in the face before falling to the floor. She grabbed the staff with a groan. "It's early. Now witches are awarded their staffs from school. With me as your teacher, you'll be taking a different approach." She grabbed a large sack off the ground and dropped it in front of Luz, potions spilling out of the bag and onto the floor. "You'll have to work for it."
She led Luz into the living room and Ashton followed curiously, grabbing the sack off the floor as they went. Eda turned to smirk at the girl, startling back when she saw Ashton. "Jeez kid, make some noise when ya walk, will ya?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
The vigilant merely smirked, finishing off his apple. "Nah, this is more fun, boss." Luz screamed as she whirled around to stare at Ashton, who merely tossed the core in the trash.
"How long have you been there?!" She asked bewildered.
He smirked at the teen. "Long enough to see you wearing a traffic cone, Noceda."
Luz flushed with embarrassment and Eda coughed to draw the attention back to herself. "Alright you two, pay attention since you'll both need to know this. I run a few businesses. On weekends, I offer rare human artifacts that Owlbert drags over from the human- er, Luz's realm." She grabbed a plastic toy sword and clicked a button, making the sword say 'I shall smite all my enemies! Ages 6 to 11' before throwing it over Luz's head. "But most days, I sell only the finest elixirs and potions." Both teens pull out a bottle from the sack, staring at the label in disbelief.
"Snake oil?"
"Wart-be-gone?"
"Nobody wants an un-oiled snake and warts are last decade's fashion statement. Now follow me." Luz grabbed the sack of potions from Ashton as they followed Eda onto the upstairs balcony. "Today you'll be delivering potions to that town over there, Bonesborough." She pointed to the nearby town just off the shoreline. "You'll have to be careful. I have rivals everywhere who'd love to take my business down and you along with it, which is why Ashton's going to be your bodyguard. He seems to be the most rational between the two of you." She turned to Ashton, ignoring Luz who claimed she didn't need a bodyguard. "Trust your gut, avoid fighting if you can help it, don't get eaten. Your first job as my employee is to keep Luz from doing something reckless or deviating from delivering potions."
"Roger that, Boss-Lady," Ashton gave short bow, far too used to doing it for Splinter, and moved to stand behind Luz. He ignored the small part of him that worried he would fail his first assignment. 'Splinter trusted me to do solo-missions for a reason, I just have to hope my skills will be enough to keep us safe in this dimension.' He continued ignoring the small voice in his head that reminded him that his skills got him sent to this dimension.
Eda gave a curt nod in response and turned to Luz with a smirk. "Well, you wanted a dangerous magical quest? Sister, you got one."
"I won't let you down, Ms. Eda," Said girl gave a small salute, quickly regretting it as the bag of potions began to fall from her grasp and over the balcony edge. Ashton quickly lunged for the bag, catching it just before it fell out of range. He hauled it up and carefully set it on the ground with a sigh of relief as Eda eyed the two teens.
"I'm sure," She stated flatly. She was soon shoving the two out the front door, Ashton in charge of holding the sack. "Remember, never befriend a man in sandals and measure twice cut once!" As the teens gaped at her advice, she cheerily called out "Good Luck!" before shutting the door.
The witch dusted her hands off before her eyes landed on King. "I hate to interrupt your little power nap, but you have to go with them."
King, standing up from his curled up ball, pouted angrily at her. "What! But I just found the perfect spot." He stomped his foot angrily, looking up at much taller witch. "Besides, Ashton'll keep her safe, right? Humans stick together or something like that."
"You and I both know they're likely to get eaten or lost, probably both, regardless of kid 2's skills."
Luz, face pushed against the window so she could eavesdrop, quickly protested. "No, we won't!" Ashton tugged her away from the window and Eda spelled the curtains close.
"And because you work for me," Eda crouched down to be eye-level with King, coy smile dancing on her lips. "Unless you want to start paying rent." The demon stomped his feet angrily with a high-pitched squeal before walking outside to join Luz and Ashton. "Be back by nightfall or risk mortal peril!" The witch called out before slamming the door.
Hooty smiled at the group," Have a nice trip."
"Let's get this over with," King groaned, leading the way to Bonesborough.
As they walked through the archway entrance to the town, the two humans looked around in awe and wonder. A wall filled with wanted posters caught Ashton's attention while Luz marveled at all the passing demons and witches.
"Hey, it's rude to stare," King stated, knocking Luz out of her thoughts.
She smiled sheepishly at the small demon. "I've only seen places like this in my dreams. It's incredible! And we're the only humans here?"
"Haven't seen any others," King remarked, deadpan.
"Wow! There must be a reason for that, right?" Luz grinned as she twirled in place.
Ashton, raising an eyebrow, gave the girl a flat look. "Yeah, it's because I was thrown here against my will and you chose to stay here instead of going to some summer camp." He readjusted his hold on the bag and slung it over his shoulder as Luz glared lightly at him.
"Yeah, well what if I, Luz Noceda, average teen, actually had a predetermined path of greatness?" She gasped excitedly, quickly forgetting about what Ashton had said. "Just like Azura!"
"Did Azura's path to greatness involve her delivering boil cream?" King asked, climbing Ashton and pulling a potion from the bag. It was labeled 'Boil-B-Gone' in sparkly pink lettering.
Luz was unfazed by King's attempts to dishearten her. "Today I'm delivering packages, but tomorrow I'll be impressing everybody in the Boiling Isles with my magical prowess."
"How are you supposed to learn enough about magic in one day to impress an entire isle of witches and demons?" Ashton asked.
As Luz scrambled for an answer, King scoffed and jumped off the vigilante. " Yeah, good luck with that! The Boiling Isles is nothing but a cesspool of despair."
"More like a cesspool of delight!" Luz cheered, happily walking off to the first house.
"Isn't a cesspool bad by definition?" Ashton muttered, trailing behind Luz.
They headed off to what seemed to be the market district. Luz strode up to a centaur and grabbed a potion from the bag, trying to sell him a potion as she looked up his head. And then she found out his face was in his chest, not on his head. After attempting to smooth things over with that guy, which ended with Ashton dragging her away from the charging centaur, they went to the first house on Eda's delivery list. Luz rang the doorbell which then proceeded to eat her as King walked off. Ashton jabbed the doorbell so it would release the brunette and they quickly finished most of the deliveries on the list.
Using some money Eda had given them, Ashton and King bought not-dogs from a cart vendor before sitting next to Luz on the curb. The small demon dug into his meal, pausing to savor the last bite. He wagged his tail excitedly, louding stating, "I know I've had enough delight for the day!"
"These are surprisingly good," Ashton said, taking another bite of his not-dog. 'Definitely better than hot dogs, even if I don't know what's in it.'
Luz sighed and placed her chin in her hands, staring dejectedly at the litter filled street. "I thought being one of the only humans in a magical world would make me special. Turns out it just means people want to scream at me or eat me." She moved her elbow to reveal the fairy slowly gnawing on it, shaking her arm until the fairy fell off. It tried to latch onto the nearest person, Ashton, but he just picked it up and threw it behind him lazily. "At this point, Azura had already been sent on an enchanted quest. Where's my quest-granting wizard?" She grumbled angrily, opening her book to a page with a regal looking wizard.
King looked over and scoffed. "Sorry to break it to ya, Luz, but nobody here is that well dressed." The vigilante glanced over and cringed slightly at the sight of the wizard.
"It's so gaudy, does this dude not care what people think of him?" He grimaced. "Even I know that outfit sucks and I wear a hot pink bandana all year round."
Luz groaned and climbed to her feet. "This has been a rough day. Let's just deliver this last package and go home, maybe this world isn't what I thought." Ashton finished his not-dog and pulled the list out his pocket. After a pause, he gave up reading the squiggly lines and just handed it back to Luz, who quickly got them to next location.
They pushed through a wall of vines to see a large white and blue castle decorated with gold banners and a shining, golden doorbell. "Pretty!" Luz murmured, heading up to the front door. She rang the bell and almost immediately the doors moved, swinging open in an eerie unison to reveal a dimly lit hallway.
King looked around anxiously. "Big houses always belong to big nutjobs. Let's just kick the package inside and scram." He stepped closer and looked up at her, eyes narrowed with concern.
Ashton looked around as he felt a shiver slide down his spine. "I'm with King, this place freaks me the fuck out. Let's just leave the damn potion and bail."
Luz ignored them both, walking inside with a naive confidence that Ashton envied. "Hello?" The boys raced up to catch up with her, King cowering behind Ashton's legs. "I'm delivering a package from Miss. Eda, the Owl Lady?" As she finished her sentence, the lights in the room suddenly flared to life, illuminating the room. Bookshelves lined the walls and a small table with scones and four chairs sat in the center. Spotlights pointed at the staircase entrance and a man in wizard clothing walked through, perfectly matching the portrait behind him. "Today just got good," Luz muttered to herself, beginning to dance in place. "Magic wizard!"
The wizard began his descent down the staircase. "I was in my oscillarium reading the stars. And who may you two be, with eyes filled with curiosity and fists calloused with experience?" Ashton growled at the description, spine straightening as his gut warned him something was off. Luz began to stammer an answer when the wizard rushed towards her, coming to a stop only a foot away. "Young Lady, dareth I say, I sense something unique about you. Would you join me for tea?" 'Something isn't right here...' Ashton narrowed his eyes at the wizard.
"Okay," Luz exclaimed. She began to follow the wizard only for Ashton and King to hold her back.
The demon grabbed onto her leg tightly. "Let's scram, wizards are just old people with glitter in their pockets."
"Seriously, Noceda. Something about him isn't right. Let's bail while we still can," Ashton stated.
Luz pouted at the two as she glanced between them and the wizard. "But the stars on his robe are sparkling! And there's a baby fox in his beard!" He looked to see that there was a tiny little fox in the wizard's beard, which looked over at the group and giggled. "Plus, I see scones on the table."
"Where?!" King quickly ran over to get the scones and the girl sent the boy a pleading look.
"Ah, sewer apples." He muttered in defeat as he looked between the people he was supposed to protect and she smiled eagerly, walking over to sit in the chair opposite of the wizard. Ashton dropped the bag of potions and sat in the last remaining open chair, grabbing a scone before King devoured them all.
"We'd love to have tea with you," Luz said politely, looking around the room. She noticed a cart of potions in the corner and asked," Do you sell potions, Sir Wizard?"
"Please, call me Adegast. And, yes, I do run a small business," Adegast replied. Ashton glanced between the cart and the bag of potions they had brought, brows furrowed in thought. 'Why did he buy potions from Eda if he could just make his own? Are her potions that much better?'
King downed another plate of scones and wagged his tail happily. "You should run a business of more scones into my mouth! Yes!" He chuckled happily and reached for more of the sugary treats.
"I'm surprised to see you here," Adegast stated, taking a sip of tea. "It was my understanding that Eda delivered the packages herself?"
"Well, I'm kinda, sorta her apprentice, and Ashton's her new employee," Luz explained.
The wizard smiled happily. "And how are you finding the experience?" He glanced at Ashton, who merely glared at him, and quickly tacked on, "The both of you?"
The young girl gave a small smile before frowning at the floor. "Can I be honest, Mr. Adegast?" He nodded at her, taking a sip of his tea. "When I decided to stay in this magical world, I thought I was meant for something special. But Eda just thinks I'm meant for chores and I'm beginning to think I came to the wrong place."
Adegast nodded his head as she talked, turning to look at the other human when she finished. "And you, young bodyguard?"
"Eda leaves clear instructions of what she wants of me," Ashton stated plainly. "I'm very grateful that she's letting me stay with her." He took a sip of his tea and eyed Adegast over the rim of the cup.
The wizard stood up and stepped closer to Luz. "Well, I have a quest-"
"A quest!" Luz eagerly interrupted, tea spilling over the rim of the cup.
Adegast chuckled lightly. "You didn't let me finish. I have a question."
"Oh."
"Would you like to go on a quest?"
Luz jumped out of her seat eagerly, dropping her cup on the floor. "Yes!"
Adegast reached past the fox in his beard and pulled out a scroll of paper. "I might have just the thing for you." He unrolled the paper and held it out for the girl to take. "The prophecy speaks of a young girl who will claim the celestial staff with the help of her guard, freeing this world from an ancient evil. Perhaps, thou have cometh here for a reason."
Luz took the paper and Ashton stood to stand behind her, reading the map over her shoulder. "Perhaps I hath." She muttered under her breath, eyes lighting up with joy as she looked the map over.
The wizard began to wander around and the girl followed behind. "Should you believe yourself worthy to attempt this quest -" "So worthy." "-you need to know the road is dark and filled with peril." "Love peril. Big fan of peril." "And only the chosen one can pull the staff from its post."
Luz froze in place, face glowing with happiness. "The chosen one."
King hopped down from the table and moved to stand beside Luz. "Great story, anyways, your food is gone and so are we." Ashton grabbed the bag with the remaining potions.
"Yeah, we have to go," Luz muttered dejectedly, glancing at the map in her hands. "And pack for this enchanted quest!" Ashton just groaned and threw her over his shoulder as he walked out, King following close behind.
Later, back at the Owl House, Luz sat on her sleeping bag as she talked to King and planned for her journey. Food and potions sat in designated piles as she looked between her book and map to decide on a plan.
"So, King, what kind of chosen one should I be?" Luz asked, rolling onto her stomach to look at the demon.
King, curled into a ball in an attempt to nap, blearily opened an eye at her. "Huh, what?"
"Should I be full of optimism and goodness, like the good witch Azura? Or should I be like a bad girl chosen one, with black nail polish and a mysteriously withdrawn attitude." She picked up her book and flapped it open and close like mouth, talking in a deep voice. " 'I act like I don't care but I secretly do.' "
Eda, walking by the doorway, stopped and poked her head through the doorway. "Oh, you guys talking about bad girls?" She quickly noticed her apprentice's journey supplies and narrowed her eyes at the teen. "Wait, what's going on here?"
King sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Eda, tell Luz how dumb wizards are."
The witch, detaching her hand and waving it around, groaned at the question. "Ugh, wizards are the worst. Never trust a man in casual drapery." She laced her fingers together, hand still detached, as she turned to King. "Why?"
The demon almost immediately burst out laughing. "Your wizard client told Luz tha- that she was the chosen one, and even tried to get Ashton in on it!" Eda quickly joined in on the laughter doubling over as she gasped for breath.
"Wait, wait, Luz AND Ashton!" She fell to the floor snickering as Luz flushed with embarrassment.
"He even gave her a map!" King choked out.
Eda snorted," Let me see this map." Luz handed her the map and she looked over, snorting as she finished. "You didn't think this was real, did you?"
"What?" Luz turned to her with a confused look on her face.
"This map is bunk," Eda stated factually. She gave a kind smile to her apprentice as spoke. "There's no lake with a celestial staff on the Boiling Isles. I would have stolen it ages ago." The witch noted the crestfallen face on Luz and tried to cheer her up. "Ah, don't worry. A few more months here and you won't look like such a mark."
Luz was quiet for a moment before she spoke with a tiny voice. "Can I have some time alone?" Eda and King shared a glance and left without another word.
The two went to the living room, King curling up on the couch and Eda glancing out the window at her employee. Ashton was once again working out, using the nearby trees to do pull ups. As the witch turned to talk to the demon, she missed her apprentice jumping out the window with a toy sword and running to her employee.
"Ashton!" Luz cried, stumbling as she hit the ground. "I'm going on the quest Adegast gave me! Are you gonna come with?"
The teen dropped to the ground and wiped the sweat off his face. "Seriously, you want to go on a quest a shady-ass wizard gave you?" At Luz's eager nodding, he sighed. 'Somebody's gotta keep her safe.' "Alright then, lead the way, Noceda."
A quick glance at the map and the humans were off, Luz leading the way while Ashton stood in her shadow. The brunette was gidding with excitement and she muttered to herself under her breath. Suddenly, she turned to her companion with a grin.
"Soooo, Ashton," Luz smiled brightly. "Since we're both working under Eda, we should get to know each other!"
"Sure, why not."
She smiled brightly as she walked backwards. "Okay! How are old are you? I'm fourteen."
"I'm sixteen, turning seventeen in a few months."
"Okay, hm," Luz hummed as she thought of more questions. "Oh! What do you do in your spare time? Like, hobbies and stuff."
"Well, I used to play hockey, but I got kicked off the team for getting too many detentions," Ashton frowned at the memory. 'I hope Jonesy won that game yesterday.' "Hung out in the sewers an awful lot."
"The sewers?" Luz raised an eyebrow as stared at the older teen. "Doesn't it stink down there?" She gasped as an idea came to mind. "Ooh, are you a graffiti artist who paints in the sewers so you don't get arrested?!"
Ashton blinked at the brunette. "What? No. Cops back home didn't really care about graffiti. Some of my friends lived down there 'cause...reasons, and I liked hanging out with them."
"I'm sensing secrets," Luz stated, smirking. "I guess I'll let it slide. My hobbies are making video edits and reading fantasy books. You ask a question now!"
The vigilante scratched the back of his head as he thought of a question. "Uh, what do you, er - um. Favorite class subject?" 'Okay, yeah, that was a horrible question. I suck at this.'
Luz didn't seem to mind the awkward question. "I like writing classes a lot, it's a good way to express emotions in a way others can understand. I'm guessing you're more of a PE kinda guy?"
"Eh," he shrugged his shoulders loosely. "I like to stay fit so I can I fight better, but my favorite class is science. Playing with chemicals to make explosions and funky reactions is awesome."
Before the girl could reply, she tripped over a thick vine and fell through a wall of leaves. Ashton had pushed through the leaves to help her up when he saw what lay ahead of them. A whole town seemingly filled to the brim with weird cat people. He pulled Luz to her feet and watched as she grinned excitedly. Despite the creepy factor the town gave off, she seemed unbelievably happy to see the town and it's residents.
Luz walked through the town in awe with Ashton beside her, heading to the large water fountain at it's center. As they approached a fountain, two witches rose from the shallow water while flipping their dripping wet hair behind them. One was a boy and the other a girl, both wearing matching outfits with a teal, sleeveless top and white pants. The boy carried a sword at his waist and the girl had a staff strapped to her back.
Luz was immediately enamored by the two strangers, cheeks flushing as she looked up at them. "Wow!"
"I see," The boy narrowed his eyes at the two teens, scoffing lightly. "So you're the chosen one and her elected guard. The celestial staff should've picked me, Nevareth Bladestrife." The witch beside him rolled her eyes and climbed out of the fountain.
Under her breath, Luz happily muttered. "I definitely made the right choice going on this quest." Ashton held in a sigh as he stepped aside so she could fangirl.
The girl, still dripping from the fountain, held a hand out to Ashton. "Junbi Violia. I'm the protector of Nevareth, as you are to the chosen one." The vigilante narrowed his eyes at her, reluctantly shaking her hand. "Where are your weapons with which to guard her?"
"Don't have any." He silently bemoaned the loss of his daggers, Splinter would certainly up his training for losing the precious gifts. 'If I ever see him again,' he thought to himself. Ashton shook his head to dispel the gloomy thoughts and tuned back in to see Luz walking off with Nevareth and Junbi.
King sniffed the alleyfloor like a hounddog, tail wagging as he picked up a familiar scent. "Yep, this is where we met the scones, I mean the wizard. Woah..." He suddenly stops, looking up in shock and mild horror. "It wasn't like this before."
Eda pulled away a curtain so she could see what the demon was talking about. The once glorious castle now laid in ruin; parts of the castle wall broke and fell off to the ground while a front door was lying flat on the doorstep. "I don't like this." She muttered, cautiously moving through the castle. The bookshelves looked long decayed and the books spilled out onto the floor in disarray. She took another step and felt something crinkle underneath the sole of her heels. Eda looked down to see several copies of Luz's map, each with the glowing words 'The Chose One'. "I really don't like this."
He crept beside his fellow human and dialed back into the conversation. Nevareth and Junbi were talking about their 'tragic' past, though something about the way they told the tale set Ashton off. It almost felt rehearsed, like something straight out of one Luz's fantasy books. Parent's go missing, home is destroyed, vengeance wanted. Cut and paste from most hero stories.
A pair of onions with bat wings - something he decided to call Louies after their resemblance to the onion creatures in Papa's Restaurant games - flew beside Nevareth and Junbi as they walked, chittering happily as Luz fawned over them.
"Nevareth, Junbi, your vengeful backstory is so compelling," Luz moaned as she reached out to pet the Louies. "And I am digging your animal sidekicks."
"After my village was consumed, my heart has known nothing but vengeance," Nevareth stared dramatically into the distance, pointedly ignoring Ashton and Junbi rolling their eyes.
"Y'know, Nevareth," Ashton slid in front of the supposed Prince, staring him down with a gaze usually reserved for the criminals in the streets. "Sometimes the best way to move on is to just let something rest. Your kingdom's gone and you can't do anything about it. Suck it up and deal." 'Not how Sensei would've worded it, but eh. I'm no Sensei.'
Nevareth growled at the vigilante, clearly holding himself back from attacking. "And what would you know of vengeance, you pitiful guard?! You don't even carry a weapon with you to journey with, how are you to protect the chosen one?"
Junbi quickly stepped between the fuming boys, raising her hands between them in a placating manner. "Nevareth, you will calm yourself at once. This is no way to treat the Chosen One's guard, and certainly no way for a prince to act!" The prince reluctantly stood down, glaring daggers at Ashton. "And you, guardsman! You should know better than to pick fights when you have nothing to fight with."
'I don't need a weapon to beat your ass into the ground.' He barely kept himself from verbalizing his thoughts, only standing down when he saw the defeated look on Luz's face. "I wasn't picking a fight, merely stating advice. Sure, I said it like an asshole, because I am an asshole, but that doesn't make the advice any less true." He moved to stand behind Luz again, Nevareth and Junbi glancing at him before they continued on the path.
After a few minutes, they make it to a small river with a stone bridge to cross it. As they began to cross the bridge, a weird cat-person (at least weirder than the others in the village) jumped into their path.
"Hum di diddle," The cat sang, dancing jovially as he stared at the party. "To pass this bridge, you must first solve this riddle."
Luz, eager to relieve the air of the tension from the near fight, gave the little cat finger guns and large grin. "Hit me, little furry man."
"Your quest shall stop if you fail this game, so tell me dear, what is my name?" Luz leaned down to inspect his outfit, looking at the name tag on his shirt.
"Uh, Chris?"
"That's it!" Chris clapped happily, looking up at the girl with bright eyes. 'Seriously? That was easy. Eh, the less trouble the better, I guess.' "You may cross the bridge. And please take this, Chosen One," Chris pulled out a ring and handed it to Luz, who eagerly put it on. "It shall help you on your journey."
"Wow, this is amazing, thank you!" she thanked Chris, walking past the cat with Nevareth.
As Ashton and Junbi tried to get past, however; the cat grabbed onto their legs and held them back. "Ah, ah, ah. I never said you two could pass. To proceed on, name stone you are on." The two fighters stared past their feet at the rock, tilting their heads as they tried to remember anything about geology.
"Granite?" Junbi stated, coming out more of a question than answer. Chris merely shook his head, laughing to himself as he looked between the befuddled teens.
Ashton hazarded a guess," Basalt?" The cat-man only howled with laughter, 'no's' falling off his lips as he fell to the ground. "Oh, fuck it." The vigilante picked up Chris and chucked him into the river. He watched with a small amount of glee as the cat hastily threw himself out of the water, hissing at the wet fur that clung to his skin. "Can we head out now?"
Luz grinned and was about to walk forward with the others when Nevareth asked," Do you need a cape, Lady Luz?"
"Nah, I think I'm good-"
"You can use my shirt!" The prince ripped his shirt off and began tying it around Luz's neck, forming a short cape for the young girl.
Luz's eyes sparkled happily, barely able to stammer out," Yes, I need a cape!" She giggled happily as she twirled around.
"Three cheers for the Chosen One!" Nevareth cheered, raised his sword to the sky. "Hip-Hip!"
"Hooray!" Junbi and Ashton cheered along, the latter only doing to see the bright smile on Luz's face. And smile she did, cheeks flushing as the praise overwhelmed her. 'Jeez, this kid's too good for her own good.'
"Hip-Hip! Hoo-"
"Oh no," Eda muttered, looking around at the feeble remains of a village. A fog clung low to the streets as dark clouds rumbled in the sky, the threat of rain looming over the area. "Are you sure they came here?"
"Can't mistake their smell," King stated, sniffing the ground every once in a while. "Luz's smell of lemons and naive confidence, and Ashton's metallic and minty spunk." Eda hummed as she looked around the village, heading to what was once a water fountain. A half-dead looking cat-person hung over the edge of the basin, wrapped in thick, green vines.
"Hey, wake up, you!" Eda flicked the cat's head before picking it up and shaking it around. "What have you done with Luz and Ashton? What's your endgame?"
The cat came to life with a demented grin. "To find your pupils and still your wrath, look ahead and follow the path." Before Eda could question him anymore, the cat turned to dust and faded away on the wind.
King gasped, taking a step away. "The cat man melted!"
Eda stood with sigh. "It's a trap. They want me to follow the kids."
"So what do we do?" The demon asked, looking up at the witch. She could only hum in response.
"Thank you for inviting me to your feast princess!" Luz thanked the fairy, who luckily wasn't trying to bite her skin off this time. Nevareth and Chris - who were staying as far away from Ashton as possible - gave the fairy princess a polite bow as the two guards fell into place beside their wards. "All your food was so cute and tiny."
The fairy princess twirled her wrists and formed two bracelets, handing them to Luz with a grin. "For you, Chosen One." As the girl smiled happily, the fairy turned to Ashton and conjured a small knife. "And for you, noble guardsman."
Ashton took the knife, the blade no bigger his middle finger, and sent the fairy a small smirk. "Thanks, Princess." He fixed the knife onto his belt.
"Yes, thank you so much princess. You all have been so kind and thoughtful," Luz said thoughtfully, sighing wistfully as she posed like a superhero about to take flight. "I hope this journey never ends!"
Chris, who Ashton decided was the worst person in this dimension, immediately responded. "Your quest will soon come to an end, for the staff you seek is around bend."
The smile fell right off of Luz's face as she glared lightly at the cat, dropping her pose. "Gee, thanks for ruining the mood, Chris."
"Go on then, Chosen One. The Celestial Staff is yours, you deserve it," Nevareth stated, smirking proudly at Luz as she and Ashton began to walk away. "Farewell, Lady Luz, Ashton."
"Farewell Chosen One, and farewell Guardsman." Junbi bowed her head politely, hair falling into her face. Chris chirped and did a small dance, bowing in farewell.
The Fairy princess waved eagerly, fluttering about with endless energy. "Farewell, we love you, Chosen one! Keep her safe, Loyal Guard."
Ashton grunted in response as Luz eagerly turned around to face path ahead. They set off again, heading toward the glistening light of the lake. They quickly arrived at the lake edge and stared at the glowing silhouette of the staff on the island at the center of the lake. Luz takes another step towards the edge and the lake suddenly glowed a brilliant blue, forcing the teens to look away lest they be blinded. When they could finally look again, Ashton and Luz watched as rocks rose from beneath the lake to form a bridge to the staff.
"Wow..." They breathed in unison, glancing at each other with bright grins.
"And you thought Adegast was lying," Luz beamed, dancing and twirling her way across the bridge. "I knew this world isn't all gloom and doom like you and King and Eda said! There is wonder here and I think I came here for a reason." She stood in front of the staff as Ashton took his time crossing the bridge.
After a moment, he stood beside her and gently elbowed her. "Just because you're a chosen one doesn't mean you can't be a dingus too." Luz stuck her tongue out at him and he raised an eyebrow. "What, can't a guy tell the truth?"
"How am I a dingus?"
"That bridge was littered with booby-traps." Luz's face dropped and she stared at him. Ashton took the knife from his belt and held it carefully in his hand. "Here, watch were it lands." He threw the knife at a rock on the bridge, watching as it slowly rolled onto the stone. For a moment, nothing happened.
"See, everythi-" As soon as she spoke, the rock burst into flames before falling back into the depths of the lake. Ashton smirked at her and turned back around.
"Told ya, Noceda. Dingus." Luz jaw dropped as she stared at the vigilante, glancing at solid, non-bobby trapped ground beneath her feet.
"How did- what? But- I," ste stammered, struggling to form words. "I'm am so lucky." Ashton nodded, idly sticking his hands in his pockets as he stared at the staff. Luz turned her attention to the staff as well, taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."
She hesitantly reached out and grabbed the white staff, magical blue swirls escaping the grooves of wood and making waves in the lake beneath them. Luz pulled it out of the ground and held it up high, beaming a bright smile as she twirled happily.
"Yes! I am the Chosen One, I knew it," She cheered. "I always suspected there was a reason nobody understood my wacky antics back at home. Now I have concrete proof!" Luz twirled the staff with both hands and turned to face Ashton. The older teen ruffled her hair and playfully pushed her away with small smile on his face.
The joyous moment was quickly eradicated as the staff crumbled to dust Luz's hand. "What? NO!" She reached out to grab the dust and Ashton tensed up, feeling a shiver crawl down his spine. 'Danger, danger, danger,' his gut seemed to scream. 'Damnit, I knew something was weird about this whole trip!' The flowers and grass beneath them died suddenly, like an illusion dropping all around them. The lake dried up and the leaves flying on the wind disappeared completely.
"I know this guy, he's no wizard." Eda stated, flying on her staff with King to where she knew Luz and Ashton would be. "He's what you'd call a puppeteer, a demon who specializes in scamming and manipulating people. He trying to use Ashton and Luz to get to me."
King, hunched down in his spot between her body and arms, quickly barked back. "Yeah, and we're flying directly into his trap. Hurray."
"If you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it," She remarked. She slapped her staff, urging it to go faster. "Hey, faster, you."
Luz pulled the toy sword off her back as an ominous fog crept in, wrapping around their ankles with every move they made. Ashton widened his stance, eyes glancing around as he searched for the source of whatever was making his gut scream. He heard the younger teen whimper behind him and quickly moved to stand at her back, a silent form of support.
"Luz, the human, and Ashton, the fighter," Adegast said, emerging from the fog behind them.
Ashton whirled around as Luz stared at the wizard. "Magical wizard?"
"Your hubris has failed you, Witch Apprentice. You should have trusted your guard more." Something cackled maniacly and 'Adegast' took another step forward, revealing the large, flesh toned tentacle stuck in 'his' back. Before the two teens could question it, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. Nevareth, Junbi, Chris, and the Fairy Princess all burst from the ground, the same fleshy tentacle in their spines and their eyes dull and lifeless.
"Okay Luz," she told herself, trying to slow her breathing and concentrate on what was happening. Ashton connected the dots before she did, "Don't panic, this is just chosen one biz. You just have to save everybody and defeat the final boss."
Before Ashton could correct her, Adegast had beat him to the punch. "I am everybody! You fool, don't you see? I am no wizard." The source of the fleshy tentacles emerged from the woods, a hideous octopus demon with black eyes and horrible dental skills. "And you are no chosen one. I've tricked you!"
"What?" Luz breathed, staring at the horrific demon. Before she or Ashton could react, her cape began to float around and wrap around her. The cape quickly transformed into a pair chains that wrapped around her body, her bracelets and ring doing the same thing for her arms and wrists with a large padlock to keep them secured on her body. The weight made her fall to the ground and Ashton was quickly helping her into a kneeling position.
"No, betrayed by my own cool accessories," Luz moaned.
Ashton quickly hopped to his feet and bared his teeth at the octopus like demon. "Why are you doing this? We've done nothing to you!"
"Your boss has been stealing customers from my potions business for years. She must be destroyed."
"Does everybody have beef with Eda here?" Luz groaned, shakily climbing to her feet. Adegast and his vast collection of puppets all nodded and mumbled in agreement as the teens sighed.
"And you lured her into my trap, all because you wanted to think you were special. You even dragged her employee into it to so I could wipe out the whole business," Adegast grinned madly.
"Nah, jokes on you fuckwit," Ashton smirked, a knowing glint in his eyes," 'cause Eda isn't stupid enough to fall for your trap!"
Right as he said it, Eda and King flew in on the witch's staff. "Adegast!"
"Oh, heck," Luz muttered as the vigilante facepalmed. The witch and the demon landed on the remains of the bridge, standing tall in the face of danger.
Adegast seemed to grin in delight, staring Eda down. "Eda, I have you now!" Two more cat puppets erupted from the ground, one wrapping around Eda and the other around King.
Eda, much to the teens' surprise, didn't fight back. "That's right. You have me. Now release Luz and Ashton."
"I didn't have to be a part of this!" King cried as the tentacle held him high up in the air.
"Oh, she can leave. If she wants to. But I think she wants a real fantasy," Adegast stated. The puppet Chris breathed a cloud of blue fog around Luz and her restraints fell away. "As for him," the puppeteer turned his gaze to Ashton," I think the fighter could afford to blow off some steam."
The puppet of Junbi stood in front of him, emitting yet another cloud of blue fog. The fog surrounded Ashton and Junbi, hiding them away from the rest of the world.
"Junbi, you don't want to do this," he warned, he moving into a fighting stance. The puppet responded by grabbed the bo-staff off their back, pointing it menacingly toward Ashton. For a second, they stared at each other, each silently challenging the other.
Junbi made the first move, leaping toward Ashton and swinging the staff at his knees. He jumped back and the staff hit the ground, breaking easily against the soft, dirt floor. 'Somebody clearly doesn't maintain their weapons well.' Ashton aimed a kick for the stomach and the guard deftly dodged to the side.
The vigilante quickly followed up with a right hook and when Jubni went to dodge to the side again, Ashton tripped her. She fell to the ground with a heavy thud and he quickly punched her in the face, poofing her into blue fog. The blue fog around him lifted and before he could run to help the others, he was wrapped up in tentacle.
Luz opened her eyes and stared at her newly freed limbs in the void of the fog. Nevareth and the Fairy Princess approached her from the darkness, kneeling beside her on floor.
"Stay with us, Luz. Stay with Adegast," Nevareth said calmly. "We need you here. You could be our Chosen One."
"Yeah, you can eat our tiny foods forever."
"Luz, why would you want to live in a world where people laugh at you?"
Luz thought about it, remembering her adventure to get the Celestial Staff. "It is beautiful here."
"Luz!" Eda cried out, struggling against the tentacles to reach her apprentice.
"Snap out of it, Noceda!" Ashton shouted. He forced his way out the tentacle and made a mad dash towards Luz. The wizard holding tentacle smacked him away before he could reach the girl though, knocking him into the wall of the now dried out lake.
"Kid!"
"And you guys think I'm special."
"No!" Eda screamed angrily. The tentacle almost completely surrounded her, hiding her from the view of the world.
"But it's not real!" Luz cried, waving the fog away. She jumped to her feet and grabbed her fallen sword, holding it in front of her. "I am a Witch's Apprentice. And I'm gonna earn my magic staff the hard way. I believed you, Magic Man. Now feel my wrath!" Luz stabbed the wizard puppet in the chest and he poofed away. Adegast screamed as the piece of him died, and Eda and King used his distraction to climb out of their captive tentacles. Ashton darted back after picking himself out of the lakebed, kicking two cat-puppets on the way.
Luz swung the sword at the Fairy Princess and swatted her away. The fairy hit the ground and immediately poofed into fog. Three more cats approached the group and Eda quickly made a spell that emitted an orange smoke, disintegrating the puppets. Adegast screamed as the pieces of him were destroyed, making the group smirk at each other.
Nevareth, trying to sneak up on Luz, was stopped by Ashton hitting him in the face with a right hook. "Been wanting to do that all day." The 'Prince' drew his sword and made to impale the vigilante, but severely underestimated his enemy. Ashton side-stepped with ease and grabbed the hilt of the sword. A quick tug on the hilt and a turn of the wrist and the sword was firmly in his hand. Before Nevareth could fight back for it, Ashton stabbed him in the chest.
"No, my flawless pecs!" The prince groaned before turning into the same fog as everything else. Ashton grinned, new sword in hand, as he jumped back to where Eda and Luz stood beside each other. Eda shot the two kids a bright grin, which Luz and Ashton eagerly returned - even if the vigilante's was slightly more feral than bright.
"Back off!" Adegast yelled suddenly, holding up King in one of his tentacles. 'Shit, I thought King was with Eda,' the pink-haired person thought to himself. "Or the dog gets it!"
"I am not a d-" King's protest were quickly muffled as the tentacle wrapped around him more, covering his mouth.
Eda set down her staff and Ashton and Luz dropped their swords.
"King, I'm sorry. I should've have listened to you and Ashton and never trusted that wizard. You guys were right," Luz admitted, looking down at her feet. "He isn't mystical or magical. He's just a big, slimy jerk!" She angrily kicked the toy sword by her feet, miraculously managing to send it flying into Adegast's head. He dropped King with a pained scream and Ashton dove to catch King before hit the ground. As Ashton climbed back to his feet, Adegast began to shrink until he was no bigger than Ice Cream Kitty.
Luz, Ashton, Eda, and King stood around the fallen puppeteer. Eda picked him up, idly tossing him from hand to hand.
"Well that's the last time I take an outside referral," the witch state calmly. Then she ate him in one large gulp. "Mmmm." She caught sight of Ashton and Luz's face and stiffened up. "Oh, did you want some of that?"
The apprentice shook her head, looking down at her feet again. "No, I'm just confused."
"Thinking of calling it quits, huh," Eda stated.
"This place is nothing like I imagined."
The witch hummed, looking between her hopeless apprentice and the dirt floor. "Maybe not from here. But come with me. I got something to show you."
The group boarded Eda's staff, and before they took off, Eda blindfolded Luz. King sat between the two humans on the staff and wagged his tail eagerly as they climbed into the air. At King's prodding, the vigilante slipped his bandana over his eyes as well.
"Hey! Get off me, man!" Ashton yelled behind him as he ran. He tried to ignore his heart pounding in his ears as he raced across the rooftops, the heavy thuds of Tigerclaw footsteps chasing him every inch of the way. He dropped one the hockey bombs he had brought without a second thought and kept running. His breath was getting quicker and quicker, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep running forever. A loud boom followed by a low growl told him he had barely grazed the mutant.
He reached into his pocket to try and call Casey, Leo, anybody who had a chance of helping, but Tigerclaw saw it and sent a ninja star at his hand. He dropped the phone back in his pocket and yanked his hand away just in time to avoid getting hit. 'Shit, shit, shitty shit shittertons!' he mentally cursed. He dropped into an alley to try and get to the sewers but he was too late.
Ashton reached to grab his daggers and felt a fabric wrap around his head. Before he could even think about anything, a hit to the head knocked him out.
"Okay, you can look now," Eda's voice broke through the flashback and Ashton quickly moved his bandana back to it's rightful place. One arm began to rub the other, an old habit from late night hockey games.
"Whoa!" Luz breathed. He was inclined to agree. They were flying above the ribs of the Isles, facing the skull that pierced the heavens. The stars twinkled down and the Boiling Isles looked stunning in the setting sunlight.
"The bones of the Isles. Up close, the Isles can be slimy-"
"And very stinky," King interjected.
Eda nodded in agreement, seamlessly picking up where she left off. "And gross. But if you look at it from a different perspective-"
"It's beautiful," Luz finished. A shoot star shot across the sky, illuminating their faces in the setting sun. King made a small noise of agreement and leaned into the girl. "Ashton, how did you know that wizard was lying?"
The older teen was silent for a long minute as he tried to form his answer in a polite way. " 'Cause I already know I'm special. And he knew it too. That's why he focused so much on you. You thought that you needed a quest or some stupid idol to be 'chosen' but that's not how the world works."
Luz turned to stare at him, brows furrowed in confusion. "But how did you know you were special. What makes you so different from me?"
Another pause, much shorter. "Well for starters, I'm Ashton motherfucking Hartwell, and I don't take no shit from anyone," he stated cockily. Eda snorted at the answer and Luz rolled her eyes. Seeing the girl's dislike of that answer, he figured he could give a little something more. "And more importantly, I'm a crime fighting vigilante with my friends." To say Luz's jaw dropped would be an understatement. Eda raised an eyebrow as she smirked at the kid.
"Well," Eda smiled her all-knowing smile as she saved Ashton from the fate of being questioned to death," the reality of life is this. If you wait around for a prophecy to make you special, you'll die waiting. And that's why you need to choose yourself."
"Does that mean you'll give me a staff of my own?" Luz asked, looking up at her mentor.
"Not yet, but...someday," she replied. The girl leaned on the witch and pulled King onto her lap. Ashton wrapped an arm around them and they sat watching the sun set over the Isles.