V Spooky Rules

by LittleChara913

Summary:

Camila Noceda, with her entire world getting flipped upside-down seemingly every other day, deals with having living monsters everywhere from the other side of the globe to her daughter's bed.

With Halloween fast approaching, Vee's Luz's friends task themselves are forced to find a way to convince their shut-in nerd to don a costume and join the Gravesfield Festival in time for the 31st. Perhaps, with an experimental Human-Monster exchange program going on for the month, they might find a fluffy ally and his human partner on their side.

Monsters have scavenged the ruins of abandoned human buildings and torn them down for everything they were worth, gold they don't need flows from behind every tree and can be picked up by any curious little crow. Candy, scares, and strange decorations were bound to follow their rapid progress and one criminally fluffy Demi-human is Determined to drag her big sister out of her shell and onto the streets to collect it all.

Chapter 1: Rule I - Reassurance - Part 1

Summary:

Time to meet the major players!

A certain someone already gets in a fight. Susie's a stalker enemy and Kris is an enabler. And 'Luz' has an accident.

30 Days Until Halloween

A real, living, genuine, Monster

Several of them, even.

And a cute boy. For over a year now, Amber Sousa had the stories of these things blared into her skull constantly. 'They eat children!' 'They want to brainwash our kids!' 'They're planning to enslave us all!', everything was unfounded and nothing was new. Her Dad, unlike those of the other Gravesfield High top dogs, always told her to do her own research. She was always brought back to a time when he'd told her 'There's 'Gullible' written on the ceiling'. Her smartass didn't think anything of it and was trying not to laugh at her Mom when she looked up, only for her to ask 'how do you plan on getting that down?'.

She wasn't sure how long it took to paint and cover the word 'gullible' on the ceiling or when he found the time to do it, nor why he went through the trouble to teach her to always fact-check and make her own opinions like that, but being indirectly humiliated by her parents did the trick.

In reality, there was next to nothing on them. Monster Kind kept to themselves, hiding behind heavily guarded walls and massive suits of armor. If they were amassing an army then the conspiracy theorists should try spending a day in a country without an active military; that was just how the world worked, not a sign they were planning an invasion. Hell, what little she could scrape together was all about defense. Attack or speed-focused soldiers existed for certain, that was just common sense (not that the Historical Society dude had any), but damn near everything she could figure out about them was restricted by that wall around their homes.

In the back of her mind, she could vaguely remember a story about some hyper-religious terrorist clowns who tried to blow up and burn down the wooden barrier. It wouldn't catch fire and was much stronger than ordinary wood, some versions of the incident said it glowed or flashed with Satanic symbols. They were competent, that was more than a lot of the people she associated with could say, and they had a hand over their neighbors nobody was comfortable with. King Asgore was supposedly a tyrant but as far as she could tell his laws weren't too far off from the Constitution and Bill of Rights; anyone who could get them was allowed weapons and there weren't many restrictions on them in general. Every single shout that his taxes were evilly high was just as bullshit, he provided everything the Monsters needed or made sure they could take little more than a few minutes out of their day to get it, they barely used money at all!

But now multiple monsters were standing right in front of the entire class. That safe distance between her and them got brought down to nothing in an instant. Granted, they'd gotten a two-week notice they were trying out an exchange system. Queen Toriel, Princess Chara, Princess Frisk, and Prince Asriel had apparently agreed on a remote and quiet enough town they were comfortable enough sending some lab rats to. The very same school Luzer went to but she was kinda the only one who made any waves, nothing happened here besides her and she'd toned it down to say the least.

"If everyone would give a warm welcome too... Let's see here, uh, Susie, Kris, and... Pleasedon'tmakemetrytopronouncethis-"

"Ral-say"

"Ah, thank you."

Amber could never figure out how Mr. Thomas always expected a 'warm welcome' for new students, the most the friendly kids gave were polite waves. Luzer often had a round of applause ready but this time she just clapped a few times, looked around at everyone not joining in, and slowly put her hands in her lap. What's going on with her?

Susie was a titan. Clad in black boots with purple soles and axes up the sides, torn jeans, and a white shirt under a purple and red varsity jacket with a star on the back, she looked like she ate nine-inch nails for breakfast and was ready to turn Amber's spine to dust with her pinky. Her muscles were bursting out of her clothes and her square jaw was filled with massive alligator teeth. A puff of smoke wisped out of her nostrils and her slit yellow eyes peered directly into everyone's Souls. Thick, soft, raven hair draped over her eye, only one yellow glare being visible through the soft and carefully brushed strands; very out of place compared to the rest of her body. A long tail swished behind her, purple with a fan of black fur at the end. Three stuffed backpacks all hung off one shoulder, two black ones and a pink one embroidered with wildflowers, and she didn't even lean or adjust. An eight-pack peeked through her shirt, Amber couldn't get the image of a football player's knuckles shattering on them out of her head. She needed that thing between her and the rest of the school no matter what.

Kris was oddly normal. She'd known through the grapevine that one of the many transfers was a Human who just happened to live there but she expected him to be... off. He was a pretty stereotypical goth, black shoes, black pants, a black belt, and a black shirt with a red pentagram. There was a silver inverted cross necklace dangling over the top of the pentagram and some spiky wristbands on each hand. His brown hair was long and messy, it covered his bright green eyes. He was chill, quiet, handsome, even. Other than an extremely thick Irish accent sand constantly looking absolutely, unreasonably livid she wouldn't have batted an eye at him walking past her down the halls of lockers.

Ralsei, on the other hand, was one hell of a character. The goat looked like he couldn't decide between another goth, a flower boy, and even had a touch of a surfer dude via a small shark tooth necklace on black thread. He was wearing giant black, knee-high combat boots over some leggings, a black skirt with green vines and colorful flowers all over the bottom, and a tight white belt on top. A silver waist chain dangled at an angle from his right hip and wrapped over his left thigh. His basic black T-shirt had 'Metallica' in white on the chest and a bunch more clearly custom vines and flowers sewn around it. He had a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to his elbows, only part of his upper arms and his short, dull black claws poked out but they looked so soft. Ralsei and Susie probably used the same conditioner. There were some nice earrings lining his floppy ears as well, simple and small silver circles; two in the middle of his right ear, two nearer the top of the left, and one closer to the bottom. Honestly, it looked like he might've done Susie and Kris's hair for them.

He was also a total dork. His glasses were round like some grandma's and his horns were bright pink. The dweeb even smiled and waved at Luzer when she applauded their 'grand entrance'. The most threatening thing about him was the pair of small fangs poking out of his muzzle and he didn't have the guts to use them.

They took some random seats wherever they could. Susie was closer to the back, right behind Kris, with Ralsei between him and Luz. The entire class was ready for that freak to start bombarding them with questions but she only glanced at them. Hell, the goat kid was the one who greeted her. Their conversation ended as soon as it started and class began. What the hell's going on with her? She was so quiet, she stopped tapping her foot whenever she tried to sit still, she hardly even addressed anyone between classes besides, like, 3 others and the teachers.

Amber could sometimes glance over Luzer's shoulder; she was chaos incarnate but she was still smart and Amber had grades to maintain. It was the entire reason she tolerated sitting so close to her. But now... Her disgustingly neat handwriting was suddenly messy with a few grammar errors and she took ages to do some basic math; she usually got the right answer eventually but not before she did, so what was the point being behind her anymore!?

She still had those dumb white toms and she and Ralsei made some stupidly giddy comments about matching leggings but those were the only consistencies. Her jean shorts were gone and her awful purple cat hoodie was switched out with a lapis blue jacket and yellow button-up. There were some shiny yellow hair clips at the sides of her face, her hair was too clean and straight, too neat, and she'd been growing it out into a ponytail swaying down between her shoulders and two strands down her cheeks to her collarbone.

What's going on with her?

VVV 🎃 VVV

A long brown-haired chick named Kaitlyn and another blonde rocking a pixie cut named Amy followed her to the weirdo's locker while Kate's latest quarterback boyfriend, Brad, walked around from the other side. Luz was fiddling with the lock like she couldn't remember the code and only noticed them when she finally swung it open.

Amy scoffed and turned up her nose, Amber couldn't help but cringe at it. "Can't even open a damn door."

"H-Heyyyyy... yooooouuuuu..." Luz shrunk back. Pathetic

"Hey giiiirl!" Kaitlyn smiled and leaned closer.

Amber joined in. "You never call, never write, barely even show up to school anymore. You didn't miss your best friends too much, did you?" She stressed Kate's overthought signal to Brad, right around the corner.

Panic glossed over Luz's face and she gave them a crooked smile. "R-R-Right! B-Best pals! Sorry I-I-I- never-"

She was cut off by Amy. "Oh, don't worry, Luzer, we never forgot you." Luz deflated and curled in on herself but Amber couldn't help raising a brow. It was like she genuinely forgot them.

The chit-chat distracted her long enough for Brad to grab her by the ponytail and tug her back. She only had time to yelp as Amy held her locker door open, in the middle of switching periods, for him to violently shove her inside. A fast shiver shot up Amber's spine like someone had jumped out at her. The shriek... Luz screamed like she was being murdered, she almost missed her queue to kick the door shut and completely missed the massive shadow looming over them. Something wooshed over her head and jammed into the top of the gray panel before it could close.

The newest quarterback looked behind the girls as they glanced at the gigantic purple hand stuck in the locker, pulling it open. The tip hit Brad's side. Knowing him, the brute would've punched it back shut on her claws, only the metal door bent around the Monster's fingers when it could only nudge the guy aside. The trio stepped aside just before the panel slammed into their faces and Luz slid down the locker and stuck her legs out on the tile floor.

"Is there a problem?"

Her voice was like gravel and her searing hot breath reeked of smoke like she was sitting right in front of her fireplace. Orange embers drooled down her slowly parting, deeply rumbling jaws and streamed between her long, serrated-at-the-base teeth. Her one yellow eye burned with fiery gold light and rage, its slit serpentine pupil was drowned by all of it, hardly noticeable as an orange line. The uncharacteristically fluffy hair flared and fluttered up with the blazing hot puffs of clean white smoke fuming out of the sides of her reptilian mouth. Amber was just half the width of the Monster's broad, scaly shoulders. Her long tail subtly wrapped around her legs and the fluffy black fan brushed over her shoes, its hairs each individually twitching in hunger and anticipation.

"Not for long there isn't, so beat it." Brad, not one to let someone talk down to him in front of his new girlfriend, puffed out his chest at the lizard.

Her teeth bared into something between a bloodthirsty grin and a furious scowl. "I don't think I will, lil' man..."

Luz was shivering in her locker with her knees tugged up to her chest, keeping her feet outside but not inching any further between the two massive people standing over her. Brad was standing up in Susie's face and holding his head up, she didn't even take her other hand out of her jacket pocket and kept jamming the locker open. A teacher rounded the corner and called something out to them but Amber didn't register it, she and her clique were busy backing against the lockers on the other wall with loads of other students making a ring around them.

Brad barely stepped back and wound up a haymaker. Susie finally pulled her right claw out of her varsity jacket and caught the punch. If her hand gave any ground Amber couldn't see it, his fist just stopped and she twisted his arm to the side, toward his chest. He growled as her talons dug into his knuckle. Planting a foot into her stomach, he yanked his hand free and sprayed red over the tiles, the Monster didn't even flinch. She finally moved, putting a boot in front of the bent locker door and removing her hand. With her right hand to her side, she quickly brought it in front of her and flung it away again to deflect Brad's next punch with his other hand; then, with her left arm still above her head, she brought it down on his face. Brad spat out a tooth as he stumbled over. Susie hadn't even stepped into the punch, none of her weight was behind it, just a pulled punch that put down their quarterback like his nose was made of paper.

"Okay, Nemesis." Kris snarked out of nowhere, leaning against the wall right behind Susie. She just snored a wisp of ember-filled smoke.

"BRAD, AMBER, KAITLYN, AND AMY TO MY OFFICE, NOW!" Principle Hal broke through the crowd with a red face.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Susie didn't bother hiding a sharp, mocking smile as they were dragged away. Humans were a lot more fragile than what they'd been taught and warned every other day Underground; all talk and no dice. She kicked the door open a little more and stood between the dispersing human students and the girl in the locker. Two watery brown eyes looked up at her once everyone had gone back to their classes. The halls were empty and cold, fire flickered in her chest as she held out a hand. She smelled of ammonia, or something close to it, and gripped the side of the locker as she forced herself up. Even though she was standing she rocked against the hinges and pulled the ends of her blue jacket down. The small, flimsy shelf in the locker was bent in the middle and the books stacked on it were a mess.

"T-T-T-Thank y-y-ou..."

"No prob."

She gave the kid a once-over. Small and gangly, every movement was followed by a wince and shaky breath. Her leggings were soaked, it mostly blended in with the black but the hem of her yellow shirt gave it away. That explains the smell, awkward. We'll have to fetch Flower Jesus. She tried to avoid looking down after that. The human was hunched over and shivering; one arm was wrapped around her front and the other was rubbing the back of her head.

"All of our next periods are that study hall crap, right?" Kris asked.

Susie nodded. "Mine is."

"'Aight, imma get our stuff, bring her to the nurse-"

"W-Wait, I d-don't want a-anyone... anyone to s-see." She spoke up. "I have a-a change in my bag."

"Okay then... I think there was a bathroom near there, I'll get Ral." He turned and wandered off with a thumbs up.

"'Kay, come on, nerd."

Susie grabbed her by the hood and pulled her over her shoulder, grabbed the backpack hanging in the locker, fixed the downward dent in its shelf with a kick, and forced the door shut.

Notes:

I really liked the idea that Ralsei gets unironically called Flower Jesus post-Leporiphobia.

Chapter 2: Rule I - Reassurance - Part 2

Summary:

Time to meet Luz's Art teacher.
Susie's an aloof softie at heart. Vee gets a little overwhelmed by magic... repeatedly... and Ralsei's about to give her a panic attack. And Catti gives a magic lesson.

Notes:

Arcanagrams are very loosely inspired by Rituals

The first day of the program and two of them are already late.

Seeing as none of the Monsters would be taking human history classes, Mr. Mark's classroom would be packed full of them for study hall for the month. The ones that showed up were a bit more normal than he expected. He was worried about demons and skeletons but the majority searching for seats and catching up with friends were just humanoid animals. So far the (presumably) worst hadn't arrived and there was one very chatty blue bird with an awfully nasally voice. Some of them had a few worksheets to do but most were just mingling, grabbing sheets of the supplied paper and colored pencils. He'd allowed them to listen to music if they had headphones but the one-and-a-half tables of his regular students packed into one corner of the room were mostly the only ones who took him up on the offer.

Other than a goth cat kid with heavy black makeup, the inhuman exchanges were talking to each other. So long as they kept it down, it was fine, he could finally get done grading the recent color-theory projects. None of them really drew anything, they were playing hangman or tic-tac-toe, but one goat boy in a metal band shirt with a lot of flowers sewn on was sketching intricate designs for clothes, patterns, and planning a garden full of many pots and shelves of growth trays. He seemed like the creative type, a wonderful addition considering Luz hadn't signed up to his class this year, which was another deep concern, knowing her.

Someone knocked at the door and walked right in, straight to the goat. "Hey, Ralsei, Susie and I need to borrow you."

He didn't even resist as who Mr. Mark assumed to be 'Kris" grabbed his paw and pulled him out of the room. "I'll explain when we get back but it shouldn't be long." Kris called to him on the way out the door.

"No, wait." He dryly droned and watched them out of the corner of his eye, getting a giggle from some of the Monsters.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Sizzling steak - Smoke - Pepper - Salt - Spice

The arcane scents swirled in Vee's head as Susie carried her to the bathroom. Her shoulder was digging into her stomach. The hiding basilisk wasn't sure why the monster had to carry her, she could still walk, but all in all, she didn't mind. They went into the girls' bathroom and Susie dropped her before the big stall, then stared.

"Sorry, used to doing that with my partners." She mumbled.

"It's alright, I didn't mind." Vee did mind being manhandled, only Alex and Camila were allowed to do that, but she didn't want to aggravate the Titan that just turned Brad's nose inside out with one hit.

Susie huffed a plume of smoke. "Still, though, just a reflex, it won't happen again."

Please stop blowing smoke everywhere. The fumes were so oversaturated with magic, magic she didn't recognize from that Hell. Witches and Demons were nearly all unique, all with slightly different scents she could almost track. The Emperor's Coven all had very similar scents, weak and underlying, necrotic, along with some usually pretty special smells per unit; they were typically pretty different from each other but the same sets of scents often were paired together like several personality types being pushed together by their higherups to make effective teams. People from different Covens had scents attached to what type of magic they were limited to, smells that overpowered the twisted necrosis to the point she rarely noticed it, even if she was focusing on it. She'd thought wild witches were the best, all a vibrant swirl of arcana of every class, just being near them brought a little light back into her life when she was questioning if running was still worth it.

But Monsters, on the other hand, were like being magically slapped in the face. They had much fewer and more consistent scents and she hadn't found two of them with the same set of odors. It invaded all of her senses, even touch when she was nowhere near them. Susie felt solid, rough, and warm like her whole body turned to scales of volcanic rock, she almost thought she'd started shifting back. Vee could hear them in the back of her mind, always aware of it even though the sound didn't exist and could never blare over noises that were real; Susie sounded like crackling flames, rumbling, and humming electricity like an eruption with bolts of lighting bursting from the static of the ash clouds.

Wildflowers - Birthday cake - Candy - Bubblegum - Honey - Grass

Ralsei was even more overpowering than Susie; she was clearly a physical person, maybe she had a knack for summoning weapons, Coven Scouts that did that didn't have as obvious a scent as their comrades, but the kindly furball was a very apparent spellcaster. It gave her a headache for a split second, it mellowed out by the time he burst through the door. He was still a few feet away but she could feel his fur under her shifted skin and grass and flowers tickled her feet through her shoes. She heard bees buzzing by her ear and the snapping of a much calmer flame like a candle or fireplace when he got closer than Susie. He cupped her cheeks and looked her up and down, she could taste pure sugar with the tip of her tongue.

His voice was so soft and quiet. "I don't think I got your name. Can you tell me, sweetie?"

"I-I'm... Luz... I'm Luz." She said with more conviction the second time. This was so much easier before...

"Hi, Luz, can you hold out your arms for me?" Ralsei's bright pink eyes locked with hers.

She did so, he lightly adjusted her arms further up; she could hear a small melody when he brushed her jacket. It was on a piano, she could never mistake the sound for anything else, and it was made of lots of high and medium notes, whimsical like something was on the horizon, easy on the ears. The music didn't fade when he pulled away, his dull claws covered in pastel pink sparks. His enticing pink magic grew across his palms into a gentle ball of Abomination-colored fire. It swirled around her legs like dancing firecrackers. When it climbed up to her face she couldn't resist opening her mouth, it tasted like fresh cotton candy one second and perfectly cooked toast drowning in honey the next.

"I-Isn't this..."

Ralsei finished for her. "The girls' room, I know, but I don't exactly stand out here and Kris is guarding the door, this is more important, anyway. Now then, you're clean but you'll still want to change. Do you have any more classes with those girls and the guy Susie punched?"

She took a second to think. "I'm supposed to be in history with Amber and Amy."

He nodded and turned to the magenta Godzilla. "Hun, can you ask Mr. Mark if Luz can come to study hall with us?"

Nodding, she handed him Vee's borrowed backpack and stomped to the door, muttering 'Ral's got it handled' on the way out. He proceeded to fish out a torn plastic CVS bag from underneath her heavy books, and handed it to her, then kept an eye on the main door while she shut the stall. Her leggings stuck to her skin and her too-soft hide was irritated but she'd come out in a much better state than she'd feared. Ralsei immediately turned all of his attention back on her when she opened up and his the leggings in her backpack. While tucking a displaced lock of hair back behind her ear and hairclip, he flared three fingers in a triangular shape.

"Would it make you feel better if I mentioned Kris's had some accidents as well?" He mumbled.

Vee tilted her head like a cat. "Really? He seems so..."

Ralsei smiled affectionately at the thought. "Chill? Smooth? He just hates people, he opens up if you hang out enough and you're ready to have your eardrums blown out by all of the most obscure metal bands in existence."

Pink lines connected his fluffy fingertips and a ring of symbols formed over the corners. He held the circle and triangle over her chest, just for it to fizzle out in a pink fog of bright dots.

"What the..." He mumbled and tried the spell again.

This time he added his middle finger to the spell, making a square with an X in connecting the vertices and concentrating. Whatever it was worked this time, a black panel of pink magic popped into being in front of his face. His eyes widened and head jolted up.

"You're not Human."

Vee's heart dropped through her chest and the breath left her lungs. She stumbled backward, nailing her spine on one of the other stalls' handles. Ralsei put his paws up like someone was pointing a gun at him and took small, slow steps toward her. Her heartbeats thundered to life and breathing became impossible no matter how much air she desperately tried to take in. Sweat trailed down her forehead and her skin shifted under her clothes, smooth, green and cream with a developing layer of fishy slime. Tiny yellow dots appeared in her bulging, terrified eyes.

"Hey."

Ralsei approached her while holding out a light pink flame between his paws. It was sluggish, soft, like it was going in slow motion. It didn't release any smoke, just a bunch of heart-shaped embers that ascended over his snout and around his floppy ears. The light purple flames and heat waves appeared less like streaks of color and energy and more like countless adjacent dots flowing in flawless unison. Her breathing slowly evened out and her hearts slowed down, beating out of sync slowly and gently. She wiped the tears from her face and inhaled as much as she could, catching some of the embers and drawing the flame into her stomach. It seemed to take a moment for him to process what she'd accidentally done, and then he held the fire closer.

"Do you want more?" The goat offered.

She shuddered, sending shocks of pain through her spine and head. His eyes were patient and overflowing with sympathy, he didn't move, he didn't judge, he didn't tamper with the flickering magic in his hands. Vee greedily drained the fire right out of his palm. Her form slowly stabilized. She inched closer like an animal learning to trust a human giving out free food. Ralsei put a gentle paw on her back and the ache left behind began to fade, numb, as if he were applying a powerful icepack with the pink flame he guided up and down.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Mr. Mark, may we speak with you for a minute?"

He'd been getting ready to go search for Luz and Ralsei when they showed up right outside. The old man was starting to gray and he had a gray patch around his face where he'd previously shaved but he was fine to get up and follow them out all the same. Tiredly adjusting his white dress shirt with vertical cyan stripes, he shut the door behind him.

"Okay, what had happened was my girlfriend already caved in someone's face" Ralsei began with a crooked smile.

"So I've heard, we spoke." Mr. Mark muttered. "Miss Noceda was caught in the crossfire, am I correct?"

Vee Luz nodded. "Brad wanted to shove me in a locker... He tried to beat up Susie when she didn't let him so she punched him."

"And then Principle Hal took them aside?"

"Yeah..."

Ralsei quickly cut in. "But her next class is with two of them. Would it be okay if she took a period here?"

She found the voice to speak up. "I-I don't want to bother anyone."

"Nonsense, you've been marked absent by now, it'd be lovely to have you back. Just don't try to stuff spiders in a taxidermy griffin again." Mr. Mark waved them inside.

The Monster raised an eyebrow at her. "Seriously?" Vee looked away, Titan, Luz was unhinged "She'd like Kris... We can talk about it another time." He added. Another time that'll hopefully never happen in... 30 more days... Oh no...

"Let's hope she never meets Kris and Susie, the world isn't ready for that." He giggled.

Vee tapped her fingers together as she walked inside. Art was the real Luz's domain, and she was good at it, Vee hadn't even been here most of the time because she was so busy trying to catch up to (a vague estimation of) her grade level and cover for Luz until she returned. She wasn't ever good at any of this in the Demon realm, she couldn't exactly go to school there and the Emperor's Coven was very picky about what they were allowed to learn.

It was about as colorful as she expected. This year's student projects lined the walls, save for the one the whiteboard was pinned to; there were paintings where the creators had to demonstrate an understanding of contrast and the color wheel, some were sketches showing the ability to work with depth and perspective, and others were works of symmetry and shading. Every table had a little bucket of dull colored pencils, old sharpeners, drying markers, broken crayons, and filthy erasers. Sheesh, this place doesn't have any funding.

Ralsei guided her to a seat with Susie, Kris, and a big purple cat. The human and dinosaur were deep in conversation, each giving her a polite nod and short wave before continuing to talk about hockey and someone named 'Noelle' preparing for a championship spelling bee back home. She didn't get that from the other one. 'Catti', Ralsei had called her, his voice was what snapped her out of her constant scribbles and got her to acknowledge the newcomer. She could hear the humans on the other side of the classroom talking about her, just quiet enough to steer clear of the teacher's attention but not quite evading her. 'Weirdo', 'Of course she's sucking up to them', and 'Monster fricker' without the r and i.

"Ow! Fuck!" Kris yelped as his hand slid against a blank piece of paper. Yeah, that.

"Language, young man." Mr. Mark blandly but sternly reprimanded.

He just gave a thumbs-up behind him and held out his finger for Ralsei to poke with a glowing pink claw, they held each other's hand and paw with some pink dust and small smiles on their faces and longing in their eyes. Vee kept Luz's head low and shakily grabbed a paper as well, not knowing what she was going to try to draw, just that she wanted to take her mind off the humans leering at her through their blaring earbuds and indifferent writing. She couldn't help her eyes wandering, looking for 'inspiration' in the hopes someone around her might be using enough of the advanced techniques and blends of colors Luz would be known to use for her to copy.

Catti was drawing a variety of polygrams surrounded by symbols Vee didn't recognize. Some of them kinda looked like what Ralsei had done but she couldn't tell if that was because any magic marks were the same or her reptilian brain was just drawing a false connection between the triangles and squares with Xs. All the drawings had notes written on them in a dialect she didn't know. It didn't look like anything human, even the most outlandish forms of some Russian characters and Eastern words were at least somewhere in the libraries of anime and movies Luz had pirated on her laptop she'd at least seen. That stuff was completely alien to her.

It took a decent few seconds for her to realize she was staring... and the cat was side-eyeing her. She shot upright and tried to focus on her paper while stumbling over an apology.

"They're called Arcanagrams." Catti mentioned, Vee glanced back at the dense paper.

"The locations of certain runes and the lines connecting them make certain types of spells work. Basically, it's a magical computer program, casting spells with these tend to use less magic, add special effects, or let you cast multiple spells at the same time. The symbols won't make any sense without a ton of background Humans can't have but the shapes are easier to talk about."

Catti tapped one of the triangular Arcanagrams, Vee leaned in.

"Three points is the most basic version, each corner represents part of a spell, it only matters which is which if they're connected to a specific sign but most of the basic ones are just gonna be equilateral triangles." She explained as if Vee knew what an equal-lateral thing was, Luz probably did.

"Point one just means Magic, it's just the power source for the spell. Usually, it's the Soul, that's the best source but certain materials can be used and some old skeleton streamlined it to be sort of effective. Point two is Form, how the magic appears in the physical world. Generally, it depends on the spellcaster's personal preferences and experiences but it'll always match the material power source if there's not a caster directing it. And point three is intent, just what you're trying to do with the spell, you can't have magic without all of them. Stronger intent and having more emotions behind it will make it more powerful but you need the understanding and background knowledge to take it to the next level.

Four points is Space, that's where the term 'dimensional box' comes from. Five is Spirit, that's how a lot of summons like elementals and ghosts function. Six is Body, that's how stronger summons like any type of golem, non-sentient skeletons, ents, and empowered elementals with cores or hearts work. Basically, if a Pentagram can't bring something to life, you probably need a Hexagram. Seven is Essence, that's the highest point you can take a spell without being careful about what glyphs are connected, anything higher is too complex to be efficient without a very deep understanding of magic. If you piss off someone able to cast Septagrams and anything more intricate, you're probably dealing with a Boss Monster and you're definitely about to die for it."

Vee tilted her head, instinctively cat-like. "So what about Octograms?"

Catti hummed in thought. "Eight is Trait, it's used for magic involving all of the basic Soul traits, it's a lot more powerful with casters of every major Soul trait involved, reality-breakingly powerful. A Septagram with every trait around and in the center of it is how the Barrier was made, Humanity couldn't make anything greater, only having a Monster involved would let an Octogram be created. Nine is Soul. Again, that's most effective with every possible Soul trait, including the more obscure ones. There can be others like Souls of Cinder or Frist but they're unusual, super rare, and aren't part of the main list.

13 is Secondary, all of the primary traits with the little blurred areas between them for traits like Empathy between Kindness and Patience or Courage between Bravery and Justice. 14 is Inversion, they're the lack of a trait or the opposite. They work best with the seven major soul types and their opposites. 21 is Corruption, when every Soul Trait is taken to its worst possible extreme. 23 is the same but with a Monster Soul and one of the minor traits. There's probably more and each of them totally has a ton of combination bonuses with different souls but that's about all I've got."

Catti lightly waved her off and continued sketching her magical blueprints. Vee's gaze wandered to Ralsei's paper. He had a few designs for lovely blouses, dresses, and jewelry. They were all embroidered with flowers and symbols and looked a lot like something she'd expect to be on a cottage. He had disgustingly neat lists of ingredients and fabric scrawled next to them with notes about their sewing, alternative materials, and details. The jewelry mostly consisted of bracelets, rings, and necklaces made of smooth roots and thatch with tiny leaves and gems entwined within, only having small pieces of metal for their frames and clips. His earring concepts were all made with clips instead of piercings and his clothing was baggy and swishy, pretty and silky.

There was also a detailed drawing of a small garden structure. It had a plant bed at the bottom, full of clean soil with a wavy line of water like a still river dividing the colorful flowers. Its corners and two spots in the tiny river had poles extending out of them with broken flower pots sat on wood sticks poking out of the main rod that their cracked tops slid onto, growing bouquets of small plants with cut-open water bottles dangling from the bottoms by strings with little pipes leading from the tops of the pot to the roots in the bottle. Vines crawled up the rods covered in leaves dripping detailed dewdrops back into the bottom flowerbed and a cross on top of each pole held one more pot with bigger flowers, a small cactus, and a sapling hanging over the set.

He slid the paper closer to her, letting her get a good look at his work while smiling gently. Vee started to scratch the beginnings of her very own garden.

Chapter 3: Rule I - Reassurance - Part 3

Summary:

Principal Hal is under a lot of pressure.
Vee tries desperately to match Luz's art-kid powers. Mr. Mark is friend.
Eda's new kids wake her up too early. The Boiling Isles All Hallows Eve is fucked.

feat. Chara's designs and Frisk's cinnamon roll vibes.

"Where do I even begin with you?"

Principle Hal was glaring down at each of them individually, starting with her and ending with Brad, who was holding an ice pack over his jaw.

"The first day of this exchange and you're already picking fights?" He scowled.

Brad made the mistake of protesting. "She was asking for it-"

"Dude, you were shoving someone in a locker, she just showed up." Amber pointed out.

He side-eyed her. "You defending Luzer?"

She scoffed. "You wish, I just don't want a fire-breathing furry with a crown on our backs as well." As if she'd defend the little freak.

"That's enough from both of you." Hal intervened. He stood up out of his chair and started pacing past the window behind his desk. "Clearly, I didn't make the importance of this program clear enough."

Great, here comes the lecture. She tried to pay attention, she really did! But they spent half an hour in the barren lunchroom hearing this exact spiel on repeat.

"This is the first time in recorded history the Monsters have interacted with us, no other documents exist, we didn't even know they were real until just over a year ago and they're already building their homes taller and better than everything we've got. And now, they've given our school the chance to make a vital impression on behalf of our entire species... And you already gave and took a punch for the sake of bullying someone."

"It was just Luz!" Brad argued with the principal. Fuck you're an idiot. What does Kate even see in you?

Hal's voice rose. "It was a fellow student, all you had to do was walk away and we could've avoided this entire travesty but you assaulted a representative of Monster Kind. You've left a permanent impression on them and word is already spreading by now, every human and non-human in this school is going to know what you've done and it's going to affect how they think of us from now on."

Brad finally silenced himself. "This program is much bigger than the four of you. This program is going to decide how we move forward, it's going to decide how Monsters mingle with the rest of the world moving forward, it's going to decide how much of their technology and, and I still can't believe I'm saying this, magic they are going to share-"

"And how much gold the school's getting." Amber piped up against her better judgment.

Hal sighed. "Yes, King Asgore has implied there's a bonus waiting for good behavior and management. I can handle the school operations just fine, that's why I need you to act your age and treat these students kindly enough not to start WORLD WAR 3!." He slammed his palms on his desk, shaking his computer monitor and jostling some of the drawers open. They jumped back in their seats.

"You're lucky we don't have another quarterback benched... Now, you're all dismissed, I suggest you go apologize to Miss Susie." he finished off and took a seat, turning to his computer and hitting the keys with excessive force as they fumbled to funnel out the door, back to their classes.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee's little garden was much more artificial than Ralsei's. The base of the goat's drawing was made of woven branches he was in the process of shading and occasionally adding small leaves too. No matter how much she looked, she couldn't recognize the flowers he was planning to plant. While he added mushrooms, she added little lights around her growbed; while he added tangling mycelium, she added three growbeds above the ground one; while he added a wall of leaves and flowers behind the drawing, she added lots of futuristic metal and sci-fi panels she didn't actually have a purpose for in mind; he added a bit of driftwood on top of the river with ants and ladybugs crawling over it, she added little antennae and satellites for... something... probably.

The bell startled a small jump out of her, sending a shock of pain through her spine. The human students didn't bother hiding their giggles and smirks at Luz's expense. Ralsei, though, put a burning pink paw on her back, the ache vanished and she gave an awkward mix of an apologetic and grateful smile. Mr. Mark was starting to do some rounds around his classroom, cleaning up and accepting any drawings for his art walls while everyone got packed up. He'd stop to have short, dry and monotone conversations with the kids, but he cared more than he sounded. The humans kept it sweet and short with polite goodbyes while multiple monsters took it as an invitation to share interests or details about their art. He humored them and happily engaged with the suddenly very diverse cast of characters that'd be attending his room instead of history for a month, even if he never sounded like it, but clearly had a job to do.

Vee had hoped to be out of the room by the time he wandered over to her table with a tube of disinfectant wipes but slowed and strained to bite back a serpentine hiss as she bent down to grab Luz's backpack, feeling the many reopened wounds staining her yellow shirt. This kind of thing was why she couldn't even go outside without multiple layers, more dark blue stuff might not give her away to anyone not paying attention but the majority of the human's wardrobe consisted of purples, bright colors, and over-designed merch she couldn't hope to hide her old cuts with. Stubbing her toe on her chair rubbed salt in the wound and delayed her long enough for the teacher to end his patrol right beside her, wiping down the table and glancing at her paper before she could stuff it in a binder.

"I-I know it's not my best work." She tried to cover for her lack of expertise and experience. Maybe, if she was lucky for a change, Luz didn't draw plants or mechanical parts frequently and her rough work would go unnoticed.

Mr. Mark eyed her. "...You're giving up on yourself very easily. Branching out your portfolio is a slow and challenging process, you're never going to get a new art style or topic right on the first try, it's going to take time to get comfortable painting new objects."

Vee Luz couldn't help but perk up, not having spent any time with the art teacher in the largely unfounded fear he would know Luz well enough to spot her, unaware if the art kid actually did a lot in this class previous years or she was just drawing a baseless connection, she didn't know enough about her persona's school life to be comfortable interacting with any of the few classes she was aware she'd taken. But Mr. Mark didn't appear to notice. Maybe they were strangers? The basilisk didn't buy that Luz never took an art class for a second but this was going a little too smoothly.

"I'll talk with Principal Hal about what happened with Bradley. Everything should be taken care of by now but I'll keep an eye out for you." He offered and wandered off, finishing the table. "Let me know when you're done with that garden, by the way, I might put it on the wall."

VVV 🎃 VVV

Chara kicked her feet off the arm of the couch, lying on her back while propping her notebook up on her stomach and drawing rough blueprints for mechs and flying machines. The current ones, while predominantly made of infinitely obtainable wood and easy for minimally trained pilots to operate, weren't anywhere near her standards. Their movement capabilities weren't powerful enough, just using vines and roots as muscles around sets of relatively small pistons wasn't cutting it, they needed space for much larger hydraulics and better biofuel engines than the current models.

Auntie Al was already working hard on a mechanism three models above the current engines and almost half the size of the latest version and massive pistons already existed, she just needed multiple side projects the modular systems could be thrown out to justify making an Arcana Factory for them. It's not like they weren't quickly getting more citizens to fill the job quotas, certainly more than they had officially mandated jobs to fill.

She was also looking to make them more waterproof. The current versions did their jobs just fine but there was no harm in giving them the ability to wade deeper waters without drowning the occupants or hoping there were tall and sturdy buildings (none of which were built widely across Monster territory enough to rely on) to crawl over and between. Perhaps, with some sealable water intakes beside the air intakes, they could use natural water for coolant save the officially cleared stuff in large containers for extended use in the right situations. Their arms also weren't very long, each segment already had extending capabilities the four-to-six less-stubby legs had, but then their armor wouldn't fully cover the internal workings. But making them too long would leave them unbalanced every time they did something hands-on, and they still had to be small enough to switch out with other modules or replacements efficiently.

With a huff, the Demi-human let her head thud onto the cushion, her booklet flopping onto her scaly face, followed by feeling the seats above her head bounce. Her black eyes and bright red pupils opened to see a pair of rose red and sea blue irises looking down on her, draping some silver and brown fluff over her face and touching their noses together. Tugging her notebook down over her chest, she poked the top of her baby sister's head out of the way, getting a raspy chuckle while reorienting herself onto her stomach.

"What'cha up to, goober?" She tucked some of Frisk's mane behind her ear, tapping her dull horns.

Frisk's horn had extended from the spoon-like, strange in-between phase to nubby little keratin snake tongues poking out of her fluffy hair. She stuck her own tongue out, slightly split down the middle, as Chara gently scratched her head. Stretching, her small claws painted cyan with white hearts pulled the collar of Chara's green and yellow sweater into a playful headbutt.

"Oh, I see, you just wanna mess with me."

She grabbed Frisk by the armpits, ruffling up her bright orange sweater with a pumpkin on the front, and flipped her over to easily tickle her belly. Her baby sis's laugh was raspy and high-pitched, her toothy smile was pearly and bright like her round fangs were spotted with silvery glitter. Chara rolled up her autumn sweater and leaned over her head to blow a raspberry into her, getting a bigger giggle and making a wet spot grow over Frisk's green Husky diaper. The black socks she was wearing, the ones with little yellow eyes at the top and cat ears with pink insides poking over the end, slid over the basic brown couch cushions as her legs were spread apart.

"Didn't Mom change you right before she left?" Chara raised a brow.

Frisk stuck out her tongue again.

Chara lightly swiped her nose. "Don't give me that, your bladder's been too weak to be out of diapers since before you got put back in them. Come on."

She swept Frisk up and carried her down the hall to her room. "You shouldn't be out of plastic pants, either, you little gremlin."

Upon walking in, she stepped toward a new door beside her closet, a shelf of protection and a simple changing table inside. After cleaning Friks up, changing her into one of the newer purple diapers with black spiderwebs and a black castle with a blue night sky backdrop on the plastic front, and putting her into clear violet plastic pants with ruffles on the back. Then she lifted Frisk up and carried her back out. Though they were more comfortable sleeping in their own beds again with only the occasional snuggle sesh with Azzie, Chara still didn't like having anyone in her room for extended periods no matter how little of interest she had.

The elder Dreemurr tried to put her sister down so she could get back to work on redesigning her mechs, finding tiny hands grabbing her sleeve.

"I'm busy, Frisk. It's Azzie's turn with the Steam Deck, right? Go play with him, we can bring out a board game later."

Chara sat on the other side of the couch and retrieved her notebook, continuing to design and redesign many portions of naturally integrated artificial systems that could be used all around the Kingdom as needed while Frisk frowned and eventually wandered off. Just gotta tweak this, maybe use a different enchantment over here...

VVV 🎃 VVV

The sound of stretching tape and worn safety scissors trying to cut multiple sheets of construction paper woke the Owl Lady way too early. Her back crackled like firecrackers and one of her hands was missing. With any luck, she'd get to it before the free-roaming beartrap. Twigs, feathers, and unidentified fluff (probably just her hair but the Owl Beast got up to a lot when it was able to, it could just as easily be a hodgepodge of lots of victims) were brushed off by her remaining hand.

She held her remaining hand in the air and drew a spell circle, clearing up her hair and switching her sweats and pajama shirt for her favorite crimson dress. Edalyn didn't usually waste magic on such a minor thing so early in the day, especially when their bile sacs were still painfully slowly recovering after splitting her curse with her sister, but she just didn't have the energy for this today and she could pull a favor with her parents if missing one slow day of potion sales somehow turned into a travesty. Gwendolyn wouldn't hesitate to pass something her grandkids could eat their way if it got that bad and she'd been sure to keep a decent backstock and spare Snails since her bounty increased again. There were multiple children under her roof now, she might rise high all the time but her dumb kids were still learning and she wouldn't let them down the way she'd been obsessed over the wrong way.

Speaking of her dumb kids, they were all clearly up long before her; the scent of bacon and griffin eggs wafted under the crook of her bedroom door and whatever random crafts project they'd been working on was still in full swing. She should've expected Luz to be up by now but the other two? The Owl Lady had been ready to go knocking on their door before she processed everything.

The previous night had been nothing but nightmares all around. King had been the first, getting himself trapped in the small patchwork blanket Luz had tried to make for him. Winding up a burrito, snapping off his broken horn again, and tearing the corner of the fabric on his intact spike might be pretty funny once she'd downed her second mug of apple blood but it wasn't in the moment when his chest was constricted and his terrified little yellow eyes were begging for help. He was whimpering and sniffling in her arms, recounting being thrust in a cage with an uncomfortably familiar pair of black claws twice as long as his entire body on a massive white-gray feathered limb cleaving through him and 'Cool Aunt Lilith' before a bright green flash turned their bisected corpses to stone.

Luz was second. Eda had gone through her own nightmare of her completely blinded Dad shambling toward her with bloody tears leaking down his missing eyes and woken up just for another shriek to rip through the Owl House. Just as before, she was on her feet and thundering down the hall in an instant. The human was much less coherent than her (usually) little brother. Her heart cracked hearing the bright young girl trying to form even a fragment of a sentence, only ending up with portions of gratitude that her Mama Eda was alive and pleads for her Mami that they couldn't fulfill. She'd rocked her back and forth in her arms for half an hour with King on Luz's chest, tears staining his fur while she ran her finger through it, before both of them could get back to sleep.

She'd called it quits and just rounded everyone up in her room when the third kid started walking up to her door in the middle of the night.

Edalyn still wasn't sure what to think about 'The Collector', or 'Tracy', as Luz had affectionately nicknamed him. They still weren't sure where they'd come from other than 'the stars', that was the only detail he'd given them. Almost a week ago, she and Lils had been scoping out the perimeter of old Bonehead's castle when her sister managed to trip over something sticking out of the ground. A round gray mirror with a lighter gray crescent moon on it barely stuck out of the soil enough for Lilith's heel to get wedged on it. All they were trying to do was spy on the Day of Unity preparations but wound up going home with something shiny on the off-chance it was important.

And then it talked. King touched it, they still couldn't figure out why whatever curse on it broke when he poked the damn thing as opposed to everyone else but the child that popped out was just as small (and a bit obnoxious) as they sounded. He'd tried to cast some spells, summoning a few animated metal stars and flinging little star stickers around but they were easy to counter, even one of Luz's most basic Fire Glyphs could completely disarm him, they hadn't even gotten to know what they did before The Collector settled down, staring at his hands.

He continued to experiment with his powers; making the shadows take whatever shape they pleased with a wave of their hand, flinging tiny stars everywhere they could, summoning a larger star they could ride on and inviting King for a ride as thanks for freeing them, levitating, he even managed to wrap the flower girl in a surge of sparkles and lift her up with him. Sure, they struggled to keep Willow afloat and strained to drag her around on the end of a flashy purple-pink streamer for only a couple of minutes, but the fact he got the critical mass of muscle airborne without her having any amount of control or offering any help at all was a feat in of itself.

Just for a few extremely confusing hours they'd played games with King, casually naming him a Titan, but there was an obvious weight of urgency hanging over them. Something was calling to them, something was eating at them, something was wrong but they bid everyone farewell and shot to the sky so suddenly, they thought for certain that that'd be the last they saw of them. Three days later, they showed up on their doorstep in the middle of a completely unrelated night. Sobbing and wailing, she couldn't leave him out there, even if he was a walking Painbow and significantly closer friends with King than King was with him.

She'd set up a room for them with a frantically cleaned mattress left over from her Human Realm robberies. Luz again made something akin to a fitted sheet and scrappy blanket with what little clean pieces of fabric she deemed soft enough. Her heart was always in the right place but Eda was positive her decisions about what materials to use were totally arbitrary. Three more days later, just the other night, she'd heard their small footsteps drawing near her bedroom door. It didn't take long to get all three of them in her nest. Despite being constantly dressed in purple star jammies, Tracy was a light sleeper, they had to have heard everything that went on just one floor above him, and Luz and King weren't hard to wake up even though they could normally sleep straight through a Gorenado and clean up the mess the next morning without ever putting together what happened.

All of the bad dreams meant one thing; The Mourning Veil had lifted... Not really one thing, there was a lot on their plate between the Portal, Day of Unity, finding out where the Golden Guard ran off to, and reconnecting with the family but being a Wild Witch for this long meant honing certain instincts. And sure enough, she'd run out of space on her calendar, it was the beginning of the new month and it was going to be all of their problems. At least that was the least of their worries, it was only the beginning and they had plenty of time to reapply the proper wards and string together some protective clothing, even if she didn't have everything they'd need stored. All they had to do was figure out where she left everything, but then the month would be in trouble.

But now that the nest was empty she had to make sure nothing was on fire. Luz was fully capable of making breakfast but she knew her kids well enough to at least check in before tidying things up.

'Tidy' relative to Eda's standards, anyway.

Chapter 4: Rule I - Reassurance - Part 4

Summary:

Vee's chaotic friend group.
Luz messages her Mami. Camila doesn't take to empty-nest syndrome well but she has another baby to take care of.
Zoey demands retribution.
Kris works on an affront/offering to the gods.

Notes:

Small thing to know, Masha's name is Zoey here and she's not Enby but she's gay as all hell. It's my own headcannon (pre Thanks To Them, obviously) for Vee's friends' names; Zoey, Immanuel, and Alex is the Nonbinary one now.

Also, Google Translate Spanish ahead.

WitchyBitchy - I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL THEM!

Immanuel - No murder allowed
- That's Al's thing

AlexPalex - Damn straight
- You have wicked curses
- Let me punch a bitch

WitchyBitchy - There's nothing straight about either of us

AlexPalex - Fair
- But consider this
- I'm in ur walls

WitchyBitchy - Can u feed my dog while ur there plz?

AlexPalex - Depends
- Can I check out ur Tarot stuff?

WitchyBitchy - Sure y not
- Just don't try to do a reading
- It's bad luck to use someone else's cards
- Now
- The murder plan

Luz - Please don't.

WitchyBitchy - Luz, they tried to shove you in a locker
- not even one of the old 80s kinda lockers with a bunch of dead space
- they wanted to snap your spine on a shelf

AlexPalex - and wdyt Hal's gonna do abt it?

Luz - @DamageControl

Immanuel - I think I'm on their side, L.
- Principal Hal doesn't have a spine and VP Stone's only gives a shit abt the budget.
- Rich kids vs random peeps.
- They'll come back.

WitchyBitchy - NIGHTMARENIGHTMARENIGHTMARENIGHTMARENIGHTMARENIGHTMARE

Luz - I don't want any trouble.
- Hold on, I just got home, I'll chat when I'm done with HW

Immanuel - We had homework?

WitchyBitchy - I need five black candles and a picture of Clara.
- *Amber
- Whichever pisses her off more.

Immanuel - She's been going by Amber since her real name's so close to Chara.

AlexPalex - And I can print out a picture. Mom just got new ink.

WitchyBitchy - Perfect

VVV 🎃 VVV

"We broke into the Conformatorium again. It's gotten easier since the Day of Unity was delayed. We're still trying to figure out why Belos pushed it back and how much longer we have but we still don't even know what it is. Lilith floated around that he might be missing something; maybe he needs the Portal Key or some ingredient for something but that's all we've got on it.

Oh! Yeah! The prison thing. Uhh, we found... We found something... It wasn't what we were looking for, we did get Eda's friends out but we don't know what's going on with Raine, but they pointed us to a hidden area they saw the warden go to a lot. It had this super complicated lock but Eda got through it, all that was there was this really long elevator down to this secret lab thing.

We think it's where the Basilisks were held. There were so many cages and chains. We found some of their tools. Whips, saws, scalpels, our version of medical machines. There was more but I stopped counting them, there was just so much. And they weren't even taken care of, most of them were covered in really old blood. Viney, uh, she's one of my friends at school, she identified it as reptilian but it didn't match any beast... any living beast... There was only one 'good' set of tools in the entire place, they were really enchanted and had their whole own operating room away from all the others.

Ed said the researchers might've needed stronger tools to cut open the Greater Basilisk but he backtracked pretty quick when I showed him pictures, he and Viney say the table was way too small for that one, even smaller than a lot of the other Basilisks, we're out of ideas for who that place was for. Maybe the coven was playing favorites? I don't know but we found all of their cages... we found Vee's cage... there were so many more than five of them. I-I just... I don't want to bring you down but I thought you should know...

I... I promise I'm looking for a way back. I'm starting with figuring out how some texts can get through but others can't, I can't tell if there's a connection between the ones that get through, yet, but I'm figuring it out. Hopefully, you'll get this one... There's someone new with us, they have a lot more magic than they look and they might know something about Portals but I'm waiting to ask him about it, I want them to get settled in, first... I-I'm coming back... I promise..."

Her baby girl sounded so tired.

Over an entire year since they'd been separated, over an entire year since she unknowingly dropped off a different child to summer camp, over an entire year since they'd been torn further apart than they'd ever been. There'd been two days when they were supposed to visit Manny's grave, there'd been one Christmas spent alone, there'd been one Mother's Day spent alone, there'd been two Halloweens spent alone, and her Quinceanera had passed.

She'd gotten extra flowers in case she came back but they'd wilted away, there were gifts on her desk but they'd gathered dust and were getting in the way of Vee's studying and stored in the closet, they saved her some candy and set out an Azura costume but wound up giving it to Vee anyway before it went stale and the same costume had been brought back out for this month, though it might not fit. She'd had to explain to the extended family that Luz wasn't having a Quinceanera due to 'money issues' and they were desperate to fly out with all the money they could scrape together and pull something together for her.

She hated having to get poor little Vee to pretend everything was fine and they could celebrate another time, she hated having to steal vaccines and medicine for a child that everyone thought was already immunized, she hated watching this terrified little girl get repeatedly bedridden by simple colds and allergies, she hated waking up in the middle of the night to inhuman screams and being unable to do a thing because Vee refused to say anything about it.

She hated how every single message she tried to send back couldn't get through.

She just wanted her baby to come home.

Camila wiped her face as fast as she could when the front door opened but her voice still cracked as she called out. "iH-Hola, Lucecita! Welcome home!"

"C-Camila! You're home e-early." Vee stammered.

Poking her head around the corner and seeing the Basilisk was alone, she stepped out and gave her a once-over. She wasn't wearing the black leggings she usually favored, but a pair of sweatpants and was noticeably stiff with an unshed sheen of sweat over her forehead.

"Hija, ¿tuviste otro accidente?"

Vee shuddered and tightened her vice grip on her backpack straps, eventually nodding and staring at the ground. Camila couldn't help an exasperated but affectionate sigh. Her baby girl was a world away but she still had one here that needed love and care. She gestured Vee over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly and muttering little assurances and encouragements in Spanish. The Basilisk had yet to gain a good understanding of Spanish but she could understand tone.

Upstairs, she ushered Vee off to take a nice warm bath while she did a load of laundry. Just something to take her mind off everything, it didn't matter what. Housework and normal work would all suffice, she always had a hearty to-do list. The kitchen floor was mopped, carpets were vacuumed, mirrors were windexed, and countertops were wiped down by the time Vee was finished with her bath. Personally, the overstressed woman was pretty sure she had fallen asleep, not that she blamed her. She only got the one, vague, very preoccupied glance at the front of her true form but she remembered her green scales and big, sweet, terrified eyes, she could never forget her eyes. Vee was obviously semi-aquatic and cold-blooded, and the poor thing was probably desperate for some heat with the temperature dropping so rapidly. I'll need to get her some better winter clothes, soon.

Vee was still young and just got home, she could hang out in the tub as long as she set aside time for her homework. Just because she was living Luz's life didn't mean she could escape the horrors of highschool, everyone needed to learn and she had a lot of catching up to do. She could barely read some days, she was getting far better at mathematics than Luz was (most of the time, she never could put together why she did so well sometimes and barely scraped by others), her history was predictably completely absent, but her science!

She'd been a nervous wreck when asking Camila if she could go to the library for the first time, as if she were asking the world of her or needed permission to walk a few streets downtown for some books. And when she came back she was trying to haul around a tower of STEM and physics books. That and camp likely contributed to her getting the hang of math but there was something there, something burning bright in her little head. Luz excelled in stories and art, Vee was a budding scientist with a passion for biology and engineering and computer science, a technician or doctor in the making. Camila had heard the world of IT was an overcomplicated yet frustratingly simple hellscape of idiotic customers and silly mistakes but Vee was a patient little girl with at least one heart that was yearning to learn, she had what it took.

It wasn't long until she got more comfortable heading to the library on her own. She still hadn't been going to school then, she had a lot of catching up to do, but she needed more to read than dictionaries and textbooks bigger than her arms. After getting used to the wonders of the library card, she began testing the waters. What would Camila let her get for fun? Pretty much anything within reason but of course she dove head first into science fiction, including Cosmic Frontier. She started locking the basement door when the Basilisk brought the first three books home.

Vee was finished with her homework by the time dinner was ready, spaghetti with spicy meat sauce. They shared small stories about their days, though Vee was being fairly tight-lipped as usual. Just for a moment, Camila's little world was back to normal.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey sat in only a self-made black robe in the attic, far away from her parents' eyes and with the ladder pulled back up. A simple chalk circle with a square inside was before her, the lines sprinkled with the bright yellow petals and filaments of John's worts. The way she learned this spell had the circle inside the square connecting each of the four candles but she found going the extra mile to make sure the square was perfectly nestled inside the ring to be more effective, then create carefully formed rings for the candle holders to sit in. Although, she generally used this format for slightly more wholesome means.

Each black candle wisped and smoked around a picture of the Sousa family off the internet. She'd gotten Alex to spend an extra minute adjusting the image in Photoshop. It left Clara's face a little pixelated but it was more than enough to capture the snotty, smiling image in her mind's eye. Holding the fifth candle and holding it over the picture, gliding it clockwise over the picture and waiting for the wax to get heated enough to begin dribbling down. When ready, she tilted it, dripping wax over the picture while trying to hold back a livid sneer.

"As I sing this candle spell, send mine enemy a night of hell. Candle black, black with blight, bring her pains of flesh tonight.

Lesions on her skin shall grow, afflict her with a painful blow. Fear and pain flock to her now, on this night she'll wonder how.

Those who seek to speak with me, know I'll not convene with thee. Who invades my home this day, now comes time to fly away."

When the picture was covered in black wax, she set the candle on top of it. It would be a nightmare to clean the holder later but it would be worth it to keep her away from Luz. For a while, making sure none of the candles caught anything on fire and were focused around Clara's picture, she debated doing the same to Bradley. He couldn't have been the perpetrator for all of this, he was a braindead jock who only put enough effort into his grades to stay on the football team. One of the girls caused this and Clara was way more likely than the rest, she was their ringleader. Maybe his girlfriend did it but the other three were the ones pulling the strings. Even if it wasn't Clara's idea, putting her down would keep a dampener on their little adventures for a while, long enough for her to make a decision.

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Shtuff I need:
• 30 red leaves
• 30 yellow leaves
• 30 orange leaves
• 30 twigs less than 3 feet long
• ^over the course of the month
• 10 rotting branches (every three days)
• 3 bird skulls (doesn't matter which, get at start of every week)

The first skull was easier to get than Kris expected, Susie got it somewhere in the woods, but these stupid yellow leaves were infuriating. Technically there was nothing saying the leaf had to be super intact but he wasn't taking any chances, he'd have to wait a year for another chance and this wasn't even the most convoluted step, nor the end of his list. He still had quite a few small things to collect, some chants to memorize, and a short ritual to perform when he got back to the apartment.

Whatever. He'd make it work, this time. He could feel it in his Soul, this was the year, this time it would work, this time he'd be able to hit every step perfectly, because this time he wasn't doing it alone.

Chapter 5: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 1

Summary:

"Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions." -Clara/Amber, probably. This can't possibly have a terrible result on Brad's football career.
Vee's friends have the Halloween talk. Susie comes in clutch again. Zoey tries really hard (and fails) to keep her cool.

feat. Jack-o-lanterns.

26 Days Until Halloween

Every
Single
One of them...

A few months ago, Amber would've found the idea they'd been cursed completely insane. It was something she'd expect to see in one of Luzer's storybooks or on some shockingly well-made, and neat fanfiction draft she was writing in the middle of class. Monday night, because of course it was a Monday, she'd woken up in the middle of the night from a vivid nightmare about that freak.

She was standing right beside the same locker, right after Brad shoved her inside and was preparing to slam the door on her legs. Only instead of Susie stepping in, a jet of lapis flames spewed over him. Even asleep, she felt the air go freezing cold, in reality, it was probably the pool of sweat soaking her pajamas and seeping into her sheets. His skin turned gray and slowly charred, she could smell the burning flesh and hair. There wasn't any skin when his clothes burned off, it was already reduced to a rapidly growing cloud of flying soot and snowing ashes, she could see his individual muscles and watch his blood cauterize the second it met the open air. Amy and Kate were next, the brunette getting a metal door shoved through her skull, the other two were deafened by the rending of cheap metal being ruthlessly and effortlessly torn off its hinges.

Red spread over the tile floor as a glove, no, a peeled off hand, splatted it onto her shoes. More discomfortingly warm maroon sprayed over her face, she could taste copper. Amy's body flopped before her eyes, followed by her head and two dull eyes staring blankly into her Soul. Chills ran up her spine and crawled over her face. Luz was standing right in front of her with a low frown. Her hand, what was left of it, was fluidly sliding off of her... scales? Emerald green scales peeked out of the gaps, stained pale by the tan skin flowing over them like muddy glue and dangling strands and arcs to the floor. She only had three fingers-, claws, bloody black claws. Her forearms, shins, and frown deepened, dripping brown blobs over her crimson-stained shoes. Hisses like sliding sheets of metal came from the many scales as she moved closer.

Amber stumbled and fell, bouncing the back of her head on the tiles and kicking the ground in her desperate escape. Cracking bones shook Luz's frame as a long, reptilian tail with a fluffy tip burst out of her back, slipping under her clothes and jostling them out of the way, letting liquid skin splash out of her yellow shirt and jacket like they were popped water balloons. Her cream underbelly expanded and lengthened out of her leggings and jacket, tearing the fabric as she stretched and coiled in the air, thudding to Clara's feet and slithering after her. Long black talons stabbed through her shoes and scraped the tiles, her tail brushed over the polished and bloody ceramic, her talons shattered the squares with every swipe, and her belly turned red as fishy-smelling slime mixed with Katie and Amy's gore.

She tried desperately to kick her melting face away, feeling the thick flesh stick her soles to Luz's cheek and peeling slabs of it off of her scales. A pair of eyes splattered on the ground, all she had to look at was a set of pitch-black holes with tiny red dots for pupils. Luz's hair was starting to slip down her neck and fuse together when her jaw began expanding, flinging off her head as she suddenly whipped around to snap up Amy's head, swallowing it in one gulp as her mandible dislocated with a snap. Her teeth fell out and she spat out a mix of saliva and blood as several dagger-like fangs burst out of her gums with a metallic shink as she slithered right over her legs and wrapped a massive, spiked tongue around her knees.

All her clique had to say the next day (right when she had a test, it just so happened) was that she looked like shit, pale and covered in red marks and handprints like sunburns.

But then Kaitlyn came in looking awful on Wednesday, she'd wanted to ditch to 'hang out' with Bradley but didn't even make it through one lecture with one of the very strict teachers. It was Amy's turn on Thursday, she didn't show up to cheer practice after school and never picked up her phone. Now it was Brad's time to shine when there was a football game later. Now he was sure to get replaced the day a new quarterback was available, the whole team would hate him until then, the school would turn on him, and Kate would have no reason to stay. I wonder how long he'll last.

Something was going on. A Monster had to be responsible, people can't control dreams but maybe magic could. But she had a history exam today, an English essay would be due the next week, there was a Math quiz next Wednesday, and who knows what else was waiting for her. And even if she was free for the entire month, what was she supposed to do about it? She wasn't some nerd or a scholar, Monster books weren't allowed in schools or most libraries, and she wasn't magical, just helpless. Whatever it was worth, it hadn't happened again. If she didn't have that awful dream tonight or next Monday then she didn't care anymore, just stay out of my hair.

Susie-zilla, as one of those Goth girls and her friends started calling her, hadn't gotten into any more fights as far as she knew. Most people knew to stay out of her way and she never went searching for trouble. Unless someone was already stirring something up, she didn't seem to give a shit. The most problems she'd caused was texting during class, something about a partner who was still in Monster Territory, Amber wasn't sure and didn't care to ask when she would be dealing with a seven-to-eight-foot death machine that could manhandle someone twice the cheerleader captain's size with one claw. Not that she didn't still want to have that thing by her side, it just didn't sound so feasible when all the lizard did was follow her apparent boyfriends everywhere the second the bell rang.

Luz, finally, showed back up for the end of the week, probably not wanting to miss another quiz and assuming she was safe from them for the time being. She was willing to let her think that for a little while, none of them were particularly in the mood to test her for a minute so she'd be fine as long as she remembered her place.

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"What are you guys dressing up as for Halloween?" Alex smiled the second they plopped their lunchbox on the table and sat down.

Zoey swiped back her hair and smirked. "Wicked witch. Is there even another option?"

"I was gonna go with a skeleton but then monsters showed up." Immanuel, 'Immy', waved off. They all stared. "I know there aren't any skeletons with 'em. I'm still going with Miles Morales, just in case."

"What about you, Lu?" Zoey leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, squishing her cheeks.

Vee glanced away from the rich brown eyes right across from her and the gray and blue ones to her right. "I-I'm not sure I'll do anything this year." Not a very Luz thing to say but she really wasn't sure she was up for it.

"But you didn't do anything last year, either!" Zoey exclaimed, agast like she'd insulted Hocus Pocus again. "...Yeah..."

"Come on! Ya gotta do something!" Alex leaned over the table as well.

"If she doesn't want to she doesn't have to, guys." Immy came to her rescue.

They weren't oblivious, though. "She's had awesome costumes before. Why are you holding back now?"

"Freeeeee caaaaaannnnnndyyyyyy~" Zoey droned like a ghost and wriggled her fingers. It wasn't that she didn't want free candy but that meant going outside in the middle of the night, without bathroom breaks, and people would be walking around like that Curator! What if he saw her again? What if she had an accident? What if she panicked and revealed herself? And she couldn't make costumes like the real Luz! Everyone would see if she just got one from a store!

A warm hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her spiral. Immanuel gently patted her while Zoey quickly reached for her hand. "Do you need us to protect youuuuuu...?" She half-teasingly offered.

Vee's face turned deep, bright red and she yanked her hands away, almost throwing herself on the floor. Alex and Zoey both suppressed a hearty laugh while Immanuel smiled at her expense while she was left stammering for an answer.

"...But seriously... You barely come to school in person, barely talk outside of texting, never go outside, and now you're not even coming out for Halloween? It feels like we haven't hung out since camp" Zoey spoke softly and quietly.

"...I guess I... I'll think about it..." She didn't want to give them an inch in case they took a mile... but she also really wanted to give them a mile.

Sizzling steak - Smoke - Pepper - Salt - Spice - Wildflowers - Birthday cake - Candy - Bubblegum - Honey - Grass

"Wow, she just got friends and she can't even keep them." Amy appeared out of nowhere, getting a laugh out of Kaitlyn and a bored eye-roll and poorly hidden smirk from Amber... Clara? Which did we decide on?

"Hey, Luz, miss us?"

A visible shiver ran up all three of their spines. For her size, the violet Godzilla was very quiet when she thought it would be funny. Her big varsity jacket swayed around her torso as she jammed a thumb to the side, telling the suddenly pale girls to beat it. Kris and Ralsei appeared behind her. Apparently, it was the Irishman's turn to be extremely confusing to look at. He and the goat were both wearing very flowery clothes.

Now Ralsei, in his neat jeans and bright pink sweater with a bunch of seeding dandelions self-knitted in random spots, looked like his outfit matched his personality while the human had a soft green long-sleeve with an Irish flag patch over his heart (she was pretty sure the human heart was on that side, anyway) and some ironed khakis beneath a brown skirt covered in white flowers. She'd only seen them for two days but there was no way Ralsei didn't have some hand in parts of their clothing. Susie was the only one who seemed to have a plan for the entire month, if having the same jacket the whole time counted as a plan, the other two just kind of went with what they had, one much more effectively and caringly than the other.

Ralsei softly waved with a paper bag in his other hand. "Mind if we sit with you?"

"YES!" Zoey answered before any of them could consider it, then apologetically glanced at each of them as the Monsters took seats. Susie sat next to Alex and Ralsei next to Immy but Kris waited to see how the seating arrangement unfolded before moving next to Susie. The local witch practically vibrated on the bench, waiting for them to get settled before Ralsei allowed her to start bombarding them with questions about magic and a repeat of the impromptu Arcanagram lesson Catti gave Vee. The fluffy Monster was happy to oblige while his partners ate in silence. Susie brought a crispy, wonderfully smelling turkey and swiss sandwich and Kris had a ham and cheddar one, both of which were cut in two, both handing one half to the other.

It took her a moment to be able to listen and join the conversation, having been smashed against a wall of conflicting and conjoining magical senses. Her head eventually stopped spinning and she slowly started to bite into the leftover grilled cheese (with a hidden Hex Card) from the previous dinner and sipped a Capri-Sun, listening but reluctant to participate with Ralsei. Had he told anyone? What if he already told Susie and Kris? Who was the person Susie kept talking to on the phone? Did they know, too? How many people had it spread to? Was all of Monster Kind aware of her by now?!

The deafening crack of thunder shook her entire body. A lot of the kids jumped at the intrusion but either waved it off like they hadn't or dramatically put their hands over their chests, mainly members of the theater club. The Monster transfers, on the other hand, hardly reacted, living in a Kingdom where all kids of all ages had access to possibly unstable magical power likely did that to them. Her back was on fire now but she was alright for the time being, now she knew to expect it.

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All Chara did was stand up for a second to stretch and pop her back when Frisk bounded after her from around a corner and grabbed her arm, tugging her with her. The older Dreemurr's favorite black dragon onesie ruffled around Frisk's tiny grasp and ineffective pulling before she reluctantly tugged her Night Fury head hood up, brushed herself off, and followed. She'd just gotten back from a training session with Auntie Dye-Dye and definitely didn't feel like doing anything but draw. She'd been wearing a super sweaty and disgusting workout tank top and sports shorts, her hair was still damp after her shower, she'd just gotten into a clean diaper, everything was sore, and only got comfy in her onesie and pounced onto the couch ten minutes ago. But her baby sister was persistent and would keep bothering her if she reached for her sketchbook again... and she was a tough little furball to say no to.

She rubbed her closing eyes and drooped her head, letting Frisk guide her to one of the balconies. If anyone was around to see her, neither of them would've gone this way; Chara was hardly 'dressed' and the rear flap of Frisk's bright orange diaper with black bats and white ghosts peeked out of her black shorts, it blended in with her oversized orange sweater with a small pumpkin on the front but she had a noticeable waddle. The Demi-Human saw why she was being brought to this balcony, as opposed to the one attached to Toriel's segment of the castle. I need to move out...

It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and with just a light enough breeze to chill without blowing anything away; the light didn't help her gradually developing headache but she could make do. A canopy of countless leaves grew and dangled over the top of the balcony. Strengthened wood and enchanted metallic roots crawled up the reinforced stone walls of the old castle. What remained of the old Capitol had been forced into the sky by time, growth, and modification. The bricks on the upper levels had yet to be replaced and re-engineered with gold dust-lined alloys around new, intricately carved, carefully enchanted, and many different gem-encrusted walls made of many kinds of pulverized and reformed minerals but the peaks were mostly protected by magic, anyway, and were scheduled to be completely remade to the Royal Family's liking.

The tops of the castle were hilariously short and thin compared to the newer portions so Chara, obviously, commissioned a much bigger room in her own section of the castle closer to the middle, but that was after making sure there was a lot of room for libraries, wizards' towers, Guard stations, and unusual or advanced defenses.

Asriel was waiting for them on a folded blanket, wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt. His fuzzy Winter coat was growing in nicely, both of them would be stealing his bed and cuddles later. He was surrounded by multicolored pumpkins and pumpkin guts. Most were orange but there were a lot of shades of blue, yellow, red, purple, black, and white lying around, he was handling a massive green one twice the size of his head but the rest were unclaimed.

Frisk dragged her over to their middle sibling and some of the scattered blankets and towels, selecting a sky-blue pumpkin and grabbing some markers. She started drawing the black outline of a happy face and many clouds on the top while Asriel was making a twisted flower with a snarling scowl surrounded by various wilting plants drawn in browns and grays and blacks. Guess I'm doing this now. Granted, she was content enough with that. Chara picked a reasonably sized, bright red pumpkin around her skull's size with a longer green stem that curled at the end; she began by grabbing another black marker and painting the entire stem, then moved on to drawing many shattered Souls all around it. Drawing a spooky face with lots of fangs and details would come later, she wasn't awake enough to do that and she'd find an even bigger pumpkin to carve when she was in the mood and didn't have anything specific to do.

Azzie created a very small Chaos Saber to precisely cut open his pumpkin's head and details, piling all its guts and seeds on a tarp in the center of them. Even with heavy eyes, Chara was next to dump her Jack-o-lantern's insides onto the clump, expertly cutting it open and flicking away the perfect slices without leaving a speck of black on her decorations, even on the jagged edges of every broken heart. Lastly, Frisk got her pumpkin temporarily confiscated so Chara could very quickly dissect and carve it with a humming red knife. Their little sister squeezed her pumpkin to her chest while her big siblings rounded up the splayed plant guts and seeds on the tarp, originally just planning to throw it down a compost chute until Chara decided to add them to her garden.

The youngest Dreemurr tried to grab her sister's sleeve again when she got up to go work on designs and test enchantments but she'd had her fun. There was a lot she still wanted to get done and her head was pounding.

Chapter 6: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 2

Summary:

Luz tends to Tracy.
Zoey doesn't even try to hide it. Making plans for Halloween.
Call with the girlfriends. And what Noelle's been doing this whole time.
Raine Rain and cell problems. The march home.
Ralsei is instinctively a caregiver. Working with children a lot doesn't help.

'Tracy the Collector' wasn't a name they'd ever thought they'd take on, he didn't think he'd ever take on a name at all! None of the other Archivists engaged in such a silly tradition. He still didn't get the point, everyone knew who someone was talking about when they mentioned 'The Collector' but the human didn't consider it a name? And Cool Aunt Eda barely used 'Tracy', anyway, she called everyone something special but there wasn't any confusion then, either.

That was fine, though. 'Luz' was fun! Baby Titans were so cute and 'The Clawthorne Sisters' were so nice! He just didn't understand why they all needed certain names, that was all! The human was always so kind and shared so many toys and played so many games with him! She went to a school a lot of the time and wandered off with some other witches a lot, and sometimes she acted a lot smaller than she was ('the mystery of the mind', as Cool Aunt Lilith called it, was supposedly way too complicated to be explained, which they and their vast knowledge of Astral Magic doubted), but it was obvious how much King loved her and why.

But today, for some reason, she was still home. The Last Titan had told him the Human Witchling went to 'Hexside' five days of the week with the last two off to do whatever she wanted, yet here she was, putting up little candles everywhere. They'd already been told to be careful where they were flying and running, he could figure that having a bunch of open flames might be a problem, just not why they were being lit.

All he knew was that he wanted his star jammies back and for Luz and King to come play.

His dark purple, gray, and lavender onesie had been stolen by the Owl Lady! She even took his sleepy hat because they were 'dirty' and 'the only thing he'd worn for a week!' The only upside was that she let him pick out whatever he wanted from a pile of stuff that vaguely fit him. He'd gotten some light gray sweatpants and a dark purple hoodie, they were the closest thing he could find, and stuck his tongue out at her just to get chuckled at and his hair ruffled. At least the hood's drawstrings were fun to fling around and boop King with.

The candles, though, he didn't get at all. Philip often threw that dumb rag over his mirror when he was working, LAAAAAAMMMMMME! he couldn't even tell if this was commonplace or a Wild Witch thing. But Lucelyn promised him they could play for a whole hour if they got done lighting the candles early! While King was organizing the wax sticks and stabbing them into a bunch of mismatched holders, Luz distributed them around the Owl House. He'd been supplied a big handful of purple, orange, and black candles to disperse along the house the same way she did, they were so much easier to levitate than that flower girl! Tracy assumed he'd been doing a good job until Luz walked down the hall, rearranging and lighting the candles he'd placed with a fire glyph she shook and snuffed out when she spotted him.

"Tracy, sweetie, can I chat with you for a second?" She bent down, her hands on her knees, and spoke soft and high.

Her hair was mostly short in the front but the back was longer than it looked, tied up in many small braids holding feathers with small light glyphs drawn in the centers, the shafts acting as the center line with the fuzz carefully maintained to keep the sigil's design. She almost fell down as her palms slipped down her black leggings but she caught herself on the wall. He'd tried to get her to let him wear her silly purple and white cat hoodie but it was too big on him. A pair of big metal forearm cuffs with glyphs, ice and fire on one and light and plant on the other, clicked together as she crouched and crossed her arms on her knees.

"Have you seen how Mama Eda and I have been setting out the candles?"

He nodded. "On the tables and around the doors."

Luz forced a smile and sharply inhaled. "Weeeeeellllll... Here." She took three of the candles.

"The black candles attract and ground negative energies but they're also used in a lot of protections, they go the outside." She placed it and moved some others closer to the walkway.
"Orange candles mean luck, property, authority, and strength. They go in the middle to mark a barrier. Then the magenta ones energize rituals and represent spiritual healing, and exorcism. Do you know what that means?" The Collector shook his head.

"It means removing spirits. So you need one layer of purple close to the wall and furthest away from it. Then you want two lines of orange between them to mark our home and bring fortune. Last, you want all of your black candles in the very middle, that'll be our shield and guide negativity away from us, bind it to the line we're making around all our rooms. Eda's already finished with the ones around Hooty, she got the short straw... and chose rock when she should've done scissors- SO WE JUST GOTTA FINISH THE INSIDE heheheeeeee! Just smoosh them together so they're easier to light and stay out of the way, okay?"

Tracy quickly started rearranging the candles. "What's this all for, anyway?"

She raised a brow, then shot upright. "Belos never told you about the Mourning Veil?"

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Zoey was the one who was all over all sorts of magic the second she could get her hands on it, Immanuel was struggling to keep up with all the Souls, lines, symbols, and traits Ralsei flew around like it was common knowledge. She was taking notes, Alex was chatting it up with Susie, and Luz, for some reason, was pretending not to be paying attention to the 'Arcanagrams' being scratched onto whatever paper the fluffy Monster could find. The storming slowly worsened as lunch progressed, a bolt of lightning partially drowning out the bell. Luz quickly said goodbye and wandered off to her next class while the rest of them were still packing up, having finished her lunch awful quickly.

...Something's missing... He hummed.

"She soooooo cute!"

There it is.

"PLEASE just kiss her." Alex begged as Susie and Kris exchanged a glance with Ralsei.

"Maybe if you help me drag her outside for once, I'll consider it." Zoey snarked with her hands on her hips.

Not wanting to risk them pressuring Luz already, he intervened. "We can ask Mrs. Noceda if we can bring some decorations to her house."

"Awesome!" Alex pumped their fist.

Zoey gave him a suspicious look. "And if she says no?"

"We'll just bring them to our houses instead." They jumped in again, getting an irritated huff from the witch.

"My Dad blows though, and fucking Karen is such a killjoy freak."

Ah, yes, fucking Karen, no using her normal name allowed, 'Karen' never drove it home enough for her.

"You wanna hang at my place for Halloween, then? Maybe we can bribe Mrs. Noceda." He offered, getting her to perk a little.

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"Have ya figured out what you're gonna do with that extra space in your new room yet?"

"Not really, I've been filling that study thing."

Her phone was upside-down next to her antlers, on speaker and tossed at a pillow while she started reading a book borrowed from the library. 'The Good Witch Azura' was full of spelling errors and sickeningly flowery language, it wore the age of its target audience on its sleeve but she heard the rest of the books grew with its readers so she borrowed it for a little while. Its depiction of magic was wildly inaccurate but that was to be expected from Human literature, she could overlook it if the story was good and she only had one book right now.

"I've been thinking of turning it into a witchy place for Kris. Just somewhere to put his stuff until I figure something out."

"H-H-How'd the spell...ing comp-p...tion go-o?" Kris asked in the background, breaking up.

She smiled through the garbled static. "It went great!"

"Wh-...t?"

"I WON!"

If they heard her, she couldn't tell, the call cut out shortly after.

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A humming green barrier floated above the three as Susie tried a few more times to get a connection, eventually giving up and taking Kris's hand. Ralsei, with his umbrella privileges, rode on Susie's shoulders, adding his two cents to the expansive shield floating over the walking Monsters. School was let out early for the storm, it was expected to last a while and get pretty heavy, though it wasn't too bad at the moment. They hadn't even gotten to see Mr. Mark and Ralsei wanted to share some homemade pumpkin muffins with the class! They had to dodge hall monitors and teachers just to get one to Mr. Mark, Luz, and each of her friends.

Berdly was chatting away somewhere behind them and Catti had been adding to the shield while being bugged by her sister. Unfortunately, her phone had yet to cut out. Jockington was lucky enough to be allowed around the cat's shoulders so he wasn't trying to slither on the concrete sidewalk or through mud. Tem, however, was happy to splash and pounce through the mud with some of the younger transferees. Monster Kid was trying to best not to slip and fall face-first into the grass but Human sidewalks had a lot less traction when wet than the fine sand and gravel paths back home. The worst thing to worry about then was the grains sticking to the bottoms of your shoes and the rain wasn't usually bad enough to cause that with the Aeromancy pylons along the border.

They eventually had to tread the mud when the shelter came into view. Out in the middle of an open field, around a five-minute walk to and from the school, was a line of modular buildings brought over from the Kingdom. They were made in part of the swamp trees that loomed over the water, their tall and sturdy roots being used to prop up the buildings. That was the only part they knew for sure was taken directly from a specific plant and grafted to the structures.

Their homes away from home were hexagonal so each of the roots, grown around metal pistons easily adjusted for different elevations and routinely checked by free-roaming Guardeners. Each made sure the rooms were perfectly level and branches and roots were properly lined up. Most of the hexes around the perimeter were either decoys or Royal Guard stations. Small archer segments were grown into the outer walls and lookout towers were placed on top, two of the centermost ones were equipped with large yellow crystals held in metal bands encrusted with yellow gems, powerful Lightning Crystals and Gems that hummed with electrical energy. I wonder how long it'll take for us to be blamed for the storm, they might break the hurricane's record!

Magic rippled and shifted as their shield collided with the edge of the exterior wall, a ten-foot wall of many branch panels with metallic roots lining the edges and centers as many Royal Guards lined the top, waving them along into the establishment. It had three levels. The lowermost one had legs around half Susie's size, she could probably break through the woven branches and crawl right inside like a horror monster if she wanted. The majority of the segments were four hexes big and rectangular in shape (or the closest thing hexagons could get to one) but there were quite a few six-part rooms. They were mostly there for support, having been built with large wood and metal root pillars in the center. They all liked to paint and draw on those segments because they were the community rooms where all the games they brought were stored and labeled.

Some one-part sections were included as stairways, where their rooms were. Guards just occasionally wandered through here on the way to the third layer, a lot fo their posts and the barracks was up there. The halls were a bit odd, most weren't straight (ha) because of the modules' six-sided shape but the organizers did well with what they had. Ralsei was set down on the first floor while Susie took their bags to their shared room, each student segment had room for four with loft beds their desks and backpack hooks sat under but few were fully stocked. He and Kris mingled with the scattering Monsters, deciding what to do with all the extra free time they had.

A decent handful of students with arms quickly set up a chess tournament Kris clearly had an interest in but hadn't gotten comfortable enough to ask to join. Others were still sorting through board games new and old for what they wanted to play, there was a game of Maces And Talons taking up one of the tables, some Spider-Folk unfurled a game of Twister, and even a set of darts was pulled from the pile and a budding Phytomancer grew a twig for the target to hang from.

Even they were the minority, though. Loads of kids were going back out to check out the town. They hadn't gotten to explore Gravesfield properly and the only notable thing they knew about any of it was the graveyard; right up Kris's alley but far from a tourist destination. He'd spotted a sandwich place from their window and knew of a coffee shop not much further down that street, along with a historical society around the corner, but that was it, this really wasn't a big town. Warm pink fire flickered in his hand as he walked around and carefully lit some of the lanterns mounted to the walls, Kris following suit and sharing short but sweet exchanges with whoever wandered close enough to greet, though he was getting awful fidgety and grabbing the end of his skirt.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The ground squished beneath Susie's sneakers as she stomped around the roof. Dirt was piled over the third layer, soaking up soil and giving the roots and branches more area to draw nutrients from so the plant mages had an easier time modifying the interior as needed and strengthening anything that wasn't to the Guard lieutenant's standards. Rain was pouring over the terracotta tubes above the building, chilling the air flowing into their rooms and community areas. She was one of the pyromancers who scaled the Guards' quarters to pull the tarp over the tubes. Taking a deep breath, she lightly blew a small but wide flame over the natural AC, evaporating the water still cooling the light airflow and sending warm drafts downward. She nodded and gave a thumbs-up to one of the Guards who thanked her and headed back downstairs to search for her boyfriends.

Rals was lighting some lanterns while Kris awkwardly and uncomfortably followed. The fluffy one gave her a soft wave and tugged the Human's hand behind him. They had a nice moment to sit on a couch and talk about the few classes they didn't have together, getting drawn into many other conversations with nearby peers as they did. Math with Luz and that 'Bradley' brat was uneventful for them but Susie did get to chuckle at someone getting yelled at by the science teacher for mishandling a test tube. One of the Monsters who witnessed the same thing badly held back a laugh at the mention and another was dying for details. Quite oddly, Ralsei of all people was the one who suddenly ended the interactions to bring Kris around a quiet corner. Susie, preferring not to get wrapped up in more chats without a partner (or even being able to tell Noelle about their day), followed and guarded the wall they walked behind.

Ralsei patted his back and instinctively reverted to his 'Dealing with kids' TM voice. "Do you need to go potty?"

Kris's face turned bright red and his grip on his skirt tightened. "...I didn't get to head to the bathroom before we left..." He mumbled.

"Right, right." Ralsei nodded and turned. "Hey, Susie! We're gonna head out, wanna come?"

The lizard looked back. "Sure, why not."

Chapter 7: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 3

Summary:

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT-
Ralsei to the rescue.

feat. Chara's turn to be a menace to her little brother.

Vee's hearts pounded out of her chest for the second time this week alone. Why did school have to be so nerve-wracking!? No wonder Luz ran away, it was never about Mami Camila! She looked for her friends for comfort in the dispersing crowds, waiting off to the side of the school entrance, but the mass was way too dense to reach them, even if she could spot them. Most of the student body was gone by the time she gave up and left. She knew the forecast but forgot to bring an umbrella, it wasn't supposed to be this bad. She was already soaked to the bone! Camila would be so mad but she had nowhere to go but the vet!

Running down the slippery concrete with her favorite blue jacket pulled over her head, she hoped against the odds that Mrs. Noceda wouldn't be too upset. Her bright white shoes splashed through freezing cold puddles that sucked the heat right out of her with every step. It'd take forever for them to dry! Multiple people were in the same position, many brought umbrellas but several were running past her with whatever cover they could get.

Getting there took way too long for her to handle. Maybe she should just go to the house and wait on the porch, instead. Then her clothes would have time to dry-

"Hey, freak!"

Luz, what did you even do!?"

VVV 🎃 VVV

The first Human building they happened to come across was a Veterinarian Clinic, chosen randomly from the slew of cleared-out stores. There were only a couple of people inside; an old lady who clutched a fluffy gray dog when they entered, a young man cradling a white cat missing an ear, and another kind old lady with (presumably) her granddaughter and a brown Chow-Chow puppy with a cast on one of his front legs. Kris silently wandered to the woman at the front desk to ask where the bathroom was while Ralsei temporarily dispelled the pink shield he held above them and Susie took a seat a few chairs away from the pair with the puppy.

He was about to sit next to her when the Chow-Chow bounded up to him. It sniffed him, stepping over the pair of big black boots he'd changed into before heading back out into the rain. Small chuckles came from the old woman as her granddaughter poorly hid behind her. Ralsei crouched as low as his boots would let him and scratched behind the pup's ears, getting lots of kisses whenever he changed his angle or held his little paw, while waiting for Kris to show up when a commotion started outside. It was barely audible over the rain but caught their girlfriend's, old lady's, and the man's attention while the other woman stayed still and sneered across the waiting area.

Susie got up first, that seemed to 'open the gates' for the man to carefully hand off his cat to Ralsei and follow her outside.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Rain impacted the top of their heads like bullets. The human following her picked up the pace as she started to run after the three kids tossing a backpack over Luz's head, held it right out of her reach, then threw it back to their friends. She was in a full-blown sprint over the slippery concrete by the time one of them picked up a rock and chucked it at the girl's back, her sharp and short scream didn't feel as loud to her as the thud and splash she landed with.

Susie's stomps were partially muffled by the crashing rain and thunder, enough to get the jump on the first guy right as he turned toward the sound. His back had been turned and his hood covered his face, doing nothing to stop and lacking the time to dodge her shoulder being buried in his chest. Her arm wrapped around his abdomen and her other fist slammed between his shoulder blades, they toppled over Luz and he crashed to the ground with the lizard right on top of him. She left him desperately gasping for breath through the pouring rain, all the wind knocked right out of him, and leveraged herself upright with the massive arm curled around his torso.

Years of ramming people on the ice taught her well, her shoes slid over the sidewalk but she found her footing faster than the last two could process what happened. She swung a fist to her left, clocking the smaller one across the jaw while her tail blindly slapped and curled out for balance, keeping the bigger dude that threw the rock away by battering his shoulder. He audibly thudded into the mud while the other pushover's back bent on the curb and bounced his head on the road. She brought a foot down on the tackled one's chest, making sure he'd stay down before sliding and lunging for the smaller guy. He'd brought up one arm while figuring out where he was, close enough for her to grab and yank him up while landing a punch in his stomach.

He wore a black jacket, the hood of which fell off his blonde hair as she landed a rough palm on his forehead. Her yellowed claws gripped the hood and his side, he was light and easy to throw in the main threat. The small kid fell on his face while the big one stumbled, slipping into the mud again and further staining his light gray hoodie when she threw a short jab. That human arrived to grab Luz and her bag while Susie wound up a huge kick into the weak target's ribcage.

The two on the ground crawled to their feet and began to flee but the big guy didn't know when to quit. He reared back and sent a haymaker her way but he was too slow and predictable to be effective. Susie nudged away his fist with her forearm, then snapped it downward around his wrist. She could feel the weight behind it, he'd be impressive if he could move at all, and his momentum carried the punch right past her face as she whipped around and wrapped her other claws around his shoulder to grasp at his face. The tank rolled over the lizard's back and crashed to the ground with a yelp, exposing his chest. Elbow first, Susie leaned and slipped onto his gut, his yell was lost in her jacket and she rolled off, getting up by the time he tried to grab her. Her punishment was a right hook into the side of his ribs and armpit.

They faced off, Susie facing the clinic while he faced his running friends' backs. His angry blue eyes met her one bright yellow glare and snarl before they charged into each other. The human was all fat and clothes heavy with water but Susie was pure muscle. Their shoes slipped back and forth as they wrestled around, flipping positions by the time she brought her arm arm over his shoulder and catching his neck in the crook of her elbow. Mud and water splashed around them and spewed up their pants as they headed directly toward a tree. Her tail was reflexively off to the side as she leaned into him, she had to consciously fling it into his far leg to swing his entire body into the trunk. His shoulder popped against it and she stomped on his toes as she skidded to a halt, winding back her arm to land a devastating right hook into his chest, a second smaller one into his face, and finishing him off with three rapid jabs under the sternum.

He half-heartedly tried to punch her again, weakly getting her shoulder, so she grabbed him by both of his shoulders and pulled his into her knee. The newly brown hoodie crumpled in her claws as she adjusted her grip and threw him to the ground behind her. Huffing and hissing as he rolled a couple of feet, she suddenly ran up and planted a foot into his side. Her shadow loomed over him as he sputtered and coughed, only lingering for a short second to make sure he'd stay down before sprinting back to the clinic. That was easier than I thought it'd be.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Camila had been bringing the latest patient out of the operating room when she heard the gathering commotion. A boy was bringing 'Luz' in from the rain, she was choking and sobbing as a fluffy goat person and another boy rushed over to her. The Siamese cat she'd just applied a bandage to jumped out of her hands and bounded over to her owner, who took her dog and cane and walked right out of the situation. Before she could get to her, a swirl of pink energy wrapped around her hija. The goat Monster let her lean against his chest while the gentle flames swirled. Vee rubbed her shaking hands together and brought them up to her mouth, appearing to exhale into them as she ate some of the magic. Vee tried to say something coherent but it all came out as more hiccups and stuttering, not even she could tell what she was trying to say.

Mrs. Noceda started ushering her away when Ralsei chased them. "I-I'm a healer, miss!"

If she had a problem with him following them, she didn't say anything, Camila just kicked open a door and lifted Vee onto a table. What she said to Ralsei was lost in a blur of emotions and burning pain crawling up her back like arcs of lightning. Mami The vet left for a second, probably grabbing supplies or filling in the rest of the staff to keep everything operating normally. That was when Ralsei seized the chance to talk to her.

"Does she know?" Vee nodded and shivered. "I need to take off your jacket, okay?"

The cold, wet fabric stuck to her arms and was neatly folded to her side. She could feel the blood sticking to her bright yellow shirt on her back tugging and breaking. Ralsei gasped softly but stuffed it down quickly. Her back became numb and warm as a pink glow and heart-shaped embers flew around her head. Exhaustion pulled her down and her heavy eyes shut as she hugged her knees. Vapors wafted off of her clothes and steamed her hair up, it frizzled and frayed as she drew in the swirling magic. New energy filled her body and polished the flaws and seams in her disguise.

She was back upright and awake by the time Camila showed back up with bandages and an ice pack. The Human exchanged a grateful thanks with the Monster before lightly ushering him off so she could tend to Vee, who'd quickly rolled the back of her shirt back down and hugged her steam-ironed jacket to her chest, leeching all of the heat she could, before being lifted back up and brought outside, placed in the car, and brought home.

VVV 🎃 VVV

She could only assume the Monsters had gone home by the time Vee got settled on the couch.

That 'Susie' girl, though hard to understand through the growling and raspiness, gave as good of a description as she could. Three boys, two in hoodies, one in a jacket, and the big one was blonde. It wasn't much but it was all she had to submit to the police. Camila tucked the Basilisk in with a decorative quilt, a gift from her Madre y Padre, and grabbed an umbrella on her way out the door. She double-checked she locked the door behind her while pressing a button to unlock the car, just to turn right back around and triple-lock her house. Her thoughts spiraled and fumed on the drive to the station, already knowing they couldn't do anything about it with such vague details and everyone inside, not looking out their windows for the suspects.

The only thing of use to her was that it couldn't be anyone on the football team. Some Monsters had apparently made a thin dome over the field so the game could go on, though the lizard mentioned 'Luz' having problems with the quarterback and some girls that Monday. Were they ever on her daughter's case as well? How many times had this happened without her knowing? And why hadn't her baby come to her about any of it? She didn't have the time or energy to dwell on it, she still had a little girl counting on her at home. Vee would have plenty of time to do her homework over the weekend, she needed a Mami. As it was Friday, Camila stopped by a small pizzeria after submitting a strongly worded complaint to the unfortunate lady at the department's front desk. Stealing and throwing around a backpack was one thing, old fashioned and uncreative, but throwing a rock at her back and getting into a brawl? They better be stupid enough to try again so she could have a turn.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Roots and vines lowered Asriel down the wrecked remains of the primary True Lab elevator. This place was heavy with duct and memories despite the Amalgamtes having moved out a long time ago, especially for him. Once at the bottom, he brushed off his bright green sweater and brown pants, trying to ignore the familiarity of the cold cracked walls and dead lightbulbs. A discomforting crimson light shone over the cracked tiles and scattered, outdated, and abandoned equipment Alphys left behind in the grand escape from the Underground. Chara beat him to the bottom, donning a pair of tall black socks with many rainbow hearts and a red jumper over a yellow snappy long-sleeve.

Her diaper's crinkling echoed annoyingly (to him, at least, she couldn't get enough of it) in the dull gray halls as she shifted her weight to face him. Three black birds followed her down, two on her shoulders and one pecking at a bright red bow in her gradually darkening hair. The crows cocked their heads at him and made little noises at every little thing they saw as they scanned the Lab like drones. Each had a shiny red ribbon around their neck; one was a simple knot with two dangling streamers over its chest, the second was a small bow, and the third had a tie. Their dark feathers were already getting everywhere.

"What took you so long?" His older sister snarked.

Asriel rolled his eyes. "Stuff it, princess. What could possibly be important enough to drag me here for at a time like this?"

"Auntie Al mentioned something interesting-"

"Nerd." He interjected without a second thought.

"Har Har~ ...The Lab has more space than she was aware of, she found the blueprints while sorting out the design for the new Royal Scientist Center and her personal quarters. They're old and mostly destroyed buuuuuut she noticed floorplans, electrical, and plumbing notes for multiple others she'd never encountered. There were missing pages, too, multiple sections between floors were lost by the time Auntie Al found them, meaning everything down there has been untouched since Uncle Gaster was around. There could be anything from old experiments and revolutionary machines to the locations of long-lost Boss Monsters and never-before-seen magicks.You are coming with me because I need an extra pair of hands."

The hairs on his back stiffened and stabbed his sweater like rapidly growing blades of grass with every step toward the massive door containing the Lab's giant generator, the constant ruffling of Chara's crows' feathers and their curious squawks didn't put him at ease. "And what do you think I'm about to do? And why couldn't this wait? Just because you're a raging insomniac doesn't mean you can drag me down with you."

"Because I wanted to get here before Auntie Al, this is my discovery. And I saw Uncle Gaster opening that place, even went inside. I'd assumed Alphys knew about those creepy old dungeons but it turns out she never explored down here enough to find them after her Determination Experiments. They weren't even supposed to be secret, just locked-off areas for his experiments, they just happened to be out of the way because he built the entrances into other portions of the Lab to save space."

"But the entrances require multiple limbs to access?" He put his hands on his hips after getting stretching in the center of the generator room.

"This is the madman that raised Uncle Papy, is an entry puzzle really such a shock?" She smiled. "The crows I usually use to get down there aren't here right now and I haven't trained these three goofs to follow the right patterns yet."

The Prince moved to the center of the room, scattering some vines from iridescent flames in his palms. "So you've been down here and never told anyone?"

"You bet! This is my find, I wasn't bringing anyone down here before I got a look. And where do you think the Species Enchantment spells came from?" Chara smirked, getting caws of agreement from her fowl friends as she flung two harmless knives at a pair of red, eye-like lights above the generator.

Four large, steel wires around the unit shifted and clicked, putting the main facility on low power and redirecting it toward the depths. Several buttons on the power lines were drawn to their level and flicked on with dim red lights, two on each wire.

Chara turned back to him. "Each of those buttons connect to a different set of extra floors, you can even tell when he developed liminal magic to extend them, I'm not done with the first but I'm taking a break from it. Press the second button on the top row, then every other button needs to be pressed at the same time."

The whole generator lifted above their heads the second he did so, letting an additional elevator ascend and open. The three crows' calls made a celebratory chorus while the sudden cold seeped into Asriel's Soul.

"Shall we?" Chara held out a hand.

"What's in this for me?" He raised a brow.

"Whatever you find. Magic, tech, Magi-Tech; I don't care, I'm just here to make the Laws of Physics my bitch."

Chapter 8: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 4

Summary:

Vee needs a Mommy. Camila needs a daughter.
Monsters vs Humans. Ralsei is booksmart, Susie is streetsmart. Kris knows how Humans work.
Mama bear vs pushover principal. Vee gets a Mommy. Camila gets a daughter.
Luz catches Tracy up to speed on the Mourning Veil.

Camila found Vee had moved to the dining room table once she was home with the pizza, struggling with her homework. The young girl didn't even notice she'd returned. She was sure to obviously scrape her shoes on the welcome mat and didn't take them off when walking to the shoe rack so her steps were heavy enough to alert her guest she'd gotten home without startling her. Vee didn't respond but she had to know she'd returned. She probably should've expected she wasn't up to talk after the ordeal, it was also a little early for dinner but she'd gotten a pretty big pizza and there'd be leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, the young girl deserved some peace, warm food, a hug, and care. It was alright if she didn't want to talk for a short time.

"Are you mad at me?"

Vee's little voice was raspy, exhausted, pained, and terrified, just like that erratic night in the Historical Society.

Camila grabbed some paper plates and took a seat across from the Basilisk. "Of course not, cariño." She extended a soft, patient smile before getting a slice of pepperoni.

"I didn't want to bother you." Vee didn't grab any food, yet, but tapped her fingers together.

"You're not a bother, Vee." She put a hand on hers and brushed it with her thumb.

It at least got Vee to stop tensing her shoulders and clenching her jaw with every movement, her spine stayed stiff and continued to shudder as the rest of her body partially loosened and she grabbed a single slice. She didn't even set her homework aside as she took very small nibbles of her dinner, still shakily crunching numbers and struggling to put together written answer questions. It was embarrassing, really, how long this shy and introverted little snake managed to pass as her pequeña Lucecita, even if actual magic wouldn't have crossed her mind for a second a year ago. And now there were Monsters running around, two of which just helped her, except the one in her house pretending to be her daughter didn't have anything to do with them because that would just be insane, wouldn't it!?

Camila sighed into her food, letting it burn the roof of her mouth. Where did she go wrong, that Luz would rather be somewhere like that? Somewhere that left this little girl scarred and horrified of every little thing? Somewhere that who knows what could be hiding around every corner? Where did she go wrong?

"M-M- Camila? ...A-Are you..." Vee tried to ask, visibly regretting it the second she opened her mouth and stuffing it with pizza before she could say anything further.

"It's nothing you should worry about, Vee. Did you have a good day at school?"

Vee froze, then nodded while humming through her food. She's a terrible liar, how did she get me for so long?

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Vee shook her head and finished the writing problem she'd been stuck on, Camila continued. "I don't think those boys came after you for no reason, niña."

"I think they just thought they could get away with it... none of us knew Susie was there..." She muttered as if there not being a mass of pure muscle nearby made it alright.

"Is this the first time Susie stood up for someone?" Camila asked, intentionally vague the first time to get as straight an answer as she could.

"No." The humanoid reptile put more confidently.

Then she brought the other boot down. "Is it the first time she stood up for you?"

Vee froze again. "What happened-"

"I-It was nothing! Really!" She insisted, dropping her pizza halfway off the plate and waving her hands in a panic.

"I don't believe that, Vee. How long has this been going on?" The human kept her voice as soft as she could, even though her blood was boiling just beneath her skin.

Vee didn't respond, not able to decide between taking another big bite or filling out another equation like a deer in headlights.

"I'm not angry with you, Vee, I just want to figure out what's going on." But Vee only curled in on herself.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Have you guys heard if anything happened to those nerds in the hall?"

Ralsei answered first, not stopping brushing her hair. "From Monday?"

Kris was next, looking up from his phone with irritation as he still couldn't get any connection. "I don't think so."

Susie's tail twitched in annoyance. If they tried that in a Monster school they'd have been written down for in-school suspension within the minute so the principal could decide how long they'd be in there and Brad would've been transferred to out-of-school suspension. But these guys go to the pushover's office for a slap on the wrist at best? At least one of them had to be a donator's kid, all three of the girls seemed like rich, spoiled brats who couldn't get it in their heads that they weren't all that if the proof was looming over them with dense rows of sharp, curved yellow teeth. She got the sinking feeling their parents weren't much better but what was she supposed to do if ol' Hal didn't have the spine to put them down?

She tried to figure it out while Ralsei continued brushing her hair and Kris tapped away at his phone. The Prince-lookalike could talk and talk and talk with everyone all day every day but she and their boyfriend had worn themselves out with people during the day and while lighting the lanterns, returning to their rooms. Four of the hex's walls had their loft beds and desks, one being empty. Kris awkwardly dangled his legs off the edge of his bed with his phone right above him, waiting for him to drop it on his face. Ralsei was sitting in the chair beneath Susie's bed without a care in the world.

"I think that ass that shoved her in the locker put 'em up to it." Kris sneered.

"Probably." Ral agreed.

Susie hummed in thought, having put up with the high and mighty type plenty. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. They pounced on her because she was convenient; if they cared enough about the game to make friends with that guy then they wouldn't have missed the game at all, they were just walking around at the same time. It won't happen again" She finished with a snarl.

"Whatever they were after, they're just gonna keep going after her when we're gone." Ralsei brought up, finally resting the brush on his lap and resorting to running his fingers through her raven mane. "Maybe we should still tell someone?"

Kris yelped as his phone, rather predictably, slipped out of his hands and landed on his nose. He swatted it to the side and pushed himself up. "Who'd we tell? Their parents? If they care they're not gonna believe their 'precious babies' would do it." He spat.

"Might as well..." Susie grumbled, not initially having a better idea. "Carol and December studied a lot of the same tomes, didn't they? I mean, she rebounded them onto Noelle but she read some."

Kris rolled over so he was facing her and Ralsei, resting his chin on his hands. "We'd still have to figure out how to get her here."

"I know they don't really talk anymore but she's still the eldest child of a Lord, she might be the only one who can pull it off."

Her boyfriends' interests were piqued. "I guess I can join some board games while we wait for the storm to let up, I'll let you know if I'm able to call her."

He got up and stretched, bonking the bottom of the bed with his horns that clicked against the 3D printed wooden support boards as he walked out from under the too-short area. "I'll save you guys some seats if your social batteries recharge." Ralsei smiled and stuck his tongue out at them on his way out.

Dumb goat...
...I'll kill for him...
...Die for him...
...Meh, both will have to do...

VVV 🎃 VVV

"I understand why you're upset, Mrs. Noceda, but I'm afraid this will have to wait until Monday." Hal finished.

"I'll be holding you to that." She scowled and hung up, leaving her phone on the counter as she returned to the line of veggies, dirty cutting board, and bowl of cut ingredients beside them.

It was only now around the time school should've gotten out yet Principal Hal never had problems addressing her concerns until now. He was so helpful she'd even take Vice Principal Stone at this point. Vee had slowly returned to eating and completed her homework despite the break she was willing to give her, starting to relax and clean up after only two slices and munching on a third as she wrapped the remainder in tinfoil and put it in the fridge. Not the worst night, she had plenty of things to chop up for tomorrow to take her mind off things. She'd done what she could for the time being and be breathing down Hal's neck the second she walked into that office.

But for now, Saturday's dinner, her abuelita's pot roast took hours in the crockpot to cook but it was Vee and Luz's favorite and the best way to get them to eat squash. She'd picked up carrots, onions, and some other ingredients and spices but found she was short on meat and potatoes at the last possible second. One thing after another-

Her knife, in the middle of cutting some celery, slashed her knuckle while she was distracted. Camila snapped her hand up and away as the lingering bits of onion and crushed garlic slid over her skin. She didn't immediately notice Vee as she shot her hand under the sink and quickly tore off a paper towel to dab on the cut, the basilisk was already pinning herself against the wall when she looked her way. Only half a second had passed but the snake was sliding into a corner and down to the floor with her arms over her face. Her hands were grabbing her hair and her knees thudded together, her entire body was shaking and a puddle grew around her.

Camila swiftly wrapped her finger in the towel and rushed to Vee's side, getting another terrified shudder in return before she slowed down and lightly put a hand on her shoulder. The basilisk flinched violently and turned toward the corner. Her breathing was shaky, rapid, and uneven; her skin was rippling like water where patches of pale green, hints of blue, and small claws took shape. Pointed teeth poked out of her gums around a short set of fangs framed by elongating ears tipped in blue fuzz.

"Vee, cariño, I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay?" She tried her best to soothe the demon without letting too much urgency seep into her words, a skill she'd honed for a long time of balancing working with frightened, injured animals and Manny's passing.

Slowly but surely, with a gentle hand on her shoulder and helping her match their breathing, her hearts started to calm and the rippling across her body gradually declined to small, occasional distortions like tricks of the light. The shaking had yet to subside and tears streamed down her face but she began lowering her arms, having grown tired yet remaining sore and tense. Her eyes were tightly shut and her jaw and fists were clenched until her fading claws pierced the skin and drew some incredibly tiny beads of lapis blue blood. Getting the First-Aid kit from the bathroom would only take a split second so Camila stayed put and kept quiet as Vee rode through the attack.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Luz guided Tracy to float onto her lap, hugging them close to her chest with a hand on his shoulder. "The Mourning Veil is when it becomes a lot easier for Spirits to interact with us. Usually, this only happens around 3 in the morning but now it's going to be a lot harder to keep them out. Sometimes they're ghosts that are staying with us because of something that happened when they were alive, sometimes they're just a bunch of emotional energies packed together. They're much more powerful and can cause a lot of weird stuff to happen, even from a distance.

That's why we need to put off playtime for a while, everyone's protecting their homes. And when the candles melt together at the end of the month, we'll be able to use the wax under potions to make them stronger!" She finished with some 'Jazz hands' and a smile.

"What can they do?" The Collector tilted his head. These things didn't sound that bad, he could probably boop them away!

..He could've tagged them and moved on like nothing happened...

"Loads of things! Pretty much all of them like moving objects around or throwing them off walls, Poltergeists specialize in it, though. Some tend to make blood and mold appear, others like to cause nightmares but intense dreams are pretty normal when the Veil lifts. Negative Spirits feed off emotions like sadness, misery, or fear to possess someone while Spirits made of positive energies like happiness and love are usually guardians, they're very protective of their food sources but they're typically rarer because Negativity often gets suppressed and builds up more in comparison and Agony, the most powerful emotion, lingers and infects whatever it falls on.

It can be hard for a Positive Spirit to compete when it's so much easier for the bad ones to... do... everything..."

A look of deep thought descended over her face as she trailed off, carefully lifting him off her lap and setting him on the ground beside the candles.

"I need to talk to Mama Eda about something, can you finish putting candles along the halls for me?" She got up and held out a hand to help but they simply floated up to her eye level, flipping over to look at her upside-down.

"Can we play afterward?"

Luz crossed her arms and smirked. "Eda and I are gonna be busy today buuuuuut I might be willing to let you and King play with some of my toys if you do a good job and ask nicely."

He barely let her finish before he was off, rearranging candles and gathering more as she walked off.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Edalyn was double-checking the candles surrounding Hooty and triple-checking his fireproofing when Luz poked out of the front door, thankfully getting the bird tube out of her face for a short but sweet second. She was visibly lost in thought, barely registering Eda's presence until addressing her.

Luz snapped out of her trance. "You said you and Tia Lilith found Tracy's mirror thing in the forest outside the castle, right?"

Uhhh, that just means 'Aunt Lilith', right? "Yeah, what about it?"

Luz waited for the Owl Lady to finish tending to one of the taller candles and put a pause on investigating the sigils about the House Daemon's foundation. "Around how far would you say a Spirit could carry something like that?"

She hummed in thought. "Pretty much as far as they want when they take form but the Veil's not at the point where that could happen. Ya gotta be a pretty high-end Spirit to pull that off, though, some Oracles can pull it off but only concentrated masses of Resentment and Agony can do it for short times outside the Mourning Veil. We found the Collector way before then and Emperor Bonehead's castle is well defended. A Spirit couldn't have pulled that off."

"And weaker Spirits can't move objects far beyond a house or room, right?" Luz piped.

Eda nodded with a smirk, maybe Hexside was teaching her some worthwhile things. Just not the stuff that'd be applicable to real magic, that was where she came in. "You're doing great, kid."

"But what if a Spirit was powerful enough to get a presence right before the Veil? Tracy's mirror appeared then and if something powerful enough to break through Belos's security could get in, doing it before the Coven set up their wards would be the best time; it's the most efficient and easiest." Luz speculated with an appreciated and well-missed spark of childish innocence in her earthy brown eyes.

Still, Eda couldn't help a chuckle. "Alright, ignoring the fact the Spirit of Autumn Harvest and... Let's see... maybe the Spirit of the Solstice or Three Stones Deity could pull that off, why would they? That's not something your average Beast of Glabelludan or Watcher in the Rain could pull off and something like a mirror with a child inside would mean nothing to them at best or be competition for attention at worst.

They feed off faith and being acknowledged, Luz, being feared is how they get what they need to exist, they live and fester in your belief and emotions but the average Oracle has what they need to fight them off. The last thing they'd need is an 'Archivist' or whatever he is stealing their spotlight."

"What if it wasn't for Tracy's sake? What if something wanted to get at Belos? Maybe they knew him as Philip! Maybe spite was more important to them! Maybe they wanted to ruin the Day of Unity!" Luz flung her arms out and bounced in place.

She couldn't help but sigh affectionately. "Look, thank you for throwing ideas around but this shouldn't be your responsibility. You're too young to be worrying about this, you should be hanging out with your friends and doing... I dunno, another Moonlight Conjuring, just don't reanimate Hooty again. Nobody wants to deal with that." Eda chuckled.

Luz hardly noticeably pouted as she ruffled her hair, she was getting better at masking but not that great.

"Do you wanna be little?" Eda asked, never one for subtlety unless Snails were involved.

Luz's face ignited bright red like Amity's and she stiffened, jerking upright as she waved Eda off. "I-I-I'm good! Really! W-We gotta get all this done, a-a-anyway! Wouldn't want the typewriter to get possessed again! Heheheheheheeeeee..." She rapid-fired the Wild Witch and stumbled back inside. Oh, kiddo...

Chapter 9: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 5

Summary:

Amity's fkn losing it. And she's studying some slightly illegal magic.
Vee is a traumatized child. Camila is a Mom and doctor. Snek-Otter gets put in padding.
Zoey enjoys the rain and makes a friend. Ralsei is a chef and a great listener.

Straight As, straight face, straight hair, straight forward.

Amity's wrists burned with angry and painful red lines, sickly, and pale like she was a walking mummy but that kind of necromancy had been banned right at the end of the Savage Ages and it wasn't something that spread like a disease. There had to be a ritual involved so she couldn't be part of it but her state would surely draw attention if she tried to go to school. Titan, she couldn't even walk out of her room without being targeted! How would she even get to Hexside like this? Her skin felt dry yet covered in sweat that glued her to her black dress. Her heart and lungs were tightening in her chest like that Slitherbeast had her in its jaws and all of her joints ached and throbbed almost as much as her head. Leaning over the many worksheets and stack of textbooks on her chest, her vision blurred and eyelids drooped.

An inconspicuous gem sat on top of the books, enchanted by Gus to mask them as Abomination Tomes. In reality, there was one for every Major Coven; an advanced Abominations book she wasn't supposed to have yet was placed on top, next was a beginner Oracle 'Summons and Servants' book explaining the basics of commanding the assortment novice specters everyone from the newcomer to the professional could make good use of with the right training, a Healing book about anatomy and internal body structure, an Illusion notebook with Gus's notes on using clear mental images to influence and polish solid magic forms, a notepad of Willow's Plant notes on vine fibers and mycelium, a ripped and stained Potion manual of Eda's, one of Viney's Beastkeeping textbooks on unusual anatomy, and a recently published Bard paper on infusing arts and cultural pieces with one's creations.

Her mother, she mentally spat with enough bitter venom to fell a land shark, couldn't know what she was doing. On the upside, Odalia hardly cared to look at what she was studying so long as her nose was buried in a book and didn't understand Abominations in the first place. The exhausting woman wasn't even good at her spiritcraft. The Blight Matriarch was a twisted businesswoman all the way down to her core, it probably rotted right through her Bilesack like an arrow of concentrated necrosis.

Amity scratched at the gashes in her arms, leaving them inflamed and leaking crimson by the time her patience ran dry. The day was gradually nearing its end and her 'parents', ugh, had another demonstration late into the night, one that some of the existing Abominations were capable of helping with so Amity was functionally free. 'Functionally' in the sense that she wasn't going to be leaving the manor and had no reason to leave her deceptively lavish prison. Sweat trailed down her face and dripped from her nose onto the paper she'd worn down many pencils on, a small personal book of recipes and theoretical rituals disguised as an entire packet worth of homework.

Dispelling Augustus's illusion over her journal, she hid it and the books in her backpack. Odalia wouldn't bother it, she never did, she thought she knew where Amity's diary was (a decoy, of course, only the Twins and Luz knew where the real one was) so the only other thing of use in there was her school supplies for a track she wasn't supposed to be studying. Besides, their event extended past their curfew, she'd either be expected to be studying or asleep by the time they got home and why would either of them check on her? There was a chance Ed and Em would, she supposed, but they still had a lot of bad blood built up over the years so she didn't count on it.

The books would be fine, she just needed them out of the way as a precaution, but she'd get back around to them after a small break. She flopped onto her bed and curled up over her sheets. It would only be for a short time, though. Everything was sore and it was getting hard to think through the constant fog. Wool was being pulled over her heavy eyes but she couldn't go to sleep just yet, she still had books to hit. Human sayings are so weird. Amity was just going to get some shuteye on top of her too-firm and decadence-over-comfort bed before resuming.

VVV 🎃 VVV

It felt like hours before Vee got control of her breathing and even longer before the shaking subsided. Her skin had mostly returned to Luz's, the handful of remaining patches were shifting from swampy green to tan, one at a time. She'd released her vice grip on her hair but didn't lower her arms away from her face.

"Vee, cariño, can you look at me, please?" Camila whispered just in her morphing ear.

An eye with teal sclera, a black iris, and a shrunken gold pupil peeked through her fingers. "You're not gonna hurt me?"

Her heart ached and hand trembled over Vee's. "I would never, bebé. No child deserves to be terrified of the people taking care of them"

The serpent shuddered and tightened her hold on her knees, harshly pressing them into her chest. "...I'm not even your daughter..."

"No child deserves to be terrified like you." Camila held firmer but kept her grip on Vee's arm gentle as she lightly pulled it away from her face.

Luz's two brown eyes, bloodshot blue but gradually turning purple and red, blinked away some moisture while facing the wall before she turned to Camila. She was completely still yet waiting for something to happen like an animal used to never having any escape.

Camila, again, had to make the first move. "...I'm going to take you up to the bathroom, okay, Vee?"

The little girl didn't respond, staring like her life was flashing before her misty eyes over and over. Carefully sliding one arm under her legs and gently lining her spine with the other, she lifted Vee up out of the puddle. She was sickeningly light, a fraction of the weight she expected. Stomach churning with disgust, she could only hope that was because Basilisks had the bones of an avian but the child in her arms was resilient far beyond her personality and appearance. Was this why she was so easy to get groceries for? Was this why they had so many leftovers? Was this why she was such a cheap kid? Or was her true form smaller than adrenaline and panic led her to believe when learning her daughter was missing and replaced by the serpent in a cage?

That freakshow's medieval prison wasn't large and quite cramped so she doubted Vee was big but the image of her barely being able to move and her tail sticking out of one of the gaps, even when she coiled up, was burned in her mind. Despite how slowly and softly she lifted the Daemon, Vee again shivered and hissed but wasn't willing to take the nonexistent risk of adjusting herself. Camila did her best to shift her weight around, figuring out where she was quietest and most relaxed, eventually finding she didn't like having any pressure on her back. Backpacks must be horrible for you.

Going up the stairs was easier than she thought for the same reasons, opening the bathroom door was only a little awkward, and Vee hadn't moved the entire time, still motionless when she was placed on the side of the bathtub. Camila held her little hand softly as she turned the knobs.

"I'm going to go to the store in uno momento and there's a RedBox outside. How about you come to pick out a movie and drinks?" She offered, patting her shoulder.

Vee perked and slowly looked back up at her. "Like a Coke?"

The Human chuckled. "Si, demonita, you can get a soda. Just take a quick bath, I'll put an outfit on the sink for you."

She left after giving Vee a scratch on the left side of her face, her favorite spot. Once downstairs, she grabbed some baking soda and sprinkled it over Vee's accident. They were starting to run out so she grabbed her nicest pen and some of the snake's beloved cat stickies and started a list; meat, potatoes, baking soda, paper towels, movie, drinks... Camila looked around, not sure what she was after. Maybe she was just making sure the coast was clear, though she wasn't sure why, she'd had a whole year by now so this was something that needed to happen.

1. Meat
2. Potatoes
3. Baking Soda
4. Paper Towels
5. Movie
6. Drinks
7. Pullups/Goodnights

VVV 🎃 VVV

Beautiful.

Zoey had always been in love with the rain. When the clouds turned gray and the sky opened up, water would wash her worries away. Her Mom would rush her out of the house, already covered in a bright yellow raincoat. They'd run around and splash each other, go down to the local park swings, and open their mouths to drink up the rain as they went forward, giggling together on the back swing. She still couldn't figure out how her Dad got together with her, most likely because of his income. Fucking Karen never worked so everything they owned had to come from him. Maybe he was more lively in highschool, she didn't know or particularly care, they'd barely spent time together since she was born. Nuclear Family stereotypes aside, her Mom knew what she was doing; cooking all sorts of old Scottish and Norse recipes, teaching (despite how much she hated having to do more schoolwork right when she got home), or just being a fun mom, she had it all. I miss her.

She just happened to pass by that park when she was trying to get away from home for a little bit. The rain was a perfect time, nobody would follow her and there weren't a lot of people moving around. The streets and sidewalks were clear and there were no kids on the playground. The wet swing was cold, she hadn't intended to come here and lacked her raincoat but she didn't mind. She just sat and swayed back and forth for a while, the rain was slightly blowing past her so her umbrella still protected her when it was held at an odd angle because of the swing's chains. The tips of her shoes grazed over the wet grass, being stared at but not seen as her eyes blankly watched, hypnotized, by the vague blur of colors going back and forth.

"Hello?"

A soft voice snapped her out of it. Her head snapped up, not knowing how long she'd been there. Ralsei was standing right in front of her with a gently glowing pink shield hovering above him. He was holding a pair of clear containers, one was full of orange muffins and the other was smaller with eight circles of tin foil inside. He took a seat on the swing beside her, shooting a light plume of pink flames over the water.

"Hey." She nonchalantly nodded.

"You looked upset soooooo... wanna sandwich?" He got to the point, popping open one tupperware and passing over one of the tinfoil wraps. Inside was a bundle of still-warm dough.

"It has salt and pepper eggs, crumbled bacon, cheese, chives, and green onion." He explained.

It was better than any eggs or bacon she'd ever had. The cheddar-jack cheese was still gooey and strings of it connected to the rest of the bun as she pulled away with little bits of the plants stuck within. The bacon was smoky, the eggs were perfectly seasoned, and a light steam wafted up her nose. The bread and eggs were soft and fluffy, she hummed contently as a tear leaked down her face. Bright white fur ticked her face as the Monster wiped away the tear, getting her to shake out of it and turn to him.

"Sorry! I work with little kids back at school, it was a reflex." He defended while putting the lid back on the container.

"It's alright, it helped... Just don't do it again." She answered with a small, short smile. "You know, the K-through-2 teachers have a lot of us help them."

"Miss Amelia, right? I already got sent her way." Ralsei smiled politely. "And yeah, I've heard I do that a lot. Ya know how teachers get their kids to say hi and bye to inanimate objects?" He chuckled, Zoey nodded, confused. "I almost got one of my girlfriends to say 'bye bus' when we were walking around. Her name's Noelle, she almost did it but she caught herself!" Ralsei giggled lightly.

His laugh was contagious, she would've joined if she wasn't disappointed it didn't sound like bleating. Another pop of a plastic lid came from beside her and the goat was holding out a pastry.

"Pumpkin muffin for your thoughts?"

She mentally debated for a second, knowing she'd take the muffin but figuring out if she'd actually give an answer.

The muffin wasn't warm anymore, older than the sandwiches, but was laced with the perfect amount of cinnamon. "...My Dad's girlfriend is a bitch..."

Ralsei glanced off to the side. "Ah."

"So, I want to get a bee tattoo in a black rose when I'm 18, my Mom loved bees and I want the rose thorns to be a kinda centerpiece for a bunch of art for my friends, like headphones for Immanuel and weights for Alex." She pinched the bridge of her nose while balancing the hilt of her umbrella in the crook of her arm. "This bitch learns about it and asks what she's getting. Nothing, that's what.

Fucking Karen starts demanding pink carnations or yellow lilies like she's my Mom and deserves appreciation for all the hard work she does to make me happy and a strong young woman."

"And she doesn't have a job?" Ralsei guessed.

"She doesn't even cook, she either door-dashes or buys microwave stuff with my Dad's money, he's the one who gets Factor and Hello Fresh when he feels like it. All she does to get 'thanks!' is complain about my clothes and music, don't even get me started on my occult stuff. She's just a critic who wants someone to call her mommy" Zoey spat, her bottom lip quivering. "Every time I think she's out of my hair and start to get over it, she 'asks' again. 'Just thought I'd bring it up, sweetie!' she says! And she's always got that gross 'just checking in!' and 'not really asking' voice. She knows it makes me sick and brings up Mom all the time so I just grabbed this old thing and left." She adjusted her grip and twirled her umbrella.

Ralsei nodded, swinging slightly back and forth until dragging his feet on the ground to stop and reaching out to put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You've... been through a lot tonight, haven't you? I think someone deserves some candy." He smiled, heightening his voice like he was speaking to a child or a pet. Even though she didn't exactly appreciate being treated like a little kid, although it was unintentional or an instinct, the gesture felt nice and something sweet sounded nice but...

"I didn't bring my wallet..." Zoey admitted with a pink face, staring back down at the soil.

"Don't worry about the cost, the shelter had a spot to exchange G for USD and I was headed that way, anyway. I wanted to surprise Kris and Susie with these." He pat the container of delicious egg and bacon hotpockets. Maybe she could weasel a second one out of him. "But someone beat me to the last of the barbeque sauce, I was gonna check the Walmart for something good. I don't suppose you'd know a good bottle when you see it?"

Zoey grinned. "Well, if you're buying then maybe I can be convinced."

Chapter 10: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 6

Summary:

Vee LOVES bath time.
The accident talk. Camila's calming presence.

feat. Monster-Kind's community activities. Papyrus and Martlet love to contribute. Ancient stories older than the War. Paps and Martlet continue to contribute.

Notes:

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Some energy returned to her body and the ache in her back gradually got less pronounced, less inflamed. She'd have to get up eventually but she was going to stall confronting Camila as long as she could. But she also really wanted a cold soda, some popcorn, and a good movie. Maybe they had the original Star Wars? All her friends said the old ones were really good. Though, they also said never to watch the newer stuff, she wasn't sure what to think about it, maybe her standards were lower than theirs. The Basilisk might give the first of the sequels a try if she got to stay with Miss Noceda for that long, she'd rather take her chances with the recommendation, first. Never know when she could be evicted.

There was a knock at the door and Camila walked through. Vee quickly turned and pressed herself against the far corner of the tub so her back wasn't facing her. It was cold and uncomfortable on her spine. She pulled her knees back up to her chest and poorly covered herself with bubble-bath while Camila smiled patiently and waved. A purple sweater, black sweatpants, white undershirt with blue polka-dots, and some underwear were folded and stacked in her arm that she placed next to the sink and left.

She took a minute to calm down again. She was just bringing some clothes, nothing's happening. The heat crawled up her back as she spread out and sank again. Bubbles tickled her nose and the rippling, steamy water splashed over her cheeks. Sighing, Vee shut her eyes. Her hair, Luz's hair, flared out in the water like a frill and her knees peeked back out of the foam as she submerged her spine. Water rippled as she exhaled and trickled into her nose when she breathed in. Being in the water made everything feel a little better, like she was walking through the Nocedas' door after a long day impersonating their 'light' every time she found somewhere deep enough to swim in.

The bath didn't quite evoke the same feeling but she'd gladly and gratefully take whatever she could get, the only other options were the public pool and a swamp out of town; the former was toxic with chlorine and too many people were there for her to shift even the smallest part of her body, the latter was stagnant and swamps reeked of sulfur more pungent than those of the Isles' lakes, reminders that never ended in a dry or restful night. But bathtime was at least controlled, bathtime was always nice and as hot as she wanted, bathtime made her stolen skin feel nice afterward, bathtime was safe. Nobody delivered bad news during bathtime, she had a moment to herself, Camila only disturbed her break to let her know something important.

But bathtime had to end eventually, just because she didn't want to face her didn't mean she also didn't want to keep her waiting. Steam wafted around her face as she lifted herself out of the water, washing away the soap and dandruff before kicking open the plug. Vee continued to sit in the water as it drained, splashing water up her arms and chest to rinse off the clumps of suds and stall for a little more time.

VVV 🎃 VVV

A small fizzing noise bounced around the kitchen as Camila, armed with a small spray bottle with a thin line of vinegar, shot at the soaked patch of baking soda and wiped it away with a handful of paper towels. The top of the trash can clanked against the side of the kitchen counter as she pressed the peddle and dropped the paper in, clinking closed again while she poured the excess droplets of vinegar into the sink and rinsed the bottle.

She didn't even know Vee had shut off the bath and come downstairs until she turned back around, getting ready to tell her to wrap it up just to find her standing at the foot of the stairs. The snake had always been dead silent, even when pretending to be Luz, which probably should've been the first thing that tipped her off back when she was just happy the distance between them had closed. How ignorant she'd been.

The sweater looked nice on her. It was a little oversized, Luz would be a little bigger than Vee so the collar slid down one of her shoulders and the sleeves went over her hands. Her white undershirt and dots fit much better, Vee picked that one out herself, a little goofy but she enjoyed it and it wasn't that far off from the anime and Azura merch Luz usually got. The sweatpants' gray drawstrings were tightly caught around her waist and tied into a small bow beneath the bottom of her sweater. The legs pooled around her bare feet. She was holding herself and tapping her fingers on her forearms, keeping her head down and eyes to the floor, frozen and shrinking when she noticed she'd been spotted. Cute and small as she looked, they needed to go clothes shopping.

"Pequeño demonio, I need to talk with you." She took a seat at the table, nudging aside the pizza box.

Vee shivered and harshly gripped her arms, regretting it instantly as she ripped her left hand away with a wince and tried to loosen her right hand's grip. She looked tired, yet still frightened, her eyes were dark and her face a little pale as she walked up to the chair across from her. Was she getting kicked out? Was this the end? Camila offered her hands and, without thinking, she perked and cooed as she put her hands in as well. The human gently held her as her mind caught up with her instinct.

"So, about your accident-" She tried to be calm and soothing but Vee immediately ripped her hands away.

"I-It won't happen a-again! I-I-I promise!"

Camila huffed and slowly tucked some of Vee's hair behind her ear. "You've had a year, cariño... Listen, I know you're trying your best but it's still my responsibility to look after you. So, we're going to grab something a little more..." She struggled for a way to put this lightly. "More protective..."

Sliding the cat-shaped sticky note toward her and tapped the bottom item, letting Vee put it together herself. Her eyes glossed over it and she tilted her head, lacking a lot of the context.

"...Are people gonna make fun of me for this?" Her face turned a bright red.

"They aren't supposed to know, niña... Just don't bring it up... We'll get through this together, Okay? I'll look after you."

Vee didn't meet her eyes. "But I'm only here until Luz gets back."

Shaking her head, Camila reached down to cradle Vee's hands again. "I might be waiting for Luz to come home, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw you out, bebe."

She glanced up for only a second, then turned her head away. "How about we go get our movie and talk when we get home?"

VVV 🎃 VVV

Most of the kids going to the Human school had returned home by the time Martlet's light(ning) show was ending, rushing through the portal to catch the tail end of the commotion with their parents and friends. Starlo was standing guard at the dimensional opening, the first to deal with the tired and huffy teenagers trying to get through after a long day. She created shapes and interconnected lines of golden electricity, writing stories of old and improvised scraps of ancient tales lost during the war.

She used swirling, dark gray clouds to set the stage, a raised wooden platform surrounded by jack-o-lanterns made of pumpkins, gourds, and turnips flanked by a pair of scarecrows; one wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe while the other had a more ornate moss green cloak with tentacles made of pool noodles covered in hot glue and paint swirling out of the hood. There were only a few small fog projectors around her, the majority was the result of her own storm magic. The lights of all the small flames leered like eyes in the background of the heavy, watery mist, watching the audience as she proceeded.

The crackling golden static gathered into the shape of a tall, emaciated figure with dense, darker gray clouds for limbs covered in a buzzing gold haze for its pale, tight skin. While most of the electric film was a mostly uniform shape with very few blemishes, she left some consistent gaps in around the joints and openings in the knuckles where the thin 'flesh' tore. Funnels of air sprouted from the open knuckles, the onlookers couldn't quite tell how long the creature's claws were as they lashed out at the actors in front of her. Its head, made from a 3D-printed deer skull full of razor-sharp teeth and topped with pointed antlers, floated on top of the tiny twister she elevated the entire puppet upon and roared as she directed a gust of air through the resonating chamber built-in and hidden in the brain cavity.

Her accompanying actors, Dalv controlling a wearable puppet lined with rotors and rods to extend his limbs and give him the appearance of an extinct Sasquatch, good ol' Papyrus covered in faux-fur and feather dresses to play Human with a spear, swung a massive club (a hollow, printed wood-pulp treetrunk) and jabbed with a wood and stone spear (entirely made of wound plant fibers withing a basket-like thatch shell) at the personification of greed and desperation. Paps, with his oval shield decorated like a giant turtle shell, blocked her creation's talons so Dalv could take a crack at its arm. The distortions of its static coating served as her queue to make the beast reel and snarl again, using a secondary sound box printed in the nasal cavity.

The tricky part was making sure the fog funnels where the club attacked didn't shift too much, keeping the Wendigo's unbreakable bones intact while the masked vampire's stick seemed to bounce off the static skin. It was a precise maneuver they practiced at her house a lot the week before. Papyrus's weapon was the opposite challenge, his spear needed to leave lasting gaps in the lightning but couldn't harm the 'skeleton', only Dalv's club could do that if he hit the joints.

Soon, as the arriving teenagers lined up behind the adults and children that got to the front first and had watched her cannibal kill and devour several people (hand puppets pulled off the skeleton, vampire, thunderbird, and a few helpers' hands and hidden in the fog of its gullet until the scene ended) over the course of the first and second acts, Papyrus and Dalv made their final push. Martlet gathered a haze of gold like a terrible aura of aethereal energy around the Wendigo's right claw and brought it down on Papyrus's shield.

Knowing the attack was too great for any nonmagical shield, the 'Yeti' jumped in front of the 'Human' to hold back the claw, wrestling with her Wendigo. Every movement back and forth, every backstep Dalv took and every backward flow of cold mist her puppet made, every advance either competitor made, they all had to be carefully practiced during many sessions to look jagged and strained without either of them moving before the other was ready to contest (difficult to do when the motions of her twister could get unpredictable without a lot of concentration on every moving part).

Papyrus made his next strike to the Wendigo's gut, making mist pour out of the deep wound, curling around and dripping off the prop's pole as he and the projection both raised their left arms. Pap's character was ready to block the next attack, only to realize the cannibal Spirit wasn't aiming for him and plunged his claws like five shortswords into his Monster companion's chest, allowing it to wrestle out of the weapon-lock and drag its humming talons across his torso and hit the Human with the end of the slice. She had to create five long, closest to white as she could get, bolts behind them to make it look like the puppet's claws were cleaving straight through the actors. Papyrus raised his shield just in time to block the end of the attack, getting 'thrown' (diving so he could toss out his shield as it 'broke') out of the way so the watchers could focus on the Yeti and Wendigo's struggle.

Dalv reared up for one last hit, grabbing his club with both hands and bringing it down on the beast's head. Martlet shifted the flow of her winds, pushing either side of the skull in different directions to open a basic latch inside, allowing the springs around them to push the halves aside. You couldn't see the seam from beneath the stage or a distance, they were sure to sand down and paint the segments before they even started rehearsal. The bluebird added a personal touch of gravel into the paint they used around the seam so it would make a rough, grating crack sound when it clicked apart and the hooks under the nose and at the back of the skull locked the spreading parts together.

The white LED lights stuffed inside to the best of her and Paps's abilities mixed with the small puffs of dry white mist she sent through the artificial crack to give the illusion of a ghastly wisp flowing from the crack. Her creation roared in pain again, then whipped down to lightly bite Dalv's shoulder. The Yeti wrapped an arm around the Wendigo's neck and dragged it to the ground with him. Her magic flared to create a plume of lighter gray fog where they fell to give the illusion of the Yeti turning to dust while Dalv, under her cover, created a spark like a Boss Monster's Soul shattering before rolling off the stage and onto a mattress hidden by a fog machine and the reaper scarecrow.

Papyrus rose from the gray mist in a crouched fighting position like a stalking Human huntsman, clutching his spear tight to his fur and feather costume, while the Wendigo got up with another snarl. With its back turned, the Human struck the Spirit between the fog ribs as it whirled around. The next roar and the actor's struggle drew the audience's eye away from the side of the stage Dalv hid behind, allowing him to throw an additional set of the tattered rags, furs, feathers, bones, and fangs his Yeti suit was wearing onto the spot he 'died' on, right next to his club.

When her Wendigo went to disembowel the Human, Papyrus took his spear, still lodged in the Spirit's belly, and carefully maneuvered it to parry the slash over his head without allowing it to look effortless or like the speartip wasn't stuck in its organs. He reached for the waist of the Yeti oversuit, Martlet's fog parting to show the rags, and wrapped his fake skin glove around a pouch attached to the bison leather belt. The Wendigo sneered and scowled to the best of its skull's ability as the Human scattered the pouch's contents, salt, over the gash in the Wendigo's gut, letting Papyrus dodge a blindly thrashing talon and jump toward the discarded club.

In the climax of the performance and end of the final confrontation, Paps grabbed the Yeti's club and swung it at her Wendigo's leg with all the force he could muster, making sure it looked like he barely had enough strength to lift it off the ground at all. The bulbous tip smashed the back of her sky puppet's knee, bringing it down for a crucial second. She had to make sure the spear stayed still in her swirling vortex so it was held relatively stationary until it was pushed deeper as the puppet fell.

Papyrus shoulder-bashed the Wendigo's side and grabbed the sharp end of the spear, popping a ketchup packet in his hand while yanking the weapon all the way through his enemy's body. In one last set of strikes, both fighters telegraphed a desperate final blow; her projection opening its claws wide and Paps gripping the spear with both hands like a halberd in upward guard, smearing 'blood' over the handle. Her next maneuver was the most important in the third act, two wafts of clouds and lightning as her construct buried its claws through Papyrus's body, creating and sustaining five more near-white arcs behind him as he was impaled. The Human character in turn drove his spear through the crack in the Wendigo's skull, getting the second pulse of whiteish electricity and mist to burst out of the vague injury. Had he killed it? Had he brought the terror of the frozen forests down with him? The audience wouldn't get to know as the fog soared over them and the scene came to a close.

The rest of the third act consisted of the falling action, mostly talking between Human and Monster chiefs commemorating the heros' sacrifices without knowing for sure if the problem was resolved and, just one famine or elongated Winter later, the next warriors would deal with the same creature emerging from the woods to feast again. Martlet stood with Papyrus and Dalv, at last out of their costumes, as they, the other actors, and the assistants stood on the stage and bowed to a round of applause. She spotted Kris, Susie, and Noelle in the crowd but Ralsei was strangely absent. The three enjoyed plenty of kisses in their reunion, though it had hardly even been a day or two since they were separated.

Smiling, she allowed them their moment of peace and celebration while wandering off with the skeleton and vampire toward the community center. They'd be arriving slightly late to the small meeting taking place to discuss the upcoming Halloween events, though these gatherings rarely started on time when there was one such activity going on. They'd even seen several of the gathering's attendees in the audience, one of them had been in charge of their outfits, the meeting would've been waiting, anyway. There was a lot to discuss about the coming months before the Winter Solstice, and a lot more about that. Their schedules would always be packed this time of year but none of them would have it any other way.

Notes:

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Time to see how far beyond Halloween this fic will extend, hopefully I won't break Leporiphobia's record.

Can you tell this is within my top 2 holidays with Christmas?

Chapter 11: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 7

Summary:

Zoey gains a soft spot. Camila never actually caught Ralsei's name. Vee Luz socializes. Zoey gets jelly of Monsters.
Zoey gets some candy (and even jellier)
Willow ponders the Blight 'family'.

feat. Martlet and Paps planning the next show.

Ralsei was a doll

Zoey's own personal preference leaned toward his gothic attire, quite the first impression just under a week ago, though he clearly favored and rocked his bright pinks and soft greens. He waited for her to shake off her umbrella right outside the Walmart and struck up whatever conversation he could with anyone who walked past. Most brushed him off or glared as he walked around the small table and rack of packaged pastries right behind the rows of fruits and veggies, though nothing seemed to deter him or get him down. She didn't hide her own fair share of scowls at them, though.

On the bright side, it was mostly cleared out because of the rain. Only a few employees were wandering the aisles and she fully intended to drag him to self-check, she was not in the headspace to deal with people and doubted any retail wage-puppy wanted to interact with someone whose stability was currently resting on a random furry's horns. For a split second she instantly regretted, she debated leading him to some off-brand or knockoff bottle of BBQ for a bad laugh but mentally kicked herself for even considering it and handed him a bottle Immanuel's Dad used for all his grills.

The Monster was all smiles and waves on the way to the candy section where she picked out a bag of Starbursts. Luz loved the yellow ones-

"Miss Noceda?"

"Oh! Uhhh... yyyooouuu..."

Mrs. Noceda and Luz wandered past the same aisle, her friend was holding a small basket of a few little candy boxes, a couple bags of popcorn, and a Cola. She froze like a deer while Camila and Ralsei struck up a conversation. Something about the vet clinic? Of course he's an animal guy. Her heart soared, finally some sense of normalcy in this insane town; either nothing happened at all (which was maddening) or a bunch of crazy rumors about cryptids in the forests. That being said, those woods were dense, anything could be hiding there, she'd heard a lizard all the way from the Carolinas was stalking them. Granted, that last one came from Jacob.

Just chatting with Luz about video games and magic felt better; she'd thought and heard she was more into Fantasy than Sci-Fi, especially a Harry Potter-adjacent series, but each of the few times they'd talked after camp she'd been quietly excited about a Star Trek and Star Wars competitor series called Cosmic Frontier. Not like there's much to compete with, anymore. At least she was adorable when she slowly got to rambling on and on about spaceships and lasers.

Ralsei, being himself, quickly got invited to watch a movie with them, though he declined for the sake of his partners. Both conversations swiftly converged on Monster Halloween and all the different rituals their kind loved to do.

Halloween for them was a month and a half!

A lot of the details reminded her of the Pagan roots of the holiday that she adored and practiced. She would find quiet, out-of-the-way places to sacrifice some of her candy to divine the future and appease the ancient Spirits the modern world forgot and abandoned. A handful of treats cast to a small bonfire for good luck and some test scores was a small price to pay and it made the Lost Gods happy. Even if other people gave her weird looks for it, it hadn't failed her yet.

He wove stories of lanterns being carved the entire first week and scattered about the whole Kingdom, placed everywhere they could fit. Pumpkins would take up most of the space in their cities and outside their homes while oddly-shaped gourds would be stuffed in the gaps. Smaller pumpkins and turnips would be given to the kids to carve, their smaller hands having an easier time gutting them and drawing messy outlines of cute or scary faces before the lanterns were placed all along the house, lined the roads, or tied up along vines to frighten away negativity like the artwork their own ancestors would make to ward off evil. Some would smear soot and charcoal on their faces like makeup for the same reason.

They would hold massive celebrations about colossal bonfires on hilltops, sharing stories about the forgotten War of Humans and Monsters and tales of times before; myths of fighting creatures neither Human nor Monster from Skin Walkers and Wendigos to Stygoi and Banshees, legends of heroes lining their weapons with silver and carrying purses of salt to protect themselves from terrible creatures as lost to time as they were misunderstood and obscured by fog of war in the first place. Whispers of Native Americans rallying their Monster allies against swarms of starving beasts, of knights and Wolf-Folk uniting against a corrupt Boss Monster breathing fire on their homes like a raid boss, of Vikings and Naga doing battle with an oversized Serpent-Folk before it inhaled and drove away all of the fish.

The older civilians would hand out homemade cookies, Ralsei and someone named 'Noelle' would bake and scatter biscuits to the countless stray animals flocking to their homes, Kris and Susie would help set up plays and hang decorations. Everyone with the vaguest idea of how to handle a needle and thread put together all sorts of costumes for their friends, pets, mannequins, scarecrows, and small trees. Those who could cook searched for ways to shape their foods into demons and form frosted sugar skulls, those who couldn't would gather their ingredients.

He told them about gargantuan Trench Cities spanning miles of their lands and barreling toward the depths of the earth, piercing the Underground they used to be trapped within for their metallurgy and tons of living space, and how lanterns would cover their entireties; lining protected streams running through each of the thousands of floors. Giant animatronic spiders would hang outside the tunnels they used to go to and fro and balls would have white sheets with spooky faces thrown over the and strung up right under every floor and tunnel. Upside-down bats were placed atop every doorway and dangled from every light.

The city skyscrapers stocked with countless people would make many of the same decorations. One of Kris's friends, a big blue bird, would help hang ghosts and black, faux-fur-covered, bat-like kites around the outside and string up cobwebs over the massive openings in their structures. She'd hand out rolls of toilet paper to anyone with a decent throwing arm and scatter tiny cardboard spiders and lightweight lanterns over the vines and leaves and moss crawling up the external walls. That insane 'Thunderbird', the feathery genius she was, collected an army of carpenters and built all sorts of mini hot air balloons with ghosts, bat kites, small lanterns, and spiders crawling around them and the baskets were manned by scarecrows with more Jack-o-lanterns for heads and plenty of costumes like sky pirates, flying reapers, and cultists to be attached to the skyscrapers by ropes covered in cobwebs and spiders, even a few more ghosts to weight them down and keep the ropes' curved shapes in the breeze.

I need to go there.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Shouldn't Ralsei have gotten back- OH SHIT I CAN CALL DESS NOW!"

"Rals probably scheming... or got invited to another cookout."

Martlet chuckled as the trio walked by. She always felt like the portal to the Human school opened too late, she always missed out on those little conversations! She might've missed them if the rift hadn't been opened a few minutes early. They exchanged little more than big, excited waves as they speed-walked along, both groups having somewhere to be. The District's Community Center Was a fairly small building built into the intersection of three District's roads between three, interconnected trees. Their roots merged at the base and their branches were guided into braids where the temporary plywood walls had guided phytomancers' spells to meld the bark together to be streamlined and refined by drones. Lots of celestial and nebulous designs were programmed into those machines by several talented artists specifically for the support pillars printed into the trees, doors, and along the barriers.

Papyrus had to duck beneath the door and Martlet flapped her wings up the curved stairs to the second floor, it was half the size of the first because of the cute balcony right outside. The overhang protected them from rain, though the weather was just overcast, and was topped with lots of grass and flowers. The openings were covered in a thin plant-fiber mesh to prevent anything from flying away, as this was where the long table the Public Servants would unite to chat. While there was a more formal area inside, many of the main community contributors were already gathered, saving them some seats. An Aussie Shepard pup had snuck his way into the meeting and quickly became a problem nobody would solve, stealing attention and pets as they discussed next week's showing of plays and performances using that stage.

The much larger theater in Blue Star District was already planning to put on a greater show about the Spirit of Autumn Harvest protecting a mixed Human and Monster village from raiders from the army of a greedy king from the Southern castles. A classic she, and many Monsters, grew up with, but they couldn't hope to compete with it on the temporary outdoor stage they'd entwined together at the last second. It didn't take too long for them to decide their next performance would be a shortened rendition of the battle of Lycans; a massive conflict during the War where a Werewolf-Folk, a Boss Monster species known as General Louvel, was said to invoke the name of one of the Humans' own Gods to hold back the attack. The tales spun by the forgotten civilians who he allowed to escape spoke of days of straight fighting, only broken up by nights of assassins with daggers laced with wolfsbane and various poisons using the cover of darkness to get in close.

Martlet and Paps were more than capable of putting the play together and Dalv volunteered to cut the script down, the next matter was of launching a parade on Sunday. Most of it had already been planned and was being prepared but one of the helpers who wanted to bake a bunch of pies threw around the idea of ending the march of costumed actors, floats full of effigies of ancient gods and figureheads, lines of haunted houses, and stands of pumpkin-spice everything with a massive bonfire built in the image of a skeletal dragon. She and some of the carpenters who helped her build the hot air balloons stepped up to the task of building the bonfire while everyone else divided themselves over preparing ending activities, dances, music (to which Dalv almost jumped out of his seat), foods, drinks, decorations, and tending the fire.

Overall, the meeting was shorter than they expected, all bidding their goodbyes and amassing their to-do lists before heading out for dinner at home or whatever groups of neighbors they made lots of spooky plans with. Martlet found herself invited to a barbeque at Starlo's parents' new corn farm on Sunday, Papyrus's brother was bringing hotdogs and she agreed to bring kabob sticks, fruits, and veggies if Ceroba brought the steak and chicken.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Everything felt a little better when she unwrapped the first Starburst and wandered outside. The rain had let up a little by the time everyone had checked out, even if it wasn't that bad to begin with. None of them got anything particularly interesting; Ralsei got his barbeque sauce, she got her candy, Miss Noceda and Luz just got some groceries and a movie. He happily waved goodbye and walked off to the Monster encampment, Zoey was more resigned and walked in the opposite direction with no idea where she was going.

She was pretty sure she saw Camila look around and head back in the store for something but she wasn't wearing her jacket, maybe someone just had similar hair.

The bottom of Zoey's pants legs were getting a little wet as she fumbled with her umbrella. Her friend's car slowed down past her as they tried not to splash and went home. She was alone again, just her and her thoughts, but at least she was alone with a giant bag of candy weeks before Halloween even started. And Ralsei's fucking loaded, I gotta get a Monster job and buy everything with their money.

VVV 🎃 VVV

I'm good enough, I'm strong enough, I'm the best!

Her barbells weren't, though. It'd clearly been some time since she got them replaced. Their handles were worn out and they weren't nearly heavy enough anymore, Willow had to awkwardly grip the heaviest ones in each hand to challenge herself. Not bad at all! But she needed to save up her allowance for a little while. The first night of the Mourning Veil was always the worst and came out of nowhere, but she always managed.

Gus, as far as the Plant Witch was aware, was doing about the same. They'd chatted a little bit in the morning but everyone had a lot to do for the coming weeks. His Dad needed a hand protecting the doorway and cleaning their house while her parents needed to get the shop together. Luz and Amity, on the other hand, were unaccounted for. The Owl House was out of the way of the small army of Bonesborough civilians working on wards around the clock. Though irritable, tired, and with something heavy on each of their minds, her and Gus's neighbors at least helped each other, functional enough to make the streets safe by the end of the day. And when the streets were safe, they were generally protected from most Spirits, the more powerful ones could be held back by the right Oracles long enough for everyone to be properly fortified the next morning.

But Luz, Eda, King, and Tracy didn't have that. The glue of their little group didn't have the time to hop on the Scroll, or even leave them on a Crystal Ball in the background, before getting wrapped up in a huge project. They needed to line all of Hooty by themselves. His outside, their bedrooms, and all of the major areas needed to be covered in colored candles before night fell. Even the minor rooms would still be liabilities. Cost of having a big castle-cabin in the woods, I guess.

And Amity... she didn't really know what went down at Blight Manor, nobody did. The Abomination butlers probably took care of everything but almost nobody was allowed in. She distantly knew the group's resident horror movie monster/introvert repeatedly forced to interact with people before her social battery recharged did a lot of studying and some experimentation around this time, but only through gossip (mostly when the Twins talked down on her behind her back). Edric and Emira didn't really know what she did, even after 'the diary incident', they just said she had a tendency to wear herself thin when the alternative was being around their Mom and Dad.

None of them could blame her, of course. She'd barely met the Blights when they were witchlets and felt sick just being around them, the last time they were even near each other was their failed expulsion attempt, maybe the Aboma-ton showcase if they were paying attention to anything but the sales meter, and she'd already had more than her fill with Odalia. Alador wasn't as bad but he... She couldn't decide if the main competitor for Abomination Coven Head never did anything or worked too much, he'd sat in that weird middle ground since before they were friends.

Amity's Mom was hardly a nurturer and her Dad 'had something better to do' every hour of the day. It didn't make the years since her birthday justified but getting a better look at why was a little vindicating. Learning it wasn't the real Amity slightly softened the blow, even though it was still Amity that tormented her for half their lives.

That might've been the biggest question nagging at her since Luz turned up; how much of the girl she grew up with for better and worse, the girl Gus was terrified of, the girl that went toe-to-toe with the Golden Guard, the girl King and Tracy adored, and the girl Luz had fallen for, was Blight vs Amity?

Okay, Emperor Belos definitely took precedence, as did the Day of Unity, but it was up there!

Sometimes she was obviously still unlearning things, catching herself at the last minute before making a snide comment or holding back a stuck-up scowl. But others, she was herself, she would quietly giggle or fall asleep in a funny position or let a sassy remark slip through her demeanor. It was wonderful when she did! Seeing who she was becoming right before their eyes was great! But it would be revoked just as fast, stuffed down under an indifferent and bored face. Luz was the only one who could consistently shake her out of it, even the mention of her was enough but it always stood out.

Willow couldn't imagine living with the Blights, if being inside of that pricy but fake, hollow, and dead building could be called living. Ed and Em seemed like they were being better siblings but their role models...

Willow didn't want to imagine being raised by the Blights.

Maybe some questions are better left unspoken.

Chapter 12: Rule II - Frequent Checks - Part 8

Summary:

Zoey's turf gets intruded on.
Kris's first step.
Movie night gets delayed.
Vee is not cut out for Winter and doubts her place in Camila's house. She's not taking it well.
Tracy being an annoying little sibling.

10 yellow leaves, 10 orange leaves, and 10 red leaves surrounded by nine black, purple, and yellow candles...

Zoey had just been carelessly walking about the forest just outside her house when she found the circle. It was built around the stomped-out remains of a small bonfire. The remains of the three black candles sat in the middle, melted together over the kindling, a bundle of complexly wound and thick thatch sprinkled with what she could barely recognize as scorched mugwort and peppermint. The candles had melted together into a mostly worthless mound of wax but the other two triangles of candles were a little clearer.

A warding set of three purple candles surrounded the main flame, more mugwort being scattered around them. Their proximity to whatever fire was once here left them more deformed than the last ring. The yellow candles were a little further out of the way, a slightly larger ring, and the triangle they formed was facing the opposite direction of the purple ones like the points of a Star of David. Negative energies in the center, a protective layer in the middle, and yellow...

She only had to wrack her brain for a second to remember what yellow meant; intellect, creativity, memory, and communication.

The witch had rarely used it, trying to convene with strange forces she didn't understand wouldn't end well, but clearly someone else had been getting chatty. And in her secret spot! Someone stole her spot and summoned something right outside her house!

Two can play at that game. Zoey huffed and rushed back to her house, climbing through the window to avoid her parents and collecting whatever new or used purple candles she could get her hands on. Whatever got summoned here would not be getting in her house... On second thought, it wouldn't be getting in her room.

VVV 🎃 VVV

I did it...

Or he'd done the first step. The bird skull sat innocuously in his freshly bandaged hand (as much as a bird skull could, anyway), nothing apparently wrong with it. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end just from looking at the thing. Kris reached down his shirt and tugged up a long, loose thread tied to a smooth rock with a hole in it. He peered through the gap with his bright green eye, watching the skull intently, far from the first time tonight. Translucent black wisps fluttered out of the eyesockets, back of the skull, and the beak. 'Just a trick of the light' some older orphans said before moving away, 'it's just a shadow'.

But Kris knew better. Kris knew what he'd brought into this skull. Kris knew what the Shadows in the woods around his summoning circle were. Kris knew what the 'normal darkness' that fumed in front of him had been. Kris knew what all the candy he bought and gave up had done. Kris knew what the blood that trailed over the flickering little flame of the melding together black candles had sacrificed. Kris knew what the cloak and mask he'd donned were for. Kris knew what the Jack-o-lanterns he'd set all around the ritual warded off.

He also knew better than to leave them around. It was a little humbling, knowing he'd had to pick up and carry back every single one of them without Ralsei just picking them all up with help from the trees and roots, but he wasn't around at the time. The sleepless nights, waking up at 2:30 sharp to sleepily organize a pentagram of purple candles with a black one in the center for a drop of his blood to trail down weren't for nothing. The teas he'd made, every single one of them requiring wildely different, specific, and often rare herbs depending on the phase of the moon, the day of the week, the time of day it was brewed, the time he would down it by, the amount of rituals performed, and the phase of the summoning (resulting in brews ranging anywhere from strong and pungent to smooth and tasteful) were paying off.

The pumpkin shavings, charcoal dust, exotic salts, moth parts, fine powders, and ground bone dust he'd had to sprinkle over hyper-specific combinations of rocks, crystals, mushrooms, and gems arranged into mini shrines before tapping them off of the small offerings after a certain down-to-the-second amount of time to be mixed into a paste in certain waters, be it mineral, purified, river, brackish, waste, or sea; then rubbing certain amounts of the pastes onto custom effigies that demanded they be formed a certain way from certain materials and making soaps out of the excess, all of which had to be applied all over his body or just certain parts at different times of day. Navigating the timeframes around school and smelling like a mix of hot coals, charred wood, and pumpkin spice on Thursday was an interesting experience.

But he'd done it! It was only going to get harder from here but he'd done it! This was the year, he knew it! One down, two to go.

VVV 🎃 VVV

25 Days Until Halloween

The new day was easier on Camila than she expected. Then again, the movie night idea fell through when Vee fell asleep in the car.

That wouldn't stop them tonight, though. The movie was still sitting on the kitchen counter, right next to their snacks and popcorn bags. She'd been getting ready for work when she noticed how long it was taking her guest to get up. The little serpent, unlike Luz, was far from a morning person. Granted, the poor thing was probably cold-blooded. She should've been hibernating last year and always needed a lot of time to get herself together. The last time she left without letting her know, she came home to her taking detailed stock of how much food she had and trying to calculate how long it would last her. She was already in her uniform, it would only take a second to go upstairs and wake her up enough to infer where Camila was going, and she intended to go in early so they all had plenty of time.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee's whole night had been nothing but tossing and turning. Everything that happened the day before; being attacked, looking pathetic in front of Camila twice, and almost getting caught looking for diapers by Ralsei and Zoey weighed down on her. She didn't even last until Camila got back from running back into the store through the rain before she started drifting off. And she couldn't even get to sleep after she ruined their movie night! So meek she couldn't even keep it together for Mami Camila yet she couldn't even sleep right.

She hadn't thought much of the 'new changes' to her life at the dinner table but almost getting caught by Zoey, Zoey of all people, sent her blood pressure through the roof. So much of her stress revolved around Ralsei already, him knowing what she was (or wasn't, she didn't know how much he knew) was so straining on her hearts by itself that the notion of him seeing her new 'protection' blended in with all the other, general panic.

But Zoey!?

The way Camila said it made it seem like it would all be okay, everything she did felt that way but she also didn't really understand what this entailed. She didn't see Zoey every day, but she wanted to! What if she saw them putting a package of baby stuff in a cart? How was she supposed to explain why they were in her size? How was she ever meant to be around her again? How was she even going to look at her again?! Maybe it was a good thing movie night was over before it started because her stomach was churning the entire night and her hearts were pounding out of her false chest. Human sweat leaked down her head, even though she was so cold, especially now that she was stirring awake. Shivers shook her body and burned her back, she couldn't move. What chance did she have at hanging out with Zoey when she couldn't even keep Luz's pants clean?

The back of her mind, her lizard brain, barely registered a gentle hand softly running through her mane and a kiss on her forehead. "Pobre pequeña serpiente."

"Hmm?" She managed to crack open an eye, looking up at a wonderful, blurry human.

What did she do to deserve this Human's attention? Her care? Her love? Camila couldn't love her, she was just a parasite that forced her way into her life, she deserved to be left in a cold, sweaty bed for the entire day. Who was she to take advantage of someone like this? Who was she to steal her food and sleep in her home? Who was she to want to stay and keep being petted with nothing to give in return? Who was she to need to be catered to like someone a fraction her age?

"Oye, cariño, está bien, está bien, estás a salvo, estás en casa." Camila carefully brought Vee onto her lap and dragged the blankets over her. All of Luz's plushies, stuffed to the foot of the bed, tipped over or fell to the ground as she draped it over her with one arm to the best of her ability. The vet started rocking her back and forth, wiping the painfully hot tears streaming down her face and supporting her head in the crook of her elbow. She smelled of very faint strawberries and shushed and whispered promises she'd be okay while cradling the Basilisk as if she were her real daughter.

Vee's hiccups and whimpers slowly faded, somewhat starting to believe Camila's sweet nothings, hanging onto every soft word like she was being sung a lullaby. Her breathing gradually evened out as she raised her hands over her hearts, lightly balling her fists under her chin before covering her face with her palm. Camila stopped her from rubbing her eye and continued to gently brush and wipe her face.

"...Why are you keeping me? I-I don't do anything for you, I lied to you for months, I eat your food, I need stupid diapers." Vee blinked away the water in her eyes, tiredly staring up at the Human like she was twice the morphed snake's size.

"That's enough of that. You were desperate, you were scared, you were hungry, and above all, you're a child. You're a brave little girl who fought through some of the worst that people have to offer, you're a strong little girl who came out alive, you're a shy little girl who's nervous about spending time with your friends, you're a kind little girl who loves being around them and hates to see others in pain, you're a sweet little girl who wants to help, you're a smart little girl who loves science and computers, you're a wonderful little girl who can do anything, including worming your way into this old house.

You've been here for over a year, Vee. I'm not going to throw you out, especially not over something silly as this. Sometimes, even if you try your best, things just won't work out the way you want. It can hurt for some time but it doesn't mean you aren't wanted or loved. Te quiero cariño, y yo te cuidaré"

They stayed like that for a moment, more tears leaking down her face and kisses being periodically planted on top of her fluffy head.

VVV 🎃 VVV

They didn't get to play at all yesterday!

He did his part; he put candles around every room and hallway, he made sure they were in the right order, he helped Eda reinforce the fire wards around them, and he helped Luz and King make safety lanterns out of big orange fruits! That last one was pretty fun, through, fingerpaint and pulp got everywhere! And what did he get for it? An early night! And Luz and King stayed up doing things without them since they weren't 'being distracting' anymore.

He'd just finished washing his face, just like Cool Aunt Lilith showed him, and put on his favorite star jammies but Luz and King still weren't awake! Mama Eda was making Griffin Eggs again, she said something about needing to go into the market and to let the others know where she was if they woke up before she returned... and not to break anything, and definitely not the candles. With nothing to do, he floated about the Owl House with no idea what he was doing. Come to think of it, they'd only been here for four days. They hadn't gotten to explore!

This place had so much space! The living room was wide and open. That big bookshelf in the corner was surrounded by candles and the fireplace was stuffed full of wax. The candles around it were melting and leaning toward it but the ones he put inside had all melded together by now. The corridor running between the living room and kitchen ended with the staircase at one end and the dead-end wall had that shed where they kept a bunch of supplies on the other side. Personally, Tracy didn't get why they didn't break that wall down and put a door there. Even more frustrating was how the door to the kitchen was just offset enough that he couldn't fly straight across into it. But everyone refused to try and change it, even Uncle Hooty! 'To force him to slow down', they said.

Tracy scattered some stars and sparkles as he ascended the staircase. Luz's room was on the left side of the small hall, right next to the bathroom. King slept with her, he'd rather snuggle up to her than have a room of his own and Lucelyn always welcomed him. Her window stuck out the left side of the Owl House, some of the roofing followed the little segment out of order from the rest of the tiles. He could even see the plates from inside if he craned his neck enough or floated upside-down! He wasn't sure what they were up to right now (besides sleeping, boring!), though, the door was shut.

Across from her room was another small hall leading to a few other rooms. First on the right was his little area, just a mattress right now. The ones across from and next to it were full of old junk, dust, and multiple infestations Hooty happily kept in check. Diagonally from his room went inside the little tower Eda's balcony sat on top of, it turned out to just be a closet. Loads of dirty old clothes and towers of boxes were stacked inside, he'd have to play with some of these! He and King could play make-believe! It even had a lower level, the bottom floor portion didn't have a door to the living room, just another tower of boxes full of dusty books that made his nose and throat sting when he brushed them off. He didn't bother seeing what they were about, after that, but they were probably just banned Wild Magic tomes.

The other end of the main hallway had the stairs to Eda's room. The short hall across didn't lead to anything, it just had her bedroom and the balcony on the right with that giant stained window, then the left were a couple more empty rooms. They were both in similar condition to the ones on Luz's floor but the far one looked recently used and was stocked with extra elixir. Maybe this used to be Aunt Lily's room? It had another mattress so that was his best guess...

...Well, that was over with quickly, now what was he supposed to do? For all the cleaning they'd done, a lot of this place was still a mess. Why didn't she just summon some abominations to help? He knew she and Lilith were going light on their magic for a while but he'd still seen some of what they could do, making a puppet to housekeep for them didn't sound like it should be so much trouble. Maybe she'd just rather play than clean, he sure did.

Something started buzzing way downstairs, he almost didn't catch it until the wind died down and the pointer on top of the house stopped squeaking. That really needs to be oiled, too. Tracy soared out the door to the balcony, through Hooty, and up to the humming crystal ball on the living room table. Boop!

"Hi!" He gripped the side of the table and leaned over the orb as the heavy girl and Illusionist's faces zapped into view.

Augustus yelped and fell back off his chair while Willow jumped in place and waved. "Hey, uh, Tracy. I know you're not home alone, is Luz with you? She's not answering her scroll."

They smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah! I can bring you to her! Are you coming over? Can you come play with me?"

"Bring us to Luz first, please." She couldn't help but chuckle.

"There was a message about school being closed for a while longer and if she hasn't checked her scroll, we don't think she's seen it." Gus added in vain, The Collector was already shooting through the Owl House as fast as all the annoying corners would let them.

Chapter 13: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 1

Summary:

Tracy jumpscares their siblings. Luz's room (she's not hiding anything).
Camila ponders the Snek-Otter, considers if she's ready to have another child, and reflects on how her family fell apart. Snek-Otter requires puppies.
Ralsei thinks about Human History and helps plan an outing.
Amity's hanging by a thread and the Twins don't know why.

"LUZ!"

Their high voice shook the door to her room, opening it with a wave of his hand and zooming over the debris like a big lavender wasp.

She'd done a lot with this place in the year she'd been here, or so he'd heard. The walk-in closet in the corner was built by her and some friends, a lot of splinters and hammered thumbs were left in its wake but it managed to fit all her new and old clothes with plenty of room for more. The inside was as long as the entire room (which was much wider and deeper than the outside of the Owl House should allow) and had a beam running across the far end holding her shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants, shorts, and a big gap in the middle between the tops and bottoms. Directly next to the door was a smaller beam with quite a few colorful outfits, he didn't understand why she didn't wear those more often. There was a small dresser unit with three drawers at the end, she wouldn't tell him what was in there but sometimes he was allowed to play with the plushies and dolls on top of it.

She'd sewn the curtains over the lone window herself, the pattern being something called a 'rainbow'. They were right above a long row of stacked dressers and cabinets of all shapes and sizes; some were purchased, others were constructed herself, all were arranged in a way to maximize the space, there was even a table or two wedged in to act as extra shelves for small items. She'd already stocked many of them full of books stuffed with bits of plastic or paper shoved in many different pages with no clear rhyme or reason, dense arcane tomes full with sticky notes and the tops of paper clips poking out of the fragile pages, magical items full of strange enchantments, ingredients from all around the Isles, and constantly rotated textbooks, but there were still a lot of open spaces for more. That conglomerate easily took up three-quarters of the right wall!

A blue, red, and purple flag was hung up on the wall between her bed and the doorway wall with two posters of a 'good witch' and a bunch of similar artwork of different creature, some almost looked humanoid, others were clearly animal-themed robots. A few more spottily stocked storage things were pressed against the left wall and wall with the door, mostly full of more toys, plushies, some blocks she affectionately called 'Legos', a series of books with the same witch character carved into a wooden block holding them together, and another sloppily stacked pile of books with some crayon and pencil boxes leaning on them.

That asymmetric grid of cubes was around two-thirds the length of the left wall and took up all the space between the corner and door, it's frame and one side of a unit even had gashes in them where they were forced to barely fit in, that far one even had part of the left board so it could squeeze in. The corner had a small table with a hole in the far sides so it was easy to pull out when they needed to be rearranged, she'd taped a piece of paper with 'LEGO D&D CASTLE' to the top of it. There were a lot of other, smaller scraps full of similar notes taped in different spots outlined in pencil with measurements along them.

Some books and stray sheets of paper fluttered around him as they flew over the pair of big beanbags and small coffee table in the center of the room (he didn't get what made it a 'coffee' table, Luz and Eda just said he was already too hyper for it). Her bed was stuffed in the far left corner, the long end of her L-shaped desk right beside it so she could swivel over to the short end in the natural light of the window. On the end of the long side there was a wooden rod with a sticky note light glyph at the top and a series of custom stamps sitting on inky sponges in the corner. On the short side was a layered tray of different-sized and cut bits of paper; the base had full blank sheets, metal rods on the back held two trays with small squares and rectangles, and then extended to a series of six connected panels holding a stack of colorful stickies and some squares made of unique materials.

The bed was actually made of four mattresses held together with a plastic tarp and a self-made wood frame with a lip over the top to stop the creepy crawlies from climbing in. She'd put planks and lots of wood blocks underneath to help keep it elevated. Some wood rods held pieces of cardboard cut and painted like the walls of a white blick castle with extra parts used to make small towers with half of a light blue cone on top, the tips of them being where strings were tied to rings at the peaks of the rods and pulled up to a hook on the ceiling. Some black sheets with gold stars were draped over the strings to make a roof over the mattresses.

Willow and Gus tried to stop him from flinging open the drawn purple curtain covering the archway hole with (too small) brown doors with gold handles painted on the sides. Their rings clicked against a rod on the top as he floated in, bonking his head on the tiny glass cauldron attached to the string pulling up the roof sheet and letting it roll down his back as he excitedly floated over Luz and King. The Baby Titan was curled up near the Human's neck, he buried his face into his bushy tail as it brushed under Luz's chin, whose arms were draped over her body and under his head.

The big pink and purple 'otter' onesie she was wearing was wet around her legs and waist. Her eyes were squinted tightly shut and the dark bags underneath them hadn't faded much compared to yesterday. Something was in her mouth, it had a little lilac ring on the outside and a vaguely butterfly-shaped slab of lavender plastic was on the outside. It pressed against her cheeks and wriggled in her mouth as she sucked on it. Luz quickly spat it onto the pile of scattered pillows of all sizes, colors, and dozens of animal plushies before she gritted her teeth and her earthy eyes snapped open.

Tracy tilted their head and hovered to be upside-down from Luz's perspective. "What was-"

"NOTHING!" Her face ignited bright red and she shot upright, flinging King to the side. He yelped and scrambled back to all fours before groaning at his sister and best friend in the whole wide world.

"Sorry! They didn't say you were asleep!" Willow swiveled around the crystal ball to get a better angle on the Human.

"You guys didn't ask-"

"School's out for another day! There was a message on the school site but you never responded so we wanted to check in on you." Gus interrupted as Tracy adjusted the ball.

Luz sighed and flopped to the side, landing on the long pile of pillows and plushies against the wall. "Thanks, guys..." She mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose and shutting her eyes.

The Collector floated over to her again, flipping over and dragging his feet over the roof sheet. "Can we play now?"

"Later, Tracy," King hummed in the corner while Gus and Willow glanced to each other through the crystal ball.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Gus was raising a brow at her through the round glass. I think I know why they're beat. The Plant Witch looked around her room and out her door for a moment, her house was almost fully protected by now, one of her Dads got a headstart on the day. Out her window it looked like most of Bonesborough was all set for the coming months, too. Maybe a little detour from all the wards and candles wouldn't be that bad. She may not be an Oracle but she knew plants, including the ones Barcus used in his candles, soaps, and potions; she could fend for herself, especially when the Mourning Veil had only begun. Besides, the times it started were pretty inconsistent, this year's opening would be a long one and she needed the practice for when the greater Spirits started coming out in force.

She looked at Gus's side of the crystal ball, nodded, and back to Luz in her wet otter onesie. "We're coming over."

"I-I really appreciate it b-but you don't-"

"Is Eda there?"

"She said she was running errands-"

"We're coming over."

VVV 🎃 VVV

It took another moment to get Vee to calm down. Her heart ached, watching this little girl curling up and shaking, but Camila was in no hurry and wasn't about to rush her. She helped guide the snake back onto the bed once she was in a better headspace; her eyes were still a little red and heavy but she'd gotten a hold of herself. What was she supposed to do with her? She'd never expected to take in another child, Manny passed before they could even discuss it and Luz's bunk bed became overpopulated with stuffed toys instead of all the friends she'd hoped for so it wasn't like they didn't have the space for Vee.

Keeping their house after he died was a bit of trouble at first but they'd adjusted the best they could. Luz had always been a handful but Vee's been quite low-maintenance the entire time she'd been living with her. That was soon to change, the Goodnights and Always Discreets she'd gotten weren't cheap. Although, now she wasn't helping fuel Luz's merch and toy collections (not that she didn't wish she still had that problem), and even then she'd gathered quite the savings throughout the year. Other than the plentiful encyclopedias she'd gotten the Basilisk, she gave their funds plenty of time to recover.

But when Luz returned? Then it would get tight. New clothes, new phone, padding, food... She ran down the list of expenses in her head. She and Luz hadn't done much for fun in a while. Between work and school, they didn't have much time beyond the weekends and neither had the drive to, not without Manny. School breaks were a little different and they tended to do little things like days out at the mall or sandwich places, though that was the extent. They didn't go on fishing trips anymore, they didn't drive out of state anymore, they didn't go on picnics anymore, they didn't go to conventions anymore.

Without Manny there, they'd just... stagnated. He was the one who wanted to rent out a little boat, he was the one who took care of the fishing rods, he was the one who decided when they'd head out, he was the one who held them together. Now that he was gone, that money kept gathering dust, but they also had half the income. Vee was shy, to say the least, all the fun and excitement in her life came from the desire to learn and her camp friends, and Luz shut herself in with books and fanfiction.

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought? Camila already worked a lot and their entertainment expenses weren't as great as they probably should've been. Vee's new needs (which should've been tended to much earlier, in hindsight) could come out of that budget pretty easily but Luz could tighten their emergency savings quick but her backlog was pretty safe now. In fact, there was no telling when her bebé would come home, there was no telling when their gross would be cut down again, she might not have much time to get Vee what she needed. Sunday, I'll do it Sunday. That would be her resident reptile's big day, then their money would have whatever amount of time to build as tall as she could. It might be tight but Camila was a damn good vet, she'd always made it work and she wasn't going to stop now.

"Do you want to come to work with me, bebé? I'm sure you'll be a big help and the pups always love you." She offered, mostly wanting Vee to get out of the house more often but she'd also benefit from feeling needed more often, just to stop feeling like a burden.

"Puppies?" She perked.

Camila chuckled. "Sí, pequeña serpiente, perritos. You have time to take a very fast shower, I'll make some waffles for the car ride." Vee was off almost before she finished the sentance.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The morning sun peeked over the horizon like the gentle glow of a Jack-o-lantern, the birds being the crackling of its flame. Ralsei ended his small chat with one of the Guards who happened to be standing watch on the roof at the time and headed back into the shelter. Their portal had opened by now and the Holiday sisters had likely been waiting. Noelle definitely was, anyway, Dess was a wildcard. Susie and Kris met him downstairs, the lizard was still in her clothes from yesterday and Kris hadn't changed out of his black sleep pants and shirt. What am I gonna do with you two?

The main areas were stuffed full of Monsters. They unofficially decided Saturday, when none of them were going to or coming out of school, was when they'd properly explore Gravesfield. None of them were expecting it to take long, the entire reason the exchange happened here was because nothing notable was or ever happened here. The whole town was only known for its graveyard, there wasn't even a tourist attraction here. It was probably for the best, though, there not being any major money sinks besides an arcade on the other side of town that nobody had been to.

He and Catti had been the main pair wrapped up in the mini trip, being the ones organizing their route and looking at all the shops, food places, and whatever else of any interest they could spot from a basic Google map. Other than the Gravesfield Grave Field, the town's only draw appeared to be its history. The tale of two brothers, pioneers and colonists of 'the New World', and ruthless witch hunters, who were spirited away by one of their marks in the dead of night, never to return home. There was supposedly more to it, or as much word salad as the local Historical Society could stuff their walls with, but that was the jist they got from the laggy internet summary.

Government-sanctioned murderers, really, that's all they were, just there to collect and burn anyone who broke the status quo. Witches weren't real, humans couldn't do magic without Items or... 'outside influences', as Catti called them...

VVV 🎃 VVV

Of course they get their candles set up first.

Alador and Odalia Blight, the self-proclaimed greatest minds of their Covens even though Mrs. Everything-Must-Be-Minty barely even acted as an Oracle, were obviously some of the first to set up their Mourning Veil wards way before the month began. Titan, Odalia probably predicted the date and never brought it up to the rest of them and they just happened to share the room while she and the Twins were left out to dry. Maybe Edric knew what to do, she wasn't sure how much crossover there was between Beastkeeping and the more savage Spirits but there couldn't be much and he was the extent of their counters.

Amity spent her hidden Oracle studies on mastering the minor ones, not combating the real threats, and it was all for the sake of her Abominations. She was making them more responsive, understanding how different lesser Spirits operated, learning about their strengths and weaknesses before attempting her own summons in private (as private as Luz bouncing off the walls of a House Daemon with the most grating voice she'd ever heard, anyway), figuring out how to use them all for any purpose, catching up with recent events and getting more accurate ideas of little things that might happen next; far from prepping for advanced monstrosities she was never meant to confront indirectly, let alone head-on. Did she even have the time she needed to study that far? If she managed herself differently, been better, been perfect, could she have avoided this?

"Hey."

She wasn't sure which one walked in, maybe both of them did. Because naturally, the Twins would be the ones to walk in on her covered in sweat on a trainwreck of a bed, still wearing yesterday's clothes, books and papers scattered about her desk and floor. Her head was pounding, her eyes wouldn't open fully so all she could see was a blurry blob that split into two, her throat burned and all that came out was an irritated groan as she sluggishly raised a hand to clutch her head and groggily drag her knees to her chest.

"Bring her to your bed, I'll clean up here." She blinked away the headache to see Edric whispering to Emira.

Being suddenly lifted didn't soothe the migraine, Em jostled her head and struggled to discern how she was supposed to grab her, usually being the one Ed lugged around whenever she asked. She managed, though, and brought Amity one of the 'cheap and classless' nightgowns she wore whenever their parents were out of their hair; that usually being when there was a showcase or business trip. It was softer than the overpriced garbage they were provided and, more importantly, cleaner than her day-old tunic. Their beds were already made for the morning but a simple illusion would be enough to get rid of Odalia until she was more put together and Edric was more than talented enough to keep her from looking too deep into Amity's room by himself, at least until she was ready to tend to it herself.

Not that he couldn't clean up just fine, she just liked having everything sorted a specific way.

Chapter 14: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 2

Summary:

Willow takes charge.
Tracy gets put up to manual labor.
Vee can't handle taking from Camila. Her first padding. Shapeshifter problems. And discovers something about herself.
Sweet dreams. Fucking Karen

The ride to the Owl House was always better with Clover and Emmeline. She did some basic Flyer Derby maneuvers along the way. Their next game was only a small one since one of their main players didn't have an update on his day off, Luz would be filling in for 'Caleb', but she liked to stay on top of things. Augustus zipped through the red trees and ran circles around a flock of birds, improving his maneuverability at the (self-imposed, she might add) threat of crashing face-first at high speeds.

Hooty attempted to greet them and ramble on about his day, but they didn't have the time for that. Their Dads let them off the hook for the day to care for a friend, they would be taking care of their friend, so they brushed him off as politely and quickly as they could. The House Daemon clearly knew what they were here for as the window to Luz's room opened by itself just before Willow reached a hand for the bottom. Tracy had been orbiting around the center of the Human's room and pouting when they came in and quickly divulged all his attention their way.

"Does this mean we can play now?" He immediately floated up to her face.

She gently put a finger to their forehead and pushed them away. "In a minute, we're here for Luz."

"But I wanted to fly with you guys!" He whined as she dismounted her staff and walked up to the blanket fort.

She wasn't sure how to deal with them, yet. They had trouble lifting her up but the fact remained he could carry her and did so with magic quite unlike theirs. Gus was the one tasked with keeping them occupied, much to his dismay, that way she could handle Luz uninterrupted. With little illusions of stars and asteroids with smiling faces, he chased and was chased by the flying Star Child as she peeked inside. Luz and King were curled up in the center and to the side of the grafted mattresses with their eyes closed, though not asleep. Willow avoided the puddle they'd scooted away from and gently nudged them. The Human's eyes blinked open quickly and she perked upright. The Baby Titan, meanwhile, remained where he was and tried to get back to his nap again.

Though she hadn't wanted to disturb him, the bedding needed washed, which was also Gus's responsibility since she was the only one of the two who could lift Luz. She slid her arms under their friend and carried her out of bed.

"You don't have to do this." Luz mumbled.

"We want to do this, Luz."

Now that the Collector had been diverted elsewhere, she shifted Luz to one arm and stuck her other hand back in to feel around for the pacifier she spat out. It landed on top of a pink Slitherbeast plush and didn't look like it had anything on it, she didn't give it back to her yet, though, she still wanted to wash it off. Unfortunately for King, he was way easier for the Collector to levitate with him and got pulled along the hall as Willow brought Luz to the bathtub. She was noticeably quiet. Usually, she was a way more animated little but right now she just wanted to sleep. The Plant Witch would stick around to help with the bath since their Palismen could easily grab an outfit and clean binky, they just needed to get rid of Tracy.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Alright, this is a No Boys Zone. If you need the bathroom, use it now or wait your turn." Willow ordered.

Gus gave a thumbs-up while Tracy, King in tow, hovered over to her. "I wanna pop bubbles!"

"Then wait your turn, it's Luz's time right now."

The Collector huffed and crossed their arms as King grabbed Gus's sleeve to pull himself out of his friend's hold. Willow shut the door, they could already hear the water running and Clover buzzed by their heads toward Luz's room.

Now he was the only thing of interest to a child who refused to stay still. He almost stumbled over himself trying to get the first word in. "Okay, of you help wash Luz's bed, I'll make some more toys for you. Deal?"

He uncrossed his arms, only to sigh again and let them dangle limply and bored at his sides. "All we did was work, yesterday! Mama Eda and Luz said we could play when everything was lit up! Well, they're a bunch of fibbers!" He spat and stuck his tongue out.

"And you're not gonna get to play until I'm done with the bed and King gets a nap." Gus retorted after King fell to the wooden floorboards and took the opportunity to sneak away, standing on his hind legs and stepping over all the creaky floorboards he had committed to memory.

"...Okayyy..." The Collector finally caved. Now I don't have to carry around wet sheets.

VVV 🎃 VVV

As much as Vee would've loved to stay in the shower forever, and loved even more to run a bath, Camila wanted to get to work early and probably told her coworkers she'd be there by now. The first few seconds when the water shut off were always the worst, when the first chill set in and mercilessly shook her spine. Stretching and shaking to get her blood pumping, Vee slid the curtain back to see some folded clothes beside the sink, she hadn't even heard the Human come in. The tile sent another chill through her, reminding the snake to wipe her feet on the mat and go over her legs with a towel before rushing out the door.

It was a sunnier day outside, a welcome break from the autumn chill but the breeze still had a bite to it. Waiting for her was a nice light blue button-up with a white collar and cuffs, still warm off the iron. She took a split second to savor the warmth as she laid it against her chest. Was she being selfish, making Camila wait just so she could soak up some extra warmth? It was an odd mix of gratitude and guilt she'd become painfully familiar with the last year. Why couldn't she just be happy living the life Luz left behind? Why couldn't she just appreciate the kind woman protecting her until that runaway came back and took it all away? But the warmth of her hugs and clothes were too good to give up, she didn't want to go on without them and didn't have a clue what she would do.

Growing a sufficient layer of fur on a Human was infuriating. And when she could, it was just itchy and rubbed against her clothes uncomfortably. It quickly got to the point she just shed everything but what was on her head and moved all of Luz's long-sleeve shirts and pants to the front of her closet door. If they had as much natural fluff as the apes she'd read about when catching up with her biology lessons (if Humans came from those and she was a snake, did Witches come from bipedal cats?) then it would've been a different story, but Human hair just wasn't worth all the scratchy trouble when an extra layer was so much easier on perfectly smooth skin. But what was her plan when that got taken away?

It hurt to love the warm shirt but it hurt to be taking it from Camila, though it hurt more to waste her time and money. She slid her arms into the sleeves, wrapped the warm and crips cloth tightly around her body for a quickly regretted moment, and fiddled with all of the white buttons. She shifted Luz's proportions slightly, not enough to be noticeable but making the shirt a little more comfortable. Vee was naturally smaller than her so needing to pull everything back in felt a little better than 'Luz with longer hair', this shirt must've been old. Maybe it was for an old formal event.

And next in the pile was it. 'Always Discreet Boutique' sounded really elaborate for 'incontinence underwear', the packaging put gently. It was light pink with some black flower and vine patterns along the top right side. Personally, she thought they should've used 'bouquet', instead. It had already been tampered with, being partially unfolded before it was buried in the center of her favorite lapis jacket. Camila probably checked it, first, putting it out in a way where she'd see the little strip inside the stretchy waistband like the tag on pants.

What if someone saw her!? What if Roastie was sick and Zoey stopped by!? He already didn't get enough checkups, she had to save up and take him all the time, she could show up today! What if Vee had to bend down for something and it peeked out from under her shirt?

"Vee, cariño, I understand it might be... embarassing... but nobody will know and you need to get used to them before Monday. It's never as bad as you think." Camila knocked on the door and spoke gently.

Her ears would've flicked and turned Camila's direction, had she been in her natural form, and her pupils widened. Maybe she was blowing this out of proportion. Why would Zoey bring Roastie in today of all days? Other than it being a weekend, what were the chances? Her face burned red hot and her hearts thundered slightly out of sync as she stepped into the leg holes. The pillow cupped her between the legs and the waist squeezed her sides gently and snugly. It made closing her legs a little awkward, but comfy. The pad was soft and slid over her human skin nicely. It crinkled as she moved, as light on the ears as it was on her skin. Although, if she was stuck with these, she wished they could be more vibrant. The Basilisk found it hard to believe this could hold much, it slipped off as easily as any other clothes and while it was soothing, the sponge was still just a pretty small strip taking up little space between her legs. Anything thicker would make walking difficult, though.

She'd been provided some nice black pants, also fresh off the iron. Vee wasted no more of Camila's time putting them on and did her best to keep her mind off of how warm they were on the pullups and her legs, they needed to go. Her jacket wasn't ironed but it felt like it just came out of the dryer, getting a hum of content to slip out just before she opened the door. Camila was waiting for her with two ziplock baggies that were steam-fogged on the inside with parts of tan grids where the sides of their waffles pressed against them.

"How is it?" Camila handed her a waffle bag and gestured for her to follow her to the car.

"They're... they're comfy... and soft..." Vee flustered, her voice cracking and face bright red.

Camila raised a brow, then looked at the time. She handed her one of the waffles and gently patted her back. While more than a little self-conscious about the way she walked, the Basilisk gladly followed and grabbed her new phone from Luz's room. She sat slightly higher in the car seat than normal, she tried to instead focus on munching on her waffle as the Human started the car and brought them to work. Once it was gone, her hearts began to speed up. Was her jacket rolled up anywhere? Should she have stayed home? Were any of her scales showing?

"Relájate, cariño, nobody can tell, just find the bathroom and tuck in your shirt when we get there." Her Luz's Mami lightly pat her head when they reached a stoplight.

"Right... right..." She nodded noncommitally. Maybe it won't be that bad.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Her small hands reached up for her Mom's raven hair, getting a smile out of the woman, showing her perfectly straight teeth, unlike her father's tooth-gap. The scene was always barely blurrier than Zoey wanted and honed in on her pale, freckled face and bright blue eyes, but focused. Her Mom reached out a wiggling little finger while holding one arm behind her back, letting her grab it as she awkwardly swiveled her arm forward. Precariously balanced in the palm of her hand was a bundle of bright fluff with floppy ears, a wagging tail, and a pink tongue swaying out of some short pearly teeth.

Roastie.

The Golden Retriever-German Shepard mix stumbled over his feet and out of her Mom's hand toward the tiny girl in her black bat onesie. She gave him as big of a hug as she could manage, giggling with her Mom as he licked her face and crawled over her. The puppy fell into her lap, toppled her over, rolled over her chest and crashed onto the carpet, struggled to get back on his paws, and scooted forward to keep licking her face while Mom scratched his back and behind his ears, sometimes getting him to turn around and lick her fingers before his attention span ran out and turned back to the Human ball in front of him.

"Time to get uuuuuuppp!!!" A fake, sickly sweet shriek interrupted.

The hazy scene snapped to black, her weight all fell to one side and her right arm was numb beneath her pillow, cut off by her head covered in messy, tangled hair. Please fuck off.That insufferable woman insisted on stomping around the house like she owned the place no matter who was still sleeping. Zoey shifted off of her arm and onto her back as the footsteps got closer. Please skip my room today, please. The door creaked open and loudly slammed against the wall stopper. Dammit.

"Helloooooo honeybug!" Karen yelled right in her ear.

Zoey winced and groaned. "Don't call me honeybug."

"Oh, don't worry! We'll find one that sticks!" Karen yapped as she flung open the curtains, blaring light directly onto Zoey's face. She dragged the comforter over her head. What your dumb nickname is isn't the problem.

"Then use my name." Her growl was muffled through the covers.

Karen, not taking the hint, waltzed over to her bed and tried to pull aside her sheets, but she kept a tight and irritated grip on them. "Aw, don't be that way, munchkin! How about we have some nice mother-daughter time today? I'm sure it'll make everything all better!"

Zoey begrudgingly cracked open an eye with an annoyed leer. "You're not my mother and your idea of a 'nice time' is crying about my wardrobe and trying to throw my shit away."

The woman frowned. "Really? After everything I do and get you, this is my thanks?" She huffed.

"All the nothing you're so busy with, the disgusting clothes I tell you not to get, that hideous doll I didn't want, and the pink paint I told you was never going on my walls? And everything else you got with Dad's money? Then yes, thanks for nothing." Zoey yanked her cover back over her face so she wouldn't have to stare at that stupid brunette who couldn't handle not getting what she didn't need and didn't deserve like a five-year-old.

Karen huffed, Zoey could tell she was standing over her with her hands on her hips with that gross 'holier than thou' face. "I'm going to take a shower and when I come out, you're going to be ready to sort through your closet and paint your room more appropriately for a young lady without those hooligans who think they're your friends."

She walked out like her presence was some blessing or she thought Zoey was going to chase her and apologize. Whatever delusion convinced Karen that she was a mother-figure to her or a friend, let alone a more worthwhile one than Zoey's actual friends, she didn't know, just that she loved to disappoint that aberration.

However, the slow snapping of small, dull nails, aging paws on the wooden floorboards, and panting outside her room got her to peek out of her blanket cover.

Chapter 15: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 3

Summary:

Vee trying to Human while poorly diapered and gets some quality puppy time. It's time to meet December Holiday.
Zoey avoids Karen and goes on a walk.
And the Introvert gets adopted!

feat. Chara's horrible sleep schedule.

Vee excused herself to the restroom as soon as they arrived, quietly rushing past the staff and hurting her shoulder as she bashed through the door. She took nearly a full minute obsessively adjusting her shirt and pants, double and triple and quadruple checking everything like her life depended on it. Her Luz's social life technically did but she didn't want that on her head, either. The Nocedas would skin her alive. The parasitic snake couldn't even bring herself to step before the mirrors and sinks while there still wasn't anyone inside. Fire flushed through her face when she did eventually wander out. Other than the bright red face on the plane of glass, she didn't look any different.

She gave her hearts another moment to return to normal before mustering the courage to step out again. Even if anyone Luz went to school with were here they wouldn't try anything, not with Camila and her coworkers around, Vee reminded herself. She just had to worry about wedgies and her jacket made it more trouble than it was worth, it wouldn't be suspicious to constantly wear it until Summer came back around. Maybe the real cosmic horrors in the world are other teenagers... Am I a teenager?

Little more than small, polite waves were exchanged between her and Camila's staff. Vee didn't know them but they never appeared to know Luz well, either. Nobody commented on how rarely she engaged with them and hardly any more talked to her enough to know how to strike up a conversation. And they hardly knew what she was really into, she'd spent a painfully long time speeding through the Good Witch Azura books with barely any reading comprehension but that didn't mean she wanted to spend more time talking about them, especially not with the online strangers on all the Human's fanfiction sites. Not like she knew her passwords, but that wasn't the point! She'd yet to master HTML, but AO3? She wasn't cut out for this.

The day started off mostly slowly and uneventfully. There were a few cats and dogs she was assigned to distract and play with so Camila or a coworker could administer a vaccine. She shredded some old documents and fetched supplies for everyone. It gave her plenty of time to linger in the lobby and, more importantly, play with puppies here for their first shots or to desensitize them to going to the vet. Vee was always their favorite, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe they knew? Could they sniff her out? In this specific case, she didn't really care, they were fluffy and gave kisses no matter what she was.

Birds would loudly chirp and squawk, trying to copy her and the younger Humans' voices. 'Big wings!' they would whisper-yell, and the fowl would chirp twice while ruffling their vibrant until they were taken away to be weighed or given a tiny cast for their leg. Kittens that weren't shy at all and hadn't been frightened by the horrible presence of medical equipment and strange people in masks yet, their claws hooked onto her clothes as they climbed all over her like they were giving as big of hugs as their tiny legs could. Their tails tickled her nose and their teeth gripped her sleeves as Mami Doctor Noceda took them away for their appointments. Puppies were much the same, pulling the ends of her jacket as they demanded a game of tug.

It was those ones Camila would 'need' her 'daughter's' help with. They'd nip her hands and hit her side with their tails. Far from the worst she'd ever dealt with, at least their pointy teeth and happiness meant no harm as they bounced around and repeatedly tried to escape the table. She'd have to fling a little rope toy around them, making them run in circles where they were meant to be so Camila could wash her hands and get a sterile needle. Their rough tongues and fluffy foreheads slid and bonked her chin while the Human took the opening to gently push them down and press the plunger.

Eventually, as they carried one of the patients back to the Lobby, Camila engaging in some minor side-chatter with the kind man who brought his little puppy in for treatment while Vee had her back turned to the door, a voice and pungent metaphysical perfume made her jump out of her scales.

Rain - Charcoal - Frostbite - Spice - Wood - Peppermint - Frostbite - Mistletoe - Hot Chocolate - Herbs - Citrus

"Heeeeeey~" A girl's voice announced herself.

Vee whirled around to see a Monster wandering through the doorway, a reindeer. Her black hooves had a small sheen and her left one had a small anklet of what looked like braided copper wires with a chiseled quartz centerpiece. Her jeans were torn at the bottom and knees and the belt was a nice, polished brown leather with a copper buckle. Her shirt was black but it looked torn apart, forced into the length of a crop top. Her underbelly was a light cream and what was left of the shirt had quite a few holes and frayed strings around the bottom. In white over the top, 'BITE ME' was written with the T replaced by a big shark tooth. Poorly draped over the Monster's shoulders was a simple black jacket with white cotton fluff around the hood.

She was covered in dark brown fur with more of her cream underlayer on her chin. The eyes above her black button nose were a pair of piercing purple eyes like the crack of lightning during a clear storm. Heavy black eyeshadow was plastered over her eyelids, though that was the only makeup she seemed to have, all her other features were perfectly natural and she was well aware how fabulous she was. Her hair was short and black as coal with a royal blue-purple streak through her bangs. A set of antlers peeked through her hair with a pair of white snowflake ornaments hanging from each of them. A purple backpack was slung over her left shoulder, a basic black hydro-flask sat in the net-like pocket closest to her while a wooden baseball bat was strapped to the other side. She boredly gripped the sash holding it up, her nails were black and her free hand blandly but politely waved, it had a purple and yellow friendship bracelet with a white bead on the loose string.

"Dess! Ralsei said not to bother her!"

Another one, slightly shorter with lighter fur but no difference in color on her underbelly coat, awkwardly cut 'Dess' off, standing between 'Luz' and the deer. Her hair was long, gorgeous, and gold. She wore an unbuttoned black wool cardigan over a checkered red and green shirt over a pleated black skirt. Some more friendship bracelets were wrapped around her wrist; one soft green and pastel pink with a black bead, another black and neon green with a red bead, a matching purple and yellow one with a white bead, and a purple and black one with a yellow bead. She had rich brown eyes and a bright red nose.

"Meh, you know me, sis, big botherer." Dess, presumably the older sister, waved off and looked around. "And how do you know I didn't wanna hang with the dogs?"

"Because three of them guard your school!" Does she mean normal dogs or Monster dogs?

Sizzling steak - Smoke - Pepper - Salt - Spice - Wildflowers - Birthday cake - Candy - Bubblegum - Honey - Grass

The growing swirl of magical smells were pushed to the back of her mind as Camila stepped forward and the smaller doe turned to them, poorly trying to shove her sister with both hands. Dess didn't even move. "S-Sorry!"

Camila suppressed a chuckle at the younger sister's expense while Vee, not very subtly, maneuvered just behind her. "The animals here aren't for everyone to come in and play with, hijas." She gently scolded.

"¡Por supuesto!" The girl exclaimed perfectly. "Mi nombre es Noelle y ella es mi hermana, December. I promise she's usually way more tolerable than this." Noelle spun to fully face the vet and elbowed her big sis.

"No idea what you're talking abou-'"OOOOOOKAAAAAAYYYYYY!" A fluffy white hand interrupted.

Ralsei was wearing a nice, light green sundress and a big hat dangled from his neck on a white string that blended in with his recently washed, still damp, bright white fuzz as he hitched a ride on Kris's shoulders. The gothic Human had a crisp, freshly ironed black long-sleeve and black pants with a white belt. A black beanie with lots of little skulls ironed on pinned down his damp brown hair and a black thread with a real bird skull dangling by the eye sockets bounced off his chest. Susie silently walked in next, finally trading out her varsity jacket for a big black hoodie. Vee couldn't see the collar of anything underneath besides the top of her torn jeans, similar to December's, when she stretched and rested her arms behind her head, letting Ralsei steady himself with her elbow. One of the nearby cats started chasing around the fluffy black fan of her long tail.

The goat nervously smiled. "I swear I just pointed you guys out, I didn't think she was gonna barge right in."

"Claramente." Camila sighed as Vee let out a giggle, relaxing her shoulders and slowly stepping out from behind her.

"Uh, hi guys." She gave a small wave. Ralsei gladly returned it while Susie and Kris just nodded.

"Do you know all of them, mija?" Camila asked, seeing a rapidly growing crowd of Monsters mingling right outside.

Mija, how she missed that word with all of both of her hearts. Vee nodded. "Most of them."

"All of us are exploring the town today! Wanna come?" The kind boy immediately offered, wrapping his arms around Kris's collar.

"I-I-I... I promised I'd help out here." The Basilisk mumbled.

Camila looked down at her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to spend some time with your friends?"

"I don't know." She fiddled with her hands. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad? At least one of them already knew what she was and he'd barely bat an eye since the bathroom incident. Then again, she'd barely knew him for more than a couple days, and she had no idea how much he talked about her over the week.

The vet sighed and put her hands on her hips, making Vee quickly miss the contact. "How about I send you pictures of all the puppies?"

Monster and Human alike chuckled as she perked. "...Okay..."

Ralsei got off of Kris's back and lightly grabbed her hands. "Come on, maybe we'll find Zoey!" He celebrated, bringing everyone out of the vet lobby so her bright red face blended in with the small colorful crowd.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey took a few minutes to cuddle with Roastie before she had to get up, it was always time well spent. All of his German Shepard came through on his face. He would jab her face with his nose like a bullet, though not with as much energy as he used to. His muzzle had grown bright white and lots of wirey whiskers tickled and prodded her face as he buried his face into her blankets. His dark brown eyes were old and tired, the precious spark behind them had long faded away to make more room for love. His big, triangular, and floppy ears would fold to one side when he thudded next to her. It was harder for his aching legs to jump onto the bed than when she was five but he never let her be alone once the door was open.

His tail didn't wag the same way but he still jostled the sheets and repeatedly slapped her feet. A lot of his blonde fur had turned white with time, leaving the end of his long-haired tail snowy and droopy, but it was just as special and wonderful to her now as it was over a decade ago. His breaths on her neck made her wince and cringe trying not to giggle as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. Roastie never minded, not now nor when she was a baby. Whenever she was sick or just lying down in general, he never failed to bop her on the nose with a paw.

But eventually, she had to get ready for the day. Zoey lifted the Golden Shepard off of her bed and gently set him down on the carpet so he could get up in his own time. She sorta badly made the bed so she could quickly snatch something from her closet and rush to the bathroom. Karen took long, wasteful showers but Zoey hadn't checked the time when she got the annoyance out of her hair. She just grabbed some gray sweatpants and a black top with a Venom face on it.

She reluctantly and patiently got Roastie out of her room and fetched a wooden doorstop and spare housekey hidden under her bed. After kicking it firmly into the door, she opened her window and hopped onto the tiling, shut it, and carefully lowered herself into the backyard. Zoey dashed to the front door and let herself back in, to fish around the cabinets for Roastie's leash. His collar was plain black but the leash she'd gotten when she was eight and the old one ripped was purple. He happily trotted up to her, or the closest thing the old dog could get to a trot, and sat very nicely so she could hook it onto his collar.

Zoey grabbed a little roll of baggies and a ziplock full of Milkbones, gave him one, and left before Karen got out of the shower.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Pumpkins!

Chara holed herself up in her room for the majority of the morning, waking up early with a dream stuck in her head that she had to put on paper before it faded. Pumpkins were big plants and pretty hollow, an enhanced one would be easy to empty out and fill with whatever she wanted; a little room, a bedroom, maybe a big diaper closet, there could be a tinkering room to test some small designs once she got a better hang of hands-on machinery, maybe she'd put it right next to a drawing area with tons of supplies lining the walls, one could be cut in half to make an overhang and balcony, and another one could be lined with metal to make a big rainwater tank.

This would be her new home. The castle had been gradually expanding to fit the full size of Area 1, pushing itself upward so the lower levels were on the surface and new additions could be constructed. A lot of the basic utilities had been moved to the lower levels so the trash was easily disposed of, leaving the higher levels mostly unattended besides the Guards and Royal Family. Even with the giant crystals atop the tall towers shielding the Castle from attack, there was a nice big space where a network of the giant fruits could be placed without taking up much space in general. Maybe she could have a Lego room! Or a Warhammer room! Could she fit a giant chessboard somewhere? What was she talking about? She was the princess of Monsters! She'd find a way! And she'd hide every door with a bookcase or a cool puzzle! Uncle Papy could help!

"Chara, my dear." Her door creaked open. "It is time for breakfast."

The demi-human turned to face the deposed Queen, dressed in her purple robe with a plain white apron around her waist. Chara was caught in just a black diaper with yellow, formerly white, stars and a black tank top with a black pacifier hanging from the string and clip on her collar. The light in her room was off, as she liked it, but Toriel flicked the switch on as she welcomed herself inside. The rest of their home smelled of cookies now that her door was open. Based on the tan stains on her apron, she set the batter ablaze just before fetching her.

"When did you go to bed last night?" She asked.

Chara turned back to her paper and kept sketching a vague, purely conceptual network of pumpkin houses. "I didn't check the time."

Toriel sighed and walked up behind her, gently lifting her out of her seat and cradling her. "I am sure you can finish drawing your golems in a moment. Right now you are going to take a nap and a bottle."

"Okay!" She was quickly convinced. She'd gotten down the general message she wanted to leave herself, anyway.

The Monster brought her to the corner of her room. The pile of diaper packages hadn't gotten much smaller with time but the opened ones were at least sorted nicely Chara used the star diaper one last time as Torial put her on the small table and looked through the compartment underneath. She selected a purple one with some dead black trees in the image's foreground and a winding castle surrounded by bats or birds in the background, along with two boosters.

When Chara was clean, generously powdered, freshly diapered, and sufficiently tickled and kissed, Toriel pulled off her sleeping top and carried her to her closet to pick out an outfit before her nap. The girl shivered, but it was a nice cold. The AC was nice on the remains of her dead, peeling human skin and bare pearly scales. Maybe Mommy could give her a bath and wash the rest off! Her Mama picked out some frilly ruby red plastic pants and a snappie shirt. They hugged her legs and waist snugly and the buttons clicking between her legs was always fun.

Chara collected some stockings and shoulder-length gloves, black with red hearts. They were self-made, as were a lot of her clothes, and made of nice warm wool. Toriel replaced her pacifier with a red one and clipped it onto a black jumper with a Monster Soul inside of a bright red Soul on the front and little pockets on the sides and beneath the hearts for her drawing stuff. She had a black eye cover pulled over her face, then was lifted up again. In the dark, she silently calmed herself with her binky and listened to Frisk and Asriel nudging each other, trying to mess up their opponent's game of Mario Kart. Heat swirled down at her feet and fire magic and sparkly embers danced around her legs, her pacifier was then replaced with a bottle of warm milk as she dozed.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"So if your rooves are mini-gardens and your wall things can mess with the rain, why do you need gutters when dirt clogs them?" Vee naively asked Catti, she being the only one she'd really interacted with besides Ralsei.

"Grass roofs are hard to make and maintain without those construction drones flying around. A lot of houses just put little nets around the garden parts, then the bigger stuff that builds up on those prevents most things from falling in the gutters. The pylons are only for protection from big storms; your hurricanes, snowstorms, desert winds; they don't get fired up every time there are some heavy clouds and some of the older ones need an electromancer who can fly to activate them, anyway.

The water the roof garden can't absorb carries debris into the gutters, the outlet pipe of those runs into a bunch of filters and drips into a huge tank. Different places have slightly different designs, land that's in the process of being turned from a desert to a forest or marsh needs finer filters for sand while mountainous tanks need to stop the water from freezing. Any excess wastewater gets poured out on the ground to make ponds and the rest is drinkable." Catti put matter-of-factly.

Vee didn't want to be a bother but she didn't know anyone here, just that they were all very kind. Prodding Catti for elaborate answers to little things about their home was all she could think to do, but it wasn't supposed to at the cost of getting on the scary cat lady's nerves! She and Ralsei were leading the group, everyone stuck together and lots of them had little, hand-drawn maps of the town. Those who didn't had paired up with a friend, friends they probably already knew well and whom she didn't want to intrude upon.

Catti looked a lot like Zoey, not just in her style. The Human she'd gotten to know usually had narrow eyes if she wasn't talking to someone else given the Cabin 7 pass; i.e. neither of them were patient nor did they have the tolerance for entitled narcissists. Vee wasn't Karen or Clara Amber Sousa, but she didn't want the cat to think of her as such. Ralsei would've been great to cling to at a time like this, his flowery scent and arcane presence of candy and honey matched his personality well, he could make her feel better if he wasn't already engaged with Kris. She couldn't quite tell what they were talking about, they seemed to flop between who was trying to hype up the other for something whenever she eavesdropped a new detail, all she knew was that she was that there was no way she'd take her chances getting between Kris and his Monster buddy.

Susie... was being herself. She didn't sound mean unless someone else started it, she kept to herself, but years of silent observation had taught her there was a difference between 'kind' and 'approachable'. Unless the lizard learned what she was between Monday and Friday, she hadn't said anything about it, and Vee wouldn't doubt she'd step in if someone gave any of them trouble. The Basilisk just wasn't ready to try her claws at striking up a friendly conversation with a fire-breathing dinosaur multiple times her current and true forms' sizes that could make most of Jurassic Park eat its heart out. Besides, she'd begun talking to a snake named 'Jockington' that coiled around her collar. Guess it wouldn't have mattered, anyway.

December was a... colorful character. Everyone seemed to know and love her but Vee didn't get the appeal. The older deer must've done something or was known for being one of the cool kids to get invited across the world to hang out with them. Either way, she looked no easier to talk to than Susie, her being armed with a club and dressing like she ate nails for breakfast didn't help ease Vee's constantly firing nerves. Not that she wasn't like that, anyway.

Noelle looked way more appealing. She rocked black in a less gothic 'metal everything' way (aside from what Kris likely introduced her to) and more of a 'this fits anything' way. She was more enthusiastically energetic than Dess's typically passive sassiness and general chill, so it was pretty inconveniently ironic that Noelle was absolutely frigid. Is the same way being near Susie warmed her up and Ralsei felt like walking through a field or quaint village, just being a short distance from the younger reindeer was like trying to tread a thick, impossible-to-navigate forest coated in an unforgiving layer of tough snow while new flakes were always pounding down, the overhead branches barely stopping massive snowpoffs from collapsing on her.

And standing roughly between her and Susie was a nightmare on her blood, she'd hoped to find an equilibrium so nobody would notice her shadowing the lizard but the two sensations just clashed, melding into one another instead of there being a line between them or blurring together. She reluctantly stuck to walking behind Noelle's portion of the sidewalk so she didn't get suspiciously, noticeably, or uncomfortably close to Catti. It was terrible for her energy.

"You can keep asking questions if you want." The cat offered.

"I-I didn't want to bother you..." Vee eventually admitted.

Catti paused for an awkwardly long moment, still walking but side-eyeing the disguised serpent. "...We're adopting you..."

"Huh?"

"Just don't interrupt, I don't mind the questions."

Chapter 16: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 4

Summary:

Mall day.
Zoey reflects on Monsters.
Mom-friend Willow.
Coffee shop day and discussing Monster politics. Vee gets a possibly self-destructive idea.

The surprise group's first stop was the Gravesfield mall. It was smaller than Vee would think and pretty out-of-the-way of the town but it had pretty much anything the Walmart didn't have, if at a hefty markup. This place had to know how long of a drive it was to get to somewhere cheaper, they could get away with almost anything. Leeching off of Monsters, apparently, wasn't one of them. Everyone came with their wallets, recently exchanged for some Human dollars, and returned everything they grabbed as fast as they picked it up. This mall's gonna drive itself into the ground and take Gravesfield with it. Ralsei continued to be the heart of the party, guiding everyone in the right direction and keeping them together.

Being around him, like Camila, made everything a little better. He and Susie were looking after her, she was safe with the hockey player and comfortable with the gardener goat. He knew what she was and hadn't done anything about it, not yet. She was safe with him for the time being and Susie's constant warm aura relaxed her, even if it was mixed with Noelle's blizzard. Vee did some minor window-shopping for clothes, finding many of the same absurd prices. It wasn't like she was going to buy anything, anyway, she didn't have any money.

December was at least willing to buy everyone pretzels and drinks from a nearby Auntie Anne's, since the rest of the food court was pretty packed and they'd just finished a fresh batch. The Basilisk got a little cup of pepperoni pretzels and marinara, hoping Camila wouldn't find out she'd had anything pizza-adjacent so soon in the week. Can't even stop lying to her when she's on the other side of town... Susie and Noelle were being a cute couple, exchanging bits of their pretzels as Ralsei and Kris did the same, then they switched partners. Are they all a thing? She didn't want to sound rude, but she didn't want to chance Catti's reaction-

"They're a thing." Oh.
"Thanks."

She'd also gotten a tall cup of lemonade for the day, since she hadn't thought to bring a water bottle. But this time it wasn't her fault! This time she really didn't think she'd be dragged outside! She hadn't wanted to borrow Zoey's water bottle, she just wasn't prepared. Other than stopping for some Dippin' Dots, nobody but most of the boys spent as much time here as they seemed to want to. The only other places they checked out were a few technology stores, they were mostly brought there by a cyan bird boy with a nasal voice and square glasses. As they were leaving, Vee couldn't help but glance into some of the toy stores. The action figures were bright and colorful, she didn't actually know most of the series they were from, but the stuffed animals looked precious!

Vee hadn't meant to stop the group before a shop full of plushies, she just saw a giant green snake with a floppy red tongue and beady black eyes coiled like a little puppy bed. Her false brown eyes sparkled in her reflection and her hands left small prints on the glass. She snapped to attention and looked around, thinking they moved on without her to find them waiting and whispering. Her face ignited red and she awkwardly joined the group. Would Catti be mad if she tried to stay by her side now? Would Susie keep her distance? Was Dess gonna talk about her with all her friends? Were they gonna laugh at her behind her back?

And where did Catti go?

"Here."

The snake yelped as quietly as she could when the cat suddenly appeared right next to her, handing her a little tote bag. The plushie's head poked out of the bag and its tail, a ridged plastic tube with a rattle, drooped through one of the handles. Vee gasped and lit up, trying to restrain herself from grabbing the bag right out of the Monster's claws. She shifted her eyes up and down between Catti's narrow yellow eyes and the bag like she was waiting for permission with fidgety hands. The cat lightly shoved the bag into her arms, she couldn't help giving it a big hug and smile despite the giggles beside her.

"What do you say?" Ralsei gently pat her shoulder.

Right "T-Thank you." Vee mumbled.

Someone (it kinda sounded like Noelle but she wasn't sure, she hadn't heard enough clear words from her) went 'aww' and Catti gave her a thumbs-up, then waved her along to keep moving. Ralsei took her free hand and brought her to the front of the gathering, right next to Susie and Catti while Noelle was with Kris and Dess, right across from them. With the mall mostly a bust, their next stop was a coffee shop called 'Robin's Roast'.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The sidewalks were sparse and the streets were clear as Zoey made her way through Gravefield. Strangely, there weren't many Monsters around. She'd heard some vague whispers that they wanted to explore the town proper today but she hadn't spotted anyone inhuman. They might've taken an odd route, maybe they were at the mall. It, the Historical Society, and some of the food spots were the only worthwhile things in this deadbeat town. Honestly, they might already be done and went back to Monster Territory, she wouldn't blame them for ditching this place for a month and a half of Halloween partying.

Goddess she wanted to go there. Who knows what could be waiting for her there! Little was known about what they did but it was surpassing Iceland as one of the best places to live. Massive forests of colorful trees blanketed the landscape in the few decent pictures of their lands from passenger airlines that grazed their airspace. Their castle was a sight to behold and there had to be better places to take pictures of, not just the giant, metallic white towers covered in gorgeous leaves and flowers that loomed taller than anything built before. Maybe a space elevator was next.

And there were so many places to choose from! Maybe she could get a nice lodge in the mountains, maybe she'd get free heating from the deepest parts of those giant trenches, or she could settle for a simple treehouse in the forests. She knew she wanted something more exciting than a house on the ground, but she was definitely aiming to have an apartment in one of those giant towers. For some amount of time, anyway, maybe she'd start out renting one of those. The vertigo would probably be hellish but she wanted to give them a try, maybe she'd love them! The cost of living was in the dirt, too, she might even be able to get by just on art.

Roastie whimpered behind her, tugging on his leash as they approached the edge of the forest. "Heyheyhey, what's wrong? What's wrong boy?" She bent down to his level and scratched behind his ears. The old dog shakily sat, then laid down, resting his head on Zoey's lap as she sat beside him.

"Okay, okay, we can rest here, bebe, okay." She muttered as Roastie huffed and tiredly licked his nose.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Warm water washed over Luz's back as she held her legs tight to her chest and tapped on her knees. Bubbles flowed down the drain as Willow held the showerhead over her hair and back. A purple towel was thrown over her head, and she ruffled her hair before a plant grew far beyond its pot to pick her up. Then, she was placed on a mustard yellow cushion that clashed with the rest of the bathroom. Her friend wrapped the towel around her shoulders and brushed her hair as Luz took back the gray feathers on the counter, waiting patiently as she could (so not very) to re-braid them into her hair.

"Thanks again for stopping by but you really didn't-"

Willow interrupted sternly. "Luz, stop, you're not bothering us." She turned to her Palisman. "Clover, can you get me some of her clothes and a diaper?"

Luz stiffened. "Nononononono! Not with Tracy here!"

"Have you... Okay, they got here a week ago, right?" The Plant Witch asked.

"Well, yeah." She shrugged.

"So you haven't been little that entire time?"

"Noooooo..."

Willow sighed and compromised. "We flew in on you in a wet bed so you're not getting underwear. Buuuuuut, I might be willing to give you a pullup if you're good."

The Human turned to the buzzing bee palisman. "Just... nothing too blunt, okay?" Clover flew off without a clear response. Great

VVV 🎃 VVV

The giant bee's wingbeats reverberated around Luz's room as her two little segmented legs pressed on the closet door handle. She carefully buzzed through the rows of clothes, making sure not to bump into anything as she skimmed her little outfits. It was odd to carry them but the hangers hooked onto her legs and stinger well enough. She picked a cute purple sweater covered in blue planets with green rings and pink dolphins with stars in their eyes, a pink jumper with a black bat on the front, and some sweatpants. The Palisman would have to make another trip back for a diaper or pullup, but those depended on what Willow decided to put Luz in, anyway.

Although, even in the short time she'd known the Human Witch, she had to admit the very idea of Luz asking for something subtle was hilarious.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Aye, I'm gonna head to the bathroom, real quick. Can you just get me the usual?" Kris asked.

"Half black coffee, a quarter hot chocolate, a quarter half & half creamer." Ralsei winked and gave him a finger gun.

Should I go, too? Vee hummed and fidgeted. She probably should head that way as well, but she came here for a hot cocoa! And she didn't want to bother someone else to get her drink for her. But what if her drink got called while she was in there? She didn't want to ask someone to hold onto it for her, assuming they would. It would be weird to try going in the bathroom with it, too, Vee wouldn't want to ditch someone with her chocolate. What if they left without her? This was Clara and her friends' favorite shop! Granted, it was the only good coffee place here. She'd totally run into them if she didn't stay by Susie.

The clerk's face turned to more and more dread as the line of Monsters gathered. She was fortunate enough to be by the leaders of the Gravesfield invasion so she could order her drink pretty early and would definitely get to have some pumpkin spice and whipped cream on top. Vee fidgeted in the corner while Ralsei, Noelle, and Susie chatted, waiting for Kris. Catti was still in line when Kris returned. I probably could've gone while they made my cocoa... They found a seat together, dragging two round tables a little closer together, making space for eight. The Human and his partners all sat together, he and Susie at the far end while Ralsei was next to Vee on the other table and across from Noelle.

December sat across from the Basilisk after Catti took a seat next to her, leaving an empty space across from the cat until an orange, raptor-like Monster snatched it. She had a gold necklace with the emblem of Monster Kind on it like a little shield. Vee believed it was a 'Delta Rune' but wasn't sure, studying their culture and history wasn't high on the long list of topics she still needed to catch up on. Whatever it was, she kinda reminded her of a 'Scraggy' from one of Zoey and Immanuel's favorite games.

All of them found something to talk about except for Vee. Kris was droning about the boring drinks Human shops had to Susie as a green snake with sunglasses coiled around her shoulder; Ralsei, Noelle, and Dess were talking about some spelling tournament, while the new Monster and Catti were discussing magic. She caught in passing that the new people's names were Macy and Jockington, both of which she'd mostly missed today and throughout the week. They seemed nice but she wasn't sure how to approach them, Catti said not to interrupt her, Kris and Susie were intimidating, and it sounded like none of them had spent much time with Noelle for a while. She just downed her cocoa and fidgeted silently.

"So, Catti gave you a little Arcanagrams lesson?" Macy suddenly asked.

"U-Uh, yeah... Just a quick one..."

The Scraggy Monster chuckled. "You're way ahead of my little brother, then, Noelle still tutors him on math."

A white wisp gathered by her side, forming a spectral, clawed hand that pulled her drink closer to her mouth as Noelle piped up. "Aw, don't be like that! Marcus is doing great!"

"What's school like for you guys?" Vee barely looked up from her hot chocolate. "S-S-Sorry."

"It's a lot more helpful than Human school. We have to learn stuff we'll use." Catti muttered while looking at her phone.

Macy sighed. "All the garden projects are all pretty fun if you have decent arms." She wriggled under her poncho, unfurling a small set of pretty short orange arms with yellow claws before stuffing them back beneath the wool.

"We're supposed to have at least one trade class but we're allowed to take extra during Summer. I started working on plumbing at a weird time so I finished that and construction last Summer, I'm doing mechanics now." Kris added.

"And I did lumberjack crap, Kris talked me into doing steelworking over Summer." Susie joined.

"There's this huge garden on the roof that just got added to our school and some mini-planters replaced the slanting tiles. The science teachers use them to teach about runoff and why it's important to have lots of forests and plants to counter natural disasters, but they're just a lot of fun to take care of, too."

"Of course you love manual labor." Dess chuckled. "My dormmates and I just let the Guardeners keep everything alive and replace them if one of us looks at a flower wrong."

Vee disguised crossing her legs as shifting to face the goat's side of their poorly combined table while anxiously tapping her cocoa cup.I-I gotta go potty, I don't wanna get on their nerves. "Does every house have a bunch of plants for a roof?"

"Most next to mountains and hills do, the cover stops the plants and dirt from weathering. Everything else is either covered in solar panels or has a bunch of contained gardens." Catti muttered.

"There are some old Human buildings standing around but most of them are overgrown and barely hanging on."

"Yeah, I used to crash in one." Susie nodded, bouncing the hair over her eyes up and down. "Anything else that isn't built into the ground is probably carved out of a tree or giant mushroom. There's probably more, people get creative when the only limit on their decor is 'nothing sexual', I bet someone out there made an orb house or something."

"D-Did... did you get kicked out?" Vee's trembling, real, raspy voice peeked through her disguise, regretting the question the second it left her mouth.

The lizard shrugged it off. "Nah, just packed up, ditched the old dweeb, and set up shop in one of the tower cities. Technically it's in another Area, but the Sector's the same so the law doesn't care."

Vee paused, momentarily forgetting to squirm. "Y-Y-You... you can just l-leave?"

Susie set down her black coffee. "I mean, terms and conditions apply, but yeah. If you pass a test for some craft, mine was cutting down the right trees in the right way, and have certain grades you can bail. As long as some neighbors check in on you and you take care of your place, you're good to grab some random-ass apartment somewhere. And you don't have to deal with as much address paperwork for school if you're in the same Sector."

"It's a newer law. S'posed to give responsible kids in unfavorable Districts an easy way out. I didn't know Susie's room could be clean." Dess snarked and sipped her drink, almost spitting it out wincing and laughing as something heavy shook the ground beneath the table.

Could she go there, too? Maintaining a Monster form in a land filled to the brim with magic would be way easier than a Humanoid one in a magicless wasteland. And something like a snake form could take less magic than being Luz's copy, she'd probably get ignored as a bigger Juockington. Heck, maybe she could move around in her true form! There were so many of them and they were all so different! What if she could finally get away with it? "B-But what if someone has no Parents? O-O-Or family? And a-aren't good at anything? Where do they go?"

They stopped, then Susie groaned. "Uh, right, Humans have that... Fester System?"

"More accurate than the real name." Kris seethed.

"Yeah... Uh, we don't have that. If a kid's... unlucky, we just find somewhere. No nonsense. I got my own place recently, anyone could figure something out."

"Schools tend to be fifteen minues away from mass shelters, just in case, any Neighborhood Watch center or Royal Guard outpost is the same distance away, they always have a spare escort." Catti added.

"Nah, you won't need 'em, anyone can just pick a direction and walk. It's tubular! You don't need the man!" Jockington yapped from the purple Godzilla's shoulder, almost flinging his sunglasses off his head.

Could she make it work? Could she escape?

If she could get there, could she be free?

Chapter 17: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 5

Summary:

Sammich time. Kris freaks Vee out with the power of Ireland.
Roastie loves people, Zoey hates them. Small-town nepotism.
Vee's search for a Sheriff (and a bathroom).

feat. Martlet's house.

The gentle rush of water trickled down beside the small road Martlet walked along. Each set of her talons left four little dots in the fine sand path, masked by the shadows of the tall trees about her and the dark of the night. It was early morning (technically, at least, it being right after 12) but the orange hue of the Sun had yet to peek over the horizon. Little cloth ghosts and mini reapers dangled from the branches and were entangled by colorful leaves. Jack-o-lanterns lined the road, keeping a flickering gold glow on the sand. There were a few very early risers out and about but the majority of the night was full of nocturnal folk. She'd probably regret finishing the next play at this hour but that was a problem for the early bird.

Some crows and ravens were flapping through the air above the dense leaves but most were asleep, odds were one of them just got caught by a hungry owl. Other than those silently flying terrors, the night sky was quiet and empty. A few foxes trotted through the bushes beside her, some of them would glance at her from the cover of a rotting log, unaware or uncaring of the glowing mushrooms casting their many different rainbow shines right on their bushy little tails. Maybe Ceroba was spying on her, they loved their Kitsune. Did she owe her something? A pretty inconvenient question when that was something she hoped not to remember.

The fungi around the path hadn't lit up, confused by the glare of the flaming pumpkins and gourds and turnips, if they were the luminescent type, but just a few paces away were the light blues and greens arranged in lines following the small streams, the yellows and reds spotting the ground, the whites and purples mingling with the roots and flowers. Within holes in the bark sat dens of squirrels and hidden bird nests, leaving empty gaps where the birds of prey had begun their hunts and raccoons began their heists. Her backpack full of props and a costume bounced as fireflies flashed and hummed in her wake.

Martlet came up on her home; a treehouse carved out of the branches by her own claws and fashioned into a custom treehouse stretching between two treetops. She unfurled her wings and extended her underlayer of long feathers, the new golden spots on their edges sparking with gold electricity as she threw herself to the top. Her cabin was nestled nicely in the center of the tree, as was its connected workshop on the other plant. Honestly, she didn't remember the last time she used the ladder, maybe when she was moving in.

Though she was far from an official Phytomancer, she had developed a bit of a green claw with Starlo's help and grew back the branches she used for her carpentry and when building the treehouse. There was an indoor overhang where her bed was stuffed into the far corner, across from a small desk with a drawer built into the left side where she kept her mail. It was a messy little cabinet, her personal files and different types of work requests from all around being sloppily stuffed into barely defined folders forced to fit in the small space.

The couch was right underneath the overhang, right in front of a coffee table with some potted aloe next to a picture of the four in front of a memorial to the Soul of Justice, the little boy's name engraved on a gold plate attached to a slightly pyramid-shaped cube with a cowboy hat carved on top. Her TV was just the circuitry placed into a wooden frame of her own making, the entire thing was way cheaper to build herself and have Dalv hook up to the cable and streaming than buy something from another country or whatever the closest Trench City that produced such a thing was offering. She could just pop it open to make any modification or repair she wanted, too, no oddly specific screwdriver necessary. There'd already been more than a few times she'd said 'screw it' and pried the case open with a crowbar.

She sat her backpack by the door and leaned out of the far window, but she'd already picked all of the crabapples off that branch... and the bananas... and the purples... This is what I get for only taking from one spot. With her usual window out of stock, she shut the glass and went past the small bookcase on right of the TV, toward the door on the left. Some leaves tickled the top of her head as she walked across the short bridge to the other segment. Her workshop was stocked full of sharp tools and spare scraps of lumber strewn about the corners without rhyme or reason. Although, she would argue they were in all the places closest to where she might need them, which was pretty much everywhere unless you divided the wood by size or shape (then it was a little less disheveled).

There was another window across from the door, right on top of a table with a leather strip with pockets for finer tools, that was where she brought logs for detail carving, that way she was right in front of the breeze and light while working on the longest part of a project. Her feathers grazed the edge of another table built into the right wall, where a moving buzzsaw system was built into it. Some measuring tools, a few chalk lines, and a cup of pencils were nailed over that section while the other side had her handsaws and screwdrivers and hammers; where she'd put furniture together after measuring and carving everything.

Her elongated feathers extended around a crabapple, feeling it pinch one of them as she drew it in. From there she just retracted the feathers into her wing, burying the fruit in her normal cyan layer on the way back to the main house. Martlet didn't bother with the little kitchen area under her overhang, simply flapping her wings up to the bed and cleaning the food with a snap of her claws. Wrestling with the pincer was a little annoying but that was an annoyance that didn't involve her walking around again, so she was willing to tolerate it. Her beak and sharp, short teeth pulled apart the crabapple as she flicked on the TV from the upper area to watch the news from bed.

The reporter was nobody special; another Bird-Folk like she once was, with a bit of a gratingly high voice. But Star was there! She hadn't heard of him stopping by the Humans' lands, but they were recording right in front of the school where Kris's transfer program was. They called the town 'Gravesfield'? Known for it's graveyard? ...Better than 'Star Area'... I think... She dragged a talon along the thin seam between one of the crabapple's meaty claws and pecked the stringy, nutritious insides as Starlo was interviewed. It was quickly starting to sound like she missed some context, 'something' being detected but not sighted in the woods around the town, which eventually led to the Shooting Star Sheriff being called in to coordinate the investigation effort.

Being bone tired didn't help but she wanted to get a headstart on this, Kris and his partners went there. It didn't sound like anyone had been hurt yet but Star was a calm, collected person when he needed to be, it was a skill he was forced to learn since Clover fell, she couldn't tell how severe this might be. Odds were this would blow up by the morning. They were running on opposite hours to Monster Kind, it was passing midday for them. The kids should start talking all about it when the sun rose and they returned home, assuming they knew what this was all about. If they didn't, then the late-night media was probably just grasping at straws for something to put on air or they hadn't been targeted... not yet.

Dang, morning Martlet's gonna have a lot on her plate. She groaned as she quickly tore apart the crabapple. Gonna be a long night, now...

VVV 🎃 VVV

The group began to head out for lunch at Camila's (and the real Luz's) favorite sandwich place. Vee hadn't meant to bring that up to everyone else, she left herself out of that, she just wanted to contribute but brought a bunch of attention down on her. She didn't have a problem with it, any food at all was a blessing, but it was pricy and she didn't have money. They didn't seem to mind, though. Ralsie was happy as always to pay for her and the rest had exchanged their own G for dollars. She held the baggy with her beloved snake plush in front of her to hide her awkward walking. I should've asked to go before we left... I don't wanna hold everyone up.

Ralsei encouraged her to get something but she didn't want to take any more from them... unless it was cheesecake, cheesecake was the best when Zoey got it first... She'd intended to relieve herself while they were in line, but what if it looked like she abandoned them? The Basilisk relegated herself to saving a table. Vee sat outside, around the corner of the building at a booth with squishy seats, hoping to be out of the way and out of sight as she squirmed.

She wrapped an arm around the bag, setting it on her lap to hide how she stuffed her other hand between her tightly crossed legs and rocked in place. Her fingers grazed the wrinkles and plentiful imperfections in the faux leather as she looked for something to distract herself with. Susie sat across from her with a giant ham sandwich, followed by Noelle with a smaller turkey one. Ralsei and Kris were right behind them, across from Dess and Catti. Just as she hummed a personal thanks for nobody blocking her from the opening of the booth, Jockington and a cat... dog??? A snowy white cat-dog monster with black hair and a strange speech pattern coiled and sat beside her.

The mossy green snake was friendly and the 'Temmie' meant well, but she REALLY had to go. I'll make it, I'll show Camila I'm not a little kid she has to look after. I can take care of myself. Vee squirmed with newfound Determination, how much it would help her had yet to be seen. Jockington was nice and enthusiastic, she tried to keep up with his energy without leaking but couldn't help letting him take control of the scene. She didn't want to seem rude or like she didn't appreciate the company, but he was admittedly a little overwhelming. His and Temmie's distinctly different chatter blurred into a linguistic mess she took noticeably longer to decode than the rest.

"I've had better." Susie licked her lips. When did she eat all that?

"Ye all tree ruined sandwidches fer me, nun of tis is even good anymore!" Kris blurted, nudging Ralsei and sitting up to face Susie and Noelle.

"What?" Vee muttered.

Kris, clearly not getting what she was lost on, continued animatedly. "Ain't notin' stand Monsder food. Nutin's allowed be imporded, notin' meets the qualidy standards now. Everytin' gets made right off the branch. Tere ain't a package sayin' 'Fresh Shrawberries' and flip it over and see a list of preservatives sure. And ye can see where shops get the meas from can'cha? Oh, 'it's poison', says she. Tere's evil chemicals all o'er it, says she. It's the Devil's work, says she. And tose old redcaps wondered why tey were big for the doors." Kris rambled as if she could understand a word he was saying.

"To be fair, those doors are too small."

"W-Was that Common?"

"Is a Vewy refoined Tongue." Temmie hummed.

"Gotta problem wit my accent in me, do ya?" Kris half-snarled at her.

Vee stammered over herself and hid behind her plushie bag while Ralsei stepped in. "Nono, Kris, be nice to her."

The Human chuckled as she collected herself, not able to stop a leak... or five. Her pullup felt intact, though it was hard to tell. Two warm and wet lines trailed beneath her but she didn't think they were seeping into the seat. I can't believe this is something I have to worry about.

"Yeah, sometimes it slips out." Kris laughed off, returning to his still heavily Irish but understandable voice.

"S-S-So you're not m-mad at me?" Vee quivered.

His face fell. "...No... Just forget it..."

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Gravesfield Clinic might've been one of the only notable things about this washed-up town, aside from the graves. Everyone brought their pets here, even some people from the town over. Roastie loved it, he'd been brought here as a puppy to be desensitized to the needles and strange smells. Zoey was vaguely aware the staff loved him, his plentiful kisses and best attempts at hugs, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd come with him. He happily and unsteadily followed her inside. There were only a few people here with her; a couple of kids playing with a cat, an old lady reading the newspaper, and some guy playing on his phone. A lady she didn't recognize in teal scrubs, 'Deanne', according to her nametag, was manning the front.

"Excuse me, is Dr. Noceda busy?" She asked as Roastie mustered the strength to jump up, leaning against the counter and smacking the little bell with his paws.

Deanne chuckled and scratched behind the old dog's ear, brushing aside her brown hair as she leaned back. "Hey, Carmin, is Camila available?"

'Carmin' she recognized, Luz talked about her. She'd worked here since she was a kid. "Just a sec!" She hollared.

Both of them gave Roastie some pets as they waited for a verdict. Camila soon rounded the corner. "Hola, Zoey, what can I do for you?"

"Look, I know he was here last week, but I swear something's off about him. It's getting hard for him to walk-"

"Last week?" Camila cut in.

Zoey raised a brow. "...Yeah?"

The women glanced between each other before the Doctor turned back to her. "Roastie never came last week, cariño"

"But my Dad was supposed to bring him."

Deanne clicked and clacked away at the old, boxy receptionist computer. "There was an appointment scheduled but it was a no-show." She explained.

"Dammit Dad." She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the leash. "How much is it to get a checkup?" Zoey nervously asked. Please be cheaper than the memes say please be cheaper than the memes say-

"Wellllll-" Shit. "Tell you what, since you're une Amiga de mi bebe, I can give him a mini-check while we're not busy, okay?"

Zoey took a deep, grateful breath. "Thank you."

VVV 🎃 VVV

"And ten we have tis shupid bidch back wit us wonderin' why only the little gobshites are happy see her again, I tink her name was Amy."

"It was Amanda."

"Right, right, sorry. So the older ones of us are all goin' 'Amanda, you're one of the ones supposed be here, Ceroba forgot she had her own house on her.'"

Vee couldn't help a little giggle as she desperately tried to keep her composure. The Human had to be exaggerating but he was so animated and bright when he was talking about 'Ceroba'! It almost made noticing the two wet lines she'd been sitting on at the sandwich place worth the humiliation and embarassing fumble to write it off as something spilling when she wiped it down.

Apparently, he could see her doubt, which didn't help her keep control. "You tink I'm jokin', do ya? You should've see her when Mardlet asked when the last time she'd been home was, you could see it on her face! 'Oh, yeah, I got a house left alone on me' she went! She after sleepin' on the couch in the Lobby the last two weeks!"

She tried not to chuckle again, she'd already leaked and didn't want to let Mami Camila down any further. These were nice pants and she didn't want to ruin them more. It helped that her attention was elsewhere. As the group of Monsters dispersed for the day, sufficiently disappointed by the Human town, and headed for the little temporary shelter, the Basilisk noted a gathering of diverse Monsters in suits of armor. She'd spotted them in the distance when she'd been brought out fo the clinic but there were definitely more of them, now, and some were having a chat with Humans in a familiar blue uniform next to some old cars with flashing blue and red lights.

Vee had heard some pretty bad horror stories about corrupt cops in fiction and reality alike, as well as some just trying their best, but she wasn't sure how many officers were deeply familiar with the statutes they were enforcing; they were peacekeepers, not lawyers. She expected something similar from the Royal Guard but maybe there was a Lawman among them? Or at least one who knew the immigration policy better than the mess of whiners and loudmouths on the internet. Really, she supposed, she was looking for someone with training.

Whoever she was after could wait; they were obviously in the middle of something, now they had to handle the swarm of kids looking to get home, and she still really needed a bathroom. Hopefully, there would be the type of Monster there when she came back.

Chapter 18: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 6

Summary:

Zoey bails on the everyone Mama. Roastie is definitely okay. Camila talks to Cool Aunt Lilith.
Willow takes care of Luz. Tracy is annoying.
Vee ponders the escape. Caregiver Ralsei

Camila wound up missing the horde of inhuman children going home as she brought Roastie and Zoey to one of the empty rooms. He was always an ángel de un perro, heading for the table without being told and not needing help some years ago, but giving the pup a leg-up when it was time for his checkup was no trouble. Zoey showing up was new, though. Vee talked about her a lot, totally platonically, and she often played by her own rules. As far as Doctor Noceda was aware, this was the first time she'd properly attended a vet visit, and it showed in the uncharacteristically awkward way she looked about the room.

She pet her dog as Camila gathered some minor equipment. It was nothing that would suffice as an official checkup but she had time and it might soothe the girl's worries for a while. If her Dad wouldn't take care of them, she would. Roastie was in good enough condition on the surface, just an old man who wanted treats and scratches behind her floppy white ears. He had some long and wiery white whiskers and scruff around his chin that tickled her hand as she asked some basic questions about the pup's diet and anything he'd done or might've gotten into recently.

Zoey was much more helpful than her Father and Karen. She knew every little detail about this fluffy little angel, the other two were nightmares to pry anything useful out of and apparently couldn't even take Roastie in when they were the ones meant to be on top of scheduling instead of taking time out of a random day to make sure their baby was doing alright. As far as Camila could tell with the little timeframe she and the girls had, Roastie was just getting up there in years; swaying as he walked and dragging his hindlegs so his nails were a little scuffed. She would've loved to do some bloodwork and some other tests but this intervention was already coming out of her wallet, and right when she'd wanted to keep a closer eye on her finances for Vee and Luz.

Camila planted a little kiss on the pup's forehead and held his paw. "His breathing is a little funny but it looks like he's just having some trouble with his joints, Hija. I can give you some Meloxicam but I have to get back to work soon."

"Thank you Miss Noceda." Zoey smiled, pretty obviously not knowing what Meloxicam was but trusting her pretend-friend's Mami's judgment, and walked up to the table.

Roastie turned around as fast as he could to get slobber all over the girl's face and poke her with his nose. His hindlegs slipped limply and clumsily around the table and buckled beneath him before Camila helped him to the floor. "Tell your padre to pay for Roastie's appointment and send you to attend. If not, I'd prefer he comes instead of that 'Karen' lady."

"You and me, both." Zoey sighed.

Camila couldn't help but wince and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "No different at home, is she?"

That got a chuckle out of her. "Has she asked for the manager yet?"

The Doctor got a laugh as well. "She still acts surprised when I don't give her everything she wants."

They parted with both of their moods a little lifted and Roastie getting his first pill in a bundle of peanut butter. It would take a little time but he should be walking better by the time they got home. She had a few other minor appointments to take care of but the rest of the day was also pretty uneventful. Vee, for all the time she spent playing with puppies and petting kittens, was really a huge help who set them way ahead of schedule. It was only the set-in-stone appointments left in the day, leaving everyone plenty of time between checkups and a minor procedure.

Camila found herself a quiet, empty space in the breakroom while the girls were either talking or tapping away on their phones. They were more than capable of handling the next checkup themselves as she flicked through her text messages, hoping against the odds for something. Had her baby tried to call her? Was there a new text waiting for her? Had Luz managed to slip another video though? Despite everything, there was one new message gathering dust in her notifications.

She tapped on it faster than she registered where her thumb was, ending up having to sort through other popups to get to her texts anyway. The video was from Luz's phone and set in the same, gradually cleaned and renovated room most of her videos took place in, but the woman in front of her wasn't her daughter. It was an older lady with a pale green tunic shirt with a gold necklace and a leather vest. A nice, long red skirt pooled at her knees and her long black hair was curly at the end. Her mismatched light green and gray eyes peered through a pair of big round glasses as some awful, horrifying brown tube with an owl-like face attached to a white birdhouse with a red roof and brown backpack straps loomed over her, trying to explain what buttons to push in a terrible, high-pitched voice.

"Wait, I think it's on." The lady scooted away from the phone camera.

"This is the part where she starts talking." The disgusting bird-tube hooted.

Camila gratefully huffed and leaned in as the strange woman adjusted herself to take up more of the frame. Did something happen to her bebé!?

"Allow me to start with what I believe to be your main concern; Luz is alright." Thank goodness. "Forgive me for assuming your second is who I am. My name is Lilith Clawthorne." Sounds like one of her anime characters. "I am Edalyn's older sister... Luz mentioned she didn't know which of her messages got through to you, so I should mention Edalyn is the one taking care of Luz for the duration of her stay."

That piece of work she was aware of. Vee had mentioned what extremely little she knew of 'The Owl Lady' she knew when Camila asked; she was an extremely powerful witch and a renowned criminal. Considering she was caring for her daughter and a 'criminal' to people who clearly did something to the shapeshifter, she had mixed feelings.

"I happened to come into possession of some information regarding the one masquerading as Luz, Subject 5-" THAT'S VEE TO YOU. "...I am deeply regretful to inform you that I have... I have an extensive history with her and her kind."

"I am the former Head of the Emperor's Coven." The what? "And while I neither had a hand in their creation nor spent much time around them, I am distantly aware of them and witnessed the circumstances of their... 'housing'..." Quit talking around it! "My presence was often used to 'keep the peace' before the incident." OH FOR THE LOVE OF MY SANITY JUST SAY WHAT 'THE INCIDENT' WAS! THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN IN MOVIES! "I thought, if you weren't already aware, you might like to know to be careful of her spine and to remove the piercing on her tail." Vee has body decorations?

"I'm afraid I don't know if there is a time limit to how long this can go on, so I will end it here. If it is not too much to ask, please, tell her I am so sorry... Farewell... How do you turn this off?" The witch crawled forward and fiddled with Luz's phone until the recording ended abruptly.

¿Qué?

VVV 🎃 VVV

"They can't see me like this!"

Willow stifled a small chuckle. "You'll be fine, Luz. He just wants to play, he doesn't care."

"I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE BIG SISTER! HE'S SUPPOSED TO COUNT ON ME!" Luz whisper-yelled, choking up.

Willow leaned down and gave her a light hug. "And now he's gonna count on Willow and Augustus. It'll be okay! Just play and watch the crystal ball, the two of us only have to take care of things until Eda gets back." She assured the Human before grabbing her hand and tugging her up from the ugly yellow cushion.

Clover picked out a cute sweater she vaguely recalled seeing Luz wearing in one of their memory classes and a sweet little jumper, it was starting to get cold but she went back and forth on whether or not the purple sweats were a bit much, eventually deciding not to send her Palisman on another trip and got Luz into a pink pullup. Getting her diapered was still on the table, if she leaked or didn't behave. But it didn't look like that would be a problem, Luz was more nervous than upset.

As they went downstairs, exactly what she expected to happen took place. King didn't bat an eye and Tracy, after levitating Luz's sheets into the washer, just wanted to play tag. The Star Child flew around the living room as the small pup ran around the floor, trying to keep up but quickly resigned himself to the couch. He curled up into a ball as the Collector poked his back and skull for him to keep playing, mostly overlooking Luz in favor of the cute little bundle of fluff. Gus was still in Luz's room, tending to the mattresses before coming down as well. All they had left was to wait for the sheets to be done. Emmeline crawled down the banister with one of Luz's toys, an Azura doll, curled around her tail.

That didn't stop Tracy from trying to get Luz to chase them. The Human clearly wanted to work on some Glyphs and test some minor combinations with The Good Witch overseeing her and checking her calculations, her attention also bouncing to the crystal ball every few seconds, but the floating boy insisted on bothering her. Breakfast needed to be made, though, and it beat trying to get a handle on them. Griffin eggs would suffice; it gives Willow a little longer before she has to deal with Tracy without being too time-consuming. With any luck, Eda would be back when she was done.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Immanuel and Alex, thankfully, weren't hanging out at the park as usual. Vee didn't want them to see her playing with a baby rattle on the end of a rattlesnake plush that was clearly just for her. There were no small kids around she could vaguely gesture to and say she was just holding onto it for them. No way for her to hide her new toy and play with the rattle without someone she knew putting the pieces together immediately. At least Ralsei, his partners, Catti, and December didn't mind; they were all talking about their favorite video games while the goat picked a few of the withering flowers.

And she was just using the rattle to cover up her fidgeting and rustling, honest! The cold bench made it hard not to focus down there so her the rattle was a welcome distraction. It hurt, but the rattle took her mind off of it. She didn't want to just walk away from them, especially not when one of them was the only friend who knew what she really was. Besides, they were nice! Kris was funny when he opened up. Susie was muted and so casually cool like Immanuel, and even being around her was so warm! Then Noelle was super smart and her sister, while a bit brash, kinda distantly reminded her of Alex and Zoey. Catti looked and acted a lot like Zoey, they had a fascination with unorthodox magicks to match.

Their other friends weren't bad, either. Temmie was hard to understand at times but way easier to listen to than Kris with his full accent, he shared her love of math and budding skill with finances and economics. Macy was easier to talk to than the rest, being more relaxed and lower energy than many, Susie was a close rival when she wasn't paired with Kris and Catti was the only one who beat her for calming uncaringness, she was a nice generic chatter buddy when after Vee was drained by the day. Jockington was a more fun and exciting person to follow around; joining Susie, his 'scale pal', in her misadventures and being an encyclopedia of sports and video game knowledge in his own right.

Granted, a lot of that involved Monster-Kin media and memes she wasn't familiar with, but she wanted to be! He didn't mind slowing down to explain his jokes and references if it meant more time spent talking about his interests. Vee didn't want to interrupt him, anyway, she didn't want to risk slipping up by saying too much about herself. Plus, she couldn't tell if he'd be as interested in Human topics, even if she were confident she could provide. Immanuel would be a riot when Jockington wasn't, she had a feeling they'd get along after a few hours mingling their species' franchises, even though most of the Monsters' still consisted of Mettaton rebrands and subsidiaries.

Alex, she thought, might mesh well with Susie and Kris. Chaotic, energetic, protective. They and Susie would lift weights and pull some pranks with Kris. Dess was a nice middle ground between the Human and Monster. Macy might be another good mix for the both of them, she seemed chill but the Basilisk hadn't learned much about her in the short time they were together, Zoey wasn't the raptor's(?) type of girly so they'd have to have something interesting in common. It didn't sound like Macy was up for giving the goth a magic lesson. Catti, though, might be willing to share some magic with Cabin 7, Vee sure hoped so.

Immanuel's support, he was always a rock when she needed and a shoulder to cry on during bad nights, even when Summer Camp had just started and they knew next to nothing about each other. He was gentle with her, he let her wind down. She'd miss his calmness and patience with her constant bothering and stressing. Alex was like a second Susie, they'd butt heads with anyone who got on their nerves and was a fun reading partner in the few short English classes they shared, and they only playfully teased her and encouraged her when she inevitably failed to lift half the weights they did. She'd miss sharing a good book with them.

And Zoey... Zoey was sweet when she let you near, she just loved to talk about magic and history, then put up with pretty much anything when after she got her say in. She was a masterful storyteller who captivated the snake with her recountings of Gravesfield's past. There wasn't much of it; mostly mysterious disappearances and tall tales of strange creatures 'sent by the Devil' to stop the colonizers' encroachment of the New World, but she made it feel like hours of riveting lore explored through a winding plot full of unexpected revelations.

A long series of biased documentation and repeatedly rewritten accounts of people being spirited away in the night by horrific beasts brought to life by the land's 'false idols', diseases and famines wrongfully pinned on the natives to fraudulently justify mass slaughter, and murders by unknown and unseen creatures in the dead of night based off no evidence were brought to life by the Human. Her voice was so nice, Vee could listen to it for hours on end and often did when the opportunity presented itself. Windigo feasts, Skinwalkers at the edge of settlements, a pair of brothers spirited away by a Witch, Sasquatches wandering the forests for any straggling hunters, massive Thunderbirds patrolling the skies until brought down by a cunning marksman, a gigantic eel just beneath the surface of a lake vital to their survival. Sometimes it felt like anything Zoey said could make her hearts flutter and focus all of Vee's attention on the Human's every word. She'd miss her.

Vee didn't want to leave them, the very idea made her chest tighten and eyes sting, but being too weak was why she wound up alone in the first place and she'd been forced to do a lot of things she didn't want to. I have to be stronger than this.

She did her best to avoid eye contact when Ralsei walked up to her and put a paw on her shoulder as she pressed a firm hand between her legs. "Is something wrong, Luz?"

He brought a hand around to cup her cheek and turn her head toward him while she not-very-subtly crossed her legs. "You've been acting funny for a little while."

"I-I... hafta'... leave..." 'Luz' whimpered. He could clearly tell she was in distress and made his voice even softer like he was whispering wool.

"That's okay, go where?" He asked while brushing a short strand of hair behind her ear, the scent of his magic filled her senses and his whimsical song hummed in her ears. She could barely detect honey and candy and bubblegum on the tip of her tongue.

"...gotta go..." She hissed out. But I'm not sure I can...

"Oh! Do you need to go- ahem use the bathroom?" He stood.

"Huh? Uh, yeah."

The goat quickly made some vague gesture to Susie, took the bag with her plushie, and grabbed Vee's hand. Humiliatingly, she now had nothing to hide the hand pressed into her and her funny walking. Ralsei did his best to stand between her and the park but the Monsters and Kris already saw. She turned her bright red face away as he guided her to one of the secluded areas of the park, a few dozen paces from the forest, and glanced around. Mami Camila's clinic wasn't far but she tried to pull away, she didn't want to risk the Human seeing her already failing like a child. At least there was a public bathroom not too far that the Monster noticed, she just happened to tug in its general direction.

Her grip on Ralsei's soft paw tightened, she didn't want to risk hurting him but it got too much. The soaked pullup soon couldn't absorb any more as her bladder gave out and relaxed. Everything in her little world instantly started feeling better as all her muscles sagged and her knees almost gave out from under her. Her thin, half-used, and pretty ineffective padding swelled as much as it could to compensate but she couldn't stop if she wanted to. The tiny bit of dryness faded fast, she didn't even notice when the elastic flaps wrapping around her waist grew damp and trickled urine down the sides. All the hot chocolate and lemonade poured into the nice dress pants Mami Camila picked out and ironed just for her.

Heat sept into her body as wetness spread out, her pullup's useless cushiony sponge pressed comfortably but humiliatingly against her body and leaked down between her legs, the pants stuck to her weird Human skin and pooled in the grass as she let out a shaky breath, her hearts pounding and face turning red with beads of tears similarly burning her eyes. Mami's gonna be so mad.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Ralsei looked around them. Nobody was staring in their direction, the small group of Monsters still hanging out by the bench was a good distraction, but 'Luz' didn't make it to the restroom and there was no point trying to get her there quickly. At this point he might as well help her hide, pulling her further would just get her spotted by everyone in the park. The forest beside them was dense and constantly rustling with the fluttering of bird wings and scattering rodents. Maybe, if they were lucky, there'd be a beautiful deer hiding in the brush to cheer her up.

But right now, while the attention of spiteful or curious Humans was on his partners and friends and the rest was on whatever games they were playing or buried in their phones, he twirled his dull-clawed fingers into a basic Misty Step. Just in case, he upcast it to overwhelm whatever resistance the 'Human' might have. Wouldn't want to risk leaving her behind. He spent a few more Mana to extend the range and they poofed and flew into the woods unnoticed or uncared about.

He ensured she was positioned behind plenty of trees and bushes as she finished her accident, still holding her hand. Teleporting with her was a little odd and rougher than normal but all was well, now, she could go. Hisses from between her legs and tinkling on the grassy ground were muffled by the birds chirping overhead, undisturbed by the random but slow and harmless plume of white mist that soared through the trees and manifested a pair of humanoids that made no sudden movements or loud sounds.

The streams spewing down the fake Luz's legs turned into some occasional spurts and rapid droplets like rain, the insides of her black pants were shiny with moisture and her legs were shaking like fallen leaves. Tears were trailing irritated red lines down her face and her brown eyes were getting puffy red. He stopped her from wiping the tears away, her other hand had just been between her legs when she lost control, and lightly brushed them off himself. Ralsei got her to sit down on a rock spared from the waterfall and lightly pat her hair out of her face while waiting for her pants to stop leaking.

She tried to muffle her crying and refused to look at him, so he crouched beside her and gave her a gentle hug until she was empty. Now it was time to clean her up! He allowed the hug to last a little longer so she could regain some control of herself and carefully ran his nails through her coarse hair, then hovered a paw covered in pastel pink flames over her thighs and crotch. The fumes were gross but her pants dried fast, the black absorbed the heat nicely and hid a lot of the imperfections in the Prestidigitation cantrip. Her inner thighs and most of her shins were a little darker than the rest of her pants but nobody would be looking that closely.

Someone might smell her, though, so he clicked his fingers to make her smell like vanilla and let her whimper and shiver in his arms for a short while as they waited for the scent to dissipate enough to fly under the radar of the Human nose.

Chapter 19: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 7

Summary:

Vee makes a confession, and some friends!
Eda addresses the Collector problem.
Noceda crime family. Ralsei notices something very, very, interesting.
Camila almost catches a break.

"The clinic's right there, do you wanna go see Camila?"

"No."

"That's fine, do you wanna stay here for a minute?"

She nodded, still buried in his shoulder, more of a response than she'd given most Monsters walking around her the whole day. Her pants at least passed as clean, thanks to the black, but they'd need some stain remover whenever she was ready to go home. Camila would know what to do, though. Whatever she was nervous about, however the Human vet would react, just couldn't be as bad as she was expecting. But he'd still be here when she got herself together. Until then, she slowly stopped crying against him.

"You know, I never got your real name." He brought up, carefully guiding her off his chest and rising to his feet.

It took her a second to answer, unused to saying it aloud. "...My name's Vee."

"Vee? That's a sweet little name!" He cheered.

'Vee' perked, gaining a faint smile in her bloodshot eyes. A small flicker like a golden disk was hidden within her pupils glinted in the light before she raised a shaky hand to rub under her nose and sniffled.

He hummed in thought. "So; Camila knows who you are, you eat magic, and don't know what happened to the real Luz. Right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Well... about that..."

"You tellin' secrets without me?"

December appeared from behind some trees, startling the impersonator as Susie, Noelle, Kris, and Catti joined them. The lizard leaned cross-armed against a tree while Kris did the same with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Noelle found a stump to take a seat on, resting her hands in her lap like a gentlewoman. Her sister, on the other hand, plopped down beside her with one knee brought up to her chest, one hand on top of it and the other resting on her bat off to the side. Catti was holding Vee's new plushie and absentmindedly tapped away on her phone as he tried to calm her enough to resume.

"...She's somewhere called the Boiling Isles..." She started vaguely, looking to the ground and curling her fingers together to tap her nails on the back of her hands. "I came from there, she entered around the same time and her Mom was looking for her... I-I panicked, so I shifted into her. I never m-meant to stay, but Camila was so nice, I wound up sticking around. O-One day she came back, she could talk to us through the mirrors.

I ran out of magic so she helped me look for something in Gravesfield. The old Historical Society Curator found out, somebody sold some magic cards to him, and Camila came to bail me out... I never found out what they talked about, but she's still waiting for Luz to come back."

"And when was this?" Noelle piped.

"Over a year ago."

VVV 🎃 VVV

"CAN YOU PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Not the most promising thing Eda had come home to but not the worst, either. About anything beat the day after the Petrification Ceremony. A pissed-off Luz was more threatening to Lilith than her Owl Mama so she set down the big bag of illegally obtained purchased candles, oracle supplies, basic banishment kits, and more advanced ingredients on the kitchen counter and headed into the Living Room. Hooty, fortunately, had also been distracted by the little Human's outburst and didn't bother her as much as usual, the kids were more important than how his day was.

"Alright, what happened?" Eda deadpanned as Tracy floated into her chest and whimpered.

Luz was leaning over multiple messy piles of glyphs of all shapes and sizes, a few took up entire pages while others were crammed as big as they could get on sticky notes. There were a few piles of smoldering ash, blocks of ice, and nests of thorns around her with multiple balls of light of many colors fluttered around her head. While she was dressed in some little supplies, she clearly wasn't in a nice mood. Her hair was still full of Owl Beast feathers, the light glyphs painted in them flickered and hummed yellow with annoyance. Any glowing orb that hummed with magic in her direction turned different blues, oranges, yellows, and reds.

Her face was contorted into a scowl and the bottoms of her eyes shone with fluid. The Owl Lady doubted the Collector would've said something specific to upset her, more like 'passively insensitive' at worst or got pushy with a tough topic, most likely she was a bit overstimulated while trying to work on her magic. As for Tracy, he took it more personally than he should've. Taking anything personally when it came from people who owed you nothing or whose opinions you had no reason to care about was a bad idea in her book, but they were a little kid trapped in stasis for ages and Luz was their big sister, she hardly expected him to be as put together as Baby Blight.

That being said, she never wished to see anyone carry themselves the same way Amity did. Going to school with Odalia was not an experience anyone but Lord Bonehead should endure.

"I just wanted to play." Tracy muttered as she swept an arm behind their legs and lifted them.

"EVERYTIME I TRY TO GET SOMETHING DONE HE SETS SOMETHING ON FIRE OR BLOWS IT UP!!!" Luz snapped upright and slammed her hands on the coffee table.

She sighed and pinched her nose. "Okay then. You-" Edalyn pointed to the Human. "-take a break, walk around, have a nap. I don't care what, you're starting to sound like bossyboots after a study night. And you-" She booped the Collector's nose. "-and I are gonna have a chat."

While Luz groaned and wandered off, Willow and Gus rounded the corner, both covered in water and weighed down by loads of wet sheets and an otter onesie. Seeing Tracy and Eda, they both silently glanced to each other and followed Luz out of the room.

"What were you talking to her about?" She pat his back and sat on the couch.

"I just asked if we could play tag."

"Was that the first time you asked?" His silence got a chuckle out of her. About a year ago she'd be having this exact conversation with the girl he just set off.

"Well then, you wanna play tag, right?" She confirmed with him, to which he perked. "So, what if Luz and King came up to you and kept saying they wanted to play... I dunno, that 'pokey-man' game she loves so much, every time you tried to tag them? It would get pretty annoying quickly, wouldn't it?"

The Collector sniffled and looked down to his little yellow hands. "...I guess..."

"And you can see why that's not very fair, right? I know we said we could play today but sometimes things come up, we don't get to do whatever we want. If you waited, Luz would've been happy to play tag with you when she was done making spells and she always does her best to keep her promises, especially pinky promises. But now she wants nothing to do with you, and guess whose job it's gonna be to clean up all the glyphs?" Tracy lifted a finger to himself, not looking up. "So now your friends don't want to play and you have to do something boring all because you tried to force them to do what you wanted to do. Do you understand?" Ugh, accountability.

"Yes."

At least that's over with. "Good. Now, clean this up while I build up the wards."

He grumbled but floated out of her lap, trying to steer clear of all the light orbs, figure out how to scrape the ice off of the floor, tear out the thorny roots, and get the soot out of the rug.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"I don't know why she was so nice to me, she just helped me get out of this snare thing and look for some magic so I could keep pretending to be her. She wanted me to keep up the act until she found a way back but... Someone named 'Jacob Hopkins' found out. He was the Curator of the Historical Society before Zoey's internship. He set a bunch of little traps and cameras everywhere, h-he wanted to..." Vee gulped and took a breath. "Of all the people to find out... H-He was an idiot, kept shouting conspiracy theories about fairies stealing teeth to power a time machine and thought Camila passed as a government worker he could share his 'research' with... She left him in his own cage."

"Badass." December smirked.

"Has he bothered you since then?" Catti muttered.

The Basilisk kept her eyes pinned to the grass. "...A little bit. He keeps showing up around our house but Camilaaaaa... She has this big red baseball bat and for some reason, he insists on only keeping a specific knife at his house or in his car so he, um, doesn't wanna lose more teeth. That's part of why she started bringing me to the clinic to volunteer."

"So what you'rre saying is you could use a favor..." Susie hissed.

"N-Nonononono! H-H-He's already- t-the police already have an eye on him for s-some stuff I-... U-Uh, I m-mean, it w-wasn't-" The snake stammered with wide eyes.

"What, did you pin something on him?" Dess snorted, waving it off.

Vee squeaked and Kris leaned forward. "No way!"

"What'd you get him for?"

She tapped her fingers together for a few silent seconds. "...Littering... stepping on grass... shoplifting... speeding... ...attempted grand theft auto..." Vee listed off, holding up some fingers and avoiding everyone's eyes.

Catti leaned in next. "How'd you pull that one off?"

"W-W-Well... there are these cop cars that pass our house every few patrols. I shifted into him and Camila got a crowbar. We sprayed some brown paint on it so it looked older from a distance and I would be trying to break into the car around a certain time. Camila would burst out of the house and yell to 'scare me away' and distract the police so I could run. I'd shift back when I was in the backyard and say he kept running... He's been arrested a few times."

"Niiiiice."

"And he's out on bail or something, isn't he?" Noelle piped.

"Well... yeah, but he doesn't do much anymore."

"Anymore." Catti hummed. "So there's room for improvement."

"OKAY!" Ralsei suddenly clapped before Vee could catch what the cat said. "How about we get you to Camila? I'm sure she won't be as upset as you think."

"...A-Are you sure?"

He helped her up and did a small once-over, double-checking the stain on her pants was clean enough to be overlooked until brought to Camila's attention. "Of course! We'll look after you."

"What do you look like, though? I mean, what do you really look like?" December stopped them.

She weighed her options for a moment, unsure how much she was willing to divulge. Who she really is was one of the only things she knew they weren't aware of, they all knew her main disguise and wasn't exactly fond of them seeing her true form. Besides, she needed magic for that! She couldn't waste any for a little show and tell she wasn't comfortable with in the first place! Wait... She needed magic to do that!

"S-Sorry, but I need magic to go back and forth..."

Ralsei snapped his fingers into a soothing, delicious pink flame and held it near her. Dangit! The Basilisk tried to turn away... but it was so warm, so soft. She opened her mouth and greedily drank up the flames. Maybe, for Ralsei, she could do a little something. She let her real ears take form and splotches of discolored skin popped up all over her. The white patches of skin had an interesting feeling, they matched her underbelly and having them all around her was a little more comfortable. Letting her nubby ears with their long, fluffy blue tips flick outward felt like a good stretch after a long day and blinking her eyes into their natural cyan, black, and gold state was as if she'd woken up from a good nap.

The texture of her stolen flesh took on that of tiny, rough scales like the skin of a squishy shark, just enough to still pass as Human so long as nobody touched her. In the rush of openness and freedom from her own form, she let herself get sloppy, let more distinguished scales and small tufts of fur line her spine and scales coil about her shoulders and down her limbs. Her clothes slid over them, somewhat scratchy, she'd love to be rid of them but was unsure how many scars would reveal themselves. There were plenty of markings she knew would still be there if she tried to hide them, anyway.

Even still, she kept her eyes tightly shut. Was it too much? Would opening them set them off on her? Were they waiting for something like this to take advantage of? Was this exactly what they wanted? She reluctantly cracked open an eye, bouncing between each Monster. None bat an eye at the golden pupil, pitch-black iris, and cyan sclera staring back at them. None particularly cared for the pigmentless white splotches crawling over her slightly coarse skin. None cared that her ears were fluffy and sticking up like satellites. Her nails blackened and grew into short claws that nervously scratched her palm as her tongue split into a long and thin fork.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Ralsei smiled and stepped closer.

He started adjusting her fluffy, rich, silky, royal blue hair, brushing it behind her fluffy ears of the same color and lightly squishing her cheeks as he investigated. Bright white fur ticked her chin and the crook of her neck, his dull nails scratched the back of her ear and head, almost getting a content little warble out of her. But then his paws started trailing down the length of her vertebrae, tapping the back of her collar. Her skin's texture was different there, more leathery and swollen than that of incredibly finely scaled hide. The tiny lump along the old incision was barely large enough for his nail to raise a millimeter into the cicatrix, unnoticeable to anyone but her.

Had he seen it yet, or was he just feeling around? Vee didn't care, she shivered and adjusted her form, suppressing the scar and quickly sewing together the scale-feeling skin and uncolored spots over the flaw. Did he notice? He clearly felt it so he had to have noticed it vanishing. Maybe, if she was lucky, he'd write it off as his imagination? She was very willing to go tell Camila what happened, all of a sudden.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Finally, nothing was happening. Days like this were an invaluable luxury in the field; slow days. Camila never thought she'd live to see one, all her hair was supposed to turn gray and her heart fail before now but there was genuinely nothing else to do. She was working on checkups and appointments that wouldn't happen until tomorrow and making preparations for the rest of the entire week! There likely wouldn't be another day she could get this far ahead! Even with the thought of that strange redheaded woman's message coming through Luz's phone faded in the background, just for a moment, and she could just be proud of-

"Doctor Noceda?"

Maldita sea. "Yes?"

Chapter 20: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 8

Summary:

Chatting with Cami. Ralsei chats a lot. Noceda family recipes.
Jockington totally knew the whole time. The Scale-Buddy cult expands.
A certain conspiracy theorist is making it up as he goes and pays the price. December's bat isn't for show.
Flower Mom texts Chancla Mami.
Pot roast, movie night, padding, and kisses.
Cami's day off.
Beeeeeg baby scares snek-otter. 01 and 02 wrestle a bear-hunter.

Ralsei, Vee, and their friends walked in as the day wound down. She invited the goat and her scaly guest into one of the empty checkup rooms for a short, private chat at their request. He put a gentle and fluffy white paw on her shoulder and whispered something along the lines of 'It's okay' or 'go ahead' into her ear until she stepped forward. She had her jacket zipped up and tugged the bottom down over her pants, tightly gripping the fabric while her face burned bright red. What happened to her? Camila leaned down to slowly and gently brush away some of her hair like she was dealing with a skittish pup. This must be serious...

"...I-I-I had an a-accident..."

Nevermind. "That's okay, cariño. ¿Tus amigos help you clean up already?"

Vee, nodded to the ground and Ralsei took a step up behind her. "I already cleaned most of it but the pants will need some detail cleaning and I don't know if it's sensitive to anything, I mostly work with wool and cotton."

"Muchas gracias, Ralsei, but I can take care of her from here." She smiled.

"I, uh, also kinda noticed she had an accident down her legs but not between them." He added. Vee squeaked and shivered.

Great, of course a teenager had to find her out "Listen... uuhhh" She tried to figure something out, though she didn't have the imagination for this.

"Monster Kind sells a lot of stuff cheap, including better diapers than... I'm assuming she wears slip-ons? A-Anyway! Lady Toriel and the Princesses extended a lot of production with degradable resources. You can get those cheap from... I don't actually know the website but if you look up 'Monster Delivery Service' you should find it!" He awkwardly clapped.

Well, that wasn't so bad. "Thank you, buuuuut-"

"But don't tell a Soul, don't worry." He smiled. "See you at school, Vee!"

Camila side-eyed the Basilisk. "How long?"

"S-Since Tuesday..." Vee shrunk. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not, bebé. How about you head home and get a change. Then we'll eat some pot roast and have our movie night!" Camila promised, fishing her housekey from her pocket and dropping it in Vee's hands. "I have a spare in my car, don't touch the pot, and make sure you lock the door behind you. Okay?" Vee nodded.

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Ralsei asked from the doorway. Vee nodded again and jogged up to him. "...For the cost of that pot roast recipe?"

She put her hands on her hips and looked to the snake. "Vee, you will be in trouble if you tell him Tatarabuela's secret recipe."

"Worth a shot!" Ralsei grinned while Vee yelped.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Noceda house was bigger than he thought it would be; two floors with a decent driveway. Vee held his hand up the steps, followed by Susie with Jockington around her shoulders and Catti. He gave her hair a gentle ruffle, Susie bumped her fist, and Catti glanced up from her phone to wave.

"Had a great time Scale-buddy, you should join Again sometime!"

Vee froze in the doorframe, then slowly turned around. "Y-You knew!?"

"I could Never miss-" He started, Catti wrapped a paw around his mouth. "Ralsei explained it a week ago."

VVV 🎃 VVV

"I knew they were working together!" Jacob gritted his teeth and turned up the zoom on his camera, his knees burrowing into the mud.

The microphone wasn't great but he should be able to pick something up off these invaders. It didn't truly matter what he documented, he hoped for something good but just that Demon's form would be fantastic. It had to let its guard down eventually, then he'd strike! Then the police would regret arresting him for her crimes! Maybe he'd discover something about their time machine, or their mind control, or even their shapeshifting! If he could just get that footage back, he'd be a rich and verified man! He just needed to prove it and he could have his job and car back!

A chill ran up his spine, he shivered in his jacket and tugged the zipper up without taking the camera off of the group and their house. Fall had gotten colder than he thought it would but he wasn't about to give up his mission for some cold weather! Humanity itself was on the line if even one of them collected enough teeth! Jacob would not fail. Not even when a layer of frost grew concerningly quickly over his camera's lens did he falter, keeping it on the group as the imposter headed inside and its cohorts dispersed. He gently hit the side of the device to shake away some of the ice without blocking the footage with a gloved hand wiping it off.

Something cold and obviously sharp slid in front of his throat. "I sugges ye drop it, freak."

The blood drained from his face and heart raced as he slowly raised his hand, doing his best to keep the camera angled at the group of Monsters as they treaded the sidewalk right past the bushes and trees he'd tucked away in, but the screen left his line of sight quickly and his shaking hand made it hard to keep track of where exactly it was pointing. He might miss something important! It became even less of a worry as a hand snatched it away. Right on his other side, a fluffy Monster with Satanic horns and hair dark as charcoal with a blue streak through it leaned against a tree, inspecting his camera.

Her hooved crunched dying leaves and snapped twigs as she walked in front of him, crouching to his level and resting her chin on the bottom of a wooden baseball bat, the smugness on her face palpable as she held the recording just out of reach, even if he tried to wrestle away whoever was holding a knife to his jugular. It was facing the ground and she had been sure to keep the lens away from their faces the entire motion. A ray of white and light blue shot right past his face, turning his hair white and heavy with snow and fogging his glasses with flakes before slamming into his camera, reducing it to a block of ice. The other figure's hand was caught in the spell, though it made no difference.

Her frosty fingers sparked with purple and blue bolts of electricity, making hot water drip to the grassy ground and steam waft upward to the decaying leaves. His camera fumes and hissed, the display screen buzzing with static before flickering off. She peeled open the SD card insert and made sure it was reduced to a bunch of melted circuitry right in front of his face, even waving it in front of him tauntingly before she put it back in his fried and soaked camera's socket, flicked the cover shut, put it on the ground, and lightly stepped on it to bury it in the mud without leaving a print or dent in the case.

"Have fun telling the police why you were watching a little girl go home." She snarked, standing upright and walking behind him.

The person behind him let the knife fall away from his neck and Jacob looked down on his waterlogged, muddy, and electrocuted camera. All his evidence! He had proof they were working together and it was gone! No, he couldn't give up! He was the only line of defense! They had to pay for this! In fact, why stop there? He could get a confession out of them! Jacob stuffed a hand in his coat after deeming them reasonably far away based on their footsteps, pulling out a melee taser.

"Stop right there! I won't let you get away without some answers!" He intimidatingly pointed it at them and pressed the button, an arc crackling between the metal prods.

He'd seen one of them hanging out with the serpent; the Human boy from Monster lands. No doubt he'd fallen under their spell, he'd have to find a way to reverse it when this was over. There was another that looked like a reindeer, probably a relative of the one with the bat who'd just made a big mistake.

"Told ya he was stupid enough for it." The Human chuckled.
"Fine, I owe you a hot cocoa."

The Human turned back to him, a sickening smile growing over his face. His cheeks contorted and teeth bared like those of an animal. That awful grin couldn't be from a Human, he must be another one of those lizard people come to take someone's place! But he wouldn't let them, not ever. Deeming the one with a club the bigger threat of the three, he bravely and valiantly swung his taser toward her, only for a fluffy hand to grip the shocking end. The dark brown fuzz around her fingers down to her wrist stood on end but nothing else appeared off.

She smirked back, then sent a wave of royal blue and piercing violet static up his arm. His jaw involuntarily clenched and his jittery yell was muffled behind his tightly shut teeth. All his muscles twitched and bolts of electricity lingered over him as she let go of his weapon, then brutally kicked one of his knees out from under him with a pointed hoof, bringing him back to the ground. The constant shocks faded as his hand plunged into the mud. Meanwhile, the reindeer Monster wound up her bat and, right when he looked back up at him, clocked it across his face, shattering his glasses and turning everything black.

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FlowerPower - Jacob was outside your house. Off to the left of the front door in some bushes.
- December took care of him.
- And destroyed his camera.

Doctor Noceda - Thank you so much, chico.
- Did Luz get home safe?

FlowerPower - Sure did! I don't know if she noticed.
- Kris kept him quiet but he won't say how.
- I think he and Noelle are conspiring against me.
- But that's pretty normal for Dess.

Doctor Noceda - Let me know if you need any help tomorrow. I'll throw on a uniform and be there within half an hour.

FlowerPower - No need! Enjoy your day off!
- Dess just told me to tell you to wish Jacob luck reporting this if he comes to when you get home. I give it a 50/50 chance, she hit him pretty hard.

Doctor Noceda - Haha will do. Thanks again.

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The incessant man had still been groaning on the ground by the time she got home. As nice as it would've been to wail on him with la chancla for harassing Vee, that would be a lot harder to sweep under the rug when he started stumbling back home. Instead, she settled for snatching his discarded taser and double-checking that the camera was fried. Seeing it drenched in muddy water and the screen unresponsive eased her worries and she snapped a picture of the scene in case she managed to pin him for something without Vee getting caught in the crossfire. Filing a lawsuit would be expensive, anyway; hopefully, when the time came, he'd be mad enough to try and represent himself. She didn't put it above the conspiracy moron.

With that handled, bless those kids, she walked in on Vee sitting a fair distance away from but all focus pinned on the crockpot. She'd changed into some light purple pajama pants and would occasionally sniff the air. The snake barely reacted when she quietly called out, trying not to startle her. Vee was still wearing the nice button-up but it partially rode up her back because of the way she was sitting, letting Camila see the back of a clean slip-on.

She held out a little on the snacks and popcorn for tonight but Vee didn't seem to mind, she didn't touch a lot of the extras and was consumed fully by the pot roast. The snake enjoyed her soda as the copy of How To Train Your Dragon played along. Vee was cuddlier than normal, leaning into Camila's side and lightly nuzzling her shoulder. Not that she minded, she was happy to wrap an arm around the timid girl's shoulders and hold her close. It was the closest thing she could get to holding Luz in her arms again and she wasn't going to deprive the snake-otter of that just because she wasn't quite the same.

It wasn't like she would question why Vee put on another pad already, either. The poor thing was having a mini heart attack when she wasn't there to calm her down. She could understand this had to be humiliating but it was still something that needed to happen for a very long time. This was way overdue and a bunch fo meat, potatoes, veggies, and broth was just the thing to smooth the transition over for both of them. Her houseguest was starting to doze off by the time the ending monologue and credit rolled. She swept the small girl up and hauled her up the stairs. She was always lighter and thinner than Camila expected but never seemed to have a problem with most foods. Then again, she'd always been pretty light and it was certainly appreciated when she had to bring her upstairs.

With a small kiss on the head, she bid Vee goodnight, then returned downstairs to pack up the leftover pot roast and do the dishes before turning in as well.

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24 Days Until Halloween

The Basilisk had already woken up by the time Camila was ready for the day, she thought it might've been the excitement of the movie rousing her early. Getting that girl to put herself together was a miracle in itself during Winter so she wasn't complaining. Today, Camila had a... certain purchase to complete and getting out and about would be good for both of them, especially since Jacohb had been neutralized for some time. She intended to make the most of getting the madman out of their hair. They could head to Robin's Roast for a breakfast sandwich and coffee, then Vee could wander around town (within reason) while Camila ran her errand.

The Monster shelter was just a few blocks away from there and plenty of Royal Guards were exploring Gravefield on their day off; needless to say they'd earned some favors from her. And on top of that, Ralsei and his group might be up and about. They were on a complete opposite timezone and were back to school tomorrow, but she wasn't exactly a 'Star Student' their age so maybe more of them were checking out the Historical Society or raiding the shops than she expected.

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Vee snacked on an egg sandwich as she happily sat on a bench in a park... the same park she'd wet herself in just a day before, she could see the section of the forest it happened in. There were a few Royal Guards wearing giant suits of armor and keeping paws and claws on the sheathes for their swords, their shields clanking as some people threw rocks at them. Neither seemed to care much, but they weren't stupid, they both kept careful grips on their halberd and Great Dane axes. Even the horns and ears poking through their helms had sheets of steel wrapped around them and many fine holes in the front for the rabbit (she assumed) to hear through. The big, thick, overlaying sheets of enchanted plate reeked of magic; she couldn't get the flashing images of the Emperor's Coven's higher-end warriors and overseers out of her head.

The single, absolute, insanely, BIGGEST dog she'd EVER seen in her life occasionally running up to them didn't help her confidence.

It was easily bigger on all fours than she was tall, even in Luz's form. Its thick, fluffy, light brown fur swished as it ran around the park and its fringed ears were pinned back with his excited zoomies; the Russian Caucasian Mountain Dog with a darker muzzle and back looked ready to eat a bear alive. And there was no way he didn't belong to them, the gigantic light blue bandana around his neck was fuming with ice magic so he could join them in the patrol. The thing looked like it hunted mammoths in packs. Her mission to find a decent lawman in their staff was suddenly able to be put off a little longer!

So, rather than approaching the Guards, she pulled out her phone and checked the time. It'd been a shorter time since Camila entered the gun club than she thought but at least Zoey left a video of her playing with Roastie in the group text. The old man looked a little happier and more spry, but only slightly. He was walking a little funny with his hindlegs scraping over her room's carpet, though it didn't stop him trying to rip a colorful rope out of her hand and wagging his tail as she giggled and Karen whined and slammed her locked door in the background.

Naturally, as she laughed and put a little smiley emoji on the text, a huge, freezing cold nose started booping the back of her hand. All the blood drained from her face, her hearts thundered, and her pad got more than a little damp as the titanic hound's hot pants blew her hair out of her face. His front paws filled to the brim with rippling muscles tapped the grass and scattered some dirt as he bounced. His growls and pants were low and as deep as a grizzly's roar. His floppy tongue and a gallon of drool splashed over her hand and cheek in one move.

"Maximus, leave her alone." One of the Guards, the one with broad horns protected by serrated metal cylinders, called out.

The earth-shaking dog quickly turned like there was a threat, then bounded over to them for head scratches. She thought for a second that they were finished with her just as fast as they addressed the hearts-attack she just had, but the rabbit one did a double-take fast enough for his ears to thud against the insides of his helmet, some of the gray hairs poked through the side-facing mesh. While the dog, over half the size of his masters, jumped up for the horned Guard to put his arms under his forelegs and lift him to the best of his ability for kisses, the rabbit leaned behind them to look at her.

He leaned on his halberd as he stepped and let the top end rest against his shoulder. "Are you related to Doctor Noceda?"

"Uh, yeah. She's my Mami." She smiled, not able to call Camila her Mami often.

"Ah." The rabbit nodded. "We took him for a checkup here, he probably smelled her on you."

They were moving on when Vee, seeing the giant dog was okay with her, tried her luck. "E-E-Excuse m-me." They both turned, the dog again noticing and focusing on her, demanding some headpats while licking her face. "I-I MMpH! Help! Is there a-anyone- mm! I can talk to about- bleh! going t-to M-Monster lands? Help me!"

The rabbit Guard wrapped his arms around the Russian Ovcharka and did his best to give her room to breathe, speak, and wipe the pool of slobber dripping down her face. He strained and groaned while the bear-hunter panted contently and his partner stabbed the spear-like pointed end of his Dane axe into the ground, letting it stick in place as his upwardly curved shoulder plate shifted upside-down. The dense cylinders about his arms slid together smoothly and the elbow protection shifted as two more small panels further covered the limb putting two fingers to the side of his helm and the T-shaped eyehole.

"02 to Shooting Star, are you busy?"

Chapter 21: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 9

Summary:

Snek-otter meets Sheriff Starlo Polaris, who is prepared and armed to the teeth for any and all Human shenanigans.
2nd Amendment 'MURICA BROTHER YEEHAW!!! Camila gets some pointers.
Vee hates her friends.
Star explains Monster immigration to a bunch of teens and no he's not getting paid for this.

Vee tapped her fingers on her knees and shrunk in on herself as she waited for a response, not expecting simply asking them to work so well. At least she got to watch a man in full plate armor trying to lift a dog as big as he was with a head twice as large. Just a few feet away from them, a cloud of incredibly fine dust appeared from nothing. Pure sulfur and some hydrogen burned red; other types of hydrogen seared pink or purple; then it mixed with ionized nitrogen to brightly burst in yellows and greens deeper within the mass. At the center, hot oxygen faintly glowed blue while carbon, iron, silicon, and ice way smaller than grains of sand soared excitedly throughout the summoned nebula.

Fire - Ice - Void - Fresh Air - Corn - Iron

The nebula of swirling gasses and stardust didn't disappear when a bright yellow man with a face in the shape of a glistening golden star releasing yellow, green, red, purple, and pink nebulas from the tips. There were four protrusions that she could see, they extended out from under the hat that obscured most of his face and curled upward and downward about the brim and his jawline, the stardust and gasses curled and wriggled over his head and collar like tendrils. His hat was dark, dark brown, she almost confused it for black. There was another teal strap with gold hearts in it wrapping around the body of the hat and a dark quill or feather poked out of the side.

Its brim was triangular. The front end stabbed in front of his face, making his bright white eyes appear narrow and angry. They made the pearly white smile right underneath look more sinister than it probably was. He had some strange device on the side of his head, over his right eye. It didn't have any obvious way of sticking to his head, it just stayed where it was with a metal ring around his eye. A hook-like extension like the side of glasses or goggles curled around his head, the gunmetal gray machine had a cyan line along the side and some dots around the front.

His poncho was dark with a lighter center and a golden collar and zig-zag along the bottom, both with a teal outline, with darker dots between the center and every corner. A golden star badge was pinned to his chest and a big yellow heart was stitched on the front. The lingering nebula and stardust fluttered behind him, out of the poncho, like a trio of writhing tendrils from an Elder God or Tzeentch (I gotta stop hanging out with Zoey... It'll hurt us both less in the long-run). Many long slivers of heavily enchanted metal like daggers, a mantle of scale mail, clinked and sliced against each other, lining his poncho and covering a custom chest plate intricately decorated with constellations and planetary bodies.

Scratching the tips of the scale mail mantle were the cylinders protecting four upper arms, the top two bearing tough shoulder plates almost like a Space Marine (I'll miss you, Immanuel...) with golden stars and splashes of nebulous colors while more steel scales covered the bottom pair. Multiple tiny white gossamer threads covered the gambeson and chainmail in the crook of his elbow, there was no leather strap or clip holding his elbow covers in place, those were ordained much the same as the shoulder pads, breastplate, and kneepads.

The bottom pair of upper arms had some bits of scale mail on the back so they blended well with the rest of his suit, they made a little spiky look as he moved them from beneath the mantle and poncho. His four forearms were covered by big black leather, each having a gold stripe with a teal outline at the end of the vaguely triangular opening, but she could tell there had to be more armor underneath them by scent. Gold hearts were stitched into the slightly hardened leather and the fingers had short, gold triangular claws attached to the tips. His knuckles had some gold circles and small spikes like tacks over them.

The man's hips and rear had three sheets of scale mail draped around them while the golden ring with a cyan diamond holding it together was perfectly centered. It, too, clicked and clacked as it swayed around his armored thighs and colorful knee plates, they even whistled with the motions of heated gas and stardust filtering through the edges and holes in the tops of the slivers where the ringlets bound them. His armored shins were masked by his giant black boots; they had gold tassels at the top, columns of gold hearts on either side, gold spurs in the back, and a row of tiny cyan stars just above the black soles.

He was armed to the teeth, three different guns were strapped to his shoulder and belt beside a fancy lasso, it was far too similar to a whip for her liking. The rich, dark brown leather was tightly woven like a rope with an odd teal sphere protecting the knot. It sat in front of his left thigh, the back of the wound-up ring tapped a short, four-barrel shotgun. It was the length of his forearm but that was more than enough to be intimidating to her. It had a dark brown wood handle that wasn't aligned with the barrel, curving down. The butt was teal and golden hearts lined the top of the comb, its safety had a gold star, the trigger guard was gold with a secondary guard protecting the rest of the hand down to the bottom of the grip, and the gold loading port had another colorful nebula design wrapping around it.

Its dark brown forearm had the bottom two barrels pointing through it, all four of them were black with teal lines along the sides and gold-tipped muzzles. His revolver had a dark leather holster with a star over the snap button and strap holding it in place. Only the dark wood grip and silver hammer poked out, the former had a nebula built into the sides and the latter was tipped teal. The belt itself was made of fine dark brown leather and presumably had some suspender-like straps underneath to bear the weight of the three scale mail side and rear flaps.

Under his poncho and scaled mantle hung a large rifle from his upper right shoulder. It didn't quite look like any of the weapons she'd spotted on Camila's laptop, it was much larger and pretty blocky. The butt and stock had the same teal backing and golden star pattern as the sawed-off shotgun but two gold springs ran the length of the underside. It had the same connected trigger and grip guard design the shotgun had. The safety, ejection port, and chamber were gold while the barrel, forestock, and body were black. It had a black bolt handle tipped with a teal knob and underneath was a large, clunky ammo drum. Its ends had a gold stripe and teal outline as three rows of ten gold hearts with glowing teal outlines lined the top, right under the magazine's connection point, three of them in the bottom front corner weren't shining.

The barrel and gold-tipped muzzle seemed short at first but really, the body of the gun was just really long. Its sides had the nebula design but the top, right next to the forestock with a gold plate engraved with the word 'CLOVER' in cyan, was mainly black as the gaps in the pattern in the bottom for (one of) his other hand(s) to grip easily. There were several gold marks along the forestock/barrel amalgamation with small points on the sides and on two on top of the barrel like many forked sights. They were rounded, going around the barrel and not flush with the flat square body, diving into it as cyan outlines marked where they were on the casing itself. What purpose they served, she had no idea, Vee could only assume they were like that for some reason. The barrel had two segments, maybe it was supposed to extend? Or it compressed into the gun.

Strange symbols were etched into every sliver of scale mail, scratched into every bit of leather, would be highlighted by the glows of nebulas whirling around him and protruding from the sides of his star-shaped head, even the leather strap connecting to the end of the square body and clipping to the bottom of the stock oozed unfamiliar magic and symbols. He carried himself like an overly stereotyped westerner cowboy from old movies, he was even chewing on a tiny bit of grain that was lodged between a canine and molar. His sharp eyes were bright as a muzzle flash as he glanced to the two Guards and Maximus, gave them a thumbs up and friendly greeting, then turned back to the 'Human' who made the mistake of calling him.

"'Aight, you wanted to chat 'bout our border laws, amirite?" He grinned down to her while patting the giant dog's head.

Vee froze, looking over the constellations and runes drawn on every piece of clothing and keeping an anxious eye on every weapon before realizing they were waiting on her. "I-I-I swear I d-don't wanna waste your t-time! I just d-didn't think I'd get t-this far and I'm panicking!"

The 'Shooting Star' chuckled loudly and waved off the other Guards to continue doing what they were doing, that being wrestling with an excited Caucasian Shepard. She couldn't help a tiny giggle at their expense, immediately catching herself when he glanced back down at her.

"That dog's stronger than he looks, and a lil' bit bigger than most... I'd know." The haunted look of someone tackled to the ground grew on his face. "You can call me Star by the way... Would ya happen to be related to a vet?"

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Camila carefully set the 'Gen II Ruger' down as she nursed and stretched her shoulder. It was a nice gun, relatively inexpensive with an aesthetically pleasing spiral around the outside of the barrel, but it was destroying her shoulder. The pistol also on the shooting range station was easier on her arm and could be concealed in public, just in case Jacob tried anything, but she personally found the length of a rifle easier to line up a shot with.

"Are ya pressin' it into your shoulder?" Someone asked.

She almost didn't catch it with the tight headphones squeezing her skull. He was, admittedly, a rather intimidating figure with four arms and a bunch of red, pink, purple, green, yellow, and blue clouds whirling around him. The constant glare under an angular hat and gigantic rifle in his top two hands didn't help his case. He gave her as friendly of a smile as he could and a tow-fingered salute. There was a strange device over his right eye holding a small lens in front of it. It had an extra curve extending from the incomplete ring around his eye that held another lens over the far eye.

The extra lens flipped on the center knob with a press of a button, overlaying the right lens before they both folded toward her and slid into the bulk of the eye mechanism. "It absorbs the recoil better that way."

Camila reloaded and they took another few shots at the paper targets on the other side of the range. It was much better after switching shoulders, even if her arm ached, unused to being in that position. She thought she was a natural until watching the heavily armed and armored yellow Monster take a few shots. He'd already put three shots of supernatural, bright gold with shirt multicolored trails, stardust-filled plasma. The blasts carved cleanly through the paper, setting it ablaze and brutally impacting the far wall. Initially, it'd been directly through the chest, even more accurate than the six shots Camila took, the other two three-round bursts went straight through the page's head and heart. With a quick point and click of his fingers at the target, ghastly ice formed over the page to extinguish the fire for another volley.

"You should see me with the scope!" He grinned back at her with swelling pride and contagious joy, lifting his hat with one of the nebula tendrils. Only the exterior red, pink, and purple layer touched and dispersed over the brim.

One of his bottom arms raised to tap the side of the device again, making a complex attachment flick down in front of his eye and retract into the body, pressing into his face. It wrapped over the top of his head and was covered in gears and tiny crystals. The center had a red glass upside-down trapezoid with one side flat and 2 perfectly parallel lines leading to the angled one that ran up the bridge of his faint nose once it tilted down and rotated in place on the vertical axel, extremely small symbols and reticles flashing over it.

Several small plates protecting the frame slid out of place over a metal rod that then flicked down beside the lens. It held a row of extra, progressively smaller foci that whirred and clinked together as it followed a fine chain or tread out of the way along the side of the attachment. Even with all the magic and technology his mere existence had on display, Camila couldn't help honing in on and chuckling at the tangled clump of long brown hairs that fell from within his hat and scattered over his poncho.

"Guess I didn't clean the getup as well as I thought..." He took off the hat, letting a fifth nebula mane... tendril... appendage... thing burst free in a puff of space dust and colors and brushed away a few straggling hairs.

"Got attacked by a dog on the way?" She hazarded to guess.

He snorted. "How could ya tell?"

"I don't suppose its name was Max?"

His smile grew and his round white eyes were a lot less intimidating when his hat wasn't making them look like daggers. "Oh, are ya this joint's vet?"

"Guilty." The Human beamed as she loaded another small magazine into her gun and put three rounds into the cutout's heart, pretending it was Jacob waving around his stupid knife. "That one's a handful, half of us needed a shower last night!"

"Not bad." He commented on her shooting. "And Maximus is a good boy on duty but the second that armor comes off, it's chaos. He's a pup at heart and you were a lot closer than the usual guys, sorry 'bout that."

She reloaded the last few rounds and aimed for the target's head. "Don't be, he was an angel when the barking was out of his system." One between the eyes, one off to the side beneath them, and a third into an eye.

The Monster hummed, took his finger off his rifle's trigger, flicked the safety, and swung it behind his shoulder with his bottom arms while a top one pressed the side of his eye device. "Alright, some of the boys need me. You're kinda burnin' up by the way."

"I know, just the jacket. iBuenos días!" She waved.

"Just thought I'd make sure. Nice chattin' with ya!" He gave four thumbs up and the three long clouds of heated gas and stardust wrapped around him like a blanket, compressing tightly until vanishing.

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There ain't no way. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a vet, would ya?" Starlo asked, hoping to get the girl out of her shell.

She physically perked and her pupils widened like a dog with a toy. The awkward, uncomfortable smile on her face smoothened out and brightened. "That's my Mami!" Huh, small town.

Behind her, a trio of Humans started sneaking up. One with some square glasses held a finger in front of their lips. "Don't suppose you're a friend of Noelle, too?"

"Moreso Ralsei but I guess? I just met her yester-AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

One of the kids, a goth one, quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and yelled. "ZOEY!" They doubled over and cackled as she punched 'Zoey' in the shoulder.

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Zoey rubbed her arm as her chuckles pittered out. Luz's face was bright red and Alex and Immanuel kept bursting into more contagious laughter every time they looked at each other. The Monster she'd been talking to (and didn't give them away so he was already cool) smirked and fiddled with his hat. The many guns on his person clicked against his extremely ornate armor and rich leather clothes. She hadn't even caught what they were talking about before making her move.

"So, what'cha up to?" She smirked once she'd caught her breath.

The Monster answered for her. "Missy here was asking about visitin' Monster Territory."

That got her attention. Luz was interested, too? Honestly, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise, she'd heard pieces of stories about her book report but Cosmic Frontier and Science Fiction in general were what she buried herself in whenever they ran into each other at the library. Not like she couldn't have a wide variety of interests, though.

Buuuuuut, since they were on the topic. "Like why so few people get through?"

"Mainly supervised kids, yeah. The visitation and immigration laws are 'bout the same, you can pretty much settle anywhere ya want, but only if ya get past processing." He explained.

"A-And how do you do that?" Luz stammered, invested but somewhat hiding behind Alex.

"That's... complicated..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Whatcha know 'bout the War of Humans and Monsters?"

"It was the real World War One and the reason no evidence of Monsters outside of fiction and muth exists. Everything was turned to dust or ash." She quickly listed off, having spent plenty of time scraping together glimpses of the Monsters' corner of the World Wide Web. "But most is either exaggerated or outright false like spider-breathing Griffins or shapeshifting lizards." Luz squeaked behind her.

"And most of all, countless Monsters were slaughtered with no documentation of a single Human falling in battle..." His Wild West accent slipped for just a moment. Was it all just an eccentric act? "Y'see, there was a lotta tension still 'round after the Royal Family and our ancestors were sealed Underground. One way of easing it was making a better way to judge someone's character should Humans return.

The result was EXP and LV-"

"Wait, like a video game?" Alex couldn't help but interject while Immanuel snickered. Zoey poked and shushed them as politely as she could.

The Monster chuckled. "Basically. In a game, you increase your level by murdering, right?" He waved off as they went quiet. When you put it that way it sounds bad.

"EXP's an acronym; it means 'Execution Points', it's how we assign a number to someone's ability to hurt others. The more willin' you are to hurt or kill, the higher your EXP gets; get enough and your LV will go up. LV, on the other hand, stands for 'Level of Violence', the defacto way of measuring how dangerous and vicious someone is.

The more you hurt others, the easier it gets to do it again and the harder it is to hurt you. That's why we allow so few migrations and visitors outside of kids; their LV usually ain't high."

Immanuel raised his hand. "So, like, what's Level one compared to five?"

"Depends on context and a lotta factors; mainly intent. Generally, Monsters are harmed by violent intent more than action, but that's more of a rule of thumb than something game-changin' like it was durin' the War. LV and EXP are similar. LV 1 or 2 can be somethin' like a bad bully, a kill in self-defense, or a typically 'justified' murder. I'm sure ya know someone who's a real dirtbag in your school-"

"Clara Amber Sousa." They all answered without hesitation or fondness.

Despite the additional interruption, he chuckled. "That's probably someone around the 1 or 3 range, she'd have some explainin' ta do at the border if she wanted to come knockin' and then she'd probably get turned away. But someone who killed for survival, theirs or someone else's, could still get welcomed in after a bit of delay and questionin'.

LV 5, however, ain't just intentional; that's your serial killer range. And not just a few murders, we're talkin' somewhere in the 20s."

"S-so 10..." Luz trailed off.

"Genocidal maniac without a shadow of a doubt. And that's why we get so few migrants; most people who show up knowin' nothin' 'bout us but fearmongerin' are generally around 4-6, the rest are either soldiers, mercs, or criminals who can't get in 'cause their LV's too high. Even a bad kid's somewhere around LV 2 and can come right through without nay major questions, some Guards would be notified and their fingerprints and picture would be takin' but it's rarely somethin' to be concerned 'bout. Only anyone lower than LV 2 can come right in and the rest need a damn good reason they're that bad, anyone higher gets turned away, period.

There's some exemption for a bunch of kids in an old 'orphanage' hangin' out but that's a whole international trainwreck I don't know much about; just a bunch of people pretendin' to care 'bout the kids when they just care 'bout us not havin' 'em. I gotta friend named Ceroba that knows more 'bout it than me."

"B-But kids can just... walk in a-and... assert themselves?"

"Within reason, yeah, they've gotta have someone lookin' after them but they can have one of the small, cheap, single-person homes in a Tower or Trench city." He waved off.

"Soooooo what if something happens to their family or home when their... What's is called? Their Visa expires?" Zoey raised a hand as well.

"Visas are a Human thing. You can hang out as long as you handle the normal problems with movin' internationally. If ya got nothin', it's like a fresh start and easy to take care of yourself without a job. You just can't get anythin' better than those without workin'." He grinned.

Luz stepped out from behind Alex. "But you can live there without a job or anyone looking after you?"

"Without anyone is pushin' it, your neighbors and maybe some wellness check guys are gonna keep an eye on you 'til you're able to take care of yourself. Then you're home free. Just obey the law and the Guards don't care unless ya got a problem or cause one."

"But what if your parents want you to come back?" Luz asked before Zoey could. If Dr. Noceda sent her to camp she probably wouldn't take kindly to her wandering into Monster Territory without permission.

Quickly and without a second thought, the Sheriff pointed a finger gun. "That was settled in the Wu Family vs. Marcy Wu and The Kingdom of Monsters; Our laws and immigration are independent of the decisions of foreign powers, the only ground parents or guardians have to stand on is that they're your legal guardians in another country. Kids are more independent and looked after by the community than just the parents or guardians, even if 'what Mom and Dad say goes' usually suffices, legally you don't gotta go if you don't wanna. Be mindful of the consequences of starting literally everythin' over, though, it might sound nice but nothin's all sunshine and rainbows."

Momentarily brushing aside that Luz asked before her, Zoey pressed forward. "And how about getting a house there? How's that work for a kid?"

"A-A kid without parents!" Luz added. "Shouldn't they go to an orphanage or something? How does a kid even get a home like that?"

The man stopped, raising a brow beneath his hat before nodding upright in realization. "Right! Humans have that 'foster system' crap. That's not a thing for Monsters. Again, lost or homeless kids are more of a community project, they don't just get screwed over like over here.

The legal crap we got is the Holiday Youth Protection Act. If you meet a certain amount of points out of a list of criteria like meeting a certain GPA, having a special skill or trade, getting some average income, or some homeownership, maintenance, and contribution stuff (I don't got the comprehensive list off the top of my head) to prove you're mature and able to handle yourself, you can apply for your own home."

"Isn't Holiday that scary lady that came to school a few weeks back?" Immy mentioned.

"Not when you guys were there, I'm guessin' ya heard stories?" He chuckled.

"Mrs. Holly was pale the next day." Zoey snorted with a mocking smile. If you didn't want me to record your stupid lectures for later you should've sped things up!

"Yeah, she's a pretty influential Lord. Her HYP Act was made to protect kids in rougher situations or with unfit parents, that way they've got an out if they can pull themselves together but it applies to anyone underage, citizen or not, you just don't get to vote or attend political events 'til ya are."

A car honked just behind them, scaring another small yelp out of Luz. "Lucecita! Time to go, mija!" Camila called.

"Howdy, stranger! Small world! Oh! Y'all can call me Star, by the way." The Star waved and smiled while Luz bid them goodbye.

Zoey walked to the car with her, though, and whispered to Camila. "Hey, uh, Doctor Noceda-"

"Please, just Call me Camila, sweetheart." She smiled softly and patiently.

"R-Right, uh, would it be fine if I crash on your couch for a minute?" Zoey fidgeted.

The vet hummed and raised a brow. "Karen bothering you again?"

"Right when I get my Dad to actually take Roastie to the clinic for once in his life, she wants to throw a bunch of my stuff out and replace it with all the ugly crap she likes." The goth droned and huffed.

Camila held up a finger. "One night, okay bebé?"

"Thank you so much!" Zoey blurted and waved to Luz again as she sat next to her Mom and they drove off.

Swiftly, with her sleeping arrangements sorted, she sprinted back to Sheriff Star. "You don't have anywhere you need to be yet, do you?" She asked hopefully with questions and comments about magic and his clearly unusual weapons constantly brewing.

"Actually, since I got a minute, I got some questions for y'all. That fine?" He took off his hat, letting the colorful blue, then green and yellow, and then red and pink and purple fumes of ionized gas and space dust waft out like the funnel of a mini volcano as he simultaneously pushed a button on the device on his head and pulled a notepad and pen out from his hat. There was another line of lenses protected by metal plates folded back and over the device, pointing back behind his head as its body snapped a pair of circular lenses forward that folded and swiveled in the form of round glasses.

I'm already getting interrogated this is SO COOL!!!

Chapter 22: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 10

Summary:

Shooting Star Sheriff does some investigating, Vee's friends make Warhammer references, Vee's other friends have already ratted her out.
Vee panics about her (lack of) image, Camila has to deal with it.
Zoey hanging out, then getting attacked.
Camila's a shipper.
Getting ready for bedtime.

feat. Auntie Dye-Dye giving lessons.

"Alright, I've gotten some complaints 'bout some guy givin' your friend trouble. Y'all know anythin' 'bout 'im?" Starlo started quickly.

The three of them visibly cringed, the one with glasses looked ready to throw a punch when the goth girl answered. "Jacob Hopkins. He used to work at the Historical Society but he got fired for misconduct, I've got his job after school now."

He hummed and nodded, jotting it down on his notepad. "And what's this Historical Society called?"

"The Gravesfield Historical Society." She answered blandly.

"...Seriously, that's it?" He had to ask again with a chuckle.

"Yeah. I don't suppose we can trade answers for answers, can we?" She grinned.

He couldn't help smiling at her boldness. "Y'know what? Sure, I owe ya two." This should be interestin'.

"Then what's that rifle and how does it work?" The kid with glasses pointed, lunging in front of the quiet boy and goth.

Starlo swung it out from behind his shoulder, keeping it pointed to the ground and the safety on with his finger outside the trigger guard. "This is a Royal Warp Railgun. It switches fire mode between bolts of plasma and a giant shell; usually High-Explosive but there are Armor Piercin' and Incendiary versions. Easily costs around 10,000 G. The basic fire mode is a triple-shot plasma burst but the high-end version with the shell is a mix of a coiled superconductor rail and rocket built into the bullet. It's like launchin' a soda can of solid titanium through someone's body. The default ammo drum I usually use has room for 90 plasma shots and 10 Bolts." He info-dumped with glee. "It even needs a special shock-absorbin' anti-gravity system and tons of extremely powerful kinetic enchantments in it and your armor just to keep it from rippin' an arm off."

"So it's a Bolter and Melta?" The goth's rich brown eyes sparkled like diamonds were buried within.

"Ah-ah, my turn." She'd get along with Chara if she weren't Human He thought to himself, downtrodden. "Any of y'all know why he's got it out for 'em?"

"He's convinced Luz is a Demon from another world plotting against us." The boy with big hair droned. That's a new one. At least he's not after us... I guess

"'Aight, and yes, it's sort of a Bolter mixed with a Melta." He answered as the sending stone in his combat lens buzzed in. "Gimme a sec, please. Mind if I get your names before I gotta head out?"

"Zoey, Alex, and Immanuel." 'Zoey' smiled, gesturing to each of them before being politely ushered off so he could get to work.

1 and 2 Had also completed taking Maximus on his short park break and were guiding him back to the shelter while Starlo fanned his face with his hat and wrapped his body in nebulous stardust, reappearing in a small private Guard room in the very same shelter and taking a seat on an uncomfortable cot.

He tapped the side of his interface. "Talk to me, Ace."

"I found the details on that Human you asked about." The gray Monster put plainly. "'Luz Noceda' is the daughter of a daughter of an American migrant known for having an overactive imagination and overwhelming personality. Statistically speaking, she's probably bullied in and out of school, but I haven't been able to dig up any recent incident reports, they dropped off once she transferred to the high school. Can't say I don't think somebody's just trying to save face, though."

Star quickly jotted it down on a new note slip. "And her home life?"

"Mr. Noceda was a firefighter, now he's out of the picture; Sarcoma, passed when she was 9 or 10." Star winced. Damn, kid. "Hard to get a read on Mrs. Noceda, though. Close when she was a little girl but recently she got sent away to a... hopefully, it's just a summer camp that's really bad at branding. Odds are things will never be the same. On a lighter note, she's gotten some friends saying nice things about her on Undernet, even that Human Martlet's all buddy-buddy with."

"Does the name 'Vee' show up anywhere?" He clicked his pen, not expecting a usable answer.

"Nothing, why?"

"Just puttin' a picture together. Can ya send me the summer camp she went to?"

He could feel him adjusting his top hat through the connection. "Of course. Why's all this coming up, anyway?"

"Got a pretty crazy word from Kris's boyfriend, lookin' into it. I'm tryin' to get a file ready to send to the King."

VVV 🎃 VVV

"SHE'S GONNA SEE ALL OF LUZ'S STUFF!"

Ah, teenage drama. "You love plushies and blankets too, Vee. It's hardly a secret."

"Y-Y-Yeah, b-but it's not in anyone's face! She'll get here and she'll see everything and she'll-"

Camila cut in quickly before the Basilisk could continue spiraling. "Zoey isn't going to mind. If she already knew, you'll both be okay. Besides, she's just spending a night on the couch."

"I-I-I don't wanna make her sleep on t-the couch! She'll think I'm a horrible friend and she'll never wanna hang out again-"

"If sleeping on the couch, after she agreed to, is enough for her to stop spending time with you then she wasn't worth keeping in the first place, serpiente." Camila affectionately sighed as she bowled stuck some leftover pot roast in the microwave.

Vee, however, just kept looking between her and the stairs, changing her mind on what to do every time she decided whether to grab some warm food or so scour Luz's room for every little thing considered 'childish' by her panicked standards. In reality, clearing the bottom bunk of her daughter's stuffed animals would more than suffice.

"Then I can grab a box from the basement for you to put her toys in after dinner. You never finish your plate unless it's this or pizza, bebé, you can eat while I hide your padding." She compromised. Vee's face burned deep red but she stopped pacing through the living room and slowly wandered over to the table.

There was a knock at the door as the Human finished sneaking a few extra chunks of beef and more broth into Vee's bowl. The snake leapt out of her skin and the blood drained from her face. She shot out of her chair and burst up the stairs in a full sprint. Trying not to let her patience with her grow thin, Camila answered the door to Zoey with an old string backpack riddled with holes, she could see the bland gray outfit she'd stuffed inside. An awkward, nervous smile was plastered over her face and sweat laced her brow.

"I, uh, heard something crash? Am I too early?" She squeezed the drawstring over her shoulder.

"No, cariño, that's just mija being a little drama queen." She sighed again and waved her inside. "Have you eaten?"

The young girl took a big whiff of the Noceda household and stretched, scraping her shoes on the welcome mat before stepping inside. "I kinda dipped out of my place before Karen could notice sooooo..."

"Then I'll get you a bowl then Luz can help you get settled on the bottom bunk." While I hide her diapers.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Luz has a bunk bed?" She glanced back to the vet while taking a seat next to the other bowl of broth. "Does she have a secret sibling?"

What was meant to be light small talk turned sour as the woman stiffened and almost spilled the last bit of food out of the bowl. "No, she wanted to have tons of friends over and, well, her plush army lives there now."

"Oh..." That was... fine. Luz was never the social butterfly as long as she knew her, even if she bought for a second that a bunk bed was just for visitors, it took almost a month after the rest of them traded sleepover locations before she finally gave them a clumsy tour. It just meant they were special to her! She always got them to come together and drag her out of the house! They always stayed Cabin 7 for her. Speak of the devil... The trainwreck in question loudly bounded down the stairs with a bright red face and almost tumbled to the floor.

They enjoyed some dinner and Zoey was noticeably rushed to Luz's room, she didn't even get to head to the bathroom to change before being asked by Miss Noceda to take her things upstairs and decide who between the girls was getting what bunk. She anxiously offered to take her bag before realizing she had no idea where to put it. Zoey took the (pretty silly) stress off her mind and haphazardly tossed the bundle of clothes on the bare bottom bunk. It didn't stop her from tapping her fingers together, and even jumping at the weight of Camila's footsteps right outside her door, but she tried to pull together a crooked smile. Little dork.

"So, where ya been?" She broke the silence.

"O-Oh! U-Uh, I went back to a lot of h-homeschooling after t-the incident with Amber... And w-we have a meeting with Principal Hal and her parents tomorrow." She clasped her hands together, tight enough to turn her skin white and bury her fingernails.

Zoey winced. "Ugh, good luck with that."

"I knooooowwwww!" She groaned. "They just keep winning with money! What's the point of trying when Hal just gives them whatever they want!?"

"Wellllll..." She looked to the ground and fidgeted with her hands behind her back. "Maybe Principal Hal will grow a spine overnight, you never know!" She offered.

Luz deadpanned at her while Camila shouted from the other side of the house "He better by the time I get to him!"

Zoey snickered and started walking toward the closet. "I mean, dressing nice usually helps and you bet the Sousas are gonna be over-the-top, too. So!"

Luz tripped over herself to tell her to wait, but she'd already slid open the mirror door and was promptly tackled by a small army of stuffed animals. Bears, canines, felines, felt witches, dragons, and otters of all shapes and sizes bounced off her head and rebounded off her shoulders like fluffy bullets. She stood in place and blinked for a second, blindly staring at the clothes inside with their bottoms wrinkled and folding over themselves to make room for the plushies still stuck inside.

"You're getting a Blåhaj for Christmas-"

"I CAN EXPLAIN- wait wha-"

"NOTHING!"

VVV 🎃 VVV

I knew part of her was just as awkward as Vee!

VVV 🎃 VVV

"It's okay! I think they're cute!"

The coolest girl in school just got attacked by Luz's army of plushies but who has to deal with the consequences!?!?!?!?!? OH YEAH! ME! Vee buried her face in her hands and tugged Luz's hairline with her fingers, the nails slightly blacker and more claw-like than normal. Hopefully, Zoey either wouldn't notice or wrote it off as a shoddy nail polish job. But she couldn't get away with her pupils suddenly turning gold, she could feel the destabilizing magic rippling over her eyes, she could even smell the colorful mix of Beastkeeping, Illusion, Abomination, but mostly Wild Magic swirling so she kept her face hidden behind a hand and looked away from her gothic friend.

"Y-You do?"

Out of sight, Zoey's face flushed bright red and she gripped the end of her shirt. "Y-Yeah, heheheEhEee... I-I'm gonna change real quick!" She stammered, fumbled out of the room, realized she'd forgotten her pajamas, and came back for her bag.

Vee kept her head to the ground as she shambled by, twice, her racing hearts not helped by Camila's barely-stifled chuckling rounding the corner. "Now that was hard to hear." She barely stopped a cackle before wiping a tear from her eye, the serpent still refused to acknowledge either of them existed, hoping against the odds the world would finally swallow her whole. "You two remind me of Manny and I when we started dating."

Her face turned from bright red to deep, dark blue and the whites of her eyes flashed teal. "D-D-D-DATE!? I-I-I can't- I-I-"

The hearts attacks-giving Human painfully obviously forced down another loud laugh and hid a small lapse in control behind a quick and poorly aimed kiss on Vee's forehead. It almost made her blood freezing worth it... more than worth it. The blue fluff of her real ears suddenly burst out from her hair and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and focused enough to repair her disguise, though there was some trouble ironing out the blemishes and seams in her scales. With embarrassing her in front of a really cool girl out of the way and nobody in sight, Camila wandered to the bathroom door and knocked.

"You can take a shower while you're in there, cariño."

"Thank you Miss Camila!" She answered.

"And as for you." She turned back to Vee in her room in a whisper. "Use the bathroom downstairs, then you're getting a goodnite, ok cariño?"

Her shoulders tightened to her neck and the blood drained from her face. "B-B-But-"

"I know, bebé, but you should already have plastic sheets and you don't usually get through more than a week dry."

Vee froze. "You knew!?"

The vet held her hands and tugged her over to sit on the bottom bunk with her. "I know you were just trying to stay out of trouble, but the washing machine isn't quiet." She smiled tiredly. "You can shapeshift to be a little smaller, right?"

She nodded and pulled one hand away from the Human, hugging herself. "They're pretty thin and Luz has some baggy pajamas somewhere, she won't even notice. They're just like normal panties, you'll be fine. You'll probably have an accident soon, I'm sure you'd rather use one instead of Zoey knowing you wet the bed." She brushed the back of her remaining hand with a gentle thumb and whispered small promises. What I wouldn't give to stay here forever.

Once they heard the water running, Vee allowed herself to be dragged downstairs. The bathrooms were always cold and smelled of several cleaning chemicals, not that she didn't appreciate Mami Camila keeping the house so clean all the time, she was just being oversensitive. Her caretaker fetched one of the pads from wherever she hid them in the basement and sent Vee off, she didn't hear her walk away once the door closed. They were a little snug but fit nicely, a bit smaller around the legs than the rest of Luz's underwear and with an odd gel layer inside. The Pajamas were perfectly capable of hiding them, even before she took a bit over an inch off her height. Being closer to her regular size felt nice.

She stepped out still wearing her normal clothes when Camila interrupted, checking her phone. "Did you, uhh." She squinted, adjusting her glasses. "Tuck in the leak guards?"

"¿Qué?" Did I already mess up?

"Alright, come here." She lightly tugged down the side of her pants enough to see her leg and checked the tight flap around her thigh, tucking them in and guiding Vee to do the same on her own. "Okay, this should be fine. How's it feel?"

"Like I'm sitting on a balloon..." Vee muttered. Camila snorted and began ruffling her hair. She fought back a content rumble crawling up her throat and covered her mouth.

"You know you want tooooo." She teased. "Nuh-uh!"

She changed her angle, scratching behind her ear with her pinky and ring finger while her index and middle fingers pet the back of her head. "Come on!" "mmmmmYou can't make me!"

Camila pulled her hand away. "Oh, okay then-" "No!" Vee grabbed the squishy Human hand and pulled it back on top of her head, her floppy forked tongue drooping out of her mouth. 'pppppuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrr'

"There we go." She resumed scratching, comfortingly running her hands through her tangled brown hair while awkwardly pulling up her pants over the Goodnite. "I'd say it's about bedtime, you can shower in the morning since Zoey got the warm water. I'll see you after school, bebé." She kissed her on the head again and lightly tickled her sides, filling the bottom floor with small giggles that echoed up the stairs as the shower stopped.

Lucky...

VVV 🎃 VVV

Chara's forearms were squeezed by the tight, heavily enchanted, arcane platinum-laced bracers and gloves. The segments of the fingers each bore a sharpened triangular end of her own design, painstakingly redesigned and reforged and over and over again at frustrating-to-reach temperatures. They were still far from the admittedly obscure standard she'd set for herself but every individual joint could take more hits than the bulk of the standard chestplates of lower-ranking Guards. Her own reinforced chestpiece and undersuit could say the same, though they weren't of her design. They'd been gifted to her by the hard work of the people, the gorgeous skill and Determination of her people, and high on her own reforging list.

Which was a pretty roundabout way of saying it was a Birthday Present from Asriel and Frisk but that wasn't embellished enough.

She wanted to fix the comparative lack of resources and arcane prowess the average person had and make herself something they could be proud of, someone they could rely on. Her thoughts already consisted of adding massive pauldrons and a Deltarune Heart on the chest but that had no connection to any particular settings she couldn't pull herself away from. Zero whatsoever. But for now, it was limited to a firm metal corset with ribs of metallic white roots about a black center and chrome chestpiece. The legs were a bit more solid, looted from the standard Royal Guard armory instead of gifted or self-made. It took some time to bind the liminally-expanded inner workings of the standard offense model's powerful pistons and hydraulics to the rest of her scrappy (relative to her standards) suit but she figured it out.

All but the helmet, anyway. It was no harder to integrate than the rest of the hodgepodge but she'd already started work on her very own. Spending any time properly attaching it was inefficient and wasteful. The glow of early dawn washed over and gently warmed her face as the comfortably chilly breeze of autumn tucked back her hair. Her borrowed Armet helm sat on a long table of spare root weapons with their dull blades covered in foam and scattered pieces of other models of armor tucked in the far side of the private training arena. She had to slide back her bangs to keep it out of the way as she slipped on the helmet and flicked up the visor to get a good, deep breath of the cold morning air.

Auntie Dye-Dye was at the other side, without her armor. She was doing some basic stretches and generally flexing. Her upper arms bulged with muscle and had a trio of gill-like lines decorated each with some bright red fluff poking out of them. Her sides and legs, framing her abs and lining her thighs, had the same lines just beneath the hem of her black crop top and under her black sports shorts. Her forearms, in line with her pinky, and the back of her calves had some tough teal quills pointing to her elbows and knees stretching bright red webbing between them, they rippled and fumed water magic and the occasional coiling streak of light blue helixes as she flushed pure power through them. Behind her swung a long tail with a similar finned frill sprouting high over the base and dipping down to run the length of her extended spine, stopping near the end where a long fin fanned out with its teal frames jutting out like spikes.

A massive murder of crows lined the countless trees and white root walls covered in reinforced, enchanted, layered sheets of thick metal and brick, all watching the pair stretch and pace about the area. They perched atop the curved spikes decorating the edges of the barriers, hid in the small trees spotting the winding pathways, happily hopped along the edges of the arena, jumped up and down the roofs of the many buildings melded into the Castle, and even burrows themselves into shrubs and picked berries off bushes to fling at their friends. Several were just normal crows but there were a decent few bearing strange sigils about their feathers, some had hooked metallic beaks and curved dagger-like blades along their wings, others were spotted with glistening crystals that clicked and slid together as they flew or ruffled their feathers at whoever displeased them.

She'd never tell them but her favorites were the ones cloaked in wisps of pure shadow that wafted off of the tips of their wings like the shafts were smokestacks. Their tapping little legs had sharp talons, the upper end curved back over the scute of their feet and their beaks with pointy little protrusions along the sides and top could split vertically as well. She and Frisk loved to play with the little fumes of umbral magic flicking off of them whenever they got close enough, usually when bringing an offering of shiny objects.

Undyne stretched and popped her neck, pacing about the area and eyeing every imperfection in the outline, lump in the fine sand, and fake weapon on the walls. "Alright, pick something out. It doesn't matter what, just grab a polearm." She waved off while stomping and kicking the main areas flat.

Notes:

bio-degradable plastic.

Chapter 23: Rule III - Healthy Socialization - Part 11

Summary:

Bedtime for the babies. Some secrets are revealed.
Zoey needs help.
Starlo gives the FBI all the respect they deserve.
Jacob being an artist.
Jacob is not an artist.

ft. Undyne and Chara.

The gentle sunlight brought Chara's clawed hand over the long wood poles making up the section of weapons she was asked to pick from, guiding her grasp to one slightly curved one with an arch of metallic roots somewhat sloppily but sufficiently coated in bubbly foam. The curve of its handle made it easy to grab at the right points, it followed the angle of her hands as she stretched it out far in front of her, and the leather about its balance point was smooth under her digits as she adjusted her grip. Her stance was wide and low like she was prowling, steady and sure-footed, even on the fairly soft sand and gravel making up their training space.

Like her Dad, she held the training scythe in a reverse grip, the rear of the long blade close to the ground while its tip angled up and posed a threat to her Auntie Dye-Dye. The other end had a small cylinder of foam for a spear-tip, angled up over her shoulder. Her feet were firmly rooted in place and her toes were pointed toward the Captain and her shoulders were perpendicular to hers, reducing her exposed surface area. Chara's bright red, oval-shaped pupils within her pitch-black eyes were pinned to the cyan-scaled figure, waiting for her to enter her own stance and begin the session.

"You sure that's what you're going with?" Undyne raised her good eyebrow.

"Well... yeah?" Chara shrugged, relaxing her stance a little but staying put.

Her Aunt smirked. "Is that 'cuz you're comfortable with it or because you wanna be like Doctor G?"

Chara lowered the practice scythe and stuck her tongue out. "Pick out something that suits you first, we can have separate lessons for special weapons." Undyne sighed but smiled, pointing her back to the wall of foam sticks.

With a huff, Chara retreated to the wall and hung up the scythe. Soon, Mr. Slashy, soon. Some of her crows flocked about the table and whatever foam blades or sticks were sticking far enough out of the wall to perch upon. Some of their feathers fluttered down over her head as she pushed back her hair so it fit nicely under her helmet. She kept the visor up so she could have an unimpeded view of her selection; great axes, spears, pikes, lances, etc. The halberds were promising, lots of the soldiers in her time wielded them and the obvious favoritism continued through the Royal Guard.

They were efficient, the lengthened back end able to hook a rider right off their mount while a spear and axe were ready to cut, stab, or bludgeon with the flat end. And Chara loved efficiency, lived for it, driving every number to the absolute and tossing them away when they couldn't go any further. But that was part of the problem, she had to be careful about what parts of her arsenal she refined, she HATED wasting time and resources on meaningless things, subpar halberds were no exception. How often was she going to deal with a Human on horseback?

When the hooked end was better suited to a long-lost age, it was a better-suited weapon for ceremonies and armed civilians than her and the Royal Guard. The material, and especially the enchantments, were better spent on the axe and spear portions. Although, those were a bit too 'samey' for her. Everyone with a spear had the idea to put an axe on the end at some point, including Undyne. And the talisman and charms she often experimented with were directed toward slashing damage, the spears and pikes and lances would fall behind quickly.

One of the shadowy crows fluttered down on the rod of a large glaive, ruffling his feathers and casting misty darkness over the weapon. Stifling a chuckle she allowed him to hop on her shoulder as she grabbed the glaive and returned to Undyne. Remaking her stance, angling the blade upward as she snapped her fingers. Coiling streaks of cyan light swirled around her hand, forming into a speartip surrounded by a shifting double, triple, and quadruple helix. The Leviathan tossed it aside, the streaks loosely tying the flying tip a short distance above her wrist and fingers. The triangular, v-shaped end locked onto a foam spear like a grappling hook and ripped it away from its stand.

Catching it effortlessly and quickly jumping into her stance as the half-formed spear and streaks of light dissipated, Undyne smiled. "Alright, NOW SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Chara grinned and nodded, flicking her helmet's face protection down as the wind picked up and blew around her Aunt's bright red hair.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Noceda house quickly grew silent, the chirping of crickets not reaching the second floor, Luz's ceiling fan was the only thing making a sound. Zoey's eyes were shut but she hadn't fallen asleep quite yet, her breathing was still evening out and the wetness of her hair seeping into the pillow made her a bit (though very unreasonably) self-conscious. It was uncooperative with the brush and dozens of black strands were now helplessly entwined with the same thing Luz and Camila would be trying to handle their hair with in the morning. Obviously, it could just be picked apart in a few seconds before they used it but that was besides the point.

Some water was still around her ears as well but she was too tired and close to sleep to bother with it and her hair, though the lack of input on Roastie's vet results and her Dad shutting himself in his office for the rest of the day didn't let her finally doze off. She didn't have any tests tomorrow but her little break from Karen would end as soon as the bell rang. At least Luz's blankets were nice.

Whimpering slowly and quietly started filling the air and shivering lightly shook the bedframe. Zoey finally opened her eyes and blinked away what little sleep she could get before sitting up. The room was empty and Luz didn't have any pets. Hell, the most interesting thing in her room, aside from the army of stuffed animals, was the small bookcase under her window. Zoey's purple pajamas crumpled up around the ends and rolled up her limbs as she fidgeted and rubbed her eyes. Her foggy brain caught up to her and she stood on wobbly, asleep feet. For some reason, Luz kept her little desk and laptop right next to the ladder to the top bunk at the foot of her bed, something her pinky toe and more than a few muffled curses didn't particularly appreciate as she fumbled around for the bars and pulled herself up. Her frazzled, damp hair stuck to the back of her neck as she watched the trembling lump of blankets and displaced pillows above her.

"Hey" She called out as she climbed onto the top bunk with her.

One of her knees got a little wet, just a spot, but it was enough for her to recoil and be a lot more careful where she moved. So that's why she barely does sleepovers... and never hosts them... Trying not to be mean or too obstructive, she pushed the thought back and scooted to the edge of the mattress before putting a hand on Luz's shoulder and jostling her awake. She was sure she was gentle but she snapped awake and glanced back at her with wide, terrified eyes, then buried herself in her blankets.

For a split second, she thought she'd seen a pair of bright gold lenses staring at her in the low light of the gentle moon filtering through the curtains, but quickly wrote it off as her seeing things while exhausted and admittedly irritated... and avoiding the puddle she couldn't see. She carefully tugged the blanket off of her shoulder and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. The shivering girl slowly turned her head. Her eyes were watery and bloodshot with dark bags underneath them. Her shoulders and jaw were tightly tensed and her legs were pulled up to her chest.

"I, uh, I guess I know why you don't like sleepovers!" She smiled crookedly, trying and failing spectacularly to break the tension. Luz instead looked ready to cry again.

"Wanna talk about your dream?" Zoey asked instead, Luz quickly shook her head and poorly covered her bright red face.

They stayed there for a quiet moment, neither knowing what to say or how to address it. Zoey eventually tried to guide Luz out of bed to get out of the puddle soaking into her sheets and mattress, to no avail, she wouldn't move or speak or even look at her.

"I know you don't want to do anything right now but you should... probably get up." She offered, trying to get some sort of response.

It got her to rub an eye and barely nudge off the blankets, still covering her waist but finally acknowledging Zoey's existence. She still squirmed and hid herself under the covers but it was something and she didn't fight or prevent Zoey from lightly pulling away the sheet the rest of the way. One knee covered the other but it wasn't enough to hide the odd stain between her legs. It was more down and around her thighs than between them.

The goth girl held back the obvious question and hopped off the bed as quietly as she could so Luz could peel off her sheets and move around her pillows. They stuffed them in the washer and flicked it on as quietly as they could, hoping Camila stayed asleep while they snuck to the bathroom. The only other pair of pajamas Luz was able to dig up in the dark were some loose black ones with gray stripes. She's gotta get a fresh wardrobe. She was still avoiding eye contact when she came back out and the backdrop of the bathroom's light illuminated the edges of her face, burning deep red, before she flicked it off. Neither spoke and Zoey shut the door a bit obsessively carefully before joining Luz on the bottom bunk. She didn't want her trying to sleep on a wet mattress.

"How often does this..."

"Not more than once a night... Luz whimpered.

She scooted around to face her and lightly put a hand on her shoulder. Despite how gentle she was, Luz winced and pulled away. "I meant... throughout the week?"

"...Usually once or twice, three on a bad week..." Her barely audible voice was unsteady and high.

"...Would a few games of Helldivers after school tomorrow make you feel better?" She offered, hoping to kick Karen out of her room and block her out for the rest of the day.

Luz perked. "...You're not gonna laugh at me?"

"I promise... I-It's kinda adorable if we can turn the fan up." She smiled. I need to snag some baby Luz pictures to embarrass her with!

"Y-Y-You... you think i-it's adorable?" She barely turned.

"Ehehehehehehe~" She quickly wrapped Luz in a hug so she couldn't see the bright blush bursting ear-to-ear and pat her back, her pupils the size of pins. "Y-Yep! Weird dorky baby L-Luz! That's you!" Zoey poorly recovered.

Luz shuddered and curled in on herself with her shoulder pressed against Zoey's thundering heart. "...Can we j-just... g-go back to sleep?"

"Yeah! Yeah."

"I-I-I'll take the couch-" Luz started to get up but was quickly pulled back down to the lower bunk.

"No, it's your bed. I'll be fine, I couldn't sleep anyway."

"But I don't want you to get ditched on the couch!" Luz protested.

...

VVV 🎃 VVV

DON'T BE GAY DON'T BE GAY DON'T BE GAY DON'T BE GAY DON'T BE GAY DON'T BE GAY-

Her eyes would flutter back open every few minutes she managed to fall asleep, landing on the very reason she made the compromise and why she came to regret it. Luz was sound asleep, her eyes were still a bit irritated with tearstains over her cheeks but she was peaceful. Her breaths were perfectly even and her arms were tucked into her chest. The first few times she reluctantly blinked awake, she was obviously pretending to sleep or had just squeezed her eyes shut after staring at her. From one of them, the tension melted from her shoulders and her eyes stayed gently shut. Her blanket drooped over her mouth and covered part of her hand limply strewn in front of her face, ending right at her knuckle so she could still see the little curled fingers latched onto her pillow.

Why did I try sleeping facing her I'll wake her up if I move!

VVV 🎃 VVV

Starlo finished rounding up some stragglers and got the dogs into place. Many of them were rookies so he was willing to be a bit more forgiving of the small inaccuracies in their formation and march, Princess Chara cause a bit of a recruitment rush once she learned talks of the student transfer had begun. The particular unit type plastered over the ads and posters was the Stalwarts, wielding large shields and wearing heavy armor. Their spears, backup swords, and combat knives were a little cheap, especially compared to the rest of their standard loadout, but they were enough to bring down most modern human armors.

Had he been in charge, he would've diverted a bit more funds toward anti-medium armor enchantments on the spears but he didn't have all the budgeting details or background info on the process to know how feasible that was. Their larger barracks were equipped with some heavy armor-piercing lances, anyway. It would've been nice to have some of those on hand but, with any luck, they weren't here for anything major. Then again, Prince Asriel himself saw it fit to reassign him here.

On a lighter note, Princess Chara knew who she put on this project. Setting the newbies in desperate need of hands-on experience aside, the line of antlered helmets before him belonged to slow, though resilient soldiers. In the short handful of basic formations and maneuvers he had them demonstrate for him they proved fast, precise, and Determined. He found it unfair to compare them to the new guys but saw why Chara wanted them placed together. If nothing else, it meant he didn't have to keep as close an eye on either of them.

The generic Warriors were in good shape as well. On record, they were put here by King Asgore, but the colorful star, rainbow, and heart stickers clumsily placed over their legs called into question who really wanted them here. Some of them bore seals attached to flat surfaces of their armor or special paint jobs detailing particular achievements. One of the few who walked out of sync with their unit had a brand praising them for their speed, another who was especially perfect with their weapon handling had red-painted shoulders, and several of the older Bulwarks had green portions of their suits. The rookies were in good hands should he be unavailable and any strange circumstances would be quickly taken care of without his intervention.

An unfamiliarly bland night sky loomed over them, the light pollution of the Humans' street lights and cars tarnishing the view, unlike the low lights of the Monsters' nighttime and wonderful sight of the distant stars. Spacedust and nebulas swirled around him as he glanced to the side, attention drawn by the whirring of multiple unmarked black vans. They were all of the exact make and model, though a few of his Ocular Apparatus's layered lenses detected an unusual amount of electrical, thermal, and radio activity inside each of them.

Without a word, the elder Stalwarts positioned themselves at ease between the temporary shelter a few dozen paces behind them, trying to appear non-threatening but stern and stalwart. Some of the newer folks were prepared to absorb a charge but a few of the vets nudged them with their shields. Overzealous but effective, that was good enough for their purposes. As expected, none of his lenses detected anything magical as several unarmored men in black suits stepped out in the open.

At night, yet wearing sunglasses.

He could only assume some of the electrical activity going through their glasses was that of night vision equipment, but two stood out above the rest. Out of the frontmost van came a bald and tan Human with brown shoes and a pair of wheels built into the heels. His pants and undershirt were pristine white and his tuxedo was purple. A more vibrant purple tie was tucked into the vest next to a yellow flower pin over his heart. His glasses and earpiece emitted more mixed signals than the rest, though he didn't give his aid the all-clear to try hacking into the network; unsure if the tampering would be detected in a timely manner. He was due to get a more advanced model that could absolutely do the deed, anyway, he could wait for a more opportune time.

Beside him was someone wearing some basic brown pants with a black belt and a white button-up with the sleeves rolled halfway over their upper arms. A pen and mechanical pencil sat in a pocket over their heart and their horribly silvery-tinted glasses matched their silver watch. The yellow part of their red-striped tie was fairly less saturated than their blonde hair, the front of which swooped upward, almost doubling the height of their head alone. They politely acknowledged his presence and returned to clacking away on the laptop carefully cradled in their arm with obvious practice.

The man with heelies pinched the bridge of his nose and adjusted his glasses. "Alright, I've been on a plane from LA for the last 7 hours so I'll cut the pleasantries." Without looking, he gestured to his partner's laptop just as she turned it around to show a line graph. "The FBI's observed some unusual energy patterns in this area and for some reason we were the only qualified operatives. So, if you could inform us who's responsible, that would save us all a lot of time." He groaned.

Star cocked a brow hidden behind his hat. Some of the enhanced lenses flicked back into the side-device and his normal prescription rotated and clicked over his eyes. "'Fraid that's what we're here ta find as well. We've picked up some vague Evocation magic coming from the forest but haven't gotten close enough to tell what it is." He glared, though it still blended in with the triangular brim. Asshole, though they still deserved to know what was going on.

"Worth a shot." The man sighed. "Very well, we'll be taking over the investigation and need the area cleared-"

"Not happenin', buster." He cut the man off. "We've gotta look after our kids just as much as you do."

The tired man sneered and the hand gesturing to his techie snapped into a fist. "And we weren't asking, sir."

The tuxedo men adjusted their footing but Starlo and the Stalwarts were far from intimidated. That being said, no matter how confident he felt that they'd win this time, this was a ridiculous thing to potentially start another war over. He waved off the men in black with one hand and made a twirling motion with another finger, motioning to the Guards to get in position; the experienced Stalwarts taking a knee with their spears between the extremely narrow gaps in their perfectly aligned shields, the less capable ones right behind them with very slightly sloppier and unsteady holds on their misaligned shields, and the standard Warriors covering the sides and slightly back.

Star himself stayed before the shield wall, between his men and the Humans, visibly rolling his eyes (even without pupils) as they flicked their wrists, drawing some collapsable metal rods that buzzed with electricity. One of them inched forward while the purple-suited man also absentmindedly twirled his own humming baton. The tuxedo man held it far from his face and pointed the tip at Star's chest, stern and threatening. With a nonchalant smirk, he snapped the gloved fingers of his top right arm and they crackled with some small gold sparks. He tapped the tip of the stun baton with his index finger. Sparks flew and cracking like snapping branches echoed between the field and the forest as the baton fizzled out.

His middle finger had been pressed against his thumb, now coated in a thin sheen of yellow magic before he flicked the weapon over the man's shoulder and between the two more embellished figures' heads. "'Aight, here's the deal. What are we at each other's throats for? Do we really wanna start another war 'cause we're trying to protect our kids?

You've got home-field advantage and we've got systems and equipment that can actually understand what's happening beyond energy signatures if we get in position." Star extended a hand and waited.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Monster man, the species of which his partner couldn't find in their frustratingly limited database, smirked beneath his triangular hat as the device on the side of his head adjusted the many lenses over his star-shaped face. The leering pair of bright white eyes had neither pupils nor irises suggesting where he was looking, none of them could make a move without knowing if he would again counter so fast. The agent who pitifully attempted to subdue him took some slow and steady steps away while Mr. X mulled over the offer.

His abundant weapons wouldn't exactly be a fantastic idea to go up against in a decently populated, if asleep, area. Any other context wouldn't boost their chances much but the point was the same. The line of heavily armored, massive shield-wielding soldiers behind him more than sent the message in their own right. Few of them moved an inch and none of them budged, their spears were as steady as their experimental rifles and the soldiers just behind them were hidden well. They'd observed the lack of ranged weapons on them before pulling up but these were Monsters they were dealing with, they hadn't the slightest bit of information on what standard spells they were made to learn or what additional tricks each individual could have up their sleeves.

"That can be arranged." He eventually took the Monster's hand. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship."

VVV 🎃 VVV

As fast as he could, Jacob touched up the rough sketch of the gigantic soldiers in his Demon-fighting notebook. Their armor was thick and bulky, though they seemed to move just fine. Its designs were plain and bland, the only constant being the big Deltarune on the front. For most of them, it was a plain white with nothing else special about the entirety of the interlocking plates. He was too far away to see what the small symbols lining them were or theorize what they meant other than 'something bad' but he knew they had to be there, lots of their stuff was covered in the crap. Each piece was incredibly heavy and dense, at least half an inch thick at some points.

All of them had some sort of detailing around the edges of the parts like branches or antlers were crawling up their boots, legs, waist, and flaring out around their collars. The same tiny, at most a couple inches long, metal protrusions were swooping down from their big pauldrons, up from their elbows and hands, and away from their fingertips in tiny forks like leaves were supposed to be on the ends. The points were sharp like claws, as were the branches, but none were as prominent and grandiose as the tall antlers sprouting from their helmets; no doubt their mind-control antennae, he'd have to refill his tinfoil stock.

They all had some splashes of color, everyone had something around their Deltarune he could only assume to be occult in nature or differentiating them, but a select few bore bits of color over some sheets of presumably magical steel, most of those had some extra details and additions putting them above the rest of the walking tanks. The antlers about their joints were longer, averaging around a few inches long with golden caps and thimbles shimmering with mostly green magic. The Deltarunes on their chests had gold outlines and branches painted around them and their spears, both their points and staffs, were a little longer and metal-plated with some small gems and serrations at the bases of the blades.

Every shield had a large tree engraved and painted a shiny, metallic, snow white with a few dark green leaves on the front while the roots made a dense web down the lower half. That was it for a decent chuck of them, about half, but the greater units' trees had golden outlines and marks along the trunks like the grooves of bark, a perfectly straight line of small colorful crystals running up the center. A gold trim lined the outside of the kite shields' paint jobs and the very edges bore ornate metal prodding the cold Fall air with tiny, sharp metal branches like razors and a longer pair of forked horns poked out of the top sides. The very top of both versions had a blade like a shortsword poking out of it but the improved version had a gold channel through the center and a little sapphire embedded in the base.

Their spears were short and plain, unpainted but the glints of moonlight showed the branching etchings. The other sides of both forms had the same basic, pointy metal cap like they were double-sided but the improved model had gold lining over the base and part of the staff. The serrations at the bottoms of the primary tips were curved like hooks, making the gold decoration in the middle flare like a pine tree growing out of the small gem. Its piercing point was longer as well, its sides flickering with unnatural power.

He had to bring this to his contact!

VVV 🎃 VVV

The thick foliage was frustrating to get through but, considering how many times he'd run this route, it was far from unbearable for what he'd discovered. In a small clearing stood a freckled man wearing sunglasses with a black earpiece along his neck and jaw. He was wearing a black uniform covered with some pieces of kevlar while he adjusted his gloves.

"What have you learned? This better be good or you will be replaced." The agent snapped the second Jacob came into view.

"They destroyed some of my evidence buuuuuut I got my hands on something you're gonna love!" He produced his notebook from his coat and flicked through the torn pages. "The rest of your men are already talking to some of these!"

The man snatched his book out of his hand and squinted through his tinted glasses. "...Is this a shopping list?"

He took the book back, flicked through it again with a red face, and handed it back. His contact continued to squint at the drawing before ripping it out of the book.

"This is to stay between you and me. What's the current situation with my partners and... this..." He vaguely gestured to Jacob's expert drawing.

"It looks like they've come to an agreement, their magic for your documents on some disappearances." The rightful curator of the Historical Society explained, getting his partner's eyebrows to shoot up, the most he'd ever seen him emote.

"Details."

"Lots of big Monsters with shields and massive armor, all of them have some swords but most have spears-"

The man interrupted. "What kind of magic do they use?"

"Uh... Shield magic?" Jacob shrugged. "I'll try to find out but my focus is protecting us from the hidden threat nobody's taking seriously! And they're-" He started.

"All discoveries made during your project are yours alone, that was the deal, just don't expect us to bail you out whenever you screw up. Don't risk blowing your cover for the sake of this development, you are to discuss matters of the Demon with me and me alone unless ordered otherwise. That means you do not speak of it to my partners unless I get and give you clearance to discuss with as well, get reassigned, or I deem the mixing of these operations necessary. Do I make myself clear?" He near-growled, stepping closer and harshly jabbing his chest with a pointy, bony finger.

"Got it!" Jacob squeaked very masculinly.

"Good, now get out of my sight."

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Human freakshow was finally out of Jasper's hair for a minute. He's always late. He was quickly getting to the point he'd rather have an Abomination try spying for him instead. Rubbing his eyes, the round-eared illusion and black attire dissolved in a cloud of cyan mist and sparkles. His tunic was creased and his plain white cloak had some bits of mud clinging to the end as gross and unusually cold water stuck the hem to the back and sides of his grimy boots.

His uniform wasn't meant to handle low temperatures yet, the seasons were just as bad as back home but the insulated uniform wasn't well suited for his charticature's dimensions. Wasting extra magic on a heating spell was a big no-no, too, the radiating heat could be noticed or the flowing magic could cause an imperfection in his disguise. But because of his mission being Top Secret, not added to his work records, he was deemed 'low-performing' and put later in line to receive robes better-suited to the changing weather. Even his freckles twitched in the cold and his yellow eyes flickered to the shadows as he lifted his white mask to his face.

Feeling his hot breath waft around the inside of his mask made the bite on his ears and nose subside just a little, enough to be tolerable until he got the order to return to base. The basic metal plate on his chest shifted and creaked uncomfortanly as he breathed heavily, exhaling on his bare hands as he reequipped his gloves. The chainmail wrapping around him didn't help much, either, the chilly metal sucking the heat out of him. This is what I get for being 26% lizard demon, I guess.

With every step, his cloak swayed between and got caught on his kneepads as he walked through the dense trees, each of which being a mix of more appealing colors, rather than the discomforting green they were the rest of the time. Those should really be maroon. His boots started to sink as the gross green grass grew thin and the soil softened. A small marsh suffocating in fog and littered with stone ruins. With a shiver, the Coven Soldier crossed his trembling fingers that his assignment wouldn't stretch into the Winter. All this trouble for a Titan-damned snake pretending to be a person.

'Was it even doing anything?' He asked himself. 'Had it even killed anyone the Emperor cared about?' Was a better question, he knew the answer to the first one. That idiot only brought him tiny pieces of the Daemon's vague shedule, which was far from set in stone, during the periods between being arrested. Subtlty wasn't Mr. Hopkins's strong suit, nor was anything, he couldn't do a stakeout right and probably didn't even know how to hide a body. His progress had been infuriatingly slow and odds were he was going to be stuck putting the pieces of this near-pointless mystery together through fields of ice and snow.

The Basilisk was doing a shocking amount of nothing, other than sometimes going to the Humans' local school and walking aimlessly around town. It acted more like an average Witchlet than a bloodthirsty predator. It even had a caregiver. Then again, the presence of a magical species of Monsters explained how it was sustaining itself. Making them not want to hunt a child was the point of its disguise, he supposed, but that didn't stop his mind pasting one of his kids' faces over its scales whenever Jasper tried to get something done. In the end, he could only assume Emperor Belos wanted it for something very specific and important, if he was willing to spend so many resources and make them tolerate the only moron with any information on it for one specimen, even a supposedly extinct one. This better earn me a spot in paradise and the Day of Unity better not be delayed again.

Out of the blue, flapping through the fog from a spot of glowing blue energy, came a crow. Jasper gratefully and hopefully clasped it a bit too harshly in his hand as the second lieutenant's voice gave him the all-clear to bring back his findings. Clutching the Human's horrible sketch, he marched across the marsh and straight through the fading portal, deepm underground in an undisclosed location. Even he wasn't sure where their base was, just that it was cold and dry, far from home or the castle. He had no idea where the portal and home were and now had to explain to command that this griffin-scratch sheet of paper with what looked like a rectangle holding a stick was their best image of an inhuman, heavily armed species capable of unclassified, possibly Wild Magic.

The Day of Unity damn sure better not get delayed again.

Chapter 24: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 1

Summary:

Zoey gives "Luz" a pep talk and makes a deal she totally won't regret.
Then proceeds to get tormented by her best friend's Mami.
Noelle and Kris (and maybe Catti) aren't doing shrooms.
Ralsei being a caregiver. Meeting the Sousas and dealing with Clara. Dess exists to solve problems or become one. Hal gets a surprise.

feat. Martlet flying somewhere that won't become relevant at all.

23 Days Until Halloween

The morning brought a small chill and the gentle pitter-patter of rain, and she hadn't brought an umbrella. Zoey was sure Luz would be willing to share but hoped it would die down by the time school was out, then she wouldn't be cold and wet while dealing with her Dad and Karen. Roastie, of course, loved the rain. He would roll around in the mud as a puppy and splash her and her Mom when it was bathtime. His floppy little tongue would attack anything he could, especially their legs when they were covered in rainwater and their faces splattered with soap. Maybe she'd be able to take him outside to avoid everyone.

A migraine tapped against her skull and a light, gentle warmth tickled her nose as she downed a cup of hot chocolate. Miss Noceda was dressed in her cyan scrubs and packing her and Luz a lunch of sandwiches and some leftover potatoes while Luz was upstairs taking a warm bath. She was a lot more energetic and ready for the day when she came downstairs. They had a few minutes before the bus arrived, it was an early morning for all of them. And learning Luz's alarm played the same Metal Song her phone did was an interesting way to wake up. I knew I corrupted her!

They shared some coco and toast before being sent back upstairs to get ready for school with their brown paper lunch bags. Though sleepy, she remembered to bring her own toothbrush. Luz's teeth, specifically her canines, looked particularly sharp in the mirror, not that she was looking. Her thick hair was a mess to brush but she loved having Zoey care for it. The goth's hair was way easier to handle so they got through it quickly enough between a couple of awkwardly fumbled hairbrushes trying to work on either side of her head at the same time. Admittedly, it was a lot of fun just standing around talking and brushing a mini chocolate brown lion's mane.

"What'cha planning to say to Clara?" She couldn't help but ask.

Luz's shoulders tightened together and she shrunk in on herself, buried in her obvious favorite jacket. "I-I really don't know... She gets everything she wants, I don't think I can say anything..."

"No! You've gotta give her hell!" Zoey pleaded. "You'll have your Mom with you, Hal has to hear you out, at least be sassy about it! Annoy her into snapping!"

"That won't make him do anything about it, he just hangs on her parents' words and rewrites the budget whenever they decide it needs to be. They decide if the football or soccer teams win their seasons, brushing me off would be nothing." Luz lamented and looked down blankly at the brush sitting in her lap.

"With that attitude, they will. Ya gotta put some force behind it! Make him listen to everything she did! Make him look back at the cameras and watch that asshole and his girlfriends try to shove you in a locker." She argued while running through an especially nasty knot in her hair. How is it this thick!?

"I can't even stay dry, I'm not going to get him to listen when the school could get some money instead. I bet Mr. Stone would be in on it, send me back to camp to swipe everything under the rug for another Summer"

Zoey sighed and continued brushing Luz's massive head of hair, humming in thought while the constant repetitive motion eased her mind. There wasn't really a way for Luz to get sent back to camp; she barely showed up for in-person school, let alone caused trouble. If anyone, Zoey or Alex would get sent back, Luz was the success story they'd want plastered all over their horrible marketing and donation requests. That didn't mean anyone outside Cabin 7 was allowed to mess with her so they had to put Clara in her place somehow, but they were a bunch of average nerds trying to get through to a pair of rich people who thought their daughter could do no wrong.

As far as any of them were aware, the only person who could was whatever Monster lady came in the week before the exchange program started. Even Mrs. Leker was pale the next day and Hal actually addressed some 'alleged' bullying. But they were on their own and Luz and her Mom were the only ones on the front lines, anyway. Maybe she should just put another curse on her. It worked last time, she knew it did! ...She didn't really have a way to prove it but she just did! If Monsters could exist, she could give people visions of death and torment and divine their fortunes.

Zoey stopped brushing for a second and looked at Luz (or the back of her head). "You said you can't stay dry in general, right?" She asked with a touch of pink over her face.

"Yeah?" Her friend questioningly answered.

"So do you have a... a daytime pair?"

Luz went quiet and the tension returned to her shoulders, prompting Zoey to continue brushing her hair. "...Yeah..."

This girl's adorable and she's going to be the end of me. "W-Would..." Her face gradually burned deeper and brighter crimson as she took a shaky breath, trying to force the words out. "W-Would you... f-f-feel better if I-I... I-If I wore them w-with you." She finally whispered.

"W-What!?" Luz glanced to the side, red-faced and caught between looking at Zoey and avoiding eye contact.

"Please don't make me repeat it..."

Luz paused and fidgeted. "...Yeah, it would..."

VVV 🎃 VVV

The gentle sea breeze softly glided beneath her wings and massive lapis feathers as she inhaled the fresh air and salty spittle. A pair of goggles was strapped around Martlet's eyes and pinned down her short, fine feathery blue hair with golden streaks. The ends of her long wings shook and flapped in flight as the cyan base with her extra scaled talons and her original wing was steadier than ever. Droplets leaked off her tailfeathers, constantly adjusting as she maneuvered through the crests and troughs of the Atlantic Ocean, a far flight from the safety of Monster Territory and deep in international waters.

Her target; the artificial 'island' just ahead, a project fairly recently cleared by the Royal Family (sans Lord Toriel) for a number of purposes. A forward point against and alongside other countries, a moderately mobile trading port, a research station, a wildlife restoration center, and likely other things she wasn't privy to. Not that it was being hidden from Monster Kind, the workers and phytomancers putting it together were more than free to talk all about it with their neighbors, she'd just neglected to keep up with it through the stress and drama of Starlo being sent to Human Lands for an unknown reason that definitely wasn't anything to worry about.

The part of the 'island', more of a floating city, that was visible above the waves was far from the totality of the structure. When finished, it would extend far below the waves, lined with filling and draining water tanks manned both automatically and manually via built-in failsafes, wandering maintenance robots and Guardeners, and living staff. It was an ocean-piercing spire of many floors full of living quarters, labs, and multi-purpose rooms. Much of it was just hopelessly flooded temporary structures for the time being, marking where major segments would be so their materials could be recycled for the real modules being put there, but that was changing quickly.

A bit too fast, it turned out. Construction had ground to a halt because the sea salt gave the phytomancers more material to work with than calculated, it was sapping salt from the water fast and moved the project faster than the buoyancy tanks were prepared to handle. While they were busy using the many worker diving suits to delve to the deepest depths or simply swim around the surface, adding and improving tankards ahead of schedule, and even using some of the military-grade armored suits to move things along faster, she'd been politely asked by Doctor Alphys to fly over and help assemble some of the extra construction suits for the deep divers to get everything back on the proper schedule.

Nothing was in danger of sinking, they had plenty of manned and automatic systems preventing that, but the sudden development had become more of an inconvenience than a bonus when the metalworkers and non-magical mechanics couldn't keep up. She'd even passed one of the boats many of the phytomancers were getting sent home on. It was a torpedo-shaped helix of metallic roots and reinforced layers of enchanted steel being pushed along by edgeless propellers and tall sails, odds were she'd seen the exact ship she'd flown right by.

Aeromancy swirled around her as she descended on the surface-breaching tip of the hexagonal city. It was currently the size of a standard Area, though planned to expand seven-fold into a buoyant Sector. The general framework for the other six Districts were there but far from safe to walk on, lacking the massive steel barrier and arcane shield wrapping around them the operational Area had. Every working District had a primary shield projector with conduits and backups littered around their perimeters, the waterproofed mechanisms for the rest of them were finished but frequently getting splashed with rough waves until their segments were properly filled out.

The layers of protection were hexagonal and opaque on the outside with massive lines of metal roots, arcane plants, large leaves, and topped with rotating and angling solar panels. The lines of roads surrounding the Districts were 'open' in the sense that they were protected by magic shields and watertight roofs closed off by airlocks at every turn and third of their length. Only the outside had entrances at the moment, part of the reason the Districts were all separated by interior metal barriers. Though brutalist and unusually sparse of the strange plant life they were known for on the outside, the inside was already full of carefully selected forestry and animals like a gigantic terrarium.

It was easy to glide through the protective shields and pick a random airlock to walk right through. Even though Martlet had no idea what the layout was, she at least knew where the main elevators were. The walk was short but sweet as she wandered by a band of foxes eating someone's stolen lunch, tiny chirping birds, and bands of mice hiding from cats. The designated pathways full of curves and organic shapes around the beautiful terrain were paved by dry, fine sand but the rest was full of rich, dark, wet soil growing all sorts of plants on all sorts of wildlife layers already bearing fruits.

The buildings were bright white and ripe with windows to the bright outside, mostly rounded or hexagonal with small balconies and branches growing through the segments and seams. Vines and moss grew up and inside of the pristine root walls, leaving the rooftops mostly untouched and making the bottoms meld into the foliage. Every opening from windows and overhangs to doors and rooftops were in arms-reach of a handful of different fruits. Certain structures went deeper underwater to maximize space, descending to different lengths depending on importance. Most of the lower sections were going to be for research and deploying divers at countless depths for many purposes from repairing reefs to general research in the horrifying void of open or deep water while more residential units like houses and schools were higher up with military points and diver-deployment spots lining the entire thing.

The red LEDs built into the sides of the streets were off and the glowing plants were inactive, seeing as the ceiling was outfitted with a mix of illusions and cameras to bring the sky through the layers of protection, even the larger waves splashing over the walls could be seen down the smallest droplet left rolling down the outside. Constant splashes and seafoam splatters moved up and down the outside as Martlet reached the center of the middle-most District holding both the offices for the public servants and the massive elevators spanning the entire structure.

A lot more buttons were installed than active floors, most not being connected to anything yet. She clicked the bottom-most one and hoped for the best, nodding to the latest Mettaton hit echoing through the empty lift. Like those in the Trench Cities, it was multi-floored and had some seats around the chamber, this being one of the few (and part of the only currently operational rings of) elevators able to carry large sums of people all the way through the building. The rest of the elevators would have to start and stop at different points to maneuver around the mesh of interconnected floors and buildings.

But for now, she was alone with her thoughts, humming to the possessed robot's lyrics since everyone who would usually be using this lift was already at their jobs. She had to wander around a little bit to find where the maintenance rooms were, the near-complete darkness with a touch of blue being projected through the barrier and shield 'windows' didn't help keep her bearings. Everything outside looked the same, especially at this level. Higher up there might've at least been some schools of fish moving around the highly reinforced and enchanted titanium or randomly delving deeper within the safety of the pressure neutralizers.

This is gonna take a while... She sighed as a light horn came through several wall-mounted speakers, along with an automated message announcing the changing of the hours, breaktime, and a cute reminder note tacked on reminding everyone to take care of themselves. Although, now she couldn't hope to tell where all the engineers were working with the masses moving everywhere. Maybe I can still find one in the food courts... If I can find one.

VVV 🎃 VVV

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT DON'T THINK ABOUT IT DON'T THINK ABOUT IT DON'T THINK ABOUT IT DON'T THINK ABOUT IT

It felt like she was sitting on a small pillow or a thin folded scarf. Zoey never usually cared what people thought about her clothes, she did her own thing and they could do theirs, but she was suddenly very aware of her black pants and shirt. The way they wrinkled and bunched up (to her) got extremely pronounced. The motions and turns of Ms. Noceda's car made every tiny part of her feel the way every tiny string of fabric rubbed against her. She did her best to stay completely still, staring out the window. While she would've loved to chat with Luz, her heart was pounding and she couldn't focus for more than a few seconds.

Aside from the obvious, her mind couldn't stop wandering to Roastie and her Dad. Flashes of her precious pup kept flickering before her eyes, the way he walked, and how her Dad had walked by her and Karen the previous night. At the time she'd been preoccupied with getting the atrocious woman off her back while packing up some clothes and school supplies for today, but something had to be going wrong. Granted, he never really talked or interacted before, and especially not after, Mom passed. Odds were she was worrying over nothing but she couldn't help some anxiety when Roastie could be involved.

"We're here. Have a good day, girls!" Camila snapped her out of her trance. "Zoey, mind if I talk to you?"

Luz exited and waved to them with a smile as she took a second longer to gather her bearings and wander around to the opening passenger window.

"I just wanted to say thank you for being there for her." She started, then smirked and carried on before Zoey could respond. "But next time there's only one bed, you better leave the door open."

Zoey's already pinkish face flushed red and her sweaty grip on her bag tightened. She tried to hastily say goodbye as her tormentor cackled and drove away for a weirdly short shift at her clinic until turning back to deal with the Sousas. Good luck but I really don't like you right now!

VVV 🎃 VVV

"You ready?" Noelle gently nudged her big sister, a bunch of colorful leaves getting tangled in her hair as parts of a bush brushed up against it.

"'Course I am, Elly... but why are we in a bush?" Dess asked.

"Kris is meeting me here, later." Noelle answered as if it cleared anything up.

"And why are you doing shrooms without me?" She lightly kicked the degradable plastic bag full of all sorts of mushrooms, all entwined together by varying types of mycelium, lying on her sister's lap.

"These are for him. He said something about them needing to be cut and processed a certain way for one of his rituals." She waved Dess off and stretched her legs, her hooves clicking against the exposed roots of a nearby tree. "So Kris is probably doing shrooms without you."

"Good to know."

VVV 🎃 VVV

"You need to eat something, sweetie." Ralsei gently patted her on the shoulder and nudged her sandwich container closer.

It only had a few small nibbles taken out of it and she'd handed off her fruit snacks to Alex. The apple juice box next to it wasn't faring any better, she'd taken a few sips but couldn't stomach any more. Her gut and hearts sank deeper with every click of the clock and shout from the younger students echoing across the lunchroom. At least one thing had been thrown across the room just to miss the bin, Clara was on her third or fourth snide look of the period, and the teachers had yet to do a single thing the entire week and weekend it had happened.

Zoey 'matching' her helped for a while, pretty much just after walking through the doors, but now she felt just as bad as she figured she would. Her breath got caught in her throat every time someone or something made a particularly high-pitched or loud noise distantly similar to the big, squeaky noise the overhead announcements system always made before Principal Hal or VP Stone called someone to the office. Her sweaty palms rested restlessly on her thighs and her fingers tapped the tops of her knees no matter how much she tried to keep them still, her nerves just kept firing.

A loud, drawn-out squeak echoed through the cafeteria and Hal's voice echoed through the low-quality speakers. "Zzt-uz Noceda and Clara Amber Sousa to the principle's office, that's Luz Noceda and Clara Amber Sousa to the principle's offi-zzt."

"Do you want us to walk you there?" Zoey quickly offered as Clara visibly signaled her friends to turn their noses up at them before waving them off and getting up.

Ralsei started picking up her lunch bag and his backpack. "It'll be okay, just breathe and take a stretch!" He advised without waiting for her answer.

The cheerleader made an unimpressive and almost funnily pathetic show of walking ahead of them, it almost got a chuckle out of her if not for where they were going. Camila was waiting for them there with a cup of coffee, still wearing her scrubs. Mr. and Mrs. Sousa were equally punctual, something of a surprise to Vee. She took them for the 'it starts when we say it starts' type that would keep them waiting another ten minutes.

Amber's Mon greeted her with a warm smile. The bane of Luz's existence was a carbon copy of her mother, save for her eyes. Mr. Sousa was pure blonde with long, straight hair and bright red lipstick. A pair of expensive black antique glasses with circular lenses sat on her nose and a pink, wide-brimmed hat hung from her neck by a thread. Her eyes were bright green but Mr. Sousa's were Clara's bright blue. Hi hair was short and stuck back with what looked like a gallon of gel. Their clothes were a matching cream, a nice dress and tuxedo shirt over a pair of black pants with a fine leather belt, all ironed to perfection and spotless. Even the perfectly upright way they carried themselves oozed money. We're doomed.

Principle Hal tried to usher off her friends but they didn't budge, even Ralsei simply left him with a disapproving look as she, Clara, and their parents were welcomed into his office. There weren't enough chairs for them so Mr. Sousa stood behind his wife after pulling out her chair for her. Amber snagged another while the third, clearly dragged in from another room, was given to her by Camila, who downed the rest of her coffee and rested her hands on Vee's disguised shoulders as she fidgeted and avoided everyone's eyes.

"Would you like to begin, Miss Noceda?" She could feel Hal's eyes on her. "This isn't something to be taken lightly."

Camila intervened. "Several students, not just Clara, have been giving Luz problems for her whole time here and I'm getting tired of nothing being done about it."

Mr. Sousa came next. "We've raised Clara better than this. I can only hope that 'Bradley' boy's parents are teaching him a lesson but I assure you, nothing connects my daughter to his outburst but unfortunate circumstances." He's a lawyer, isn't he?! Great! "The same goes for her friends, I might add."

"Our baby girl knows better." Mrs. Sousa added, putting an arm around Amber's shoulders while sorting through her overly fancy pink purse for a little makeup mirror. At least it got an embarrassed blush out of Clara.

"I'm not just talking about last week, every other day we have a different problem with her talking down to my daughter and the school hasn't lifted a finger. When I drop her off here, I'm supposed to be able to trust you'll take care of her the same way you do your donors' kids." Camila leaned in and jammed her finger into Hal's desk. This isn't going anywhere, she'll just double-down tomorrow.

"I'll admit she was a little rough around the edges when she was little, but all kids were. A pre-teen's tantrums have nothing to do with her now, and this still doesn't connect her to Bradley's outburst. It also doesn't mean she's been tormenting a random girl for..." Mr. Sousa hummed and looked to the side, mumbling while tapping his wife's shoulder. "...6 or 7 grades." He glanced down at her for confirmation, and she nodded.

"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?" Someone's muffled voice asked through the door, followed by some of Vee's Luz's friends' giggles.

Hal sighed and called back. "We're in the middle of a private conversation, you can come back in five minutes."

"CINCO MINUTOS!? LIKE HELL WE'RE DONE ALREADY!" Vee flinched and curled up with a big, humiliating leak. I just want it to be over...

"HOUSEKEEPIIIIING!!!"

"Miss Noceda-"

"DO NOT 'MISS NOCEDA' ME, YOU ARE NOT BRUSHING HER OFF AGAIN!"

The door swung open and Dess casually walked in while Zoey, Alex, and Immanuel's heads poked out from behind the corner. Ralsei and Noelle stood behind them and waved before December kicked the door shut behind her. Her hands were behind her back and she stood up straight, similar to the Sousas. The nice jeans and black belt around her waist and the crisp, ironed light purple button-up with darker verticle stripes and rolled-up sleeves clashed violently with the Dess she'd been acquainted with. Even her hair was perfectly straight, the back tied up in a small bun while a pair of white snowflake hair clips with cyan outlines kept it out of her face and framed her eyes and curled lashes.

"You're not a student, what are you doing here!?" Hal stood up and glared.

While she was moving and standing like Mr. Sousa, the small smirk on her face betrayed exactly how seriously she took the Principal. "Just a neutral third party." She answered vaguely.

"Young lady, if you're not a student or faculty then you're going to have to get out of my school, now." He pointed to the door, right past the clearly amused lawyer.

"I see you're upset, but consider; I don't care." December suddenly dropped the act but kept her posture, leaving Miss Sousa and Amber dumbfounded as she waved off the entire confrontation, it sent a shiver down the Demon's sore spine that stained her padding.

"Now then." She turned. "Mr. Sousa, I presume? I want to play a game." Dess clapped her hands together, creating several white sparks that formed a ring above his head with a triangle in the center. Symbols and sparks surrounded the circumference.

"Excuse me, who are you?" He asked.

"Ah, how rude of me." She stepped back and turned to Principle Hal, giving him a dramatic, low bow and a wink with one arm off to the side behind Camila and the other on her chest. "December Holiday."

The men's eyebrows shot up and Hal slowly sat back in his chair while Mr. Sousa held his hand beneath his chin as if fiddling with a beard in thought, though he was very clean-shaven.

Dess turned back to Clara's Dad. "I need you to tell me two lies and one truth, sir. What's your favorite color?"

He hummed and lowered his hand. "Yellow, violet, orange." Red - Green - Red

The metaphysical smell of the ring wasn't dissimilar to that of Oracle magic, but quite off. Most Monster Magic was but there was clearly a bit more of a difference between what was categorized as Oracle Magic by Emperor Belos and whatever type of power December just manifested. And was there a touch of Illusion magic in the mix? She couldn't quite tell through the constant flow of magic washing through her entire body and those of the Monsters just outside.

Mr. Sousa quickly changed his demeanor, giving her a small and quiet clap and a polite smile. "Well, color me impressed. I'm sure Principle Hal offers his apologies."

"Forgiven and forgotten." She smiled back, sickly sweet. "I'm sure you can guess I bear a much more striking resemblance to my Father than my Mother. I'm also sure you've figured out I've created what's essentially a magical lie detector. Red for lies, green for the truth, and cyan for inconclusive. Unlike a mechanical lie detector, it's able to use Divination magic to add things like context clues to its output, that way it doesn't need the same easily-cheated baseline questions the Human version requires.

The main caveat for this is that it's fairly easy for an external Diviner to interfere with the spell." She jammed a thumb at the door behind her. "Hence why my sister and her friends aren't allowed to help cause problems." Dess smirked, then changed her posture to something more menacing. With a wave of her hand, she pulled the white ring away from Mr. Sousa's head and split it in two, casting both circles over Vee and Amber. "Now that the example's out of the way, let's see what you two really think of each other."

Vee's hearts thundered and her breath got caught in her throat as Dess stepped toward her and Camila, she had to squeeze her legs together and hug herself to keep it together. "How long has Clara been giving you problems?"

The lawyer was strangely quiet and stared inquisitively as Vee shrunk, carefully mulling over her words as Camila leaned in. "Go ahead, cariño"

"...As long as I can remember..." Green.

"She's lying!" Clara desperately jumped in. "She barely comes to school anymore, nobody can bully her even if I wanted to!" Red.

"Clara Amber Sousa." Her mother sneered.

"Would this happen to have anything to do with why you mostly attend online now?" December moved on before anyone could process the result.

"Yeah." Green.

Every word counts. Every word counts. Every word counts. Don't screw this up.

"Thank you. But let's be fair! Clara, Amber, whichever you're going for, why have you been giving her so much trouble that she can't even come to school?" December turned to the cheerleader.

"I didn't do anything to her! She causes nothing but problems! She even got sent to that dumb camp, I'm just minding my own business while she's barreling through the whole school like a meteor!" Red - Cyan - Red Clara panicked, her parents were silent but the grimaces painted across their obsessively tended-to faces spoke louder than her frantic yelps.

Dess looked to her parents like nothing was happening. "As you can see, the spell has a little bit of wiggle room when the original question is ignored." Then she returned to Vee. "What exactly happened during Tuesday from your point of view?"

"She and her friends were giving me some trouble, one of them called me a loser, and then Bradley tried to shove me into my locker. Susie caught it and he tried to punch her... it didn't work out."

"So you were aware one of your students had been assaulted?" Mr. Sousa leered at the Principle.

Dess ignored his sputtering. "Would you happen to have had anything to do with this, discount Chara?"

Clara's face burned red and she gritted her teeth until her Mom put a firm, angry hand on her shoulder. "Answer the question-"

"It wasn't me! It was Kate's idea!" Red - Red.

"So you did something to signal Brad to attack her, got it." December lifted a finger and flicked the ring over Hal's head. "How long have you been aware of this going on?"

"Young lady, I-" He started, clearly irritated before December suddenly lunged forward and slammed her fist on his desk with a scowl. "Answer the question."

After Vee leaked for the third or fourth time in the last few minutes, she knew for certain. Yes, she definitely had some illusory spell active on her, but with how little there was she doubted it was much more than polishing some of her features or smoothening her hair.

Hal lurched back and barely caught himself, slowly getting his bearings. "Gravesfield High takes its zero-tolerance policy very seriously-" Red.

"Would your refusal to look after your students have anything to do with the Sousas' wealth and donations?" December pressed.

"None of our student's parents can just give their children a pass to do whatever they want." Red.

"He called them to his office, too." Vee raised a hand.

"Oh! So you watched her get attacked over the cameras and did nothing!" Camila snarled.

"I-I am a very busy man, I'm doing everything in my power to keep this school together with almost twice the amount of students we're supposed to handle-" Red - Red - Red.

"Your student body has nearly doubled to the point of barely being 10% overpacked, and you're still not worth anything, understood." Dess snarked and waved the man off like he was meaningless. "Perhaps we should've had Vice Principle Stone attend this intervention instead... Meh, a lesson for King Asgore's meeting. Unlike someone, he takes the issues of his people very seriously." She shrugged.

Hal froze, then masked the blood draining from his face by pinching the bridge of his nose. "There's no need to bother him, the King is much too busy to concern himself with something like this, anyway."

"Am I now?"

The deep, disturbingly even, and deceptively calm voice echoed through the cramped space as December smugly smirked and tapped her chest. From a ripple of royal blue and purple light and electrical sparks appeared an iPad held toward them in a neatly-tied paracord harness. Displayed on its center was a mountain of a Monster wrapped in a rich purple cloak. A set of massive horns framed a huge gold crown studded with colorful gems and crystals over his golden hair, pure snow white fur, and a pair of mismatched cyan and orange eyes that appeared indifferent but were held back from twisting into a lethal glare by sheer Determination as a pair of black-clawed paws that each looked capable of shattering Elite Coven Members' helmed skulls were resting on a rich table with entwined-together fingers that looked ready to burst through the screen and drag Hal into the Conformatorium.

Chapter 25: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 2

Summary:

Luz sits through a lecture with a quality teacher.
Amity's old "friends" haven't seen her in a while.
Vee finds her way out.
Glorious consequences.
Snek baby needs a change and Mama Cami.

feat. Martlet getting challenged.

Notes:

I have a Tumblr where you can ask questions about the series and see some art!

Luz settled for some normal clothes today, including her uniform. She was feeling fine in the morning, despite not getting a hello from Tracy the last couple of days, but then she got to her Beastkeeping class. The little Starchild avoided her and now they were studying the extinct species of the Boiling Isles. Normally that also wouldn't have meant anything, not negatively, anyway. Daemon Dinosaurs? Yes, please! She and Cool Aunt Lilith even got to meet a Stonesleeper! But of course they were starting with the single most infamous and reviled species the world has ever seen; Basilisks.

Her luck seemed to turn around just a little as the teacher noticed her flinch, though there was no way for her to know it had nothing to do with her first day. They'd covered all their bases; not talking about Vee in any way, shape, or form, ever, and... That was about all that was necessary and it wasn't like they could check on her. In fact, it probably had more to do with the whole class not doing great. Eda was one of the only ones both knowledgeable and ballsy enough to find the highest-quality candles and 'collect' them. Several students were in a similar state, bags under their eyes and their hair a mess, so it probably wasn't just for her. Even Viney was a little worse for wear, but that might've been more her style than exhaustion.

Daemon Biology and Anatomy class wasn't as hands-on as Beastkeeping class itself, but it was important. Understanding the inner workings of the world around her was vital for bodily magicks. Unfortunately, that didn't mean she was able to write anything whenever she tried putting her pencil to paper. They'd even gotten the rare privilege of having a premade worksheet of blank important points and unlabelled diagrams that matched the textbook and crystal ball projections and she still couldn't write anything down about a single one of the many lost basilisk species. All she could manage was a rough sketch of Vee only from memory. Now's not the time to be in the mood for drawing!

"One of the most vital signs used by ancient and Deadwardian Witches to discover hidden Basilisks of most species was their chest." The teacher's lecture droned. She didn't want to appear disinterested, this was fascinating and he was so clearly passionate about his subject! She just couldn't focus. "They had two hearts. That might not sound significant but the average Healer and several Apothecaries knew the difference between heart beats and bile sack squelches. This gave most of them away, however, many of them knew this fact and used emotional manipulation to cover their mistakes. Mixed with a very tactical mind when it came to selecting their targets and even one or two of them could, and often did, wipe out multiple small villages.

Of course, the most often pressing problem was the Lesser Basilisk, also known as the Common Basilisk. Along with being one of the only Basilisk species with red blood, they were the most experienced with their kind's well-known shapeshifting abilities. Just one of them, if left unchecked, is said to have wiped many hamlets, a few large villages, and caused the disappearances of many attempted settlements on the Foot. Previously, these stories were written off as Witchlets' bedtime stories and baseless tall tales, and that multiple Bog Basilisks were the much more likely culprit, but recent evidence dug up from the Big Toe paints the story of just one-"

"The Great Hip Basilisk?" Viney interrupted before raising her hand.

The teacher smiled through being cut off. "Exactly! A massive graveyard of Witch bones, many of which date back during or just before the suspected origin of these stories, has recently been resurfaced by the construction of a remote Emperor's Coven Fort. Once reconstructed, they all displayed the telltale signs of a growing Basilisk. They aren't complete enough to make a clear distinction of what species was responsible, even if we had a clear enough depiction of any Basilisk species to tell the difference between the Selkidomus-like teeth marks, but we now have confirmation of the existence of a Common or Bog Basilisk that single-handedly devoured countless Witches and Daemons. The precise count isn't possible to attain due to how many worn-down pieces the skeletons have been split into but there is at least a very high possibility someone is sitting on the back of a legendary creature."

"How do we know the Emperor's Coven didn't already find it?" Luz asked.

"And what makes you think they wouldn't want to profit off the tourism that would bring?" He asked in turn.

She started listing things off on her fingers. "Private study, keeping its magic away from the public, creating Grimwalkers-"

"That kind of magic has been outlawed even before The Emperor unified us." He poorly stifled a chuckle.

"The one that attacked us and Glandus came from somewhere. A few thousand years ago might be yesterday over the span of species' lifetimes but they were hunted, they didn't pass naturally."

Even if she was obviously a little more irritated than usual, he couldn't help a fond smile at the engagement. "I'll admit you have some validity, but we must pay more attention to the timeframe problem. Yes, Basilisks as a whole were labeled extinct long before Belos would have been born, just around 3000 years ago; but we must remember there are many records of various species of Basilisk coming in contact with the Emperor during his unification of the Isles, and especially beyond. It's easy to think we are the masters of the Isles and the distant coasts, even parts of some other Titans, but there are still barely explored parts of our own Titan thought-extinct species learned to hide in.

The Knee, for one, is somewhere you might not expect to find cold or lukewarm-blooded life to be hiding, but that wasn't always the case!" He understandably moved the lesson along. "Once, the winding, windy, and difficult-to-traverse heights of the Knee and distant mountains were populated by one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty species so feared the cold was greatly associated with reptilian life. The Wooly Basilisk was renowned for its long, anti-magic talons and extremely thick spell-reflecting fur. Although it lacked the ability to shapeshift beyond altering its proportions, usually extending certain body parts and growing out its hair, it quickly became one of the single most devastating and destructive enemies of the earliest Wild Witches-"

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Have you seen Amity at all?" Amelia eventually asked.

Willow didn't look up from preening the Witch-trap in front of her. In hindsight, trying to get someone's attention while they were tending to Mr. Snappy wasn't her finest moment, but the Top Student didn't appear to mind.

She took a few minutes to finish grooming his leaves and brushing his teeth but she got back to her fairly quickly. "What about Amity?"

"It's just... I know we haven't talked much since the Grudgby game but I haven't heard from her in a while. I don't think she's been coming to school the last week, either." Amelia fiddled with her fingers after putting her trowels and clippers away. "And Skara, Cat, and I all tried calling her, like, a lot. She never answered."

"Welllll, maybe she's just in a bad mood? Everyone's had a rough week, she might just not be bothered." Willow put down her leaf brush and sorted through the box of spare tools for a folded-up shovel.

Amelia took the liberty of finding and handing her the tool for the next part of their assignment. Today's class was thankfully pretty easygoing for the first day back of the Mourning Veil. "I know it sounds normal but I swear this is really bad. You two might have a rough history but we were there, bad things happen when she's alone. If she isn't taking care of the library kids, she's not taking care of herself."

Willow flicked the shovel open and plunged it into and empty grow-bed. "How so?"

"She doesn't sleep, she doesn't eat, she barely drinks, and never puts her books or cauldrons down. I don't know what happened since you were kids and she became friends with Boscha and us but she pushes herself way too far."

"She's always been a little obsessive when someone wasn't dragging her outside. Are you sure she's not just 'protecting her image'?" She mock-gagged.

Ameila gave a tired chuckle, unsure if it was funnier when she was running on fumes or she was too drained to laugh. "Not coming to school is just the later part of it. It's really hard to get her to look after herself when she starts falling off... Can one of you guys just check in on her? Please?"

Willow weighed her options and shrugged. "Maybe she'll answer Luz. She might've already done it but I'll ask."

"Thank you."

VVV 🎃 VVV

The foundations started to vibrate as Martlet finished assembling another one of many hydro suits. She was one of the only people handy who knew how to put together the Military-Grade Fire Elemental suits so she had no shortage of work and, by extension, no shortage of bonuses. Speed was on her side, too, she'd developed a muscle memory for the joint connections and was well-used to untangling the pipes and wires. Combined with tiredness, the light shaking was pissing her off an irrational amount. Martlet wrapped up putting together the current suit, grabbing the helmet dangling from a massive pair of hooks with her leg talons as she flapped her wings to drag it over the huge, multi-layered, mechanical body.

Its legs were blocky cylinders, not really having room for feet. The Fire Elemental wearing it wasn't supposed to be wearing shoes so their feet could disperse through the tree-like legs, that way there wasn't anything in the way of the edgeless propellers around the shins. The thighs had some built-in, generic holsters for pressure-resistant weapons and tools while a proper utility belt was attached to the waist. Its bulky chest armor was able to take massive amounts of abuse while the thin, separately pressurized, and reinforced inner wetsuit was far from the impact zones with thin but numerous oxygen tanks and Power Cores around it.

The arms were just as dense and heavy as the legs, she'd gotten plenty of workouts just from lifting and fastening them to the giant shoulder plates. Their completely mechanical hands were way ahead of the comparatively delicate system the wearer used to operate the thumbs and three fingers, each with smaller magnets and prods in the tips so they could operate things like welders and drills while the majority of the functions were designed around that of their weaponry. She drilled, welded, and bolted on the many moving parts of the helmet's hatch. It was big and stiff like she was swinging around a cross between a diving bell and one of those very old Human Diving Suits that often required an external hose to provide the user air from above the waves.

She gave the head an experimental twist, made ever so slightly more difficult to fine-tune by the constant droning through the metal flooring. The basis of the top portion was wide, curving away from the neck, latching just beneath the pauldrons, and curving down over the collar and sternum areas. The pill-shaped outer-head layer had a small visor with three vertical slits that glowed with pyromancy when the suit was inhabited. As per her rhythm, she used the same gigantic (and more than a little dangerous) hooks to heave the armor's corresponding heavy rail cannon onto a set of clips and pins on the side of its combined waterjet and abjuration projector backpack, then flicked a switch on the wall to send it down and take a break.

A nap sounded nice, but the bluebird wanted to figure out what that annoying vibration was, first. It could've been a faulty air tank getting ready to burst or an exposed electrical line, after all. Her talons clicked along the grate ground and the flaps of her wings echoed through the subnautical halls as she flung herself high above the wandering workers, the vibrations turning into audible drones and whirrs like rough turbulence.

Turns out, 'drones' were exactly what she was looking for. Chara's two-headed bird mech had been a hit, both for its effectiveness and the striking image of a massive metal bird soaring through the sky on aeromancy jets and faux-feathered aluminum wings. It was a gigantic and nigh-unstoppable machine of epic proportions while the smaller, one-headed version was more affordable and only slightly more maneuverable and closer in quality to some advanced fighter jets. However, they left an opening in the aerial battlefield for lighter aircraft that several companies and independent designers alike were rushing to fill for the King's good graces.

A skeleton crew of engineers, pilots, and mechanics were holed up in a wide-open room with nothing inside. The big barren cube was well away from the reinforced 'windows' and lacked any form of machinery or fragile opponents, they were free to drive around their little prototype to their hearts' contents; a flying computer cursor with two ports on the top and bottom, clearly for turrets and similar mounted ordinance. The barely hovering block relied upon the central funnel to move it left and right while the rear had some short fins angling it up and down.

It was also ridiculously inefficient. The remote-controlled drone could barely move; the sets of enchanted and conductive rings in the middle of the system were pretty blatant copies of Chara's propulsion system, just without the budget to make them effective. While great for forward and backward motion, they depended on external methods to direct the machine. The way it was built didn't help, either. The back funnel opened and extended past the body of the drone so it could shoot ahead easily but the front stopped within the middle of the vital mechanisms, requiring it to blow strong gusts directly into a flat portion of the interior just to reverse.

Its frame wasn't aerodynamic, either, the flat portion the reverse direction blew into was designed that way, horrible for drag when moving one way and continuing to push it forward when trying to go the other. Meanwhile, the edges were bulky like they rounded the perimeter of the triangle and called it a day. The thrust, not made with direct vertical movement in mind, was the only thing keeping it airborne and flying in wide circles to keep momentum on its side even though the poor sap trying to operate it had the horizontal joystick bent all the way to the side. She could see the messy internals dangling out of removed panels and the hum of its cooling fans was deafening.

There was obviously a massive internal computer, too, one too cheap and complex for the team to build upon and polish without starting from square one with a whole new motherboard. Whoever proposed the project to their friends and colleagues didn't understand light drones were supposed to be cheap, expendable, and move in numbers, either. There was no way for a swarm of these things to soar in unison without constantly slamming each other out of the sky.

Any avian or bat monster could get way more done with a jetpack for the same price and not throwing away a bunch of life on small bots was the main point of the awaiting airforce position. No wonder Chara makes so many of these concepts when the competition is a bunch of geeks going after what's available and profitable instead of putting their own ideas for existing models on the table, they could get themselves in better places for this kind of thing if they started there. Knowing Doctor Alphys would juggle the majority of the coding problems would've done them wonders, too.

"You guys need to give it a dorsal fin if you want it to move well." She finally brought up. "And the wings need to move more to keep pace with real pilots."

"Agreed." One of them, a fish, answered without looking up from the controller. She could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"And we're gonna win that grant! So don't even try it!" Another yapped, a Squirrel-Folk like Mooch. Ah, they're those kinds of 'scientists'.

"You're looking at the inventors of the DeltaDrone!" The fish parroted.

"At least you're better at names than the King." Martlet wrote the whole thing off and yawned.

"Oh, you wish you could ever create something half as good as this masterpiece in the making!"

Normally she might've flapped her wings and started gliding to her room, but she was running on a couple of hours of sleep and woke up on the wrong side of the bed. "I could build that triangle twice as well as you guys."

"Dream on! You're getting left in our dust!"

"We'll see..." She side-eyed them on her way out, mentally reworking the drone's entire layout.

VVV 🎃 VVV

December was smiling like a madwoman as she unfastened the paracord and fiddled with the iPad, flicking open a bit of metal on the back of the case so it could be propped up on Hal's desk, right in front of his face. Vee shivered and sank into Camila's arms, turtling into her shoulders so the Human's hands squished her cheeks. She just needed something reminding her the Vet was there and leech some of her body heat until the terrifying goat man went away.

"N-Now now, I'm sure we can reach an understanding-" Hal began with the shine of sweat across his forehead and along his brow.

"Strange, that has not seemed to be a concern of yours before."

"I think we're done here." Mr. Sousa huffed and looked down on Amber. "Give me your phone, we'll figure out the rest on the drive home."

Clara scrambled to surrender her phone before he Mom harshly took her hand and roughly tugged her to her feet. "You'll have to forgive us, King Asgore, we thought we raised our daughter better than this."

"I am not the one you should be worried about, Lady Sousa. As for you, Lady Noceda, I believve Luz deserves the rest of the day off." He calmly stated, lingering on the V.

"Agreed." Camila sneered and ushered Vee out of the office.

Both families were cut off by another woman at the door, one equally terrifying as the King if not for stature and obvious capability, but for actually being here. She was a towering copy of Noelle, just with seafoam eyes and a black nose. Her antlers were longer like December's but closer in color to those of the younger sibling. Her mouth had no smile and her dead eyes were indifferent and irritated even by their temporary presence. Vee almost opened her mouth to try and muster a polite, squeaky greeting before Zoey almost fell over on the other side of the door, rapidly swiping her fingertips in front of her neck with shrunken pupils to motion her to stay silent while desperately shaking her head and grinding her teeth in panic.

"Carol?" Asgore asked, the iPad camera and screen still not facing them but hearing the heavy silence.

"Yes, your highness." December answered first, staring sourly at the elusive Miss Holiday. Not that Vee knew if either Holiday parent was particularly evasive, they just lived on the other side of the world.

"I will return your iPad to you when the King is finished, we would like some privacy in the meantime." The woman's voice was low and quiet in a stern, 'asking but not really' way that sent aching shivers up Vee's back as she and Camila squeezed by after the livid Sousas.

The two were stomping away from the group with Clara still caught in her Mother's grasp. Susie and Kris were trying and failing to bite back chuckles while Ralsei and Noelle exchanged glances and grabbed each other's hands. December peeled away from the group pretty fast as well.

"Your Mother is the fucking scary lady!?"

"Language, Hija." Camila scolded Zoey into shrinking back in her seat like a kicked puppy.

"W-Who?"

Alex got out of their chair and playfully nudged Noelle's side. "She was the one who came to school a month ago. I think she was inspecting for the transfer and she pulled a bunch of teachers aside for questions. All the gym guys were pale the rest of the day!"

"And she's going to kill us all!" Zoey blurted.

"She's not that bad."

"You can't see her fluff-face!"

Camila cut in while ruffling Vee's hair. "Cariño, I need to get back to work. I'll drop you off at home and we'll talk about school when I get back. ¿Bueno?"

"Sí" She nodded and got ready to wave goodbye to her friends when Noelle stopped them.

"Actually, I'm heading back to Monster Territory. I can get her travel permissions! It might take a day or two to get approved but there are some plays going on and some carnival games!" She offered with a bright smile of snow-white teeth and a glowing red nose, then backpedaled. "It's, uh, cold though."

"YES!" She answered a bit too quickly as her real, raspy voice leaked through. Hopefully, it could get written off as a voice crack.

But this was her chance. This was her way into Monster Society. This was how she got away from the Coven without costing her magic. But this was also how she left Immanuel. This was also how she left Alex. This might be how she leaves Ralsei, Susie, Kris, Noelle, December, and Catti. This was how she lost Zoey. This was how she lost Mami Camila.

What was she supposed to do until Luz came back? Was Luz coming back? The scattered messages she'd gotten through to them insisted she and her nondescript friends were searching for a way back but they'd yet to get any updates or details on the process, nothing since she Astral Projected into the closet mirror. What was stopping her from saying it was harder to get messages through, then just stop sending them? Vee didn't put it above her, she fully intended to leave Camila hanging when she walked through that portal. Heck, could she even get back? They still didn't understand why some texts and videos got through and others didn't.

"I promise Dess and I will look after her if she comes over!" Noelle added.

Camila mulled it over, hesitantly putting a gentle hand back on her shoulder and bending down to her level. "Do you promise to be careful and come home before siete?"

She swallowed back a bad lump in her throat and stuffed down a weight on her hearts. "Sí, Mami... b-but can I get something warmer before we go?"

"Of course." She smiled, a little shaky and nervous but brushing her hair behind her ear like all was well.

"I'll be waiting by the shelter!" Noelle waved and started down the hall. Vee said goodbye, probably for one of the last couple of times, and followed Camila to the car as her lungs tightened.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"While Putin continues spewing the same, bland 'Nuclear War Escalation' threats on lands they eventually want to occupy, losing an estimation of 40,000 conscripts, veteran soldiers, and North Korean reinforcements in the most recent counter-invasion, it seems a certain newcomer has been making the rounds on the global scale. After a still unknown Monster device shot down two attempted, experimental Sarmat II, 'Satan Incarnate' strategic nuclear warheads earlier this year, a lot of momentum has been carrying the south-eastern front." The newswoman chattered from the roof-mounted screen as Clara silently got into the car.

Their chauffeur had seen them exiting the school in a huff and quickly finished looking over the car before her Mother took the seat beside her and her Dad hopped in the passenger side, simply telling the young man to 'make it quick' before they were heading home.

"King Asgore has yet to give a statement on the matter, but the continued march of Monster Soldiers across Russia has made his standpoint on a ceasefire clear, further boosting Ukrainian morale as the 'Inhuman Invasion' has taken an estimated 70 to 90,000 military lives and resulted in the loss of several vital strategic points and the collapse of multiple cities over the year. The addition of Iranian Kamikaze drones has been rumored to do nothing to slow the advance and satellite imagery shows three suspected failed missile launch sites. Attempted bombing runs of Monster Territory, the targets ranging from their border to Mt. Ebott, have seen similar results. Russian officials have declined to comment at this time.

At the start of October, North Korea launched a counterattack of 'unparalleled importance' on Monster-occupied land, sending an undisclosed amount of soldiers to cut off supply lines and clear mines, claiming the military operation a 'quick and devastating success'. Unfortunately, South Korean and Global Satellite intelligence paints a very different story, reporting no change in Monster control and an estimated 800 casualties within the first 24 hours, followed by a retre-" Her Mom flicked the panel off and slapped it closed with a scowl.

Amber's eyes were pinned to the floor as her long nails scratched her knees and sweaty palms gripped the end of her skirt, wincing at her Dad's sharp exhale. She could tell he was rigidly looking through the windshield, he couldn't even look at her, her Mom couldn't even look at her.

They were getting free of lunchtime traffic by the time her Father started talking. "Is this a safe space-"

"That girl has something against her mother." Her Mom interrupted without looking away from the tinted window.

For once, he chuckled. "$30 says Mrs. Holiday's the 'tough love' type."

Mom snorted. "And then her sister was raised by their Father? I'm not taking that."

"I'm sorry." She barely mumbled.

"We're the last people you should be apologizing to, young lady." Her Dad finally glared at her through the middle rear-view mirror.

"That, and are you sorry for what you did for 7 years or are you sorry you got caught?" Her Mom snapped around to her while they pulled into the driveway.

The driver parked and unlocked the door, none of them waited for him to come open their doors for them. Mom gestured her over without looking while Dad walked over to the man, counting and holding out a handful of twenties. "Bring the car around to the garage and take the rest of the day off." He sighed and followed them inside.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee's stomach continued to churn and knot as she clicked her seatbelt on and felt the rumbling of the car.

"Oye, I swear if that man ever tries to talk to me about 'behavior' again..." Camila scowled and inhaled. "Clear heads prevail."

What am I about to do to her? She gripped her arms fiercely, looked at her feet, and rocked back and forth with the movements of the car as the Vet tried to pull out, but was cut off by none other than the Sousa's chauffeur.

"You know I'm not mad at you, right bebé?" Camila asked softly with warm eyes and sweaty and wrinkled teal scrubs.

"Yes." But you will be.

The realization slammed her out of her funk like she'd been hit with a bag of bricks. "I ditched Zoey in a diaper!" The blood drained from her face and shivers wracked her bones, leaving her feeling just as bad as when she hopped in the car seat of the kindest person she knew.

"¿Qué?"

"I-I-I-" Where did she even begin?

Camila was driving out of the school parking lot by the time Vee found any words. She'd casting suspicious looks at her searing hot face between looking both ways, more than enough to make her know that wasn't flying under the radar. "S-S-So when we were getting ready this morning, I-I was stressing about the meeting a-and... and s-she asked if wearing o-one would make me feel better."

The silence was as suffocating as a Winter night in her cage when the majority of the guards went home and the heating got turned off. "...She's a nice girl." Her caretaker of limited time responded frustratingly noncommittally.

"T-That's it?" The Demon finally looked up.

"Speaking of which, how are you doing?"

"I-I... Dess and A-Asgore were scary..." Vee whimpered.

Camila sighed. "Ralsei was right about you needing something stronger. Make sure you clean up and get a change before you go meet your friend."

"Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone over for a sleepover this weekend?" Her face was blank and unreadable as she suddenly changed the subject. That, or Vee was just bad at paying attention under self-inflicted pressure.

...Maybe just one sleepover before she vanished wouldn't be that bad. One last make it or break it get together with everyone to enjoy some movies and snacks, right at the end. 'One last hoorah', Alex would put it. If only Alex knew, if only they could know the last time they'd ever play shooters together would be. If only Immanuel knew, if only he knew she'd burrow into his side watching a horror movie that wasn't even scary and depend on his hilarious deadpan insults of the characters' choices to get her through the night dry for the last time. If only Zoey knew, if only she knew how much their heart-to-heart meant to her and how badly she wanted to stay with her, how badly she just wanted her.

If only they could know they were going to be Cabin 7 for the last time.

If only they could know what they welcomed into their homes.

If only they could know what she was.

If only she could tell them why she had to do it.

If only she could make them understand it was for the best.

If only she could see them with her own eyes one last time.

"What's wrong, bebé?" Make something up!

"W-W-What if they find out?" Unnoticed tears streamed down her face. "A-About Luz, about m-me."

"If Zoey was willing to... go through the day with you, then I'm sure she would be just as understanding about your scales."

"I-I'm not even a real person! I'm not even a good copy of Luz! I'm not even human!" Vee protested and whimpered.

Camila pulled into the driveway and hit the break a bit too hard. "There'll be none of that. You are just as unique and wonderful as mi pequeña Luz." Camila barely raised her voice but made it twice as authoritarian. "And you're so bad at copying her because you're perfect just the way you are. Your friends and I love you for you, Vee."

"They don't even know wha-w-who I am."

She turned and reached over to squish her cheeks. "Luz doesn't read Cosmic Frontier, Luz doesn't play shooter games unless they're fantasy-themed, Luz doesn't have to be pulled away from CodeAcademy for bedtime. They know more about you than you think, and they love you, too."

Vee shifted her hand against her better judgment, unveiling her claws and the jade-emerald scales along her fingers. "L-L-Look at me!"

"I am looking at you, cariño... Zoey and Luz are... oddballs... She would be so excited and she'd find a way to get Alex and Immanuel on board if they weren't already. Oh, if only you could see how wonderful we know you are." Camila lowered her hands to grab hers. "You're so smart, so sweet, and so lovely. Nobody worth your time wouldn't want to be your friend."

She chuckled. "Now, the ones that want to be your friend and aren't looking after you, those are the ones you'll have to look out for. But we're all going to be there for you, ok? And if not, ¡Voy a pa-pow!"

Vee let out a small, choked laugh between sniffles while she fixed her disguise. "Mamaaaaa..." she droned, then threw herself away from Camila. "O-Okay I'm gonna grab some coats and go see Noelle goodbye forever!" The Demon repeatedly thudded into the car door while trying to open it and ran into the house without listening to a word the Human said, hoping work would call her away before she had to wait a noticeable amount of time for the car to pull away.

Chapter 26: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 3

Summary:

Vee sets her great escape into motion.
Jasper ponders his one day of the year off and zealous Lieutenant.
Snek-Otter hangs out with Noelle and faces the horrors of Monster Language.
Luz and Tracy make up, the Collector wants to learn "Human Magic"
Zoey has a lot on her mind.
And witnesses something she shouldn't have.

Vee busied herself with answering a bunch of random questions on the internet and looking over her online schooling options before getting ready to meet with Noelle. And it wasn't for the sake of making sure Camila was gone before she headed out. Her back and limbs burned as she pulled off her school clothes and soaked pullup, dropping it in the trash before searching Luz's closet for something more fitting. She wasn't even outside yet and the cold was stinging her, she didn't want to know what Noelle considered to be cold. A part of her believed she was just being considerate and Monster lands wouldn't be a frozen wasteland that she wouldn't get a hundred paces through before collapsing dead, but she wasn't sure.

The cold had only recently begun sinking in, she didn't want to take so much from the Humans' closet but had little doubt it would start snowing there soon. She picked out some ordinary underwear, weird as it now felt. The fluffy feeling was missing but she didn't want to waste too much of Camila's money, certainly not on something that'd be leaving her in the dust soon. Camila's not gonna see me, right? She took multiple long looks at the other girl's wardrobe, finding some nice sweaters. They looked flat, pulled down and evened out by gravity over time, untouched for a while. An extremely light layer of dust coated them, as did the faint scent of rainwater. The jackets with pictures of characters from all sorts of magic franchises like Dungeons and Dragons, including some of Zoey's favorites, beside them were obviously frayed and well-worn.

Maybe Luz can still be friends with them when I'm gone. Vee hummed something adjacent to contently as she took a small amount off her height and proportions, not enough to be noticeable but short enough that it felt less straining like she was a rubber band being pulled a little too far out of its resting shape. An orange sweater's sleeves dropped over her hands and went nicely with Luz's earthy eyes and hair, in her opinion, but she didn't want to chance Camila seeing her without the bright colors and anime shirts Luz was known for. She got a pair of black leggings and some big, baggy sweatpants while deciding on a long-sleeved undershirt and searching for a jacket big enough to pull over her Luz's sweater.

The sleeves rolled up and it took an embarrassing minute to pull them out over her fingers but she managed and found some gloves and big socks to wrap it all together. All these looked to be the warmest clothes Luz had, obviously a wardrobe meant for an already warm-blooded being who ate too much sugar, so this was about as bundled-up as Vee was going to get. She grabbed a few granola and protein bars from a secret stash hidden in the Human's pajama drawer and rushed out the door to meet Noelle.

VVV 🎃 VVV

As a squad leader, Jasper got called before the Second Lieutenant pretty often. For some strange reason they insisted all reports be in-person no matter how many of these Titan-damned papers could be resolved over Hex-mail. The exhausting Daemon was a devout worshipper of the Titan and not only had all sorts of relics and symbols of its worship from several time periods across their office, but made sure everyone who entered knew how old and significant every single one of them was. The worn-down tooth of an ancient Slitherbeast used as a sacrificial dagger (and one he didn't doubt would be used against anyone who pointed out Slitherbeasts weren't known to be around the period he claimed it was from as if Beastkeepers couldn't identify something wrong), preserved sheets of cloth from cultists bearing marks of worship older than Coven Brands, and the set of old coven masks from a time before the Emperor lined their walls and sat on their desk.

And they shoved every single one of them in everyone's masked faces, flaunting their age and importance, holding them over all their units from the Scouts to the Sergeants like him. All his energy was drained by the time they were out of his hair and he still had a bunch of paperwork about the runaway Basilisk to get through before he could turn in for the night, not to mention the Blight Industries shipment needed a qualified Abominations Witch to inspect and the Potions delivery demanding the same, neither situation he trusted any of his peers with. Sometimes, it felt like the Coven management was incompetent on purpose, but asking questions and making slights like that was a dangerous thing. The only option was to trust in the Emperor and the Titan's will, which also wasn't his cup of apple blood.

If the Titan never spoke to anyone, what was the point in praying for guidance or worship? And what made Belos so unique? At least the Day of Unity is coming. In the meantime, somebody else had been assigned to enter the Human Realm to keep tabs on any new developments. Mainly the unknown magical creatures, he'd heard the order to gather information about them came directly from Emperor Belos but felt the difference between him and the Captain didn't matter. It didn't matter what level of command the order came from, even an Abomination could see why it was such a matter of concern. Hopefully, it wouldn't delay paradise or his vacation day.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The only other thing Vee added to her arsenal on the way out was a scarf stolen from Camila's closet, as old and forgotten-about as the sweater drooping down her fingers and collar. She fiddled with the fabric, feeling its age and wear beneath her unusually bare-feeling Human hands, lacking scales or paw pads that gave a previously unnoticed barrier between the hide and soft threads. With a big whiff of magic, she prepared for the rest of the day. All the differing scents mixed together, trying to drown each other out; some were familiar, others disturbingly so and brought bad memories to the forefront of her rattled mind, but many more were new or buried under the rest of the Monsters' magic.

Vee had probably sniffed most of it but there were suddenly so many sources of delicious magic and flinging spells that many of them were drowned in the mess. For the first time since they arrived, she could take in some of the smaller traces, those of Monster less versed in specific magics that stood out from the crowd, the special sparks of the average rabble living their own lives in their own worlds separate from, but running parallel to, her own.

It didn't take long for the swirling blur of magic to get drowned in the cold, unforgiving but kind blizzard of Noelle. Even when Vee couldn't see her, she could follow the trail blindly. Shivers shook her with her steps despite the temperature not falling. In her defense, it was already chilly. The younger reindeer was greeting people just outside the Monsters' shelter, though the only people walking about were the retired and the very young with their parents. If December was around, she'd already traveled back to Monster Territory.

"You look adorable!" Noelle greeted.

A pair of massively armored Monsters were standing beside Noelle, just behind her. Both had swords sheathed by their hips and large guns in their hands, but one with moose antlers poking out of their helmet had a hammer on their back and the other, with no notable features outside of their armor, had an axe strapped over their shoulder. At least Jacob wouldn't be trying to follow them, she doubted anyone arrested for any reason would be able to get by them, some random guy who got fired for his nonsense and stalking didn't stand a chance.

The two Guards followed them into the structure and the glowing ring of energy stuffed in the very center of the modular congregation. On the other side was the front of a building with some more Guards flanking the doorway. None of them looked like the rabbit and reptile she'd talked to in the park, the joints of their armor had small gaps where gears, wires, and pistons like parts of an engine could be seen. Their footsteps were heavy, even for their size, and the huge sheets of metal making up the armor itself were lined with symbols that oozed with magic and painted with matching markings like the crests of a squad or displaying their ranks with bright whites and light greens or reds in the shape of detailed and stylized stars.

Inside the wooden building made of strong branches and metallic roots, she didn't get a good look outside as she was ushered in, were rows of cushioned sheets populated by all sorts of Humans of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. Many were holding sheets of paperwork ranging from folded-up birth certificates to licenses, but it all paled in comparison to the massive piles of papers and books behind the glass doors to tiny rooms she couldn't see inside of, their contents were placed around the corner so only the Humans sitting in more chairs inside could be seen by the security and other guests.

She felt very underprepared compared to all the Humans. Vee didn't have her own papers or ID, everything was Luz's and left at Camila's house. How was she even supposed to get across their borders? Guards were watching their every move and left her nowhere to run if anything went sideways. Were they going to have one of those lying rings? Could she shapeshift her way out of this one? And if she could, how often would she have to change her face to get around?

"Don't worry about Luz's papers." Noelle leaned down and whispered directly in her ear. "I've got you covered."

The reindeer led her to some of the empty chairs, next to some quietly sleeping children and a grouchy old man. She twirled her fingers and summoned some small pages for Vee to look over. Its legal word salad was completely indecipherable, written in a language she'd never seen, but Noelle did her best to translate and guide the serpent through it. The symbols didn't form words or letters like the Boiling Isles and English alphabets, different symbols were meshed together to modify each others' meanings, much more complex than letters. Some symbols could state an entire sentence depending on what markings made it up.

Just one mark could be a piece of a phrase in of itself and had to be paired with tons of other patterns to make a single symbol. One line with a few edges could mean 'I am" while a curve could mean eats, then a few more squiggles could be a food, and connecting them all together at certain points turned into 'I eat a food'. She wasn't a lawyer in english, how was she supposed to understand this if Noelle wasn't available!? How the heck did an extremely specifically drawn octogon of all things get used as a character representing an idea that had to be paired with other, equally specific yet random shapes and series of lines making up large parts of other statements to make either portion make any sense? The number 1 represented everything '1' until a word like 'fish' was added to give it a certain meaning, but what if 'fish' was also one character that needed other specific scribbles directly attached to it to narrow it down further to descriptors and species? She might as well have been looking at hieroglyphs, at least she could take a guess what a bird or scorpion meant.

"I-I'll try to have you home before 7 but there's a lot to go through with this." Noelle muttered as she explained how the packet basically gave Vee a pass as a form of ID while in their lands, an unofficial serial number that could be given out by officials for visitors as invitations. This is gonna take a while.

VVV 🎃 VVV

He could hear Luz popping her back and greeting Hooty from his spot in front of the crystal ball. Tracy had been watching a small documentary on Slitherbeasts, Eda having looked in some 'parenting' book and decided to cut them off from cartoons for the time being. He didn't have a lot of toys lying around, either. They were mostly King's and he was taking a nap surrounded by colorful candles. Besides, the Collector didn't want to play by himself. They floated off the couch and hovered around the fan. Sure, Mama Eda told them not to do that, but she didn't have the same history searching for the fan as she did the Crystal Ball... I think.

"Luz?"

She jolted in surprise as he peeked around the corner. The Human had been setting out her heavy books, he recognized the color of the spines as being from Potions. One of them was for Beastkeeping but he couldn't tell if she had homework for that class or not, she usually brought one or two textbooks from other Tracks. He could never tell if she just had an interest in those lessons that particular day or thought one of them had some sort of note on something she was working on. It was probably a mix of the two.

Usually, Luz would be outside by now. Sometimes it was for a break from being cooped up indoors for forever, others she liked to practice survival skills and 'field magic' to get all her energy out before sitting down for all the stacks of papers and 'diagrams' weighing down the dining room or living room tables. But her heavy eyes shut as she raised a hand to push back her sweaty hair and adjust her hood.

"Are you still mad at me?" He peeked further out from behind the wall.

"No, Tracy." She beckoned him to come out and plucked him out of the air by the armpits, sitting him on one arm. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, I just had a rough night that night." Luz pat his back and bounced them up and down.

"I'm sorry I kept bugging you."

"It's okay. I know you just wanted to play and make friends." She kicked aside a chair and took a seat with him on her lap, just as much talking to herself. "But we know our friends don't always want to play, right?"

Tracy nodded and tugged at her cowl. "What were you wearing that day?" He glanced up into her soil-like brown eyes. The lavender girl said they looked like 'a glass of sweet tea in the perfect sunlight' but they made him think of the dirt more. "Your bed was almost dry. How'd you do that?"

Her face burned bright red. "J-Just... uuhhh, magic!"

"I didn't know you could do that! Can you teach me?" He floated and flipped out of her lap, hovering upside-down in front of her face.

"I-I-It's... Human magic, sorry! I have homework to do right now!" Luz waved him off and almost tipped her chair over in the rush to haul her heavy textbooks and backpack in front of her. She craned down, a position he knew from a cramped and shadowy experience wasn't comfortable, to hide herself in her impromptu hut. Is that how that word's used?

He raised a brow and pouted. Luz learned Titan Magick, why couldn't he learn Human Magic!? That didn't mean he wanted to bother her again, though, so he returned to the living room and glided around the perimeter. The Owl Lady might not have said anything about them watching stuff on Human devices but Luz was often sure to check what they saw and played if he or King went on the 'iPad' she'd dug up from a Trash Slug and fixed (after many colorful bandaids and shouts in a language he didn't know)with parts from all sorts of random places. He could tell it was unstable but she'd downloaded some Human shows and games from her phone. Sometimes they got a moment of connection that let her get more games and cartoons. One of which, 'Wild Kratts', he was allowed to watch until he was 'un-grounded', though the iPad used a ton of power and got really hot so he only had a bit of time to watch until he had to figure out something else to do.

Hopefully, Luz would be done with her homework by then.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey's foot incessantly tapped up and down, sometimes hitting the underside of her too-small desk with her knee and forcing her to erase some of her work to make it legible. The faded marks of a few similar mistakes were littered over the worksheet full of equations and formulas. The numbers all swirled together and a cold, nervous sweat lined her brow. Her mouth was bone dry but she couldn't bring herself to take a swig of water and get a hold of herself. A brush of feverish pink heated up her face like the tip of her shaking pencil's eraser, her handwriting suffered. Any minute now. Her abdomen ached with the weight of a jug of water and sitting still was in vain, but she refused to head to the restroom when anyone from Clara's clique to fucking Karen might see her at school or her cold house.

The bell startled a small jump out of her. Not enough to be a problem but plenty to interrupt her thought process, tearing it between shoving everything into her backpack and debating which bathroom she was going to rush to. There were way too many people at school no matter when she would take the chance or what wing of the building she'd try to shove through dense crowds moving in the opposite direction. Roastie would be waiting for at home and probably wanted to meekly play tug-of-war with half the energy he used to, but just as much excitement. Besides being sidetracked, she'd have to figure out how to get rid of it without that Goddess awful woman breathing down her neck. Dad wouldn't be any help, either, he was usually up a little later than both of them, filing papers and organizing folders.

Stopping at a shop or cafe crossed her mind. Less people running around in general and even fewer she knew. But Gravesfield was a small town and a good chunk of the football team were either coffee freaks or had been dragged into it by their girlfriends, and Robin's Roast was about the only worthwhile place to go, anyway. Other than the mall, but she wasn't going to try her luck walking for that long just for a bathroom, and she didn't want to be away from Roastie for that much longer. Something was wrong, she could feel it, but she couldn't tell what. She hadn't even touched her Tarot Cards in a while, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what they'd tell her.

So, she could be surrounded by people she dealt with on a daily basis here, be surrounded by potentially fewer people at an equally packed coffee joint and the only spot worth wasting time at, or go straight back and get caught up in another pointless argument turned screaming match until her Dad got her to 'play nice' until Zoey could shake her. None of her options had an easy way to dispose of Luz's little gift and trash day was tomorrow so being sneaky about it was bound to draw some stares and lead to gossip. I hate neighbors. At least it was comfortable.

Zoey knew she didn't want to spend a second longer in school so she barged through the escaping crowds to her locker, got her things sorted, and fled through the football field out the back door. The woods were of some consolation, she should be able to stop by her secret spot on the way out and figure out something to do. And she was not gonna do it in the forest! Her shifting and swaying was followed by ruffles and crinkles, she couldn't get the sound out of her head no matter how many wet and crunchy leaves she stepped on.

The feeling was even worse. Well, 'worse' wasn't the right word, but she was specifically trying not to think about it right now and failing spectacularly. The padding was puffy and just wide enough to be noticeable whenever she moved a leg an inch. Not quite walking with a pillow but soft and soothing enough to make it impossible to focus on anything else that wasn't directly in her hands like paper or a pencil, and even that couldn't hold her attention for too long. She wasn't sure if that was because of the feeling itself or knowing what she was wearing.

It's not like the real diaper, though, right? It doesn't have tapes, it doesn't need to be pulled around her body and fastened, it isn't kept together by a big pin. It's just a slip-on, it's just a few bits of cloth sewn around a sponge. Definitely not the weirdest thing the Goth Witch had worn, nothing but occult body paint and a hooded robe around a small bonfire was a hard fit to top, if you asked her... and then she'd curse you for knowing.

But then... nobody was around. That was why she came here; just deep enough to keep the rest of the world out of her hair, but not too bad of a walk from her bedroom window. She often didn't even have to leave Roastie pawing at her door for too long while she did some more advanced and less savory rituals and chants. There was still plenty of chipped paint and worn wood on the other side of the door but she wasn't too far from home and Karen never paid attention to the door when Dad returned from work, she could probably toss it in the bin and close the lid quietly. It might be her only easy opportunity other than getting up in the middle of a school night. She had a quiz tomorrow.

Her face ignited bright red as she took a long look around her, pressing between her jeans and black skirt. She was wearing the perfect color, just in case. Even her shirt matched. Wobbling back and forth as she chose a tree to lean against, her whole body shook as she ripped a hand away each for a split second to let her backpack fall to the damp soil. Not the worst thing her bag's been through. With another paranoid glance through the trees and shrubs, she waited, unable to relax a single muscle but her feet refused to give an inch if she backed out. A mix of shaky breaths and whimpers escaped her and her heart raced as the pullup gained a sharp whistle and rapidly spreading warmth as utterly humiliating and noisily hissing as it was cozy.

At first, she didn't even feel the wetness. It took a short time for a puddle to form beneath her and start running up the sides, front, and back of the padding. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut to pretend the whole world didn't exist, she could feel her face getting even hotter with a stinging sensation, and then they widened suddenly as the damp warmth started seeping through. Whether or not the padding just wasn't great or she'd somehow 'used it wrong'. How she would've accomplished that, be it putting it on backward or inside-out, maybe trying to tuck in the side to give herself the illusion of underwear wasn't such a great idea (not that it worked), she didn't know or care.

Waterfalls dribbled down the back of her thighs as she fought to regain control, it felt like forever that they kept dripping once she lost a few more spurts. Sweat trailed down her face but she felt freezing cold, blood turning into icicles and the breeze chilling her rear. Her shivers continued as she leaned back further into the tree, hitting her head against the bark with a weighty thud. A stupid grin was painted across her face and her palms shined with sweat as they gripped the end of her skirt. She tugged it down to hide the dark spot behind her and adjusted her shirt to keep her outfit together.

Zoey wasn't sure how long she stood there for, most likely just a few minutes but they passed like hours to her. The sun hadn't even changed position while she dopily stared at a rock and obsessively adjusted her skirt. Underneath it was nice and warm, especially with how cold the denim gradually became. It wasn't that bad yet but she should probably be heading out soon, her legs wouldn't move and they felt like her bones vanished when she pushed herself off the tree. Scratchy woodchips stuck to her back, she looked around before shaking her shirt to get them off before possibly running into her when she walked through the door.

Her Luz's pullup felt like a water balloon rubbing against her when she bent down to pick up her backpack. It felt heavier and took way too long to swing over her shoulders while she was trying to ignore the small puddle beside it. Walking away wasn't any easier. All her muscles had tensed and stung as they went limp, one knee almost buckled and her feet lazily dragged along the floor and almost tripped her over some pebbles stuck deceptively firmly into the forest floor.

The Witch didn't head off to her spot just yet. While she didn't want to wait for her pants to get cold and roughly rub her skin, her head was spinning faster than she could handle right now and it wasn't like the path to and from her own site was the only part of the woods she'd wandered. She'd just take a short walk out and loop around home later when she had a clear head. On the bright side, she wouldn't be cold for a little while.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey absentmindedly paced for quite a while until her legs started to ache. There was still plenty of daylight but she didn't need it to find her way home, she'd done the site-home run countless times long before getting sent to camp. It took a moment for her to register some voices in the distance. Based on how easy it was to tell what they were saying, they'd been going in through one ear and out the other for quite some time. She checked her clothes in a panic and stepped behind a large rock next to a tree, then hesitantly peeked through the gap.

There was a bald man in a dark purple suit next to someone in a white button-up precariously balancing a laptop on one arm while typing quickly with the other. Their glasses glinted in the sunlight filtering through the dense leaves, beaming onto some broad men in SWAT gear and heavily armored Monsters wielding huge kite shields decorated with trees and spears with pointed caps on the opposite end. Long metal antlers poked out of the ends of the thick plates. Several of them had splotches of color scattered over parts of their armor, there were some patterns like red fists and green pauldrons but she couldn't tell the meaning of them.

She could barely see the words painted on their right pauldrons. The ones in heavy armor had the same right pauldron. Some of them had what looked like Purity Seals pressed on with colorful wax but the paint job was all the same, a green base with a white tree and bare silver leaves with some black runes inscribed over it. 'ᚦᛖ᛫ᚫᛝᛖᛚ'ᛋ᛫ᛥᚫᛚᚹᚪᚱᛏᛋ' - 'The Angel's Stalwarts'. All of the obvious government workers were completely unmarked, even their faces were obscured by sunglasses, she doubted their guns had anything along the lines of a serial number or similar marker, she wasn't a gun nut like Alex.

"And you're sure it came from around here?" The man adjusted his glasses with a hand on his hip, leering at none other than Sheriff Starlo.

The four-armed monster glanced at someone deeper in the forest while tapping the thing over his eye. A normal Guard in medium armor with shins and boots painted white, gloves painted cyan, and a uniquely designed helm accommodating something like an entire microscope held directly against their face.

They nodded and Star turned back to the strange purple man. "This is the spot. The traces are faint but somethin' was here and headin' deeper in."

This is a bit much for an animal... Zoey glanced between all of the armored personnel. None were looking her way yet, it looked like they were still building a small perimeter. She'd argue the Monsters with their giant shields were way more effective than the Humans posting up against trees and tall rocks. Out of the shadows of the wood flew a small black spot. The small suit of armor was painted with an odd pigment that turned midnight blue depending on how the light hit it. It was a tiny dragon thing that Starlo held out an arm for, letting the little cutie sit perfectly on his upper arm and sniff his face.

Their little head was triangular, the black prevented her from seeing the two oval spots of metal mesh allowing them to see through the solid plate protection but the light hit their shoulders in the right way for her to see the mini half-pauldrons clinking against their armored neck. The other half of the shoulder plates were cut out to make room for an extra pair covering the joints in their bat-like wings, the webbing of which was exposed while the bones spreading them out were lined with plating. Their claws were layered with metal daggers and their tail had three sets of fins; one triangular one at the base of the tail, a heart-shaped set at the tip, and a tiny pair right at the starting point of the second that made a diamond and didn't seem to be armored. Zoey couldn't tell if that part was armored like the wings and other tailfins, the dragon was as dark as their suit.

Along their little spine was a small, segmented backpack worth of robotic arms tipped with equipment she didn't recognize and couldn't get a good look at, but some of them looked like tiny clamps, laser pointers, and wands attached to joints. Closer to their neck was a round apparatus, it looked like one of the rolls of receipt paper she'd had to handle in hell the handful of retail jobs she'd gotten and dropped in favor of snatching the historical society from Jacob. It fed into a metal band and roller held above and slightly in front of the machine by a pair of basic rods. The dragon bent their neck down so Starlo could rip out the scroll.

He sighed and put his bottom pair of arms on his hips. The arm that wasn't holding the dragon pinched his nose and adjusted his hat, letting some puffs of stardust escape as the nebula wisps coming out of his coat twitched and flicked like he had control over them to the point of them reflexively wavering. "There's another body not far from here."

Another!? Zoey shrunk back from her spying place as the Human muttered and huffed. She didn't stick around a murder scene to try to catch what orders they both started barking to their men and rushed back to her quiet spot as fast and silently as she could.

She had a lot to process.

Chapter 27: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 4

Summary:

Noelle takes care of Vee, getting Monster documentation, and snek-otter ponders how to survive not knowing what magic would be most important.
Camila misses her other daughter and encounters a smug star in the wild.
Zoey finds who's been stealing her secret spot.
Vee enjoys having something truly to herself.

feat. Monsters wiping the floor with Humans, Chara not being cooperative, and Martlet's ruined sleep schedule.

"I still don't get what the big deal is."

Chara was flopped over the couch with her sketchbook on her lap, drawing a big network of huts made of giant pumpkins of all sorts of colors. She wasn't filling them all in, just leaving splotches of color for the ones she hadn't made a final decision on. Some were fully filled in, though, a big one in the center was red with black details and a smaller one with a turbine balloon and weather reading equipment was sky blue, merged with an even smaller balcony-like pumpkin painted with stars and nebulas that had a telescope growing out of it.

"It could be good for you to get out and spend some time with your siblings." Dad-gore hummed from his desk, signing some papers about 'multiple fronts' Frisk didn't understand. "Besides, Frisk wants you to get candy with her."

"I can steal some from her later." Her big sis smirked, drawing her to hop over the arm of the couch and bap her on the forehead. "Have any more nukes been launched?" She quickly changed the subject.

"Not effectively, at least one was neutralized before it left their airspace and another failed on the launchpad. And you can get your own candy instead of stealing from your little sister. Go to a party, meet some kids your age, get some pastries. Maybe someone will share some recipes with you." He put down his pen and tapped a stack of papers against the table to make them line up neatly before stuffing them into a cream folder that was a little too small.

'You can get chocolate!' Frisk signed with a bright smile. Chara had to go trick-or-treating!

The older Demi-Human glanced up at Frisk's upside-down face. "I'll think about it." Better than nothing!

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee shivered and stuffed her hands in her pockets. She was starting to put together and recognize patterns in the Monsters' chicken scratch and polygons written language. A septogram usually refers to Souls in some way and which parts of other 'phrases' (In what world does a squiggly line mean 'to message'?) were most important went clockwise around the points. Sometimes they connected to each other to convey increasingly complex and specific ideas, others all made independent sentences. It kinda looked pretty but she didn't want to be one of those people walking around well-read speakers of the language, clearly having no idea what was written on her shirt.

"Too cold?" Noelle stopped mid-explanation of the portion of the packet detailing accounting for Vee's lack of a Birth Certificate.

"A little bit." She admitted before a light scratchy sound started overhead, signaling the building's speaker being flicked on.

"504, please go to office 3." A soft-spoken woman asked.

"I can head in and start talking to them if you need to use the bathroom, then we can ." Noelle offered.

"...Thank you..." Vee muttered and headed for the cramped restrooms stuffed in the corner of the building. I just got here and people are already asking if I need to go...

The Demon ruminated on her options while hyping herself up. Where was she going to go? 'Somewhere warm' didn't suffice at all. She needed to know what kind of home she was going to look for, how she'd get it, how she'd remain under the radar, what she'd do if war came knocking on her doorstep, how she'd fix everything. Where did she even begin? It would have to be somewhere that got a lot of sunshine to make up for how cold this part of the world could get, but Winter was coming knocking fast and the clouds were already getting denser. Not to mention it rained a lot, from what little she knew.

Rain by itself wasn't bad, she was actually a fan of it, but rain without some shelter or warmth was a problem to say the least. Wind chill and being sopping wet? No thanks, she'd need an umbrella or raincoat to get through the season, she'd start jumping in puddles and slithering through the mud when Spring rolled around. Seeing what flowers would bloom and how they lit up the landscape would be great but she'd have to wait. Until then, maybe the snow would decorate the frozen trees and slippery rocks like the frosting of a wonderful cupcake.

Food might be rough. Magic overwhelmed her senses from the second she stepped foot across the portal. Before then, even. The sensation of the portal was instantly drowned out by the swirling arcana on the other side. With what little she knew about magic (which was nothing, in all honesty, and it only applied to the Boiling Isles) she guessed it was Oracle Magic or something similar. And even then it felt like each Coven had its own, slightly different form of teleportation with so much crossover it was often hard to tell the difference, especially between things like Abomination and Potions or Construction and Plants. It probably had something to do with the ingredients in the mud and elixir or the Titan's soil but she was no Witch. If she had no hope of figuring out their magic, how was she meant to put together that of textbooks written with squares!?

Some might be very easy to pallet, others could chill her throat while she was trying to warm up for the day. Plus, she didn't know for certain what normal food would be lying around. Would any of them have the magic she needed? How many of them were normally edible? Did the libraries around here have detailed plant guides? Was there a library nearby? How many of their books were written in English or Spanish? Was she even going to get dropped off in this area when all was said and done? Would she be able to get going as soon as she and Noelle were finished with whoever was in that cubicle? If not, how long was the waiting period?

Vee sighed and hugged herself. You'll power through this, you always have, no matter the cost. The young Demon stretched and yawned. How late was it getting in Gravesfield? She should've gotten a watch but it couldn't be that late, they practically just started. It was still dark outside when she stepped out and looked out the window. Some of the windows might as well have been blacked out entirely. The distant glow of red lights shone through the forestry, one was pointed right at the welcome sign over the building's front door. Street lights? She couldn't tell, Human darkvision wasn't great. Some small animals like foxes, cats, dogs, and a few low-flying birds crossed the cones of light. The clouds just barely became visible as the Sun started peeking over the horizon, outlining tall and thin mountains and the tops of thick woods.

With a deep breath of clean, cool air, Vee lightly adjusted her Luz disguise and maneuvered through the rows of seats and tired Humans either here since the previous day or extremely early, waiting their turn for the opportunity she was walking toward the small office to take advantage of.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"So we found that little mirror out in the forest, or Eda and Lilith did, and a little shadow baby came out!" Luz threw her hands up as if anything she said made an inkling of sense. "They're the one who knows a little bit about portals and he's getting settled before we try our hand at the door problem!"

A bright, round, childish face suddenly took up the entire screen. Their eyes were deep red and their skin was split between yellow-orange over one side and wrapping around their face like a crescent and a purple-blue on the other. A big smile was hanging upside-down over her Lucecita's camera, the teeth pearly and surprisingly Human for what she'd come to expect from the few fanged children her daughter brought on in other videos. Only the blue side had a few small freckles while the orange one was spotless. Their eyebrows and a tuft of medium wavy hair peeking from beneath a purple and lavender-gray sleeping cap were as bright white as that Roastie's muzzle.

"HI LUZ'S MAMA!" He blurted directly into the microphone, Camila was grateful she was finally home at her dining room table when the video came through.

"TRACY!" The recording shook as Luz jostled the table and the little boy began floating in the center of the room.

It wasn't one she was familiar with. She always had that open doorway in the background that got increasingly cleaner and eventually painted as time went on, save for the couch and mural room she used when introducing kids with elf-ears or animalistic features. Even the black-haired woman and that horrible bird-worm kept the pattern, intentionally or not. But now Luz seemed to be in a kitchen or a connected dining room. It didn't look to be in the same house as every other video but matched the one for her guest stars. Although, she wasn't sure if the other place was somewhere different. The Vet vaguely recalled some of the earliest videos showing it as dusty, old, and crawling with demented insects. Now it seemed to have a completely new type of wall but the identical layout was enough for the gradual transition into what it was today not to trip her up.

"You were supposed to come in later! Don't overwhelm her!" Luz scolded the levitating boy with a smile and obvious fondness in her voice and eyes, just like her Papi brushing off her Tios y Abuelo.

"But I wanna say hiiiii!" He whined. She'd assumed he'd hopped on the table with her phone and bent over the top to greet the camera but he was energetically spinning circles over Luz's head in a baggy, space-themed onesie with a smiling crescent medallion floating like he was underwater.

The sound of a door creaking open caught the small child's attention as her daughter tried to scoop her arms under his and drag him down. "MAMA EDA!"

A muffled conversation in the background began as Luz sighed, her smile persisting as she walked up to her phone and ended the video. "Maybe it wasn't that bad. It probably won't go through, anyway."

A knock at Camila's door shocked her out of her thoughts, heavy enough for her to feel the vibrations through her feet. Who was it, a cop? She flicked shut her messaging app and stuffed her phone in her pocket before wiping her cheeks dry and checking that her gun was by the doorway. Through the peephole stood the star Monster Man from the shooting range. All his weapons were strapped over his shoulder or hanging off his belt. Not like she could or wanted to out-shoot him, anyway. And how did he know where she lived?

He was getting ready to knock again when she carefully opened the door. He adjusted his hat so his eyes looked less like an angry glare and fiddled with his black leather gloves, making the gold tassels along the bottom of his poncho flutter in the light, chilly breeze. The setting sun glinted off the lenses of his round, mechanized glasses. His hat turned a dark black-gray but the patterns on it were the same. The short, golden claws attached to the ends of his gloves clicked and slid against each other as he unclenched his fist.

"Miss Camila Noceda, right? I gonna need to talk to ya regardin' yer daughter, Luz." He started, resuming before she could process it. "An' don't worry, she ain't in trouble."

"Then what's this about my daughter?" She asked as he silently surveyed the street. If he clarified she wasn't hurt or under arrest then he had to be talking about her doppelganger, that couldn't be Luz.

His top right hand lifted to the gunmetal gray computer on the side of his head, clicking shut his casual lenses into the mechanism and flicking out a few of the red trapezoids. There was clearly some sort of filter or film on the outsides of them preventing anyone from seeing the lines of data and little targets they were showing him but she could vaguely see the highlights and labels when he turned to his right, though not enough to tell what they were saying. Then he shifted to his left, right at a patch of greenery. It was the same one Ralsei and December told her to check for an unconscious Jacob not even a week earlier. She thought the light blue button on the machine might've toggled his lenses but she couldn't tell if he was pressing it, the yellow one beneath it, or the lighter silvery one behind them that made a triangle shape through his gloved hand. The arrow-like hat wasn't making look like he was glaring from her angle, but he looked furious as he turned back and leaned in.

The Monster lifted his other, lower right arm and one of his left to cover his mouth and her ear as he whispered, suddenly dropping his cowboy accent. "Does the name 'Vee' mean anything to you?"

Her eyebrows shot up and she stepped back into her house. What did he know? What was he going to do? "...Come in..."

Camila's heart pounded in her chest as the thuds of the Monster's boots wiped on the welcome mat and impacted the hardwood floor. The little saws connected to the heels clicked and clacked along as he hung up his rifle. He popped out the drum and fished the bullet out of the chamber through a port on the back. It was giant, a round the size of some small soda cans like Redbull that he just slipped in his pocket like it was no big deal. He hung his hat on the same part of the coat stand and stuffed one hand down one of his gloves to pull out a small device. It looked like a wooden block with some fabric wrapped around it covered in symbols. An antenna that ended in a metal ring next to a smaller, more familiar one poked out of the top of the block.

He set it on the ground beside the dining room table on his way to the window, where he looked out at the backyard and forestry while pulling another one of the devices out of another glove to set behind the wall. The Vet could hear him dropping a third one on the ground and nudge it by her chair as he took a seat across her. His final hand, where he hadn't pulled an antenna block from, was where he rested his head after returning his aid to his normal glasses.

"The name's Starlo, by the way. Don't think I ever gave it to ya."

"What do you know about Vee?" She snapped.

Starlo waved a free hand. "Careful, I shoulda' blocked out most spyin' ears but keep it down just in case... Answer is not much, for better an' worse. We know she ain't Human, she's got a hunger for magic, an' she's coverin' for the real Luz. We also knew you were in on it but that's less important."

"How long have you known?" Camila glanced around. Should she be making them a coffee? This was hardly a 'guest' situation but maybe she could get him loose-lipped.

"'Bout a week. She became fast friends with a pardner' of a pal of a pal, I 'appened to get assigned 'ere for an unrelated concern around the same time. Right place right time, really, nothin' more, nothin' less. Whatever it's worth, I wasn't tryin' to pry, just investigatin' leads and one didn't lead to the dots my folk were lookin' for."

She got up and turned on the coffee machine. They didn't have much, just one fairly strong brand she relied on most days, but she hoped he wouldn't mind enough to stop talking. "What were you looking for?"

"Classified. All I can say is we've noticed some disappearances fairly recently and struck a deal with your lawmen in the process." He shifted to keep facing her, the hand he was resting his chin on turned to scratch the back of his neck as he explained.

"And why are you bringing this to me now?" Camila almost dropped the mugs she picked out. They hit the countertop a bit hard but nothing broke.

Star changed positions again so his hand squished a cheek while his elbow was back on the table. "I had an old buddy o' mine run some background checks on you and your daughter before I took any action. It just took a bit between my real job and this to put a picture together. Checkin' for home problems an' abuse an' all, just makin' sure she's okay for the paperwork. She's got all the signs of bein' abused in a lot of ways but they ain't consistent with her current environment: you."

She tried not to be a little insulted at being investigated for child abuse while pressing buttons. "She gets this 'far away' look when I ask about it."

"I imagine." He huffed like there was a bag of bricks on his shoulders.

"What'd you find?" Camila turned back to him while waiting on the machine.

He moved his hand to count off fingers in front of his face. "Somethin's goin' on with her back but she's got some magic-reflect properties that make it hard for subtle checks to get details. There are some other scars all around 'er. She's got two hearts an' an extra stomach, her eyes are odd, somethin' 'bout her nose is more powerful than a Human's, her blood an' scales both have some kinda anti-magical properties." Starlo listed off. "That's what I got off the top o' my head but there's more."

Her coffee machine finished filling the little glass jug and she fetched some milk from the fridge. "Why are you so... transparent with all this?"

"No reason not ta be." He shrugged.

"That's no good reason for anyone from the White House." While pouring the coffee, she glanced out the window Starlo checked. Was he looking for something, or just there to inconspicuously put that block by the frame?

"King Asgore and Princess Chara aren't so 'precious' with where our money's goin'." He grinned at his bosses one-upping the Humans again. "Anywho, Vee. She's not doin' anythin' wrong but there's clearly quite a bit she ain't tellin' ya."

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey kept glancing behind her as she wandered largely aimlessly. She knew she was headed back home but took plenty of swerves and pointless turns along the way, intending to rest at her secret spot. How far were those agents going to search? Had they found her footprints? Space, she just needed space from everything. The crackling of a soft flame could be heard through the labyrinth of tall trees as the sun began to set beneath the thick layers of interlocking and overlapping leaves. Parts of the sky were just barely beginning to turn orange. Her Dad should be getting home soon, then she'd be able to sneak to the garbage bin while Karen was distracted.

The source of the fire and its soft, thrumming light was in the center of her favorite spot. Curling wisps of smoke fluttered up through the weaving branches from a small, pyramid-shaped campfire. Circling it was a lone, hooded figure clad in a silky black robe. It reeked with faux wealth, covered in little silver details and beads like pearls. From a small distance, it looked valuable, but as she got closer to the intruder she could see some of the tiny mistakes in its construction; the small discrepancies in the seams of black where the silver straps had been attached to the body of the cloak, the exact spot in the threads where they ran out of black string and had to change to dark gray, minuscule shiny spots where hot glue oozed out from under the fake pearls and was hastily wiped away, the pearls themselves had some uneven spots and cracks where they'd been cut badly, and some of the accessories weren't aligned properly.

They clearly had a style. Skulls and hearts were painted on the beads and the leathery silver straps were carefully cut and arranged in similar shapes, particularly a big Deltarune on the back. She could see the snow-white spots of sigils etched into the decorations and painted precisely. Their face was hidden beneath the cloak's hood, it had a triangular bit trailing off the back of their head that folded down behind their neck, additionally weighed down by a cone sewn into the tip with scratched and obviously fake gems embedded into the base.

Around their fire was a bunch of scattered nicknacks that shouldn't have meant anything. The expected, colorful autumn leaves littering the forest floor were arranged carefully in a series of two rings. Each of them shimmered with dampness, soaked before they were laid out intricately, the space between the rings extremely consistent. Every individual leaf was a fixed distance and orientation from the others in their set, the opposite ring, and the scattered items between them. Other specific pebbles, herbs, bottles, vials, and specific trinkets surrounded the campfire itself and the outer ring. One or two objects were placed into the flames, too. The robe fluttered as their bare arm threw a clump of brown powder, she guessed it was cinnamon, onto the flames, making them hiss and dance as she tried to put together what the person stealing her special spot was casting. It would've been easier if she knew what other preparation they'd made but waiting until they were finished would have to do.

VVV 🎃 VVV

It was getting early in Monster Territory, getting late in the Human lands far West to them, and Martlet's body was barely adjusting to either schedule. She could tell by the way certain Monsters approached their days and their enthusiasm who was running on which time, be it one of the options or the most logical third choice, the days and nights where they currently were. Such an obvious curfew wasn't present at the floating city, yet. The turnaround rate for builders of specific skills and the recommended sets of their own tools was great, especially now that they'd found what in the seawater made certain arcane plants grow faster than they were equipped to handle. It felt like there was a new set of specialized phytomancers being shipped in every other hour but there were probably only a couple rotations in the time she'd been present.

Really, she probably could've gone home by now, but now she had something to prove to those jerks making too heavy, too clunky, and too inefficient drone schematics for the King and Princess Chara. She'd drafted up some basic designs stealing their triangular shape but was sure to completely rearrange the internal systems for the better. They didn't listen to anyone who knew how computers worked and it showed. Martlet didn't, either, but she actually paid attention to the likes of Doctor Alphys instead of insisting she knew what she was doing. Speaking of which, she had several lists of aeromancy enchantments scratched on a few sticky notes strewn about the small apartment space she'd taken for herself. There was no rhyme or reason to them, not yet, and there didn't need to be until she started putting together prototypes.

The only thing she'd properly settled on was the method of propulsion. Her neck had a crick in it with the way she was leaning over the white desk, drawing up a more detailed diagram of her plan. The drone's tip would be decorated with some air-intakes doubling as accelerators, then some rings or edgeless fans would help shoot it out the other end. Its sides would of course be wings, all allowing them relatively silent flight. Noise wasn't the main focus of a military-grade combat drone but it would be worth some brownie points regarding stealth missions and was just as effective, not to mention it helped prevent bad weather conditions from getting in the way. Something similar was already used for aerial mechs, anyway, the main problem would come from making it so compact. But now that one of the long-range portals to the Kingdom was activated, she had some help coming in.

Her chair screeched as she scooted back and stretched. The talons of her feet kicked the wall behind the table and the ones on her wings grasped each other as her cyan feathers and the tips of her long lapis ones grazed the ceiling. She could hear her back popping and the muscles in her neck tensed and relaxed. Her shoulder blades rubbed the back of her chair as she let her wings flop besides her, thudding against the carpet. The fluffy feathers on her chest ruffled as she shook out all the tightness and lay in that awkward, uncomfortable position a second before deciding she was ready to get up and carry on.

It was black outside, she didn't need to be by the surface to see it. The light didn't disperse that much by the time it got to the (currently) bottommost layers of the ocean city and she already couldn't see beyond the red lights shining out of the small blindspots in the see-through barriers' projections of the outside, occasionally allowing very small fish to disappear in the image's cracks between the wall and floor intersection that you could only notice if you crouched and leaned against the illusory perimeter. The halls were quiet at this time, only the night owls were up and about, the rest of the occasional echoes came from the preparations for the next day and nonessential areas being packed up until the Sun came out again.

Far above, the Solar Panels would've been folded up hours ago, the spiral-like wind turbines were either stationary or slow, and the mini hydroelectric plants were switched between a small amount powering the few activated facilities and maintenance. If there were more energy generators functioning, she didn't know about them, she'd just been called here to put together some powerful suits until she signed herself up for this drone project.

The only thing she could think of, other than all the life-support systems, night shift maintenance golems, and overnight research mechanisms, that was still turned on would be a large computer room located near the center of the upside-down spire piercing into the depths. She'd been one of the ones asked to set it up by the Royal Guard. Instead of anything on-site or just their own servers, the Guards in 'Connecticut' had all their devices send their data and receive their RAM from there. Why that was, she didn't know enough about computers to know, but considering Princess Chara ordered it by Royal Decree, it probably had something to do with security. Maybe keeping their systems far away and separate from the Humans' networks kept their secrets safer at the cost of speed.

But now that she was in for a decently hefty assignment, she needed some materials. There were always extras sent to massive-scale operations like this very city and the elevator in Purple Star District. Wealth was absolutely a factor, most distant Human nations had the good sense to get in Monster Kind's good graces. Whether it was for trade, having extra friends across the globe, or scientific research, there weren't too many beyond their immediate doorstep who were unwilling to do them a favor for a few generic magic items that only they could make. Admittedly not great for the market, but the Queen, Prince, and little Frisk put forward some loose orders to cap the price based on an (admittedly pretty exploitable with a common graphing calculator) equation of values from the Area's average wage and currency of the buyer country.

She could probably stop by any of the warehouses and sign off on anything she needed. Other than computer parts, there was sure to be plenty, but she wanted to get topside before the newest ship arrived. Not like anyone was going to be racing to them. Her phone's dimensional box and her own toolbelt, backpack, elbow grease, and an extra pair of hands would serve just fine. The lift ride up was short, lacking all of the common foot traffic expected during the day. The night sky was as gorgeous as ever, most of the dim red lights beneath the protective hexagonal dome were even relegated to the perimeter so they could be seen clearly. It might've made walking through the metallic paths under the dense trees a bit frustrating if you needed to get to the middle of the District but that was no problem for someone with wings.

The big boat was already docking at one of the airlock-like doors when she glided down. This particular model was designed like a manta ray, mostly flat with a trio of elongated propellers coming out the back like tails. Its wings allowed it to submerge a short distance, though they were mostly used to push it back above water. If she remembered correctly, it was a newly approved design outsourced within the last few months with the purpose of navigating rougher ocean waters using minimal materials. No gigantic cruise or warships were needed to ferry a few large groups of people back and forth across the salt seas, this just needed to be big enough to get the job done. It was able to squeeze beneath the city to connect to a porthole-like docking area while other ships (other than the occasional submarine) weren't able to float by most of the finished bays, anyway.

In the airlock space between the open ocean and the body of the city was a sort of waiting room where supplies got processed and people were provided little directories like the stands in malls so everything could get sorted without the passengers' getting tossed into work right after being lost at sea for hours. Some benches were provided as well, she snatched a spot while waiting around for the ship. The water level was quite calm for the ocean, pretty even with the dock's ground level, she was fairly sure the tanks had been filled with extra air in preparation for its arrival. A few of the newcomers were here somewhat long-term, far from months but an unclear bit over a week.

One of which was happy to greet her as an orb of light sparkled in his gloved hand. "Greetings, Martlet!" He greeted with too much enthusiasm for the time.

"HeeEeeyYy." she droned tiredly and as energetically as she could manage.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The Monster waiting for Vee to find the right cubicle was a big, light blue bird with a long, pale yellow beak like a toucan's. He sounded a little elderly and wore some pretty old-fashioned spectacles with a bead string going down the sides, but not that old. There was a metal mesh grate between him and the chairs on her and Noelle's side, he'd been typing away with the big feathers on the ends of his wings when she walked in.

Noelle politely smiled at her while patting the stack of her documentation. As far as she could tell, they'd already run through the portions of the packet acting as her birth certificate and identification. The chair she flopped down on was puffy, it felt new. She didn't think an immigration processing building on the edge of their lands would be high on Monster Kind's priority list but too many people had to come in and out of this place not to squish the cushions by the time she and the agent started uploading her information.

There were a few things she needed to sign off on before he could properly add them to their system, something about them needing to keep track of who was who before labeling them as able or unfit to enter so they could make sure anyone who was a threat stayed out for good. Based on the powerful walls she'd heard lined their hexagonal borders behind a small buffer zone where the Guards took aim, she didn't doubt their effectiveness.

At least he was nice, he sounded like he dealt with kids fairly frequently. His tone was soft and every word oozed understanding and patience, no matter how many times he had to calmly ask her to raise her voice or speak clearer. He might've been some sort of lawyer as well, but she wasn't sure she'd met multiple probably-lawyers in one day or she was just a bad judge. At least one of them could put together all the legal nonsense, she got lost just a few words ago.

Still, she acknowledged what she needed to and signed whatever was asked of her once he and Noelle explained the fine print. The Reindeer-Folk must've had some sort of background in this as well, even knowing what little she did about her and December's Mother. Her own Birth Certificate, her own Social, her own incomplete ID, her own security questions, her own email, her own entire set of documentation. And now it was all hers. These illegible pages didn't mean anything to non-Monster officials, certainly not to anyone who couldn't read the absurd symbols, but it meant everything to her.

For some small bit of time, Vee could be Vee. All she was missing was a picture. She was in control, she was calling the shots (even if she didn't really know what she was doing), and she was making her path forward.

She finally had something nobody could take from her.

Chapter 28: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 5

Summary:

Star and Camila have an important conversation.
The FBI spies on Starlo.
Willow tries to manage Amity's degrading sanity.
Clara/Amber's parents are not pleased.
Cami gets an offer.

"Anything yet?" Mr. X asked for the third time.

Jenny gave a thumbs down before he returned to another console vaguely disguised as the coolers of an icecream truck, tapping some buttons and flipping a couple of switches. "Did that help?"

Another negative. He sighed and fished around one of the real coolers for a popsicle. Just something to relax with while they tried again to wrap their heads around what kind of field was protecting the 'Noceda' house and why Sheriff Starlo was so insistent on keeping his chat with the Vet on the down-low. It had to be important to justify all the effort he'd gone through to stop some of their best equipment catching it but the more agents back at Area 51 reviewed her file, the more obvious it became that she was just an ordinary person. No special achievements beyond those expected of her profession and one daughter know for her... eccentricities that got her sent to a reform camp, who also came back relatively normal for what they were expecting. What on Earth is he doing?

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Y'see, I wasn't totally honest when she asked me 'bout our immigration regulations." Star waved his hand in front of his face as if it was adding something to the conversation, then balled it into a fist to rest his chin on and elaborated. "Made 'em sound a bit stricter than they are, a bit scarier. Just enough to intimidate 'er so I had some time to investigate and talk to ya."

"Why did she ask?" Camila asked as if she couldn't guess the answer.

Starlo scratched the back of his neck. "I don't think yer a bad person, Camila, so I find it hard to believe she's runnin' from ya. 'Ave ya talked to her 'bout what's next for you two? And I mean really sat down and thought 'bout what to do when she comes home?"

"Not much." Camila sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "She's a sweetheart but she doesn't communicate. I've been trying to get her to open up but... well, at this point you might know more about what's going on with her than I do." The Human relented. "So what's this about her asking about going with you?"

"I told her an' her friends that there was a hard cutoff at a certain Level of Violence. Basically, the more capable you are of hurtin' someone, the higher a number gets. We measure that number to decide who can come in and who can't. Most people just tryin' to escape wars and such don't qualify, we've got our homes locked down tight, but there are some exceptions. Basically, y'all can get verifiable proof your LV is at a reasonable level, this is to account for police officers and war veterans who gained LV because of their lines of work. Second, you can get some notes from Monster civilians, basically official vouchers for yer character, a handful of people sendin' the message that yer not a bad person.

One is required at LV 3 and 4, more vouchers for 4 if ya go that route, and both are needed for LV 5. Nobody higher gets in without having something the Royal Family really wants, which hasn't happened yet. "

"And... what's she at?" Camila did her best to keep up.

"Not sure, the checks some contacts snuck in couldn't get a precise readin', but not enough to be a problem. The long and short of it is yer daughter's made a lot of friends as o' late. Even if she's at 4, we've seen enough for her to get in and she hasn't even asked for vouchers, her new buddies are way ahead of us. I left a lil' somethin' in the system for her to buy me more time but it ain't gonna last to the end of the week. It could get fast-tracked anywhere from a few days to tomorrow, depends who gets it first."

She raised a brow, finding it hard to believe Vee, of all people, could be right beneath the threshold of military personnel or police. "...How many people would someone have to kill to get there?"

The star covered his mouth with a fist to stifle his chuckle. "I don't buy it, either. We all know she's had it rough, odds are it's nothing but doing what she had to for survival. What that entailed, only she knows." He punched his chest with a feigned cough and glanced to the table, looking at the finished cup of coffee before steeling himself with a breath and looking back up at her. "But... y'see... the reason I'm here is to ask you... what're your plans with her movin' forward?"

"What do you mean?"

Starlo inhaled again. "She's gettin' close to crossin' a line... one I don't think she intends on comin' back from. Vee's had it rough... She's the type ta feed stray animals and leave 'em blankets, ain't she?"

The Vet couldn't help a small, sad smile. "Right down to her core."

"Your kid's been goin' through it, she knows what it's like on the streets. She's got an opportunity ta scram and she's gonna take it if you don't do somethin'. I think you're doin' your best, and I don't think she wants to leave, but it ain't stoppin' her from doin' what she thinks is her only way forward.

So, before she hops over to us, I really need ya to think about whether she's just a cover for Luz, or part of the family. I don't wanna rush ya but you might not get the chance to talk to her, and I mean really sit 'er down and have a chat 'bout where she stands in the family, before she's up an' out come mornin'."

He pat his lower arms on his legs as he scooted away from the table with a huff, then snapped his fingers in front of his face. A slip of paper appeared from a square-shaped flash of white. "I'll give ya some time, I'm gonna have'ta explain all this to the King tomorrow and our cyber security ain't what we're aimin' for."

Camila gripped her mug until her fists turned white and she gritted her teeth, they felt ready to crack by the time Sheriff Starlo brought his mug to the kitchen sink and grabbed the wooden block he left by the window. Hadn't she been considering this already? Wasn't she ready to figure out what to do with Vee? Hadn't she already run the numbers for handling both of them all by herself? Luz's medical bills got easier to handle the older she got, she got quick and agile for better and worse. More chaos, less coming out of her finances. Vee, though, needed 'protection' and magic. One was expensive and the other was hard to get. Sure, there were Monsters running around now, but they weren't staying forever. She needed a way to consistently get magic through Jacob, the mail, tarriffs, and whatnot on a rapidly tightening budget for two teenage girls in a house meant for a second income.

And it wasn't like she could prove Vee existed. No documentation, no doctors, no family members ever meeting her, nothing. What was she supposed to do, say she popped into existence one day and made herself at home? That Luz had a secret twin the whole time? And who said Vee even wanted to continue looking like Luz? Could she pull the adoption card on someone the system could never find? How was she going to forge all of that? How was she going to get her a job and citizenship?

Was she really going to let that stop her?

"Vee's going to get approved, right? And she can get a job and home in your home when she grows up?" Camila confirmed.

Star looked back while grabbing the wooden device and scrubbing the inside of the cup. "Yes."

"I'll do it."

VVV 🎃 VVV

Jenny's computer finally got a reading on the house. He did his best to angle the satellite hidden in the decorative ice cream cone atop the van toward the small opening in the interference. They weren't sure what changed that the distorting haze allowed some of their equipment through but they weren't letting the opportunity go to waste.

"Explain all this-... King tomorrow-..." The Monster's voice started breaking through. They fine-tuned the satellite a little more. "-cyber security ain't what we're aimin' for..."

Finally! Something they could use! The digital warfare divisions were already having a hayday with the rapidly approaching collapse of America's worst enemy, their money tanked to almost nothing and they couldn't afford to maintain the same standards that held them back all this time with some of the biggest known militaries in Europe and Monster Territory on their East and West doorsteps, this was just too perfect! On the other hand, why the hell would he tell her that? Granted, it wasn't like an ordinary Vet could do anything with that information, but a security breach was a security breach; one they'd be taking advantage of very soon.

"...Yes..." His voice cut through again.

"What on Earth are they talking about?" He thought aloud with an arm around Jenny's shoulder for a job well done.

"-OH THANK FRISK THAT MAKES THIS SO MUCH EASIER!" He suddenly cut through, getting his partner to fling the small headphones off to the side. They could still hear Star finishing the sentence through the discarded speakers as she clutched her ears. Their small opening then cut out to static.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Willow got around to figuring out what was going on with Amity a lot later than she would've liked, but better late than never. She had a garden to tend to and multiple sheets of homework to sort out before she could get on with it, the professor was ruthless lately. The purple sky was darkening and the clouds started to gather. They weren't enough to be worrying, yet; she and Gus were the first of Luz's friends she dealt some Warding glyphs to, from little post-its to whole sheets of construction paper; and the clouds weren't so dark to make her question if she could get home un-boiled-alive.

That didn't mean she was going to deal with Miss Blight, though. She stopped at the edge of their property, right before her Palisman crossed over the top of their fence, and fished through her bag for a gift Eda gave her. The scroll didn't even need to be unwrapped for it to work, it'd been written so just holding it before the Blights' security system was enough to trigger the effects, no advanced spell circles or oddly specific magic items needed. The Owl Lady took care of it already.

A shimmering violet shield appeared around the perimeter of the mansion just from her hovering the shut scroll in front of it. The barrier faded before it even got to the ends of the fence but it wrapped around the whole property. Her spell scroll's owl-shaped wax seal sizzled on the dome and the paper burst into golden flames as it unfurled, leaving a hole outlined by crackling pinkish energy for her to float through and move directly to Amity's window.

She fiddled with her hair a little bit, wanting Amity to braid her hair for her if she wasn't in a bad mood. The closeness and almost afraid gentleness reminded her of when they were Witchlets, before that birthday party and her parents got in their way. It reminded her of the Amity she went to amusement parks and took swimming lessons with, not the obsessive 'top hellhound' that followed her around for the last near-decade just to repeatedly brush her off and kick her while she was down. Her Clover steered clear of the windows on her own on the way to Amity's balcony, out of sight, just in case Alador or Odalia were looking out the window.

Willow hopped down over the railings, landing with a heavy thud. Too much muscle for stealth, apparently. Clover dispelled her staff and buzzed to the corner of the Blight's glass door. They both knew there was a plant in that general area from the very few times they, usually due to the Human dragging them into a break-in, got a look in Amity's bedroom. She twirled a small spell circle to get a better feeling for where it was and encouraged the roots to sprout out of their pot to constrict around the door handle on the other side. It popped and creaked pen as the vines retracted.

Amity was right inside. Knowing her, she noticed the plant's activities, as well as who was causing them. She was sitting in an uncharacteristic raggedy tunic, more like something the Twins would wear than what the unnecessarily fancy 'casual wear' the Abomination Witch was known for. One of the sides was even ruffled and stuck in her pink leggings, something was very wrong. Her lilac hair was a tangled mess and her brown roots were visible, some strands were looped around her ears.

Her posture was just as awful. Her spine was curved over her desk and her face was right up against whatever she was working on. She was flanked by quite a few cracked mirrors, none of which were even hung up. They were all either leaning against a wall or left on the ground for someone to step on. Even her Palisman was nowhere to be found. Something had to be extremely wrong for them to leave their Witch's side so Clover perched on Willow's shoulder as she walked up behind Amity.

"Amity?" She hesitantly asked, afraid she knew exactly where this was going.

The Abominations Witch jolted upright and turned to her in a fraction of a second like she teleported. "WILLOW!"

Her amber eyes were bloodshot and her pupils were narrow slits like straight lines. Her ears suddenly pinned to the sides of her head, swatting her hair to the sides unevenly. She was shaking, more like vibrating in place. Each arm from the fingertip to the elbow was twitching, violently pressing her black nails into her pencil until her skin was an impossibly bright white that could outshine the very peak of the Knee. The Plant Witch was pretty sure she could hear her neck and spine pop and snap like Eda's back.

Ooooohhhhh... It's one of those... Willow couldn't decide if she wished this was new behavior or not. Amity's old 'friends' didn't know the half of this. Even when they were little girls this tended to happen. It was much less severe back then, she hadn't thought much of it when playtime was on the line, but Amity would throw herself into her work for any approval or attention. Nowadays it didn't seem connected to getting attention from her parents, despite Alador being even busier and Odalia just as insufferable. Now she did this for her own fulfillment... which might've been a good thing a week ago.

She studied, she worked, she invented, she practiced, she exercised, she read, she wrote, she cast spells, she performed rituals, she figured out magic a grade level above the rest of her class, and she killed herself in the process. Because she was never good enough, never perfect enough, always had to go a little further and do a little more than she needed. At first it was just sad, now it's ambition taken to its logical extreme. Luz was some help, insisting she was always good enough for her, but none of them could get a great handle on her once she started digging her own grave.

Nine times out of ten, all they could do was try to make her eat, sleep, and drink until she burned herself out. On the bright side, it didn't usually take long and she rarely actually pushed herself to the very limit once they and her siblings started looking after her. Even Amity could only push herself so far running on fumes. However, they all had their own host of problems, such as the many pressures of the Mourning Veil.

Nobody in particular could get her to tone it down, even if they were handy. Luz lived on the opposite side of Hexside and had multiple little siblings to look after when she wasn't doing her homework or getting into the usual trouble adventures. Eda was doing her best as well, she often gave the Blight kids a place to crash when their parents (mainly Mom) were getting a bit much, but she had the same problem as Luz, just swapping homework for work. Gus was way out of his league. They weren't close at all, both in status and age, he could never get her to do or stop anything without one of them to help. He and his illusion clones were there for support like soup and tea, not to get the job done by himself.

Lilith being away from the Owl House just stacked things on top of them. One less adult (the responsible one, no less), fewer Snails as a result, and she couldn't even keep Hooty out of their hair unless he was writing to her. That, and they were never the same since the Petrification Ceremony. Luz did her best to help them patch things up a month or two afterward but, outside of the handful of lessons she still gave her, Amity kept her distance from and a wary eye on the former Coven Head. She was like that with the whole of the Emperor's Coven, now, and was much more trusting of Lilith than anyone from the Scouts to the higherups, but that was hardly a feat or testament to their (lack of a) connection.

Willow might've been here now but she had a life to get back to, too. The warding candles always needed attention and her Dads had a shop to run just downstairs. And her plants needed her! What was she supposed to cut out to make sure Amity didn't tear herself apart? Their only real option would be the Twins. They weren't going to school at the moment and (presumably) had a handle on the Mourning Veil problem. Not the first group of people she wanted to leave Amity in the care of, but they were perfectly capable of being serious when needed and they were out of options. For now, though, she needed to figure out what set Amity off and try to get her to bed.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"With upwards of 150,000 invader casualties just from October of last year to February and a gradual increase in deaths on both sides for the remainder of the year to today, the city of Pokrovsk has been one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the entire conflict. As a vital steel producer and agriculture city, it's been a focal point of the war since its declaration."

The news had long become mind-numbing to Clara. She could feel the anchors' voices being burned into her memory, but there was nothing else to do. She'd been banished to her room since they got home with her phone and Xbox taken away. Sure, the TV was still here, but she was only allowed to watch educational channels and she hadn't degraded enough to watch documentaries yet. Her homework was done, one of the butlers had the misfortune of going back to school to gather assignments and notes from the rest of her classes while another occasionally checked to make sure she was following the TV rules and brought her dinner. They were going to have pizza after handling the Noceda incident, but whoever 'December' was had to show up and ruin everything.

"Total non-civilian deaths in the region have climbed to over a million, but have recently ground to a halt. Reports from Russian and Ukrainian sources have confirmed the presence of Monster forces on the battlefield who've taken and moved beyond points in the city, taking back large amounts of land just outside Russia's Western border. Despite many Monster soldiers resorting to borrowing guns from Ukraine and looting the bodies of Russians, attempts to push back the sudden advance and resume the fight for Pokrovsk have failed." The reporter continued as images of the fighting took up the screen.

They look like the ones visiting us... Clara hummed to herself. Massive sheets of plate armor, huge pauldrons, somewhat small and basic spears, grandiose shields, and similar runes distinguishing them. None were quite like the troops patrolling Gravesfield but were obviously the same model unit, just different squads. It looked like they were fulfilling the same purpose; not the ones leading the charge, but the walking tanks holding the ground the real soldiers gained and mobile barries for the lighter, ranged men to hide behind.

Several in the camera's near and distant views alike were indeed wielding the same guns as the Humans in the same shot. Not that she could differentiate between which weapons came from whom. None of the Monsters, be it the huge antlered ones or those whose armor and weapons she didn't recognize, were wearing sashes or belts of magazines for the guns they fired but all at least had a sword strapped to their hips or on modified sheathes on their backs. The camera cut back to the main set right as one of the frontline fighters quickly dropped their gun while running ahead, drew their sword, and was about to swipe it across someone's neck. She couldn't decide if she was grateful or disappointed, but her gut knew the answer.

"Both sides have kept their casualty counts hidden, but with Russia facing an unrelenting force on both fronts, both of which have either gone back on or outright denied ceasefire negotiations, and economic collapse, many have begun making the bold claim that this is the end for the Motherland. Although only time will tell, a Monster-lead bombing run of vital infrastructure, primarily consisting of railways and military factories, doesn't paint a pretty picture."

"Are you thinking about what you've done or pouting?" Her Mom appeared from nowhere, she hadn't even heard her walk in. "We thought we raised you to be considerate and engage with your peers. Instead you've been pulling this since gradeschool." She sneered while unplugging the television and putting her hands on her hips.

Her Mother kept going when Clara couldn't figure out a response. "What on Earth could've possibly made you think tormenting some random girl was okay?"

"She's... Everyone sees what she gets up to-"

"And everyone picks on her, too? Do you think that makes it okay?" Miss Sousa cut her off.

"No..." Amber muttered.

"Look at your Mother when she's talking to you." Her Dad appeared in the doorway.

She glanced up to look at the narrowed eyes and furrowed brow in time for the berating to resume. "Whatever chaos she gets up to doesn't justify you torturing her for years. Two wrongs don't make a right. You are going to apologize to that girl the next time you see her, whenever we decide that will be."

Clara jolted up. "What do you mean?"

"You're going to be doing your schoolwork online until further notice, we've already told Principal Hal we haven't decided when you'll be returning." Her Dad explained.

She jumped out of her bed. "B-BUT-"

"No buts." Her Mom cut her off again and pulled something out of her pocket. "The butlers will look after you while we're at work, you can call us with this if you need."

Mrs. Sousa lightly tossed an old, bland gray flip phone onto her lap, it had a little bit of dust on it that smeared on her skirt. "Can I get my friends' numbers-"

"No." It was her Dad's turn to interrupt. "And if you know what's good for your future, you'll cut ties with them and make some friends who are mature enough to be civil."

They ignored her pleas and whining as he held the door open for her Mom and shut it behind them.

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"So, you're already recognized as her parent to us, the only problem is getting someone who doesn't exist into the Human system." Starlo hummed. "It's gonna make some schooling and work... weird, but we can handle at over on our end. From there, it's explainin' to the rest of the family where Luz's twin sister came from."

"Assuming Vee wants to look like Luz and I, then she's adopted." Camila added.

"Fair." He snapped a finger gun and smirked. "Anywho, If you send me her report card and Luz's disappearance date, I'll be able to build a bit of a profile our folks can use for Vee's schooling. Sending her to Monster schools would be much cheaper. The main drawback's transportation and we've already got people workin' on somethin' off the coast that outta' make that more manageable."

"So a boarding school?" Camila confirmed, unsure how she felt about sending Vee away.

Starlo scratched the back of his head. "Yes and no... Nothin's finalized yet so I haven't been told anythin' for certain but long story short, Princess Chara approved research into buildin' floatin' cities 'cause we can't really get much more land without a lotta conflict and 'to research makin' settlements in unusual environments', totally won't be somethin' she brings up 'bout the space program, hehe... Obviously, this was before Russia tried nukin' us." He chuckled uncomfortably.

"Anyway, some of the models were bein' tested on the edge of the Territory that got hit by the hurricane and performed a lot better than the researchers were expectin'. It sped up approval for a certain construction project and now we're workin' on a forward position to this half of the world. There are some talks 'bout doin' somethin' similar to this school transfer program over there to build some good will and stop isolatin'. Chara and Prince Asriel haven't been a fan but they put a limit that the Human students should be able to go home at least weekly. That's All I know for sure, though."

"And how's that going?" She raised a skeptical brow and didn't trust a floating city quite yet.

"Pretty well, actually!" He smiled. "The plant parts of it started growin' faster than the construction crews were ready for. Technically it won't slow things down but it sure made the logistics complicated, one of my buddies got asked to help out there." Star chuckled and waved off the whole situation. "Just give it a bit of time, not long at all, ya won't regret it. Princess Frisk and Lady Toriel are makin' sure the Human students are accommodated." He said as if either of those names meant much to her when the King seemed to handle everything.

"If we both agree for her to go there, can you promise me she'll be safe there?" She leaned in, leering.

He barely even acknowledged it. "There's gonna be a lot of urban and ocean militia and the whole thing is extremely reinforced. It doesn't even have windows, the walls have illusions showin' the outside and underwater in real time, fewer weak points. What spots are problematic have plenty of steel doors 'round 'em, every part of the city can be locked down if we gotta and we doubt anyone's gonna try anythin' with kids on board. If anyone gets some bright idea, we've got everythin' from automated turrets to Human-combatant soldiers on call. The whole place is gonna be impenetrable, everyone will be fine and it ain't like the King won't make pamphlets or somethin' for the kids ta bring home after Halloween." Star ended with a thumbs-up.

A sound like a bird flapping its wings interrupted them. Just to Camila's left was one of the most precious little angels she'd seen! It was mostly covered in black armor but their little black claws were poking out of the sheets and their super disproportionate wings were flicking open and closed at them.

"OH MY GOODNESS!" She swept up the tiny, armored dragon. Their forelegs flopped between her thumbs and index fingers and the pauldrons over their shoulders shifted outward so the bottoms were pressing into the back of her hands. Their face was covered by a triangular helmet with a lower jaw piece locked shut underneath, both with a jagged tooth design like a beartrap, but she could see a huge pair of bright neon orange eyes through the narrow slits on the sides.

The rear end of the helmet had some sort of spiky... thing going on; eight small protrusions in the center and down the sides and two larger ones like horns. On their body was one strong plate on their chest and several layered panels down to their hindlegs, both with some plating but freed feet that kicked their air and clicked their black armor together as they were lifted. The tail was wagging up a storm, covered in triangular panels down to the fins at the tip. Some short, curved-back spines ran the length of their back and even smaller ones lined the sides of their tail with tiny gaps in the armor accommodating them. The dull silver trim around everything was the only reason she even noticed they weren't decorative.

Its wings spread and curved around to grab her wrists with small sets of claws on the final joint, each with three fingers that tugged on her watch, they even pawed apart the hinge of their helmet to lean forward enough to try biting it. She still couldn't see its face but the orange eyes were even bigger than she imagined and the shadow of a small gray tongue licked the dragon's nose. Their tail was wagging until Starlo made a sharp whistle and gestured the dragon over.

In a split second, the little angel wrapped itself into a dense veil of shadows and zipped straight through Camila's hands, landed on the table to wave at Star, and promptly ignored him. The Monster tried to catch the tiny dragon but it was an agile, mischievous little tyrant. Less 'loyal companion' and more 'tiny velociraptor who sometimes lived nearby' until Cami pulled an old reliable trick.

"Pspsps, does someone want a treat?" She rattled a box of crackers.

The dragon paused, looked at her, then sprinted under the table and hopped onto the counter behind her. She scooped it up and waved some snacks in front of it. Like an otter, the dragon's front paws flopped around as it grabbed the crackers and hissed like a baby croc. Camila passed the little handful off to Starlo.

"I tell ya to come get me when it's time to go and ya walk right off, huh?" He held the dragon up to his face, it munched the handful of crackers it was able to swindle out of Camila like he wasn't even there. Then the Sheriff turned back to the Vet. "Anyway, I gotta head out, now. We can talk more 'bout the kid, later." He smiled and started collecting the devices around the dining room. The little dragon waved goodbye as he walked out the door.

Chapter 29: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 6

Summary:

Magic rituals and cult activities.
Extortion.
Unexpected complications.
Conniving Noelle.
A family chat. Vee is snek. Buying supplies.
Abomination bb is losing it.

feat. Kitten sneezes.

Kris stoked the small fire, his timing incredibly precise. Even little mistakes or delays could set everything back another year. The leaves and most of the other natural ingredients he needed for Halloween night were already prepared but the timeframe for the third ritual was getting much tighter than he wanted. Muttering the incantation under his breath, his footsteps were careful and calculated, the trinkets arranged around the gentle flame had been carefully chosen and the sacrifices placed directly in the burning light were pricy; a lot of work he needed to pay off. The skull from the previous week was wrapped loosely around his neck with a thin string that had been soaked in special teas and mineral waters designed specifically for being wound around the artifact.

The next one he needed was being further bleached by the crackling fire, held in a small clay pot full of herbs, some pure iron ball bearings, and a solution of purified water and fresh coffee. He got a glance at his watch while tossing another pinch of salt mixed with garlic, ginger, bok choy soaked in spider blood, and thyme into the flame. Only a few more seconds left in the ritual. The Human made sure he scraped up every last bit of the mixture that he could, having spent a frustrating amount of time perfectly portioning out the components. The small felt baggies of the mixture, herbs, salts, metal orbs, and vials of liquids dangling from glued-on velcro attached to the inside of his cloak were cold against his bare skin, as was the carefully made body paint. The fabric chafed over the fine powders and dried custom soaps he brushed over himself daily.

It was a long, tedious process that was important to calculate right every time. No mistakes, no leeway, no improvisation, no substitutes. Even what he ate had some limitations. A 'belt' (literally just a special string with certain feathers and beads) did no more to keep him warm in the autumn air, he figured it was part of the instructions. Temperature played some factors and modified the portion sizes of some materials, though the super old instructions he was working with had to specify the changes using observations of freezing water and migrating birds to detail the changes, he was able to check the thermometer on the shelter's roof, he couldn't imagine trying to do this in the distant past with a ton of 'holier than thou' templars running around with giant swords.

While counting the seconds in his head, he threw the last bits of powder and potions onto the flame and found a log to rest on, waiting for the fire to die down entirely so he could retrieve the clay bottle and the skull inside. He could clean up the rings of offerings the next time he arrived. The rituals would only get bigger and more complex from here on out, it was getting colder and the needed offerings were already becoming more specific, if not expensive. It wasn't even that much of an increase but the difficulty of constantly shifting requirements and variables outside his control made every step feel like walking on eggshells.

The ambiance of the woods calmed him. The few lingering birds sang, the branches creaked, the twigs snapped, the fire crackled, and the leaves rustled like they were applauding his hard work. It didn't beat walking around in Monster Territory on a rainy day, wearing just a comfortable robe, and watching the wildlife like scattering foxes and gangs of otters teaching their babies to swim, but it was good enough for the time being. The air was a little thick and he was still a bit tired from the difference between Monster and Gravesfield time, though all in all he was feeling well. He missed watching the giant elevator in the center of their District take shape and climbing the Tower Cities just to watch the world pass beneath him, the view at night wasn't as great when it was the only one he had time to see.

He wrapped himself up tightly in his cloak when leaves crunched and sticks snapped in his direction. "Kris?"

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"So you're the one stealing my spot." Zoey ineffectively bit back a scowl. This was her space, this was her time for calm quiet and complex rituals, this was her moment to ignore how she'd walked right up on a murder investigation.

"Your spot?" He questioned.

"What're you doing to it?" Zoey pressed a bit too harshly while eyeing the fire and offerings.

Kris fumbled angrily while she looked every little piece up and down. Bits of candy, cheap jewelry, random spices, nothing creating a coherent message for the forest to listen to or an obvious call to action. He lived with Monsters, he lived with magic, shouldn't he know what he was doing? Know that this scattered mess of incoherent objects and herbs wouldn't do anything? She racked her mind for the right answer, thinking of how every ingredient modified the meaning of the others or what every item could represent. Not an easy task when she didn't know what each one had been treated with or what Kris had used on himself before performing the ritual. But there was one major, long-lasting series of offerings quietly infamous for its overcomplexity and hyper-specific requirements decided by conditions beyond the caster's control.

Her eyes widened and tone completely changed as it clicked. "The Spirit of Autumn Harvest..."

Kris stopped the angry rebuttal she hadn't been paying a second of attention to and took a step back, looking her up and down. "What do you know?"

"That this is the kinda thing an entire cult would struggle to do." She snarked more playfully. For something like this, the Witch was willing to lend her spot.

"Hasn't stOpped me before." Kris tried to snark back, just for his voice to break. His face was still bright red and he tightly wrapped himself in his cloak.

Zoey mulled over the situation. Contacting the Spirit of Autumn Harvest, aside from bragging rights, was as huge an undertaking as it was rewarding. Power, fortune, magick; even if she was way too late to ask for a wish, offerings in the form of helping Kris get his wish would have to count for something. Loaning him her secret site for the rest of the month and aiding in the process would be worth her while by itself... Buuuuut that didn't mean she couldn't ring him out for whatever he was worth while making sure the feds weren't on her tail.

"Tell ya what..." The goth smirked.

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A light sprinkle of rain started falling by the time they were wrapping up, tapping on the roof and windows. There still wasn't much to see. The sun only barely started peeking through the incredibly thick trees and what little light escaped the trunks was caught by the leaves, the majority of illumination came from bioluminecent plants Vee still wasn't sure were safe for her to drain. It should be fine, but it also wasn't a wise risk to take.

On the bright side (pun intended), the night was pretty. The plants and fungi illuminating it were all different colors, a rainbow through the arcane woods. Sometimes, while Noelle and the bird helper discussed the papers in their language, she could stare outside to see some foxes chasing each other under the faint green lights of mushrooms attached to treetrunks or a stray cat carrying kittens into a hole in a taller tree. She was pretty sure a big dog walked by some distance rocks coated in gently glowing moss.

"Odd." Their helper mumbled, scratching his chin and squinting at his computer before pressing a button behind it.

Not long after, a short mouse monster hopped onto the door behind him and pushed it open. He jumped onto his employee's desk on the other side of the reinforced glass and gave her and Noelle a short nod of acknowledgement, then immediately leaned into the computer screen. The mouse hummed and nodded a few times before he turned back to them.

"There's a small hold on your admission process from the Royal Guard."

"What's that mean?" Vee interrupted.

The mouse waved a hand. "Don't worry, it's only temporary, we just need a little time to reroute your application through the Royal Guard system than usual. From there, a Guard will need to have a chat with you with a truth spell, you'll be free to walk right on in the second that's done. There are plenty of them at your place, you probably won't even need to come back." He shrugged and smiled. "Just head home, kid, you'll be good to come right in by Wednesday."

Noelle thanked the mouse as he headed back for the door and waved goodbye to the bird who'd dealt with them right before his shift ended. Vee gratefully stretched and joined the cold reindeer outside. The walk back to the small outpost with the portal home was short but sweet. The light of dawn barely cast on some big otters wrapped in seaweed and holding hands as they slept through the current lazily guiding them along a small river lined with tiny waterwheel generators. Some were big, other were more reasonably sized, but they all had some flavor of fluff around their faces. Foxes covered in crystals clicked as they scurried by and brightly colored birds barely stood out against the foliage they built their elaborate nests entwined with abandoned coins. Despite the circumstances, the Demon couldn't wait to hear them sing every morning.

It looked like the same Guards who guided them to the immigration office were waiting for them at the portal. The blank space above a complicated spell circle distorted and fizzled with bending light and vaguely Oracle-like magic as the rift opened. She opened her mouth under the guise of a deep breath to drain some magic on the way through. It wasn't exactly dark out but it was dimmer than she would've liked.

Thankfully, Noelle walked her home. Camila answered the door with a smile and brushed some of 'Luz's' hair behind her ear while having a short chat with the Monster girl. Nothing much, just asking her how it went and if there were any problems. The thing about the Royal Guard came up, but the Vet wasn't as concerned as Vee worried she'd be. Her back was starting to ache and her throat dried by the time they'd gotten whatever the other was looking ror out in the open.

Noelle gave her a gentle hug before she left, but paused and glanced at the snake. "Are you feeling okay?" She put the back of her hand onto Vee's forehead.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Hm... okay..." Noelle hummed and left.

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The reindeer reveled in the cold on her way out of Gravesfield. Its lines of houses and small shopping center passed her by, broken up by the last few cars rushing between them in the early moments of dusk. She stretched her arms and twirled along the sidewalk, scattering some puffs of snowflakes along the concrete on her way to the shelter. The soft wind flowed through her fur and ice grew on the tips of her antlers. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath laced with magic, waves of frigid air silently pulsing around the trees and over the grass, painting them transparent white as flakes crystalized around the ends of jeans and a pair of boots perched in the mud outside a certain house. Mentally, she clenched a freezing cold fist around the brand new camera in the stalker's hands, digging icicle claws deep into the casing to split apart the shell and ruin the circuitry.

Noelle chuckled and casually continued her walk like nothing happened while hearing the gasps and stammered expletives fade into the background. Not on my watch, creep.

VVV 🎃 VVV

There was a big plate of penne pasta waiting for Vee on the dining room table when she got home back. Camila checked on the stove for a moment while she took a seat and dug in. The meat sauce was heavy and the spice was abundant. It warmed Vee's hearts and stung her tongue in the best way. Her spine popped painfully as she stretched and winced. Camila brought over some glasses of water when she brought her own plate and started eating. They chatted a little more about how her first trip to Moster Territory went. The trees, the animals, the lights, the outlines of buildings in the dawnlight.

Vee nervously tapped her fingers against her fork and dropped it a few times as Camila carried on. "How about you have a nice bath, then we can talk some more?" The Human offered.

"I... okay." Vee nodded.

She didn't quite finish her food, there was just so much more than she could handle and a warm bath was always tempting. Vee wanted it to last longer than it did, though, Camila was waiting on her. Her back stung a little more than usual when she lowered herself into the steamy water, but it subsided quickly in the heat. Bubbles blew from her nose as she submerged and stretched, steam wafted off of her extended arms and warm, bubbly water dripped down her arms. Luz's hair dispersed at the head of the tub and wriggled like worms when she massaged her scalp, she wondered what a bath with her real hair would be like as she rinsed off and drained the tub. It'd been so long since she'd used her true form. Not that she was complaining, just a little curious.

Depending on how many Monsters were aware of the absurdly massive variety of races and subraces there were, not even including 'Boss Monsters,' it might even suit her to slither around every once in a while. She put the same clothes back on and took a deep breath before going back downstairs. Weird to think that's one of my last baths before leaving. Camila was drawing the curtains shut and headed for the couch when she reached the bottom. The Human smiled and gestured her over while flicking through channels. She landed on a wolf documentary as Vee sat at the other end of the couch and twirled her fingers, then turned the volume down and turned to her.

"Vee, cariño, can you turn back to yourself?" Camila asked.

She shivered and looked up at the Vet. "B-But... Luz."

Camila shook her head. "I'm not talking to Luz right now, I want to talk to the little girl from Summer Camp." She smiled with patience.

She didn't want to spare too much magic yet, there was still a day or two until she could escape and figure out what she could eat. The snake didn't go all the way, it was wasteful and Luz's clothes weren't meant for it, but some strands of hair turned lapis and her eyes rippled like a raindrop hitting a puddle. Her pupils turned golden and her sclera turned teal. Her nails lengthened into dull, triangular claws and discolored spots spread over her skin. She could feel her tongue split at the end, flicking it over her elongated canines as her throat dried out. Swallowing didn't push down the lump in her throat.

"There she is!" Camila gently took her shaking hands, stilling them instantly. "It's been such a long time since we talked, hasn't it, bebé?"

Vee nodded like they weren't around each other every day for over a year, like a long-awaited reunion. She quietly hissed and flicked her tongue, a reflex that earned her a small boop on the nose and a wonderfully welcome smile. The intrusive creature tried to offer a smile in return but the motion was visibly strained and awkward. On the bright side, it was something akin to comedic to the Vet, she chbuckled lightly and toyed with Vee's stolen hair.

"It's been so long since you came here..." She started softly. Reminiscence or a lament? "So long since you made so many friends. So long since you started burying yourself in textbooks. So long since you started volunteering at the clinic." Camila lightly squished her cheek.

Vee leaned into her palm and sighed. It was warm and only a little rough with old scratches and nibbles from all manner of scared and shaking animals like she was laying on a tapestry of wrapped bandages and molded casts. A trophy wall full of stories. Her index finger was scratching behind her ear and her thumb squished her cheek like the Demon was made of jelly.

"Luz would adore you. Maybe the rest of the family can come see you. I bet your friends would love to meet you again." Camila continued and lifted her other hand to cup Vee's stolen face spotted with newly formed imperfections. I wish.

"And Manny would love to get to know you."

"B-But... I-I thought that was a family thing...?" Vee blinked away the stinging in her eyes and looked up to Camila. Her earthy eyes were calm and glimmered with compassion.

"That's right."

Did she... She didn't have to choose?

"You are such a wonderful little girl, especially when you're not trying to be Luz, especially when you're yourself. You're so smart, you're so sweet, you're so good, and Luz and I would love if you stayed part of nuestra pequeña familia."

"R-Really?" Vee squeaked and almost dared to hope.

"Of course, cariño." Camila wiped a few tears from her tan and white-spotted cheeks.

Vee threw herself into the Human's arms and buried her face into her collar with a sob. Her breaths were rough and unsteady, littered with choking. She pulled her arms into her chest and her legs awkwardly flopped off the side of the couch as Camila gently pulled her in. The Vet's chin rested on her head and she lightly patted Vee's back, rocking her back and forth for a few minutes until she had nothing left.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The wolf documentary played largely forgotten for a while before Camila realised it had ended and autoplay put one something about snakes. She only partially paid attention; it was mostly nothing useful for her purposes, all else were either specific to species of snakes she was pretty certain Vee wasn't or things she already knew. What she didn't know was how absurdly much the Monsters sold regularly. No wonder they were swimming in gold, being the only ones capable of magic probably had something to do with that, no wonder everyone wanted to tax them to hell and back.

Just the generic site Ralsei recommended to her was full of kids' stuff from childish clothes and onesies to toys and diapers, and what they didn't have linked to different catalogues. She didn't doubt Vee would appreciate having some plushies of her own, but shipping costs were climbing, especially with how many less-than-stellar characters were between Monster Lands and the United States. So, as much as Camila wanted to see her bebé buried up to her boopable little snout in snake toys, getting her thicker protection took priority. At least one of her friends got her a headstart on the toy collection.

Speaking of which, she did not go to the girls' room to grab the toy and put it in Vee's arms, it was there the whole time.

The snake unconsciously hugged the toy while Camila browsed. There were a lot of excessively frilly dresses, pacifiers, and mittens, many of which were more than big enough for Vee, while the diapers were under their own tab organised by patterns. It looked like you could mesh them together, too, and make bulk orders for custom prints. 'Custom' as far as the supplied designs allowed, anyway. Vee didn't have as much context for diapers as the average child but she still knew what they were and was skittish in general, she figured she would just settle for plain white ones.

She was then linked to several recommended items right at the bottom of the page, each with a tick box to automatically add to her cart; a black diaper cover of the same size, a discounted combo pack of powder and rash cream, a bunch of booster pads, and a big bottle and pacifier. Camila added all the necessities but had to linger on the other discounted pair for a moment. Who was buying a big baby bottle and a pacifier? The mittens were adorable, though, but not what she followed up on Ralsei's recommendation for.

Vee kicked her feet and absentmindedly rubbed an eye, blinking away a headache and craning to look at Camila's phone from the Human's lap. Her little tear-stained face paled, then blushed deep blue.

"It'll be okay, mija." She paused to gently squeeze the disguised serpent close.

Some recognition and lingering exhaustion flashed in her big, gold and cyan eyes as the past hour or so returned to her. She looked ready to cry again if not for already expending all of her tears and an obvious headache keeping her out of it. The Vet gently got her off of her lap and fetched a glass of ice water while the Daemon recollected herself and stretched. Her forked tongue drooped out of her mouth and her heavy eyes drooped shut again. She raised a tan and white hand to rub an eye again and cradle her head, squishy yet covered in incredibly fine and subtle scutes like the feet of birds or fins and heads of turtles, significantly smaller and unnoticeable if Camila weren't so familiar with them. There may not have even been a clear difference in texture.

The girl bounced up and down as Camila sat back on the couch; poor thing didn't seem to notice until there was water on her lip. With a yawn, she bared a set of small fangs and slightly serrated, shark-like teeth. The middle eight were more like those of a Great White, triangular with the tips of another set right behind the gums. Their tips cradled her floppy tongue and hid in the shadow of her mouth when her jaw wasn't dislocated to the point where the blueish-pink inner flesh of her cheeks stretched outward.

Her chin and upper lip tightened over her slightly elongated skull as two separate parts of her lower jaw split apart as much as human skin allowed them, each readjusting to the vague shape of Luz's head on their own and moving the curved-back shark teeth behind her short canines back and forth like a pair of saws. Her nose wriggled with the similar motions of her upper jaw, two sets of razor-toothed scissors.

Camila remembered, not without some fondness, the looks of parents of a kid who loved snakes and their dagger-filled mouths and hoped against the odds she'd for some reason try to talk some sense into them. They always had something else coming. No matter the reputation the ancestors of Humanity and a certain major religion gave them, snakes were still a ton of curious noodles getting by in a world where everyone had arms but them. They could scream Demon" all they liked, it wouldn't change the fact the only thing in front of her was un angelito.

Who looked up to her with big eyes. "...Can they be blue?" Then swiftly backpedaled. "I-I don't wanna be-"

"You're not a bother, cariño." Camila quickly cut her off and returned to the diapers. They found a set of basic patterns: a solid color of their choice with a white heart in the front. They were presented with the option to delay the shipping. Something about there being talks to improve trade and, by extension, prices, from Camila's quick skim of the document. They could get a two-pack by tomorrow morning and the rest the next day, assuming the talks went well. What kind of shopping site goes the extra mile for these options?

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Chara painfully muffled a sneeze with the end of a blanket so she could continue some extremely early-morning concept art in silence.

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Willow did what she could to put Amity back together before heading home; helping tidy up despite not knowing her organisation system, brushing her hair while the Abomination Witch downed a glass of water, getting her books out of the way so she'd stop to get some sleep, making sure the bed was clean, the whole nine yards. But there was only so much she could do with her dads and homework waiting for her. She had to leave eventually and there was only so much she could do when Amity was just waiting to burn herself out, anyway.

The Plant Witch parted out the window, leaving the youngest Blight to her own devices. She didn't want to undo her old friend's work on her bed but she needed something to cover up the bathroom mirror. Or anything reflective, for that matter. The mirrors were the worst offenders but the metal scraps her Father left her for her own, personal experiments were also dreadful beyond words. She needed to work with them, but that didn't mean she liked it. Her books may have been put away but she still had her hands and a little toolpouch in her desk.

Amity kept them in one of the bottom drawers, she always made a mini abomination assistant to help her with her tests and the first thing it did was glue the pouch to its back and climb the drawers. Willow hadn't done anything with the variety of mechanical trinkets, she didn't know what to do with them so she just did her best to sort them in a few piles of matching parts. She was mostly correct but left a few bits in the wrong spots, mainly small gearboxes that looked the same to an untrained eye but had vastly different purposes. The mark of an unskilled half-witch who couldn't improve herself without falling back on a mild talent. Stop that, that's not who I am. My parents started this.

Darkness and teeth reflected in the brass slivers as Amity gritted her fangs and hissed with the light clicks of the parts. She pinned her little abomination to the desk and used a claw to cut it open. The slime peeled off of the more solid parts of its anatomy, the fibers beneath tearing open like tendons. Its little pink core hummed with energy and she began work on attaching some basic parts to it, specifically around the shoulders for better strength. The Abomination's glowing heart shocked and leaked glowing fluid into the gearboxes she buried into its collar, barely off-center so there was room for another mechanism to reverse the direction of the main motor's torque.

She then pulled open its shoulder with one hand while summoning a new assistant with another. Its face drooped with a frown as it handed over a tiny screwdriver with which she adjusted the connections between the modules. The golem's frown deepened and movements became shaky with every tool it handed over, with every motion she made to pull apart another shoulder and embed a joint that widened the subject's shoulders and yanked apart its torso. It was unsteady, it was weak, it was imperfect.

Imperfection catches attention, imperfection brings failure, and Amity never failed. Her fangs bared, she lunged another hand for the other abomination. The muddy construct deformed and writhed in her Slitherbeast grasp, its liquidy body standing no chance against the grip that shattered the Blight Matriarch's precious necklace and turned apples to mush like bloody pulp. Its eyes flickered away and she tore off its head with her bare hands, the animated flesh sticking to her palm and glueing her fingers as she dug into the mess for the fiberous muscles. The abomination was weak, the abomination was imperfect, the abomination was worthless, but the abomination's materials were still of use to her.

If it wasn't good enough in its false life, then its corpse would suffice. A good witch is resourceful. Like the one nobody could dream of matching. I'll be the greatest. I'll surpass them all. I'll be perfect. No matter what. There are always alternate routes. Stay out of this. You know they're slowing you down, you know they don't really want you to grow, you know they only want you to fall in line. You'll never be more than this, not alone. I'm better than this, nobody will own me. Then why can't you learn your lesson without them? Why are they dragging you out of this hole? Why can't you stop digging? You're already everyone's but your own person.

Her head may have been pounding and her eyelids each weighed a ton, but she didn't let that keep her from pulling her deceased assistant golem's plant fibers tight over the layers of her experiment's corpse. She was very careful with every fine movement to prevent from breaking the core or displacing the gearboxes, tying them into motors and weaving them through the existing limbs. Lavender sludge covered her fingers and peeled off her black polish while she dug through the mess, making sure all was in place before testing the arms. The failed, imperfect creations twitched and melded together, tugging on the fibers, evening out the matter until the arms could flail in unison.

She lowered a tiny circlet onto its torso like a chestplate, mostly to cover up the sensitive gears while she worked on making the legs powerful enough for it to walk effectively. There'd be a second to find something for the lower body later; she instead spread apart the gut and hips to make room for the next motor and sliced open the stubby legs for long joints and chains. For now, she lacked any eye-pieces or other head equipment. Such things were usually closer to the Oracle Coven's field and illegal to be mixed, anyway. Even the Emperor's Coven was only allowed to use multiple types of magic, nobody could mix them without such obsessively heavy regulations that you might as well not bother. Amity was already overstepping and her dreaded mother was always sticking her nose where it didn't belong, nobody (except Eda) needed that kind of attention.

There are other ways you can grow beyond yourself. Emira's face reflected in the experiment's chestplate with a snide smile, something they got from Odalia. I can think of one woman we could use out of our hair. Amity blinked away the reflection just to see herself staring back with a smile, minty green hair perfectly arranged in a half-ponytaail by the individual strand. The face turned to Edric. But then again, it still wouldn't be good enough, would it? Because it was made by you.

Chapter 30: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 7

Summary:

Camila checks on eepy snek-otter, her first real padding.
Processing the new normal.
Surprise visit.
Getting documentation.
Exploring Monster Territory.

Notes:

The best way to keep up with the fic is through my Tumblr!

22 Days Until Halloween

Tuesday morning came too quickly. The Human had wanted to make sure Vee was readjusting before she needed to head to work but an early-morning emergency call about some kittens who got stuck in a drain. Some Guards were bringing them to the clinic as they spoke and it was only around an hour before her shift usually started. She was in the middle of writing a note for Vee when the doorbell chimed. Through the peephole was a Guard wearing a heavy suit of armor standing on the porch with a small box in his hands.

"Miss Noceda?" He greeted in a very deep voice.

"Yes?"

He handed over the box. "UGPS delivery, have a nice day." Then he turned and walked off with another Guard of similar stature. She could almost hear the other one giving him a hard time for walking away instantly. She pressed the side of the box to make a gap where the packing tape peeled off the tops so she could rip it off quickly. Vee's new protection was tightly wrapped in greenish plastic tucked next to a small bottle of powder. Since it was here anyway, she stopped by the Basilisk's room with one in hand.

The snake was sleeping soundly on the bottom bunk, covered in Luz's plushies and hugging the soft serpent one of her (apparently many) Monster friends bought her. Her fluffy ears and pointy fangs peeked out of her head and her forked tongue flopped over her cheek between an elongated canine and shark tooth. Camila pulled out her phone and quietly took a picture before bending down to lightly poke all of the little white spots on the girl's speckled face and gently ran a finger along the top of her fluffy ear.

Vee smiled and her ear flicked as she stirred, not quite awake but blinking up at Camila. Her feet kicked under her sheets and some of her big sister's stuffed animals fell off the mattress. Her skin rippled as her vitiligo vanished and her fluffy ears rounded out. She blinked and her bright, fishy eyes turned earthy brown. The tail of her snake plushie rattled as she sat up and yawned. All four split parts of her jaws limply molded over the cushioning of her pillow and each stretched her lips and cheeks as they figured out what weird position they'd been laying in and where they were now so they could snap back into place one at a time. Her pink tongue flicked in and out, then stopped in a small 'blep!' as normal.

"Your spots are so cute, bebé" She tried to soften the blow. "There's an emergency at the clinic and I need to go in early. There's money on the counter so you can get a sandwich for lunch and you'll be able to work on online school by now."

Vee nodded and looked down at her hand with a bright red face.

"You know this is necessary, cariño, it won't be as bad as you think." Camila brushed back her smooth brown hair.

She gave her the chance to change herself at first. No reason not to spare her some dignity until it became painfully obvious she had no idea what she was doing. In hindsight, putting on diapers was a heavily practiced skill, one an average teen wouldn't have, but Cami was a Mama through and through. That didn't mean she was going to pull her back, though. She guided Vee to the couch by the hand and tugged down the gray sweats while the snake snatched a pillow to suffocate herself with. There was way too much powder, some was between the legs of her pants and getting on the cushions while Camila repeatedly adjusted the tapes.

"Okay, move the tapes back when you use the bathroom, then put them back as symetrical as you can. ¿De acuerdo, bebé?" Camila tugged Vee's sweats back over the thick blue diaper and white heart wetness indicator.

Vee mumbled something into the pillow.

"Yo también te amo, mija. I'll be home soon, you can play with your friends when you're done with your schoolwork. And make sure you tug your sweater over the top of the diaper." She chuckled and headed out.

"Bye... M-Mami." Vee's raspy little voice melted her heart.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee resigned herself to the fate of being devoured by the couch for a few minutes after the Vet left. Resigning herself to be abandoned in her house. She could take the diaper off while Mami was gone (Mami!), but Camila would find out. Would she raise an eyebrow if Vee wasn't wet by the time she got home? Did she expect her to stay all day and never go out? Camila mentioned playing with her friends when school was done.

At least it was soft... It was more cottony than what were supposed to be her nighttime pair, the padding spread her legs wide apart and rubbed against her smooth skin as she tried to walk, but she just waddled instead. She gripped the end of her orange pumpkin sweater and blankly stared around the her house, afraid to move because of the muffled crinkling loudly emanating from between her legs despite there being nobody around.

The Basilisk half-ran up the stairs to get the ruffling sound out of her head as fast as possible, but it didn't erase the short boost the sponge gave her when she sat at the other Human's desk and flicked through her laptop. It almost helped. The flaps rustled and folded together with the movements of her sweater and sweatpants, even changing the positioning of her arms while typing the school's website and her student ID made sound. And she didn't want to drown it out with the fan, it was cold! The extra thick and cushy layer was fortunately warmer than normal.

Less exciting was being Luz again. She hadn't realised how much pressure was on her until she got a second to be a basilisk, even just partially. Just as bad was the lack of pressure, especially since getting many good looks at her through the mirrors and rain that day; Luz was taller than her, chubbier, more muscular, bounding around with too much energy and a lot of mass Vee didn't have. She was just a thin and small Common Basilisk! The Healers of the modern day were much more common and skilled than the ones her ancestors had to trick, the ones in the Emperor's Coven could always spot the most minor imperfections in their disguises and punished them heavily for them. In what realm was she cut out for this?

Being apart from Luz's shape felt like stretching after a long, restless nap. Her bones were the size they were supposed to be and her sleep was as deep as it was dreamless. Everything shut off the second her head drooped down on Camila's shoulder and she only woke up to the Human rousing her out of her Sister's army of plushies and warm bed. Air took the appropriate amount of time to fill her lungs and her hearts didn't put as much effort into keeping her alive. She wouldn't have noticed the difference if slipping back into her hybrid form and jumping beneath the covers wasn't so tempting, but now it and her excessively thick blue diaper were all that she could think about.

There wasn't a ton of schoolwork for her to do, for better and worse. Now she knew how lightheaded she constantly felt, now she knew how tiring doing everyday tasks was, now she knew how deep her breathing was, but most of her classes had nothing prepared for her. The teachers assumed she'd be in the wrong on Monday and scrambled to get something posted for her to do today. Other than the kindly old science teacher, everything was a bad rundown and review of topics the main online curriculum already went over so they could get her on the same page with the rest of the digital class.

Which meant she couldn't ignore the confusing swirl of emotions coiling in her too-tall chest when she was done with it. All she could hear was crinkling and all she could feel was lightheadedness and drowsiness. She had to steady herself on Luz's bedframe and hype herself up before going down the stairs. Her body was adjusting to the change too slowly for her liking, but she hadn't fallen down the steps yet.

Returning to the very important role of couch-potato made her feel a little better. Just some superhero cartoons to get the blood pumping and keep her awake, then the feeling of the diaper set in again. She glanced around for something to do again. It didn't have to be fun, just distracting. The dishes needed to be put away, she could go for a glass of water, she forgot to eat breakfast, but she could also wipe down the counters or sweep the kitchen. If she did a good job, then maybe they could have strawberry pancakes drowned in syrup for dinner!

The doorbell rang, scaring her right out of her seat.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Zoey didn't intend to make a habit of cutting class but there were more important things to her than one day out of a semester full of the same mind-numbing memorization until the big test and instantly forgotten equations she'd either never use again or Google a few times until it got through to her that way. Gotta love the American school system. Brain-exercise in the absence of skills with real-world applications, that being everything, aside, and doing nothing for a day wouldn't kill her. The Goth's History professor would get there first.

She could feel Luz's eye on her through the peephole, she almost wanted to boop the glass lens but decided against it for her sake. The door quickly swung halfway open. She was wearing an adorable orange sweater with a pumpkin on the front, she was pretty sure she got it last year just for Autumn. The drawstrings of her dark gray sweatpants were pulled pretty tight around her waist and weren't as baggy around her hips as they were her legs. Not that she was checking. Luz was visibly groggy but functional enough to be up and about for the day, early than Zoey expected. She was worried she wouldn't be able to check in when she saw Camila's car wasn't in the driveway.

"Zoey!?" Luz suddenly snapped awake.

"Hey girl!" She smiled back.

"W-W-What are you- what're you doing here? What about school?" Her sweater rustled as she glanced back into her house. It kinda sounded like paper.

She shrugged it off. "Thought I'd check in instead, Dad and fucking Karen won't notice, anyway."

Luz looked back to her. Apparently, whatever was inside was a lot less interesting. "T-That's not... a g-good thing."

"Hella convenient, though!" Zoey quickly shrugged it off and leaned in with an awkward grin. "Mind if I come in? I packed a bit light and it's cold." Going out in just a dark purple t-shirt and black leggings during the middle of October wasn't her brightest moment, she didn't think she was going to be out for too long and most of the time was spent indoors, drifting between shops for 'ingredients' before learning fucking Karen got back from shopping earlier than she intended and decided to detour.

She shrunk into the house and looked back inside. Her face was bright red and she gripped the door until her hands were bright white. It creaked as she stepped back and looked back and forth, then she rushed away, leaving the door open. Zoey peeked inside with a raised brow and quietly walked in. The door clicked shut and locked behind her. When she looked back at Luz, she was frantically packing up a small box and trying to fold down the lid so it stayed closed. She was making some progress, but it was a little too late for her now.

The orange sweater was ruffled up in the back and slightly tucked down into a vibrant blue paper or plastic flap, her sweats' waist was stretched tighter over a big, thick pad. She tried not to think about the pink ones they'd split, but now that she knew what she was wearing she couldn't help noticing it. Any other time, she never would've known, so at least Luz knew how to dress for it.

Even still, she had to play with her a little. "What'cha got there?" The Goth started circling the table.

"NOTHING!" Luz yelped.

"Looks like a little box to me." She needed to hold down a laugh.

Luz tucked it under her arm and held it away from Zoey. "Y-Y-Yep! Just a b-box!"

Zoey got closer and finally took a second to pull down the sweater over the diaper flap. You could hear a pin drop if she wasn't trying to hold down her laughter. Luz's face lit up bright red and warmed up. She could almost feel the heat from right next to her. Her jaw locked closed and made a muffled scream.

""Waitwaitwait, I think it's cute!" The Goth fawned. Big baby!

It at least got Luz to look at her. Her little face was so red! "I-I'm not putting one of those on, but do you need me to get another pink one?"

VVV 🎃 VVV

After the series of heart attacks she had yesterday, Zoey was a bit more desensitized to the padding. Being honest, they might be starting to grow on her. If nothing else, it was a nice cushion while she and Luz chatted over some coffee. The best part was how much she clearly hated it. She took some time to enjoy the shy girl's disgust before taking pity on her. Both coffees were downed while Luz did some dishes and swept around the house. Now out of school, possibly permanently, she could play games or doom scroll everything, but no, she was tidying up. Goodie two-shoes... she's so sweet.

"Got any plans for today?" She asked.

"Uh, well... I'm going to figure out how to finish the paperwork stuff to go to Monster Territory!" Luz perked, scattering some bubbles across the kitchen.

"Wait, it's really that quick?" Zoey straightened as well. She didn't quite buy it but if Luz was telling her so.

The resident weirdo nodded. "Really! Noelle has everything set up, I just have to talk with some of the Royal Guards!"

"All by yourself?" Zoey raised a brow. Realisation flashed across Luz's face and she shrunk into her sweater. "Want me to come with you?"

VVV 🎃 VVV

The girls stopped by Robin's Roast on the way to the Monster shelter. Luz happily snatched a hot cocoa while Zoey grabbed a mocha. Miss Noceda gave them a little wave from the waiting room of her clinic and some of the Monsters waved to them on their way to school. Cutting class is a helluva drug. She lightly dragged her fingers along the rich wood and shiny, metallic roots giving it organic and natural structure. The grass around them was visibly taller than the section still cared for by Gravefield High. Flowers, especially gorgeous orchids, grew up the sides and moss mixed with mushrooms covered the rest. There were at least a couple of bird nests and squirrel dens built into the gaps, though she wasn't aware of any crystalline crows and rodents with green stripes growing tiny flowers on their backs that lived in the area.

A Guard, one of the towering titans with odd symbols on his Space Marine-like pauldrons and a lot of splashes of green decorating the enchanted steel, invited them in as soon as the students dispersed. His voice was so deep they had trouble understanding him, but they got through the hexagonal mesh of dorms and community rooms with the help of the tiny handful of symbols and carefully arranged shapes the diapered girl had learned from Ralsei, Susie, and Kris's Reindeer girlfriend. Someone's gonna have some competition if there's an adorkable snake or a furball available... wouldn't be much of a competition but still.

He brought them through a portal to the immigration office! She got to go to the other side of the world and get a glimpse of Monster Territory just because she was following a friend who wanted to go, too! Unbeknownst to the girls, Luz had already been penned in to meet with someone. Zoey got to tag along for a little while, they had to be separated for her friend to be effectively interrogated while the bird lady behind the reinforced glass and metal bars guided her through the process. She could come and go as she liked as long as she handled transportation, even stay, and the process for her was a lot more streamlined and easier than it was for Luz.

She had her Social, email, and phone number either in her head or her pocket, much to the lady's appreciation. When they were finished, they were given what looked like receipts. They didn't have any of their important information on them, just pictures and stamps of approval with their names written. 'ᛋᛟᛖᛄ' and 'ᚠᛁ᛫ᚾᛟᚳᛖᛞᚫ.' Once they showed them to the Guard, they were good to wander and explore to their hearts' content!

As the sun on this side of the Earth set, rising over their school a world away, the lights of plants and fungus started shining dimly. It was more than enough for everyone to see where they were going and the nighttime critters to their time had come. Birds roosted back in their nests of twigs and beautiful flowers, rabbits retreated into their burrows of rich mud and colorfully glowing mycelium, and foxes started sneaking through the bushes and shrubbery for any stragglers. Bugs were crawling over the tree trunks and fireflies began buzzing through the few patches of open air not completely devoured by tall trees. One of them landed on Luz's nose, flashed bright gold, and wandered away.

They were quickly invited back and forth through the portal so they could go where the rift was supposed to connect to, where Raslei and his partners were from. The lighting was much the same and a big, thick building like an observatory with a vertical wind turbine in the center was propped up on a small mountainside. Surely not the grand Mt. Ebott, but probably a good hiking destination with or without the neighborhoods and farmland dug into the sides.

Far in the distance, the lowering light of the sun outlined the shadow of multiple gigantic buildings. All of them were lighting up with bioluminescence and more standard electrical lights on the shadowy sides. Massive patches of moss and mycelium spotted with flowers loomed miles in the air, covering metal root buildings protected by the shimmer of magic like force fields and tough windows. Hexagonal solar panels and longer, ISS-like extensions started retreating into the towers and folding up for the night while giant balloons, colorfully decorated, full of turbines, were dragged down to the roofs by long wires to be replaced.

One of the closer ones looked like a set of eight. Three towers of slightly differing lengths stood the tallest and had the most balloons over it, including some framework like a cross of giant construction cranes anchoring a large number of them. Off to the left of where they stood was a pair of two towers, shorter than the main trio and built on a tall hill or short cliffside overlooking a lake. The top of a hydroelectric facility melded into the two combined towers' foundation. Their roots were all hexagonal, if not wide and short along the tops of unfathomably huge balconies or the roofs. It made for some big and weird curvy shapes ordained with foliage and natural sculptures grown by the living skyscrapers.

The last three were further back from them. They were too far away to tell what they were powered by other than fewer balloons, shorter than the core structure, and the metal roots made a colossal spiral that barely smaller balconies were built between like a bunch of parks for steps. Many of them were covered in thin domes that rippled more like they were made of water or strange membranes than glass or similar materials. A newer creation, as far as the girls could tell, protecting the outside better than the tall fences. The bright oranges and dark blacks of Halloween decorations like ghosts dangling from leaves the size of small trees, decorative hot air balloons full of prop skeletons dressed as reapers, and bat kites kept afloat by fans surrounded the air space and banners and creepy dolls were standing guard by the windows.

"We have to go there!" Zoey grabbed Luz's hand and pointed to the vertical city before wondering for a second why the goth's process was so much easier.

"B-But it's getting dark for them." Luz's face turned red as she stammered.

"They're Monsters! Nothing happens here, anyway, we gotta check it out!" Zoey rushed her along.

The roads were marked with fine gray gravel and lined with glowing plants. Their street lamps were all turning deep red and the animals comfortably wandered right across the paths. Foxes chased rabbits, bugs buzzed through, mice poked their tiny heads out from the short foliage, owls watched them with keen eyes, and lizards wandered about. While they certainly watched their step, the animals were sure to be out of the way as they walked.

Monsters weren't dispersing as much as they thought they would, it looked like as many were coming out as they were going to bed. Some of them were glowing specters of blue magic like walking twilight and stars, more were shambling masses of plant matter and flowers. Most were wearing costumes but all were done up in some way for the season. The base of the tower cities had giant archway doors melded into the roots. Mushrooms and flowers emitting colorful lights decorated the outside, illuminating the moss and leaves and smaller plants growing out of the structure. They might've been able to climb up the side of the skyscrapers as long as they followed the green, or even walk up like the branches and bushes were stairs.

Within the main tower was a maze of shops, elevators, restaurants, and office buildings. Everything they needed was stuffed into the tower with them. Jobs, food, clothes, trinkets, running water, and even mines digging deep into the earth for raw resources and extra space. Dirt was constantly being excavated through metal tubs on escalators like they'd walked into a quarry, being launched far up the tower for other small business areas to break it down into its components or create compact farms. No matter what level they ascended to, all sorts of goods like magic crystals, mutated plants, arcane parchments, unusual orbs, or writhing gels were being grown and developed.

She had to know what they were all for. If she was skipping school and Luz didn't take real classes anymore, anyway, then it was a good thing they were both padded because she was running all over this place until her legs fell off. The closer they got to true nightfall, the more lights turned on. All the wooden, growing lamp posts around the hexagonal mesh far beneath them were red, but the decorations were different colors. There were ghosts with eerie blue eyes, scarecrows with pumpkin heads stuffed with green flames, fake torches sat atop wooden pyres, and witches and bats and grim reapers with glowing red eyes hung from every branch and levitated from the bottoms of balloons.

The colors reflected off the many small streams and large rivers as if they were glowing dimly like the flowers and mushrooms lining their banks. They could see tons of gigantic fungal colonies in the hearts of some hexes and moss-covered rocks sprouting gorgeous crystals and gems in others. Even the Castle at the foot of Ebott could be seen with sparkling lights and cartoonishly spooky murals across the indestructible stone and metallic root walls.

It was far from the only building covered in custom art, too. Ralsei and Kris were happy to go on and on about the community art projects. Many of them amounted to rainbows and extremely carefully planned designs for pictures of people and emblems that could only be seen from a particular angle, but their Area was very often covered leaf to root in colorful stars like a grounded constellation. They could brush their paws and hands along distant stars brought down to earth for their enjoyment and decoration, temporarily covered up by jack-o-lanterns and ghastly specters for the special season. Their neighboring Areas were where they scaled down the planets and speckled their rooves with asteroid belts, replaced by flying witches and scary dragons all through November.

I have to move here. Zoey's eyes sparkled as she leaned against wooden railing, looking through a shiny dome around a gigantic community balcony full of trees wrapped in blankets with pumpkin patches sewn to the sides and felt bats hanging from the branches. Luz almost walked into several dangling tennis balls covered in bright white sheets with little black faces on the fronts as they explored the small cornfields and mazes of carved gourds.

Rain started to fall, tapping on the glossy dome. They weren't sure what it was made of, but the way it shimmered with prismatic colors and flexed with the movement of the winds and water couldn't be matched by glass. The incredibly light pressure of the raindrops made little rainbows down the sides like the girls were looking at the Monsters' wonderful world through a bubble from the leaf-covered wood bench they picked out for themselves. Clouds pushed against the domes, dropping rain directly on them and curling around the isolated pods. Unfortunately for those behind them, the domes hadn't yet extended to the wide shopping center of the interconnected tower buildings. Only one side had the shield fully constructed, but the end the rainclouds began barging through was covered in construction tools behind replaceable fences.

Kids jumped in small puddles to their hearts' content before they swirled down the drains and adults draped their coats over their heads. Still, smiles spread and giggles tapped like the rain as everyone looked for cover and hid beneath overhangs, waving the entire thing off as though it was far from the first time this happened. A few talked about heading home for the night after a long day at work, yet didn't have to leave the towers, going up massive elevators to their built-in houses with unrivaled views of the entire Kingdom, even able to see the stone, wood, and steel border wall covered in spherical wind pylons swirling with self-sustaining storms full of static like a science center attraction.

Even late at night, the smell of fresh pastries and hot chocolate wafted through the halls and elevated, artificial, yet natural parks. They had indoor treehouses! All making use of all the space the open buildings had and bursting at the seams with extra decorations, attachments to other indoor treehouses, dangling vines, and colorful mushrooms. Kids were chasing each other around the roots where small workshops for carpenters, mechanics, technicians, engineers, silicone makers, and rubber producers worked from the foliage. Royal Guards came and went, as their Major Fort was built into the center of the treehouses, stretching from the bottom of the previous floor to the top of the next. Although there were little more than some drunk teens sobering up on soft beds with plenty of clear windows with thin bars and that soapy 'glass' letting them keep an eye on the daylight. It even looked like some of the cells were open with incredibly patient Guards keeping an eye on the inhabitants.

"We've gotta take Immanuel and Alex here!" Zoey smiled up at the ceiling, tracing patterns in the dripping wet foliage and glowing fungus guiding everyone's way as they wandered the tower city, rushing between heading home for the night and dragging out decorations and party foods. There were at least a couple groups of teens and their little siblings in costumes trying to figure out how to ferry piles of treats from plastic-wrapped bowls of candy corn to towers of buckets of cotton candy precariously balanced in their arms.

"We don't know where we are?" Luz pointed out.

"Then we'll make Ralsei give us a tour, we have to check this place out!" The goth insisted while dragging her friend through the dark halls filling with colorful light from glowing plants and mushrooms, the oranges and yellows getting stronger with the ignition of jack-o-lanterns, other gourds, and light-up ghosts.

Luz paused and held herself by the shoulders. "I don't wanna be a bother."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that goat thinks we're annoying." Zoey deadpanned and rested her hands on her hips.

Luz eventually giggled like a baby and shrugged. "Maybe when on Sunday."

Chapter 31: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 8

Summary:

Star and Ceroba working with Mr. X and Jenny.
Camila's Vet emergency, the tiny tyrant demands her glasses.
Zoey and Vee enjoy wandering Monster Territory and meet up with a friend.

feat. Martlet and Papyrus make a full-auto paper airplane.

Notes:

Keep up with the story on Tumblr!

"I'm tellin' ya, we care 'bout this just as much as y'all, but there's only so much we can do."

"Well magic something up for us, then!"

"We wouldn't still be yappin' here if it was that easy!"

The tall Nebula Monster and man in violet continued going back and forth over nothing as his assistant and a small fox skeleton with dim blue flames crackling in its ribcage and eyes looked over the newest investigation notes on the laptop. The curious creature was perched on the Human's back as its large tail, formed from curling plumes of pure white smoke like an ancient Japanese painting, wagged to and fro along their spine. Despite having no nose or lungs, it sniffed puffs of curly smoke onto the keyboard and over their faces like a nosy little fog machine.

"I'm doin' mah best ta tell ya what this Daemon is but thare ain't a single record of this thang anywhere!"

"Both of you need to calm down." Their newest arrival, not technically a Royal Guard but a sanctioned and quietly renown assistant of the North Star Sheriff, cut through the tension with her rosy glaive.

Her weapon was easily the length of her arms and horribly balanced, yet it didn't even slightly start slipping from her gauntlets as the long blade separated her companion and partner. Five diamond-shaped gems, a pink one in the center, two maroon on the ends, and two bright reds between them, lined the core of the broad blade. While mostly smoothly curved, there were some small protrusions like thorns coming from the main blade and the back of it, the same white color as the sword and her robes with some longer, reddish-pink extras beneath their curves. The staff was extremely dark black, African Black Wood, and gnarled around the galaxy-like orb at the base of the blade.

Roots crawled around the sparkling ball as it gleamed with magic, leaving a small space between the heart of the branches and the bottom of the ball where her skeletal fox loved to stick its face in. Rather than the somewhat golden outline that species of wood was supposed to have, the branches turned dull pink where the one lower down the polearm wrapped around the main rod. Its center was incredibly smooth but the ends had those gradually growing warps in the structure for grip and to make blade-locks jagged and uncomfortable for an opponent. The other tip was topped with a silver, spade-like point with a carefully carved, bright red gem in the base and a pair of hooks curved toward the main blade.

The Kitsune's arms were very clearly armored with form-fitting steel. The creamy white of her robe peeked through the gaps, though there was no doubt some chainmail layered underneath. Her paws were protected by steel plates along the back of her hand and daggers along her fingers on top of her claws. There were pinker plates segmented over her palms for freedom of movement against the leathery, dark gray fabric gripping the wood.

Her chest piece blended well into her robe, bearing the exact same cream center with dark pink edges, seamless if not for the sheen of magic metal they'd become familiar with. The large, weighty pauldrons had an outline of the same color, but their centers were bright red like her knee-length skirt and big ribbon around her waist where some chains clipped to her body and dangled six fox skulls over her hips. Armor covered her digitigrade legs and made her dagger-covered nails click and scratch along the van's floor.

Many massive, extremely fluffy tails as long as her whole body curled and flicked in veiled agitation at the investigators. All of them were bright red, but with melanistic streaks along the tops that spiraled and slithered with their motions like powerful twisters. The bases had triangular splotches with bright red daggers down the center like pyramids and denser black at the tips. Fox skulls covered the ends of her tails so the bushy black ends flicked out of their jaws like snake tongues, all except for one of them. Of the nine, eight were bound together into four long braids with the skulless ninth tied into the center two.

Another big bow tied back part of her large ginger hair into a half-ponytail. It was the length of her spine but had a pair of long strands framing her bright red face and black muzzle while her bangs drooped over and around one of her ears, each of which had the same red-black-red triangle pattern as the bases of her tail. Her piercing pink eyes glared from under the shadow of her hair and the bright white lenses of her pupils leered between the Human and Monster.

Jenny rotated her laptop while they were between arguments. They'd gotten the test results back from the Monsters' labs: inconclusive. The clearly magical creature mauling and devouring random forest-goers to death really didn't exist in any official documents. Someone, likely the Shooting Star, even pulled some strings to have the Royal Scientist take a look at the magic readings and molds of the few intact injuries, meaning there definitely weren't any Monsters up to this. Mr. X sighed dramatically and the thoroughly annoyed Nebula pinched the bridge of his nose before the fox woman cut in again.

"Then we're not looking in the right places." Miss Ketsukane growled and withdrew her glaive, it clinked against the floor as she paced. "What if it's not a recognized Monster?" She posed.

"What?" Starlo grunted.

Ceroba held her head high like she was turning up her nose at them. "It might not be a Monster, but it's still a magical creature. If its magic doesn't match anything we've ever documented since the Barrier was created, then we might be dealing with a myth. Something from the Dark Ages that isn't as fictional as we thought."

"What's gonna survive that long in a world full of Humans?" The sheriff raised a brow but lifted his hat to face the fox more clearly.

"It's not that hard for something to stay buried in a forest." She pointed out and idly tapped her staff. "I think we're looking for something solitary that eats a lot. It wouldn't be able to escape so well if there was more than one, but it eats too much for one person, probably high-metabolism like a hummingbird."

The silent assistant clattered away on the laptop as Mr. X rested an arm on the chair and leaned over their shoulder. On the laptop screen was a pretty simple and unassuming wiki article about a gaunt and pale humanoid creature with a hunger that could never be sated. Just a horror movie cryptid based on an old Native American legend, a cautionary tale about greed and anyone who resorted to cannibalism. Taking the creature at face value for the sake of argument, an eternal hunger for Human flesh would explain why it only went after them; they didn't exactly have a lot of protein on offer and their dogs and dragon would've found the dust if a Monster was hunted, which didn't mean they were imune if they encountered the 'Windigo' but it was a start.

Star knew in the back of his mind that Martlet somewhat recently handled the special effects for the creature in a multi-day series of plays. It was about a Human and Monster tribe teaming up to fight the animal hunting their friends, but that was the extent of his knowledge. Were her lightning abilities just for highlighting the bone structure and keeping the prop skull afloat, or did the myth include electromancy? He knew her Aeromancy came in when fogging up the stage so the actors could switch their props, change costumes, and work on the stage while the Thunderbird gave shape to the big villain right behind some cardboard bushes but that was the extent of his knowledge; he wasn't able to see most of the plays and, because of that, couldn't keep up with the story beyond 'big thing ate some hunters and children so more hunters hunted it', not that it was a bad legend.

"Well, I'll be." Starlo turned back to the fox. "I ain't ever doubtin' ya again." He promised.

"That's what you said after I got a bird out of your chimney by letting it perch on my finger." She deadpanned.

"Eh, details." The Shooting Star Sheriff sheepishly waved it off and started out the door in a hurry. "Martlet was one o' those things in a play fer a while, I'll call 'er 'bout the stories and cross-reef it with the Human version. We might be able to figure out what's exaggerated and what might be based on a real thing." He waved with his hat and disappeared with a flash of gold light and colorful plumes of ionized gases sparkled with space dust. Ceroba indifferently nodded to the Humans and similarly vanished, along with her many fox skulls and spirits, in blue flames and curly white smoke.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Starting the day with a crick in her neck wasn't the best thing to happen to Camila all week, but the conversation with Starlo was a hard thing to beat. And she had to do laundry when she got home, she was running out of scrubs, and she wanted to practice at the shooting range, and she needed to figure out what she and Vee were doing for dinner. With any luck, not much was going to happen today; Camila didn't have any luck. There was a Royal Guard in decorated plate armor with a pair of rabbit ears grazing the ceiling tiles when she walked in. The staff were making small talk before one of the newcomers walked out of an operating room with a huff, perking as they spotted her.

"Camila! Room 7, please" They pleaded with their hands clasped in prayer like she was the clinic's goddess.

Which she was, but eh, details. "What's going on?" She set her bag on the counter for her assistant to put away while she headed for the door.

"Just a checkup." They poorly forced a smile. Just a checkup didn't leave the guy who got hired for being a saint with frightened dogs with visibly sweaty armpits and stains along the front of his shirt.

"Right." She side-eyed him and opened the door.

Another Royal Guard was waiting for her inside, clearly trying not to laugh as the bat wing-like frills poking out the sides of his helmet twitched and flapped, confirming they were the same two who'd brought Maximus to her earlier in the Monsters' exchange program. There were bottles of meds strewn about, flung off of the cabinets, and the computers were slightly displaced like someone was carefully trying to look behind them, just to abandon the delicate equipment in a rush.

Yet, at the center of the chaos, there was nothing but a small towel in the middle of the operating table. A tiny lump, hardly larger than her fist, was hidden beneath until the front of the rag peeked up. A pair of big, scheming, beautiful, gleaming neon orange eyes stared out from the towel's shadow. The pink strip of a forker tongue wiped in front of the eyes, licking his snout, and a pair of bumps formed in the top of the rag like two large and four small ears perking at Camila's presence; the back of the towel started swishing back and forth with the wagging of a tail.

"Just a checkup, dude." The Guard bit back a laugh.

Camila held a hand to her mouth. No wonder they needed backup. "Hola, cariño, remember me?" She doted.

The dragon shook its head like a dog shaking off water, throwing aside the towel. His little face broke into a huge, gummy smile and his tongue drooped between his bright pink gums. The many protrusions along the sides of his head, previously covered by the tough suit of armor, flicked like cat ears and attentively stood on end like those of a rabbit. Each pupil was absolutely massive like the void about the stars, glittering under the annoyingly humming fluorescent lights, and screaming that he'd already decided he didn't care what the Vet was, it was playtime.

A Night Fury.

An actual Night Fury out of Luz's pre-Azura hyperfixation.

"Is that a yes?" She lifted a brow and held out a hand.

The dragon, the Night Fury, slithered the rest of the way out of the towel and wiggled his butt before jumping the length nearly the length of the room into Camila's hand.

Just a checkup. she smiled as the tiny terror stood on his hind legs, right in the palm of her hand, and swiped playfully for her glasses with his little paws. Fortunately, he was too small to reach past her chin.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Her and Papyrus's scattered set of computers wasn't the prettiest thing they'd ever created, that honor belonged to their puzzles, but it would do for their purposes. After connecting the several laptops, PCs, and whatever other processors they could cobble together into a basic metal shelving unit, they got to work tapping away on the keys. Paps was better at throwing together some usable code than she was, the hands-on aspect of putting puzzles together was the Thunderbird's favorite domain. That, and the skeleton's older brother was a coworker of the Royal Scientist herself. Doctor Gaster was the only person who could upstage that.

Several animated hands crafted from sharpened bones appeared from and vanished into sparkling Arcanagrams, clicking and typing tons of tiny modifications to their creation's inner workings while she adjusted the wiring and tightened the bolts keeping the drones together. Jolts of electricity shot harmlessly up her wings' talons. Her black claws flashed gold and magic arcs buzzed up her arms. Internally, the golden shafts of her lengthened navy feathers vibrated and the tufts of feathers on her chest and within her hair stood on end. Martlet's breathing empowered like a storm swelling with power and a dark gray cloud escaped her curved beak as she stood up, buzzing with static.

At her clawed feet was the labor of their love. A fraction as clunky as their competition, the sleek and thin drone was lightweight, even with the minimal Feather Falling enchantments they'd put on the device for example's sake. The final version, cleared by the King himself, would have a much better budget than two dweebs quite disconnected from their bank accounts and running off spite. The top was fairly flat, meant to easily slot into whatever carrier was conceptualised with minimal locking systems.

Granted, it was just the top because she flipped the device for ease of access, it would look more like an upside-down paper airplane mid-flight. She was staring down at the circular plate with some bricks duct-taped to the center, representing a weapon platform, it would naturally flip over once activated. The center was a series of five rings, heavily enchanted with aeromancy and kinetic magic. Most people didn't think of kinetics beyond massively enhancing railguns and similar ranged weapons, leaving a decent creativity gap between those who brushed off the magic as nothing but fancy physical projectiles and Kinetic Mages like Starlo, with a blurry in-between for the practitioners who figured out they could apply it to themselves to move like the Undying.

It was how they got the system to move so fast despite the meager funds and poor materials. They had a bladeless propeller built into the tip of the drone and a tiny program to shift the wings in a way that ensured the drone would always fall clockwise, jumpstarting the spinning of the air magic as the stack of wooden beams they'd propped it up with fell away. It almost silently floated beside Martlet, lightly moving forward despite the throttle being off. That flaw was hardly of concern; they'd always be moving forward, anyway. The now top fin lightly flicked back and forth as Papyrus fiddled with the steering. At the tip of the drone, the fin stayed relatively still, but some small notches in the bottom allowed it to move over the thrust-generating rings and catch the air smoothly moving through them, allowing the drone to make sharp turns while near-motionless.

The breeze pushed around Martlet's feathers and it appeared to sway now that it wasn't moving with the floating city's current, but emitted no radio waves and almost no electrical waves, making it impossible to track with radar and invisible from the ground, depending on how they were painted. They needed to be operable from a far greater range than the aquatic variants, another impromptu addition to their to-do lists since they'd come this far, but whatever the Royal Guard had buried in their top-secret files should suffice. Dazzling the King was the priority.

Getting these past Chara and Alphys, according to Paps, was the hard part. Their standards were a lot higher, as they built the vast majority of the Guards' armor, mechanised infantry, and mechs, not to mention they had a much better grasp on how this kind of thing worked, and arguably the same regarding the logistics of bringing them to life. But they'd cross that bridge when they got there, and she was confident the drones would catch their attention.

Currently, putting together the single biggest port in the world was the eldest heir's primary concern. Now exactly hidden nor public, the project was still stuck in the planning phase. Chara did most of the work, there. Martlet had been allowed to see some of the concepts; second and third floors for the smaller vessels combined with a lot of liminal magic, a mostly automated workforce, and a ton of modularity in the building itself and the drones they'd yet to land on a design for were the main points she was running with. All meaning there were bonus points in store for anyone who managed to make a competent model without Chara having to do anything.

Impressing the girl who didn't remotely shy away from deposing or ignoring people she knew if she considered them incapable of a task probably should've been a bit more intimidating, but she and Papyrus knew what they were doing. They had this proposal in the bag!

VVV 🎃 VVV

They'd been walking for hours, yet she couldn't find the ache in her legs or the tiredness in her voice as she and Luz wandered the hexagonal gravel roads. After leaving the gigantic tower city, the girls had wandered through some dense forestry filled to the brim with the nighttime sounds of nocturnal animals and distant shenanigans. The rustling of bushes and eerie snapping of twigs quickly turned into a pair of foxes sprinting away from the scene of a felony French fry theft.

Luz giggled musically as she stepped around the imprints of their paws in the fine sand paths, a Monster three times their size in a scarecrow costume laughing as his massive stride quickly caught up with and passed them. Despite the nightfall, there were a lot of people still filling the streets. Their clothes were all wonderfully decorated, riddled with holes made by fabric scissors instead of wear and tear. Those who went the extra mile for the holiday, those who'd stamped their costumes into the ground and hit them with razor blades instead of scissors, were painfully obvious and visibly having the time of their lives. Some boys and girls were completely in character as witches and warlocks 'buying Souls' with candy.

The festivities didn't stop when they passed through a rockier, drier space. The path was closer to tan than the white and light gray of the forest, though the gorgeous nighttime lights didn't fade. Instead of glowing mushrooms and gleaming flowers, they were glittering crystals and patches of moss sprouted glowing pods. Maybe they had a purpose beyond looking pretty, but that was more than enough if you asked Zoey. They looked like constellations! Maybe that was the point; she didn't know of any moss that did that, maybe they were designed that way, maybe they were taking a tiny piece of the stars down to Earth.

Decorations got a little creative, here. Murals of terrifying creatures from all across the world's most ancient folklore were plastered over the boulders, they were even split up so you could see different monstrosities depending on what angle you looked at the rocks from. Another, which she was very sure to take a panning video of and share with Luz, had a white spot for the moon at the very top and several carefully placed art pieces of a sickly pale human turning into a werewolf. The moon's paint seemed glow-in-the-dark, though it was hard to tell under the red street lamp they found and wasn't bright enough to stand out while their eyes adjusted before they moved on.

Several fish and crab-like Monsters lived there. They could hear the light rushing of water and there were obviously many caves and quarries, so there had to be a pretty decent family business carving through the crust for these magic crystals and the crabs clearly had a grand time climbing up and scuttling through the rocks. Luz looked like she had a mini heart attack when one of them popped out from behind a large gem with a small jack-o-lantern on their head so their eyestalks poked out of the triangular eye holes. The girl shouted something in Spanish and damn near kicked his pincer off. It would be a lot funnier later.

The foliage returned and fungus glowed with all colors of the rainbow as they followed the bustling crowds of Monsters from all walks of life. They indulged in some stands stocked with pastries and laughed with some lizard Monsters as a bird chased a cat who'd stolen a pumpkin-cinnamon muffin, which Luz was ecstatic to try. A lot of animals were out and about, mainly cats and dogs, and several large trees were affixed with many holes in their bark, stuffed with blankets and with cameras at the opening of each. They eventually came across a building with small TV screens behind a glass wall that let them see the many puppies and kittens resting in the spaces, lined with covered heaters and off fans, without their heavy footsteps treading the rickety stairs and ramps not designed for people to use the quiet homes. Relatively quiet, that is, it was hardly a silent night.

Trees grew closer together and much taller in this Sector. Everything made them feel tiny in comparison to the gargantuan trees, surrounding tower cities, distant Mount Ebott, and the Monsters' glorious Castle. Several were littered with sparkling lights from unusual leaves and other plant life growing along their trunks and canopies. Mushrooms continued their trend, making huge platforms so small structures could be placed on the sides of massive trees unlike anything they'd ever seen, even in videos of redwood forests. These plants were far wider and sturdier than ancient oaks and welcomingly supported vines trickling glowing water and sap down their lengths, landing in pots and reservoirs.

Downright alien birds mingled with the haunting ornaments, their feathers made of crystals or beaks splitting apart like beasts from Subnautica or the Predator movies. Completely unnatural by every stretch of the Human world, and Zoey was reveling in it. Other critters like more foxes and a few vague canines had similar mutations, just enough to shout 'MAGIC IS HERE!' as they stole whatever treats they could and scampered back through the maze of glowing fungi and sparkly plants to the safety of the deep dark in the middle of the Districts.

"Oh! I think Ralsei and his partners live here!" Zoey suddenly exclaimed and dashed for a sign. "Yeah! This is Orange Star District! This is where Susie plays hockey!"

Luz rushed to keep up, lest she lose her only friend in the middle of a cold night. "Why do you know that?"

"It came up while you were gone, Ralsei had to explain the difference between Districts and Areas to a class." Zoey waved off and looked down the road, spotting the small stadium covered in ghosts and bats and orange lights.

She did her best to put together a mental map of Star Area, failing spectacularly but recalling the color-coding of the major buildings. "Yellow is where Kris lives and the Royal Guard fortress, Ralsei and Susie live in Green with the Hospital, Noelle's in Red, and their school's..."

"Purple."

Susie appeared behind them with a huge prop machete and ratty brown clothes, though it was unclear if they were truly brown or dirty or both. Her pants and jacket were torn, her plain shoes looked ready to split apart, and her long tail curled around the big tube of brown fabric poorly draped over it. A stained white hockey mask covered in splatters of red was propped up over her long raven-dark purple mane. Her one, burning yellow eye seared through her tangled hair as she peeled off her leathery brown gloves and stuffed them into one of the chest pockets of her jacket.

"Didn't know you two got in." She remarked while Luz froze and something hissed loudly. Susie snorted and smirked, filling the nighttime air with smoke.

"We just got in!" Zoey smiled and dragged Luz closer to the serial killer.

The goth and lizard chatted idly, one a lot more animated than the other, as they brought 'Luz' deeper into the forest. It was impossible to tell what buildings were right in front of them or see above the extra-thick and plentiful layers of branches and leaves as Susie cut straight through the hex hearts of the Districts instead of following the roads. Is was pretty and nice to get away from the crowds, but darker and harder to keep up. The mushrooms and glowing plants weren't that bright, just enough to illuminate Zoey's smiling face as they wandered around trees covered in fungus.

Sleeping squirrels had the life scared out of them as the lizard girl guided them towards the looming outline of another Tower City decorated with loads of Celtic and Native American-looking props. The school was off to the side, barely visible down the sandy streets by the shine of a red light over the welcome light. Many smaller, thinner roads weaved through the Districts and there were smooth plates of cobblestone in the process of being laid across the major streets. Nothing major, just a bunch of curved slabs locked together by woven roots. They hadn't even been worn down by the students going back and forth from their homes to school and the stadium, yet.

"You guys can crash at my place for a minute, the portal to Gravefield should be opening in a couple of hours." Susie remarked while brushing aside some leaves and holding the branches up for the Human and Basilisk to start for the Skyscraper. More like Spacescraper...

"You have a house?" Zoey asked incredulously.

"More like an apartment in that tower." Susie shrugged like it was nothing and nodded the city's way. It was significantly thicker than most of the towers; a lot closer to the Capitol and first to be constructed, they supposed. It was two massive, very thick sets of towers, each five to seven Tower City's strong and tightly condensed into the hexes they sprouted out of. They could see the hard edges of the District bounds near the base of the Towers, outlined by the orange and dim white glows of the lower decorations, but a lot of the higher levels fanned out slightly for massive balconies with entire business buildings on the sides or built into the bottom supports. The basilisk could hear the echoes of hilariously petty legal battles about the cities' borders.

Several long, tall, and thick bridges connected the two over the top of another District. It looked like something was drilled through the center of the bridge, but they couldn't tell what it was or if it was just behind the towers in the dark of night. The shorter and barely thinner city was pretty, though, with a bunch of dimly lit statues and flower murals at the dome peak. There were only a few indoor lights along the sides of each floor, frequently flashing spooky oranges and bright yellows as the shadows of party-goers danced across the glass.

"Ralsei and I are living there until we can find somewhere nicer... And closer to Noelle." Susie explained while leading them through the foliage and over some very small streams lined with glowing cyan plants, fungi, and a lot of small water wheels spinning like fans.

The entrance to Susie's City had quite a bit more grandeur than the previous one. Along with being quite a bit bigger, the archway was lined with larger, more vibrant, less natural to the region plants, especially flowers. What looked like Christmas ornaments were hanging from anything sturdy enough, if Halloween-themed. That being said, there were quite a few very strange chrome mushrooms covered in iridescently glowing all colors of the rainbow placed nearer to the top. Red, orange, brown, and yellow leaves occasionally fluttered to the ground while they entered. The white, metallic roots were covered in moss, smaller blossoms, and loads of graffiti ranging from cultural references like musicians, mostly a black and pink animatronic, and astral iconography.

Stars, planets, cartoon space ships, UFOs, all the trinkets Vee had her eyes on for her own room. Spacey themes continued on the way inside. Foam props of Saturn and Jupiter were hanging from the ceiling, between many large, mall-like lines of stores and business buildings lined with glass and shiny root railings. Many walls were painted navy blue with huge sprays of bright pinks, yellows, and greens for nebulae and bright white stars in patterns of the Royal Family. One looked like Noelle's Mom and a man the Humans assumed to be her Dad, too. Maybe, if the young reindeer ever took power over the Sector or Area, she'd get her own constellation mural.

For now, Susie brought them to a big elevator full of ramps and steps for tons of people to get in and out. Some chairs and wall panels had multiple interfaces full of buttons for peoples' floors, though Susie and the girls were usually the only ones inside as late-to-the-party kids and exhausted adults spottily went in and out. Zoey was happy to climb and walk along the sides of the lift, looking at all the posters and listings for special events. Meanwhile, Susie chose a wall to lean against and kept an eye on the floor buttons.

Residential layers appeared to be much higher than the tourist, business, industrial, school, market, and farm portions while energy and science were closest to the peak. That didn't mean any of the segments were small, quite the opposite, the elevator ride to Susie's apartment was a long one and they met loads of unusual people on the way, even though they just went up a few levels. The lizard's floor was dead silent, any parties were on the other side of the half dozen-ish melded, grown-together towers.

The magical domes on this city looked a bit more complete than the one they almost got rained out of, shimmering like bubbles as they held back heavy gray clouds. It rains a lot, here, I don't wanna be that muddy. Leaves tickled the top of Susie and Zoey's heads and dripped clear water on Vee's disguised brown hair. The walls, basically glass, let them see out to all the spotty celebrations; they had giant, painted figurines of Monsters and knights being set ablaze with dark orange and bright yellow fires, pop-up theaters putting on little plays, and white sheets and projectors playing horror movies. Even the Areas' Town Halls were alight with props and sparklers and some faraway mountains and cities were anchors for big balloons.

Inside, as they approached Susie and Ralsei's apartment, reminded her of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. Dirt and foam, growing food like apples and grapes, were piled together around circular doors with rounded windows decorated by Deltarunes. Susie's pockets jingled as she fiddled around for her keys before one of the smaller, more oval-shaped doors. It was barely tall enough for her not to duck when they entered, Vee almost tripped over the fluffy black fan tip of her tail as she flicked on the lights.

It looked like a hotel room. A boxy TV was placed in the corner before a small couch beside a glass wall staring out at the other Tower City, though the giant bridge was blocking a lot of the view. A tiny kitchen was across from the window, nothing but a sink and fridge with a small stove in between, a microwave above it, and all stuffed behind a thin counter. A pair of mismatched stools were placed at the counter, two very different shades of gray.

"In my defense, Ral's got a way better eye for color than me." Susie whispered. "He's, uh, sleepin' right now, by the way."

"He's not at school?" Vee raised a brow.

Zoey grinned. "Ralsei cut class?"

"Different sleep schedule's been kicking his ass." Susie shrugged, the answer a lot more mundane than the goat having a dark side. She slid off the Jason mask and lightly set it on the counter, then pulled off her jacket. The brown shirt beneath had a lot of holes and was clearly a T-shirt before the sleeves were unevenly ripped off, loads of small bags of candy and pastries were emptied from her pockets as hastily and quietly as possible. "I've been at work and collecting this crap all day, you can have some but leave most for Ralsei and I. I'm taking a shower, then we'll head back to Gravesfield." She shrugged and started taking the torn shirt off on the way to a door. The other side of their apartment, right to the front door, was blocked off by walls; one closer to the window and the other, which the Monster walked through, went to the bathroom.

Zoey and 'Luz' took a seat on the couch, angled to face the blank TV and the window. This side of the view, away from the bottom of the bridge's shiny white support root and the five or so combined Tower Cities on the other side, was a lot more festive and pretty. Were they too close together? She just wanted to see the lights and floating decorations, honest! The couch was defintely a bit stiff, no wonder they were hoping to move.

Both were sitting ever so slightly higher than normal, both found it hard to take their minds off of it. Like this, Vee was almost up to Zoey's height. The goth was anxiously bouncing her knee up and down to ignore it while the Daemon constantly tapped her fingers on her lap, failing miserably as the water started rushing. Zoey suddenly shivered and stood up straight, clutching the end of her dark purple long-sleeve with a bright red face and a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face despite the cold. Her rich brown eyes shifted to Luz, instantly regretting it and looking at the carpet.

"H-How much... do t-these... hold?" She stammered while making sure there was nothing on the couch; there wasn't, but there were a pair of shiny spots on her leggings.

"Not a lot." Luz shyly fidgeted.

"G-Guessing you don't have a-another?" Zoey stared back to the carpet.

The hidden basilisk shook her head. "...I-I-I'm only a-allowed these..."

Her friend sat back down after making extra sure she hadn't leaked on the couch. They stared out the window for a little while, listening to the running shower and the fluttering of small bird going about the Tower Cities and their nests for the night. "H-How... how are you holding up..."

"It's been fun, but I'm ready to head home... I-I could use a c-change. O-Of clothes!" She shuddered, too cold.

Zoey chuckled and tugged down the hem of her shirt. "Riiiiight..." She audibly doubted and looked back out the window. Her face was still a little red, but all three of their hearts were starting to slow down, if only for a second as Vee's mind started racing. They were far away from any Humans, unless Kris cut class, too. And Zoey hated Jacob and his constant meddling with the Historical Society, leaving his conspiracy stuff everywhere and claiming their property was part of his investigation into Vee and The Owl Lady. No matter what happened, she'd absolutely take any excuse to sock him in the nose she could get those black nails on.

Besides, one of the biggest Monsters either of them had seen was right behind them, if in the shower. Susie won a 1v3 or 4 in the rain against multiple boys a lot bigger than the goth, not that she wanted anything to end like that. And Ralsei was sleeping in the next room. She should have the magic to regenerate most anything if she needed, she always found sealing wounds more in-built than shapeshifting. That didn't mean she was good at it or that the rational part of her thought it or Ralsei's healing would be needed, but it was a hex card up her sleeve nonetheless.

"C-C-Can I tell you s-something..?" She shivered.

Zoey turned back to the basilisk and straightened as she saw her friend tightly grasping her clothes, her slowly growing and darkening talons slipping out of her disguise and tearing her knees. "What's wrong?" She leaned in and lightly tapped 'Luz's' shoulder to take away her attention.

She forced her growing claws to peel away from her legs and grip her upper arms. "I-I'm not... Luz..."

The goth's short hair bounced as she slightly tilted her head and blinked blankly, then her eyes widened and hand ripped away as Vee's right arm shifted away from her arm. In front of her chest, her tightly clenched fist shakily unfurled, allowing her claws to grow to their full, somewhat unimpressive length and swiftly darken like obsidian. Her hand shrank and fingers elongated a couple of milimeters as creamy white spots grew over her stolen tan skin.

Human skin turned rougher and tougher as more creamy, colorless albino spots grew over her skin as it rippled like water. Her cheeks and other hand changed color, her main hand changed again and revealed her jade scales, covering the colorless hide like her Human flesh was melting into nothingness. The whites of her eyes turned teal and her pupils seemed to expand over her irises as they turned black as coal and a glimmer of golden light sparkled out from the center. With a forked tongue, she idly licked the serrated tips her sharpened teeth and short fangs. They felt like she'd had her jaw tightly clenched down on them for every month since Luz disappeared, just now being freed. Her bones felt freed like she'd been cooped up in another cage or tight cave as they made her a little shorter, a little more natural. Lungs and hearts and stomachs alike felt like they fit in her body a lot more correctly.

"Woah..." Zoey whispered like she was staring straight into the stars.

Chapter 32: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 9

Summary:

Camila conquers the great evil and stumbles upon something relevant.
Dess gambles with Noelle and schemes to break someone's ankles.
Vee and Zoey shenanigans, Susie and Ralsei moments, and more schemes.
Vee's sweater from the Tumblr art, Zoey gets a sweater, and checking in with a friend.
The friend ponders the wendigo while a snek-otter chases her tail(s).

"Guess who hasn't calmed down!" Camila announced to the office as she walked out, the Royal Guard trailing her and his dragon in her hands like she was in the Lion King.

A mix of exhausted laughs and huffs answered the kekeke cackle coming from the wriggly black dragon. There were a lot of people here, today, great for the clinic and horrible in every other way, but these animals needed someone to take care of them. A dog who had a run-in with a postal truck here, a cat who fell from a bit too high there, nothing unusual but everything horrible and draining about the job. Her girls did their best to handle everything by themselves, and to great effect, the intern just wasn't qualified to handle to nibbly and spry bundle of shadows knawing on her fingers.

"Thanks again, Doctor Noceda." The Guard with rabbit ears thanked and accepted the squirming Night Fury wrapped up in a towel like a burrito.

"Anytime." She nodded and returned to work.

Starting with giving their schedule a quick glance, the rest of the week was clear to be a bit much. A lot of checkups back-to-back and not a lot of room for emergency visits. But they'd manage, she was Camila Noceda- Isn't that Zoey's dog?

VVV 🎃 VVV

"No, ye don' understand! Someone in the ROYAL FAMILY'S seen How ta Rain yer Dragon, looked at the only one witout giant fangs, and 'YES' said tem, 'TAT'S THE REASON WE'RE PLAYIN' GOD TODAY!'" Kris slipped into his accent, much to Immanuel and Alex's confusion.

"There's more to it than having big scaly puppies running around." The annoying bird adjusted his round glasses and grabbed a feathery handful from the bag of Doritos he'd snatched from the vending machines.

"It's mostly fer the big dragon pups it is." Kris bit into an egg sandwich.

"I bet it was Prince Asriel." Noelle offered, chilling the small group and exhaling a puff of snow and frost. It carried far in the afternoon glow of the Autumn sky.

Her big sister, adjusting her backpack with her bat hitting against her leg. "My G's on one of the princesses."

The ringing of the bell announced time for the Holiday sisters to depart, one had school on the other side of the world and the other, though free to attend or cut college without consequence, wasn't going to hang out with a bunch of highschoolers. She checked her phone while Noelle said goodbye to her boyfriend and Vee's Human friends besides the goth, more texts from their Mom to be ignored and an UnderNet notification that one of her favorite bands released a new song.

She held it in front of her face under the guise of stretching or taking a selfie so she could bring one hand down on Noelle's antlers and rattle her back and forth, their version of a noogie. Dess continued playing dumb to her little sister's protests as she locked her screen. Once it was black and reflective, she angled it around and leered into the glass long enough for the other reindeer to see what she was really doing.

In the distance, poorly hidden in the bushes, was the glint of a suspicious phone and deranged pair of glasses. The exact same freak needed to be taught a lesson, the exact same freak would be disappointed when his 'marvel of science and magic' stopped coming to school. No more 'evidence' for Jacob Hopskins, she'd make sure of it before she was gone. Unless the Royal Guard had plans for him, anyway, then she wasn't leaving without popcorn and a folding chair.

20 G says Miss Ceroba has it handled. Noelle messaged her.

30 G says nobody will find the body. She countered.

"You're no fun." Noelle rolled her bright, icy eyes and grabbed her by the backpack as they and the students who ate outside funneled back into the building. The halls were bustling, but clear enough that the Monsters clearly weren't much of a problem. Gravesfield was a small town and Princy Hal was a smaller man for thinking he could get away with all of Luz and Vee's problems getting drowned in the masses. Coward. The man even took a wrong turn away from his office when the Holdays walked by, right out the front door. Jacob had his eye on them, they could both feel it, he wasn't half as subtle as he thought.

To what end he was stalking the Nocedas remained unclear. He was an idot, which was crystalline, and still out to get his discount Twitter/YouTube account verified, but there had to be something more. His ambitions hadn't just grown beyond recognition for Vee's 'discovery' as they hoped they wouldn't; there was no value in finding magic in a world populated by the Monsters. He was nothing but a conspiracy theorist who was convinced they were coming for all their Souls, but that was Princess Chara's domain and there were strings attached to every policy for that very reason.

An idiot, a stalker, a threat to public safety, and a pathetic man by every extent. Really, Vee could take him with some basic combat spells, an Eldritch Blast would put him down instantly and Camila was armed to the teeth. He was dead before any of the Monsters got involved, but that didn't make leaving him running around okay. December wasn't sure how that was getting done, just that the Royal Guard were on the case. Quite a few modern Guards were capable of neutralising a Human with their armor and it'd become clear, especially in cases like Susie and Captain Undyne, the gap wasn't as devastating as it was during the War. The Stalwarts, especially, had this in the bag if he tried anything.

But if anyone actually expected December to step through that portal, they better let her know what they were on and where to get some, because she had plenty of people who could gather her assignments for her and connections to get the absences explained away.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee's legs were shaking and sweat dripped down the side of her face, her wide eyes pinned to Zoey. THIS WAS A BAD IDEAAAAA! Her pale hand and black nails painfully slowly raised to Vee's face, poking her squishy cheek and running along the top of her floppy, fluffy ears. She looked down at the Daemon's hand and brought her own down just as slowly like Vee was about to disappear. Which she hoped for, but knew wouldn't bless her.

Human hands were so soft compared to her scales, but the fat and muscle were equally squishy. The serpent was a bit bonier than Zoey, but not by much. Her claws may have been narrower and longer than Human proportions but she was naturally smaller, her hands were still around the same length as Zoey's. She clearly enjoyed running her fingers along the scales, letting her nails slide between them like she was tracing a curvy maze. It tickled She playfully pressed her thumb into the palm of her hand while repeatedly convincing herself the monster in front of her was real, accidentally triggering Vee to unsheath her short black claws. Her eyes widened before she bit back a giggle and compared them to her painted nails.

She looked deep into the shiny gold pupils, dark irises, and cyan sclera framed by a mix of Human-looking flesh and obviously discolored creamy-white spots, then eyed the incredibly tiny fangs poking out the top fo Vee's mouth. With a shaky finger, she hesitantly poked her cheek again and again, slowly but surely devolving into wheezes and barely contained laughs. She had to bring a hand over her mouth to muffle a combination of hysteria and amusement. DON'T WAKE UP RALSEI OR SUSIE WILL TURN YOUR INSIDES INTO OUTSIDES!

"W-What h-h-happ-pfft-ened?" She did her very best to keep a straight face and treat the situation with the urgency it demanded. Something happened to Luz but it was quickly becoming really hard to take the squishy, soft-spoken, thoroughly diapered bean sitting in front of her seriously.

'Luz' audibly swallowed and took a very deep breath, tightly shutting her colorful eyes and speaking with as serious a tone as her raspy voice allowed, shaking for a very different and much more appropriate reason than Zoey. "...Luz... S-She never went to Summer Camp... She wound up where I came from... It's not a good place, I was running from a lot, but she made some friends and I slipped through the portal she came through..."

She cracked an eye open. Zoey was enraptured. They, Cabin 7, were never friends with Luz? It was always this..? Whatever she was? Snake, shapeshifter, snakeshifter? And what exactly was her plan? As if Vee had one.

"Camila was looking for Luz. I panicked, so I turned into the only Human I saw, Luz. She was so nice and... I figured I could slip away when I didn't need her anymore but... A-And then I met you guys... so I just... went along with it... for a year..."

"So you haven't killed anyone?" Zoey confirmed, doubting this creature would try anything with Ralsei and Susie right beside them, even if one was asleep and the other in the shower. As a matter of fact, she was probably counting on nothing happening; they'd been trapped by social convention, the one thing Zoey swore never to be bound by. Well played, you funky little danger noodle. The Goth couldn't take this short baby serpent seriously for the life of her, not for lack of trying.

The snakeshifter shook her head. "I just played along with everything, I swear I didn't mean to get into everyone's lives, I just needed somewhere to lay low and figure out what to do."

"So you literally spawned into the Human server and immediately got a free tutorial while the rest of us were mashing buttons until something worked." She deadpanned while her heart raced and stomach did a dozen flips in every direction. Her mind was jumping in so many directions that it all just cancelled out and reset every few seconds. At long last, she'd ascended to a vague blob of conflicting energies beyond Human comprehension, a shame her meek Human mind couldn't comprehend it.

"I guess so!" The snake managed to squeak out a second before crumbling into her own ball of muffled laughter, stinging hot tears, and pure stress.

"Hey, hey." Zoey cupped her face and tried to wipe away the pouring tears. She was a very quiet crier. It was all on instinct, going through the motions, she still looked similar enough to the real Luz for her brain's wires to get crossed. Then again, turns out she, Immanuel, and Alex never knew the real Luz. This was their best friend, this was the comically awkward girl they shared a bunk with, this was the girl who was obsessively checking the woods as they snuck to the pool in the middle of the night, this was the girl who absolutely destroyed them in all the swimming games under the sun and moon once she started letting loose.

This was never Luz.

And if she didn't spend any time with the real Luz before she befriended them, how would she know how to act? How would she know how to blend in with them if she never got to learn Luz's personality? Who could she ever be other than herself? Phineas and Ferb had to be her favorite show; all of the books Luz packed were fantasy, not sci-fi. She still had to be great with her hands and far from an artist, she was a terrible painter for all the colored pencils and markers and crayons Luz Tetris-ed into her suitcase. One of their friends and cabin-mates was a snakeshifter who loved the water, was always the butt of the universe's jokes as she stumbled through life with barely any idea what she was doing, was a scaredy-cat one second and unflinching not matter what the other three did the next, and could appear from around any corner at the worst possible times without making a sound.

So, in a weird way, nothing had changed. Equation's a bit weird but the solution's the same.

"'m sorry... It wasn't s-supposed to go on like t-this." She stammered and whimpered like a kicked puppy.

"We have to tell Al and Immanuel something." Zoey insisted. Miss Noceda didn't like them calling him 'Manny' for short, saying his full name just stuck.

"I don't know how I told you." The snake shuddered and scooted back.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Ralsei appeared from the aether with a stretch that popped his back and a small, high-pitched yawn he politely covered with a paw. His pajamas looked a size or two too small and his shirt, or what was left of it, was very torn-up for something in the goat's wardrobe. His bright pink eyes were a little baggy and his glasses were crooked. The most disheveled either of them had ever seen him, and he still looked more put-together than the girls combined.

"You'll tell Susie we didn't wake you up, right?" Zoey paled.

"Why does everyone say that?" The giant slab of muscle and teeth dinosaur huffed while trying to tightly yank a small towel around her broad shoulders and treetrunk upper arms.

"Aww, they don't mean it." Ralsei stumbled over a tear in the carpet on the way to Susie, less than subtly hiding his girlfriend from the Human and Daemon, she was his... and Kris's... and Noelle's...

"It wasn't us!" The goth panicked and yelped, much to the snake's dismay.

Ralsei, still in the loopy and barely functional phase of sleepy, chuckled and leaned against Susie until her face turned deeper purple and swooned like a princess as she picked him up. "Uh... We're gonna get dressed, then I'll drag you two back to Gravesfield and... I dunno, get Ral new alarm clock batteries or somethin'."

"Do you not have a wall outlet?" The imposter raised her hand as if she were still in school. Yep, definitely the girl we went to camp with.

"Yeah, but we crunched the numbers and batteries are cheaper than leaving it plugged in." Susie shrugged and brought Ralsei back to their room.

"Um, anyway..." Zoey inhaled. "I don't know how to bring it up to the guy and mix, either, but we can't just leave them in the dark." She pinched the bridge of her nose, then snapped back up to the snake. "Wait, does Miss Noceda know!?"

Thankfully, their friend nodded. "She was the third, right after Luz and Jacob."

"Jacob knew before us?" She raised a brow.

"W-Well, it was this whole thing with Luz, uh, she was astral projecting or-"

"The real Luz can astral project." Zoey interupted.

"O-Only through mirrors. Oh! And it worked in the rain... maybe it was because of Camila's headlights- I-I-It's a long story. Jacob found out and wanted to study me-"

"He what?" She seethed with a searing glare before her eyes widened. "Is that what all the crap he brought to the Historical Society was for!?"

"I don't know how long he had that there-"

"That's not what I asked. Did he put you in that big hanging cage?" She grabbed the humanoid snake girl by the shoulders. She squeaked and didn't answer, but her eyes glistened. "When I get my hands on that bastard-"

"No! No... I don't want-" She tried to defuse.

"I know you never want trouble, but we have to do something or he's just gonna keep coming back! He has to have something we can use against him-"

"The Royal Guard is already keeping an eye on him."

Susie appeared wearing what Zoey was pretty sure was the exact same dark hoodie and torn jeans she'd had for most of the week while Ralsei, stretching so they could see the green, yellow, purple, and pink bead bracelets on either wrist, wore a nice pink dress with a black chain on one hip and draping over the opposite thigh and some black frills at the hem and openings of the sleeves. Still half-asleep and infinitely more coherent than anyone else in his and Susie's apartment.

"Yeah, we ratted him out to Sheriff Star after Dess broke his face and zapped his camera." Susie added.

"December what?" Ralsei asked, suddenly awake. "Shit, right."

"Saywhatnow?" Zoey snapped toward Susie.

She pointed to not-Luz. "She gave us the scoop on the freak, we talked about it to Noelle, she called her sister, and she found him posted outside your house with a camera; left him in the mud. Turns out he was gone again by the time Miss Noceda got back. Apparently Kris took pictures, though." She chuckled.

"So you have proof he was stalking them?" Zoey noted while tapping her fingers together.

"More like supporting stuff. All we can prove is that he got the crap beaten out of him and broke his camera in the bushes outside his house." Susie shrugged.

"Why were you at the Devil's Sacrament?" She schemed against the snake's will.

Susie laughed heartily. "Pretty much."

"And why didn't you tell me any of this?" Ralsei sighed.

"Your plate was already full with school and the younger classes, we didn't wanna take your peace of mind." Susie glanced to the floor and rubbed the back of her neck, then blinked and looked back to Ralsei. "Hold on, you never said anything when your AC crapped out, either!"

Her boyfriend flustered. "T-That's different! It was Winter and I have fur!"

"And then everything melted and you were ready to pass out." She glared.

Ralsei tried to respond while holding a finger gun out to Susie, who returned the gesture twofold. Ralsei lifted his other paw to do the same, then lowered both and instead stuck his tongue out. His ratty head of hair got ruffled by a large, clawed hand, somehow coming out of the attack looking freshly brushed, and his glasses were still level with his eyes. His pink face found the far wall pretty fascinating while he awkwardly reached around to adjust the big bow tying the back of his dress at the base of his fluffy tail.

"A-Anyway! Somebody has an eye on that 'Jacob' guy and Doctor Noceda got a gun, I'm sure they'll be fine." He tried to smooth everything over and started for the refrigerator. He grabbed some tupperwares of tinfoil-wrapped snacks and handed some to the girls. "You two probably haven't had lunch, have you? Here."

They were extremely cute pastries lightly brushed with garlic butter, cut in the shape of ghosts, pumpkins, and bats stuffed with cheese, marinara, green onions, and some herbs. Neither could tell what it was, just that it was a little sweet and hit right after something like smokey wood from the small slices of plant protein pepperoni. He never struck them as the type to buy real meat when Monsters were known for their substitutes, something about not having livestock underground, but tasting it with what was basically a stuffed pizza cookie that was normal in every other way was a small surprise.

"Never leave Gravesfield again." Zoey hummed with a warm smile while the shapeshifter's fluffy ears flapped like little wings and her golden pupils expanded as she munched on the pizza snacks.

Ralsei chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "About that, have you heard about the other half of the exchange program?"

Zoey perked. "No? Are we headed for your schools next?" She asked excitedly.

"Something like that." He nodded. "That big city project in the Atlantic is going faster than everyone thought, the research from the hurricane rushed the designs along and they used stuff from the water to build it faster. It'll be ready to float around by the time it's our turn to host you guys."

The goth was practically vibrating in place while her serpentine friend finished he snack and lightly hugged herself. "I dunno..."

"Ya gotta come with!" Zoey insisted with sparkling eyes. "I can sucker my Dad into signing whatever permission slips I need, you have to talk to Miss Noceda!"

"I'm not sure she'd want me to go-"

"Cap. Scardy snake spotted." Susie didn't even pretend to mull it over.

"What she means is-" Ralsei hopped in front of his girlfriend, ineffectively blocking her before she rested her head between his horns. "You won't have to pretend to be Luz. It wouldn't be hard to justify letting you into the Monsters-only sections."

"Just ask, okay...?" Zoey grabbed the shapeshifter's shoulders and slowed down. "Wait, what's your real name?"

She blinked and shivered, wriggling out of Zoey's grasp with a light blue dust over her cheeks. "Vee... my name's Vee."

"Vee..." Zoey repeated and gradually smiled. "That's a sweet name!"

"Do you wanna get some cold-weather stuff on the way to the portal?" Ralsei offered while sorting through some of the drawers. A few small spoons, forks, knives, and pens and tools and spare screws and nails stuffed into a junk drawer.

"Way ahead of ya, Rals." Susie produced a brown pouch that clinked as it bounced out of her pockets.

"I want a big sweater!" Vee exclaimed.

Yep, definitely our Luz.

VVV 🎃 VVV

It wasn't much for either of them, just grabbing a couple of jackets and sweaters for 'Vee' with Ralsei and Susie's generosity. Zoey and the shapeshifter would find a way to repay them somehow, hard to repay in a gold currency and there wasn't anything obvious they could give in return. Everything the Monsters needed or wanted was well within their reach, half an hour by train if it wasn't within a fifteen-minute walk. That being said, the Cabin Seven sleepover was coming up soon and Miss Camila always loved to cook, maybe they could put a good word in with her, Alex, and Immanuel to get them a seat at the dinner table.

That was for when they got home, though. For now, if there was a blue or orange or black sweater a size or two bigger than what fit Vee, she was trying it on with a wide grin and a tiny pair of fangs surrounded by serrated, shark-like teeth. The energy coming out of her hadn't been seen when they were at camp, nor ever since, and it was finally her energy, not that of a half-hearted imitation of someone else totally constructed by guesswork.

Zoey tried her hand at some oversized sweaters as well; they were cheaper here than at their mall, anyway. Maybe they had a bunch of sheep in this area. In the end, she mostly settled for some new black and gray hoodies and one vibrant purple sweater to match a lapis one Vee adored. They had a bright white Deltarune plastered over the front, a bunch of rainbow-colored hearts along the sleeves, pastel pink at the shoulder and bright red at a darker-colored fingerless glove sewn into the end. And of course, both sweaters were a bit bigger than the girls wearing them out of the shops.

Vee was way more cozy for the rest of the trip, especially when she got her dull-clawed hands on orange and red verzions; one to blend in with the other themes of extremely vibrant red plastered acrpss the walls the closer they got to the massive Castle in the distance, one to be warm and easy on the eyes like she was a walking pumpkin. She frequently rubbed her shoulders for warmth and exhaled into her palms, though she was much more energetic than the end of their walk. The subtle implication that she was a lot happier with the Monsters they knew for around half a month aside, the goat and fire-breathing dinosaur were a delight once Ralsei finished waking up.

There were a few pleasant bears, walking fish, and birds giving them hellos and small waves as they pulled together their costumes and set up whatever treats or parts of big celebrations they hauled the other way. A good amount of them didn't even bat an eye at the Human and pseudo-Human, both of them blended right in like they'd lived there their whole lives. Vee reasonably cautiously stuck by Susie's side for most of the quiet night while Ralsei and Zoey walked ahead. The giant lizard was given a wide berth by the rest of the Monsters, especially those more than small enough to be crushed by a simple misstep, which they supposed was fair.

It also got Vee a mix of passing glances and distance. The tiny number of Human kids wandering the flattened paths didn't bat an eye at the purple lizard, not like the Monster adults in charge of keeping them safe. Besides them and Zoey, there weren't any Humans this deep in the kingdom and she was more than okay with that; beings made entirely of magic beat normal people any day. And Ralsei and Susie were nearby! That would always be a win!

Noelle... She seemed nice, but her Mom was deeply terrifying and she couldn't imagine what the reindeer's Dad would be like. December and Kris both fell somewhere between the extremes. The polder Monster was a wildcard as far as Zoey could tell and Kris, while a witchy friend and cool by default, she didn't actually know anything about him. Whatever case, fucking Karen couldn't bother her here unless she was willing to delve into Monster Territory, not that she had any power or ownership of Zoey, anyway. If she studied hard and got some help pulling some strings, she could pull the same tricks as Ral and Suze.

But only after she figured out how to take Roastie with her, then she had to give Monster territory a shot.

"We have some things to take to a friend before we leave, are you two okay with tagging along?" Ralsei asked as they reached a crossroads. There was a sign illuminated by red light, labelling it the road to Yellow Star District.

"Fine by me." Zoey shrugged and glanced to Vee, who continued sticking to Susie's side while giving them a sweet smile and a thumbs-up.

VVV 🎃 VVV

The nine fox skulls about Ceroba's tails swirled with her idle motions and shone the gentle blue lights of their eyes across the delapidated orphanage halls. Going from the sunny tarmac and suburban neighborhood of Gravesfield to the nighttime forests of her home Area was more than a little jarring, especially when her internal clock couldn't settle between either timezone, but there was too much to do on both sides of the world for her to stop and adjust.

All the lights were out and the many mismatched sets of cheap, stained, and torn curtains were illuminated by the vulpine skulls as she waited for the knock at the door. She knew Susie wasn't the best at keeping time but she always got the job done well, and Ralsei usually showed up right on the dot with an update if something had gone wrong. Her glaive was well within her reach at all times, just in case. It wasn't that she thought the Royal Guard wasn't keeping Humans as awful as the Blue Soul away from the portals or that Starlo wouldn't put them down as soon as they tried anything funny, she was just ready for something to go wrong.

Knowing what was on the other side didn't soothe her nerves one bit, nor did the idea it might find a way to cross over. There was even less doubt in her mind that the Militia and Patriots couldn't put the wretched thing down before the real Guards even showed up, assuming it didn't drop right in the middle of an Outpost-occupied District, or keep it pinned until someone with a railgun could drive a sharpened steel oval directly into the back of its head; there was also the knowledge that someone would be targeted right before they could amass a response, someone would be ripped to shreds before the Guards could guide away the civilians and Stalwarts could set up a line of defense, someone would be gutted in front of their family right before the Knights could wrestle it to the ground and Farseers and Rangers could shoot it until it stopped moving.

And there would always be the possibility that that person, Angels Frisk and Asriel and Chara forbid multiple people, would be the first generation to be born above the surface. The sharp tip and gem of the end of her gifted glaive tapped and scratched along the lobby floorboards. There was a line of dots and dashes in the wood from how many times she'd paced around this part of the orphanage. When was the last time she'd been home? She didn't know off the top of her head, she stopped trying to keep track after all the overtime she put into the week of the hurricane. Alphys deserved that bonus.

A knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts. She rushed for the entrance in a cloud of bright white mist, completely silently gliding over the creaky boards and opening to find an apologetic furball and an indifferent lizard. Turns out their little delay was a lot less concerning than a creature lurking through the woods. A Human girl clad in purple and black looked up at the kitsune with wide, astonished eyes while a much more reserved, emerald scale-covered, significantly shorter girl politely adjusted her ruffled orange Deltarune sweater and waved. Although she probably just seemed 'significantly' smaller to Ceroba, she and Starlo had yet to get used to the extra height compared to Martlet. That Thunderbird used and worked with her height a lot more regularly than them, having built her own house.

The partially serpentine girl being next to Susie, the giant hockey girl who could probably bench some of her teammates like Captain Undyne, probably didn't help the skewed perspective, but her mind was on how soon Vee had revealed her form since Star's chat with the Noceda Widow.

"Sorry we're late!" The chimera summoned a jar of cookies while his girlfriend produced a small bag of candy from her jacket.

"I see why." She commented and invited them in.

The girls all had completely opposite approaches to the orphanage. Susie and Ralseihad been here plenty of times and walked right over the loudest boards without a problem, the goth kid didn't even pretend to be impressed by the shoddy remains of abandoned Human construction left behind by an uncaring landowner and lazy staff as the wood creaked, and the youngest Noceda tried and failed comically to stay as quiet as possible. It was an even split between those who had no idea what they were doing and those who could move completely silently without breaking stride for a fraction of a second.

One of her and Star's impromptu wards being directly in the same room as her wasn't on her bingo card for the Human half of the exchange program, yet here she was, not like Vee wasn't a sweetheart as she pathetically tried to resist swatting at the soft tufts of bright red and deep black fur peeking through the teeth of her nine fox skulls with big golden pupils.

Chapter 33: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 10

Summary:

Vee bein' cute, Ceroba bein' a Mom.
Karen gets what's coming to her, Zoey snaps, Starlo telling stories, and Susie throws down (again).
Sleepover talk, Ralsie gives Vee a change, Zoey gets a fresh slip-on, a visit from the police, and setting a bedtime curfew.

Kris's orphanage was...

...

It sure beat anything to do with the Emperor's Coven, but she'd learned quickly since entering the Human Realm not to go by her standards. The amount of funny looks she got for thinking the cabin beds were comfortable was more than enough proof. Every floorboard sounded deafening and every window was foggy. The pleasing scents of rainwater and dust mixed together throughout the building, not enough to make her sneeze, but not a great place for Humans to live for extended periods.

What was very appealing was the tuft of fuzz flicking back and forth across Vee's golden eyes. She didn't mean to hit them, she just didn't catch herself before the tips of her claws swiped some of the bright red, deep black, and aged white hairs. But they reacted and twitched, they were buzzing around her fingers like cat toys. Two or three more tails raised to flick back and forth out of the maws of fox skulls, they looked like they were growing out of the tails. She couldn't keep track of how many there were as the kitsune, Ralsei, and Susie sorted the candy and treats into ziplock bags; Zoey stood back and recorded the snake.

She finally caught one of the tails, grabbing the fox skull by the snout. It looked like it was sticking its tongue out at her. Vee's raspy giggle carried further through the empty lobby than she expected and the fox's slit eye glanced over her shoulder. Frozen to the spot, she slowly released the tail and skull while trying to find something to say. Ceroba flicked back her hair, jostling the cute bow at the base of her ponytail. There was a snort or huff, but Vee couldn't tell what it meant before the tails adjusted again.

Four around the treats and five waving in front of Vee's face, the five fox skulls opened their mouths and slid down the tails. The tips of Ceroba's tails fluffed up and danced back and forth. Every time she almost caught one of them, another would flick in her direction and disappear into the mass of fur and the back of Ceroba's thick hair. Her short fangs peeked through a small smile as she continued her chase and her ears flapped.

pppppuuuuurrrrr

Zoey gasped while the Monsters finished sorting candy and pastries. Nobody could ever find this video, but dammit it was hers until she had to delete it and not a second sooner!. The fox lady stretched and cracked her knuckles while Susie fetched Vee. The reptiles stuck together and Ralsei helped Ceroba hide the bags of treats. The Human, the only Human here, it turned out, stuck by the couch and played on her phone. That mostly consisted of scrolling through pictures of Roastie.

"Thanks again." Ceroba whispered.

Ralsei gave a little bow. "Can we get ribbons for payment" He smugly side-eyed Vee.

She stammered and backed behind the purple wall of scales and fire. "I-I-I don't know if I can pull off a bow."

"Aww, I'm sure it'll be great!" Ralsei cheered and fawned like she was a child, not that she seemed to mind.

"Just keep that crap away from me." Susie growled while Ceroba glanced around.

"Do I have another one lying around?" She muttered while heading for the front desk.

One of her tails pressed against the leaning filing cabinet while she quietly sorted through some drawers, eventually finding a spare ribbon tucked into a cabinet against the wall. It was way too big for Vee, sized for an eight-foot fox covered in thick fur with an even thicker mane, but so were all of Vee's sweaters. Susie and Zoey snickered in the background as the goat boy struggled to wrap the ribbon around Vee's slightly longer copy of Luz's short hair. It wasn't pretty, yet, and the extremely long strands had to be flung over her shoulders, but it'd stay on while they went back to Gravesfield.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"Okokok, so some of the guys and I get back from a quick patrol around the forest, amiright?" Starlo grinned stupidly and waved around an empty glass. Mr. and Mrs. Sousa were sat in a quiet corner, in the middle of a nice drink right when the walking supernova and his comrades came in, laughing on the verge of tears and needing almost a full minute to order their drinks.

"'Round the same time, this kid named Luz and a friend of hers get back from visitin' Monster lands, and lemme tell ya, this piece of work of a woman shows up outta nowhere ta lecture her buddy-"

---

"Good thing it doesn't matter what you thiNK BECAUSE TELLING PEOPLE YOU'RE MY MOM WON'T MAKE IT TRUE YOU FUCKING FREAK!" Zoey shrieked in Karen's face, practically frothing at the mouth to rip her a new one. To hell with all the people and Monsters watching. In fact, let them watch, let this bitch be humiliated.

"Do you have ANY IDEA how worried your Father and I have been!?" She snapped as if she wasn't just trying to fit the Mom mould to everyone around her.

"Bullshit! My Dad's at work all day so you can blow everything on shoes, don't pretend you noticed!"

She held a hand to her chest like she was hurt. "Of course I noticed-"

Zoey cut her off in an instant, almost chucking her phone in Karen's hideous face. "NOT A SINGLE CALL! NOT EVEN A TEXT! SO DON'T YOU DARE TRY THAT!" She announced like all of Gravesfield could hear her.

"Z-Zoey, I-" Vee tried to defuse them before the sheriff and Starlo addressed the situation, but she was nudged off.

"Not now- HEY!" She growled before Karen grabbed her by the arm and tried to tug her away, earning her a very quick slap and many deep scratches down her arm.

"HEYHEYHEY-"

---

"So the sheriff and I are pullin' these two apart - I've met that kid before and I told the cops I know for a damned fact her mama's not that woman right before she started gettin' her arm ripped off - and I'm liftin' this kid by the waist so she don't start going for anyone's throat-"

---

"BOTH OF YOU CUT IT OUT-"

"Sheriff!" Fucking Karen was already trying to get sympathy. "It's like she doesn't even recognise me-"

"YOU'RE NOBODY TO ME!" Zoey hissed.

"We know, kid." Starlo set her down behind him while the Sheriff's partners, two other officers, got between Karen and Zoey.

"That girl's the one who brought you to that awful place, isn't she?" Karen accused.

---

"Keep in mind, she's playin' the bad influence card on a lil' girl wearin' a sweater at least three sizes too big and was basically hidin' behind Zo this whole time, halfa us forgot she was there 'til this grown woman broke 'er arm makin' that stretch and this girl tried ta rip 'er to shreds again." Star clarified to his audience, drawing a mix of disgusted scoffs and pity laughs at the nebula and police's expense. "And right outta nowhere and completely unprompted comes this-"

---

"BECAUSE SHE'S A SHAPESHIFTER WITCH FROM ANOTHER WORLD PLANNING THEIR INVASION!" Jacob Hopskins, very uninvited and unwanted, forced himself into the situation, waving around the melted remains of a camera. "THEY DESTROYED MY PROOF! THEY ATTACKED ME SO I WOULDN'T EXPOSE THEM!"

Starlo blinked at the deranged man a few times as Vee continued hiding behind him and Zoey. "I gotta un-stupid mah brain for a minute... Just start from the beginnin'." He sighed. The crazier he looked, the harder it would be for him to get the Human police off his back, and the harder it'd be for him to get close to the Nocedas. Only problem was he had to deal with him for a while.

"THIS CAMERA HAD ALL THE EVIDENCE! THEY HAD THEIR FRIENDS AND A FREAK HUMAN BREAK IT!" Jacob insisted while the cops shooed away Karen.

"You've never hung out with Kris before, have ya?" Star deadpanned, already drained. He wasn't attacking, he couldn't deal damage to a Boss Monster, nothing meaningful, yet being around him still hurt. Psychic damage.

---

"Now, Monster child safety laws work a bit different. Guards are plenty good enough they'll be fine as long as they're supervised by someone, and she didn't have and legal standin' over Zoey, anyway. That didn't make the Jacob problem any easier but hey, we got ridda one of 'em." He chuckled. "So now we got this idiot tryin' to prove sweater girl is a Monster or somethin', her buddy's still out for blood, and everythin' that comes outta this guy's mouth is makin' everyone dumber and dumber-"

---

"Okay, just gimme the darned camera, I'll see what I can salvage." Star let a hand out for the melted pile of slop.

He was no technomancer, nor did he fancy himself an investigator, but he had plenty of tools in his skill set. The Astral Aspect just needed the remains of the SD card, then he'd figure something out. It had clear signs of water and electricity damage. The metal bands at the plug-in part were melted and there were seared lines like lightning bolts all over the rest of the device. He took Vee and Zoey by the hands as he eyed Jacob. One of his guys and the officer who hadn't been dealing with Karen got the hint and stayed in Jacob's way, asking him questions so Star could inspect the digital memory with the Human sheriff.

Unfortunately for the self-proclaimed witch hunter, Shooting Star already knew what was on the card and went as far as to fill in the some gaps in the corrupted, destroyed data. He'd set up a meeting with Catti and Jockington the same day Dess updated him. Not even once had the Basilisk's cover slipped. All he had, assuming Star could salvage enough audio and combine it with what December and co. collected, was evidence of harassment. Princess Frisk could consider him a goofy cowboy or Ceroba call him her farm boy all they liked, but a lawman had to know what he was doing.

After gesturing the Human sheriff over, his gloved hands sparked and ionised gases fumed as he stitched together whatever digital information he could get his hands on and projected it through his eye apparatus. The image was grainy and full of black gaps, the framerate was choppy at best, and the shadows were littered with dead pixels, but it was usable in a Monster court; Since Vee had just gotten her citizenship as a minor, Miss Camila would destroy him in a few days unless a Royal or Lord came in and speedran the trial.

It started with 'Luz' being dropped off at the Nocedas' front door, nothing amiss but an odd splotch of exaggerated shading between her legs. She even carried herself identically to how she cowered beside her friend and the adults. Catti and Jockington were chatting with her, but were too far away for anything to be heard. The outline of the brick wall that was Susie was blocking the house address, but the house couldn't be mistaken and the Human seemed to recognise it as well. The most this proved was that the new Luz was a nervous wreck and that Jockington and Catti were buddies.

"I-I-I -st ye dr- frea" Star quickly recognized Kris's voice, not that it wouldn't be obvious if the man turned the camera around, but chips of a person's voice sounding sort of similar to a random teen in vaguely the right place at vaguely the right time wouldn't hold very well. The camera slowly panned to the side, following the Monster teens as they walked away until a fluffy brown hand covered the lenses. Static sounds of Dess's hooves crunching foliage played behind the black and brown fur haze as she circled her prey, crouched in front of him, and released the lens enough to see the mud and Jacob's shoe.

A spot of mud confirmed to be outside the Noceda house and a clear look at Jacob's shoe and pants, he was a dead man walking before a flash of light glitched out the camera. Both sheriffs verified the man's shoes matched those of the stalker, though it was just an act for the corn farmer, as the memory buzzed and cut out in a royal blue flash. He was spouting something about lizards taking over the government, an insane conspiracy theory even before the Monsters showed up. Good, the more he talked, the longer he had to destroy his credibility and the case for being of sound mind and reasonable concerns.

---

"So this adult man hands a Monster proof that he'd been watchin' a young lady for who knows how long as if we ain't the one species who can figure out what was on there and that I was willin' to check right in front of Human law enforcement, didn't think anythin' could go wrong, and kept spoutin' nonsense the other guys were tryin' to put together!" His disbelieving grin grew. "And I'm thinkin' to mahself 'damn, this is our problem now- HOLD IT!'" He suddenly snapped up. "We don't got jurisdiction here!

So I turn to the sheriff guy. I'm sure he's a good man, but it ain't stoppin' me from pattin' 'em on the back and goin' 'you take this one!'" His listeners and recorders laughed. "He even tried to stop me fer a split second! He turned 'round while I was takin' the kids away and you could see his face goin' 'wait a minute, I can't order 'em to put up with this' and I hear 'em go shit" Another round of cackles.

---

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I'M THE ONLY ONE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY!" Jacob backed away as the ehausted cop reached for his arms while calling out his Miranda Rights and the Guard backed away, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword while he and the rest of the armored Monsters made a subtle wall between Hopskins and 'the package' their bosses were so insistent on nobody, even them, knowing anything about.

The old historian, if he could pretend to hold the title anymore, quickly broke into a sprint. He wasn't visibly armed but Star was sure to glide his fingers over his pistol and shotgun, both ready to stun if the Human had any stun guns or pepper spray. Both police officers, one a lot more annoyed than the other after dealing with that woman, started to chase, but Jacob began running first and the Monsters weren't here to uphold laws or public safety in the same way as a cop; their only priority was the safety of the kids. As long as he couldn't get to Vee, Zoey, and the other Monsters passing to and from Gravesfield, their part was played.

Along came Susie. Appearing in a streak of fire like a rocket, she braced her tail against her left arm and wound up a right hook. The fluffy black fan on the end of her tail smacked across Jacob's face with a thud and crack, snapping his glasses in two as pieces of the lenses scattered across the road. Her heel skidded to a halt across the tarmac as she slowed and spun, driving her fist into the side of his ribcage. The breaks were audible from where Vee and Zoey stood.

She dove down, right beneath some flying teeth, and buried her shoulder right into the bottom of his ribs. The crook of her left arm wrapped around his side and a clawed thumb jammed into the back of his freshly broken ribs. Spittle and blood sprayed over her shoulder as she knocked the wind right out of him and scraped her other boot along the street, changing her direction while he all but folded over her upper arm. With another twist of her torso, he swung him around to her other side and grabbed him by the face.

His choke was muffled by her rough, scaly palm because she grabbed him by the collar. The top button broke off while he flew behind her. Using her tail for balance and weaving between the Human officers as they tried to stop. She hauled him over her shoulder and slammed him on the ground on his spine, knowing he wasn't getting up but still crashing her knee down on top of him. The Humans shoved her off so they could roll him on his back and cuff him. She walked away with her hands in her pockets like nothing happened, quickly catching up to the girls, including Ralsei, with her long stride.

---

"An' I'm standin' there thinkin' 'I gotta have a chat with ole' 'roba 'cause I did not teach'er that.'" He laughed with the crowd. "So now this other sheriff and I are rushin' up to this dweeb, one of the cops says 'thanks' and she barely even nods at 'im-"

VVV 🎃 VVV

Multiple dogs, cats, and even a pig covered in deep scratches, some sick rats, gerbils, and hamsters, and a birdie with a broken wing later, and Camila Noceda had finally gotten home. There were even a few repeat visits from the day before to earlier in the month. It was just her luck that something was going around while Vee needed a Mami and she needed to sort through the finances of a family of three... again... and without a firefighter's income... The hustle and bustle of far more people than her danger noodle daughter, which was certainly a sentence, came through a slightly opened window and many large shadows flickered behind the bug screen and curtains.

Mostly, it was the TV, but the whirring of the vacuum and a running sink was mixed in. She knew Vee wasn't irresponsible enough to leave all three running at the same time, especially when they she was supposed to be laying low and staying quiet when she was home alone, assuming she was done with her schoolwork. It wasn't like her to have friends over without telling her, either. Maybe something came up, there could be tons of reasons someone visited.

Susie and Zoey were absolutely seething when she cracked open the door, not the state she wanted to find Vee's goth friend in after what she'd dug up. Ralsei, meanwhile, was pushing the vacuum across the kitchen tiles with one hand, was wiping dust and crumbs and picking up grease with a rag in the other, and was wearing a scarf with finger-like strips of fabric that did the dishes and stuffed them in the washer right behind him. The only suggestion it knew what it was doing was a floating shadow with a lightless, white, four-pointed star with dark blue edges for an eye floating behind his head.

Zoey was leaning against the far arm of the couch and kicking her feet beside Vee. Her brows were furrowed and her frown was almost as icy as her rapidly tapping fingers breaking her phone screen. A clearly new purple sweater covered in colorful hearts and the Monsters' symbol was awkwardly tucked beneath a black hoodie. The bottom of it was riding up over her waistband and the top of a pink slip-on. Susie looked much the same, her hands were in her pockets and a grouchy snarl was painted over her long, reptilian snout. One of her feet was on the cushion and the other was stamping the carpet in irritation.

Vee was sitting in the middle with her snake plushie wrapped around her neck like a scarf of her own, tapping away at schoolwork on Luz's laptop. The other girls were watching a cop show, though Zoey was glaring at her phone. At least two of them were contentedly being productive. Vee's ear flicked, a tuft of blue fur with some green at the base buried in Luz's hair, but she didn't look up from the laptop. There was a golden glint in her eyes and her posture was a lot better than Luz's.

Ralsei was the first to notice her and he clicked off the vacuum. "Hello, Miss Noceda!"

Chaos erupted and drowned out her greeting. Zoey almost fell off the couch in her rush to sit up straight and get her feet off the cushions. Susie shot up the same way. She held her chin up unnaturally high and faced Camila like a soldier standing at attention. Her claws were pinned to her sides and her tail neatly folded up behind her. Ralsei adjusted his bright pink and frilly black dress before refastening the ribbon tying around his hips and wiping off his glasses. Vee almost dropped the laptop in the scramble. She lightly set it on her seat where nobody was going to knock it over or fall on it.

"What's that about?" She pointed to his sleeves, the black frills were a lot more obviously covered in baby powder.

"NOTHING!" Vee yelped before he could respond. Camila raised a brow at the basilisk's deep blue face.

Ralsei scooted next to the Human. "Someone needed a change after walking around Monster lands with her friend."

Camila snorted before hitting her chest. Vee's deep blue blush was just too much. "I expect you to be very respectful about this, chico."

"Of course!" Ralsei smiled with a paw over his chest and bowed like she was a queen, not that she was going to stop him.

"Mami..." Vee whined.

"Miss Noceda, has Vee talked about our sleepover plans at all?" Zoey got up off the couch and raised her hand.

"Every night before bed." Camila smiled.

"Can our Monster friends come?" Vee whispered.

Camila tried to look away from her gigantic eyes. "How many of them?"

"Just my partners!" Ralsei answered. "And maybe Catti... and Jockington... Berdly might invite himself..."

"Dess won't stay long, but she likes to barge." Susie almost looked ready to salute.

Vee joined in, glancing between the Monsters and Zoey before she awkwardly clasped her small hands together, tilted her head down, and made the biggest kicked puppy eyes she could muster. Tu pequeña intrigante. "Some of you can join in."

Her daughter smiled brightly and looked to Zoey in celebration. Susie let out a breath and Ralsei clapped. The doorbell rang before Camila could even get out of her scrubs. Starlo and a tall, black and red fox woman with nine, skull-covered tails and white robes were waiting on their porch. Her shoulder pads looked straight out of that little war game Vee's friends loved so much and her limbs were clad in steel plating, rather than the triangular metal daggers covering Sheriff Star's body like dragon scales. Their weighty, mechanical pistol, shotgun, rifle, and a large glaive were strapped securely to his belt and their backs, complete with a sheath on the gigantic sword... spear... thing...

"We gotta stop meetin' like this, ma'am." The Shooting Star joked.

"Is something wrong?" She asked anyway. He always had something important to do in Gravesfield, constantly patrolling the student grounds, chatting with the police, or trying to work with government agents.

"Quite the opposite." He smiled. Ionized gases and sparkling space dust fluttered about the doorway as he slipped off his hat and the streaks of astral material floating out from beneath his poncho reached up for the notebook balanced on his starry head like fifth and sixth arms.

"Jacob Hopskins won't be bothering you anymore." The partially melanated, exhausted-looking kitsune glared with a fair of fiery yellow and pink eyes. "He's all but admitted to stalking you and your daughter on Monster and Human bodycams, including Starlo's."

"We just gotta get a statement from your kid, Susie, and Ralsei to complete the paperwork. And we're still tryin' to find where Zoey went." Star explained.

"Back here!" She called from the living room.

"Well damn." He chuckled. "I'm startin' to think she spends more time here than with 'er old man."

"Susie and Ralsei's parents aren't here." Camila's eyes narrowed.

"Ceroba's basically a licensed stepmom." Star jammed his thumb in the fox's direction.

"Kids who operate independently from their parents play by different laws, Caretakers act as the adult supervision for this kind of thing. Wellness checks, parent-teacher conferences, talks with the Royal Guard, appearing in court; honestly, it's a pretty vague job description, even the Royal Family's still arguing about where Caretakers take over for the biological parents." She yawned and one of her paws idly fiddled with one of the four fluffy braids her tails were tightly wrapped in. "Basically, Star had to drag me here in the middle of the night because I'm their's and Kris's adult supervision."

"You were awake!" He protested while jotting the beginnings of some notes in his booklet, the date and some times.

"I'll never recover." She deadpanned, Vee giggled from the living room.

Camila sighed and hung up her purse. "How do I know you aren't making this up?"

Ceroba rubbed an eye and stuffed her armored, clawed paw in her robes. She pulled out a small leather booklet with nicely laminated pages; the plastic had a grassy smell and a mossy green tint. There was some legal jargon she didn't fully understand, but some of it wasn't too disimilar from tax docs and the clinic's finance info. Apparently, she got some tax returns for taking care of kids, far more of them than Susie's little group. Other than that, the rest of the pamphlet was listing a lot of certifications and recommendations she'd never even heard of.

Building and maintenance docs, child psychology, baseline caregiving, Human biology, Rhabdo-biology, Human first aid, intensive healing magic, multiple separate recommendations for working under pressure and for extended periods from many different people like Lord Caroline Holiday and Sheriff Starlo Polaris. There was even a silky 'personal defense and defense of others' certificate with a golden trim signed in gold ink by one 'HoJ Gerson Boom' and a 'SoJ, Captain Undyne Ourounaga the Undying' beside a rough schematic of an orphanage with several exits and concerning details labelled in the margins.

All were signed at the front of the wallet-like booklet by a Caretaker License with 'Highest Regards' by Her Majesty, 'Princess Chara Gaster-Dreemurr.'

"...Okay..." Camila blinked. Half of the horribly packed booklet wasn't even legible, written with shapes and squiggly patterns. As far as she could tell from all the tables and bullet points, it was the same information as the english version in Monster, but it was just an assumption.

Ceroba took her book back and met Susie at the table. Camila stayed by on principle, but there was no need. Starlo knew what he was and wasn't allowed to do with or without their presence, but that didn't mean Ceroba wasn't paying attention. Even if they weren't, he was just asking her, Ralsei, and Zoey what they saw happen. Second hand it might've been, knowing how that man practically threw himself behind bars right before Susie. So desperate to be right, he forgot to be smart.

Both Monsters were pretty calm for the whole ordeal. Ralsei seemed like he was usually a fairly calm and reasonable person and Susie looked like she had some experience with the sheriff already. Whatever their backgrounds, it went by quickly. Both gave the details they had and put a pretty big emphasis on Zoey's Father's girlfriend's behavior. She sounded like she never got told 'no' growing up, she could tell Ceroba and Star were thinking the same by the look they shared. A child was the one explaining she didn't always get what she wanted. Why she was so obsessed with Zoey calling her 'mom' was a whole other concern, she came off as one of those 'perfect family image' freaks who couldn't figure out why their kids were so quick to move out and stopped joining family events.

Served her right, but Camila would be uninstalling Facebook when the day came that she started crying online and asking where her 'daughter' went wrong before she started going for that woman's throat. Not like Zoey wasn't looking for every chance to get away from her, anyway, she'd find a way to hang out with Monsters for the rest of her life. Dios mío if she found out about the pullups. Creep.

"And..." Star scribbled away on his notepad and flipped to a new page. "Zoey, I gotta few questions for you specifically."

"That's all I remember off the top of my head." She insisted. "Do you have, like, a number I can call if I remember anything else?"

"It's not about Jacob." He clarified and tampered with the device on his eye.

A small, triangular head affixed with a pair of glowing orange eyes peeked out the back of his poncho and a tiny pink tongue licked its nose. Zoey's head shot up as the little dragon hopped onto the table and sniffed her hand, not without lightly nibbling her fingers. Then he turned back around to Starlo, sat down like a polite little puppy, and nodded.

"I got it on good authority that'cha saw somethin' you weren't supposed to, somethin' in the woods." He hummed.

Zoey stiffened and her face paled. "You're not in trouble." Ceroba intervened before Camila. "We just want to know if you saw anything before we arrived."

"I swear I only overheard you and that man with the glasses were talking about! I ditched when I heard there was a body." She held her hands in mock surrender.

"A WHAT!" The vet slammed her hands on the table.

"Alright, alright." Starlo calmly scribbled and flicked his notebook shut. "I archived the footage of all that already, it'll be okay." He gently squeezed one of her hands with a glove and put his utensils away. The dragon pounced on her fingers the second he moved away and started gnawing on her black nails like she was a giant cheew toy.

"Kids... go to Luz's room for a moment." Camila ordered.

Vee almost teleported up the stairs and Susie carried Ralsei like a bag of potatoes. Zoey hesitated, trying to wrestle her hand free from the tiny black dragon, but quickly gave up and brought him upstairs with them. The Royal Guardsmen gave each other another frustratingly vague look before standing with Camila.

"What do you mean there's just a body out in the woods!?" She hissed.

Star and the fox hummed before the sheriff elaborated. "Your law enforcement and the Royal Guard took a small census of the state before we let the exchange program to commence. We noticed a few names missin' from previous lists, people who lived alone or with a couple other guys on the edge of their towns, includin' a group from Gravesfield."

"Three brothers and two sisters on a camping trip." Ceroba added coldly.

There were only two families who regularly went on trips. "The Jameses and Edisons?" They never stopped posting on their Instagrams, always updating the internet on their equipment and exactly when they were leaving and got back. She knew screaming their adventures and when their homes would be empty to the void of networks and social media would come back to bite them eventually, but not like this.

"All found different distances from their campsite." Star continued. "Along with multiple mutilated animals. Deer, some rabbits, a bear. We hoped Zoey might know somethin' but it's goin' nowhere. We're gonna have to hunt the old-fashioned way."

"And what are you hunting?" She pressed.

"Classified for public safety." He didn't miss a beat but said it with an irritated, not-in-control bite.

"Then what are we meant to do about it?" Camila leaned over the table.

Starlo and Ceroba gave each other one last look as they packed their things and started for the door. "Lock your doors, shut your curtains, don't leave food outside, don't go out at night, keep yer gun handy, and do not, under any circumstances, go in the forest."

Chapter 34: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 11

Summary:

Vee gets ready for the big reveel, thinks about her friends, does some chores, and learns about Luz.
Seeing Rudy in the hospital, worrying about snek-otter, and a FNAF movie reference.
The horrors of the internet, UnderNet, and chatting.

Remembering the lost.

19 Days Until Halloween

Friday morning...

The day before the Cabin 7 sleepover...

And the day she was telling Immanuel and Alex about Vee and the real Luz.

Sure, the scariest girl in Gravesfield was going to be there, nobody was allowed to upset Ralsei, the reindeer with a baseball bat and lightning might stop by, and Catti was her own type of scary if needed, but her hearts hadn't completely slowed down all week, not unless Camila gave her a clean diaper and kiss goodnight. But Mami made everything better, even before she was Mami, she didn't count!

Ralsei explained the situation to the rest of their Monster friends. He and Catti started stopping to tutor her after school, just to get her mind off things, though her teachers probably continued appreciating one far more than the other. Ralsei was really good at History and Math, brought a second-hand Nintendo with Mario Kart, and was the only other one who knew how to change her. Catti had a ton of Magic Theory and Arcanagrams on hand, she did what she could to teach vee about magic and some basic spells, but there was only so much she could do. The way Monsters worked was just so different from the Boiling Isles magic. No Bile keeping all their magic right next to their hearts for quick expression, it simply was; no staffs or circles needed, if they had a foci, cool, if not, whatever, and it took whatever form they liked best.

Kris gave her a simple wooden scepter he'd made for a woodworking project a while ago. He was sparse on the details, something about meeting a close friend there and it being an important moment to him. Not like Vee was a stranger to hiding life secrets. It was just a stick with some symbols scratched along the sides and a small, apparently quite cheap magic gem in the top. It wobbled around in the cradle, he'd mismeasured the size of one of the holder thingies but still got an A because of the details.

It wasn't the best, but it was more than good enough for her. Wouldn't want a girl who'd yet to graduate back to pullups getting her hands on a wand that increased fire damage, she supposed. Either way, this was hers, now, she toyed with magic beyond killing rats and witches. And she found it much easier to cast spells from the little gem. She could set it by her bed for a night light, she could dull sound when storms rolled overhead, she could warm herself up in the morning and cool down for bedtime.

She owed the last one to Noelle. The Holiday girls were a lot easier to hang out with after Ralsei gave taught her a warming spell and Cattit showed her how to stitch a basic triangular Arcanagram into her undershirts. December showed her how to charge her phone and laptop, Noelle helped her make magic smoothies with fruit juice and ice magic. Mami sure appreciated a berry blend after work. Vee and Susie were more for the apple version, the lizard visited and did a check around the house during lunchtime... and clogged the bathtub with bath bombs. She was pretty sure she saw Mami slipping her a few dollars the days they were home at the same time, but she was often busy watching cartoons.

It was time to go outside when Jockington was over, he had her use him as a jump rope 'to Match his and Catti's power.' She still didn't know what it meant but he was having fun, even when there was a bit of dirt on his underbelly. Kris was the only one who stayed a bit distant. They just didn't click like she and Ralsei did, though that was more from the goat being so insistent on taking care of her. When he did come over, it was with one of his partners or Miss Ketsukane. When Noelle was present, he usually joined her, but most of his visits were in tandem with the Kitsune. She could only imagine how Luz would react to a real Kitsune, knowing how much pirated anime was slowing down her laptop, but Ceroba didn't seem to mind turning one of her fox skulls into a complete skeleton full of gentle blue fire for her to chase and play tug with while doing some housework.

Ralsei, of course, was the other Noceda worker and checked on her the most often. Vee wasn't sure why he was so happy to be dragged into this mess, but it worked out. Maybe he was just eager to please, she sure was when she returned from camp. December was the bane of Mami's existence, though; that little Night Fury followed her and the Sheriff around all the time, he snuck into everything and they had to hunt him down before Camila got home, they never succeeded. They did a bit of dress-up and he sang her lullabies before he left.

Also moving away from the casual play hangout time side of things was Noelle's games and favorite TV. Gorey slasher movies, similar horror media, especially body horror, edgy metal bands. She was way more like Catti than the Nocedas were expecting, her and Ralsei mixing with Kris and Susie made a lot more sense when they both showed up with spiky collars and fishnets. The time she appeared with black mascara and lipstick was also a jarring change the day after Jockington and the bluebird showed the basilisk and her Mami some pictures of the time she wore a pastel yellow sundress to a traveling carnival.

Scary stuff had gotten bland after going through the Emperor's Coven and being convinced they'd somehow find her again after escaping to the Human realm, but Noelle made it interesting again. She liked having a comfort after something horrible happened to her favorite character, Vee had seen worse done to her own body. The reindeer and Ralsei both knew a nice sleeping spell, too! And she'd gotten to know more about 'Berdly' through Noelle. He was a bit of a jerk when they studied together, but he got really flustered when he didn't know something; she and Susie both liked seeing him get taken down a peg. He, Alex, and Luz were all really smart, but the latter two weren't mean about it, just agents of chaos.

Immanuel visited when he could, that and with Alex were the only times she needed to change into her Luz form. They mostly just texted back and forth, sharing memes, links to niche AO3 fanfics, and pictures of Vee's plush snake. He could never chat for long, his parents were making him get ahead on his homework before he was allowed to join the sleepover, which he'd eventually done. All that was left was the small meeting this afternoon, where she'd reveal herself, and some last-minute cleaning.

On that front, Zoey helped a little bit, mostly to get Karen and her Dad out of her hair. Not that her Dad was around much; he went out with Karen and that was more than enough for them to be strained. Their supply of pink slip-ons Vee quickly stopped using kept depleting, though. It was oddly appreciated. She wasn't the only one. Camila was just happy they weren't being wasted. They rolled a ball back and forth while watching one of Zoey's favorite horror anime and used Vee's rolled-up snake plushie as a pillow during Phineas and Ferb.

The goth got her Dad to sign off on the Monster half of the exchange program, too. She just tucked it between some school agenda and rubric sheets for him to gloss over and return to paperwork without actually reading any of it. Conveniently, Karen hadn't been around at the time and she kept her backpack in her locked bedroom until the next day she could submit the paper to Miss Ketsukane. Vee had yet to ask Camila about it, she wanted to worry about her Human friends before she began considering the exchange program.

There still wasn't any new news about Luz, possibly for the best. She could not handle the big reveal if her weird Human sister(?) suddenly stepped out of a rift in space time with the Owl Lady and her skull puppy... actually, she could handle the skull puppy... The Human girl's lemony smell was all over her room, even a year after her disappearance, the basilisk was still finding odd knick-knacks scattered about their bedroom like her scent was looming over the house. Citrus was starting to give her a headache.

She needed to wash the sheets; laundry hadn't been done in a little bit, either; and it was beginning to get stuffy. But she didn't want to crack a window open, she didn't want the signature smell to escape, she didn't want the memory to leave with it. Their first impressions hadn't been great but the second one might be salvageable! She just needed everything to look nice, first, and she'd been meaning to have a good cleaning day for a while. Trying to sweep carpet wasn't the best look for a 'tooth-stealing and time-travelling monstrosity' but the sound of the vacuum was too similar to pneumatic whirrs and biomechanical breaths for her to be around for long. She'd get the worst of the dust and crumbs in the center of the room before she brought it out.

An incredibly light dusting of frost coated the edges of the window, she exhaled and drew a smiley face on the glass before windexing it. Vee pulled the curtains shut and stretched out, compressing her body. Luz's anime shirt was a bit big on her and the collar started sliding down her shoulder, she had to clench it over her chest as she sorted through the sweaters Ralsei and Susie got her, the pants didn't fare much better without a belt. She landed on the orange one. It was a pumpkin pie day! I wonder if Ralsei makes pumpkin pie He's done more than enough. The overcast sky made it hard to see, she didn't want to waste electricity in the middle of the day, nor did she like leaving the drapes open for long.

Her forked tongue licked the tips of her pearly fangs, remembering the sliminess and yellowing they used to have too well for her liking. Fluffy blue ears flapped out of her thickening hair, shifting her mane back and forth felt so weird. The way it tingled like tons of needles going straight into her scalp... it didn't hurt, Human needles weren't as bad and it was over with quickly. her gold pupils blankly stared at the empty bedroom. The plushies needed to be put back, she guessed, but they'd just get shoved back in the closet by the sleepover. Assuming the whole thing with Immanuel and Alex went over well.

She could still take out the trash! It was about the only other thing she could do while waiting on Zoey, Susie, and the Cabin 7 gang. Having Camila there had been part of the plan, but fell through pretty quickly. Bad news, a small pack of street dogs had been found devastated just a town over; good news, they were found by someone with a van and some friends. It would be fine, Camila couldn't be around forever. Not like Vee wouldn't be expected to move out eventually, even if being her own person somehow came to be if Luz- when Luz-...

Just stop thinking about her, she just makes you spiral. The trash can just had some water bottles and some crumpled papers, she just dumped them in the recycling bin and... stared at it... for a few minutes... Purely because the garage was a bit warmer and didn't have any windows someone could be watching through, if a bit stuffy. It was too quiet, save for the squeaking of the fan. Luz and Camila were supposed to be here, they were supposed to be on the couch. They were supposed to be watching animal documentaries. She was supposed to be doing homework before sneaking up on them from behind the cushions and stuff an ice cube down Luz's shirt right at an emotional moment.

But she wasn't here; she was living with the strongest Witch in the Boiling Isles, hiding from a man who couldn't even be called a person, one who devoured Palisman yet always carried the whiff of Palistrom wood by his side, and his army of scouts and Coven Heads mastering all forms or the greatest heights of their respective fields. How long was Susie gonna last against them? How long were they going to chase her? How long were they gonna chase Luz?

What if they came for Camila?

She wanted to play big, overcomplicated dice games with Zoey, she wanted to paint figures of mechanised Humans with plasma guns, she wanted a big red blankie to be heer robe while Zoey tried to figure out how to cosplay power armor, she wanted to watch everyone stuff their things in the trunk before going on a trip to a nerdy convention, she wanted her mommy. I want my mommy. I want my life. I want my freedom. Her head felt hot and her back was burning, her arms and legs ached but she didn't want to stop and think. It'd just send her downhill again, it'd just make her spine sting and head throb, it'd just give her a screaming nightmare and soggy morning.

Underneath the bed hadn't been touched in a while. Or she hadn't crawled beneath the mattresses and moved aside the contents of Luz's horribly stocked and plushie-filled closet. Granted, the latter was her doing. Her diapers always crinkled louder when she went up the stairs, the height of the steps ruffled the paper. Heat rised to her cheeks and her eyes tightly closed. The way it shifted and the waistband fastened around her abdomen never helped ignore the paper and plastic. At least she was dry, that'd make Camila proud and cut costs. Plus, Zoey wouldn't feel obligated to make her feel better.

The plushies were set aside and the small cabinet of socks and underwear was pulled out; the first killed her back less than she thought and the second was so much worse than she was ready for. But the closet floor was clean and she'd resorted her clothes around lunchtime. Vee couldn't find an appetite, which was ironic for a Basilisk, and it wasn't lost on her. Her gut felt empty and bursting at the same time, she had to steady herself on the bedframe before deciding how she'd reach under the bed.

She decided to rest on the carpet for a minute and let the spinning stop. Once she recollected herself, she slid her arm to the side to fanangle the broom underneath and claw some very stale crumbs towards her with the dustpan. She didn't want to chance rolling onto her stomach right now. Her vision was a bit blurry, but there wasn't a lot to see, anyway. Bits of old crackers as hard as rock, the wrapper of a gas station cookie that the fan blew out of sight, a scrap of a candy wrapper, some broken buttons that were likely parts of an old costume, a plastic bottle rolled under there at some point.

Vee missed the dusty wooden box until it thudded against her knee. Sharp fangs gnashed up at the fan as her lower jaw split in half, deforming her chin and stretching her jaws with a wide yawn, her lower jaw still tightened her nose and made a small tooth gap like Zoey's, even though it separated far less than her mandible. The way it tugged her higher eyelids away from the translucent pair and gold-teal eyes was like the relief of peeling off dead scales.

After a moment of mentally preparing herself for the next hour of this, as well as a nap, she kicked and scratched the box up to her chest and face. It was pale purple, bleached by the sun and time, riddled with small cracks, snapped shut by a corroded clamp, and had a lot of dents and scratches in the wood that bore the wear and smooth edges of age. Some paint chips fell into her mouth and were quickly spat out. It tasted like sand.

Attempts to read the brightly colored, or formerly colorful, label were pointless; the red and blue and white bubble letters had faded and melded indistinguishably from each other, not accounting for the missing flakes. If she had the energy to decode this, she would've cleared the dining room table and hunted down a puzzle instead. It rested on her chest for another minute or two, all the dust was killing her. Headaches weren't usually this bad. Mommy was usually around to help, but there were so many puppies at the clinic and Vee just needed to rest her eyes.

More time passed than she intended. Not like she had anything better to do but clean. Ripping the box open took longer and hurt her fingers more than she signed up for when she grabbed it. When it finally came loose, the snap broke off. And even then the basilisk had to unsheath her claws in the opening just to break one of the hinges and bend the other; it couldn't even close properly anymore. There was a lot of purple inside, its light color way better protected from the bleaching sun and age by the container slowly falling apart in her hands, Luz's purple.

Part of it looked like a sippy cup formerly covered in white flowers, but the vast majority of them were worn and scratched away. Their yellow cores had chips across them, dividing parts of the art from the missing white petals and dotted lines that used to be stems lined with adorable little leaves. Its top had some teeth marks. Bits of old, broken, well-used crayons were rolling around, some were melted into the edges and others left small smears of color where they'd previously sat untouched for a long time. The box, worn yellow and folded flat, was still lying at the bottom, so covered in rainbow wax it was barely able to be peeled off the box without tearing. The light purple, pastel green, and warm brown colors were chief among those either missing or completely used up.

Tucked into the corner, stuck to the waxy and messily painted wood, was a tiny plastic container. It flung into her shoulder once she pried it out of the corner, there was a lot more destroyed crayon stuff in that spot. The corner looked like it'd been colored around the container's outline, leaving the only bland wood spot where it sat, but the artwork had been distorted and smudged. Some of it very vaguely looked like stars, if not covered in glitter.

Her back popped and a raspy groan slipped out of her mouth as she sat up. The container was the same clear purple as Luz's sippy cup and popped open a lot easier than the box. It had a clearly custom-decorated paci... binky? Her mind blanked on the name, too foggy. Shiny spots of years-old glue held little blue plastic diamonds around the ring on the front and stars around the butterfly-like guards. Vee rubbed her eyes and rotated it, the ring flopped around much more easily than the box hinges, she'd almost have thought it was cared for if she didn't know how many worse-off containers had been protecting it for...

How old was Luz? Older than Vee, she was pretty sure, fifteen sounded about right, maybe sixteen now. All she knew off the top of her head was Luz was fourteen when they swapped places. This stuff had to be way older than the first time their worlds collided, maybe the box was trashed and the Human cleaned it up for her own purposes. Why was she always so keen to hide stuff from Mommy? Why did she hide everything stop, it'll just make you upset.

The little rubber end was a bit squishy and deformed just enough for her to flick it like a door stopper. She couldn't help a giggle through the tightness around her chest, it felt and looked funny! Maybe there was a reason Luz kept it around, despite how obviously long it'd been since she tampered with the painted box. Not much point in keeping it from Camila, though, not the weirdest thing the Human had on hand. Where she got so many snakes and spiders and model griffin parts remained an ongoing mystery.

Her face turned blue with her blush as she lightly tossed the binky up and down, up and down, the rubber tickled her palm as it landed. So weird! Why did Luz put this away? ...Why did Luz ditch this thing. Vee glanced around the room as if someone was watching. There could be someone. She still had plenty of time until Zoey and the gang arrived with the local enby force of chaos/collective fever dream, embodiment of chill, personified defiance, and the fluffy caregiver. Not even Camila was nearby, she'd be home after the big reveeal but gave her full support. They were her best friends, not Luz's... hopefully.

At that and an audible swallow, she slowly brought it up to her burning blue face. Her forked tongue flicked over the rubbery thingy. It didn't taste like anything, but it did the doorstop wiggle again. Luz wasn't using it anymore, she wasn't using anything in the box anymore, she wasn't using anything anymore. It was free real estate! Her lower jaw split apart as she snapped onto it like ripping off a band-aid. It was a lot less dramatic than she was expecting, not that she knew what she thought was gonna happen. Her tongue flicked over it again and again like something would change, just having something to distract herself with made some of the aching go away, especially when it sat neatly between her tongue's prongs.

It made a satisfying sound when it bobbed in and out and vibrated with her purring. The base settled between her fangs and the guard squished her cheeks. Her legs slowly slid out and she rubbed a heavy eye again. Why would Luz leave this behind? Vee had some free time; she didn't know how much off the top of her head, but there were at least a few hours before anyone started for her house. Her home. She stretched and cracked her knuckles, relieving the pressure from wrestling with the box for an embarrassing amount of time.

Vee slithered onto the bottom bunk. Some plushies had been left there as she cleaned the closet, including her snake. Her snake toy. The tail rattled as she wormed through the pile and rested atop the blankets. She didn't even stop to fluff up the pillow, she just stuffed her arm under it, facing the doorway. A bird plush fell on her foot and a puppy draped over her shoulder while she idly played with the noisy rattle on the end of her snake and hugged it close.

The basilisk's eyes drifted closed and her vision got blurry. The headache was bad, but the sound and sensation of the pacifier made her hearts slow down and her breathing even out. It was light out, a nice and bright day without the fan light being on, despite the Autumn overcast. Bad things happen in the dark. One of her legs started lifting over the other and her sweats got a little tighter as her big blue diaper hissed and expanded, she'd been busying herself for a few hours. She was not about to get up now. Nice and warm, nice and quiet as the stream tinkled out and the beads in her snake's tail slowly clattered to the bottom.

VVV 🎃 VVV

"I just don't like keepin' this from them, 'y know?" Susie's claws fidgeted in her pockets and her long face turned down to the white tiles.

Ralsei stopped pacing for barely a second. "Nothing you hate more than people who don't tell you the whole deal, I know. But you've Checked her, too, all of us have. Even if we ignore her LOVE, something's wrong and she won't say anything; we need an adult to look after her."

"You've got the right idea, Susie, but let us handle her, okay?" Rudolph Holiday shoved open a heavy door to some sort of testing room. She wasn't familiar with it, unsure if they existed in Human hospitals. Those were the only hospitals she went to before they got together with Elly, when Kris needed casts or crutches.

"Uh, right." She huffed and adjusted her hoodie before she got up, nudging Kris.

"I'M AWAKE!" Kris shot up.

"You looked like when I was out cold from that cough." Mr. Holiday chuckled and produced a big purple hoodie from beneath his arm, awkwardly juggling it and the clipboard in his hand. There were some details about their new snake-otter, of that she was sure, but all the medical terms were a blur of nonsense and reading wasn't her strong suit, even if she could get a good angle on it. "Anyway, you've been dragging that same hoodie along all month, here." He handed her the hoodie.

"Thanks, Mr. H." She slipped off the varsity jacket and slipped the plain purple one over her white shirt. "What's going on with her?"

"There's not a lot we can do based on a bunch of Checks and pictures. Body comp equations only give us a rough guess, especially if we can't actually weigh her. Odds are her scales would interfere with our scans, maybe more tests, depends on how deep her magic reflection runs. There's a good chance we couldn't get great readings from her blood." He admitted. "But what we do know is a privacy concern, only her Mom and Doctor are allowed to know."

"So we're not allowed to do anything?" She asked.

"You three have done more than enough." He grinned. "The only thing you gotta do is keep being good friends and let us know if anything goes sideways."

"That's two jobs." Kris snarked.

Rudy leered at the Human. "Damn right, Mr. Schmidt."

They both cracked a smile and nudged each other as Susie and Ralsei prepared to make like a leaf and leave. The Green Star Major Medical Center, functionally headed by Rudy even though he was closer to the top-middle of the hierarchy, was one of the taller buildings in their Sector if you didn't count Tower Cities. Metallic white roots made several large, curved diamonds around the entire building; one could see the piping running beneath the floor from the outside.

Their edges had some moss and brightly colored flowers growing along the sides, some creeping over the glass, a good chunk of Ralsei's income came from trimming them every other week or bringing her and Kris high enough to eat it. Her boyfriend had gladly infodumped a bunch of 'flower language' and the themes of health of love they all had, but she could never keep up. Best to leave picking bouquets to him and Noelle. Susie could only doom-scroll UnderNet queries for so long.

Outside was almost as clean as the inside. Main pathways were paved with cool white tile that made it obvious when it needed cleaning, along with a small moat trickling through and around the building to keep bugs from comfortably settling near the patients. Vee might like it here. Rudy didn't always deal with kids, but he was good with the shy types and reptiles always got rooms with personal heaters. Getting her to a Monster hospital might not be that bad, if they could convince Miss Noceda to let someone else handle her non-Monster non-Human magical child whose back sometimes spontaneously gained a bunch of deep, bloody blue lines that seeped through her clothes.

Speaking of the Nocedas...

VVV 🎃 VVV

Vee's ear perked as her phone dinged. The lighting was about the same, she didn't think much time had passed. Her headache had subsided and her back wasn't feeling the worst, she could comfortably sit upright again. Nobody was haunting the room and judging her. Nothing had snuck in while she was out. The pacifier was still in her mouth. Luz abandoned this one! It's mine now! She can get her own! Her droopy eyes slowly opened while she sucked her binky and fished her phone out of her pocket.

Her legs opened and knuckled hit the top bunk as she made a biiiiig stretch and leaked, her diaper had gotten cold and the sponge was lopsided. Vee adjusted her pacifier and flicked through her phone. It was Ralsei, he'd sent her a link. Getting access to it was a bit of a struggle, but she was getting a good handle on technology. The process was fairly straightforward once she dragged her laptop to the bed and typed the link in manually. There were more easily searched instructional videos and QnA threads about linking Human internet to Monster UnderNet.

All the emulators were pretty laggy and navigating the UI felt like she was hacking the Dark Web, but she got to it eventually; from there, she was able to get much better processing through a Monster version connecting their computers to the internet she knew. She had to reset the system for a whole new OS, but her and Luz's bookmarks were easy to carry over. Their Google let her customize her windows! She could put sci-fi beeps over her key presses and make the background space!

As far as she could tell, Ralsei's link was a newly created Monster chatroom, something like Discord or DMs. Luz's plushies flopped over her feet and chest as she leaned back on her pillows. The bottom of the laptop heated her belly as she made an UnderNet account and got used to the chatroom. It looked a lot like Discord, once she put it in dark mode. There were some empty voice chat boxes labeled 'parking lot' 1 through 5, 5 'D&D', 5 'Warhammer', and 10 'Misc Games' spaces. Some of the latter had Monsters playing Gloomhaven, Bloodborne, and Ready or Not. There were a ton of text chats running, too. One General, one announcements tab where the creators, including Ralsei and Catti, could send messages to everyone, a rules tab, and some channels for specific types of Monsters like reptiles or birds to talk.

There weren't actually any restrictions or codes blocking her from going to those sections, everyone could go everywhere from the Human to bug channels, the only special access ones were for people playing their YouTube videos and streaming. Berdly was live with The Impossible Quiz, which was going about as well as when Alex tried it. Maybe she could put Vintage Story on, Vee didn't know if they'd heard of it, being so quiet and reserved behind their walls. She played with her account and chose a picture of 'Luz' and Camila for her profile picture, then set a backdrop of planets and robots floating in the void for her blog banner. She was already being recommended Noelle's profile. The reindeer played a lot of videogames.

Susiezilla [Knight] invited holidaygirl1225 to the server FlowerPower [Player] invited Luz to the server holidaygirl1225 joined the server, say hi!
Luz joined the server, say hi!

Susiezilla - guess who, dumbasses

AverageBarfight - the age rating is doomed

Pawn Promotion! FlowerPower [Player] promoted holidaygirl1225 to King, congradulations!
holidaygirl1225 [King] invited Catti to the server
Catti joined the server, say hi!
Catti [Pawn] left the server, say goodbye to our friend!

FlowerPower - She's getting faster at that.

holidaygirl1225 [King] invited Catti to the server
Catti joined the server, say hi!
Catti [Pawn] left the server, say goodbye to our friend!
holidaygirl1225 invited Catti to the server
Luz [Pawn] changed their name to SnekOtter5, stop to say hi!

holidaygirl1225 - Hi Vee!

Catti joined the server, say hi!
Catti [Pawn] changed their name to BlackCat, stop to say hi!

BlackCat - Hey.

SnekOtter5 - Hi!

Susiezilla - wonder how long we got till berdly starts causing problems.
- he's doing a speedrun rn, right?
- should have a minute

AverageBarfight - let's find out
- @smartgenius [Pawn]

holidaygirl1225 - Can't wait for everyone to get off from school and flood the greetings again!

SnekOtter5 - Again? I thought you just got here.

Susiezilla - we showed her the screenshots before she got to the computer.
- hold on, i downloaded them
- gimme a minute
- [Image ID - Monster Guarden General Chat]

SnekOtter5 - Oh my

AverageBarfight - and most of us didn't really know each other when we started programming this
- everyone actually likes you lol

SnekOtter5 - You think so?
- @AverageBarfight [Knight] (Kris?)

AverageBarfight - (@SnekOtter5 [Pawn] yee)

BlackCat - @SnekOtter5 [Pawn] You have no idea.

WitchyBitchy - is the limb damage stacked for slugs, buckshot, or full auto better?

FlowerPower - They scale the same.
- We have to arrest him, anyway.

WitchyBitchy - You know what mission we're playing, right?

Jockington - Bricksly dude has to come back Alive.
- @FlowerPower [Player], @WitchyBitchy [Pawn] also, You two are in the wrong Chat.

SnekOtter5 - @FlowerPower [Player] You play Ready Or Not?

holidaygirl1225 - @FlowerPower [Player] on infinite accounts of police brutality and being a silly goofy guy, how do you plead?

Susiezilla - guilty

holidaygirl1225 - Sustained

FlowerPower - I didn't even get to say anything!

WitchyBitchy - he only equips nonlethals

FlowerPower - The rest make me feel bad!

WitchyBitchy - @SnekOtter5 [Pawn] oh hi!
- wanna log on?

VVV 🎃 VVV

Heavy rain thudded against the glass very early in the morning. She shouldn't have been up, even by her standards. That was fine, Chara was always getting ahead on her digital studies and everyone from Auntie Dye-Dye to the insufferable comedian, or even Toriel, knew she was a night owl; odds were she'd be given a booster pad and set down for nap time by midday. The elder Demi-Monster sat in her bright red hoodie from Papyrus and a black diaper with a bright white Deltarune on the front and details of thorny, red and black briars. It was a newer design she'd gotten fond of. The bottom of the Deltarune was a bit yellowish and squishy, it was funny to sit on as she leaned against the side of the window.

She'd quietly gotten many of the windows at an end of the Castle, her portion of the hex, equipped with a small raised spot (she didn't remember what they were called, she just stuck some fancy carved wood designs in a pile and let the builders draw straws for where each went and what black or shades of red rugs would be on top of them). Just as quietly, she'd found angles just off of where the Sun dawned and set so the warm light wouldn't quite reach her eyes and left some black and red cushions behind. One of them, a heart-shaped gift from the Holiday family, sat beneath her arms as she scratched away at her sketchbook.

This one was a more personal, artsy book. No golems, no machines of war, no theoretical weapons, just whatever came to mind. Her pearly, ruby-lined scales chafed comfortably against the fine pages like waving her arms through grass or along trees. The tough plating covered every inch of her hide, growing out of the old scars like they weren't there. A soft smile grew over her tired face, warped around her black pacifier. It'd been so long since she even thought about cutting. Her toes curled and playfully kicked the pillows at the other end of the outcrop (in-crop?) while her hands much more steadily and evenly created many black lines across the blank page.

The rain-covered glass cold against her side and her diaper warm around her bottom, she sighed contentedly and popped her knuckles. Like she'd been summoned from the other end of the Castle by her big sister making the slightest of sounds, Frisk peeked around the corner and broke into a full sprint for Chara's lap. The furred dragon's horns, the ends splitting like snake tongues, bashed against the scaled dragon's nearest leg before her small fangs nipped her thigh; she looked like an angry kitten. Frisk's bright blue and ruby red eyes gleamed mischievously up at her biggest sibling.

Tragically, her tiny claws weren't available to swat at Chara's hands, they were clutching a smaller notebook decorated with tons of sparkly stickers and glitter pen drawings of her skele-uncles and their Auntie Dye-Dye. She hopped up to the little platform, getting the first leg up was always the hardest, and she flipped open a page to a picture of her perfect Halloween costume. It had two pairs of bright white wings growing out of the back and rainbow ribbons connecting the base of the spine to her wrists. Her waxy white sheen of the crayon for her fur and the white robes were indistinguishable; she could benefit from a splash of black. Something darker, at the very least. The way the massive sheets of oversaturated colors billowed around the frilly pink and blue dress and oversized golden belt defied the laws of physics, as did the wings contradict any form of practicality, but the gold laurels around her fluffy brown hair were easily doable. There might already be a pair in Asriel's room.

"Sure you don't want smaller wings?" Chara offered.

Frisk just shook her head before crawling onto her big sister and resting her head on her chest, staring at the pouring rain stretching across the Soul and Star sectors and beyond. Her little eyes glistened like diamonds off the glow of decorations and illusory torches. She'd protect both of them, she'd protect her baby sister and little brother, she'd protect her people, she'd protect her kingdom; they'd always get their happy ending, the cost covered by Humanity, Chara would always be there to make sure of it. Boss Monsters didn't age like those animals, after all.

A certain someone nuzzled up with her blue and pink sweater and dry rainbow pull-up as she locked eyes with Chara's drawing. Frisk slowly recoiled deeper into Chara's body and tugged on her sleeves. One partially-closed eye and one wide with completely black nothingness, both pasted over a featureless white face and crooked, drooling black smile. The black figure's face deformed like the broken surface of water and dripped chunks like the toxic sludge hazard suit-wearing workers shoveled and harvested for materials far from the morning light and their people. Most of the creature's body was smudged and multi-layered black. Abundant graphite stuck to the face of the previous page and smeared over the rest of the paper with even a light brush of the hand, rising like snakes.

Two long hands reached to the side, one was grasping a cane or scepter with the outline of a translucent gem embedded in its ribs and dragon skull-shaped ornament. The other rested at the side, circled by a ring of bones that melted and bent. That limb's arm blended in with the shadowed body; the other just looked like a molten strand of black material, curved and drooping in the center, far from a forearm and elbow parting from a side of the body connected by glue-like fluid. Its chest was swollen and broken, riddled with holes between the light and dark gray ribs. The sternum looked more like a blade pointing towards the Earth than a bone, its collar forming a guard with no handle. Dark gray masked the front of the vertebrae, spotted with lines of torn black muscles tangled painfully in the opening matter of the hollow neck.

"I've never told you about Uncle Gaster, have I?" She mumbled.

'He's scary.' Frisk signed and tucked her hands into her sweater.

Chara chuckled. "Azzie thought so, too." She fondly remembered how the goat used to avoid the true Royal Scientist. "It's not a story Mommy and Daddy would've told you." Her talons gently cupped Frisk's cheek as they gazed out the window again. "Everyone's heard of the Hammer Of Justice, you saw Alvin when he was trying to run a meet-the-author stand for his books."

'Everyone wanted to know about Gerson's book.' Frisk confirmed.

"But he wasn't the only one still standing after the War." Chara continued with a pinch of reverence. He was no Undyne the Undying, but that was hardly a bar that could be surpassed, in her opinion. "Dad's trusty Black Hand. Gerson was just one of the strongest Monsters, back then, Uncle Gaster led the rest, the only one left when the Barrier was created. He was proud of it, always had that toothy Royal Guard helmet like Undyne's sitting over his fireplace. I never saw him wear it, he was a lot happier as a scientist, but he also never let me get away with stealing it." She chuckled.

Her diaper and Frisk's pull-up crinkled as she shifted their weight; her leg was getting numb. "Missed the rain, too, wanted to bring me to splash in puddles without being scared of getting sick. He said everyone was so focused on how bright the cage was, they never thought the key might be hidden in the dark." She squeezed her sister, feeling her fluffy hair tickle her chin as she looked up to the steel-scaled dragon. "It's fuzzy, but I remember he knew darkness was the key. I could barely mash numbers together back then, I didn't know what he was talking about, I think he just wanted someone to share his research with."

'What did the dark do to the Barrier?' Frisk tilted her head and returned her hands into her sweater, curling into Chara's chest.

Chara swallowed. "He wanted to try attacking it without any Human Souls, said he was crafting something that didn't need traditional magic to break the Barrier, or even the Determination of a single Soul. I always assumed he found a way to cross the Barrier and collect the seven from the other side. He was one of the three who could get one by themselves." She theorized aloud. "Turn to shadows and appear the shade of the mountain. He did it to get around his lab a lot, maybe it's where the comedian got his trick from. Like a needle and thread through fabric; use a little Determination to make a hole big enough to see the other side, teleport to the Surface, and assassinate everyone he needed to break the Barrier and bring Monsters their power.

Uh, he wasn't one for Soul magic, he liked all the trait-specific stuff, skeleton, and shadow magics. He wanted to harvest Human Souls for power and distribute it across young, promising Monsters; make our kids even, make our magic superior, and Humanity would be put in its place naturally."

Frisk shifted and frowned. 'Like you?'

"Kinda." The scaled dragon's tongue flicked across her lips. "My version's not theory."

Chapter 35: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 12

Summary:

Worrying about Amity, Tracy complaining, and Luz does big sister things.
Surprise sickfic.
Agere magic and healing songs.

feat. Chara being the creepy and mysterious figure in the distance while being followed by an angel and animals.

They hadn't heard from Amity since Willow checked on her. Gus wasn't remotely close enough to the Abomination Witch to get a call through, though he did try his hand at some Hex messages. Willow had stopped by the manor a few times, when she'd finished her homework in class, and repeated the routine of dragging her away from her books and golems, but found little progress had been made by her next visit. Her other friends, former friends, more like it, had tried their hand as well. Unlike their one and only Plant Witch, they found no luck getting into Blight Manor. Not through lack of trying, of course (minus Boscha).

Not like the insufferable Potions Triclops would get anywhere. Grudgby freak or not, she was still just a bully; all presence, no substance. Luz had stayed down before. She'd force herself on equal footing. Those meek, single-track-using potions wouldn't get any further than cleaning the Manor's gate, Luz and Mama Eda made more corrosive stuff for her clients every few days... when they weren't preparing for the Mourning Veil, anyway.

She'd heard Skara gave it a good try with her music, though. Unfortunately, the classical, orchestral, and Boiling Isles-edition Paul McCartney songs Odalia insisted were 'suitable for their class' were a far cry from the rock and electric Amity had grown fond of. Cat couldn't do much, as a Healer, but Amelia did her best to appear like Willow was visiting. The Blight didn't remotely fall for it for a fraction of a second but it was closer than anyone outside her favorite weirdos could say. She could get the Luz accolades for that much. Maybe they could hang out outside of the Human getting her ass thrashed in Grudgby! They just needed a way to keep Boscha out of their hair.

Until then, though, the Mourning Veil worries had more than kept her away from that side of the Island. The Owl House was further from Hexside than her Manor and the flight there was fastest cutting over the Boiling Sea, which Eda was NOT letting her do until she was stable enough to do a donut while standing on her staff. Right now, she was working on some gold. It was a great conductor of magic, but could always be better. 'Arcane Gold' was saturated almost to the point of collapse and conducted power instantly, once you figured it out. Grind it to dust and forge it into something: a weapon, armor, a cloak, fill the grooves of palisman wood, and few other items can compare.

Tracy and King were playing in the Living Room right in front of her while she stirred clumps of legally obtained gold dust into a solution of purified water and various arcane crystals. Some of them seemed to be from the Human Realm, according to Eda. What little Titan's Blood with which they accessed Human resources occasionally sprouted them, for some reason. Luz knew better, though, the Human Realm had no magic. Eda was probably trying to make her feel better about... everything. Figuring out how to explain to Mami that she was never coming back, overthrowing Belos, whatever was going on with Amity, getting to Hunter, learning magic, it had all been a bit much to cram in a year.

The Mourning Veil, oddly, kinda helped. It gave her something to focus on, it gave her a priority, it took her mind off Mami and Vee. Her favorite cat hoodie ruffled up as she stretched. She'd gotten up early to work on this, went through school, and rushed home to finish her work. The gold was slowly gathering into shimmering, metallic rainbow portions of an ingot. It'd take time to make a fire just the right temperature to forge it into something stable without triggering it to blow molted rock, cinders, and a shockwave throughout wherever she made the horrible choice of doing the deed. But after that, she'd have a really cool... thing!

Okay, she didn't know what that would be yet, but she'd figure it out eventually! Making it a foil, maybe some tight rings for around her staff, would be a lot easier to apply to her palisman than the dust. She needed to figure out how to do that, first. That, and she was getting ahead of herself again. Usually, she had Willow to let her know and Gus to enable her, she had to get used to stopping herself on her own because Eda sure wasn't going to when she could take pictures instead! Luz thought it might've been Tracy and King's bedtime for a split second. It was getting darker faster, ghosts from ages past rearing their heads more often, the memories of their lives or the Agony of tragedies long forgotten swelling as the barrier between worlds thinned.

Would it be easier to make a portal around this time? It didn't matter, she couldn't go back but she had to and there was a lot going on right now so she was keeping still while things calmed down! Now that she'd stirred clockwise thirty times, added her crystals, and stirred counter-clockwise thirty more times, all that was left was to wait for the bubbling water to calm without cutting the fire glyph. Once it stopped boiling on its own (and kinda exploded but Eda didn't need to know she was doing this indoors), it would be ready to put to use the next time she had a day off. Likely, she'd have too many ideas to pick one and end up starting on another batch.

"I dunno why! It just hurts!" The Collector whined and scratched his back.

Tracy had been complaining about something stinging or burning for a few days now. She was distantly aware they'd just recently gotten their favorite pajamas back, only for a few days since the Owl Lady didn't have the time to make them change constantly. Without Mom hounding them, they were eager to keep their stars and moons onesie at all times. She wasn't sure why he was so intent on keeping it close; Luz had more than worn out, torn, and poorly stitched together her own favorites before Mami forbid her from handling needles, but she never refused to release them long enough to be washed. Then again, she was a... messy kid. The Collector wasn't regularly covered in spaghetti sauce, mud, and wild animal fur, she supposed.

King was clean and didn't shed much, anyway, and he steered clear of Tracy's room, so it wasn't like some of his hair got inside of the pajamas through the abundant time they spent together. And that was assuming Tracy was allergic to the best friend he spent all the time with he could. More likely something was going on in their room, it was the only place they sat still for any period. Her money was on a fairy or bug daemon bite but there was no reason not to check his room, anyway. Maybe she could flush it out with ice glyphs and zap it with a static glyph. One to protect the room from catching fire, the other to get rid of Tracy's problem, it was nothing major.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Chara's clawed feet lightly splashed over the cobblestone ground as she and Frisk wandered the walls. Her little sister with heavy eyes rested her head against the shoulder of their Uncle's hoodie and held her notebook tight to her chest as the scaled dragon, clawed angel patrolled the perimeter. Elite Guards were overseeing the walls, high-end Stalwarts armed to the teeth with heavy armor, large shields, and ornate spears even greater than those warriors she sent to their parents' little 'Gravesfield' pet project.

At least the decorations were lovely. This darker, easier on the eyes style was much more tolerable to her. She didn't not want to see the Sun every day, much less want to withhold it from her people for the sake of her own eyes, but all the best memories that kept her going were made in its absence. Combined with the golden glow of Judgement Hall, it'd gotten hard not to draw less-than-stellar connections. She'd take nighttime and overcast skies any day of the week. However, there weren't usually as many of her beloved Monsters wandering around by then. But she could live with that, being the bright red and black hoodie-wearing Monster with a year-old horned headband from back when the Human dollar store hadn't been torn down who occasionally waved around boxes with blue magic and made ramps out of purple magic.

There was also the time she murdered a violent robber but she wasn't the Punisher, just stabby... Also he was a Human holding a teenage Monster wage slave at gunpoint so dead to rights.

Now that there were tons of Monsters staying up late for the autumn festivities, she had to admit the crowds were more than a little intimidating. She'd stay within the castle walls tonight... and the next few nights... and however long it took to get her new spooky castle diapers, she wasn't going out without the other of the only two clothes she cared about (if you counted her sweater and Uncle Papy's hoodie as the same thing). A simple red shield protected them and their sketchbooks from the rain, along with one of her crows who ditched a wet tree to perch on the shoulder opposite to Frisk's head. There was a gray cat trailing behind them as well, she stopped for a time so it could shake off some of the rainwater and keep pace. Frisk's bright white fur was fluffed up by the flames they used to dry her off.

Rain tapped across the stone and Chara's shield. The few gutters they needed overflowed and rushed over the edge of the towering stone, metallic root, and vertical planter walls; it was already soaking into the 'magnetized' soil and being drunk up by the exotic arcane flowers, mushrooms, trees, moss, and other plants as the excess dripped down the tips of glowing crystals. They were slowly wearing away the weak rock and corroding the metal sheets, gradually replacing them all with stronger and stronger blocks. The more they got to rebuild the base of the Castle, the higher up Mt. Ebott they grew. There was a limit to how high the new layers were going to get, there were already people living up there, but the capital was the best fortified part of the kingdom and there was no reason not to expand its arsenal as far as they reasonably could. Humans hated how big it was and how impossible the magic, energy, and physical defenses were compared to everything they could make, meaning they could do better.

The light of the moon shone through a tiny gap in the clouds, turning their edges light gray as it faded over the horizon and the morning Sun prepared to shine. The white reflection beamed down on some Monsters near the foot of the Castle, hoisting an underground hyperloop cart into a secure docking area. Some whirling wisps of aeromancy flowed out of the heavily gated hole, the spellwork that made such a fast transport possible and efficient in practice, not some Human's science fiction dream. Three trains each with four, five, and eight carts had arrived today. Down there was a seven-long shipment of deliveries going across the kingdom, very few of which were actually for them, she kept a close eye on the records whenever she visited Dad-gore.

Not usually much of interest, they consisted of machinery and construction equipment too big to fit through portals. The ocean-bound Sector had the same logistics problem. Might as well fill all the dead space with workers and civilians, the constant stream of UnderNet videos and pictures were good for the Monster-Kin's morale and further pissing off everyone throwing a tantrum that they didn't do it first. Looking at the comments on either internet was always a good laugh.

There was something odd in this particular delivery, though, besides an absurd amount of solar panels and wind turbine balloons that were way more effective to throw on the train that try and squeeze into that poor extradimensional mailroom. Speaking of which, she should've gotten another dragon plushie by now, a spiky lil wyvern she hadn't decided on a name for. The final package, though, was supposed to be a bunch of special medical and research equipment for Auntie Al. The yellow lizard was in need of some magic-penetrating tools, and she had a distant idea of why. How a Monster, or something adjacent to one, had been living among those animals for so long was beyond her, and plenty intriguing.

Chara hovered a hand over her mouth as she yawned so her crow didn't try to see if she was hiding something, much to the bird's dismay as it pouted with a peck to her fingers. She didn't even feel it through her tough scales. What was with that fluffy snake? How did she just happen to get to Gravesfield? Why was she hiding with them? Their Dad had assured them and Asriel that he was handling it directly, but she couldn't not keep an eye on 'Vee'. Might as well have something that might be able to give an anti-magical Monster a checkup or procedures on hand, though she'd rather have a dedicated medical professional handle them than Alphys, better under pressure.

Nevertheless, the four of them elected to keep this from Mom. She'd want to meet the snake as fast as possible and her queenly authority to demand such information had been revoked for a reason. If she didn't want to take threats seriously, then they would, and something had happened to the shapeshifting serpent. Her bets were on experimentation; possibly a genetic and/or magic item test to give a Humanoid magical powers, resulting in plenty of deformities and similar long-lasting body issues. That DNA instability could explain her lack of a solid physical form and... unique ability to handle and redirect the flow of magic, mainly into her body for sustenance. Perhaps using her as a magical battery in hopes of removing the need for Monsterkind's monopoly on the paranormal was a basement-dwelling madman's grand scheme? They'd fail before they got off the ground, such was their mastery of magic, but it was in the beasts' nature to try.

It was too early to be thinking through this, especially for Chara. She got up and went to bed late in the morning and night; she was not supposed to be up at dawn unless it was a dreary, cloudy day like this. She pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed an eye before adjusting her grip on Frisk and making sure the little shield was shaped the right way to block the wind from blowing rain beneath it. Some bird Monsters like Cooldrake and Snowdrake, having made the correct choice to move away from the Human-inhabited sections of the border, were covering their heads with their wings and rushing across the pavement into the delivery zone.

She made sure the hem of her hoodie was covering her diaper before she stepped closer to the barrier. The non-birdfolk were tugging their safety vests over their heads before powering through the growing storm. Her love for how frequently it rained here was not universal. She got a good angle to see the pallettes under the stacks of boxes and whatever the chunks of machinery were tied down to, reached out a hand, and gathered a wave of Blue Magic around them.

Chara carefully and slowly lifted the tarps and gave the workers plenty of time to get out of the way as the material floated into the garage, landing with not so much as a thud. They looked around from within the cart while she forced herself to relax and sigh. She was covered by the edge of the wall and her hoodie, she was fine, she could go potty and get out of her own head. Her warm diaper expanded along her thighs and forced her legs apart. It hissed just over the tapping of the rain for a few seconds. Much better. She wasn't sure why Frisk was so insistent on going to the bathroom normally.

One of the birds, she couldn't tell which, looked up to see her getting ready to move on and offered a wave. Of course one of the birdbrains thought to look up for a change. Why don't stealth games have more characters check rooftops? A shiver ran up Chara's spine and squirted some last drops into her warm, soft, squishy padding, which quickly calmed her down. She wasn't ready to interact with someone. Still, she fought through the urge to tug her hood over her head and returned the wave, as did a sleepy little furred dragon with lovely mismatched eyes.

The rest of the workers gave her nods and waves as she backed away from the edge of the castle. A soft smile graced her tired yet sleepless face as her sharp, slit ruby pupils widened to serene auburn ovals. They weren't that pointed before, but still; nothing bad happened today, or rather, the previous day, she got a good nap and Toriel brought her a warm bottle when she awoke. No baseless threats came in, their plentiful counters against the so-called 'Motherland' were resounding successes (although she would've favored another way of testing their missle defense system, it turned out to be nothing worth resetting over, better for their impenetrable reputation), Uncle Metta signed some big comedy and theater deals with a few Japanese productions. He was gonna cameo in a new Godzilla!

After that, Dad and Azzie put together an arms and trade deal while she and Frisk got through an important change order for the floating city. Granted, their little sister just had added some flower and butterfly art added to the outside for the fishies to know the surface. Undyne got a security job for a UN conference, they were willing to pay a pretty penny to have a Leviathan and stronger Monster around to hold the line, even if she had no interest in what they were whining about. Alphys got some more of the Demi-Human's labor drone designs functional. They were able to stabilize welding work, though there was no way a machine would be allowed to produce an unsupervized flame, same case with laser cutters but those were working a lower temperatures with the help of basic kinetic magic. And she got Frisk to vote in favor of more funding to the Royal Guard after some less-friendly, further-away countries caved to a bunch of worker strikes over fire-protectionn magic items. If nothing else, Humanity's own dreadful ness also impacted each other, from world leaders to pigs.

I guess it's been a good month. Chara hummed their little brother's theme as she waddled to the next door. The transfer program hadn't been as bad as she anticipated. Maybe there could be an art fair or festival when the Halloween season was done. Candycanes and ornaments everywhere. She wasn't gonna reach for her Winter-themed bottles, yet, but now she was in the mood for some peppermint in her cocoa.

Time to learn if peppermint and pumpkin are a secret combo.

VVV 🎃 VVV

After blowing down a door just for all three of them and Berdly to walk right over a tripwire, shooting up a luxury hotel full of terrorists and Zoey 'accidentally' killing a rich person, and a drug bust mission, Vee popped Luz's pacifier in her mouth and settled for another nap before Ralsei and co. arrived. She had around an hour, he was delayed by some household chores and cooking since Susie picked up a shift at her steel mill (which she apparently worked at a lot and casually walked around molten metal). Camila was working a double, too.

Her back and head were really acting up, now. The game took her mind off things, but she needed her new binky to distract her from the throbbing ache and hot stinging as slivers of skin and scute peeled open. It wasn't usually this bad when she had her scales out. They were much more solid than Human skin and the transitional spots between her natural form and disguise, even though the Daemon could feel every single shift of their ends against her old wounds and hide; hurt like the deepest tips of the Titan's wings, but didn't redo as much damage to the lacerations in her daily life. Then again, she only had her scales out in the Boiling Isles. Shouldn't test her luck with the Human infections she'd never encountered and had barely been vaccinated for.

Besides, she just needed to spread her legs for her protection and bed to be nice and warm, now was the best time to sleep this off. That didn't make it easy. She supported herself on the bedframe and needed a moment to breathe before leaning down to peel back the blanket. It was her fault, really, this was what she got for tucking it in when she got up. Her feet wiggled under the covers like a pair of snakes burrowing through the bed, her diaper had expanded enough to prop up her bottom as she rested. It made a little bump in the comforter. She tucked an arm under the pillow, dragging it close while the other was against her chest.

From Vee's shoulders to her hips, the sting of her heartbeats flowing right beneath a thin layer of skin (if she had that much) pulsed against the fabric and the bare veins. A pathetic whimper muffled into her pacifier and pillow as her face sank into the stuffing and sweaty hair got caught in the crook of her neck. She didn't have the energy to fix it, her limbs were way too heavy and her body burned too hot. She was a cold-blooded monster, she was supposed to love warmth, but she wanted nothing more to stretch an arm across the room and ceiling to turn up the fan. But if she couldn't move an arm, then she certainly couldn't get up and reach for the cord; her eyes were already too tightly shut.

Wildflowers - Birthday cake - Candy - Bubblegum - Honey - Grass

VVV 🎃 VVV

Ralsei got done with his chores faster than he expected. Susie didn't leave much to be done. She was getting better at housekeeping! His bare paws padded around Gravesfield with a pair of baggy baby blue leg warmers beneath a frilly dress of the same color. The ribbon around the waist and a bow over the collar were darker blue and Noelle managed to find a matching bow for him, he clipped it onto the middle of one ear. Though it was pretty similar to his pink dress, the kids liked all the color swapping and the material was good quality. And blues and reds were easier to get the boys' attention, which made Mrs. Amelia's job a lot easier.

He stepped up to the Nocedas' porch and fished through the pockets of the bright white and pink duffle bag slung over his shoulder, appearing as if he was searching through it for a key while creating a small, shadowy wisp underneath a rock off to the side. The muddy spare key manifested in his paw and blinked pink as he quickly washed away the dirt. He allowed himself in and locked the door behind him. The fluffy monster briefly glanced across the living room, dining room, and kitchen, looking for Vee.

The poor basilisk didn't say she was feeling unwell, but her raspy voice began deteriorating before she signed off. At least he didn't have to rush through his chores to get here within the half-hour. Ralsei had hoped to see her up and about, or greet him at the front door, but alas, she must be in her room. "Vee, are you here?" He softly called up the stairs before ascending, not loud enough to wake her if she was getting some rest. Her room was spotless, save for an old and crumbling box at the foot of her and Luz's bed.

The poor thing's face was strained and sweaty. Her hair was knotted and her eyes were sunken. She had a purple pacifier covered in stickers and plastic diamonds in her mouth, starting to slip out of her lips as a line of drying drool trailed out of her mouth. Odds were she needed a change, too; he found it hard to believe she'd been able to go potty before all this. Ralsei searched the little purple box full of faded colors and rotten material. Not much of use, mostly the remnants of crayons, but there just so happened to be a scratched sippy cup inside. Based on the scratched-off white flowers, it'd seen its fair share of crashes.

Although they were all way too old to belong to Vee. Seems she wasn't the only little one of the Nocedas. She and Luz deserved a playdate after all this! Anyway, he borrowed it and brought it downstairs. He rolled up his sleeves and dug through his bag. There were mostly empty bottles of baby powder and rash cream, both only enough for her and needed, knowing she could've been sitting in a soaked diaper for a while now. Besides that, he had a small bottle of orange juice, a coloring book he was originally going to donate to the library, some of Kris's good-luck witchcrafty stuff, and a few baggies of basic magic herbs.

Setting them all aside, he borrowed a random jug from a cabinet and filled it with water, as close to a liter as he could get without the means to measure it. Then he searched the drawers and cabinets for measuring spoons, salt, and sugar. Ralsei went on the high end with the salt, half a teaspoon, and dumped about three or four tablespoons worth of sugar cubes into the mix. Sure, he knew better than not to measure, but sweets were measured with the Soul! He finished the concoction with a dribble of orange juice and charmed a wooden spoon to stir while he brought the purple sippy cup to the sink.

Damaging the decorations wasn't a concern, it needed to be clean before it went anywhere near the little snake's mouth. Ideally, he'd have brought a baby bottle so she didn't have to force her mouth open, but the sippy cup was the next best thing as the last of the flowery details were peeled off and the inside was repeatedly filled to the brim with soapy water, rinsed down the garbage disposal, and flipped upside-down to trap the hot steam as he boiled it from the inside-out. He was sure to repeat the process multiple times before allowing it anywhere near Vee's mouth, long after the flash-boiled grime stopped flaking out and staining the cleaning water.

That and constantly de-fogging his glasses gave his improvised electrolite water plenty of time to mix. When it was to his standards, he poured some of the jug into the cup and set it in the freezer while he did the same for the lid. It wouldn't get chilly in that amount of time, but it'd be ever so slightly easier to cover the difference when he was done. Good thing the scratchy sponge was handy and sanitary. Then it was time to sort through the herbs. They were all medicinal, but he decided to check the small cards inside to make sure they were what he needed. No need to give her a bellyache over nothing.

Balls of tendon cotton lined one, though he only needed the leaves. They were a good muscle relaxant and gradual internal healing when mixed with more standard healing herbs, Susie and Kris used them a lot. Ralsei mashed some of them between his paws and, remembering to shut his eyes this time, flashbanged them. They became warm and brittle, easily wafting off his paws onto the cutting board. Next he reached for a baggy of rosemary, lavender, and peppermint. They'd all been lobbed into one bag for general pain and stress relief, Elly's favorite. He oxidized the peppermint leaves and tossed them onto the pile while setting aside a vial of lavender oil. Kris liked to rub some of it under his nose before bed.

A more active ingredient was feverfew. He always kept some on him for the kids. The small white flowers with yellow centers were left unblasted by pure white light as he burned their stalks and lightly ran his paws over the flora; he gathered them up in a pile and spread them back out again until they were sufficiently mixed, then diced it while a glowing pink hand fetched the sippy cup from the freezer so he could sprinkle everything inside.

In hindsight, he should've left it warm so the leaves mixed better... Oh well! No matter as long as it got to Vee! He mixed in the crumbled plants, lavender oil, and chopped up some basic healing herb stems Kris had soaked and dried in a healing potion before rushing back upstairs. Vee was right where he left her. An aurora gathered with a snap of his fingers. The lights weren't of much help; there was a fairly low limit to what they could carry but there was enough support for him to lift the little out of bed without Susie's assistance.

Perhaps he should apply it to something as an enchantment whenever someone needed a change, like a nice scarf! Some wire from Susie's copper trade for structure and drawing out the spell (gold was a bit pricey), wrap it up in paper to sketch the spell on, and some cotton stuffing closer to the ends of the fabric for a good cushion. He'd just need that shade of pink he loved so much. The goat rolled out a changing mat to gently set her down on and tucked the bottom of his dress beneath his knees while he tugged down her pants, quickly confirming there was no need for a diaper check.

Diapee - sippy - heal... y... Got it! Since they were already here, he used the streaks to peel open Vee's diaper while he chilled the sippy cup and arranged his changing supplies. The aurora slowly pulled open each tape with the hopes of not waking her up while he lightly retracted the pacifier. She started to stir almost the instant it was removed and his lights slipped the diaper out from under her. He didn't carry wipes, he didn't need them when a blink of magic cleaned her up just fine. Might as well get the rash cream out of the way while she was already disturbed.

"Heyheyhey." He leaned over the basilisk. Her little eyes slowly fluttered open, teary and flickering with recognition. "Don't worry, it's me!"

Her chest filled with serene light and she slowly exhaled. Her brown eyes grew heavy and her body already started going limp. Seems she didn't even notice the paw of fur rolling up her sweater so the cloud of ticklish powder didn't get on it, not even a giggle. A thumb tried to stick between her lips, but he blocked with the sippy cup and lifted her head. She took to it quickly and drank gratefully while he lifted her up and slid the clean diaper under her. Ralsei was extra careful with jostling her back. Vee might've hid it well, but the scars and scrapes didn't always fade right, and nothing she did got rid of the deep wounds. Neither did his healing magic, she could only eat and rest well to outheal the constant stings.

The diaper folded over her privates and he carefully cleaned the light purple pacifier while she was distracted. He'd have to refill the sippy when he wrestled her back into bed and tucked her in, she was going through it very quickly. Poor thing was acting like she had nothing to drink the whole day, but anything bigger than her sippy cup might be hard for her swollen throat to down. He made sure to keep her spine as straight and stationary as possible as he adjusted the diaper and fastened it around her waist. Nice and tight, a pretty blue like her natural hair and the lines of blood that stained the backs of her clothes. He let her have her sucker back while he gave the diaper a final check.

* Caretaker Ralsei casts Ralsei's Perfected Pacify!

"There we go, it's just Ralsei." He lightly adjusted the way she rested on his lap and summoned a small trash can from the corner to tuck the diaper into for the time being. A set of three rosy rings swirled out of his index paw and claw with a droning tune like they were following a spiral. Pink glowed within their eyes and Vee's eyes momentarily widened, if only barely, then struggled to stay open as faint rings pulsed over her sclera. The ache in her head dulled over like a bunch of wool was tucking it into the back of her mind. It was hard to think, everything sped up like she was in slow motion. She tried to lift an arm but it flopped aside after just a second; she wanted to be tucked in, too, she wanted to be as fuzzy as her mind from her scales to her hearts. Was she floating? She might've been floating, her brain was too slow to figure it out. Everything was weightless and heavy at the same time. Her head and limbs swayed and relaxed aimlessly.

He had to awkwardly sit on the foot of the bed and duck his horns under the top bunk to pull back the blankets. Should've done this before picking her up. "There there, not a worry in your head." He booped her nose and kept their glowing eyes locked. Her pupils were wide and coated in dark pink from the edges of the entrancing shine, looking as though they were disappearing into her bubblegum irises. The most she could tense was wriggling her toes, kicking her feet under the covers, sucking her pacifier, and nuzzling into his fur like a baby serpent learning to burrow. "Not a worry, not a thought, nothing at all. Just let me worry about every little thing, I'll take care of you, I promise."

This was one of sleepy little Kris's absolute favorite spells, after the first couple of times they cast it. The testing phase MAY have been the cause of... a few 'impromptu potty breaks' and drool spots on his collar before his boyfriend started relieving himself before being Pacified, or else get put in Noelle's bottomwear. Lesson learned! ...Mostly... There'd been a handful of times he and Elly deemed it worthwhile to clean him and the floor for the sake of putting him to bed after a long day. "I think you deserve some naptime, don't you?"

He tugged the blanket up to her chin. Though unsure how else to make her comfy as her arms curled up to her chest and her fists sleepily bundled together right under the edge, at least she was being easy on her back, he barely even wanted her to lie on it but he wasn't sure how else to set her down. Other than refilling the sippy and making sure she can drink it all down without moving a muscle, there wasn't anything nonmagical he could do. Not until Miss Noceda got home.

Meaning he just had to last until then! And that was easy! He'd done tons of magic training! He clasped paws around his sleeves and tugged them up over his elbows. His bright white fur bristled like a cool breeze and the warmth of the morning Sun ran through it, unpreturbed by the spinning of the fan. Ralsei got on his knees before the Pacified Basilisk with the tops of his feet against the carpet, took off his glasses so they weren't bothering his ears while his bright pink eyes fluttered shut, and clasped his short, dull claws in a prayer before her bed. The only sound came from the fan as his little light tugged the chain to the lights off, the spinning wood blades, and the song pouring from his Soul. He never fashioned himself a singer until Elly and Susie insisted, Kris wasn't at the point of saying it back then.

An old song. Very old. Old as the Deltarune itself, back when it was little more than the symbol of their kingdom, before the War and Barrier tore their peoples apart. Back then, it was an anthem of the people; an anthem of hope for change and betterment when King Asgore took the throne, the song that carried the Royal family and his ancestors through the conflict, the song sung at the announcement of the Angel's fall, the Angel's death, and the Human-killing decree. The song that, eventually, became inseparable from the Deltarune and its prophecy, even a couple years after it was fulfilled. Odds were it'd be like that forever. Odds were everyone was happy to keep it that way, especially when it'd clearly grown on Princess Frisk.

A ring of light, dim white and joined by dancing streaks of pink, Vee's eyes didn't flicker open, her limbs didn't so much as twitch, she was too exhausted to suck the pacifier in her mouth but her ears still ate up Monster-Kind's incredibly ancient tune like it was magic. Maybe it was! Kris looked at magic much differently than Monsters, a way that couldn't be proven but was just as fascinating to Catti and Zoey. Maybe there was magic in the tune! Maybe there was something she was feeding off of besides his Mana.

He sang her The Legend.

* Caretaker Ralsei casts Heal Prayer!

Chapter 36: Rule IV - Asking For Help - Part 12

Summary:

Luz checks Tracy's room, throws everything around, and has a question.
Ghost Hunter Camila, baby Vee, and Ralsei gets hot cocoa.
The adults chat, Zoey comes in clutch, December sweep, worrying about the snek-otter, and waiting for Susie.

feat. Martlet and Papy's project and remembering the Fallen.

Martlet and Paps' new drone model was gonna know those uptight, cocky jerks right outta the competition! Even in the early stages, it was sleek, lightweight, able to slow down and speed out as fast as the material's integrity would allow, and had plenty of room for a small gun on the bottom! They might even be able to mount a railgun to it! Although they were gonna wait for Starlo to be done with the Gravesfield project before they tried that, he was the big gun nut and Kinetic Mage. If there was a way to get a railgun on their drone, he'd know how heavy and powerful it could be, the two of them knew how to attach it.

Until then, there were plenty of smaller railgun models they knew could stick to the bottom of their metal triangles for the sake of the presentation. None of the entries were the final products, the Royal Family never considered them as such, the polish would come with the massive budget boost. They both had more important things to tend to. She was assembling the last of many deep-sea construction (or combat) suits for the Fire Elementals. The massive plates of metal rigged to complex systems of hoists, chains, and hooks were a lot easier to wrestle with once her schedule adjusted. Paps helped, he never rested for anything and used a little bit of Blue Magic to make maneuvering the parts much easier and safer. Their mutual puzzle experience fastened the multiple layers of machinery together flawlessly.

Her efforts had sped up construction a fair bit. As far as she was aware, some civilian businesses and lesser-known contracting companies, including some Human folks from Europe and America trying to get in on the aquatic goldmine, had begun funneling into the floating city. Many of the Humans would be forced out when the system was functionally independent, the elder Prince and Princess could barely be convinced to allow so many of them in temporarily while the youngest and Queen were pro-allowing them all in seamlessly. King Asgore, as he'd been doing for a while now, walked the middle road.

Honestly, it was getting hard to tell what the Monster King favored when he was so busy keeping the halves of the government together. Not that it was a bad thing, he'd become a good mediator with the mostly stronger species on their doorsteps, as he did with his ex (awkward) and very powerful kids. One side being all of Frisk's hopes, the actual child who was still catching up on reading and math, didn't help the former Queen's case. Sweet and Determined as she was, Frisk still carried an abundant naivety.

Chara and Asriel were a lot more realistic in their policies. She spoke straight; he was willing to bend his words to keep favor, not to mention they clearly knew what they were doing. Sure, they were technically a short age after the Barrier was created, but for some reason, the Thunder Bird just couldn't shake the feeling they were much older than they looked. Maybe it was the way they carried themselves or spoke. Whatever it was, it didn't matter; something was off about those two in particular, but in a good way? Neither of them spent much time casually talking to the people, not compared to their Father, but they clearly kept up with the world and put Monsters first without fail. Not a lot of Humans could say the same (compared to their population density) and they took their roles much more seriously than the Queen coddling their youngest. If nothing else, they could be taken seriously.

There were a lot of reasons one side was loved and plastered over the papers whenever they appeared in the background of a conference, while the others hosted the conference. After all, Toriel didn't want to build this place because she thought it might be seen as a forward march on Humanity's control, which it was, while Chara and Asriel couldn't care less what they felt so long as Monsters progressed. And there weren't a lot of other places for them to expand, the whole second war thing had been pretty random unless the Clawed Angel had been tipping a few dominoes behind the scenes.

More likely she just took advantage of a bad situation, but damn was she good at turning things around, even mass death. Eyes were on her, eyes she didn't like, even if some of them came from Monsters, but everyone could see she and her brother had more to do with the Kingdom than King Asgore let on. Impressive, how tall they could stand, but they were still kids who were very happy to hang out with Uncle Papy away from the public's prying eyes. That's how Martlet got to spend time with them! And earned her badass greatsword and visit Clover.

and Papyrus got their shift done quickly, three and almost three hours of work done per hour. They signed out halfway through their intended shift, as she did since the beginning of her assignments, and left to explore the deeper depths of the city. Not all of it was safe for civilian personnel and only a little more was cleared for non-permitted workers to wander through. The water was darker than what made sense, like there was a line throughout the ocean where the light suddenly snapped off instead of a gradual gradient. A few bioluminecent animals had come up from the completely black trenches to swim around the strange water pressure, maybe the shielding systems reducing the pressure around the city were confusing them.

It was the same tech as their massive aquarium over in Ocean Zone, where Princess Chara put the same otter drones that were helping armored Fire Elementals deliver tools, boxes of heavy-duty bolts, and other smaller parts. She couldn't wait for kids to start chasing them and giving them high-fives across the illusory titanium. In the distance, the quaking sounds and dark outlines of whales infinitely bigger than what the Underground could support swam in the distance, keeping a good distance between them and the indestructible exterior and metallic roots. They were still working on gathering plants that could survive at such depths, even behind the depressurization defenses. Besides some especially hardy moss, algae, and seaweed, the outside of the structure wasn't very interesting. Fish and more plants would start settling into the foliage eventually, but the shallower segments were still way more interesting.

Up there, above the collapsible elevator connecting the mainly research-focused trench-skimming segment under construction to the residential, industrial, commercial, and economic section where everyone lived. Its was a transportation nightmare. Elevators were too solid and rigid to easily adjust to the swaying of the surface waves jostling the top half, the constant up and down motions of the city's bottom half avoiding the ocean floor and edges of trenches, and the currents between; many Human companies had tried to get in their good graces to design a solution, but were QUICKLY shut down by Chara and Asgore. They just wanted to abuse the international waters to test new and unreliable tricks, this wasn't the place for experimental means for exploring the ocean floor, especially not when that was going to be Monster Kind's domain.

Tragically, Monsters weren't stupid. One of the former Royal Scientists had put together the Core before she was even born, Doctor Alphys could use existing Human tricks to make their own water elevator. Countless conduits and stretchy pipes attached the segmented portions of the city's bottom and middle layers as several, multi-layered, life support-included, reinforced submersibles ran along thick wire bound by winches and constantly checked by workers, along with several enchantments like Mending and Unbreaking. They were fun to go back and forth in! The view wasn't interesting, yet, it was tough to squeeze plants and coral in the gaps of the flush piping, but some sharks and octopi sometimes investigated the openings before deciding to make the outstretched perches their new homes. Plenty of artificial reefs, decorative wrecks, and hollow plastic rocks had been placed there to encourage such behaviors.

And no, she and Papyrus did not spend the majority of the previous day just going up and down and talking to whoever sat by them, nor did they name an octopus and hermit crab. They got to walk around the perimeter of the outermost, getting great sights of the coral reefs both naturally growing and being passed by the city and growing on the outside. Plenty of them were intentionally constructed with holes against the metal shell, letting everyone see the animals swimming back and forth across the fake rocks, coral platforms, underwater growbeds, and shielded mechanical fixtures. Paps was more fond of the fish, she favored seeing the eels slither through the gaps in stones and hide in algae.

Clover could've made some sort of 'seahorse' cowboy jokes. There were some fish nets catching plenty of dinner while the salt water fed the fruits and veggies, the minerals filtered out as needed and dispersed across the structure. She'd overheard a few funny complaints about how much faster the natural materials were growing ahead of the metals, woods, bio-plastics, and carefully articulated plant matter; it was making the construction crews look bad, the handful of Human staff not knowing all the differences between Monster and Human codes and regulations didn't help.

Except for one of the robotics technicians. Old Man Harold was digging through an assembly arm line, the whole system was on 10% speed while construction was being finished and maintenance was testing the sync. She could tell from where she was that one of the hydraulic pipes was leaking, he was just flicking off the power before stepping in the salty puddle. Martlet's sharp yellow eyes stared out at the open ocean across from the small scene, a nice little wooden bench with arms and backs of shining roots sprouting out of the floor was sat right before it and a panel. When tapped, the sonar would highlight some short-range animals. Those that were right up against the barriers were behind the starting point so none of them were disturbed by the kids pushing all the buttons right in their homes, but a little further out would reveal the details of whales and sharks.

Papyrus went on to get some more supplies for their drones' computers, the cheap laptop parts were getting laggy and neither of them knew enough about programming to rework it before the big presentation. She stayed before the panel and illusion window, occasionally tapping the scanner again. Workers were huffing and puffing down the halls, too sweaty for jackets but too cold without them. Some were Humans just in it for the big bonus, some were partially aquatic folk having the times of their lives, some were from Hotland and relatively okay with the conditions, those originating from Snowdin were screwed no matter how few layers they were wearing. Not a lot of them had the foresight to get some cooling magic in their arsenals, she sure didn't until she started visiting Ceroba and Starlo in the Wild East.

Old Harold thudded on the other side of the bench. He wiped his forehead with a blackish cloth and fiddled with his toolbelt until everything was back in place. He was a lot more organised than Martlet, her tools went wherever the first place she searched for them was. Her screwdrivers were especially all over the place. His tired brown eyes looked up to the projection of the ocean with a spark of life and a crooked smile, watching a hungry pod of dolphins chase a school of tuna.

"Few months ago I didn't think this was possible." He muttered.

Martlet smiled shallowly. "The Clawed Angel does that."

One of the old man's eyes was cloudy and didn't open all the way, he had to turn all the way towards her to see the tight line of her beak. "Somethin' on your mind?"

The Thunderbird, easily two heads taller than him and one and a half while sitting down, gave him a short glance while debating if she was willing to share. "You ever see something... anything random that just reminds you... makes you think of someone you used to know just right out of left field?" She struggled to articulate. "A little boy named Clover."

He mulled it over and nodded. "How little?"

"One of the Souls." She dodged. "Second to last."

"Oh." The techie looked to the white ground and the mossy, grassy, flowery line of foliage blending the floor and walls together. How often running or adventurous children went missing atop the mountain, whether or not the bodies were discovered or were one of the Six, became well known once everyone started pointing fingers and fearmongering against the Monsters. Whatever the standpoint, Asgore and the three Heirs' decision to wall off the Kingdom was an appreciated one. That didn't stop some colorfully speaking Humans saying they were trading one Barrier for another or claiming they were xenophobic, nor did it distract from how quickly the missing children cases were dug up and dropped out of the public eye. She hated agreeing with Chara's Human policies.

"Well, what brought it up?" He asked and straightened his posture.

"Seahorses." She shrugged and tracked one of the perpetrators as it hid in some seaweed like a bright yellow pod. "He was a big cowboy fan."

"Did he ever meet that Shooting Star fella?" The mechanic brightened and followed up.

"Yes, actually!" Martlet perked as well. "They were great buds once all the Human Hunting was slightly treasonously brushed off." They shared a chuckle. It all felt so far away now.

VVV 🎃 VVV

Tracy's little room was a lot cleaner than Luz's. The Human meant to dust and vacuum more often, but it kept slipping her mind. But the Collector didn't walk or drop crumbs anywhere, they floated and weren't allowed food in their room, definitely not when Eda's room was right down the hall. Any bug he attracted would be coming for the Good Witch and Owl Lady's rooms, next, which attracted Hooty.

Searching the room was a nightmare with all the candles warding the edges. Everything had to be dragged to the center before she looked through it for insects, spiders, or fairies, none of which she was ready to deal with today. Beastkeeping class had a bit of a Boscha-induced breach, something something 'people forgot their place' something else petty and childish. Anyway, she'd been bugged-out for the day and didn't want to deal with this, but not as much as she wanted Tracy to be comfy.

His toys and plushies were clean, or as clean as Human salvage dragged out of a Trash Slug could be, and there wasn't even a garbage can here, let alone hidden snacks. Mama Eda would've caught him the instant he tried to smuggle treats into bed so that couldn't be it. Some simple metal grates were placed over the candles so they didn't accidentally set anything ablaze, the wax and heat kept anything from nesting inside. Not even cobwebs clung to the paper planets and stars she'd hung from strings. Dusting those was one of the only chores Tracy didn't have to be haggled to do.

Initially, the bed seemed fine, and not just because she didn't wanna wrestle the sheets around the candles. His purple blankets were freshly cleaned, they still smelled of the detergent Eda stole from the market on the Titan's other arm while stealing some high-quality Abominations supplies for one of Luz and Amity's school projects. And, also at first, his bedding looked the same. Lavender fabric on a scavenged, heavily-bleached mattress that was small and light enough for her to easily lift one side with one hand to check under the bed. Not even the underside of the bed had any nests or bug corpses or trash hiding beneath the frame. His pillows fell off the side, but they were also fine.

She was just starting to get frustrated with the rash mystery when she got a closer look at the sheets. Completely by chance, with a few toys and extra clothes the young Archivist, frozen in time, refused to wear in favor of his pajamas, she saw a slight difference between the purple shades. Tracy had left a stain in the middle of the bed, you could even tell he tended to sleep on his right side. It was faint by now, but noticeable enough she was glad she hadn't touched the bed.

Luz stepped to the side and pulled the corner of the sheet up so she could check the soaked mattress. Rather than yellow, it had a light pink smudge around the center and one side. Weird color aside, turns out their little star cherub was just a bedwetter! Come to think of it, had he ever used the bathroom? Besides baths, of course. He knew he had to go, right? She'd never seen him fidget or rush to go, nor had he ever complained about pausing playtime. Was he just going to bed with his legs crossed? Because it was pretty badly stained, especially for the short time they'd been living under Mama Eda's roof. They had been locked in statis for as long as the Boiling Isles was old, though, odds were it was the least of the Collector's worries... or bodily needs in the cold dark void of eternal imprisonment within a dimensional mirror slotted between realms.

...

Is Tracy potty trained?

VVV 🎃 VVV

Another day, another too-long shift for the sake of her baby girls. One of whom had been missing for a year and nobody was looking her, the other was a water snake from another realm she refused to talk about and who was the only reason their lives hadn't been upturned by the former vanishing, and she had to keep acting like nothing was amiss when her disguised youngest acted nothing like her oldest. She still couldn't decide if the fact nobody noticed her massive personality shift was a miracle or tragedy. Nobody else in this town could've pulled off this madness. At least one of them had friends who weren't reptiles or bugs... Technically, there was Susie and that big green snake with the baseball cap, though.

Other than the gigantic Monster coming over to help oversee them in a little bit, the house should've been free, but she could hear something was off the moment she walked through the door. Somehow get home early after wrestling with an angry corgi and there's already something going on. A soft, light wail carried through the house with a mystical tune that oozed age; good times long gone, yet returning. And it definitely didn't belong to Vee. The song was too clear and perfectly on-tune, but Camila's angelita's voice was raspier and quieter than this.

The kitchen was changed, she knew there were some dishes stacked in the sink before she left, she'd planned to work on them during or before the meeting. Now it was empty with some water splashed around the countertop. Camila spotted a pitcher filled with some foggy water as the song reached a high note, she'd never fill a tenth of that thing without rushing to the hardware store for a fresh water filter. She sorted through her purse for one of the less orthodox additions to her home defense arsenal.

Mrs. Noceda retrieved a wooden stake with various holy symbols, like Norse knots and pentagrams, she didn't actually know the meanings of and held it close to her chest. La Llorona was after her Sweet Vee! But it didn't matter if this one could breathe underwater, she couldn't have her bebé! She stampeded up the stairs as fast and quietly as she could, just in case the weeping ghost was listening, and rounded the corner to her girls' room to find the door wide open and lights out. Lowering sunlight filtered dimly through the blinds. Most of the colorful light came from the center of the bedroom.

Ralsei was praying on his knees with his snout pointed upward like a very small choir boy. His horns tilted up and down like curved levers as he raised and lowered notes, tracking the pace with a pulsing green, pink, and white light ring surrounding him. Vee's sleeping body was set carefully on the bottom bunk, tucked in snugly beneath the purple blanket, and her big snake plushie was wrapped loosely beside her face. Some of the changing supplies was neatly pressed against the wall, arranged from the tallest pack of baby powder closest to the door to the wipes last and a bottle of rash cream tucked in the middle. His glasses were beside him; they shifted forward and backward on the rounded bottoms of the frames with the humming of the gentle light. Ribbons flowed and danced through Vee's body as she restfully purred.

There was a light purple, somewhat sun-bleached pacifier bobbing in Vee's mouth. She recognized a bunch of plastic diamonds littering its guard, they were part of an art kit Luz mowed some lawns to buy. But that was a few years ago, before the snake incident, before Vee frantically stumbled into their lives. That old thing wasn't Vee's. It couldn't be Vee's. She even had a scratched-up purple sippy cup sat beside her, spotted with very old prints. That, too, was from way before this little girl accidentally wandered home. Luz would've been five the first time Camila made the mistake of letting such a child use big-girl cups, seven the last time it was used.

Or she thought that was the last time the flowery cup had seen the light, though she'd never been able to find it while cleaning the basement. There looked like some crayons and their cardboard packaging were glued to the bottom of a dusty, crumbling wooden box with a tarnished brass buckle. She might know where those came from, too, she'd have to do some digging in the attic to confirm. Vee absentmindedly kicked in her sleep like a wriggly little puppy having a dream about chasing fried chicken. Her back was glowing faint green under the covers. Ah, Veo...

Ralsei paused to take a deep breath. His spell didn't fade as he rubbed his eye and held a hand over his chest. Her shadow tipped him off and she rushed to hide the stake behind her back. He squinted at her, fished around in front of him for his glasses, and initially had them upside down as he stood up.

"Sorry! I got here early but she wasn't feeling well-"

"No need to explain, Mijo, just let me know next time." She cut him off before he woke Vee up and ushered them both out of the room.

The door clicked softly shut. "Was her back acting up?" She brought him downstairs so they could clean up the odd formula... pitcher... thing and vote on something healthy for dinner, since tomorrow would be a pizza night.

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded politely and adjusted his bright blue dress. He was already getting some paper towels and wiping off the counter. "Does this happen often?" Ralsei worried.

"Feels like something reopens every few weeks." She uncomfortably remembered the first time she witnessed Vee trying to subtly dab a cottonball soaked in hydrogen peroxide beneath her clothes. The sweater was only barely ruffled up her too-thin belly, but she'd only barely caught the ends of some deep lapis lines and pale blue scar tissue. And Vee was EXTREMELY resistant to being touched, or even seen, under there.

"Any ideas how to explain it to a doctor?" He asked as if he hadn't guessed the answer.

"Nothing could clear that up." Camila lamented and made sure the dishes were put away correctly.

"...Car crash?" Ralsei poorly offered.

"Not when I came out fine and there's no report." She sighed and leaned against the counter. "But thank you, Ralsei... How about we wait on this and make some cocoa?"

VVV 🎃 VVV

They put on some documentaries and waited for the others. Susie was expected to arrive first, but the lizard turned out to be working on something with Kris. Noelle managed to get her older sister to check in at the right time, just until Susie could get there. Zoey, that keeper, talked Immanuel and Alex into some Robin's Roast before arriving. Ralsei was a doll. He held himself like he was hosting a tea party and rested his cup on a coaster, even when it was in his lap.

"How convincing would someone attacking her be?" He attempted another solution.

"Police would get involved." She critiqued.

"And start asking questions." The goat nodded. "The Royal Guard would be all over a kid's case; maybe Princess Chara, too, depends how bad it is."

"Your Princess would get involved?" She had ot know, there had to be a story there.

Ralsei shrugged. "Prince Asriel got a law that put more priority on children's cases, and Princess Chara tends to add some gold to certain cases. Things cooled down after everyone got settled on the surface and she put more Guards on the streets, but people remember." He soothed the back of his neck. "Nobody knows much about her life before becoming the eldest Dreemurr. Uh, she's adopted, so... everyone talks, but nothing's for certain, she does most of her work behind the curtain."

"Aye, Frisk's the photogenic one, right?" Camila hummed.

He chuckled fondly as a heavy fist hit the door. They got up to answer it at the same time. A pink ribbon of light collected their cocoa as they made sure that freak hadn't been released and was trying to bash down her door in that hideous 'Earth defense armor' crafted from plastic and PVC cement. December was waiting through the peephole. Her crimson baseball bat had some bright red streaks painted around it like a tornado and her antlers, yet to land on a color Camila was confident was her real color, were a very deep black with extremely bright red tips like a fading, charred bonfire. She had that red and black flannel over an extremely torn up, functionally nonexistant dark gray tee. Her jeans had almost as many holes in them and were dragging white threads stained with mud; her hooves were equally filthy.

The reindeer nodded with a smirk as Camila opened the door and made her wipe her hooves on the mat before coming in. She nonchalantly dropped her bat behind the coat rack and plopped down on the couch. "How's she been?" Dess flippantly asked.

"Just a little sick, she's resting." Camila started on another cup of cocoa.

"Thanks." She smirked. "Should we reschedule?"

The vet waved her away. "Everyone's already coming over, and she gets through it quickly. Just leave her be."

December propped herself up with an arm over the back of the couch. "How often does this happen?"

"Every couple of weeks." Camila repeated for the reindeer, who shifted to fully face the Human with her knees on the cushion and leaning over the back.

"And you've done something about it, right?"

"Of course." Camila had to bite back some indignation. She's just a child. "I make sure the first-aid kit is stocked every week, I pick out anything else that might help, I check in on her every time it happens." She listed off, increasingly heated but keeping her voice low, just in case her fluffy ears could hear them through the door and down the stairs. "I've tried to check her back but she starts reopening her cuts every time I try!" The vet pinched the bridge of her nose while the kids shared an uneasy look. "Listen, novios, I appreciate you're trying to spend time with her; it's wonderful to see her making some friends other than everyone she met at camp. But I need her to stay still for a little while, now that she's out of school, those cuts need to heal properly before she can go running around."

"But after that, she'll ruin you if you ever play volleyball." Miss Noceda couldn't help a touch of pride and a menacing grin.

"You're on!" December lit up. Smoke wafted off the tips of her antlers like a smoldering chandelier, her fingertips similarly darkened with dark gray wisps.

"Didn't you sprain your ankle doing that?" Ralsei mentioned.

Her whole body deflated. "Skid on sand one time."

"It was more than once!" The goat stifled a giggle behind his paw. She put a smoking, slightly glowing orange nail under his snout like she was holding him at (finger)gunpoint with completely deadpan face. He just took a deep breath like he was roasting s'mores over a bonfire.

"I thought you did lightning?" Camila pointed out.

She shrugged. "Went for fire to piss of my Mom, electricity's an easy jumping-off point from all the ice in that place." Dess leered at the thought of her supposed home and got off the couch. "Susie should be getting here soon. I'm gonna check on Elly while I'm here." December cut off the conversation before anyone could press and headed for the door.

But very well, December's life wasn't of the Nocedas' concerns, she just couldn't help being a Mama; today was about her youngest daughter first and a boy and child second.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 5 of Our Little Monsters AU/SolarTale