Chapter Text
Krel's Side
Edric bid Krel goodbye for the day as he entered the Owl House, he told him about discovering the Light Glyph at Blight Manor, making sure Krel didn't throw rocks at Amity again, "I am still keeping this rock, I forgot to pack all my gadgets to bring them here so I still need to be resourceful." Ed chuckled "Maybe I can get it for you, I mean the portal is still here" Krel stared at him but ignored it "Eh sure." "Oh yeah, meet you at the Covention in two days, I'll explain it to you later." Krel nodded and entered The Owl House, Edric entered the shed and found the key again with a note: "I'm only doing this because you make a good bargain" signed by Eda the Owl Lady, Edric activated the portal and entered the Human Realm at night.
The same song and dance last time, grabbing the hidden tracker, and using it around locations in Arcadia looking for Varvatos, nothing came up again, He returned the tracker to it's compartment while he went back to the Mothership, Knocking on the door and seeing Zadra again "Back more another lesson?" Ed nodded "And to get Krel's gadgets" Zadra let him in, Training with Zadra was a lot tougher than Varvatos, "The traitor held back against you, I won't" slashing her blades at Edric "He never taught you how to dodge projectiles easily right?" Ed paused "Uh..." Zadra slashed projectiles at Edric and in a quick response, he shielded himself "I still see your involvement to be foolish" Ed looked up with a puzzled face but she continued "You could easily perish from a fight and unlike Akiridions, your weak spot is your entire body." "So?" "So you aren't fit to be a soldier!" Zadra raised her voice.
"Did that stop me when I killed Zeron Omega? I might not be meant to fight, but I still do because... because I care about him." Zadra stared at him but continued the lesson sparring with him, through combat she spoke "Caring about someone is not enough for you to be a soldier, You have to be born to fight!" Edric blocked her scythe "You can't be useful if you can't take a hit!" The boy ducking and rolling to the other side of the training ground "Vex didn't equip you with armor!" Launching a projectile at Edric, only for it to poof, her eyes widened as Edric rammed his shield from behind "That stuff is too basic for me." he helped Zadra up "I... assure you-" Edric ignored her words as she continued, after that lecture "Well, you seem to have improved since last time, you may take a break".
Edric sat on the couch and looked after Luug, "Hey little buddy, is Zadra feeding you correctly?" Luug licked him in the face "Alright Luug, it's just... I'm glad Krel's taking his time and hiding away but... I dunno, It feels like I made the wrong decision, Sure he's learning Magic in some capacity... I just hope it's enough." Luug rested on the couch "I'll ask Princy to at least bring you to the Isles when I get home, for now..." He left the couch to enter Krel's workshop, "Are you planning anything?" Zadra appeared behind him "Krel instructed me to get him his tech." Zadra accepted and left, Edric rubbed his palms and grabbed a sack, "I'll get this stuff first then I'll get stuff for the Owl Lady." grabbing Krel's technology and putting it in a sack, including an orb that works like a bubble trap, his tools and equipment, and Aja's hoverboard in case, He waved his hand to Zadra and left to bring the sack to the house, He opened the door and left the sack in the demon realm, leaving a note to Eda "This is Krel's Stuff, don't touch it." and left to grab some human realm knick knacks.
He had to avoid a troll and a kid patrolling the streets, he grabbed whatever he could, random toys and items thrown away, asked Stuart for any broken items he doesn't need, "Eh whatever, it's on the house kid." giving him some broken equipment, He grabbed the sack and threw it into the Demon Realm, He opened his scroll to text Eda "I got the goods" and she opened the shed "Alright Kid, woah double the load!" Ed stopped Eda "Ah ah ah, This sack is Krel's stuff" Eda sighed "All this just to give you access to the Human Realm?" opening the sack but seeing all the junk Ed found "Eh, all of this looks sellable enough, and I can always ask Krel to fix it, Kid might be a pain in the butt but he is still capable of this stuff." Edric shook her hand "Give Krel this stuff when he wakes up, I need to go home and rest." Opening the door, activating his hoverboard before concealing it in magic then flying off to Blight Manor.
Eda grabbed both sacks and hauled them inside "Oooh, Double the load I see hoot hoot?" "Can it Hooty, This one" picking up a sack with a note "Is for Krel"
"You did call him a pain in the butt Eda, I heard the whole thing." "Is it not true?" "Is this you projecting your feelings about your own sibling?" "Who, Lilith? She and Krel aren't the same... I mean sure he may be a bit cocky and talented... but that's just face value, the kid isn't gonna join the emperors coven and... grow distant to his... own sister..." "You're projecting hoot hoot." "Am not! He said his sister vanished, and I gotta make sure he and Luz get along or else it happens again!" Hooty narrowed his eyes "You just implied Luz as Krel's sister" "Don't put words in my mouth, this conversation is over."
Hooty retracted and Eda left the sacks in the living room as she went upstairs to rest, neither Luz, King nor Krel heard what happened and were still asleep in their beds, Eda flopped on her nest, popped a potion for the curse and went to sleep.
// The Next Day //
Eda woke up first and went downstairs, sacks both still in tact, "Yo Hooty, go wake up the blue one" Hooty stretched his way to Krel while he was sleeping, he looked at him for a moment before- "HOOT HOOT TIME TO WAKE UP KREL!" waking him up in a panic "I AM UP!" before looking at Hooty "You again?" "Eda told me to wake you up" Krel ran off hearing Eda's name "Eda!" "Morning kid, your boyfriend left this sack in the house." Krel looked up to the sack "The other ones just junk I ransacked from the Human Realm." Krel opened up his sack "Is this... my tools?" He dug deeper and found all his technology "He really did it, he got all my technology from my workshop" Behind him Luz yawned "I heard Hooty's voice and I- Woah mama" Krel looked back "Oh hey Luz" they waved at eachother as Luz inspected the sack "Is that Eda's haul?" "Actually, my consort went to get my technology from my workshop" "Ooooh Akiridion gadgets and gizmos" Picking one up, it was an orb "Can I press the button?" "I suggest pressing it outside" completely aware of what was gonna happen as she ran outside to press the orb's button, In an instant she was bubbled "AGH! A BUBBLE TRAP!?" Krel ran outside "Heh, I would not call it that, I am still experimenting with it." Luz knocked on the bubble's walls "So, how do I get out?" Krel tapped it and it disappeared "It is still a work in progress, last time I used it it..." remembering what happened with Vex "kept the person in stasis for only a few sektons and then broke, with this, it is a lot more durable."
King kicked the door open with tools in his hands "YES, WEAPONS OF DEATH!" Krel approached him "What have I told you about going into my Akiridion tech!" King retracted the tools as he snatched them from him "Akiridion technology is for peace.. not bloodshed, but it's no fun Krel, you have all this destructive power and yet you don't use it, like this chip over here" He tries to chomp it but Krel grabbed it "That, is my sister's hoverboard, I don't know how it got there." Luz appeared behind him "A hoverboard?" Krel looked behind her "I always thought you preferred Magic" "I do, but since you're living in this house I may as well look into what you have." he sighed but Luz continued "Why don't you have a hoverboard?" "I like to tinker with my gifts, I modified mine to be really fast... I almost crashed into Papa and got banned from using one until I promised to not make modifications."
Eda snorted "Great sense of rebellion" "I need to bring this all into my room, Luz can you help?" Luz squealed and nodded, as they left to the room Eda had a warm smile as King hopped on her shoulder "They're getting along like siblings, I mean he scolded me like I was his little brother" Eda's smile faded but she pulled a fake smile afterwards "Yeah... you could probably confuse them for brother and sister."
Luz helped set up Krel's room but dropped a chip that revealed a picture of Krel's family, "Hey Krel?" He looked to Luz as she gave him the picture, he sighed "I miss them, Mama and Papa are still recovering from the damage, I ensured they would get better and have Zadra to guard them but Aja..." Luz pat his back "You don't have to tell me." "Papa said one day, Me and Aja would have only eachother as family... but here I am... no Mama or Papa or Aja." "Well... you got us... Family isn't really blood, even the family Azura had in Good Witch Azura, none of them are really related but they were all family not by blood, but by bonds." "I just hope Aja is still alive, even after telling myself she is... I am starting to lose that doubt" Luz stayed silent having no advice, "I think for now I have to focus on trying to keep a low profile, Zadra can protect the King and Queen, Mothership might have crashed but it is in a rural area, no one will notice." He sat on his mattress looking at his photo, hanging it on a shelf, King and Eda entered Krel's room, Krel looked at them with a warm look that asked them to join, they all sat together, Eda felt uncomfortable looking at how similar Krel's family was to hers, especially when she barely sees any of them at all, King had no family, but they had eachother, they all looked at the photo and rested.
Meanwhile at the front "I feel like I'm missing out on something hoot hoot, oh my gosh a bug! maybe you can help me curbstomp this memory hoot hoot?" it flew into his mouth "Well that helps with my appetite, I feel better now hoot hoot."
Aja's Side
Marcy invited the family to a restaurant selling the best beetle burgers in Amphibia, Aja inspected hers "If beetles are used for this, are they used for beetle fights?" Anne and Hop Pop glared at Aja "What did I/Hop Pop say about gambling?" in sync, Aja zipped her mouth, Marcy and Eli awkwardly continued eating their burgers while Polly asked what Marcy had in her pocket " Oh, just my journal. I like jottin' down theories and observations. You know, all about indigenous fauna, medicinal techniques, customs and nuances of Amphibious species-based caste systems..." Polly zoned out in the middle of the conversation "Sometimes I even do drawings." showing drawings of Amphibians "I uh... keep everything on my phone" "I keep convincing this dude to just make his own journal, He still won't" eyes narrowing at Eli, "May I take a look?" Aja asked "Sure, go nuts girl!" "I am not familiar with that." "She means you can use it" Eli explained, Aja flipped through pages, stopping at some lines and reading them.
// Marcy's Journal //
A sketch of Eli Pepperjack "A few weeks after I got zapped here another kid zapped in the EXACT same position I was in, fortunately he didn't fall down a flight of stairs and I made sure he had a home here, He said some box (I think the calamity box which is obvious) zapped him and two others here, I couldn't overlook this coincidence, Aja and Steve? I asked for details and he described each of them, They both sounded like MixMatched versions of Sasha and Anne, I can't describe what that means but it really just feels like the three of them reminded me of Sasha Anne and myself, this little goober I could say was my counterpart, No! I can't just label them as counterparts that's rude! note to self: scratch the text above out and replace it with something else" Nothing was changed, "Anyways Eli's cool, He told me all about Arcadia and even brought pictures!" Sketches of Eli's pictures filled the page "It's so weird! Trolls apparently exist in Arcadia and they live underground, He said he and Steve got to save some with the power of parasols, I gotta visit Arcadia one day to actually inspect these creatures, They look majestic!"
// Newtopia //
Aja gave the book back to Marcy "That was... an insightful read, but what do you mean by me, Eli and Steve being similar to you?" Marcy started sweating "Eh... I still have no explanation for that" Eli perked up "Well from what I hear about Sasha, she seems to be really cool and strong like Steve while Anne... while I just met her, she's really social and quirky" They stared at Anne who wasn't listening "Look, guys! I'm a straw-lrus! Like a walrus, but with straws!" "That only validates my point, Marcy says somethings off and I totally agree! I mean... Three of us, All seperated from the box, and then we get seperated with someone from another friend group, down to the exact spot they got zapped in, There is literally no reason for this to happen if it wasn't some big conspiracy" Aja chuckled "It it nice to believe we could be destined to be friends" Marcy paid the server for their meals, "Let me guess, 49 coppers?" getting the amount right, "Wow! Can you do math like that too, Anne?" HP asked "Uh, you mean like with numbers and stuff?" "What about you Aja?" "Well I do have some knowledge but that was more Krel's thing, he was a lot more advanced but I still got B grades in school." Polly sighed "Can you imagine if Marcy got stuck with us instead of Anne? We'd be set for life!" Aja perked up "Hey what about me?" "We got lucky with you Aja, a kick-butt four armed fighter sounds much better than this guy" pointing at Eli "And of course Steve, I don't like the way he talks" shuddering but Hop Pop scolds Polly "Think those thoughts, don't say them."
Anne was going to say something but noticed an arrow rapidly speeding through and got everyone out of the way, Hop Pop thought it was someone trying to kill them but Marcy and Eli calmed them down "No, no. It's fine. It's just a message from the king. Oh, correction. It's a puzzle-gram from the king." The five of them looked at the two of them with confusion to which Eli explained "The King gives us puzzles to solve around Newtopia to decode a message, it's fun but Marcy has done this a lot more than I have" Marcy pat his head "How about this Eli, I'll take a backseat and you solve this puzzle." "Me? but I'm not as smart as you, I'm only really a conspiracy theorist that just so happens to get good grades" "Eli, I've seen you with these, trust me... you can do this!"
Marcy's encouragement got to Eli and he jumped up fists in the air "Yeah! Let's go crack this code!" Everyone cheered as he opened the scroll "Alright first off, it looks like we got three clues" They all looked at the scroll, it's content makes no sense at face value, "First symbol is some kind of tree, we can only find this stuff at Coral Park so let's head there first." Everyone left except Hop Pop and Polly as the server offered "Hey, thanks for coming in. Would you like to join our customer loyalty program? You can get free gifts." Hop Pop dropped at the word free while Sprig noticed Anne and asked if she was okay, Aja was ahead so the two had a talk "Well, I don't know. It's just... Marcy's always been the smart one in our group. I've always just felt kinda dumb around her, and with Eli being there and Aja actually being crafty... I dunno" Sprig had the perfect response "Hey, at least you're not Steve" She chuckled "Maybe Steve was Sasha's strength and my..." Sprig closed her mouth "Don't ever compare yourself to him, and hey maybe if you can solve the king's puzzle gram before Eli, it'll prove you're just as smart as they are." Anne did remember getting them out of a dungeon puzzle and "Mission 'Prove I'm not a dumdum,' engage!" Slamming into a sign Aja turning back asking if she was okay "Yep... I'll get up."
// Coral Park //
"Alright guys, we're here at Coral Park." Anne walked up to Eli asking if she can take a look, Eli gave her the code "Because you need to hear the groups ideas" Anne inspected the first symbol "So, one eye open and one closed. Hmm... Ooh! What if we aren't supposed to look at the trees? What if we're supposed to listen to them?" getting herself close to a tree, "Sounds about right, want me to join in?" Aja asked "I mean... there wasn't anything in the puzzle about- wait... " looking at a statue holding a telescope "Of course!" He tried to reach but couldn't until Aja held him up "Woah Aja?" "Thought you could use some help" Eli popped the statue's hat off, Aja carrying it with her other set of hands as Eli looked in the peephole "The trees, they're... making a message at some specific perspective" "What does it say?" Aja and Marcy asked "Bring..." Marcy held up a piece of paper "Wrote it down for ya bud, now let's get the second clue!" Aja put Eli down and placed the hat back, walking up to Anne and Sprig "Don't worry I thought your idea was good" "It's.. not about that Aja, it's something else" Anne groaned "Wait, Aja do you see that?" she spotted a kid trying to get their cat down a tree, Aja grabbed Anne's hand "Let's go help her" "That was what I was thinking too."
"Goblin! Come on, girl! Goblin, get down from there!" Aja and Anne approached the girl, she said her pet was on the tree Anne was the first to speak"Don't worry. We got you." snapping her fingers "Aja, throw me" Aja grabbed Anne with all four of her hands and launched Anne to the top of the tree she picked up the little creature and made her way down, the girl thanked them both "No worries. I actually have one just like that back home. But with less legs." Sprig asked the two of them to hurry so the two followed "You seem to like helping people, I saw you give Eli a boost" "Anne, you went to help a girl get her pet down that applies to you." They continued running to follow Team Nerds and Sprig.
"W... something about a W and a dragonfly" Anne peeped behind Eli, asking to give it a shot, Eli seeing Anne's confident face gives her the puzzle because he wanted to do something else, "Hey Sprig-" Sprig looked up while he was analyzing Marcy's crossbow "I just wanted to ask-" "Hey wait, Eli if Marcy here got a crossbow then... what did you get?" Eli paused... "Oh, well I had these before I got zapped" Pulling out ninja stars "But I never really thought about bringing an actual weapon around, I just... can't decide y'know?" Aja walked up to him "Well, do you want my spear?" holding it out, Eli grabbed it "Wait, this spine... it's..." "It was stuck on Bessie's tail" "It's weird, like... it's a hedgehog quill blended with a porcupine spine..." Sprig hopped on Aja's shoulder "So... a Porcu-hog?" "ooh- what about a Hedge-Pine?" Marcy said. "We'll... have to workshop that name, for now... I really like it Aja." she chuckled and pat his head.
"Huh... Anne is taking a while, Eli you remember the puzzle right?" He nodded "I'm going to get Anne, you uh... figure this out." She ran off to find Anne talking to an old lady "Well, if Dusty is upset about what Buster said, he should just tell him so" Anne was listening to her as Aja and Sprig made their way to her "Oh, Doris, meet some of my family members, Aja and Sprig" Doris waved at them as Sprig asked "So this was what you were doing?"
"Oh right, the puzzle..." Eli shouted at a distance "Hey guys! I finished the 2nd puzzle!" "Aw shoot, well sorry Doris gotta run it was nice talking to you!" The three kids followed team nerds as they looked to the last puzzle, Marcy wrote everything down "So, 'Me' was the second message, 'Bring Me-'" "Last part of the puzzle looks like... I can't really tell, it has a weird symbol in the middle of a triangle, It looks like radiation but maybe the M has something to do with it" Eli took his time to brainstorm.
"M maybe it has something to do with Marcy... wait... Marcy, and then the triangle... Maybe the Marcy statue at the bridge has some clues" "Wait she has a staue-" Anne asked "Well yeah I made suggestions on how to increase the weight limit and they uh... modeled it after me." "It was there before I got here." They ran to the bridge with the statue while Marcy commented "The stuff I made might look impressive but it kinda pales to Eli's innovations, I mean he did create really intricate schedules and shifts that organize everything so neatly I can't comprehend it!"
Making their way to the bridge but Anne kinda walked off for some alone time "So should I join her?" "Aja, you heard what she said, alone time." Sprig respected Anne's need for personal space, Aja accepted it too as they helped Eli figure out the last clue but they we're all stumped "So y'know how I said that the last symbol looks radioactive? I can't tell if it's stuck in somewhere that emits radiation but... no.. why would they put the puzzle in somewhere that doesn't exist in Amphibia." "Honesty i'm glad to take a backseat for this one, It actually looks difficult" Marcy whispered to Aja, "Honestly the infrastructure seems somewhat familiar to Akiridion-5 just... more shaped than the constant circles... I feel like-" "Hey guys!" They all turned to see Anne, "So uh, heard you guys got stumped... mind if I take a look?" "Well we don't have ideas so I don't mind" Eli gave Anne the scroll she looked nervous but covered it in confidence "So, a triangle has three sides, right? Three rhymes with, er... "tea." You brew tea with water, and there's water in, uh... The sewer! Let's go down there.".
They followed to the sewers, "Lively, are sewers like this back in the human world?" Marcy answered her question "Uh, no they're usually filthy, but Me and Cheese Slice-" She was cut off by all three kids in sync "Rehauled the sewer system", Anne pointed out at a circle "It looks just like the one in the clue... kinda, we obviously have to turn it, Aja if you may" Aja crossed her arms "I know this is about my four arms Anne" "Alright I'll turn it" Anne rotated the circle but as she did a pipe started spewing water, and then came a giant alligator, Aja stepped forward ready to fight with her scythe but Marcy stopped her "Aja no! that's one of the improvements" "What do you suggest we do?" "Run of course!" They booked it to the nearest manhole, Anne pushed up against it but it was heavy, Not even Aja was able to move it, Anne heard voices above about Gnatchos and immediately recognized it "Gertie? Is that you? It's me, Anne. I need help!"
"Who or What is Gertie?" "I've been socializing with the locals okay?" The gator tries to bite Marcy but she avoids it, "You guys get the exit open, I'll-" "Aja don't you dare-" She leaped onto the gator's face and redirected it's hunger to her, "Come at me you big larvox!" She yelled getting its attention as she ran "DON'T FORGET, IT LIKES EATING TRASH!" Marcy yelled as Eli suggested "We gotta go after her she can't just run from that thing forever- Marcy!" Marcy ran to get Aja with no hesitation as the hatch opened "Come on guys, we gotta get out" "But Marcy and Aja!" "Oh shoot!"
Aja ran from the gator and made a direct turn to disorient it, but as she did she crashed into "Marcy?" "Come on Aja, we can make it to the hatch if we're quick" She grabbed Aja's hand but Aja took the lead, grabbed Marcy with her four hands and carried her up, the gator caught up to bite her cape but she unclipped it distracting it for a few seconds as they made it to the open hatch, Marcy shot her grappling hook and pulled Aja and her out of the sewers into safety... tumbling on the ground for a few seconds as Anne and Eli helped them up, "Are you guys okay?" Aja pulled out a thumbs up, Marcy did so too "Marcy, did you have to run off to get Aja?" "She looked like she needed help" "I was helping you guys get out safely... we wouldn't have had enough time if someone didn't do something." Anne and Sprig hugged her and she hugged back "I.. did it to protect you guys" They said nothing, Anne approached Marcy afterwards admitting she was kinda trying to prove she wasn't dumb, she admitted she felt jealous, Marcy actually felt jealous of Anne being able to make so many friends, they risked their lives to save you, "Especially Aja, she protected you like you we're family!" They paused "Uh... well" Before Aja could answer "Well, we only had eachother and the Plantars in Wartwood so yeah... I guess we are family." Aja smiled "I guess..." While that happened Sprig walked up to them with a pack of Gnatchos, Anne picked one up about to eat it until she realized it was the symbol "Sprig, empty that tray!" He ate all the gnatchos "Aw, I wanted some." "We'll order you some more, but look!" Eli took a look at the message and it said "The Plantars, Bring me the Plantars that's it!" "Oh, guys, we've been summoned! And you solved the puzzle gram, Anne!" "Self-esteem boost and an audience with the ruler of this world? Win-win, baby!"
They made their way to the palace, Ready to meet the king on their next adventure.