Adventures in the Boiling Isles

Separate Tides

Luz and I were searching for a creature in this dark cave. "Foolish children. Leave this place before you meet your demise." The creature said. "Do not underestimate us, Garlog." Luz explains. "For we are good witches, Luz and Peter, hunter of monsters." "Now eat this, bitch!" I shouted, pointing Eda's staff at Garlog, who turned out to be smaller than we thought. "You're Garlog?" Luz asked, picking up the creature. "This is pathetic." I groaned. "Small I may be." He replied. "But you will soon know fear when I lay waste to all that you..." Before he could finish, King put Garlog in his mouth. "King, drop it now." Luz ordered. "Drop it now!" "Drop it! No! We're not gonna play right now!" I shouted, chasing after him. "King!"

After Luz and I got King to release Garlog, we headed home, where she decided to make some more video diaries for her mother. "Luz, we're rolling." I said. "Hola, Mamá, you haven't heard from me in a while, it's been a week and a half since the petrification ceremony, a week and a half since me and Peter, destroyed the portal home." Luz explains. "We had to, Emperor Belos was going to kill Eda if we didn't hand it over. But we couldn't let him use it, so, we blew it up with some magic fire. She's not gonna understand any of this." "That's okay, Luz." I said. "Just keep moving forward."  "Anyways, this world is filled with inexplicable magical wonders, like this portal key. I don't know if it contains magic, but I'm gonna study all I can and find a way back to you. And I've got some friends to help me." Luz explains. "I'm never letting you go!" King shouted. "You're never returning to the human realm!" "He doesn't mean that, Mrs Noceda." I said. "Yes I do!" King cried.

"This is Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles." Luz said. "Or, at least she was, until her curse overpowered her and weakened her magic. She's doing her best now."

"Eda was cursed by her own sister, Lilith. And she spent her entire life looking for a way to undo it." Luz explains. "It's still hard for everyone to trust each other, but maybe with time, we can all become friends." "Hello!" Hooty greeted as Lilith screamed and slammed her window closed.

"Oh, you've sort of met Peter." Luz said, handing me her phone. "Hi, Mrs Noceda. I'm Peter Clawthorne-Yenkins, Eda's son, Lilith's nephew, and Luz's best friend." I introduced. "I'm an aspiring writer, half-a-witch, and as of last week, a mama's boy."

"Even though Eda gets frustrated, she's found new ways to make up for her lost powers." Luz explains. "Check it out, kiddos, a new hunting weapon." Eda said, creating a spear. "I will call her the Stab-Catcher." "Without the portal, Eda has no human garbage to sell." Luz commented. "So, we've resorted to taking odd jobs to keep food on the table." "Hey, King. Did you know that apple is a hat?" Eda asked. King placed an apple on his head. "Oh, shit!" I shouted, grabbing King before Eda could hit him. "This week, we're bounty hunters. Next week, we could be anything." Luz continued.

"So, Mom, don't be scared. I'm growing more and more every day." Luz said. "And I'm gonna do my best to become a full-fledged witch and get home to you safe and sound. Te quiero, Mamá. Te lo promento, regresaré a casa pronto." As Luz finished her video, she tried to send it. But, without the portal, her phone had no signal. "Kids, time to bring these bad boys to market!" Eda called. "Eda! Do you own anything that isn't covered in feathers?" Lilith complained. "I had to deal with a curse for 30 years, so I think you can handle a few feathers." Eda replied.

At the market, it was crawling with the Emperor's guards. "Wow, the Emperor is really taking over." I said. "I see it too, Peter." Eda explains. "And I'm trying to stay civil." I helped unload the cart so we could collect the money. "Your payment." The salesman said. "A single snail? Are you kidding me?" Eda asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't done yet." He laughed, breaking the coin in half. "You can't do this to me!" Eda snapped. "Don't you know who I am?" "Yeah, you're Eda the Owl Lady." He replied. "What are you gonna do? We all know you're powerless now." Eda tried to cast a spell circle, but only managed to summon the tiniest flame. "I don't need your pity. I was the most wanted criminal for years. You should fear me." Everyone walked away, humiliating my mom. "Don't worry, sister." Lilith chuckled, posing by her coven poster, until it was caught on fire. "At least my image still commands respect and fear." "You're a traitor." King laughed. "What's going on? This is anarchy!" Lilith shouted. "Who told you to do this?" All of a sudden, a few new posters for the Emperor's Coven appeared, but Lilith has been replaced. "The Golden Guard?" I asked. "Did you know him in the Coven, Lilith?" "Unfortunately, I did." Lilith replied. "He always got special treatment because he was the genius teen prodigy, but he's really just a brat. If he's in charge... vomit." She tried to throw the poster away, but it magically stuck to her face. "Hey, I know. What we need is a confidence booth." Luz suggested. "Why don't we take on the biggest bounty we can find? It'll be great." "Looks like there's something called a Selkidomus ravaging boats up and down the coast." I explained, looking at the wanted poster. "Hmm, no." Eda refused. "We gotta keep a low profile while my powers are weakened. And we need fast cash. How about this guy?" "The Abominable Cutie Pie?" Luz asked. "No, no. I hear it's very dangerous." Eda gasped. "And look, there he is!" Luz and I climbed up the Belos statue to catch the creature. "You did it. You caught me." He said, falling in Luz's arms. Both of us groaned. "Things aren't looking great, Lily. This bounty hunting stuff isn't putting food on the table." We heard Eda sigh to Lilith. "I'm sure they can handle bigger bounties, but if we wanna eat, we don't have the luxury to mess up even once. No apple blood. I spent the money on griffin eggs for Luz and Peter. They're not a lot they can digest here, so, I make sure to have their favorites around." After hearing her conversation, Luz and I both felt kinda guilty. "This is awful. Eda wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for us." Luz sighed. "Maybe it would be better if we never came here." "Are you fucking kidding?" I asked. "I probably never would've found my mom if we didn't come." "You're right, Pete. We can't change the past, but we can still change the future." Luz said. "We're gonna help Eda and prove ourselves." "The Selkidomus hunt." I said to the salesman. "We want in."