Izuku could not believe what Eda just did.
"I haven't seen mother in forever!" Lilith stomped over to her sister in equal amounts of disbelief. "And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!"
"I'd kill to see my mom right now and you launch yours into the sky!?" Luz added.
On second thought, Izuku could believe what he had just seen. "I'll go get her. Michaelis!" At his call, the white raven came flying out the door.
"Don't," Eda stood in front of him, even grabbing Michaelis from him. "Come on, ZuZu-"
"Don't call me that."
"-we've been over this." Eda kept talking. "Every year it's the same story just with different hot garbage even I wouldn't sell."
The night with the sea goats came to Izuku's mind. Gwen had been doing odd jobs for travel money to find anything she thought could help end her daughter's pain. From what Eda had ranted about, however, it sounded more like, what was the term Luz had used before? Snake oil? Then again, Luz did in fact make a bottle of oil infused with shed skin of apparently easily acquired snakes.
Sometimes Izuku wondered if girls were a separate species entirely.
"Mother visits Edalyn," Lilith walked back to the house with wide eyes not particularly focused on anything in front on her, "regularly?"
Tossing aside his musings about gender, and considering the flare up a few minutes ago, Izuku began to follow his possibly former mentor back inside, noticing they were one short. He turned, seeing Luz had began to head towards where Gwen was unceremoniously thrown to, and felt a little hand grab his.
It was, of course, King.
"Uh, Izuku?" The little demon meekly tapped his claws together, looking rather smaller. "Since Eda's mom came back, do you think my dad can too?"
["Mom, when is dad coming-?"]
Izuku gulped at the memory, shutting it out of his mind as quickly as he could without alarming King. Mom was taller then, her figure might have started to fill out but the change was so gradual over those ten years. But there was one constant: it had always been just him and his mom.
'Like King and Eda.'
"III don't see why not," Izuku picked him up. "Have you not met Gwen?"
King wiggled a bit, getting comfortable. "I've seen her, but Eda never lets her inside."
"Huh, really?" Nodding, Izuku closed the door, seeing Lilith had slumped onto the couch with a pint of ice cream, struggling to open it. He tilted his head as if the sight would make anymore sense at a slightly different angle. Adjusting his hold on King with a little bounce, he cautiously approached. "H-hey Lilith." He had suddenly felt so uncomfortable using given names, wondering when the opposite had first began. "You, um, you okay there?"
Lilith was trying to pry open the top of the ice cream pint, using her fingers, then the spoon, before finally resorting to her teeth.
Unable to leave anything be, Izuku offered out his hand, slightly taken aback by the chill of the sweet treat now in his hand. He opened the pint, planning to hand it back when Lilith had snatched her prize.
"Thirty years!" She began to eat. "Thirty years of blood, sweat, and tears to rise through the ranks and not once did I hear a peep from her!" The way she flung around her spoon, it got ice cream on the couch. "But Edalyn gets to see her every year just because she got cursed!" She flung more ice cream, and it landed on King's forehead.
"Weh!" King shook it off like a wet dog. "Didn't you curse Eda?"
Lilith paused, shrugged, and kept eating.
Feeling little claws clutching him, Izuku picked up Francois, handing him to his owner. "Hey, who says ice cream is just for feeling sad?" He still wanted to go help Luz with Gwen, but he would also rather not leave Lilith in this state either.
knockknock
"Hoothoot!" Hooty opened the front door. "We got another guest!"
In walked was a girl with purple-pinkish hair. For a second, Izuku did not recognize her, but it quickly became realization when he saw her eyes.
"Amity!" Izuku beamed, seeing her a bit tense while holding the strap of her bag tight. "What's-?"
And behind her was her father.
"M-M-Mr. Blight!" Izuku backed away quickly-
"Weh!"/thud!/"Sorry!"
...
...
'Calm down, Izuku. Breathe. It's not like you're the one dating Amity. You can totally handle being a good host for him. Wait, is he here to meet Luz!? Oh no, how long can I stall him for!?'
"Make way!" King passed him with two more pints of ice cream balanced on his head, the cold shocking Izuku out of his thoughts.
'Okay. This is fine. Completely. Fine.' Izuku took a deep breath. "You can fight a tyrant, you can host an impromptu ice cream social." And he returned to the living room where Amity, Mr. Blight, and Lilith were waiting.
"-and ugh!" Lilith was in the middle of ranting, laying down while eating. "The endless meetings! Budgets, policies, curriculums, programs-!" She dug into her ice cream, shoveling more in her mouth while still ranting. "It's like people think we can just make snails out of thin air!"
Amity clearly looked a bit uncomfortable.
"At least the Emperor's Coven gets sick days." Mr. Blight, however, was indulging as well. "Common Mold season is coming and we're not even allowed to have protective equipment in the lab. 'Frivolous spending', apparently. Ugh, just like the time we had a break-out of Solomonella because some intern didn't wash their hands after lunch break!"
"Ha!" Lilith barked a laugh again. "Sick days. That's cute."
"Solo-what?" Izuku felt it sounded familiar.
Mr. Blight waved his hand. "Oh just a little virus that causes the body to expell, well, everything. From both ends."
Izuku cringed at the mental imagery.
Amity had the meanest glare she could muster, her face turning red with anger.
Mr. Blight seemed to take the hint, maybe, and ate more ice cream, causing Amity to sigh it off.
Taking the chance to sit down and resolving to wash his hands more often, Izuku opened another pint, Abomi-berry. "Sooo, Amity," he portioned them out, a couple scoops for Amity, a couple for himself, and King got the rest, using his claws to scoop it up, "what, uh, brings you over? I-I mean! You can just visit if you want, of course! B-Because Luz iiisss-" he drawled out a pause, looking to Mr. Blight again. Was bigotry a thing on the Boiling Isles? Was he about to reveal something Amity would rather keep secret? "-sss helping Eda! Which is to be totally expected because she's Eda's apprentice! And I'm, uh, Lilith's...?"
"Oh." Mr. Blight blinked. "I was led to believe Darius was your mentor."
Lilith stuck her tongue out and blew air. "As if I can teach anyone anything now. Hey, Alador," she sat up a bit, "you wanna take a shot at it?" She said while nodding to Izuku. "You're not a good father but surely you got some words of wisdom to pass on?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm and it was Franken Fruit flavored.
This gave Mr. Blight pause. "Pardon?"
Amity blinked and spoke loudly. "Midori! Did you catch up to the Azura books yet?"
"Oh you know what I mean," Lilith continued as if nothing happened, crossing one leg over the other. "Of all the people to become a parent, never expected Flightly Blighty to focus long enough." She said with a smirk.
Izuku and Amity both made a choked gasping sound. He saw Amity's face turn pale, then to the same shade of green her hair had previously been. As for Mr. Blight, he clenched his whole body.
Clearing his throat, Izuku spoke loudly. "O-Oh, y-y-yeah! I actually just finished book four! 'The answer thy seek stays locked in thy heart, in thou hands the key' is such a great bit of foreshadowing!"
"I know, right?" Amity, too hastily and forcibly, smiled back. "And how Azura and Lucy interpret it so differ-?"
"I am a great father, for your information, Clawthorne." Mr. Blight retorted.
Lilith snorted and laughed. "Surree, Flighty Blighty. Not like your twins are average in their studies at best. And look at Amity!"
"What about her?"
"Her hair is a completely different color!" Lilith gestured, even holding up locks of her own hair.
"It is not." Mr. Blight gestured...to Izuku. "Her hair matches her siblings'."
Izuku squeaked, looking to Amity, Lilith laughing even more.
"Weh!" King finally came up for air from his dive into the ice cream. "Izuku, I didn't know you were a girl today!"
"I'm not-!" Izuku began a rebuttal but paused. 'Am I...a girl?' In his mind, we recalled Luz always using the more boy-ish 'boku' and 'ore' when typing in Japanese after the initial phase of polite 'watashi' had drifted into more comfortable speech, and even once Izuku learned Luz was a girl, at least biologically speaking. 'Then again Luz also calls herself a bad boy so maybe it's more of a feeling? And Malingale was given masculine pronouns in the Japanese dubs of the Azura movies, but feminine in other countries and in the initial translations of the books before another character with implied romantic interest and masculine appearance was introduced-'
"Midori." Amity's voice brought Izuku out of his thoughts. "Muttering."
"Oh, Amity-" Mr. Blight looked at her. Then to Izuku. Then back to Amity. "When did you change your hair?"
Amity groaned and put her head in her hands.
"Hey, Izuku?" Lilith suddenly called. "Where's-" her voice trailed off while waving the spoon around, "Luz?"
Izuku blinked, getting his thoughts back on track. "Uh, I saw her go with your mom." He looked down at the ice cream, then to the ingredients, seeing sea goat milk listed. "Um, Lilith?"
"Hah?"
"When you..." he looked at Amity and Mr. Blight, "found the curse, was there anything about what it could be weak to? If it can be removed?"
"Uugghh, you sound like mother." Lilith groaned.
Mr. Blight rolled his eyes. "And I suppose you would know what one sounds like."
"Hey I-" Lilith sat up to retort, but paused. "Wait. Mother is...still here? As in she's nearby?" Her eyes set in stone in a questioning glare.
Izuku clenched. Obvious stress eating, stress was not good for the curse, but at least there were elixirs literally everywhere. "Uhhh, yes?"
Mr. Blight blinked. "Are we...interrupting something?"
Lilith's face went blank, stuck in some zone in between a grimace and a smile hiding the wrath of a thousand suns. Perhaps it was the latter?
"Ha." Lilith's eye twitched. "Hahaha. Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-" she began laughing, covering her face with her hands.
Mr. Blight hummed. "She seems happy with the news." He then looked to Amity. "As for you, Amity, you know how your mother feels about your hair."
"I know." Amity crossed her arms.
"We will discuss this later," Mr. Blight began to walk to the door, though he had a moment to pause, his brows furrowing. "As well as the topic of grades with Emira and Edric."
"Wait, we're leaving?"
Lilith's laughing turned to sobbing, and black feathers began sprouting from her face, arms, the number growing quickly.
"King! Go get the elixirs!" Izuku went to Lilith, crouching down. "H-hey! It's going to be okay! I'm sure if we all sit and-" he saw Lilith's eyes become clouded with what appeared to be pure darkness, "-talked...!"
"Weh!" King was fending off a large hawk palisman. "Get away!"
The palisman rushed past them with a burlap sack, contents clinking, one bottle of elixir dropping onto the ground with the spine-chilling sound of glass now turned into a thousand tiny useless shard as Lilith's body made similar wretched noises of bones breaking into new angles, muscles stretched to new lengths, and entirely new appendages sprouting to existence.
"Nonono-!"
["It's scary at first," Luz had gotten rope, pillows, pots, and anything else she could possibly use as makeshift armor, "but it's still Eda. She's just," her hands clenched a bit, "in pain. You don't have to help if you don't-"]
"Come on!" Amity pulled him away.
Rushing outside seemed far more of an endeavor than before despite being no less than five seconds from the door. Izuku had scooped up King in the dash while Amity was pulling her dad away who had been walking closer to the newly transformed Lilith.
'Hooty this is a fire hazard!' Izuku almost hit his face on the door while opening it, more or less pushed out by Amity. They put some distance between themselves and whatever Lilith had transformed into, Hooty closing the door-
bam!BAM!
"Ow! Hoot!" Hooty looked to be struggling. "Save yourselves!"
"Michaelis!" Izuku called, and once more the palisman came, flying from somewhere in the back of the house. He caught the staff, almost falling back until Mr. Blight took hold of the staff, yanking it from Izuku's hands.
"Dad!" Amity yelled, though he held it away.
"Amity, you are already in trouble with your mother for dying a hair a-" he paused and stammered, "-that color. Explain to me what's going on."
"Is now really the time!?" Amity shouted back.
'Is she crazy!?' Izuku gulped. "Mr. Blight! I can explain! But first-"
BAM!
The door flew open, the pale animalistic face of an avian beast snarling at them.
CRACK!
Before a bunch of vines pushed it back in.
They looked at the source, seeing the flower-rabbit.
"Isn't that the thing you keep feeding?" King piped up.
The flower-rabbit hopped up towards Izuku, turning into a green staff. Vein-like patterns swirled around the length of the staff up to the top, where the flower-rabbit almost looked completely like a plant sprouting from a little bush.
Amity gasped, Mr. Blight looked surprised.
"Is that-?"
SKREEEEE!
"We need Eda!" King pulled on Izuku's arm, the black bird beast clawing its way out of the front door.
"Right!" Izuku hopped onto the new staff. "Michaelis, keep Amity and her dad safe."
Michaelis pulled Mr. Blight one way, much to his surprise.
"Midori," Amity put a hand on his arm. "Are you sure you can handle this?"
"Not alone," Izuku clenched the staff, the weight unfamiliar, the patterns in fact being etchings. "But she's hurt and needs help."
BAM!
"Go!" Izuku and King flew off. Glancing down, he saw Amity leading her dad away.
...
...
Luz had two bottles of elixir, Owlbert, and only one shot. She was fidgeting with the staff, hand repeatedly tightening in preparation to fly over two possibly still but easily aggitated targets whose mouths might not even be open-
"Luz!"
She gasped.
"Amity?" Luz saw Amity with-"Michaelis? Amity, what are you-? When-?"
"Bringing Midori a book, Lilith transformed somehow," Amity sounded confused for a second before she held out her hand with a smile. "Here to help."
'No no no, you don't have to worry about me!' Luz blinked, stepping back, clutching the elixirs closer. "I-it's fine! I can-!"
"Luz!" Izuku's voice snapped her out of it, seeing him fly through the air.
She gasped. "I'll be back, mi amor!" Luz flew up, handing one of the elixirs to Izuku in an honestly impressive throw.
...
...
Luz, Eda, Gwen, and King had been outside talking, Amity and her father were standing off to the side, not talking, though not from lack of trying on Mr. Blight's end. Their voices were muffled by distance and the glass of the window.
"Looks like it all worked out," Izuku could barely hear snippets of what sounded like a reconciliation. He had been more focused on the flower-rabbit cautiously perching itself in his lap. "Thanks again, for your help," he looked down, gently caressing its face with a finger. "We couldn't have done it without you."
squawk!
"Hm?" Izuku felt something press against his leg, looking down to see the goofy white raven palisman. "Oh, hey Michaelis." Upon a second glance, he could see the bird's usual hunched posture seemed worse, eyes sad, even frowning.
"Michaelis!" Before Izuku could wonder, he heard Lilith call out, her heeled footsteps entering the living room, hauling a large wrapped bundle. "Oh! There you are."
Lilith approached but Michaelis hid behind Izuku's leg. She frowned at her palisman, putting her hands to her hips.
Izuku looked at Michaelis again, then to Lilith, and then the bag. "What's," he felt he knew the answer, but still asked, "all that for?"
The older witch blinked and smiled. "Well, in light of-" she plucked a black feather out of her hair, "-recent revelations, I realized my presence has," her voice drawled a bit as she glanced away, "overstayed its welcome."
"What!?" Surprisingly, he and Hooty both shouted, puncuated by the front door opening so Hooty could enter, though Lilith used it as a chance to head outside.
"No!" Izuku got up, holding the flower-rabbit as he followed. "You're welcome here for as long as you like! Er," he paused, "or I guess as long as Eda says so?"
"She lived here?" King asked.
Gwen had an uneasy smile as she reached into her hair. "And don't worry, witchlet," she pulled out a couple bottles of elixir. "We'll be sure to keep these stocked up."
"Even if they are," Lilith cleared her throat, "disgusting, but such is the sacrifice of learning more about this curse." Lilith tried to joke, patting Izuku's head.
"No! Lulu!" Hooty went to Lilith, sobbing and nuzzling her. "You can't!"
Mr. Blight came forward, cleaning his goggles long past the point of necessity and cleared his throat. "Midori, thank you for your hospitality. Despite your-" he looked to Eda, "company, you are a remarkable young lady."
Izuku felt the need to correct but decided to let it slide. "Thank you, Mr. Blight."
squeak!
The flower-rabbit responded in an angry tone.
"And while I study the curse, I'll see if I can find anything on making a portal to the Human Realm," Lilith added.
Amity made a light scoff. "Oh, I got that covered." She reached into her bag and pulled out an ancient looking book. "Ta-dah! One personal diary of Philip Wittebane."
Luz and Izuku gasped.
"Oh! My! Titan!" Luz squealed like a tea kettle, hugging Amity. "You're the best! How'd you know what we were looking for?"
"Midori asked me." Amity nodded her head to Izuku. "I had to do a lot of overtime, but if there's anything about portals," she began to open the book, "it's probably-" and paused when she saw the pages had all been hollowed out by a little white mouse-like creature with a skull-like face.
Hollow.
Pages, most likely already brittle with age and wear and tear, were but fragments in the mouse's teeth, digesting into fecal matter as they stood watching.
"You little rat-!" Luz pointed at it.
"Oh!" Gwen smiled and cooed, picking it up. "It's an echo mouse!" She gave it light rubs on its head and under its chin, making kissy-sounds. "Did you have a good meal?"
"Yeah! Eating all the info we needed!" Luz continued.
"Easy, big guy," Eda held her back with a knowing smile.
Gwen casted a spell, creating a little enclosure around the echo mouse to carry it. "There we go. Looks like we'll need to keep an eye on whatever information it coughs up."
Izuku blinked. "Wait, it can regurgitate whatever it eats?"
"More or less." Mr. Blight shrugged. "Though only at random. Be lucky it wasn't a bookworm or it would have been lost forever."
Izuku glanced at Luz, and she glanced back.
Lilith adjusted her grip on Michaelis and her bag, looking at Izuku. "I," she paused, looking at her hand, "know I haven't been the best mentor." She looked at Amity as well. "But rest assured from now on us adults will handle things so you kids can-" she paused again, humming, "-do whatever kids do these days." She hopped onto her staff, kicking her leg up. "Byyyeee!" And off she went.
Gwen hopped into her staff as well. "Oh and Izuku, if your palisman ever needs repairs, my husband will be happy to take a look!"
Izuku held the flower-rabbit tighter.
Amity looked down at the hollowed book. "Sorry guys."
"It's fine." Luz smiled, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Love the new hair color by the way."
Amity blushed, giving Luz a kiss back, also on the cheek. "See you guys at school."
Izuku was sure he heard Mr. Blight ask something, but between Eda and King fighting over who gets the couch and Hooty still sobbing, it had been background noise, forgotten when Izuku and Luz settled into their beds. Well, sleeping bag for Luz and the biggest dog bed they could find for Izuku which was admittedly extremely comfortable and can fit the flower-rabbit as well.
It had been quiet, once Hooty stopped sobbing, though bugs and creatures of the Demon Realm roamed about the night. He was sure he could hear the waves of the Boiling Sea just outside and over the cliff.
"I think summer camp is over." Luz suddenly said.
Izuku took a deep breath. "Yeah."
A pause.
"Our moms are definitely worried by now."
"Yeah."
A longer pause.
"So why does Mr. Blight think you're a girl?"
Izuku just shrugged and made a noise.
Luz rolled over, looking at Izuku with beaming eyes.
Izuku tried not to look, but alas, his spirit was weak.
"You have a palisman!" She could barely contain her voice, her whisper much too loud and more of an excited squeal.
Izuku looked at the flower-rabbit, seeing it curled up. "I guess so." He noticed the jagged edges of cuts and scratches. With the intricate carvings swirling around the staff he doubted those marks were intentional. Not to mention the shape itself would mean someone took meticulous care to carve-
BA-DUMP
The essence of a palisman.
What Belos feeds on.
He looked at Luz, seeing she has fallen asleep rather quickly judging by the puddle of drool already forming.
Izuku looked at the flower-rabbit.
"I'll protect you."
squeak
...
...
Tissues were everywhere, along with packaging of a bunch of food. Instant ramen, melon bread, boxes upon boxes of pocky, and a few tubs of ice cream.
"I'd never hear the end of it if the nerd came back to a pig-" Katsuki was honestly grateful he was mumbling and his hag of a mom took Auntie Inko out for a bit. He shook his head, continuing to clean. Throwing out trash, doing some dishes, sorting out papers on the table, including another batch of missing posters.
Three months.
Three months.
Katsuki grinded his teeth.
"When you get back, the first thing I'm doing is kicking your a-!" He coughed. "Stupid sludge villain!" His movements became harsh. "Stupid Deku for disappearing! Stupid All Might for not checking on Auntie! Stupid! Stupid Stupid!"
Underneath the pile of posters and tissues was a picture of when they were kids. Before middle school. Before elementary even. Before Katsuki got his Quirk and everything changed...
'Stupid Katsuki.'