Adventures in the Boiling Isles

Elsewhere And Elsewhen

Luz has been trying to build a stronger portal door to the Human Realm. But while she was studying, I was downstairs for a party that Hooty threw in Lilith's honor. "It is so nice to be surrounded by all of Lulu's dearest friends." Hooty said, giving a toast. "Yeah! All hail Lulu!" Steve, a former coworker of hers shouted. "Are you even supposed to be here?" I asked. "We're here to celebrate the new assistant curator of the Supernatural Museum of History." Hooty announced. "Here's to you, Lulu." "Cheers!" We all shouted in celebration as Luz finally joined us. "Did I miss the toast?" Luz asked. "Yes, but not the app-pellet-tizers." Hooty replied. "You want it? There's an extra one. I'm working on it." All of a sudden, someone tossed a whip at Hooty's shit. "Oh, I wish I could stay longer, but I must be off on my next adventure." A woman said. "It's such a delight to see my little bookworm back in the historical world after all these years." "Uh, thank you, Flora." Lilith thanked. "But it's just a small job. Only an assistant. I'm surprised you even heard about this." "The emperor wanted to make sure you weren't getting into any trouble." Flora explains. "And to clear out your office. I left a box of your knickknacks inside. Wish you took more from my tutelage, dear. History's supposed to be exciting, after all." "Who was that?" Luz asked. "Flora D'esplora, bad girl historian, celebrity, and my former mentor in the Emperor's Coven." Lilith explains. "I have questions about that name." I said. "And I have questions about my life!" Lilith cried. "All I got to do was desk work while she goofed off riding wild snakes horses and eating mummy jerky! Well, I can be just as exciting as Flora. I'll come up with an exhibit that'll knock the Titan's socks off!" "Congratulations on your new job!" Luz shouted.

After careful analysis during the Deadwardian Era, I believe the current human year is 1660. Or is it '70? The years are flashing by, but it will all be worth it. I've gathered all the portal ingredients, including Titan's Blood. All that's left is to seek out The Collector. And he will tell me what I need to complete my mission. But first, my companions and I must face..."

The journal entry stopped at a cliffhanger. "The Collector. I've never heard that name." King said. "Me either." Eda added. "What kind of jerk puts "The" in front of their name anyway?"  "But The Collector may know how to make a real portal door." Luz explains. "He may know why ours is so unstable. I just..." "Pull yourself together, Noceda!" I exclaimed. "I've got leg hair older than you kids." Eda said. "This Philip guy has been working on his door for years." "I just wish we could go back in time and talk to him." Luz sighed. "Eda? Is time magic a thing?" I asked. "Not really, but back in the day, I was a bit of an urban-legend junkie." Eda replied. "Twigfoot, Lenderman, possums." "Those are real." Luz said. "Yeah, sure, kid." Eda snorted. "Anyway, there are stories about these things called time pools. Mythical puddles that act as windows into the past. But they're never in the same spot twice. Me and Lily used to search for them. She'd say I forced her into it, but I think she had more fun than me." "Lilith! Of course!" I gasped. "Thanks, Eda."

We found Lilith working upstairs on her exhibit. "Lilith!" I exclaimed. "I see you're dealing with all this." "I'm plotting out my first exhibit for the museum." Lilith explains. "It's almost as if the emperor wanted Flora to tick me off. Well, I'll show her that she's not the only bad girl historian in town. I'm thinking the architectural history behind Deadwardian balusters. This won't work, will it?" "Don't let Flora get you down." Luz said. "Peter even started calling you, "Cool Aunt Lilith" in his journal." "Oh, really?" Lilith blushed. "Yeah." I replied. "Wait, you read my journal?" "What I'm saying is that you can be a bad girl historian." Luz added, showing Lilith the book Eda gave us. "And we know how." "Oh, I remember these." Lilith said. ""In the Premysteric Era, it's theorized that coagulated Titan Blood mixed with the magical algae of the Boiling Sea created temporary holes in time."" "Time magic, baby." I said. "You can make a badass exhibit on time pools, and maybe we can get information on how Philip made the portal door." "I did cobble together a device to find these with Eda." Lilith explains. "It should be in the box Flora returned to me. But it was faulty. It needed more power than I could ever give it." "Stay right there!" Luz gasped, running to grab Amity's glove. "Would Titan Blood do the trick?" "Let's do it." Lilith said.