Prelude to a Breakout

"Oh, poor Ollie…." Anne cooed as she ran her hands through Olivier's hair, his stomach now empty and the half-witch's head in her lap.

"Tiiiiiitan….and Ollllm…." The boy groaned. "Just kill me now…"

Maddie was just finishing mixing up a potion, but it would still be a bit.

"Here." The newest arrival to the boiling isles smiled as she offered the boy a waterbottle. "Its not much, but…"

A grateful Anne smiled as she gently took the bottle and undid the lid, then slowly giving Olivier its contents until he drained it.

"Thank you, Luz." Olivier managed, feeling a little better,

"De nada." Luz assured him as Anne handed the bottle back as a comfortable silence overtook the room. "So….Anne. How's it feel living the dream of a fantasy lover?"

Anne chuckled at that.

"Well, I'll be honest; not sure what fantasy you're thinking of, but from my experience? It is not nearly as 'sweet' as they probably think it is, lemme make that clear!" The thai girl began. "I mean, with the almost dying, the crazy powers and or fights, the backstabbing and drama…."

She paused and smiled down at Olivier, pecking his forehead.

"But for this guy? I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe confessing to him earlier, but that's a buig maybe."

"…Love you too, Annie." Olivier managed, reluctantly forcing himself upwards. "I'm the lucky one, honestly."

"I think they both are." Maddie said as she walked in and handed Olivier a freshly brewed potion, which the half-witch downed, even licking his lips.

"Mmm. Maddie, did you add some flavoring?" He asked with a warm smile.

"Some fruit Eda brought with her." Maddie explained. "I think she called it…Durian?"

Anne and Luz held in bile but kept their smiles up as Maddie helped Olivier to his feet to show him the fruoit she'd 'spruced' up his potion with. Once they were out of the room, Luz asked through her teeth:

'Is it as bad as TV and manga say?"

'Worse.' Anne replied.

"Alright kids!" Eda groaned as she descended into the room, with Olivier and Maddie hurrying in to hear her. "I should be back in no more than three hours. There's plenty of grub from my first few pizza attempts, so go nuts but clean up when you're done. Wish me luck and keep King out of the sweeeee….what're you all looking at?"

"…Whoa." All three kids said as they stared on in awe.

There she stood, in a red star decorated, sleek dress that showed her shoulders and was accompanied by blood red dress gloves. Her hair had been done in a way similar to a beehive, decorated with various small but highlighting creatures. Eda had also worn a bit of eye shadow and slipped on dragon scale boots.

(AN: Fashion is not my thing, forgive me if this doesn't sound good)

"Mom, you look…way, way, way, waaaaay out of Wrath's league."

"What, really? With this old thing?" Eda smirked, taking a few poses. "I only wore this to a funeral."

"And one of Raine's shows." King noted. "Some kind of 'mourning but cheering that they were gone'?"

For some reason, Eda shot King a glare and he then left the room, claiming he needed top whip w minon into shape. Before the kids could ask what that was all about, Eda kissed Olivier and Anne on the forehead with a smile. She ALMOST did the same with Luz, but caught herself an dmessed with her hair

"Wish me luck." Eda smirked. "if I'm not back by morning? Ollie, you know what to do."

Olivier saluted his mother, who got onto Owlbert and flew away.

Just then Luz's stomach rumbled.

"pardones." She sheepishly said. "I had a light breakfast."

"Well, we can scrounge something up." Anne smiled, Olivier motioning the girls to the kitchen and King returned to turn on the Crystal Ball

"And for those of you just tuning in, the battle at the Conformitorium has officially entered its third hour, with neither the Warden or prospective Bard Coven head Raine Whispers giving each other much room to breathe."Perry Porter announced, clearly fighti9ng the edge to turn his head and catch a glimpse of the awesomeness behind him.

"Wait…RAINE?!" Olivier, suddenly invigorated, raced to the Crystal ball. Sure as the sun rising, was Raine Whispers in battle with Wrath, bith glarinjg at each other, dripping with sweat and their clothes tattered

"Oh, cool!" Anne smirked. "They're duelling for your mom!"

"Anne that is NOT something to be proud of! As much as it warms my heart." Olivier said, with a smile on his face at the second sentence.

"Oooooh! Details! Details!" Luz begged.

"Basically, the closest Ollie's had to another parent." Anne explained, giving a cliff notes version and making it clear this would sound so much cooler (and look better) in Eda's words and with the memory illusion.

Oliiver meanwhile, was focused on the crystal ball.

"Not since the fall of the Magistrate four years ago has the Conformitorium faces such a calamity; and witches and demons alike are loving it, with an estimated 500,000 Snails already been collected at the makeshift gambling hall." Perry continued. "As for this reporter, he just wants this to end so he can grab a bite with his kid."

"What happened four years ago?" Luz asked, looking at Olivier, who opened his mouth….but nothing came out.

"I…I don't know. King?"

The little monster was chowing down on a ring of pepperoni and started to scamper away, only for Luz to grab him,

"Careful, little guy, you could choke."

"Good. Then Ollie won't know what happ…ened….Whoops."

And with that, the three teens looked down at the little monster.

"King. What happened four years ago?" Olivier asked, leaving no room for argument.

"HOOT HOOT! SNITCHES GET STICHES!" Hooty snapped at King.

"AAAH!" A startled Luz screamed, dropping King. "I forgot all about him!"

"We all do." Olivier and King said together in deadpan, the half-witch then moving to the house demon.

"Hooty. Tell me what you're keeping from me."

"…"

"Hooty."

"…"

"Hooty, do not test me! Remember I have a blue…Oh wait, you never saw that…" Olivier started, then blushed when Anne spied him glancing at her. It took her a second, but she realized what he'd been going for.

"Olivier Clawthorne, were you threatening of siccing me on Hooty with my blue powers?!"

"…Blue powers?" Luz asked.

"Because I totally have been itching to let loose! I just…don't want to kill him."

"…" Hooty remained silent, but his face was turning blue.

"Hooty for the love of the titan, breathe!" Olivier and King begged, the owl demon finally letting out a breath and smirk.

"Hoot hooy! Jokes on you! Lulu erased our memories! All we know is that something happened to you! Hoot!"

"HOOTY!" King screamed in annoyance, then realized. "Wait, yeah! We're off the hook! I mean, not like you can dig up forgotten memories!"

"Actually, the mind never forgets." Luz and Olivier said together, then looking on in surprise.

"And Grunge even taught me just a spell." Olivier added as he made his way to the center of the room

Luz moved to see if she could help/ see, but Anne held her back.

"He's never hurt any of us, but when he goes….like this?" Anne tried to word her concerns.

But the sudden burst from Olivier, now engulfed in an aura of dark magic and his eyes black as coal, spoke for her.

And with the spin of a larger, almost smoking magic circle, Olivier willed his mind to gop into the deepest, darkest parts of it….And then the memories came back to him:

Four years ago

Him being grabbed by guards while playing with Willow and Amity,

Wrath's predecessor, that traffic cone wearing, green scaled demon he only remembered as 'Majestrate', looking down on him with a smirk. Emperor Belos stood beside him, giving him a nod.

Eda, attacking the Conformitoirum in such a rage, what Olivier could recall from her fights with Hettie and the cloak-bot seemed TAME.

Wrath stopping the Majestrate's sword with his own arm

Raine

The two witches and demon leaping to meet Mahestrate head on

Majestrate being petrified after Lilith had pummeled him to the point he was crying.

Eda spinning a magic circle in front of him….

Present day

Suddenly returning to normal, the half-witch's mind was a myriad of emotions, Bits were missing, but the main story was clear…and with that main story came a realization:

Right after this, there had been Amity's birthday…and even before he threatened to get Lilith on Odalia and Alador, she had stared at him with a smug contempt, as if….

As if….

"….Oh that slimy, egotistical, classist, heartbreaking mothering green haired piece of…!"

Olivier's rage was shortlived as Perry's voice came back on

"Wait! Is…I think it's…! YES! The Owl lady herself is pulling up! She seems to be…lecturing them? Let's see if we can get a closer look."

Evidently they could, as the image now showed Wrath trying to act suave for Eda, who ignored him to check on Raine, who seemed hurt. Audio hadn't caught up just yet, but it seemed they were legitimately hurt Eda had moved on…and with Wrath of all people…

"…Even if he did help us four years ago!"

"Oh Rainestyorm…" Eda smiled sadly. "This is a one and done."

"Wait, what?" The two formerly fighters asked.

"Yeah, one last….meh, I guess. Look, nhe found the prick who sent my kid away, so I owe him one. But Wrath was right on one part: I am going straight!"

"HA!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

BONK!

"OW! WHAT DID I DO?!"

"Not THAT straight, ya dinguses!" Eda snapped at her soon to be date and beloved. "I mean legit businesswoman straight!"

..

…

"…Oh? Oh. Oooooooh. Oh, Titan…." Raine realized, then they saw the whole thing had been streamed. "Oh Titan, no! Get me outta here!"

And they ran away, making everyone else stare on in confusion…minus Eda, whose attention seemed to be on the fleeing Raine's….

AHEM! AHEM!

"AHEM! AHEM!" Wrath coughed into his hand.

"What? Its cute." Eda said without shame.

"…Mama, come on…" Olivier groaned.

"…Gimme a second to change." Wrath asked Eda, before he turned to the camera-critter. "AND CUT THAT FEED!"

Back at the Owl house, everyone got a laugh out of the whole thing, even the embarrassed Olivier.

"Okay, that may not be the first time she;s sparked a conflict over her lookds, but that;s gotta be the funniest!" King cackled.

"This has happened before?" Luz asked. "I mean I can kind of see why…"

"Man, Eda. Way to set the bar so high…" Anne noted.

"This'd be…the 13th time, I think?" Oliver mused, counting down what instance like this he could recall. "the Sirens, those potion smugglers, the kraken warlord, that oddly manly harpy…"

"So much lore!" Luz beamed, hurriedly scribbling everything she could.

"Girl, we got like….12 hours worth for ya." Anne assured her fellow human. "Where should I start? Eda finding Ollie? Or me stealing a musical box on my birthday, yeah, still not as cool as it sounds in my head."

Olivier chuckled at that before something caught his eye.

"Wait, is…is that…Karma?" Olivier asked, pausing the crystal ball and then an illusion spell to blow up the image; a boy with short black hair with red highlights and eyes like his own, whose bets were being confiscated by the Guards.

"Friend of yours?" Luz asked the half-wicth.

"Yeah, I think you mentioned him once…" Anne mused. "Kind of the class clown type, guy who bungee-jumps off roofs."

"Yup, that's Karma in a nutshell." Olivier smirked before his mood downed. "He, his brother and three other guys were…well, you remember HER?"

Anne's brow furrowed.

"The one who…?' She said, pointing to Olivier's chest. "Or the one who…?"

Now she pointed to where his ears would be, and Luz gasped in realization; She'd seen the scars, but never asked.

"The latter." Olivier GROWLED, hate quite clear. "Well, they were my answer to her goon squad…before…"

He didn't need to finish. And it might've better he didn't.

"Wait…" Oliver said, a realization overtaking him. "if Karma's outside…. And was trying to make money….That…means… NAGARE OF ALL OF THEM GOT GRABBED?! REALLY? I mean, we all knew Karma was going to end up in there someday, Edgar I could see going in there for his inventions…Heck, MAYBE Apollo if his competitiveness or his 'short' button was pushed one too many times and by the wrong person…"

"WHO IN THE HUNTSMEN IS CALLING ME SHORT!? SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" A loud voice demanded, shaking the Isles and scaring away many creatures.

"But NAGARE?!" Olivier continued. "NAGARE?! He was the smart one! The cautious on…Oh. No, wait, that was Froast…STILL! NAGARE?!"

Anne smirked at this outburst from Olivier; as long as it wasn't directed at her, the Plantars or Maddie, there was something kind of funny and cute of seeing him lose his cool.

The half witch boy took a deep breath and paced the room for a second before letting out another breath and clapping his hands.

"Maddie?" Olivier asked. "This is going to sound incredibly out of left field for me…. and if we do this, we can never tell Sprig or Miss Boonchuy because they'll never let me hear the end of it, but…"

Already mid-chuckle, Maddie opened her bag, and out popped an owl like opera mask, along with a helmet shaped like a scarb beetle with a tiny red circle on top.

"…You had them with you?" Olivier asked his apprentice.

"I figured you might want to keep your face hidden when you got back." Maddie shrugged

"But you had no idea what the glyph was, dude." Anne pointed out.

"…Okay, I WAS going to put them in the attic when I saw the glyph." Maddie admitted as she looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "That and…My costume makes me feel powerful."

"I hear ya." Luz admitted, flipping her hoodie up to reveal…. "Meow, meow!"

Her hoodie had cat ears on the top.

"I also got Otter onesie. But let's be honest, a cat is better for a break in." Luz added.

"Wait, you're coming too?" King asked, making Olivier tense.

Instead of Luz, he now saw Marcy. Or rather, her last few minutes….

Something he refused to let happen again.

"Luz, this'll be dangerous! I mean, yeah, mom and I have done it before but…You could still get hurt. Maybe you and Anne…?"

"Oh, I am NOT letting you go off on your own!" Anne cut in. "Not after you nearly died fighting that robot!"

"…Robot?" Luz asked, but she went ignored.

"Long story." Maddie explained.

"Got it, will ask later." Luz said, then stepping up. "Well, this guy's a friend of yours. And I'd be a pretty cruddy person if I didn't at least try. And besides, no one knows me here!"

Olivier still wanted Luz to stay here….but by Titan, her cheerfulness and willingness to help not only reminded him of Marcy…but of himself when he was little.

"…Okay, But stay close to us!...Please." Olivier relented.

Luz smiled; she could tell something was bothering Olivier, but again, didn't press….Especially not with Maddie already in her adorable Kauket costume

"Oh, I gotta take a pic!" Anne beamed as she got one…and then felt a little bummed out.

"…Anne?" Luz and Olivier asked.

"I got no disguise." The Thai girl mused.

"What about your talent show get up?" Olivier suggested

"Okay, seriously! You two! All the details! Agfter whatever we're doing!" Luz demanded, but6 her 'anger' was forgotten when Olivier drew a magic circle he willed onto Anne…and in a puff of smoke

"Whoa. Okay. Ollie? Don't get jealous when I say this, but; Dang Anne, you look beautiful!"

"You should see her in her Thai dress." Olivier said as he gazed at his girlfriend

"Aww, you two!" Anne gushed, then spying Luz and motioning Olivier to her.

"…Oh! Um..would you like anything added to your disguise?" the half-witch boy asked as the Domincan girl went intpo her backpack and pulled out a book.

"Think you can do a cat girl version of this?" Luz asked, pointing at Azura.

A second later, she was just as she imagined a Nekotama Azura would look like…and she loved it.

"Greatest. Day. Of. My life." Luz beamed.

Finally putting on his mask and wrapping a cloak around his form, Olivier smirked as he willed Fleewting to his hand. Maddie followed in suit.

"Look nout Boiling isles, because Baron Barn, Mælngpx, Kauket and Luzura are about to make an impression!" He declared as the four stood and posed dramatically.

"…HA! BAARON BARN?!" Luz cackled. "THAT was the best you could come up with?"

"I'm open to suggestions!" Olivier said, somewhat pouting.